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Poetry.

THE INFANT LYRA.

And in her fifteenth year became a bride,
Marrying an only son, Francesco Doria,
Her playmate from her birth, and her first love.
Just as she looks there in her bridal dress,
She was all gentleness, all gaiety,

Her pranks the favourite theme of every tongue.
But now the day was come, the day, the hour;.
Now frowning, smiling for the hundredth time,
The nurse, that ancient lady, preached decorum;
And in the lustre of her youth, she gave
Her hand, with her heart in it, to Francesco.
Great was the joy; but at the nuptial feast,
When all sate down, the bride herself was wanting.

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The following lines, originally intended for the Ka-Nor was she to be found! Her father cried, leidoscope, were inserted in the last Mercury with the hope of calling the public attention as generally as possible to the interesting Infant, who is now daily exhibiting her extraordinary performance on the harp, at the Lyceum Lecture-room, Bold-street.

TO THE INFANT LYRA.

Art thou indeed of earth? or say, from heav'n
To weary mortals for a season given,
Say, hast thou left thy starry mansion bright,
Elysium blessed of supreme delight,

To lure, with seraph form and witching lay,
And bear to far off realins the soul away?
Art thou indeed of earth, that sweep'st the lyre
With inspiration's glowing hand of fire?
Or aërial spirit from the bowers of bliss,
To tell of distant realms of blessedness?
Human thy song, or sure thou well might'st seem
Some fairy geni of Arcadian dream,

So bright the sparkle of thy beaming eye,

Whispering of heaven in all its purity;

So fair the beauties of thy cherub face,
Matchless in infant loveliness and grace:
Human thy song, yet ne'er, oh! ne'er did art
Weave spell like thine around the captive heart!
Heaven-taught, sweet Lyra, Genius, from her throne
Exulting, calls thee hers, and hers alone;
And hers thou art: she breathes in every sigh,
Lives in the lustre of thy speaking eye,
Prompts the soft warblings of thy every tone,
And sheds a halo round thee all her own!
Go-heaven-instructed-charm the listening throng

With all thy sweet varieties of song,
And with a lay befitting regal sphere,
Go, win, in princely halls, the royal ear;

And when thy dazzling race on earth is run,
And mortal immortality puts on;

When the dark shadows on the mountains spread
Shall call thee to thy last and quiet bed;
Resume in brighter worlds thy sounding lyre,
The sweetest harpist of th' angelic choir!
Liverpool.

PORTRAIT OF GINEVRA.

From "Italy," a Poem.

She sits, inclining forward as to speak,

Her lips half open, and her finger up,

As tho' she said "Beware!" her vest of gold
Broidered, with flowers and clasped from head to foot,
An emerald-stone in every golden clasp;
And onher brow, fairer than alabaster,
A coronet of pearls.

But then her face,

So lovely, yet so arch, so full of mirth,
The overflowings of an innocent heart-
It haunts me still, tho' many a year has fled,
Like some wild melody!

Alone it hangs
Over a mouldering heir-loom, its companion,
An oaken chest, half-eaten by the worm,
A chest that came from Venice and had held
The ducal robes of some old ancestor
That by the way-it may be true or false--
But don't forget the picture; and you will not,
When you have heard the tale they told me there.
She was an only child-her name Ginevra,
The joy, the pride, of an indulgent father;

G.

potato liquor, and apply it to the article to be cleane till the dirt is perfectly separated; then wash it in clea water several times. Two middle-sized potatoes will enough for a pint of water. The coarse pulp which do not pass through the sieve is of great use in cleaning w sted curtains, tapestry, carpets, and other coarse good The mucilaginous liquor will clean all sorts of silk, cotto or woollen goods, without hurting or spoiling the colour it may be also used in cleaning oil paintings or furnitur that is soiled. Dirtied painted wainscots may be cleane by wetting a sponge in the liquor, then dipping it in little fine clean sand, and afterwards rubbing the wainsc with it.-Economist.

In our last tablet there was an error which we mu trouble our readers to rectify. The pieces there used wer a white king, two white castles, and two black horses the white to win. The two castles, as well as the horses ought to have been black; the only white piece on the board being the king. The correction may be made with the pen in an instant, by filling up or shading the two white castles; the black is to have the move (not the white, as stated last week) and to check-mate in thre moves; so that we must further trouble the reader to alter the word white to black in the head line announcing the nature of the game.

The reader will perceive that in game III. and IV. there is only one king introduced, whereas there must always be two kings in every real game. We have followed our original in our formula, and we suppose one king has been omitted in both these games, as being wholly superfluous. In the present game, for instance, white king might be introduced (say H 1 or A 1) but its introduction would in no wise affect the play, or retard the check mate.

menced; and our correspondent A Student, may be The London and Edinburgh match at chess has com them up in the Kaleidoscope. We have our eye on the sured, that if we can procure the moves, we will follow London and Scotch papers.

Gymnasia.

NO. IV.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR.—I have just been informed that a young lady has received divers bruises and bumps in attempting the exploit described in my last. I am much more concerned than astonished to hear this news; and I hereby caution my fair readers at their peril, not to attempt to follow me through all the antics I shall have to describe; some of which are ill adapted for the weaker sex. That the young lady should fail in the experiment with the chairs, is not surprising. It requires strong muscles in the neck, and we should be sorry to find the gentler sex distinguished

as a "stiff necked race."

The feat I am now about to describe is extremely safe and simple, although it is perhaps too well known to have much claim to novelty. It is, however, one of the series, and I do not profess to describe nothing but what is new er original; although some of the gymnasia may perhaps merit that epithet.

A line (A) is to be marked on the floor, to which both fect, or rather the toes of both your feet are to be brought, and beyond which they must not pass. One hand (B) either right or left, at option, is then to be thrown forwards (without touching the floor on its passage) so far and no farther than you can spring back again from the horizontal position to the original upright position of the body, without disturbing the stated position of the feet, or scraping the floor with the hand in the back spring. The distance at which different persons can thus spring back from the hand will, of course, differ according to their length of arm, or their strength and activity. In the figure, I have supposed the distance of the hand from the feet to be about equal to the length of the leg and thigh of the person making the experiment. This distance is chosen because almost any active person can recover from such position; but I have known those who could spring back from a much greater distance.

When you have ascertained the distance at which you can recover without scraping the hand, or changing the original position of your feet, you must stretch forward as far as possible, and whilst your body is supported by the hand on the floor, you must chalk as far as possible with the other, C, after which, you must, as before observed, rise up, from your hand, and recover your original upright position. There is great scope for skill and activity in this feat, and there are persons not exceeding five feet or five feet and a few inches, who will chalk considerably further than others of six feet high.

The great art is, to bring your body as near to the floor as possible; for which purpose, it is recommended, (and allowable), to move the feet backwards from the line of demarcation, as far as you can, which will bring the body uch lower than it is in the figure, and enable you to chalk, at least, the full length of yourself, which is considered pretty good chalking; although there are persons who will exceed that distance very considerably. Those who perform this trick the best, contrive, when on the stretch, that the body rest upon the elbow.

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The Brama.

THE THEATRE.

"Players and poets never should be fat,

Sons of Apollo! listen well to that:
Fat is foul weather, dims the fancy's sight;

In poverty the wits more nimbly muster.
Thus stars, when pinch'd by frost, cast keener lustre,
On the black blanket of old mother night."

Of the truth of sage Peter's notions on the subject of
too great corpulency, we are over-painfully convinced, and
wish sincerely that we were somewhat leaner. For to us
it is proven to demonstration, that halting prose is not
more congenial to a state of fleshly exuberance, than are
painting, acting, or ballad-mongering. Here are ten of
us, whose corporeal aggregate would make twice ten hun-
dred weight kick the beam, breathing an atmosphere with
the thermometer at seventy or seventy-five; and, withal,
the fickle jade Fortune be thanked, without any very pun-
gent excitation to mar the quiescent calm incident to heat
and flesh and blood, and the lethargic perfume of thrice
told ten segars. What, then, we would ask, can to day
be expected from us, in the way of theatrical observation?
More especially when to the forgoing good and cogent
reason, are appended the performances of last week :-The
West Indian, Henri Quatre, The Slave, The Law of Java,
and John Bull; plays rather of a light amusing kind,
than of a high intellectual order; agreeably dull, and va-
pidly interesting.

We must not, however, be so brief as to omit some little of honourable mention of Mr. Meadows, who is, nevertheless, a low comedian of limited pretensions; nor should our praise be of a description partaking exclusively of the negative, recollecting, as we do, Mr. Hooper's Mathew Sharpset. Mr. Conner will, perhaps, pardon our eulogy of his merits, not having yet had the pleasure of seeing him. Indeed, since the period of Emery, Johnson and Munden's exit, we seldom care to trouble ourselves with witnessing the ludicrous folly of farce, which, though altogether silly in the extreme, was, with them, the foolery

of nature.

THE COUNCIL OF TEN.

Biographical Notice.

people of England. After the death of her uncle, Lady Hester formed the project of travelling in the Levant. She first repaired to Malta, and from thence proceeded to Constantinople. Wishing afterwards to make a pilgrimage to Palestine, she sailed for the Holy Land, but had the misfortune to be shipwrecked off the Isle of Rhodes. Cast on a barren rock, she seemed to be destined to perish of hunger; but an English ship, which appeared on the following day, took her on board and conveyed her to Syria. There she travelled in all directions, accompanied by Mr. Bruce, who has just been tried for the part he took in the escape of Lavalette. She spent several years wandering among the ruins of Palmyra and Hieropolis, and exploring the valleys of Mount Lebanon. Living for whole of oriental habits, from being feeble and debilitated, she months on rice and water, and accustomed to the frugality became a strong and vigorous Amazon. According to. letters which she has addressed to her family in England, she is now at the head of three tribes of Bedouin Arabs, who regard her as a being of superior order. She has had from England; and she declares, that she will never forseveral children, whom she was fond of, brought to her sake that Land of the Sun, to breathe the humid and cloudy asmosphere of Great Britain.-French paper.

The editor of the Dumfries Courier, in allusion to the notice of our eccentric countrywoman, inserted in the Mercury and Kaleidoscope, which he copied, furnishes the subjoined additional particulars.

"When the business of dinner was concluded, Lord Belmore sent for his letter of introduction from the Lady Hester Stanhope. The existence of this letter had been previously communicated to both brothers, and when his Lordship shewed it to Abdel Rahmad, at Yaffa, who escorted us thither, he took it into his hand, and insisted on opening it immediately, saying it is all one whether the letter be addressed to my brother or myself. However, covered the letter, delivered it now with the seal unthe noble traveller thought differently, and having retouched, into the hands of the person to whom it was directed. The epistle of the noble lady, or, as she is called in the country, the Christian woman, was most graciously received, and read first by the chief, and then by his brother, both of whom expressed the greatest respect and friendship for the Lady Hester Stanhope, as, indeed, did every Turk or Arab whom we ever heard mention her name. Abougôsh himself informed us that he had once entertained her Ladyship and suite in his house, and exulted in the honour that she had done him question, to which a laugh was the answer. How she in accepting his hospitality. His brother put to her a thought of travelling with so many maid servants, and not one husband ?"

The general utility of Mr. Porteus entitles him in some measure to our commendation. For his usefulness he hath our good opinion, although it would be difficult to name any one character in which he excels. He is always "In the evening we received a visit from the Lady an Irishman, except when he ought to be one; and then Hester Stanhope. This was the only time we had the pleasure of meeting this extraordinary woman. We had is he quite a vernacular hermaphrodite, neither English, more than once profited by her kind offices and good Irish, nor Scotch, but a general smattering medley of word, and her polite and enlightened conversation made each, illustrating, in particular, neither one nor the other.us regret that we had so little opportunity of benefitting When next he represents an Hibernian, let him fancy it by her society. Her great talents and almost universal is Sam Sharpset he should be after playing; we have no acquaintance all over the Levant, together with her confears for the result, convinced that it would fully warrant decending and pleasant address, render her name of the first consequence to the oriental traveller. Her Ladyship's the experiment. usual residence is at Mar Elias in Mount Lebanon; the July 26. house was formerly a Greek convent, but the noble resident has formed it into a very comfortable habitation. After midsummer, when the weather becomes warm, she usually retires higher up the mountains, and lives in her tent among the Bruses in the neighbourhood of Dair cl Gamr, the residence of their prince Bushir. Her Ladyship was dressed in the costume of a Turkish nobleman, It is impossible for a female to travel in those countries and mix in society in any other dress; and it resembles so much the ladies' riding habit in this country, that there is receives visitors in the same manner, with any Turk or nothing improper or indelicate in its appearance. She Arab of distinction, and entertains them with the same share of sherbet, coffee, and tobacco. No person can be more respected and esteemed than this noble lady is throughout the Levant; but she has no concern whatever in the government of any part of the country, as has frequently been represented in England, nor does she even so much as speak the language of the country, either Turkish or Arabic, but is always attended by an interpreter. She looked remarkably pale, but I believe was in tolerably good health, and conversed in a cheerful and sprightly manner."

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

In the fourth volume of the Kaleidoscope, page 361, we inserted, from the Mercury, an interesting paragraph respecting this extraordinary English woman, expressing our intention to furnish some further particulars of the same subject as soon as possible. We now lay before our readers the following narrative, which can hardly fail to interest them.-Edit Kal.

Lady Hester Stanhope, who belongs to one of the first families in England, merits a place among the most celebrated and intrepid travellers of the present age. This lady, the niece, the friend, and intimate companion of Mr. Pitt, was not less attached to him by conformity of mind than by the ties of blood. She enjoys a pension from her country. Pitt, who, as is known, died without fortune, left to his nieces, poor like himself, a few lines in which he recommended them to the generosity of the

[From Travels along the Mediterranean, and parts adjacent in company with the Earl of Belmore, during the years 1816-17-18, by Robert Richardson, M. D.-London, 1822]

>

The Phænir.

Century of the Names and Scantlings of such Inventions as at present I can call to mind to have tried and perfected (which, my former Notes being lost) I have, at the instance of a powerful Friend, endeavoured now, in the

Fine Arts.

ON ANCIENT AND MODERN ART.

"Had not Rome and Athens fostered and cherished the year 1655, to set these down in such a way as may suffi.arts of their times, they'd have left no antiquities for us to iently instruct me to put any of them in practice.

THE AUTHOR THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER.

13. FALSE DESTROYING DECKS. How to make such false decks as in a moment should kill and take prisoners as many as should board the ship, without blowing the decks up, or destroying them from being reducible, and in a quarter of an hour's time should recover their former shape, and to be made fit for any employment without discovering the secret.

14. MULTIPLIED STRENGTH IN LITTLE ROOM.

How to bring a force to weigh up an anchor, or to do any forcible exploit in the narrowest or lowest room in any ship, where few hands shall do the work of many; and many hands applicable to the same force, some standing, others sitting, and by virtue of their several helps a great force augmented in little room, as effectual as if there were sufficient space to go about with an axletree, and work far from the centre.

15. A BOAT DRIVING AGAINST WIND AND TIDE.

A way how to make a boat work itself against wind and tide, yea both without the help of man or beast; yet so that the wind or tide, though directly opposite, shall force the ship or boat against itself and in no point of the compass, but it shall be as effectual, as if the wind were in the pupp, or the stream actually with the course it is to steer, according to which the oars shall row, and necessary mo. tions work and move towards the desired port or point of the compass.

16. A SEA-SAILING FORT.

How to make a sea-castle or fortification cannon-proof, and capable of a thousand men, yet sailable at pleasure to defend a passage, or in an hour's time to divide itself into three ships as fit and trimmed to sail as before: and even whilst it is a fort or castle they shall be unanimously steered, and effectually be driven by an indifferent strong

wind.

17. A PLEASANT FLOATING GARDEN.

How to make upon the Thames a floating garden of pleasure, with trees, flowers, banqueting houses, and founLains, stews for all kind of fishes, a reserve for snow to keep wine in, delicate bathing-places, and the like; with music made with mills: and all in the midst of the stream, where it is most rapid.

18. AN HOUR-GLASS FOUNTAIN.

admire.

TO THE EDITOR.

pictures, gems, and models of the ancients, to the grea loss, and may say, ultimate destruction of modern talent is not confined to the Liverpool connoisseurs, but is a mania which hath spread itself all over the country, making the collectors of pictures, in most instances, the mere dupe of picture cleaners, picture dealers, and their jackalls; who by their united efforts dress up all the miserable copies they can lay their hands on, being well aware that amongst so many collectors of the genuine productions of SIR,-Amongst the variety of subjects that must natu- the ancients it will not be difficult to pass off their spuri rally engross your attention in your editorial capacity, I ous imitations; and thus it was shrewdly remarked by trust you will not refuse to take the Fine Arts under your a very sensible writer on the arts, that our demands fo more especial cognizance, particularly as in the advanced art have principally tended to multiply the importation o state of the age in which we live, and with the increased foreign pictures, statues, and all other things that go under wealth and importance of our good old town, it becomes the denomination of vertu." To do away with the mis necessary, for the character of its inhabitants, that our fortunes that have arisen, and avert those that may still artists and men of genius should receive a little more arise from this vitiated taste, it is requisite that all who public attention and encouragement than they have hi-feel interested in again raising the arts to that height from therto had; for nothing evinces so great an improvement which they may be said to have fallen, should exert themin a national taste as a fostering care extended toward selves in exposing the manœuvres of the dealers in ancient genius and talent. ware; and bringing the gentlemen cognoscenti to a sense of what is due to modern talent.

As a sincere advocate for the advancement of the fine arts, I cannot but regret the want of that efficient support which would alone tend to bring forward the talent of our I am, however, happy to think that the taste for modera native and resident artists. Indeed, it has long been and the improvement manifested in the productions of our art has somewhat increased here within the last few years, matter of surprise to some, and has furnished subject of artists, forcibly shew the beneficial effect of the additional reproach to others, that in a town boasting so many liberal support they have received. The fostering care of the and opulent inhabitants, there should have been so few Liverpool Royal Institution, with the formation of the found who were willing to step forward and lend a foster- Academy, where the artists are ever acting in concert for ing hand to the support of the liberal arts. We are the advancement of their profession; their affinity to each compelled continually to hear the sneering retort from other; and above all, the annual exposé of their works strangers (when, with a natural degree of exulting pride, exciting in each a laudable ambition to o'erstep the other, we would direct their attention to the growing importance has, I am convinced, mainly contributed to produce this of Liverpool)-that "commerce, and the mysterious art very desirable change: and it is now only requisite that of getting money, has taken such sole and exclusive pos- the public should take their part in the good work, by session of the thoughts of our wealthy merchants, that recognising and encouraging their labours to place the they cannot spare time, and have still less inclination for arts in this town on that permanent foundation, from spending it." And, however we may despise the illiberal which, they shall raise themselves to the height at which remark, taken in a general sense, we are compelled re- they soar. We have no want of genius in the town, but luctantly to admit, that talent and genius does not receive on the contrary, the pictures last exhibited, by some of with us that support and encouragement it so freely our townsmen, are such as would rival many in the me obtains from our Tess wealthy neighbours. Pictures have tropolis; nor is it unreasonable to suppose, that the artists been produced by some of our townsmen, wherein they may, in time, if properly encouraged, surpass them: and lime branch of the noble art they are engaged in. These welfare and credit of the town, to countenance those have displayed an astonishing capacity for the most sub-it therefore becomes the interest of all who study the have been stamped by the approbation of the public, who gifted individuals, who, (though in an humble sphere a have freely lavished every encomium on the minds that present), are traversing the glorious path to fame with could produce such works; but they have seemed to con-every hope of ultimate success, and may, in the course of sider, that, in awarding their meed of praise, they have time, prove resplendent luminaries in the hemisphere of A little engine within a coach, whereby a child may ther exertions: but public approval, however gratifying done all that was sufficient to encourage the artist to fur- the arts, obtaining immortality, not only to themselves, stop it, and secure all persons within it, and the coachman himself, though the horses be never so unruly in a it may be to his self-love, will not carry him through his full career; a child being sufficiently capable to loosen labours unless accompanied with something more sub them in what posture soever they should have put them-stantial; and the works that have been so commended, wolves, turning never so short; for a child can do it in the have, in many instances, been suffered to remain on the twinkling of an eye. artist's hands, without his receiving any remuneration for the exertion of his talents to gratify the public. We have, it is true, a few individuals in the town who profess to be connoisseurs and liberal encouragers of the arts. They ground their pretensions on a professed knowledge of works of art; make themselves intimately acquainted with the productions (either original or copy) of all the ing their mansions with pictures: but is this for the old masters, and actually spend a deal of money in adornbenefit of the native or even the living artists? Alas! no. These men are virtuosi, and would consider it a reflection on their taste to be thought to admire a picture painted by a modern; the only notice they take of which is to draw an invidious comparison between it and some ancient idol. They are men, who, while they

An artificial fountain to be turned like an hour-glass by a child in the twinkling of an eye, it holding great quansity of water, and of force sufficient to make snow, ice, and thunder, with a chirping and singing of birds, and showing of several shapes and effects usual to fountains of pleasure.

19. A COACH-SAVING ENGINE.

20. A BALANCE WATER-WORK.

How to bring up water ballance-wise, so that as little weight or force as will turn a ballance will be only needful, more than the weight of the water within the buckets, which counterpoised empty themselves one into the other, the uppermost yielding its water (how great a quantity soever it holds) at the self-same time the lowermost taketh it in, though it be a hundred fathom high.

21. A BUCKET FOUNTAIN.

How to raise water contantly with two buckets only day and night, without any other force than its own motion, wing not so much as any force, wheel, or sucker, nor more pulleys than one, on which the cord or chain rolleth with a bucket fastened at each end. This I confess, I have seen and learned of the great mathematician Claudius, his studies at Rome, he having made a present thereof anto a Cardinal; and I desire not to own any other men's inventions, but if I set down any, to nominate likewise the inventor.

22. AN EBBING AND FLOWING RIVER.

To make a river in a garden to ebb and flow constantly. though twenty foot over, with a child's force, in some private room or place out of sight, and a competent distance

from it.

(To be continued. )

"Rake for gems the ashes of the dead,

Would see the living artist pine for bread.

To them I would recommend the careful perusal of the
motto I have prefixed to this paper; and then let them
for a moment consider, whether or not they are acting as
the true patrons of art. But this hankering after the

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and seat themselves round a square ares, fronting When an old Chief dies, a number of people assemble house in which the deceased lies; whilst a man in a re feathered cap, advances from an interior part of the hous to the door, and putting out his head, at almost eve moment, utters a most lamentable howl, accompanied the most singular grimaces and violent distortions of his face that can be conceived. Afterwards a large mat spread upon the area, and the two men and thirteen rows, two men and three women being in the front thera man come out of the house and sit upon it, in three equa ruffs; and broad green leaves, variously scolloped, spread necks and hands of the women are covered with feathered over their shoulders. At one corner of the area, near small hut, appear six boys, bearing small white, banues

at

The dead body is in the hut. A man in a red cap the ceremony. The company, seated on the mat, in to sing a melancholy tune, accompanied with a gentle slow motion of the body and arms. They then raise selves on their knees, and in a posture between kneeland sitting, move their bodies and arms very rapidly, une keeping pace with their motions. After this has an hour, with slower movements at intervals, more sare spread upon the area, and four or five old wonew-one of whom is the wife of the deceased, advance koly out of the house, and being seated in the front of the company, begin to cry and wail most bitterly; the women behind them joining in these lamentations, and the two men inclining their heads over them in a very pensive attitude. In this situation they continue till night, when the corpse is removed. Captain King could not learn how they disposed of the body. Three women of rank informed him that the presence of strangers hindered them from performing some necessary rites. Scarcely had Captain King gone out of sight, before he heard their cries and lamentations; and meeting them a few hours afterwards, he found that they had painted the lower part of their faces perfectly black. When asked whither the dead were gone, the answer was, that the breath, which they seemed to consider as the soul, or immortal part, was gone to the "Eatooa," which they described as some particular place, which they supposed to be the abode of the de. deceased-King's Voyage.

The Philanthropist.

THE LATE MR. BOWDICH.

The public has learned the death of Mr. Bowdich, the African traveller, who fell at the early age of thirty, in the cause to which he had devoted himself, leaving a widow and three young children totally unprovided for. Attached to her husband, no less by the congeniality of taste than by the most devoted affection, Mrs. Bowdich was his almost constant companion in Africa, the sharer of his perils, and the indefatigable assistant of his literary labours-The letter in which she announces her bereavement thus depicts her situation:

"I am about to try your friendship, dear sir, In a thousand ways; for I am now alone in the world, widowed and un

family, a claim upon their liberality. It is earnestly hoped, that, wherever there exists the ability, there will also be the inclination to rescue from the bitterness of penury, the family of an individual who, in seeking the advancement of science, has sunk into an untimely grave. Subscriptions will be received in Liverpool by Dr. Traill, Mr. Adam Hodgson, Mr. Wm. Banning, Post-office, and at the Mercury and Courier Offices.

Chit Chat.

A Lapsus Linguæ.-A gentleman was lately in a party of ladies, when the subject of conversation turned upon marriage. In answer to a question from one of the party, whether he was a married man? intending to reply, "Yes, madam; and I can offer no stronger proof of my approbation of wedlock than that I have myself had the misfortune to bury one wife, and the happiness to marry another." Instead of this, he unluckily inverted the sentence thus:- I have had the pleasure, madam, to bury one wife, and the misfortune to marry another." Ingenions Orthography.-A gentleman of the Temple received his laundress's weekly account the other day, made out in the style of spelling and hand-writing peculiar to the sisters of the suds; but there was one charge of 1s. 6d. for skewering the stars." which defied even his practised comprehension. After wondering for some time how such a work could ever have been performed, and, still more, why it should have been executed particularly at his expense, the debtor sent for Mrs. Pearlash, when the reading turned out to be, "for scouring the

stairs."

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An American Exception.-Navy Department, 1st June, 1824-Extract of a letter from Captain William Carter, commanding the United States' sloop of war Peacock, dated at sea, long. 3. N. lat. 29. W. 23d April, 1824:"I have the honour to inform you, that we have progressed thus far, all well, with the exception of having been struck, after being out a few days, by lightning; both the fore and mainmast were stricken at the same time, and four men killed. Several who were severely burned are doing well."

An expressive Sign.-A hair dresser on the Boulevards, protested. Your friend expired on the 10th of January, after ing by his hair on a tree, and Joab piercing his body with near Port St. Denis, has chosen for his sign Absalom hang. a spear. Under the painting are these lines:Passans! contemplez le malheur D'Absalom pedu par le nuque; Il aurait evite ce malheur S'il eut portu un peruque. IMITATION.

suffering a fortnight in the Gambia fever: all human aid was tried, but his extreme impatience to get well, his annoyance at the interruption of his pursuits, and his want of faith in Che remedies prescribed, proved too mighty for his strength, and he has fallen a victim to the cause for which he alone gived. I dare not expatiate on my own loss; you can well imagine its magnitude, as you are aware of my forlorn situa tion: I feel as it were stunned by its weight, but manage to keep up for the sake of my three children, now totally dependent on me. The time is coming when I shall feel it even more, for now I am surrounded by kindness only, partealarly in the person of Captain Findlay, the commandant bere, who has acted like a father to me and mine... "No will has been left; therefore, it is my duty to administer to his effects, whatever risk I run in so doing. I hope, looking to my own support, through S. and M. to get em. ployed in different works in natural history, setting up as an artist in that line. God grant me success! my thing else; and, if I am supported by health and friends, I may yet know comparative happiness in endeavouring to make my children worthy of the noble and generous soul Which is now with its Creator. I shall return, or at least hope to set off, in the brig James, Captain Smith, at the end of April, which will be the first opportunity by which I can Convey my family."

I am not fit for

Mrs. Bowdich has since returned to England in a state of destitution, to struggle with the vicissitude attending the precarious employment which she has yet to seek, as the means of supporting her infant family. Under these circumstances, therefore, some of the friends of the late Mr. Bowdich have concluded to appeal, on behalf of his widow and children, to the good feeling of those who can appreciate the disinterested devotion of life and talent to noble object; or who, having the interests of science and Literature at heart, recognise, in the circumstances of Mr. Bewdich's death, and the consequent situation of his

After poor Absalom's affair,
Methinks that all men must be crazy,
Not to adopt, instead of hair,

A shaved pate cover'd with a jaisy.

An unhappy inmate of Bedlam, some years ago, was once beaten by his keeper, because he would not tell him why he was confined there. "Because," said the poor creature at length, "because God has deprived me of a blessing which you never enjoyed."

In a town in the north of Germany, a house was lately erected for the reception of the dead (whose death was doubted) and an inscription put over the door

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Extraordinary Genius.-There is at present residing with his parents at St. Agnes, in this county, a lad named Opie, now in his fourteenth year, grand nephew to the celebrated painter of that name, who has a most extraordinary talent for taking likenesses, though he has not received any professional instruction whatever. Some of his productions, which we have seen, are really surprising, when the age and limited opportunities of the youthful artist are considered. We hope that measures will be adopted for affording this extraordinary boy those means of improvement which we have no doubt would ensure him a merited celebrity.-West Briton. It is much to be dreaded, that this youth, like others that we could name, will fall into the hands of some avaricious taskmaster, who, after making him his bondsman by articles of apprenticeship, will work him day and night, for his own profit, unmindful of the education or health of his slave.-Edit. Kal.

Mr. Kean, Mr. Dowton, Mrs. M'Gibbon (a celebrated singer) and Mr. Webb (the Irish comedian) are reported in the London papers to have intentions to wend their way to the United States.-Boston American Statesman.

If the Mrs. M'Gibbon here mentioned be our favourite

tragedian, she will smile at finding herself represented as a first-rate singer, unless she really be such; in which case, we think it not fair that she should so long have hidden her talent under a bushel.-Edit Kal.

Correspondence.

BALLOONS.

TO THE Editor.

SIR, The dreadful catastrophe which attended Mr. Harris's ascent, accompanied by Miss Stocks, in a balloon with one or two recent events of a similar nature, will, I am of opinion, tend to damp the pleasure with which we witness the grand and interesting spectacle. Anxiety for the fate of the intrepid voyagers is mingled with admiration at the courage which prompts them to trust themselves in so frail a vehicle, and we wait with impatience for the tidings of their safe return to terra firma. I was one of Sadler; and it suggested itself to me that there is room for those who witnessed the departure of Messrs. Peel and improvement in the mechanism of the car, by the addition of a parachute under the car, which might, in cases of emergency, be of service in breaking the rapidity of the descent, and thus diminish the danger. Perhaps some one, better versed in balloons than am, may improve on this suggestion, which, I think, if duly attended to, may lead to the construction of so complete an apparatus as will ultimately render an aërial voyage as safe as a land or water excursion. Trusting that you will give these few lines insertion in the Kaleidoscope, I am, yours, &c.

SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.

PHILO.

· TO THE EDITOR. SIR, AS I was cutting a quill, a few days ago, I was very much surprised at my knife meeting with a considerable obstruction. Upon opening it carefully, I found a piece of wood (deal) about three-fourths of an inch long, and of a sufficient thickness to fill the hollow of the quill, which was, in every respect, perfect. There was not the least hole or defect either at the end or in any other part

ORTHOGRAPHY.-The following letter, addressed to of the quill. I consider it a very singular circumstance; an artist, we give verbatim et literate:"To Mr. Shatkey Esq.

"Dear Sur, Anker an hoaps, Portsa. "as i bin henfornd you pantes beests i wants you to pante my wale if you can i wants on dun Cumplate to hang up in frunt off my new wan which is 27 foot long by next Satterday i got sum Canvus from mr. Rands which i thinks will jest Do for the gob i gos away to morrow pretty Sharpish as i wants you to meet me att the anker an hope prevus before i gos to take his dimenshunes and Settle about the price ia Dear Sur your umbul Sarvant, T. Savay. if you looks upon top Sundays paper you will see i am the proprietor of the ale an your mony is Shure as the bankers nows me.'

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and, should you think it curious enough to occupy a corner in your valuable little work, the insertion of this will oblige, yours, &c. DURYNG.

Bury, June 22, 1824.

TO THE Editor. SIR,-Can any of your correspondents account for the death of all the Lombardy poplar trees in the neighbourhood of St. Ann's, within the last year. I don't observe that any other trees are injured. Can it be the smoke from the steam mills, or the oil gas works? Yours, RUSTICUS.

THE HAMILTONIAN SYSTEM.

TO THE EDITOR. STR,-Availing myself of the offer you have made to those who have any thing to say about the Hamiltonian system, I request you will do me the favour to give a place in your next paper to the following observations on the remarks Mr. Hamilton has thought proper to insert in your last pages, on an advertisement of mine.

I thought it a duty I owed to the public and to myself, to repel, in that advertisement, the bold assertions, to say the least of them, which Mr. H. had made in his first public lecture, on the regular professors of languages and their mode of tuition: a word to the wise should have been sufficient; but Mr. H. will make remarks. His remarks, harmless as they are, I cannot pass unnoticed: they will, I am persuaded, convince the public that whatever talent nature may have lavished on Mr. H., it has not gifted him with the talent of a commentator.

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For my part, I declare I do not understand the meaning of his argument. That is not my fault, will say Mr. H. who, like Dr. Johnson, may add, that he can provide one with an argument, but not with understanding. I must then leave such reasoning to better judges than myself. Mr. H. proceeding on the erroneous supposition that I share with him the admiration of his system, that I believe it to be a wonderful effort of genius, "a miraculous" invention, far above any other system of tuition, asks me, with a sneer, whether I would advise to "burn the mule-jennies and return to the simple machine used a century ago." That comparison, save the difference between a mechanical and an intellectual operation, might be very fair; but, when Mr. H. knew very well the idea I entertain of his system, and how I value that which he rashly pretends to supersede, his comparison is in bad taste, and no better than his system. When he says, that teaching according to the plan I have followed, and mean to follow till a better one is found out, "I begin first the house by the top." I wonder it did not occur to him, in order to make the image more complete, to add, that I ended last, &c. I imagine Mr. H. ventured such an assertion in the hurry and heat of composition, or else know. ing, undoubtedly as he does, the names of many gram marians, it would betray a very great ignorance of the prinMr. H. seems next to find fault with me for not nam-ciples they have bequeathed to us. Indeed, I am afraid ing the great French literary character alluded to in the Mr. H. is altogether building castles in the air, and have advertisement-I thought it very immaterial to name M. no doubt he will, before long, find himself disappointed, Luneau de Boisjermain, who is the man I singled in my by having placed too much confidence in the credulity of mind, out of a great many others, for the particular rea- the people of Liverpool. son, that I have in my possession, his interlined translation of the Gerusalemme Liberata, in 3 volumes 8vo.

His first remark is, that "I give my reasons for not adopting the Hamiltonian system:" now, that is the very thing I particularly wished to avoid, for fear of being too severe. I merely stated my reasons for continuing to teach on the plan which, whatever Mr. H. may say, has procured me some success, and in which I have been so fortunate as to be countenanced by the approbation of a most respectable part of the community.

I knew that Arius Montanus was a very learned and very celebrated man, who thanked God for having given hin the knowledge of ten languages; but I was not aware that he had ever made any interlined translation. He only revised and corrected Pagnin's literal translation of the Bible; where he did not think it literal enough. Those corrections, instead of adding to his great and deserved reputation, brought upon him the appellation of “ ineptissimus interpres" as there were in them “quot correctiones tot corruptiones."

Now comes the question at issue, whether Mr. H. is, or is not the inventor of the interlined translation, or of what he calls the Hamiltonian system; which, by the by, he now says, is but "a speck in his system;" when, so far, it is perfectly evident that it is the only real, the only valuable thing in it. All the rest may be Hamiltonian, may be more profitable to him, without being very creditable, but I consider it as a pure delusion, a mere bait, ad captandum vulgus, which must soon disappear for ever. Mr. H. however, in order to secure to himself the paternity of what he calls" a speck," has the following lines.

"Before the Hamiltonian system, no translation had every been made in which each word was translated by a corresponding part of speech; none in which the grammamatical analysis of the phrase was taught by the translation only; none in which words are (as a general rule) allowed to have but one meaning; none in which the idiom of the language of the pupil was wholly sacrificed to the pupil's intelligence of the idiom of the language taught; above all, no translation was ever before used in the same manner as they are used on the Hamiltonian system; none ever produced, or could rationally be supposed to produce the uniform and certain result:" which result he asserts in some other of his writings, "was always, and everywhere the same, without regard to previous instruction, without regard to age, to sex, or intellect, farther than to be possessed of common sense.'

"9

Then comes a triumphant "therefore," an ergo, or more properly an ergoglu, in perfect imitation of Sganarel, who, in the play of the Medecin malgré lui, addressing Geronte, concludes a similar farago by these

Sub judice lis est.

12,-Two half-sovereigns, five pennies, and four halfpence.

TO THE EDITOR

you have made of late in your entertaining and valua SIR,-I am very happy to see the improvements wh publication, especially in your introduction of the mas in that delightful science. I am also much pleased wi department of your work, being somewhat of an amate the puzzles and bagatelles with which you occasiona favour the holiday folks. The problem in your last certainly very ingenious; but I think the following will found rather more difficult, viz.

coin of the realm, without the use of silver money. To give change for a sovereign in twenty pieces of Yours, &c.

ALEXIS

USEFUL HINTS FOR HOT WEATHER.

Give your dogs constant and easy access to plenty water, and if possible get them into the fields to bat

Keep your singing birds in the shade, and do not bi and madden them by exposure to the burning sun. you hang them out in the open air, by all means cover thick cloth or carpeting; and take care that they ha cage with a green sod, some green leaves, or a piece on the quay, recommending the frequent watering of th water enough. We would say a word or two to the cart poor beasts, if we thought our advice would not be thro

away.-Edit. Kal.

Advertisement.

Just Published, price One Shilling. "All earth shall be his monument."-Lord Byron. London: To be had of all the Booksellers.

Mr. H.'s system must stand or fall by its own merit; A TRIBUTE to the MEMORY of LORD BYRO should the event prove that I am wrong in my estimate of it, I shall not be slow in acknowledging my error, and shall join the public voice, to proclaim hin another wonder of the world.

To Correspondents.

by the late Lord Byron, commencing "My boat is on t shore," is perhaps familiar to some of our readers. A have never discovered that it has been regularly set music, we spoke to a scientific friend, in this town, O subject, who immediately composed a suitable air to words, and presented it to us expressly for the Kaleidosc We shall, next week, publish it, together with a cop the words.

Apologising, Mr. Editor, for thus trespassing on your LORD BYRON and Mr. Thomas MOORE.-The song addres kindness and upon the patience of the public, I must now take leave of Mr. H. and assure him, that, averse as I am from any kind of war, even an unbloody paper war, I regret he should have given me occasion to say severe things to him, and perhaps to have hurt his feelings. He may now rest assured that no future provocation will ever elicit a word in reply.-I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, H. ORRÉ.

July 26, 1824.

The Sofa.

"In order to employ one part of this life in serious and important
occupations, it is necessary to spend another in mere amuse-
ments."
JOHN LOCKE.

“There is a time to laugh and a time to weep.”—SOLOMON.

VIVE LA BAGATELLE.

In reply to the query respecting change for a guinea we have received the following solutions:

No. 1,-Two half-sovereigns, four two-penny pieces, one halfpenny, fourteen farthings.

2,-Two half-sovereigns, two two-penny pieces, five
penny pieces, twelve farthings.

3-Two half-sovereigns, one two-penny piece, six
penny pieces, four halfpennies, eight farthings.
4.-One sovereign, six penny pieces, ten halfpence, four
farthings.

5,-One Sovereign, four penny pieces, sixteen half-
penny pieces.

6,-One sovereign, nine penny pieces, one halfpenny, ten farthings.

7,-One sovereign, two two-penny pieces, fourteen halfpennies, four farthings.

8,-One sovereign, one two-penny piece, one penny, eighteen halfpenny pieces.

9.-One half-guinea, one half-sovereign, five halfpennies, fourteen farthings.

10,-One half-guinea, one half-sovereign, one penny, two halfpennies, sixteen farthings.

11,-Two half-sovereigns, two two-penny pieces, two penny picces, nine halfpenny pieces, six farthings.

Our obliging and intelligent correspondent, to whom we indebted for the able lines Vigenti et Nonaginta, will trust, not conceive it any slight if we subject the piece one week's further delay. The letter of Mr. Orré leng a controversial nature, and in reply to that of ant correspondent of the previous week, fair-play deman prompt attention, or we should have subjected ourse to the charge of undue partiality, to which we cannot på guilty in any instance within our recollection. PRESERVATION FROM SHIPWRECK.-We have in preparat for publication engravings and descriptions of three ferent kinds of rafts, for preservation from shipwn which have never yet been made known to the public. is our intention to insert them in successive number the Kaleidoscope, and we hope to introduce the first of th

next week.

Z. it is hoped will see this paragraph; in which event, we to refer him to the first note of our last week's replie correspondents, which appears to have escaped him. absolutely necessary he should see the proof of his e previously to its appearance in the Kaleidoscope, as th are certain queries which we cannot decide without assistance of the writer. A note enclosing the proof, wh has been awaiting Z.'s orders since last Wednesday, is

uncalled for.

Mr Jeffrey's speech respecting the late Mr. Watt, and the Mr. Irving's philippic against the late Lord Byron, are b in preparation for early publication.

The description of the eruption of Mount Etna is reservod

our next. We shall reply to Senex next week.

Printed, published, and sold, EVERY TUESDAY, by
SMITHand Co. 75, Lord-street, Liverpool

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