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Extracts from the Port-folio of a Man of Letters, [Communications to this Article are always thankfully received.]

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Ant. Naldus. Quæst. Practic, No. 20, notes that it was about 1551, much in vogue in the Ecclesiastical State, for individuals to seize the children of the Jews, and christen them vi et armis.

ROYAL APOSTLES, &c.

Orosius, 1. 7. c. 14. says that, the Goths, Huns, &c. invaded Italy, by an impulse of Providence, that they might be converted. Boscus de Sign. Eccles, says, that Tiridates having vanquished the Armenians, compelled them to become Christians. He adds, that the Burgundiaus and Franks became so, through a vow made, if they were successful in a battle. Charlemagne forced the Saxons into Christianity. Rhegin. Eginh, and Aimoin, No. 785: Dubruorus, l. 5 and 6. Helmodius, 1. 6. c. 16, 19, 24, say, that Otho the Great thus converted the Bobemians. So also Boleslaus, King of the Poles, (see Arnold, l. 7. c. 9.) converted the Prussians; so Waldemar, King of the Danes, the Bugiani, (Helmod. l. 1. c. 43. 1. 2. c. 12, 13.) So Isid. Hist. Gothor. Era. 650, notes that the Emperor Heraclius, Sisebert, King of Spain; and Dagobert, King of France, com

pelled the Jews to be baptized. So our Alfred forced Guthrun and the Danes. Medisia de Restit. 9. 27. and Joh. Azorius, Instit. Monal. 1. 8. c. 24. and others say, that baptism was the usual condition of granting quarter to infidels.

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH-ATHANASIUS.

The Hist. Eccles. l. 10. and Tiber Decianus. d. l. 5. c. 12. n. 28. say that Alexander Bishop of Alexandria, when walking in the street, saw a Jew boy, named Athanasius, playing at bishop, and christening other children: through which he compelled them all to persevere in the christian faith and thus it happened that Athanasius became a very great "Fidei Propugnator," Defender of the Faith.

ABRAHAM, A DOCTOR-DOCTOR TITLE OF.

This, as a degree, commences with the 12th cent. but Lucian in Deá Syriá, notes that there were publici hospites among the Assyrians, called Doctorcs, because they narrated and explained all things. Accordingly, Peneda de Reb. Salom. 1. 3. c. 27. num. 3. says, "the very hospitality of Abraham shows that he was a Doctor." See Joseph. Antiq. 1. c. 16. Euseb. Præp. Evang. 1. 9. c. ult.

MARTYRDOM-FOX.

Sulpitius, in the Life of Martin, relates an instance of a church erected to the memory, as a martyr, of a man who bad been hanged for a robbery.—A clergyman, in his sermon, after mentioning the name of a martyr, upon the authority of Fox, proceeded to inveigh, by name, against his persecutor, of whom he related the most shocking stories, which were punished by a miraculous and disgraceful death. The martyr was alive, and the persecutor in the church at the time, He menaced the preacher with an action of defamation, who upon his quoting the authority of Fox, escaped.

GREEK IAMBICS.

Scaliger says, every body values Greek iambics, but nobody understands them.

EPIGRAMS WITHOUT POINT.

These, says Menage, are excellent, when the sense is fine, full, and the mate ter described with naivetè: where the latter makes an admirable conclusion, and the truth serves instead of point.

SWEETNESS.

Properly that when results from per fect simplicity.

HERMITS.

These have existed from the time of Pliny, who calls them " gens aterna in qua nemo nascitur.”

BAILEY.

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He wrote a work of Criticism: in which he makes the following serious comparisons. Will you have Plato's veine, read Sir Thomas Smith; the Io nick,Sir Thomas Moore; Cicero's, Ascham, Varro's, Chaucer; Demosthenes, Sir John Cheeke. He then assimilates Virgil and the Earl of Surrey; Catullus and Shakespeare, Ovid and Daniel, Lucan and Spenser, Martial and Sir John Davies; and ends with," Will you have all in all for prose and verse? take the miracle of our age, Sir Phil. Sidney. Little did he think that Lord Orford would say, a girl in love could not get through the Arcadia.

CUCKOLD.

Moliere's lines on the word cuckold, are admirable :

Peste soit qui premier trouva l' invention
De s'affliger l'esprit de cette vision;
Et d' attacher l'honneur de l'homme le plus
sage,

Aux choses, que peut faire une femme volage : Puisque on tient à bon droit tout crime personnel,

Que fait la notre honneur pour etre criminel ? Des actions d'autrui l'on nous donne le

blame.

Si nos femmes sans nous ont un commerce infame,

It faut que tout le mal tombe sur notre dos: Elles font la sottise; et nous sommes les sots. Com. Imaginaire, A. ii. sc. ult.

MARRIAGE LIFE,

The following is the very curious account given in an old French novel,

called Le Doyen de Killcrane, T. 6. p. 250.

"You cannot conceive how great the force of habit is between two people, who for a length of time have used the same house, the same table, the same occupations, the same pleasures; and who, in short, passing day and night without scarcely a moment's separation, have learnt mutually to discover their faults, to take no notice of them, to consider themselves as removed from all kinds of bienséances and constraints; to have a right to speak or be silent, when they please; never to disguise their thoughts; and have their pleasures and pains in common. It is not interest which thus connects them, for they could lead an easy life separate: it is not precisely a taste for the same pleasures, for they do not expect any very lively, and one half of their time is passed in finding out the fallacy of every thing which bears that name. It is not inclination for good living; for if they had every thing upon the table, they have not a grain more appetite and very often they leave it, without having touched the finest dishes: it is still less love, for they see one another without desire, and part without pain; it scarcely happens that they even use one kind expression, or the simple attentions which they pay to the greatest stranger; and though they occupy the same bed, they commonly lie down, and get up with perfect indifference. Nevertheless try, if you think it possible, to make them live apart: they will laugh at your efforts."

SINGULAR READING.

Joseph Scott, esq. of Birmingham, who lived in 1751, is said to have read Bailey's Dictionary, and the Common Prayer Book, methodically through twice

a year.

PUNNING SERMONS.

During Cromwell's government, one Slater, a broken apothecary of Birmingham, got possession of the rectory of St. Martin's, in opposition to one Jennings, an iron master, possessor of Aston Furnace; one Smallbroke, a wealthy inhabitant; and Sir Thomas Holt, who wished for it.

In his first Sermon he told his people, "The Lord had carried him through many troubles, for he had passed like Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego, through the fiery furnace: and as the

Lord had enabled the children of Israel to pass over the Red Sea, so he had assisted him in passing over the small brooks, and to overcome the strong holts of sin and satan,"

POETRY

ORIGINAL POETRY.

THE AMULET.

By ANN OF KIDWELLY.
"She was a charmer, and bid
Make it a darling, like my precious eye;
To lose't or give't away, were such perdition
As nothing else could match."--OTHELLO.
RESTORE me the Amulet stol'n from my

breast,

By a charmer bestow'd t'other day; Who told me my moments would all be unblest,

"If I lost it, or gave it away." She said in the wild forest's deep-tangled glade,

When the night's hollow winds smote the

ear,

The magical compound was gather'd and made
By the tremulous fingers of Fear.
She said, 'twas composed of materials most rare,
Of jetty stars drop from the sky;
Of gums that had black'd under Lapland's
chill air,

When in heav'n the Borealis flam'd high.
Of those seeds that no mortal has ever yet seen,
Shed by Ptiris in th' still noon of night;
When Midsummer gliding the notch'd leaves
between,

Wreath'd her forehead with dew-drops all
bright.

She said 'twas perfum'd by the balm of a rose,
That wither'd beneath Falsehood's eye;
By a breath that from Love's fickle bosom

arose,

When Passion expired in a sigh.

Twas strew'd in the dust of an heart-broken youth,

It was moistened with Pity's soft tear, 'Twas dipp'd in the colours of unfading Truth; And she bade it her pressure still wear. Thus various and strange she declared 'twas a charm,

Which, with mystical cyphers imprest, Would certainly guard the possessor from harm,

While 'twas suffer'd to hang on the breast.
But if from its recess a wile should allure,
Or passion should wantonly snatch;
To her so bereav'd its loss would ensure
"Perdition that nothing could match."
Restore me the Amulet, stol'n from the breast,
That already feels tort'ring pain!
O give me the charm, that downy plum'd rest
May return to it s mansion again.

Ptiris Aqueline, or female Fern; of which superstition relates, that it sheds its minute seeds, exactly at 12 o'clock, on Midsummer night..

MONTHLY MAG. No. 183.

ON THE DEATH OF

MR. PROFESSOR PORSON.

By the Rev. JAMES RUDGE.

"Manet in animis hominum, in æternitate temporum, fama rerum!"-TACITUS.

PORSON is dead! in him has learning lest

Its chiefest ornament and proudest boast. In Grecian learning he was deeply vers'd; The best of Grecians, he was own'd the first: So deeply vers'd-so skill'd-in Grecian lore, A loss so deep must Science e'er deplore ! That mind, which oft illum'd the classic page, And smooth'd the labours of a distant age, Is fled to mansions of eternal rest,

And there exists among the wise and blest! October 8, 1808.

ON LEAVING BEECH COTTAGE, BUCKS. "Mes jours s'en voloient près de toi ; Ils se traînent dans ton absence."

ADIEU to the village; adieu to the cot! And shall I then never revisit the spot That clings to remembrance with fondest delay,

Through the dreams of the night, and the cares of the day?

O yes, I could hope to behold it again, Though my prospects were sad, and hopes were in vain.

For the rose's sweet colour remains when 'tis dead,

When its blushes are gone, and its splendour is fled.

Yes, yes, I will hope that again I shall hear The voices of friends to remembrance so dear; And still do I hope, that again I shall see The smiles that once gave a sweet welcome

to me.

And yet how I fear to revisit the spot, To steal through the village, to gaze on the cot;

For the pleasure and rapture that swell in my

heart

Cannot equal the anguish I feel when we part.

T. H.

ON THE APPROACH OF WINTER.

OLD Winter is come from the cold north

ern ocean,

With snows on his grey heard and storms in his rear;

Around him wild-howling the blast's chilling motion;

Around his ice-dwelling loud roars the

white bear. Na

Old

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Or, if thou art displanted there,
To grace the bosom of the fair.
O, teach simplicity to them,
Who never knew the peerless gem!
Tell those, by Error led astray,
That Wisdom is the only way
Which leads to purity like thine→→→
Which leads to ev'ry grace divine!
January, 1809.

THE CALL OF A SYLPHID TO ITS KINDRED SPIRITS ON THE RETURN OF SPRING.

CONGENIAL spirits, haste away,

From where, in gloomy shades of night,
Secure from wintry winds ye lay;
Again revive and view the light;
Again inhale the balmy airs

That o'er the mountains' summits play,
And free from sorrows, free from cares,
"Midst odorous sweets pursue your way.
By gentle zephyrs borne along,

Beneath a pure and azure sky,
We'll listen to the shepherd's song,
Or through the shady woodland fly.
On violets will we rest unseen,

In harebells sip the honied dew,
And lurk beneath the herbage green,
Where primroses the valley strew.
Beside the stream where wearied lies
The village swain in rustic geer,
Invisible to mortal eyes,

We'll whisper pleasure in his ear. All nature smiles with gladd'ning light, The Sun displays his cheering ray, Then, rising from your shades of night, Congenial spirits haste away.

SONNET.

VIRGINIA TO PAUL-FROM FRANCE.

Α

MID the storied hall, and gorgeous dome, The haunt of Fortune's fav'rites cold yet

Yes, Friendship and Love-whose warm rays

ever

Can thaw the cold frost of the pitiless mind: 'Tis Friendship and Love, with affection combining,

Can chase away winter, and warm the cold

wind.

JAMES JENNINGS,

TO VIOLA.

IN memory's dear and cherish'd hour,
I saw thee like the beauteous flow'r,

That twines around Affection's shrine;
In Love's pure light thy form was drest,
I smil'd to mark thy gentle breast

Soft trembling to the sigh of mine.
When Sorrow, like a spoiler, flew,
And yeil'd Love's opening bud with dew,

And hung the morn of Youth with gloom;
I thought, though bow'd by Sorrow's wile,
The moon-beam of thy sadden'd smile,

More fair than Pleasure's rosy bloom.
Ev'n now, though Joy's attemper'd ray,
Delighted o'er thy bosom stray,

Responsive to thy Lover's pray'r;
Yet, gladness beaming from his eyes,
Love hangs upon thy smile, and sighs,
"Affection's tear hath glisten'd thine!"
P. M. J.

TO THE SNOW-DROP.

By JOHN MAYNE,

Author of the Poems of " Glasgow," and "The Siller Gun."

FIRST of the Spring that smiles on me,

I pay my early court to thee!

Bút, well-a-day! how chang'd the scene,
Since, erst, I hail'd thee on the green!
Then Life and Love were in their prime;
Then Winter smil'd like Summer-time.
Now Life and Love are on the wing,
Now Winter riots in the Spring;
And, ev'n in Summer, nought I see
But drizzling show'rs and blights for me;
With frequent coffins passing by,
Sad monitors that Death is nigh!
O! when that solemn hour shall come,
Which seals my passport to the tomb,
Be faith and resignation mine,
And, that sweet soother, hope divine!
First of the Spring that smiles on me,
Again I pay my court to thee!

May no rude hand profane thy sweets;
No caitiff bawl thee thro' the streets;

gay,

I think on thee, my Paul! who, far away, Thro' the thick woods which shade our na

tive home,

Where with Virginia thou wast wont to

roam,

Now sad and solitarily dost stray;

Ah! as thou gazest on thy devious way, Upon the lonely cascade's sparkling foam, Thro' which you bore me; or the cocoa-tree,

Or many a well-known object with whose sight

Ideas of Virginia must unite, Think'st thou of me, Paul? I oft think of thee;

Nor wealth, nor pow'r, nor threats of friends unkind,

Shall ever chace thine image from my

mind.

PROCEEDINGS

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Monthly Magazine, given an account of the discoveries made by Mr. Davy; these accounts being frequently taken from memory, by a person who has diligently attended the lectures of the Royal Institution, would necessarily be imperfect. We intend, therefore, in this and some subsequent articles to lay before our readers a more exact analysis of what has been done by this learned professor, and in the order in which he communicated the same to the Royal Society of London. Mr. Davy first described the methods made use for the decomposition of the fixed alkalies; and he found that the powers of electrical decomposition were proportional to the strength of the opposite electricities in the circuit, and to the conducting power and degree of concentration of the materials employed. In his first attempts at the decomposition of the fixed alkalies, he acted upon aque ous solutions of potash and soda, saturated at the common degrees of temperature, with the Voltaic batteries, but in these cases; the water alone was affected, and hydrogen and oxygen disengaged with the production of much heat, and violent effervesence. As water appeared to prevent the decomposition, he used potash in igneous fusion, and some brilliant phenomena were produced; and when the platina spoon, on which the potash was placed, was made to communicate with the negative side of the battery, and the connection from the positive side was made with platina wire, a vivid and constant light appeared at the opposite point: there was no effect of inflammation round it; but aëriform bubbles, which, inflamed in the atmosphere, rose round the potash. He made some attempts to collect the combustible matter, but without success; and he only attained his object, by employing electrici ty as the common agent of fusion and decomposition.

Pot-ash, when perfectly dried by ignition, is a non-conductor; but with the slightest addition of moisture, becomes a good conductor, and in this state it readily fuses and decomposes by strong electrical powers. Having placed a small piece of pure pot-ash, on an insulated disk of platina connected with the pegative side of the battery, and a pla

action almost instantly took place; the pot-ash fused at both points of electrization: there was a violent effervescence at the upper surface; at the lower, or negative surface, there was no liberation of elastic fluid; but small globules having a high metallic lustre, similar, in visible characters, to mercury, appeared; some of which burnt with explosion and bright flame, as soon as they were formed, and others remained, and were merely tarnished, and finally covered with a white film, which formed on their surfaces. "These globules," says the professor, numerous experiments soon shewed to be the substance I was in search of, and a peculiar inflammable principle, the basis of pot-ash." He ascertained that the platina was not at all connected with the result, for the same substance was produced when other metals, or char coal, were employed for completing the circuit.

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Soda, when acted upon in a similar manner, exhibited an analogous result, but it required a battery of stronger pow ers. The substance produced from potask, which is now denominated "Po tassium," remained fluid at the temperature of the atmosphere, at the time of its production: that from soda, called

sodaum," which was fluid, in the degree of heat of the alkali, during its formation, became solid on cooling. The globules often burnt at the moment of their formation, and sometimes violently exploded and separated into smaller globules, which flew with great velocity through the air,in a state of vivid combus tion, producing a beautiful effect of continued jets of fire.

In speaking of the theory, Mr. Davy observed, that the metallic lustre of the substance from potash, immediately became destroyed in the atmosphere, and that a white crust formed upon it. This crust is pure potash, which immediately deliquesced, and new quantities were formed, which in their turn, attracted moisture from the atmosphere, till the whole globule disappeared, and assumed the form of a saturated solution of potash. Water is likewise decomposed in the process; for it is demonstrated that the basis of the fixed alkalies, that is, "Potassium" and "Sodaum," act upon

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