Answer to a Query on the Division of the Earth. Then among streams and flowers The little winged powers Went singing carols without torch or bow: [low Sports and low whispers; and with whispers * * * * Our sorrows and our pains, But oh! thou love's and nature's masterer, Go, let us love; since years No trace allow, and life soon disappears, &c. But we must here interrupt our visions of the "golden prime," and take our leave of the poetry of Mr. H. to pursue more serious duties, and fulfil the higher and more useful objects of our work. Though moral and religious views, and the promotion of peace and good will to man," with christian knowledge and humility, be 66 the chief aim of our uniform and unre 1074 sical Journal," will not, perhaps, be I am, your's, respectfully, 125, Oxford-Street, London. PELEG means to divide, therefore it is said, in his days the earth was divided. Some have thought that this has relation to the earth; that originally it was in one compact mass, and that at this period of the world it was divided by an earthquake as it is now; but a supposition of this nature cannot be admitted, because it leaves us to conclude that the Divine Being could not foresee what should happen, and therefore, that when the time came, he found it necessary to make this division. But leaving such suppositions to those who can be satisfied with them, I shall give what I conceive to be a more rational account of this transaction, more consistent with the understanding of the original writer of the sacred scriptures, which treat only concerning things appertaining to religion, and the future state of man. By the earth, in scripture language, is frequently meant the inhabitants, Gen. vi. 11. The earth also was corrupt. mitting efforts, we are occasionally glad to season our instruction with the glad voice and the fresh and invigorating spirit of the muse. In accomplishing this, however, we shall endeavour to bring before our readers-ch. xi. i. And the whole earth was of only such of our distinguished poets, whose works are equally celebrated for taste and genius, as for the purer qualities and more ennobling principles of humanity, morals, and religion. R. T. one language.-ch. xix. 31. After the Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all manner of all the earth.- Psalm c. ye lands.-Deut. xxxii. 1. Hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.-1st Kings x. 24. And all the earth sought Solomon.-Therefore it is more consistent with enlightened reason, and we have the authority of scripture to conclude, that some other division was meant by the sacred writer.Now, as it appears that these names were given by the patriarchs to their descendants, to signify the states of these patriarchal churches, it is also as certain that at this time there was a division made among them, for a singular change took place in the first order of patriarchs, from Adam to Enoch, who are said to have lived 800 years after the birth of their successors. Thus: 1075 On the Neglect of Genius. 1076 And that this applies to the ecclesi- | division, which took place in the time astical department, or the church, as of Peleg, was a division of the kingly well as to the patriarchs, may be al- and the priestly offices, arising from a lowed, because it is said that Enoch general apostasy from the true worwalked with God three hundred years ship of God, which caused a division after the birth of Methuselah, before in the church; the greatest part, either he was translated; which is sufficient from compulsion, or from the prevato convince us that a very consider-lence of example, adopted the polite able change took place in the church worship of the Babylonians, the dein the time of righteous Enoch. scendants of Ham. Thus the moThus it is said of the first five patri-narchical form of government, which archs, beginning with Seth, by whom the first visible church was manifested, that they lived upwards of 800 years after the birth of their first-born son, | to the change which took place in the time of Enoch: even as it is said of the first five patriarchs of the second order from Noah, by whom the second visible church was manifested, that they lived upwards of 400 years only after the birth of their first-born son, to the change which took place at the time of Peleg. Noah lived - 403 430 But that which confirms us in the opinion that the division of the earth in the time of Peleg was a division of the church, is, that from Peleg to Serug, these patriarchs are said to have lived only half the time of the first five, that is 200 years after the birth of their first-born son. Thus Peleg lived after the birth of Reu 209 years; Reu after the birth of Serug, 207 years; Serug after the birth of Nahor, 200 years. Now, if we consider that at this period, the Chaldean empire was extending its conquests over a great part of the east, that the love of dominion when aided by power will not suffer itself to be controlled, it is no wonder that the Chaldean power put an end to this ancient patriarchal-monarchical form of government. We have scripture and history to prove, that this from the time of Noah had been joined to the ecclesiastical, was now divided; but the priestly patriarchal was still retained in Peleg, and in his descendants down to Serug; like that which now exists in the patriarch of the Greek church at Constantinople, who is considered as a nominal head of that church, but who has not any power as a temporal prince; or some what like the pope, who, since his dominion has been circumscribed, and his authority questioned, is reduced. to a similar situation. ON THE NEGLECT OF GENIUS. MR. EDITOR. SIR,-The observations in your Maga zine for October, (col. 937) on this subject, have led me to throw together the few following remarks for your writer of those observations, that some consideration; hoping, as well as the abler hand will speedily take up the subject, as it is one on which a great deal may be said, it being of a peculiarly interesting nature. Could we by any possible means take a retrospective glance at the genius of every man who has lived within the last century, we should find that few, very few indeed, have met with the encouragement they deserved or expected. This arises from a variety of causes; from the difficulty, and even the impossibility, of persons, who are able and willing to assist them, ever becoming acquainted with their situation, on account of the vast mul titude who people this "fair world;" and when acquainted, probably from a want of sufficient judgment to distinguish the risings of that genius, which they would otherwise be willing to encourage and extend.—The principal reason why so many geniuses are never brought into action, is owing to their having no opportunity to 1077 On the Neglect of Genius. give to the world the productions of The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blash unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air." This of course occurs more frequently among the lower orders of society than others, arising from the want of means, and the employment of a great portion of their time in procuring the necessaries of life; while the other classes have more time and money at their disposal. How many Cornwalls and Wordsworths have passed their days in the "life-consuming den" of a cotton manufactory, or dragged on a miserable existence in a garret, strangers almost to every comfort of civilization and of social life? "So it has been, and so it must!" This does not arise so much from a general want of willingness in the public to relieve, (for, upon the whole, I must think that the people of England have not been backward in rewarding merit,) as from a want of knowledge where these individuals are to be found. But when they are discovered, how tenderly should they use them! how should they excite their ardour in the pursuit of those objects of literature or art which are open to their view, forgiving little faults and failings, though they might occur "seventy times seven." | 1078 this, he has been suffered to rise and ... Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget The weariness, the fever, and the fret Where palsy shakes a few, and last grey hairs, Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, 'Tis true, he was nearly "hidden among the crowd;" but, notwithstanding his works were known to some persons, he was treated by them in a manner for which they may now be sorry, but for which they cannot atone! It was his ill fate to encounter the criticism of men now living, who, almost without any of those feelings that ought to be possessed by them, have cast a degree of ridicule and contempt upon every passage which they could discover in his writings; not for the purpose of warning the poet, nor in the true spirit of criticism, but to indulge their own personal hatred of the man, because he was attached to a party to which they were opposed. -It was this that damped the ardour of his poetical genius, this that gave a shock to his delicate frame and feelings,—and to this he has fallen a prey before the summer of his days had passed away. In addition to the names of the unfortunate Chatterton and Savage, which your correspondent has addu. ced, allow me to notice one who was, this time last year, awake to all the loveliness of the scenes of nature,— mingling them with his lively imagination, and blessing and delighting the world with his productions,-I mean the poet Keats.—“There is but a small portion of the public acquainted with the writings of this young It is well for the honour of England man; yet they were full of high ima- that these cases are of so rare occurgination and delicate fancy, and his rence. It is well that there are indiviimages were beautiful, and more en-duals who do their utmost to rescue tirely his own, perhaps, than those of any living writer whatever. He had a fine ear, a tender heart; and at times, great force and originality of expression; and, notwithstanding all genius from the grasp of poverty, where they find it thus oppressed; for it is well known, that for want of timely support, both poets and painters, and others of every profession 1079 Observations on Light. have sunk from the rank they held in society to the lowest ebb of misery; and have been compelled to neglect all their intellectual labours: "Chill penury repress'd their noble rage, And froze the genial current of their souls." Seeing this is the case, what powerful claims press upon every individual to assist to the utmost of his ability, men of genius, when labouring under pecuniary difficulties!-The benefit they render to the individual is great; the benefit they render to their country is greater; and, as their own reward, what a variety of pleasing thoughts must arise in their minds, on the recollection, that probably they have been the means of saving a worthy man from an early grave, of preserving him alive for the bringing up of his children, and knowing, in short, that all his posterity will bless his name ! I will take the liberty of mentioning a circumstance related by a friend a few days ago, closely bearing upon the subject. I will abstain from mentioning names, but I could do it most willingly the gentleman, if he should happen to see this, must know that I refer to him, and must feel an inward pleasure in the consciousness of having done an action, more worthy to be recorded in the page of history, than those of the warrior in the field of blood; and, if death had not interposed between his good intentions and the object of them, he, no doubt, would have been the means of giving to the world the productions of a splendid genius, and of raising a worthy family from comparative indigence to affluence and ease. 1080 took him: upon this the gentleman asked him if he had any specimens of his ability to show, when the youth produced two or three drawings he had with him, upon which he was desired to call again and bring some more. The youth obeyed; the conse quence was, the worthy gentleman took him without a farthing, and found him possessed of a genius truly great. But five months had not elapsed, before death claimed him for his own. Another genius, a poet, was lately rescued by the kindness of some gentleman from the poverty that surrounded him, I mean John Clare, the peasant, who has published two or three volumes of poetry, which display the powers of a mind, that, with proper culture, I have no doubt will further interest the public, and add one more poet to the number for which this country is at present so distinguished. Trusting that these gentlemen, as well as the individual referred to above, may long experience the pleasing satisfaction of being entitled to the good wishes, at least, of all who know them, I need scarcely say that they have mine most sincerely. I remain, Your's, &c. Acton-Place, Oct. 3. M. M. OBSERVATIONS ON LIGHT. (Concluded from col. 988. ) However unaccountable it may be, such is the fact; light is reflected. And to this reflection we are indebted for whatever enters into our view, which is not itself luminous; for the The family I speak of had a son, sight of whatever is sublime, or beauwho was always remarkably fond of tiful, or useful, in nature or in art drawing; he had attained his 16th Were it not for the reflection of light, year, and manifested an ardent desire the only things visible would be the to be apprenticed to an artist. The sun, stars, candles, &c. But it is parents applied to several, but none evident, that the sun itself is lighted would take him without a sum of moup, not so much to be looked at, ney above what they could in any as to empower us to look at other manner collect together. He, how-things. What is called day light, is ever, was not to be thwarted in the pursuit of the object so near his heart. He waited upon the gentleman to whom I refer, and wished him to take him under his care; the gentleman observed, that he thought it singular he should apply in such a manner to him; when the youth said, he trusted he would have no cause to repent if he light reflected from various terrestrial bodies; from air, clouds, earth, &c. Were it not for this reflection, if we turned our back to the sun, in the clearest day, we should see nothing; and if we turned our face to that luminary, I apprehend his unbroken, unrefractd rays, would overwhelm us with their effulgence. I see, or think 1081 Observations on Light. I sce, a most admirable display of wisdom and foresight, when considering the manner in which light is reflected by our atmosphere. If it was merely by chance, that our globe was encompassed with an elastic fluid, whick, by reflecting the rays of the sun in all directions, enables us in all directions to see; to say the least of it, it was a very good chance!! I am not an optician, I am not reading a paper on optics, I can therefore say but little on the causes and laws of the refraction of light. The introduction of the following observations, I hope the clemency of gentlemen of the society will excuse. 1082 ted by a simple experiment: take a bason, or any hollow vessel; place at the bottom of it a piece of money; let a person recede from the vessel until he lose sight of the money, then pour clear water into the vessel, and the piece of money will again become visible. Now in this experiment it is to be observed, that the rays of light reflected from the piece of money, passing out of the water which is dense, into the air which is more rare, inclines from the perpendicular; and so is seen at a greater distance from it. 7. It is a fundamental law in optics, that the angle of refraction is as the 1. Light, when propelled from a angle of incidence; i. e. the perpenluminous body, proceeds in a right dicular line which cuts the point, line, and will keep that course for where the ray enters the refracting ever, if not interrupted by the resist-medium, forms the same angle with ance or attraction of some other sub- the ray of incidence, as it does with the refracted ray. stance. 2. When a ray of light comes to a point within a given distance of any body, it is at that point either repelled or attracted; if repelled, it is then called a reflected ray; if attracted, it then enters upon the process of refraction. 3. The instant a ray of light comes within the limit of the attraction of any body, its course is altered; and it inclines towards the perpendicular, i. e. towards the line, which cutting the point where attraction commences, is perpendicular to the surface or plane of attraction. This observation supposes the ray to come in an oblique direction. 4. The ray of light, while it is in the limit of attraction, and has not actually entered the body, is called in optics, the incident ray: and the angle which is contained betwixt such a ray and the perpendicular, is called the angle of incidence. 5. When a ray is past the limit of attraction, and has actually entered the body, it is bent, or altered in its course a second time. According to the technicale of optics, it is then said to be a refracted ray: and the angle which is contained betwixt such a ray and the perpendicular, is called the angle of refraction. To the refrangibility of light, we are indebted for advantages not to be estimated. We derive from it, in great part, the dawn of the morning, the twilight of the evening, and the useful light of noon-day. It is that which gives to the convex lens its power; and in the telescope, its virtue "to celestial lengthens human sight." A chemical view of the nature of light, I must leave to gentlemen who make chemistry their study. The identity, or the combination of light with caloric; its effects on vegetation, and especially in producing vegetable green; its combination with different gases, and the manner in which it is given out by combustion-these and many other interesting particulars, which enter into this view of the subject, the want of time, or the want of ability, or both, obliges me to pass over. With the same rapidity I must dismiss the consideration of light which is emitted from the ignus fatui, and other meteors-from sea water, fishes, and insects, the glow-worm in particular-and from various putrescent and phosphorescent substances. venture, however, the conjecture, that electricity is the true solution of the difficulties attending these mysterious appearances in nature. I 6. If the ray of light pass out of a rarer into a denser medium, it invari- 1 cannot, however, close this paper, ably inclines towards the perpendicu- without taking the opportunity which lar; if out of a denser medium into is afforded me, of stating what appear one that is rarer, it inclines from the to me, some serious and weighty obperpendicular. This may be illustra-jections against the Newtonian, or No. 34.-Vol. III. 3Z |