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Literary and Scientific Mirror.

"UTILE DULCI."

is familiar Miscellany, from whichreligious and politicalmatters are excluded, contains a variety of original andselected Articles: comprehending Literature, Criticism Men and Manne ■, musement, Elegant Extracts, Poetry, Anecdotes, Biography, Meteorology, the Drama, Arts and Sciences, Wit and Satire, Fashions, Natural History; &c. &c. forming a handsome Annua olume, with an Index and Title-page.-Its circulationrenders it a most eligible medium for Advertisements.-Regular supplies are forwarded weekly to the Agents.

257.-Vol. V.

Natural History.

LETTERS

ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE GLOBE.
BY M. ALEX. B.

vre que des ruinet.-Paris: printed, 1824.

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1825.

of them receive currents of water, which cannot fail to
have a very considerable influence in raising their beds;
these would certainly have been filled up, if the last revo-
lution had taken place at a very remote period.

The summits of all high mountains are covered with
These col-
eternal ice, produced from the melted snow.

legère couche de vie, qui fleurit à la surface du globe, ne lections, known under the name of glaciers, extend more or less towards the base of the mountain; and as their own weight causes them to descend below their natural uslatedexpressly for the Kaleidoscope from a recent French work. level, they are melted by the action of the increased tem

LETTER XIV.-CONCLUDED.

OF THE MASS OF WATERS.

we have already observed, all rivers deposit upon pores near their mouths a very considerable quantity matter carried along in their currents; the land is, consequently, so much raised, that the sea cannot

wer it.

perature, which reigns towards the foot of the mountain.
The water, when melted, is separated from the earthy par-
ticles contained in it, and they form the depositions called
murèmes.

As the formation of murèmes depends upon periodical
causes of almost constant occurrence, it is not very diffi-
cult to compute the length of time necessary to give
them their present magnitude; and as their existence may
certainly be dated from the origin of the present order of
things, they afford a new method of attaining a nearer
approach to accuracy in our calculation of the time that
has elapsed since the last cataclysm."

This computation leads also to the same result; it gives five or six thousand years, at the most, for the age of our world. A much less considerable time seems to have sufficed for the formation of the glaciers in certain places; but this appearance has been occasioned by local circumstances, such as the existence of currents of water, which, falling from the mountains, wash away the murèmes, and drag their remains to a distance.

PRICE 3d.

offensive to the vanity of his people who were acquainted with the Egyptian traditions.

Berosus, who wrote at Babylon, in the time of Alexander, speaks of the deluge, as well as Moses, and places it immediately before the time of Belus, the father of Ninus.

The Vedas, or sacred books of the Indians, were composed nearly at the same time that the book of Genesis was written (1500 years before Jesus Christ) and they also date the revolution of which they speak, 1500 years before that period.

The Guebres speak of the same disaster, and date it at the same period.

China furnishes us with still more positive documents respecting the deluge. Confucius (who lived nearly 2000 years before Jesus Christ) commences the history of this country with the reign of an Emperor named Iao, whom he represents to have been occupied in draining away the waters, which, having been raised up to the sky, still bathed the foot of the highest mountains, covered the less elevated hills, and rendered the plains impassable.

he industry of men did not oppose the natural course ts, the alluvial soil (that is the name given to the eposited by the currents of rivers) would cover a greater extent of land. In that case, if the bed of were sufficiently raised, its waters would be forced he surrounding shores, and form there a new bed, being also elevated by new accumulations, would But th again compel them to change their course. to prevent the ravages occasioned by inundations, are raised, to limit the course of the river, the layer ter deposited upon its bed increases in thickness, I ought, perhaps, in this place, to speak to you of the 3 waters are finally considerably elevated above the ading shores. Thus, in Italy, the Adigio, as well perpetual ice, amassed upon the summits of all high Po, threatens to diffuse itself over the neighbour-mountains, and of that surrounding the poles, and cover-climate in which they lived, should, in so short a period, antry, and it will be necessary to open a new bed for ing an extent of land equal to at least a tenth part of the surface of the terrestrial globe, which has probably existed e low parts, over which it formerly flowed. also to be apprehended that the Rhine and the there since the commencement of the present order of things; but, as I intend to enlarge upon this subject in will overflow the richest districts of Holland. my next letter, I shall now merely observe, that the results deduced from the observation of these phenomena corroborate the opinion that the antiquity of the present state of the world does not exceed five or six thousand years.

vion has been accumulated with great rapidity he coasts of the North Sea, in the country of GroIt is positively known, that, in 1570, banks were teted before the town, and that one hundred years irds there was, beyond these works, a tract of dry of three quarters of a league in extent. The towns mietta and Rosetta, which were built on the sea somewhat less than a thousand years ago, are now e than a league's distance from it.

is very important to observe in what length of te deposition of a certain quantity of alluvial soil inder different circumstances, be effected, since this edge affords the means of calculating, with tolerable ey, the antiquity of the present order of things. stural phenomena, and all historical and religious ons concur, in a very remarkable manner, to prove * cannot have existed more than five or six thousand It may, for instance, evidently be inferred from all ata obtained, that the Po and the Adigio have, in urse of a very short period of time, deposited the of alluvion, by which they are surrounded. es of fresh water are also affected by these phenomena, * Occasion a gradual elevation of their beds, and from rcumstance similar results may be deduced. Some

The calculations made of the duration of the Downs, lead to the same conclusion. Their increase in each century, and even their annual increase is, in fact, known. It has been ascertained that the annual augmentation of those near Bourdeaux amounts to sixty or seventy feet; and that, if no obstacle were opposed to them, they would, in the course of 2000 years, reach that town. It may be computed, from their present extent, that it is somewhat more than 4000 years since they began to be formed.

Astronomy is the only science which furnishes us with the knowledge of facts that seem to prove the opinions It informs us, in fact, mentioned above to be erroneous. that, nearly 3000 years ago, the Chaldeans and Indians were acquainted with the length of the year, and with the But what is there in motions of the sun and the moon. this knowledge inconsistent with the novelty of the present order of nature in our globe? If we consider the great progress made in astronomy, during the course of a few centuries, since the time of Copernicus, we shall no longer be astonished that men, particularly favoured in the study of that science, by their way of life, and the purity of the have acquired some elementary knowledge of it. Besides, even if it were demonstrated that astronomy was, at that remote period, advanced to a degree of perfection that could have been attained only by observations, continued during more than 2000 years, what other inference could be drawn thence, except that the few men who escaped the general destruction had preserved the astronomical knowledge acquired before the deluge, and had transmitted it to their descendants? The celebrated Bailly explains admirably, by this hypothesis, the identity of the names given to the twelve signs of the zodiac, by people who cannot be supposed to have had any communication with each other subsequent to the last great catastrophe.

The same hypothesis serves also to account for the state of astronomy among the ancients, who seem to have possessed rather the remains of that science than its elements, since we may trace, in the history of their knowledge, connected The results of these calculations are singularly confirmed with notions that would require the deepest researches, by the historical traditions of all people. The book of Ge- an ignorance of the most simple facts that cannot be supnesis is certainly one of the most ancient books in existence:posed to have existed among a people who had the glory it can scarcely be denied that it is 3300 years old. Moses, of inventing that science. All the waters of rains do not remain upon the surface its author, lived a long time with his people in Egypt, that is, with one of the most ancient civilized nations; of the earth: a part of them penetrates into the mineral and he dates the deluge only fifteen or eighteen hundred crust, and forms springs, which, when they issue from the years before the period when he wrote. Now it cannot be ground, have various degrees of temperature. These insupposed that he has, contrarily to the usual propensity, en-ternal streams of water displace certain parts of the lightest deavoured to make the origin of the human race appear more layers: they also constitute a cause of volcanic pheno recent than it was. Such an attempt would have been mena, although, as we have already seen, their influence

is much less important than it is generally supposed, since | they serve merely to furnish, by the decomposition of their constituent parts, the gaseous fluids which issue from the

crater.

Men and Manners.

IL GRASSO, THE CABINET-MAKER,
(From the Italian.)

AN ANCIENT TALE: THE AUTHOR UNKNOWN.

home, because if II Grasso is there, he will say I
and I am certain that Il Grasso is there, because i
my mother would have sent to look for me; but, seen
him there, she has not discovered the mistake." T
lawyer could hardly keep his countenance, he vu
amused, and said,-"You must go with those wie di

Some springs meet, in the earth, saline depositions, and return to its surface impregnated with their elementary [Translated expressly for the Kaleidoscope, by L. Z. of Liverpool.] themselves your brothers; see where they take you, a parts. They must, therefore, by degrees, wash away these depositions. For this reason, springs of salt water are subject to alteration, and the degree of their saltness is perceived gradually to diminish.

rendered mineral.

It is proved that thermal springs penetrate deep into the ground, by the very slight degree in which even the greatest droughts affect the quantity of their waters. They

continue to flow when all common springs are dried up. The temperature of most springs is, when they issue from the ground, higher than that of the climate in which they are found, because they generally proceed from streams of water which penetrate to greater or less depths into the earth. Those which descend from mountains are colder than the temperature of the climate, because they still preserve, in some degree, that of the places whence they flow.

It would be foreign from my subject to enter into a particular account of subterranean springs, or collections of water, however remarkable they may be, with respect either to their temperature, or to any other circumstance attending them; I shall merely inform you, that the natural ice-wells (glacières) found in some caverns, are generally produced by the existence of the depositions of salts, across which, water, in its passage through those caverns, necessarily flows, and thus receives from them the temperature of ice."

[Concluded from our last.]

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The worthy man, having heard him, immediately guessed either that he was mad, or that it was a trick, and quickly replied, that he had often read of one person being changed into another, and that it was by no means a new case. "Then," said Il Grasso, if I am become Matteo, what is Matteo ?" The lawyer replied," He is certainly become Il Grasso."-" Well," rejoined the other, "I should like to see him; it would clear my ideas."

what they do with you."

rights.

you

In the evening the brothers came, and pretended In those days, there was belonging to the prison a lawyer, pay the debt. The turnkey then coming to the pri When waters penetrate very deep into the mineral crust, a worthy man, who, though he knew not Il Grasso, yet door said,-" Where is Matteo ?" Il Gra they contract the elevated temperature of the interior parts seeing him so melancholy, and thinking his debt was the forward, saying,-" Here, Sir." The turnity the of the earth. Many springs are sufficiently heated to cause of it, endeavoured to console him by saying,— him out and said,—“ These gentlemen, your header preserve, when they return to the surface of the earth, a "Come, Matteo, you are as sorrowful as if your life were have paid your debt, and you are now fre" temperature little lower than that of boiling water. Seve-in danger, and, according to your own account, this is ther dark when II Grasso went out: he computed them ral springs in Ireland are in this state. Such is the origin but a trifling debt. You should not give yourself up to the street of Santa Felicità, when y of thermal waters, which, though generally found in vol- thus. Why do not you send to some of your friends or reaching home, they took him into a wwe were canic countries, are nevertheless sometimes situated at a relations, that they may settle it, and get you out of and told him to wait there for supper, great distance from burning volcanoes. Waters which prison? Be not so melancholy." I Grasso, hearing wish his mother to see him, for fear she should be grea descend sufficiently low to become thermal, for the most these friendly words, resolved to tell his story, and, taking One of them remained with him, whilst the other was part meet with sulphurous matter, and other matters of him to a more private part of the prison, said,-"Sir, to the priest of the parish, who was a worthy na, m various kinds, and are, by being impregnated with them, though you do not know me, yet I know you to be a thus spoke to him,-"We are three brothers, te worthy man; therefore, I have resolved to tell you the Matteo; he was arrested yesterday for a debt, what has reason of my sorrow, that you may not suppose it ori-made him so melancholy that he seems quite benilement, ginates in a trifling debt." He then told his story from and, though in every other respect he appeast not tell any body of it; and next, that he would give him that he is no longer Matteo, but is changed inte the beginning, requesting two things; first, that he would same Matteo as before, yet he has taken it is some advice how to act, adding," I know that you are man. The most absurd thing is, that he facia well read in ancient authors, who relate many extraor- self a certain Grasso, a cabinet-maker, of his ama dinary things; did you ever hear of a case at all resembling ance, who has a shop near the square of St.Gim mine?" the church of Santa Maria del Fiore; this idea ve get out of his head. We have brought him out and taken him home, so that his folly might not public; for you know, that, when once such said of any body, even when he recovers, he is laughed at. Whilst he is at home, I beg of ym un to our house; speak to him, and try to get this fr of his head; we shall be extremely obliged to you" priest was an obliging person, he therefore rep he would do it willingly, and that he would s Just then arrived at the jail the two brothers of Matteo.matter with him, and had no doubt he should st They asked the governor if a brother of theirs, one Matteo, had been arrested, and for what sum, as they were When the priest entered the apartment, Il Gra his brothers, and were come to pay the debt, and release to receive him. The priest said,“Good evening # him? The governor, who was intimate with Tommasso Matteo." Il Grasso replied,—“ Good evening, Pecori, and knew the whole plot, answered, "Yes;" and, your will?"—" I am come to talk to you a litt Almost the only water which contributes to the forma-looking at his book, said, it is for such a sum. "Well," then seated himself, and said,—“Come, sit by n tion of springs is that supplied by rain. The waters of said they, "we wish to speak to him." A message was I will tell you my business. My reason for the ocean, and of great lakes, do not penetrate far into the sent to tell Matteo his brothers wanted him. Il Grasso Matteo, is, that I have heard what I am interior of the earth, because the clefts and crevices found came to the grate and saluted them. The elder of the for;-you have been taken to prison for debt, while upon the soil of continents, do not exist at the bottom of brothers thus addressed him,—“ Matteo, we have often so affected you as to derange your ideas; am the sea, or, if they have primitively existed there, cannot admonished you of your bad habits; we have before told absurdities you fancy yourself no longer Mattes, but fail to have been filled up by the depositions of the waters, you, that you go on getting into debt, first with one per- other person, called Il Grasso, a cabinet-maker. which have, as it were, luted their bed. All, therefore, son, and then with another, and you never pay them, very wrong to take a little misfortune like this that has been said of widely extended infiltrations is because you throw away your money at play, and never to heart as to cause yourself to be afterwards batin merely hypothetical, and has been invented by the au- save a farthing. Now you are in prison, you know we it. In truth, Matteo, you must not do this y thors of systems, to support their opinions. can afford to pay your debts, though you have thrown promise me to get this fancy out of your head away a fortune in your follies; therefore, we warn you, to your business as a worthy man ought to do that, were it not for the honour of our family and the thus gratify your brothers. If it is known that sake of our mother, we should leave you here for a time, thus deranged,, even when you recover, you will in order that you might remember it. This time we have to be ought of your senses, and your character w determined to release you; but, if you do the same thing Therefore, be a man, and let this nonsense alone. Wh again, you shall remain here longer than you like; and ther you are Il Grasso or not, follow my advice; you that is enough. That you may not be seen going from find it the best plan." Il Grasso, hearing the ge here, we will come for you in the evening, when there are words that were spoken to him, no longer dombong t few people about, so that we may not have to blush on he was Matteo, immediately replied," That be your account." Il Grasso replied, gently, that he would ready to do what he wished, since he knew that he certainly take care to act better in future, that he would it for his advantage, and promised to do his utmost beware of expenses, and not give his family cause to be think that he was any other person than Matteo, as bea the mediated hour. They departed: he went back to undeceive himself. To which the priest replied ashamed of him, and begged them to come for him at but he wished, as a favour, to speak to this Grass," the appointed hour, There is no doubt of it, since I see that you have still this whim in your head. two of Matteo's brothers have been here; they have talked do you wish to speak to Il Grasso? What do you to me, admonished me, and told me they would come for with him? The more persons you talk to about it me in the evening, and take me with them. But when worse it will be for you." He then convinced him t leave this place, where am I to go? I cannot return he had better not speak to him about it-left him,

There exists in the county of Cornwall, in the parish of Saint-Just, a copper mine, the excavations of which have been extended 600 feet under the sea. The workmen were, at that distance, separated from the waves by a layer only thirty feet in thickness. When the sea was agitated, it produced in these mines so terrible a noise and commotion, that the workmen, apprehensive lest they should be submerged in its waters, often sought safety in flight. The most remarkable circumstance, however, attending these sub-marine excavations, is, that the works are seldom interrupted by water; the little that flows in is generally salt, or at least brackish.

The same observation may be made with respect to all other mines, in which excavations have been made under

the sea.

If salt and anow are mixed together, a temperature is produced capable of congealing mercury, that is, a tempera

ture 35 degrees below freezing point.

I

2ed home, after telling his brothers what had beast, he was so enraged. A youth happened to arrive

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Biographical Notices.

LORD BYRON.

Captain Parry.)

A very few days before his Lordship's death, Mr. P. relates:-" It was seven o'clock in the evening when I saw him, and then I took a chair at his request, and sat down by his bed-side, and remained till ten o'clock. He sat up in his bed, and was then calm and collected. He talked with me on a variety of subjects connected with himself and his family; he spoke of his intentions as to Greece, his plans for the campaign, and what he should ultimately do for that country. He spoke to me about my own adventures. He spoke of death also with great composure; and though he did not believe his end was so very near, there was something about him so serious and so firm, so resigned and composed, so different from any thing I had at times foreboded his speedy dissolution. ever before seen in him, that my mind misgave me, and

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"Parry,' he said, when I first went to him, I have much wished to see you to-day. I have had most strange feelings, but my head is now better; I have no gloomy thoughts, and no idea but that I shall recover. I am perfectly collected-I am sure I am in my senses-but a melancholy will creep over me at times. The mention of the subject brought the melancholy topics back; and a few exclamations showed what occupied Lord Byron's mind when he was left in silence and solitude. My wife! my Ada! my country! the situation of this place-my removal imposSince I have been ill, I have given to all my plans much sible, and perhaps death-all combine to make me sad. serious consideration. You shall go on at your leisure preparing for building the schooner; and when other things are done, we will put the last hands to this work, by a visit to America. To reflect on this has been a pleasure to me, and has turned my mind from ungrateful thoughts. When I left Italy, I had time on board the brig to give full scope to memory and reflection. It was then I came to that resolution I have already informed you of. I am convinced of the happiness of domestic life. No man on earth respects a virtuous woman more than I do; and the prospect of retirement in England with my wife and Ada, gives me an idea of happiness never experienced before. Retirement will be every thing to me, for heretofore my life has been like the ocean in a storm.'

there, who had been his fellow-workman, some years ring the time that the priest had been with him, before, with Pellegrino, the cabinet-maker. This young po di Ser Brunellesco had arrived, and had heard, man had gone into Hungary, where his affairs prospered one of the brothers, what had passed at the prison through the patronage of Filippo Scolari, a Florentine, (From the Last Days of Lord Byron, a book just published by on the way home, at which he laughed much: he who was General of the forces to Gismondi, son of Charles, gave them a bottle, containing a liquid, and said, King of Bohemia. This Scolari encouraged all his meriile you are at supper give him this in his wine, so torious countrymen who came into the country, where he e should not suspect it. It is an opiate, which will possessed great riches. The young man had come to him sleep so soundly, that he will be insensible for Florence, some time before, with a view of engaging a Bours; I will come again and we will complete the clever workman to return with him, to assist in completing a large work he had undertaken; he had several brothers then sat down to supper, during which times urged Il Grasso to go with him, promising him he ave him the potion. Il Grasso was soon so sleepy would make his fortune in a few years. When Il Grasso could not keep his eyes open. One of them said, saw him now approaching, he made up his mind to go atteo, you are dying with sleep; it seems you did not with him. He thus addressed him as they met,-"You ll last night." To which I Grasso replied," In have often asked me to go with you into Hungary, and life I never was so sleepy; I feel as if I had not have always refused; but now, in consequence of a cirnap for a month; I should like to go to bed." He cumstance that has happened, I will go with you, if you carcely able to undress himself, and, as soon as he still wish it. But we must be off by to-morrow's dawn, to bed, he was as fast as a church. otherwise my departure may be prevented." The young the appointed hour, Filippo arrived with six of his man said he could not possibly set out so soon; but, if anions, and, finding Il Grasso fast asleep, they put Il Grasso would go and wait for him at Bologna, he would n a basket, with all his clothes, and carried him to follow in a few days. Il Grasso, being satisfied, returned wn house, (his mother not having yet returned,) they home, took his tools, his clothes, and what money he had. him in his own bed, with his head where his feet He then hired a horse to carry him to Bologna. The ld be, and they laid his clothes in the usual place. following day he set forward, leaving a letter for his done, they took the keys of the shop, which hung on mother, desiring she would take her fortune out of the il, went into it, put all his tools in their wrong property he left behind him, as he was going to Hungary. s, took the planes out of the blocks, turned the edges Thus he left Florence, waited for his friend at Bologna, ad the handles down, did the same with the hammers went to Hungary, where, in a few years, he became very - he hatchets; in short, put every thing in such con-rich through the favour of Scolari, who made him chief a, that it appeared as if there had been the devil to engineer, and he was called master Manetto of Florence. They then locked the shop, put the keys in Il Having returned to Italy afterwards, and being quesso's room, shut the door, and returned home. Il tioned by Filippo di Ser Brunellesco respecting his affairs, so, having slept off the effects of the draught, awoke he told him this story as his reason for quitting his native at the time of the Ave-Maria; hearing the sound city. e bell of the neighbouring church, which he recog, he opened his eyes, and, seeing no one, looked We last week intimated that we should follow ad the room; finding himself in his own house, he up this whimsical story with a few anecdotes of the power a to recollect what had passed, at which he wondered of imagination. The following is one of the number. much. He remembered where he had spent the ding evening. He then began to doubt whether he been dreaming, or was dreaming, and sometimes king one thing and sometimes another, he sighed The celebrated Dr. Cullen, of Edinburgh, had, in one ly, and said,—“God help me!" He got up, dressed of his lectures, stated, that the imagination was sometimes self, went down into the shop, and, seeing every thing the cause of diseases. A few of the students, being de7-turvy, and every thing out of its place, he was much sirous of bringing the remarks of their learned preceptor to the test of experience, left the city one summer mornzed. However, he began to set the things right. ing, expecting to fall in with a simple waggoner with en the two brothers of Matteo arrived, and found him whom they were acquainted, and who they knew would employed, they pretended not to know him, and come to Edinburgh with a load of coals that day. They -"Good day, master." Il Grasso turned, and re-arranged themselves so as to be at the distance of a quar. ising them said, “Good day, what's your business ?" ter of a mile from each other. The first on meeting the of them began thus,-"We have a brother called man accosted him thus :-" Jock, what is the matter with teo, who being arrested a few days ago, went mad you? you seem very unwell ?"-"Unwell," said he; "de'il has't is the matter wi' me. I only wish I was in grief, and says that he is not Matteo, but the master Edinburgh to get my pottabe." In a few minutes, he this shop, who, he says, is called II Grasso. We ad- was met by a second one, who, with a very serious counnished him, and got the priest of our parish to talk to tenance, said,-" Dear me, Jock, what makes you go 1 yesterday; he promised to get this fancy out of his abroad in such a situation? you look as pale as death." "I feel unco pain in my head," said Jock, "and begin id, supped with us apparently quite well, and went to to feel awful tired as I am ganging along the road." He 1. This morning, before we were up, he left the house, was asked the same question by a third. The poor fellow d what has become of him we do not know. However, now began to believe he was really indisposed. He felt > are come here to ask if he has been here, or if you bane in his body was sae sair that he could scarcely gang sick at his stomach, and, to use his own words, “ilka we seen any thing of him." Il Grasso collected his ony farther. In troth, he didna ken how to haud up his oughts while the other was speaking, and, turning to head." He made shift to crawl along till he came to the em, said,—“ I know nothing about what you say, or fourth, who told him he looked the picture of death. hether you are joking. Matteo is not here; and, if he "You need na tell me that," said Jock; "I find that sys he is I, he is a great rogue; and, if I meet with him, canna stan'. Oh, do my guid master, let me lean on I'm no lang for this world. Oh, my head! Oh, my back! | will make him know whether he is I, or I am he. your arm; tak me into the hoos, or I shall dee by the What the devil has been the matter these two days?" side of the dyke." Jock was accordingly put to bed, This maid, he took his cloak, shut the door of his shop, received medical aid from those on whose skill he reposed ad went towards Santa Maria del Fiore, swearing ter- the fullest confidence, and was well on the ensuing day! It ibly. The others went their way. Il Grasso entered the is no more than fair to state, that the students were so much =hurch, and walked up and down, looking like a wild willing to pay for it, and, accordingly, they presented pleased with their experiment, that they were perfectly Jock with fifty guineas, for the uneasiness they had given

* One of the services in the Roman Catholic churches.

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him.

POWER OF IMAGINATION.

I

"You have no conception of the unaccountable thoughts that come into my mind when the fever attacks me. fancy myself a Jew, a Mahomedan, and a Christian of every profession of faith. Eternity and space are before me; but on this subject, thank God, I am happy and at ease. The thought of living eternally, of again reviving, is a great pleasure. Christianity is the purest and most liberal religion in the world; but the numerous teachers who are continually worrying mankind with their denunciations and their doctrines, are the greatest enemies of religion. I have read with more attention than half of them the Book of Christianity, and I admire the liberal and truly charitable principles which Christ has laid down. There are questions connected with this subject which none but Almighty God can solve. Time and space who can conceive?—None but God: on him I rely."

Greece, stated in another place."

"This was in connexion with his Lordship's views as to

Pride of Ancestry.-An anecdote is related of Mr. Proger, of Werndee, in Monmouthshire, which exhibits the pride of ancestry in a striking point of view. The house, which had lately been repaired for the tenant, was in such a state of dilapidation, that the father of the last the ruins of the ancient mansion, which he venerated even proprietor, Mr. Proger, was in danger of perishing under in decay. A stranger, whom he accidentally met at the foot of the Skyrrid, made various inquiries respecting the country, the prospects, and the neighbouring houses, and among others asked, "Whose is this antique mansion "That, Sir, is Werndee, a very ancient house; for out of it came the Earls of Pembroke of the before us?" first line, and the Earls of Pembroke of the second line, the Lords Herbert of Cherbury, the Herberts of Coldbrook, Rumney, Cardiff, and York; the Morgans of Acton, the Earl of Hunsdon; the Joneses of Treowen and Lanarth, and all the Powells. Out of this house, also, pray, Sir, who lives there now ?" "I do, Sir." "Then by the female line came the Duke of Beaufort." pardon me, and accept a piece of advice: Come out of it yourself or you'll soon be buried in the ruins of it!"

"And

Poetry.

LINES WRITTEN IN A SICK ROOM.

Glittering sun, with golden ray,
Canst thou charm disease away;
Is it thine, with lustre bright,
To chase or cheer affliction's night;
Thine a vital warmth t'impart,

And thine to heal the bruised heart?
Woods and valleys, verdant now,
Yours to cool the fevered brow;
Yours in robes of gladness drest,

Is it yours to soothe the breast

That's all absorbed, devote to sorrow,

Anxious looking for the morrow,

Past in tears the weary night,

Yet, loathing, turns from dawning light?

Minstrels of the wood and grove,

Is it yours, with lay of love,
From the heart its woes to steal,
And a kingdom bright reveal;
Where, when weary eyes shall close,
The disembodied shall repose!
Is it yours, with warblings free,
To tell of heaven transportingly?
Murmuring waters, as ye roll,
Can ye to the trembling soul
Whisper of returning peace,
When the war of time shall cease;
Tell of hope, though mocking near,
From her cave peep forth Despair!
Restless billows, in your pride,
As ye bound o'er ocean wide,
Can ye from the briny deep
Spirits bid their vigil keep

Round the couch where, languid laid,
Droops the semblance of a shade,
Seeming yet, while form of earth,
Being of celestial birth?

Cheer thee, sufferer, worn and wan,
Race achieved, and victory won,
Soon an angel all confest,
Thine the mansions of the blest!

Awful billows, can ye tell,
Or know ye aught of wizard spell,
Sorcery that, in hour like this,
Can image hope, and happiness;
Whispering, tell of soft repose,
Of balmy health's returning rose;
of coming days, whose lustre bland
Shall mock the dreams of fairy land;
The desert landscape deck with flowers,
And light anew Hope's darkened bowers!

Glittering sun, thy gorgeous ray
May not chase disease away;
Leafy woods, and verdant grove.
Melting melody of love;
Murmuring waters, bounding wave,
Yours, not yours, alas! to save;
And man decreed, submissive still,
Fate's sternest mandate must fulfil;
With good and ill hold ceaseless strife,
And such was ever human life.
And, oh to eyes worn dim with tears,
The sportive summer's day appears
A cruel mockery unkind,

As colours shown the sightless blind;

And solace may, nor flow'rets bring,
Nor joyous bird on lightsome wing;
Nor bounding wave, nor waters calm,
Yet, oh! superior to the storm,
Glitters a hallowed light within,
When all without shows drear and dim;
A sacred stream of living light,
Whose rays can pierce deepest night,
And if upon that rock sublime,
The Rock of Ages, scorning time,
The soul repose her hopes profound,
Her anchor cast on holy ground;

If hers, whate'er her griefs below,
To mount where Zion's waters flow;
To soar far o'er this vale of tears

To happier worlds, and brighter spheres; The fainting frame, if this be given, While here may prove the bliss of heaven. Liverpool, May 20, 1825.

A WORD OF ADVICE,

G.

Addressed to an impertinent and ignorant correspondent, who will take no denial, and is perpetually pestering an editor (through the past) with ill written and ill spell Sonnets to his Phillis, whom he describes as the most beautiful and sensible creature extant.

If you pester us more, depend on it
You will shortly have cause to repent;
In revenge, we will publish your sonnet,
And print it just as it was sent :-
Then if your fair Phillis you prize,

Write no more, 'till you've first been at school;
For if Phillis, as you say, is wize,

She never will wed such a fool.

MAY.

Born in you blaze of orient sky,
Sweet May! thy radient form unfold;
Unclose thy blue voluptuous eye,

And wave thy shadowy locks of gold.
For thee the fragrant zephyrs blow;
For thee descends the sunny shower;
The rills in softer murmurs flow,

And brighter blossoms gem the bower.
Light Graces dressed in flowery wreaths,
And tip-toe joys, their hands combine;
And Love his sweet contagion breathes,
And laughing, dances round thy shrine.
Warm with new life, the glittering throngs,
On quivering fin and rustling wing,
Delighted join their votive songs,
And hail the Goddess of the Spring.

willed frowardness, or a stickling for uncontrolled p The baneful influence of timidity, and the pernicious b of honest prejudice, have now, happily, ceased to ex the management; and the public have reason to exe that the concerns of the Theatre will be conducted manner commensurate with the improved spirit of the a on a scale becoming our station in the empire, and i busy ardour befitting the taste, judgment, and a of the gentleman who has assumed the reins of g ment. But, look where our abridgments come abstract, and brief chroniclers of the time."

Amongst the dramatis persone we perceive with pla sure are the whole of our old friends, and the pa established favourites; some of whom return to us wid additional renown, and all, we doubt not, with undini. nished zeal. There are, likewise, new candidats for com suffrages, come to give us a taste of their quality." To each and all we present our gratulatory ve Fet welcome, masters, welcome all."

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6 Kuight.

DOCTOR DARWIN.

The Drama.

THE THEATRE

"I will prophesy he comes to tell me of the players."

Strangers reproach Liverpool with being, for half the year, unentertaining; save to wary plodders in her merchandise, and the uniformly indocile who seek but her emoluments. From December to June, say our visitors, the ennui of the smallest hamlet is inseparable from your boasted second town in the kingdom;" and we are of the number who think that there is somewhat of truth in the remark. We hail, therefore, with unmixed pleasure any cessation to this characteristic indocility, valuing, more especially, the agreeable interposition of theatrical recreation.

After a protracted interval of unvaried dullness, our dramatic amusements recommence this evening, under more propitious auspices, we think, than usual. There is not any longer that unfortunate division in the cabinet, not to speak it profanely, which has, for years, militated so seriously against the drama in this town; a division, however, dictated by the purest, though mistaken, motives; and occasioned by an over-cautious policy and a zealous veneration for ancient usage, rather than the result of self

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Scientific Records.

IMPORTANT TO NAUTICAL MEN.

but that a boat so prepared, would live in any sea what
ever, could neither sink nor overset, and could carry, in
safety, a number of people, in proportion to her size, over
a bar, or from the wreck to the shore, through any surf.
The plan may be executed upon boats of all dimensions,
found the most advantageous; but all circumstances con-
and the largest, provided they could be got out, would be
sidered, the size deemed in general best adapted for the
purpose would be any boat from 16 to 20 feet in length,
which is to be prepared as follows.

work just published by Mr. Egerton Smith, entitled
iltory Suggestions for Preservation from Shipwreck,
her Dangers of the Sea," and advertised in the sup-
ital sheet of the present Kaleidoscope, contains eleven
ings, which are, in general, too large to be intro-within-side of the boat; one to be placed one-third of
Two additional ring-bolts are to be fixed in the keel
into our publication. That which we here insert is, the boat's length from the stem, the other one-third from
r, well adapted for our purpose. It illustrates a the stern. Two augur holes are to be put through the
mple and effectual mode of converting any common keel without-side, and close to the garboard stroke; one
to a life-boat.
of these holes to be put about half way betwixt the ring
in the stem, and that next to it in the keel, the other about
half way betwixt the ring in the stern, and that next to it
in the keel; plugs may in ordinary be put into these holes,
to be struck out when occasion requires.

DITIOUS MODE OF CONVERTING A COMMON
BOAT INTO A LIFE-BOAT.

boats are not always at hand; there is sometimes y in launching them, and it is frequently imposreach the vessels which require their assistance. we reflect upon the frequent swamping of common from having too many persons on board, in en. ing to escape from wreck, the great utility of this contrivance will be manifest to all, but especially for whose use we have made this extract, from of the latest Philosophical Journals, published in 1. The idea was suggested and put into practice Rev. James Brenner, Minister of Walls and Flota,

7 Islands.

Those ring-bolts which are in ordinary in every ship's boat, the two additional ring-bolts in the keel, and the two augur holes, are all intended as secure points of fixture, to which seizing ropes are afterwards to be attached.

In the next place, two tight empty casks are to be provided, of such dimensions that their length may be fitted to the width of the boat, when laid athwart-ship, and their diameters to be about three feet, and if larger so much the

better.

Each cask must be furnished with a sling on each end, and each sling to have two eyes on it, about six inches asunder, and the slings so put on the cask as that the eyes may be on the upper side when laid into the boat, that the seizing-rope may pass through those eyes in their way from ring-bolt to ring bolt.

One of these casks, so prepared, is to be laid in forward, and the other aft, and each cask so near its respective ring in the keel, as only to leave sufficient room for passing the seizing-rope through the ring in the keel.

By this means the vacant space to be then filled up with cork, will be left betwixt the cask and the bow forward, and betwixt the other cask and the stern aft.

The requisite quantity of cork, according to the dimen-
sions of the boat, and the quality of the cork, may be
about a hundred and a half or two hundred weight, for
each end of the boat, and that for each end ought to be
made up into two separate bundles, each bundle being
fitted to the width of the boat, and the uppermost one
forming an arch from gunwale to gunwale.

ving a great many years ago witnessed a melancholy
f shipwreck, and seen men perishing at little more
se distance of 100 yards from the shore, it forcibly
me, that though there was no possibility of getting
ne shore to them, yet there was a great probability
eans might be found, by which those in such situ-
might with safety be enabled to effect their escape,
shore; and further considering, that the very pre- The casks and cork being laid into the boat, seizing.
3 aid of some accidental piece of wreck (under every ropes are then to be applied for securing them in their
antage and in a tempestuous sea) sometimes serves places.
e life, I was confirmed in the opinion that some
d might be devised, which, upon good grounds,
hold forth the promising prospect of safety in all
nmon and general cases of shipwreck. Hence it
at to devise such a scheme, became the object of

The cork is to be made up in car.vas, done over with
soft pitch for preservation, and each bundle marked and
numbered according to its place.

search ever after.

following plans (especially the first) are so simple, e effect so obvious, that I cannot allow myself to hat any seaman can entertain the smallest doubt,

Here it is to be observed, that the single turn of rope which is to go through the augur hole in the keel and round all, should be the first made fast, that the other seizing-rope (which we shall suppose to have been made fast to the ring in the stem) may, in passing through the eyes on the sling, take in the surrounding-rope betwixt the two eyes, which will probably prevent the surrounding rope from slipping to either side of the cask.

The seizing-rope having passed through the eyes on the

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sling, is then to be passed on through the ring in the keel, and thence back again in the same manner, through the eyes on the sling on the other end of the cask, to the ring in the bow; and lastly, the seizing-rope is to be brought directly from the ring in the stern to the ring in the keel, of it; the other cask and cork aft are to be secured in the by which it will cross the cask at the bung or middle part same manner.

The preparation will be completed by attaching a bar of lead or pig-iron, of about two hundred weight, to the keel wise." withinside, by means of the ring bolts in the keel, or other

INTERESTING VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY.

Beechey, sailed from Portsmouth upon her interesting Last week, his Majesty's ship Blossom, Captain W. F. voyage of discovery and survey in the Pacific, previously touching at Rio Janeiro, to land despatches for his Excel Otaheite, Easter and Friendly Islands, and settling, indislency Sir Charles Stuart. After visiting Pitcairn Island, putably, the position of all the islands with which that neighbourhood abounds, we understand the Blossom is to to proceed round Icy Cape (which has not been effected proceed to Behring's Strait, and, if the season admit of it, since Captain Cooke's discovery of it) along the Northern shore of America, towards Hecla and Fury Strait, for the purpose of falling in with Captain Franklin or Captain Parry; and if Captain Beechey find the sea open, it is likely he will not omit so fortunate an opportunity of acthat the Blossom is to complete the survey of the coast of complishing this desirable object. We understand also, America in such parts about Behring's Strait as are imperfectly known, and after having rendered Captain entirely upon discovery, directing her route for such purFranklin the assistance he may require, she is to proceed pose towards those parts of the Pacific which are the least known or frequented. She is furnished with a large supislanders, and has on board a handsome present for the ply of presents, for the purpose of bartering with the King of Otaheite and the King of the Sandwich Islands. cant Lay to be naturalist to the expedition; and we look The Lords of the Admiralty have appointed Mr. Tradesto the most interesting results from the several purposes intended to be accomplished by it. The surveying and opening a communication with the Friendly Islands may eventually prove of considerable importance. Upwards of 12,000 acres of land have been some time inclosed and put into cultivation of cotton; the samples of which are pronounced inferior only to the Sea Island cotton, and much superior to Egyptian.

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Visible Eclipse of the Moon.-The moon will be visibly eclipsed on Tuesday night, May 31, beginning 54 minutes past 11, and ending 23 minutes after 12.

The Mines of Weilska, in Poland, are most interesting. The imagination is confounded at the idea, of finding. after a descent of 850 steps, vast halls, (the hall of Klosky is 360 feet high, and 180 feet wide,) stabling for 80 horses, store-houses, offices for clerks, and three chapels; the whole of the fittings, altars, crucifixes, tables, desks, and seats worked in salt.

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