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 M. Nakayama

Heian.Tekki
HEIAN, TEKKI
 BEST
KARATE
HeianTekki
M. Nakayama

KODANSHA INTERNATIONAL
Tokyo and New York
Front cover photo by Keizo Kaneko; demonstration photos by Yoshinao
Murai.

Distributed in the United States by Kodansha International/USA Ltd., 114

Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011.

Published by Kodansha International Ltd., 2-2 Otowa. 1-chome, Bunkyo-

ku, Tokyo 112 and Kodansha International/USA Ltd., 114 Fifth Avenue, New
York, New York 10011. Copyright © 1979 by Kodansha International Ltd.
All rights reserved. Printed in Japan.
LCC 77-74829
ISBN 0-87011-379-8
ISBN 4-7700-0726-4 (in Japan)
First edition, 19 79
Tenth printing, 1989
 CONTENTS

Introduction 9
What Karate-do Is 77
Kata 72
Meaning, Important Points, Heian and Tekki
Heian 1 75
Important Points, 28
Heian 2 91
Important Points, 46
Heian 3 49
Important Points, 60
Heian 4 63
Important Points, 74
Heian 5 77
Important Points, 90
Tekki 1 93
Important Points, 106
Tekki 2 705
Important Points, 121
Tekki 3 123
Important Points, 140
Glossary 742
 ■'

.
 Dedicated
to my teacher
GICHIN FUNAKOSHI
i
 The past decade has seen a great increase in the popularity
of karate-do throughout the world. Among those who have
been attracted to it are college students and teachers, artists,
businessmen and civil servants. It has come to be practiced by
policemen and members of Japan's Self-defense Forces. In a
number of universities, it has become a compulsory subject,
and that number is increasing yearly.
Along with the increase in popularity, there have been certain
unfortunate and regrettable interpretations and performances.
For one thing, karate has been confused with the so-called
Chinese-style boxing, and its relationship with the original
Okinawan Te has not been sufficiently understood. There are
also people who have regarded it as a mere show, in which two
men attack each other savagely, or the contestants battle each
other as though it were a form of boxing in which the feet are
used, or a man shows off by breaking bricks or other hard ob¬
jects with his head, hand or foot.
If karate is practiced solely as a fighting technique, this is
cause for regret. The fundamental techniques have been
developed and perfected through long years of study and
practice, but to make any effective use of these techniques, the
spiritual aspect of this art of self-defense must be recognized
and must play the predominant role. It is gratifying to me to see
that there are those who understand this, who know that
karate-do is a purely Oriental martial art, and who train with the
proper attitude.
To be capable of inflicting devastating damage on an oppo¬
nent with one blow of the fist or a single kick has indeed been
the objective of this ancient Okinawan martial art. But even the
practitioners of old placed stronger emphasis on the spiritual
side of the art than on the techniques. Training means training
of body and spirit, and, above all else, one should treat his oppo¬
nent courteously and with the proper etiquette. It is not enough
to fight with all one's power; the real objective in karate-do is to
do so for the sake of justice.
Gichin Funakoshi, a great master of karate-do, pointed out
repeatedly that the first purpose in pursuing this art is the nur¬
turing of a sublime spirit, a spirit of humility. Simultaneously,
power sufficient to destroy a ferocious wild animal with a single

9
 blow should be developed. Becoming a true follower of karate-
do is possible only when one attains perfection in these two
aspects, the one spiritual, the other physical.
Karate as an art of self-defense and karate as a means of im¬
proving and maintaining health has long existed. During the
past twenty years, a new activity has been explored and is com¬
ing to the fore. This is sports karate.
In sports karate, contests are held for the purpose of deter¬
mining the ability of the participants. This needs emphasizing,
for here again there is cause for regret. There is a tendency to
place too much emphasis on winning contests, and those who
do so neglect the practice of fundamental techniques, opting
instead to attempt jiyu kumite at the earliest opportunity.
Emphasis on winning contests cannot help but alter the fun¬
damental techniques a person uses and the practice he engages
in. Not only that, it will result in a person's being incapable of
executing a strong and effective technique, which, after all, is
the unique characteristic of karate-do. The man who begins
jiyu kumite prematurely—without having practiced funda¬
mentals sufficiently—will soon be overtaken by the man who
has trained in the basic techniques long and diligently. It is,
quite simply, a matter of haste makes waste. There is no alterna¬
tive to learning and practicing basic techniques and move¬
ments step by step, stage by stage.
If karate competitions are to be held, they must be conducted
under suitable conditions and in the proper spirit. The desire to
win a contest is counterproductive, since it leads to a lack of
seriousness in learning the fundamentals. Moreover, aiming for
a savage display of strength and power in a contest is totally
undesirable. When this happens, courtesy toward the opponent
is forgotten, and this js of prime importance in any expression
of karate. I believe this matter deserves a great deal of reflection
and self-examination by both instructors and students.
To explain the many and complex movements of the body, it
has been my desire to present a fully illustrated book with an
up-to-date text, based on the experience in this art that I have
acquired over a period of forty-six years. This hope is being
realized by the publication of the Best Karate series, in which
earlier writings of mine have been totally revised with the help
and encouragement of my readers. This new series explains in
detail what karate-do is in language made as simple as possible,
and I sincerely hope that it will be of help to followers of karate-
do. I hope also that karateka in many countries will be able to
understand each other better through this series of books.

10
 WHAT KARATE-DO IS

Deciding who is the winner and who is the loser is not the
ultimate objective. Karate-do is a martial art for the develop¬
ment of character through training, so that the karateka can
surmount any obstacle, tangible or intangible.
Karate-do is an empty-handed art of self-defense in which
the arms and legs are systematically trained and an enemy
attacking by surprise can be controlled by a demonstration of
strength like that of using actual weapons.
Karate-do is exercise through which the karateka masters all
body movements, such as bending, jumping and balancing, by
learning to move limbs and body backward and forward, left and
right, up and down, freely and uniformly.
The techniques of karate-do are well controlled according to
the karateka's will power and are directed at the target accurate¬
ly and spontaneously.
The essence of karate techniques is kime. The meaning of
kime is an explosive attack to the target using the appropriate
technique and maximum power in the shortest time possible.
(Long ago, there was the expression ikken hissatsu, meaning
"to kill with one blow," but to assume from this that killing is
the objective is dangerous and incorrect. It should be remem¬
bered that the karateka of old were able to practice kime daily
and in dead seriousness by using the makiwara.)
Kime may be accomplished by striking, punching or kicking,
but also by blocking. A technique lacking kime can never be
regarded as true karate, no matter how great the resemblance
to karate. A contest is no exception; however, it rs against the
rules to make contact because of the danger involved.
Sun-dome means to arrest a technique just before contact
with the target (one sun, about three centimeters). But not
carrying a technique through to kime is not true karate, so the
question is how to reconcile the contradiction between kime
and sun-dome. The answer is this: establish the target slightly
in front of the opponent's vital point. It can then be hit in a con¬
trolled way with maximum power, without making contact.
Training transforms various parts of the body into weapons to
be used freely and effectively. The quality necessary to accom¬
plish this is self-control. To become a victor, one must first
overcome his own self.
 KATA

The kata of karate-do are logical arrangements of blocking,

punching, striking and kicking techniques in certain set se¬
quences. About fifty kata, or "formal exercises,” are practiced
atthe present time, some having been passed down from genera¬
tion to generation, others having been developed fairly recently.
Kata can be divided into two broad categories. In one group
are those appropriate for physical development, the strength¬
ening of bone and muscle. Though seemingly simple, they
require composure for their performance and exhibit strength
and dignity when correctly performed. In the other group are
kata suitable for the development of fast reflexes and the ability
to move quickly. The lightninglike movements in these kata are
suggestive of the rapid flight of the swallow. All kata require and
foster rhythm and coordination.
Training in kata is spiritual as well as physical. In his per¬
formance of the kata, the karateka should exhibit boldness and
confidence, but also humility, gentleness and a sense of deco¬
rum, thus integrating mind and body in a singular discipline.
As Gichin Funakoshi often reminded his students, "The spirit of
karate-do is lost without courtesy." \
One expression of this courtesy is the bow made at the
beginning and at the end of each kata. The stance is the
musubi-dachi (informal attention stance), with the arms relaxed,
the hands lightly touching the thighs and the eyes focused
straight ahead.
From the bow at the start of the kata, one moves into the
kamae of the first movement of the kata. This is a relaxed posi¬
tion, so tenseness, particularly in the shoulders and knees, should
be eliminated and breathing should be relaxed. The center of
power and concentration is the tanden. the center of gravity.
In this position, the karateka should be prepared for any even¬
tuality and full of fighting spirit.
Being relaxed but alert also characterizes the bow at the end
of the kata and is called zanshin. In karate-do, as in other martial
arts, bringing the kata to a perfect finish is of the greatest
importance.
Each kata begins with a blocking technique and consists of
a specific number of movements to be performed in a particular
order. There is some variation in the complexity of the move¬
ments and. the time required to complete them, but each
12
 movement has its own meaning and function and nothing is
superfluous. Performance is along the embusen (performance
line), the shape of which is decided for each kata.
While performing a kata, the karateka should imagine himself
to be surrounded by opponents and be prepared to execute
defensive'and offensive techniques in any direction.
Mastery of kata is a prerequsite for advancement through kyu
and dan as follows:
8th kyu Heian 1
7th kyu Heian 2
6th kyu Heian 3
5th kyu Heian 4
4th kyu Heian 5
3rd kyu Tekki 1
2nd kyu Kata other than Heian or Tekki
1 st kyu Other than the above
1 st dan Other than the above
2nd dan and above Free kata
Free kata may be chosen from Bassai, Kanku, Jitte, Hangetsu,
Empi, Gankaku, Jion, Tekki, Nijushiho, Gojushiho, Unsu,
Sochin. Meikyo, Chintei, Wankan and others.

Important Points

Since the effects of practice are cumulative, practice every

day, even if only for a few minutes. When performing a kata,
keep calm and never rush through the movements. This means
always being aware of the correct timing of each movement.
If a particular kata proves difficult, give it more attention, and
always keep in mind the relationship between kata practice and
kumite (see Vols. 3 and 4).
Specific points in performance are:
1. Correct order. The number and sequence of movements
is predetermined. All must be performed.
2. Beginning and end. The kata must begin and end at the
same spot on the embusen. This requires practice.
3. Meaning of each movement. Each movement, defensive
or offensive must be clearly understood and fully expressed.
This is also true of the kata as a whole, each of which has its
own characteristics.
4. Awareness of the target. The karateka must know what
the target is and when to execute a technique.
5. Rhythm and timing. Rhythm must be appropriate to the
particular kata and the body must be flexible, never overstrained.
Remember the three factors of the correct use of power, swift¬
ness or slowness in executing techniques, and the stretching
and contraction of muscles.
6. Proper breathing. Breathing should change with
changing situations, but basically inhale when blocking, exhale
13
when a finishing technique is executed, and inhale and exhale
when executing successive techniques.
Related to breathing is the kiai. which occurs in the middle
or at the end of the kata, at the moment of maximum tension.
By exhaling very sharply and tensing the abdomen, extra power
can be given to the muscles.

Heian and Tekki

The five Heian and three Tekki kata are all basic kata.
Through the performance of the Heian kata, one should
master the principles and skills that are indispensable in karate.
From the Tekki kata, one should acquire the dignity and
strength of karate techniques, but more than that, he should
come to master the dynamic, driving force that comes through
practice designed to make the hips and stances strong.
The embusen in Heian 1 and 2 is I shaped. In Heian 3 and 5,
it is T shaped. In Heian 4, it is shaped like an I, but with the ver¬
tical line extending above the upper horizontal line.
The embusen in the Tekki kata is a straight line.

14
 1
HEIAN 1
From bow to shizen-tai

Move left foot first.

Migi chudan oi-zuki

Right middle level lunge punch Keep left foot firm. Punch
while sliding right foot forward.
Left downward block The left fist should be about 1 5 centi¬
meters above the left knee.

, Migi gedan barai

Right downward block Left leg is jiku ashi (pivot leg). Move
right leg in a wide arc.

2. Migi zenkutsu-dachi 3. Migi zenkutsu-dachi

17
Vertical strike with right hammer fist First bring right foot
halfway back and right fist back strongly. Advance right foot

Left middle level lunge punch Slide left foot one step forward.
Tighten right leg.

4. Migi zenkutsu-dachi
18
and strike. No power in elbow. Twist right arm so back of fist is
to the right.

Hidari gedan barai

Left downward block Right leg is jiku ashi. Turn hips to left.
Slide left foot to left.

5. Hidari zenkutsu-dachi
19
Right upper level rising block Cross left palm and right forearm
in front of jaw. Slide right foot forward. Twist right forearm so
back of fist is to the rear.

Left upper level rising block Open and close right fist.
Bring it to the right hip.

7. Migi zenkutsu-dachi
20
Right upper level rising block Open and close left fist, back of
hand outward. Cross wrists.

8. Hidari zenkutsu-dachi 9. Migi zenkutsu-dachi

21
 Hidari gedan barai

Left downward block Raise left fist to right shoulder. Pivot to

the left.

Right downward block With left leg as jiku ashi. turn hips to
the right.
Right middle level lunge punch Slide right foot forward.
Tighten left leg.

Left middle level lunge punch Slide left foot forward. Tighten
right leg.

12. Migi zenkutsu-dachi 13. Hidari zenkutsu-dachi

23
 Hidari gedan barai

Left middle level lunge punch Slide left foot one step for¬
ward.

14. Hidari zenkutsu-dachi

24
 Migi chudan oi-zuki

Right middle level lunge punch Slide right foot one step for-
ward.

Right middle level lunge punch Slide right foot one step for¬
ward.
Left sword hand block Turn with right knee bent. Bring left leg
to left side.

Right sword hand block Keep left knee bent and pivot on left
leg to the right.

26
 Migi shuto uke

Right sword hand block With left knee bent, shift body weight
to left leg.

Hidari shuto uke Yame

Left sword hand block Shift weight to right leg Clench both fists and
gradually. Turn diagonally to left. bring back left foot.

20. Hidari kokutsu-dachi 21. Migi kokutsu-dachi

27
HEIAN 1: IMPORTANT POINTS

Heian 1 is composed of basic

blocking techniques—downward
block, upper level rising block,
middle level block with the back of
the sword hand—and the middle
level straight punch. The stances are
the front stance and the back stance.
Also included is the method of
countering when your wrist is
grasped by a strong opponent. The
most important things to master
in this kata are reversing direction
and leg movements.
Twenty-one movements. About
forty seconds.

1. To execute a technique to the left side from shizen-tai, turn

hips to the left, slide left foot to the left.

28
3

2. In reversing direction, the feeling should be of quickly

pulling the hips toward the heel of the pivot leg. Do not raise the
heel of the pivot foot.
3. In circling to the right side with right leg as pivot, quickly
rotate hips to the left and quickly slide left foot.

29
4. In reversing direction, use the right front leg of the front
stance as the pivot leg. Turn hips to the left to take a left back
stance to the right side. Bend right knee; do not change height
of hips.
5. In going from back stance to back stance, shift weight to
front leg. Slide back leg forward or to the side.

30
 2
HEIAN 2
 Hidari haiwan hidari sokumen jodan yoko uke
Migi zenwan hitai mae yoko kamae

Upper level block to left side with left back-arm/Right forearm

at side of forehead kamae

Hidari ken hidari sokumen chudan-zuki

Migi ken migi koshi kamae

Middle level punch to left side with left fist/Right fist at right
side

7. Migi kokutsu-dachi 2.
32
B Migi kentsui hidari sokumen uchi-komi
Hidari tekubi na gashi- uke

Strike to left side with right hammer fist/Sweeping block with

left wrist

Migi haiwan migi sokumen jodan yoko

Hidari zenwan hitai mae yoko kamae

Upper level block to right side with right back-arm/Left forearm

at side of forehead kamae

4. Hidari kokutsu-dachi
3.
33
Strike to right side with left hammer fist/Sweeping block with
right wrist

Right fist on top of left fist Turn hips to right. Raise right sole
to left knee.

6.
 Migi ken migi sokumen chudan-zuki
Hidari ken hidari koshi

Middle level punch to right side with right fist (Left fist at left
side

Migi uraken jodan yoko mawashi-uchi

Migi sokuto yoko keage

% %

Upper level horizontal strike with right back-fist/Side snap kick

with right sword foot
Left sword hand block/Right sword hand in front of chest kamae
Return kicking foot smoothly.

9. Hidari kokutsu-dachi
 Migi shuto uke
9

Right sword hand block Shift weight to left leg,

H
bend left knee, slide right foot forward.

Migi shihon nukite chudan tate-zuki

Hidari sho osae-uke

Middle level vertical punch with right four-finger

spear hand/Pressing block with left palm
Left sword hand block With right leg as pivot, rotate hips in a
wide movement to the left.

Right sword hand block Left leg is pivot leg. Rotate hips to the
right.
Right sword hand block Shift weight to left leg. Slide right foot
diagonally forward.

Left sword hand block Shift weight to right leg and slide left
foot diagonally forward.

14. Hidari kokutsu-dachi 15. Migi kokutsu-dachi

39
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UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE
DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.
 THE

GALLERY OF PORTRAITS:
WITH

MEMOIRS.

VOLUME V.

LONDON:
CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE-STREET.

1835.

[PRICE ONE GUINEA, BOUND IN CLOTH.]

LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
Duke-Street, Lambeth.
PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES
CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.

Page.

1. Taylor 1

2. Lavoisier 9

3. Sydenham 18

4. Clarendon 25

5. Reynolds 35

6. Swift 45

7. Locke 53

8. Selden 61

9. Paré 69

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22. Bolivar 173

23. Arkwright 181

24. Cowper 189

 Engraved by W. Holl.

JEREMY TAYLOR.

From the original Picture in

the Hall of All Souls
College, Oxford.

Under the Superintendance

of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.

London, Published by
Charles Knight, Ludgate
Street.
 TAYLOR.

If this great ornament of our church did not boast of an exalted

lineage, he numbered among his forefathers one at least, the worthy
ancestor of such a descendant, Dr. Rowland Taylor, chaplain to
Cranmer, and rector of Hadleigh, distinguished among the divines of
the Reformation for his abilities, learning, and piety, as well as for
the courageous cheerfulness with which he suffered death at the
stake in the reign of Queen Mary. Jeremy Taylor was the son of a
barber, resident in Trinity parish, Cambridge; and was baptized in
Trinity church, August 15, 1613. He was “grounded in grammar and
mathematics” by his father, and entered as a sizar at Caius College,
August 18, 1626. Of his deportment, his studies, even of the
honours and emoluments of his academical life, we have no certain
knowledge. It is stated by Dr. Rust, in his Funeral Sermon, that
Taylor was elected fellow: but this is at least doubtful, for no record
of the fact exists in the registers of the college. He proceeded to the
degree of M. A. in 1633; and in the same year, though at the early
age of twenty, we find him in orders, and officiating as a divinity
lecturer in St. Paul’s Cathedral. His talents as a preacher attracted
the notice of Archbishop Laud, who sent for him to preach at
Lambeth, and approved of his performance, but thought him too
young. Taylor begged his Grace’s pardon for that fault, and promised
that, if he lived, he would mend it. By that prelate’s interest he was
admitted to the degree of M. A. ad eundem, in University College,
Oxford, October 20, 1635, and shortly after nominated to a
fellowship at All Souls College. It was probably through the interest
of the same powerful patron that he obtained the rectory of
Uppingham in Rutlandshire, tenable with his fellowship, March 23,
1638. The fellowship, however, he vacated by his marriage with
Phœbe Langsdale, May 27, 1639, who died in little more than three
years, leaving two sons.
Taylor attracted notice at Oxford by his talents as a preacher; but he
does not seem to have commenced, during this period of ease and
tranquillity, any of those great works which have rendered him
illustrious as one of the most laborious, eloquent, and persuasive of
British divines. The only sermon extant which we can distinctly refer
to this period, is one preached by command of the Vice-chancellor
on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, 1638. This piece requires
notice, because it is connected with a report, circulated both during
Taylor’s residence at Oxford and afterwards, that he was secretly
inclined to Popery. It is even said that he “wished to be confirmed a
member of the church of Rome,” (Wood, Athenæ Oxon.) but was
rejected with scorn in consequence of the things advanced against
that church in this sermon. Of this whole statement Bishop Heber, in
his ‘Life of Taylor,’ has expressed his disbelief; and the arguments on
which his opinion is founded appear to us satisfactory. Not even
during his peaceable abode at Uppingham do Taylor’s great works
appear to have been projected, as if his amiable, affectionate, and
zealous temper had been fully occupied by domestic cares and
pleasures, and by the constant though quiet duties of a parish priest.
The year 1642, as it witnessed the overthrow of his domestic
happiness by his wife’s death, saw also the beginning of those
troubles which cast him out of his church preferment, a homeless
man. We do not know the date of the sequestration of his living; but
as he joined Charles I. at Oxford in the autumn of the year;
published in the same year, by the King’s command, his treatise ‘Of
the sacred Order and Offices of Episcopacy, &c.;’ was created D. D.
by royal mandate; appointed chaplain to the King, in which capacity
he frequently preached at Oxford, and attended the royal army in
the wars; it is probable that he was among the first of those who
paid the penalty of adhering to the losing cause. Little is known of
this portion of Taylor’s history. It appears that he quitted the army,
and retired into Wales, where he married, became again involved in
the troubles of war, and was taken prisoner at Cardigan, Feb. 4,
1644. We do not know the date of his release, or of his marriage to
his second wife, Joanna Bridges, a lady possessed of some landed
property at Mandinam, near Golden Grove, in the Vale of Towy, in
Carmarthenshire, who was commonly said to be a natural daughter
of Charles I., born before his marriage. But Heber conjectures that
Taylor’s marriage was anterior to his imprisonment, and that his
wife’s estate was amerced in a heavy fine, in consequence of his
being found engaged in the royal cause at Cardigan. It is at least
certain that until the Restoration he was very poor, and that he
supported himself during part of the time by keeping a school.
During this period of public confusion and domestic trouble, Taylor
composed an ‘Apology for authorized and set Forms of Liturgy,’
published in 1646, and his great work, a ‘Discourse on the Liberty of
Prophesying,’ published in 1647, “the first attempt on record to
conciliate the minds of Christians to the reception of a doctrine
which, though now the rule of action professed by all Christian sects,
was then, by all sects alike, regarded as a perilous and portentous
novelty.”[1] As such, it was received with distrust, if not
disapprobation, by all parties; and if it was intended to inculcate
upon the Episcopalians the propriety of conceding something to the
prejudices of their opponents, as well as to procure an alleviation of
the oppression exercised on the Episcopal church, we may see in the
conduct of the government after the Restoration, that Taylor
preached a doctrine for which neither the one nor the other were
then ripe. It is the more to his honour that in this important point of
Christian charity he had advanced beyond his own party, as well as
those by whom his party was then persecuted. But though his views
were extended enough to meet with disapprobation from his
contemporaries, he gives a greater latitude to the civil power in
repressing error by penal means, than the general practice, at least
in Protestant countries, would now grant. “The forbearance which he
claims, he claims for those Christians only who unite in the
confession of the Apostles’ Creed,” and he advocates the drawing
together of all who will subscribe to that ancient and comprehensive
form of belief into one church, forgetting differences which do not
involve the fundamental points of Christianity. And he inculcates the
“danger and impropriety of driving men into schism by multiplying
symbols and subscriptions, and contracting the bounds of
communion, and the still greater wickedness of regarding all
discrepant opinions as damnable in the life to come, and in the
present capital.” For a fuller account of this remarkable work, we
refer to the Life by Heber, p. 201–218, or still better, to the original.

1. Heber’s Life of Taylor, p. xxvii.

It was followed at no long interval by the ‘Great Exemplar of Sanctity
and Holy Life, described in the Life and Death of Jesus Christ.’ This,
the first of Taylor’s great works which became extensively popular, is
almost entirely practical in its tendency, having been composed, as
the author tells us, with the intention of drawing men’s minds from
controverted doctrines, to the vital points on which all men are
agreed, but which all men forget so easily. It is not an attempt to
connect the relations of the four Evangelists into one complete and
chronologically consistent account; but a “series of devout
meditations on the different events recorded in the New Testament,
as well as on the more remarkable traditions which have usually
been circulated respecting the Divine Author of our religion, his
earthly parent, and his followers,” set off by that majestic style, that
store of illustrations derived from the most recondite and
miscellaneous learning, and, above all, that fervent and poetical
imagination, by which Taylor is distinguished perhaps above all the
prose writers in our language. Such qualities, even without a
digested plan and connected strain of argument, which, requiring a
more continuous and attentive perusal, would not perhaps have
made the book more acceptable or useful to the bulk of readers,
ensured for it a favourable reception; and the author followed up the
impression which he had produced, at no distant period, by two
other treatises of a similar practical tendency, which, from their
comparative shortness, are better known than any other of Taylor’s
works, and probably have been as extensively read as any
devotional books in the English language. We speak of the treatises
on Holy Living and on Holy Dying.
It has been mentioned that near Mandinam stood Golden Grove, the
seat of the Earl of Carbery, a nobleman distinguished by his abilities
and zeal in the Royal cause. He proved a constant and sincere friend
to Taylor; and the grateful scholar has conferred celebrity upon the
name and hospitality of Golden Grove by his ‘Guide to Infant
Devotion,’ or manual of daily prayers, which are called by the name
of that place, in which they, and many other of the author’s works,
were meditated; especially his Eniautos, or course of sermons for all
the Sundays in the year.
Considerable obscurity hangs over this portion of Taylor’s life: but it
appears that in the years 1654–5 he was twice imprisoned, in
consequence of his advocacy of the fallen causes of Episcopacy and
Royalty. At some time in 1654 he formed an acquaintance with
Evelyn, which proved profitable and honourable to both parties; for
the layman, as is evident from his Memoirs and Diary, highly valued
and laid to heart the counsels of the man whom he selected as his
“ghostly father,” and to whose poverty he liberally ministered in
return out of his own abundance.
We learn from Evelyn’s Diary that Taylor was in London in the spring
of 1637, and his visits, if not annual, were at least frequent. He
made many friends, and among them the Earl of Conway, a
nobleman possessed of large estates in the north-east of Ireland,
who conceived the desire of securing Taylor’s eminent abilities for
the service of his own neighbourhood, and obtained for him a
lectureship in the small town of Lisburne. Taylor removed his family
to Ireland in the summer of 1658. He dwelt near Portmore, his
patron’s splendid seat on the banks of Lough Neagh; and some of
the islands in that noble lake, and in a smaller neighbouring piece of
water called Lough Beg, are still recorded, by the traditions of the
peasantry, to have been his favourite places of study and retirement.
To this abode his letters show him to have been much attached.
In the spring of 1660 Taylor visited London, to superintend in its
passage through the press the ‘Rule of Conscience, or Ductor
Dubitantium.’ This, it appears from the author’s letters, was
considerably advanced so early as the year 1655. It was the fruit of
much time, much diligence, and much prayer; and that of all his
writings concerning the execution of which he seems to have felt
most anxiety. In this case, as it often happens, the author seems to
have formed an erroneous estimate of the comparative value of his
works. Neither on its first appearance, nor in later times, did the
‘Ductor Dubitantium’ become extensively popular. Its object, which
even at the first was accounted obsolete, was to supply what the
Romish church obtained by the practice of confession, a set of rules
by which a scrupulous conscience may be guided in the variety of
doubtful points of duty which may occur. The abuses are well
known, to which the casuistic subtlety of the Romish doctors gave
birth; and it may be doubted whether it were wise to lay one stone
towards rebuilding an edifice, which the general diffusion of the
Scriptures, a sufficient rule, if rightly studied, to solve all doubts, had
rendered unnecessary. The work, in spite of its passages of
eloquence and profusion of learning, is too prolix to be a favourite in
these latter days, but it is still, says his biographer, (p. ccxciii.) one
“which few can read without profit, and none, I think, without
entertainment. It resembles in some degree those ancient inlaid
cabinets, (such as Evelyn, Boyle, or Wilkins might have bequeathed
to their descendants,) whose multifarious contents perplex our
choice, and offer to the admiration or curiosity of a more accurate
age a vast wilderness of trifles and varieties with no arrangement at
all, or an arrangement on obsolete principles, but whose ebony
drawers and perfumed recesses contain specimens of every thing
that is precious or uncommon, and many things for which a modern
museum might be searched in vain.”
Taylor’s accidental presence in London at this period, when the
hopes of the Royalists were reviving, was probably serviceable to his
future fortunes. He obtained by it the opportunity of joining in the
Royalist declaration of April 24; and he was among the first to derive
benefit from the restoration of that King and that Church, of whose
interests he had ever been a most zealous, able, and consistent
supporter. He was nominated Bishop of Down and Connor, August 6,
1660, and consecrated in St. Patrick’s Cathedral January 27, 1661. In
the interval he was appointed Vice-chancellor of the University of
Dublin, which during past troubles had been greatly dilapidated and
disordered, in respect both of its revenues and discipline. He was the
principal instrument in remodelling and completing the statutes, and
settling the University in its present form.
In the spring of 1661 Taylor was made a member of the Irish Privy
Council, and the small diocese of Dromore, adjacent to Down, was
assigned to his charge, “on account,” in the words of the writ under
the Privy Seal, “of his virtue, wisdom, and industry.” This praise was
well deserved by his conduct in that difficult time, when those who
had displaced the episcopal clergy were apprehensive of being in
their turn obliged to give way, and religious differences were
embittered by thoughts of temporal welfare. Taylor had to deal
chiefly with the wilder and most enthusiastic party, and his advances
towards an intercourse of Christian charity were met with scorn and
insult. But his exemplary conduct, and persevering gentleness of
demeanour, did much to soften at least the laity of his opponents;
for we are told that the nobility and gentry of the three dioceses
over which he presided came over, with one exception, to the
Bishop’s side.
His varied duties can now have left little time for the labour of the
pen; still he published sermons from time to time, and in 1664
completed and published his last great work, a ‘Dissuasive from
Popery,’ undertaken by desire of the collective body of Irish bishops.
He continued after his elevation to reside principally at Portmore,
occasionally at Lisburne. Of his habits, and the incidents of this latter
part of his life, we know next to nothing; except that he suffered the
severest affliction which could befal a man of his sensibility and
piety, in the successive deaths of his three surviving sons, and the
misconduct of two of them. One died at Lisburne, in March, 1661;
one fell in a duel, his adversary also dying of his wounds; the third
became the favourite companion of the profligate Duke of
Buckingham, and died of a decline, August 2, 1667. Of the latter
event the Bishop can scarcely have heard, for he died on the 13th of
the same month, after ten days’ sickness. He was buried at
Dromore. Two of his daughters married in Ireland, into the families
of Marsh and Harrison; and several Irish families of repute claim to
be connected with the blood of this exemplary prelate by the female
line.
The materials for Bishop Taylor’s life are very scanty. The earliest
sketch of it is to be found in the funeral sermon preached by his
friend and successor in the see of Dromore, Dr. Rust, who sums up
the virtues of the deceased in a peroration of highly-wrought
panegyric, of which the following just eulogy is a part—“He was a
person of great humility; and notwithstanding his stupendous parts,
and learning, and eminency of place, he had nothing in him of pride
and humour, but was courteous and affable, and of easy access, and
would lend a ready ear to the complaints, yea, to the impertinence
of the meanest persons. His humility was coupled with an
extraordinary piety; and I believe he spent the greatest part of his
time in heaven.... To all his other virtues he added a large and
diffusive charity; and whoever compares his plentiful income with
the inconsiderable estate he left at his death, will be easily
convinced that charity was steward for a great proportion of his
revenue. But the hungry that he fed, and the naked that he clothed,
and the distressed that he supplied, and the fatherless that he
provided for, the poor children that he put to apprentice, and
brought up at school, and maintained at the university, will now
sound a trumpet to that charity which he dispensed with his right
hand, but would not suffer his left hand to have any knowledge of it.
“To sum up all in a few words, this great prelate had the good
humour of a gentleman, the eloquence of an orator, the fancy of a
poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profoundness of a
philosopher, the wisdom of a counsellor, the sagacity of a prophet,
the reason of an angel, and the piety of a saint; he had devotion
enough for a cloister, learning enough for an university, and wit
enough for a college of virtuosi; and had his parts and endowments
been parcelled out among his poor clergy that he left behind him, it
would perhaps have made one of the best dioceses in the world.
But, alas! ‘Our Father! our Father! the horses of our Israel, and the
chariot thereof!’ he is gone, and has carried his mantle and his spirit
along with him up to heaven; and the sons of the prophets have lost
all their beauty and lustre which they enjoyed only from the
reflection of his excellencies, which were bright and radiant enough
to cast a glory upon a whole order of men.”
There is a life of Taylor by Archdeacon Bonney; and a copious
memoir, enriched by a minute analysis of all the more remarkable
compositions of our author, is prefixed to Bishop Heber’s edition of
Taylor’s works. From this the materials of the present sketch are
taken. Nor can we better conclude than with the eloquent estimate
of Taylor’s merits, with which the accomplished biographer concludes
his work. “It is on devotional and moral subjects that the peculiar
character of Taylor’s mind is most, and most successfully, developed.
To this service he devotes his most glowing language; to this his
aptest illustrations, his thoughts, and his words, at once burst into a
flame, when touched by the coals of this altar; and whether he
describes the duties, or dangers, or hopes of man, or the mercy,
power, and justice of the Most High; whether he exhorts or instructs
his brethren, or offers up his supplications in their behalf to the
common Father of all, his conceptions and his expressions belong to
the loftiest and most sacred description of poetry, of which they only
want, what they cannot be said to need, the name and the metrical
arrangement.
“It is this distinctive excellence, still more than the other
qualifications of learning and logical acuteness, which has placed
him, even in that age of gigantic talent, on an eminence superior to
any of his immediate contemporaries; and has seated him, by the
almost unanimous estimate of posterity, on the same lofty elevation
with Hooker and with Barrow.
“Of such a triumvirate, who shall settle the precedence? Yet it may,
perhaps, be not far from the truth, to observe that Hooker claims
the foremost rank in sustained and classic dignity of style, in political
and pragmatical wisdom; that to Barrow the praise must be assigned
of the closest and clearest views, and of a taste the most controlled
and chastened; but that in imagination, in interest, in that which
more properly and exclusively deserves the name of genius, Taylor is
to be placed before either. The first awes most, the second
convinces most, the third persuades and delights most: and,
according to the decision of one whose own rank among the
ornaments of English literature yet remains to be determined by
posterity (Dr. Parr), Hooker is the object of our reverence, Barrow of
our admiration, and Jeremy Taylor of our love.”

Engraved by C. E.
Wagstaff.

LAVOISIER.

From the original Picture

by David in a Private
Collection at Paris.
Under the Superintendance
of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.

London, Published by
Charles Knight, Ludgate
Street.
 LAVOISIER.

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was born in Paris, August 26, 1743. He

was educated under the eye of his father, a man of opulence, with
discernment to appreciate his son’s abilities, and liberality to
cultivate them without regard to cost. Lavoisier early showed a
decided inclination for the physical sciences; and before he was
twenty years old, had made himself master of the principal branches
of natural philosophy.
In 1764 the government proposed an extraordinary premium for the
best and cheapest project of lighting the streets of Paris, and other
large cities. To this subject, involving a knowledge of several
branches of science, Lavoisier immediately devoted his attention. He
produced so able a memoir, full of the most masterly, accurate, and
practical views, that the gold medal was awarded to him. This
production was the means of introducing him into the Academy of
Sciences, of which, after a severe contest, he was admitted a
member, May 13, 1768; and he proved himself through life one of its
most useful and valuable associates.
At this time the whole range of chemical and physico-chemical
science was in an extremely imperfect state; and the first steps to a
more improved system involved the necessity of clearing away a vast
mass of error which encumbered the path to truth. For instance, one
of the fanciful ideas, the offspring of the alchemy of the dark ages,
which still continued to haunt the regions of science, was the belief
of the conversion of water into earth by gradual consolidation. This
subject Lavoisier treated in the true spirit of the experimental
method, and clearly showed that the pretended conversion was
either a deposition of earthy particles, or a sediment arising from the
action of the water on the internal surface of the retort. He also
laboured on the analysis of the gypsum found in the neighbourhood
of Paris, and on the crystallization of salts. He discussed the project
of conveying water from L’Yvette to Paris, and the theory of
congelation; and to these researches added extensive observations
on the phenomena of thunder and the Aurora Borealis.
He next directed his attention more especially to mineralogy; and
made excursions, in conjunction with Guettard, into all parts of
France, endeavouring to form from different districts a complete
collection of their characteristic mineral productions. He made
advances towards a systematic classification of facts connected with
the localities of fossils, which afterwards served as the basis of his
work on the revolutions of the globe and the formation of successive
strata, of which two admirable abstracts were inserted in the
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, for 1772 and 1787.
Thus during the earlier part of his life, Lavoisier does not seem to
have devoted himself in particular to any one branch of science. But
about the year 1770 the announcement of the existence of more
than one species of gaseous matter, arising out of the successive
researches of Black, Scheele, Priestley, and Cavendish, had the
effect of fixing his attention to the subject of pneumatic chemistry.
The invaluable discoveries just alluded to had opened a new world to
the inquirer into nature; and the labours of those distinguished
experimentalists had conspired to commence a fresh era in science.
Lavoisier was one of the first to appreciate at once the importance of
the results they had arrived at, and the immense field of further
research to which those results had opened the way. He perceived
by a sort of instinct the glorious career which lay before him; and
the influence which this new science thus, as it were, created, must
have over every sort of physical research. Priestley possessed
precisely those qualifications which are most available for striking
out new and brilliant discoveries of facts; a boundless fertility of
invention; a power of rapidly seizing remote analogies; and an equal
readiness in framing and in abandoning hypotheses, which have no
value, but as guides to experiment. Lavoisier, less eminent in these
respects, possessed in a more peculiar degree the mental
characteristics which enable their owner to advance to grand
generalizations and philosophical theories upon the sure basis of
facts. He possessed, in its fullest sense, the true spirit of inductive
caution, and even geometrical rigour; and his observations,
eminently precise and luminous, always pointed to more general
views.
In 1774, he published his ‘Opuscules Chimiques,’ in which, after a
full and truly philosophical examination of the labours of preceding
experimenters in the discovery of the gases and their characteristic
properties, he proceeds to describe his own beautiful and
fundamentally important researches, from which resulted the ‘True
Theory of Combustion,’ which may be termed the very sun and
centre of the whole modern system of chemistry.
To the vague dreams of the alchemist had succeeded the remarkable
theory of Hooke, who maintained that a certain ingredient of the
atmospheric air (which also enters as an ingredient into several
other bodies, especially nitre) was the solvent which absorbed a
portion of the combustible. This process was continued in proportion
as more of the solvent was supplied. The solution took place with
such rapidity, as to occasion those motions or pulsations in which
Hooke believed heat and light to consist.
This near approach to the truth was thrown into discredit by the
more brilliant and imposing theory of Stahl, who captivated the
imaginations of chemists by his doctrine of phlogiston, the principle
or element of fire, a sort of metaphysical something, which
conferred the property of being combustible. Stahl taught that the
process of combustion deprived bodies of their phlogiston, which, in
the act of separation, exhibited its latent energies in the evolution of
light and heat.
This wild chimera long maintained its ground, and received
successive modifications in the hands of several distinguished
chemists, the most important of which was that of Kirwan; but these
all retained the fundamental error that something was abstracted
from the burning body. Yet Rey, so early as 1630, and Bayer
afterwards, had both shown that metals by calcination increase in
weight, or have something added to them. Lavoisier turned his
attention to the defects of the existing theory about 1770; and the
last-named experiments probably directed him more specifically to
the essential point of the inquiry. He pursued his researches with
unwearied industry; and by a long series of experiments of the most
laborious and precise nature, he succeeded in determining that, in
all cases of combustion, that substance which is the real combustible
invariably receives an addition, or enters into a new combination;
and the matter with which it combines is in all cases that same
substance which had now been shown by Priestley to be one of the
constituents of the atmosphere, and which was then known by the
name of vital air.
It was however long before Lavoisier gained a single convert. At
length M. Berthollet, at a meeting of the Academy in 1785, publicly
renounced the old opinions and declared himself a convert. Fourcroy
followed his example. In 1787, Morveau, during a visit to Paris,
became convinced, and declared the conclusions of Lavoisier
irresistible. The younger chemists speedily embraced the new views;
and their establishment was thus complete. There only remained
some lurking prejudices in England, where the Essay of Kirwan
retained its credit. Lavoisier and his coadjutors translated this essay
into French, accompanying each section by a refutation. So
completely was this done, that the author himself was convinced;
and, with that candour which distinguishes superior minds, gave up
his views as untenable, and declared himself a convert.
These discoveries introduced Lavoisier to the notice of the most
eminent persons in the State; and in 1776, Turgot engaged him to
superintend the manufacture of gunpowder for the Government. He
introduced many valuable improvements in the process, and many
judicious reforms into the establishment.
In 1778, Lavoisier having been incessantly engaged on the subject
of gases and combustion, announced another great discovery, “that
the respirable portion of the atmosphere is the constituent principle
of acids,” which he therefore denominated oxygen.
The question as to “the acidifying principle” had long formed the
subject of discussion. The prevalent theory was that of Beccher with
various modifications, which made the acid principle a compound of
earth and water regarded as elements. Lavoisier found in the
instance of a great number of the acids, that they consisted of a
combustible principle united with oxygen. He showed this both
analytically and synthetically, and hence proceeded to the conclusion
that oxygen is the acidifying principle in all acids. Berthollet opposed
this doctrine, and contended that, in general, acidity depended on
the manner and proportion in which the constituents are combined.
The fact is, that, in this instance, Lavoisier had advanced a little too
rapidly to his conclusion. Had he contented himself with stating it as
applying to a great number of acids, it would have been strictly true;
but he had certainly no proof of its being universally the case. When
Sir H. Davy, some years after, showed that one of the most powerful
acids (the muriatic) does not contain a single particle of oxygen, and
when the researches of Guy Lussac and others had exhibited other
proofs of the same thing, it became evident that Lavoisier’s assertion
required considerable modification. And though nearly all acids have
been since included under the general law of containing some
supporter of combustion, yet there appear to be exceptions even to
this; the cautious language of Berthollet has been completely
justified; and a perfect theory of acidity is perhaps yet wanting.
Nevertheless, Lavoisier’s discovery is one of first-rate magnitude and
importance, and with this qualification, certainly forms the basis of
all our present knowledge of the subject.
Another important research in which Lavoisier engaged, in
conjunction with Laplace, was the determination of the specific heats
of bodies, by means of an ingenious apparatus, which they
denominated the calorimeter: these were by far the most precise
experiments on the subject which had as yet been made, though
some inaccuracies in the method have since been pointed out.
Lavoisier owed much, it must be owned, to those external
advantages of fortune, the absence of which, though it cannot
confine the flights of real genius, yet may seriously impair the value
and efficiency of its exertions; and the presence of which, though it
cannot confer the powers of intellect, may yet afford most invaluable
aids to the prosecution of research, and the dissemination of
knowledge. In the instance before us, these advantages were
enjoyed to the full extent, and turned to the best use. Lavoisier was
enabled to command the most unlimited resources of instrumental
aid; he pursued his researches in a laboratory furnished with the
most costly apparatus, and was able to put every suggestion to the
test of experiment, by the assistance of the most skilful artists, and
instruments of the most perfect construction.
But as he could thus command these essential advantages for the
prosecution of his own investigations, he was equally mindful of the
extension of similar advantages to others: he always evinced himself
ready to assist the inquiries of those who had not the same means
at their disposal; and was no less liberal in aiding them by his stores
of information and able advice. Indeed no one could be more
sensible how much there is of mutual advantage in such intercourse
between those engaged in the same scientific labours; and this
conviction, joined with a full perception of the immense benefits
accruing from personal acquaintance among men of kindred
pursuits, and the interchange of social good offices, led him to the
regular practice of opening his house on two evenings in every
week, for an assembly of all the scientific men of the French capital;
which very soon became a point of general resort and reunion to the
philosophers of Europe.
At these meetings general discourse and philosophic discussion were
agreeably intermingled; the opinions of the most eminent
philosophers were freely canvassed; the most striking and novel
passages in the publications of foreign countries were made known,
recited, and animadverted upon; and the progress of experiment
was assisted by candid comments and comparison with theory. In
these assemblies might be found, mingling in instructive and
delightful conversation, all those whose names made the last
century memorable in the annals of science. Priestley, Fontana,
Landriani, Watt, Bolton, and Ingenhouz, were associated with
Laplace, Lagrange, Borda, Cousin, Monge, Morveau, and Berthollet.
There was also an incalculable advantage in bringing into
communication and intimacy men engaged in distinct branches of
science: the intercourse of the mathematician with the geologist, of
the astronomer with the chemist, of the computer with the
experimenter, and of the artist with the theorist, could not fail to be
of mutual advantage. In no instance were the beneficial effects of
such intercourse more strikingly displayed than in the chemical
sciences; which, from this sort of comparison of ideas and methods,
began now to assume a character of exactness from an infusion of
the spirit of geometry; and a department hitherto abandoned to the
wildest speculations, and encumbered with the most vague and
undefined phraseology (derived from the jargon of the alchemists),
began to assume something like arrangement and method in its
ideas, and precision and order in its nomenclature. This influence
was strongly marked in the physical memoirs produced in France
from this period downwards. The precision and severity of style, and
the philosophical method of the mathematicians, was insensibly
transfused into the papers of the physical and chemical
philosophers.
Lavoisier individually profited greatly by the sources of improvement
and information thus opened. Whenever any new result presented
itself to him, which, perhaps, from contradicting all received
theories, seemed paradoxical, or at variance with all principles
hitherto recognised, it was fully laid before these select assemblies
of philosophers; the experiment was exhibited in their presence, and
they were invited with the utmost candour to offer their criticisms
and objections. In perfect reliance on the mutual spirit of candour,
they were not backward in urging whatever difficulties occurred to
them, and the truth thus elicited acquired a firmness and stability in
its public reception proportioned to the severity of the test it had
undergone. Lavoisier seldom announced any discovery until it had
passed this ordeal.
At length he combined his philosophical views into a connected
system, which he published in 1789, under the title of ‘Elements of
Chemistry:’ a beautiful model of scientific composition, clear and
logical in its arrangement, perspicuous and even elegant in its style
and manner. These perfections are rarely to be found in elementary
works written by original discoverers. The genius which qualifies a
man for enlarging the boundaries of science by his own inventions
and researches is of a very different class from that which confers
the ability to elucidate, in a simple and systematic course, the order
and connexion of elementary truths. But in Lavoisier these different
species of talent were most happily blended. He not only added
profound truths to science, but succeeded in adapting them to the
apprehension of students, and was able to render them attractive by
his eloquence.
In 1791 he entered upon extensive researches, having for their
object the application of pneumatic chemistry to the advancement of
medicine, in reference to the process of respiration. With this view
he examined in great detail the changes which the air undergoes,
and the products generated in that process of the animal economy.
He had previously, however, as far back as 1780, detailed a series of
experiments to determine the quantity of oxygen consumed and
carbonic acid generated by respiration, in a given time, in the
Memoirs of the French Academy.
In the twenty volumes of the Academy of Sciences, from 1772 to
1793, are not less than forty memoirs by Lavoisier, replete with all
the grand phenomena of the science:—the doctrine of combustion in
all its bearings; the nature and analysis of atmospheric air; the
generation and combinations of elastic fluids; the properties of heat;
the composition of acids; the decomposition and recomposition of
water; the solutions of metals; and the phenomena of vegetation,
fermentation, and animalization. These are some of the most
important subjects of his papers; and during the whole of this period
he advanced steadily in the course which was pointed out to him by
the unerring rules of inductive inquiry, to which his original genius
supplied the commentary. So well did he secure every point of the
results to which he ascended, that he never made a false step. It
was only in one subject, before alluded to, that he may be said to
have gone a few steps too far. Nor did he ever suffer himself to be
discouraged, or his ardour to be damped by the difficulties and
obstacles which perpetually impeded his progress. He traced new
paths for investigation, and founded a new school of science; and
his successors had ample employment in following out the inquiries
which he had indicated, and exploring those recesses to which he
had opened the way.
In the relations of social and civil life Lavoisier was exemplary; and
he rendered essential service to the state in several capacities. He
was treasurer to the Academy, and introduced economy and order
into its finances: he was also a member of the board of consultation,
and took an active share in its business. When the new system of
measures was in agitation, and it was proposed to determine a
degree of the meridian, he made accurate experiments on the
dilatation of metals, in conjunction with Laplace (1782), to ascertain
the corrections due to changes of temperature in the substances
used as measuring rods in those delicate operations.
By the National Convention he was consulted on the means of
improving the manufacture of assignats, and of increasing the
difficulty of forgery. He turned his attention to matters of rural
economy, and, by improved methods of cultivation, on scientific
principles, he increased the produce of an experimental farm nearly
one half. In 1791 he was invited by the Constituent Assembly to
digest a plan for simplifying the collection of taxes: the excellent
memoir which he produced on this subject was printed under the
title of ‘The Territorial Riches of France.’ He was likewise appointed a
Commissioner of the National Treasury, in which he effected some
beneficial reforms.
During the terrors of Robespierre’s tyranny, Lavoisier remarked that
he foresaw he should be stripped of all his property, and accordingly
would prepare to enter the profession of an apothecary, by which he
should be able to gain a livelihood. But the ignorant and brutal
ruffians who were then in power had already condemned him to the
scaffold, on which he was executed, May 8, 1794, for the pretended
crime of having adulterated snuff with ingredients destructive to the
health of the citizens! On being seized, he entreated at least to be
allowed time to finish some experiments in which he was engaged;
but the reply of Coffinhall, the president of the gang who
condemned him, was characteristic of the savage ignorance of those
monsters in human form:—“The Republic does not want savans or
chemists, and the course of justice cannot be suspended.”
Lavoisier in person was tall and graceful, and of lively manners and
appearance. He was mild, sociable, and obliging; and in his habits
unaffectedly plain and simple. He was liberal in pecuniary assistance
to those in need of it; and his hatred of all ostentation in doing good
probably concealed greatly the real amount of his beneficence. He
married, in 1771, Marie-Anni-Pierrette Paulze, a lady of great talents
and accomplishments, who after his death became the wife of Count
Rumford.
 SYDENHAM.

The celebrated physician, Thomas Sydenham, in many respects the

most eminent that England has produced, was born in the year
1624, at Wynford-Eagle, in Dorsetshire, where his father, William
Sydenham, enjoyed a considerable estate. The mansion in which he
was born is now converted into a farm-house, and stands on the
property of Lord Wynford.
In the year 1642, when eighteen, he was admitted as a commoner
at Magdalen-Hall, Oxford; but quitted it in the same year, when that
city became the head quarters of the royal army, after the battle of
Edge-hill. He was probably induced to take this step by reasons of a
political nature; for we find that his family were active adherents of
the opposite party. Indeed he is said, though on doubtful authority,
to have held a commission himself under the Parliament during his
absence from Oxford; and his elder brother, William, is known to
have attained considerable rank in the republican army, and held
important commands under the Protectorate.
The political bias of his family is not without interest, as affording a
probable explanation of some circumstances in his life which would
otherwise be rather unaccountable,—such as the fact, that though
he reached the first eminence as a practising physician, he was
never employed at court, and was slighted by the college, who
invested him with none of their honours, nor even advanced him to
the fellowship, though a licentiate of their body, and qualified by the
requisite University education.
When Oxford was surrendered to the Parliament, Sydenham
determined to resume his academical studies; and passing through
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