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1815.]

Strictures on Rees's Cyclopædia.

tives; as the object of it is, by an inscrutable Providence, placed in a situation to which neither envy, flattery, nor even just praise, can approach; and where the majesty of the man is placed in the most awful, yet respectable ruins.

But to resume the subject, and conclude the argument; I wish particularly to shew the utter unlawfulness of rehellion against a ruler, who, though he may be incorrect in his moral conduct, yet rules according to the laws; and the additional blessing of having a prince, who, while his political conduct is regulated by the principles of the constitution, his heart and life are regulated by the dictates of eternal truth, as contained in that revelation which came from God."

MR. EDITOR,

I AM under the necessity of once more intruding myself on your pages, for a longer silence on my part may lead J.P. S. to conclude that I am convinced by his arguments that I have made a false accusation. It is also of importance to me, that your readers do not fall into the same mistake. In debates of all kinds, I believe it is usual to permit the original mover of the question to answer in reply; I must therefore claim this indulgence from you, and in so doing "John" promises never to claim your attention on the same subject again. I shall pass over the hash accusations of J. P.S., at the commencement of his communication, as I conceive he only means them as a sort of spur to prejudice, or to give weight where his arguments may fail. It is the first time that I have ever heard an editor defended for allowing improper matter to find its way into a work which is under his sole direction; and I am also not at all surprised that Dr. Rees should be eulogized by a Protestant Dissenter." This is indeed the age of liberality, a word that J. P. S. must be fully aware may be substituted for indifference: and those who profess to have most of the former have too often the greatest share of the latter-I mean with regard to religious

affairs.

66

But now in referring to the communication of J. P. S. I can proceed to combat his opinions no farther, for my opponent has taken up my question upon different premises. It is no longer a dispute, whether it be right or immoral to set apart one day for a remembrance of Christ's crucifixion, but a point of right, which he would agitate of obeying or not the commands of our superiors, in

415

matters of religion. Thus, sir, the question before you assumes a different complexion, and the answering of it requires, fortunately for you, more leisure than I am at present master of. Should it, however, be my fate to live in a country, whose religion differs from that established in my own, I should derm myself happy in being peined to worship, unmolested, according to the dictates of my conscience; and would cheerfully set apart any day the higher powers might think proper to appoint in commemoration of our common Saviour. When a man is in search of truth, it may be as well to read the arguments urged by our opponents; but J. P. S. answers me through the medium of persons of his own habits of thinking. I am answered, sir, by an avowed friend of the Reverend Doctor's, and by opinions similar to his own. Let J. P. S. consult the fathers, and he will no doubt find many reasous in support of the propriety of setting apart one day in commemoration of the nativity and crucifixion; a custom which probably the sensibility of the Protestant Dissenter's heart would have adopted, had he not been commanded by an establishment which regal power is suspected to influence. A very good sort of a man, a Protestant Dissenter, an acquaintance of mine, kept the day of the martyrdom of King Charles the 1st, by invariably dining off a calf's head!!! and I do not see why a commemoration of love may not as well be kept alive as a commemoration of enmity. I shall now sir conclude, not by a quotation from men likely to err as myself, but by a quotation from a book which J. P. S. will perhaps consider less fallible than those opinions to which he has resorted; and if he is not convinced that the lives of a Porteus and a Pitt were suffered to pass without implicating the industry or prejudices of an Editor, I will bid him turn to the article "GENERATION” in the Cyclopædia, where useless and disgusting experiments are detailed in such plain terms, that those who run may read to no one good purpose whatever, and I think he will then say with me, that the Rev. Editor could not have perused it before it went to press, or he would have never suffered such a violation of decency in a work intended for the reference of persons of all ages. To conclude, the passage I would offer to the consideration of J. P. S. is this:-Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be

416

Extracts from Cawood Castle, a MS. Poem.

to the king as supreme, or unto gover-
nors as unto them that are sent by him
for the punishment of evil doers, and for
the praise of them that do well. For
so is the will of God; that with well
doing ye may put to silence the ignor-
ance of foolish men.
Honour all men,
love the brotherhood, fear God, honour
the king.
JOIN.

MR. EDITOR,

I HAVE lately received from Yorkhire a manuscript poem from the same pen as The Convicts, inserted in the late numbers of your miscellany. It is entitled Cawood Castle, and I have ventured to lay some extracts from it before you. I know it to be the unaided production of a young man whose situation in life is very humble, and whose means of improvement have not been superior to many who have been cried up as prodigies both by the learned and unlearned. The poem in question, including an introductory address to a friend, at whose instigation it was attempted, contains about 12 or 1300 lines. The young person, by the advice of some friends, seems desirous to bring it forward, if possible, by public subscription, if it should be thought worthy of public notice. The extracts I have made are promiscuous, and may be admitted as a fair specimen of the work. Though the subject is local, he has rendered it as generally interesting as possible; as you will perceive by the subjoined analysis of its contents. His motives for publishing are commendable, and will, I am persuaded, meet the approbation of the friends of literature when explainedshould any profit arise, he wishes to devote it to literary purposes, such as the purchasing of books, &c., from which he is entirely excluded in the contracted station of life in which he is placed, and to which he so feelingly adverts in the concluding stanzas attached to the poem, where he supposes himself to be addressed in the ruins by an invisible being

"What are the ills of life which thee surround,

Urge the big tear, and heave the deepdrawn sigh?

Has envious Fortune on thy prospects frown'd,

And cost thy lot with frigid Poverty, And all those ills which her attendants be? Has Knowledge, too, withheld her ample

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[June 1,

Should you think proper to present these extracts to the public, through the medium of your useful and widelyextended miscellany, and should you further deign to hint at the intentions of its humble author, it would be rendering assistance in obscurity, as well as conferring a lasting obligation upon

Yours, &c.

Finchley, March 6, 1815.

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ARGUMENT.

AMICUS.

Introduction Origin of the CastleFeudal times-Early distracted state of Britain, contrasted with its present tranquil and exalted situation-The Castle becomes the seat of the See of York-Repaired by CardiMemorable dying words-Reflexions on his nal Wolsey-Wolsey's character and fallfall-Archbishop Montagu-CharacterThe Watch-tower Court-yard-Ancient Final destruction of the Castle-Reflections hunting scene--Chase of the wild boar Castle hall-Galliard-Great feast by Archbishop Neville-Chivalry-TournamentKnight Errant-Dungeon-Castle chapelYouthful recollections-Conclusion.

When royal Alfred held the regal sway
O'er Britain's empire in that early day,
Alfred the Great, the pious, and the sage,
The boast and wonder of a barb'rous age;
CAWOOD, thy antique towers first rose from
That grand epocha marks their distant birth.
earth,

Thy Gothic halls were destin'd long to be
The seat of York's exalted sacred see,
Her mitred prelates sought this calm retreat,
And here forgot the toils of church and state
Charm'd with thy sylvan shades and frag-

rant bow'is,

In them were passed their choicest, happiest

hours.

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appear:

Where war's loud roar had thunder'd to the
Now rose the sacred choir's sweet melody.
sky,
Revolving centuries roll'd o'er thy head,
And on thy towers their hoary honours shed;
'Gainst warring elements they firmly stood,
Defied alike the tempest and the flood.t

Cawood castle is of great antiquity i still more early, though all agree it was be some say it was built by Athelstan, others stowed by that monarch on the church. The first archbishop that resided here was William de Grenefeld, 1305 (Edward 1 his arms being yet to be seen upon its ruis Cawood is situate upon the Ouse, about ten miles south-east of York.

+ Cawood is subject to frequent inundations in the winter, in conséquence of the

1815.]

Fall of Cardinal Wolsey.

417

But when contending Roses shook our isle, Ere the third sun through Heav'n his course Neglected then thy venerable pile

Ran to dilapidation and decay,
And for a time in partial ruins lay;

Till lordly WOLSEY, driv'n by royal hate,
Here sought a shelter from the storms of

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woe,

Nor spar'd the man that roused his fierce
Nor lovely woman in his brutal lust. [disgust,
Warn'd by an omen of his coming fate,*
Not long expectant was he doom'd to wait.

overflowing of the Wharfe, which empties,
itself into the Ouse, about a mile above the
town Ancient piles may still be seen at
low water, intended, no doubt, as a defence
for the foreshore of the castle, against these
rapid and overwhelming floods.

Upon All-hallow-day my lord sitting at dinner-you shall now understand that my lord's great crosse, which stood by, fell, and in the fall broke Dr. Bonner's head, in asmuch that some blood ran downe. My Jord perceiving the fall thereof, demaunded of these that stood by him, what was the matter that they stool so amazed; I shewed

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had past,

At postern gate was heard a bugle's blast;
The cautious porter, ever on his guard,

Still kept the gates both lock'd and firmly
barr'd:

Till PERCY, who, a royal courier, came,
Demands admittance in King Henry's name;
At that dread name reluctant he obeys,
But firmly still maintains his post and keys.*
The Earl his high commission now display'd,
And WOLSEY Sought its import to evade;
'Twas all in vain, Northumberland must bring
The fallen Cardinal before the King.
These dreadful tidings thence like light'ning
flew,

A weeping crowd around thy towers they
drew;

Throng'd here to bid adieu to their lov'd lord,
The neighb'ring poor by whom he was ador'd;
Since fallen from his high and dazzling post,
Much of his pride and haughtiness he'd lost.
Taught by what fav'rites in disgrace endure,
To feel compassion for the suff'ring poor,
He made their wants his unremitting care,
Freely with him his princely board they
share;

Both far and wide his charities extend,
And ev'ry poor man claim'd him for his
friend.

him the fall of his great crosse upon Dr.
Bonner's head. Quoth my lord, hath it
drawne any blood?-Yea, quoth I; with
that he cast his head aside, and soberly sayd
Malum Omen, and thereupon said grace,
and rose from the table, and went to his
bedchamber. Now marke how my lord ex-
pounded the meaning thereof to me at Pon-
tefract, after his fall: first, that the greate
crosse that he bare as Archbishop of Yorke
betokened himself; Dr. Austin, that over-
threw the crosse was he that accused my
lord;
it fell on Dr. Bonner's head, who was
then master of my lord's spiritual jurisdic-
tion, who was then dampnified by the fall
thereof; moreover, the drawing of blood
betokeneth death, which did shortly after
follow."

after he had set the hall in order, he com-
"The Erst thing that the Earle did,
manded the porter to deliver the keyes of
the gates to him, which he would in no wise
doe, although he was threatened in the
king's name; he saide to the Earle, that the
keyes were delivered to him by his lord and
master, both by oathe and other commands.
The Earle hearing the porter speak so stout-
ly, said, hee is a good fellow and a faith-
fulle servant to his master, and speakes like
an honest man: thou shalt wel and truly
keepe the keyes to the use of our Sovereigne
Lord the King, and you shall let none passe
in nor out of the gates, but such as from
time to time you shall be commanded by us,
being the king's commissioners during our
stay here."

418

Mr. Taylor on Relative Nothing in Mathematics.

But when they saw him hence a pris'ner borne,

Their sorrowing hearts their benefactor mourn,
With streaming eyes towards Heav'n their
hands they spread,

And loud implor'd its blessings on his head.
But louder still their indignation rose,
While imprecating curses on his foes.
Pursue him hence to Leicester's sacred
shrine,

His forfeit life just ready to resign;

[June 1,

With guilty horror he review'd the past, And thus the wretched Prelate breath'd his last.

MR. EDITOR,

YOUR correspondent Philomath, in your last Magazine, by representing me as saying what I did not, and omitting to mention what I did say, has acted the part of a reviewer, rather than that of a

Worn down with age, with sickness and mathematician: for he says, " that I

despair,

To his attendant hear him thus declare :-
"Mark, good Sir William,† what I say to
thee,

"Ambition shun, its false allurements flee;
"O ye who bask in Fortune's sunny ray,
"Who woo her smiles, her smiles as false

as gay,

"See where the wreck of her caprice I lie,
"Cut off from grace and royal clemency.
"Oh! had I serv'd my God with half the

zeal

"I've manifested for my sov'reign's weal,
"He had not left me in this drear estate:
"Ah! vain regret, 'tis now for e'er too late!
"Then had my hoary hairs form'd Virtue's

crown,

"Nor to the grave disgracefully gone down.
"The die is cast, grim Death asserts his claim,
"And life but flickers with a dying flame.
"Slaves of ambition! here approach and read
"Your fate, and in my end behold your
meed ;

"For know to mortal man it ne'er was giv'n
"To lord jt o'er his race in spite of Heav'n.
"Even angels from their spheres ambition
threw,

"And after them eternal vengeance drew;
"Shall man, frail man, that puny worm of
earth,

"Presumptuous dare what blasted heav'nly

birth;

"He whose frail life hangs on a slender

thread,

"A breeze can snap, and join him to the

dead."

"But to tell you the truth, there were also many of the people of the country as sembled at the gate, lamenting his departure, in number above 3000, who, after

opening the gate that they had a sighte, cryed out with a loude voyce, God save your Grace! God save your Grace! the foule evil take them that have taken you from us; wee praye God that vengeance may light upon them; and thus they ran after him through the towne of Cawood, for he was there very well beloved both of riche and poore."

The preceding notes were extracted from an old scarce book, entitled, Negociations of Thomas Wolsey, the great cardinal by his gentleman usher.

+ Sir William Kingston.

maintain, that nothing divided by a num ber, will produce a quotient of some value." This was never asserted by me of that which is absolute nothing, as must be obvious to any of the readers of your Magazine. But what I did say, and which he has omitted to notice, is as follows:-" Philomath is doubtless well acquainted with the distinction made by ciples of Religion, between relative and Dr. Cheyne in his Philosophical Prinabsolute nothing; that as the Dr. says, in p. 8, of the second part of that work, "relative nothing is an infinitely little quantity" and that unity divided by an infinite number of unities, makes the quotient relative nothing." Now, Sir, as 1 divided by 1+1+1+1, &c. ad infi nitum, gives 1 1 for the quotient, 1-1, according to Dr. Cheyne, is an infinitely small quantity. Hence, though absolute produce a quotient of some value, yet nothing divided by a number will not relative nothing will.

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This distinction, however, between relative and absolute nothing is not only ton and Emerson. adopted by Dr. Cheyne, but also by DitFor the former, in to enter here into the dark algorithm of the Preface to his Fluxions says, "Not nothings, and infinitely less than nothings, 'tis simply impossible that the quotient of real quantity, divided by real quantity, should ever be nothing in a mathematical sense. possibly be infinitely small, and so be noSuch a quotient may thing in a physical sense, or nothing in a comparative sense, and with respect to be purum nihil, or strictly and ab Some other quantity; but that it should solutely nothing, is, I think, strictly and absolutely false." And Emerson, in his Algebra, p. 209, says "that o in a mathematical sense never signifies absolute nothing; but always nothing in relation to the object under consideration."-In consequence of this, in Cor. 4, he says, is a finite quantity of some sort." And "that if o be divided by o, the quotient in Cor. 2." that if o multiply an infinite quantity, the product is a finite quantity."

1815.]

On the Production of Something out of Nothing.

According to Dr. Wallis, likewise, and Neiwentiit, 1-1, 1-2+1, and such like expressions, are infinitely small quantities. For the former, in his Arithmetica Infinitorum, p. 154, has the following remarkable words:-" Dum vero differentiam infinite parvam pro nulla haben dam dicimus, caute hoc accipiendum est, neque enim id ubique, sed aliquando lapsui occasionem prabet. Cum enim infinite parvum infinities multiplicatur, assurgit nonnunquam quantitas satis magna, nempe illa ipsa cujus illa fuit aliquota pars utut infinite parva : + = 1 et A+ the doctor evidently acknowledges that

1

0

1+1+1+1+

1

nam

A" Here

&c. ad infinitum, and

1+2+3+4+5 &c. ad infinitum, are infinitely small quantities. But the former of these is equal to 1-1, and the latter to 1-2+1. And he also admits, that the former, multiplied by 1+1+1+1 &c. ad infin. and the latter by 1+2+3+4 &c. ad infin. produces 1.

Newentiit too, in his Analysis Infinito rum, p. 3, asserts that if m denote an infinite quantity, and d any finite one, then

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MR. EDITOR,

I HAVE been much amused of late with the controversy between Messrs. Taylor and Philomath, in some of your recent numbers; and which, like most other disputes, was about nothing. Now, Sir, though I have no fear for nothing absolutely, as some unlearned philologers express themselves, yet I must confess I was rather alarmed at the idea of nothing relatively, because I reasoned thus-to say that there can be absolute nothing, is equal to saying that absolute nothing can exist whilst nothing has existence; in short, if we attempt to speak of absolute nothing, we can only do so by an absolute contradiction of terms, asserting that a thing can be which has no existence; perhaps, however, since Des Cartes has taken thought as the proof of existence (cogito, ergo sum) perhaps, sir, some of those learned gentlefolks who make such a fuss about nothing, can think about it as well as they can write.

So far, sir, it may be said that I had got hold of something since I had thus clearly proved the non-existence of absolute nothing; but then, with respect to

419

relative nothing, I certainly had some symptoms of a species of TAIANPRONEIA about me, when I opined that the learned mathematician might be the erudite Platonist; for said I to myself, who knows but this deep scholar may try to make something out of nothing; and, having once proved the necessary existence of relative noting, may thence infer, that this relative nothing must exist eternally, that nothing is immaterial and something material, and therefore that matter is eternal, and that it is no matter if there is nothing!

But, sir, this thinking about nothing has made me forget something that I had to say, which was, that after exhausting all our stores of learning, we shall only find ourselves, in this dark state of mortality, playing a game of blindman's buff; and so, sir, I proceed to notice a question put by the learned Philomath in your preceding number, when he asks, "What mathematician would engage in argument with a person who maintains that 1-1, -, &c. are infinitely small quantities; and that nothing divided by a number, will produce a quotient of some value?"

To answer Philomath's question is above my powers; I know not what mathematician would do all this; and indeed I can only reply in the words of a prudent Frenchman, who, when required to sign his name with his opinion on the question," Shall Napoleon Buonaparte be Consul for life?" very cautiously wrote, "I cannot tell!" But, sir, I can tell Philomath something which he may think even more strange, is, that unity may be produced out of nothing, by the multiplication and division used in the Algebraic calculations of infinite lines.

which

If Philomath has any remembrance of his school hours, he may perhaps recollect a puzzling question which appeared some years ago in a Mathematical Diary, published, I think, in the north of England :

"With three cyphers make a sum, Which shall be a maximum." The solution of which is simply thus:040

0

=1.

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