And

"I bear all this-then be not you cast down; the new sect; and, though frequently pro- | do me no good, and, I fear, I can do none to But, my dear fellow-lend me half a crown." tected by the local magistracy, and by the them. To another correspondent he says, Some very neat engravings ornament laws, some instances occurred in which the I have found some of the uneducated poor this publication, which, if weeded of former forgot their duties, and the latter who have exquisite taste and sentiment; and half a dozen improprieties, might be were outraged. Wesley himself, had more many, very many of the rich, who have more freely mentioned, on account of limb; and his followers were often treated ligious people there is so strange a mixture, than once very narrow escapes with life and scarcely any at all. In most genteel rethe ability which it evinces. It is la- with great brutality. As the rebellion of that I have seldom much confidence in mentable that a person of the writer's 1745 approached, they suffered in proportion them. But I love the poor; in many of talents, should possess the experience to the belief that they were disaffected and them I find pure genuine grace, unmixed necessary for the work; and it is to be dangerous. In Cornwall, especially, the with paint, folly, and affectation.' regretted, that he has suffered some of founder was maltreated; and Nelson, Max- again,How unspeakable is the advantage the taints of his unfortunate situation field, and others, were pressed, imprisoned, in point of common sense, which middling to stain pages, otherwise deserving of and ill-used. Field-preaching thus became people have over the rich! There is so a service of great danger; and it is worth much paint and affectation, so many praise. So true it is, that he who while to record, that itinerancy was very unmeaning words and senseless customs toucheth pitch will be defiled. A story different from what it would be in the present among people of rank, as fully justify the of a bailiff tricked into an expensive day, for then there were no turnpikes in remark made 1700 years ago, Sensus comdinner at Brunet's hotel, by a person in England, and no stage-coach which went munis in illa fortuna rarus. 'Tis well,' possession of a day-rule, or protection farther than York. In many parts of the he says, a few of the rich and noble are from arrest, is pretty much in the Col-northern counties, neither coach nor chaise called. Oh! that God would increase their man style. had ever been seen, and Wesley usually number. But I should rejoice, were it the will travelled on horseback, accompanied by one of God, if it were done by the ministry of of his preachers, and reading as he rode. others. If I might choose, I should still, Some idea of the hardships endured may be as I have done hitherto, preach the gospel gathered from the following extract. to the poor? Preaching in Monk-town church, (one of the three belonging to Pembroke,) a large old ruinous building, he says, I suppose it has scarce had such a congregation in it during this century. Many of them were gay genteel people;, so I spake on the first elements of the gospel: but I was still out of their depth. Oh, how hard it is to be shallow enough for a polite audience!' Yet Wesley's correspondence with the few persons over whom he obtained any influence in higher life, though written with honest and conscientious freedom, is altogether untainted with any of that alloy which too frequently appeared when he was addressing

SOUTHEY'S LIFE OF JOHN WESLEY. 2 vols. 8vo. (continued.) Methodism must now be considered as

having taken root in the land. Meeting Houses were erected in various parts, settled upon Wesley as the head and sole director of the society. Funds were raised, and a plan of finance established. Preachers and assistants provided. To this stage Methodism had arrived in 1742, when its founder lost his mother. Two of Wesley's sisters were miserably married, a third to a clergyman named Whitelamb, and the fourth died of a broken heart. Wesley preached seven evenings in succession from the tombstone of his father at Epworth, and the historian says "Some remarkable circumstances attended Wesley's preaching in these parts. Some of his opponents, in the excess of their zeal against enthusiasm, took up a whole waggon load of Methodists, and carried them before a justice. When they were asked what these persons had done, there was an awkward silence; at last one of the accusers said, Why, they pretended to be better than other people; and, besides, they prayed from morning till night.' The magistrate asked if they had done nothing else. Yes, Sir,' said an old man, an't please your worship, they have converted my wife. Till she went among them she had such a tongue! and now she is as quiet as a lamb - Carry them back, carry them back,' said the magistrate, and let them convert all the scolds in the town.'" "Methodism as we have just stated had assumed form and consistence. Meeting-houses had been built,societies formed and disciplined, funds raised, rules enacted, lay preachers admitted, and a regular system of itinerancy begun. Its furious symptoms had subsided, the affection had reached a calmer stage of its course, and there were no longer any of those outrageous exhibitions which excited scar dal and compassion, as well as astonishment. But Wesley continued, with his constitutional fervour, to preach the doctrines of instantaneous regeneration, assurance, and sinless perfection." The populace however began to persecute

6

those of a lower rank.

"At the commencement of his errantry, he (Wesley) had sometimes to bear with an indifference and insensibility in his friends, which was more likely than any opposition to have abated his ardour. He and John Nelson rode from common to common, in Cornwall, preaching to a people who heard willingly, but seldom or never proffered them the slightest act of hospitality. Returning one day in autumn from one of these hungry excursions, Wesley stopt his horse at some brambles, to pick the fruit. Brother Nelson,' said he, we ought to be thankful that there are plenty of blackberries, for this is the best country I ever saw for getting a stomach, but the worst that ever I saw for But though Wesley preferred the midgetting food. Do the people think that wedling and lower classes of society to the can live by preaching?' They were detain-rich, the class which he liked least were the ed some time at St. Ives, because of the farmers. In the little journies which I illness of one of their companions; and their have lately taken,' he says, I have thought lodging was little better than their fare. All much of the huge encomiums which have that time,' says John, Mr. Wesley and I been for many ages bestowed on a country lay on the floor: he had my greatcoat for life. How have all the learned world cried his pillow, and I had Burkett's Notes on the New Testament for mine. After being here near three weeks, one morning, about three o'clock, Mr. Wesley turned over, and finding me awake, clapped me on the side, saying, Brother Nelson, let us be of good cheer, have one whole side yet; for the skin is off but on one side.'"

I

out,

O fortynati nimium, bona si sva norint,
Agricolæ!

How

But, after all, what a fat contradiction is this to universal experience! See the little house, under the wood, by the river side! There is rural life in perfection. happy, then, is the farmer that lives there! It is worth adding, that Wesley was finely-Let us take a detail of his happiness. He alive to the effects of natural situation in the rises with, or before the sun, calls his serspots which he selected for his preaching; vants, looks to his swine and cows, then to insomuch that some of his landscapes are his stable and barns. He sees to the plough drawn with all the enthusiasm of a feeling ing and sowing his ground in winter or in and skilful artist. spring. In summer and autumn he hurries and sweats among his mowers and reapers. And where is his happiness in the mean time? Which of these employments do we envy? Or do we envy the delicate repast which succeeds, which the poet so languishes for?

It may be supposed that the Methodist labours were most effectual among the middle and lower orders. Wesley, "writing to some Earl, who took a lively interest in the revival of religion, which, through the impulse given, directly or indirectly, by Methodism, was taking place, he says, 'To speak rough truth, I do not desire any intercourse with any persons of quality in England. I mean, for my own sake. They

O quando faba, Pythagoræ cognota, simulque
Uneta satis pingui ponentur olasculu lardo!
Oh the happiness of eating beans well greas-
rd with fat bacon; nay, and cabbage too!

Was Horace in his senses when he talked tlius? or the servile herd of his imitators? Our eyes and cars may convince us there is not a less happy body of men in all England than the country farmers. In general their life is supremely dull; and it is usually unhappy too; for, of all people in the kingdom, they are the most discontented, seldom satisfied either with God or man.' Wesley was likely to judge thus unfavourably of the agricultural part of the people, because they were the least susceptible of Methodisin." At this era of Methodism, "even where it was well established, and, on the whole, flourishing, there were great fluctuations, and Wesley soon found how little he could depend upon the perseverance of his converts. Early in his career he took the trouble of enquiring into the motives of seventy-six persons, who, in the course of three months, had withdrawn from one of his societies in the north.-The result was curious. Fourteen of them said they left it because otherwise their ministers would not give them the sacrament :-these, be it observed, were chiefly Dissenters. Nine, because their husbands or wives were not willing they should stay in it. Twelve, because their parents were not willing. Five, because their master and mistress would not let them come. Seven, because their acquaintance persuaded them to leave it. Five, because people said such bad things of the Society. Nine, because they would not be laughed at. Three, because they would not lose the poors' allowance. Three more, because they could not spare time to come. Two, because it was too far off. One, because she was afraid of falling into fits :-her reason might have taught Wesley a useful lesson. One, because people were so rude in the street. Two, because Thomas Naisbit was in the Society. One, because he would not turn his back on his baptism. One, because the Methodists were mere Church-ofEngland-men. And one, because it was time enough to serve God yet. The character of the converts, and the wholesome discipline to which they were subject, is still farther exhibited, by an account of those who, in the same time, had been expelled from the same Society :-they were, two for cursing and swearing, two for habitual sabbath-breaking, seventeen for drunkenness, two for retailing spirituous liquors, three for quarrelling and brawling, one for beating his wife, three for habitual wilful lying, four for railing and evil speaking, one for idleness and laziness, and nine-and-twenty for lightness and carelessness.-It would be well for the community if some part of this discipline were in general use."

66

when the audience are in sympathy with amusing biographical incident. The wives of
the speaker, they are easily affected: the itinerant preachers came to be allowed 48.
understanding makes no demand, provided per week, during the absence of their hus-
the passions find their food. But, on the bands, and 17. per quarter for each child.
other hand, when enthusiasm was united When the husband was at home, Is. 6d. a
with strength of talents and of character, day was allowed for his board, at the rate of
Wesley was a skilful preceptor, who knew 6d. for dinner, and 4d. for breakfast, tea,
how to discipline the untutored mind, and supper. When invited out the allow-
and to imbue it thoroughly with his ance was deducted. In 1748, Kingswood
system." "No founder of a monastic School, near Bristol, was also, through the
order ever more entirely possessed the bounty of Lady Maxwell, established for the
respect, as well as the love and adiniration education of fifty boys, and some very small
of his disciples; nor better understood their provision was made for the preachers them-
individual characters, and how to deal with selves. The annual conferences began in
each according to the measure of his capacity. 1744, when J. Wesley, C. Wesley, four
Where strength of mind and steadiness were other clergymen, and four lay co-operators,
united with warmth of heart, he made the met for the first time on the affairs of the
preacher his counsellor as well as his friend: society.
when only simple zeal was to be found, he
used it for his instrument as long as it lasted.
An itinerant, who was troubled with doubts
respecting his call, wrote to him in a fit of
low spirits, requesting that he would send a
preacher to supersede him in his circuit, be-
cause he believed he was out of his place.
Wesley replied in one short sentence, 'Dear
brother, you are indeed out of your place;
for you are reasoning, when you ought to
he praying. And this was all. Thus tem-
pering his authority, sometimes with playful-
ness, and always with kindness, he obtained
from his early followers an unhesitating, a
cheerful, and a devoted obedience. One of
them, whom he had summoned from Bristol
to meet him at Holyhead, and accompany
him to Ireland, set out on foot, with only
three shillings in his pocket. It is a proof
how confidently such a man might calculate
upon the kindliness of human nature, that,
during six nights out of seven, this innocent
adventurer was hospitably entertained by
utter strangers, and when he arrived he had
one penny left. John Jane (such was his
name) did not long survive this expedition:
he brought on a fever by walking in exceed-
ing hot weather; and Wesley, recording his
death in his journal, concludes in this re-
markable manner:- All his clothes, linen
and woollen, stockings, hat, and wig, are not
thought sufficient to answer his funeral ex-
pences, which amount to 1. 17s. 3d. All
the money he had was 1s. 4d.-Enough for
any unmarried preacher of the gospel to
leave to his executors!"

་

Mr. Southey gives us here brief epitomes of the Experiences' of some of the early coadjutors in Methodist proselytism, such as John Oliver, John Pawson, Alexander Mather, Thomas Olivers, John Haime, Sampson Staniforth, George Story, &c. whose lives present considerable variety, and

The aid of lay-preachers was very unpalaSewel relates, with all simplicity and sintable to Wesley at first; but it was forced cerity, in his History of the Quakers, that his upon him by circumstances, and in the indi-mother, a Dutch woman, preached in her native vidual cases zeal was the only qualification language to a congregation of English Friends, and that though they did not understand a single which he required. "If the aspirant pos-word, they were nevertheless edified by the sessed no other requisite for his work, and discourse.-A man returned from attending one failed to produce an effect upon his hearers, of Whitefield's sermons, and said it was good his ardour was soon cooled, and he withdrew for him to be there: the place, indeed, was so quietly from the field; but such cases were crowded, that he had not been able to get near not very frequent. The gift of voluble enough to hear him; "but then," "I saw his utterance is the commonest of all gifts; and blessed wig!"

Wesley never departed willingly or knowingly from the doctrines of the Church of England, in which he had been trained up, and with which he was conscientiously satisfied after full and free enquiry. Upon points which have not been revealed, but are within the scope of reason, he formed opinions for himself, which were generally clear, consistent with the Christian system, and creditable, for the most part, both to his feelings and his judgment. But he laid no stress upon them, and never proposed them for more than they were worth." "The true gospel,' said he, touches the very edge both of Calvinism and Antinomianism, so that nothing but the mighty power of God can prevent our sliding either into the one or the other. Many of his associates and followers fell into both. He always declared himself clearly and strongly against both; though at the expence of some inconsistency, when he preached of a sanctification which left the subject liable to sin, of an assurance which was not assured, and of an imperfect perfection. It was his opinion that there is a chain of beings advancing by degrees from the lowest to the highest point,-from an atom of unorganized matter, to the highest of the archangels; an opinion consonant to the philosophy of the bards, and confirmed by science, as far as our physiological knowledge extends. He believed in the ministry both of good and evil angels; but whether every man had a guardian angel to protect him, as the Romanists hold, and a malignant demon continually watching to seduce him into the ways of sin and death, this he considered as undetermined by revelation, and therefore doubtful. Evil thoughts he held to be infused into the minds of men by the evil principle; and that as no good is done, or spoken, or thought by any man, without the assistance of God working together in and with those that believe in him; so there is no evil done, or spoken, or thought, without the assistance of the Devil, who worketh with energy in the children of unbelief. His notions of diabolical agency went further than this: he imputed to it many of the accidents and discomforts of life,-disease, bodily hurts, storms and earthquakes, and nightmare: he believed that epilepsy was often, or always the effect of possession, and that most madmen were demoniacs. A belief in witchcraft naturally

(To be concluded.)

Poetical Tributes to the Memory of his
late Majesty. Anon. London, 1820.
Pp. 22.

how this is done.

And she too comes to lead him on his way,
England's own star of gladness-she who
shone,

In the pure brightness of her morning ray,
The last-the lovely-the lamented One.
She was enshrined like Him within the hearts,
And with strong grasp affection held her
there,

followed from these premises; but, after is this: man is capable of God; the inferior | Princess Charlotte will suffice to show satisfying his understanding that superna- creatures are not.'" tural acts and appearances are consistent with the order of the universe, sanctioned by Scripture, and proved by testimony too general and too strong to be resisted, he invalidated his own authority, by listening to the most absurd tales with implicit credulity, and recording them as authenticated facts. These tributes consist of an Elegy He adhered to the old opinion, that the and a Monody; the former was offered devils were the gods of the heathen; and he to us in MS. and our opinion of its memaintained, that the words in the Lord's rits was shown by admitting it into the Prayer, which have been rendered evil, mean, in the original, the ricked one, emphati-Literary Gazette. The Monody breathes cally so called, the prince and god of this the same feeling and pathos; and if we world, who works with mighty power in the transcribe only a brief passage or two, children of disobedience.' the reason is, that we would not subtract too much from the novelty of so small a work by disproportioned quotation. No! 'tis the thousand touching ties,

"One of his most singular notions was concerning the day of judgment. He thought it probable that its duration would be several thousand years, that the place would be above the earth, and that the circumstances of every individual's life would then be brought forth in full view, together with all their teinpers, and all the desires, thoughts, and intents of their hearts. This he thought absolutely necessary for the full display of the glory of God, for the clear and perfect manifestation of his wisdom, justice, power, and mercy. Then only,' he argued, when God hath brought to light all the hidden things of darkness, will it be seen that wise and good were all his ways; that he saw through the thick cloud, and governed all things by the wise counsel of his own will; that nothing was left to chance or the caprice of men, but God disposed all strongly, and wrought all into one connected chain of justice, mercy, and truth.' Whether the earth and the material heavens would be consumed by the general conflagration, and pass away, or be transmuted by the fire into that sea of glass like unto crystal, which is described in the Apocalypse as extending before the throne, we could neither affirm nor deny, he said; but we should know hereafter. He held the doctrine of the millennium to be scriptural; but he never fell into those wild and extravagant fancies, in which speculations of this kind so frequently end. The Apocalypse is the favorite study of crazy religionists; but Wesley says of it, Oh, how little do we know of this deep book! at least, how little do I know! I can barely conjecture, not aflirm, any one point concerning that part of it which is yet unfulfilled.'

The progeny of lengthen'd days,
That to thy people's heart supplies

Remembrance of thy treasur'd praise.
We trace thee thro' each stage of life,
Or bless'd by peace, or wrong'd by strife,
The hour of dread, the day of pride,
When Victory shone, tho' Nelson died,
When war her later ensigns furled,
And Britain raised a prostrate world.
We follow thro' each private scene,

Like some dear thought with which we would

not part,

That seems to mingle in each silent pray'r.

Scoresby's Account of the Arctic Regions,
&c.
(Continued.)

We must pass over the proofs of a north-west passage, so clearly derived from the currents in these seas; the theory on the waves; and the particular notices of all the various sorts of ice; merely observing, with respect to the latter, that its extensive body,—

Which, with occasional tracts of land, occupies the northern extremity of the earth, and prevents all access to the regions immediately surrounding the Pole, fills, it appears, on an average, a circle of above 2000 geographical miles diameter; and presents an outline which, though subject to partial variations, is found, at the same season of each succeeding year, to be generally similar, and often strikingly uniform.

enough to have allowed them to reach the shore of this long lost country.

Some of the particulars respecting the polar ice, are remarkable. For example

smoke in the cabin, with the doors closed, | appear as profuse of gravy as if it had been was so intolerable, that we were under the but recently killed. But the most surprisnecessity of giving free admission to the ex-ing action of the frost, on fresh proviternal air to prevent it. The consequence sion, is in preserving it a long time from was, that in front of a brisk fire, at the dis- putrefaction, even if it is thawed and retance of a yard and a half from it, the tem- turns into a warm climate*. I have eaten Bay ice, which for weeks has been an in-perature was 25°; water spilt on the table unsalted mutton and beef nearly five months creasing pest to the whale fisher, is some- froze, and, indeed, congelation took place old, which has been constantly exposed to times removed in the space of a few hours. in one situation, at the distance of only two a temperature above the freezing point for The destruction is in many cases so rapid, fect from the stove. Hoar-frost also appear-four or five weeks in the onset, and occathat to an unexperienced observer, the oc- ed in the sailor's bed cabins, arising from sionally assailed by the septical influences of currence seems incredible, and rather an il- their breath, and was deposited upon their rain, fog, heat, and electricity, and yet it lusion of fancy, than a matter of fact. Sup- blankets. has proved perfectly sweet. pose a ship immoveably fixed in bay-ice, and not the smallest opening to be seen after a lapse of time sufficient only for a moderate repose, imagine a person rising from his bed,-when, behold, the insurmountable obstacle has vanished! instead of a sheet of ice expanding unbroken to the verge of the horizon on every side, an undulating sea relieves the prospect, wherein floats the wreck of the ice, reduced to a small fraction of its original bulk!

The atmospherology of this region is perhaps more extraordinary. Captain

S. relates that

Ellis, who wintered in Hudson's Bay in A further antiseptical effect is produced 1746-7, in a creek of Haye's River, latitude by the cold of the polar countries, on animal 57° 30', remarked several curious effects of and vegetable substances, so as to preserve cold. In the creek where the vessel lay, them, if they remain in the same climate, much ice appeared on the 5th of October; unchanged for a period of many years. “It on the 8th it was covered with a sheet of ice; is observable," says Martens, in his “ Voyand on the 31st, the river was frozen over age to Spitzbergen," "that a dead carcase quite hard. By the 3d of November, bottled doth not easily rot or consume, for it has beer, though wrapped in tow and placed been found, that a man buried ten years benear a good constant fire, was found to before, still retained his perfect shape and frozen solid; and in the course of the winter, dress." An instance corroborative of this beer casks placed in the ground, at the depth remark is given by M. Bleau, who, in his of several feet, froze almost solid, and some Atlas Historique, informs us, that the boof them burst; many of the sailors had their dies of seven Dutch seamen, who perishfaces, ears, and toes frozen; iron adhered ed in Spitzbergen in the year 1635, when In the year 1814, when a temperature of to the fingers; glasses used in drinking stuck attempting to pass the winter there, were zero occurred, we reached the latitude of 70°, to the mouth, and sometimes removed the found twenty years afterwards, by some saiwithout experiencing any cold below 30°; skin from the lips or tongue: and, a sailor, lors who happened to land about the place but in less than twenty-four hours, the ther-who inadvertently used his finger for stopping where they were interred, in a perfect state, mometer fell 25o, and indicated a tempera- a spirit bottle, in place of a cork, while re- not having suffered the smallest degree of ture of 5o. Thus, between the time of my moving it from the house to his tent, had putrefaction. leaving the deck at night, and arising the his finger fast frozen in the bottle; in conse- Wood and other vegetable substances are following morning, there was an increase in quence of which, a part of it was obliged to preserved in a similar manner. During my the cold of about 20o. This remarkable be taken off, to prevent mortification. exploration of the shores of Spitzbergen, in change was attended with singular effects. The antiseptical property of frost is ra- the year 1818, several huts, and some cofThe circulation of the blood was accelerated. ther remarkable. Animal substances, re-fins built entirely of wood, were observed. -a sense of parched dryness was excited in quisite as food, of all descriptions, (fish ex- One of the latter appeared, by an adjoining the nose, the mouth, or rather lips, were cepted), may be taken to Greenland, and inscription, to contain the body of a native contracted in all their dimensions, as by a there preserved any length of time, without of Britain, who had died in the year 1788; sphincter, and the articulation of many being smoaked, dried, or salted. No pre- and though the coffin had lain completely words was rendered difficult and imperfect; paration, indeed, of any kind, is necessary exposed, excepting when covered with snow, indeed, every part of the body was more or for their preparation, nor is any other pre-during a period of thirty years, the wood of less stimulated or disordered by the severity cantion requisite, excepting suspending them which it was composed, not only was unof the cold. The hands, if exposed, would in the air when taken on shipboard, shield- decayed, but appeared quite fresh and new. have been frozen in a few minutes; and even ing them a little from the sun and wet, and It was painted red; and the colour even the face could not have resisted the effects of immersing them occasionally in sea-water, seemed to be but little faded. Things of a a brisk wind, continued for any length of or throwing sea-water over them after similar kind, indeed, have been met with time. A piece of metal when applied to the heavy rains, which will effectually prevent in Spitzbergen, which have resisted all intongue, instantly adhered to it, and could putrescency on the outward passage; and injury from the weather during the lapse of a not be removed without its retaining a por- Greenland, the cold becomes a sufficient pre-century. tion of the skin; iron became brittle, and servative, by freezing them as hard as blocks There is nothing remarkable in the apsuch as was at all of inferior quality might of wood. Beef, mutton, pork, and fowls, pearance of the sun at midnight, excepting, be fractured by a blow; brandy of English (the latter neither plucked nor drawn,) are that when its altitude is very small, it may manufacture and wholesale strength, was constantly taken out from England, Shetland, be viewed with the naked eye, without profrozen; quicksilver, by a single process, or Orkney, and preserved in this way. ducing any painful sensation; but when it is might have been consolidated; the sea, in When used, the beef cannot be divided but more than four or five degrees above the hosome places, was in the act of freezing, and by an axe or a saw; the latter instrument is rizon, it generally appears as effulgent as in others apper red to smoke, and produced, generally preferred. It is then put into cold with the same elevation in Britain. The in the formation of frost-rime, an obscurity water, from which it derives heat by the force of the sun's rays is sometimes remarkgreater than that of the thickest fog. The formation of ice around it, and soon thaws; subtile principle of magnetism seemed to be, but if put into hot water, much of the In the year 1808, a leg of mutton which gravy in some way or other, influenced by the frost; is extracted, and the meat is injured with- was taken out to Greenland in the ship Resolufor the deck compasses became sluggish, or out being thawed more readily. If an at- allowed to remain on board of the ship, exposed tion, returned to Whitby unsalted. It was then even motionless, while a cabin compass tra- tempt be made to cook it before it is thaw- to the sun during two remarkably hot days, when versed with celerity. The ship became en-ed, it may be burnt on the outside, while the thermometer in the shade was as high as 800. veloped in ice; the bows, sides, and lower the centre remains raw, or actually in a fro-After this, it was presented to an epicure in the rigging were loaded; and the rudder, if not zen state. The moisture is well preserved town; and although it was reduced to about repeatedly freed, would, in a short time, by freezing, a little from the surface only half its original dimensions by the loss of fat, have been rendered immoveable. A consi- evaporating, so that if cooked when three, &c. it was declared, when cooked, to be the derable swell at this time prevailing, the four, or five months old, it will frequently most exquisite morsel that he had ever tasted.

able. Where they fall upon the snow-clad | the streams of water derived from thawing surface of the ice or land, they are, in a ice and snow, or the fall of rain; the reddish great measure, reflected, without producing colour, as far as I have observed, is given by any material elevation of temperature; but the mute of birds; though, in the example when they impinge on the black exterior of a met with by Captain Ross in Baffin's Bay, ship, the pitch on one side occasionally be- the stain appears to have been of a vegetable comes fluid, while ice is rapidly generated nature. The little auk (Alca alle,) which on the other; or while a thermometer, feeds upon shrimps, is found, in some parts placed against the black paint work on of the polar seas, in immense numbers. which the sun shines, indicates a tempera- They frequently retreat to pieces of ice or ture of 80 or 90 degrees, or even more, on surfaces of snow, and stain them all over red the opposite side of the ship a cold of 20 with their mute. Martens saw red snow in degrees is sometime found to prevail. Spitzbergen, which he considered as being stained by rain-water running down by the rocks.

This remarkable force of the sun's rays, is accompanied with a corresponding intensity of light. A person placed in the centre of a field or other compact body of ice, under a cloudless atmosphere and elevated sun, experiences such an extraordinary intensity of light, that, if it be encountered for any length of time, is not only productive of a most painful sensation in the eyes, but sometimes of temporary, or even, as I have Under heard, of permanent blindness. such circumstances, the use of green glasses affords a most agreeable relief. Some of the Indians in North America defend their eyes by the use of a kind of wooden spectacles, having, instead of glasses, a narrow perpendicular slit, opposite to each eye. This simple contrivance, which intercepts, perhaps, nine-tenths of the light that would reach a naked eye, prevents any painful consequences from the most intense reflection of light that ever occurs.

The state of the winds is very curious.

Advancing towards the polar regions, we find the irregularities of the winds increased, and their locality more striking-storms and calms repeatedly alternate, without warning or progression; forcible winds blow in one place, when at the distance of a few leagues, gentle breezes prevail;-a storm from the south, on one hand, exhausts its impetuosity upon the gentle breeze, blowing from off the ice, on the other, without prevailing in the least;-ships within the circle of the horizon may be seen enduring every variety of wind and weather at the same moment; some under close-reefed topsails, labouring under the force of a storm; some becalmed and tossing about by the violence of the waves; and others plying under gentle breezes, from quarters as diverse as the cardinal points. The cause of some of these phenomena, has, in the last chapter, been referred to the frigorific influences of the ice, the accuracy of which opinion, experience

and observation confirm.

In our next we shall extract some of the most interesting zoological intelligence, connected with the whale and other inhabitants of the polar regions.

ANALYSIS OF THE JOURNAL DES SAVANS,

FOR DECEMBER, 1819.

Art. I. Deux Lettres, &c. Two Letters to
Lord Aberdeen, on the Authenticity of
the Inscriptions of Fourmont, by M. Raoul
Rochette.

caused marbles to be broken, mutilated and buried, after having copied the characters carved on them. This barbarous proceeding may have been suggested to Fourmont by a mistaken zcal, to insure to his country the honour of being the first to publish such rare monuments; but people rather saw in it a precaution to conceal his frauds, and to destroy the traces of his imposture.

These doubts were already much diffused in the learned world, and the prejudice (for we may call by this name an opinion, the grounds of which had not been duly weighed,) against the authenticity of the inscriptions of Fourmont began to take root, when a learned English hellenist, M. R Payne Knight, at the end of his book on the Greek Alphabet, attacked in form the inscriptions of Sparta and Ainyela, which are the most ancient. As he had made no use of the inscriptions of Fourmont in the course of his Work, he thought himself called upon to explain the reasons which had induced him entirely to neglect them.

Hitherto the arguments of Mr. R. P. Knight had remained unanswered: the authority of so distinguished a writer had not a little contributed to confirm the opinion already established; and the inscriptions of Fourmont, instead of enriching the number of printed collections of this kind, have remained buried in the port-folios of the Royal Library.

M. Fourmont, member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, was commissioned by Louis XV. to travel through Greece, to collect inscriptions, fragments of antiquity, and manuscripts. This academician employed three years on his travels, Within a few years, however, more favorand came back with a rich harvest of monu- able opinions were beginning to be enterments of all kinds. His return made a great tained of these inscriptions: the letters which sensation; people conceived rather ex- had appeared the most strange, the forms aggerated hopes of the result of his journey of speech which had seemed the most susand he himself, it must be owned, did not picious, were found again upon Grecian a little contribute to encourage these hopes, vases, medals, and marbles, which were from not having a very clear idea of the va gradually discovered. The inscriptions which lue of the monuments which he had brought Fourmont took for a copy of the laws of with him. He soon went so far as to flatter Solon, were found to be extremely curious himself with possessing an ancient copy of inscriptions relative to the internal governthe laws of Solon. Nobody, however, en- ment of Athens, and shewing the same pecutertained any doubt of the veracity of the liarities of language and orthography as the traveller, and of the authenticity of the in- Choiseul marbles, discovered since the death scriptions which composed his collection. of Fourmont; their authenticity could not be Illustrious men of letters, Freret, Torre-liable to the smallest doubt., "As the falsemuzza, Barthelemy, the authors of the hood of the whole had been inferred from a "Nouvelle Diplomatique " Pacciaudi Lanzi | small number of doubtful traits, people were quoted, translated and enumerated with confidence some of these inscriptions.

now inclined to believe the authenticity of the greater part of these inscriptions, from the incontestible authenticity of some of them, so that the Academy of Berlin had an exact copy taken, which it preserves in its archives, and intends to publish.

That spirit of scepticism, however, which had endeavoured to cast doubts on monuments which are placed beyond the reach of attack, such as the inscriptions of Cyriac of Ancona, the famous eugubian tables, and even Meantime the difficulties raised by Mr. R. the Parian marbles, did not long refrain from P. Knight were not yet removed; many trying to impugn the inscriptions of Four-persons; though allowing the authenticity Lightening seldom occurs to the northward mont. The form (then without authority) of a great number of these inscriptions, reof the arctic circle, and when it does, is of the letters which were met with in some of tained their doubts respecting the most anhardly ever accompanied by thunder. Hail those inscriptions; the peculiarities of lan- cient; namely those of Sparta and Amyclæ; is very rarely seen; a fact which tends to guage they contained, and which it was diffi- and persisted in believing that the objections prove the electrical origin of that aqueous cult to explain; some new facts which were of Mr. R. P. Knight were unanswerable. concretion. Snow falls almost daily in April, thought to be contradictory to facts well Lord Aberdeen, in a letter, which Mr. T. May, and June. Its particles are astonish-known, were so many reasons to suspect Walpole has inserted in his Memoirs relative ingly varied, and most wonderful in their Fourmont of having designed to impose on forms, when viewed through the microscope. the learned world, by monuments forged * Mr. Dodwell, in his Travels in Greece (Vol. I. Snow of a reddish or brownish colour is according to his own fancy. What espe-r. 406.) informs us that the remembrance of this not unfrequently seen. The brownish stain cially contributed to give weight to this opi-infamous proceeding of Fourmont is still prewhich occurs on shore, is given by an earthy nion, was a letter from Fourmont to M. de served in the environs of Sparta. See Lit. Gaz. substance brought from the mountains, by Maurepas, in which he confesses haring of list year.