I

tis fo lightly constructed (though of fo rge a diameter), that it is fufficiently portale to be carried in a hankerchief.

Of the use of the Parachute while Mr. Blanchard's thoughts were eagerly bent, the lifcovery of Monfieur de Montgolfier hapily prefented the moft flattering profpect to his view. He foon perceived its utility, and aftened to announce to the Publick that he ntended to take advantage of it, and would re long attempt to direct his courfe in the ir His project was, however, a little rearded; till at length, on the 18th February 784, the publick were finally informed, hat nothing could any longer delay his enagements, as the globe, by which he was o be fupported, was nearly finished. In act, the experiment took place, in the preence of an immenfe concourfe of fpectators, n the 2d of March 1784, in the camp de Iars, and Monfieur Blanchard was feen to epart alone with unparalleled intrepidity, raife himfelf above the clouds to follow he direction of the different currents, and to un through the folitary paths of air at a eight which no mortal had yet attained. Here it was that, in filence and in folitude, ir remote from all human affiftance, and parated as it were from nature, he might,

ithout proper precautions, have wandered

or a confiderable length of time, in a route terrifying as uncertain ;-have become the sorts of the winds-have fuffered the action f a freezing cold-have been fuffocated by ne rarified air--or have been compelled to afs the night in a fituation the more terrible, s it was environed with every danger,

Very fortunately, Mr. Blanchard was not ong expofed to the uncertainty of his fate.lis globe being at that time permeable to he gas, he allowed it to efcape; much of it fo was diffipated by the valve and appentent tube; and he defcended gently, one our and a quarter after his departure, in he little plain Billancourt, at a short distance rom Seve.

On the 23d of May Mr. Blanchard made is fecond voyage from Rouen, and travelled ne hour; and on the 18th of July, he made is third voyage from the fame place. On he 26th of July he afcended from Bourleaux, and traverfed the Garonne and the Dordogne, ftill encreasing his reputation by very adventure.

Encouraged by the fuccefs he had met vith in France, he came to England by initation in Auguft 1784; and on the 16th of October made his firft voyage in this ingdom, accompanied by Mr. Sheldon, which fucceeded beyond the expectation of

the public, and evinced, that he had accurately studied the principle by which his voyage was directed.

At length he undertook the dangerous and bold attempt, to cross the Sea to his native country, and effected it on the 7th January 1785. He left Dover-Cafle at one o'clock at noon, and defcended at a quarter before three at Guignes in France, where a pyramid is erected to his honour. The place, by the King's order, is to be called the Canton of Blanchard"

In the course of the prefent fummer, he opened an Aeroftatic Academy near Vauxhall, on the Stockwell Road, where he propofed, during the feafon, to pursue a regular train of experiments. We believe the encouragement he met with was was not fufficient to induce him to perfift in his fcheme; and we are juft informed, that he is returned to his native country, without having added any thing to his fortune by his adventures in this kingdom.

Anecdotes of eminent Perfons, (from the 6th,
Volume of Mrs. Bellamy's Apology.)

Anecdote of Lady Ely.

WHILST I refided at the sheds of

Clontarf, a ludicrous incident happened, which, though it was like to have been attended with ferious confequences to me, ftill excites fuch laughable ideas in my mind, whenever it occurs to my recollecti on, that I cannot forbear relating it.

One day the beautiful widow Madden, afterwards Lady Ely, came down to pay me a vifit. As it was a holiday, a circumstance my visitor had not recollected, and she had come early, in order to spend the whole day with me, fhe accompanied me to a barn fome few miles off, where the service of our church, for the convenience of the neighbouring peasants, was ufually performed.

As the place was fituated upon the feacoaft, the congregation, which was very numerous, chiefly confifted of fifhermen and their families; and unluckily fome circumftances happened, which put our gravity to the teft, and counteracted the intentional devotion with which we entered the facred fhed.

The weather being uncommonly warm, and the barn much crowded, the effects foon became vifible on the countenance of the facerdotal gentleman that officiated.The fubtile fluid produced by perfpiration, in plenteous ftreams bedewed his vifage, which obliged him to have frequent recourse to his handkerchief; and as that hap pened to be deeply tinged with blue, and See Journal de Paris for February 1784. never to have been ufed before, his face

NOTE

was

An Elegant Pattern for working a

85.

Anecdote of the Countefs of Ely in an Irish Church.

was foon adorned with various ftripes of that colour, and exhibited a spectacle that would have extorted a smile from the most rigid anchorite.

My fair companion, who, by the by, loved laughing more than praying, and preferred a joke to a homily, by frequent jogs with her elbow, drew my attention to the outré figure that now prefented itself. -In any other place, fo ludicrous a fcene would have afforded me the highest entertainment; but as I always make a point, and hope I ever fhall, of behaving myself in a place of worship with that severence and folemnity which is due to it, I was not to be tempted to forget where I was.

After the prayers were ended, the minifter gave an exhortation to his auditors; and now, by the quaintness of some of his expreffions, rendered that hilarity which his be-plaiftered countenance had firft excited in my companion's mind, ungovernable. In the courfe of his oration, he took occafion to introduce the fall of our firft parents. When addreffing himself to the female part of his congregation, who, as I have already faid, were fish-women, he exclaimed, with a much fronger tincture of the Hibernian brogue than even fome of our prefent preachers, "Your mother Eve fold her immortal foul, and with it all mankind, for an apple; but fuch is your depravity, ye wretches, that you would fell your fouls for an oyfter; nay, even for a cockle."

Though my fair friend had been hitherto able to keep her rifible faculties within tole-, rable bounds, an expreffion fo replete with low humour-fo truly ludicrous-was not to be withstood; fhe burst into a loud and violent fit of laughter, and hurrying out of the ruftic chapel, left me to encounter the rage of the offended prieft and his enthufiaftic auditory.

It was happy for me, that I had even then obtained the reputation of being a devotee, as the clergyman inftantly put a ftop to his exhortation, and addreffed himself particularly to me. He told me, that if he was not well affured, from the general tenor of my behaviour, and the character I bore, that I was incapable of countenancing fuch a flagrant affront to the Deity, he would caufe me to be expelled from the mother church; but as he hoped that that was not the cafe, he would forgive my bringing with me a perfon, who, having no devotion herfelf, had dared to disturb thofe who had, if I would inform him of her In order to appease the offended prieft, I gave him my word that I would end to him; and the fervice concluded with out any farther interruption.

name.

As to Mrs. Madden, she prudently mounted her horfe, and returned with all speed to

373

my lodgings; fhe otherwife would have flood a chance of being in the fame predicament poor Orpheus was; the common people of that country being no less revengeful, when their religious rites are fuppofed to be con- · temned, than the Thracian darnes could be for the difference shown to their fex by the fon of Apollo.

Agreeable to my promise to the priest, I fent to him foon after; not, indeed, to acquaint him with the name of my impru dent companion, but to endeavour to palliate her offence. Fortunately, Mr. Crump was his penitent, by whofe means the affair was at length made up. And this interference was the only part of his conduct, with regard to myself, that I ever was pleafed with.

As this lady is the fubject of my pen, I cannot refrain from giving you another anecdote of her, which plainly evinces, that had occafion required, as in the primitive times, fhe did not appear inclinable to die a martyr for the fake of her religion.

The hon. Mr. Loftus, afterwards Earl of Ely, paid his addreffes to her during her widowhood, which met with a favourable reception, and they were married. But, as Juba says,

"Beauty foon grows familiar to the lover, Fades in his eye, and palls upon the "fenfe."

The lady was thoughtless, and the gentleman unprincipled. For the latter being at length fully fated with the lufcious banquet, wifhed to avail himself of the laws of Ireland, which confider a marriage between a member of the established church and a catholic, as not binding. But the lady having but little faith, either in her religion or her intended fpoufe, had taken care to circumvent a ftep of that kind; for the day before their nuptials were to take place, the had thought fit to make a public recantation of the religion fhe profeffed. And this retaliation of his chicanery, occafioned him to be miferable for life.

Some have feemed to believe, that this union was not of a serious nature; but in my opinion it is fcarcely credible, that a lively, beautiful, and accomplished woman, poffefied of an independency, would facrifice herself to a brute, fuffer herself to be immured in the country, and bear to be treated with uncommon rigour, had the connection been lefs binding.

As one story brings on another, you must have patience with me whilft I repeat to you an impromptu of Lord Chesterfield's upon this lady; which, I believe, has not been much hackneyed. Upon an anniversary of the battle of the Boyne, during his viceroyfhip, which is always obferved as a grand