allowed to range unrestrictedly amidst their reverential piles. He formed a passion for them, and, as his mental powers expanded, he read with avidity all that came in his way; and thus the earliest germ of his genius obtained the choicest nourishment, and gained a strength, which well fitted it for what it has since accomplished.

He went to various schools, to Dr. Hooker's, at Rottendean; to Wallington's, at Ealing; to Dr. Thomson's, of St Lawrence, near Ramsgate, and from thence he went to Cambridge. While at Ealing he published, under the auspices of his teacher, some poems and translations, written between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. At Dr. Thomson's he first read Rousseau, and acquired such a passion for history, as to compile, for his own use, an abridgment of the history of England down to the reign of George III. He went to Cambridge unusually young; first to Trinity, then as a fellow-commoner to Trinity Hall.

At Cambridge he studied with Whewel and Malden, and acquired a deep relish for old English literature and studies in metaphysics, exhibiting at all times a restlessness of feeling which marked him as an individual thinker, and which stood in the way of his "reading up" for honours. While here he joined a debating club, and exercised his talents in oratory, in which, however, he never made any brilliant triumph. In the same club were several other students, who have since occupied important positions on the platform of public movements-Macaulay, Earl Grey, Kennedy, Ord, Praed, Cockburn, Buller, and Charles Villiers, received their first lessons in this same club with Bulwer.

During his last year he competed for the University prize poem, and gained it: the subject was Sculpture. He shortly after took his degree and went abroad. He had during a vacation traversed Scotland and many parts of England on foot, and he had a heart still thirsty for adventure. These wanderings filled him with the best materials for novel writing, for he was at once a keen observer of men and manners, and an appreciator of the true and beautiful. He learnt slang and other questionable qualifications during a sojourn with a party of gipsies, and most of the materials for "Paul Clifford" and "Pelham" were picked up in this practical way. Pelham" was chiefly written at Paris, and built partly upon an idea of Madame de Stael, and partly

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on Beaumont and Fletcher's "Humorous Lieutenant." Pelham himself was modelled after an intimate friend of Bulwer's, a man who combined dandyism, learning, frivolity, and courage, in a very remarkable degree; and is not, therefore, to be regarded as a portrait of the author, a statement which has been frequently and unguardedly made. “Pelham" was published in 1828, and was at first unsuccessful, though it afterwards created a sensation," and Bulwer became famous. Twenty-four years have passed, and "Pelham" is still read with interest, though in the meantime numberless better books have issued from the same pen, a proof that genuine talent was employed in its composition.

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On his return to England he published "Falkland," which he had written between the age of sixteen and seventeen, and then married. In 1829 he published the "Disowned," "Devereux" followed, and "Paul Clifford" appeared in 1830. He then left his lonely home at Woodcote, in Oxfordshire, turned his back on metaphysical studies, and took up his residence in town, and his seat in the Parliament for the borough of St. Ives, in Cornwall. His name seldom occurs in Hansard," although he took a respectable position as a senator in the house. An orator he is not, but his speeches, as may be expected, read well.

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In 1832, he published "Eugene Aram," one of his most powerful and popular romances. He then edited the "New Monthly," and contributed to the "Edinburgh Review" and to the "London" and "Westminster Reviews;" following up these labours by the publication of "Godolphin," "England and the English," and "Pilgrims of the Rhine." As an editor he deserves most honourable mention.. He did all he could to show the latent power of Disraeli, and the promise of Tennyson; and was the first who drew notice to Ebenezer Elliott, whose Corn Law Rhymes" were published in London, on the strength of Bulwer's recommendation.

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Quitting the "New Monthly," he went to Italy; and the inspiration of Italian art showed itself in the production of "Rienzi." After this, his mind took a new phase, and the atmosphere of that classic soil plays upon every work written by him since then. The Last Days of Pompeii," the tragedy of "Cromwell" (since destroyed by the author), and "Leila; or, the Siege of Grenada" were produced immediately afterward, and show unmistakeable traces of the

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influence of Italy on his mind. The "Lady of Lyons," written in ten days, and "Richelieu," are the most successful of his dramatic efforts; the first is undoubtedly a travestie of Tobin's magnificent play the 'Honeymoon;" and, although highly popular, it abounds with laboured passages of a very tinsel character.

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In 1837, the first two volumes of "Athens, its Rise and Fall," appeared. It is a work of rare talent and extraordinary learning, though still remaining incomplete. Since then he has published "Maltravers," Alice," Night and Morning," "Zanoni," " Eva, and other Poems,"" The Last of the Barons," ,"" Translations of Schiller," the life of "Laman Blanchard," a well-written and delightful book; a pamphlet in advocacy of the "Water Cure," Lucretia," " King Arthur," "Harold, the last of the Saxon Kings," the "Caxtons," and "My Novel."

Recently he has entered the lists against Free Trade; but what success will attend him in so dilapidated a cause as Protection, remains to be seen.

As a writer he possesses great polish of style and felicity of expression. He is greater in passion than character, and greater in narrative and roundness of plot than either. As a representative of human failings and peculiarities, he must fade before the quaintness and heartiness of Dickens, though for depth, power, and brilliancy, he stands among modern novelists almost alone. He writes from his own impulse, never from the dictation of publishers, managers, or the public. Into various spheres of activity he throws himself, and always with a new result. He is Bulwer ever, whether writing slang, philosophy, history, or human passion; and however diverse may be his range of subjects, he writes on each but once.

Much of his success may be attributed to his happy mixture of the real and the ideal; the latter never carries him quite away, the former cannot make him lie prostrate on the earth. He is still in the prime of life and vigour of his faculties. May he live many years yet to add to the many labours he has already so well performed.

THE SILKWORM.

ONE of the most interesting as well as one of the most useful insects, is the silkworm. Though short-lived and insignificant, it assists to clothe the affluent of the world. It is surprising how much such little things as silkworms contribute to the comforts, the luxury, and the elegancies of life. Here is a little insect which, by care and training, possesses considerable commercial value; and, at the present time, it is said that a million people are employed either in the production of silk, or the manufacture of silk in this country.

C.MBASOM.Sc.

life. And the inhabitants of Asia, jealous of the treasure, managed to monopolise it. Two Persian monks, however, having gone into China, in the year 552, saw the beautiful dresses of the Chinese, and

learning that they were made of little threads of silk spun by the silkworm, they determined to take some of them back with them when they returned. But, knowing that the Chinese were very particular, it was necessary that the monks should resort to stratagem to accomplish their purpose. They accordingly obtained some eggs, and concealed them in a hollow cane, and in this way conveyed them to Constantinople. From this caneful of silkworms' eggs were produced myriads of silkworms, and, in the course of time, the manufacture of silk became an important branch of European commerce. The introduction of silkworms into Europe, brings to our mind the mode in which fuchsias were first sent from America to the old world. A distinguished botanist, while travelling over some of the table lands of the great American continent, was struck with the singular beauty and great variety of the fuchsia plant. He took some of the seed and sent them in a letter to a friend of his in Germany. And from these few seeds, enclosed in that solitary letter, have been produced myriads of fuchsias, which adorn the gardens and parterres of Europe.

"Great events from trivial causes flow."

The

Silkworms are produced from eggs laid by butterflies. The eggs are globular, and about the size of mignionette seed. eggs are hatched in the spring, about the same time as the budding of the mulberry leaf, on which the young insects feed. The

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