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    GEORGE VILLTEES, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM•*.

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    I T is no . easy matter to . form a thoroughly correct estimateof the character of a favourite . The sources of our ¦ ' information are tainted "by adulation or hatred . Whilst the minion busks in the sunshine of royal favour , is the fountain of all honour , and . the dispenser of all rewards , he is . pourtrayed as a very mirror of justice , wisdom , and virtue by servile pens , ¦ ¦ al l . other mention of him beingsilenced by the fear of iris wrath . When he falls or dies ; can no longer favour or punish , he is depleted , as well by his whijoin admirers as by those who have . always hated him , as a monster of vice arid a curse to the realm . The colours empl o yed by the first set of limners fade away ; those applied by the second stands and posterity acceptsthe favourite as the bad man his foes have depicted him . Unjust

    as that easy judgment may seem , it really does little injustice . A royal favourite generally deserves the reprobation lavished upon him . - If lie has not commenced his career with tainted morals or gross vices , if he did not gain . his place by unworthy recommendations , it has seldom required more than a few months of unbounded power to awaken in him the arrogance , extortion , avarice , and immorality , which are the recognised attributes of the hated race . Although " Geoiigk Villieks , Duke of Buckingham , was not guilty of all the misdeeds imputed to him in the times of wild suspicion and blind oppression which preceded and followed , his death , all that can be said in his favour , despite the strenuous efforts of Mrs . Thomson in the interesting and able biography before us to present him in an amiuble liyjht , is , Unit he was . not quite so bad as his bitterest

    foes have represented him . The career of ¦ B .-uciunchiam ; is most remarkaWe for the-rapidity ot his rise . " Never in any age or land , " says Clakenjjon , "did a man rise so high or so fast upon no other advantageor recommundationUian . of the beauty and gracefulness and becommgness of his person ; and certainly with no other monarch than James I . would such recoininoudations have workod so potently . But the failing * of Ja ^ es were known , and Buckingham was trained up to pro . fit by them . He was of a good but not wealthy Leicestershire family . Ins "' ther . Sir Geouoe Viw-risAs , who had been knighted when high sheriff , of his county , married , upon the death of h . , first wife , by whom he had fivo children , very hundsome young servant of Ins household , Maky Eeau . mont , afterwards represented as herself of good family ,

    although with but alight foundation . This waiting-woman , who won us clever as she was beautiful , and easily adapted liorseU to her new station , presented Sir Geokok with four children . 1 he second son , Gkorou , was born at ljiokesby , Ihe family seat , in August , 15 J 4 . His father died when he wns still a boy , and . his . mother retired to her dower house of CJodby . The fair duuie , we may observe , married again twice , her last husbiuid being Sir Thomas Comi > tox . Abe greater part of Sir Geoiiok ' b estates wore settled upon the children , of the first marriage , so that , although his wife had a sufficient mcomo—Cr . AiuwDON calls it " a good jointure in the account of that ago , "—her children were but ill provided for . Ueohub wasiv youth of singular beauty nnd gr « ce , but not at nil inclined to study . His mother , therefore , cultivated those personal charms , and had him instructed in all tho outride aecornpIiahniontB of the age . An 1 (> 1 U , when ho waa eighteen , she » ont him to Puna , whore ho rumuinod about three voarB . returning thence an excellent fencer , an

    adtmrable drgasor , an incornparable dancer , and ot very waning manners . He know French , but that wns tho only foreign language with which ho whs acquainted , and as to books he was very J'U j tQrato . For some time after his return ho stayed at homo , and rnight norhops have settled down into n . quwt country gontloninn , b «> t tl at he was unublo to settle upon tie daughter of Sir « . Astof , whoso " had ho sought , and who would have brought hro

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    a complete knowledge of its mineral wealth , its useful rocks , its subsoils , and its general geological structure . Bishops are very valuable , but India might do without them better than without coal . Archdeacons are excellent , but so are stone quarries ; and while tor the whole order of the clergy We have the greatest veneration , yet we are apt to think the natives of India , would , for the present , prefer good roads , good building stone , and available iron . It is very wicked and perverse , but people are disposed to think that wellaiTansred iron works would be of more service to India just now than " all the ecclesiastical benedictions which lawned and mitred and begowned Oxonians could bestow . Tiie total area how mapped geologically is more than 26 , 000 square miles ; but if previous geological maps be : addedj the total area is 38 , 000 square miles . The area of the districts the survey of which is now first published , ' -is more than 14 , 000 square miles , ( exclusive of the part of Talcheer included ) , extending along the right bank of the Hooghly and the east shore of the Bay of Bengal , from Burdwan , in north latitude 23 deg . 13 min ., to Ganjam , in latitude 19 deg . 22 min . The river Damoodah forms the northern boundary of this area , and the Chilka ] Lake its southern extremity . Within this area the following classes of rocks are found ¦ : —1 . Hypogene and metnmorplifc rocks ; various forms of gneiss and quartzites , with intrusive igneous rocks . 2 . Sandstones . 3 . Laterite . 4 . Older alluvium and alluvium of the deltas of rivers . 5 . Blown sands . All the hills of the district , with one exception , are composed of metamorphie rocks ( rocks presumed to be changed by volcanic heat and pressure ) , with associated igneous rocks , or such . as were once melted , and are the result of the action of heat . Such a district , with such rocks , cannot , of course , be very interesting , as we cannot expect fossils or any physical feature's of particular interest . Of course an enthusiastic geologist would find even here , and , in fact , anywhere where there are rocks , themes for profound investigation and scientific inquiry . The only substance of general interest amongst those named is the peculiar and widely-prevalent rock which is termed Laterite .- Respecting its origin we have a good theoretic paper in this ' volume , but it will only be read by geologists who can respect and esteem the driest sentences . The general reader will be chiefly interested in the economic and common uses to which this rock has been -and may yet be put . - It is the material most frequently used-for building- in the districts where it prevails . Walls , houses , and buildings of greater pretensions are constructed of it . Its peculiar characters may have caused its selection ; for it is easy to ciit and to s , hapen when first dug , and it . becomes hard and tough after exposure to the air . and yet seems to be very little acted upon by the weather . Indeed , in many of the sculptured stones of some of the oldest ' buildings and "temples , the chisel marks are as fresh and sharp cut . as when they were first formed . It is not so strong " nor . so capable of resisting great pressure as some of the sandstones , or the more compact kinds of gneiss ; but it is of adequate strength for all ordinary purposes . From the earliest periods from which , the temples and other buildings of the country can date , down to the present day , laterite has been largely employed . Its nodular structure and irregular surface have not hindered elaborate carvings and ornaments , while its facility of transport , in consequence of its being generally found in the low grounds , and at no great distance from many streams , has been another advantage contributing to its general use .. Slabs of from four to five feet long are easily procurable , and are . easily though rudely quarried . A . groove is cut with a rudely-pointed pick round the slab , another is made , underneath " , and then a few wedges driven in split off the block . The more loose and gravelly forms of laterite are universally used , for road-metal , for which purpose they are particularly suitable . ., , In tho province of Qr . issa Bengal , laterite prevails very widely , especially in its southern portion . It forms a t , errace-liko pluin , surrounding the lulls , nnd rising to a greater height above the sen towards the west than to the east . In Orissa and Bengal , tiie term laterito -is usually confined to the dark reddish brown substance so commonly seen upon tho surface of the . ground , and which , when exposed to the action of the weather , assumes a rough nodular surface , and becomes covered with n glaze-like coating of brown peroxide of iron ; hut the same term has been applied more vaguely to many varieties of rock , varying in coherenco andI in composition , but all agreeing in being ferruginous . One of tho survoyors has examined tho lntevite of Orissa in considerable dotan , and with a view to determine its origin . We may either suppose that it was originally a dctrital deposit ( one derived from a worndown older rock ) , and that ifc and tho underlying rock wore together impregnated with iron , nnd that the source of the n-on was extraneous , or that the Interito is an original ferruginous deposit ; which latter the surveyor takes to bo the inoro probable hypothesis . Tho laterito of Orissa bus undoubtedly been subjected to ' marine action , as shown by the boulders which arc found in and around the hills ( once islimds ) which dot the plains of tho country . Tho practical question concerning it is this : Can this immense mass of ferruginous ( iron-bearing ) stone bo used und smelted for iron P If it oiur , then in that of Oriasa , and in the enormous mosses which cap tho Ranmuhnl Hills , there is a vnat store of iron ore for India to be employed in the future . Unhappily , the deeper the section the less appears to be the quantity of iron , and tho smaller the , number of ferruginous lumps , until at length tho hod passes into « W 0 < nif 2 not largely treated of in this volume , but the surveyors have established the exigence of < i very large and ubundant source of co « l in a deposit to tho west of the river UaraUnr , where it was not previously known to occur . Tho lew notices of . other coal deposits

    We are glad to find that progress has been made in the establishment and arrangement of a good Indian museum in connexion with this survey . Very large additions have been made to the series of Indian fossdli , including a cretaceous ' series-, ' an interesting fossil flora , and remains of the larger animals from Nebrud'da and elsewhere . The Museum already contains nearly 7 , 000 specimens of fossils , and 1 , 550 specimens of simple minerals , with , other specimens of rock , &c ., amounting in all to about 11 , 000 specimens . A good result this of little more than two years' existence as a . museum for the reception of specimens . May it soon increase and superabound , like our . own national Museum !

    The scanty accounts of gold districts and former diamond names afford us . little of general or present value . The fossils are more important . We find notices of annelide tracks upon rippled sandstones , such as we alluded to in our recent article on " First Traces of Life in the Earth ' s Crust ; " and some very interesting remarks upon and illustrations of fossil teeth of extinct genera of fishes ( Ceratodus ) which are near resemblances of specimens in our own cabinet , and in our public museums , collected from English localities . .

    in this volume are not so full as could be desired , and evidently because these have hot been wrought . Coalrinining remains ' to : be promoted , and then we may expect analyses of coals , particulars of depths and extent of beds , qualities , values , and means -of excavation and transport . The expense of transport , in the present state of the country ,, seems to put a veto upon immediate workingv Railways must first be laid down ; though , in all probability , cheap wooden plank-ways might be employed for early use . In all such undertakings , however , that great want of India , capital , is essential .

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    April 28 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 401

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    • Tho Lift and Timon of Gooraa VilUors , JJvko < if liuvkingham . From OriKlmU iSd Authontlo BoWtc « fl , Hy Wrfl . Thomson . Tl » roo Vole . London : liurat n , nd Blackett .

    George Villtees, Duke Of Buckingham•*.

    GEORGE VILLTERS , PUKE OF BUCKINGHAM . *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1860, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2345/page/13/