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by his family, who adored him, and his friends, of whom he had many. His daughter and his grandchildren resided with him at the Arsenal. His Sunday evenings became celebrated; the charm of his conversation was unequalled, uniting, as it did, the warmth of youth with the simplicity of a child. He had seen much during his checkered life, and possessed a wonderful memory; he was besides generous in his judge ments and full of enthusiasm. It was not that he lacked netration; "he had remained a boy," he said, "in disdain of being a man ;" but his unaffected modesty hid his own merit from him, so that for the talent of others he had ever a kind of frank wonder: he looked at theirs through a magnifying glass, and to glance back at himself turned it the other way. The Souvenirs de Jeunesse' were not written till 1832. 'Seraphine,' the first of these, and charming as Therèse Aubert,' is that which we have already mentioned as containing the sketch of his early years, beside Monsieur de Chantrans.

It

was not till 1833 that Nodier was named member of the

French Academy, to which he was of great utility in the compilation of its dictionary. Some years before he had spoken in a tone rather frank than courteous of this celebrated society and its most important work, which "it has occupied itself withal," he says, "with more patience than success throughout " 150 years, which is however no reason it should not one day succeed with immortality for one's device and eternity "before one, one may take time."

On his reception he showed himself perhaps too childishly delighted with the honour done him, but the close of his admission-speech did him honour; it said, "that genius and "virtue were perhaps synonymous words, that he himself "having lost illusions had abdicated no affection, and loving "all he had ever loved, remained gratefully faithful to old66 age and exile, knowing no crime deeper than treason, no "treason more impious than that which betrays misfortune.” We have by no means enumerated all Nodier's works; it is probable he could not himself have accurately set down all. He wrote for the Débats' and the Quotidienne,' the "Temps' and the Revue de Paris'; he wrote, to answer the exigencies of the hour, prefaces and introductions innumera

ble. Among our omissions we may name his Mélanges tirés d'une petite bibliothèque, la fée aux miettes,' a witty fairytale not wanting in pathos; and 'L'Histoire du Roi de Bohème et de ses sept châteaux,' an imitation of Sterne, and we think a feeble one. He left his family no fortune. In his last brief tale of Franciscus Colonna' he has striven to fill up the imperfect outline drawn by biographers of the Ghibelline Dominican of the Colonna family, and his love briefly told for some noble dame by the phrase "Franciscus Colonna adores Polia," formed by the letters which commence the chapters of his curious volume, the Hypnerotomachia of Poliphilo.' In his friend the Abbé Lowrich, discoverer of the rare edition of this rare book, written in a dialect of its own, Nodier has drawn with a complacent finger the victim of bibliomania; this time directing his irony against himself and laughing goodnaturedly at the innumerable atoms of biography and bibliography contained in the learned man's skull, which another possessing them would fain forget, and the treasures in his portfolio which a tax-gatherer would not steal from him. This story was in fact written, as he was in the habit of saying to his friends, "not to make a book, but to buy one: it " is one of the charming fly-leaves," he said, "which he should "continue to write till death came grinning to blow aside "the fugitive pages." His happy bibliomania replaced many enjoyments which he had lost through ill-health. During many years, and without any declared disease, his strength declined more and more. He often suffered from extreme lassitude, which forced him to seek his bed before the usual hour of rest. He had so long been suffering, so long complained that death was approaching, with the same stoop in his tall figure and weariness in his eye, and paleness of countenance which lighted up or vanished in the company or conversation of those he loved, that they could not believe he was to die. From the moment he was known to be in danger, unceasing marks of affection and attention sought him from all sides. A message from the Tuileries and another from the bureau of the 'National' arrived once at the same time. Nodier remarked on it with a pleased smile. "Who would think," he said, on another occasion, with his mild and half-playful manner, "that I was never anything but a poor devil?" The

Christmas-eve of last December fell on a Sunday; his drawingrooms opened for the last time. The evening was however gay, for he alone had forebodings of his coming end. Rising from an écarté-table where he had won, he said smiling to an old friend, "Don't regret it, it is the last twenty sous I ever shall win of you." Three days after he took to his bed, from which he never rose again. He was soon at extremity, and during these days of anguish, in which his mind was not for a moment obscured, his whole attention was turned to deceiving his family on the subject of his danger. He had the

courage to sustain this conduct for almost a month, betraying his secret only an hour before he expired, when he murmured to those he saw weeping round him, "You, too, suffer then!" On Twelfth-day he recited some Latin verses to two young men to whom he was sincerely attached, and who sate by his bedside, reminding them that they had been dictated by their author, when on his deathbed likewise, to his son. The night before he died his increased fever brought on delirium. He knew no one and talked unceasingly. He said once to his nurse who offered him a tisane, "Take that away, it is bad "and bitter; Alfred de Vigny has offered it me five times " and I would not take it from him." The thread of his ideas could not be followed, he spoke in unconnected and broken words; those who listened could only distinguish, addressed to his daughter, "Read Tacitus often, to give more force to your style." As she held a cup to his lips he knew her, and while he drank with avidity she said, "Is it not good?" "Yes," he answered, "like everything that comes from you.' She leaned her face on his pillow to hide her emotion. “Ah,” he said, "if you remained always thus I should never die.” An hour or two later, as his last moments drew near, he said to his wife and daughter, "You will think of me always, I "loved you so very dearly. I am happy to bless my children. "and grandchildren: are all there? Is no one ill? What "day is this?""The 27th."-"Do not forget the date." He had desired his son-in-law to thank all their friends for the sympathy they had shown throughout his illness, and expressed a wish to see daylight once more; and while his children kneeled by his desire to pray round him, he said, "My poor Jules, I did not think it could be so difficult."

VOL. XVIII.-No. XXXV.

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He then motioned all away from his bedside, saying the sight of them gave him pain, and fell into a doze; his breath became intermitting and rare. As the sun rose he ceased to breathe. His native town Besançon has decrced to him a statue; the municipality of Paris presented the ground for his grave. We would fain see his biography from the hand of one whom he loved and appreciated, and whom the voice of the public, if not that of the forty, named to fill the place he left vacant. Several times during his illness Nodier said to Alfred de Vigny, "I will be carried in a litter to the Academy to vote for you," and shortly before he died he added, that one of his deep regrets was the not living long enough to give him his vote again as he had done thrice before. When the earth closed over him there stepped forward from among the spectators a young man belonging to the working classes, who laid upon the grave a crown of flowers; only flowers could be cast upon such gentle clay!

ARTICLE V.

1. Minute by the Right Honourable the EARL OF AUCKLAND, Governor-General of India, upon Native Education. 1841. 2. The Rev. DR. DUFF's Letters addressed to Lord Auckland, on the subject of Native Education. Calcutta, 1841. 3. Preeminence of the Vernaculars, or the Anglicists answered: being Two Letters on the Education of the People of India. By B. H. HODGSON, Esq., B.C.S. Third edition. Calcutta, 1841.

SINCE Mr. Trevelyan's attempt to romanize the Hindee characters, with a view to instruct the people through the vernacular languages in an English dress, and to lead them imperceptibly to the study of English, there has been in India little public discussion upon this important subject. A letter has appeared now and then from some Orientalist, deploring the desuetude into which the studies of Persian, Arabic and Sanscrit had fallen in the Oriental colleges and schools

of Government. When the use of Persian was abolished in all courts throughout the country, and the vernacular language substituted as the medium of all Government transactions with the people, the Orientalists declared that the literature of India would perish, since the Government, who had before required a considerable acquaintance with it from its servants, had ceased to recognize its utility.

On the other hand, advocates for an entire reform in the education of the people were often equally clamorous; missionaries urged an absolute renunciation of Arabic and Sanscrit, and the substitution of English in the principal colleges, for the means of religious instruction; while many considered it imperative on the Government to make English the language of business, as Persian had been. This was ably supported, and stood high for a long time in the arguments of the educationists.

Others, at the head of whom as a vernaculist is Mr. Hodgson, have advocated the propriety of a step towards English in the employment of the vernacular tongues, and the adaptation of English class-books to the use of the natives of India; arguing, that a knowledge of English is eagerly sought after by the mass of the people, and that it behoves the Government to reform the colleges with a view to its being publicly studied.

Lord William Bentinck, than whom no Governor-General since the Marquis of Hastings had the regeneration of the people of India more truly at heart, cordially lent his aid to further the views of the moderate educationists, avoiding the extremes of both partics. He saw that the time was come when the youth of Bengal might be directed to higher and better courses of study; and as he was not at liberty to appropriate the revenues of the country further than had been already authorized by the home Government, he determined on reducing the number of native scholarships in the Arabic and Sanscrit colleges, and the number of professors, and substituting English classes for them with the funds thus placed at his disposal. There was no doubt of the practical utility which followed this measure, and it was carried out to the fullest extent, in spite of the vehement protestations from European orientalists, and for a time from the na