sides the hereditary honour conferred upon him, others had accumulated rapidly. William IV. bestowed a Grand Cross of the Guelphic Order. Louis Philippe sent, through Talleyrand, the decoration of the Legion of Honour; various Scotch and foreign universities showered diplomas on him; and at the Duke of Wellington's Oxford installation, in 1834, he was admitted D.C.L. In his latter years he began to suffer from attacks of vertigo, and was not always in a condition for exertion. He continued, however, ardent in practice, until his increasing infirmities disabled him for it, and he expired at his country seat, after a short illness, on the 12th of February, 1840, in the seventy-third year of his age. Notwithstanding the laborious life he led, Sir Astley found time to contribute several essays to the records of the surgical art, which, although by no means remarkable for their merit as compositions, will, in all likelihood, continue to hold a respectable place in the literature of his profession; especially those on "Hernia," on his own great operation of" Tying the Aorta," on the" Anatomy of the Breast," and on "Fractures and Dislocations." Some of these were originally published in the "Transactions of the Royal Society;" but all of them, we believe, are now to be had in a separate form. every market morning into Smithfield, and purchase all the young horses exposed for sale which he thought might possibly be convertible into carriage or saddle horses, should they recover from their defects. Five pounds was to be the average price. In this manner I have known thirty or forty horses collected at Gadesbridge, and thus Sir Astley procured stock to eat off his superfluous herbage. In the winter these horses were put into the straw-yard, and his waste straw thus converted into manure, saved him many hundred pounds in the purchase of this commodity. I believe, however, the greatest pleasure derived from this new plan was the occupation it afforded him, by treating these horses as patients, and curing them of their various complaints." It was certainly more creditable to him than his mania for canine experiments, but the heart had as little to do with the one as the other. The grand idea of profit was the source of all this unwearied well-doing. And "I myself," says the nephew, "have paid fifty guineas for one of these animals," (which doubtless originally cost Sir Astley five.)" and made a good bargain too. And I have known my uncle's carriage for years drawn by a pair of horses which together only cost him twelve pounds ten shillings!" In June, 1827, Sir Astley had the misfortune to lose his lady, and the shock was so se- We have hitherto purposely omitted vere, we are told, that he resolved on all mention of Sir Astley's connection withdrawing from practice. Accord with a set of the most infamous and ingly he sold his house in Spring Gar- daring ruffians that ever disgraced this dens, and shut himself up in Hertford- or any other country; but we cannot shire. The sense of his bereavement, close this summary of his career, without however, was neither so heavy nor so a reference to it. We allude to his heinenduring as to prevent his resuming ous traffic with the body snatchers, or his professional duties, and remarrying "resurrection men,"-a class of despein July of the following year. Later radoes which, happily for the character in life he made an excursion to his na- of the medical profession, now, we betive Norfolk, where his principal diver-lieve, no longer exists. Without entersion, to judge from his journal, appears ing into any of the diabolical details to have been dissecting eels, gurnets, with which Mr. Bransby Cooper has porpoises, and herrings brains! He thought fit to horrify and disgust his also took a trip to Paris, once again, non-professional readers, we shall conwhere, being invited to a grand dejeûner | fine ourselves to the general statement, by the celebrated Dupuytren, at the that so intimately was Sir Astley mixed Hotel Dieu, by way of appetizer we up with the transactions of these sacripresume, he "dissected for nearly two legious wretches, who despoiled the hours before breakfast." Sir Astley on grave of its dead-ransacked tombsthis occasion had a most flattering and robbed churchyards-to furnish reception in the "gay capital," and was him with "subjects" for dissection; made a Member of the Institute. His that when they had been tried and anatomical zeal seems to have attended imprisoned for their crimes, "he achim to the last wherever he was. Be-knowledged their perfect right to depend or felt anything like a lasting gratitude for the unmistakeable benefits thus from time to time conferred upon him. Indeed the reverse of this is almost made manifest, and were we to judge from the alacrity with which, when he saw it expedient to do so in order to attain a highly coveted object, he publicly made on him for pecuniary support to them- disheartening obstacles and privations selves, and pensions to their families." with which, at the outset of their Perhaps as the law then stood, it may career, many men of equal skill and reluctantly be admitted that it was im- superior talents have had to contend. possible for any man who was ambi-Yet there is nothing upon record which tious of becoming a great anatomist, to indicates that Sir Astley ever evinced accomplish his object, without оссаsionally conniving at such unhallowed practices. The less, however, that is said, under that view of the case, the better. Sir Astley in his time is stated to have instructed no fewer than 8000 surgeons and some idea may be gathered from this, of the extremely fearful extent to which he must have known his intention of relinquishing had recourse to the odious services of "the companionship and intimacy of these malefactors. The recklessness his late democratical friends," we should with which he employed them, and the incline to the belief that gratitude ocliberal encouragement he gave to them, cupied as diminutive a space in the cannot be palliated, however, by any composition of Sir Astley Cooper, as plea of necessity, and we gladly turn either refinement of intellect or benefrom the contemplation of a most nefavolence of disposition. "Number one," rious, and iniquitous business, which, as systematically fostered and upheld by him, must for ever sadly lower him in the estimation of every man who is not utterly destitute of all sense of social, moral, and religious obligation. was his motto through life; the "main chance," his most prized maxim. Slice after slice of good luck fell to his share, only still further to stimulate his faculty of acquisitiveness, and his untiring powers of perseverance. A busy, bustFrom the brief abstract of his career ling, plodding, lucre-grasping existence now before them, however, our readers his, with scarcely a pause, nothing in will be enabled to form their own the shape of a lull or a rest worth menopinion of Sir Astley Cooper. They tioning from beginning to end. To the will have seen what proportion of his last he strove, never content, still strove great wealth and honours was due to to make more money. Medicine as a his own undoubted qualifications for science is indebted to him for no new the profession of his choice,-to his discovery, and practical surgery for little unwearied industry in practice,-to his else, save, probably, a few extra flouzeal and attention as a lecturer,-to the rishes and novel graces of the scalpel. incessant pains he bestowed upon the The most it is feared that can be said cultivation of the practical part of the in his praise, is that he was an unpresurgical art, and lastly, to the un- cedentedly popular practitioner, more questionable skill which in time was so perhaps than any other who has ever the inevitable result of this application. lived-and-that he left a large fortune They will also have seen for how much behind him-a kind of medical king, just of his success in life he was indebted as George Hudson is ycleped a railway to the good offices of his early friend king, and for precisely similar reasons, and benefactor, Mr. Cline. Through the unwieldiness of his coffers, and the that gentleman's friendly instrumen-obesity of his bank-books. To the aptality he received his first appointment pellation of a great surgeon, Sir Astley as a public lecturer-Mr. Cline, again, Cooper is, we will allow, most indispu helped him to a rich wife, and subse- tably entitled; but to the far higher quently, Mr. Cline turned over to his accompanying distinctions of having favourite pupil a share of his most been also a noble-minded and humane lucrative practice. In Sir Astley's case man, and a good Christian, we cannot there seems to have been no struggling reconcile ourselves to the opinion, that with difficulties, on the contrary his he possesses the remotest shadow of a path upwards to fame and fortune was claim. thus rendered comparatively smooth and easy, and entirely freed from those W. M. R. 123 ABD-EL-KADER.* That THERE are some men whose names are | patriot's Sanctum, Freedom has her inseparably interwoven with that of chapel there, but Algeria, known only their country, so much so, that you to Europe by piracy and slaves, renecannot refer to one without entering gades and swift feluccas, was scarcely upon the history of the other. Thus deemed a fit place for the genius of Lycurgus recalls that Sparta to which he gave laws; Machiavelli, that Genoa for which he so successfully plotted; Washington, that great republic for which he fought and legislated; and Abd el Kader that territory for which he so long struggled, and from the surface of which he has, more than once, swept the invader. The story of the hero who becomes the "foremost man of all his time" in repelling an aggression, has been repeated often and often, from that of Aristomenes to that of Tell; luckily, while the human heart beats with a love of country or of home, the tale can never tire by repetition, but the narrator will find his story listened to with throbbing breast and glistening eye, and the name of the hero will become a household word, and his deeds will be repeated from age to age with still increasing interest, When the oldest cask is opened, When the good man trims his armour, Still is the story told; patriotism to breathe in. For centuries, Finding an easy prey in the rich merchants of Spain, they naturally, since love of piracy increased with success, turned their arms against other ships, and the trading Englishman became their prey. Luckily, we then had one at our head who never hesitated to protect those of whom he had styled himself Protector;-and the cannon of Cromwell, pointed by Admiral Blake, taught the Algerines to respect the flag of England. His most Christian Majesty of France acting upon this, in 1683 ordered Algiers to be bombarded by Admiral Duquesne, which led to a treaty between that power and France. Even so; no matter whether the discourse be of Horatius Cocles or of Abd-el-Kader, we shall be listened to with interest. The title Defensor Fidei" has scarcely been so nobly or Nearly one hundred years afterwards so truly earned as that of " Defensor the Spaniards grew bold enough to Patria," and the latter is the more respected. attempt the same thing, but without success. In 1775, General O'Reilly and a Spanish army landed near Algiers, but were obliged to retreat with loss. The Dutch, after some fighting, compounded for safety. So did the Danes and Swedes. The Austrian and Russian vessels were protected by special interference of the Porte. The Italians were, however, the most frequent lose che and the prisoners taken from them sold as slaves or made to toil in the public works. This state of affairs remained till 1815, when America took an Algerine frigate and brig, and abolished all tribute paid to the Dey, besides making that potentate pay 60,000 dollars, compensation for the ships which had been plundered; and at the Congress held at Vienna in 1816, it was at last determined by the European powers to put an end to Christian slavery. This was effected by Lord Exmouth, who bombarded the city and reduced the Dey to terms upon that and other subjects. For eleven years subsequent to the bombardment the Algerines appear to have been sufficiently humbled; but in 1827 an insult was offered by Hassan or Hussein Pacha, the last Dey, to the French Consul, which led to the capture of Algiers by that power. This took place in 1830. The Dey capitulated to General Bourmont; abdicated and retired to Europe, and on the 4th of July, 1830, the French became possessed of the "city of Algiers, and the forts and harbours depending on it." The " Napoleon of Peace," as he proudly styled himself, Louis Philippe, wanted to secure his throne; and to direct the attention of the fickle people he governed elsewhere, some external excitement was needed. In this he was gratified by the acquisition of Algiers. France had always dreamt of colonization. That by nature she is unfitted to be the mother of many and flourishing colonies was no matter to her. If la perfide Albion boasted of colonies and dependencies in every habitable portion of the globe, it was thought reasonable enough that la belle France should outstrip her. France then, to use the words of her historian, seized upon Algeria with "an admirable instinct." The minds of the revolutionary and dangerous classes were filled by constant rumours of conquest and aggrandizement. A portion of that immense army which is the bane of the country was kept employed, and underneath the cloak of foreign conquest the wily son of Egalité consolidated his power at home. There was one, however, who proved a great obstacle in the way of French conquest, and this was Abd-el-Kader. His biography is the history of the sucesses and the reverses of the French in ica, and the two subjects are natu rally interwoven. He was born in the environs of Mascara, in the commencement of the year 1807, and was therefore in the first glow of youthful vigour and enterprise, when the government of Charles X. undertook in 1820 the Algerian Expedition. At the commencement of this enterprise they declared, as all people will declare and have declared, even in the most shameful oppressions, that they only intended by the expedition to exercise "a moral influence," by a striking and astounding victory. In answer to a question of the English minister, M. de Polignac avowed that the "only design of the expedition was to destroy piracy; and that end being accomplished, the " evacuation of Africa would be determined by an European congress." We have seen how the promise was kept, the occupation of Rome was undertaken under a somewhat similar pretext. Will it hereafter be declared, that France seized upon that city with "an admirable instinct?" To hold in subjection a country stretching for two hundred and fifty leagues along the coast, from Morocco to Tunis, and of a breadth of from sixty to eighty leagues, bounded by the desert, and peopled by fierce hordes, the descendants of the Numidians, a race of Kabyles, bold, determined, and energetic, was not an easy task. The towns were few and had little sympathy with or authority over, the inhabitar of the plain; they were peopled by mixture of Jews and Moors, two ra equally feeble and degenerate, a therefore although easily reduced were of little use in the hands of the victors. Besides this, it was necessary in case of an European war, not to displease England, and consequently the French, in sending Marshal Clausel to Africa, enjoined him to remain almost in a state of inaction ("d'agir le moins possible.") The inhabitants, seeing the French shut up in Algiers, began to doubt their invincibility. Of the three Deys, one only, that of Oran, submitted to them. The other two entertained far less peaceable intentions. Achmet Bey maintained himself in Constantine, and defied the Christians to approach him; whilst the Bey of Tittery, who was near to their territory, thought it incumbent on him to deal the first blow; he preached a religious war, and endeavoured to shut up the French in the town they had taken. Under these circumstances Clausel had only one way left him. He put the government in order, prepared his army, and passed, for the first time, the celebrated defile of Téniah, overthrew the Arabs, occupied Médéah, the Bey's capital, and deposed the Bey. Here he stopped, having already gone far beyond the limits of his instructions. General Berthezène was sent to replace Clausel, who had so compromised his government, with orders to behave so that it would be evident that the French were uncertain about their occupation of Algeria; to impress this idea more strongly, they left him but 9,000 men to occupy their vast conquest. The first result of Clausel's extended victory was to deliver up the inhabitants of Algeria to complete anarchy. Some wished to submit to the couquerors, others to dispute the territory inch by inch. Some united themselves under a revered Marabout, named Sidiel-Hadji-Mahiddin, who persuaded them that it would be better to band together for the extinction of a common enemy than to indulge in an internecine war. This advice was listened to, and the tribes who occupied the territory bordering on Mascara, wished to elect the old Marabout their chief. This honour he declined on account of his old age, but whilst himself refusing, he offered in his place the third of his four sons, and declared that he was possessed of all the qualities necessary for the suc cess of their enterprise, knowledge, activity, valour, and piety. He moreover declared that in his journey to Mecca, an old fakir had predicted that he would become the Sultan of the Arabs. This son was Abd-el-Kader, born at the guetna of his father, a short distance west of Mascara. The Guetna of Mahiddin is a kind of college where the Marabouts assemble their young men for instruction in literature, theology, and jurisprudence. Here Abd-el-Kader became, at an early age, versed in the study of the Koran. His explanation of and observations on the difficult passages, were said to exceed those of the most skilful commentators. He had also studied with eagerness the history of his own country, and was besides a perfect master of oratory. But he did not rest with the reputation of a distin guished thaleb, (doctor or savant,) but made himself also remarkable by those corporeal exercises which form so essential a part of the education of the Arab. He was remarkable for his skill in horsemanship, and in the use of the yatagan and the lance. To acquire the title of Hadgi, (saint,) he twice made the pilgrimage to the tomb of the Prophet at Mecca; the first time certainly was in his infancy, but the second time was when he was already a young man in 1828. On his return he married, and by his wife, whom he loved tenderly, he had two sons. For some time he lived in obscurity, rendering himself remarkable by the severity of his manners, his piety, and his zeal in observing all the precepts of the Koran, until his aged father caused him to be proclaimed Emir by the inhabitants of Mascara. He then began to preach religious war, (djehad,) and both father and son, having placed themselves at the head of ten thousand horse, in the month of May, 1832, commenced the war by the assault of Oran. For three days they continued most determined and furious attacks, but were repulsed with loss. In this, his first battle, Abd-el-Kader is said to have shewn an almost extravagant amount of valour. Seeing the Arabs astonished and intimidated by the artillery, the young Emir turned his horse's head directly against the grape and bomb-shells, which he saw ricocher, and smiled as the bullets whistled past his ears. The French general Desmichels appeared at first to wish to break through the system of inaction which had been the rule of his predecessors. He advanced against the Arabs, made a razzia against the hostile tribe of the Gharbas, and resolved to surprise Abd-el-Kader in his camp. Dissuaded from this, he contented himself with extending the French territory to two important posts, to Argen and to Mossaganeur (July 3rd and 29th, 1833). Abd-el-Kader, on his part, determined to centralize the Arab forces, and to extend his power. He marched on Tiemsem, reduced some hostile tribes, placed over them a new Kaid, and returned to Mascara, where he learnt with profound grief the death of his aged father. Proceeding in the tortuous line of policy of putting the natives of Algeria to all sorts of inconvenience, and the |