No. II. INDESTRUCTIBILIty of Matter.

he stirred not out of his own house.

The study of nature, and the improvement of knowledge, were the employment and pleasure of his life, and to the exercise of his high intellectual qualities, are we indebted for the first establishment of the BRITISH MUSEUM. Having with great labour and expense, during the course of his long life, collected a rich cabinet of medals, objects of natural history, productions of art, antiquities, and an extensive library of manuscripts and printed books, he bequeathed the whole to the public, on condition that twenty thousand pounds should be paid to his Included in this collection were gold and silver coins, which, considered only as bullion, were worth upwards of seven thousand pounds.

executors.

The gems and precious stones of every kind, both in their natural state, and as the jeweller has manufactured them; the numerous vessels of jasper, agate, onyx, cornelian, sardonyx, &c.; the curious cameos, the vast stores of the various productions of nature; and the completest library extant of physic and natural history, consisting of 50,000 volumes, of which 347 are drawings, or books illuminated, 3516 manuscripts; in whole, so industriously collected, and intended for the glory of God, and the good of man, he declares solemnly in his will, he believes to be worth more than four times what he expected to be paid to his family for them.

Government fulfilled the terms of the legacy, and in 1753 an Act of Parliament was passed for the purchase of Sir Hans Sloane's Museum, together with the Harleian collection of manuscripts, and for procuring one general repository, for the better reception and more convenient use of the collections, and of the Cottonian library, and additions thereto. The museum of Sir Hans Sloane was accordingly removed from Chelsea to Bloomsbury, and thus commenced the formation of the BRITISH MUSEUM,

to which national collection the most valuable addi

tions have, from time to time up to the present period, constantly been making.

The following is an enumeration of the contents of Sir Hans Sloane's Collection, at the time of its transfer to the public.

Library of printed books and manuscripts, including

books of prints and drawings

......

.Vols. 50,000

23,000 1,125 1,500 542

Coins and medals.

756

Quadrupeds and their parts

8,136

Birds and their parts, eggs, &c.

..............

Fishes and their parts

Amphibia

...............

Crustacea..

Insects

........

Shells, echini entrochi

Corals, sponges, zoophytes.

Volumes of dried plants

Mathematical instruments

1,172 1,555

521

1,436 5,845

5,439

1,421

334

55

2,098

.....

........................

.....................

Miscellaneous artificial curiosities...

[Purtly Abridged from FAULKNER's History of Chelsea.]

J. T.

A COMMON tallow-candle supplies an instructive illustration of some of the changes incident to matter. Without going particularly into the phenomena of its combustion, which will come under our notice in a future paper, we may observe, that the tallow, being liquefied by heat, rises between the filaments of rised. From a state of vapour, it very rapidly passes the wick, until, coming near to the flame, it is vapointo that of gas, which gas yields a continuous flame and a brilliant light. We will suppose, that the candle is a short six mould, that it is well made, the tallow of good quality, and that it be kept constantly snuffed. During its combustion, if the necessary conditions of constant snuffing, and freedom from a current of air be observed, no smoke will arise from it. This we may prove by holding flame, a piece of white card-board, or of polished over the candle, a little above the extremity of the tin. When the process of combustion is at an end, we say, in common language, "the candle is burnt out," and all that remains, visible to our senses, is a few fragments of charred wick, which have been

collected in the snuffers.

A mould candle of six to the pound, weighs rather more than two ounces and a half. Under

careful management, the whole of the tallow may be consumed, leaving in the snuffers about one fourth of an ounce of the wick. But what has become of the tallow? It has disappeared, but not a particle of it has been wasted or destroyed. Those portions of the tallow and of the cotton, which now elude our observation, have been added to the surrounding atmosphere, and, although they may never again be all united under the precise forms of animal fat, and the seed-pod of the cotton-tree, yet are they performing, in the economy of nature, offices equally important and equally useful. What has been said respecting a tallow-candle, may be viewed as applicable, with but slight alterations, to an oil-lamp, and a wood, or coal fire. In the two latter, we commonly observe the liberation of great quantities of smoke, and hence we have less difficulty in accounting for the dissipation of the particles of fuel. But in these cases, a portion only of the combustible materials pass off in a visible form. A fire, whether it be for domestic, or manufacturing purposes, always implies the union of some portions of the inflammable materials, with certain portions of the surrounding atmosphere, constituting entirely new compounds, which compounds may, by a process we shall hereafter describe, be collected separately and examined.

The changes, thus briefly hinted at, are only a very small part of what are constantly going on around us. In the vegetable world, these changes, by their rapid succession, are strikingly apparent. A few simple elements, blended in different proportions, make up the vast variety of herbs and flowers, of fruits and trees, that adorn the surface of the earth. Whilst some tender plant springs up in the morning, and withers before night, the oak of the forest resists the blasts of a hundred winters. Yet the sturdy oak, in all its grandeur, is not exempt from changes, nor could it exist without them. Its leaves periodically fall off, and, as we are accustomed

PEOPLE who are aways innocently cheerful and good humoured, are very useful in the world; they maintain peace and happiness, and spread a thankful temper amongst all who live around them.-Miss TALBOT.

complete separation of the elements of which those leaves are composed, previous to their reappearance, under some new form, in connexion with the mineral, vegetable, or animal creation.

The seed cast into the earth dies, but during the

progress of its decay, it protects, nourishes, and invigorates, the germ of a new plant, that springs forth from its ruins. In these, and the greater proportion of the changes with which we are familiar, air and water co-operate. The elements of which vegetables and animals are composed, belong, for the most part, to that class of matter denominated aëriform, or in chemical language gaseous. Air and water hold a distinguished place among these elements, and, by a wise arrangement of Providence, are rendered alike subservient to vitality and to decomposition.

The odour exhaled from putrescent animal matter, is peculiarly offensive and distressing to mankind, and to some of the inferior animals. Hence, the propriety of burying the dead in the earth, where decomposition proceeds less rapidly, and without. endangering the existence of animated beings.

We shall conclude this paper by an extract from the Journal of a Naturalist.

"Surrounded as we are by wonders of every kind, and existing only by a miraculous concurrence of events, admiration seems the natural avocation of our being; nor is it easy to pronounce, amidst such a creation, what is most wonderful. But few things appear more incomprehensible, than the constant production and re-absorption of matter. An animal falls to the ground and dies; myriads of creatures are now summoned by a call, by an impulse of which we have no perception, to remove it, and prepare it for a new combination. Chemical agencies, fermentation, and solution, immediately commence their actions to separate the parts, and in a short time, of all this great body, nothing remains but the framework or bones, perhaps a little hair, or some wool, and all the rest is departed we know not whither! Worms and insects have done their parts; the earth has received a portion, and the rest, converted into gases, and exhalable matters, has dispersed all over the region, which, received into vegetable circulation, is again separated and changed, becomes modified anew, and nourishes that which is to continue the future generations of life. The petal of the rose; the pulp of the peach; the azure and gold on the wing of the insect; all the various productions of the animal and vegetable world; the very salts and compounds of the soil, are but the changes some other matters have undergone, which have circulated through innumerable channels since the first production of all things, and no particle (has) been lost. Bearing in mind this assured truth, that all these combinations have not been effected by chance, or peculiarity of circumstances, but by the predetermination of an Almighty intelligence, who sees the station, progress, and final destination of an atom, what an infinity of power and intellective spirit does this point out! An Omnipotence which the bodied minds of us poor creatures cannot conceive. Truly may we say, 'who can find out the Almighty to perfection?'

R. R.

MAN is a thinking being, whether he will or no; all he can do, is, to turn his thoughts the best way.-SIR W. TEMPLE.

Books are not absolutely dead things, but doe contain a potencie of life in them, to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a violl the purest efficacie and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively and as vigorously productive as those fabulous dragon's teeth, and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.-MILTON.

men.

* *

THE FIRST STEAM-BOAT IN THE WEST INDIES.

SIR RALPH WOODFORD told us, that when this steamer was first started, he and a large party, as a mode of patronizing the undertaking, took a trip of pleasure in her through some of the Bocas into the main ocean. Almost every one got sick outside, and, as they returned through the Boca Grande, there was no one on deck but the man at the helm and himself. When they were in the middle of the passage, a small privateer, such as commonly infested the gulf during the first troubles in Columbia, was seen Her course making all sail for the shore of Trinidad. seemed unaccountable; but what was their surprise, when they observed that on nearing the coast, the privateer never tacked, and finally, that she ran herself directly on shore, her crew, at the same time, leaping over the bows and sides of the vessel, and scampering off as if they were mad, some up the mountains, and others into the thickets. This was so strange a sight, that Sir R. W. ordered the helmsman to steer for the privateer, that he might discover the cause of it. When they came close, the vessel appeared deserted; Sir Ralph went on board of her, and, after searching various parts without finding any one, he at length opened a little side-cabin, and saw a man lying on a mat, evidently with some broken limb. The man made an effort to put himself in a posture of supplication; he was pale as ashes, his teeth chattered, and his hair stood on end. "Misericordia! misericordia! Ave Maria," faltered forth the Colombian.

Sir Ralph asked the man in Spanish, what was the cause of the strange conduct of the crew:-" Misericordia!" was the only reply.

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Do you know who I am? said the governor. "The-the-O Señor! Misericordia! Ave Maria!" answered the smuggler.

It was a considerable time before the fellow could be brought back to his senses, when he gave this account of the matter;-that they saw a vessel apparently following them, with only two persons on board, and steering, without a single sail, directly in the teeth of the wind, current, (which runs like a river through the Bocas,) and tide;

Against the breeze, against the tide, She steadied with upright keel: that they knew no ship could move in such a course by human means; that they heard a deep roaring noise, and saw an unusual agitation of the water, which their fears magnified; finally, that they concluded it to be a supernatural appearance, accordingly drove their own vessel ashore, in an agony of terror, and escaped as they could; that he himself was unable to move, and that, when he heard Sir Ralph's footsteps, he verily, and indeed believed, that he was fallen into the hands of the evil spirit.—Six

Months in the West Indies.

I WITNESSED a peculiar trait of the customs of the Himalayan peasants, the putting an infant to sleep by the action of water. The successful issue of the experiment I had quietly made up my mind not to believe in, until convinced by ocular proof.

The method was as follows. its mother, who was employed in bruising grain, on a The child, whose age might be a year or two, was laid by charpoy, (low bed or stretcher,) placed on a sloping green bank, along the top of which ran a small stream. A piece of bark introduced through the embankment, conducted a slender spout of water, which fell, at the height of about half a foot, on the crown of the infant's head. It was fast of India. asleep when I witnessed this process.-MUNDY's Sketches

THE celebrated Admiral Lord Collingwood, remarks in a letter dated the Dreadnought, off Ushant, 1805. "If the country gentlemen do not make it a point to plant oaks wherever they will grow, the time will not be very distant, when, to keep our navy, we must depend entirely on cap tures from the enemy. You will be surprised to hear that most of the knees which were used in the Hibernia, were taken from the Spanish ships captured on the 14th of February; and what they could not furnish was supplied by iron. I wish every body thought on this subject as I do; they would not walk through their farms without a pocket-ful of acorns to drop in the hedge-sides, and then let them take their chance."

HE that eyes a Providence shall always have a Providence to eye.-HALL.

THE CINQUE PORTS.

IN a preceding number*, we had occasion slightly to allude to the maritime celebrity of the Cinque Ports, and the important position which they hold in our olden history. Some particulars respecting them, therefore, may not be unacceptable, especially as they will appropriately lead to the subject of our illustration.

During the period of Roman dominion in Britain, it was found necessary, in consequence of the incursions of the pirates then infesting the northern seas, to unite a certain number (nine,) of the ports, under the governance of an officer, for the better defence of the coast. This system was continued by the Saxons, who, however, only incorporated five ports for this object; though, as there is no charter in existence prior to the reign of Edward the First, some writers have assumed that they did not exist as a corporation until then. From the mention of Dover, Sandwich, and Romney in the Domesday Book, as privileged ports, and from various concurring circumstances, the date of their original incorporation may be assigned to the early period we have alluded to.

was compelled to burn the greater part of his ships, to prevent their falling into the hands of the English.

The Cinque Ports rendered very eminent services at the period of the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, on which occasion they fitted six new ships of large size, at a cost of 43,0007.

In conformity with the example set by the Romans, the government and direction of these ports was intrusted to an individual of rank and consequence, who assumed the style and title of "Lord Warden, Chancellor, and Admiral of the Cinque Ports;" an office which has frequently been held by heirs apparent to the throne. Amongst the personages of the Blood Royal, on whom the mantle of the Lord Warden has fallen, we may mention Harold the Second, before his accession to the crown: Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, half-brother to William the Conqueror; Edward the First, when Prince of Wales; Henry the Fifth, when Prince of Wales; Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Henry the Fourth; Richard the Third, when Duke of Gloucester; Henry the Eighth, before his accession to the crown; James the Second, when Duke of

also been held by many individuals of high eminence, including several of the most distinguished families.

In return for these services various privileges and immunities were granted them from time to time; and it has been well observed, that, "in almost every reign, the pages of history show with how great honour and reputation the Ports discharged the sacred trust reposed in their valour, skill, and bravery, by their confiding country."

In conformity with their general name, there are five head, or incorporated Ports,-Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, and Romney; but no less than thirty other places are severally united with, and participate in their privileges, as members of the original incorporation, and amongst which we may mention Margate, Ramsgate, Rye, Winchelsea, Folkestone, Faversham, Deal, and Walmer.

In order that they might efficiently maintain the free navigation of the Channel, and protect the coast from foreign enemies and pirates, they were compelled constantly to keep up a considerable naval force, being obliged to furnish, when called upon by the crown, 57 ships, manned by 1197 men and 57 boys, at their own charge, for 15 days at one time, after which it was in the power of the sovereign to keep them in commission for an unlimited period, at a stipulated rate of pay, which, however, was very insufficient to defray the heavy expenditure necessarily incurred. Notwithstanding this, there have been various instances where they contributed more than double the number of vessels required by their charter, thus incurring a heavy loss.

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In consideration of these services, however, the Cinque Ports had many honours and privileges of great importance. 'They were," we are told, "entitled to send two Barons to represent them in Parliament; they were, by their deputies, to bear the canopy over the king's head at his coronation, and to dine at the uppermost table, on his right hand, in the great hall; they were exempted from subsidies and other aids; their heirs were free from personal wardship notwithstanding any tenure; they were to be impleaded in their own towns, and no where else; they were to hold pleas and actions, real and personal; to have conveyance of fines, and the power of enfranchising villains; they were exempt from tolls, and had free liberty of buying and selling," with many other privileges.

After the death of Lord North, the office was conferred upon WILLIAM PITT, whose strict regard to the promotion of the prosperity of the Ports, called forth a universal feeling of respect amongst their inhabitants. This great statesman, on the year succeeding his appointment (1793), when war broke out with the French Republicans, organized several companies of horse and foot, under the designation of the Cinque Ports Fencibles, of which he assumed the command. The late Earl of Liverpool subsequently held the office, which was afterwards appropriately bestowed on his Grace the Duke of Wellington, (who is also Governor and Constable of Dover Castle,) on the surpassing eminence of whose name, it is, indeed, unnecessary to comment. We cannot, however, resist recording one circumstance, for every thing which relates to so great a man is matter of national interest: since his appointment, his Grace has paid into the Treasury, for the public service, the whole amount of the proceeds of his office, as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

The last charter for their government, was granted by Charles the Second, in the twentieth year of his reign, which not only confirmed all preceding charters, but conferred additional privileges upon the freemen. This charter was subsequently confirmed by James the Second.

But the glory of the Cinque Ports has long been of the past. Sandwich, once one of the most extensive and opulent ports in Britain, is now, partly from the ruin of its harbour, a small and insignificant borough; Winchelsea, which, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, was styled by that Princess, a "Little London," has experienced a similar reverse; Hythe was once so extensive and populous, as to contain seven parish churches; Rye and Romney are nearly desolate; and of all the Cinque Ports and their dependencies, most of which were signally safe and extensive havens, only Dover, Hastings, Margate, and Ramsgate, are now in a flourishing condition, nor does their prosperity result from any circumstance connected with their original privileges. The "decline and fall" of the Cinque Ports from their ancient eminence, may be attributed to the ruin or injury of their harbours, by the long-continued recession or destructive effects of the sea; the abolition of their exclusive commercial privileges; and the alteration which has been made in the system of raising a maritime force. Their decay consequent on these changes, was progressive, though its results were not the less certain.

The Court of the Cinque Ports, for holding pleas, as well as the grand assembly of the same, was originally held at the Shepway-cross, near Limne, where the oath was administered to the Lord Warden on his induction into office. This high functionary is now generally sworn in at Breden

See Saturday Magazine, Vol. IV.,
., p. 74.

Of the number of ships which the Ports were obliged to furnish, Hastings and Dover each contributed twenty-one, and Sandwich, New Romney, and Hythe, each five

where the ancient court of Shepway was held, and most of the business relating to the Cinque Ports transacted. In addition to the above, the Lord Warden also holds a Court of Equity, as chancellor, and a Court of Admiralty as admiral of the ports, which is generally kept in the church of St. James at Dover.

WALMER CASTLE, the subject of our engraving, is See Saturday Magasine, Vol. IV., p. 73.