Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

of their sex. They have even gone so far as to pry into the circumstances of their neighbours. This will rather injure the cause which they mean to serve, and will raise disgust in the minds of those who would otherwise be inclined to promote every charitable design. We should not do evil, that good may come, however plausible the pretext may be. Let every thing done by way of charity, proceed from voluntary and the purest motives; not to be seen of men. If ladies choose to raise subscriptions among their intimate acquaintance, for any charitable purpose, it is well; but it seems, when they go about collecting publicly, they are out of their place. All persons should be the best judges of their own circumstances; and some, though they make a decent appearance, yet can scarcely subsist, and may have felt a reverse, though from prudent reasons they do not choose to mention it. Surely then it is indelicate, to say the least, to hurt the feelings of such, or to misrepresent them in the course of private conversation. Whilst we wish to diffuse useful knowledge into distant lands, let us not adopt any measure, which may tend indirectly, or in its results, to promote impropriety in manners at home. The writer of this begs to be understood, as having the greatest esteem for the female sex; and it was a sense of delicacy on their account, that induced him to throw out these few hints. He believes every woman of sensibility in the nation will agree with him in sentiment in this matter, when it is seriously and maturely considered." Aug. 10, 1819.

ÆQUITAS.

[ocr errors][merged small]

"Through the groves of Angola I stray'd,
Love and hope made my bosom their home;
There I talk'd with my favourite maid,
Nor dreamt of the sorrow to come.
"From the thicket the man-hunter sprung,
My cries echo'd loud through the air.

There were fury and wrath on his tongue;
He was deaf to the voice of despair.

"Flow, ye tears, down my cheeks, ever flow,
Still let sleep from my eyelids depart;
And still may the cravings of woe,
Drink deep of the stream of my heart.

"But, hark! o'er the silence of night
And mournful beneath the wan light,
My Adila's accents I hear;
I see her lov'd image appear.

"How o'er the smooth ocean she glides,
As the mist that hangs light on the wave;
And fondly her partner she chides,

Who lingers so long from his grave! 'Oh Maratan! haste thee,' she cries,

'Here the reign of oppression is o'er ; The tyrant is robb'd of his prize,

'And Adila sorrows no more.'

"Now sinking amidst the dim ray,
Her form seems to fade on my view:
Oh stay thee, my Adila, stay!

She beckons, and I must pursue.

"To-morrow, the white man in vain,
Shall proudly account me his slave ;
My shackles I plunge in the main,
And rush to the realms of the brave."

[blocks in formation]

THE COMET,

BY J. HOGG.

Stranger of Heav'n! I bid thee hail,
Shred from the pall of glory riven,
That flashest in cœlestial gale,

Broad pennant of the King of Heaven, Art thou the flag of woe and death,

From angel's ensign staff unfurl'd? Art thou the standard of his wrath, Wav'd o'er a sordid, sinful world? No: from thy pure pellucid beam, That erst o'er plains of Bethle'm shone, No latent evil we can deem,

Fair herald from th' eternal Throne!

Whate'er portends thy front of fire,

Thy streaming locks so lovely pale,Or peace to man, or judgment dire, Stranger of Heaven! I bid thee hai

Where hast thou beam'd these thousand years?
Why sought the polar paths again?
From wilderness of glowing spheres,

To fling thy vesture o'er the wain?

And when thou climb'st the milky way,
And vanishest from human view,
A thousand worlds shall hail thy ray,
Through wilds of yon empyreal blue.
Oh! on the rapid prow to glide!

To sail the boundless skies with thee!
And plow the twinkling stars aside,

Like foam-bells on a tranquil sea:

To brush the embers from the sun,

The icicles from off the pole; Then far to other systems run;

Where other moons and planets roll!

Stranger of Heaven! O let thine eyes

Smile on a wild enthusiast's dream; Eccentric as thy course on high,

And airy as thine ambient beam.

And long, long, may thy silver ray
Our northern clime at eve adorn;
Then wheeling to the East away,

Light the grey portals of the morn.

THE MERMAID HOAX.

LIFE COMPARED TO A CLOUD,

While near the sun, how bright and fair
The Cloud that passes through the air!
Thus human Life, while hope is there,
Is free from care.-

But having passed the bright'ning beam,
Then fades the evanescent gleam:
'Tis thus, illusive as a dream,
Our Life doth seem.

V.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL
MAGAZINE.

SIR,
THE author of the following lines, is a
poor illiterate blind man, a native of
this town, whose name is James
Wilson. He lost his sight by the
small-pox, when he was about six
years of age. Several specimens of his
Poetry have been published, and among
them, I believe, the lines before you;
but they have been merely handed
about among his friends. If you judge
them worthy a place in your valuable
Magazine, they may probably gratify
some of your numerous readers on
the other side of the water.
I remain yours,

TO MEMORY.

W. M.

SOME time since a report was circu-
lated with considerable avidity, that a
Mermaid had been taken, and was to Belfast, Aug. 14. 1819.
be seen at Carrickfergus, in Ireland.
The tale gained credit; and multi-
tudes hastened to the spot sufficiently
early to experience the mortification
of a disappointment. This incident
gave birth to the following lines:-
SOME wicked wight, near Carrickfergus,
Or muddy, maudling, dipping Mergus,
Saw in a dream, or drunken notion,
A vision rare,-the Maid of Ocean;
And, that mankind might be deluded,
The tale, for truth, on them obtruded :
Masking it too, to crown his labour,
With the mock name of a good neighbour.
Some doubt, yet many more believe him,
Caught in the net spread to deceive 'em ;
And soon the gulls of each condition,
Put vehicles in requisition:
Jaunting cars, jingles, carts, and coaches,
Gigs, curricles, landaus, barouches,
Led by this will-o'-th-wisp unlucky,
Repair in haste to-Port-a-mucky,
To view, in Magee's famed island,
The lovely nymph-marine on dry land!
But ah! how great was their vexation,
To find 'twas all a fabrication
Of some unprincipled contriver,
In darkness and deceit a diver,
Who justly merits for the hoax trick,
To be well cudgell'd with an oak-stick!
MISO-MENDAX.

Come, Memory, and paint those scenes

I knew when I was young,
When meadows bloom'd, and vernal greens
By nature's band were sung;

I mean those hours that I have known,
Ere light from me withdrew;
When blossoms seem'd just newly blown,
And wet with sparkling dew;

When warblers from each neighb'ring bush
Saluted with their strains,

Sleive Cruit.

The sprightly linnet, lark, and thrush,
And call'd me to the plains.
Yet, ah, forbear, kind Mem'ry cease,
The picture thus to scan!
Let all my feelings rest in peace,

'Tis prudence forms the plan.
For why should I on other days,
With such reflections turn,
Since I'm depriv'd of vision's rays,
Which sadly makes me mourn?
And when I backward turn my mind,
I feel of sorrow's pain,

And

weep for joys I've left behind,
On childhood's flow'ry plain.
Yet now through intellectual eyes,
Upon a happier shore,
And circled with eternal skies,

Youth sweetly smiles once more.

Futurity displays the scene,
Religion lends her aid,

And decks with flow'rs for ever green,

And blooms that cannot fade.

When will that happy period come,
That I shall quit this sphere,
And find an everlasting home,
With peace and friendship there?
Throughout this chequer'd life, 'tis mine
To feel affliction's rod;
But soon to overstep the line,
That keeps me from my God.

On Education.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL
MAGAZINE.

SIR, THE following is an abstract which I made some months since, of a curious pamphlet on education, that then fell into my hands. Should you think it worthy of a place in your Magazine, it is at your service.

Abstract of Pestalozzi's System of Education, as described by Buckholz, in a pamphlet printed at Edinburgh, 1819. PESTALOZZI Conceives, that the basis of all Education must be Faith and Love. Precepts or doctrines can have no effect on the mind of a child, without his faith in them is excited and strengthened by the example of parents and instructors. Love must be joined, to form virtuous sentiments, and establish moral rectitude. Every kind of severity, unkindness, &c. must be avoided, for they destroy confidence and affection. His second principle, embraces the totality of the physical and spiritual faculties of the child: for all cultivation, he asserts, must go out from heart, head, and hand. The mode of instruction should combine all three, for if one be strengthened and the others neglected, no real and internal cultivation is produced: a clever man may be formed, but such discipline never leads to that genuine humanity, where the three powers are treated in unison, and the heart is always predominant, ruling the head and hand. The most finished artist, or most accomplished literary character, whose heart has been neglected, may stand as a wild beast (to use Pestalozzi's language) in the midst of his fellow-creatures.--Third principle: number, form, and language, are the original fountain, from which all our knowledge flows; from which all

learning, and all sciences, must be drawn. Every form in nature, and every geometrical figure, is composed of straight or crooked lines; every visible object is a combination of lines. All calculations, and all numerical proportions, from simple addition to the most complicated mathematical problems, rest upon the ten numbers or figures. All utterance by way of the voice, all we know of physical or metaphysical knowledge, is founded on, and produced by, a peculiar combination and modification of the 24 letters: number, form, and language, are in truth the primitive basis of all knowledge.

The good effects of this plan (which is not fully explained in the pamphlet,) are very great: boys of from 7 to 12 years of age, solve some most difficult mathematical problems, and find the contents; and explain some most complicated geometrical figures with ease, precision, and alacrity. The boys are all cheerful, and do what is required of them, during the hours of study; they are then free from work, and need not dread a flogging the next day, for not having their tasks only in their

memory.

Gymnastic exercises, bathing, different kinds of innocent amusements, &c. contribute to the preservation of health, one of the principal sources of contentment.

Their food is simple, substantial, and abundant;-another means of preserving health, and diffusing cheerfulness.

Spacious and airy buildings, and extensive play-grounds, and the numerous walks in the neighbourhood of Yverdun, are all sources of happiness to the pupils.

In number about one hundred, they form but one family; no distinction is made, and no privileges are allowed to any. Pestalozzi stands at their head, as an indulgent father; and his assistants are instructed to act, not as tyrants, to plague and harass the children, but as kind and benevolent friends; and to treat the pupils with that endearing attention and regard, due to their higher destination as children of God, and not alone as children of men.

Although there is considerable ingenuity in this plan, it is certainly not free from great imperfections, as far as it is here developed: religion is but

glanced at in the conclusion, and only | Ir is a well-known law in Chemistry, as much as would suit the theophilan- that Caloric, or the matter of heat, exthropist; I cannot, therefore, help re- pands all bodies. When applied to cording by the side of a system, pro- any body, either in a solid, fluid, or fessing no peculiar religious tenets, aëriform state, that body suffers exthe following anecdote, which may be pansion in a ratio proportioned to the new to some of your readers :quantity of Caloric it receives.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

P. S. At such an early period of our intercourse, it is unfortunate that I should have to apologize, for leading you into an error respecting the Lime trees inserted in column 395 of the Imperial Magazine. It was the Plane tree, and not the Lime tree, which suffered so severely all over England. I should be glad to learn, how one cause could operate so instantaneously throughout the kingdom?

To the important queries inserted col. 340, I beg to add the following:Are any words in reality synonyms, and has not each word its own distinct and appropriate meaning? July 18,1819.

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.

1. For instance, if a solid cylinder of iron is passed through a bore in any other piece of iron, of sufficient dimensions to admit it to move easily, and the cylinder afterwards be made red-hot, it will be found that it cannot be passed through the same bore, until it has become cold, or, in other words, has parted with its Caloric.

2. If Caloric be applied to water, at 40° Fahrenheit, until it has become heated to 212°, that is, to the boiling point, this fluid will gradually expand until vapour is produced.

3. If Caloric be applied to common air, or to any other gas, a very considerable expansion takes place. This may be illustrated, by exposing to the heat of a fire, a bladder half filled with air, and made air-tight: the confined air immediately expands, and, if the heat be continued, the bladder bursts with a loud report.

One exception to this general rule is worthy of our attention. If water, at 212° of Fahrenheit, be cooled down to 32°, that is, to the freezing point, a gradual diminution of volume takes place, until it arrives at 40°. When, however, it has arrived at this degree, instead of contracting, it begins to expand; and the expansion continues, until it arrives at that point at which congelation takes place.

WE learn from an account, dated so recently as the 12th of August last, that Professor Meinicke, of the University of Halle, a town of much celebrity in the duchy of Magdeburg, has succeeded in producing a beautiful il- In this deviation from a general rule, lumination, by means of electricity we clearly behold the hand of Proviand a factitious air, which does not dence, and observe how attentive the burn, but only shines, inclosed in glass Deity is to the meanest of his creatures. tubes. As electricity may be propa--If water continued to contract until gated ad infinitum, it will in future be possible, by means of a single electrical machine, and application of the proper apparatus, to light up a whole city.

[blocks in formation]

congelation took place, ice would be specifically heavier than this fluid, and, instead of swimming upon its surface, would sink to the bottom: the consequences of which would be, the complete congelation of our lakes, rivers, and ponds; the destruction of all the fish contained therein; and serious inconveniences from want of a due supply for the cattle.-Let the sceptic say what he pleases; let him deny the existence of an all-wise Providence; the true Christian will behold manifest design in this, as well as in the numerous other provisions of nature: he will admire the wisdom, and adore

the goodness, of that God who is the
creator, the preserver, and the bountiful
benefactor, of every thing that lives,
moves, and has a being.
Sept. 9th, 1819.

EMPLOYMENT OF THE POOR.

Ir is with the most unfeigned pleasure, that we give publicity to the following documents, with which we have been lately favoured for this purpose. And we do it the more readily, from a full conviction, that the plan thus recommended, if carried into execution, will be attended with the most beneficial effects.

66 THE Provisional Committee for Encouragement of Industry and Reduction of Poors' Rates, reflecting on the growing dissatisfaction, and want of employment in various parts, is induced to accelerate the publication of the following, which is with confidence recommended as a most important mean of relief.

• An

pauperism and disquietude, and restore to our country its welfare, security, and prosperity.

"The following is extracted from an account given by Mr. B. overseer at Birmingham: That he was an overseer of the Poor in the years 1817 and 1818; that there were 800 adult poor in the workhouse, for whom there was no employment: that about thirty acres of land belonged to the town; that these were let to different tenants: but that four acres were obtained, on which they planted cabbages and potatoes, and obtained a sufficient supply for 600 persons in the house, from July to September. In March, 1818, he took seven and a half acres more, and cultivated two acres in flax. The soil was hard and sterile, but being dug by the spade, and the turf buried without manure, it has a very promising appearance.' Mr. B. accedes to the established sentiment, that the culture of land by hand labour is the only suitable employment for the parochial Poor.

66

Signed on behalf of the Provisional Committee,

"BENJAMIN WILLS, Hon. Sec." King's Head, Poultry, 5th July, 1819.

In another paper, dated King's Head, Poultry, 18th August, 1819, Mr. Wills observes as follows:

"Under such circumstances, the cultivation of land may be realized as an universal as well as permanent resource; and this might be immediately commenced-the Act intituled, Act to amend the Laws for the Relief of the Poor,' and passed in the present Session, empowering each parish to obtain land for the purpose of employ"It is hoped, that those owners and ment and for letting. It may be re-occupiers of land, and parishes, who, marked, that the low wages which from a conviction of the utility of the would be cheerfully accepted, would plan, are now in so many parts engaged be reimbursed by the products ob- in furnishing the labouring Poor with tained, while the management of the small portions of land, will by their exspade is universally available. ample be the means hourly of exciting others to the adoption of this very important mode of ameliorating the condition of the Poor, and reducing poorrates. What is effecting in Kent by Lords Abergavenny and Le Despeneer, as well as by parishes in that county, merits universal notice. scarcely exist a doubt, that the government will, ere long, co-operate in granting land at no great distance from London, on which a number of Metropolitan Poor may be employed."

"The above Act (limiting the land to be taken by each parish to twenty acres) confers, as before noticed, a most judicious discretionary power, by which land may be let in small portions at a fair rent, for the profitable Occupation of themselves and families during leisure hours, and which cannot fail of producing the most essential effect, by the stimulus thus afforded to the industrious Poor to recover an independent state.

"Overseers, Guardians of the Poor, and Parishes, are therefore earnestly and respectfully invited to apply themselves to the above object; noblemen, magistrates, and occupiers of land, and the community generally, doubtless, being found to co-operate; whereby to arrest the overwhelming tide of

No. 7.-VOL. I.

There can

[blocks in formation]
« ForrigeFortsæt »