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Lord

good fortune, if he should actually have hit upon estimates Shakspeare by the Manager's book? In changing the gallon there seems to have been a natural Something worth having; he accompanied him, the next Byron, in this case, evidently spoke from humour, other- relation of measures of capacity overlooked, which it would wise we might be tempted to remark on the different have been some advantage to have attended to: I allude morning, to the house which he had described; but as points of view in which men of genius behold things, to the relation between a cube and its inscribed cylinder. nothing was to be seen in the window, except a well- Mr. C. Lamb having written an able dissertation, to show The gallon might have been made one-fourth of the capashaped and painted wooden block, upon which a fashion- the inadequacy of a theatre to do justice to the creations city of a cylinder one foot long and one foot in diameter. able milliner used to display her novelties, Alberto re- of Shakspeare, and to prove the inevitable sinking of the The cylinder is the best form for measures of this kind, gretted his only half-finished breakfast, and was for re-imagination, when led to contemplate his conceptions and it would be very desirable to have a cylindric measure, through representation. At all events, allowing an excess which could be regarded as an unit in all calculations turning towards it, when his friend heaved a deep sigh, of adulatory jargon in reference to our great dramatist, where the areas of circles and contents of spheres are conand, at last, exclaimed, “There! a new head-dress again; we apprehend that "The Tempest," "As You Like It," cerned, because our linear measures would apply to ascerthis is really too bad: but how lovely is she withal, and "The Merchant of Venice," "Much Ado about No- tain such quantities without reducing them into cubical how modest is her demeanour!" Alberto stared-" And thing," "Twelfth Night," and the comedy of "Henry inches. And it seems more natural to found a system of pray is that the object of your veneration ?" "To be sure IV." will for ever endure, even in opposition to the spleen measures on the nature of the things to be measured, than it is: do not you approve of my taste?" "Oh! yes, of a Byron. These pets and jealousies of men of genius on any relation to a standard in nature. The French have are often extremely illustrative and amusing. taken their standard from the globe, and yet have omitted certainly," said Alberto, who had already recovered from Agreeing with Lord Byron on the injustice of so much to provide a measure for one; they have affected to borrow his surprise, and formed his plan; "her hair is yellower modern neglect of Pope, we were not much surprised by from nature, and have overlooked the most obvious of than any flax I have seen this long time; and no carpen- the following passage, which forcibly enough exposes the natural distinctions. ter ever cut a nose more straight, or more in the real Gre- petty fudge of authority, in respect to the orthodoxy of cian style: I question whether Helena herself had more genius. For our own part, we wish it would retain some cathedral,-St. Paul's, for instance,-for the regulars exregularly formed features." "I see how it is," replied clusively, provided another was selected to commemorate Xaviero, (a little nettled) "your own belle had black aspirants without the pale." The contrast would be at hair, and her complexion was not quite so bright; more least informing. over, her nose was rather inclined to the aquiline: but what of that? we cannot all be of the same opinion in those matters; and it is very well we are not so." "Indeed it is," said Alberto; "but I congratulate you on the taste which your lady elect displays in her dress; and if her industry be equal to her sedateness, she will considerably increase your fortune." "Increase or decrease," retorted the happy lover; “I take her for better or worse; and if I only knew that she would have me, you might soon dance at our wedding." Alberto asserted confidently, that in his friend's circumstances there was no fear of a resusal from such a quarter: but as true love is ever diffident, Xaviero was but half persuaded. They returned both to their own home; the one overflowing with love, and the other with mischief, but promising to stand faithfully by his friend like a second Jonathan.

[To be continued.]

Biographical Notices.

LORD BYRON.

(Continued from our last.)

[FROM THE EXAMINER.]

According to existing poetical orthodoxy, Lord Byron : indulged in two heresies, -a below-par opinion of Shakr speare, and an exaggerated estimation of Pope. The for. mer. Captain Medwin hesitates not to attribute to the spleen produced by the comparative failure of his own tragedies, a fact which is obvious enough, for it must not be concealed that Lord Byron was decidedly one of genus irritabile. We are sorry, however, to read such poor reasoning against Shakspeare as the following:

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"Of all the disgraces that attach to England, in the
eye of foreigners who admire Pope more than any of our
poets (though it is the fashion to under-rate him among
ourselves), the greatest perhaps is, that there should be no
place assigned to him in Poets' Corner. I have often
thought of erecting a monument to him at my own ex.
pense, in Westminster Abbey; and hope to do so yet.
Tillotson and the Divines, That accounts for his not
But he was a Catholic, and, what was worse, puzzled
having any national monument. Milton, too, had very
nearly been without a stone; and the mention of his name
on the tomb of another was at one time considered a pro-
Voltaire's tomb. Will there never be an end to this
fanation to a church. The French, I am told, lock up
bigotry? Will men never learn that every great poet is
necessarily a religious man?-so at least Coleridge says.'
."

LORD BYRON'S POEMS.

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I am glad that so much of our old measures and weights are to be preserved, for I have not yet obtained enough of knowledge to enable me to do without referring to my predecessors, and I am extremely unwilling to encounter any additional difficulty in holding communication with them; it makes one think seriously about the advantages promised by the change to the decimal system. What foundation has this decimal system in the nature of things?-will it continue for ever to be the best possible system of notation? or, is it itself imperfect and likely to be changed as soon as a better shall appear? If the latter be the case, what is to be done with a system of weights and measures formed on the decimal scale? For my own and measures might be founded on more rational principart, I am one of those who think our system of weights ples than our notations. If the notation had been formed on principle, surely 10 would never have been fixed upon for the basis of the system: it has only two factors, and as the prime below it; and which renders it often more one of these is a prime, which is not so frequently a factor convenient to work by vulgar fractions than by decimals. That is, the prime 3 occurs more frequently in calculations than the prime 5; and whenever the prime 3 is a factor of division, the decimal notation is incapable of expressing the quotient. The decimal system owes all its advantages to the happy thought of arranging numbers according to their powers; but this arrangement is not peculiar to it; £525 in algebra we adopt a modification of the same principle, 1,525 but there it is not limited to 10 digits, for we are able to ,050 arrange powers or any multiples of powers; and it will be of incalculable advantage to obtain an equally general ar525 rangement for common numbers. Our present system is 523 very unwieldy, when there is occasion to express large 450 | numbers, perhaps quite as much so as those abandoned in favour of the Arabic notation were for ordinary numbers; £15,455 and I think no one will venture to say that it is impossible to invent a more perfect notation than the one now in use. Apparent simplicity is not a test of the merit of any invention, unless that simplicity be accompanied by fitness for the objects it is to accomplish; and it is not much in favour of the decimal scale to remark, that there are four out of the nine digits of which the reciprocals cannot be expressed in finite terms; viz. one-third, one-sixth, one.seventh, and one-ninth; and that to express one-fourth, we must employ two figures, and to express one-eighth, three figures are necessary;-and are ratios of such frequent occurrence of no importance? They would, no doubt, occur less frequently, were money, time, weights and measures all deciNothing less than an entire change of language in all cases mally divided; but what does this concession involve? where any thing relating to time, weight, prices, or measures is the subject; and with a less degree of change the inconvenience of a decimal division will be much greater than the ones now in use.

1,525

The following were the sums paid by Mr. Murray to
Lord Byron for his several poems:
Childe Harold, I, II .... £ 600 Beppo
III ... 1,575 Don Juan, I, II.......
, IV... 2,100
III, IV, V
525 Doge of Venice
525 Sardanapalus, Cain, and
525 Foscari

Giaour.
Bride of Abydos

Corsair.

[blocks in formation]

1,100

[Comprehending Notices of new Discoveries or Improve-
ments in Science or Art; including, occasionally, sin-
gular Medical Cases; Astronomical, Mechanical, Phi-
fosophical, Botanical, Meteorological, and Mineralogical
Phenomena, or singular Facts in Natural History ,
Vegetation, &c.; Antiquities, &c.; List of Patents;
to be continued in a series through the Volume.]

ON THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

As a law has lately passed for equalizing the weights and measures of Great Britain, every information connected with the subject will be interesting. The following letter is copied from one of our most respectable monthly works. TO THE EDITORS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE

AND JOURNAL.

The advocates for decimal division do not appear, as far as I have seen, to have studied the nature and advantages of the old divisions. For example, in the division of time all the prime digits are factors, the principal divisions are by 60th parts, and 60 is composed of 2a X 3X 5; the only prime digit not included being 7; and we only want a more convenient notation to render it far superior to any decimal division; superior both in the facility of expressing minute parts, and in expressing large numbers. The num

"It is but lately that people have been satisfied that Shakspeare was not a god, nor stood alone in the age in A which he lived; and yet how few of the plays, even of that boasted time, have survived, and fewer still are now acted! Let us count them. Only one of Massinger's, New Way to pay old Debts," one of Ford's, one of Ben Jonson's, and half-a-dozen of Shakspeare's; and of these last, The Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "The Tempest" have been turned into operas. You cannot call that having a theatre. Now that Kemble has left the stage, who will endure Coriolanus? Lady Macbeth died with Mrs. Siddons, and Polonius with Munden. Shak. GENTLEMEN, The time will now soon arrive when speare's comedies are quite out of date; many of them are an important change is to take place in our measures of insufferable to read, much more to see. They are gross capacity, and I have been surprised to see so little notice food, only fit for an English or German palate; they are taken of the subject. I have endeavoured, as far as possiindigestible to the French and Italians, the politest people ble, to recommend by practice a new system of measuring in the world. One can hardly find ten lines together capacity to engineers, because it appeared to me better without some gross violation of taste or decency. What adapted for every purpose which they have occasion to think of Bottom in the Midsummer's Night's | consider. It consists in adopting the cubic foot instead of | ber 10 is too small for such an object; the cube of 10 in Dream? or of Troilus and Cressida's passion ?'" the gallon as a measure in hydraulic and other calculations. not equivalent to the square of 60, besides the defect of These are just the sort of things which the dramatic A little perseverance soon renders the cubic foot as familiar not enabling us to express one-third, one-sixth, one-ninth, self-love of Voltaire led him to launch against Shak- as the gallon, and it saves time in every kind of calculation, speare; but something may be allowed to a dramatist of and removes uncertainty. In Smeaton's works you will the French school, who avoided what he deemed the faults sometimes find the quantity of water that will serve a of our gifted barbarian; but Lord Byron is dispraising water-wheel expressed in wine-gallons, and in other inShakspeare for unactable plays, while composing dramas stances his calculations are made in ale-gallons; and where Owedly so himself. The allusion in another place to the kind of gallon is not distinctly stated, it renders it diffiCibber's adaptations, is more unreasonable still; for who cult to ascertain what measure has been employed.

do

you

&c. I have had several schemes for improving the nota-
tion; and though I have not hit upon one of sufficient
convenience, the success has been such as to render it
pretty certain that the thing is not impossible.
I am, gentlemen,

Your most obedient servant,
THOMAS TREDGOLD.

}

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What art thou, aerial spirit undefined,
To age, or sex, or station not confined;
Reigning in cottages with high command,
As in a palace bearing regal wand,

And whether joy or sorrow rule the hour,
Unconquered holding thy mysterious power?
Imperial Reason! given alone to man

The heights and depths of human lore to scan:
The stores of knowledge measureless embrace,
And God in all his works through Nature trace!
Withdrawn thy light, how drear the scene appears;
A vale of misery bedimmed with tears:
Or Pandemonium raging unconfined,
Death in the breeze, and shrieks upon the wind;
While, as in mock'ry of the witch Despair,
Foul imps of midnight leer with horrid glare!
Or yielding to less potent powers of ill,
What tinsel gauds the wandering fancy fill!
What glittering visions shoot athwart the brain;
"Tis now the fairy Queen Titania's reign,

At whose high bidding, flowers unnumbered blow,
And streams through verdant meadows sparkling flow:
The village swain attunes to love his reed,
And forms of beauty grace th' enamelled mead.

The fancied poet, in ideal bliss,

Revels at will in worlds of blessedness;
Sweeps with impetuous hand the sounding lyre,
And thinks it harpings of the heavenly choir;
Himself the gifted of the sacred Nine,
Apollo less inspired: “all, all divine !"
Alas fond votary of empty fame,
Unhonoured as unknown thy very name,
Still in elysian dreams thy sorrows lose,

Still deem thyself the favourite of the muse,
Never, oh! never from that trance of bliss
Again awake to conscious wretchedness;
No, no, dream on!—from reason's empire hurled,
Thou'rt master of thyself,—and of the world!

The fond enthusiast pictures halcyon skies,

For him expands the rose that never dies;
Borne to empyreal heights, he deems not this
The haunt of bats, a loathsome wilderness;
Celestial Hope enwraps in dreamy spell,
And suns eternal gild his narrow cell!

The pallid student sick with anxious thought,
Ben't o'er the volume with strange figures fraught,
Pleased, barters for a shade his manhood's prime,
And broods o'er many a thesis, vast, sublime!
Till the worn mind, o'erwrought with ceaseless toil,
Finds an asylum from the keen turmoil,
And, lashed to frenzy, buoyant, or subdued,
The sport, alas! of many a wayward mood,
Is now in Tempe's vale supremely blest,
Anon the vulture riots on his breast!

"Twere vain to follow erring Reason's track,
Bootless as hope to win the wanderer back;
A motley garb of varied hue-she wears,
And smiles, and tears, and lightsome airs are hers;
And shrieks, and groans, and agonising strife,
AN that e'er sweetened,—all that poisoned life!

I heard the story of a Maniac wild
Of reason's lofty empire strange beguiled
In modelling a table, framed with skill,
And promising, complete, afar to fill
The noisy clarion of the Goddess, Fame,
And yield the mechanist a deathless name!
It was the study of his waking hours;
His nightly dream, and all his thinking powers
Were given,--exhausted-on this work of art,
And now near perfected in every part,
One joint alone was wanting to the whole,
And this obtained, achieved the envied goal,
The crown triumphant on his brow was placed,
And brightest laurels proud his temples graced!
And now, in conscious mind's all-glorious beams,
What glittering metaphors, what endless dreams;
What fond imaginings-what brilliant tropes,
What scenes Arcadian, and what tow'ring hopes!
Alas, alas! much yet remained to do,

And Genius saw, and braved the task anew;
Thought, and contrived; arranged, and thought again,
Till all subdued, the keenly sensate brain,
Oppressed with weight no longer to be borne,
Sank overwhelmed;-a ruin most forlorn!

Behold the Maniac on his couch reclined,
Mark the fierce struggles of the captive mind!
Obscured, not lost, mark how the master thought
Essays to gain the path with mischief fraught !—
Again, in maze perplexed, sweet fleet away
The lagging hours of many a weary day,
Alternate winged with halcyon prospects fair,
Or lengthened and o'ercast by grim despair!
When, lo! appears a dawn of former self,
And proud he spurns the soul-consuming elf;
Forth from his pallet plucks the narrow straw,
Obeying, Genius, thy resistless law;
Renews his toils, remodels former plans,
And wreaths in varied forms the plastic bands,
Till pleased, the Goddess on his efforts smiles,
His labour softens, and his care beguiles;
Achieves the work:-and instant, Reason blest,
Resought, and claimed, her long-forsaken rest!
Liverpool.

THE COFFIN.-A TALE.

G.

Place of action, the Lakes.-Time, a day in the year 1824.

Amid those scenes which poets paint

As only fit for bard or saint,
Shelter'd by hills and coppice-wood,

A simple rustic cottage stood,
Where Gaffer Mawson and his wife
Dragg'd on a sleepy kind of life,
Now gath'ring fruit, now hiving bees,
Now making children, and now cheese.
Last of their progeny so bonny,
Was only left a boy call'd Johnny.
One of those pretty babes of spirit
Who, by their mischief, shew their merit.
Heedless of seasons or of weather,
He stray'd from home whole days together;
Could set a night line, spear an eel,
And e'en, 'twas whisper'd, he could steal;
Which little traits, to the discerning,
Evinc'd his genius and his learning.
But set not, as the poet sings,
Your heart upon sublunar things;
The object most on earth we prize,
To mock our wishes, soonest flies:
And this sweet babe, his mother's pride,
Was stricken with the gripes, and died.

She, as 'twas easy to foresee,
Took it to heart, and then took tea;
And as her good-man far must ride
Ere he a coffin could provide,

The principal circumstances related in these verses are literally true, and occurred in a remote part of Lancashire a few weeks since.

And one small bed was wont to be
Sufficient to contain all three,
Johnny within a draw'r was plac'd,
Whose mixt contents may thus be tracd;-

Imprimis. Sundry dirty linen,

A pot, which honey once had been in,
A soapy knife, a stamp for butter,

A razor, us'd as a corn-cutter,

A dirty comb, two mealy sacks,

A ladle, and a piece of wax;
With these lies Johnny, 'till they come
To bear him to his final home.
Neighbours, who liv'd five miles away,
With pleasure came that mournful day;
Friends from a distance flock'd by dozens,
Great-aunts and thirty second cousins,
And as (time immemorial) usual,
Held round the pall a grand carousal.
Strong ale, and stronger drinks were quaffd;
Many told stories, and some laugh'd;
Some talk'd of markets and of prices,
Some of the Squire's reputed vices,
Rack-rents, distresses, and so forth,
And how much coppice-lands were worth;
What strangers last had come among 'em,
And how, whene'er they could, they'd wrong 'em
'Till louder ev'ry sentence grew.

The jugs ran low, the moments flew,
And swimming heads, and empty glasses,
Tell them how swift the morning passes;
When, sob'ring with a solemn stare,
All move the mournful rites to share.
All but the babe," and where was he?"
As quiet as a babe could be:

But where, no matter-'till I first
His fun'ral honours have rehears'd
Long is the train of friends and neighbours,

Glad to escape their daily labours,
Who join, on horseback or in carriage,
To swell a funeral, or a marriage.
The undertaker first was plac'd,
And, next his buxom help-mate, grae'd
A horse, whose pillion made him frisky;
And then two carts, and next a whisky;
A shandry that one Grubbs set off in,
And Coburn's car, which held the Coffin:
And here, and there, some swagg'ring blade
His cart-horse or grey mare convey'd.
Thus many a weary mile being pass'd,
The village church they gain at last.
Slow tolls the bell, 'tis almost dark,
Long waits the parson and his clerk,
Half starv'd, quite tir'd, not over civil,
And wishing Johnny at the devil.
With seedy coat, and surplice grim,
And gaunt of visage and of limb,
The parson was no town-bred prig,
But wore a grizly flaxen wig,

A glove which long had lost its fellow,
And neck-cloth strip'd with red and yellow.
Such pastor oft, amid the Lakes,
The world and all its charms forsakes,
And, almost without thought or care,
Lingers "a kind of as it were,"
Or ploughs his field, or feeds his swine,
Half labourer, and half divine.

Soon "dust to dust" he mutt'ring said,
And some few maudlin tears were shed;
The mourner and his friends they parted,
And for their several homes they started.
Returning, Mawson clos'd his gate
And said, "'tis vain to strive with fate;
Quick tow'rds the grave our moments fly,
The lad has died, and so must I;
And, dame, I think our friends can't say on't,
They ever made a better day on't:
We most, I fear, o'erstept the line,
And something this weak head of mine
Seem'd to forget; but now all's ended,
What's done or undone can't be mended;
So, as'tis late, I'll put away

My best shirt for some other day."
And then, poor Gaffer's grief being gone, he
Open'd the draw'r—and there lay Johnny!

MORAL

Without the Dead, a Fun'ral train, Is Hamlet play'd without the Dane; And therefore, lest it lead to scoffin', Never inter-an Empty Coffin.

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Literature, Criticism, &c.

LEARNED QUOTATIONS.

and barbarous."

TO THE EDITOR.

every mother's son of them like a glass of rum." Under these circumstances, it appears to me expedie that gentlemen, who have a stock of unappropriated qu tations on hand, be allowed to bring them forward at the earliest convenience, lest they become mouldy, and for public exhibition.

undergo the scrutiny of deliberate and cold-blooded cri- | sciences are now actually whizzed through and through ticism, we are allowed, and even expected, to polish and refine with our greatest industry, and to put in requisition every species of appropriate embellishment. If we do occasionally add to the graces of our own language short pasSIR,-As it is certainly not impossible that the eloquent sages, containing the untranslatable elegantiæ of another, argumentation of Anti-barbarus, junior, as displayed in we do not therein sin against our reader, who, whether his late energetic attack upon learned quotations, may learned or unlearned, has many and speedy opportunities Learning is now getting so very common, that it have induced you to adopt the resolution of that editorial of attaining a sufficient knowledge of the sense of the quo- soon be beneath a gentleman to meddle with it at all: th worthy, whose exceedingly courageous example he so ear-tations employed; and I hope there are few who, being very mechanics may now acquire it, with scarcely an nestly recommends to your imitation, I have been en- thus situated, would selfishly and needlessly deprive the trouble, and at a very trifling expense; there are, more couraged to submit to your notice the following remarks, initiated of the pleasure arising from a good thing well over, dictionaries of quotations, which will put any body in defence of a practice, which your correspondent of applied, simply because that good thing was not immediately in the way of using them. In short, every person, with goodly signature so unhesitatingly condemns as "Gothic adapted to their own comprehension. With equal justice the usual five senses, may easily perceive, that knowledge might we be called upon to renounce many other orna- is now really dog-cheap, or rather that it is much cheaper; Your correspondent has commenced his undaunted at-ments, and by stripping our compositions of every embel. for the number of dogs has been considerably diminished tack by directing our attention to the fact, that the Greeks lishment, of a rather uncommon description, render them during the summer, whilst that of teachers is crusing never quoted. Now, before we allow this fact to have any completely intelligible to the capacities of all to whose every day; and the philanthropy of some of these worthy is such, that they offer fresh advantages with every fresh influence upon our opinions, it will be necessary to inquire notice they may by chance be submitted. from whom they could have taken their quotations, sup- “Hæc quiem ita sint." Mr. Editor, I shall drop argu- and they would drop their terms of instruction event) advertisement: their only aim is the diffusion of science; posing they had felt inclined to decorote their compositions mentation and annotation together, and earnestly entreat nihil, rather than not have a full audience in their fine with that species of ornament. Were there then exist- you to "lend me your ears" (perhaps I should say ing, in any language with which they were acquainted, your eyes, to speak correctly, but n'importe), while I premises. Nevertheless, I would advise my friend we works that claimed or deserved from them that degree of make most vehement exhortation, that you do not be not over-hasty in fixing themselves with a profess; admiration which the enlightened nations of the present pleased, as an editor of judgment, and a man of true taste, tageous offers towards Christmas; and I should not be a we may, with great probability, expect still more abus day bestow upon the classical treasures of antiquity? Was to adopt the really barbarous resolution that has been so all surprised, if, besides teaching gratis, some beneralen that people, whose overweening vanity led them to bestow very agreeable to Anti-barbarus, junior. To confess the individuals were to treat their adult pupils with porter upon all the rest of mankind the unqualified title of bar- truth, the motives whereby I am excited to make this sandwiches, whilst the temper of the rising genesi barians, likely to receive from any nation thus uncourte appeal may be esteemed rather selfish; for I must acknow-will be sweetened with sugar-plums and oranges. Not ously denominated, literary productions which they had rea-ledge myself a most devoted and inordinate admirer of this over, a match has been proposed between the M'Magu son to regard as the brightest efforts of the human genius, practice; the justice, propriety, and beauty of which I club and the O'Mullingonian society; bets will be stake and in attaining a perfect knowledge of which their earliest possess more inclination than ability to advocate. The for, or against, the speed and bottom of the respecti years were employed? There is little reason to doubt, very sight of two or three dainty fragments of Latinity seminaries; and the superiority will be decided by regula that if they had been acquainted with any language which exhibited in captivating display at the "head and front" could have afforded them those inducements to quote that of a dissertation, immediately rivet my attention to the prize-fighting. In the mean time, we may look will we now possess, but what they would have carried the perusal of a work whose physiognomy is so very attractive. pleasing anticipation towards the next holydays, and w practice to as great an extent, and indulged in it as unscru- If these fragments be interspersed throughout the body of will be a prodigious introduction of new glees and catcher, may be pretty sure that they will be merry ones; for the pulously, as any author of the nineteenth century. the performance, until the whole assume the motley ap- and it can henceforth make no longer any pearance of " a thing of shreds and patches," my gratifi- whether the chorus of a song be the Latin Gadeamand cation is, accordingly, unbounded: every separate quota igitur," or the French Cucillons la rose:" I have ever tion appears to me, as it were, an Oasis in the desert, heard it whispered that " Freut euch des lebens” (Life let where the beauties of nature are concentrated, and ren- cherish) has been rehearsed; but I cannot state it as a fa dered a thousand times more charming, by the contrast of the wilderness around. Ever and anon, there comes I long very much to see how the gentlemen of the school will behave on the occasion, and as the above-me

We are told, moreover, that the Romans were not quite so foolish as to quote in public; and Cicero was never guilty of so doing when addressing the public at large. Even in this quoting age, I believe we shall find but few, who, in this respect, are more deserving of the appellation of "foolish" than the Romans; and though the members

of the house of "Collective wisdom" may occasionally" velut inter ignes Luna minores," some striking and
be edified by a scrap of Latinity from some of their lu- highly celebrated passage, in which I immediately recog-
minaries, yet few, even of the most classically given, nise the visage of some old friend; a due sense of whose
would so far deviate from the Roman example as to "cast merits had been infused into my juvenile mind, by the
their pearls" before an enlightened assembly of election mediation of an extra birching, and then there comes over
gentlemen.
my recollection divers agreeable associations of ideas,
"like the memory of joys that are past, sweet and pleasant
to the soul," illustrating that line of the poet wherein he
says "forsan hæc olim meminisse juvabit." But methinks,
Mr. Editor, I hear you saying, “ne quid nimis;” and I
conclude my epistle, consoling myself with the reflection,
that I have not been the only one to take up the gauntlet
your undaunted correspondent has hurled into the arena;
and X. Y. has fully envinced, in your last Kaleidoscope,
that quotations may be introduced from another more
praise-worthy motive than that of a paltry affectation and
vanity.
QUOTATOR.

But not to encroach, Mr. Editor, upon your valuable columns by pursuing this part of the subject further than is at present necessary, I shall proceed to observe that the great stress of Anti-barbarus's argument appears to be founded upon his appeal, to that principle of common politeness, that induces us to refrain from interlarding our conversations with quotations from any language with which we have reason to believe the persons addressed are unacquainted. The justice and propriety of this principle I am ready to acknowledge; but that its influence should consequently extend so far as to banish from literary compositions, what, in many cases, is one of their most pleasing ornaments, appears to me a most evident non sequitur. Conversation is a free and extempore species of composition, aiming more at perspicuity of expression than refinement and ornament; it is intended for the sole consideration of those present, who, by the rules of politeness, are expected to evince more or less interest in its progress, by contributing each his respective quota. The person, who, under these circumstances, expresses his ideas, or imparts his communications, in a guise partially unintelligible to any of his company, wantonly excludes them from supporting their due share in the conversation, and, very deservedly, incurs the suspicion of being a conceited pedant. In writing, on the contrary, when we have to submit our productions to the numerous eyes of the many-headed public, and to

Oct. 25, 1824.

Ars brevis, vita pergrata.

TO THE EDITOR.

difference

tioned letter may contain some information about
present state of their feelings, I shall take great pleasur
in perusing the same.

Cura ut valeas.
Liverpool, No. 9, 1824.

The Housewife.

OMEGA

"Housekeeping and husbandry, if it be good, Must love one another as cousins in blood: The wife, too, must husband as well as the man, Or farewel thy husbandry, do what thou can." ON CLOTHING. them on early in the autumn. By wearing Leave off your winter clothes late in the spring clothes during the first half dozen warm days, you g some fine perspirations, which are highly salutary in moving obstructions in the cutaneous pores, &c.

your wat

Delicate and dyspeptic persons are often distressed by changing their dress, which must be as uniform as pa sible, in thickness, in quality, and in form, especially flannel, or indeed whatever is worn next to the skin.

The change of a thick waistcoat for a thin one, or a leng one for a shorter one-not putting on winter garments soon enough, or leaving them off too soon, will oftend cite a violent disorder in the lungs or bowels, &c. and exasperate any constitutional complaint.

SIR,—The great variety of novel and interesting matter
with which you have lately treated your subscribers, is a
sufficient excuse for the delay of some letters; but there
Those who wear flannel-waistcoats are recommended
seems to be one in reserve with the contents of which I have their new ones about the middle of November, with
should much like to be acquainted, viz. that of Mr. Quo- sleeves to them coming down to the wrists: the shortering
tator; because, with regard to that (periculum est in these sleeves in the warm weather, is as effective an antidote
against extreme heat as lengthening them, and closing the
mora) there is danger in the delay.
cuff of the coat, is against intense cold.

The promises which were held out by Mr. Terence
Our coat should be made so large, that when buttoned)
O'Mulligan, Esquire (vide Kal. No. 216, page 55) have so that with
now been completely fulfilled; and "the whole thirty out any unpleasant increase of pressure on the chest, &

taan wear it closely buttoned up to the chin; the power doing this is a convenient provision against the sudden masons from heat to cold; buttoning up this outer ment will protect the delicate from many mischiefs hich so often arise in this inconstant climate from the

2 of such a defence; and the additional warmth it pduces will often cure slight colds, &c. Another way of accumulating caloric, is to have two sets button holes to the cuff of the coat, especially of your coat, one of which will bring it quite close round the When the circulation is languid, and your feet are cold, ear worsted stockings, have your shoes well warmed, and hen you take them from the fire, put your slippers to it, at they may be warm and comfortable for you on your turn home.

In wet weather wear shoes with double upper leathers; thin leathers will keep you much drier than one thick and are more pliable. The currier's dubbing is the nourisher of leather, and renders it as soft as satin, impervious to water.

Advertisements.

Mr. DIDDEAR and Mrs. ALDRIDGE most respectfully solicit the patronage of the Public for their Night, it being Mr. Diddear's First Attempt, and Mrs. Aldridge's First for these Eight Years.

FOR the BENEFIT of Mr. DIDDEAR and Mrs.
ALDRIDGE.-On FRIDAY next, the 19th instant, will
be presented (not acted here these ten years) a favourite
Play, called
THE DOUBTFUL SON,

Or, Secrets of a Palace,

Written by W. Dimond, Esq. Author of "Adrian and Orilla,''

Sophia

"Foundling of the Forest," "Royal Oak," &c.

After which, the admired Interlude of
THE RENDEZVOUS.

(her second attempt in the Drama) Miss WALLIS. To conclude with the interesting Melo-drame of THE TRAVELLERS BENIGHTED, Or, the Spectre Nun. Tickets to be had of Mr. Diddear, 58, Christian-street; and of Mrs. Aldridge, at Mr. Warbrick's Library, Lime-street. TO PARENTS AND GUARDIANS reinen able Person, the Mother of a Family, residing in an airy situation, is desirous of taking under her care two or three children, between the ages of four and ten, as Boarders.They will have every attention and care paid to them, and the advantage of Education in the house, her daughter keep ing a Preparatory School. The terms are moderate, and the the Office of this paper. most respectable references can be given.-Address to A. B. at

Just published, price 3s. on a Sheet, or 48. 6d. in a Case,

The mean temperature of England is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit: it sometimes rises 25 degrees above this in e height of summer, falls about as much below in the pth of winter; and in summer frequently varies from to 30 degrees between mid-day and midnight. The restoration and the preservation of the health, esdially of those who have passed their fortieth year, devds upon minute and unremitting attention to food, bes, exercise, &c. which, taken singly, may appear AN ISAGOGICAL TABLE of the PORTUGUESE Ting, but combined, are of infinite importance. GRAMMAR, calculated to facilitate the acquirement of that Language, wherein the Declension of Nouns, Conjugavalids are advised to put on a great coat when they tion of Verbs, and the Rules of Syntax, &c. are much simpliput, and the temperature of the external air is not fied. By HENRY LUCAS, Professor and Sworn Translator er than 40. Some susceptible constitutions require of Languages, No. 10, King-street, Liverpool. additional clothing when the thermometer falls below the use of his Pupils, approved Editions of Portuguese, Spanish, N. B.-H. L. has been at considerable pains to procure, for especially at the commencement of the cold weather. French, and Italian Books, published at Lisbon, Madrid, Leon, great coat must be kept in a room where there is a Paris, and London; as well as the latest Editions of Dictionaries, if it has been hung up in a cold damp hall, as it Grammars, Exercises, &c. at the publisher's prices. is, it will contribute about as much to your calorifi- ARTIFICIAL TEETH, by Mr. BEREND, SURon as if you wrapped a wet blanket about you. 25, Bold-street, warranted to remain per lothes should be warm enough to defend us from cold, fectly secure and comfortable in the mouth, without tying, harge enough to let every movement be made with as twisting wires, or any fastening whatever to the adjoining ach ease when they are on as when they are off-Medi-Teeth, and yet so effectually secured, that the most powerful motions of the jaws, in eating, cannotdisplace or injurethem, Adviser. fixed without pain, and adapted with such accuracy to the re maining Teeth, that not the least difference can be felt, neither can the minutest observer distinguish them. These Teeth can, with ease, be taken out, cleaned, and replaced with great safety by the wearer. 25, Bold-street.

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The Beauties of Chess.

"Ludimus effigiem belli"..........VIDA.

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real Inventor of the New Mathematical

EXTRAORDINARY SHIPS..

The arrival of the raft-ship Columbus has excited so much interest in this country, that the following brief account of other enormous floating masses may prove acceptable. With respect to the credit due to the account of the ship built for the King Hiero, we shall offer no opinion; but merely observe, that Archimedes, its reputed projector, is believed to have achieved mechanical wonders, which have no parallel since the period at which he lived. His discovery of the mode of ascertaining specific gravities, and his invention of the particular water screw which bears his name to the present day, are sufficient to immortalize any man.

The following is a description of the huge floating vessel said to have been constructed by him. It contained wood enough to make sixty galleys. It had all the variety of apartments of a palace,-banqueting-rooms, galleries, gardens, fishponds, stables, mills, baths, a temple of Venus, &c. It was encompassed with an iron rampart and eight towers, with walls and bulwarks, furnished with machines of war, particularly one which threw a stone of 300 pounds, or a dart twelve cubits long, the space of half a mile, &c.

The next vessel of which we are reminded by the American raft, is that described by Plutarch in the life of Demetrius, in the following terms:-"The galley of Ptolemy Philopatre was 280 cubits (about 420 feet) in length, and 28 cubits (72 feet) from head to the top of the poop. It carried 400 sailors, beside 4,000 rowers, and near 3,000 sailors who were disposed in the spaces between the rowers and the lower deck."

The last of the nautical prodigies which we shall notice was that built by King James IV. of Scotland, and which length; 36 feet within the sides; 10 feet thick in the walls; is thus minutely described :-" It was twelve score feet in outed jest in of oak: her walls and boards on every side so strong, that no cannon could go through her. From the time this great ship was afloat, and her masts and sails complete, with her tows and anchors appertaining there o, she was counted to the King to be £30,000 expense. She bore many cannons, six on every side, with great bassils, two behind on her deck, and one before, with 300 shot of small artillery, that is to say, mayand and battert falcon, and quarter falcon, slings, destilent, serpents, and doubledogs, with haytor and culvering, cone-bows, and hand-bows. She had 300 mariners to sail her, six score of gunners to use her artillery, and had 1000 men of war, besides her captains, shippers, and quarter-masters. This ship was sent to assist the French against King Harry the Eighth of England, notwithstanding he was brother-in-law to James the Fourth of Scotland. The Lord Hamilton, Earl of Arran, was made Captain and Great Admiral of the Fleet, and Lord Fleming Vice-admiral, accompanied with Earls, Lords, Barons, to the number of 1000, who were well arrayed for battle. If you will not believe me,' says the narrator, gang to the gates of Tilebairn, and you will see her length and breadth planted in hawthorn." "

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Correspondence.

MR. LEWIS (from the Royal Academy System of Writing, under the immediate and especial patronage of his Majesty and other branches of the Royal Family, and nearly every person of distinction in the United Kingdom, respectfully announces his arrival in Liverpool, where he intends, for a short time, to give instruction in his new Mathemati cal System of converting bad Writers into good ones, in the course of SIX SHORT and EASY LESSONS.-Those Ladies and Gentlemen who are not satisfied with their present performance, have therefore an opportunity of attaining a quick and beautiful style of Writing; so free, elegant, and expeditious, as no other method of teaching ever yet discovered can possibly impart; and from which it is impossible for them ever after to deviate. Mr. Lewis's system and method of instruction is very different (in every respect) from all others; and he challenges any Teacher in existence to produce a system half so comprehensive or efficacious. It is not confined to one particular style of Writing, for how inelegant and absurd would it be for a Lady to write a bold, masculine, mercantile hand; or, for a Gentleman to be confined to a fine light, effeminate style, adapted only to epistolary correspondence, complimentary cards, invitations, &c. Mr. Lewis's system is, therefore, equally applicable to all purposes, and to persons of all ages; and however bad the pupil may write, or whatever may be his capacity, it will positively qualify You, Mr. Editor, know full well how hard it is to get a fohim for any situation whatsoever, so far as regards his Hand-reign language printed correctly; and that typographical

Writing.

Terms for the whole Course, One Guinea. Persons who cannot write at all are taught a BEAUTIFUL HAND in TWELVE LESSONS, for Two GUINEAS.

Numerous Specimens may be seen by applying to Mr. Lewis, at his Lecture Rooms, No. 5, Paradise-street, near

Church-street.

SHORT HAND taught in Six LESSONS, for ONE GUINEA, on the plan made use of by the Public Reporters, with their mode of following a speaker by contractions, hitherto kept a secret; and their infallible method of abbreviating and decyphering, without burthening the memory. Elocution and Ornamental Writing taught. Velvet, Satin, and Glass Painting, and various other useful and fashionable accomplishments taught by Mrs. LEWIS,

in a few lessons, on moderate terms.

Pupils are detained only one hour each Lesson, and may

attend any time that suits their own convenience. The charge for Out Attendance is regulated by the distance and number of Pupils.

SEPARATE APARTMENTS FOR LADIES.

As Mr. and Mrs. Lewis's engagements in London will only permit them to remain a short time in Liverpool, they respectfully request that those Ladies and Gentlemen who may be disposed to favour them will make early application.

SPANISH LANGUAGE.

TO THE EDITOR

SIR, How wonderfully witty Mr. Observator is in his remarks on Mr. Fernandez's Synoptic Table. Does this rare critic really rank the conjunctions and and or amongst the difficulties in the Spanish language? Or would his maiden critique do credit to a cook?

errors don't affect the matter.

Mr. Fernandez has very deservedly risen in his profession-has gained a reputation, not by teaching schoolboys, but men who have arrived at an age to appreciate his instructions.

I, who have attended both Fernandez and other masters in the town, give the decided preference to the systein of the former; and can only account for Mr. Observator's hostility, by supposing him to be one of the three blockheads Mr. F. declined giving further instructions to, or some professor envious of the satisfaction he gives, to which many others, as well as myself, can bear witness.

Yours, &c.

A PUPIL OF MR. F's.

• Our correspondent must permit us to omit the invidious distinction which is in the original.-Edit. Kal.

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