1823.] Epitaph on Mrs. Wright. Figure of the Earth. too often jointly chargeable. Mr. W. was the intimate friend, and frequent associate of Mr. Whitehead (mentioned above), as well as of his biographer and that of Mr. Gray, Mr. Mason. He was also Author of a few papers in a periodical publication called the World. "Elizabeth Wright, daughter of Thomas Hill, esq. of Chipping Wycombe, Bucks, wife of Thomas Wright, Rector of Birkin, was born April 27th, 1711: died Feb. 23d, 1783. " These were the limits of a life of innocence; invariably conducted by good sense and virtue; humanity extended through every part of it, and charity was bounded only by ability. A wife, the tenderest, truest friend, lies here, lifeless, dear; Who, to each serious virtue's solid pow'r, And easy mirth, that knew not to deride. For all earth's comforts, and for length of done'." In reply to Mr. Tovey's endeavour to fix the zenith, in my figure, at K instead of Z, I shall briefly observe, that at M there is as much matter on one side as there is on the other. One of these portions is equally near, and therefore, by itself, would be sufficient to make a body at M gravitate in the direction M n, which is perpendicular to its surface, while the power of attraction on the other, superadded to this, would, in all probability, it to gravitate in the line MCN, and consequently place the zenith where I stated, at Z. cause Mr. Tovey further observes, that 391 " on the principles of hydrostatics, the direction of the plumb-line on the ocean, is everywhere perpendicular to its surface, otherwise the water could not rest;" and I am quite ready to grant, that whenever the plumb-line is not perpendicular to its surface, the water cannot be at rest; but what does this prove against my theory? Supposing the earth to be wholly fluid and at rest, upon the principle that all its parts mutually attracted each other, it would necessarily form itself into a perfect sphere; but, supposing it to revolve upon its axis, as its centrifugal force would diminish the gravity of the equatorial parts, those parts about the poles would naturally sink down and press the equatorial parts outwards, until the weight of the diminished quantity of heavier particles was just balanced by the weight of the increased quantity of lighter particles. Here Mr. Tovey will be pleased to observe, that "on the principles of hydrostatics," the waters on the surface would not be lifted up by the centrifugal force, but pushed upwards by the pressure of the heavier particles at the poles, and, consequently, when raised above their level, would as naturally flow towards the poles, as the sides, when lifted above their level, flow towards those parts where there has been no such rise. It was the opinion of Sir Isaac Newton, that the earth must necessarily have been formed in the figure he has assigned to it, in order to prevent the waters of the ocean, which, as fluids, are still subjects to the laws of hydrostatics, from overflowing all the equatorial parts of the earth; but unfortunately, in consequence of overlooking one of the laws of hydrostatics, he has tumbled into the very dilemma he took so much pains to avoid. If we suppose two upright tubes, connected by a syphon, each containing twelve inches depth of water, and then that the water in tube A, from some cause or other, has twice the gravity of the water in tube B; it follows, by the laws of hydrostatics, that there would be a fall of four inches in tube A, and a rise of four inches in tube B, because eight inches, with twice the gravity, would just balance sixteen inches with half the gravity. Again, if these tubes, instead of twelve inches, had contained twelve miles depth of water, then would have been a fall of four miles in one 398 Haberdashers' Alms Houses. - Poynings Family. one of the tubes and a rise of four miles in the other; and consequently it is evident, by the above law, that the power of the pressure must be in proportion to the depth of the water. Supposing the average depth of ocean to be twenty miles (and that is more, I believe, than any one will contend for), the rise of the waters at the equa tor, and their fall at the poles, can only be equal to the two hundredth parts of what they would be if the earth was wholly fluid; and conse quently, if, as the Newtonian philosophers suppose, there had been a rise of ten or twelve miles in the equatorial parts of the earth, and a fall of ten or twelve miles in its polar parts, while, upon principles which no one can dispute, it is evident that the rise and fall of the waters could not exceed a hundred fathoms, the whole of the frigid and great part of the temperate zones would have been covered by the ocean, while no part of it could have reached so far as the torrid zone. I have now only to add, that I am obliged to Mr. Tovey for the notice he has taken of my Essay, and still more, because he has fairly encountered me with arguments, and not, like the rest of my opponents, endea voured to put me down by the mere force of authority. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, WALTER FORMAN. Νου. 12. YOUR Magazine has been the mecommunicating so many useful hints to artists and antiquaries that, I presume, you will allow me to notice an instance of destruction about to take place almost immediately. I mean that fine building, once accounted one of the most elegant monuments to past liberality- the spacious hospital at Hoxton, founded by Robert Aske, esq. and opened in 1695, for the maintenance of twenty poor freemen of the Haberdashers' Company, and the education of twenty boys, sons of the freemen of the company, is now about to be pulled down, and some kind of modern edifice erected in its room upon a smaller scale. Perhaps some of your readers may wish to take a sketch of the old building before it disappears, and, I am sorry to add, they have no time to lose. For many, many years, wherever and whenever the conversation has [Nov. turned on the charitable edifices be longing to the Worshipful Companies London, ASKE'S HOSPITAL has been always mentioned as among the most distinguished; and as an honour to the Company. Why it should now be devoted to destruction, instead of receiving a substantial repair, of which it is so capable from compactness and solidity of materials, I know not, and aim afraid to ask. All I know is, that for the last twenty years, or more, it has been allowed to present those decaying and dirty appearances which all buildings present that are not subjected to periodical repairs, and that without any effort to keep up the appearance which many of us can yet remember. And all I shall at present remark is, that such neglect may well damp the spirit of future benefactors and foundAN ANTIQUARY. ers. A Mr. URBAN, Norwich, Nου. 14. MONG the MSS. in the Library of Gonvile and Caius College, Cambridge (No. 123), are two short articles, which would forın proper IIlustrations of the " Progresses of King James;" and I have no doubt by the permission of Dr. Davy, the present very learned and worthy Master of that College, some one of your many friends in that University will have the kindness to supply you with a transcript: 1. A list of the King's Progress into Scotland, and Return, 1616 (fol. 176). 2. The Entertainmeet of Prince Charles and the Prince Elector Palatine of the Rhine, at Cambridge, 1612 (fol. 232). CLERICUS. Mr. URBAN, Νου. 12.. VOUR Corespondent ROWLEY, P. Yours, &c. AN OLD READER. 1823.] Mr. URBAN, The Charlton King's Church. -Old Houses. Oct. 30. Gloucester one mile East of Cheltenham (in which Hundred it is contained), and 11 from Gloucester. It consists of 3000 acres, in pasture and tillage. The soil is both clay and sand, and singularly fertile. of Charlton King's, or The manor of Ashley is not mentioned in Domesday, but it occurs in records little posterior to the Conquest. Wm. de Esheley lived in 1246. The families of Cokesey and Greville possessed the manor before the 16th century. In 1697 it was purchased by the Prynne family; from whom it descended to Elizabeth, only daughter and heir of W. Prynne, esq. who married Dodington Hunt, esq. and their only son, Wm. Hunt Prinn, esq. is the present possessor. "Some years since, the Manor House was rebuilt in a modern and commodious style*; but the park and pleasure grounds being naturally low, did not admit of much picturesque beauty. However, the [father of the present possessor evinced the superior excellence of the improved art of gardening, when applied with sound judgment and real taste, in relieving the flatness of some parts by objects with which the distances are pleasingly broken, and giving the rivulet a delightful effect by widening and enlarging it. A circuit of about two miles is enclosed within the park-pale; and we may truly observe, that it wears a face of scenery new and beautiful, and such as its former appearance could not have pro mised t." The Church (see Plate I.) is a plain spacious building, with a transept, and an embattled tower in the centre. The Abbey of Cirencester contributed probably to its erection; as it appears from their Register, "that the Chapel of Charlton King's was dedicated and made subject to the mother Church of Cheltenham, by W. Bp. of Hereford in 1190, by an indulgence of Pope Innocent III. and then given to the Abbey of Cirencester, at which time it gained parochial rights." The inscriptions in the church and church-yard are accurately given in Bigland's History. * A very neat view of Mr. Hunt [Prinn's] seat embellishes Bigland's "Hist. of Gloucestershire." † Mr. Dallaway, in Bigland's Gloucester, vol. I. p. 300. GENT. MAG. November, 1823. 393 AM an Antiquary who delight, inter alia, in the investigation of Old Houses, whether in the occupation of their proprietors, or, as is now chiefly the case, of farming tenants. Circumstances have recently occurred, which have enabled me to survey minutely two curiosities of the kind alluded to, viz. Rock's Place, and Yatton Court, both in the parish of Marcle, Herefordshire. Some account of these visits I beg to lay before you. Rock's Place.-This is occupied by the proprietor, Mr. Rob. Woodward, the representative of a very antient family long seated here, which family made great sacrifices in the service of Charles I. The house stands on the side of the turnpike road from Ross to Ledbury. A lane diverges from it to the side of a barn, which is perforated like the gateway of an inn, in the centre. Through this entrance you pass into a small fold or farm-yard. Directly opposite is the house, a framework building with large casement windows. It is seated upon an earthen platform, with a walled outside, and paved and paled. In front is an old porch, which con contains a kind of clo set: above it, open to the air on two sides, roofed with a pentice, and entered from the house by a small door. A gentleman with me observed, that Mr. Woodward's ancestors having been officers of the trained bands, the lady of the family used to survey the soldiers from this balcony, and the children from the terrace, while the men stood in the fold below. The account of the proprietor was, that it was used for smoking. Be this as it may, it is far from a common appendage 'to old porches, in its peculiar character of being open to the air, and ballustraded like the landing-place of a stair-case. Upon being ushered into an old oaken parlour, I found the following rarities: two very light and elegant cross bows, inlaid with mother of |