1751. QUESTIONS in Navigation, &c. folved. failed, that he thought it was more reconcilable with his pleafures, than it really was. It is natural to have fuch a mind to reconcile thefe, that 'tis the easier for any man that goeth about it, to be guilty of that mistake. This made him over-do in point of nourishment, the better to furnish to those entertainments; and then he thought by great exercife to make amends, and to prevent the ill effects of his blood being too much raifed. The fuccefs he had in this A 29 method, whilst he had youth and vigour to fupport him in it, encouraged him to continue it longer than nature allowed. Age ftealeth fo infenfibly upon us, 'hat we do not think of fuiting our way of reasoning to the feveral stages of life; fo insensibly, that not being able to pitch upon any precife time, when we cease to be young, we either flatter ourselves that we always continue to be fo, or at least forget how much we are mistaken in it. The QUESTION in NAVIGATION, propofed in our Magazine for November laßft, P. 584, jolved. D CONSTRUCTION. ESCRIBE the femicircle WDE, and make the meridian AN equal to the of lat.tude between the port the merchant ship failed from and the place the arrived at, after running N. N. E, till the came into the latitude of 53° 12′ Ñ, draw A B making an angle of 22° 30′, equal to the angle of her courfe: From the point N draw a parallel of latitude, and where it interfects A B will be the place of the merchant-man : Draw the line AC making an angle with AN of 56° 15', equal to the angle of the courfe which the man of war fteered: From B draw BC parallel to a N. W. by W. line, the bearings of the merchant ship from her, and where thofe two lines interfect will be the ftation of the man of war; from the point C draw the parallel CD. W N D A B E 56° 15′-NAB, by construction alfo made C SOLUTION." In the triangle ANB, AN and NA B are by question given, and by conftruction ANB, ABN are alfo found; for NB being a parallel of latitude, makes ANB a right angle, and ABN the complement of NAB; therefore as the Sine of ABN:S. ANB::AN: A B = 112 0 the di stance failed by the merchant fhip. In the triangle ABC, AB is already found, and BAC is NAC, by construction 22° 3', therefore BAC is = 33° 45'; ACB is Zs. ACD, BCD, each of which by construction is = 33° 4, they being N. E. by E, and N. W. by W. lines; and ABC being the fupplement to BAC, ACB, is also known; therefore, as the Sine of ACB: S. ABC:: ABAC= 119 the distance failed by the man of war; and as the Sine of ACE: S. BAC:: AB: BC 672, the distance between the two ships. made: 10 In the triangle ADC, all the angles and the fide A C are known from what has been demonstrated; therefore, as the Sine of ADC: S. ACD:: AC: AD=66, the of latitude made by the man of war, which added to the latitude failed from gives 52° 34 her latitude," north. B A SOLUTION of the QUESTION in November laßt, p. 486. Y theorem in Ward, its content=7296 cubick feet 12607488 cubick inches; then, per Ward, a cubick inch of marble weighs 1,68859 ounces averdupois ; therefore 12607488 x 1,568859 19779371,016192 ounces averd. 551 ton, 17 C. 2 qrs. 21 lb. the weight of the obelitk. Now, the bell's weight 183 68 ounces averd. Then 19779371,016192 183568 = 107,75 nearly; which plainly fhews, that the obel fk is 107,75 times as heavy as the bell in St. Paul's. Ilminster, Dec. 24, 1750. FRA. KING, difcipulus. ' Our Carrefpondents will remember to direct their Letters to our Publisher, R. Baldwin, jun. at the Rofe in Pater-Nofter-Row. We 30 OESERVATIONS OF SMUGGLING, &c. Jan. We are defired to add to an Extract we made from the Philofophical Tranfactions concerning Thermometers, inferted in our Magazine for December laßt, p. 544, the following Remark. HAT upon comparing two Thermo they be put on an equal footing with Sem. pronian P-t? The generality of underftrappers, fuch as tide waiters, when they are ftationed by their collectors in the fmuggling villages within their districts, are thamelefly corrupt; for they are at the command of thofe pefts of fociety, the Tmeters, one Hanging without, the A fimugglers, and connive at their illegal pro ether within doors, at the time fpe- To the AUTHOR of the LONDON SIR, Tra F fmuggling be fo pernicious in its confequences, as was complained of in your Magazine for Auguft laft; if it not only debauches, and impoverishes our own people, but furnishes our moft inveterate ceedings. And if you confider the education, and former way of life of thefe wretches, how can it be otherwife? Is it to be im→ gized, that they would offer fuch a violence to themselves, as out of mere principle to reject a bribe? Would it not be acting egregioufly out of character ?-Every comhis duty faithfully, and not be skreened mander of a fmack should be obliged to do by any borough whatsoever. If these fhips were always commanded by confcientious and vigilant men, we should feel the good effects of it. But to be first a smuggler, next an informer, and then a captain of a fmack, is a fhocking gradation. May we not hope, that thefe grievances will be Credreffed under our prefent unparallel'd ad--n, who have already given fo many glorious proofs of their prodigious capacity, and zeal for the welfare of their country, particularly the late bonourable and welltimed peace, which was fuch a mafterpiece in politicks as furprised even the wily and perfidious court of France ?—I have but one obfervation more to make. The D enemies with the finews of war to destroy us; should not every method be used, and that fpeedily, to put a stop to it? Is it not particularly incumbent on the legislature to exert their utmost efforts, and roufe their whole power to crush this deftructive monfter? We have, indeed, a numerous body of custom-house officers, armed by a late act E with a every formidable power; but they are not as useful as they are numerous. The multiplicity of them ferves chiefly, I fear, to acquire a ministerial influence, by no means favourable to the cause of liberty. They would, probably, be more ferviceable to their country, if none were made officers, but men of fome principle. Too many of them have no other merit to recom- F mend them but the intereft of a mercenary, proftitute borough, where they have been fo Jong hackneyed in falfehood, and venality, that they are little inferior in iniquity to the borough-brokers of the c-, who corrupt them. What good, therefore, can be expected from fuch mifcreants as there? The intereft of the publick requires, that all G places fhould be filled by men of integrity, and that even fuch common and trivial faults as perjury, neglect of duty, &c fhould be feverely punished. Little villains, undoubtedly, fhould not be permitted to have any hand in the ruin of their country. Should cambrick-act is justly thought one of the moft truly British laws that has been paffed for many years, and gave great pleasure to all honest and fenfible Britons, as well as equal mortification to our dancing faithlefs adverfaries: I was therefore extremely forry, when I read in your Magazine, that there are a fet of monsters, who fmuggle cambricks. That they may meet with a proper punishment for fo black a crime, must be the fincere with of every one, who deferves the name of an Englishman. am, &c. From the Rambler, No. 82. Character and Fate of Quifquilius, a famous Virtuefo, as related by himself. was obferved, from my entrance into the world, that I had fomething uncommon in my difpofition, and there appeared in me very early tokens of genius, fuperior to the bulk of mankind. I was always an enemy to trifles, and threw away my rattle at the time when other children but begin to shake it. I was particularly fond of my coral, but would never fuffer my nurfe to ring the bells. As 1 grew older, I was more thoughtful and ferious, and instead of amuting myself with puerile diverfions, made collections of Datural 1751. Character and Fate of a VIRTUOSO. natural rarities, and never walked into the fields without bringing home ftones of remarkable forms, or infects of fome uncommon fpecies. I never entered an old house, from which I did not take away fome painted glafs, and often lamented that I was not one of that happy generation, who demolished the convents and monafteries, and broke windows by law. neglect the products of our own country but as Alfred received the tribute of the Welch in wolves heads, I allowed my tenants to pay their rents in butterflies, till I had exhausted the papilionaceous tribe. I then directed them to the pursuit of other animals, and obtained, by this eafy meAthod, most of the grubs and infects, which land, air, or water can fupply. I have three fpecies of earth-worms not known to the naturalifts, have difcovered a new ephemera, and can fhew four wafps that were taken torpid in their winter quarters, I have, from my own ground, the longeft blade of grafs upon record, and once accepted, as a half year's rent for a field of wheat, an ear containing more grains than have been seen before upon a single ftem, Being thus early poffeffed by a tafte for folid knowledge, I paffed my youth with very little difturbance from paffions and appetites; and having no pleasure in the company of boys and girls, who talked of plays, politicks, fashions, or love, I carried on my enquiries with inceffant diligence, and amaffed more ftones, moffes, B and thells, than are to be found in many celebrated collections. When I was 22 years old, I became, by the death of my father, poffeffed of a fmall estate in land, with a very large fum of money in the publick funds, and must confefs that I did not much lament him; for he was a man of mean parts, bent C rather upon growing rich than wife, and once fretted at the expence of only 10s. which he happened to overhear me offer, ing for the fting of a hornet, tho' it was a cold, moift fummer, in which very few hornets had been een. Being now left wholly to my own inclinations, I very foon enlarged the bounds of, my curiofity, and turning my thoughts to exoticks and antiques, became fo well known for my generous patronage of ingenious men, that my leveé was crowded with vifitants, fome to fee my mufeum, and others to increase its treasures, by felling me whatever they had brought from other countries. D One of my tenants fo much neglected his own intereft, as to fupply me, in whole fummer, with only two horfe flics, and thofe of little more than the common fize, and I was upon the brink of feizing. for arrears, when his good fortune threw a white mole in his way, for which he was not only forgiven, but rewarded. Thefe, however, were petty acquifitions, and made at fmall expence, nor fhould I have ventured to rank myself among the virtuofi without better claims, I have fuffered nothing worthy the regard of a wife man to efcape my notice. I have raníacked the old and the new world, and been equally attentive to paft ages and the prefent. For the illuftration of antient history, I can fhew a marble, of which the infcription, tho' it is not now legible, appears from fome broken remains of the letters, to have been Tulcan, and therefore, probably, engraved before the foundation of Rome. I have two pieces of porphyry found among the ruins of Ephefus, and three letters broken off by a learned traveller, from the infcriptions at Perfepolis, a piece of tone brought from the Areopagus of Athens, and a plate without figures or infcription, which was found at Corinth, and which I therefore believe to be that metal, which the antients valued before gold. I have fand gathered F out of the Granicus, a fragment of Tram jan's bridge over the Danube, fome of the mortar which cemented the water-courfe of Tarquin, a horfe-fhoe broke on the Flaminian way, and a turf with five daifies dug from the field of Pharfalia, E I had always a contempt of that nar rownels of conception, which contents itfelf with cultivating fome fingle corner of the field of feience; took the whole region into my view, and wifhed it of yet greater extent. But no man's power can be equal to his will. I was forced to proceed by flow degrees, and to purchase what chance, or kindnefs happened to prefent. I did not, however, proceed without fome defign, or imitate the indifcretion of thofe, who begin a thousand collections, and finish none. Having been always a Jover of geography, I determined to collect the maps made in rude and barbarous times, before any regular furveys, or just obfervations, and have, at a great expence, brought together a volume, in which, per-G haps, not a fingle country is laid down according to its true fituation, and from which, he that defires to know the errors of the antient geographers, may find ample information. I did not fuffer myself, however, to There are few regions of the globe which are not honoured with fome memorial in my cabinets. The Perfian monarchs are faid to have boatted the greatness of their empire, by being ferved at their tables with water from the Ganges and the Danube: I can fhew one vial, of which the water was formerly an icicle on the crags of 32 Defcription of the TOWER of LONDON. of Caucafus, and another that contains In collecting antiquities of every country, nions. I have therefore a lock of Crom- E You will eafily imagine that these ac- A Defcription of the TOWER of LONDON: F Jad. about 800 yards eaft of London-bridge. That called the White Tower was built by Wm. the Conqueror in 1078; and the whole has been much enlarged by additional buildings, having been formerly the royal palace. In 1190, it was encompassed with a ftrong wall, and a ditch, in fome places 120 feet broad. There are now so many buildings in it, with a parochial church, that it refembles a town. Edward IV. added the bulwark, and the lions tower, in which are kept lions, tygers, leopards, &c. The fortifications are about a mile round, and command the city and river. Here is a conftant garifon kept, and the chief officer is filed Conftable of the Tower of London, under whom are a deputy- lieutenant and other officers. The gentleman-porter commands 40 warders, who wait at the gates, and admit no frangers with their fwords. He delivers the keys every night to the Constable, who has great power and privileges. The Rt. Hon. the lord Cornwallis is the prefent Constable of the Tower. There are 21 hamlets, in Spittlefields and other of the out-parts, belonging to the Tower, which have a diftinct civil government, having their own justices of the peace, who hold petit and quarter feffions, as in other places. The Conftable of the Tower is alfo lord-lieutenant and cuftos rotulorum of the Tower - hamlets, whose trained bands, confifting of about 4000 men, are bound, at his command, to come and ftrengthen the garifon. The Tower is alfo the chief prifon for criminals in matters of ftate, and Tower-hill the place where they are commonly beheaded. The most remarkable things here, are, 1. The White Tower, already mentioned, which was almost new rebuilt in 1637 ard 1638, and where is a vaft magazine of powder, match, fwords, great guns, &c. 2. The Jewel. Houfe, where are kept the imperial and ftate crowns, the former never used but at coronations; likewife the jewels, and other regalia belonging to the crown, as the fceptre, globe, &c. 3. The Mint for coining gold and filver. 4. The Horfe- Armoury, with the figures of 15 of our kings, fince William the Conqueror, curiously reprefented, as large as life, on horfeback, richly armed cap-a-pee; and fome of their horfes have armour. Six of them are reprefented with their guards. Here are many fuits of armour, one of them John of Gaunt's, 7 foot and high, and another, the lord Kinfale's, with the fword he took from a French general, for which he and his pofterity had the honour of being covered in the king's prefence. 5. The Grand Storehoufe, for the fineft and largest artillery, a fpacious building of brick 5 |