writers whose works may be easily pro cured, and who live nearer to our situation. If we had possessed equal access to eastern writers, or had sufficiently esteemed them, we should have been led to think that some early tribes settled far east in Asia. It is not improbable that certain names of fathers of nations recorded in Scripture, are preserved to this very time, in places of which we have some, though by reason of their remote situation, perhaps imperfect, information. Captain Wilford, in an Essay on Egypt and the Nile, has given, from the Indian Puranas, some account of the first settlement of nations after the flood. "It is related in the Padman-Purana, that Satyavrata, whose miraculous preservation from a general deluge is told at length in the Matsya, had three sons, the eldest of whom was named Iyapeti, or "Lord of the Earth;" the others were Charma and Sharma, which last words are, in the vulgar dialects, usually pronounced Chan and Sham, as we frequently hear Kishur for Krishna. The royal patriarch, for such is his character in the Puran, was particularly fond of Iyapeti, to whom he gave all the regions to the north of Himalaya or the Snowy Mountains, which extend from sea to sea, and of which Caucasus is a part; to Sharma he allotted the countries to the south of those mountains: but he cursed Charma; because, when the old monarch kind did not migrate in a western direc- have been at that time as they are now- course of these streams may be considered as marking the course of mankind to remote parts of this continent. In fact, they diverge on all sides; south to India, east to west China, north to Siberia, and If it should towards the Caspian Sea. * be thought, as some have supposed, that Shem took no part in the building of Babel, this will afford an additional argument in favour of the opinion that the whole race of mankind did not migrate in a western direction. Ravenstonedale, June 11, 1810. J. ROBINSON. was accidentally inebriated with a strong To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. liquor inade of fermented rice, Charma laughed, and it was in consequence of that became SIR, AVING been lately a witness to his father's imprecation of his brothers H the very great labour, expense, "The children of Charma travelled a long time, until they arrived at the bank of the river Nila, or Cali, in Egypt; and a Brahmin informs me, that their journey began after the building of the PadmaMandira, which appears to be the tower of Babel, on the banks of the river Cu- mudvati, which can be no other than the Euphrates." These extracts are corroborative of the geography of Moses, and prove that the geographical documents preserved to us in Holy Wit, are in perfect unison with the most ancient histories of the people who, after the inspired writers, possessed the most authentic sources of information. They also shew, that the whole race of man * Taylor's Sacred Geography. + Noah. Asiatic Researches. and frequent disappointment, attendant on the making of Galvanic troughs in the common way, with wood, and the joints covered with cement, I am induced to propose, through the medium of your most respectable and widely-circulated Journal, an idea that struck me of substituting troughs inade of earthenware, for the above-mentioned purpose. They could be constructed with only one or two cells in each piece, by which means they might be afforded very cheap; and by placing any number of those pieces in continuation in a simple box or trough, made for the purpose, the power could be increased to any degree required. Cionmell, June 24, 1810. Sacred Geography. ROBERT DAVIS. To HE plays in which we should con Template the character of Faistail, a are the two Parts of Henry IV. We see him again indeed in the Merry Wives of Windsor," and with great satisfaction; but he is in fetters. He might say of himself, as after the exploit at Gadshall, “Am not I fallen away? do not I bate? do not I dwindle? Why my skin hangs about me like an old lady's loose gown!" His meanderings are reduced to straight course, and we scarcely recog nise the beauty of the stream. Our nemorable queen, when she requested to see Falstaff in love, appears to me (to use a vulgar but pertinent expression) to have mistaken her man." Eccentricity of affection was expected; and, as might have been foreseen, we are presented only with his avarice. But to return: the two Parts of Henry IV. are, beyond a doubt, the most diversified, in point of character and language, of any of the historical plays of our great dramatist. Who does not marshal in his mind the spirits of "that same mad fellow of the north, Percy;" "of him of Wales, that gave Amaimon the bastinado, Owen Glendower;" and “his son-in-law, Mortimer; and old Northumberland; and the sprightly Scot of Scots, Douglas?" Who cannot paint to himself" that goodly portly man, sir John;" the chief justice, (sir William Gascoigne); and that whoreson mad compound of majesty, Prince Henry, who, as he himself observes, had "sounded the very base-string of humility?" Or, who cannot conjure up the manes of the knight's myrmidons, swag gering Pistol, Poins, Peto, and honest Pistol is a very remarkable character. He seems to be a ranting spouter of sentences and hard words, unconnected and unintelligible; and was introduced by Shakespeare for the purpose of ridiculing the bombast absur dities of his cotemporary dramatic writers. If this was really the object of the character, it must have had a wonderful effect at its first performance, when the plays of Cophetua, Buttle of Alcazer, Tamburlain's Conquests, &c. from all which Pistol makes quotations, were before the public. It strikes me likewise as a very ingenious method of silencing the whole train of envious scribblers which his genius would otherwise have brought upon his own back. MONTHLY MAG. No. 202, Bardolph,* 66 11. iii. 197. Nor do those persons do him justice, who regard him as a character whose sole constituents are vice and low buffoonery. This was not the intention of Shakespeare. Those who are possessed of a natural vein of humour, no less than those who constantly affect it, will sometimes detect themselves in a strain of quips and cranks', whose object is "to set on some quantity of barren spec tators to laugh." Falstaff's wit is often, it must be confessed, of an illegitimate kind; yet the general character of his pleasantry, and the good sense so frequently sparkling from under his singular quaintness, prove that the poet intended him to have the credit of considerable abilities, however unusual or misemployed. To cancel the imputation of perpetual buffoonery, an idea originating in the misconception of those who personate him on the stage, or would paint him like Bunbury, we must recollect that, although he possessed none of those recommendations which are implied in *The character of Barco'ph is one of those bold dashes of the pencil, which our great painter from nature so frequently exhi bits. His great attachment to Falstaff is admirably described. When he is told of the knight's death, he exclains, "Would I were with him wheresome er he is, either in heaven or in hell!" The same insight into his character is given by another single expression. When the prince tells Falstaff of his favour with his father, Falstaff recommends the robbery of the exchequer; "Rob me the exchequer, Hal, and do it with unwashed hands too?" Bardolph, picased with the proposal, instantly seconds it with, "Do, my lora!" the the term gentleman' as the word was received in its better days, yet he had many which were not consistent with mere ribaldry and buffoonery. If we have an eye merely to his imperfections, which are no criterion of rank in society, our opinion of him will be mean and inadequate. He is represented as "a captain of foot," intimate with men of the first title and authority, and, as may be inferred from the scenes into which be is introduced, as likewise from his be haviour to the lord chief justice, could value himself as highly as any of his friends. In the character of companion to the prince, however unworthy, he must in the eyes of the world have been thought deserving of some attention, I will not say respect; for it is in vain that we look for any virtues in him, calculated to inspire us with any thing like reverence. Those who might despise them both for their vices. must remember that Hal was heir to the crown, and that Falstaff was made companion to the future hero of Agincourt. The polite attentions of master Shallow to his old acquaintance, sir John, which may be accounted for without any uncommon sagacity, were returned in a manner consistent with the avarice of the latter, that would now be denominated by the rude name of 'swindling.' Yet the shadow of worthy affection existed in sir John, as we see throughout his conduct. He ascribes his fondness for Poins to a singular cause: "I ain bewitched with the rogue's company. If the rascal has not given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it could not be else." But the affection of the prince for sir John Falstaff is more easily explained, and though manifest in the whole intercourse between them, is more felingly described by the poet in the prince's lamentation for his loss, when he views him extended for dead in the field of battle: What! old acquaintance, could not all this flesh keep in a little life? Poor Jack! Farewell! I could have better spared a better man! Oh! I should have a heavy miss of thee, if I were much in love with vanity.” * This, and a number of other characteristic and unobjectionable passages, are injudiciously omitted in the play as represented on our theatres. I fancy these omissions were made by Colley Cibber; if so, they do him as much credit for poetical feeling as his own tragedies. Indeed, we must think more humbly of the prince's judgment and good sense than we are justified in doing from his known character, if we suppose that he did not observe some amiable features in the man with whom the poet makes him spend the greater part of his time, and for whom he procured a "charge of foot" Similarity, in some degree, of dispositions might be thought a suflicient cause; but where there was not a single praiseworthy object of mutual affection, the poet would not so have erred against human nature as to have represented a friendship. The inconsistency of the prince's future conduct to him, while it reflects somewhat of ingratitude on his poetical memory, was certainly necessary, and tended to the retrieving of his character in the public mind. But to solve all difficulties on this head, it will be requisite only to select a single trait in this motley personage, which will ever awaken a partiality for him in every audience. The poet, to counterbalance his thirst of gold, and his more serious vices, has given him an insinuating air of frankness and simpli city of manners. It may be observed that in the first scene of his appearance, you sce a man from whom every subsequent part of his history might be ex. pected. The nature displayed in this is too much for the nerves of the audience. They are delighted to see what they seem to themselves to have known in common life, and to find their acquaintance precisely what they ima gined him to be. Falstaff's character is seen at once; he conceals no darker fea tures than those exhibited on his first introduction; and however reprehensible in his vices, he seems willing to trust them to the mercy of his frail audience. This is natural, but it is no extenuation of crime. The prepossession in favor of such men arises from the love of truth and sincerity implanted in us by nature, (not to mention the secret tribute paid to our vanity and self-love on such occasions), and every one, at some period or other of his life, must have felt it extort ed from him. Such a man is Falstaff. Superlatively vicious and reprobate, he never appears without exposing some darling excess or evil propensity. Yo in spite of all this, his habits savour so much of every-day prodigney, and his promises of reform and repentance are so frequent, that we cannot help feching, against our better judgment, something like partiality. But more of his vices, and some remarks on his wit, in my next. A. B. E. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. I SIR, BEG leave, by means of your widelyextended miscellany, to suggest a remedy for the very great inconvenience arising from the want of small change, or of a greater quantity of good silver in crculation, which has induced many to wish that bank-notes of 10s. value might be issued. But this, as I cannot but Laine, wool' be remedying one evil at the expence of another, as we have certainly paper enough in circulation. What therefore I here mean to propose, as a patter that would answer exactly the same end as 10s. notes, (except m payinents under 20s.) is to enli in the 2. notes now in circulation, and in their room to issue thirty shilling notes, one of which notes, in addition to those now in use, would, in all payments to any amount in which there were from 7 to 14 odd shillings, reduce the change required to a more trifle. For instance, were a payment of 13l. 12s. to be made, a ten pound and two one pound notes, with one of 30s. would reduce the change to 28. Or, were tea guineas to be paid, a five pound and four one pound notes, with one of SOs. would exactly raise the sum in paper. Perhaps a 50s. (or half 57. note) may by some be preferred; but as these will be of no immediate use in paviments under 40s. which perhaps form the wajority of retail shop payments, the 20s. note would certainly be of much more general use. And I cannot help thinking but that even payments under 29%. will be facilitated by the introduc. won of the notes here proposed, for as the quantity of silver and small gold used in larger payments will, by this means, he much lessened, there will of course remain a larger quantity in circulation fer common retail payments. Having mentioned this proposal late'v to a banker in the country, he observed, then an objection would probably be Rade to the introduction of any new kind of note form the mistakes it might occasion, amongst illiterate persons in particular, as was frequently the case in respect to bank post bills. As however, these last, old shillings are often in wned with a pen, and not printed on the ate, there can be no wonder at these king sometimes overlooked, and not SIR, ac AVING been lately made quainted with a singular misrepresentation, which has gone forth respecting the Entomological Society, I entreat you to insert in your Magazine a short explanation of the principles upon which this yet infant society is founded. The origin of the society, first established under the denomination of the Aurelian Society, has been faithfully set forth, together with its designs and objects, in Mr. Haworth's two publications, Lepidoptera Britannica, and the Prodromus which preceded that work. Of late, however, a fancied discovery has been made that it was projected in a schismatic mood in opposition to the Linnean Society, and also with a design to attack, in unjustifiable critic.sm, the works of Mr. Donovan. this appears to me too absurd to be received by any reflecting person, and had I not the best founded information that Mr. Donovan has entertained to All the utmost extent of credulity the above ideas, and that his partizans are actively endeavouring to stop the increase of the society, and undermine its fabric, I should not have considered it necessary to give an additional explanation of the purposes, intentions, and ends, for which the Entomological Society has been established. Far from its being an opponent to the Linuman Society, I deem it an introductory semmary to raise future candidates for admission into that ever by me revered society. This, a short statement, I trust, will convince every one to be true. At the head of the Entomological Society, and amongst its original pro moters, are found several fellows of the Linnæan Society. These are gentlemen, who muited to their stodies in natural history the personal labour of collecting the insects of Eng land. Their pursuits and habits threw them into accidental meeting, and consequently a temporary acquaintance with other practical collectors, who were as zealou zealous and diligent labourers in entomological hunts as themselves, but not. blessed with a classsical education; some indeed, ignorant of the Latin language, and confined for their information solely to Barkenhout, Martin, and other English authors. These collectors, laudably ambitious of improving the opportunities which these meetings afford, solicited the honour of a more intimate connexion; and experience pointing out the increase of British entomological acquisitions which would arise from the union of practical collectors, after a short consideration, the Entomological Society was resolved to be founded, and every person who is a practical collector, or an amateur of the science, may be admitted by ballot, and under ruks now modelled to bear a great similarity to those of the Linnean. The principal obstacle to admission is immorality of character; for an acquaintance with the languages, I have already observed, is not required. The object of the society is to unite men of a creditable degree in life, who may assist each other in the promotion of this science, and disseminate information to Rumbers who at present labour under the want of a liberal education, and a consequent abridgement of the means of entomological study. The more learned members explain to their brethren the subjects of their study, and publish their discoveries; they point out at each meeting all novel acquisitions, and give appropiate names to new-discovered insects, whilst they themselves increase their own knowledge of species by the numerous specimens produced; for cach collector is enabled very frequently to exhibit a new acquisition, which locality of habitat might have hidden from the eye of the entomological student, had not this society united such practical collectors residing in diferent counties. What then is there in the objects of this institution, which proposes only to encourage the practical collector, to lead on the student of moderate education to higher attainments, and to gain an extended exhibition of British insects, that can be construed into an infringement on the province of the Linnean Society of London; or as tending to attack the works of Mr. Donovan, of whom the writer of this article has a very slight personal knowledge, which, were they nearer resident, he should be happy to advance into a cordial and intimate friendship? C. C. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. I' SIR, F mathematicians at Cambridge never take up their grey goose quills 66 except to sign annual audit accounts, or to write to antiquated maidens;" if the intervals between the leaving the combination rooms and the whist parties with them are always dreary, except relieved by your Magazine; if they are vain of the reputation the boys of their college give them, and so conscious of the demerits of their compositions that it is necessary to boast of their own learning, and of the degrees which they have taken; if they are so intemperate* as to be unable to write after dinner, and so idle that they can be amused with shooting; so unacquainted with the working of arches, as to talk of their "sinking at the haunches;" it is to be wished that their habits of life may become more mathematical, and that they may learn to praise the "lean and sallow abstinence." "Old fellows of colleges" have lately much exposed themselves, and they have been corrected; but they have yet to be convinced that "renown is not the meed of indo. lent repose." Philo-veritas may blush, like father Paul, at the extreme and deplorable ignorance of mankind: but the monks of colleges are not as well acquainted with the theory and practice of the construction of vauits as the monks of the middle ages. If Philo veritas were able to excommunicate all the pontifices who disagree with him, and had authority to pull down all the bridges which prove the fallacy of, or if no bridges had been built but conformable, to the Emerson theory, Philo-veritas must have waded through, or have been ferried over, the Cam, and Cambridge would have had another name. If Philo-veritas had ever seen the vaulting of King's-college Chapel, Cambridge, he would not have defended the Emerson theory of arches: if he knew any thing of the lives of the most eminent mathematicians at Cambridge, he would not have drawn his own imaginary character so far from life. He may not be able to discover the principles of Dr. David Gregory's deductions, in spite of the information which he commu It is to be lamented, that the necessity of reading the Bible, and praying at Cambridge, is dire. What meaning has the word in the sentence: Druidarum religionem apud Gallos diræ immanitatis. nicates, |