It was not only the learning of Caroline Thornbush | than was his father. Hence Scotsmen are said to be | Scotsman who could approach those illustrious walls with
that had alarmed Valentine during the progress of the aspiring: granted that they are aspiring; nor, it is said, out reverence, or enter their rugged precincts, unconscious
projected union; the tender youth was chained by a prior do they omit to avail themselves of such means, however that his tread was upon hallowed ground, does not deserve
engagement; and his mother's dairymaid had engaged venal, as may tend to their advancement. This feature the name of Scot; if with indifference he could call to
his affections long before his provident parents thought in their moral character is, probably, of a less amiable his recollection the days when those halls were the sanc
of settling him. He had been totally unable to withstand complexion than could be wished; nevertheless, few men, tuary and palace of his country's princes, or if he would
the blooming charms of the plump, rosy-cheeked maiden; of whatever country, will hesitate to embrace inviting cir-witness one stone of this venerable relic to be torn from its
but she, on her side, had had sufficient fortitude to resist cumstances, if such tend to their aggrandizement.
rest, and his spirit not mount and kindle as if a sacri
all his allurements and protestations until they were ac-
legious hand were laid on the hoary locks of a parent,
companied by a promise of marriage in due form, of which
not worthy the name and protection of the land of his
she had received a copy from her brother, the life-guards-
fathers. I feel, by my emotions, that I have a portion
man, whose advice she had asked on the subject. This
the Scottish enthusiasm in me. I hope I do not possess
little ceremony once gone through, she had no longer
any of their reputed cunning.
found it necessary to distress the feelings of her lover
through excessive rigour. She had listened to his plain,
unsophisticated tale, and the consequence of her com-
pliance had manifested itself by the appearance of a
third Wauman, whilst the two others were from home.
The lady of the house felt mightily wroth when she heard
of the event, and there is no saying to what excesses her
fury against her second self might not have been carried,
if, on her reaching the servants' room, she had not been
met by the bold dragoon, who presented the abovemen-
tioned promise of marriage to her infuriated eyes, and
declared that he would not only protect his innocent sister
against all violence, but that he would also see her put
in possession of all her rights and privileges.

Some splenetic moralist, however, hath remarked, that
a Scotsman can descend to dirtier expedients than men of
most countries. 1 demur to adopt such an assertion, and
think I could except some sundry continental nations,
together with the great American Continent: but these
are invidious insinuations; and as my intention was to
sketch a few odd traits of the Scottish character, as they
present themselves to memory, united sometimes with cha-So saith Gowdie, one of the generation of Coila's obscure
racteristic scenery of town and country, I shall direct my
attention, in the first place, to the capital of Scotland.
"Edina, Scotia's darling seat

"For Cunning hath that servile front and eye, Which makes me think of her contem-tu-ously."

bards.

Belfour, in his history of Scotland, says that Queen Mary, on the 19th of August, 1562, landed at Leith, All hail thy palaces and towers; when the Scots were under the necessity of escorting her Where once beneath a monarch's feet to Holyrood-house, over a barren country. When you Sat legislation's sovereign powers." look down upon Leith, which, from the Calton-hill, lies "Auld reckie," alias Edenburg, is a proud city, enjoying the combined embellishment of sea, mountain, and about two and a half miles northwards, it is a strong effort to imagine that Queen Mary was escorted over a barret river. The inhabitants, by way of eminence, have styled country. All is now so cheerful and beautifully fertiletheir town the " Northern Athens." To question the pro-gardens, villas, and, lastly, the wide-spreading suburb priety of this title would infer a great want of classical lore of Leith crowding and condensing, as they approach the and good breeding; the Athenians know best their city's more ancient burgh, which, for filthiness, and narrownes claim to this cognomination, and no men are more clas- of streets, and irregularity of buildings, huddled in mor sical and well bred than they ;-they are pleased with it, tifying contrast, I shall match with "ould Dublin" her and why not we; they are proud of their city, and we re-self; but more anon. joice to think they have occasion to be proud.

Belfast, notwithstanding the arrogance of Edenburg, disputes her usurpation of this title, and there are many well-meaning people in Ireland who shrewdly suspect that Belfast hath the stronger claim; but, as they say in Edenburg, this is not a question of meum et tuum.

Our travellers returned just after the fatal discovery and
explanation, and the ebullition that took place is, there-
fore, easily accounted for. The Justice attempted to enter
into a negociation with the man of war, but nothing short
of lawful marriage would satisfy him, and the disconsolate
Valentine blubbered forth that nothing but the possession
of his dear Anna Catharina could ever make him happy
in this world. What was to be done? The father yielded
to the dictates of reason, and the mother to her feelings
of tenderness: both gave way; and the Rev. Mr. Scot-
tenius had soon the satisfaction of bestowing his impartial
The most striking object which presents itself, upon en-
blessing on the double marriage-knot of his respective tering Edenburg, is the stately Castle, high seated on her
parishioners. He pronounced on this occasion his fifty-eternal rock, and sternly holding dominion over the ancient
eighth sermon, which will be given gratis to those who
wish to subscribe for the fifty-six, that have been so for-
tunately preserved.

We most sincerely wish him success in all his lawful undertakings, and we shall, therefore, refrain from adding any moral to this our simple narrative, trusting that most of our readers will be wise enough to find it out themselves; although we cannot help thinking that a few well-chosen engravings, of the most interesting scenes, would wonderfully illustrate and improve the wit of our performance.

No. 1.

SKETCHES OF SCOTLAND AND SCOTSMEN.
BY DOCTOR TIMOTHY TWIST,
Graduate of the Marischal College, Aberdeen.
Know'st thou the land of the mountain and flood,
Where the pine of the forest for ages has stood;
Where the eagle comes forth on the wings of the storm,
And her young ones are rock'd on the high Cairngor'm?
Address to Lord Byron.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS-MODERN ATHENS-VIEW
FROM THE CALTON-HILL.

Scotland has long been famed for the bravery and indus. try of her sons, and is distinguished from almost every other nation on the globe for the superior scholastic information of her peasantry. This flattering distinction is to be attributed to the facilities offered by her system of parochial education—a system which renders it an easy matter for parents to bestow upon their offspring the rudiments of useful knowledge. To this add the Scotsman's natural love of advancement; a passion in him "strong as death," and which engages the heart of the parent in the laudable pursuit to constitute the son, if possible, a greater man

88, L

The Housewife.

"Housekeeping and husbandry, if it be good,
Must love one another as cousins in blood:
The wife, too, must husband as well as the man,
Or farewell thy husbandry, do what thou can."

To Detect Adulteration in Bread.-Run into the crumb

of a loaf one day old, the blade of a knife considerably heated; and if adulterated with alum, it will show its unwholesome adherences on the surface; and it may be further detected by the smell. Bone-dust or plaster of Paris may be discovered, by slicing the soft part of a loai thin, and soaking it in a large quantity of water in an earthen vessel, placed over a slow fire, three or four hours. Then having poured off the water and pap, the obnoxious matter will be found at the bottom.

capital of Caledonia. Edenburg, from the Calton-hill,
presents to you a city of palaces embosomed in "a strange
prospect of rich country, with vast rocks and mountains
intermixed." You admire her spires, monuments, and
domes-her bridges and triumphal arches; for "auld
reckie," as a city, is one of the finest in the world to look
upon, but I pray you do not search into her details-do
Cure for Dysentery.-A decoction of the roots of black-
not enter her lanes and closes-do not climb her fourteen-berry bushes is a safe, sure, and speedy cure for the dysen-
storied buildings-do not walk out before sun-rise, at
tery. This receipt was obtained from the Oneida Indians
least without an umbrella and pattens-do not forget yourThe foregoing, copied from an American newspaper
snuff-box, for the flowers of Edenburg" scent high in reminds us of another medicine for dysentery, derived
the dews of the morning-but above all, do not say in from the same vegetable, which should not be lost. I
Edenburg that aught is within her walls to annoy the the West Indies, from Bristol, by a physician of that city
was constantly introduced into the medicine-chests sent to
finest sense, or tickle the most delicate perception, for the whose name we do not recollect, and, being very effica
Athenians love their city.
cious, was much inquired for after his death, some fort
or fifty years ago. It was communicated to the writer d
this article by the daughter, Mrs. Letham, who has als
been dead some years. It consists simply of the com
mon blackberries, gathered when ripe. They were pu
into an oven, not very hot, to exhale all the moistur
from them; and when quite crisp and dry, were reduce
to powder, and then kept in well closed bottles. We s
not informed what quantity made a dose, or how often
should be exhibited, but we are assured, that it operate
as a powerful and safe remedy.

The Calton-hill also commands an extensive view of the
Forth, the Fife coast, and part of the Lothians; towards the
south, and overshadowing the lower part of the old town,
frown those stupendous piles of rock known by the names
of Arthur's Seat and Salusbury's Craigs; behind them re-
tire in darker grandeur the Pentland-hills, the whole im-
pressing the imagination with ideas original, romantic,
and sublime. Pennant says, referring to Arthur's and
Salusbury's Craigs, that "their fronts exhibit a romantic
and wild scene of broken rocks and vast precipices, which,
from some points, seem to overhang the lower parts of the
city. Great columns of stone, from forty to fifty feet in
length, and about two feet in diameter, regularly penta-
gonal, or hexagonal, hang down the face of some of these
rocks almost perpendicularly, or with a very slight dip,
and form a strange appearance." On the summit of
Arthur's Seat bonfires were lighted, to welcome our excel-
lent King, on his memorable visit to the "land o' cakes."
In the plain, between Salusbury Craigs and the Calton-
hill, we behold the ever revered Holyrood-house. The

* I prefer this orthography to "Edinburgh."

A Hint to Mothers. All young animals natural delight to be in the open air, and in perpetual motion but we signify our disapprobation of this intention nature by confining our infants mostly in houses, ar swathing them from the time they are born as tightly possible. This natural instinct appears very strong sh we see a child released from its confinement, in the sho interval betwixt pulling off its day clothes, and swathing again before it is put to sleep. The evident tokens of d light which the little creature shows in recovering the fr use of its limbs, and the strong reluctance it discovers to again remitted to its bondage, one would think would strik conviction of the cruelty and absurdity of this practice in the most stupid of mankind.-Dr. Gregory's Comparata View of the Faculties of Man with those of the Animal IVorld.

SKETCH OF A PLAN

FOR A FLOATING SLIP, OR LANDING-PLACE.

At a time when daily and hourly complaints are made of the abominable accommodations for persons, who have occasion to use the landing-steps to and from our piers, every suggestion which tends to remedy the glaring and dangerous nuisance is deserving of consideration. We have frequently suggested very simple and effectual modes of constructing the pier-steps, and have incurred the expense of engraving a model, which was universally approved. Still, however, nothing has been done, although the present state of George's Pier, especially, is a standing reproach to the town, and an annoyance to all strangers, as well as natives.

Mr. Thomas Jevons has suggested a Floating Slip, and has himself provided the engraving, which we now introduce to our readers, with an accompanying description, in the hopes that it will, at least, lead to a discussion of the subject.

a The shore or quay.

b The river at the lowest ebb of a spring tide.

e The shore strand or sand-bank.

dd The road-way of the slip or pier.

e The floats or boats, which raise the slip as the tide rises.

stances.

10 20 20 60 80 400 120 feet

REMARKS.

Any part that may be damaged can be speedily replaced by keeping a duplicate always at hand in good repair.

The slip may be made to stretch further out into the river, or it may be drawn more in upon the land, according to circum- The above sketch was made to show the principle upon which a landing-place may It is not necessary that the whole length be formed, so as to obviate the inconveof it should be in a right line; it may be di-niences occasioned by the rise and fall of the The projector was induced to plan it, in the hopes that it might suggest some improvement of the landing-places of our own port, and he conceives that it would not be difficult to modify it to suit some particular sites on the river, without injury to the navigation.

land or over the water.

f Principals to strengthen the road-way; the span be-verted in any other direction, either over the
tween these particular floats being too wide to
carry without.
Stages of open frame-work, to prevent the slip from
sinking too low for a convenient descent.

h Dotted lines which show the range of the slip at high water and spring tide.

i Column to which this set of floats may be moored.

The outer floats may be moored in the ordinary way, except that the chains should be made fast to them some feet below the surface of the water, so as to permit packets and boats to pass freely over.

tide.

SOLUTION 11.

5 Knight....G-8+ (by discovery)

6 Queen .....F-6

1 Castle....H-1+ 8 Castle takes the

Kaight+MATE.

4 King H 8 or G 7
(k) 5 King ....H-7

(1) 6 Knight G 2, F 3,
or F 5
7 Knight H 4, H 2,
or H 6

If the black king takes the knight, the white castle checks at E 8, and, in the following move, gives checkmate at H 8. If the black pawn covers the check at F 6, the white queen takes the pawn, then the white castle moves to E8, (7) If the black king takes the knight, the white castle gives cheek at E 8, and afterwards checkmate at H 8. If the black pawn moves to G 5, the white queen checks at H 6, and, in the following move, the white castle gives checkmate at E 8.

and afterwards gives checkmate at H 8.

▷ The following paragraph, respecting an Irish Brigh from the Dublin Evening Post, requires some introtion, and we accordingly preface it with an editorial ticle from the Mercury, to which we have made some tion-Edit. Kal.

SHANNON NAVIGATION.

the sea coast from Seapoint to Dunleary, which, the editor P. S. Since the foregoing appeared in the Mercury, the
of the Dublin Evening Post observes, is "perhaps the following paragraph, in the Limerick Observer, has at
tracted our notice. If we understand it right, it is con-
most picturesque and beautiful line along the entire bay templated to deepen the Shannon, and have a canal for
of Dublin." We have frequently heard it so described, steain-boats from Limerick to Dublin. This would be
but our editorial duties have never yet left us sufficiently at very desirable, but we prefer the plan of making the cut
leisure to visit the Emerald island, which we do not, how-navigable for large vessels.
ever, despair of seeing, at some time or other.
Connected with the internal improvement of Ireland, we The long talked of Shannon Navigation Company is at
shall here venture to hint at a grand project, which, although length formed and in activity. No measure that has been
the bare suggestion may subject us to the raillery or actual yet devised for the improvement of this part of Ireland is
laughter of a great majority of our readers, is, we can of greater importance than this; or more likely, within a
assure them, countenanced by some most intelligent short period, to be eminently profitable to the under-
and sober-minded individuals, and strongly recom- takers. The Shannon, though dividing the centre of Ire-
mended by one especially, who, as an engineer, mechanic, land for a considerable portion of its length, and rendered
chymist, and gentleman of general acquirements, stands navigable, at great expense, by the Irish Parliament, has
hitherto been almost entirely useless for all purposes of
almost at the head of the list of scientific Englishmen.
This extensive, this mighty, but, we think, not im- conveyance or communication, owing to the great
practicable project, for benefiting Ireland, and for facili- breadth of the river and the extent of the lakes through
tating and rendering more safe the commerce of England which the line of navigation passed, and where the barges
and of America, with Liverpool especially, is no other were exposed, as in an open sea, to be delayed by contrary
than to CUT A CANAL THROUGH THE FORMER, FROM winds. It has always appeared to us very extraordinary,
SEA TO SEA!
that, while steam-vessels were in every direction crossing
We are not aware that this project has ever been pub- the seas-while there was a strong competition of steam
licly proposed, or its merits fairly discussed; we only conveyance in the principal ports of Ireland, so long a
know, as we have just observed, that experienced and ju- period should elapse before the powers of steam were ap-
dicious civil engineers not only consider it practicable, but plied to the navigation of the Shannon. It was neither a
are of opinion that its accomplishment would not be at- doubtful nor heavy undertaking. The intercourse be-
tended with any very formidable obstacles. Unacquainted tween Dublin and Limerick would, alone, support a
as we are with the local impediments which the topography steam establishment on the river, not to speak of the whole
of the country might oppose to the undertaking, we intermediate line of country with its towns and villages,
merely propose the subject with the view of eliciting in and without taking into account what is now so well
formation. If ever such a canal as that we are recom- known, that a facility of conveyance creates intercourse.
mending should be formed, the waters of the Shannon The projectors of the present Company deserve the thanks
would, in all probability, be appropriated, as that noble of the country; and we have no doubt they will derive
river is already navigable for a certain class of vessels from the undertaking all the profit they deserve.-No city
almost to the centre of the country.
required greater exertions than Limerick to lift it out of
its own littleness, and those contracted habits which en-
compassed it, like its ancient walls, and almost as im-
pregnable. We should hope that the projected steam
communications, on the one side with Dublin and the
Irish Sea, on the other with Valentia and the Atlantic,
will excite a new spirit of enterprise and improvement.-
Limerick Observer.

Whatever may be thought of this proposition by others, we do not hesitate to say, that unless the country is peculiarly mountainous and unmanageable, the labour would be inconsiderable, as the distance to be excavated is absolutely trifling, when the magnitude of the object is considered.

NEW BRIGHTON.

We are always boasting of the mechanical prodigies of Ar-
chimedes and the ancients, but there was nothing achieved
by them which could not be accomplished now, with this
difference, that the task would be performed in a tenth of
It is a remarkable circumstance connected with the city
the time. We do not now build pyramids, because we do and neighbourhood of Dublin, that, notwithstanding the
not require such useless incumbrances, but if, in the specu-city has the advantage of being built on the sea-board,
lative mania, a “pyramid joint stock company" should be and the surrounding coast furnishes some of the most
proposed, let the money be forthcoming, and we will beautiful and picturesque sites for marine villas perhaps
pledge ourselves that a pyramid, larger than that upon in the world, it had not hitherto occurred to those enter-
which Cheaps of old employed three hundred and sixty prising and moneyed men who are always found in a large
thousand men for twenty years, would be constructed in a capital, or to a company of individuals, to select and allo-
quarter of that time, by a few hundred men, and a few cate some of those numerous spots, which the magnificent
steam-engines.
amphitheatre that surrounds the Bay presents in such
abundance, with a view of erecting buildings for the ac-
commodation, not only of the citizens, but of others, in
the interior, and even in England, to whom sea-bathing
may be recommended. When we reflect upon the expen-
sive contrivances to which they have recourse in London,
of carrying the sea-water a distance of nearly twenty-four
miles, into that city when the numerous establishments
there, of artificial baths of various kinds, and with various
pretensions, are considered, we might arrive at the conclu-
sion, if, indeed, the nature of the thing, and the reason of
it, were not abundantly demonstrative of its necessity and
its excellence, without any formal proof-of the high value
which not only the faculty, but the common sense and
experience of mankind place on sea-bathing. Hence it is
that the marine towns on the English coasts, when not an-
noyed by a concourse of sailors and their followers, have be-
come so flourishing, and present, during the summer sea-
son, such a busy and animating scene.

In the next Mercury we shall probably resume this subject, when we shall have occasion to advert to canals already formed, not only of considerably greater dimensions than that would be which we are recommending, but which have been constructed under local circumstances more unfavourable to their progress than those which are said to exist in Ireland.

The canal of Languedoc is a work, compared with [FROM THE LIVERPOOL MERCURY.] which that we are proposing would be insignificant MARINE VILLAS AND WATERING-PLACES IN THE and easy of accomplishment. The reservoir which was EIGHBOURHOOD OF DUBLIN, AND CANAL FROM SEA found necessary to feed it is two thousand four hundred SEA-Amongst the almost innumerable speculations yards in length, a thousand in breadth, and forty in depth. The canal itself is one hundred and twenty-two thousand ich distinguish this speculative era, we know of few, if four hundred and forty-six fathoms in length. It has one 7, which are more likely to be attended with benefit to hundred and one basins, which form sixty-two sluices. e public, and advantage to the projectors, than one re- Its breadth is almost thoughout sixty feet at the surface, ady announced in the Dublin Evening Post. It is the and thirty-two at the bottom. It is true that its depth ection of a marine villa, or series of villas, in the pic- does not exceed six feet, but no stress should be laid on that circumstance, as no greater depth was deemed requiaresque neighbourhood of Dublin, which abounds with site for the craft for which it was expressly constructed; very beautiful and commanding scenery, equal to al-had it been necessary to make its depth proportionate to most any which can be found throughout Europe. The its other dimensions, it is obvious that mechanical labour reation of these villas, besides occasioning the employment of much capital in Ireland, will have a tendency to eep the wealthy and fashionable portion of the community their own country, where they will expend the money hey now carry to Buxton, Brighton, or other English ering-places.

The plan of the Irish Brighton has not only been sugsted, but it is about to be immediately realized. A mpany is forming, the capital of which will be not than two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, in five Dusand shares, of fifty pounds each. The site selected is

and time would have been alone wanting for the pur-
pose of making the whole as deep as the reservoir. The
intention of this stupendous work was to effect a commu-
nication between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean.
It extends to Toulouse, where it communicates with the
river Garonne; so that there is water-communication from
the mouth of that river to the Mediterranean.

As we intend to resume this subject next week, we shall,
for the present, conclude, by reminding those who are in-
clined to ridicule the notion for intersecting Ireland with
navigable canal, that the new canal, up to Amsterdam,
has water sufficient for a first-rate ship of war; and that
a forty-four gun frigate has already navigated it.

a

40

Hence the success

of Worthing and other places; hence the summer excursions. which render the Isle of Wight so prosperous and so pleasant; and, above all, hence the rapid progress of Brighton, almost within our memories, to a state of unparalleled prosperity. Instances of the high value to which building ground has reached in Brighton and its vicinity, are supplied almost every day by the English journals. An example of this kind recurs to our recollection, and, no doubt, will be remembered by our readers. The Count St. Antonio's Marine Villa, and the few acres that surround it, was sold the other day by the foot, at a price for which a handsome estate could have been bought in Ireland, only a few years ago. The truth is, that Brighton and such places have not only become fashionable, but necessary. Of course, the expenses of such a residence, even for a few months, are enormous-sufficiently so, indeed, to deter any but the very wealthy or the very dissipated from

participating, in such places, that enjoyment, and from endeavouring to acquire that health and elasticity of spirits which sea-bathing is certain of communicating. It

Literature.

Written originally in French,

BY EDWARD GIBBON, JUNIOR, ESQ.

Reprinted for the Kaleidoscope.
(CONTINUED FROM A FORMER NUMBER.)

immense sum in the most prosperous times, but then absolutely out of the power of the republic to discharge. Sylla, therefore, embraced an expedient, rather dictated

is remarkable, however, that England, Queen of the AN ESSAY ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE, by necessity, and his own private interest, than the good Islands as she is, does not afford all the facilities which one might reasonably expect for sea-bathing.-There is Liverpool, for example, the name of which is a sort of synonyme for the mercantile and maritime wealth of England, into whose river more ships enter, and from which more depart, than from any other place (with the exception of the mouth of the Thames) in the empireat Liverpool there is no bathing-place within fifteen miles of the town. The inhabitants, when they are ordered by their physicians to do so, or when they wish to perpetuate their health, are obliged to betake themselves to some inconvenient spot in the neighbourhood, or to some petty village in Wales, where they can have no other sort of

amusement or recreation.

It is true, that the vicinity of the sea to Dublin allows the citizens of this metropolis greater facilities in this way, and, accordingly, they take care, as far as possible, to avail themselves of it. Yet there are many (and, indeed, those who mix much in society must be familiar with the circumstance) who complain that the bathing-places in our neighbourhood are by no means commensurate with the pretensions of our city, either in elegance or convenience. In short, those places are, generally speaking, an opprobrium to our taste, and a reproach to our love of comfort and cleanliness. Irishtown is, as we almost think it ought to be, nearly deserted. The turnpikes on the Northern road have been almost destructive to Clontarf as a bathingplace. Merrion and Williamstown-strands are open and almost unprotected. Black Rock and Dunleary are rather distant for those who live in this city. But there are many, who, if they could obtain commodious residences in the vicinity of those places, would, as we have good reason to know, make them, for the benefit of sea-bathing alone, their summer residence. This want has been severely felt, and has been repeatedly made the subject of complaint. Those little boxes, in this neighbourhood, which have been erected within the last few years, inconvenient as many of them are, have been rented off with avidity. But the great object is, to make a fashionable and respectable neighbourhood; in short, to make a little town on the coast, where ranges and rows of handsome marine villas might be erected, with all those conveniences indispensibly necessary for a permanent resident, a town which would combine, in a word, the elegancies of a city with the comforts and freedom of the country. A plan for such a town, the reader is already aware, has not only been devised, but is now about to be carried into execution. In short, the New Brighton Company has been formed. The prospectus of this Company may be seen in another place. There are 5000 fifty-pound shares, making a capital of £250,000 British. That it is gotten up under the most unexceptionable auspices, will be sufficiently manifest by referring to the names of the patrons and committee; and that the public have an ample confidence, not only in those noblemen and gentlemen, but in the success of the undertaking, is evident from the premium which the shares, when they are offered for sale, already bear in the market.

The address of Virgil.
XVIII. The better one is acquainted with antiquity,
the more one admires the art and address of the poet.
His subject, it must be confessed, was flat enough. The
flight of a band of refugees; their squabbles with a few
villagers, and the settling of a paltry town; these were the
boasted labours, the great exploits of the pious Eneas.
But the poet has dignified them, and in so doing has had
art enough to render them interesting. By an illusion,
too refined not to have escaped the generality of readers,
and too excellent to displease the critic, he hath embel-
lished the rude manners of the heroic ages, but has done
without disguising them. The herdsman Latinus, and
the quarrelsome Turnus, are, indeed, elevated into great
monarchs. All Italy trembles for the cause of liberty:
and Æneas triumphs over gods and men. Virgil knew
how to reflect all the glory of the Romans on their Trojan
ancestors. The founder of Rome eclipses that of Lavi-
nium. It is a fire that kindles, and presently blazes over
the face of the earth. Eneas, if I may venture to express
myself, contained the germ of all his descendants. When
besieged in his camp, he naturally calls to mind a Cæsar
and an Alexis. We cannot divide our admiration between
them.

of the commonwealth: he distributed the lands among the veterans, and, accordingly, forty-seven legions were inmediately dispersed over Italy. Four and twenty military colonies were thus settled: ruinous expedient! It could not be otherwise; for if they were intermixed with the natives of the soil, they changed their habitations to find out their old acquaintance; and if they settled in a body, there was an army ready disciplined for any seditious general who would lead them to the field. These war riors, however, soon grew tired of an inactive life, and thinking it beneath them to earn by the sweat of their brows, what could only cost them a little blood, they soon dissipated their new substance in debaucheries, and, seeing no prospect of repairing their fortunes but by a civil war, they readily and powerfully entered into the designs of Catiline. Augustus, embarrassed in like manner, followed the same plan, and was justly apprehensive of the same fatal consequences. Still smoked in Italy the ashes of those fires its expiring liberty had kindled.

"Des feux qu'a rallumé sa liberté mourante.§ The hardy veterans had not acquired possessions but by a bloody war; and the frequent acts of violence they committed plainly showed they still thought themselves at liberty to keep them, sword in hand. (To be continued.)

mentation made by Marius, consisted of six thousand infantry, and three hundred horse. This considerable corps however, had but sixty-six officers, that is, sixty centurion: and six tribunes. So that the account stood thus:

£. Sterling

Two hundred and eighty-two thousand private
men at three thousand drachmas, or twelve 28,905,000
thousand sesterces, or £105 sterling, each.

But Virgil never displayed greater address than when,
descended with his hero, to the shades, his imagination
seemed at full liberty. Yet here he neither created new Two thousand eight hundred and twenty centu
nor imaginary beings. Romulus and Brutus, Scipio and
Cæsar, appeared, such as they had been in life, the admi-
ration or terror of Rome.

Of the Georgics.

XIX. One reads the Georgics with that lively taste the beautiful excites, and that exquisite pleasure the charms of the subject naturally inspire, in a susceptible mind. It is easy to conceive, however, that our admiration would be increased, by discovering in the poet a design equally noble and elevated, as the execution of it is highly finished. I constantly draw my examples from Virgil. His fine verses, and the precepts of his friend Horace, fixed the standard of taste among the Romans, and may serve to convey instruction to the most distant posterity. But to explain my sentiments more clearly, it is necessary to trace things a little further.

The Roman veterans.

XX. The Romans first fought for glory and for their country. After the siege of Veia+ they received some small pay, and sometimes were recompenced after a triumph: but they received these as gratuities, and not as their due. At the end of every war, the soldiers, becom. ing citizens, retired to their repective huts, and hung up their useless arms, to be resumed at the first signal

The site has been already chosen, and extends along the coast from Seapoint to Dunleary-perhaps the most picturesque and beautiful line along the entire of the Bay of When Sylla restored the public tranquillity, circumDublin. We take it for granted, and, indeed, the pro- stances were much altered. Above three hundred thouspectus of the Company warrants us in the conclusion, that sand men, accustomed to luxury and slaughter,§ without an architect, not only of judgment and skill in the build-substance, without home, without principle, required reing of houses, but of taste in their allocation and respec- wards. Had the dictator paid them in money, according tive positions, will be employed to lay out the town-that to the rate afterwards established by Augustus, it had cost is to say, so as to arrange and combine the houses so as him upwards of thirty-two millions, of our money ;|| an not to depart too far from those characteristics which should always distinguish a Village Ornee. To such an architect we would recommend the works of Uvedale Price-not with a view of copying any that is, for we trust no models will be adopted-but solely in the hope that he might be directed by Mr. Price's principles, in making the most of the admirable site on which he will be enjoined to work. We shall watch with great solicitude, and we hope we shall have to add with great pleasure, the progress of this undertaking, convinced, as we are, that it will be the means of rendering this neighbourhood, already so much in favour with the Dublin public, still more popular; and, that it will have the effect of bringing to our capital several natives of the sister country from the opposite coast, who, in New Brighton, will find all the comforts and conveniences of a city combined with the ease and freedom of the country.

We expect in a few days to be able to lay the plan, in detail, before our readers, together with the means which the Company possess of carrying their views into complete and speedy effect.

rions and fourteen thousand one hundred horse at six thousand drachmas, or £210 sterling, each.

Two hundred and eighty-two tribunes at twelve thousand drachmas, or £410, each.

3,468,600

115,620

Sum total £32,489,220 According to Dr. Arbuthnot's calculations, it should be only £30,705,220, the drachma being worth only 73d. English money.(3) But, from the researches I have made, I find that both in weight and value, and worth 84d. of our money.(4) the Attic drachma, of later years, was equal to a Roman denier * Livy, lib. lxxxix.-Epitom. Freinsheim. Suppl. lib. lxxxix. c. 34.

Tacitus, de Moribus Germanorum, p. 441. Sallust. in Bell. Catilin. p. 40. Cicero in Catilin. Orat. ii. § Racin. Mithridate, act iii. sc. I.

I See Donatus, life of Virgil. Virgil. Eclog. ix. v. 2. &c.
(1) Dion. Cass.

(2) Wotton's History of Rome, p. 154.
(3) Arbuth. Tables, p. 15.

(4) Manuscript remarks on the weights, &c. of the ancients. Hooper, p. 108, and Eissenchmidt, p. 23, &c.

Scientific Records.

[Comprehending Notices of new Discoveries or Improve ments in Science or Art; including, occasionally, sin gular Medical Cases; Astronomical, Mechanical, Phi losophical, Botanical, Meteorological, and Mineralogica Phenomena, or singular Facts in Natural History Vegetation, &c.; Antiquities, &c.; List of Patents;to be continued in a series through the Volume.]

Nothing is more difficult for a writer, educated in scenes
of luxury, than to describe simplicity without meanness.
Read the epistle of Penelope, in Ovid, and you will be disgusted
with that rusticity which gives so much delight in Homer. SIR HUMPHRY DAVY'S PROTECTORS FOR COPPER
In the writings of Madame Scudery, you will be as disagreea-
bly surprised to find, in the court of Tomyris, the splendour
of that of Louis the Fourteenth. One must be formed for

such manners to hit off their genuine simplicity. Reflection
has supplied the place of experience in Virgil, and, perhaps, in
Fenelon. They knew it was necessary to elevate them a
little, in conformity to the delicacy of their age and country;
but they knew that delicacy would be shocked at too taudry
embellishments.

Livy, book iv. c. 59, 60.

Livy, book xxx. c. 45, &c. Arbuthnot's Tables, p. 181, &c. § Sallust. in Bell. Catilin. p. 22. Edit. Thys.

This rate allowed three thousand drachmas, or twelve thousand sesterces to every private foot-soldier, (1) twice that sum to each of the cavalry and to a centurion, and four times as much to a tribune. (2) The Roman legion, after the aug

SHEATHING.

The application of copper to ship's bottoms was orig nally introduced to guard the lower timbers from the weeds and worms which continually imbedded themselve in long voyages, thereby occasioning great impediment to sailing, and even endangering the lives of the seamet In the action of Sir Edward Hughes with the Frenc fleet, under Suffrein, in the East Indies, in the year 1789 the latter obtained advantages over the British, havi arrived from Europe with copper-bottomed ships, whic enabled them to maintain the weather gage of Admir Hughes, whose fleet was composed of wood-sheathed bo toms, overgrown with weeds and barnacles. In fact, th value of clean-bottomed ships enabled the French to for the fleet of this country into five general actions. The