To lack an Actor or a Poet here

Why should I doubt ?-Is this so cold a sky

That here the verse which lives elswhere must die? So rude, so icy is our northern breeze,

That our hearts warm not, and our bosoms freeze? Or, is Parnassus now to be denied

To climes that have produced an Akenside?

Why should I doubt? There might be cause of fear,
Had genius ne'er before been cradled here;
If here young Cooke had never freshly drawn
The Jew of Shakspeare, in his early dawn;
If Kemble here, scarce known as yet applause,
Had never look'd the Roman that he was;
Or if his gentler Brother had uot quaff'd
Romeo's full cup, or in Mercutio laugh'd;
If here Virginius had not lived (to die
Sublime long after) in Macready's eye;
Or had Thalia ne'er, in gay accord,
With Munden giggled, or with Liston roar'd:
Or, charming us in beauty, sweetly wild,

With Duncan gamboll'd, or with Mellon smil'd;
Had such things never been-then might I fear

Lest Shakspeare's self should meet no welcome here.
Not such our climate-Distant tho' we be,

Bold as our mountains, as their breezes free,
The Muses, driv'n from some more modish sphere,
May ask a refuge, and may find it here,
Ev'n as the scatter'd arms of ruin'd Rome,
'Mid the Venetian Islets found a home,
On steep Ragusa shelter'd, and, unmoved
In Exile, nursed the Liberty they lov'd;
So here, at last, the Drama over-run,
May shelter from the Vandal and the Hun;
And Poesy, tho' barbarism pursue,

A patron and asylum find-in you!
Let then the "classic" genius of the age
Produce all "Tattersall's" upon the stage;
Be Poney-Roscii crown'd with laurels green,
Whilst loud Newmarket bets before the scene,
Let Jocky-actors dress them for the course,
And grooms exclaim “ My Kingdom for a Horse;"
O'er trampled tho' the Muse amid th' attacks
Of Poles, and Pandour Croats, and Cossacks

Far from the clang of hoofs, beneath this dome,
Still may our country's Drama find a home.
Let not these walls, by classic splendour grac'd,
Stand but the Mausoleum of true taste;
Our keener air, fresh from the heather-bell,

Oh! shew the Muse can breathe it free and well;
And prove, beneath a less enervate sky,

Where nature lives that Shakspeare cannot die.

THOMAS DOUBLEDAY.

MEMORIALS OF THE LIFE OF

Henry Atkinson,

BY ROBERT WHITE.

Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man. HUME.

T is somewhat singular that, within the last half-century, no spot in the united kingdom has been more associated with the early life of a number of our eminent mathematicians than Woodburn in Redesdale. In the first place, Cuthbert Atkinson, father of him who forms the

subject of this notice, taught school there-a man who, if he did not especially cultivate science in its loftier branches, was endowed with all the ability to do so; and whose practical good sense, and philosophical turn of mind were sufficient to procure him an honourable position in any rank of society. Then we have Henry Atkinson himself, who, alternately with his father, taught school also at Woodburn and Bavington, a village lying a few miles south east of the former place. Mr. Edward Riddle, head master of the Mathematical school at the Royal Naval Asylum, Greenwich, and author of the best treatise we have on navigation, spent at Woodburn the greater portion of his early days. Again, we have John Riddle, born at Woodburn, a youth of remarkable promise as a Mathematician, but who was cut off, almost before he put his sickle into the harvest of fame which lay before him. After him, Thomas Burn deserves notice, who first saw the light at Woodburn, and who likewise gained a scientific name, but died early, beloved by his friends, and who, to the writer of these remarks, stood in point of affection equal to that of a brother. Then Mr. William Rutherford, of the Royal

Military Academy, Woolwich, may be mentioned, who taught school at Woodburn, and whose fame as a skilful analyst has gone forth over the world. Lastly we may close the list with Mr. Stephen Fenwick, also of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, born at Woodburn, whose ability in science, likewise, renders him an ornament to his profession.

Henry Atkinson, son of Cuthbert Atkinson, already mentioned, was born at Great Bavington in Northumberland on June 28, 1781. About his third year he removed with his father to the Divot Hills, a farm steading near to the former place; and in his sixth year, he again removed with his father to West Harle, where he resided till the period when he began to assist in conducting Bavington School. He was a kind hearted, lively boy, desirous of the company of all classes, and could have enjoyed himself as much, or more in a Gypsy camp than in a palace: indeed, his friends were sometimes afraid that he might be taken away by some of the Faa Gangs, of which a number at that period traversed the country. About the eleventh year of his age, during a forenoon, when at school, he was seized with a severe pain in his right knee; and being conveyed home, he lay in bed for several months, not even expected to recover. Gradually, however, his health began to improve; but the limb afterwards continued lame, and very much pain it occasioned him through the future course of his life. When he reached his thirteenth year, his father considering him capable of teaching Bavington School, resigned it to his charge, and opened another at West Woodburn. These two schools were, notwithstanding, superintended by the father and son alternately. Sometimes they changed every seven days, and again each would have remained stationary for two or three weeks. In a short period, Henry became an excellent teacher: he possessed in an eminent degree the faculty of communicating information by the most easy and direct methods; and his lively conduct and agreeable disposition, together with the perfect comprehension he had of all he imparted to his pupils, won their confidence, and made him greatly respected amongst them. He also relished highly the jocund amusements which diversify a country life; and he loved fishing, an art in which he especially excelled, although from the tenor of his mind, we may suppose he cared less about the number and size of trout caught, than the opportunity it afforded him of straying by the wimpling streams, amid the fresh breezes from the hills, and of enjoying Nature in all her purity and loveliness.

About his sixteenth year his father and he quitted the school at Bavington, and opened another at West Belsay, while they continued to change as before, between the latter place and Woodburn. In

1802, Cuthbert Atkinson gave up a small piece of land which he rented at West Harle, retired from Woodburn School, and removed his family to Black Heddon; for besides his wife, and son Henry, he had three daughters, all advancing to womanhood. One of these, Mary by name, now Mrs. Hepple, in union with her brother, commenced to keep school at Stamfordham-she teaching the girls, and Henry superintending the boys. Shortly afterwards Cuthbert Atkinson removed the school frem West Belsay to Hetchester Law, and the alternate changes previously made between him and his son, from one place to another, were now discontinued.

When Henry Atkinson removed to Stamfordham, he had made considerable progress in scientific investigation; and being now arrived at maturity, and mixing with good society, he was much esteemed both as a talented man, and one of the most efficient instructors of youth ever known in that neighbourhood. Still persevering in his favourite studies, he remained there upwards of six years; and then, together with his sister removed to the adjoining village of Hawk well. About six months afterwards, considering that his position in the country afforded slight scope for turning what abilities he possessed to advantage, Henry resigned in favour of his father, who had for some time kept school at Berwick Hill; and he removed to Newcastle, Nov. 14, 1808. In that large town he speedily attained the highest rank in his profession. He was a most able teacher; and although his numerous engagements often left him very brief intervals of leisure, still his scientific skill was of great service in enabling him to pursue the various branches of knowledge with which he was usually engaged. There is no doubt that this change was a fortunate event in his life. In the country, he had no acquaintances, with whom the love and pursuit of knowledge formed a prevailing passion, and few books by which he could acquire the discipline necessary to a pioneer in the higher departments of science. In Newcastle, as he often observed, many opportunites of being more generally known were presented to him: he met well-informed men, and the Literary Society furnished him with volumes of the utmost consequence to him in prosecuting his studies. No other teacher in the town had at that time made much progress in mathematical learning, which he was quick enough to perceive, and act upon with honour to himself. He resolved, as time permitted, to write papers on scientific subjects, and read the same at the meetings of the Literary and Philosophical Society, of which he was elected a member in June, 1809.

The first paper he introduced to the notice of the members of that Institution was entitled "A new method of extracting the Roots of Equations of the higher orders." The discovery was first

1809.

made by himself in 1801, and the essay was drawn up and sent to the Senior Secretary, who read it at the monthly meeting in August, This paper many years afterwards formed the basis on which its author rested his claim of priority in discovering the mode of handling equations, which has been pursued by Holdred Nicholson, and Horner, with such marked success. On the following year, he prepared and read an elaborate essay, "On the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, and on the mode of determining the longitude by these means," which, indicating the attention he had paid to Astronomy, elicited the praise and procured him the unanimous thanks of the Society. In 1811 he produced and read two papers; the one containing, "An ingenious proof of two curious properties of square numbers," which Dr. Hutton spoke of in terms of high approbation, and the other "Demonstrating that no sensible error can arise in the theory of falling Bodies, from assuming Gravity as an uniformly accelerating Force." About the early part of 1813, the Society was further gratified by listening to an elaborate paper from his pen, "On the Comet of 1811," and he produced, at the same time, a model, shewing its path through the heavens. Towards the close of that year, he also drew up and read, "An essay on Proportion." About this time, having perused, in the Manchester Memoirs, a paper by P. Ewart, Esq. "On Forces," he wrote another "On the difference between the followers of Newton and Leibnitz concerning the measure of Forces," which he read to the Society in 1814. In the following year, he produced an essay, "On the possibility, and if possible on the consequences of the Lunar origin of Meteoric Stones." About this period, he embraced a wider field in the course of his enquiries; and, considering Moral Philosophy to be of great importance in promoting the well being of mankind, he read, in 1816, an essay, "On the nature and connexion of Cause and Effect." His worth as a most valuable member of the Society would appear to have been at that time so well known and appreciated that he was, at the following anniversary, chosen one of the Committee.

Metaphysical science now occupied much of his attention; and in 1818, he brought forward an "Essay on Truth"-an admirable paper, which was highly commended by Dr. Gillies, author of the History of Greece, and formed the chief topic of conversation at two meetings of the Society. In 1819, he produced before that body, "A new mode of investigating Equations which obtain among the Times, Distances and Anomalies of Comets moving around the Sun, as their centre of attraction, in parabolic orbits." At this period, Smith's Wealth of Nations, and other treatises on Political Economy formed to him a subject of research, and in the following