so much vanity, become nutriment for worms to feed upon!

"A sight like this, must doubtless be termed Awful, unaccompanied by any of those sensations which we experience at beholding an object which comes under the description of the Sublime. Many more instances might be adduced to enforce the distinction, were I allowed a sufficient portion of time; but perhaps I have already incurred the imputation of arrogance, for complying with a request so strongly urged last night."

I do not offer any apology, Mr. Editor, for submitting this specimen of the reflecting powers of an enlightened female to your inspection, though fully aware it was never intended to meet the public eye; yet, should it so far meet your approbation as to be inserted in your judicious publication, I shall endeavour to draw forth different opinions from the same young lady; and beg leave to subscribe myself Your sincere well-wisher, EDWARD T

London, Oct. 11, 1819.

CURIOUS INVENTION.

IT is a point much disputed, whether the numerous inventions, which frequently take place, tending to lessen the demand for manual labour, ought to be considered as a real advantage or disadvantage to the community in which they are cherished. When nations are placed in competition with each other, as commercial rivals, there can be no doubt, that the advantages, in point of trade, will be in favour of that community, in which manual labour has been most supplanted by the contrivances of art. But unless the population of the country so benefited, can find employment in other departments, the labouring poor may languish in poverty, and pine in want, while the nation at large listens with complacency to the trumpet, which echoes with the sounds of its mechanical skill and commercial fame.

That the inventive powers of genius should be carefully cherished, is a point on which two opinions can scarcely be expected: but in cases which will materially affect manual labour, and discharge on a sudden from employment large masses of the community; prudence, justice, and hu

manity dictate, for a season, a suspension of all active operations, until new channels of employment shall be opened, and due preparations are made for all the changes which the effects of inventions may introduce. It will readily be allowed, that if on any occasion the interposition of power could prevent an enlightened and fortunate individual from enjoying the fruits of his ingenuity, no stimulus would be held out to excite genius to action. But to obviate this inconveniency, under given circumstances, the State might amply reward successful ingenuity; even while it suspended for a season the operations of a power which would prove injurious, if not ruinous, to the artisan, the mechanic, the handicraft, and the labouring classes of society.

It has been recorded as an historical anecdote, that shortly after the art of printing was discovered, and was gaining an establishment among the nations of Europe, a Jew, who was a famous Dutch printer, carried some presses, together with type, and the necessary apparatus, to Constantinople, intending to introduce printing into that city. The Grand Vizier, however, on being informed of his business and design, ordered him immediately to be hanged; declaring that this would be a less act of cruelty, than if he should permit one man to enrich himself, by taking away the bread from eleven thousand scribes, who gained their living by their pens.

66

now

We read in the gospel of St. John, chap. xix. 23. that when the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: the coat," we are informed, 66 was without seam, woven from the top throughout." Calmet in his Dictionary of the Bible observes, that "this passage has set many a mechanical head at work to invent a loom in which such an article might be completed; and that a good plate of one may be seen in Chambers' Encyclopedia." Calmet has also given a drawing of such a loom, with a person working at it; but the apparatus by no means exhibits such marks of ingenuity as appear to be necessary to produce such an article as the following :—

A SHIRT WITHOUT A SEAM. We have been informed that an ingenious linen-weaver in Ireland, named

translation of the word " adns;" and it is much to be lamented, that so improper, at any rate so unequivocal, a word, should be used in our confession of faith. Unlearned Christians can put no other construction upon it, than what they are continually hearing applied to it from the pulpit; and even too many, without doubt, far above the common class, understand it in no other sense.

If it be not going beyond the limits which you allow to articles of this description, I should wish to say a few words in defence of the doctrine in question. That the Christ" descended into Hell," is not indeed expressly asserted by any one of the Evangelists; but they all relate, that He expired on the cross: as, then, there must have been a separation of his soul and body, as his soul could neither have been extinct, nor in a dormant state, and as it did not re-animate his body until the third day, it must have been somewhere during that interval; and we may reasonably infer, that he "descended into Hell;" i. e. that his soul went to the common abode of spirits, who were waiting for the general resurrection: indeed, our Lord's address to the thief upon the cross, "To-day thou shalt be with me in paradise," is no small proof of the truth of this doctrine. Bishop Tomline says, that this doctrine of the Christ's descent into Hell, was first introduced into Creeds, for the purpose of declaring the actual separation between the soul and body of our Lord, in opposition to those heretics, who asserted, that the crucifixion produced only a trance, or deliquium, and that the Christ did not really suffer death. I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

CLERICUS.

On the Descent of Christ into Hell.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL MAGAZINE.

SIR, In reply to the inquiry of your correspondent, A SEARCHER, respecting the meaning of the word Hell, in the Apostles' Creed, and that of St. Athanasius, he may rest perfectly assured, that it does not mean there, the place appointed for the final punishment of the wicked. Whenever that is spoken of in the New Testament, the word Hell in the original, is always Gehen

na; but, when only the state of the dead in general is meant, it is always expressed by the word Hades, which, though it is rendered by the same word, Hell, yet signifies only the invisible state, or the state of the dead in general. St. Peter, in the 2d chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and 27th and 31st verses, speaking of our Blessed Saviour's soul being not left in Hell, uses this word.-In one of my bibles, printed in the year 1599, it is rendered the grave in both those passages; and it is extraordinary that so obvious a translation should not have been continued.

I am, yours, &c. CHRISTIANUS. Birmingham, Aug. 20, 1819.

ANECDOTE OF THE LATE DUKE OF QUEENSBERRY,

Not generally known, and, as far as I know, never before published.-W. L. A labouring man, in one of the extensive breweries in London, happened by some accident to fall into a pan of boiling liquor, and was not missed until some of the workmen discovered something floating on the surface, which, upon examination, proved to be the fragments of a human body. Search was instantly made, and the bones of the unfortunate man were found at the bottom of the pan, as clean as if they had been scraped with a knife. These being carefully collected together, were conveyed home to his disconsolate widow, then in an advanced state of pregnancy. The shock was so great, that she was immediately taken in labour, and delivered of twins, making in all a family of thirteen, without any means of sup port. A petition was drawn up, and presented to the Duke of Queensberry, who then resided at one of his places of abode on the banks of the Thames. His Grace being struck with the melancholy circumstance, seemed to peruse the paper with deep attention; and, with tears in his eyes, calling for pen and ink, subscribed his name for One Thousand Pounds! Such an instance of almost unparalleled generosity, was soon followed by handsome subscriptions from others: a committee was formed; the widow received a decent allowance for life; the children were well educated; and, at the death of the mother, the remaining money was equally divided among them,

A DISSERTATION ON GEOLOGY.

[Continued from col. 780.]

OF all the rocks which have mentioned, the granite is the most ancient; it is therefore the foundation of the rest. But although it lies beneath every other rock, its summit towers above them all. The second rock rests on the first, the third on the second, the fourth on the third, and so on. Almost all of the primitive, the transition, and the flaetz rocks, are stratified. A rock is said to be stratified, when it is divided by parallel seams into masses, of which the length and breadth are much greater than the thickness. These extended, or tabular masses, are called strata. In the more ancient formations, they are from four to six feet in thickness; but in the more recent, their thickness is less considerable. The strata of the primitive and transition rocks are either vertical or inclined. In the flaetz, they are horizontal, as the name implies. Cuvier thinks, that all strata must originally have been formed in a horizontal position, and that the vertical and | inclined strata have been thrust up at a subsequent period by some violent commotion. Jameson thinks, that they were formed in their present situation; but, with due deference, I must say, that the former opinion appears most probable. All the rocky strata were formed separately, by regular successive depositions. They were formed in the bosom of the ocean; and it appears, that in general they were produced by a calm and gradual operation. In a few cases, however, there appears to have been a sudden rising and a violent swelling of the waters; and in one or two instances, formations seem to have originated from fresh water. The alluvial rocks, or rather, the alluvial soils, were formed, not in the ocean, but on dry land. They have generally been produced by sudden and violent inundations, sometimes of the sea, sometimes of rivers.

*Almost all the transition and flætz strata, and almost all the allavial soils, abound with shells in a petrified state; and the bones of animals, in a state of petrifaction, are found in some of

The primitive rocks contain no organic

remains..

+ I am informed by an eminent Mineralogist, that Parkinson has committed a mistake in the No. 9. VoL. I.

them. Now, as all the strata were produced by separate successive depositions, it is manifest, that the shells which are found in any particular stratum must have belonged to the fishes which existed when that particular stratum was deposited. It is equally evident, that the shells, or bones of quadrupeds, which are found in any particular alluvial soil, must have belonged to the fishes which inhabited the water, or to the quadrupeds which lived on the earth, at the period when the deluge which destroyed them happened. We are thus enabled to ascertain the precise order in which all these animals have existed, and consequently the precise order in which they were created. By a careful examination of the earth's contents, we are enabled to settle that most important question: whether Moses was divinely inspired, or whether he was an artful, though an ignorant, impostor?

In almost every part of Europe, and in several parts of America, the strata of the earth have now been explored with more or less accuracy. But in Germany, France, and England, they have been subjected to the most careful investigation, the most elaborate research, and the most rigid scrutiny : in Germany, by the immortal Werner; in France, by the illustrious Cuvier ; in England, by the indefatigable Farey and the ingenious Parkinson.-The result has been, that wherever an accurate knowledge of facts could be obtained, the most exact agreement between the words of Moses and the phænomena of nature was discovered. - Hallelujah !

O ye, who, ignorant of all sciences save only the knowledge of Christ, have believed the Bible in the simplicity of your hearts, how must ye glow with holy rapture, on being informed of an event like this! ye required no other proof than the still small voice of the enlightening Spirit: yet, methinks it must be grateful to you to reflect, that philosophy hath demonstrated what faith admitted.

We learn from the observations of Farey and of Parkinson, that in the lowest stratum, in which fossil shells † are found, coal is also discovered.

application of this fact; for the coal which Werner found is not a vegetable production, but is evidently a mineral substance. If thi be true, we are certainly deprived of

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