Court in London, between two streets called Tiddberti ttreet and Savin-ftreet. -Turner's Hiftory of the Anglo Saxons, vol. iv. p. 237. ST. MAGNUS, LONDON BRIDGE. In a curious old Mifcellany, which goes by the name of Arnold's Chronicle, printed by Pynfon in 1316, we have the following articles as found by the Inquifitors at one of the Vifitations of St. Magnus, early in the fixteenth century. "Fyrt. That the Chyrche and the Chauncell is not repayred in glafinge in divers placys. "Item. That the bookys and veftmentys ben broken and vnhoneft for dyvyne feruyce. Item. That many of the preyftys and elerkys often were foule and uncleuly furplefys. "Item. We fynde nat that ony clere laventory, is made of the goodys and landys of the chyrche. "Item. That the londys and tenementys of the chyrche by favoure of the churchewardyens, afore tyme ben laten under the very value by xx!b yerly and more. "Item. We fynde that for defaute of good prouyfyon, bothe of the chyrchwardeyns, and alfo of the mafters of the falne, neyther the preyftys nor clarkys, that ben retayned for the chyrche wyll nat come to our lady maffa nor falue, nor the clarkys and preyflys that ben retayned by the mayfters of the falue and the wardeyns of the chyrche wolde for the mayntenynge of Goddys fervyce at the tyme of raceyvnge of fuch pryellys and clarkys good cuftume of vertu and grete encreafe of dyuyne fervyce. " Item. That the chyrche wardeyns wyll nat fhewe vs the wylles of them that have gyven goodys or londys vnto the parysfhe wherby we fholde forther inquyre whether the wylles be performed or uat, for without them we can not haue therof vnderftanding. Item. "That the wardeyns of the chyrche and of the brodyrhed haue not giuen theyr acomptys. Item. That afortymes for defaute of good and dylygente autoryte of the acomptys of the wardeyns, ther hath ben many and grete fommes of money taken from the chyrche, the whiche myght well come to lyght yf the olde acomptys were well examyned. " Item. There is in the handys Pugd. Mon.Angl. vol. i. p. 138. of dyuers of the parysfhe, Reftys of money of the beame lyght, and of the almes gaderynge to the fomme of xii or xvilb. and that one Palmer can hewe the trouthe. "Item. That the chyrcheyarde is vnhoneftly kepte. "Item. That dyners of the preyftys and clarkys in tyme of dyuyne feruyce be at tauerns and ale howfys,at fysthynge and other tryfyls, wherby dyuyne feruyce is let. "Item. That by fauour of the wardeyns there bythe admyttyd bothe pryellys benefyced and relygyous, where there myght be more convenyent and expedyent, and that haue more nede to be receyued in ther placys, and thefe ben the names. Syr Robert Smyth, bene fyced; and a Monke, Syr Johan Botell, benefyced; Syr John Bate hath a thynge that we can nat vnderstonde. "The names of the inquyfytours of the To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, AS your Magazine is calculated to afford general and mifcellaneous information, as well as amufement, the following paffage from a very scarce work may probably be well received. I extract it from the beginning of the twentieth book of Baptifta Porta's Natural Magic, not from the original, for that I never could find in Italy, the country of which he was a native, but from au English tranflation published in 1658, in folio. Some further account of him and his compofitions I may perhaps take another occafion to fend you; fuffice it at prefent to remark, that this collection of his experiments was firft publifhed when he was only fifteen years of age, but the work from which the tranflation was made was one revifed by him when he was fifty. We all know, and it will be found detailed in Dr. Watfon's Chemical Effays, that Mr. Irwing received a very confiderable bounty from the British parliament, for inventing a method of extracting fresh water from falt water at fea, by fimply adding a ftill head to the hip's fhip's boiler; that a French philofopher ditputed the invention with him, having publifhed an account of this invention before; and that Dr. Watfon adds, that in Queen Elizabeth's reign an English admiral, whom he names, had done the like. Now hear what the Neapolitan phyfician and experimental philofopher faid on the subject before the year 1650. “Chap. i. "How fea water may be made potable. We have heard lately of thread made from aloes alfo as a new invention; but I can affure you the process is defcribed by this author, and referred by him to America. The work was originally written in Latin, but afterwards tranflated into Italian, French, Englith, Spanish, and Arabic. The fables be copied he did not always believe, but, like other writers of his times, he gave credit to a fufficient number to leffen the reputation of his writings, at a period when a better philofophy took place. SIR, I am, your's, &c. "It is no finall comodity to mankind, if fea-water may be made potable. In long voyages, as to the Indies, it is of great concernment; for while feamten, by reafon of tempefts, are forced to stay To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. longer at fea than they would, for want of water they fall into great danger of their lives. Galleys are forced almost every ten days to put in for fresh water, and therefore they cannot long wander in enemies' countries, &c. &c." Here he goes into an enquiry as to the caufe of the faltnefs of the fea, which I have not time to copy, and then proceeds to defcribe his invention. "We first fill a hollow veffel like a great ball with fea-water; it muft have a long neck, and a cap upon it, that live coals being put under, the water may refolve into thin vapours, and fill all vacuities, being carried aloft. This ill fcented groffirefs, when it comes to touch the coldness of the head or cap, and meets with the glafs, gathers like dew about the fkirts of it, and fo running down the arches of the cap, it turns to water; and a pipe being opened that pertains to it, it runs forth largely, and the receiver ftands to receive it as it drops. So will fweet water come from falt, and the falt tarryeth at the bottom of the veffel, and three pounds of falt water will give two pounds of freth water; but if the cap of the limbee be of lead, it will afford more water, but not fo good." Afterwards he gives five other experiments, and concludes by fhewing how fresh water may even be gathered from the air, by filling a veffel with fnow and powdered faltpetre, fo as to condenfe the air on its farface: a method alfo by which he fays he froze his wine, plung ing the bottle that contained it into a bowl of fnow and faltpetre finely powdered. The fame practice, by means of which fome modern experimental philofophers have, in cold climates, even froze mercury. trouble you with fome inquiry conHAVE long had it in intention to cerning that valuable and much-wanted book, Morell's Thefaurus, the republication of which was promifed in your Magazine a confiderable tine ago. Your laft number removes the neceflity of the principal part of any intended inquiry, by repeating that promife, with the additional gratifying intelligence that the fuperintendance of it is to be entrusted to Dr. Maltby. A man fo eminently qualified for the work, will, I hope, not only edite, but correct and cularge it. I beg leave now to offer a fuggeftion, which has frequently occurred to me, that the whole of this valuable and expenfive book might, at a much less expence than by a feparate publication, be incorporated into fome Greek Lexicon, Hederic's for instance. Nothing more is requifite than an accurate marking of the quantity of the fyllables of each word, and a profodical example; or, perhaps, as in the work at prefent, only the latter. If it fhould be objećted, that the bulk of the book would be too much increafed, it may be aufwered that fome parts of Hederic might be omitted, or at leaft abridged. But I do not think that, if the whole were retained, the fize would be fo great as that of Ainf worth's Dictionary. At a time when the expence of paper and of publishing is fo great, if the proprietors of the two works would agree, they (I am perfuaded) would find their account in this method, and the claffical student certainly much convenience. Now I have the pen in my hand, I beg leave to trefpafs on you for a few other obfervations concerning books of education. education. In your account of deceased I am, Sir, your's, &c. Gainsborough, AULUS MAURITIUS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, HE author of the "Stemmata Ta public with a learned work, under the title of "Apxal, or the Evenings of Southill," in which he has difplayed confiderable acutenefs in tracing the origins of certain English prepofitions; and in fome inftances he has investigated the etymologies of correfponding prepofitions in the French language, in order to prove the correctnefs of his deductions. In the firft book (the only one yet published) he has fhown fingular industry in tracing the true etymology and fignification of the word by; and on this fubject he differs from the celebrated author of Diverfions of Purley. Having been favoured by the author with a few obfervations (intended to explain a certain part of his work) which point out the grand principle that was his chief guide in his refearches into the origins of the English prepofitions; and as it is improbable, on account of the author's age, as well as of his engagements, that he will have it in his pow to publifh a fecond book of the Evenings of Southill, it may not be unaccep table to fome of the readers of the Monthly Magazine, to be informed of the peculiar mode of reafoning which the author has adopted in his laborious inquiries: but it will be neceffary to premife, that Horne Tooke fays, By is the imperative byth of the Anglo-Saxon verb beon, to be; and that it was written in Anglo-Saxon, bi, be, or big. Diversions of Purley, p. 402, quarto ed. N. Salmon, on the contrary, has endeavoured to prove that, in inany circumstances, by derives its name froin words that do not merely denote existence, but which aćtually fignify operating, creating, making, forming, influencing, or the like; and that it appears as a forerunner to whoever or whatever is caufing, has been caufing, or will be caufing, any thing to happen; for example: Darius was vanquifhed by Alexander: i. e. Darius was vanquished: (the) OPERATOR (of this ftate of Darius was) ALEXANDER. In page 72 (Evenings of Southill), this prepolition is faid to mean way, confidere d as equal to performer of the act, affo ciate, afciating, (which words are fynonymous with operator); and when it is ufed before any of the reflective pros nouns, myjelf, thyself, &c. it excludes every other individual not included in the reflective representatives introduced into the fentence. The author, anticpating objections to this meaning of by, Trinitatis has betely fat cured the as explained in the page referred to, his entered entered more fully into the subject in the following paper: "Prepofitions are merely used to avoid queftions likely to be put for the fake of obtaining circumftantial statements. "Soine may alk, how came it to pafs that By myself, &c. should be used fo as to denote exclufion, in regard to all other individuals not mentioned? and is it not poffible that it may be ufed fo as not to denote exclufion, but ftand for near my felf? To answer these questions, I might content myfelf with one obferva tion. "Every speaker should ftrive to communicate his thoughts in a manner at once clear and expeditious; nor is it neceffary when he does this, for us to enquire whether he is actuated or not merely by the desire of faving, to the perfon whom he addreffes, the trouble of alking a series of questions concerning the fact which he ftates. The truth is, that he fubjoins to the fact he mentions the answer he would make if the queftions were put, and generally prefixes to each anfwer fome word equal to place, time, manner or way, or companion, &c. according as he has to produce a noun fignifying place, time, manner, &c. But the obfervation I have just made requires illuftrations, in order to remove objections which may be started to my manner of refolving the by, in the paffage adduced as examples for divifion fecond of Evenings of Southill. "On hearing a perfon fay I fhall go, if he be filent after this, I may ask him, Place? (for, name the place); and his anfwer may be, the country (for, to the country, the place [is] the country). After this, or any other anfwer that would inform me where he is to go, I may ask, time? and his anfwer may be, next Tueday (for, on next Tuesday, the time [is] next Tuesday). Having obtained this anfwer, I may ask him, companion? (for, name your companion); and his aufwer may be, my brother (for, with my brother, the companion [is] my brother). Thus fhall I have obtained three circumftantial anfwers. Obferve, that while each aufwer is precife as to Spot, time, and concomitance, each alfo is exclufive as to any other name not introduced in regard to fpot, time, and concomitance. Hence, if this third answer had been myjelf emphatically, intead of my brother, the expreffion my felf would, by pofition and emphafis, have been of itself as exclusive as the expreffion my brother." "Now, if the perfon alluded to as the fpeaker choofes to anticipate my three queftions, which queftions he has reafon to expect I fhall put to him, in cafe he fhould leave his statement incomplete, he may fubjoin at once to the intended fact the three anfwers I am likely to require, and fay I fhall go to the country, on next Tuesday, with my brother; or by myself (equal to alone). After having heard this intended excursion so far circumftanced, I may take it into my head to afk the question, how? (equal to manner, or name the manner); and he may reply, on foot, or on horieback, &c.; but, about this very circumftance, in regard to the manner, he might have faved me the trouble of queftioning him: for he might have faid at once, fhall go on foot, to the country, on next Tuesday, with my brother; or by myfelf." From the illuftration which has just been given, it may be feen that prepopofitions (as they are called) are generally ufed by way of anticipation, in regard to fome queftion or other, the afking of which it is intended to avoid, from an inward conviction that, putting the feveral queftions to which an event might give rife, and waiting for the answers, not only would be fo much wafted, but would confiderably interrupt the free and fall communication of our thoughts; and in fo much that the feveral circumftances could not, without confiderable trouble to the memory, be collected by the hearer, and arranged into a perfect, clear, and compact image. From that illuftration alfo it is evident that, in all thofe combinations of words wherein by, or any equivalent, is introduced for operator, performer, &c. the reader or hearer is to conceive that an abbrevi ation in conftruction is prefented; name ly, the fact is ftated, and immediately an anfwer to an expected queftion is fubjoined to that datement, in order to avoid being interrupted by the quetion, or to fave the trouble of the question be ing put. If the principle I have just prefented fhould not be attended to, I can have no other refource than to complain of the prefent age, by repeating a pallage of Michaelis, which, tranflated literally, would run thus: Language perpetuates errors as well as truths; when a falfe. opinion has crept in, whether in the de rivation of a word, or in a whole fentence, it takes root, and tranfinits itself to the remoteft pofterity; it becomes a popular ties; in the latter cafe, Younger Town would be the feat of juftice inftead of Warren. In a country governed like the United States, where the accommodation and happiness of the governed conftitute the fole object of those who adminifter the government, it cannot be denied that the nearer juftice is carried to the inhabitants the more that object is obtained. For a juryman or witnefs to be Compelled to travel from thirty to fixty miles is a grievance; and juftice, therefore, ought always to be carried to the To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. people, rather than the people be com SIR, I HAVE to propofe a plan, by inferting which I flatter myfelf you will ferve the public. We have numberless ingenious men, whofe ideas and inventions would do honour to themselves and country were they introduced and known. In order that they may be fo, I propofe to them to fend me their models, plans, or defcriptions, and I will with pleafure (if they are not too large for removal) exhibit them in the courfes of lectures, which I am conftantly reading in the town and country; and by explaining them, and giving them every pollible publicity, the friends of fcience would have the means of feeing them, and knowing where the machine, invention, &c. is to be had. I devote much of my Course of Experimental Philofophy to the mechanical and chemical departments, and have no other object in view than ferving the ingenious and neglected, by introducing and recommending, where I confcienti Quily can, fuch works as feem likely to prove ferviceable to fociety. I am, Sir, &c. D. F WALKER. 5, Glocefler-fireet, Portman-fquare, Feb. 23, 1207. For the Monthly Magazine. OBSERVATIONS made during a TOUR through the UNITED STATES of AME RICA. NO, xy. THE Mohaning branch of the Beevor pelled to attend at diftant feats of justice: yet, to divide Trumbull into fix counties appears too much to fubdivide it, and to compell on a new county too heavy an expence for the erection of courthoufes, jails, and other ucceffary appen dages on the feat of juftice. To divide it into four counties would probably anfwer every good purpose to the inhabitants, and continue Warren the principal town of a county; this would be alfo ftrictly right, as many of its inhabitants have fettled therein under that expectation. When I was in Warren, it contained fixty-four families. The river has abundance of fith, and its banks are well stocked with cray-fith. Moft of the buildings were log-houses, though feveral handfome frame-houses, built with the white poplar, or, as it is here called, the fattin wood (I prefume, from its great gloffinefs and fmoothnefs), were erected or erecting. Town-lots in Warren, of 16 by 24 rods, fold for 175 dollars; and the land about half a mile from the town, at fix dollars the acre. In weftern America, the feat of juftice is always the feat of bulinefs, and the refidence of ftore-keepers, medical men, lawyers, &c. &c. When I was at Warren, there were three very good ftores in the town: one, which contained at least 3000 dollars' worth of goods, was unfinished, and had neither a door to it, nor glafs to the windows, yet no perfon thought of fleeping in it. The fact appears to be, that man is not neceffarily a depredator upon man: it is government alone, when it robs him Tis navigable for fmall craft as high of the profits of his induftry, compells up as Warren, the county town, at which the courts of justice for Trumbull county are held. Warren is laid out on a large fcale, but the growth of the town has been reftrained in confequence of a divilion of fentiment as to the future fubdivision of the county. It was a queftion, whether the county of Trumbull fhould be divided into four or fix counMONTHLY MAG. No. 155. him to be the plunderer of his neighbour, nor can barbarous punishment prevent it. The framers of fuch laws, aware of their injuftice, veit commonly with the executive the power of pardoning: hence the criminal never lofes the hope of efcaping punishment, and too frequently the depredator, unpunished, is again let loole upon fociety. Hence fanguinary Hh punishment |