baptized, as appears from the parish register, November 3, 1728. His father was a day labourer in very humble circumstances; and the future navigator was employed till the age of thirteen, in such rural avocations as were suited to his years; at which period he was sent to school, where he manifested a strong intellect and a peculiar fondness for figures. So little however were the anticipations of his friends in accordance with his future celebrity, that at seventeen years of age he was bound apprentice to a grocer and haberdasher at Snaith, a small fishing town about ten miles from Whitby. The situation soon counteracted the restraints of his employment; for though he was a faithful servant, the constant view of the sea, with the passing and repassing of ships, unfolded a new train of ideas in his mind, and he gradually acquired such a strong attachment to nautical subjects, that his master was induced to relinquish his services, in order that he might enter upon the more congenial employments of a sailor's life. In July, 1746, he was bound apprentice to a Mr. Walker, at Whitby, and was engaged for three years in navigating between Newcastle and London, in vessels of different burthens, in the coal trade. It may easily be imagined that he would soon become a good seaman; and he was so assiduous in the discharge of his duty, that his master sent for him from London to assist in rigging a new vessel, knowing that he would be rejoiced at the opportunity of increasing his practical knowledge of every part of his business. term of years with Mr. Walker being expired, he entered himself on board the Maria of Whitby, under the command of Captain Gaskin, and served for one year in the Baltic trade, and was variously employed till February, 1752; when his first master, Mr. Walker, made him mate of one of his coal vessels, called The Friendship, and three years afterwards offered to give him the command; but Cook was more ambitious to perfect himself in his art by enterng into a different branch of service, than desirous of emolument; and he consequently declined the

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promotion, and entered on board a frigate of 28 or 30 guns, having a mind to try his fortune that way," as he expressed himself. A recommendatory letter procured him a situation above that of a common seaman, and his own merit more than confirmed the good opinion which the writer had expressed of his character and abilities. However, though he was at the attack on Louisburgh, in 1758, we are not able to learn what station he then filled; but two years afterwards he was appointed lieutenant, which afforded him an opportunity of displaying his superior attainments; eminently qualifying him to direct those various enterprises which laid the foundation of his future glory. Sir William Burnaby selected him, when off the Jamaica station, to carry despatches to the governor of Jucatan, relative to the logwood-cutters in the Bay of Honduras; a service which he executed to the entire satisfaction of his admiral, and of which he published an interesting account, displaying an acuteness of observation, and soundness of judgment, beyond the general range of nautical authorship. To a perfect knowledge of all the duties belonging to a sea-life, Cook added considerable acquisitions in astronomical science, which eminently qualified him for the appointment to the command of the Endeavour, which had been fitted out at the suggestion of the Royal Society, and ordered to proceed into the South Seas, for the purpose of observing the transit of the planet Venus over the Sun's disk. He sailed down the river with a captain's commission, accompanied by Mr. Green, to whom the task of observing the transit was confided, and the late Sir Joseph Banks, whose fondness for botanical pursuits induced him to join the expedition. On the 13th of April following, having called at Rio Janeiro in the way, they reached Otaheite, where the chief object of their voyage was to be accomplished, and occupied themselves till the 13th of July in visiting various parts of the island, collecting facts, and acquiring information for the enlargement of general science. Having thus completed the immediate business before them, Captain Cook,

prompted by a laudable spirit of discovery, went in search of several islands which were supposed to exist in the great Southern Ocean, but had never been visited by European navigators. He found the reward of his enterprize in the realization of his expectations; and when the untutored savages of the new world shall in their distant posterity be ennobled by the arts of civilization, and blessed with the light of revealed Religion, the name of Captain Cook will be regarded with sentiments of grateful veneration, and his memory cherished as the great benefactor, whose powerful genius first opened the way by which they may ascend to the level of brethren with the more favoured children of the eastern hemisphere. After touching at nearly all the colonies in his way home, and encountering more than the ordinary privations and fatigues consequent upon a long residence upon the ocean, he reached his native country on the 12th of June, 1771, having been absent nearly three years; in which period he had amassed an amount of information and discoveries equal to that which had been collected by all the navigators of Europe from the time of Columbus. Soon after his. return, two ships were equipped to complete the researches which had been commenced with such marked success, and Captain Cook was appointed to the Resolution, while Captain Furneaux had the command of the Adventure; but the expectation that they should discover a large continent in the South Seas was disappointed; and the expedition after an absence of three years and eighteen days, returned home. The heroic man, however, seemed, by the boldness and success of his former enterprises, to have created a taste in the government for exploring the distant regions of his favourite element; and he was destined once more to encounter the difficulties and dangers of a protracted voyage in unknown seas. He prepared for his departure with the utmost alacrity, and actually sailed in the month of July, 1776 ; but after an absence of two years, when the nation was anxiously looking for tidings of his success, in

telligence arrived of his death, the manner of which is known to almost every English reader. It was on Sunday, the 14th of February, 1779, that the ship's crew discovered that the Indians of Owhyhee had taken away the large cutter belonging to one of the ships; and on Captain Cook being apprized of it, he took measures for the recovery of the vessel, which eventually led to a serious tumult between his men and the natives, several of whom were shot, which exasperated the others to such a degree, that finding him left alone by the mistakes of his companions, they struck him to the ground, and with repeated blows of their clubs and an iron dagger, succeeded in destroying his valuable life.

This celebrated circumnavigator, though so constantly engaged in active service, found time to read Euclid, and supply the deficiencies of his early education. His constitution was robust, and capable of undergoing the severest hardships; and the qualities of his mind were of the same vigorous kind with those of his body;-cool, determined, and prompt in adapting his means to the difficulties of his situation on all occasions. No science, perhaps, ever received greater accessions from the labours of a single individual, than geography has done from those of Captain Cook; he discovered and surveyed vast tracts of new coasts, and fixed the bounds of the habitable earth as well as of the navigable ocean in the southern hemisphere. Nor is he less entitled to the highest honours of the true patriot, for the constant attention which he paid to the health and comfort of his seamen, and the admirable regulations which he introduced into the navy, by which the most distant voyages may be performed without that sacrifice of human life which at one time operated as a check upon the adventurous spirit of our countrymen.

The history of his various labours, on which the talents of several eminent literary men have been employed, is full of interest, and calculated to impress the mind with the highest admiration for his genius; while it excites a feeling of devout thankfulness that

our lot has been cast amidst the enjoyments of all that can render life happy, and fit us by superior intelligence for the especial favour of the Almighty, if we do not, by a criminal negligence, and the indulgence of bad passions, reduce ourselves to little better than savages, without the excuse for our degradation, the want of instruction,-which renders the multitudes of our fellow-creatures, brought to our notice by the discoveries of Captain Cook, the objects of pity and compassion.

J. S.

BACON, THE SCULPTOR.

THERE is a popular relish for works of art which is quite distinct from the taste derived from education; —all mankind love imitations of nature, from the splendid statue of antiquity down to the rudest carving of an Indian idol. The propensity to the worship of images recorded in the earliest period of the Mosaic history, has continued to shew itself in all parts of the world where the light of Christianity has not yet prevailed over this natural disposition. Every savage tribe has its rude idols, to which the poor ignorant people cling with a fondness and a veneration, which their more enlightened visitors are too apt to regard with contempt. The practice is to be traced to a very high antiquity, both in the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Mexican idols have been brought to Europe of an age far antecedent to the Christian era, and the immense quantity of sculptural remains engraven on the rocks of the Ganges, and in the excavated temples of the East, many of which we ourselves have examined, prove the universal prevalence of this art, and its intimate association with the religious feelings of the people.

The natural fondness for resemblances of living beings, is shown in the childish passion for a doll; though perhaps the love of power (a ruling principle in human nature,) mingles with the pleasure