OR Literary and Scientific Mirror. "UTILE DULCI." This familiar Miscellany, from which all religious and political matters are excluded, contains a variety of original and selected Articles; comprehending LITERATURE, CRITICISM, MEN and MANNERS, AMUSEMENT, elegant EXTRACTS, POETRY, ANECDOTES, BIOGRAPHY, METEOROLOGY, the DRAMA, ARTS and SCIENCES, WIT and SATIRE, FASHIONS, NATURAL HISTORY, &c. forming a handsome ANNUAL VOLUME, with an INDEX and TITLE-PAGE. Its circulation renders it a most eligible medium for Advertisements. THE School for Orators, or a Peep at the Forum; A FARCE; as never PERFORMED AT COVENT-GARDEN OR DRURY-LANE, WITH UNBOUNDED APPLAUSE. "And as for rhetoric, he could not ope His mouth, but out there flew a trope."-HUDIBRAS. "Then he would talk-ye gods, how he would talk !"-ALEXANDER THE GREAT. PREFACE OF THE KALEIDOSCOPE. of this description were more to our taste, at that time of day, than those of the superior class of speakers to which we have before adverted; and our inducement in frequenting the forum, was rather the expectation of amusement from the flounderings and absurdities of the inferior tyros, and oratorical debutants, than any hope of instruction from those of well-informed men. la reviving "The Peep at the Forum, or School for Oratore," we deem it necessary to offer a few prefatory remarks upon the original design of the work, and the atives which have led to its republication. About twenty ears ago, Mr. Ryley, the well-known author of the Linerant," and several other works, and of a number excellent comic songs, established a debating society in verpool, which was very numerously and respectably Whatever ascetics may pretend to the contrary, laughtended, He, himself, officiated as president; and in ing, according to our notion, is a most rational amusehat capacity gave general satisfaction by his urbanity of ment. We read in Proverbs, chap. xvii. verse 22, that Banners, his taste and discrimination in deciding upon "A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine; but a broby disputed points of order, and his talent and im-ken spirit drieth the bones." One of our poets talks, inartiality in summing up at the conclusion of the debate. deed, of "the loud laugh, that speaks the vacant mind;" We have frequently been present at the Liverpool but a philosopher, whose opinion has more weight with us, Forum, during very animated and interesting discussions; though, as in all such places, persons would not unFrequently take a share in the debates who were as destute of information, as they were of every other requisite for public speaking; and, if we were occasionally much edified by the speeches of several of the gentlemen who gured away at the Marble-street room, we were still more frequently diverted by the efforts of those who, notwithstanding the coughings and hissings of their auditors, to which they were regularly subjected, were determined, "in spite of nature and their stars," to become rators-We are half ashamed to confess, that effusions But to return from this digression. As it was our cus has, on the contrary, shrewdly remarked, that "man is the only animal that is gifted with the power of laughter;" and, as we are of opinion that nature has not given us this faculty for no purpose, reason, as well as temperament, sanction the practice, however vulgar it may be deemed by those solemn fops, who mistake gravity for wisdom, and whom we would remind, en passant, that, as a celebrated writer observes, "Gravity is often a mystery of the body, assumed to conceal the defects of the mind; that the most solemn bird is the owl, and the most solemn beast the ass." PRICE 340. tom to note down all the whimsical passages which occurred during the debates at the Marble-street Forum, our collection of malaprops, grammatical slips, broken metaphors, and grotesque rhetorical tropes, became, in a short time very, copious. We were tempted to arrange this heterogeneous mass of absurdity into the form of a speech, which we put into the mouth of a Mr. Bother'em, an ideal character, or kind of scape goat, intended as a personification of every species of oratorical and rhetorical absurdity which our notes supplied, or our invention suggested. Having, by chance, shown this caricature to Mr. Terry, now one of the managers of the Adelphi Theatre, a gentleman of talent and of excellent education, he was so much diverted with its absurdity, that he urged us to write an interlude, or farce, in which Mr. Bother'em should be the hero of the dramatis persona. The result of this sugges tion was the "Peep at the Forum," which was published in London in 1809, and afterwards in America, as we ascertained from a friend now in Liverpool, who, to our surprise, presented us with a copy. We shall here briefly state our reasons for reviving this dramatic caricature, as we feel that some apology is requisite on the occasion. The whole original edition of the work was very soon disposed of, and it became a scarcity somewhat in request; a proof, by the bye, that scarce and valuable, as applied to books, are by no means synonymous terms. We were urged by some partial and laughter-loving friends to put forth a second edition, but we declined it; nor should we ever have thought of republishing it, had not a friend, who happened to be in London last May, informed us that Mr. Mathews had adopted Mr. Bother'em under another name, and that: our resuscitated orator was very well received by the Lon-. don audience. This facetious gentleman, during his late visit, introduced Bother'em to the Liverpool audience; and, as our townsmen appeared also to be much diverted with the peculiar powers of that extraordinary orator, we have adopted the suggestion of a few friends to republish the whole farce, with the exception of the dedication, which was originally addressed to the Society for the Suppression of Vice, but which is not only too long, but, as it now strikes us, too tedious for repetition. The annexed engraving originally appeared as a frontispiece to the Peep at the Forum, and is explanatory of a fracas which occurred towards the conclusion of the piece. We intended to detail more minutely the plot of the piece; but, upon second thought, we are of opinion that it will be better to append a few notes as we proceed; we shall, therefore, only further add, by way of introduction, that the Peep at the Forum, as it was originally printed, consisted of a dedication, (which, as we have already observed, we shall omit,) a brief preface, and two acts, the first of which consists chiefly of a dialogue between Mr, Schemer, the president, and his friend, Fickle. The second act is wholly taken up with the speeches and the fracas in the debating room. We shall, for the present week, confine ourselves to the title and preface, as we have not the vanity to imagine that the quality of the work would be deemed a sufficient apology for the exclu sion of almost every other subject. PREFACE. notes upon each striking passage would have swelled the The author also wishing to promote, by every means in [To be continued.] The Traveller. [ORIGINAL] TOUR TO FRANCE. BY A GENTLEMAN OF LIVERPOOL. Comedy has been aptly compared to a mirror, reflecting -Stultè nudabit animi conscientiam." Perhaps some apology is due to the reader of taste, for the liberty the author has here taken in printing in italic characters some of the most striking beauties in the various speeches in the second act of this farce, particularly even the most superficial observer, there seemed no other possibility of our getting to sea, it was finally resolved At one, p.m. we sailed from the Prince's Dock, the rain another attempt by sea,) I took my place on the following Wednesday, in a stage-coach for London, on my route to Dover. As stage-coach expeditions are nothing very extraordi nary, I will endeavour to carry myself to London as ex. peditiously as possible. Let me not, however, pass on without paying a tribute of respect, and testifying my deepest esteem to a then unknown, but since discovered fellow traveller. He was a clergyman, who Lad just case over from Ireland, and was travelling for the benefit of his health, and I must say, that I look back to the day which brought me into his company as almost the plea santest day I spent from the time I quitted home until my return, a period of nearly three months. And shall I forget friend Jonathan? Never. But for a different reason to that which will impress the image of my clerical friend upon my memory. The company of Jonathan was indeed a source of amuse ment. To judge from bulk, and the apparent good living which was depicted in his countenance, you would have said it was John Bull himself; but the simple garb, and the still more simple heart, bespoke him a true disciple of William Penn. As is my usual plan with all sorts of travellers, I entered into conversation with him; I told him I had had the pleasure of hearing his friend, Mr. Cr (whom I had first ascertained that he knew) speak at an anti-slavery meeting a few days before I left Liverpool. Jonathan, who had hitherto been rather more prone to converse in wardly than outwardly, immediately upon hearing this, burst forth into all the eloquence of a finished orator. His eulogiums on Mr. Cr were unbounded, and, as 1 thought, almost interminable; at last, however, they did cease, and for the space of a moment all was silence. I was the first to break it, to the amusement of my fellow. traveller, and to the utter astonishment of friend Jonathan, by saying, that I was one of those unfortunate inhuman beings who did not see the subject of slavery in the light in which he did, and that I must consequently dissent from all his eulogiums on Mr. Cr. Poor Jonathan! I never shall forget that moment; had a poignard pierced his very heart, his astonishment could not well have been greater: never, for one moment, in the simplicity of his heart, had he doubted that I was of the same opinion a himself. Now the conversation was all inwardly; Jonathan had no more to say, and ever and anon a heavy sigh or a groan bespoke his inward contentions. We parted with him at the end of one stage; I think it was on our arrival at Lichfield. I parted with my delightful fellow-traveller (the Irish clergyman) at Stoney-Stratford, and it was not without the expression of regret on both sides. in the oration of Mr. Bother'em. This arose from a conviction, that the intrinsic merit of a work does not always secure it a second perusal; and as he was anxious that none of what he considers peculiar beauties should escape way of accomplishing this desirable object than that he has adopted, of using italics (which has the advantage Towards midnight it blew very fresh indeed, added to I arrived at London about nine o'clock on Thursday of brevity) or of following the example of a learned which, the loud shout of our Captain, the scampering of morning. My good fortune threw me into the way of a and Lorry editor of modern poetry, who has very con- the sailors, and the pitching of the vessel, were to me no young lady of my acquaintance, who kindly took me in siderately spared his readers the trouble of thinking, very agreeable accompaniments. However, the night her carriage, to get my passport. All being settled that judging, or feeling for themselves, by giving laconic notes upon almost every line; in the prosecution of which in- passed as most stormy nights do, and the return of twi had to do in London, I made the best of my way to Dover light was, I believe, welcomed by us all. This morning, the following day, where I arrived about six o'clock p genious idea, all the typographical marks or references are pressed into the service of cach page. By consulting the (Sunday) about ten o'clock, the steam-packet returned, and took up my quarters at the Union Hotel, where there note on the passage to which is affixed, we learn that it bringing us an additional supply of seamen: we immedi- is an excellent landlord (Mr. Gell) and exceedingly good is pathetic! is simple and affecting!— delicate!ately weighed our anchor, in doing which it broke; but accommodation. still the stubborn and manly spirit of our Captain soared On Saturday morning, early, I ascended the heights o f sublime! &c. &c. above this difficulty, and we endeavoured to keep our Dover, explored the castle and the fortifications, and course onward until our pilot said, as the evening ap-rambled about until I could distinguish the approach of proached and the wind increased, he would advise us to put back, which we accordingly did, and came to an anchor in the Sline at ten o'clock p.m. No boat coming towards us, we were obliged to sleep on board during the night; we, however, landed in good time on the following morning, and, to the no small astonishment of our respec This is certainly a most ingenious thought, and is probably capable of great and important extension. Applied to novels, for instance, it would be of essential service, as the great mischief of such publications arises from the circumstance of the readers often feeling in the wrong place, which would be entirely prevented, by their consulting the notes before they suffered their imaginations to be affected, or their sensibility worked to an alarming crisis. But though no one can admire this new "feeling made easy," more than our author does, motives of economy have induced him to prefer the use of italies. speech so replete with beauties as that of Mr. Bother'em, See Capel Loft's edition of Bloomfield's poems. In a tive friends, once more reached our houses. As the sole object in my intended tour was pleasure, and the sensations on board ship were to me quite the reverse, I determined now to make as much of my course to Bourdeaux as was possible, by land; accordingly, bidding adieu to my companion, (who determined to make the vessel which was to convey me to the shores of France Owing to the state of the tide, the vessel was forced to anchor in the Roads, and, at twelve o'clock, we wer launched from the beach in a small boat, and, in a fes minutes, were on board his Majesty's steam-packet Spr fire, Captain King, which plies between Dover and Calais Just after getting on board, a smart storm of snow an hail, accompanied by strong gusts of wind, came on, bu our steamer, under the command of her able and expe rienced captain, weathered it admirably. We shippe some very heavy seas; nevertheless most of the passenger (amongst whom were some ladies) remained upon deck suited his convenience,) I took a walk through some of as day-light afforded me an opportunity of seeing it, was novel and interesting. The roads were remarkably fine, ranging, I should think, from thirty to fifty yards wide and bounded on each side by large trees, at the distance of eight or ten yards from each other. The fields were all laid out without fences, and had somewhat the appearance of extensive gardens. Here I noticed a circumstance, as singular as it was to me gratifying: our passengers were about forty in number, of which about one-third might be French, the rest English; and whilst the whole of the French were engaged in feeding the variety of fish which abound in these waters, there was not one Englishman in the least fainthearted. So much for the difference between living upon roast beef and fricaseed frogs. Our passage across was something At two, P. M. we arrived at Amiens; and as I was more under four hours. As we approached the harbour of anxious for a sight of the celebrated Cathedral which was Calais, the view was exceedingly fine; and although my built in this town by my countrymen, than to satisfy the prejudiced mind was determined to think no country equal I returned to my hotel to dinner at five o'clock. My cravings of appetite, no sooner had the mail stopped than to my own, I could not help an expression of admiration landlord asked me if I had any objection to dine with I sprang from my gig-like inclosure, and placed myself in on my first view of the Bourbon dominions. The swell of another Englishman who was stopping at the hotel. Glad charge of the first old woman I saw, for the purpose of the sea at the mouth of the harbour was very fine: our of company, I, of course, acceded to the proposal, and being conducted to the Cathedral. I hardly know whevessel appeared almost to pitch over the pier. We were was ushered into a room, where, without an introduction, ther to consider myself fortunate or unfortunate in my anded opposite the Douane. The scenes which present I took my seat, vis-à-vis, to as sulky a looking English- accidental choice of a guide. Of all the women either themselves to a stranger, on landing at Calais, are ridicu- man as was ever exported to the distant shores of Botany English or French, which it has been my lot to encounter, lous in the extreme. I was assailed, in a manner beyond Bay. Many were the questions I asked, and many the never did I meet her equal for loquaciousness: her deall description, by men, women, and children, recom- observations I made, in the hopes of getting information scription of the Cathedral was very elaborate, and I doubt zmending different hotels, diligences, and shops, of all de- from him as to the conveniences of travelling, &c. but all not very true; but so quick did she place word after word, scriptions. Had I taken all the cards which these enthu- to no purpose, the only variations which I could obtain and sentence after sentence, that I believe if I understood astically-polite people presented to me, my hands, pock-in his replies were from "Yes, Sir" to "No, Sir," and one word in ten it was as much as the bargain; and all ets, and hat would have been filled, and more than filled; from " No, Sir" to "Yes, Sir." At last, wearied with the part which I took in the conversation was to repeat, but the way in which their recommendations were given asking questions, and vexed with their answers, I deter- without effect, every now and then, "Parlez doucement was the highest scene imaginable; sometimes spoken in mined to leave him to his own meditations, and set to s'il vous plait," and to yield my unqualified assent to all French, sometimes in English, and sometimes in a mix- work upon a dish of nuts, which the waiter had now she said. At last we arrived there. Splendid! grand! ture of both languages-altogether producing a sound placed before us. Accordingly, for the space of half an magnificent! all escaped my lips; but I cannot describe truly discordant to the ear of a newly-imported English-hour, nothing was heard but the cracking of nut-shells, my feelings: it is, indeed, a noble pile of ingenuity and art. and the trickling of the wine which, in tolerably copious I was sometime before I entered the interior, so totally was draughts, flowed from my companion's bottle to his glass, my admiration absorbed in its outward appearance: my exand from his glass, in natural course, to his stomach. pectations of what I was to see in the interior of this buildAnxious as I had been a short time before that this strangering were raised in proportion to what I had seen of its extewould allow me a little of his conversation, my anxiety was now reversed, and my only wish was for a cessation of the verbal battery which now assailed me. Words flowed upon words without end; all, however, that I could collect from him was, that he had fled his country for debt, and was here endeavouring to drown his disappointinents in the revellings of drunkenness. I was in no way displeased when the clock struck ten, and I was summoned to take my seat in the mail for Paris. In company with my fellow-passengers I went to the Douane, where I delivered up my passport. Here some persons were searched very minutely, but I was suffered to pass unmolested. Whether this circumstance arose (as the vanity of my heart whispered to me) from the respectability of my appearance, or from a countenance which I dare say betrayed an ignorant simplicity with regard to the art of smuggling, I cannot tell. I had been recommended to go to Keliaè's Hotel; but being overpersuaded by one of my fellow-voyagers, I took up my abode at the Hotel de la Couronne, and a miserable abode I found it.-In the course of the evening I got a provisional passport from the police-office, which was to The vehicle and its appendages amused me not a little. carry me as far as Paris, where I was to apply to the po- I can compare it to nothing but a miserable English postlee for my original one. I had often heard how John chaise, with the body of a covered gig fastened in Ball is imposed upon by Monsieur Français, and I landed front of it to contain a person called the Conducteur, and with the firm determination not to allow any thrifty one passenger. This is considered, and indeed is, the best Frenchman to impose upon me. Accordingly, upon re-seat, and I thought myself fortunate in obtaining it. We ceiving my provisional passport, three francs were demanded for it; but casting my eye on one corner of the pass, I saw Prix deux francs" marked. I pointed this put, and declined paying any more. But all my French loquence would not carry my object; and after wasting Half an hour, and many useless words into the bargain, I as compelled to give the rascal another franc; at the ame time resolving that I would not be imposed upon igain. At six o'clock I sat down to my first French dinner, ut was a little disappointed in the account I had heard French cookery. The next day, being Sunday, I went the English Protestant church, if 1 may call it a church. It consisted of a small room, perhaps capable of containng 60 or 70 persons, with a few chairs and benches for the congregation to sit on. The scene, as I passed along the streets, to and from church, exhibited no symptoms of ■ Sabbath; shops were all open, purchasers going in and out, and the various rounds of week-day duty proceeded in their ordinary course. I must confess I was not prepared to see so great a change in the manners, dress, and general appearance of a people, resident so short a distance as 21 miles from England. In the afternoon I went to the Roman Catholic church of Notre Dame. There is mothing to admire in the exterior of this building; the interior is imposing on the first entrance, but on closer xamination exhibits a display of tawdry decoration. When service was over, (or rather, when I went out of church, for every one seemed to go in and out as best had post horses, four, five, or six, just as it happened, all rior, and I must confess that they were not disappointed : the fine gothic columns, the ingenious carving, the magnificent paintings, and the splendid monuments which are to be found here, are well worthy of the grandest cathedral in Europe. I had here, in a person connected with the place, a true specimen of the Frenchman's love of money. He was officiating in some religious ceremony when I entered; but no sooner did he perceive me, than he was at my elbow in a moment, exclaiming “ Voilà, voilà, Monsieur," at the same time pointing first to one thing and then to another, and dragging me after him, past priest, altar, and image, without respect to either one or the other. I presume his patron saint must have granted him a special privilege or indulgence, as I noticed others making their genuflexions, and crossing themselves with what they conceived due reverence, to every image they passed. When he had finished, he conducted me to the door, nor did he forget to hold out his hand for a reward, which he did with an air of politeness that it would be impossible for the most fawning courtier to surpass. As I receded from the Cathedral, my feelings of admiration were mingled with regret that such a master-piece of art should be given up to the exercise of Romish ceremonies. What little I was enabled to see of the town of Amiens during the short time of two hours which the mail stopped, did not give me any exalted opinion of it. Its streets are narrow, the people mean looking; and there were no buildings, with the exception of its magnificent cathedral, which could at all convey the idea I had formed of a place which has cut so great a figure in the page of history. [To be continued.j Patent Coffins. A country paper, in alluding to some advertisements of patent coffins, says, curiously enough, that being made of iron, they will "secure the person buried against the possibility of resurrection," (meaning resurrection men.)-American Paper. City Feastings.-The following is the bill of fare for the Court of Assistants of the Worshipful the Company of Wax Chandlers, London, 1478:-Two loins of veal, and two loins of mutton, 1s. 4d.; one loin of beef, 4d.; one dozen of pigeons, and one dozen of rabbits, 9d.; one pig and one capon, is; one goose and a hundred eggs. 1s. d.; one leg of mutton, 24d.; two gallons of sack, is. 4d.; eight gallons of strong ale, 1s. 6d.-7s. 6d. Poetry. STANZAS. What is to me-or leafy grove, or music of the purling rill, Or all earth's brightest, and most rare, If none with me the rapture share! What is to me--or moonlit vale, Or all most beauteous and bright, If mine alone the chill delight! Oh! happier, prison gloom to share, TO THE EARTH. [From the Albany Argus.] All that hath life doth live! Nurse of our race-upon whose teeming breast I sing of thee! In thee the bleating flocks, Around thy granite peaks, the sailing clouds Their clearness, by their coldness:-'Tis from these, We live upon thy breast. But yet our love Of the dread power we fear. Oh, 'tis a thought, Is all that thou shalt keep of us; and that, THE MISSIONARY HYMN. 7. The death of the Bishop of Calcutta, of which melancholy event the account has recently reached England, gives a peculiar interest to the little musical composition by Mr. Wesley, organist in ordinary to his Majesty, recently pub The piece is printed on a card, and does great credit to the feeling and taste of the composer, who has suited its movements well to the words written by the pious and highly esteemed prelate. The Missionary Hymn is as fol The long-expected Opera of Peveril of the Peak was suc-lished for the benefit of the Church Missionary Society. cessfully produced lately at Covent-garden Theatre. The music, by Horne, is not without merit. An air, by Miss Paton, When sorrow speeds," in the first act, graceful, but of no remarkable spirit or originality, was encored; and an air, by the same lady, to the following words:O, I never will marry a Puritan lad, So dull and so formal, so solemn and sad; lows: "From Greenland's icy mountains, Their land from error's chain. Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle; Shall we, whose souls are lighted By wisdom from on high, Shall we to man benighted The lamp of light deny? Salvation! O Salvation! The joyful sound proclaim, Till each remotest nation Has learn'd Messiah's name. Waft, waft ye winds, his story, And you, ye waters, roll, Till, like a sea of glory, It spreads from pole to pole; Till o'er our ransom'd nature, The Lamb for sinners slain, Redeemer, King, Creator, In bliss returns to reign." THEATRE-ROYAL, LIVERPOOL. MR. HUNT Has the honour of announcing to the Public, that his Benef will take place on MONDAY next, (Dec. 4,) when will be per formed the favourite Opera of the DEVIL'S BRIDGE, And the Musical Play of ROB ROY. Tickets to be had of Mr. Hunt, 7, Upper Newington Mount Pleasant. The Housewife. "Housekeeping and husbandry, if it be good, We have several times noticed the efficacy of raw cotton in scalds and burns, and we now insert a confirmation o the important fact. Cotton Down applied to Scalds, &c.-(By Dr. J. Hume.) I am not aware that it is generally known that cotton down has been used successfully as an application to burns and scalds. A few days since I saw an instance of it. A bey, seven years old, had several gallons of boiling water thrown over him, by which he was scalded from the back of his head down to the sacrum, and over the whole of his breast and right arm. In taking off his clothes, all the cuticle was separated from the skin, and the surface left raw This was immediately bedded with cotton down, and the boy laid on his back in bed, where he lay in a state a insensibility for some days. Whenever matter appeared through the cotton, it was removed by soaking it with war water or hog's lard, and fresh cotton was applied. I sa him seven weeks after the accident, when his arm and great part of his body were healed; and whenever th had happened, the skin was of its natural colour and com sistency, and had not the slightest appearance of havin been ulcerated.-London paper. Correspondence. DISINTERMENT OF THE DEAD FOR SURGICAL PURPOSES. TO THE EDITOR. SIR, You perceive that, notwithstanding your correspondent Par's boast of having finished me out and out, I am still able to come to what he calls the scratch. In truth, I do not perceive that Pax's letter is such a complete settler as he imagines; and I can assure him, he has in no way changed my opinion on the subject. He may call my arguments weak, and think he has well defended his own; but when he proves the one by falsifying my reasoning, and maintains the other by no better a prop than his ovn assertion, I may be permitted to doubt his veracity in these instances. To substantiate the charge of Pax's falsifying my arguments, I will quote a paragraph of my former letter, and Ikewise quote my opponent's candid remarks upon that paragraph. "Pax contends that the robbing of the churchyards is as dishonest as picking a pocket or feloniously entering a of morality, it ought to cease. As well might Par say," house; and that because it is not within the strict bounds &c. On this Par remarks, "This gentleman, in reply to my arguments, that the individual who steals a corpse is as dishonest, &c., exclaims, As well might Pax say, that because a thunder storm is productive of much evil, the Almighty should not permit it to rage." Now, Sir, I do not thus exclaim, in answer to his argument respecting churchyard robbery being felony, but in answer to the deductions he draws from this argument, viz. that being felony, it is an evil; being an evil, it ought to cease. To this I answered by maintaining, that though the churchyard robbery was an evil, it was productive of more good than the evil itself, and therefore it ought not to case. And as an instance in which a partial evil was made to produce a positive good, I mentioned the thunder storm. This is the true state of the case; and how far Pax has answered it fairly, I leave your readers to judge. marked No. 1 stand in the present volume of the Kalei- MILITIA RETURN. TO THE EDITOR. EDGAR. SIR,-Your curious return, as given last week, reminds me of one lately sent to the constable at a village not many miles from Everton. It was written in the following modest way. Under the head "Description," the writer stated himself to be "six feet high and rather handsome." Q. IN THE CORNER. · applied with great diligence to the making of observations. By Mr. Crabtree's advice he laid aside Lansberg, whose tables he found to be erroneous, and his hypothesis inconsistent. He had not, however, long entered on his career of discoveries before he was cut off by death, in 1640-1, when he was only about the age of twenty-two. Of the loss which the world sustained by this event, some idea may be formed from the writings which he left behind him. Not many days before, he had just finished his Venus in Sole visa,' as appears from some of his letters to his friend Mr. Crabtree; from which we also learn that he made his observations on that phenomenon at Hool, near Liverpool. This treatise was published at Dantzic, in 1662, by Hevelius, together with his own Mercurius in Sole visus,' and illustrated with that astronomer's annotations. Mr. Horrox's other imperfect papers, which are still extant, were digested and published by Dr. Wallis, in 1673, under the title of Opera Posthuma,' &c. quarto, in which we find that he first asserts and promotes,the Keplerian astronomy against the hypothesis of Lansberg, which he proves to be inconsistent with itself, and neither agreeing with observations nor theory. He likewise reasons very justly concerning the celestial bodies and their motions, vindicates Tycho Brae from some objections made to his hypothesis, and gives a new theory of the moon; to which are added, the lunar numbers of Mr. Flamsteed. and Mr. Crabtree, upon various astronomical subjects, with a catalogue of astronomical observations. Besides land by his brother Jonas Horrox, who had prosecuted the the above, many of our author's papers were carried to Iresame studies, and died in that country, by which means Jeremiah Horrox, the individual of whom we are speak- they are supposed to be lost; and others fell into the hands ing, was the first person that predicted and saw the passage of Mr. Jeremiah Shackerley, who made use of them in of Venus over the sun's disc. He was born at Toxteth-forming his British Tables,' published in 1653. The park, in the year 1619, which was twenty-three years pre- London, in 1666. papers last mentioned were destroyed by the great fire at Biographical Notices. JEREMIAH HORROX. All our readers may not be aware of the fact, that Tox- tions contained in his works. vious to the birth of the illustrious Newton. We have been informed that his body lies buried in the Park Chapel in the chapel which can aid the inquiry. Our motive for calling the public attention to this subject at this time is to forward the laudable object which Mr. Holden, the astronomical lecturer, has in contempla. tion. This gentleman, who is now delivering an interesting course of lectures in this town, intends to dedicate the profits of one lecture towards a fund for erecting a monument to the memory of a man, of whom not only With respect to Pax's argument touching the burial of Liverpool and the neighbourhood, but the kingdom at the dead being natural, I must have greater proof than large, have reason to be proud. Mr. Holden's lecture, his assertion to convince me of its truth. Both Pax and his which will take place on an early day, of which notice will Authority Burnet, acknowledge that the common people of be given in the newspapers, will be peculiarly interesting, Egypt and Rome, only refrained from embalming or as he intends to introduce all the astronomical scenery, burning their dead, because these methods were expen- the display of which generally occupies the whole of his fre, not because they were unnatural. And upon a course. The scenery will be accompanied with brief alm consideration of the question, I am inclined to hink that burning the dead is more natural than lay g them in the earth. By burning, a speedy decomition takes place, through a natural agent, and the ady is quickly reduced to its kindred dust, or its kindred shes, while in the earth it becomes a prey to every noxious ptile that is abhorrent in the eyes of man! But, Sir, is not my intention to push this argument further; I only nch upon it to show that Pax is not quite "at home," hen he says burial is natural. I think I have sufficiently answered Pax's boast of his rguments being in statu quo, and in taking my leave of his gentleman, I must acknowledge his talents, his poteness, and his good humour. If ever it be my fate to ngage in another discussion through the columns of the Kaleidoscope, I should not wish for a more agreeable opaonent than Pax, and with every wish for his future happiness and welfare, I most respectfully bid him farewell. The observations of the scribe, who signs Paul Pry, are beneath contempt. The statements made by your able correspondent Observer, I am not prepared to refute, o they must stand as a kind of set off against the good produced by anatomy. You will perceive by the manner in which this is written, that I am in haste. In truth, any time bas of late been so fully occupied, that I have been obliged, sorely against my will, to let a few articles descriptions and explanations. With this preface, we "Jeremiah Horrox, an eminent English astronomer, in "There are two things, in particular, which will serve to perpetuate the memory of this extraordinary young man. One is, that he was the first who ever predicted or saw the passage of Venus over the sun's disc; for we do tree, had ever beheld such a phenomenon: and, though he was not apprized of the grand use that was to be made of it, in discovering the parallax and distance of the sun and planets, yet he made from it many useful observations, of Venus. The other memorable circumstance is, his new theory of lunar motions, which Newton himself made the ground-work of all his astronomy relative to the moon, always speaking of our author as a genius of the first not find that any persons, besides himself and Mr. Crab corrections, and improvements, in the theory of the motions rank." The Drama. MR. SALTER. Shakspeare's splendid play of Hamlet was produced last night, for the purpose of introducing Mr. Salter to wished this gentleman had selected some other character the Dublin boards. We must confess that we would have for his debut, as we are convinced that he has sufficient materiel about him to fit him for a respectable station in the profession he has chosen. The character itself is perhaps the most singularly difficult in the range of the drama, and although Mr. Salter's performance was level, and not unpleasing, we still think that he has shared the fate of many of his predecessors, and failed in his exertion to portray the Hamlet of Shakspeare. Some of the scenes, however, exhibited striking marks of genius and conception, and, taking it as a whole, it would be almost as difficult to find fault as it would be to bestow unqualified praise.-Saunders's News Letter, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 1826. Hamlet was played last night. The attraction in the bill was the novelty of Mr. Salter, from the Theatres Royal, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester," (we Hamlet. Mr. Salter made some good points, which we wonder they did not add Sheffield and Leeds,) enacting shall not now enumerate, and he fell into many errors which we shall not mention, as we do not detail his sucWe dare say we shall see him agai.—Morning cess. Register, Nov. 7, 1826. Otway's "Venice Preserved" was performed last evening. Mr. Salter was the Jaffier. This gentleman improves upon acquaintance, and although we still hold the opinion that he is not fitted for the upper ranks of the drama, it must be admitted that in this character he displayed talents of a very superior order. He was loudly applauded throughout.-Stunders's News Letter, Thursday, Nov. 9, 1826. |