Notwithstanding the aversion of the Chinese to the profession of the Roman Catholic religion, which has been shown, first by persecuting, and then by expelling the Jesuits from the empire, the Chinese government is, however, obliged to keep at least some missionaries at Pekin to compile the almanac. While astrology has led in other nations to the study of astronomy, the Chinese, though they have studied astrology for some thousand years, have made no progress in the real knowledge of the stars. Their ancient boasted observations, and the instruments which they make use of, were brought by the learned men, whom Koubilaï, the grandson of Gingis Khan, had invited from Balk and Samarcand. The government, at present, considers the publication of an annual calendar of the first importance and utility. It must do every thing in its power, not only to point out to its numerous subjects the distribution of the seasons, the knowledge of which is essentially necessary to them, to arrange the manner of gaining their livelihood, and distributing their labour; but on account of the general superstition, it must mark in the almanac, the lucky and unlucky days, the best days for being married, for undertaking a journey, for making their dresses, for buying, or building, for presenting petitions to the emperor, and for many other cases of ordinary life. By this means, the government keeps the people within the limits of humble obedience; it is for this reason that the emperors of China established the academy of astronomy, but we must not expect to find men really acquainted with that science. When this illustrious body, composed of Mantchoos, and in which Europeans, though subordinate, are the most active, condescended to look at the planetarium, which was among the presents which the king of England sent to the emperor of China by lord Macartney, Mr. Barrow was not able to make the president of this learned society understand the real merit of that instrument. Besides, how should a people be able to comprehend astronomy, to know the position of the heavenly bodies, and determine the orbits of the planets, while it is ignorant of the elements of mathematics, and makes its calculations by the help of vertical arithmetical tables, like those used by the shop-keepers in Russia, and who are ignorant both of analysis and geometry?—Timkowski's Mission to China.
The following are points of comparison which may be remarked in the characters of the French and English. The French are great talkers, the English great thinkers; the former excel in vivacity, the latter in solidity of intellect. The French dress with splendour, the English with neatness; the French live almost exclusively on bread, the English on meat. Both are passionate; but it is the blood which rouses the passion of a Frenchman, and the bile which exasperates an Englishman. The anger of a Frenchman is more violent, that of an Englishman more pertinacious. A Frenchman spends his money on his clothes, an Englishman on his belly. A Frenchman follows the stream, an Englishman delights in struggling against it. The friendships of the French are quickly formed, and as quickly dissolved; those of the English are formed slowly, and as slowly relinquished. The French respect their superiors, the English respect themselves; the former are better citizens, the latter better men. The mental endowments of the French are of a more refined, those of the English of a loftier, character. The French practise virtue for the sake of reputation, and seek the reward of meritorious actions in popular applause; the English practise it for its own sake, and seek no reward but that which springs from the consciousness of rectitude. There is the same relative difference in their vices as in their virtues. Both commit crimes; the French from the love of gain, the desire of vengeance or similar motives; but the English are often criminal for the mere sake of committing crime. The French, like the people of other countries, often commit crimes in the hope of escaping punishment, but the English frequently commit crimes because they know they cannot escape unpunished; so that the very severity of the law, which deters others from crime, often operates as an additional stimulus on the English for the commission of offences, "I would commit this offence," exclaims the Frenchman, "if the law permitted it." "I would not commit this offence, if it were not prohibited by law," is frequently the language of the Englishman.—Memoirs of Lewis Holberg.
With tender vine-leaves wreathe thy brow,
And I shall fancy that I see,
In the bright eye that laughs below,
The dark grape on its parent tree.
'Tis but a whim—but, oh! entwine
Thy brow with this green wreath of mine.
Weave of the clover-leaves a wreath,
Fresh sparkling with a summer-shower,
And I shall, in my fair one's breath,
Find the soft fragrance of the flower.
'Tis but a whim—but, oh! do thou
Twine the dark leaves around thy brow.
Oh, let sweet-leaved geranium be
Entwined amidst thy clustering hair,
Whilst thy red lips shall paint to me,
How bright its scarlet blossoms are.
'Tis but a whim—but, oh! do thou
Crown with my wreath thy blushing brow.
Oh, twine young rose-leaves round thy head,
And I shall deem the flowers are there,—
The red rose on thy rich cheek spread,
The white upon thy forehead fair.
'Tis but a whim—but, oh! entwine
My wreath round that dear brow of thine.
The Draught of Immortality, &c.
At the Academy of Sciences at Paris, a memoir was read by Captain Duperrey, on the experiments made with the invariable pendulum, during the voyage of the Coquille round the world. He states that various experiments confirmed the fact of the flattening of the terrestrial globe, conjectured by several travellers, who had remarked that the number of oscillations which the pendulum made at certain places, differed from what had been observed in the extent of the same parallel. The principal anomalies observed by Captain Duperrey were at the Isle of France, Mons, Guam, and the Island of Ascension. At the Isle of France, the invariable pendulum (as had been remarked by M. Freycinet) made in one day, upon an average, thirteen or fourteen oscillations more than it ought, supposing the depression to be 1.305, according to the lunar theory. At Ascension, the acceleration, as noticed by Captain Sabine, was five or six oscillations, even supposing the depression to be 1.228. At other stations the difference was almost nothing; and in some, the motion of the pendulum was retarded. Such differences, Captain Duperry remarks, between the results of experiment and those given by theory, cannot be attributed to errors of observation. He is disposed to refer the cause of the phenomena, with Captain Sabine, to the want of homogeneousness in the earth, considered as a mass, or to the mere variations of density in the superficial strata. What tends to confirm this hypothesis, he says, is, that all observations show that an acceleration of the pendulum generally takes place on volcanic ground and a retardation on such as is sandy and argillaceous. A very important question to ascertain is, whether the flattening is exactly the same in both hemispheres. From the observations of Captains Duperrey and Freycinet, it appears that in the southern hemisphere it is 1.291, and in the northern 1.288; that is to say, it is sensibly the same, or 1.290 in both.
The following curious observations on the habits of plants, were made by General Walker, in his address to the Agricultural Society of St. Helena, in February last:—"The functions of plants, as well as of animals, depend upon the air in which they live. I have observed that those of St. Helena, which have been brought from another hemisphere, are very irregular in their annual progress; many of them, in the development of their foliage, have adopted the law of nature peculiar to the country into which they have been transplanted. Others, more obstinate, remain faithful to their own habits, and continue to follow the stated changes to which they had been accustomed. They all appear to maintain a struggle either before they adopt the habits which belong to the seasons of their new country, or decide on retaining their relations with the old. In yielding to external circumstances, they appear to have different tempers. This appearance of contention is often observed in plants of the same species; they seem to hesitate and deliberate, ere they adopt the mode of performing the functions of life. At length when the decision is made, apparently not without pain and effort, we are at a loss to discover an adequate cause. An oak, for instance, which loses its leaves in a St. Helena winter of 68 degrees, scarcely experiences the difference of temperature, which, reasoning by analogy, could cause that change. It would have continued to maintain inflexibility, in its original climate, its old habits, though exposed to far greater irregularity and severity of climate. But though the law is obeyed by many plants, it does not determine the periodical changes of the whole, nor do they all submit to it with equal readiness and regularity. It would add, I conceive, to the natural history of vegetation, and improve our knowledge of the geography of plants, were the facts concerning their habits and changes, under different temperatures, carefully collected."
The wonderful miracles wrought by Bridget Bostock, of Cheshire, who healed all diseases by prayer, faith, and an embrocation of fasting spittle, induced multitudes to resort to her from all parts of the country, and kept her salival glands in full employ. Sir John Pryce, with a high spirit of enthusiasm, wrote to this woman to make him a visit at Newton Hall, in order to restore to him his third, a favourite, wife. His letter will best tell the foundation on which he built his strange hope, and every uncommon request.
To Mrs. Bridget Bostock.
Madam,—Having received information, by repeated advices, both public and private, that you have of late performed many wonderful cures, even where the best physicians have failed; and that the means used appear to be very inadequate to the effect produced; I cannot but look upon you as an extraordinary and highly favoured person. And why may not the same most merciful God, who enables you to restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and strength to the same, also enable you to raise the dead to life? Now, having lately lost a wife, whom I most tenderly loved, my children a most excellent step-mother, and our acquaintances a most dear and valuable friend, you will lay us all under the highest obligations; and I earnestly entreat you, for God Almighty's sake, that you will put up your petitions to the Throne of Grace on our behalf, that the deceased may be restored to us, and the late dame Eleanor Pryce be raised from the dead. If your personal attendance appears to you to be necessary, I will send my coach and six, with proper servants to wait on you hither, whenever you please to appoint. Recompense of any kind that you may please to propose would be made with the utmost gratitude; but I wish the bare mention of it is not offensive to both God and you.
I am, madam,
Your most obedient, and very much afflicted, humble servant,
JOHN PRYCE.
The late Rev. Thomas Toller, an eminent dissenting minister, (joint preacher with the celebrated Dr. James Fordyce, at Monkwell-street,) resided many years in the Lower-street, Islington. One day, when he got into the stage to come to London, he met with two ladies of his acquaintance, and a loquacious young Irishman, who was very obtrusive with his "would-be wit" to the females. The coachman soon stopped to take up another passenger, who, Dutchman-like, was "slow to make haste." A young dog, being confined in the neighbourhood, bewailed its loss of liberty, by making an hideous noise; which all the party agreed was very disagreeable. The Hibernian, desirous to display his wit, and to quiz the parson, said, "The animal was so unpleasantly noisy, it must be a presbyterian dog." Mr. Toller calmly, but with much apparent confidence, said, "I am sure it is an Irish dog."—"How do you know that?" exclaimed the astonished young man with eagerness.—"I know it, sir," (replied the divine,) "by its impudence and its howl." This seasonable retort cured the garrulity of the patient, and gave him a locked-jaw till the stage arrived at the Royal Exchange.
It was his custom, to retire in the evening to what he considered the most comfortable corner in the house, and take his seat close, to the kitchen fireside, in order to draw some plan for the forming a new instrument, or scheme for the improvement of one already made. There, with his drawing implements on the table before him, a cat sitting on the one side, and a certain portion of bread, butter, and a small mug of porter placed on the other side, while four or five apprentices commonly made up the circle, he amused himself with either whistling the favourite air, or sometimes singing the old ballad of
"If she is not so true to me,
What care I to whom she be?
What care I, what care I, to whom she be!"
and appeared, in this domestic group, contentedly happy. When he occasionally sent for a workman, to give him necessary directions concerning what he wished to have done, he first showed the recent finished plan, then explained the different parts of it, and generally concluded by saying, with the greatest good humour, "Now see, man, let us try to find fault with it;" and thus, by putting two heads together, to scrutinize his own performance, some alteration was probably made for the better. But, whatever expense an instrument had cost in forming, if it did not fully answer the intended design, he would immediately say, after a little examination of the work, "Bobs, man! this won't do, we must have at it again;" and then the whole of that was put aside, and a new instrument, begun. By means of such perseverance, he succeeded in bringing various mathematical, philosophical, and astronomical instruments to perfection. The large theodolite for terrestrial measurements, and the equal altitude instrument for astronomy, will always be monuments of his fertile, penetrating, arduous, superior genius! There cannot be a lover (especially of this more difficult part) of philosophy, in any quarter of the globe, but must admire the abilities, and respect the memory, of Jesse Ramsden—Practical Observations on Telescopes.
"I am but a Gatherer and disposer of other men's stuff."—Wotton.
Mr. Kelly, in his "Reminiscences," relates, that in 1792 he was walking in the Place Vendome with two Irish gentlemen, a Colonel Stark Macarthy and a Captain Fagan, the latter possessing "a vast portion of the ready wit of his country." Coming to the celebrated statue of Victory holding the laurel crown over the head of Louis XIV., a French officer was enumerating the splendid achievements of that heroic king, and particularly desired us to observe the attitude of the figure of Victory. "Pray, sir," said Fagan, "may I take the liberty of asking the question—Is Victory putting the laurel on his majesty's head, or taking it off?" The question puzzled the Frenchman, and made us laugh heartily.
Parr carried his compassion towards the inferior tribes so far, that two or three hares found a secure asylum for nearly two years in his garden at Hatton. He said that they were his clients, for they had placed themselves under his protection. He gave strict orders that they should not be shot. "It would be a gross violation," he said, "of a tacit covenant of hospitality."
A few months since, a noble marquis bespoke a play at a country theatre, the representation of which Mr. Canning, prime minister, honoured with his presence. The boxes and other parts of the house were crammed, with the exception of the pit, which looked beggarly; on which an actor observed to a brother of the sock, "We've no pit to-night."—"No Pitt!" rejoined the other, "and none we want while we have a Canning!"
Footnote 1: (return)I should feel highly obliged if any of your valuable correspondents would favour me, through the medium of the MIRROR, with the name of the noble to whom the above arms appertained.
Footnote 2: (return)The remaining part was left to Lady Thornhill, who lived several years with her son-in-law after the death of Sir James.
Footnote 3: (return)Our Royal Academy is now governed precisely on the same principles as is the French Academy. What would Hogarth have said, had he lived at the present day?
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