(396) METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER. Kept by C. BLUNT, No. 38, Tavistock-street, Covent-Garden. Barometrical Pressure. Temperature. [Nov. 1, Moon Day. Wind. As some errors crept into the Mathematical Series in Mr. Taylor's communication in our last Number, page 230, we here subjoin a correct copy : 4+9—16+32-64 &c. 4+16+64 &c. 3 instead of 2 2+1-1=2 2 2+1-1=1 2 3 instead of 1. ·8+16-32+64 128 &c. = 2 + 8 +32 +128 &e. 2+1-1=2 − 4 + 8 −16+32—64 &c. ➡4 +16+64 &c.—1 instead of 11 In the same Number, page 209, column 1, line 2 and 3, for nine hundred, read nine hundred and fifty thousand. Ibid. lines 4 and 5, for two thousand three hundred and ninety-four millions, read two thousand three hundred and forty-seven millions seven busdred and eighty-six thousand, four hundred and fifty-six. J. GILLET, Printer, Crown-court, Fleet-street, London, THE NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. No. 11.] DECEMBER 1, 1814. [VOL. II MONTHLY MAGAZINES have opened a way for every kind of inquiry and information. The intelligence and discussion contained in them are very extensive and various; and they have been the means of diffusing a general habit of reading through the nation, which in a certain degree bath enlarged the public understanding. HERE, too, are preserved a multitude of useful hints, observations, and facts, which otherwise might have never appeared.---Dr. Kippis. Every Art is improved by the emulation of Competitors.--Dr. Johnson. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. On the PROPORTION between the CATHOLIC and PROTESTANT INHABITANTS of IRELAND. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, I FEEL myself again under the necessity of animadverting upon Mr. Wakefield's account of Ireland. That gentleman, speaking of the Roman Catholics, says, that they form six sevenths of the population of the country. This, Sir, is that kind of general assertion which it is not easy to contradict with effect, as it does not come within the reach of many persons to be furnished with materials to controvert it; and merely to contradict it is only leaving the matter where it was. Fortunately I have the materials before me necessary for the confutation of Mr. Wakefield's position. In the year 1793 an exact enumeration of all the houses in Ireland was made by Mr. Bush, from the returns of the hearth money collectors; by that return it was found, that in all Ireland the numbers were 701,102 houses, in Ulster alone 222,879, nearly one-third of the whole. By the late returns made by the grand juries, which I have also before me, I find that the proportion of population is still more in favour of Ulster at present than it was in the former return by Mr. Bush. Now, Sir, I assume that the province of Ulster, which contains at least a third of the Trish population, is all Protestant; not, however, that there are no Roman Catholics in Ulster, for that would be untrue; but that the Protestants inhabiting the other provinces, of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, are at least as numerous as the Roman Catholics who inhabit Ulster; and therefore that the Protestants are one in three, instead of one in seven. Such are the grounds upon which I go; if Mr. Wakefield chooses to controvert them, I am ready to meet him with other facts, at least as stubborn. NEW MONTHLY MAG,-No. 11. It is truly inconceivable how this writer, who must have seen the north of Ireland, could have been so uninformed respecting the religious persuasion of the inhabitants of Ulster; how he could avoid being acquainted with the Protestant colonization of that province in the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First; and why he should wish to magnify the Roman Catholic numbers, except to give more force to his pathetic lamentations over their political degradation, of which he is so profuse, and which affords a text, upon which the Edinburgh Reviewers preach such edifying homilies, for the elucidation of the principles of civil and religious liberty Give them but a text to their minds, and they will pursue it; aye, they will pursue it to the utter neglect, and total oblivion, of the work which they profess to review; but part of what these gentlemen say on the subject of Roman Catholic disqualifications, in their review of Mr. Wakefield, cannot be passed over in silence. They ask, "Could the religion of Sir Thomas More, or of Fenelon, disqualify men for being members of civil society?" To this question I shall reply by another; Did not that religion so far pervert the understanding of Sir Thomas More, that he condemned Bainham the lawyer to be burned for heresy? and did it not so far subvert the principles of Fenelon as to make him descend to the subterfuge of personating a Protestant clergyman, and under that disguise to allow himself to be overcome in an argument by his friend, (I believe) Langeron, at a conference held for the purpose of deceiving a Protestant gentleman into the renouncing his religion, in which, however, they failed ?* That political disqualifications should be the consequence of religious tenets, is contrary to the theory of a Protestant Whoever wishes for the anecdote at full length, may consult the life of Fenelon, by Bessut, bishop of Arles, who glories in it. VOL. II. 3 G 398 Population of Ireland-Mathematical Problem. establishment; but what would the practice be, if all disqualifications were to be taken off; if Roman Catholics were to legislate for a Protestant church? when those who are so tenacious of every approach to innovation, who would not agree to a veto, when they declare (Mr. Plowden) that their principles being founded in infallibility, are immutable? What would the practice be, if at some future period, by a concurrence of circumstances, they had it in their power to interpose under the sanction of their representative character, or as privy counsellors, with the very vitals of the Protestant religion? That it is not with their religious tenets the Protestants wish to interfere, (however erroneous we consider them) is proved by the repeal of all the obnoxious penal laws, by the liberty they have of worship, public and private, by the subscriptions of Protestants to their places of worship, and by numberless other circumstances. It is against Catholics obtaining political influence for the purpose of compassing religious persecution, that Protestants want to guard: it is to keep themselves safe from the power of that church, which possesses the true spirit of aggrandisement, and of proselytism beyond any other church, and which the revival of the Inquisition, and the resurrection of the Jesuits, shew still to possess all its ancient tenets, in all their ancient vigour. CLERICUS DROMORIENSIS. Oct. 24, 1814. MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM. THE professed design of what you lay before the public, being instruction and entertainment, I am induced to send you the following curious problem, proposed by a Hugonot, who was condemned to the gallies by the Jesuits, under pretence of his being a madman; but he dying in prison in consequence of their hard usage, it was left unanswered. PROBLEM. "To find out four numbers that may be equal to a number taken, and such, that the difference of any two of them, may be a square number." And he farther says, "I am going to reduce the problem into lines, and make a geometrical proposition of it, to puzzle the Archimedes of our time: thus I intend to propose it : "To divide a line given into four lines, commensurable among themselves, and to the whole; and which may be of such [Dec. 1, a nature, that the difference of any two, taken at pleasure, may likewise be commensurable; and, moreover, between the difference of any two parts, taken at pleasure, to assign a mean proportional, which may be commensurable to all the lines, mentioned in the problem." I cannot find that the above was ever answered if you would insert it in next Magazine, it will, perhaps, meet the eye of some curious man of science, who may be at the pains of explaining it. I am, &c. Φιλομαθής. INCREASING EVIDENCES of REVELATION. A GERMAN paper states, that in the Russian empire during the year 1812, there were, according to official lists, 1,264,891 births, and 971,358 deaths, making the surplus of births above deaths 295,028. Of these one had reached the extraordinary age of 165; there were also three of the age of 135; one of 130; fifteen of 125; thirty-three from 115 to 120; fifty-three from 110 to 115; one hundred and twenty-seven from 105 to 110; 527 from 100 to 105; 1,473 from 95 to 100; 2,749 from 90 to 95; and 4,487 from 85 to 90. On reading this curious information my thoughts were led into a train of serious reflec tion upon the continually increasing evidences in support of the sacred history and the indications which mark the ap proaching accomplishment of the prophecies. The extreme longevity of the Antediluvians has always been a subject of ridicule to the scoffing infidel, and of difficulty even to the believer in revelation. Some have endeavoured to explain the matter by sinking the periods into mere lunar years, by which they have increased obstacles in attempting to remove them, since in that case the patriarchs must have had families in their childhood. But as we are assured beyond all doubt, that man can reach to an age not far short of two centuries, and that too with the possession of his senses and his strength, surely there is no physical reason to be assigned why he may not have his duration and his faculties protracted to three, four, or more, especially should the seasons and the state of the earth with its productions, be sensibly improved, corresponding with the condition of the pri mitive world. Many very remarkable cases of long livers have recently oc curred in various countries, and the ac counts of such persons are now equent 1814.] Increasing Evidences of Revelation. in our periodical journals, whereas formerly an instance of the kind happened but very rarely, and was recorded in history as a prodigy. Does not this seem to denote an approximation to that era so often mentioned in the prophetic books, when the temperature of the earth shall undergo a change; when diseases shall be mild; when, in the strong language of holy writ, "there shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath, not filled his days; for the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people; and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Is. lxv. 20, 23. This is a description of the renewal of the paradisiacal state, and cannot be justly considered as an emblematical representation of a moral change only; for what has that to do with the prolongation of human life, and the undisturbed enjoyment of those things which are most conducive to health and comfort? The blessings here promised are not spiritual but temporal; for they are all expressly defined as the characteristics of a community brought out of trouble, and placed in a country where they possess the means of subsistence in abundance, without fear of an invader, or being mortified by unproductive labour. Some, perhaps, may consider this picture as the mere dream of an eager imagination, or as the delusion of fanatical credulity. Let such persons, however, compare the present state of Europe and the continent of America, with the darkness which covered both at that period, when the voice of prophecy declared, that "from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts." Mal. i. 11. Would a philosophical sceptic in those days have paid any attention to the believer, who from that passage should have professed his conviction that the time was coming when the God of Abraham would be worshipped where human victims were offered; that all the idols to whose honour costly fanes were then erected, 399 and hecatombs daily sacrificed, should be "cast to the moles and the bats?”— Now, knowing that such a revolution has taken place, not in ouc or two places only, but in immense districts, over all parts of the world, and among mighty nations having little knowledge of each other's languages, and hardly any common interest,-why should it be thought incredible that a still farther ameliora tion will take place in the character and circumstances of mankind, before this planetary system shall have completed its destined course? That portion of the prophetic roll which has been fulfilled, is a sufficient warrant for our expecting another and more glorious state to take place before the consummation of all things; though, at the same time, that very assurance ought to be animated by a spirit of humility, and to be attended by a constant watchfulness over our minds and our conduct. The predictions which give the promise of a renovated world, will assuredly be verified; but it is also as certain that, before that period arrives, religious delusion will be strong, -divisions will be numerous, and, on account of the prevalence of iniquity, the love of truth will wax cold. Enthu siasm and Infidelity have a nearer affinity than many are aware; for when the former begins to relax in its fervour, or to tire in its pursuits, it rarely fails to sink into the stupid apathy of scepticism. Sept. 14, 1814. A. Z. ACCOUNT of DR. WALL and MISS WHATELY. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, Dr. John Wall, respecting whom your correspondent, Mr. Chambers, makes inquiry, at page 324 of your first volume, was a native of Powick in Worcestershire, and educated at Merton College, Oxford, where be obtained a fellowship, and took his degree of Master of Arts April 15, 1736; that of Bachelor of Physic, December 15th following; at which time he also obtained license to practice. But he did not complete his degrees in that faculty till June 30, 1759, when he went out grand compounder. He was, at this period, as he had for many years before, settled as a physician at Worcester, where he was deservedly held in high estimation for his professional skill, liberality, and general knowledge. To his other qualifications, he added a fine taste for the arts, and designed with spirit and elegance. At the close of his life he resided at Bath, where he died, in 1766, aged 67. Dr. Wall published in 1757, 400 Account of Dr. Wall and Miss Whately. "Experiments and Observations on the Malvern Waters," and some other medical tracts of considerable merit. He was likewise instrumental in bringing the ingenious Miss Whately into public no tice; for a letter written by the doctor to a friend, having found its way into a newspaper, occasioned another, in explanation, from his pen; the result of which was a subscription for printing that lady's poems, and they accordingly made their appearance, in 4to. in 1764. The correspondence was as follows: Worcester, Jan. 30, 1760. SIR, Agreeable to my promise, I here send you a poem of the Warwickshire Poetess's composition, together with a letter of her's to a young lady in the neighbourhood, which introduces it, and makes it intelligible. I believe you will think each of them very extraordinary, considering the manner in which she has been brought up, the whole of her education having been only such as the meanest of menial servants may have had, barely learning to read and write; and her whole life has been employed in the common drudgery of a mean farmhouse. At her leisure hours, I suppose, she reads what books she can get, and her memory retains every thing that she does read. Shakspeare, the Spectator, the Gentleman's Magazine, and two or three novels, are the chief books, I hear, she has made use of. I am, &c. DEAR MISS L. J. WALL. "Did you ever read the History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia? I confess it is something odd to begin a letter with a question; but if you have not, you will think I am wandering in a fairy field of my own creating; but, indeed, my invention is not so fruitful. The author of that elegant eastern tale describes a large valley in the kingdom of Amharra, one of the provinces of that extensive empire of Abyssinia. This place is encompassed with inaccessible mountains; the only entrance is a cave, which passes under a rock; the outlet is concealed by a thick wood; and the mouth which opens into the Happy Valley (for that is the appellation he gives it) is secured by iron gates, so massy that they cannot be opened without engines. In this terrestrial paradise, where every blast shakes spice from the rocks, and every month drops fruits upon the ground,-where all the diversities and blessings of nature are collected, and all the evils excluded,-the children of the empire are confined, according to the [Dec. 1, policy of the East; and whoever, insti Who blest in freedom's happy empire live; Bereft of every joy this world can give. Are all but pageant glare and empty show; Which tell me, Freedom makes a heaven below. Pensive I range the ever-verdant groves, And sigh, responsive, to the murmuring stream; While woodland choirs chaunt forth their tuneful loves, Dear Liberty is wretched Mira's theme. Fair plains, diversified with beauteous flowers, In sweet succession every morn the same; Fresh gales, that breathe through amaranthine bowers, And every charm inventive art can name; |