interesting objects.-The Dome, or Cathedral, is an old Saxon building; but has nothing interesting. We went into the Protestant Church, which is large and respectably furnished. Service began by singing a psalm, accompanied by the organ; but the style of performance was so harsh and dissonant, that it seemed as if it was intended to make Protestantism as repulsive in its features and address as possible. This, in a Roman Catholic country, is surely bad policy. There were only a dozen people at the Protestant Church, scattered about the building. A neighbouring Roman Catholic Church was quite crowded, and the people joined loudly both in the singing and in the responses, in a style which is quite exploded in our Protestant Churches. It reminded me of the remark of one of the Fathers, that in the primitive Church, the amens were like thunder.-The river Mayne is here as broad as the Seine, but the banks as flat as the Ouse at Booth Ferry. It is full of small vessels. We are to spend another day at Frankfort, and then set our faces homeward. After seeing so many towns, there is little in Frankfort which is interesting. One cannot, however, avoid remarking that trade is the grand source of prosperity. We have travelled through a country which has all the fertility of a garden, and yet the towns and inhabitants are poor and in decay. But trade makes Frankfort flourish. Thus, England compared with France is a barren soil; and a great proportion of our country is either wholly unproductive, or is only made productive at a great expense of tillage and manure. The superiority of England arises from its commerce; and I suppose the chief use of agriculture to us is, that it enables us to barter with other nations on more advantageous terms, by not being wholly dependent on them for our subsistence. (To be continued.) In these ac particular ceremony. The infinite number of ceremonies may be reduced to two kinds, to reverences or salutations, and to the touch of some part of the human body. To bend and prostrate onesself to express sentiments of respect, appears to be a natural notion; for terrified persons throw themselves on the earth, when they adore invisible beings. The affectionate touch of the person they salute is an expression of tenderness. As nations decline from their an tient simplicity, much farce and grimace are introduced. Superstition, the manners of a people, and their situation, influence the modes of salutation, as may be observed from the instances we collect. Modes of salutation have sometimes very different characters, and it is no uninteresting speculation to examine their shades. Many display a refinement of delicacy, while others are remarkable for their simplicity, or for their sensibility. In general, however, they are frequently the same in the infancy of nations, and in more polished societies. Respect, humility, fear, and esteem, are expressed much in a similar manner; for these are the natural consequences of the organization of the body. The demonstrations become in time only empty civilities, which signify nothing; we shall notice what they were originally, without reflecting on what they are. The first nations have no peculiar modes of salutation; they knew of no reverences, or other compliments, or they despise and disdain them. The Greenlanders laugh, when they see an European uncover his head X. and bend his body before him whom he calls his superior. The Islanders, near the Philippines, take the hand or foot of him they sa On the Modes of Salutation and ami- lute, and with it they gently rub their cable Ceremonies observed in various Nations. WHI WHEN men salute each other in an amicable manner, it signifies little whether they move a particular part of the body, or practise a face. heads the leaves of trees, which have ever passed for symbols of friendship and peace. This is at least a picturesque salute. Other salutations are very incommodious and painful; it requires great practice to enable a man to be polite in an island situated in the Streights of the Sound. Houtman tells us, they saluted him in this odd way:"They raised his left foot, which they passed gently over the right leg, and from thence over his face." The inhabitants of the Philippines bend their bodies very low, in placing their hands on their cheeks, and raising at the same time one foot in the air with the knee bent. An Ethiopian takes the robe of another, and ties it about his own waist, so that he leaves his friend half naked. This custom of undressing on these occasions takes other forms; sometimes men place themselves naked before the person whom they salute; it is to show their humility, and that they are unworthy of appearing in his presence. This was practised before Sir Joseph Banks, when he received the visit of two female Otaheitans. Their innocent simplicity no doubt did not appear immodest in the eyes of the Virtuoso. Sometimes they only undress partially. The Japanese only take off a slipper; the people of Arracan, their sandals in the street, and their stockings in the house. The Grandees of Spain claim the right of appearing covered before the King, to show that they are not so much subjected to him as the rest of the nation. The Negroes are lovers of ludicrous actions, and make all their ceremonies farcical; the greater part pull their fingers till they crack. Suelgrave gives an odd representation of the embassy which the King of Dahomy sent to him. The ceremonies of salutation consisted in the most ridiculous contortions. When two negro Monarchs visit, they embrace in snapping three times the middle finger. Barbarous nations frequently im print on their salutations the dispositions of their character. When the inhabitants of Carmena (says Athenæus) would show a peculiar mark of esteem, they breathed a vein, and presented for the beverage of their friend the blood as it issued. The Franks tore hair from the head, and presented it to the person they saluted. The slave cut his hair and offered it to his master. The Chinese are singularly affected in their personal civilities; they even calculate the number of their reverences. These are their most remarkable postures:-The men move their hands in an affectionate manner, while they are joined together on the breast, and bow the head a little. If they respect a person, they raise their hands joined, and then lower them to the earth, in bending the body. If two persons meet after a long separation, they both fall on their knees, and bend the face to the earth; and this ceremony they repeat two or three times. If a Chinese is asked how he finds himself in health? he answers, "Very well, thanks to your abundant felicity." If they would tell a man that he looks well, they say, "Prosperity is painted on your face;" or, "Your air announces your happiness." If you render them any service, they say, "My thanks should be immortal." If you praise them, they answer, "How shall I dare to persuade myself of what you say of me?" If you dine with them, they tell you at parting, "We have not treated you with sufficient distinction." The various titles they invent for each other, it would be impossible to translate. It is to be observed, that all these answers are prescribed by the Chinese Ritual, or Academy of Compliments. There are determined the number of bows; the expressions to be employed; and the inclinations which are to be made to the right or left hand: the salutations of the master before the chair, where the stranger is to be seated, for he salutes it most profoundly, and wipes the dust away with the skirts of his robe; all these gestures, and other things, are noticed, even to the silent gestures, by which you are entreated to enter the house. The lower class of people are equally nice in these punctilios; and ambassadors pass 40 days in practising them before they are enabled to appear at court. A Tribunal of Ceremonies has been erected, and every day very odd decrees are issued, to which the Chinese most religiously submit. The marks of honour are frequently arbitrary; to be seated, with us, is a mark of repose and familiarity; to stand up, that of respect. There are countries, however, in which princes will only be addressed by persons who are seated, and it is considered as a favour to be permitted to stand in their presence. This custom prevails in despotic countries; a despot cannot suffer, without disgust, the elevated figure of his subjects; he is pleased to bend their bodies with their genius; his presence must lay those who behold him prostrate on the earth; he desires no eagerness, no attention, he would only inspire terror. Mr. URBAN, W. R. Oxford, Nov. 20. SEND you the following Anecdote from a Work which contains several curious pieces of intelligence, but which I believe is not much known or consulted at the present day. I have translated the passage as closely as the sense would permit. Yours, &c. H. COTTON. Extract from "Nova Literaria maris Balthici et Septentrionis," 1700,` p. 119. corn. "In North Jutland, near to the city of Grindaa, for many years lay a large flint, which the neighbouring inhabitants used for driving into the ground the wooden pegs, to which were fastened the tethers of their horses sent to feed amongst the This flint, either casually, or because something seemed to ring in a cavity within it, was broken not long ago, and in it were found 126 silver coins, two of which we have seen, nearly resembling those which are given in p. 248 of this work for 1698. Each of them was struck in England; the one is inscribed, WARDVS. REX. ANGL.' The other, 'EDWARD. R. ANGL. DNS. HYB.' The inscription on the reverse is the same in each, CIVITAS. LONDON.' The flint had no aperture, or an exceedingly small one, and no trace appeared of the mode by which the coins were inserted into the stone. Unless, perhaps, we are to be. lieve, that the aperture, formerly large enough to admit the pieces, had, by the kindness of Nature, in process of time closed up; which point is left for the discussion of natural philosophers." ED [N. B. The coin alluded to, as given in à former part of the above publica tion, is one of our Henry III. which, with several similar ones, was found, either in the county of Rantzau in Holstein, or in Oldenburgh. But the writer of the article mistakes the moneyers' names on the reverses, as RICARD. ON. LVND. NICOLE. ON. LVND. &c. for Bishops of London, by whose authority these pieces were struck.] In a subsequent Number of the same year, 1700, p. 243, Otho Sperlingius, a learned lawyer, in a letter to the editors, attempts to account for the circumstance of the coins being thus inclosed; and, after 9 pages filled with all kinds of absurd reasoning, he gravely declares his opinion, that they must have been inclosed in a purse of linen or leather, dropped by some one on the sea-shore, or edge of a torrent, where the united action of the earth and water had rotted the purse, and engendered the flint around To In the next year in August (p. 261), Georgius Conradus ab Horn, not satisfied with the solution given by Sperlingius, imagines that the flint was artificially softened, and the coins inclosed, and that afterwards its original hardness was restored. back this apparently preposterous explanation, he tells a story of a Bedel at Helmstadt, who, by a wonderful liquid, known only to himself, could soften the hardest flints to the consistence of wax, and used often in times of war to secrete his money in flints thus softened, which he immediately rendered solid and inaccessible to others. This extraordinary man had also the art of causing iron keys to float on water; but, unfortunately for the world, he let his secrets die with him. ,the political dissensions which agitate and convulse the world. I am far from being one of those who would profane the Gospel of peace by the contentions of hostile parties, or make the house of God a vehicle for any topicks which are unconnected with pure and undefiled Religion. I am desirous to snatch one day at least in every week from the contentions and animosities of mankind. But, fallen as I am on evil days, when the foundations of strict morality and spotless character are all but subverted, to raise my feeble protest against those exhibitions of feeling by which, in my opinion, they are undermined, seems a duty which I am called upon to perform, not only as a private Christian, but even as a minister of the Gospel. "And here, can 1 fail to look back, with sensations of the bitterest regret, upon that great Queen and illustrious woman, who was, for more than half a century, the brightest ornament of the Court of Britain, as she was its most ef fectual safe-guard? Who can calculate the benefits of her pure example, of her unstained reputation, of the determined stand which she made against vice, however high in birth and exalted in rank? "The Court over which she presided was the most correct in Christendom; and the steady lustre which emanated from the Throne, though it shone brightest upon those by whom it was immediately surrounded, shed a radiance as clear, though it might not be as strong, upon the humblest cottage in the most remote part of her dominions. "When the sad reverse of the picture is before me, and its melancholy consequences are anticipated, can I, as one of the constituted guardians of the public morals, be silent with innocence ? I view the signs of the times' with the most melancholy forebodings. And, however hopeless I may be that any thing which I can say will influence even my own parishioners, amidst the general madness which I see around me, I will raise my own individual voice against those who can triumph in the victory, not of unblemished honour, not of established innocence, not of decency and decorum, but of popular clamour and opposition to 'the powers that be.' I must believe that the general tendency to rejoice for one whom her warmest adherents will scarcely venture to praise, whom many of her advocates have openly and decidedly censured, is a sacrifice to party and not to truth; is a departure from Christian morality, a loving of darkness rather than light,' an encouragement of those whose deeds are evil.' triumph, which fills our streets with riot, is not over the enemies of our country, but over many as distinguished by piety and talent as they are by rank and influence. Let it be remembered that the triumph was obtained, not by accusations disproved, not by innocence established, but by considerations of expediency, and divisions upon minor objects, of which the enemies of constituted authority knew well how to avail themselves. "In the highest and noblest tribunal of our country, amidst all these conflicting opinions, the greater number not only recognized the guilt, but were ready to award the punishment. And is this to be considered as a triumph? And if it be one, is it a triumph at which as men, as Euglishmen, and as Christians, we should be called to rejoice? "There was indeed a time when we might have triumphed. There was a time when the British Court stood alone in the history of nations, when she who presided at its head excluded from its hallowed circle all who were even suspected. Alas! 'How is the fine gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!' My brethren! do you not see the mischief of all this? Do you not see that it is the triumph, not of the Opposition over the Ministry, not of the lower orders over the higher, but of levity over discretion, of vice over virtue, or profaneness over piety? "We have wives, and sisters, and daughters: What a lesson of morality do we give them, by thus offering the incense of our praise, almost of our idolatry, to conduct which, to say the least of it, is equivocal, and which the lowest among us might blush to see that of any female whom he loved resemble ! "Who now shall stop the torrent of licentiousness, and tell the unhappy victims of their own passions, that they must be excluded from the pale of virtuous society, and that, if they would retrace the steps of sanctity and honour, it must be through pain and disgrace, through penitence and desertion? No: they will be encouraged in their disastrous career. They will tell us that accusation only ren ders them more illustrious, and that suspicion will make them "clear and spotless as unsunned suow.' They will at least tell us that a woman who is injured may indulge an unbounded licentiousness with impunity, and excuse her own vices by alleging those of her husband. But such are not the women who mourn in secret over the desertion of early love, who, instead of retaliating to gain the miserable applause of the profligate and abandoned, find in the solitary path which "Let it be remembered that the they are condemned to tread, every hand stretched stretched forth to support them, every eye ready to beam on them with respect and love. They have not so learned Christ.' "But I have done. I have delivered my sentiments with pain, for it is painful to me even to think of such things as these; but I have delivered them to satisfy my own conscience, and to tell those over whom I am deputed to watch, as one who must give an account of my charge at the last day, that the victory which is obtained by clamour rather than by truth, the respect which is paid to audacity rather than to innocence, is a ground not of rejoicing but of mourning, not of laughter but of tears. I, for one, find in this the most ample reason for prostrating myself in the deepest humility before the footstool of Divine Mercy, to implore Him to stop the overwhelming tide of profligacy which I fear is rapidly approaching my devoted country. But, blessed be God! *there is a remnant left. Ten righteous would have saved a city once, and we have many righteous' amidst the madness of party, and the general carelessness about practical Religion which prevails, many, of whom the world is not worthy,' in the depths of solitude, and in the hurry of public business, are striving to purify themselves even as He' who calleth them ' is pure.' While we are consoled by knowing that they exist, may we have grace to follow their example! So shall we not only edify, and perhaps preserve our country, but through the merits of our blessed Redeemer be finally admitted into the joy of our Lord." Good Mr. URBAN, ways had muche regard for painful and conscientious Scholemasters. What difficulties the work hath in it and improve all sorts of wits, to be to encounter all kinds of tempers, ingeniorum et morum artifices, to fashion minds and manners, to cultivate rude soil, and dispose youth to virtuous behaviour, against their natural inclinations, what cares and pains, what great abilities, of prudence and skill, and all virtue, what a cycle of knowledge it requires to instruct others in the grounds of Literature, to raise their parts, to heighten their fancy, to fix their thoughts, and to crane their genie to the pitch, and so prepare them for the publick service, is a thing more easily discoursed than considered, more talked of than taken notice of. Were parents obliged but for some time to the trouble of instructing their children, they would, methinks, quickly be convinced what respects were fit such a charge. But quorsum hæc. to be paid to him who undertakes Promising you the answer of the said Master Milner to the ensuing epistle, at a fit opportunity, I remain your real friend, to love and serve you, ANT. à WOOD. "Dilectissime Juvenis, "Dum Rusticus amnis decursum et defluxum præstolatur, nequicquam diu ad ripam consistit: dumque nos Thompsoni tui (nostrique) reditum expectamus, diu, ah nimis diu hoc respondendi munus MASTER ROBERTE SURTEES intermisi, * hath in ye first Tome of his painfull History of ye County Palantyne of Duresme noted some few p'ticulars touching George Caunt, sometime Master of ye Free Gram Schole of Houghton in ye Spring, a man well skilled in instructing youth in grammaticals, and in preparing them for academicals. The following epistle was penned by him to his scholar Master John Milner, then studying the liberal arts in St. Peter's College in ye University of Cambridge; and truly when ye wholesome advice and heartie affections of ye writer are duly weighed, methinks it might not be altogether unworthie of your favourable notice. I have al *See Surtees's Durham; vol. I. pp. 160, 304. GENT. MAG, Suppl. XC. PART II. quas statim post acceptas tuas exaraveram, literule tam tarde ad manus tuas devolârunt. Tandem vero abjectâ omni remorâ ulteriori procrastinationi non esse locum duxi. Literas tuas accepi, quibus id quod vel maxime scire et audire cupiebam, minime cognovi, hic altum silentium fuerat, abunde satisfactum est. agis; in hoc quod mihi minime dubium me facias, quanto me amore prosequaris, Quanti quantus sim in tuo Diario, luculenter, affabre, graphice depinxisti: Quid boni tibi obtigerit, numuam in Pauperis Scholaris locum et munus adhuc es cooptatus et ascitus, hic ne my ne gry (quod dici solet) audio. Quantum ad prius nihil erat quod dubitarem; quantum ad posterius, illud unum erat in votis accepisse, utpote qui tuarum rerum studiosissimus, tibiq' semper fuerim benevolentissimus. Sed dulce decus meum (hoc enim primitiæ tuæ videntur polliceri) nequeo satis mirari, quantum Academia vestra muta tur |
