} mis-spent his time in examining Aristotle's numerous commentators-Greek, Arabic, and Latin.' This was not likely to conciliate Mr. Taylor, who, next to Aristotle himself, adores the commentators who have written in the first of these languages, and has filled his notes with translations from the best of them. The assertion is of course treated with great indignation.--Non nostrum est, &c. In our account of the work hitherto given, we have afforded sufficient foundation to enable the reader to judge of Mr. Taylor's merits. If a veneration of his author be requisite to enable a translator to give an adequate and spirited version; if close and repeated study can alone render him sufficiently conversant with the scope and meaning of his original; Mr. Taylor must be amply qualified for the task. We have not blamed him in either respect. Yet his translation is adapted for the esoterics rather than the exoterics; and it appears to us to be best fitted for those who want it least. The notes, we have said, are chiefly selected from Aristotle's best commentators; nor, from their connexion with the text, and with trains of reasoning too long to be taken up in this place, can we give any adequate view of them. They are often explanatory, and, in many instances, a breviary of commentaries. The dissertation on infinite series is a truly curious paper; and, what may appear surprising, it is designed to illustrate the TO EN, or THE ONE of the Pythagoreans and Platonists.' The principal mathematical point which the author attempts to establish, is, that the sum of the neutral series 1+1 −1 + &c. ad infinitum, is equal to o; because Euler observes, if we stop at -1, the series gives o; if at +1, it gives 1. It is evident, therefore, adds our author, that the sum must be between both, viz.. Why, however, it should be 1, divided by 2, rather than 0, divided by 2, we are not told. Indeed, to every person conversant with the summation of series, this determination is unfounded. We must confess, notwithstanding, that the application of these doctrines is not sufficient to induce us to enlarge on them; nor is the nature of the One to be illustrated by negations. Our author must, however, be permitted to speak for himself. We hope the reader will excuse the extract from Proclus, as too long for our limits. "First then, we have demonstrated that infinitely small quantities are negations of infinite multitude; and a negation of all multitude is that which characterises the one, as is evident from the first hypothesis of the Parmenides of Plato. As all finite quantities likewise may be considered as consisting of infinite series of infinitely small quantities, it follows that infinite negations of multitude may be said to constitute all finite quantity. Admirable, therefore, is the nature of negation, as is beautifully shown by Proclus in the following extract from the fifth book of his most excellent MS. Commentary on the CRIT.REV. Vol.35. July, 1802. T Parmenides; for the length of which the intelligent reader will, I am persuaded, require no apology.' P. 459. Since too, infinitely small quantities,-which, from what has been said, are evidently analogous to the superessential unities of which we have spoken so largely in note to p. 286, twelfth book, and the additional notes,-since, I say, they subsist infinitely in the monad, and may be considered as constituting the very nature of it, -hence, an infinitely small quantity, or the one, is superior to the monad; for infinitely small quantities compose, but are not composed from, the monad. And hence we see, that there is an evident distinction between the one and the monad, which, as we have observed, was one of the dogmas of the Pythagoreans. All number, too, is in like manner full of the nature of the one, or the infinitely small; for any number divided by an infinitely small quantity produces an infinite series. Again: when a finite quantity is subtracted from itself, an infinitely small quantity may be considered as the remainder. Thus, a subtracted from a is a-a, which conspicuously shows us as in an image, that when all multitude is taken away from beings, the one still remains for numbers are images of beings, and an infinitely small quantity of the one.' r. P. 465. : On the whole, this is a work of infinite labour, and of very superior learning; yet, we think, of labour misemployed, and of learning not properly applied. Those, as we have said, can only appreciate either, who will have little occasion for any version. As there may be many, however, who, like lord Monboddo, and perhaps our author, see little merit in modern labours and modern discoveries, who think the Principia of Newton, or the discoveries of Herschel, mere trifles, when compared to the disquisitions on essences and energies either doxastic or dianoëtic, we cannot regret that such investigations are generally diffused. To the initiated, they will be, in any form, interesting. To the speculative inquirer, who may not be able to explore the originals- antiquos accedere fontes,' they will show what was the learning which engaged the ancient metaphysicians; which was once, and by some is still called, science. They must not however rashly decide. Even in these abstruse and apparently inexplicable disquisitions, there is much valuable matter, conveyed in a form at once accurate, concise, and comprehensive-many valuable materials on subjects most interesting and important to human beings, who would look to other regions and other worlds, when this visible diurnal sphere shall be at an end. For these reasons, we are, on the whole, pleased with this work, and with the author's information, that, under the patronage of a: nobleman of high rank, we may expect a complete translation of the works of Plato in a handsome form. The present appears under the auspices of Mr. William and Mr. George Meredith. The nobleman referred to, is, we understand, the duke of Norfolk. ART. III.-The Works of James Harris, Esq. with an Account of his Life and Character, by his Son the Earl of Malmesbury. 2 Vols. 4to. 31. 135. 6d. Boards. Wingrave. 1801. SINCE the general approbation of the learned has continued for many years to sanction the labours of Mr. Harris, it is no longer the time for praise or censure. Yet, since criticism has not been wholly asleep, and applause has, not assumed the guise of indiscriminate adulation, we may perhaps add, that, with much to admire, subsequent inquirers have discovered some little errors which the best may commit, and of which the wisest need not be ashamed. To pursue these would now be useless; and indeed our chief object, in the present article, is the life of the very amiable and respectable author. The life of Mr. Harris, by his son lord Malmesbury, is written with all the warmth of affection, which the virtues and tenderness of a father could inspire, conjoined with the laudable' pride of being able to claim such a sire as his own. Mr. Harris was not a recluse or a sour student. After pursuing philosophy with the Peripatetics and the Stoïcs,-though the former appear to have been his chief favourites, he would join the gay world in lively social conversation, animate it with sprightly remarks, convey his instructive information with judgement and delicacy, and join in the music whose powers he had augmented by his taste and his selections. He was for many years in parliament, and in several official situations. During the last six years he was secretary and comptroller to the queen. He died in 1780, at the age of seventy-two. His epitaph, written with singular elegance, we shall subjoin. M. S. Jacobi Harris Sarisburiensis, Græcarum Literarum præcipue periti, De Artibus elegantioribus De Grammaticâ, de Logicâ, de Ethice, Posteri laudabunt ultimi. Communis tamen vitæ officia, Obiit XXII. Die Decembris, M,DCC,LXXX. Anno Etatis LXXII. • Above this inscription, a female figure of Philosophy is repre sented, holding over a medallion of my father a scroll, with the fol lowing inscription s • Το φρόνεια Μονον αγαθόν Το δ' αφρονειν Kanov. Vol. I. p. xxii. Mr. Harris was bred to the law, as a part of an ornamental, perhaps useful, education; but his father dying in his twentyfourth year, he followed the strong and decided bent of his mind,' in pursuing the study of the Greek and Latin classics. This study he followed with great avidity in his retirement at Salisbury; but, after many years, he first attended to the works of Aristotle, having imbibed the usual prejudices against him. His three treatises were published in 1744; and his Hermes in 1751. The subject of the latter was suggested by the Minerva of Sanctius, a work which he always held in the highest esteem. From the period of his marriage (1745) until the year 1761, my father continued to live entirely at Salisbury, except in the summer, when he sometimes retired to his house at Durnford, near that city. It was there that he found himself most free from the interruption of business and of company, and at leisure to compose the chief part of those works which were the result of his study at other seasons. His time was divided between the care of his family, in which he placed his chief happiness, his literary pursuits, and the society of his friends and neighbours, with whom he kept up a constant and cheerful intercourse. The superior taste and skill which he possessed in music, and his extreme fondness for hearing it, led him to attend to its cultivation in his native place with uncommon pains and success; insomuch that, under his auspices, not only the annual musical festival in Salisbury flourished beyond most institutions of the kind, but even the ordinary subscription-concerts were carried on, by his assistance and directions, with a spirit and effect seldom equalled out of the metropolis. Many of the beautiful selections made from the best Italian and German composers for these festivals and concerts, and adapted by my father, sometimes to words selected from Scripture, or from Milton's Paradise Lost, sometimes to compositions of his own, have survived the occasions on which they were first produced, and are still in great estimation. Two volumes of these selections have been lately published by Mr. Corfe, organist of Salisbury cathedral; the rest remain in manuscript in possession of my family. His own house, in the mean time, was the frequent scene of social and musical meetings; and I think I do not hazard too much in saying, that he contributed, both by his own conversation, and by the company which he often assembled at his house from various parts, to refine and improve the taste and manners of the place in which he resided.' Vol. i. P. xv. The Philosophical Arrangements' appeared in 1775; and the Philological Inquiries, one of the most varied and pleasing of our author's productions, in 1781. Lord Malmesbury considers it only as a retrospective view of those studies which exercised his mind in the full vigor of his life, excepting that he regards it as a monument of affection to some of his most intimate friends? Perhaps it may be called collections from his common-place book. It, however, contains many interesting facts, and some valuable information. The Philosophical Arrangements were noticed in our 40th volume, O. S.; and we there pointed out one great object of the author to establish the dignity of mind, and its objects, in opposition to the doctrines of chance, fatality, and materialism-doctrines which have sprung up in many parts of Europe, from the corruption and misinterpretation of the mechanical philosophy.' Vol. xi. p. 8.-The Philological Inquiries were noticed in our volumes 51 and 52. Lord Malmesbury adds what he calls some farther particulars concerning his father's character, which we shall transcribe. The distinction by which he was most generally known, while living, and by which he is likely to survive to posterity, is that of a man of learning. His profound knowledge of Greek, which he applied more successfully, perhaps, than any modern writer has done, to the study and explanation of ancient philosophy, arose from an early and intimate acquaintance with the excellent poets and historians in that language. They, and the best writers of the Augustan age, were his constant and never-failing recreation. By his familia. rity with them, he was enabled to enliven and to illustrate his deeper and more abstruse speculations, as every page almost of these volumes will abundantly testify. But his attainments were not confined to ancient philosophy, and classical learning. He possessed likewise a general knowledge of modern history, with a very distinguishing taste in the fine arts, in one of which, as before observed, he was an eminent proficient. His singular industry empowered him to make these various acquisitions, without neglecting any of the duties which he owed to his family, his friends, or his country. I am in possession of such proofs, besides those already given to the public, of my father's laborious study and reflexion, as, I apprehend, are very rarely to be met with. Not only was he accustomed, through a long series of years, to make copious extracts from the different books which he read, and to write critical remarks and conjectures on many of the passages extracted, but he was also in the habit of regularly committing to writing such reflexions as arose out of his study, which evince a mind carefully disciplined, and anxiously bent on the attainment of self-knowledge, and self-government. And yet, though habituated to deep thinking and laborious reading, he was generally cheerful, even to playfulness. There was no pedantry in It is singular that this expression occurs at the conclusion of our second arti, ele in vol. 52, 0. S. Whence arises the coincidence? Is it borrowed by lord Malines, « bury, or originally written by him ?^ |