ακαδημία, ακαδημία, or εκαδημία, (the first two forms being probably derived from ακος, medela, and θνος, populus, and the last from εκας, procul or seorsim, and θνος, populus), a garden, villa, or grove, situated in the Ceramicus, one of the suburbs of Athens, about six stadia, or nearly a Roman mile to the north-west of the city. The common tradition is, that it took its name from one Academus or Ecademus, the original owner, who was contemporary with Theseus, and made it a kind of gymnasium; and that after his death it retained his name, and was consecrated to his memory. When Castor and Pollux came to Athens to reclaim by force of arms the person of their sister Helena, who, according to the legend, had been carried off by Theseus, and concealed in some obscure retreat by the ravisher, the Athenians declared that they knew not where the lady was to be found; but as this answer was not deemed satisfactory by the warlike brothers, Academus, cognisant with the secret, and anxious to avert a contest about so frivolous a subject of dispute, apprized them that she was concealed in the town of Aphidna; which was immediately attacked, taken by assault, and razed to the ground. Grateful for this traditional service, the Lacedemonians, who worshipped the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), spared the house and gardens known by the name of the Academy, when they ravaged the suburbs of Athens; and, in consideration of the disclosure just mentioned, they honoured the memory of the original owner, from whom the place took its Academy. name.1 Such is the legend which the Greek writers have transmitted to us. With regard to the spot itself, which afterwards became so famous, in connection with the name of Plato and his philosophical disciples, it appears to have remained almost in a state of nature, covered with stagnant water, and exceedingly insalubrious, until the time of Cimon, when it was drained, planted with alleys of trees, and embellished with groves and with fountains: after which it became the promenade of the most distinguished Athenians, and particularly of the Platonic philosophers, thence called the Academics; just as the Lyceum, another gymnasium, situated to the south-east of Athens, became the promenade of the Aristotelian sect of philosophers, called also Peripatetics (απεριπατητικος, obambulo), from the locomotive fashion in which they communicated or discoursed concerning their peculiar doctrines. The Academy formed part of the Cramicus (a word derived from κραμικος, signifying potter's earth or earthen vase, from its being filled with cinerary urns), and was therefore devoted to purposes of sepulture; it being then the practice to inter in a public garden or grove, as in a sort of clysin field, those who had signalized themselves by rendering important services to their country. Cicero, desirous to revive or preserve the name of the Academy, bestowed it on his villa or country-seat near Puzzuoli, where he loved to converse with his friends on philosophical subjects, and where, also, he composed his Academical Questions, his treatise on the Nature of the Gods, and his celebrated work on the Commonwealth, a considerable portion of which was, several years ago, recovered from rescued or palimpsest manuscripts, by Signor Angelo Maio, librarian of the Vatican.

Academy, in its generalized acceptation, is employed to signify a society of learned men, established for the improvement of science, literature, or the arts. This term, as we have seen, is one of very high antiquity. It was amidst the umbrageous recesses of the gardens of Academus, so favourable to philosophical meditation, that the divine Plato, surnamed the swan of the Academy, established his school, collected his disciples, and taught his sublime morality; wherefore the sect of this illustrious philosopher was called the Academic, and the philosophers who adopted his doctrines Academics. For a long period, accordingly, this title marked out the disciples of Plato alone; but it came afterwards to be applied to all those who belonged to the different learned or literary societies instituted, under the name of Academics, in imitation of the school of Athens, and in order to extend the boundaries of human knowledge. Of these institutions several were established in Athens itself, but none ever equalled the renown of that founded by Plato; and, in point of fact, they were merely schools where Arcesilaus, Carneades, Philo, Antiochus, and other philosophers of less note, explained the different systems with which each in his turn sought to supersede those of his predecessors, but which have since fallen into the most profound neglect and oblivion.

Ptolemy Soter, having by his victories secured undisturbed possession of the throne of Egypt, and wishing to unite to the title of conqueror the more glorious appellation of patron of learning, founded, under the name of Museon, the celebrated Academy of Alexandria, and provided it with a collection of books, which formed the nucleus of the Alexandrian library. Here he assembled the most distinguished philosophers and scholars of his time, charging them with the investigation of philosophical truth and the improvement of art; and it was to the care and researches of these eminent men and their successors that the famous library, commenced by Ptolemy, and afterwards so barbarously given up to the flames by the Caliph Omar, was enlarged and improved, until it became the pride of Egypt and the glory of the world. This academy, distinguished alike for its useful labours and its improvements in science, has served as a model to modern academies, both as regards the principles on which it was founded, and the object and end of its institution. It admitted into the number of its associates the poets and philosophers of all countries: persons came from every part of the earth to seek instruction, or to deposit new information in its bosom: and all parties were enriched by the continual interchange of ideas and discoveries. For a long period it was the great centre of knowledge. All the literary treasures, scattered throughout the different countries which the tide of barbarism had overflowed, were there collected together: towards the period when Greece began to decline, the spirit and the genius which once presided in her schools of philosophy were in some degree revived in that of Alexandria; and it shone forth like a resplendent beacon-light in the midst of the surrounding darkness, shooting forth rays which have traversed the long course of ages, and guided the academies of modern times in their researches and investigations.

Rome had no academies. In the eyes of the conquerors and masters of the world, the sciences appeared only a secondary object, and of comparatively little importance. This Virgil has admitted in his Aeneid, where he says, that in art and in science the Romans must yield the palm to other nations, and content themselves with the glory of conquest, and a knowledge of the means by which it might be secured and maintained.2 The Latin poets and writers, indeed, were formed by the study of Greek models. But no national establishment fostered their genius and favoured their progress, either under the republic, which despised letters, or under the imperial tyrants, who dreaded them. Augustus himself only patronised and rewarded the poets who flattered him; while Mecenas, in surrounding himself with assemblages of celebrated writers, thought less of extending the boundaries of learning, than of tasting the pleasures of learned society, and wearing off the fatigues of business amidst the sweets of an inter-

1 From certain expressions of Eupolis, and this among others, τον συναγωνιζομενον Ακαδημους θεον, "in the umbrageous groves of the god Academus," it would appear that this person was accounted not merely a hero, but a sort of divinity. Hence the Academy was consecrated to Bacchus Academus, or to the beneficent sun of the ascending signs; as the Lyceum with its temenos or lucus was dedicated to Apollo Lyceus (so called from λύκος, a wolf), or to the destroying sun of the descending signs of the zodiac; and hence also these schools were the astronomical symbols or representatives of the celestial houses of the two solstices; the Academy, of the higher, and the Lyceum, of the lower solstice.

2 Excedunt alii spirantia mollius aera, Credo equidem; vivos ducent de marmore voltus; Orabant causas melius, celique meatus Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent: Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; Hae tibi erunt artes; pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos. Aeneid. lib. vi. l. 848. Academy, course entirely Epicurean, or of enjoyments such as literature alone can afford to men of refined and cultivated minds.

When the darkness which had settled down upon Europe after the fall of the Western Empire began at length to dispense, and when a faint glimmering of light, symptomatic of slowly approaching day, began to flicker and tremble on the dusky brow of the long night of ignorance and barbarism, a passion for instruction became in some measure the mode, and gave birth simultaneously to a multitude of learned associations; and these proceeded at once to the study and improvement of the sciences and arts, long neglected, and almost lost in those very countries where they had formerly been cultivated with the greatest success. The Gauls, however, although partially civilized by the Romans and by Julian the philosopher (vulgarly called the Apostate), had relapsed, under the indolent and imbecile monarchs of the first race, into the most profound ignorance; while the monks, who passed for learned men when they could read, were from policy opposed to the instruction of the people. The spirit of monopoly and exclusion was then, as afterwards, a prominent characteristic of the ecclesiastical system; and the danger of educating the people was as vehemently exaggerated as by certain alarmists of our own day. "The clergy," said Charlemagne, "wish to monopolize all learning, and to continue the sole expounders of the sciences and the laws." Nevertheless this prince, who would have done honour to an age far less barbarous, attempted to resuscitate letters, with which he had some acquaintance; and with this view he, encouraged by the celebrated Alcuin, founded in his palace an academy for promoting the study of grammar, orthography, rhetoric, poetry, history, and the mathematics. This academy was composed of the principal wits of the court, Charlemagne himself being a member. In their academical conferences, every member was to give an account of the ancient authors which he had read; and in order to efface all distinctions of rank among the academicians, he required each of them to choose a name purely literary (as, for example, that of some ancient author or celebrated person of antiquity), which should in no degree serve to recall the birth, station, or dignity of the person assuming it. Accordingly, Egilbert, a young lord, and one of the grandees about the court, modestly took the name of Homer; the archbishop of Mayence called himself Dametas; Alcuin became Flaccus Albinus; Eginhard, Calliopius; Adclard, abbot of Corbie, Augustin; Theodulpb, Pindar; and Charlemagne himself, somewhat forgetful of his own rule, David.1 Fantastical as all this may appear to us, it was nevertheless productive of good. The nobles, who had been accustomed to value themselves solely on their birth and ancestry, began to acquire a relish for more substantial distinctions, and to feel the force of Charlemagne's remark, that the state was likely to be better served by men who had improved their minds and cultivated their talents, than by those who had no other recommendation than overweening pride and a long pedigree. Hence the academy of Charlemagne soon obtained great celebrity; and although few monuments of its labours remain, yet it unquestionably gave an impulse to learning. Academy diffused a taste for knowledge, and probably laid the first foundations of the French language, which was then a rude idiom, composed of a barbarous mixture of the language of the Goths, of Latin, and of the dialect of Celtic spoken by the ancient Gauls. This idiom the academy subjected to principles, forming it into a regular language, which afterwards became the provençal, or language of romance: and when it had thus, as it were, been licked into shape, Charlemagne proposed to have the hymns, the prayers, and the laws translated into it, for the benefit of the people; a proposal which reflects the greatest honour on his memory. But the clergy resolutely set their faces against an innovation which would have deprived them of part of their influence as the sole expounders both of the civil and the divine laws, and thus in a great measure frustrated the principal object which Charlemagne had in view in founding his academy. Still its labours, though in some respects neutralized by the personal interest of the monks, were not altogether useless, but, on the contrary, were instrumental in diffusing the first gleams of light throughout France, and in preparing it to emerge from a state of barbarism.

In the following century, Alfred, a man worthy of being classed with the first French legislator, founded an academy at Oxford, which formed the basis of the University afterwards established there; but this being a school for instruction rather than an institution for exciting emulation among the instructed, it does not, for that reason, fall within the scope of the present article. About the same period the Moors of Spain, celebrated for their gallantry, their chivalrous manners, and their taste for poetry, music, and letters, had also their academies at Granada and Cordoba; but of the precise nature and object of these institutions little or nothing is known. In the year 1325, the Academy of the Floral Games was established at Toulouse. This academy is still in existence, and is of course the most ancient establishment of the kind in Europe. The members assumed the somewhat fantastical name of Maintainers of the Gay Science; and the prizes which it awarded, consisting of flowers of gold and silver, excited a strong spirit of emulation among the Troubadours of Languedoc and Provence. This society, to which Clemens Iaurus bequeathed the whole of his property, still enjoys a considerable reputation; and many of the young poets of France, who aspire to be one day crowned with the genuine laurels of Parnassus, repair to it, at the commencement of their career, to dispute for the violet, the marigold, the amaranth, and the eglantine.

A whole host of academies sprung up in different countries immediately after the revival of letters in the fifteenth century; but it was in Italy that they were most numerous, every city in fact having its own; and they were frequently distinguished by appellations remarkable either for their oddity or extravagance. Thus, Rome had its Lincei; Naples, its Ardentii; Parma, its Insensati; and Genoa, its Addormentati,—names which some modern academicians might adopt without the slightest impropriety. Many flourishing academies existed in France

1 Some modern writers have supposed that this assumption of ancient or classical names originated in an ardent admiration of antiquity, blended with the genius of an age essentially pedantic; and thus they have endeavoured to account for Alcuin taking the surname of Horace as a prenomen, and calling himself Flaccus Albinus. But from what is stated in the text, this appears to be a mistake. With regard to the circumstance of Charlemagne taking the name of David, which, as a royal one, appears to have been a contravention of his own rule, it is evident that his choice was determined by his passion for the composition of canticles and psalms, in which he believed himself to be eminently skilful, and also by his decided preference of sacred to profane literature. The Emperor, in fact, had great pretensions as a theologian; and on one occasion, when reproaching Rebode, archbishop of Treves, with his admiration of Virgil's poetry, he remarked of himself; that he would much rather possess the spirit of the four evangelists than that of the twelve books of the Aeneid. Academy, before the Revolution, most of them having been established and endowed by the munificence of Louis XIV. In Britain we have but few, and those of the greatest note fall to be classed under a different appellation, namely, Society, to which the reader is referred.

In giving an account of the principal academies, which is all that this article professes to do, we shall, for the sake of clearness, arrange them under different heads, according to the subjects for the cultivation and improvement of which they were instituted. And we shall commence with

I. Medical Academies. Of this description are, the Academy of the Natura Curiosi of Germany; that founded at Palermo in 1645; that established at Venice in 1701, which used to meet weekly in a hall near the grand hospital; and an institution which took its rise at Geneva in 1715. The Royal Colleges of Physicians at London and Edinburgh have also been ranked by some in the number of academies, but, in our opinion, erroneously; for they are rather of the nature of corporations, organized with a view to guard the privileges and promote the interests of a particular profession, than academies instituted for facilitating the advancement of medical science. This is the exclusive object of the Royal Medical Society, and other institutions of the same sort; which, however, fall to be treated of under a different head, viz. that of Society.

The Academy of Natura Curiosi, called also the Leopoldine Academy, was founded in 1662, by J. L. Bauschius, a physician, who, imitating the example of the English, published a general invitation to medical men to communicate all extraordinary cases that occurred in the course of their practice; and, the scheme meeting with success, the institution was regularly organized, and Bauschius elected president. The works of the Natura Curiosi were at first published separately; but this being attended with considerable inconvenience, a new arrangement was formed, in 1770, for publishing a volume of observations annually. From some cause, however, the first volume did not make its appearance until 1784, when it came forth under the title of Ephemerides; and the work was afterwards continued, at irregular intervals, and with some variations in the title. In 1687, the Emperor Leopold took the society under his protection, and granted its members several privileges, the most remarkable of which was, that its presidents should be entitled to enjoy the style and rank of counts palatine of the holy Roman empire; and hence the title of Leopoldine which it in consequence assumed. But though it thus acquired a name, it had no local habitation or fixed place of meeting, and no regular assemblies; instead of which there was a kind of bureau or office, first established at Breslau, and afterwards removed to Nuremberg, where letters, observations, and communications from correspondents, were received, and persons properly qualified admitted as members. By its constitution, the Leopoldine Academy consists of a president, two adjuncts or secretaries, and colleagues or members, without any limitation as to numbers. At their admission, the last come under a twofold obligation; first, to choose some subject for discussion out of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, provided it has not been previously treated of by any colleague of the academy; and, secondly, to apply themselves to furnish materials for the annual Ephemerides. Each member also bears about with him the symbol of the academy, consisting of a gold ring, wherein is represented a book open, with an eye on one side, and on the other the academical motto of Nunquam otiosus.

II. Chirurgical Academies. An association of this sort was, not many years ago, instituted, by public authority, at Paris; the members of which were not only Acad. to publish their own observations and improvements, and those of their correspondents, but also to give an account of the various publications on surgery, and to compose a complete history of the art from the works of all the authors, ancient and modern, who have treated of it. Besides, a question in surgery was to be annually proposed, as the subject of a prize essay, and a gold medal of the value of 200 livres given to the successful competitor.

The Academy of Surgery at Vienna was instituted by the present emperor, under the direction of the celebrated Brambella. In it there were at first only two professors; and to their charge the instruction of a hundred and thirty young men was committed, thirty of whom had formerly been surgeons in the army. But latterly the number both of teachers and pupils was considerably increased. Gabrielli was appointed to teach pathology and practice; Boecking, anatomy, physiology, and physics; Streit, medical and pharmaceutical surgery; Hunczowsky, surgical operations, midwifery, and the chirurgia forensis; and Plenk, chemistry and botany. To these was also added Beindel, as prosector and extraordinary professor of surgery and anatomy. Besides this, the emperor provided a large and splendid edifice in Vienna, which affords accommodation both for the teachers, the students, pregnant women, patients for clinical lectures, and servants. For the use of this academy the emperor also purchased a medical library, which is open every day; a complete set of chirurgical instruments; an apparatus for experiments in natural philosophy; a collection of natural history; a number of anatomical and pathological preparations; a collection of preparations in wax, brought from Florence; and a variety of other useful articles. Adjoining to the building, also, there is a good botanical garden. With a view to encourage emulation among the students of this institution, three prize medals, each of the value of 40 florins, are annually bestowed on those who return the best answers to questions proposed the year before. These prizes, however, are not entirely founded by the emperor, but are in part owing to the liberality of Brenndellius, formerly protosurgeon at Vienna.

III. Ecclesiastical Academies. Under this head may be mentioned the academy at Bologna in Italy, instituted in 1687, for the purpose of investigating the doctrine, discipline, and history, of each age of the church.

IV. Cosmographical Academies; as that at Venice, called the Argonauts. This was instituted at the solicitation of F. Coronelli, for the improvement of geographical knowledge. Its design was to publish exact maps, particular as well as general, both of the celestial and terrestrial sphere, together with geographical, historical, and astronomical descriptions. Each member, in order to defray the expense of such a publication, was to subscribe a proportional sum, for which he was to receive one or more copies of each piece published. To this end three societies were established; one under F. Moro, provincial of the Minorites in Hungary; another under the Abbot Laurence au Ruy Payenne au Marais; and the third under F. Baldigiani, Jesuit, professor of mathematics in the Roman College. The device of this academy is the terraqueous globe, with the motto Plus ultra; and at its expense all the globes, maps, and geographical writings of F. Coronelli have been published.

In the year 1799, a Geographical Academy was established at Lisbon, principally for the purpose of elucidating the geography of Portugal. By the labours of the members of this academy, an accurate map of the country, which was much wanted, has been completed.

V. Academies of Science. These comprehend such Academy, as have been erected for improving natural and mathematical knowledge, and are otherwise called Philosophical and Physical Academies.

The first of these was instituted at Naples, about the year 1560, in the house of Baptista Porta. It was called the Academy Secretorum Nature; and was succeeded by the Academy of Lincei, founded at Rome by Prince Frederic Cesi, towards the end of the same century. This academy was afterwards rendered famous in consequence of the discoveries made by some of its members, among whom, the first place is due to the celebrated Galileo, one of the most illustrious names of which the history of science can boast. Several other academies, instituted about this time, also contributed to the advancement of the sciences; but none of them was in any respect comparable to that of the Lincei.

Some years after the death of Torricelli, the Accademia del Cimento made its appearance, under the protection of Prince Leopold, afterwards Cardinal de Medici. Redi was one of its chief members. In so far as regards the studies pursued by the other academicians, a very correct idea of them may be formed from the curious experiments published in 1667, by their secretary Count Laurence Maguotti, under the title of Saggi di Naturali Esperienze; a copy of which was presented to the Royal Society, translated into English by Mr Waller, and published at London in 4to.

The Accademia degli Inquieti, afterwards incorporated into that of Della Traccia, in the same city, followed the example of that of Del Cimento. Some excellent discourses on physical and mathematical subjects, by Geminiano Montenari, one of the chief members, were published in 1667, under the title of Pensieri Fisico-Matematici.

The Academy of Rossano, in the kingdom of Naples, was originally an academy of belles lettres, founded in 1540, and transformed into an academy of sciences in 1698, at the solicitation of the learned abbot Don Giacinto Gianna; who being made president, under the title of Promoter General of the institution, gave it a new set of regulations. He divided the academicians into the following classes: grammarians, rhetoricians, poets, historians, philosophers, physicians, mathematicians, lawyers, and divines; with a class apart for cardinals and persons of quality. To be admitted a member, it was requisite to have taken a degree in one or other of the faculties. The members were not allowed to take the title of Academicians in the title-pages of their works, without a written permission from their president, which was not granted till their works had been examined by the censors of the academy; and this permission was the greatest honour the academy could confer, as they thereby adopted the works thus examined, and became answerable for them against all criticisms that might be made upon them. To this law the president or promoter himself was subject; and no academian was allowed to publish anything against the writings of another without leave obtained from the society.

But Italy boasts of a number of scientific academies besides those above mentioned. The Royal Neapolitan Academy was established in 1779; and the published memoirs contain some valuable researches on mathematical subjects. The Royal Academy of Turin was established by the late king when duke of Savoy. Its memoirs were originally published in Latin, under the title of Miscellanea Philosophica Mathematica Societatis Private Tauriensis; and the first volume appeared in 1759. Among the original members of this institution the most celebrated was Lagrange, who burst on the scientific world quite unexpectedly, by the novelty and depth of his papers in the first volume of the transactions. An Academy of Sciences, Belles Lettres, and Arts, was established at Pádua by the senate, near the close of the eighteenth century. It is composed of twenty-four pensionaries, twelve free associates, twenty-four pupils, twelve associates belonging to the ci-devant Venetian States, and twenty-four foreigners, besides honorary members. It has published several volumes of memoirs in the Italian language. The Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres of Genoa was established in 1783. It consists of thirty-two members; but their labours have been chiefly directed to poetry, nor are we aware that they have published any memoirs. The Academy of Milan was preceded, and perhaps introduced, by a literary assembly, consisting of ten persons, who published a sheet weekly, containing short remarks on subjects of science, belles lettres, and criticism. This society terminated in 1767. But soon afterwards another was established, the transactions of which, published under the title of Scelta d'Opuscoli Scientifici, contain several very interesting papers. The Academy of Sciences at Siena, instituted in 1691, published the first volume of its transactions in 1761, and has since continued them, at long intervals, under the title of Atti dell'Accademia di Siena. Between the years 1770 and 1780, M. Lorgna established at Verona an academy of sciences of a novel description. The object of it was to form an association among the principal scientific men in all parts of Italy, for the purpose of publishing their memoirs. The first volume appeared in the year 1782, under the title of Memorie di Matematica e Fisica della Societa Italiana. The most celebrated names that appear in this volume are those of Boscovich, the two Fontanas, and Spallanzani. There are also scientific academies at Mantua, Pisa, Pavia, and Modena; but several of these do not publish their transactions.

Towards the beginning of the seventeenth century, F. Mersenne is said to have given the first idea of a philosophical academy in France, by the confidences of naturalists and mathematicians occasionally held at his lodgings. At these Gassendi, Descartes, Hobbes, Roberval, Pascal, Blondel, and other celebrated persons, assisted. F. Mersenne proposed to each certain problems to be examined, or certain experiments to be made, and acted, to use a Gallic idiom, as the centre of re-union. By and by these private assemblies were succeeded by more public ones, formed by M. Montmort, and by Thevenot the celebrated traveller. Nor was this spirit confined to France. Animated by the example which had been set in that country, several Englishmen of learning and distinction instituted a kind of philosophical academy at Oxford towards the close of Cromwell's government; and this, after the Restoration, was erected into a Royal Society. (See Society.) And the English example, in its turn, re-acted upon France; for, in 1666, Louis XIV, assisted by the counsels of Colbert, founded at Paris

The Royal Academy of Sciences. Being desirous of establishing the sciences, arts, and literature upon a solid foundation, Louis, immediately after the peace of the Pyrenees, directed M. Colbert to form a society of men of known abilities and experience in the different branches of knowledge, who should meet together under the king's protection, in order to communicate freely their respective discoveries; and with the view of carrying his design the more effectually into execution, he appropriated a sufficient revenue, not only to defray the charge of experiments, but likewise to afford moderate salaries to the members. The commands of the Grand Monarque were executed with equal zeal and ability by his minister. For having conferred with those who were at that time most celebrated for their learning, M. Colbert resolved to form a society Academy, of such persons as were conversant in natural philosophy and mathematics; to join to them persons skilled in history and other branches of erudition; and, lastly, to draw together those who were engaged in the cultivation of what was then called the belles lettres, as well as of grammar, eloquence, and poetry. The geometricians and natural philosophers were ordered to meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays, in a great hall of the king's library, where the books of mathematics and natural philosophy were contained; the learned in history to assemble, on Mondays and Thursdays, in the hall where the books of history were arranged; and the class of belles lettres to meet on Wednesdays and Fridays; while all the different classes were directed to assemble together upon the first Thursday of every month, and by their respective secretaries to make a report of the proceedings of the previous month. In a short time, however, the classes of history and belles lettres were united to the French Academy, which was originally instituted for the improvement of the French language; in consequence of which the Royal Academy contained only two classes, viz. that of natural philosophy and that of mathematics.

In the year 1696, the king, by an ordonnance dated the 26th of January, gave this academy a new form, and put it upon a footing still more respectable. By this decree it was provided, that henceforth it should consist of four descriptions of members, viz. honorary, pensionary, associates, and élèves; which last were a kind of pupils or scholars, one of whom was attached to each of the pensionaries. The first class was to contain ten persons, and each of the rest twenty. The honorary academicians were to be all inhabitants of France, the pensionaries were all to reside in Paris, and the élèves were also to live in the capital; but eight of the associates might be chosen from among foreigners. The officers were, a president, named by the king out of the class of honorary academicians, and a secretary and treasurer, who held their offices for life. Of the pensionaries, three were to be geometricians, three astronomers, three mechanicians, three anatomists, three botanists, and the remaining two perpetual secretary and treasurer. Of the twelve associates, two were to apply themselves to geometry, two to botany, and two to chemistry; while the élèves were to devote themselves to the particular branches of science cultivated by the pensionaries to whom they were respectively attached, and not to speak except when called to do so by the president. Clerical persons, whether regular or otherwise, were declared inadmissible, except into the class of honorary academicians; nor could any one be admitted an associate or pensionary unless known by some considerable printed work, some machine, or other discovery. The assemblies were held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, except when either chanced to be a holiday; in which case the meeting was held on the day immediately preceding. To encourage members to pursue their inquiries and researches, the king engaged to pay not only the ordinary pensions, but even to confer extraordinary gratifications according to the degree of merit displayed in their respective performances; and, furthermore, his Majesty became bound, as we have already stated, to defray the whole expense of experiments and other investigations which it might be judged necessary from time to time to institute. Hence, if any member gave in a bill of charges for experiments he had made, or desired the printing of any book, and tendered an account of the disbursements required to effect that object, the money was immediately paid by the king, upon the president's allowing and signing the bill. In like manner, if an anatomist required, we shall say, live tortoises in order to make experiments on the action and functions of the heart, he had only to signify his intention through the president, and as many as he pleased were brought him at the king's charge. The motto of the academy was Invent et perfect.

In the year 1716, the Duke of Orleans, then regent, made an alteration in the constitution of this body, augmenting the number of honorary members and of associates eligible from among foreigners, admitting regular clergy among such associates, and suppressing the class of élèves, the existence of which had been attended with some inconveniences, particularly that of producing too great an inequality among the academicians, and of giving rise to misunderstandings and animosities among the members. At the same time he created two other classes; the one consisting of twelve adjuncts, who, like the associates, were allowed a deliberative voice in matters relative to science; and the other of six free associates, who were not attached to any particular science, nor obliged to pursue any particular work.

From the period of its re-establishment in 1699, this academy was very exact in publishing annually a volume containing either the works of its own members, or such memoirs as had been composed and read to the academy during that year. To each volume was prefixed a history of the academy, or an extract of the memoirs and of the res gestae of the different sittings; and appended to the history were éloges pronounced on such academicians as had died in the course of the year. M. Rouille de Meslay, counsellor to the parliament of Paris, founded two prizes, one of 2500 and the other of 2000 livres; the former for the best work, essay, or treatise, on physical astronomy, and the latter for any treatise or improvement relating to navigation and commerce. But notwithstanding all the advantages which the members of this academy enjoyed, and the great facilities afforded them for the prosecution of their researches, the institution latterly degenerated; in consequence, doubtless, of the perpetual interference of the court in behalf of its favourites, or to effect the exclusion of men of unquestionable merit who had incurred its displeasure. The effect of all this was, that persons of inferior acquirements were frequently admitted, while those of the most distinguished talents and reputation were excluded; and hence it gradually sunk in public estimation, until admission not only ceased to be an honour, but even became a subject of contempt and derision. Hence the well-known lines—

Ci gît Pirot, qui ne fut rien, Pas même Académicien.

The Revolution swept away the academy amidst the wrecks of the monarchy. It was suppressed by the Convention in the year 1793; and being new-modelled and re-organized upon a better and more efficient plan, it received the name of Institute, an appellation which it still bears, notwithstanding the great political changes which have since taken place. See INSTITUTE.

The French had also considerable academies in most of their great cities. Montpellier, for example, had a royal academy of sciences on nearly the same footing as that at Paris, of which, indeed, it was in some measure the counterpart; Toulouse also had an academy under the denomination of Lanternists; and there were analogous institutions at Nismes, Arles, Lyons, Dijon, Bordeaux, and other places. Of these several, we believe, are still in existence, if not in activity.

The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin was founded in 1700, by Frederic II. king of Prussia, on the model of the Royal Society of England; excepting that, besides natural knowledge, it likewise comprehended the belles lettres. In 1710, it was ordained that the president should Academy, be one of the counsellors of state, and nominated by the king. The members were divided into four classes: the first for prosecuting physics, medicine, and chemistry; the second for mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics; the third for the German language and the history of the country; and the fourth for oriental learning, particularly in so far as it concerns the propagation of the gospel among heathen nations. Each class was empowered to elect a director for itself, who should hold his post for life. The members of any of the classes were entitled to free admission into the assemblies of the other classes.

The great promoter of this institution was the celebrated Leibnitz, equally distinguished as a jurist, philologist, linguist, antiquary, mathematician, and philosopher, and who accordingly was chosen the first director. The first volume of their transactions was published in 1710, under the title of Miscellanea Berolinensia; and although the institution received but few marks of the royal favour for some time, they continued to publish new volumes in 1723, 1727, 1734, and 1740. But Frederic III., the late king of Prussia, at length imparted new vigour to this academy, by inviting to Berlin such foreigners as were most distinguished for their merit and literature, at the same time that he encouraged his own subjects to prosecute the study and cultivation of the sciences; and thinking that the academy, over which some minister or opulent nobleman had till that time presided, would derive advantage from having a man of letters at its head, he conferred that honour on M. Maupertuis. At the same time he gave a new set of regulations to the academy, and took upon himself the title of its protector.

The effect of these changes, however, it is not necessary to enlarge upon, as innovations still more recent have been introduced, with a view to direct the attention of the members to researches of real utility, to improve the arts, to stimulate national industry, and to purify the different systems of moral and literary education. To attain these ends a directory was chosen, consisting of a president and the four directors of the classes, and two men of business, not members of the academy, though at the same time persons of acknowledged learning; and to the body thus constituted was intrusted the management of the funds, and the conduct of the economical affairs of the institution. The power of choosing members was granted to the academy; but the king reserved to himself the privilege of confirming or annuling their choice, as he might think fit. The public library at Berlin, and the collection of natural curiosities, were united to the academy, and intrusted to its superintendence.

The academicians hold two public assemblies annually; at the latter of which is given, as a prize, a gold medal of fifty ducats value. The subject prescribed for this prize is successively taken from natural philosophy, mathematics, metaphysics, and general erudition.

The Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg was projected by the Czar Peter the Great. That despotic reformer, having in the course of his travels observed the advantage of public societies for the encouragement and promotion of literature, formed the design of founding an academy of sciences at St Petersburg. By the advice of Wolf and Leibnitz, whom he consulted on this occasion, the society was accordingly regulated, and several learned foreigners were invited to become members. Peter himself drew the plan, and signed it on the 10th of February 1724; but he was prevented, by the suddenness of his death, from carrying it into execution. His decease, however, did not prevent its completion; for on the 21st of December 1725, Catharine I. established it according to Peter's plan, and on the 27th of the same month the society assembled for the first time. On the 1st Academy, of August 1726, Catharine honoured the meeting with her presence, when Professor Bulfinger, a German naturalist of great eminence, pronounced an oration upon the advances made in the theory of magnetic variations, and also on the progress of research in so far as regarded the discovery of the longitude. A short time afterwards the empress settled a fund of L.4982 per annum for the support of the academy; and fifteen members, all eminent for their learning and talents, were admitted and pensioned, under the title of Professors in the various branches of science and literature. The most distinguished of these professors were Nicholas and Daniel Bernoulli, the two De Lisle, Bulfinger, and Wolf.

During the short reign of Peter II. the salaries of the members were discontinued, and the academy utterly neglected by the court; but it was again patronised by the Empress Anne, who even added a seminary for the education of youth, under the superintendence of the professors. Both institutions flourished for some time under the direction of Baron Korf; but upon his death, towards the latter end of Anne's reign, an ignorant person being appointed president, many of the most able members quitted Russia. At the accession of Elizabeth, however, new life and vigour were infused into the academy. The original plan was enlarged and improved; some of the most learned foreigners were again drawn to Petersburg; and, what was considered as a good omen for the literature of Russia, two natives, Lomonosof and Rumovsky, men of genius and abilities, who had prosecuted their studies in foreign universities, were enrolled among its members. Lastly, the annual income was increased to L.10,659, and sundry other advantages were conferred upon the institution.

The late Empress Catharine II., with her usual zeal for promoting the diffusion of knowledge, took this useful society under her immediate protection. She altered the court of directors greatly to the advantage of the whole body, corrected many of its abuses, and infused a new vigour and spirit into their researches. By her Majesty's particular recommendation the most ingenious professors visited the various provinces of her vast dominions; and as the funds of the academy were not sufficient to defray the whole expense of these expeditions, the empress supplied the deficiency by a grant of L.2000, which was renewed as occasion required.

The purpose and object of these travels will appear from the instructions given by the academy to the several persons who engaged in them. They were ordered to institute inquiries respecting the different sorts of earths and waters; the best methods of cultivating barren and desert spots; the local disorders incident to men and animals, together with the most efficacious means of relieving them; the breeding of cattle, particularly of sheep; the rearing of bees and silk-worms; the different places and objects for fishing and hunting; minerals of all kinds; the arts and trades; and the formation of a Flora Russica, or collection of indigenous plants. They were particularly instructed to rectify the longitude and latitude of the principal towns; to make astronomical, geographical, and meteorological observations; to trace the courses of the rivers; to construct the most exact charts; and to be very distinct and accurate in remarking and describing the manners and customs of the different races of people, their dresses, languages, antiquities, traditions, history, religion; in a word, to gain every information which might tend to illustrate the real state of the whole Russian empire. More ample instructions cannot well be conceived; and they appear to have been Academy, very zealously and faithfully executed. The consequence has been, that perhaps no country can boast, within the space of so few years, such a number of excellent publications on its internal state, its natural productions, its topography, geography, and history, and on the manners, customs, and languages of the different tribes who inhabit it, as have issued from the press of this academy.

The first transactions of this society were published in 1728, and entitled Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae ad annum 1726, with a dedication to Peter II. The publication was continued under this form until the year 1747, when the transactions were called Novi Commentarii Academiae, &c.; and in 1777, the academy again changed the title into Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, and likewise made some alteration in the arrangement and plan of the work. The papers, which had been hitherto published in the Latin language only, are now written indifferently either in that language or in French; and a preface is added, entitled Partie Historique, which contains an account of its proceedings, meetings, the admission of new members, and other remarkable occurrences. Of the Commentaries, fourteen volumes were published: the first of the New Commentaries made its appearance in 1750, and the twentieth in 1776. Under the new title of Acta Academiae, a number of volumes have been given to the public; and two are printed every year. These transactions abound with ingenious and elaborate disquisitions upon various parts of science and natural history; and it may not be an exaggeration to assert, that no society in Europe has more distinguished itself for the excellence of its publications, particularly in the more abstruse parts of the pure and mixed mathematics.

The academy is still composed, as at first, of fifteen professors, besides the president and director. Each of these professors has a house and an annual stipend from L.200 to L.600. Besides the professors, there are four adjuncts, with pensions, who are present at the sittings of the society, and succeed to the first vacancies. The direction of the academy is generally intrusted to a person of distinction.

The buildings and apparatus of this academy are extraordinary. There is a fine library, consisting of 36,000 curious books and manuscripts; together with an extensive museum, in which the various branches of natural history, &c. are distributed in different apartments. The latter is extremely rich in native productions, having been considerably augmented by the collections made by Pallas, Gmelin, Guldenstaedt, and other professors, during their expeditions through the various parts of the Russian empire. The stuffed animals and birds occupy one apartment. The chamber of rarities, the cabinet of coins, &c. contain innumerable articles of the highest curiosity and value. The motto of the society is exceedingly modest: it consists of only one word, Paulatim.

The Academy of Sciences at Bologna, called the Institute of Bologna, was founded by Count Marsigli in 1712, for the cultivation of physics, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and natural history. Its history is written by M. de Limiers, from memoirs furnished by the founder himself.

The Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, or the Royal Swedish Academy, owes its institution to six persons of distinguished learning, amongst whom was the celebrated Linnaeus. They originally met on the 2d of June 1739, when they formed a private society, in which some dissertations were read; and in the latter end of the same year their first publication made its appearance. As the meetings continued and the members increased, the society attracted the notice of the king; and, accordingly, Academy on the 31st of March 1741, it was incorporated under the name of the Royal Swedish Academy. Not receiving any pension from the crown, it is merely under the protection of the king, being directed, like our Royal Society, by its own members. It has now, however, a large fund, which has chiefly arisen from legacies and other donations; but a professor of experimental philosophy, and two secretaries, are still the only persons who receive any salaries. Each of the members resident at Stockholm becomes president by rotation, and continues in office during three months. There are two kinds of members, native and foreign; the election of the former description takes place in April, that of the latter in July; and no money is paid at the time of admission. The dissertations read at each meeting are collected and published four times in the year: they are written in the Swedish language, and printed in octavo; and the annual publications make a volume. The first forty volumes, which were completed in 1779, are called the Old Transactions; for in the following year the title was changed into that of New Transactions. The king is often present at the ordinary meetings, and regularly attends the annual assembly in April for the election of members. Any person who sends a treatise which is thought worthy of being printed, receives the Transactions for that quarter gratis; together with a silver medal, which is not esteemed for its value, being worth only three shillings, but for its rarity and the honour conveyed by it. All the papers relating to agriculture are published separately under the title of Economica Acta. Annual premiums, in money and gold medals, principally for the encouragement of agriculture and inland trade, are also distributed by the academy. The fund for these prizes is supplied by private donations.

The Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen owes its institution to the zeal of six individuals, whom Christian VI., in 1742, ordered to arrange his cabinet of medals. These persons were, John Gram, Joachim Frederic Ramus, Christian Louis Scheid, Mark Woldickey, Eric Pontopidan, and Bernard Moehlman, who, occasionally meeting for this purpose, extended their designs; associated with them others who were eminent in several branches of science; and forming a kind of literary society, employed themselves in searching into, and explaining the history and antiquities of their country. The Count of Holstein, the first president, warmly patronised this society, and recommended it so strongly to Christian VI. that, in 1748, his Danish majesty took it under his protection, called it the Royal Academy of Sciences, endowed it with a fund, and ordered the members to join to their former pursuits, natural history, physics, and mathematics. In consequence of the royal favour, the members engaged with fresh zeal in their pursuits; and the academy has published fifteen volumes in the Danish language, some of which have been translated into Latin.

The American Academy of Sciences was established in 1780, by the council and house of representatives in the province of Massachusetts Bay, for promoting a knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of the natural history of the country; for determining the uses to which its various natural productions might be applied; for encouraging medicinal discoveries, mathematical disquisitions, philosophical inquiries and experiments, astronomical, meteorological, and geographical observations, and improvements in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; and, in short, for cultivating every art and science which may tend to advance the interest and increase the happiness of the people. The members of this academy can never exceed 200, nor fall below forty. Academy. The Royal Irish Academy arose out of a society established at Dublin about the year 1782, and consisting of a number of gentlemen, most of whom belonged to the University. They held weekly meetings, and read essays in turn on various subjects. The members of this society afterwards formed a more extensive plan, and, admitting only such names as might add dignity to their new institution, became the founders of the Royal Irish Academy; which professed to unite the advancement of science with the history of mankind and polite literature. The first volume of their transactions for 1787 appeared in 1788, and seven volumes were afterwards published. A society was formed in Dublin, similar to the Royal Society in London, as early as the year 1683; but the distracted state of the country proved unpropitious to the cultivation of philosophy and literature.

The Academy of Sciences at Mannheim was established by Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine, in the year 1755. The plan of this institution was furnished by Scheepflin, according to which it was divided into two classes, the historical and physical. In 1780, a sub-division of the latter took place, into the physical properly so called, and the meteorological. The meteorological observations are published separately, under the title of Ephemerides Societatis Meteorologicae Palatinae. The historical and physical memoirs are published under the title of Acta Academiae Theodoro-Palatinae.

The Electoral Bavarian Academy of Sciences at Munich was established in 1759, and publishes its memoirs under the title of Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie. Soon after the Elector of Bavaria was raised to the rank of King, the Bavarian government, by his orders, directed its attention to a new organization of the Academy of Sciences of Munich. The design of the king was, to render its labours more extensive than those of any similar institution in Europe, by giving to it, under the direction of the ministry, the immediate superintendence over all the establishments for public instruction in the kingdom of Bavaria. The Privy-Councillor Jacobi, a man of most excellent character, and of considerable scientific attainments, was appointed president.

The Electoral Academy at Erfurt was established by the Elector of Mntz, in the year 1754. It consists of a protector, president, director, assessors, adjuncts, and associates. Its object is to promote the useful sciences. Their memoirs were originally published in the Latin language, but afterwards in German. The Hessian Academy of Sciences at Giessen publish their transactions under the title of Acta Philosophico-Medica Academiae Scientiarum Principalis Hessiae. In the Netherlands there are scientific academies at Flushing and Brussels, both of which have published their transactions.

A branch of the royal family of Portugal established at Lisbon, a number of years ago, a Royal Academy of the sciences, agriculture, arts, commerce, and economy in general. It is divided into three classes; natural science, mathematics, and national literature. It is composed of honorary members, as ministers of state and persons of high rank in Lisbon; foreign members, called socios veteranos; and acting members. The total number is sixty, of which twenty-four belong to the last class. They enjoy an allowance from government, which has enabled them to establish an observatory, a museum, a library, and a printing office. Their published transactions consist of Memorias de Litteratura Portugueza, and Memorias Economicas, besides Scientific Transactions. They have also published Collecção de Livros ineditos de Historia Portugueza.

VI. ACADEMIES OR SCHOOLS OF ARTS. Under this we may mention, first of all, the academy at Petersburg, established by the Empress Elizabeth, at the suggestion of Count Shuvalof, and annexed to the Academy of Sciences. The fund for its support was L4000 per annum, and the foundation admitted forty scholars. The late empress formed it into a separate institution, augmented the annual revenue to L12,000, and increased the number of scholars to three hundred: she also constructed, for the use and accommodation of the members, a large circular building, which fronts the Neva. The scholars are admitted at the age of six, and continue until they have attained that of eighteen. They are clothed, fed, and lodged, at the expense of the crown; and are all instructed in reading and writing, arithmetic, the French and German languages, and drawing. At the age of fourteen they are at liberty to choose any of the following arts, divided into four classes, viz. first, painting in all its branches, of history, portraits, battles, and landscapes, architecture, mosaic, enamelling, &c.; secondly, engraving on copperplates, seal-cutting, &c.; thirdly, carving on wood, ivory, and amber; fourthly, watch making, turning, instrument making, casting statues in bronze and other metals, imitating gems and medals in paste and other compositions, gilding, and varnishing. Prizes are annually distributed to those who excel in any particular art; and from those who have obtained four prizes, twelve are selected, who are sent abroad at the charge of the crown. A certain sum is paid to defray their travelling expenses; and when they are settled in any town, they receive an annual salary of L60, which is continued during four years. There is a small assortment of paintings for the use of the scholars; and those who have made great progress are permitted to copy the pictures in the imperial collection. For the purpose of design, there are models in plaster, all done at Rome, of the best antique statues in Italy, and of the same size with the originals, which the artists of the academy were employed to cast in bronze.

The Royal Academy of Arts in London was instituted for the encouragement of designing, painting, sculpture, &c. &c., in the year 1768. This academy is under the immediate patronage of the king, and under the direction of forty artists of the first rank in their several professions. It furnishes, in winter, living models of different characters to draw after; and in summer, models of the same kind to paint after. Nine of the ablest academicians are annually elected out of the forty, whose business it is to attend by rotation, to set the figures, to examine the performance of the students, and to give them necessary instructions. There are likewise professors of painting, architecture, anatomy, and perspective, who annually read public lectures on the subjects of their several departments; besides a president, a council, and other officers. The admission to this academy is free to all students properly qualified to reap advantage from the studies cultivated in it; and there is an annual exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and designs, open to all artists of distinguished merit.

The Academy of Painting and Sculpture at Paris. This took its rise from the disputes that happened between the master painters and sculptors in the French capital; in consequence of which, MM. le Brun, Sarrazin, Corneille, and others of the king's painters, formed a design of instituting a particular academy; and having presented a petition to the king, obtained an arrêt dated January 20, 1648. In the beginning of 1655, they obtained from Cardinal Mazarin, a brevet, and letters patent, which were registered in parliament; in gratitude for which favour, they chose the cardinal their protector, and made the chancellor their vice-protector. In 1663, they obtained, through M. Colbert, a pension of 4000 Academy. livres. The academy consisted of a protector, a vice-protector, a director, a chancellor, four rectors, adjuncts to the rectors, a treasurer, four professors (one of whom was professor of anatomy, and another of geometry), several adjuncts and counsellors, an historiographer, a secretary, and two ushers.

Every day for two hours in the afternoon, the Academy of Painting held a public assembly, to which the painters resorted either to design or to paint, while the sculptors modelled after the naked figure. There were twelve professors, each of whom kept the school for a month; and there was an equal number of adjuncts to supply their places in case of need. The professor upon duty placed the naked figure as he thought proper, and set it in two different attitudes every week. This was what they called setting the model. In one week of the month he set two models together, which was called setting the group. The paintings and models made after this model, were called academicians, or academical figures. They had likewise a woman who stood as a model in the public school. Three prizes for design were distributed among the élèves or disciples every quarter; and four others, two for painting, and two for sculpture, every year.

There was also an Academy of Painting, Sculpture, &c. at Rome, established by Louis XIV., wherein those who had gained the annual prize at Paris were entitled to be three years entertained at the king's expense, for their further improvement.

In 1778, an Academy of Painting and Sculpture was established at Turin. Their meetings were held in the palace of the king, who distributed prizes among the most successful members. In Milan, an Academy of Architecture was established so early as the year 1580, by Galeas Visconti. About the middle of the last century, an Academy of the Arts was established there, after the example of those at Paris and Rome. The pupils were furnished with originals and models, and prizes were distributed annually. The prize for painting was a gold medal, and no prize was bestowed till all the competing pieces had been subjected to the examination and criticism of competent judges. Before the effects of the French revolution reached Italy, this was one of the best establishments of the kind in that kingdom. In the hall of the academy were some admirable pieces of Correggio, as well as several ancient paintings and statues of great merit; particularly a small bust of Vitellius, and a statue of Agrippina, of most exquisite beauty, though it wants the head and arms. The Academy of the Arts, which had been long established at Florence, but which had fallen into decay, was restored by the late Grand Duke. In it there are halls for naked and plaster figures, for the use of the sculptor and the painter. The hall for plaster figures had models of all the finest statues in Italy, arranged in two lines; but the treasures of this, as well as all the other institutions for the fine arts, were greatly diminished by the rapacity of the French. In the saloon of the Academy of the Arts at Modena, there are many casts of antique statues; but since it was plundered by the French it has dwindled into a petty school for drawings from living models: it contains the skull of Correggio. There is also an Academy of the Fine Arts in Mantua, and another at Venice.

In Madrid, an Academy for Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, was founded by Philip V. The minister for foreign affairs is president. Prizes are distributed every three years. In Cadiz, a few students are supplied by government with the means of drawing and modelling from figures; and such as are not able to purchase the requisite instruments are provided with them.

An Academy of the Fine Arts was founded at Stockholm in the year 1733 by Count Tessin. In its hall are the ancient figures of plaster presented by Louis XIV. to Charles XI. The works of the students are publicly exhibited, and prizes are distributed annually. Such of them as display distinguished talents obtain pensions from government, to enable them to reside in Italy for some years, for the purposes of investigation and improvement. In this academy there are nine professors, and generally about four hundred students. In the year 1705, an Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture was established at Vienna, with the view of encouraging and promoting the fine arts.

The Royal Academy of Music is a name given in France to the grand opera, which is considered as in some sort a combination of all the liberal arts; painting, music, and the dance forming the principal part of that enchanting spectacle. The opera is of Venetian origin; and the Abbé Perrin, who officiated as master of the ceremonies to Gaston, Duke of Orleans, was the first who introduced it at Paris. He obtained letters patent from the king, dated the 28th June 1669, conferring upon him the privilege of establishing Operatic Academies in Music and in French Verse throughout the kingdom. Latterly, the theatre where operas are represented has been denominated the Théâtre des Arts; a name which has probably been suggested by the following verses of Voltaire, which convey a just definition of this delightful entertainment:—

Il faut se rendre à ce palais magique, Où les beaux vers, la danse, la musique, L'art de tromper les yeux par les couleurs, L'art plus heureux de séduire les cœurs, De cent plaisirs font un plaisir unique.

The Academy of Ancient Music was established in London in 1710, by several persons of distinction, and other amateurs, in conjunction with the most eminent masters of the time, in the view of promoting the study and practice of vocal and instrumental harmony. This institution, which had the advantage of a library, consisting of the most celebrated compositions, both foreign and domestic, in manuscript and in print, and which was aided by the performances of the gentlemen of the chapel royal, and the choir of St Paul's, with the boys belonging to each, continued to flourish for many years. In 1781, a charge of plagiarism brought against Bononcini, a member of the academy, for claiming a madrigal of Lotti of Venice as his own, threatened the existence of the institution. Dr Greene, who had introduced the madrigal into the academy, took part with Bononcini, and withdrew from the society, taking with him the boys of St Paul's. In 1734, Mr Gates, another member of the society, and master of the children of the royal chapel, also retired in disgust; so that the institution was thus deprived of the assistance which the boys afforded it in singing the soprano parts. From this time the academy became a seminary for the instruction of youth in the principles of music and the laws of harmony. Dr Pepusch, who was one of its founders, was active in accomplishing this measure; and by the expedients of educating boys for their purpose, and admitting auditor members, the subsistence of the academy was continued. The Royal Academy of Music was formed by the principal nobility and gentry of the kingdom, for the performance of operas, composed by Mr Handel, and conducted by him at the theatre in the Hay-market. The subscription amounted to L50,000, and the king, besides subscribing L1000, allowed the society to assume the title of Royal Academy. It consisted of a governor, deputy-governor, and twenty directors. A contest between Handel and Senesino, one of the performers, Academy, in which the directors took the part of the latter, occasioned the dissolution of the academy, after it had subsisted with reputation for more than nine years.

The Academy of Architecture was founded, under Louis XIV., by his celebrated minister Colbert in 1671, and was composed of the most distinguished architects of the time. It was provided, however, that the professor of architecture, and the secretary to the academy, should always be chosen from those architects intrusted with the superintendence of royal edifices; and the title of academician was conferred by brevet. The Academy of Architecture held its sittings every Monday at the Louvre, where it occupied the apartment called the Queen's Saloon; but at the commencement of the Revolution it was remodelled, like the Academy of Sciences, and transformed into a school for the cultivation and improvement of the fine arts. This school was divided into two sections, the first of which was devoted to painting and sculpture, and the second to architecture; and these two sections received, by a royal ordinance of the 11th August 1819, the title of Royal Academy of the Fine Arts. The instruction in architecture at this institution consists of lessons given in special courses of lectures by four different professors; first, on the theory of the art; secondly, on its history; thirdly, on the mathematical principles of construction; and, fourthly, on perspective; which last branch is common to both sections. By the munificence of the government, this institution is amply provided with means for supporting the pupils admitted within its walls, as also for affording them every facility in the prosecution of their studies; and with the view of exciting emulation as well as rewarding excellence, a grand prize is annually given.

The Academy of Dancing was erected by Louis XIV., and had particular privileges conferred upon it.

VII. ACADEMIES OF LAW. Under this head we may mention the famous academy at Berytus, and that of the Sittientes at Bologna. We are not aware of any other.

VIII. ACADEMIES OF HISTORY. The first of these to which we shall advert, is the Royal Academy of Portuguese History at Lisbon. This academy was instituted by King John V. in 1720. It consists of a director, four censors, a secretary, and fifty members, to each of whom is assigned some part of the ecclesiastical or civil history of the nation, which he is required to treat either in Latin or Portuguese. In the church history of each diocese, the prelates, synods, councils, churches, monasteries, academies, persons illustrious for sanctity or learning, and places famous for miracles or relics, must be distinctly related in twelve chapters. The civil history comprises the transactions of the kingdom, from the government of the Romans down to the present time. The members who reside in the country are obliged to make collections and extracts out of all the registers, &c. where they live. Their meetings take place once every fifteen days. A medal was struck by this academy in honour of their prince, on the obverse of which was his effigy, with the inscription Johannes V. Lusitanorum Rex, and on the reverse, the same prince represented standing, and raising History, almost prostrate before him, with the legend, Historia, Resurges. Underneath are the following words in abbreviation: REGia ACADEmia HISTorica LUSITanae, INSTITuta VI. Idus Decembri MDCCXX.

An Academy of History was some time ago established by some learned men at Tubingen, for publishing the best historical writings, the lives of the chief historians, and compiling new memoirs on any matter of importance connected with either.

About the year 1730, a few individuals in Madrid agreed to assemble at stated periods, for the purpose of preserving and illustrating the historical monuments of Spain. In the year 1738, the rules which they had drawn up were confirmed by a royal cedula of Philip V. This academy consists of twenty-four members. The device is a river at its source; the motto, In patriam populique fruim. It has published editions of Mariana, Sepulveda, Solis, and the ancient Chronicles relative to the affairs of Castle, several of which were never before printed. All the diplomas, charters, &c. belonging to the principal cities in Spain, since the earliest period, are in its possession. It has long been employed in preparing a geographical dictionary of that country.

IX. ACADEMIES OF ANTIQUITIES; as that at Cortona in Italy, and that at Upsal in Sweden. The first is designed for the study of Heturian antiquities; the other for illustrating the northern languages, and the antiquities of Sweden, in which valuable discoveries have been made by it. The head of the Heturian academy is called Lucomon, a name by which the ancient governors of the country were distinguished. One of their laws is, to give audience to poets only one day in the year; and another is, to fix their sessions, and impose a tax of a dissertation on each member in his turn.

The Academy of Medals and Inscriptions at Paris was set on foot by M. Colbert, under the patronage of Louis XIV. in 1663, for the study and explanation of ancient monuments, and for perpetuating great and memorable events, especially those of the French monarchy, by coins, relieves, inscriptions, &c. The number of members was at first confined to four or five, chosen out of those of the French academy; and they met in the library of M. Colbert, from whom they received his Majesty's orders. Though the days of their meetings were not determined, they generally assembled on Wednesdays, especially in the winter season; but, in 1691, the king having given the inspection of this academy to M. de Pontchartrain, comptroller-general of the finances, he fixed their meetings on Tuesdays and Saturdays. By a new regulation, dated the 16th of July 1701, the academy was composed of ten honorary members; ten associates, each of whom had two declarative voices; ten pensioners; and ten élèves, or pupils. They then met every Tuesday and Wednesday, in one of the halls of the Louvre; and had two public meetings yearly, one the day after Martinmas, and the other the 16th after Easter. The class of élèves was suppressed, and united to the associates. The king nominated their president and vice-president yearly; but their secretary and treasurer were perpetual. The rest were chosen by the members themselves, agreeably to the constitutions on that head given to them. One of the first undertakings of this academy was to compose, by means of medals, a connected history of the principal events of Louis XIV.'s reign. In this design, however, they met with very great difficulties, and consequently it was interrupted for a number of years; but at length it was completed down to the advancement of the Duke of Anjou to the crown of Spain. In this celebrated work, the establishment of the academy itself was not forgotten. The medal on this subject represents Mercury sitting, and writing with an antique stylus on a table of brass; he leans with his left hand upon an urn full of medals, and at his feet are several others placed upon a card. The legend is, Rerum gestarum fides, and on the exergue, Academia Regia Inscriptionum et Numismatum, instituta MDCLXIII.; signifying, that the Royal Academy of Medals and Inscriptions, founded in 1663, ought to give to future ages a faithful testimony of all great actions. Besides this work, we have several volumes of their me- Academy, moirs; and their history, written and continued by their secretaries.

Under this class the Academy of Herculaneum properly ranks. It was established at Naples about 1755, at which period a museum was formed of the antiquities found at Herculaneum, Pompeii, and other places, by the Marquis Tanucci, who was then minister of state. Its object was to explain the paintings, &c. which were discovered at those places; and for this purpose the members met every fortnight, and at each meeting three paintings were submitted to three academicians, who made their report on them at their next sitting. The first volume of their labours appeared in 1775, and they have been continued under the title of Antichità di Ercolano. They contain engravings of the principal paintings, statues, bronzes, marble figures, medals, utensils, &c. with explanations. In the year 1807, an Academy of History and Antiquities, on a new plan, was established at Naples, by Joseph Buonaparte. The number of members was limited to forty; twenty of whom were to be appointed by the king, and these twenty were to present to him, for his choice, three names for each of those wanted to complete the full number. Eight thousand ducats were to be annually allotted for the current expenses, and two thousand for prizes to the authors of four works, which should be deemed by the academy most deserving of such a reward. A grand meeting was to be held every year, when the prizes were to be distributed, and analyses of the works read. The first meeting took place on the 25th of April 1807; but the subsequent changes in the political state of Naples have prevented the full and permanent establishment of this institution. In the same year an academy was established at Florence, for the illustration of Tuscan antiquities, which has published some volumes of memoirs.

In consequence of the attention of several literary men in Paris having been directed to Celtic antiquities, a Celtic Academy was established in that city in the year 1807. Its objects were, first, the elucidation of the history, customs, antiquities, manners, and monuments of the Celts, particularly in France; secondly, the etymology of all the European languages, by the aid of the Celto-British, Welsh, and Erse; and, thirdly, researches relating to Druidism. The attention of the members was also particularly called to the history and settlements of the Galatae in Asia. Lenoir, the keeper of the museum of French monuments, was appointed president. A fasciculus, consisting of 150 or 160 pages, was to be published monthly; and the engravings illustrative of Celtic antiquities were to be under the inspection of Lenoir. The devices are, Gloria Majorum, and Sermonem patriam moresque requieret.

X. Academies of Belles Lettres are those wherein eloquence and poetry are chiefly cultivated. These are very numerous in Italy, and were not uncommon in France.

The Academy of Umidi at Florence has contributed greatly to the progress of the sciences by the excellent Italian translations executed by some of its members, of the ancient Greek and Latin historians. But their chief attention was directed to Italian poetry, at the same time that they applied themselves to the polishing of their language, which produced the Academy della Crusca.

The Academy of Humourists, Umoristi, had its origin at Rome in the marriage of Lorenzo Marcini, a Roman gentleman, at which several persons of rank were guests; for it being carnival time, to give the ladies some diversion, they betook themselves to the reciting of verses, sonnets, speeches, first extempore, and afterwards premeditately; which gave them the denomination of Belli Humorist. After some experience, and coming more and more into the taste of these exercises, they resolved to form an academy of belles lettres, and changed the title of Belli Humorist for that of Humoristi; choosing for their device a cloud, which, after being formed of exhalations from the salt waters of the ocean, returns in a gentle sweet shower; with this motto from Lucretius, Reddit aquimque dulci.

In 1690, the Academy of Arcadi was established at Rome, for reviving the study of poetry and of the belles lettres. Besides most of the politer wits of both sexes in Italy, this academy comprehended many princes, cardinals, and other ecclesiastics; and, to avoid disputes about pre-eminence, all appeared masked after the manner of Arcadian shepherds. Within ten years from its first establishment, the number of Academicians amounted to six hundred. They held assemblies seven times a year in a meadow or grove, or in the gardens of some nobleman of distinction. Six of these meetings were employed in the recitation of poems and verses of the Arcadi residing at Rome, who read their own compositions; except ladies and cardinals, who were allowed to employ others. The seventh meeting was set apart for the compositions of foreign or absent members. This academy is governed by a custos, who represents the whole society, and is chosen every four years, with a power of electing twelve others yearly for his assistance. Under these are two sub-custodes, one vicar or pro-custos, and four deputies or superintendents, annually chosen. The laws of the society are immutable, and bear a near resemblance to the ancient model. There are five modes of electing members. The first is by acclamation. This is used when sovereign princes, cardinals, and ambassadors of kings desire to be admitted; and the votes are then given viva voce. The second is called annumeration. This was introduced in favour of ladies and academical colonies, where the votes are taken privately. The third, representation, was established in favour of colonies and universities, where the young gentry are bred, who have each a privilege of recommending one or two members privately to be balloted for. The fourth, surrogation, whereby new members are substituted in the room of those dead or expelled. The last, destination, whereby, when there is no vacancy of members, persons of poetical merit have the title of Arcadi conferred upon them till such time as a vacancy shall happen. All the members of this body, at their admission, assume new pastoral names, in imitation of the shepherds of Arcadia. The academy has several colonies of Arcadi in different cities of Italy, who are all regulated after the same manner.

XI. Academies of Languages, called by some, Grammatical Academies; as, The Academy della Crusca at Florence, famous for its vocabulary of the Italian tongue, which was formed in 1582, but scarce heard of before the year 1584, when it became noted for a dispute between Tasso and several of its members. Many authors confound this with the Florentine academy. The discourses which Torricelli, the celebrated disciple of Galileo, delivered in the assemblies, concerning levity, the wind, the power of percussion, mathematics, and military architecture, are a proof that these academies applied themselves to things as well as words.

The Academy of Fructiferi had its rise in 1617, at an assembly of several princes and nobility of the country, who met with a design to refine and perfect the German tongue. It flourished long under the direction of princes of the empire, who were always chosen presidents. In 1668, the number of members arose to upwards of nine hundred. It was prior in time to the French academy, Academy, which only appeared in 1629, and was not established into an academy before the year 1635. Its history is written in the German tongue, by George Neumark.

The French Academy had its rise from a meeting of men of letters in the house of M. Comart, in 1629. In 1635, it was erected into an academy by Cardinal Richelieu, for refining and ascertaining the French language and style. The number of its members was limited to forty, out of whom a director, chancellor, and secretary were to be chosen; the two former of whom were to hold their posts for two months; the latter was perpetual. The members of this academy enjoyed several privileges and immunities, among which was that of not being obliged to answer before any court but that of the king's household. They met three times a week in the Louvre. At the breaking up of each meeting forty silver medals were distributed among the members, having on one side the king of France's head, and on the reverse, Protecteur de l'Académie, with laurel, and this motto, A l'Immortalité. By this distribution, the attendance of the academicians was secured; for those who were present received the surplus intended for the absent. To elect or expel a member, the concurrence of at least eighteen was required; nor could any one be chosen unless he petitioned for it; by which expedient the affront of refusals on the part of persons elected was avoided. Religious persons were not admitted; nor could any nobleman or person of distinction be elected on any other footing than as a man of letters. None could be expelled, except for base and dishonest practices; and there were but two instances of such expulsions, the first of M. Grainer for refusing to return a deposit, the other of the Abbe Furetière for plagiarism. The design of this academy was to give not only rules, but examples, of good writing. They began with making speeches on subjects taken at pleasure, about twenty of which were printed. At their first institution they met with great opposition from the parliament; it being two years before the patents granted by the king could be registered. This institution has been severely satirized, and the style of its compositions has been ridiculed as enervating instead of refining the French language. They were also charged with having swindled the world by flattery, and exhausted all the topics of panegyrick in praise of their founder; it being a duty incumbent on every member, at his admission, to make a speech in praise of the king, the cardinal, the chancellor Seguier, and the person in whose room he is elected. The most remarkable work of this academy is a dictionary of the French tongue; which, after fifty years spent in settling the words and phrases to be used in writing, was at last published in 1694.

An academy similar to the above was founded at Petersburg under the auspices of the Princess Dashkof; and the plan having been approved by the crown, a fund was established for its support. It is attached to the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg.

The Royal Spanish Academy at Madrid held its first meeting in July 1713, in the palace of its founder, the Duke d'Escalona. It consisted at first of eight academicians, including the duke; to which number fourteen others were afterwards added, the founder being chosen president or director. In 1714, the king granted them the royal confirmation and protection. Their device is a crucible in the middle of the fire, with this motto, Limpia, Fixa, y da Esplendor; "It purifies, fixes, and gives brightness." The number of members was limited to twenty-four; the Duke d'Escalona was chosen director for life, but his successors were elected yearly, and the secretary for life. Their object, as marked out by the royal declaration, was to cultivate and improve the national language. They were to begin with choosing carefully such words and Academy phrases as have been used by the best Spanish writers; noting the low, barbarous, or obsolete ones; and composing a dictionary wherein these might be distinguished from the former.

The Royal Swedish Academy was founded in the year 1786, for the purpose of purifying and perfecting the Swedish language. A medal is struck by its direction every year in honour of some illustrious Swede. This academy does not publish its transactions.

XII. ACADEMIES OF POLITICS. Of this description was that at Paris, consisting of six persons, who met at the Louvre, in the chamber where the papers relating to foreign affairs were lodged. But this academy proved of little service, as the kings of France were unwilling to trust any but their ministers with the inspection of foreign affairs.

Academy is a term also applied to those royal collegiate seminaries in which young men are educated for the navy and army. In our country there are three seminaries of this description; the Naval Academy at Portsmouth, the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and the Royal Military College at Farnham and Sandhurst. Of these we shall give some account in their order.

I. The Naval Academy at Portsmouth was founded by George I. in 1722; but the official warrant for its establishment does not appear to have been issued till the 21st of February 1729. This warrant bears, that the academy was instituted for the education of forty young gentlemen, fifteen of whom were to be sons of commissioned officers in the navy. The commissioner of the navy at Portsmouth was, ex officio, to be governor; and there were to be two masters for the instruction of the students in navigation and the sciences introductory or auxiliary to it; besides a master for writing and drawing. The annual expense was about L1169.

In the year 1773, George III, during a visit he paid to Portsmouth, suggested the extension and improvement of the Naval Academy; but no steps were taken towards this object till the year 1806, when an order in council was issued for a new and enlarged establishment. By this order it was henceforward to be called the Royal Naval College, at Dock-yard, Portsmouth, and the following officers were appointed: first, a Governor, who was to be the First Lord of the Admiralty for the time being; and, second, a Lieutenant-Governor and inspector, who was to be a post-captain in the navy. As the course of education which the students were to follow necessarily embraced the mathematical sciences, the order directed that the University of Cambridge should recommend three of its graduates, who were able mathematicians; one of whom, the First Lord of the Admiralty, as governor, was to nominate professor. In order to incite him to the regular and faithful discharge of his duty, he was to receive no fixed salary, but to be paid L8 annually by each student attending the academy. The next in rank and authority under the professor is the preceptor, or head master, who must be a graduate of one of the universities. He has the control of the students at all hours, and is to instruct them in the classics, moral philosophy, geography, history, and general literature.

The order in council also appointed a writing-master, who, besides giving instructions in his own immediate line, was to prepare the students for the lectures of the professor, by teaching them arithmetic, fractions, algebra, and geometry. There are, besides, masters for drawing, French, dancing, and fencing. The surgeon of the dockyard gives his professional advice and assistance. The domestic economy of the establishment is intrusted, by Academy. the order in council, to a disabled and meritorious half-pay lieutenant.

The peculiar advantages of this academy, however, consist in the practical knowledge which it is intended and calculated to bestow on those who are admitted. For this purpose, the master attendant of the dock-yard gives weekly lessons on the management of ships afloat, in one of the cruising sloops; and likewise lessons in rigging and preparing ships for sea, on board such vessels as are preparing to sail from Portsmouth harbour. Forty-seven lessons are given in each of these branches annually, five weeks being allowed for holidays.

The master shipwright of the dock-yard instructs the students in the principles on which ships of war are built, and in the mode of putting the several parts to ether; making masts, and all other branches of naval architecture, by attending them one day in the week, during the six summer months, through the dock-yards. The gunner of marine artillery also instructs them in the practical knowledge of gunnery, and in the use of the firelock.

The number of scholars, by the order in council of February 1806, was increased from forty to seventy: of these, thirty might be indiscriminately sons of officers, noblemen, or gentlemen; but forty were invariably to be sons of commissioned officers in the naval service. None are admitted under thirteen, nor above sixteen years of age; and those are preferred to fill vacancies who have been previously at sea, provided they are of the proper age. No student can remain at the academy longer than three years; and the whole period of his residence is to be reckoned as two of the six years which it is necessary for a midshipman to serve before he can obtain a lieutenant's commission. Each student, while actually at the academy, that is, during three hundred and thirty days in the year, receives four shillings daily; out of which he pays L.8 annually to the professor. The annual expense of the establishment, as fixed by the order in council of 1806, is about L.6363.

In order to secure to the country the services of the students in that line for which they have been educated, the parents of all of them, except such as have been previously at sea, grant a bond of L.200, which is forfeited in case they do not enter into the naval service. The first year they are at sea, they are rated as volunteers, on able seaman's pay; the second year, they have the rank and pay of midshipmen. They are directed to keep journals, to draw head-lands, &c.; and when the ship comes into port, they are to attend the professor, who is to inspect their journals, and examine them regarding their advancement in the theoretical and practical knowledge of this profession.

This academy, as established by the order in council already mentioned, was confined entirely to the education of young cadets for the navy: but in the third report of the commissioners, appointed to inquire into the civil affairs of the navy, laid before Parliament in June 1806, a regular system of education for shipwrights was also proposed; and the suggestion was accordingly carried into effect, though not till some years afterwards. The professor of the naval academy is also the instructor of the shipwright apprentices, but his instructions extend only to that class who are to serve on board His Majesty's ships of war. No apprentice can be admitted to the academy under sixteen years of age; and he must be previously examined by the professor, before a committee of the navy board, in arithmetic, the first six books of Euclid, and in French. If the candidate is approved, he must be bound to the resident commissioner of the dock-yard for seven years, six of which he spends at the academy, and one at sea. The salary of the apprentices increases yearly, from L.60 to L.140; out of which they pay L.8 to the professor. The number of these apprentices was originally limited to twenty-five; but latterly, six more have been added. They spend half the day under the professor; and the other half under the master shipwright, in the mould lofts, learning the management of timber, and manual labour in ship-building. Lectures are delivered three times a week, after working hours, on the branches of science connected with naval architecture; and annual examinations take place before the resident commissioner, the master shipwright, and the professor.

Out of the class of shipwright apprentices thus educated, are selected the master measurers, foremen of shipwrights, master boat-builders, master mast-makers, assistants to master ship-builders, mechanists in office of inspector-general of naval works, assistants to surveyors of the navy, master shipwrights, second surveyor of navy, inspector-general of navy works, and first surveyor of navy.

II. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich was established by George II, by warrants dated 30th of April and 16th November 1741, for the purpose of instructing "raw and inexperienced people belonging to the military branch of the ordnance, in the several parts of the mathematics necessary for the service of the artillery, and the business of engineers." We find no further notice respecting this institution till the year 1776, when the number of scholars, then called cadets, amounted to forty-eight. In the year 1786, they were increased to sixty; in 1796, to ninety; and in 1798, to one hundred, forty of whom were educated for the service of the East India Company. This number continued till the year 1806, when the establishment was improved and further extended, the number of masters being increased, and the cadets being divided into two bodies. This latter regulation took place in consequence principally of the unhealthy and confined situation of the old buildings in the royal arsenal; new buildings having been erected on Woolwich Common, on the side of Shooter's Hill, in a more open and dry situation. As soon as these were finished, one hundred and twenty-eight cadets were lodged in them; sixty still continuing in the royal arsenal. At this period, there were nine masters of mathematics. In 1810, the cadets for the service of the East India Company were withdrawn from Woolwich; and the extra cadets, who, for want of room, had been sent to Marlow, or to private schools, were taken into the college, under the name of supernumeraries. The establishment at present consists of two hundred cadets, one hundred and twenty-eight of whom are in the new buildings, and seventy-two, including twelve supernumeraries, reside in the arsenal. The number of cadets is not fixed by warrant, but is at the discretion of the master-general of ordnance, who, with the board of ordnance, have the entire superintendence of the institution. The immediate direction, however, is vested in the lieutenant-governor and inspector, who are chosen generally from the artillery or engineers by the master-general of the ordnance. It is the duty of these officers, aided by the assistant inspector, to control the masters and professors, and to see that the cadets are taught the necessary branches of instruction. The professors and masters are appointed on the recommendation of the lieutenant-governor, who, assisted by men of science, previously examines them. One master is appointed for every sixteen cadets. At present there are a professor of fortification, with two assistants; a professor of mathematics, with six masters and assistants; two French masters; Academy, a drawing-master for ground, and an assistant; a drawing-master for figures, and another for landscape; a dancing-master; a fencing-master; two modellers; and a lecturer on chemistry. Lectures are also given on the different branches of natural philosophy. The inferior branches of education are taught at the lower institution in the arsenal, and the higher branches at the buildings on the common.

The young men educated at the Royal Military Academy of Woolwich are the sons of noblemen, gentlemen, or military officers. They are called gentlemen cadets, and cannot be admitted under fourteen, nor above sixteen years of age. They are nominated by the master-general of the ordnance, as governor of the academy; but they must be well grounded in English grammar, arithmetic, and French; and they undergo a previous public examination before the masters of the academy. The cadets educated at Woolwich are considered as the first company of the royal regiment of artillery, of which the master-general of the ordnance is the captain. They are also divided into companies, each company having a captain and two subalterns, as military directors. Each cadet receives 2s. 6d. a day, or L45. 12s. 6d. a year, which covers all his regular expenses, except keeping up his linen. The annual vacations consist of twelve weeks.

Monthly returns of the studies of the cadets, showing the relative progress of each in every branch, with his particular character subjoined, are sent to the master-general of the ordnance: there are also public examinations before the general officers of the ordnance corps. Commissions are given to the cadets according to the report of their merits and acquirements; they have their choice of entering either into the artillery or engineers. The whole expense to government, of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, is at the rate of about L100 for each cadet.

III. The Royal Military College, which is at present established at Farnham, in Surrey, and at Sandhurst, near Bagshot, was originally settled at High Wycombe and Great Marlow. The establishment at High Wycombe commenced in January 1799, at which time there was a superintendent, commandant, two or three professors, and thirty-four students. Next year four more professors were added; and in 1801 it took the name of the Royal Military College by warrant of George III. A supreme board of commissioners, to superintend and regulate its concerns, was appointed, consisting of the commander-in-chief, secretary of war, and the heads of the great military departments, with others of high rank in the army; three of whom, including the secretary of war, and the adjutant or quartermaster-general, were to form a board of management. By his Majesty's warrant, dated the 4th of June 1802, another department, called the Junior Department of the Royal Military College, was formed; and the objects of this, as well as of the original, or Senior Department, were specifically pointed out. A collegiate board was also established, for the internal government of the college, consisting of the governor, lieutenant-governor, and the commandants of the two departments. The last warrant relating to this establishment is dated 27th May 1808. It places both the departments, forming one college, under the command of the governor and lieutenant-governor; it continues the collegiate board; and it vests the appointment of professors and masters, after public notice of vacancies, and the examination of the candidates in the presence of the collegiate board, in the supreme board.

By these warrants it was declared, that the Junior Department of the Institution, which was then at Marlow, was principally intended for those who were destined for Academy, the military profession, in order to ground them in the necessary sciences by the time they could hold commissions; and also to afford provision for the orphan sons of meritorious officers, who had fallen or been disabled in the service of their country, or whose pecuniary circumstances rendered them unable to educate their sons properly for a military life. The warrant of 1808 fixed the number of students in the Junior Department at four hundred and twelve, divided into four companies of a hundred and three cadets each. They are admitted upon three different establishments:—1. Orphan sons of officers of the army or navy, who have fallen, died, or been disabled in the service: these are admitted free of expense, except that they are to bring the first suit of uniform on their admission, and to keep up their stock of linen, during their residence at the college. 2. The sons of officers actually serving in the army or navy, who pay a certain sum annually, from L10 to L60, according to the rank of their fathers. 3. The sons of noblemen and gentlemen, who pay L100 per annum each.

The military branch of the establishment attached to the Junior Department, consists of a commandant, a major, three captains, an adjutant, and inferior officers.

The studies pursued in this department are, mathematics, natural philosophy, history, geography, fortification, military drawing, landscape drawing, arithmetic, classics, French, German, fencing, and writing. There are seven masters of mathematics, four of fortification, five of military drawing, three of landscape drawing, four of history, geography, and classics, six of French, one of German, and three of fencing. The course for this department lasts from three and a half to four years.

Applications for admission must be made to the commander-in-chief, through the governor of the college, and his Majesty's approbation obtained. Every candidate, previously to admission into the Junior Department, must pass an examination in Latin and English grammar, and in the first four rules of arithmetic; and no candidate can be admitted under thirteen or above fifteen years of age.

Examinations are held monthly, which are conducted by the professors of the Senior Department, for the purpose of ascertaining the progress of each cadet, previously to his removal from one class to another. There are also half-yearly examinations, in presence of the collegiate board, on which occasion one or more members of the supreme board, not being members of the collegiate board, attend. These examinations are held previously to the cadets' receiving commissions from the college; and if they acquit themselves well, they are furnished by the board of commissioners, in whose presence the examination takes place, with certificates of qualification to serve in the army as officers. The third class, or gentlemen cadets, are allowed to purchase commissions at any time during their continuance at the college; but no gentleman cadet can be recommended for a commission by private interest, until he has made a certain progress in his studies.

The Senior Department of the Royal Military College, which was originally established at High Wycombe, is intended for the purpose of instructing officers in the scientific parts of their profession, with a view of enabling them better to discharge their duty when acting in the command of regiments; and, at the same time, of qualifying them for being employed in the quartermaster's and adjutant-general's department. The military branch of the establishment of the Senior Department consists of a commandant and adjutant. The studies pursued are, mathematics in all their various branches, fortification, gunnery, castrametation, military drawing and surveying, the reconnoitring of ground, the disposition and movement of troops under all the various circumstances of defensive and offensive war, rules for estimating the military resources of a country, and the German and French languages. There are six professors in this department; one for mathematics, one for fortification, two for military drawing, one for French, and one for German.

The full complement of the Senior Department consists of thirty students. No officer can be admitted till he has completed the twenty-first year of his age, and actually served with his regiment, as a commissioned officer, three years abroad, or four years at home. Applications for admission must be made to the governor, through the commanding officer of the regiment to which the candidate belongs; and the governor transmits the application to the commander-in-chief, for his Majesty's approbation. Such examination as may be deemed requisite, is required previously to admission. Each student of this department pays into the funds of the college thirty guineas annually; and after a certain period he is obliged to keep a horse, for the purpose of receiving such instruction as is given in the field. There are public examinations half-yearly, conducted on the same principle as the half-yearly examinations of the Junior Department. Such officers as have gone through the regular course of studies, and have passed this examination with credit, receive certificates that they are duly qualified for staff-appointments, signed by the board who examined them, and sealed with the seal of the college.

Officers or students of the first department, non-commissioned officers, and other military persons belonging to the college, as well as the gentlemen cadets of the junior department, are subject to the articles of war; for which reason the latter are placed on the establishment of the army, and receive 2s. 6d. per day. This money contributes towards the expense of their education. The gentlemen cadets wear military uniforms.

The general staff of the college consists of the governor, the lieutenant-governor, the inspector-general of instruction, and the chaplain, who, besides performing divine service, teaches the evidences and principles of Christianity. The rest of the staff are exclusively occupied with the finances of the college.

In 1801, five hundred acres of land were purchased at Sandhurst, near Bagshot; and on this space large and commodious buildings were erected, into which the Junior Department was removed from Great Marlow; but the Senior Department remained at Farnham, which is at no great distance from Sandhurst.

Academy Figure, a drawing of a naked man or woman, taken from the life; which is usually done on paper with red or black chalk, and sometimes with pastils or crayons.