[We flatter ourselves, from the vast importance of this | subject, and from the great interest which it is now exciting in this town and neighbourhood, there is no need to frame an apology to our readers for the insertion of the

Bail Roads.

waggons being emptied into a trough, or spout, down
which the coals descended either directly into the ships,
or into the store below.
IRON RAILWAYS.

following particulars respecting this species of road or car which we evidently perceive all the parts and members of Trevil lime-works, in Brecknockshire, along with

riage way. It is extracted from Vol. vi. Part ii. of the Supplement of the Encyclopædia Britannica, just lished, and it is understood to be the production of the Messrs. Fareys, of London.]

WOODEN RAILWAYS.

Such was the construction of the original railways, in the railway as it is formed at the present day; viz. the pub-regular formed road, the rails, the sleepers, the low waggons, and the inclined plane. Their only defect consisted in the soft and decaying nature of the wood, the wear and tear of which caused such expense for repairs, as greatly limited their application; so that it was only the shortness of the distance, and the great extent of the traffic, which rendered their application at all beneficial. It was only about the year 1738, that they were attempted in the collieries of Whitehaven; and it does not appear that they were adopted in any other part of the kingdom. The use of iron, therefore, in the place of wood, was an essential improvement in the construction of railways, and caused, indeed, a complete change in this, as it has done in every other branch of practical mechanics into which it has been introduced. Flat bars of iron were at first fastened on the top of the wooden rails; but after various unsuccessful attempts, the rails themselves were at last wholly composed of iron, cast in short bars, united at their extremities, and resting on sleepers, or square blocks of stone, disposed at short distances along each side of the road; and this construction having been once fairly reduced to practice, was not only adopted universally in the place of wood, but soon led to new and more extensive applications. Iron railways were quickly introduced into all the coal and mining districts of the kingdom. They were employed on canals, in place of locks, to raise the barges on an inclined plane from a lower to a higher level; in some instances they were adopted in preference to the canal itself; and, on the whole, they now form an important auxiliary to inland navigation, pushing the channels of trade and intercourse into districts otherwise inaccessible, and even into the interior of the mines.

ground. In Monmouthshire, the Sirhoway mily one of the first in point of magnitude which ha been constructed. It extends from Pilgwelly, r port, to the Sirhoway and Tredogar iron-works, d 23 miles, whence it is continued five miles further to the west, to the Rumney and Union ironrailway was made by the Monmouthshire Catal under the authority of an act of Parliament. howay, a branch proceeds eastwards to the Ebb and from thence down the course of the Ebby Crumlin Bridge, whence it joins the canal from and from Sirhoway again, the Brinare railway is over the Black Mountain to the vale of the Brecon, and from thence to Hay on the river Wy Glamorganshire the principal railways are the C the Mrthyr Tydvil, the Aberdare, and the St ways. In Caermarthenshire, the principal which extends from Caermarthen to the lime-t Llandebie, a distance of 15 miles.

a

RAILWAYS IN SCOTLAND. In Scotland there are various railways proceding the different mines throughout the kingdom. The pal one in point of magnitude, is the Duke of P railway, extending from the town of Kilmarnock harbour of Troon, a distance of nearly ten chief object is the export of coal and lime, in which great trade is carried on by means of the rai the coal and mining districts round Glas numerous smaller railways, and also in the col Mid Lothian and Fife. Plans have been p public railway from Edinburgh to the different in the neighbourhood. An extensive railway one time projected from Glasgow to Berwick-up but none of those schemes have been carried in

CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS The original wooden railways, already ment the model on which all the succeeding ents

Wooden railways are said to have been introduced at the Newcastle coal-mines so early as the year 1680, for ransporting the coals from the mouths of the pits to the ships in the river Tyne. Even at that period, many of these mines employed each of them 400 or 500 carts in this traffic; it became, therefore, an object of manifest importance to reduce the great expense thereby incurred in the keeping up of horses, drivers, and roads; and the plan of wooden rails was the best, and, indeed, the only effectual method which could at that time have been devised for the purpose; for which also the situation was in other respects favourable, presenting in most cases an easy descent towards the river. These railways were then very generally introduced, and continued for a long period in use in this part of the kingdom. Slips of ground of the requiste breadth for the railway were marked out between the coal-pits and the river, and were either leased by the coal owners, or purchased of the different proprietors whose ground the proposed line of road intersected in its course. To obtain the most easy and regular descent, this line was varied in its direction to meet the inequalities of the ground; or, where these inequalities were inconsiderable, it was carried straight forward, and the regular slope made by embankments and cutting. The ground being then smoothed and levelled as for an ordinary road, large logs of wood, termed sleepers, cut in lengths equal to the breadth of the road, were laid across it, and firmly bedded formed, and of which we shall now describe into it at short distances, to sustain and hold fast the rails construction. In regard to the road itself, this or slips of wood, on which the waggon wheels were in- The railways in Britain are so numerous, that it would the first place, be formed in such a direct tended to run. These rails were made of beech, and were exceed our limits to specify the particular lines. In the such a declivity as may best suit the nature of laid end to end, so as to form two continued lines of rails Newcastle coal district, on the river Weare, in the coal through which it passes, and of the trade to be or wooden ridges, running parallel to each other, along and mining districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, as well upon it. If the trade, for example, be all in one each side of the road, crossing the large logs at each of as of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, there are numerous the road should obviously decline that way, their extremities, on which they rested as on so many railways branching off from the navigable rivers and canals waggons with their contents, may descend on foundations; and were also nailed, or otherwise secured, to the different mines. In Shropshire also, and in the plane as much as possible by their own gravity to keep each piece in its proper place. The waggons were great mining districts along the vale of the Severn, the clination should be proportioned to the extent of the usual construction, but of a large size, so as-to-con- use of railways is very general, and it was here that the up the railway, so that the draught each tain several tons of coals, and set upon low wheels; the inclined plane was first brought in aid of inland naviga- equal. If the exports and imports, therefore smoothness of the way rendering wheels of the ordi- tion. In Surrey there is a railway of considerable extent, the road should be on a level; and where the nary size unnecessary. On these rails a single horse could termed the Surrey Railway, and this presents one of the not permit that declivity or level best suited to readily draw three tons of coal from the pits to the river. first attempts that have been made to form public railways the line should be varied, and the inequalities Where any steep declivity occurred on the road, this was for general use. In the great mining districts on the west if it can be done at a moderate expense, so termed a run, or and inclined plane; and on it the descent of the Severn, including South Wales, the rail or tram as near as possible to the proper standard. If the of the waggons was retarded, and regulated by a species roads are very numerous; and here, owing to the steep-lities are such as to render this impracticable, of brake, or crooked lever, termed a convoy, attached to ness and impracticable nature of the ground, they have source lies in inclined planes. Where the d the waggon and managed by the driver. The banks of been of essential utility in supplying the place of canals. level, for example, between the two extrem the Tyne, near Newcastle, are remarkably steep on each In the year 1791, there was scarcely a single railway in all road is such as would render an equal declivity side; but instead of forming inclined planes on them, South Wales, and in 1811, the completed railroads con- the road must then be carried, either on a lev the railway was here continued on a wooden stage, raised nected with canals, collieries, iron and copper works, in the due degree of slope, as far as practicable to the same height as the top bank of the river, and car-the counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan, and Caermarthen, lowered by an inclined plane; on which the ried forward until it came perpendicularly over the river amounted to nearly 150 miles in length, exclusive of a let gently down by means of a brake, are dras side, where a wooden platform, termed a staith, was great extent within the mines themselves; of which one means of an additional power to that which erected for the convenience of delivering the coals; the company in Merthyr Tydvil possessed 30 miles under along the road, or at once let down and datal

of a roller or pulley, the heavy preponderating over lighter. In laying out a line of railway, therefore, as situation presents peculiar circumstances, no general can be laid down, and the plan must be left to the and judgment of the engineer. he line of a railway being fixed on, the road is then erly formed, and of such a width as will be sufficient ontaining the opposite rails, and for forming a footon one side. The distance between the opposite rails from three to four and one-half feet; some preng a long and narrow waggon, and others a broad tone. Hence a breadth from nine to twelve feet will fficient for a single road, and from fifteen to twenty double one. The next operation is the setting and bedding of the stone sleepers. These consist of blocks of stone, each of the weight of one or two Their shape is immaterial, provided their base be or the rail. They are placed along each side of the and their upper surface present an even and solid about three feet distant from each other from centre re; the opposite ones being separated by the width en the opposite rails. The ground under them is lown to form a firm foundation, or, if it be of a soft e, it is first laid with a coat of gravel or small metal, his beaten under the stones; the situation of each seing properly guaged both as to its distance from joining ones, and as to the level or declivity of its surface, on which the rails are intended to rest. pace between the sleepers is then filled up with metal, or other road materials, such as may con

te into a hard and firm mass.

kind, and the rails of the same dimensions. These flat
railways have one advantage, in admitting waggons or
carts of the ordinary construction; and this is particularly
exemplified in the Troon railway. According to an ac-
count with which we have been favoured by Mr. Wilson,
of Troon, there are several kinds of waggons used upon
the railway, under certain restrictions, such as four-wheeled
waggons, with flat bottoms and low shelmets, for carrying
stone, limestone, grain, timber, slates, &c. from the har-
bour to Kilmarnock, the mills," &c. "The common
make of a cart is allowed to use the railway, if the wheels
are cylindrical, and there be no greater load on each pair
than 28 cwt. A great deal is done with these carts in car-
rying timber, barks, grain, &c., as, with the same cart,
they can carry these articles into and through the streets
of the town.'

The other railways in Scotland, however, are chiefly of
England, also, the flat rail has been almost entirely su-
the edge kind. In the principal collieries of the north of
perseded by the edge rails, and the latter are now gene-
rally admitted to be decidedly superior in the ease of draught
which they occasion; the edge of the bar presenting less
friction, and being less liable to clog up with dust and mud,
or to be obstructed with stones driven off the road upon
the surface of the rails. The edge rail consists merely of
a rectangular bar of cast-iron, three feet long, three or
four inches broad, and from half-inch to one inch thick;
set in its edge between the sleepers, and bearing on the
sleepers at its extremities. The upper side of the rail is
flaunched out to present a broader bearing surface for the
wheels, and the under side is also cast thicker than the
next object is the construction of the iron rails; and middle, for the sake of strength. But the greatest strength
spoint two very different plans have been adopted, is evidently attained by casting the rail not rectangular,
f which has its advocates, and is practised to a great but deeper in the middle than at the ends, to resist better
The one is termed the flat rail, or tram plate; the transverse strain. The ends may be safely reduced
is being laid on their side, and the waggon-wheels nearly to one-third of the depth in the middle, and still
ing over their broad and flat surface. The other is be equally strong. To unite the rails together, and at
the edge rail; the rails being laid edgeways, and the same time preserve them in their places, and in their
eels rolling on their upper surfaces. The flat rail, upright position, and to bind them also to the sleepers,
1 plate, consists of a plate of cast iron, about three they are set in a cast-iron socket or chair, which is attached
g, from three to five inches broad, and from half firmly to the sleeper. This socket embracing the extre-
to an inch thick; extending from sleeper to sleeper, mities of the adjacent rails, which are here made to over-
ing a flaunche turn-up or crest on the inside, from lap a little; a pin is driven at once through the rails and
a half to four inches high. The rail bears on the through the socket, and binds the whole together. This
at each end at least three inches, where the rails is the general method of uniting the edge rails, but the
about half an inch thicker than in the middle. As shape and dimensions of the metal chair and of the over-
no intermediate bearing for the rails between the lap of the rails are varied according to the judgment and
except the surface of the road, the use of the taste of the engineer. Since edge railways have come into
is not merely to prevent the waggon from being more general use, an essential improvement has been made
the road; it resists the transverse strain arising in their construction by the use of malleable iron, in place
weight of the waggon; on this account it is often, of cast-iron, in forming the rails. The advantage of mal-
great propriety, raised higher in the middle than leable iron rails is, that they are less subject to breakage
des, forming an arch of a circle; and, to strengthen than cast-iron; a circumstance of importance in this case,
Hill farther, a similar flaunche, arched inversely, where it is not easy to avoid those jolts and sudden shocks
below. The weight of each rail is from forty to which cast-iron is least of all capable of withstanding, and
nds. To unite these rails into one continued line, though they should happen to give way, they are easily
merely laid to each other, end to end, all along repaired. They can also be laid in greater lengths, and
of the road; being kept in their places, and at requiring therefore fewer joints; they can be bent with
time made fast to the sleepers, by an iron spike ease to the curvature of the road; when worn out they are
rough the extremity of each rail into a plug of of greater value; and lastly, their first cost is very little,
dinto a hole in the centre of each sleeper. The if at all, greater than that of cast-iron rails. Malleable
about six inches long; it has no head, but the iron is, no doubt, less able to withstand exposure, decay-
ad of it forms an oblong square, about one inching more readily under the influence of the air and mois-
alf an inch thick; and the hole in the rail through ture; but hitherto this inconvenience has not been felt,
passes is formed by a rectangular notch, half an and, on the whole, the malleable iron is now decidedly
are, in the middle of the extremity of each rail; preferred. These rails are laid and joined in the same
site notches of each rail forming, when laid toge manner as the cast-iron, only in greater lengths.-
complete oblong square of one inch by half an Malleable iron, we believe, was first introduced in railways
slightly dovetailed from top to bottom, so as to by Mr. G. Grieve, at Sir J. Hope's collieries, Edinburgh,
the tapering head of the spike, which is driven where it was first tried on the lighter work which is done
o the upper surface of the rail.
underground. The rails consisted of square bars one inch
or one and one-fourth inch square, nine feet long, resting
on one or two sleepers in the middle, and resting and made
fast to sleepers at the extremities; a simple knee being
formed on each end of the bar, and the two knees of each
two adjacent rails jammed into one socket in the sleeper.
The use of these rails was found so beneficial, that they
have since entirely superseded the flat cast-iron rail in
general use at the time of their invention. For heavier
loads the rails are made deeper. We have been favoured
with the following account of their construction by an
engineer (Mr. Neilson, of Glasgow) who has formed seve-
ral of the kind.

ver the rails cross any road, the space between il on each side, must be paved or causewayed, to of the top of the flaunches, that the carriages on may be enabled to pass clear over the rails. In il ways it is necessary to have places at certain inhere the empty waggons, in returning, may get ad to allow the loaded ones to pass. A place of I is termed a turn-out; and the waggons are dito it by a moveable rail, termed a pointer, fixed tersection between the principal rail and the turn i tuming on its extremity, so as to open the way tam-out, and shut that along the road. This nce is also used whenever one line of railway nother.

ram roads have been universally adopted in Wales, ey are preferred to any other species. They are in most parts of England. The Surrey railway description, and was designed by Mr. Jessop. ad, the Duke of Portland's railway, which, we w planned by the same engineer, is of the same

"One of them is on the property of the Earl of Glasgow, commencing at the Hurlet extensive coal and lime-works, and extending to the Paisley canal, a distance of about two miles. It is formed of flat bar iron two and onefourth inches deep, by nearly three-fourths of an inch thick, and the rail in lengths of nine feet, each rail being supported at every three feet by a sleeper and cast-iron chair. The joinings are formed by a cast-iron dovetailed

socket, suited to receive the jointed ends of the bar, and a dovetailed glut or key, by which means the several rails are joined as if one continued bar."

An improvement has lately been made in the construction of malleable iron rails, which promises to be of essential utility. It consists in the use of bars, not rectangular, but of a wedge form, or swelled out on the upper edge. In the rectangular bar there is evidently a waste of metal on the under surface, which, not requiring to be of the same thickness as where the waggon-wheel is to roll, may be evidently reduced with advantage, if it can be done easily. The bar may then be made deeper, and broader at the top than before, so as with the same quantity of metal to be equally strong, and present a much broader bearing surface for the wheel. This has been accomplished by Mr. Birkinshaw, of the Bedlington Iron-works, who has obtained a patent for these broad-topped rails. The the requisite breadth, and depth, and curvature of the propeculiar shape is given them in the rolling of the metal, by means of grooves cut in the rollers, corresponding with posed rail. Mr. B. recommends his rails to be of eighteen feet in length. We have seen one of these patent rails, at Sir John Hope's colliery, and it certainly forms the most bining, very simply and ingeniously, in its form, the quaperfect iron rail which has hitherto been contrived; comlities of lightness, strength, and durability. It is twelve feet long, two inches broad along the top, about half an inch along the bottom, and still thinner between. It rests on sleepers at every three feet, and at those places the rail is two inches deep, while, in the middle point, between the sleepers, it is three inches deep. All these inequalities, we believe, are produced on the metal by means of the rollers; and this circumstance is well-deserving of attention, as it may obviously be applied, not merely to the formation of railways, but to a variety of other purposes in the arts. The moulding and shaping of the metal in this manner is quite a new attempt in the iron manufacture, and it is not easy to say how far such an invention may yet be carried by the skill of British artists.

WAGGONS USED ON RAILWAYS.

The waggons used on railways are of various sizes, but of nearly the same general shape, and all set on four wheels, from two to three feet diameter. They are made to carry from 20 to 50 cwt. exclusive of the waggon itself, which weighs from 12 to 15 cwt. The axles of the fore and hind hind weels are fixed three feet asunder or more, so that the rail is never loaded with more than one-fourth of the waggon at once. According to Mr. Wilson, "The size of the coal waggons of Kilmarnock colliery is, on an average, mean length 80 inches, mean breadth 45 inches, and depth 30 inches. Each contains 40 bushels, equal to 32 cwt. of fine coal, and 35 cwt. of blind or malting coal. The weight of the waggon, exclusive of the coal, is 13 cwt. Each waggon, including two pair of wheels and axles, costs from about £13 to £15, and are mostly lined with sheet iron. In Sir John Hope's railway the waggons are also nearly of the above dimensions. In the Sirhoway railway each waggon carries two and one-half

tons.

EXPENSE OF CONSTRUCTING RAILWAYS.

In regard to the expense of constructing a railway, this will depend greatly on the ease or difficulties to be met with in forming the road, and making up the inequalities to the required slope. The above railway, described by Mr. Neilson, cost only £660 per mile: but, where there are considerable embankments to form, bridges to build, and deep cuttings, the expense may rise to £4000 and 5000 per mile. The usual rate of tonnage on coals, &c. conveyed on railways, is 2d per ton per mile.

COMPARATIVE EASE OF DRAUGHT.

An important consideration regards the work done, or capable of being performed on a railway. On this point, however, the accounts from different railways are various, the performance depending on many circumstances, little attended to in the general estimate of work, such as the quality of the horses, the state of the road, the greater or less declivity of the rails, and various other circumstances. More exact observations or experiments are, therefore, wanting, to form correct notions on this subject; but, in the mean time, we shall state such facts as have been noticed by different observers. The most exact experiments were made by Joseph Wilkes, Esq. of Measham, in Derbyshire. The result is, that one horse, value £20, on a railway declining at the rate of one foot perpendicular to 115 the length of the road, "drew 21 carriages or waggons, laden with coals and timber, amounting, in the whole, to 35 tons, overcoming the vis inertia repeatedly with great case." This performance appears, no doubt, enormous but was evidently owing not so much to the diminution of friction by the railway as to the great declivity; circumstances whose effect must be distinguished in order

dead languages,' he cannot understand the intentions,
nor admire the beauties of the poet. To know our own
language, we must also understand Greek and Latin.
What is the English tongue? Is it not a composition
of the two? Can a person be said to comprehend his
native language unless he understands the definition
and derivation of every word." I am not aware that
the English language is a composition of the Greek and
Latin. Is it not rather composed of ancient Saxon,
which is a dialect of the Gothic or Teutonic, and of
Norman French, which was formed principally from the
Latin, and this again from the Greek? If such be the case,
why are Greek and Latin alone to be studied? These do
not form the bulk of the language: they have assisted in
their more harmonious terms with its rougher notes, they
rendering it more copious and diversified; by mingling
have, in some measure, softened and enriched it; yet they
have but joined the general mass, and, like different
streams which unite their waters, so as to form a noble and
majestic river, they lose themselves in the magnitude and
extent of the English language. Has not commerce, too,
introduced many words which cannot be traced either to a
Grecian or Latin origin?

Of what importance is it whether the English be derived
from the Teutonic, or like the Greek, from the Hebrew,
Persian, and Arabic, if the meaning of words be but un-
derstood? The names of animals are derived principally
from the Saxon. French cookery has not only supplied
us with a variety of highly-seasoned and elegant dishes,
but with numbers of words which have no affinity to the
Greek or the Latin.

Advertisements.

TO THE PUBLIC.

In consequence of perpetual applications for the scope, from places in the country, where we have no agent, we a that they may now be supplied by any bookseller, along vil i this opportunity of informing those who wish to take the Magazines from London. Messrs. Sherwood, Jose, od Paternoster-row, in London, have now a regular stock, the other London booksellers are in the habit of supplying with the works they respectively publish, an order given to kingdom. The only difference between being supplied by the seller will ensure the forwarding of the work to any port and through our country agents, is, that when pres don, the purchaser will receive four weeks papers is month, instead of one each week. This circumstaner b to repeat, that the Kaleidoscope, being an unstand wh, t quence with such a work as the Kaleidoscope, which be sent free through the post-office like a newspape.

news. Frequent applications from the country radri

W

BALLOON.

W. SADLER respectfully informs the of Liverpool and its vicinity, that he h

to obtain any general rule for future works. It is well known that, on any inclined road or plane, every carriage has a tendency to descend of itself, and with a force in proportion to its own weight, exactly as the height of the plane is to its length. In the above example, therefore, the carriages, independent of any external force of traction, would have been urged by their own gravity with a force of 115th of their weight, and equal, therefore, to 680 lbs. But as it will not be too low an estimate to assume 150 lbs. as the working draught of a horse, hence the waggons would descend by their mere weight as if they had been dragged on a level way by at least four horses. If, then, to this 680 lbs. we add 150 for the action of the horse, the sum, or 830 lbs. will be equal to power necessary to overcome the friction and inertia of these waggons, and which appears by division to amount to 1-94th of their whole weight; so that, if the railway had been level, the horse would only have drawn 6 tons. road require 1-12th or 1-15th of their actual weight to Carriages on an ordinary draw them along; so that, on a railway, the ease of draught is six times greater than on a common road. The same horse, Mr. Wilkes observes, drew up the acclivity five tons with ease. Here the weight of the waggon, or its 115th part, would act against the horse, which would not only have to overcome their friction and inertiæ, but to drag also this additional load upwards. But 1-94+1-115 of 5 tons 216lbs. the force of traction, which was evidently a strained effort. The same horse drew three tons up an ac. clivity of 1 in 20. Here 1-94 +1-23 of 3 tons=407lbs. a power of traction, which few horses can exert, and none could sustain for any length of time. The other experiments of Mr. Wilkes agree nearly with the above. Mr. Outram, engineer, observes, that, with a declivity of 1 in 108, the waggons will almost descend of themselves, so that the horse has only to pull a little of the load. This would make the friction and inertia nearly 1-100th of the weight, and the draught of a horse nearly 6 tons. Mr. Telford observes, that in a railway, with a declivity of 1 in 98, a horse will will readily take down waggons containing from twelve "Beef, veal, mutton, pork, venison," which are all very to fifteen tons, and bring back the same with four good in their place, come from the French; "cow, calf, tons in them. The total load, in the first case, would be sheep, hog, deer," are traced to the Saxons. The meaning about 18 tons, and in the second 8 tons. Here the wag- of these words is as plain as possible; and they may be gons being urged with 1-98th of their weight; this makes used with the strictest propriety, notwithstanding the source the friction and inertiæ equal to 1-70th of the weight, and the draught of a horse on a level way only 4 tons. In the from which they flow is but little known. The meaning Troon railway, the declivity is about 1 in 660; and, ac- of words that regard things with which we are conversant, cording to Mr. Wilson's account, some horses take down is easily fixed in our minds: time and application are suf. two and some three waggons, each containing 32 cwt. of ficient to make us acquainted with terms which are less coal, and weighing itself 13 cwt. travelling at the rate of obvious and more difficult. As to elegant composition, it three miles an hour. The total load here may be averaged at 115 cwt. and, the waggons being used with 1-660 of is to be learnt by studying "standard works” in our own their weight, this makes the friction and inertiæ 1-75th of tongue. Is it not possible to write elegant English withthe weight, very nearly equal to the last. We have been out foreign aid? A Roman classic is not the standard favoured by Mr. Grieve with the following particulars re- for an English one. By endeavouring to imitate the garding Sir John Hope's railway, which is of the edge kind. It is on a level; and one horse draws five loaded former, an air of Latinity is apt to creep into composi. waggons, each containing 30 cwt. of coals, and weigh- tions which are, in other respects, good, and which is very ing, unloaded, twelve cwt. equal in all to 210 cwt. or far from agreeing with the genius of the language. The ten and a half tons; travelling at the rate of four miles English writer is to be tried by these tests, which his own an hour, deducting stoppages. This makes the friction one hundred and fiftieth of the load. This performance language provides. To judge him according to the rules is beyond any that we have yet stated, and shows de- of Greek and Latin, would be to confound the English with these languages. Your correspondent, in proof of cidedly the ease of draught of the edge rail. Previous to the an assertion, that, To know our own language we must formation of this railway, it required eight horses for the also understand Greek and Latin," introduces the folwork which is now done with one. On the whole, then, it may be concluded, that on a level tram road, making lowing, which is the result of experiment, not of theory:allowance for the weight of the waggon, one horse will be I there read many translations of the Latin poets, and liked "On being removed from a day to a boarding-school, required for every four tons of coals, or other articles con- them pretty well." He then studied "Sallust, Ovid, veyed; and on an edge railway, one horse will be required Virgil, &c. in Latin, and the Greek Testament. "When for every seven tons. On an ordinary canal, one horse, again read the same translations of the poets, how was I GIL BLAS-A correspondent, who subseries with a boat, will be sufficient for every 80 tons. But the delighted! They seemed totally different! So much first cost of a canal is three or four times greater than that changed from the first reading! Now what could be the of a railway, so that in some cases it may become a ques- reason? It appears obvious; very obvious indeed! "I tion whether a railway might not be adopted with advan- then understood the foundation of every word," &c. Every tage.-Birmingham Chronicle. author suffers more or less by a translation; the beauty of poetry depends very much upon the propriety of expression, and the harmony of numbers; a want of these in the English translation does not impugn the language, nor prove that a knowledge of the Latin is necessary in order to understand it. It merely proves how difficult it is to transplant beauties from one language into another; and, contongue. If, after having read a translation of Homer, we turn to the original, we have now left the picture for the rea lity. If we look at the translation again, it may now afford at first not from the words themselves expressing more, but from the associa tion of ideas which they produce. The beauty of the original is in our mind's eye; and the translation is like an outline, which we fill up at our will.

Literature, Criticism, &c.

EDUCATION.

TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-In your last number, the assertion by H. that "an English boy may learn the proprieties of grammar and elegant composition from standard writers in his own language," is criticised by one of your correspondents, who endeavours to show that a knowledge of Greek and Latin is necessary to a right understanding of the English language. He proceeds thus: "He may read and may approve of a work; but, without what H. calls the two

་

I

his twenty-fifth Ascent from the Cattle Mari
on THURSDAY next, the 20th instant, at Tw
companied by R. H. PEEL, Esq. of the Third
As the object of the ascent is to make a
ments, and it being necessary that the war
fine, if the day is favourable, it will be am
parts of the town and the discharge of a
o'clock in the morning, by the hoisting of fam
day is not favourable, the ascent will be po
following or first fine day after.
Admission to the Inflation, Ascent,
dren, 28.

Doors to be opened at Ten o'clock.
It is particularly requested, that per
themselves with Tickets beforehand, to
confusion at the entrance.

A Band, and a Committee of Gentleme

for the comfort and convenience of these wh

Mr. S. with their presence.
Tickets to be had at Mr. Muncaster's,

Kaye's and Mr. Gore's, Castle-street;

Bold-street.

To Correspondents

THE LATE LORD BYRON. We shall next we readers with a biographical sketch of nobleman, who died at Missolonghi on the month. The nature of our publicationsins) giving the details at present.

whether the French copy of this celebrate general use is the original version; as he Le Sage first wrote it in Spanish, and lated it into the French? We shall reals next week, and in the mean time we shall that we have conversed with a gentleman f literary attainments, who has seen the S Gil Blas. That there is such an edition, we by incontrovertible evidence in our next time, we shall be glad to receive further i

the subject.

sequently, that each poem should be read in its own LOVE AND HONOUR The query of M.EL S M

"SUM QUOD SUM."

did not arrive time enough to be noted t our next, we shall publish his or her query, eliciting a better judgment than we fe petent to pronounce on so delicate a subject. The TRANSLATIONS FROM CATULLUS and Au go an

pear in our next.

Letters or parcels not received, waley free

Printed, published, and sold, EVERY TUME,
SMITH and Co 75, Lord-street, Liverp

Literary and Scientific Mirror.

familiar Miscellany, from which religious and political matters are excluded, contains a variety of original and selected Articles; comprehending Literature, Criticism, Men and Manners ausement, Elegant Extracts, Poetry, Anecdotes, Biography, Meteorology, the Drama, Arts and Sciences, Wit and Satire, Fashions, Natural History, &c. &c. forming a handsome Annus Jame, with an Index and Title-page.-Its circulation renders it a most eligible medium for Literary and Fashionable Advertisements.-Regular supplies are forwarded weekly to the Agents

vigorous and impartial administration of acknowledged
laws, we have the true palladium of liberty. But these,
sealed with the blood of Hampden, of Sydney, and of
Russel, were wrested from the grasp of a despotic race of

LECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF ROME. monarchs, who were ultimately defeated, but not before

part, the precious relics of antiquity have been destroyed; and, during the sack of Rome by Alaric, incomparable specimens of art and genius were for ever cut off from the

admiration of modern times.

But the period was arrived which Scipio had foreboded, when viewing the ruins of the once mighty Carthage, and when the striking passage of Homer pressed upon his

mind:

"The day shall come, that great avenging day,
Which Troy's proud glories in the dust shall lay;
When Priam's powers and Priam's self shall fall,
And one prodigious ruin swallow all."

wisdom of the immortal Romans. Liverpool.

* Pope's Homer's Iliad, Book 4.

[ORIGINAL TRANSLATION.]

THE HERMIT.

[FROM THE GERMAN OF OEHLENSCHLAEGER.]

[Concluded from our last.]

J. C.

possible to do so; he hastened to announce to the
ence, that the attack had been brought on by the relen
of my feelings, and thus was the tide of public favour
more turned to my advantage; but I was incapable
again appearing, and the pity of the spectators at th
only consolation I could expect. The harlequin ea
mediately dismissed, although he vowed and
that the accident had merely happened through
the mean time I was cured, not only of my i
but also of my mania for the stage.
"Every thing appeared to me in a different light:
Blumau himself seemed to have changed his
My acquaintance with him had begun in the
his leisure and recreation; but, of late, I had m
a mere man of business and as a master, whdid et like
to lose much time in talking; and who found ways
opportunity to tell me of my faults whenever he did t
His admonitions were, indeed, both seasonably and bal
cately conveyed; but I grew, nevertheless, tired of them
and I regretted my independence. I returned to the un
versity long before the stipulated time; and, as trehin
further interfered with my studies, I pursued them
great eagerness, and became soon qualified for y

"The health of my father had long been de
he did but just live to enjoy the gratification of vins
my installation. I hesitated during the early period
my married state whether or not I should impart the
of my theatrical excursion to Amelia; but, t
dering the strong prejudices of herself and be imiş,
finally thought it better not to disturb her pearl and
although I was grieved by the necessity of concealin
her any circumstance of my life. My own remeni
of it became every day more faint, and I almost boke
it as a dream. Three years were spent in the ma
enjoyment of domestic bliss; and I had become father
a lovely girl. I wished for a son, and Has
willing to grant also that desire, when, anfishy, ng
earthly happiness was blasted for ever.

execution. Blumau was glad to see me; but he did not approve of my plan. He said that one ought not to do any thing by halves; and, that his art required the complete devotion of a whole man, body and soul. He advised me to bestow my energies upon poetry; because, in that pursuit, I could give full career to my imagination, without abandoning the profession of a clergyman: but I represented to him that the publication of any work, at all connected with the stage, would injure my prospects quite as much as the adoption of the plan I now proposed; and that I found it impossible to think of any thing but the theatre. Well,' said he, at last, I have spoken to you In Europe a long period of ignorance and superstition as a friend; but, as the manager of a theatre, I cannot succeeded to the enlightened policy with which the Romans but be pleased by the offer of your services. I certainly governed their provinces; but when men began to turn think that you have a great chance of being well received; their attention to the productions of the ancients, society and I want a good subject in the very department for progressively improved, and the accidental discovery of a which you are most fit.' I began, forthwith, to study the copy of the pandects of Justinian, and the study of Ro- part of Romeo; and my zeal was not at all abated by the man Jurisprudence, produced such an alteration in the circumstance that the intended Juliet was an affected cogovernments of Europe, as shows us how much, even atquette, of nearly twice my age. I rather rejoiced at it; the present enlightened period, we are indebted to the for I was determined to remain faithful to my Amelia, and to think only of her whilst making my declaration of love. One thing, however, disturbed me very much. My taste inclined me to the cultivation of the serious drama; but that of the public required not only comedies but even farces: and we had actually a harlequin amongst us, who treated the audience with his jokes, after the graver business of the evening was concluded. This appeared to me very degrading; although it could not be denied that the man was clever in his line, and gave great satisfaction: yet, however merry he appeared on the stage, he indulged a gloomy and vindictive disposition in private life; and he had no sooner perceived my imaginary superiority than he resolved to avenge himself. When I was preparing to appear, for the first time, in public, he threw himself on "It is said that we love but once; and I am inclined to his knees before me, and entreated me to bring him, on think that real friendship is but once felt. Blumau had my return, some of my laurels for his poor starving family. so entirely fascinated me that I found it impossible to I told him to mind his own business, and to let me alone; but return again to the university as soon as I had intended, he retorted, that that admonition came much better home "The annual wakes were to begin with. The and the days which I spent in his company were the to myself, since I had dropped the gown in order to assume young men had fetched green boughs from the happiest of my life; for neither before nor after did I the buskin; and it yet remained to be seen whether or not ing forest, and the girls ha adorned them with r ever feel the same attachment for any other man. I only I should complete the measure of my inconsistency by fol- and flowers, in preparation for the occasion. Be s left him when his professional duties absolutely required lowing the drum. I pushed him from me; but this scene of the street were lined with cheerful groups it; and my confidence in him was amply requited by the agitated me so much that it almost proved fatal to my per- bled people; and I walked towards the church rat openness of his manners. He took pleasure in forming formance. I recovered, nevertheless, during the repeated wife and child, leading the latter by the hard, a p my taste; and he made me recite some passages for the rounds of applause with which 1 was actually received, and my arm to the former, who was far advared in yourante sake of pointing out to me whether I delivered them the accomplished acting of Blumau, as Father Lorenzo, On approaching the green, the pressure of the properly or not. His judgment of my faculties was completely restored my self-possession: all, in short, went vented us from proceeding, while the sound of the a favourable, and he thought that I had every requisite for on well, until the scene with the apothecary, whose part bells was lost in the noise of drums, tamboris, a good performer; but he advised me once more to dis-had been omitted in the rehearsal, and I had not even fifes. I inquired, and learned that a pantal miss all such ideas from my mind, and to return to my inquired by whom it was to be played. Judge of arrived in town with a caravan of wild animals, and own studies. I obeyed; but it was in vain. I could not my astonishment, when I saw that the character had they intended to stay during the festival take up my theology again. I had often wondered at been given to the very identical man whom I had never speak to the church warden: he was unwel my fellow-students when I saw them quietly fill and seen otherwise than in his coloured jacket and trowsers! ton: he was not to be found. At last I said, "M smoke their pipes whilst speaking of their future pros. Now his dress and demeanour perfectly answered the de- this is no time for such exhibitions, and the pl pects, or even of their intended brides. It had never scription of the half-starved chemist, and I was fain to fore the church is very ill chosen for a purpose i been so with me; and the image of my Amelia did not acknowledge that he acted the part to perfection, and was insist on an immediate removal, or else I shal ap only accompany me on my promenades, it even presented possessed of much more real talent than I could have con- magistrate. Upon this the crowd dispersed; bedoe itself before me during the college hours, and interrupted ceived. I intended to tell him so at my first return to the men happened to stand exactly between me and de my attention. Now, it was still worse. I had now two green-room, but when I inquired for him, he was gone. so that it was impossible to enter it without past objects which attracted me in turns; and I bestowed Had I found him, it is probable that a reconciliation would The director of the concern stood, in an embara hardly any thought on what was said in the catheter. have taken place between us, and my whole fate wouldner, with a bag-pipe under his arm, and a Poli I found, at last, some relief by altering my studies, and have been different. I should not have lost my place, my hand; but how shall I describe my consternaci by learning English, French, and Italian; to poetry, reputation, and my Amelia. But I must relate the events clown turned suddenly towards me, and Irengesela history, and philosophy, I also gave some attention; of my story in the order in which they occurred. My y apothecary: he, too, recollected our formet sy but metaphysics and mathematics had no longer any acting had been unanimously approved of; and my spirits ance; and the malignant joy which sundenly a sma were raised to the highest pitch. I called for the goblet countenance gave me at once to understand t with great animation, and drained it to the very bottom; mercy to expect. He addressed some men of a but scarcely had I done so, when I perceived that it had gation in a contemptuous tone of voice with th contained a strong mixture of tartarus emeticus, which question, Is this your parson?' while I operated almost immediately. I was obliged to quit the him like a condemned criminal. I could stage, and my sudden disappearance changed the general give him an imploring look, which produ emotion into fits of laughter. I met the astonished Blu- He approached with mock civility, turning has mau in the scenes, and could only indicate by signs the and saying. I have then the filicity of mering nature of the indisposition by which I was assailed. His your reverence for the second time; but we br presence of mind repaired the disaster, in as far as it was colour; I am now white, and you are black in

charms for me.

I

At last I found that all would not do; and I began to think of the means of satisfying my longing for the stage, without renouncing my profession. I was intended to be come a preacher in a small country town of Suabia; and Blumau had gone with his company into Saxony, where was not known. How easily, thought I, could I stop there a few months, under a theatrical name, and make my friends believe that I was travelling. The thought had no sooner struck me than I began to put my scheme into