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theory of this department of architecture, and a historical account of the works either actually executed or projected, which appear to be the most deserving of notice. The first head is branched out into three sections, relating, 1. To the resistance of materials; 2. To the equilibrium of arches; and, 3. To the effects of friction. The second likewise consists of three sections, comprehending some details of early history and literature, an account of the discussions which have taken place respecting the improvements of the port of London, and a description of some of the most remarkable bridges which have been erected in modern times.

A very interesting account is given of the CALEDONIAN CANAL by Mr Stevenson, Civil Engineer. In the conclusion of the article he gives the following statement with regard to the probable advantages of this grand national object, which cannot fail to be read with general interest and satis faction. "The writer of this article has repeatedly visited the works of the Caledonian Canal. With regard to the quality of the workmanship, he shall only mention, as a pretty conclusive circumstance with regard to the masonry, that, from end to end of this great work, he has not seen a single set or shake in the whole of the locks and walls. Upon the subject of the navigation of a ship in the locks, he cannot speak professionally; but, upon one occassion, he went over the whole line in company with a captain of the royal navy; and, although this officer did not much relish the idea of his ship putting about or tacking with eddy winds in these narrows, nor of being dragged along by the power of horses, or of stean, yet he had no doubt as to the fitness of the navigation for smaller vessels. Indeed, since the discovery of the Dalswinton steamdragger, the practicability of this navigation is reduced to a certainty for all vessels which can pass the canal locks. And thus we have the firmest conviction, that the Caledonian Canal will, in the end, be universally viewed as a truly great and noble undertaking, issuing in the most solid benefits to the country."

The articles CALENDERING and CARPENTRY Would also demand our

attention; but the consideration of these we must at present omit, and pass on to the learned and able disquisition on the Indian CASTES.

The ingenious author, who has long been engaged in a history of the East Indies, to which the public are now looking forward with anxious expectation, proves, with a profusion of learning, that the institution of castes was, in the early ages of society, very widely diffused among the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Cretans, the Persians, the Medes, (probably) the ancient Saxons, and the ancient inhabitants of Peru and Mexico. He next gives a very philosophical view of the state and condition of the human mind to which this institution may be considered as owing its origin. He then entars into a detailed account of the Indian castes, and concludes with a general view of the effects of this institution. These effects he proves to be decidedly unfavourable to the interests of the human race, first, As they present an irresistible barrier to humanadvancement in the two grand instruments of progression,-the division of labour and the practice of new arts, as invention may suggest them, or the multiplying desires of an improving society may create the demand; secondly, As, by establishing a monopoly even of the arts which are known, they, in a manner, shut the door. against all competition, and thus cramp the exertions of genius; thirdly, Since, by confining the prosecution of knowledge and literature to one class of the community, it renders it the interest of that class to perpetuate ignorance among the rest, that they may be able to turn and wind them according to their own purposes; and, lastly, Since, by preventing the distribution of the supernu-. merary members of a caste through the other departments of industry and subsistence, it magnifies and multiplies, to an incalculable degree, the: evils of a superfluous population.

From this imperfect analysis of the leading articles in the last published Part of the Supplement, it will easily be perceived how rich it is in talent and in science. The selection of contributors must ever insure excellence, and does much credit to the editor's discernment.

ORIGINAL POETRY.

THE MINSTREL'S VISION. Or, the Isle of Eyra. (A Fragment.)

I.

O LIST, fair ladye! while I tell
Of visions rais'd by magic spell;
And gentle were the sprites that shed
Their influence o'er my slumbering head;
Was waking mortal ne'er so blest
Then lovely Eyra, "list, O list !"—
-Methought a nymph of heavenly mien,
Whose garb bespoke the Fairy Queen,
Sudden appear'd--and with a smile
Might well the wariest heart beguile,
Way'd thrice on high her magic wand,
And beckon'd me to Fairyland:-
Who could resist the charming Elf?
She seem'd the while thy lovely self!
IL.

Then seated in her silver car,
We lightly flew o'er realms afar,
Where rocky mountains bleak arose,
With Alpine lakes and endless snows;
Or sandy deserts scorch'd and dun,
Stretch'd boundless 'neath a fiery sun.-
-Her fair hand guides the magic rein,
While merrily o'er mount and plain,
And over Ocean's trackless tides,
Our swift car like a comet glides;
Till Phoebus in the western wave
Sought sea-born Thetis' coral cave;
And Hesper o'er the slumbering deep
Aruse his silent watch to keep.
III.

At length we reach her lonely grot
Placed in enchanted isle remote;
Where mountains rear their summits bold
From sombre shade of forests old;
And streamlets flow with lulling sound
Through shelter'd vallies opening round;
And vines and breathing myrtles spread
Their verdant canopy o'erhead;
And zephyrs curl with sportive wing
The silken tresses of the spring.

V.

The sun had sunk-but his steps of light
Might yet be traced in the western sky,
Where the moveless clouds of amber bright,"
In soft confusion lye;

And the eye might picture isles of bliss
In these azure deeps reposing,
All silent and serene as this
Round which the night was closing.-
-And, oh, how sweet in this lovely isle
It seem'd, to live along with Thee,
Where summer skies for ever smile,
And sighing gales just stir the sea;
Where the murmuring tide so meekly laves,
The sandy beach and shelving caves;

And happy genii seem to dwell
Along each cliff embattled dell
How sweet through fairy glades to walk
With thee in softly "whisper'd talk,”
What time the hermit nightingale
Awakes the mazy moonlight vale;
Or from the mountain's cliffy steep
View circling oceans round us swelling,
Without a wish to cross the deep,
Or leave our lone and lovely dwelling!--
E..

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THE CELESTIALL VESTALLIS, [The following fragments have been sent us as Specimens faithfully transcribed from the original MS.-of a very ancient METRICAL ROMAUNT, lately discovered in the ruins of Roxburgh Castle."-In regard to their poetical merit, we do not ourselves attempt at present to hazard any opinion, nor do we profess to understand very clearly the drift of the legend or allegory which they introduce to us; but, as the interest of the story may be reasonably expected to increase as it proceeds, and as the stanzas now given seem tolerably fair as to Rhyme, Euphony, and Unintelligibility, it is humbly presumed (especially in an age when such qualities have formed the chief or sole distinction of many famous works) that they may bespeak a favourable reception from the public for the remainder of the "POEME," with which our learned correspondent has obligingly offered to furnish us, in such portions as we may require, and with as much celerity as the great difficulty of decyphering the very cramp and decayed original · will permit.]

HEIR BEGINNIS ANE ALLEGORICALL & PROPHETICALL Poeme, ÎN FYVE HUNDRETH CANTOES;

INTITULLIT

The Celestiall Westallis;

YNVENTIT

BE YAT FAMEOUS SEER AND ILLUSTER

MYNSTREL,

Nerlin of Caledonia,

COMMOUNLIE CALLIT MERLYN Ye;

WYLDE.

ANNO DNI. Vc, lxv. (565.)

REVYSIT & TRANSLATIT INTO Ye MAIR MODERNE TOUNG,

By Thomas ye Rymour,

OF ERCILDOUNE, KNY',
ANNO DNI IM, ije. lxxiij. (1273.)

The Translatour to ye Reidar. Quhen we hade sene & considerit ye divers transcriptiounis of yis notabill Werke set furth of auld amangis ourselfis, to haue bene altogider faultie ande corrupt; and alsua yat y originall style hath become obsolite ande hard to be vnderstood be ye vnlearnit ande sik as bee of slender capacitie; wee haue thocht gude to collate ande recompyle ye haill treatise from ye maist auncient copyis in the French Kingis librarie, in ye famous citie of Paris; ande haue taken some peines and travellis to haue ye samyn correctlie translatit ande mair commodiouslie set furth: to the intent yat ye benevolent Reidar may haue the mair delyte and plesure in reading, ande ye mair frute in perusing yis pleasand ande delectable werke.

Att Ercildoune,

xij Maij Anno Dni. ITM. ije. lxxiij.

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Yen gainst his herte wolde point his peircyng steele,

And swere, iff still yair cruell toung said No,

His wanne and wailing spright solde haunt yaim to and fro!

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AN ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING
QUESTION,
What is Love?

[The following is printed from the original MS. of the notorious THOMAS PAINE, signed with his initials, and certified by he subjoined note in the handwriting of Mr HOLCROFT. Whatever may be thought of the intrinsic merit of the verses, they will probably be esteemed a curiosity, as the production of a man by no means deficient in intellectual strength or acuteness, upon a subject more pleasing and innocent than those with which his name is so darkly and inseparably associated.]

TO SIR ROBERT SMYTH.

As I do not attempt to rival your witty description of Love, I will retreat to sentiment, and try if I can match you there; and, that I may start with a fair chance, I will begin with your own question, What is Love?

"Tis that delightsome transport we can. feel

Which painters cannot paint, nor words reveal,

Nor any art we know of can conceal.

Canst thou describe the sun-beams to the
blind?

Or make him feel a shadow with his mind?
So neither can we by description show
This first of all felicities below.

When happy Love pours magic o'er the
soul,

And all our thoughts in sweet delirium roll, When contemplation spreads its rain-bow

wings,

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LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

MR BURKHARDT's Narrative of his Discoveries in Africa has at length been put to the press. This gentleman has, for some years, been travelling in the districts to the south of Egypt, under the character of an Arab, and the appellation of Shekh Ibrahim. In this character he was met by Mr Legh, in his travels above the cataracts, so completely disguised, that he could not, unless by his conversation, have been distinguished from an Arab. This gentleman travels under the auspices of the African Association. He is now prosecuting his discoveries, and entertains sanguine hopes of being able to reach Tombuctoo.

Mr C. R. Cockerell having left England in 1810, to pursue his studies as an architect in Greece, visited Constantinople, where he found the oriental architecture, used by the Turks, so interesting, as to engage him fully during three months. In his way from Constantinople to Athens, he visited the Troad, various islands of the Archipelago and Salonica; and, on his arrival there, he had the fortune to meet a society of travellers, Messrs Bronstedt and Koes, who died in Zante, and Messrs Baron Stackelberg and Linckh. With one of these he made a survey of all the monuments of Athens. They undertook to excavate the temple of Jupiter Parhellenius in Egina; and had the good fortune to discover the statues which formed the compositions enriching the two frontispieces of the school of Ægina. They afterwards succeeded in excavating the Temple of Apollo Epicurius, at Phigaleia, in Arcadia; where they had the gratification of bringing to light the frieze which enriched the interior of the cella, and which is now deposited in the British Museum. Mr Cockerell's avocations then led him into Asia Minor, where he completed the tour of the seven churches, making many drawings and observations on these remains, and collecting many inscriptions. He visited Priene, Sa mos, Miletus, and Crete, where he made plans of the labyrinth of Minos. From Rhodes he crossed to Patara, and visited the numerous cities and remains on the coast of Lycia. He then returned with Captain Beaufort to Malta, whence he visited Sicily, and at Agrigentum made a particular examination of the Temple of Jupiter Olympius, or the Temple of the Giants, which was the most considerable of all Grecian antiquity. In a second tour in Greece he visited Epirus, Thessaly, and other provinces of continental Greece, and the Ionian Islands. In February 1816, he passed into Apuleo and Naples, where he

had the advantage of a six weeks' study of the antiquities of Pompeia; and remained nearly a year at Rome. He afterwards completed his tour of Upper Italy, and has just returned to England by way of Germany and Paris. He has brought with him the result of his researches during seven years and a half, which are very considerable, and in due time is expected to publish an account of his interesting travels and valuable discoveries.

There is at present in Paris a map which exhibits a curious specimen of Chinese Geography.-It was engraved at Pekin during the commencement of the last century, and comprises a great part of northern Asia; namely, the countries situated between the 35 and 55 degrees of latitude, and the 31 and 33 degrees of longitude. It was sold among a collection of charts and astronomical calculations, after the death of the learned astronomer, M. Messier.

It is 14 feet long and 6 wide; the characters to the north of the great wall of China are Tartar Mongol, and those within the wall and towards the south are Chi

nese.

The map was sent from Pekin by some Jesuit missionaries, and in 1720 conveyed to St Petersburgh by M. Lange. Several members of the French Institute have examined it with the greatest interest. It is supposed to be the only specimen of the kind in Europe.

At the suggestion of Mr Hoblyn of Sloane Street, a quantity of cocoa-nut oil has recently been introduced into this country from the island of Ceylon. It has been ascertained, that this oil may be very advantageously employed as a substitute for spermaceti oil, as it is considerably cheaper, burns with a clear bright flame, and is free from smell or smoke. It will be found useful also in the manufacture of soap, candles, and the finer articles of perfumery, and is likely to become a source of great revenue in Ceylon, and of importance to this country. Soap made with costs about 10 per cent. more than tallow soap.

Dr D. White of Bombay having transmitted a packet, containing the seeds of some scarce and valuable plants, to the Caledonian Horticultural Society, the thanks of the Society were voted to him at a general meeting on the 10th of June.

A stone, adapted to the purposes of lithography, has been lately discovered in East Lothian, on the property of the Right Hon. the Earl of Wemyss and March. Various successful experiments have al ready been made with it by Mr Ruthven, the ingenious inventor of the patent print

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