502 Cause of Rheumatism. (No. LI. p. 64.) But it is thus that the servants of Christ who forse all and follow him, must, ke thei apostolical predecessors, go through evil report as well as good report:' but blessed are ye when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.' The infidel writers of the present day, disliking Christianity itself, seize every occasion to vilify those devoted men, whose sole object is to diffuse the know ledge of it through the world." Page 2, 3, and 4, of the R port for 1813. For an account of the latter part of Dr. Vanderkemp's life, see Missionary Transactions, vol. iii. p. 404, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10. CAUSE of RHEUMATISM. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, IT is a well known fact, that what is generally called chance, has led to some of our most important discoveries in the various branches of science. Whilst trying experiments on one subject, philosophers have ascertained truths connected with others, and have thereby been led to further investigation, and to consequent knowledge. In most branches of science experiment may be ventured on without risk; but there is one branch in which it is rather dangerous, though, perhaps, as often tried as in any other-I mean medicine. Now, Sir, the following hints on a disorder, which has long been an opprobrium to medical skill, might, perhaps, be transmitted more technically to a medical journal; but, as I am not a medical man, and your magazine is dedicated to science in general, I may, I hope, be excused for sending you a few loose thoughts for the consideration of the world at large. Whoever has paid even a slight attention to chemical lectures and experiments, must be aware of the great quantity of gas of various kinds which may be extracted from all species of human food, whether animal or vegetable. It is also plain, that the heat and mechanical action of the stomach must have an effect on food analogous to the retort of the chemist, and therefore it follows that a great, indeed an almost incredible, quantity of gas must be evolved during the act of digestion. Some part of this may certainly escape externally, but that quantity is very small in comparison with the whole that is continually evolved, [Jan. 1, and therefore it is an interesting question, what becomes of the remainder? That it must be absorbed by the system is, therefore, evident; and it is almost as evident that, although part of it may remain in the bones and muscles for certain purposes, yet much must also pass off by the pores of the skin. Now, Sir, if any circumstances were to intervene to check this evaporation by the cuticular pores, an accumulation would natura ly take place, which would produce pain by distension, and even an apparent swelling without any collec tion of humours; a stiffness of the parts where the accumulation took place would also ensue, and the patient would scarce ly be able to tell whether the pain was in the muscles or in the bones, or might, perhaps, suppose it was in both. Again, if measures could be adopted to restore the natural healthy state of evaporation, and at the same time care was taken to prevent the formation of gas in the stomach, it is evident that the pain would gradually cease, and, finally, that the symptoms would go off! Then, Sir, if you, or any of your readers, have ever suffered the excruciating pains and tortures of RHEUMATISM, I will ask you, if it is possible to present a more familiar view of the origin and progress of that disorder? It is worthy of observation, too, that many of the known causes of rheumatic affections, both chronic and acute, are connected with the foregoing considerations, and that those remedies which afford partial relief are connected with them also. Colds, and stoppage of the perspiration, produce rheumatic affections, whilst the warm bath relieves them. In short, Sir, I think it is almost self-evident that the CAUSE assigned is the real cause of the RHEUMATISM, and therefore that any cure to be proposed must be founded upon its principles. I presume not to dictate to the medical world, nor shall I hint that surgical efforts to permit the imprisoned gas to escape would be either beneficial or judicious; but I may hint, that whatever will stimulate the pores to permit the passage of the gas already accumulated, and whatever will tend to expel the gas from the stomach as soon as formed, so as to prevent absorption, may perhaps be at tended with relief; whilst at the same time proper precautions should be taken that the patient shall only partake of such food as is likely to evolve the smallest quantity of gaseous matter in proportion to its bulk. 1815.] Illuminations of the Ancients. If these observations should lead the medical world to further investigation and experiment, I have no doubt that I shall have the honour of being the first discoverer of the true cause of London, Oct. 31. RHEUMATISM. On the ILLUMINATIONS of the ANCIENTS. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, AS a supplement to the entertaining essay on the custom of illuminating. houses on public festivals, inserted in your last number, you will perhaps have no objection to the admission of a few more gleanings on the same subject.-It is well observed by your intelligent correspondent, that the Egyptians had this practice, but he has not specified the occasions on which this mode of rejoicing took place among that people. He rodotus says, "that a yearly sacrifice was offered at the city of Sais in honour of Isis, at which time all who attended brought lamps filled with oil, into which they put some salt with a large wick, and when they had lighted it, they set the same to burn the whole night in the open air. This feast was called auxvoxala, or the lighting of lamps; and those Egyptians who were prevented from visiting the temple in person, were obliged to place similar lights before their habitations, so that not only the city of Sais, but the whole country, was completely illuminated on the night of the great sacrifice." We find also from Apuleius, that the same people were accustomed to supplicate the favour of the goddess, by going in procession with the chief priest at their head, and each carrying a large taper or flambeau; which peram bulation began early in the morning, and lasted till the dawn of day. The Greeks had a remarkable festival, of which Pausanias gives the following account:-"There is an altar in the academy at Athens consecrated to Prometheus, where men light tapers, and then run quickly to the city; for this is a kind of game at which to come off winner, one must keep his taper lighted all the way he is to run. He whose taper goes out gives place to the next after him whose taper is still burning; and if he that so takes his place lets his also go out, he must yield to the third, and so of the rest." Among the Romans there was a festival in honour of Diana, who had a temple in the forest of Aricinum, not far from the city. In this solemnity the women bore a distinguished part, going in pro 503 cession to the temple, carrying burning tapers in their hands, which custom Ovid thus describes: Sæpè potens voti frontem redimita coronis Fœmina lucentes portat ab urbe faces. In course of time this practice, which originated in a superstitious veneration of the gods, camne to be adopted as a mark of respect for sovereigns and heroes. Plutarch, in his account of the reception which Pompey experienced at Rome, among other things says, that the people thronged to meet him crowned with garlands and carrying lighted torches. Suetonius relates the same of Cal gula, who entered the city amidst altars, smoking victims, and a blaze of lights. Bonfires had the same origin, and from being devotional acts in honour of the fountain of light and heat, they became in time the expression of gladness on account of victories and other great national bessings. The worship of the sun was certainly the most ancient kind of idolatry, and therefore in reverence to that orb from whence all substantial good was supposed to descend, the people in various parts of the earth, who were destitute of clearer knowledge, thus manifested their gratitude, and at the same time, by kindling fires on high places, communicated the same sentiment to their neighbours. Nov. 12, 1814. RUSTICUS. FREEDOM of ALNWICK. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, THERE is in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1756, p. 73, an account of a very singular old ceremony in the making of freemen, still retained at Alnwick, the county town of Northumberland, which is more entitled to credit for its description of the town and neighbourhood, than of this ceremony. Capper also mentions it in his Topographical Dictionary; it is noticed in another work or two, whose authors I do not know, nearly in the same terms. Though the ceremony remains at the present day with scarcely any alteration, as it has been for time immemorial, these accounts are all incorrect. Whether any circumstantial description of it was ever published I have not been able to learn, though I have made a good deal of inquiry on the subject. If any of your correspondents can inform me I shall esteem it a favour. Its origin is ascribed to the whimsical King John, and tradition gives the fol 504 Ceremony of making Freemen of Alnwick. lowing account, which is pretty generally believed in this part of the kingdom. King John, hunting one day in the forest of Aydon, or Haydon, (which belongs to the Alnwick freemen) stuck fast in the mire at a certain spot, and was got out in rather a muddy condition, which so irritated the monarch, that he said, as a punishment on the inhabitants of the place, there should never be another freeman of the borough of Alnwick, but who should first go through the same slough that his king had done, and he in consequence made it part of their charter. [Jan. 1, of getting first home, which is called "Winning the boundaries." On enter ing the town they have the swords delivered to them again, and in this manner parade the streets with music before them, riding round those buildings, &c. which are their property. They then repair to the castle, where, after being plentifully regaled with the Duke of Northumberland's fine October, they visit the house of each, where their friends in the former part of the day have planted a holly-bush as a sign for friends to come and make merry, and partake of their good cheer. After paying a visit to each house, they have a parting bowl in the middle of the market place, and then each repairs home, where a party of friends never fail to be assem bled to dine and spend the remainder of the day in conviviality; making it, instead of a day of punishment, one of the happiest in their lives. I am, &c. Alnwick, Nov. 10, 1814. other AMUSEMENTS. S. M. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, The following is the manner in which the ceremony has been performed ever since the recollection of the oldest inhabitants, and which I have gone through myself. On the 25th of April, annually as many freemen's sons, or persons who have served seven years apprenticeship to a freeman, as wish to take up their freedom, having previously had their names enrolled by the chamberlains of the town, assemble in the market place in the morning on horseback, and march On the ADVANTAGES of LITERARY Over solemnly out of the town, sword in hand, with music before them, towards the place where King John was mired, which is now become a large muddy pool, called Freeman's Well. On arriving at the outside of the town they deliver their swords and receive whips instead, and ride round the confines of their property till within about a mile of the place of destination, when they draw up and start a race for the honour of reaching it first. Regardless of King John's punishment, they fly over hills, dales, furze bushes, and every thing that happens to be in their way till arrived at the spot, where they strip and put on a light dress with caps decorated with ribbons, and, when all ready, plunge into the pool in a body, generally from 10 to 20. Each then makes the best of his way to the opposite side of the pool, which the spectators have taken care to stir up from the bottom, and put straw ropes, &c. across to make them fall; so that when they get out they are in as bad a state as the founder was. When they have dressed again, and had a glass with their friends, who come to wish them joy on their freedom, they set off to ride the boundaries of the remaining part of their property, which are marked by a number of cairns, or masses of stones, at each of which they alight and throw a stone on the heap. When about two miles from the town, they draw up and start again for the honour IN taking this title, I do not mean to degrade literary pursuits by representing them merely as amusements; for I am very sensible of the higher character which belongs to them, as the great cause of the wide distinction which exists between a barbarous and a polished people, inasmuch as the progress of literature and that of civilization have, in all ages, nearly kept pace with each other. But, at the same time, it is no mean praise to literature, that she provides a recreation for our lighter hours as well as instruction for our graver. In short, whether our pursuit be profit or pleasure, the occupations which she furnishes are the best calculated to assist us towards the attainment of our end. To those who have nothing better than to amuse themselves, or to those who wish for relaxation from business, or refreshment after fatigue. she is alike friendly, and is equally at hand to instruct the serious, to inspint the wearied, or to entertain the gay. It is only as an amusement, however, that I wish now to contemplate it; and in that view I shall hope to prove that the advantages of literary above other amusements are, First, their cheapness, or easiness of attainment; secondly, their permanence; thirdly, their suitableness to all situations and circumstances; 1815.J Advantages of Literary over other Amusements. fourthly, their independence; and fifthly, their capability of combining in struction with amusement, and thus being free from the loss of time frequently attending all unprofitable re creations. First, as to their cheapness, &c.-Is a man an author, poet, or musical composer? the principal requisites for his amusement are merely pens, ink, and paper, with a few books of reference, dictionaries, &c. Should be, however, be none of these, but a mere lover of reading; although the expense of forming a library, according to the present price of books, may be considerable, yet the procuring a few, upon such subjects as may particularly suit the taste of any individual, need not be very expensive, especially as, by means of book societies, subscription reading rooms, and circulating libraries, the reading of almost any of the modern publications may be procured at a moderate expense. Secondly, as to their permanence.-This may best be made apparent by a comparison with other amusements, of which one of the most prevailing is card playing; but this, unless it degenerate into downright gambling (which I cannot look upon to be more of a business than an amusement) is only an evening recreation, and in generad occupies but two or three hours in the twenty-four. Billiard playing, indeed, frequently occupies much more of the time of many gentlemen, at a loss for other employment; but this, as an amusement, cannot be continued to an extent like literary pursuits, in which the subjects may also be continually varied. Neither are billiard tables every where to be met with, and very rarely in private houses, and where found, are not to be enjoyed without associates, which is also the case with cards. As to the amusements of the field, hunting, coursing, shooting, &c. perhaps few are enjoyed with more zest than they; yet they are confined to a particular season of the year, and even then cannot be every day enjoyed, and are also frequently interrupted by unfavourable, weather, as is the case with fishing. The pleasures of the table are not only confined to a part of the day, but, when carried to any excess, they so elevate the spirits as frequently to occasion a subsequent depression for the remaining and much greater part of the 24 hours, and has fully to counterbalance the few hours spent in conviviality; as is the case with all other sensual pleasures. NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 12. 505 Now, with regard to the pleasures of literature, they are not confined to times and seasons, like those of the field, nor are they, like them, liable to be interrupted by changes of weather. Neither need they be confined to particular hours of the day, like card playing and the pleasures of the table; nor do they, like billiards, require any particular apparatus, or associates, but may, at all times, seasons, places, and situations, and at any hours of the day be enjoyed, whenever leisure can be afforded, and when that is not the case, no kind of amusement ought to be attempted. Literary pursuits also, (and which may be reckoned a principal advantage of them) serve better than any thing else to fill up the necessary intervals between other amusements and occupations, and thereby to prevent that state of inaction and impatience which so frequently happens to many (where business does not intervene) between the conclusion of one amusement and the beginning of another. Thirdly, as to the suitableness of literary amusements to all situations and circumstances.-Is a person laid up with a fit of the gout, or confined by any slighter illness to his house? How much more irksome must his confinement be rendered, if the only amusements he has any taste for, or can really enjoy, are the sports of the field, the pleasures of the table, or the gay evening party. A game at cards may indeed, perhaps, be procured for the invalid during a small part of the day; but even that must depend upon the inclinations of others. Has he, however, a taste for literary amusements, they, like true friends, will not desert him in his adversity, but will, on the contrary, beguile the irksomeness of his confinement, and even, in some degree, mitigate the violence of pain by diverting his attention from it; and, were he to have the misfortune to be involved in debts, and, in consequence, to be immured within the precincts of a gaol, even there his favourite amusements might follow him, and will tend to alleviate his sufferings, and make even that confinement more than tolerable. Fourthly, as to the independence of literary occupations.-This will also manifestly appear from a comparison with other amusements; as, for cards, associates must be provided, and parties formed; the sports of the field must, as before observed, be dependent on weather and seasons; as must the social pleasure of the table on the disengagements and inclinations of others; whe eVOL. II. 3X 506 Advantages of Literary over other Amusements. as, for literary occupations, a person has no will to consult but his own, and all seasons and situations are alike. It may here be observed, that it is by no means necessary, or even usual, for a person to confine himself to any single amusement, as, by combining two or more favourite occupations, he may contrive to have some one ready for all times and seasons. Thus, a sportsman may spend his mornings in the field, and his evenings in conviviality, card-playing, &c. which may occasionally be effected; yet, without the help of literary amusement, it will, after all, be difficult for a person not engaged in any profession or business, to find employment at all times and places. With these, however, in addition to any one or two of the recreations before enumerated, the tadium vita, or demon Ennui, may always be kept at bay; and by thus varying his amusement, the sedentary employment of literature with the more active enjoy ments of the field, they will form a constant relaxation to each other. Lastly, in travelling, whether on business or for pleasure, no amusements can be more easily procured, or more generally adopted, than those of a literary nature. In setting out on a journey, by a wellknown and often-travelled road, where every object is familiar to the sight, it is, I believe, not uncommon to wish the time between the hour of setting-out and that of arriving at the end of the journey could be annihilated; or, at least, the time taken up in such journeys is generally accounted lost, unless it should happen to be rendered pleasant by means of agreeable fellow-travellers. For want of these, I have myself frequently found an interesting book an excellent substitute, and so much so, that I have some times looked upon the stoppage to breakfast or dine on the road, as an interruption to my intellectual amusement. I have likewise often found the same advantage of a book, when alone at an inn, or in spending my evening, after a day of bustle in London, at a coffee-house or hotel, where, for want of this amusing substitute, I have observed others lodging in the same house calling for paper after paper, when, finding little more than a repetition of the same articles, they at length throw them all by, and it being perhaps too soon to go to bed, they begin to yawn for want of employment, and at length fall asleep as they sit, and snore so loud, as much to annoy their more wakeful neighbours.-In pleasurable excursions, intellectual anusement [Jan. 1, is now so generally thought necessary, thus Lastly, as to the capability of com bining instruction or improvement with amusement, so as to prevent the waste of time consumed in many other recrea tions.-This, although mentioned the last, is by no means to be accounted the least advantage of literary pursuits. For card and billiard playing it is, indeed, difficult to find any laudable pretence, or adequate justification, at least for young people, unless their serving to kill time, or pass away a few hours that might otherwise hang heavy upon hand, may be admitted as such. And as to the pleasures of the table, their promoting good fellowship amongst neigh bours would be something, were it not that they at the same time frequently tend to promote intemperance and extravagance. The sports of the field bad once not only a sufficient justification, but a recommendation, in their tendency to destroy and extirpate noxious animals; but at present, I believe, this will hardly be urged in their defence; their princi pal recommendation now being the promotion of health of body, by air and |