a Fellow of the Society since 1803. He has ever been much attached to the mathematical and exact sciences. Nearly all the scientific works issued by the Society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, have proceeded, it is said, from his pen.

Brougham acquired the habit of effective public speaking, and the readiness of reasoning and competing, in the Speculative Society, of which he was a member, with Lord Kinnaird, Jeffrey, Homer, and others, who afterwards rose to high places in the learned profession and the literature of the country.

As a lawyer, he was the Attorney-General of Queen Caroline. When she was Princess of Wales he visited her at Como, and in 1820 met her at St. Omer, to negotiate an arrangement of the difference between her and her royal husband. The proposition made to her she repudiated, and came to England, when her celebrated trial took place, on which occasion Brougham most eloquently defended her. He has ever since then been considered as one of the ablest men of his time.

In 1820, he brought forward his celebrated plan of education, but which was never carried to a practical conclusion. Another of his striking parliamentary efforts was his motion for a reform in the law of administration of justice, which he brought forward in February, 1828, on which occasion, without fatiguing his hearers, he spoke for six hours and a half the longest speech that ever was delivered within the walls of Parliament. The enlightened nature of the amendments he proposed were the cause of the subsequent law reforms, and, above all, the establishment of the Bankruptcy Court. He took a leading and effectual interest in the foundation of the London University, Mechanic's Institutes, and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.

He was appointed Lord Chancellor in 1830, when of course he became a Peer, and the Chairman of the House of Lords. He took an active part in passing the Reform Bill.

Lord Brougham, in private society, is noted for his good humor, playfulness of disposition, many accomplishments, and general acquaintance with all subjects, from the mere topic of the hour to the most profound investigation. He is an especial favorite. His manner is most unaffected, and marked, if any thing, by uncommon simplicity. He is jocular and witty, and often utters a bon mot that raises the laugh of mirth and pleasantry.

His personal appearance is rather striking. He is somewhat tall, quite thin, rather careless in his personal appearance, with a face into which, when he is speaking, is thrown great expression. His words, merely, do not convey half the meaning that is conveyed while he is speaking.

His lordship, in 1819, married the widow of John Spalding, Esq., by whom he had two daughters, neither of whom are living. His seat, called Brougham Hall, is sometimes styled "Bird's Nest," from its being perched so high, and from its having once belonged to the family of Bird. It stands on a woody eminence on the east side of the Lowther, in Westmoreland, and from the richness, variety and extent of the prospect from its fine terraces, is often styled the " Windsor of the North.' Nearly adjoining to it is the chapel of Brougham, dedicated to St. Wilfred.

The above is from a drawing of a house situated on the summit of the steep pass of Kirkstone, over the rugged and mountainous region near the lakes of Westmoreland county. It is above the region of vegetation, about three miles north-east from Ambleside, a small village near the head of Windermere water, two hundred and seventy-six miles N. N. W. of London. This building is the highest inhabited house in England, and is occupied as a small inn, in this Alpine region.

Wntorrdworth

Wm. Wordsworth's Signature.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH was born in 1770, of a respectable family, at Cockermouth, in Cumberland. His early education he received at the Grammar School of Hawkshead, where he evinced peculiar taste for classical studies, and was remarkable for his thoughtful disposition and poetic genius. In 1783 he made his first attempt in verse, and in 1787 was removed to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in Arts. In 1793, he published a poetical account of a pedestrian tour on the Continent, entitled, "Descriptive Sketches in Verse;" in 1798 he gave to the world the first volume of his ballads, followed, in 1807, by the second volume; and, in 1809, he issued his only prose production-an essay concerning the relations of Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal to each other. In 1814 appeared his most celebrated work, "The Excursion ;" and in 1815, "The White Doe of Rylstone." In addition, he was the author of many exquisite sonnets aud minor poems.

Wordsworth married, in 1803, Miss Mary Hutchinson, of Penrith, and settled at Grasmere, in Westmoreland. At the death of Southey, he succeeded to the office of Poet Laureate; but William Wordsworth needed

no such Court distinction or decoration. "His name," we quote from an eloquent tribute in the Times, " will live in English literature, and his funeral song be uttered amid the spots which he has so often celebrated, and by the rivers and hills which inspired his verse." He was unsuccessful in not finding a recognition of his merits till his hair was gray: but he was more fortunate than most poets similarly situated have been, for he lived to a good old age, and experienced the full enjoyment of his ample fame.

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We annex a view of the picturesque retreat of the lamented poet, at Rydal Mount, between Ambleside and Keswick, a place which, as Dr. Mackay, in his "Scenery and Poetry of the English Lakes," well observes, long has been, and ever must be a classic spot, unless the day should come when English literature shall be forgotten." And in his last visit to the Laureate, Dr. Mackay further says, "long and fervently did I admire the beauty of the scene from the lawn before his window, and the calm philosophy and true love of nature that had led him to make choice of such a place, and keep himself in such happy and long seclusion from the busy world."

The Mount is, as Mrs. Hemans describes, "a lovely cottage-like building, almost hidden by a profusion of roses and ivy;" and the grassy mound in front of his house is very fine. Loughrigg Fell is seen immediately in front, with Nab Scar rising behind. There are several terraces at the back, from which the view becomes beautifully extended, overlooking the house. Windermere, as well as Rydal Water and Grasmere, is to be seen from this beautiful spot. The annexed view is taken from the grounds in the rear of the house.

Full of years and honors, Mr. Wordsworth died at his residence in April, 1850. Like his writings, his life was blameless, and, meet ending of such a life, his death was calm and happy.

DURHAM, the capital of the county of the same name, is situated sixteen miles south from New Castle, 132 from Edinburgh, and 258 north from London. Population about 14,000. This city is situated on a rocky eminence, rising near the central part of the county, and almost surrounded by the river Weare. From all the neighboring points of view, its appearance is unique and striking, and its public edifices exhibit a great degree of magnificence. The center of the eminence is occupied by the cathedral and castle, which, with the streets called the Baileys, are included within the remains of the ancient city walls. Below the walls, on one side, the slope is ornamented with hanging gardens and plantations, descending to the river; on the other, the acclivity is high, rocky, and steep. The rich meadows, the cultivated sides of the adjacent hills, and the various seats in the vicinity, add greatly to the beauty of the prospect.

Durham seems to have been strongly fortified, when Duncan, king of Scotland, attacked it in 1040, for the townsmen sustained the enemy's assaults for a considerable time, and at length, by means of a vigorous sally, totally routed the assailants, and beheaded the leaders.

The suppression of the rebellion of the Nevilles, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, occasioned a most appalling scene of horror in

Durham, not fewer than sixty-six persons being executed, to satisfy the brutality of Sir George Bowes, who boasted, that in a tract of country, sixty miles in length, and forty in breadth, between Newcastle and Wetherby, there was scarcely a town or village in which he had not sacrificed some of the inhabitants.

In the years 1416 and 1589, Durham was visited by that dreadful Scourge the plague, which raged for a considerable time. In 1597, it again returned, with such violence, that the poor inhabitants were compelled to live in huts, on Elvet Moor, and the adjoining commons, where the marks of arrangement for their cells were to be traced till very lately. In the year 1632, Charles I visited Durham, on his progress to Scotland, and was entertained by the amiable and pious Bishop Morton, whose expenses in one day amounted to £1,500.

The present magnificent cathedral of Durham, is indebted for its origin to Bishop William de Carileph, who, having projected a change in the government of the church, which had previously been directed by the secular clergy, and their provost, obtained, under the authority of the crown, and by permission of the pope, a license to introduce regular canons; stating also, that the church built by his predecessors was unsuitable to the dignity and increasing power of the see, he formed a plan for erecting a structure similar to the superb fabrics he had seen during his exile on the continent. In pursuance of this design, the foundation was laid on the 11th of August, 1093, with a solemnity suitable to so vast an undertaking; Malcolm, king of Scotland, and Turgot, abbot of Durham, assisting at the ceremony. The bishop compelled the monks to labor in the holy work daily, excepting at meal times, and during prayer and divine service: but no considerable progress had been made at the time of his death.