no use to him. What is the matter, reply'd I-I cannot endure them, said he, they are my own work, and ever since I delivered my Books to the Press, I never cou'd open them, or read a page of them without disgust.-That is strange, said I, I wonder the good reception they have met with from the World has not put you more in conceit with them.-Why! said he, if I were to count suffrages, there are perhaps more against them, than for them. But, rejoin'd I, it is impossible but the style and eloquence and ornaments must please you.-To tell the truth, said he, I am not displeas'd with myself in that particular: But I still dread, that my Writings are good for nothing at the bottom, and that all my Theories are full of Extravagance. Je craigne toujours que je peche par le fond, et que touts mes systemes ne sont que des extravagances. You see that this is judging of himself with the utmost severity,and censuring his Writings on the Side where they are most expos'd to Criticism. No feign'd modesty is ever capable of this courage. I never heard reproach himself with the - Nobody ever heard you express any remorse for having put Ossian on the same footing with Homer. her duty during her single state: But this last circumstance can be of no consequence in France, where all the young Ladies are shut up in Convents, and have it not in their power to transgress: It might indeed have a bad effect in a protestant Country. But notwithstanding this reflection, he told me, that he had wrote a Continuation of his Emilius, which may soon be publish'd: He there attempts to show the effects of his plan of Education, by representing Emilius in all the most trying situations, and still extricating himself with courage and Virtue. Among the rest, he discovers that Sophia, the amiable, the virtuous, the estimable Sophia, is unfaithful to his bed, which fatal accident he bears with a manly and superior spirit. In this work, added he, I have endeavoured to represent Sophia in such a light that she will appear equally amiable, equally virtuous, and equally estimable, as if she had no such Frailty.-You take a pleasure, I see, said I, to combat with difficulties in all your works.-Yes, said he, I hate marvellous and supernatural events in Novels. The only thing that can give pleasure in such performances is to place the personages in situations difficult and singular. Thus, you see, nothing remains for him but to write a Book for the instruction of Widows; unless perhaps he imagines that they can learn their lesson without instruction.—Adieu Dear Doctor; You say that you sometimes read my letters to our common friends; but you must read this only to the initiated. Have I tir'd you, or will you have any more Anecdotes of this singular personage? I think I hear you desire me to go on. He attempted once to justify to me the moral of his new Heloisa, which, he knew, was blam'd, as instructing young people, in the Art of gratifying their Passions, under the cover of Virtue and noble and refin'd sentiments. You may observe, said he, that my Julia is faithful to her hus- Lisle Street Leicester fields, band's bed, tho' she is seduc'd from Yours, usque ad oras. 25 March 1736. DAVID HUME. THE CHIME BELLS OF MERIDEN. On hearing them at Midnight. WHAT tuneful sounds are those I hear, And while the sleeping winds were still In yonder wood, on yonder hill, The turret clock struck twelve, and then I Stephensiana, No. X. Literary Gazette. The late Mr. H. S. WOODfall. WAS pleased to find him a man of abilities and merit, occasionally relating with pleasantry, the persecutions with which he had been assailed, for the part he had taken in publishing the letters of Junius. Too much cannot be said in praise of those well written letters, as containing the politics of the times, and affording valuable materials not only for the historian, but the man of taste and the philosopher. Mr. W. told me, March 10th, 1801, that he knew Dr. Wolcott well, having often met him behind the scenes. "I was brought up in some measure behind the scenes," said he to me, 66 as my father was printer to Covent Garden house, and I used to be always there, and indeed at both of the theatres." Mr. Wood was then the treasurer. The actors were not so well paid then as now, and they used to say to one another, on a Saturday night, when the piece was concluded, "Have you seen the treasury?" "Yes, but there is no coal there, "I will burn wood then." The following Card was left at the QUEEN'S HOUSE, during the KING'S illness, in March, 1801. "Captain Blake, of the Grenadiers, (George 1st.) was in the regiment of Colonel Murray, at the battle of Preston Pans, in the year 1745. He was left among the dead in the field of action, with no less than eleven wounds, one so capital as to carry away three inches of his skull. Has been preserved 56 years to relate the event, and enabled by gracious protection, to make his personal enquiry after his Majesty." LOBSTERS. These unfortunate and ill-used creatures, are caught in baskets on the coast of Scotland and even of Norway, and being carried into the Thames, are placed in large boxes, called lobster chests, with different widths between the joints, to allow the water to flow freely through and through These are sunk at a place on the Essex coast, about ten miles below Gravesend, where the water is salt. Thence they are draughted as occasion requires, and brought to Billingsgate, to supply the London market. The WITTINAGEMOT of the CHAPTER. From 1797 to 1805, I was accustomed to use the Chapter Coffee-house, where I always met with intelligent company, and enjoyed an interesting conversation. The box in the NE. corner used to be called the Wittinagemot. Early in the morning it was occupied by neighbours, who were designated the Wet Paper Club, as it was their practice to open the papers as brought in by the newsmen, and read them before they were dried by the waiter. A dry paper they viewed as a stale commodity. In the afternoon another party enjoyed the wet evening papers, and it was these whom I met. Dr. BUCHAN, author of the Domestic Medicine, generally held a seat in this box, and though he was a tory, he heard the freest discussions with good humour, and commonly acted as a moderator. His fine physiognomy and his white hairs qualified him for this office. But the fixture in the box was a Mr. HAMMOND, a Coventry manufacturer, who, evening after evening, for nearly 45 years, was always to be found in his place, and during the entire period was much distinguished for his severe and often able strictures on the events of the day. He ad thus debated through the days of Wilkes, of the American war, and of the French wars, and being on the side of liberty, was constantly in opposition. mode of arguing was Socratic, and he generally applied to his adversary the reductio ad absurdam, often creating bursts of laughter. His The registrar, or chronicle of the box, was a Mr. MURRAY, an episcopal Scotch clergyman, who generally sat in one place from nine in the morning till nine at night, and was famous for having read, at least once through, every morning and evening paper published in London during the last thirty 446 years. Stephensiana-original Anecdotes of celebrated Men. His memory being good, he was appealed to whenever any point of fact within the memory of man happened to be disputed. It was often remarked, however, that such incessant daily reading did not tend to clear his views. Among those from whom I constantly profited, was Dr. BERDMORE, Master of the Charter House; WALKER, the rhetorician; and Dr. TOWERS, the political and historical writer. Dr. B. abounded in anecdote; Walker, to the finest enunciation, united the most intelligent head I ever met with; and Towers, over his half pint of Lisbon, was sarcastic and lively, though never deep. Among our constant visitors was the celebrated Dr. GEORGE FORDYCE, who, having much fashionable practice, brought news which had not generally transpired. He had not the appearance of a man of genius, nor did he debate, but he possessed sound information on all subjects. He came to the Chapter after his wine, and staid about an hour, or while he sipped a glass of brandy and water. It was then his habit to take another glass at the London, and a third at the Oxford, before he went to his house in Essex street. [VOL.10 There was a growling man of the name of DOBSON, who, when his asthma permitted, vented his spleen upon both sides; and a lover of absurd paradoxes, of the name of HERON, author of some works of merit, but so devoid of principle that, deserted by all, he would have died from want if Dr. Garthshore had not placed him as a patient in the empty Fever Institution. ROBINSON, the King of the Booksellers, was frequently of the party, as well as his brother John, a man of some talent; and JOSEPH JOHNSON, the friend of Priestley, and Paine, and Cowper, and Fuzeli. PHILLIPS, then commencing his Magazine, was also on a keen look out for recruits, with his waistcoat-pocket full of guineas, to slip his enlisting money into their hands. ALEXANDER CHALMERS, the workman of the Robinsons, and through introduction editor of many large books, also enlivened the box by many sallies of wit and humour, and in anecdotes, of which he had a plentiful store at command. He always took much pains to be distinguished from his name-sake George, who, he used to say, carried "the leaden mace,” and was much provoked whenever he happened to be taken for his name-sake. Dr. GOWER, the urbane and able. CAHUSAC, a teacher of the classics; physician of the Middlesex, was anoth- M'LEOD, a writer in the papers; the er pretty constant visitor, and added two PARRYS of the Courier, then the much to our stock of information. It organ of jacobinism; and Capt. SKINwas gratifying to hear such men as For- NER, a man of elegant manners, who dyce, Gower, and Buchan, in familiar personated our nation in the procession chat. On subjects of medicine they of Anacharsis Clootz, at Paris, in 1793, seldom agreed, and when such were were also in constant attendance. started, they generally laughed at one another's opinions. They seemed to consider Chapter-punch, or brandy and water, as aqua vita; and, to the credit of the house, better punch is not found in London. If any one complained of being indisposed, the elder Buchan exclaimed, "Now, let me prescribe for you without a fee. Here John, or Isaac, bring a glass of punch for Mr. unless he like brandy and water better. Take that, Sir, and I'll warrant you'll soon be well-you're a peg too low-you want a little stimulus, and if one glass won't do, call for a second. One BAKER, once a Spitalfields manufacturer, a great talker, and not less remarkable as an eater, was constant; but having shot himself at his lodgings in Kirkby-street, it was discovered that for some years he had had no other meal per day besides the supper which he took at the Chapter, where there being a choice of viands at the fixed price of one shilling, this, with a pint of porter, constituted his subsistence, till his last resources failing, he put an end to himself. LOWNDES, the celebrated electrician, was another of our set, and a facetious man. BUCHAN, jun. a graduated son of the Doctor, generally came with Lowndes, and though somewhat dogmatical, yet he added to the variety and good intelligence of our discussions, which, from the mixture of company, was as various as the contents of the newspapers. Dr. BUSBY, the musician, and a very ingenious man, often obtained a hearing, and was earnest in disputing with the tories. And MACFARLANE, the author of the History of George the Third, was always admired for the soundness his views; but this worthy man was killed by the pole of a coach, during a procession of Sir F. Burdett, from Brentford. KELLY, an Irish schoolmaster and gentlemanly man, kept up warm debates by his equivocating politics, and was often roughly handled by Hammond and others, though he bore his defeats with constant good humour. There was a young man of the name of WILSON, who acquired the name of Longbow Wilson, from the number of extraordinay secrets of the haut ton which he used to retail by the hour. He was a good-tempered, and certainly very amusing person, who seemed likely to be an acquisition among the Wittenagemot, but having run up a score of thirty or forty pounds, he suddenly absented himself. Miss Brun, the keeper of the house, begged of me, if I met with him, to tell him that she would give him a receipt for the past, and further credit to any amount, if he would only return to the house,; "for," said she, "if he never paid us, he was one of the best customers we ever had, contriving, by his stories and conversation, to keep a couple of boxes crowded the whole night, by which we made more punch, and more brandy and water, than from any other single cause whatever." I, however, never saw Wilson again, and suppose he is dead or gone abroad. Some young men of talent came among us from time to time, as LovETT, a militia-officer; HENNELL, a coal-merchant, and some others, whose names I forget, and these seemed likely to keep up the party; but all things have an end-Dr. Buchan died, some young sparks affronted our Nestor, Hammond, on which he absented him self, after nearly fifty years attendance, and the noisy box of the Wittinagemot has for some years been remarkable for its silence and dulness. The two or three last times I was at the Chapter, I heard no noise above a whisper, and I almost shed a tear on thinking of men, habits, and times gone by for ever. LORD HOWE. When the late Lord Howe was a captain, a lieutenant, not remarkable for courage or presence of mind in dangers (common fame had brought some imputation on his character) ran to the great cabin, and informed his commander that the ship was on fire near the gun-room. Soon after this, he returned, exclaiming, "You need not be afraid, as the fire is extinguished." "Afraid!" replied Capt. H. a little nettled: "How does a man feel, sir, when he is afraid? I need not ask how he looks." JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD. In one of the morning excursions of John, Duke of Bedford, he observed a woher hands, weeping aloud, and discovering man at a short distance from him wringing every mark of the deepest distress. Moved with sympathy, he immediately approached her, desired her to dry up her tears, and tell the same time to do her all the service in him the cause of her sorrow; promising at his power. Seeing a man in a plain genteel dress looking at her with an air of benignity, and interesting himself in her sufferings, and being entirely ignorant of his rank, she communicated her story to him without reserve. "I have," said she, "a large family; my husband is sick, and being unable to pay our rent, the Duke of Bedford's steward has seized our stock, and left us able ruin; and I came out to this field, to nothing but the dismal prospect of unavoidtake my last sad sight of my poor cows, which are still feeding in the park there." Deeply affected with her melancholy tale, he advised her to drive the cows home, and offered to set open the gate for her for that purpose. At this proposal she started, burst again into tears, and absolutely refused to meddle with them. "They are no longer my husband's," said she; “and if I drive them home, I shall be looked upon as a thief; and for any thing I know, I may be hanged for it!" Forcibly struck with the justice of her reasoning, and the honest simplicity of her language, he gave her some money, and told her that he heartily pitied her, and would take the liberty to recommend her and her family to the Duke of Bedford, whom he knew to be a good natured sort of a man, and he hoped he would do something valuable for her. Accordingly, he desired her to call next day at Woburn Abbey, and ask for John Russell, and he would introduce her to the duke, and speak to him in her behalf. The good woman having returned him many thanks, and promising to meet at the time and place appointed, they parted. Next day, dressed in her best clothes, the poor woman went to the Abbey, and asked for John Russell; she was shown into a room, and told that Mr Russell would be with her immediately. She had not waited long, when several gentlemen richly dressed, entered the room. She knew at first sight the features of him who had convers ed with her the day before; and strongly impressed with the idea of his being the duke himself, she was ready to faint with surprise; but his Grace walked up to her with a look of condescension and goodness, which reanimated her drooping spirits, while he assured her that she had no cause to be afflicted, but might keep herself perfectly easy. He then called his steward, ordered him to write her a receipt in full, and to see every thing returned that had been taken from her husband. His Grace then put the receipt into her hand, and told her that he had enquired into her husband's character, and found that he was a very honest man, and had long been his tenant; and giving her thirty guineas, he desired her to go home, and rejoice with her family. ORIGIN OF MUSIC AND THE LYRE. The Hermes, or Mercury, of the Egyptians, surnamed Trismegistus, or Thrice Illustrious, who was, according to Newton, the secretary to Osiris, is reported to have been the inventor of Music, according to Apollodorus, under the following circumstances:-The Nile having overflowed its banks, and inundated the whole country of Egypt, on its return to its customary bounds left on the shores various dead ani mals, and among the rest a tortoise, the flesh of which, being dried and wasted by the sun, nothing remained within the shell but nerves and cartilages, and these being tightened and constructed by the drying heat, became sonorous. Mercury, walking along the banks of the river,happened to strike his foot against this shell, and was so pleased with the sound produced, that the idea of the lyre suggested itself to his imagination. The first instrument he constructed was in the form a tortoise, and was strung with the dried sinews of dead animals. There is something beautiful in this allegory, which leads us into a conception of the energetic powers of the human mind in the early ages of the world, thus directed to a discovery of the capabilities of Nature by the fingers of Omnipotence in the form of accident. This fanciful mode of accounting for the origin of music is thus curiously alluded to in Brewer's Lingua: "The lute was first devised In imitation of a tortoise' back, Whose sinews, parched by Apollo's beams, Echo'd about the concave of the shell; And seeing the shortest and smallest gave shrillest sound, They found out frets, where sweet diversity, And the opinion many to confirm, The first organ that ever was seen in Europe was sent toCharlemagne by the Caliph Haroun Alraschid. Entelligence. A Translation of Baron Larrey's new work, entitled, a Collection of Surgical Observations, with Notes, is preparing by the Translator for publication, by Mr. Dunglison, of Prescot-street. A New Edition (being the 7th) of Conversations on Chemistry, is preparing for the press with considerable additions. The author of the Bachelor and the Married Man, Hesitation, &c. will shortly publish a new Novel, entitled, the Woman of Genius. The Rev. S. Burder, A. M. is preparing a New Edition of his Oriental Customs, or an Illustration of the Sacred Scriptures, by an explanatory application of the Customs and Manners of the Eastern Nations, and especially of the Jews therein alluded to; this edition will be considerably enlarged. Miss A. M. Porter is writing a Romance, to be entitled Roche Blanc, or the Hunters of the Pyrennees. Dr. Watkins, author of the General Biographical Dictionary, will shortly publish a work consisting of Memoirs of Self-educated Persons, who by their own exertions have risen to eminence in literature and science. Miss Benger is engaged in Memoirs of the Life of Mary Queen of Scots. A new edition is in the press with considerable additions, of Systematic Education, or Elementary Instruction in the various departments of Literature and Science, with Practical Rules for studying each Branch of useful Knowledge, by the Rev. W. Shepherd, the Rev. J. Joyce, and the Rev. Lant Carpenter, L.L.D. |