Chapter M: P. Huber is the only modern author that appears to have been witness to (27)

Some persons tell us, that the sound of one musical instrument in this place will seem like a great number of instruments playing together in concert. This echo is of the multiple or tautological kind, returning one sound several times successively, so as to make one clap of the hands seem like many,--one _ha_, like a laughter,--or one instrument like several of the same kind, imitating each other; and by placing certain echoing bodies in such a manner, that any note played should be returned in thirds, fifths, and eighths, a musical room may be so contrived, that not only one violin played therein shall seem many of the same sort and size, but even a concert of different instruments. Those echoes which return the voice but once are called single; whereof some are tonical, only repeating when modulated into some particular musical tone. Others, that repeat many syllables or words, are termed polysyllabical; of which kind is the fine echo in Woodstock Park, which Dr. Plott assures us will return seventeen syllables distinctly in the day-time, and in the night twenty. Barthius likewise, in his notes on Statius's Thebais, mentions an echo near Bingeni in Germany, which would repeat words seventeen times, as he himself had proved; and what is very strange in this echo, the person who speaks is scarcely heard at all, but the repetition most clearly, and always in surprising varieties, the echo seeming sometimes to approach nearer, and sometimes to retire to a greater distance. Vitruvius tells us, that in several parts of Greece and Italy there were brazen vessels artfully ranged under the seats of the theatres, to render the sound of the actors' voices more clear, and make a kind of echo; by which means, of the prodigious number of persons present, every one might hear with ease and pleasure.

KNOUT.--This is a punishment inflicted in Russia, with a kind of whip called _knout_, and made of a long strap of leather prepared for this purpose. With this whip the executioners dexterously carry a slip of skin from the neck to the bottom of the back, laid bare to the waist; and repeating their blows, in a little while rend away all the skin off the back in parallel strips. In the common knout, the criminal receives the lashes suspended on the back of one of the executioners; but in the great knout, which is generally used on the same occasions as racking on the wheel was in France, the criminal is raised into the air by means of a pulley fixed to the gallows, and a cord fastened to the two wrists, which are tied together; a piece of wood is placed between his two legs, which are also tied together; and another of a crucial form under his breast. Sometimes his hands are tied behind over his back, and when he is pulled up in this position, his shoulders are dislocated. The executioners can make this punishment more or less cruel; and it is said, they are so dexterous, that when a criminal is condemned to die, they can make him expire either by one or several lashes.

NATURAL PRODUCTIONS RESEMBLING ARTIFICIAL COMPOSITIONS.--Some stones are preserved by the curious, for representing distinctly figures traced by Nature alone, and without the aid of Art.

Pliny mentions an agate, in which appeared, formed by the hand of Nature, Apollo amidst the Nine Muses, holding a harp. Majolus assures us, that at Venice another is seen, in which is naturally formed the perfect figure of a man. At Pisa, in the church of St. John, there is a similar natural production, which represents an old hermit in a desert, seated by the side of a stream, and who holds in his hands a small bell, as St. Anthony is commonly painted. In the temple of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, there was formerly, on a white marble, the image of St. John the Baptist, covered with the skin of a camel, with this only imperfection, that nature had given but one leg.--At Ravenna, in the church of St. Vital, a Cordelier is seen on a dusky stone. In Italy, a marble was found, in which a crucifix was so elaborately finished, that there appeared the nails, the drops of blood, and the wounds, as perfectly as the most excellent painter could have performed.--At Sneilberg, in Germany, they found in a mine a certain rough metal, on which was seen the figure of a man, who carried a child on his back.--In Provence, was found, in a mine, a quantity of natural figures of birds, trees, rats, and serpents; and in some places of the western parts of Tartary, are seen on divers rocks, the figures of camels, horses, and sheep. Pancirollus, in his Lost Antiquities, attests, that in a church at Rome, a marble perfectly represented a priest celebrating mass, and raising the host. Paul III. conceiving that art had been used, scraped the marble to discover whether any painting had been employed; but nothing of the kind was discovered.

There is a species of the orchis found in the mountainous parts of Lincolnshire, Kent, &c. Nature has formed a bee, apparently feeding in the breast of the flower, with so much exactness, that it is impossible at a very small distance to distinguish the imposition. Hence the plant derives its name, and is called the _Bee Flower_. This is elegantly expressed by Langhorne, who thus notices its appearance:

See on that flow'ret's velvet breast,
How close the busy vagrant lies!
His thin-wrought plume, his downy breast,
Th' ambrosial gold that swells his thighs.

Perhaps his fragrant load may bind
His limbs; we'll set the captive free:--
I sought the living Bee to find,
And found the _picture_ of a Bee.

REMARKABLE LAMPS.--Cedrenus makes mention of a lamp, which, together with an image of Christ, was found at Edessa, in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. It was set over a certain gate there, and privily enclosed, as appeared by the date of it, soon after Christ was crucified: it was found burning, as it had done for five hundred years before, by the soldiers of Cosroes, king of Persia, by whom also the oil was taken out, and cast into the fire; which occasioned such a plague, as brought death upon almost all his forces.--At the demolition of our monasteries here in England, there was found, in the supposed monument of Constantius Chlorus, (father to the Great Constantine,) a lamp, which was thought to have continued burning there ever since his burial, which was about three hundred years after Christ. The ancient Romans used in that manner to preserve lights in their sepulchres a long time, by the oil of gold, resolved by art into a liquid substance.

PERPETUAL FIRE.--In the peninsula of Abeheron, in the province of Schirwan, formerly belonging to Persia, but now in Russia, there is found a perpetual, or as it is there called, an eternal fire. It rises, and has risen from time immemorial, from an irregular orifice in the earth, of about twelve feet in depth, with a constant flame. The flame rises to the height of six or eight feet, unattended with smoke, and it yields no smell. The aperture, which is about one hundred and twenty feet in width, consists of a mass of rock, ever retaining the same solidity and the same depth. The finest turf grows about the borders, and at the distance of two toises, are two springs of water. The neighbouring inhabitants have a sort of veneration for this fire, which they accompany with religious ceremonies.

MAGICAL DRUM.--This is an instrument of superstition, used in Lapland, which is thus described by Schoeffer, in his History of that country: It is made of beech, pine, or fir, split in the middle, and hollowed on the flat side where the drum is to be made. The hollow is of an oval figure, and is covered with a skin clean dressed, and painted with figures of various kinds, such as stars, suns and moons, animals and plants, and even countries, lakes, and rivers; and of later days, since the preaching of Christianity among them, the acts and sufferings of our Saviour and his apostles are often added among the rest. All these figures are separated by lines into three regions or clusters. There is, besides these parts of the drum, an index and a hammer. The index is a bundle of grass or iron rings, the largest of which has a hole in its middle, and the smaller ones are hung to it. The hammer, or drumstick, is made of the horn of a reindeer; and with this they beat the drum so as to make these rings move, they being laid on the top for that purpose. In the motion of these rings about the pictures figured on the drum, they fancy to themselves some prediction in regard to the things they inquire about. What they principally search into by this instrument, are three things: 1. What sacrifices will prove most acceptable to their gods: 2. What success they shall have in their occupations, as hunting, fishing, curing diseases, and the like: and 3. What is done in places remote from them. On these occasions they use several peculiar ceremonies, and place themselves in various odd postures as they beat the drum, which influences the rings to the one or the other side, and to come nearer to the one or the other set of figures. And when they have done this, they have a method of calculating a discovery, which they keep as a great secret, but which seems merely the business of the imagination in the diviner or magician.

AN EXTRAORDINARY CANNON.--At Kubberpore-na-Jeal, in India, there is a cannon two hundred and thirteen inches long, sixty-six inches round the muzzle, and eighteen inches round the calibre. It has five, and had originally six, equidistant rings, by which it was lifted up. This gun is called by the natives, Jaun Kushall, or the destroyer of life, and its casting and position are attributed to the doctas or divinities, though its almost obliterated Persian inscriptions declare its formation by human means. But what is most extraordinary about it is, that two peepul trees have grown both cannon and carriage into themselves. Fragments of the iron, a spring, one of the linches, and part of the wood-work, protrude from between the roots and bodies of these trees; but the trees alone entirely support the gun, one of the rings of which, and half of its whole length, are completely hidden between, and inside their bark and trunks. A more curious sight, or a cannon more firmly fixed, though by the mere gradual growth of two trees, cannot well be imagined. The Indians assert that it was only once fired, and then sent the ball twenty-four miles!--_Asiatic Journal._

OLD BREAD.--Bartholinus assures us, that in Norway the inhabitants make bread which keeps thirty or forty years; and that they are there fonder of their old hard bread, than others are of new or soft; since the older it is, the more agreeable it grows. For their great feasts, particular care is taken to have the oldest bread; so that at the christening of a child, they have usually bread which had been baked perhaps at the christening of his grandfather! It is made by a mixture of barley and oatmeal, baked between two hollow stones.

The following is said to be A SUBSTITUTE FOR SPECTACLES.--A man, especially if accustomed to spend his time among books, would be much to be pitied, when his sight begins to fail, could he not in a great measure restore it by the aid of spectacles; but there are some men whose sight cannot be aided by the use either of convex or concave glasses. The following method, adopted by one of these to aid his sight, is certainly worthy of notice. When about sixty years of age, this man had almost entirely lost his sight, seeing nothing but a kind of thick mist, with little black specks which appeared to float in the air. He knew not any of his friends; he could not even distinguish a man from a woman; nor could he walk in the streets without being led. Glasses were of no use to him; the best print, seen through the bell spectacles, seemed to him like a daubed paper. Wearied with this melancholy state, he thought of the following expedient. He procured some spectacles with very large rings; and taking out the glasses, substituted in each circle a conic tube of black Spanish copper. Looking through the large end of the cone, he could read the smallest print placed at its other extremity. These tubes were of different lengths, and the openings at the end were also of different sizes; the smaller the aperture, the better could he distinguish the smallest letters; the larger the aperture, the more words or lines it commanded; and consequently, the less occasion was there for moving the head and the hand in reading. Sometimes he used one eye, sometimes the other, alternately relieving each; for the rays of the two eyes could not unite upon the same object when thus separated by two opaque tubes. The thinner these tubes, the less troublesome are they. They must be totally blackened within, so as to prevent all shining, and they should be made to lengthen or contract, and enlarge or reduce the aperture, at pleasure. When he placed convex glasses in these tubes, the letters indeed appeared larger, but not so clear and distinct as through the empty tube; he also found the tubes more convenient when not fixed in the spectacle rings; for when they hung loosely, they could be raised or lowered with the hand, and one or both might be used, as occasion required. It is almost needless to add, that the material of the tubes is of no importance, and that they may be made of iron or tin as well as of copper, provided the insides of them be sufficiently blackened.--See _La Nouvell, Bigaruré_ for February, 1754, or _Monthly Magazine_ for April, 1799.

WINTER SLEEP OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS.--The winter sleep is a very singular property of animals and plants; and, though it occurs daily before our eyes, we are not able to explain the phenomena with which it is attended. In cold countries, many animals, on the approach of winter, retire to their subterraneous abodes, in which they bury themselves under the snow, where they remain five or six months without nourishment or motion; nay, almost without circulation of their blood, which flows only sluggishly, and in the widest vessels. Their perspiration is almost imperceptible; but still they lose something by it, as they enter their winter quarters in very good condition, and are exceedingly thin when they return from them.

Some animals enjoy their winter sleep under the earth, and others are concealed beneath the snow; some for the same purpose creep into the holes of rocks, and others under stones, or the bark of trees.

Plants have their winter sleep also; for, during the period of winter, their sap flows towards the roots, and the circulation of it, which is very slow, takes place only in the widest vessels. Were the expansion of the sap in winter as considerable as in summer, it would burst all the vessels, on being frozen.

Some observers have endeavoured to prove that this singular circumstance is merely accidental, and, indeed, no difference is found in the internal organization of those animals which have winter sleep, and those which have not. It is very remarkable, that this property belongs in general to animals of prey. As these have far stronger powers of digestion, and stronger digestive juices, it would appear that abstinence from food for several months would to them be hardly possible.

The common bear, the bat, and the hedgehog, have winter sleep, but the white bear has not. As the latter is secured from the cold by his long hair, he finds nourishment in the dead whales and seals which are cast on shore by the waves.

The earthworms have winter sleep; but aquatic worms very seldom. Insects, as well as their larvæ, have winter sleep. Butterflies may be often seen fluttering about in the warm days of spring, after having spent the whole winter in that condition. Amphibious animals have winter sleep, those which live merely in the ocean excepted. Few birds, on the other hand, are exposed to this state. The greater part of these, on the approach of winter, retire to a milder climate, where they can find more abundant nourishment. In Iceland, the sheep have winter sleep. In that country they are suffered to range in perfect freedom. In the winter season, therefore, they may be found buried under the snow, where it would be impossible for them to remain, were they not in that condition.

CHAP. LXXXVII.

MISCELLANEOUS CURIOSITIES.--(_Concluded._)

_Lama--Nun--Mahometan Paradise--Opinions respecting
Hell--London--Coins of the Kings of England--Singular Calculations
respecting the National Debt--Moral and Physical
Thermometer.--Conclusion._

LAMA.--This is the sovereign pontiff, or rather god, of the Asiatic Tartars, inhabiting the country of Barantola. The lama is not only adored by the inhabitants of the country, but also by the kings of Tartary, who send him rich presents, and go in pilgrimage to pay him adoration, calling him _lama congiu_, i. e. "god, the everlasting father of heaven." He is never to be seen but in a secret place of his palace, amidst a great number of lamps, sitting crosslegged upon a cushion, and adorned all over with gold and precious stones; where at a distance they prostrate themselves before him, it not being lawful for any to kiss his feet. He is called the great lama, or lama of lamas; that is, "priest of priests." The orthodox opinion is, that when the grand lama seems to die either of old age or infirmity, his soul in fact only quits a crazy habitation to look for another younger or better; and it is discovered again in the body of some child, by certain tokens known only to the lamas, or priests, in which order he always appears. A particular account of the pompous ceremonies attending the inauguration of the infant lama in Thibet, is given in the first volume of the Asiatic Researches. The emperor of China appears, on such occasions, to act a very conspicuous part, in giving testimony of his respect and zeal for the great religious father of his faith.

The twenty-eighth day of the seventh moon, corresponding nearly (as their year commences with the vernal equinox) with the middle of October, is reckoned the most auspicious for the ceremony of inauguration. The procession, on these occasions, from Terpaling to the Teeshoo Loombo, is conducted with such slow and majestic solemnity, that though the distance is only twenty miles, it takes up three days. The crowd of spectators is immense. The three next days are spent in the inauguration, in delivering the presents sent by the emperor to the lama, and in the public festivals on the occasion; during which, all who are at the capital are entertained at the public expense, and alms are distributed liberally to the poor. Universal rejoicings prevail throughout Thibet; banners are unfurled on all their fortresses, the peasantry fill up the day with music and festivity, and the night is cheered by general illuminations. A long period is afterwards employed in making presents and public entertainments to the newly-inducted lama, who, at the time of his accession to the _musnud_, or pontificate of Teeshoo Loombo, is often not three years of age. The whole ceremony, from its commencement to its consummation, lasts forty days.

Some particulars respecting NUNS.--A nun is a woman dedicated to the severer duties of religion, secluded in a cloister from the world, and debarred by a vow from the converse of men. When a woman is to be made a nun, the habit, veil, and ring of the candidate, are carried to the altar; and she herself, accompanied by her nearest relations, is conducted to the bishop, who, after mass and an anthem (the subject of which is, "that she ought to have her lamp lighted, because the bridegroom is coming to meet her,") pronounces the benediction: then she rises up, and the bishop consecrates the new habit, sprinkling it with holy water. When the candidate has put on her religious habit, she presents herself before the bishop, and sings on her knees, _Ancilla Christi sum, &c._; then she receives the veil, and afterwards the ring, by which she is married to Christ; and lastly, the crown of virginity. When she is crowned, an anathema is denounced against all who shall attempt to make her break her vows. In some few instances, perhaps, nunneries and monasteries may have been useful to morality and religion, as well as to literature, but, in the gross, they have been highly prejudicial; and however pious they may appear in theory, in fact they are unnatural and impious.

MAHOMETAN PARADISE.--The paradise of the Mahometans is said by them to be situated above the seven heavens, or in the seventh, and next under the throne of God; and, to express the amenity of the place, they tell us that the earth of it is of the finest wheat flour, or of the purest musk, or of saffron; and that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the walls of its buildings enriched with gold and silver, and the trunks of all its trees of gold, amongst which the most remarkable is the tree _luba_, or tree of happiness. They pretend that this tree stands in the palace of Mahomet, though a branch of it will reach to the house of every true believer, loaded with pomegranates, grapes, dates, and other fruits, of surprising size, and delicious tastes, unknown to mortals.

If a man desires to eat of any particular kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented to him; or if he chooses flesh, birds ready dressed will be set before him, and such as he may wish for. They add that this tree will supply the blessed, not only with fruit, but with silk garments also, and beasts to ride on, adorned with rich trappings, all which will burst forth from the fruit; and that the tree is so large, that a person mounted on the fleetest horse would not be able to gallop from one end of its shade to the other in one hundred years. Plenty of water being one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Koran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as the principal ornament. Some of these rivers are said to flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey: all of them have their sources in the root of this tree of happiness; and, as if these rivers were not sufficient, we are told that the garden of this paradise is also watered by a great number of lesser springs and fountains, whose pebbles are rubies and emeralds, their earth of camphor, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron.

But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and exquisite beauty of the girls of paradise, the enjoyment of whose company will constitute the principal felicity of the faithful. These (they say) are not formed of clay, as mortal women, but of pure musk, and are, as their prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from all the natural defects and inconveniences incident to the sex. Being also of the strictest modesty, they keep themselves secluded from public view, in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large, that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than sixteen, or, as others say, sixty miles long, and as many broad. With these the inhabitants of paradise may taste pleasures in their height; and for this purpose will be endowed with extraordinary abilities, and enjoy a perpetual youth.

OPINIONS RESPECTING HELL.--The hell of the ancient heathens was divided into two mansions: the one called Elysium, on the right hand, pleasant and delightful, appointed for the souls of good men; the other called Tartarus, on the left, a region of misery and torment, appointed for the wicked. The latter only was hell, in the present restrained sense of the word. The philosophers were of opinion, that the infernal regions were at an equal distance from all the parts of the earth; nevertheless, it was the opinion of some, that there were certain passages which led thither, as the river Lethe near the Syrtes, and the Acherusian cave in Epirus. At Hermione, it was thought, that there was a very short way to hell; for which reason the people of that country never put the fare into the mouths of the dead to pay their passage. The Jews placed hell in the centre of the earth, and believed it to be situated under waters and mountains. According to them, there are three passages leading to it: the first is in the wilderness, and by that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram descended into hell; the second is in the sea, because Jonah, who was thrown into the sea, cried to God out of the belly of hell; the third is in Jerusalem, because it is said "the fire of the Lord is in Zion, and his furnace is in Jerusalem." They likewise acknowledged seven degrees of pain in hell, because they find this place called by seven different names in Scripture. In the Koran of Mahomet, it is said that hell has seven gates; the first for the Mussulmans, the second for the Christians, the third for the Jews, the fourth for the Sabeans, the fifth for the Magians, the sixth for the Pagans, and the seventh for hypocrites of all religions.

Among Christians, there are two controverted questions in regard to hell; the one concerning the locality, the other the duration of its torments:--The locality of hell, and the reality of its fire, began first to be controverted by Origen. That father, interpreting the scripture account metaphorically, makes hell to consist, not in external punishments, but in a consciousness or sense of guilt, and a remembrance of past pleasures. Among the moderns, Mr. Whiston advanced a new hypothesis. The comets, he thinks, are so many hells, appointed in their orbits alternately to carry the damned into the confines of the sun, there to be scorched by its violent heat, and then to return with them beyond the orb of Saturn, there to starve them in those cold and dismal regions. Another modern author, Mr. Swinden, supposes the sun to be the local hell. However difficult it may be to ascertain the local place of hell, we may rest assured God will find both place and means to punish the obstinately wicked.

LONDON.--This metropolis is unparalleled, in extent and opulence, in the whole habitable globe, except, perhaps, Pekin in China, Jeddo in Japan, and Houssa in Africa; which are all said to be larger.

It comprehends, besides London, Westminster, and Southwark, no less than forty-five villages, of considerable extent, independent of a vast accession of buildings upon the open fields in the vicinity. Its length is nearly eight miles, its breadth three, and its circumference twenty-six. It contains above 8000 streets, lanes, alleys, and courts, and more than 65 different squares. Its houses, warehouses, and other buildings, make 162,000, besides 246 churches and chapels, 207 meeting houses for dissenters, 43 chapels for foreigners, and 6 synagogues for the Jews, which in all make 504 places of public worship. The number of inhabitants, during the sitting of parliament, is estimated at 1,250,000. Among these are found about 50,000 common prostitutes, and no less than 60,000 thieves, coiners, and other bad persons of all descriptions. The annual depredations on the public, by this numerous body of pilferers, are estimated at the sum of £2,100,000 sterling. In this vast city, there are, moreover, upwards of 4000 seminaries for education, 8 institutions for promoting morality, 10 institutions for promoting the arts, 122 asylums for the indigent, 17 for the sick and lame, 13 dispensaries, 704 charitable institutions, 58 courts of justice, and 7040 professional men connected with the various departments of the law.--There are 13,500 vessels trading in the river Thames in the course of a year; and 40,000 waggons going and returning to the metropolis in the same period, including their repeated voyages and journeys.--The amount of exports and imports to and from the Thames is estimated at £66,811,932 sterling annually, and the property floating in this vast city every year, is £170,000,000. These circumstances may be sufficient to convince us of the amazing extent and importance of the capital of the British empire.

The numbers of bullocks, sheep, lambs, calves, hogs, and sucking pigs, purchased at the Smithfield markets, and annually consumed in the metropolis, are in the following proportion: bullocks 110,000; sheep and lambs 776,000; calves 210,000; hogs 210,000; sucking pigs 60,000. Markets for hay, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The markets for the sale of provisions are numerous, and amply supplied with every sort, generally of the most excellent kind: the bread generally fine and sound. Besides animal food and bread, there are no less than 6,980,000 gallons of milk [and water] annually consumed here: of vegetables and fruit, there are 10,000 acres of ground near the metropolis, cultivated wholly for vegetables; and about 4000 acres of fruit. Of wheat, coals, ale, and porter, &c. the annual consumption is as follows: of wheat, 700,000 quarters; of coals 600,000 chaldrons; of ale and porter 1,113,500 barrels; of spirits and compounds 11,146,782 gallons; of wine 32,500 tons; of butter 16,600,000 pounds; and of cheese 21,100,000 pounds. Fish and poultry are sometimes excessively dear, and the quantities consumed are comparatively small.

COINS OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND.--The silver Penny, which was first circulated during the Heptarchy, continued to be the general coin after the kingdom had been united under one head, and extends, in a continued series, from Egbert almost to the present reign. The only kings wanting are Edmund Ironside, Richard I., and John. At first the penny weighed twenty-two and a half grains, but towards the close of the reign of Edward III. it fell to eighteen grains; in that of Edward IV. to twelve. In the time of Edward VI. it was reduced to eight grains; and in queen Elizabeth's reign to 7-23/31 grains, at which it still continues.

Halfpence and farthings were first struck in silver by Edward I. in 1280: the former continued to the time of the Commonwealth, but the latter ceased with Edward VI. The groat and half groat were introduced in the reign of Edward III., in 1354, and continue to this day, though not in common circulation.

Shillings were first coined by Henry VII. in 1503; at first they were called testoon, from the teste, tête, or head of the king, upon them; the name shilling being derived from the German _schelling_, under which name coins had been struck at Hamburgh in 1407. The crown was first coined in its present form by Henry VIII. The half-crown, six-pence, and three-pence, were coined by Edward VI. In 1558, queen Elizabeth coined three-halfpenny, and in 1561, three-farthing pieces; but they were discontinued in 1582. Gold was coined in England by Henry III. in 1257; the piece was called a gold penny, and was larger than the silver one, and the execution by no means bad for the time. The series of gold coinage, however, commences properly from Edward III. In 1344, this monarch first struck florins, in imitation of those in Italy; and it is remarkable, that though these coins, at the time they were first issued, bore only six shillings value, they were (even before the late increased value of gold) intrinsically worth nineteen shillings; so much has the value of gold increased since that time. The half and quarter florin were struck at the same time, but only the last has been found. The florin being found inconvenient, gave place to the noble, of six shillings and eight-pence value, and exactly half a mark. The latter had its name from being a limited sum in accounts; and was eight ounces in weight, two-thirds of the money pound. The noble had its name from the nobility of the metal; the gold of which it is coined being of the finest sort. Sometimes it was called _rose-noble_, from both sides being impaled in an undulating circle. It continued, with the half and quarter noble, to be the only gold coin till the angels of Edward IV. appeared in 1465. These had their name from the image of Michael and the Dragon which they bore. The angelites, of three shillings and four-pence value, were substituted in their place. In 1527, Henry VIII. added to the gold coins the crown and half-crown at their present value; the same year he gave sovereigns of twenty-two shillings, and six-pence, and ryals of eleven shillings and three-pence, angels at seven shillings and six-pence, and nobles at their old value of six shillings and eight-pence. In 1546 he caused sovereigns to be coined of the value of twenty shillings, and half sovereigns in proportion.

On the union of the two crowns, James gave the sovereign the name of unite; the value continuing twenty shillings, as before. He coined also rose ryals of thirty shillings, spur ryals of fifteen shillings, angels of ten shillings, and angelites of five shillings value. Under the Commonwealth, the sovereign received the name of the twenty shilling piece, and continued current till the coinage of guineas. These were so called, from their being coined of gold brought from the coast of Guinea, and were at first to pass but for twenty shillings, though by a universal but tacit consent, they always passed for twenty-one shillings. Half-guineas, double-guineas, and five guinea pieces, were also coined during the same reign; which still continue, though the two latter are not in common circulation. Quarter-guineas were coined by George I. and likewise by his late Majesty; but they were found so troublesome on account of their small size, that they were stopped at the Bank of England; and therefore are not to be met with in circulation at present. A few pieces of seven shillings value were likewise coined, and are known by the lion above the helmet; but none were issued. In 1668, the guinea rose to twenty-one shillings and sixpence, and continued to increase in value till 1696, when it was as high as thirty shillings; but after the recoinage in 1697 and 1698, it fell by degrees, and in 1717 was at its old standard of twenty-one shillings. During the reign of George III. vast numbers of seven shilling pieces were issued, which continued some years in general circulation. Sovereigns have also been coined since his present Majesty's accession, and they constitute at present the prevailing gold currency of the realm.

SINGULAR CALCULATION RESPECTING THE NATIONAL DEBT.--The national debt, funded and unfunded, on the 5th of January, 1811, was £811,898,811, which are equal to 773,236,267 guineas, which, at 5 dwts. 8 grains each guinea, weigh 6312 tons, 11 cwt. 3 qrs. 5 lbs. 1 oz. 6 drs. nearly, avoirdupois. Now supposing a waggon and five horses to extend in length twenty yards, and to carry two and a half tons of the said guineas, the number of teams necessary to carry the whole would extend in length twenty-eight miles twenty-three yards. To count the debt in shillings, at the rate of thirty shillings in a minute, for ten hours a day, and six days in a week, would take 2,469 years, 306 days, 17 hours, and 30 minutes, nearly. Its height in guineas, supposing twenty guineas in thickness to be an inch, would be 610 miles, 339 yards, 9 inches; and supposing each guinea an inch in diameter, they would extend in a right line, 12,203 miles, 150 yards, 7 inches. Moreover, the said guineas would cover, in space, 348 acres, 2 roods, 202 yards, nearly. And, lastly, in shillings, each being an inch in diameter, would cover 7319 acres, 1 rood, and 349 yards!

LIQUORS, _with their_ EFFECTS _in their usual Order_.

_TEMPERANCE._

+---+
70--|---| Water } Health, Wealth.
|---| }
60--|---| Milk and Water } Serenity and Composure of Mind.
|---| }
50--|---| Small Beer } Reputation, Long Life, and Happiness.
|---| }
40--|---| Cider and Perry } Cheerfulness and Contentment.
|---| }
30--|---| Wine } Strength, Vigour, and Nourishment,--when
|---| }
20--|---| Porter } taken only at Meals, and in
|---| }
10--|---| Strong Beer } moderate quantities.
|---|
|---|
0--|---| _INTEMPERANCE._
|---|
|---| } _Vices._ | _Diseases._ |_Punishments._
|---| } | |
10--|---| Punch } Idleness; | Sickness; | Debt;
|---| } | Puking; and |
|---| } | Tremors of the| Black Eyes;
20--|---| Toddy & Crank, } Peevishness;| Hands in the |
|---| } | Morning; | Rags;
30--|---|{Grog, & Brandy } Quarrelling;| Bloatedness; |
| |{and Water, } | Inflamed Eyes;|
|---| } Fighting; | Red Nose and | Hunger;
| | } | Face; |
40--|---| Flip and Shrub, } Lying; | Sore & swelled|
| | } | Legs; | Hospital;
|---|{Bitters infused } Swearing; | Jaundice; |
| |{in Spirits, } | Pains in the | Poor-house;
50--|---|{Usquebaugh, } Obscenity; | Limbs and |
| |{Hysteric } | Burning in the| Jail;
| |{Water. } Swindling; | Palms of the |
|---| } | Hands & Soles | Whipping;
| |{Gin, Aniseed, } Perjury; | of the Feet; |
60--|---|{Brandy, Rum, } | Dropsy; |
| |{and Whiskey, } Burglary; | Epilepsy; | The Hulks;
| |{in the _Morning_.} | Melancholy; |
|---| } | Madness; |
| |{Ditto during } Murder; | Palsy; | Botany Bay,;
70--|---|{the _Day_ and } | Apoplexy; |
| |{_Night_. } | |
|(.)| } Suicide. | Death. | Gallows.
\---/
]