productions, without troubling himself to labour, step by step, with all the great minds who have preceded him. Indeed, as what in one age was abstruse science, is gradually familiarised to the understandings of men, till, ina succeeding one, it becomes elementary knowledge, he will in many cases be able to learn all that his predecessors have done, from such an historical account of the progress of the science as may be comprised in a few pages. Thus there is a natural date to works of this description, even of the first order, and all those numerous books of a secondary east, which are employed in making known and familiarising the discoveries of great minds, as naturally fall into oblivion, when the advancement of knowledge has left at a distance the writings which it was their object to explain. With productions of taste and imagination, however, the case is widely different. Every work of this kind is complete in itself, and not essentially connected with those which precede or those which follow it. One poem by no means supersedes another, in the same way that a scientific treatise supplants its predecessor; and at first sight it is not at all obvious that there are any limits to effusions of this nature. Even in the present day they are so numerous that it is the business of a life to become acquainted with the whole. Hence, amongst men of taste, it sometimes happens that one is ignorant of what is familiar to another, and has read works which his neighbour has never seen, Every day they increase on our hands. How many names eminent for taste, wit, and imagination, has little more than a century bequeathed to us--Addison, Swift, Pope, Gray, Collins, Akenside, Goldsmith, Thomson, Young, Johnson, Cowper, Burns, and a long train of others who will rise to the recollection of every reader. If the human race should continue to be equally fertile in genius for five thousand years, the list will have swelled to a formidable magnitude. On the moderate computation of forty successful writers of this description in a century, two thousand will be added to what is already a voluminous catalogue. To be overwhelmed in this manner with a profusion of wit and fancy, thus to "die of a rose in aromatic pain," is not, it must be owned, a calamity which calls for much serious commiseration. It would doubtless be illtimed now to suggest how this luscious evil might be mitigated, but I know not what other remedy our successors can apply than a periodical destruction of all works of a certain standing; or, if this would be too severe a procedure, they may refer the matter to a Board of Wit and Imagination, or a Committee of Selection. It would then be of infinite advantage to an author not to be too voluminous. If he presented himself to our imaginary board in the portable shape of a small duodecimo, he might perhaps slip out of the danger of extinction; but, amidst such a horror of bulk as would then prevail, small, I apprehend, would be the chance of him, who had favored his age with half a dozen epics, and a centenary of odes and sonnets. Collins and Gray, I suspect, had prophetic misgivings of some such a catastrophe as this, and, unlike our modern rhymers, wisely built their poetical barks small enough to pass through the narrow channels, into which they foresaw the stream of immortality would now and then be liable to shrink. After all, however, nature has probably provided a sufficient preventive of this supposed evil, in endowing a few, and a few only, with the power of rising much above their fellow-creatures. In a crowd, only a small number, from the nature of the case, can be eminent; and amongst the innumerable authors who enter the career of glory with warm anticipations of success and immortal reputation, only a trifling proportion will be found to maintain their importance in the public eye for any long period. Oblivion is perpetually encroaching upon and overwhelming their productions, leaving but a few pre-eminent names in sight, like mountains amidst the sea. The progress to this consummation, of many of those who now figure in public esteem, it is not difficult to trace. While their writings have the charm of novelty they will be read and applauded; in a few years they will be only occasionally quoted and alluded to; at a more remote period their names, perhaps, will be found in Encyclopedias and Biographical Dictionaries, till, in process of time, they will be dropped even from these repositories of knowledge to make room for more recent competitors, and will at length glide altogether from the remembrance of mankind. But let them not suppose that they are useless, because they cannot be immortal. The proper function of the majority of writers, is to amuse and instruct the age in which they appear; and this they will be able to do, by the interest which contemporary productions, and allusions to recent circumstances, naturally excite. In the narrow circle illumined by their talents, they may enjoy an enviable degree of reputation, and after having done this, and been caressed by their friends and wondered at by their inferiors, it is wisely provided that they should sink into oblivion, and give place to others of similar powers, of whom they may rest assured there will always be a sufficient abundance. Sheffield, April 15, 1818. U. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE RIVERS. 1. THE Trent eaters Nottinghamshire, after receiving the Soar, about one mile west of Thrumpton, it runs past Barton, Attenborough, Clifton, Wilford, West-Bridgeford, Colwick, Holm-Pierrepoint, Stoke-Bardolph, Burton-Joyce, Gunthorpe, East-Bridgeford, Hoveringham, Bleasby, EastStoke, Farndon, Averham, Kelham, South-Muskham, Winthorpe, NorthMuskham, Holm, Carlton, Sutton-upon-Trent, Fledborough, Dunham, Torksey, Littleborough, West-Burton, Bole, Gainsborough, Stockwith, and Banfleet, and immediately enters Lincolnshire. It is the boundary, between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, with only two exceptions, from Dunham-Ferry to Banfleet. Its breadth between Sneinton and Colwick is 84 yards, but beyond Newark, near Winthorpe, it is upwards of 130. The Trent is universally allowed to be one of the most beautiful rivers in England; its waters are clear, and glide between its banks with a brisk and delightful current; it pervades some of the most fertile districts in the kingdom, and near Nottingham it advances through a range of flowery meadows, bounded by high tufted hills and checkered with villages, to the bold and conspicuous rock on which that opulent town is situated It divides itself into two branches before it reaches the town of Newark, one of which passes by that place, and the other by the delightful village of Kelham. The island formed by this division of the river is four miles long and one broad. In Nottinghamshire the Trent receives the Erwash, the Leen, the Dover-Beck, the Greet, the Deven, the Fleet, and the Idle. Its length in this county is 62 miles. 2. The Idle rises on the Derbyshire border about a mile and a half N.W. of Cuckney, runs through Welbeck-Park, past Carburton, through ClumberPark, by Houghton-Park, is joined by the Maun near West-Drayton, and afterwards runs past Gamston, Idleton, Ordsall, East and West Retford, Mattersey, Thorpe, Scathworth, Bawtry, Misson, and West-Stockwith, and immediately falls into the Trent. This river is not of much renown; its waters creep along with a snail-like motion, a circumstance owing to the little fall in the country through which it flows, and which has probably ob tained for it the name of "Idle." The length of this river is 37 miles. 3. The Maun rises between Sutton in Ashfield and Hamilton-Hill; it Funs past Mansfield and through Clipstone-Park; it is joined by the Ramsworth at Ollerton, and afterwards runs near Milnton and West-Drayton, at which place it falls into the Idle. Its length is 21 miles. 4. The Erwash rises at a place called the Erwash-Head, S. E. of Kirkby, and within a mile and a half of the source of the Maun. It runs past Nethercross, Eastwood, Langley, Trowell, Stapleford, and Toton, and falls into the Trent opposite Barton. Its length is 20 miles, and it is the boundary, with the exception of the first two miles, between this county and Derbyshire, the whole of its course. 5. The Royton rises on the Yorkshire border near South-Anston. It runs past Shireoaks, Worksop, Scofton, Beilby, and Blyth, and joins the Idle between Seathworth and Bawtry. Near Blyth it expands into a beautiful lake, surrounded by luxuriant fields and meadows. The length of this river is 20 miles. 6. The Meadern rises on the eastern side of Hardwick-Park, runs past Pleasley, Church-Warsop, and Budby; it afterwards goes through Thoresby and Haughton Parks, and joins the Maun just before that river falls into the Idle. Its length is 19 miles; and it is the boundary between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire from its source to a place about three miles southwest of Church-Warsop. 7. The Smite rises on the eastern side of Over-Broughton, runs past Hickling, Colston-Basset, Orston, and Thoroton, and joins the Deven near Staunton-Grange. Its length is 16 miles. 8. The Leen rises at Morsley-Spring, a little to the west of Newstead. Abbey, the family-mansion of the Right Hon. Lord Byron. On the western side of the Abbey the river is made to expand into a beautiful winding lake, and on the south-eastern side it forms another which flows almost up to the house. On the banks of these lakes are two castles of a very singular construction and picturesque appearance. The Leen runs past Papplewick, (where it is again expanded into several lakes for the purpose of turning eotton-mills,) Bullwell, Bassford, Lenton, and Nottingham, where it flows at the foot of the rock on which the castle is situated, and enters the Trent about a mile south of the town. Its length is 13 miles. 9. The Ramsworth rises in Sherwood Forest, about half a mile from the north-east corner of Newstead-Park. Its whole course, with the exception of Rufford-Park, lies in the Forest of Sherwood. Its length to its junction with the Maun at Ollerton is 12 miles. 10. The Deven enters Nottinghamshire about one mile south of Kilvington, passes that place, Staunton, Hawton, and Newark, and joins the Trent near Winthorpe. Its length in Nottinghamshire is 11 miles. 11. The Dover-Beck rises near Blidworth, runs past Oxton, Eperstone, and Caythorpe, and joins the Trent between Gunthorpe and Hoveringham. Its length is 10 miles. 12. The Car-Dyke rises on the north side of Bingham, runs past Sibthorpe, and joins the Deven near Hawton. Its length is 10 miles. 13. The Greet rises in Bellow-Park, in the hundred of Thurgarton, runs past Kirklington and Southwell, and falls into the Trent near Fisherton-Ferry. Its length is 8 miles. 14. The Fleet rises about half a mile north of Winthorpe, runs past Langford, South-Collingham, North-Collingham, Besthorpe, and Gerton, after which it falls into the Trent. Its length is 7 miles. December 27th, 1817. JOHN BAINES, jun. THE LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES, POPULATION, &c. OF ALL THE MARKET-TOWNS AND PRINCIPAL VIL LAGES IN DERBYSHIRE, Hundreds. N. Lat. W. Long. House Inhabs. 100Hor 0 Mal Towns. Alfreton Allestry Ashbourn 701 505 2206 43 132 355 507 106 Derbyshire is included between the latitudes of 52° 41′ and 53° 31′ N. and the longitudes of 1° 12′ and 2° 2′ W. Its circumference is 165 miles; its greatest length from north to south is 50 miles, and its greatest breadth from east to west 33. It contains about 1100 square miles, 38,120 houses, and 185,487 inhabitants, viz. 91,494 males, and 93,993 females. About 10-43ds of the inhabitants live in the market-towns, and the remaining 33-43ds in the villages. January 7, 1818. JOHN BAINES, jun. |