And now, to set my verses going, Good Sir, enough! enough already! No more, for Heav'n's sake!-steady!—steady Confound your stuff!-why how you sweat me! I'd rather swallow all mount Etna! How swiftly turns this giddy world round, 7 The beldam's crack'd or Caustic crazy. Or, it is possible, may it please your Worships, that I-I for the matter of that am a little te-te -tipsey, or so.-But as there may perhaps be, as it were, now and then, one of your Right Worshipful Fraternity, who has been in a similar predicament se-se ipse, I hope I shall receive your worships permission to stagger on with a jug full of gas in my noddle, at least, through a stanza or two, I'm larger grown from head to tail Of semi-infinite dimension! Inflated with supreme intensity, This earth's a little dirty planet, gas. Now feel a tangible extension' Much in the same way was Mr. Davy affected in consequence of respiring this soul-elevating He informs us, that after having been shut up in a breathing-box for an hour and a quarter, 'A thrilling, extending from the chest to the ex'tremities, was almost immediately produced. 'I felt a tangible extension, highly pleasurable in "every limb; my visible impressions were daz, 'zling, and apparently magnified.' Davy's Researches Chemical and Philosophical. But off will flutter, in a tangent, 9 9 But off will flutter, in a tangent, And make a harum scarum range on't! Mr. Davy's dose had a similar operation. He says, 'I lost all connexion with external things. • Trains of vivid visible images rapidly passed 'through my mind, and were connected with words, in such a manner as to produce perceptions per'fectly novel. I existed in a world of newly con'nected, and newly modified ideas. Itheorised, I 'imagined that I made discoveries.' (Perhaps, if the learned lecturer were to repeat the dose, he might in reality hit on something of little less importance than the grand discoveries of Dr. Caustic.) 'When I was awakened from this semi-delirious trance, by Dr. Kinglake, who took the bag from my mouth, indignation and pride were 'the first feelings produced by the sight of the persons about me. My motions were enthusias'tic and sublime, and for a minute I walked round 'the room perfectly regardless of what was said As I recovered my former state of mind. 'I felt an inclination to communicate the disco'veries I had made during the experiment. I ' endeavoured to recall the ideas; they were feeble ' and indistinct. One collection of terms, how6 ever, presented itself; and with the most intense belief, and prophetic manner I exclaimed to Dr. Kinglake, "Nothing exists but thought; the "universe is composed of impressions, ideas, pleasures, and pains!!!" Davy's Researches. 'to me. 66 Stand ye appall'd! quake! quiver! quail! If my deserts you fail to acknowledge, But if your Esculapian band As Doctor Young foretold, right soon My sensations in consequence of respiring this gas were not precisely the same, though somewhat similar to those of Mr. Davy. That gentleman could not recall the vivid visible images' which made such rapid progress through his mind, and produced perceptions perfectly novel! But I have recorded, in the following stanzas, some of the most important ideas, which passed through my mind, and am willing to own that pride and indignation were predominant. 10 I'll make your earth another moon. The idea of the practicability of this stupendous And Phoebus then, an arrant ass, performance I derived March 28th at the Royal Institution, into the gallery of which I had the happiness to obtain admission, by virtue of a borrowed blue ticket. That learned lecturer was then discoursing on Secondary Planets, Moon, Satellites, Force of Gravitation; Keplean Laws, &c. In the course of his observations he alluded to the well known apprehensions of the hen-hearted Sir Isaac Newton, respecting the mischief comets might produce to our earth, should any of these journeying gentry take it into their heads to come within the sphere of its attraction. Whether the humane, polite, and learned Doctor was impelled to this speculation from perceiving an emotion like that of terror and anxiety among the fair part of his audience, which he was solicitous to dispel, or whether he has actually discovered some new secret in the laws of gravitation, evincing that the largest bodies are attracted most powerfully by the smallest, and that of consequence one of these huge flaming masses of matter, whose velocity and projectile force are almost incalculable, should, in conformity to the said new laws, take up its residence among us, and, with all the politeness and agility of a French dancing-master, skip about our puny globe in company with Miss Luna, are points which, with me remain undetermined; but such certainly were the cheering hopes his profound speculations led us to entertain. |