merely rescued from destruction an individual. The Romans were by no means, like the Phænicians, a commercial people; their voyages seldom extended far beyond the coasts of the Mediterranean; their fleets, such as they were, for a considerable time shrunk from the hostile banners of the Carthaginians: they therefore, although well aware of the general dangers of the sea, had no idea of combining mathematical with mechanical powers, in order as much as it was possible to avert the calamity of shipwreck, and therefore never supposed cases, which it was impossible for them to contemplate. On the contrary, the trade of GREAT BRITAIN, the immensity of her navy, and the periodical impracticability of navigating her seas, avoiding her shores, or opposing her currents, gave to her hardy and adventurous mariners a peculiar character; yet their fortitude in the hour of distress, although upon many occasions it enabled them successfully to oppose their native storms, still at others, from the want of means (of which, had such been offered to them, they could well have availed themselves) it only served to lengthen their ineffectual labours, and at last to shew their inutility, especially as it has been stated, and we fear with some truth, that those labours have been counteracted, and many vessels suffered to be wrecked, which timely assistance from the shore might have preserved.

On the coasts of the British isles, we mean those contiguous to the maritime ports, every exertion, has from the earliest periods of traffic, been used by the residents, to save the lives of shipwrecked persons, and the property of mercantile adventurers; but in places far remote from LONDON, the emporium of commerce, its subordinate towns and cities, and its numerous Nautical Satellites, we are sorry to be compelled to state, that the inhabitants have not always been distinguished by a character so humane, or for feelings so disinte

rested.

It is unpleasant to reflect upon this subject; therefore, we shall only observe, that storms have by those nefarious pirates been formerly considered as blessings, and that elementary horrors have been encreased by human cupidity; thus while the revenue was defrauded by wretches, who, according to the proverbial saying, could not be drowned, vessels in distress have been frequently plundered

on coasts where they might have ex. pected every species of assistance and relief, and their crews treated with the most diabolical cruelty, though their distress would, even in the bosoms of savages, have excited compassion.

To rescue human beings from those dangers attendant upon SHIPWRECK, and avert those complicated evils, to which, with expressions cold and languid, com pared to our sensibility upon the subject, we have faintly, indeed too faintly, alladed, many men of gen us and philanthropy have, within these last fifty years, exerted their talents in the very best way that talents could have been exerted: namely, in the invention and superintending of the construction of machines calculated to effect those benevolent purposes, and in promulgating to the inhabitants of coasts, even the most remote from the metropolis of this united king dom, rules and regulations, such as the great objects which they had in view demanded, and their experience and benevolence suggested; life-boats, and other means of nautical preservation, have, therefore, been invented, and humane societies instituted; the former generally emanating from the ingenuity of individuals, the latter arising from the sensibility and philosophy of many phi lanthropists.

Among the mechanical means that we have just mentioned, the apparatus

* This observation certainly applies to former times, rather than to later discoveries. The inhabitants of the Pelew Islands, for instance, were, by the Spaniards of a distant period, said to have been “a savage race of cannibals." Yet how did they behave to our distressed sailors, in consequence of the shipwreck of the Antelope packet? Captain Wilson's account of their feelings upon the subject, would, we hope, to those native plunderers to whom we have above alluded, have been quite edifying, could they have seen it at the time it was published, for he says, "They," the Pellew Islanders, "felt that our people were distressed, and in consequence wished they should share whatever they had. It was not that worldly munificence that bestows and spreads its favours with a distant eye to retribution. It was the pure emotion of native benevolence. was the love of man to man. It was a scene that pictures human nature in triumphant colouring, and whilst their liberality gratified the sense, their virtue struck the heart." It was, be might have added, indigenous and innate; for they certainly were literally unacquainted with the Terrentian proposition. Homo sum & humani a me nil alienum puto, although they so really practised it.

It

for the preservation of shipwrecked persons, invented by GEORGE MANBY, Esq. a description of which has been already adverted to, seems to us, to be the best calculated to effect a purpose so desirable; but, although in a former volume of this Magazine, we made many observations upon this interesting subject, yet we did not state one, which we think more important than any that we then offered to the public; namely, that whithersoever the arts and sciences travel, civilization is their associate, and humanity their attendant; there fore, if, from these circumstances, the preservation of an individual life was an object of such high consideration at ROME, by the same rule, how much more, in this liberal and enlightened KINGDOM, ought that man to be honoured and rewarded, through whose medium, not only thousands of human beings may be annually saved from the devouring ocean; but also by the means necessary to effect this patriotic purpose, of which the example and exertions of the adventurous and humane are its most expressive features, benevolent efforts may become a principle in places where those of a contrary nature have formerly been, alas! too prevalent.

These national objects may, we conceive, be attained in the manner to which we have alluded; let us, there fore, as a tribute to genius and philanthropy, and a necessary appendage to the PORTRAIT that precedes this speculation, briefly advert to the prominent traits of the life of the gentleman whom it correctly represents.

Captain GEORGE WILLIAM MANBY was born at Damer Collage, near Downham, or as it is correctly termed Morket Downham, in the county of Norfolk, on the 28th of November, 1765, his family, it appears, was a very ancient one, in that division of the kingdom; and branches of it are recorded to have extended to the adjacent counties of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, where they possessed considerable estates. It has been said, and indeed truly said, that the first objects that attract the attention of the infantile mind, frequently leave a lasting, an indelible impression, which operates upon, and sometimes determines the pursuits of future life. The coast of Norfolk, particularly that district of it where Captain Manby first drew breath, exposed to all the terrors of the German Ocean, the periodical

concussions of which are called from ST. WHINWALLO, Whinwall storms ;* were, in all their terrific grandeur presented to his earliest perception; and, we have no doubt, as soon as reflection, excited by astonishment, dissolved into compassion, could operate on his mind, produced a wish that he had the power to save from the crash of nature, the numerous objects whom he so often beheld involved in its marine devastation.

These were, we believe, the ideas that operated on the inind of Captain Manby, even in his juvenile years; he was, however, soon deprived of a father's care to foster them; for that gentleman, who had from his youth been devoted to the military profession, died in Ireland, in the year 1774, while he was serving in the honourable situation of Aid-de-camp to his excellency the Marquis Townsend, then Lord Lieute

nant.

YOUNG MANBY, at this period, about nine years of age, was in Norfolk, indeed in a graminar-school, at Lynn : but as he did not appear during the time he had been at this seminary, to have made any great progress in his studies, he was, at the age of ten, removed to an academy at Bromley, in Middlesex; but even here, he was not observed to give any indication of that genius which he has since so amply displayed. This inaptitude to learn, or at least to exhibit their acquirements, common among the philosophers of ancient times, and also among many that have become the scientific ornaments of the middle and latter ages, might, were we inclined to enter into a philosophical disquisition respecting the progress of the human mind, be easily accounted for; but Plutarch, in his treatise on education, seeming to rest this problem upon one point, namely, "young plants

* Whinwallo was a legendary saint, who was by the Iceni, like olus in the heathen mythology, supposed to have the winds at his command, and consequently to "Ride on the whirlwind, and direct the storm :"

A priory, and of course a chapel, were erected near Downham, for a brotherhood of Benedictine monks, whose chief duty was to propitiate his benign influence; for so much was his anger dreaded. that this ancient rhyme is still remembered in the neighbourhood:

"First comes David, next comes Chad, Then comes WHINWAL, as if he was mad."

should be watered, but not be drenched," we shall in its extension merely observe, that the latent spark of inclination to particular studies, or professions, has been frequently repressed by opposition, or overwhelmed by too much compost, in its first principles uncongenial to the nature of the soil: this was the case with the pupilage of Socrates, Cimon, and Magliabecchi; the divine flame of genius, latent perhaps in adolescence, burst forth in early manhood with astonishing brilliancy; of this mental abeyance, many modern instances might be adduced, not only among the writers of other countries, but of our own; yet this, although we sball just mention Swift and Foote, we conceive to be here unnecessary.

GEORGE WILLIAM MANBY, after quitting Bromley, was placed under the care of the late Reuben Burrows, professor of mathematics, in the military drawing room, at the Tower of London'; here it was, that his innate talents, which had, it appears, been mis-directed, first seemed conspicuous. Entering with ardour upon a course of study so congenial to his inclination, he soon became a great proficient in that abstruse species of philosophy, as it was connected with the Archimedean powers, and applied to the branches of modern fortification, the construction of engines, &c. the following year he was admitted a cadet in the under Military Academy, at Woolwich; and thence in due course advanced to the upper, after undergoing a most severe examination, by that able mathematician, Doctor Hutton.

Having thus attained the first object of his wishes, our tyro became more strongly than ever attached to mathematical pursuits; and his ardour to reduce theory to practice reigned predominant. The desire to witness experiments, whether of improvements in artillery, or the production of inventive missiles, was, therefore, his ruling pas sion; indeed, so far did this mental propension carry him, that he cast a mortar for that purpose; and it is still remembered, that on a visit to his mo. ther during the holidays, he projected a cord over the church of the parish

where she resided; a circumstance that incurred the displeasure of the clergy

man.

The delay of getting a commission in the Royal Artillery being greater than the sanguine temper of Mr. M. had led him to expect, he made a tender of his services to the Hon. East India Compuny; which was readily accepted, and he was consequently appointed to their corps of Engineers; but being unfortunately attacked by a most alarming illness, the fleet in which he was to have taken his departure sailed without him.

The death of his mother at this period, and his disappointment with respect to getting into active service, induced Mr. M. to accept of a commission in a provincial corps, wherein he served for seven years; when having formed a matrimonial connection, he retired on his patrimony to Woodhull, in Norfolk; his prospects of happiness were, however, soon blasted; and a severe domestic affliction obliged him to leave his native country, and seek for consolation in a retired part of South Wales; but, such is the effect of scientific propension, that even sorrow could not suppress that innate energy of mind, which is so distinguishing a trait in his character. Captain Manby, therefore, indulging his love for antiquity, published a short history of the place wherein he resided, which he embellished with many excellent drawings. This work was much praised at the time, and by no one more than by that truly excellent and learned prelate, the Bishop of St. David's, to whom it was dedicated.

About this period, the great disturber of human nature had promulgated his threats of invading this happy realm, and the whole nation, rising as one man, set his threats at defiance. Several very appropriate and animated addresses upon this occasion issued from the press; and Captain Manby, among others, pubfished one in a small pamphlet, entitled "An Englishman's Reflexions on the Author of the present Disturbances."

This little work, which was much applauded for its loyal and truly English sentiments, gained its author the friendship of many persons of distinction, and among others, the Right Hon. Charles Yorke, who was then Secretary at War; by his interest, Captain Manby was promoted to the important situation of Barrack Mester, at Yarmouth, in the county of Norfolk.

VESTIGES REVIVED. A HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, and MORAL, VIEW of the ANCIENT and MODERN STATE of the METROPOLIS: With OBSERVATIONS on the CIRCUMADJACENT COUNTIES, ANECDOTES, C.

BY JOSEPH MOSER, ESQ.

New Series. No. XXIV. CONCLUSION OF THE MEMOIR OF JOHN STOW, HISTORIAN AND ANTIQUARY OF LONDON.

F the energy that JonN Srow displayed in his pursuit of historical truth, and the critical acumen, nay mathematical demonstration, by and thro' which he developed and discovered the Tuazes of the various labyrinths wherein fiction and fraud had, for ages, been entangled, we shall, as it will still further tend to establish his character as a detector of fulshood in general hitherto by his biographers alluded to, but, as we think, hardly sufficiently commented on, enlarge upon the subject, and moreover, while we produce observations, and anecdotes, some of which are new, and all curious, proceed to state a few more instances of his disquisitive predilection; although candour obliges us to admit, that in one instance, which we shall soon notice, he appears to have been mistaken.

We have already mentioned the work of a historian,* whom Stow seems to have deemed as great, although not so moral, a fabulist as Esop. In this work it was stated, that Bartholomew Read, mayor 1502,† had, in the Goldsmiths'

"A Brief Collection of History," by Richard Grafton.

+ Sir Bartholomew Read, or Rede,goldsmith, mayor, anno 1502, 18th HENRY VII. lived in the parish of St. John Zachary,(a) so far as regarded his manufactory; his shop was in

(a) From the earliest times, the city of LONDON, as we have already shewn, was divided into districts consigned to various trades and manufactories; as the Founders in Lothbury, Leatherdressers in Bishopsgate, &c. The Goldsmiths, therefore, from the Saxon era, may be traced as having established their manufactories in the district wherein their HALL has stood from the time of their incorporation, ANNO DOM. 1392, 16th RICHARD II. and where they continue to the present hour. Their sildams, sheds, or shops, for there was formerly no distinction betwixt working and trading goldsmiths, were in CHEPE. The metropolitan goldsmiths and moneyers of the Saxons also lived in this district, in whose workshops their coins were hammered, or struck, Europ. Mag. Vol. LXIV. July 1813,

Hall, Foster lane, LONDON, entertained more than a hundred persons of great estate; where, after giving a flourishing account, not only of the company, but of the festial decorations, he proceeded to observe, the dessert, or, as it was then termed, "the banquet,” exhibited a paled park, adorned with fruitful trees, furnished with beasts of the chase, and, of course, their appendages: to these observations he added a number of other contingencies, equally splendid and fanciful.

GOLDSMITHS' HALL, situated on the east side of Foster-lane, and at the end Goldsmiths'-row, which, we have already goodlie frame of ten fayre stated, was a " houses, builded four storves high, opposite the GREATE CROSS in CHEPE." He was a man of great opulence, and concomitant liberality. lie died in the year 1509, and was buried in the Chartreuse, that is to say, in the burial-ground belonging to the chapel, then in the possession of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and now the site of Charter house-square, (b) He left one hun dred pounds to the parish of St. John Zachary, which is stated to be his parish. His wife, who survived him, was buried in the above church, wherein a fair monument was erected to her memory, and her picture, in the habit of a widow, set up therein, which was, we believe, among our ancestors, a commemoratory tribute of respect to the manes of those that had been their great benefactors; the same was, in ancient times, the practice in the Flemish churches; and a great artist once said, that it was the best use that could be made of portraits. The effigies of the deceased were anciently carried in grand funeral processions; and although we should strongly object to the making churches exhibition-rooms, yet we as occasion served, or their facility of execu tion and inventive faculties,increased by practice, operated. ALLOY, with respect to coin, indeed to every other article of goldsmiths work, was at first unknown. All the most ancient pieces that have descended to us, many of which are marked LUNDEN, are of pure gold or silver. Some of the coins of the Conqueror had on the obverse the legend PILLEM (1) REX ANGLOR, and on the reverse GoDICON LUNDNEN.

(b) This fabric, which was at that period of stone, and stood in the middle of the area, was dilapidated, probably, at the same time that the hospital was dismantled, and in its place a brick building erected.

(1) WILLIAM: P being the Saxon W, which, in many instances, the minter, who, from his appellation Godicon, was probably a Saxon, adopted: though it is rather strange be should have spelt the name of the metropo lis Lundnen.

C