CONJECTURE OF A NEW PLANET.-Several astronomical and mathematical papers were read at the late meeting of the Paris Academy of Science -the most remarkable by M. Leverrier. The object of it is to prove that there exists in our solar system a large plane, which nobody yet has seen, but the orbit of which M. Leverrier has calculated, and which, he says, may be seen on the 1st of January next year. He states that he was led to his discovery by the observations collected since 1690 on the course of Uranus. The insurmountable difficulty experienced by geometricians, says Mr. Leverrier, in representing the real course of Uranus by analytical formulæ might arise from various causes. Either the theory was not sufficiently precise, and they had neglected in their calculations some of the influence due to the perturbatory action of the neighboring plants, Jupiter and Saturn; or the theory had not been compared with the observations with sufficient correctness in the construction of the tables of the planet; or, finally, some unknown cause, acting upon Uranus, added other influences to those which result from the action of the Sun,of Jupiter, and of Saturn. To get out of this alternative, it was necessary to resume the whole theory of Uranus, recalculate, discuss the observations, and compare them with each other; and this hard task he under ook. The result is, the positive conclusion, that the irregularity of the movement of Uranus is to be attributed to a special cause, independent of all analytical error, and deduced from the constitution of the planetary system itself. The fact of the existence of this cause being established, it was necessary to determine its nature, and therefore, a new career opened upon M Leverrier. Was it admissible, as some astronomers had proposed, to modify the law of gravity for the distant regions in which Uranus moves; or did it suffice to assume the resistance of the other or the influence of an obscure satellite moving round Uranus, or the accidental shock from a comet? Or was he to admit of a still unknown planet whose existence was shown by the anomalous movement of Uranus? M. Leverrier adopted the latter hypothesis; and, proceeding upon that basis, has come to a conclusion, from all his calculations and observations, that no other is possible. This planet, he says, is situated beyond Uranus, at a distance double that which separates Uranus from the Sun, and in a slightly inclined orbit.-Literary Gazette. A GAMESTER'S CLOSE OF LIFE.-The Church of England Quarterly Review points a moral deduced from the life of a notorious gambler known in England as "Riley of Bath," to all persons who are or may be induced to engage in this unlawful and dishonorable profession. RILEY was both accomplished and gifted, and he for a time lived a life of the most gorgeous luxury and extravagance. He was the company of sovereigns; he squandered money with a profusion amounting to incessantry, and won it by a good fortune that seemed connected with the supernatural. He ran a brief course of dazzling splendor; he lived in palace, continued to play, became unlucky, and found fortune, wealth, and friends desert him. At length the once possessor of millions was seen wandering through the streets of London, naked, famished, and penniless; and, finally, he who had feasted emperors and fared sumptuously every day, died of absolute starvation in one of the miserable alleys of the great metropolis. PROTECTION OF LITERATURE.-A German journal states positively that the basis of a treaty has been agreed upon by France and Austria, for the reciprocal protection of Literature and the Arts against piracy. STATUE OF FRANCIS I.-Report speaks of a statue of the Emperor Francis L., just issued from the foundry of Viscardi, and now on its road to Vienna. Its gigantic proportions, as well as its successful execution, entitle it to attention. It is nine braccia high, and weighs 37,000 Milanese pounds. The monarch is enveloped in a large and rich toga, and his brow is surrounded by laurel. His right hand is in a raised position, as if in the act of addressing the people; and in his left he holds a sceptre, which is supported upon his arm. Modelled by Marchesi, I might say it is necessarily excellent; but the fact is, says my informant, that the precision of design, the energy of expression, united to sovereign beauty of form, the exactness in all the rilievi and in all the folds, give this statue the appearance of life and motion, and make it a splendid triumph of art.-Lit. Gaz. RARE COLLECTION OF OLD PLAYS.-There was lately sold at Messrs. Sotheby's a rare and curious collection of old plays of Shakspeare, Lilly, Marlowe, Nash, Peele, Beaumont and Fletcher, &c., &c., the property of the late W. Holgate, Esq., of the Post-office. Some of the "plays" were not more than three or four leaves of old paper, unbound-but fetched large prices. We find the folJUNIUS'S MANUSCRIPTS.-We understand that lowing quoted as a few of the examples :- The the collection of the Junius Mss., in the possession Lamentable and true Tragedie of M. Arden of of the descendant of the printer of The Public Feversham, who was most wickedly murdered by Advertiser, is now in the hands of Messrs. Payne the means of his disloyall and wanton wife, and loss, who have made the first offer of them printed in 1599 (2l. 14s.)—'The Tragi-Comœdi to the British Museum. Besides the private letters of the Vertuous Octauia,' by Samuel Brandon, exto Henry Sampson Woodfall, there are proof-tremely rare, printed by W. Ponsonbye, 1598, sheets of the original 8vo. edition of the letters, with the author's Ms. notes, already printed; but yet here, perhaps, the careful collector will find the clue to one of the literary and political enigmas of the last century. There is a copy of verses. too, on the Duke of Grafton and his mistress, Nancy Parsons, racy and vigorous, but too broad to see the light in print, but which would argue that the great Libeller, a master in prose, could also wield the pen with effect in verse. sold for 13 guineas.-The Historie of the Tryall of Chevalry, with the Life and Death of Cavaliero Dicke Bowyer, as it hath bin lately acted by the Right Honourable the Earle of Darby,' Simon Stafford, 1605, sold for 71. 10s. The Pleasant Comedie of Old Fortunatus, by Thomas Dekker; as it was plaied before the Queenes Maiestie this Christmas by the Right Honourable the Earle Nottingham,' black letter, 1600, sold for 6l. 10s.— Lit. Gazette. BIRTH-DAY OF TYCHO BRAHE.-From Copen- | to render useless, many of the best harbors now hagen, we learn that, on the 21st ult., the inhabit- on the coast. At Port-de-Grave a series of obants of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, to the servations has been made, which proves the rapnumber of 8,000, met on the little island of Hvèen, id displacement of the sea-level in the vicinity. to celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of Several large flat rocks, over which schooners the birth-day of the illustrious astronomer, Tycho- might pass some thirty or forty years ago with the Brahé. The flags of the three Scandinavian king- greatest facility, are now approaching the surface, doms floated from the fleet of steamers which the water being scarcely navigable for a skiff. At bore the pilgrims, from the opposite points, to the a place called the Cosh, at the head of Bay place of rendezvous-a government war-steamer Roberts, upwards of a mile from the sea-shore, conveying the professors of the Universities of and at several feet above its level, covered with Copenhagen and Kiel, the members of the Royal five or six feet of vegetable mould, there is a Academy of Sciences and of the Royal Northern perfect beach, the stones being rounded, of a Society of Archæology, other personages of the moderate size, and in all respects similar to those Danish capital distinguished for literature, art, or now found in the adjacent land-washes -Newscience, and a colossal bust in white marble of foundland Times. the subject of the day's celebration. The principal ceremonial was the inauguration of this monument, beneath a triumphal arch erected amid the ruins of the old palace of Uranienburg, where the philosopher was born and spent most of his life. The brow of the image was encircled with a laurel crown; and then, a thousand young voices raised, in honor of him whom it represents, the national songs of the three Scandinavian countries-and the Philharmonic Society of Co Great Britain. penhagen executed a cantato, written for the SELECT LIST OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS. occasion. The monument was solemnly handed over to the guardianship of the people of Hvéen; and left to its solitude of ages on an island which numbers not more than a hundred inhabitants. The two hundredth anniversary of the birth-day of the philosopher Leibnitz was celebrated with great pomp, a few days ago, by the University of Leipzig, of which city he was a native.—Ath. AN AFRICAN EXPEDITION.- We learn that four Jesuits-Bishop Casolani, and Fathers Ryllo, Knoblica, and Vinco-are about to leave Rome, on a journey of exploration and civilization in Soudan. Casolani and Ryllo will start from Cairo, in January next-having previously obtained a firman from Constantinople; and proceeding through Upper Egypt, Nubia, and thence by Kordofan and Darfour, they hope to reach Bornou,-and meet there their brethren, who travel by way of Tripoli and Mouryok. Should they be fortunate enough so to meet, it will then be determined which route shall further be followed. They have determined, as we are informed, to accomplish what they have undertaken, or perish in the attempt. From the high character of all the parties, great hopes are entertained of the result of this journey. Bishop Casolani is a Maltese by birth; a man of extensive learning, speaking the Arabic with the greatest fluency, and having an intimate knowledge of the manners and customs of the East. Father Ryllo, by birth a Pole, is well known as the medium by which the nuns of Minsk communicated their misfortunes to the world. His lengthened residence in Syria gave him great influence with the Druses; which excited the jealousy of the French, and caused them to procure his expulsion from Syria. GRADUAL RISE OF NEWFOUNDLAND ABOVE THE SEA.--It is asserted that the whole of the land in and about the neighborhood of Conception Bay, very probably the whole island, is rising out of the ocean at a rate which promises, at no very distant day, materially to affect, if not A Visit to the French Possessions in Algiers. By Count St. Marie. Two concluding volumes of Sir Henry Wanderings in the Wilderness. By Echoes from the Backwoods: or Sketches of Transatlantic Life. By Captain Levinge. Progression of Antagonism: a Theory involving considerations touching the present position, duties and destiny of Great Britain. By Lord Lindsay. Letters from Madras. By a Lady. Father Darcy, a novel. By the author of "Mount Sorel." Select Works of the late Dr. Joseph Fletcher, Stepney. 3 vols. 8vo. Life of Mary of Modena-No. 9 of Miss Strickland's Lives of English Queens. Hochelaga; or England in the New World. By Eliot Warburton, Esq., author of" Crescent and the Cross." Cholluton; a tale of our own times. the Court of the Czar. By R. Southwell Wealth and Want: or Taxation as influ encing private riches and public liberty. By D. Urquhart, Esq. Beckman's History of Inventions. Translated by W. Johnstone. |