To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. I SIR, DID not see the number of your Magazine for November last in time to make an earlier reply to the request of a correspondent, relative to a preparation of the vitriolic acid, for cleaning tanned leather. The receipt was intended for a preparation of the vitriolic acid only. The mistake arose from purting down, the nitrous, instead of the vitriolic acid: the receipt ought to have run thus:Take half a pint of water, a quarter of a pint of vitriolic acid, &c. The specific gravity of the acid should be 1,850. I beg leave also to repeat, that it will be more safe on all occasions to go over the leather first with soft water, which baving in some measure saturated it, prevents any corroding effects which other wise might be experienced from too frequently repeating this powerful menfam, &c. struum. Hinckley, December 2, 1806. J. W. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. I SIR, HAVE somewhere, in the course of my reading, learned that the sunflower, by a proper process, is capable of producing an oil equally excellent as that which is brought from Florence, and used here for sallads, &c.; that the dregs or husks which then remain are superior to many other articles for fattening pigs and poultry; and that the flower, when growing, possesses in a great degree the properties of purifying foul air. The air of my neighbourhood not being salubrious, I have succeeded in recommending its growth to my neighbours. Those which I have ever since annually raised in my own garden, I have found to produce seed which by my fowls has always been preferred to their ordinary food; but the experiment of extracting the ol have never made, though not from a disbelief of its possiblity. I am, &c. I should also be glad to know if any account has been published of the natu ral history of the mahogany tree; and, if any, in what work it may be met with. Derby Your's, &c. B. A. December 25, 1806. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, M R. Walker, in the Principles of Pronunciation premixed to his Dictiomary, says that the regular sound of the diphthong ed is that of ee; and gives the following in a catalogue of words in which that sound is heard:-sea, tea, mead, plead, Lespeak, ficak, appcal, heal, beam, cream, clean, dean, cheap, reap, dear, tear, pease, tease, beat, heat, sleazy, unca-y. In the words which compose that catalogue, I have ever considered the diph thong ea as a strictly proper diphthong; which (according to Mr. Smith's dean:tion, quoted by Mr. W.) is, “two simple vocal sounds uttered by one and the saine emission o. breath, and joined in such a manner, that each loses a portion of its natural length: but from the junction produceth a compound sound, equal in the time of pronouncing to either of them taken separately, and so making still but one syllable:" and with all detrence to such high authority as Mr. Walker, and the late Mr. Garrick (who coud not find any difference in the sounds of flea and flee, meat and weet, though we in Yorkshire can), I am nevertheless of opinion, that ea is a proper diphthong, according to the preceding very accurate definition; and ought, in every word of the catalogue before mentioned, to retain the sound, which to me, appears to be so essentially its own; aud which, I think, will be found, on comparison, equally agreeable to the ear as its substitute ee; and besides, it tends to keep up a just distinction between words of different meanings. Your's, &c. KNARESBURGENSIS. J. M. FLINDALL. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, seen it in the papers. It appears to me that, although there may be some objections raised against an interference in matters which may be called quite of a private nature, and which perhaps it may he thought that the pulpit rather than the legislature should correct, still where there is already a legislative interference, as is the case with post horses, &c. &c. the same objections cannot be brought forward. It generally would be a fair object of such interference were there a law passed to restrict the number of miles which a post-horse should go in one day. Might not the masters of posthorses be liable to lose their licence to let horses for misconduct in like manner as keepers of public-houses are? Quere. When and by whom was the annual sermon on Humanity to Animals, which is preached at Southampton, institated? Your's, &c. An occasional CORRESPONDENT. informed, that the indefatigable Dr. Dibers, at Bremen, has, on the 29th of March last, again discovered another new planet, to which he has given the name of Vesra. I have subjoined the observations hitherto made of this planet; first by Dr. Olbers himself, at Bremen; and those mide afterwards by the astronomer royal, Professor Bole, at the Royal Observatory, at Berl. Mr. Bole tells me, that this planet was first discovered in the north wing of Virgo; that it belonged to that group of planets, which revolve round the Sun, between Mars and Jupiter; that its size appeared to be that of a star of the sixth magnitude, and night be seen with the naked eye; that its present place was between ß, d, and o, m; that its prescut motion was still retrograde; but that it soon would become stationary, and after that it would go on forward in its course, or orbit. Your's, &c. A. F. THоELDEN, St. Alban's-street, Pall-Mall, May 18, 1807. Observations on the new Planet, by Dr. Olbers at Bremen. For the Monthly Magazine. REMARKS on the MORGANTE MAGGIORE of LUIGI PULCI. W ITHOUT pursuing our self-created knights and their fair companion through all the particulars of their pilgronage, (which however is not void of seusement) we will suppose the lady quietly restored to her father, and that Morgante and Margutte, after experiencing all the hospitality that they had imagined to themselves, are again on their way in search of Orlando. In the course of this journey, the latter of those boon companions comes to an end not very heroical though well suited to his former life; for he actually bursts himself with laughing at a trick which Morgante had put upon him. Our traveller, now left alone, soon after arrived before the walls of Babylon; where he met Orlando, to the great delight of both, and where, by his personal strength and in a truly giant-like manner, he made the Paladins masters of the place, and set the crown on the head of his noble friend. This is the last action of the hero whose name is given to the poem. The Paladins, tired of inglorious ease, were already on the seas in quest of new adventures, when a storm overtakes them; and, to lighten the ship, Morgante leaps overboard on the back of a dolphin. Borne by this strange conveyance, like Arion of old, he comes safe to shore; but, when just landing, is bit in the heel by an enormous sea-crab, and shortly after (to the inexpressible grief of the christian champions) dies of the mortification that ensued. Orlando erects a monument for him on the strand, enumerates all his virtues in an appropriate epitaph, and finally has his body embalmed and sent back to Babylon to be interred. In the port at which they are now arrived, the Paladins are attacked by a vast host of Pagans, the subjects of the Emperor of Massa. The rabble is soon defeated; but a valiant youth who is among them still keeps the field, unhorses Richardetto and Oliver, but at last, presuming to encounter Rinaldo, is overthrown by him and desperately wounded. The generous Paladins, who admired his youth and courage and pitied his fall, took all possible care of, and at last succeeded in reviving, him; while Orlando discovers by the letters marked on the pummel of his sword that he is of the house of Clermont. On enquiry, the young man informs him that his name is Aldinghieri; that his mother was the fair Rosaspina, who brought him forth on the sea-coast, and educated him among the Saracens; but that she had always told him that his father was Gerard of Rousillon, a near relation to the famous Paladins of France. Aldinghieri from this time becomes one of the most interesting characters in the romance. His first discovery to his relations the Paladins, bis introduction at the court of Charles, to which they conduct him, his expedition to Montauban to see his father the ve nerable Gerard, his death (overpowered by numbers of the infamous Maganzeses) 1 the grief and despair of the unhappy Gerard who beholds him for the first time then already dying of his wound, contain a great number of beautiful circumstances for which I would have found a place if I had not thought myself to have dwelt too long already on the minor parts of this poem, and did I not hasten to the grand catastrophe, in which the whole strength of the poet is shewn, and for which he begins to prepare us by many bold and abrubt prophecies of approaching evils. I therefore hasten without ceremony over the meeting of Anthea with Rinaldo, who has conducted her to Babylon, and placed her there upon her father's throne, and omitting entirely all mention of the many other adventures which the Paladins encounter, and the wanderings of Rinaldo and his brothers through Africa and Egypt, proceed to the fatal war that was kindled throughout Pagania against Charles and the Christian Empire. The restless Anthea, whose love for Rinaldo had wasted away by time and absence, but whose spirit of ambition and conquest encreased with her years, had long considered the Christians in no other light than as the murderers of her father, and her own hereditary enemies. Marsilius, king of Spain, had formerly been obliged, much against Lis will, to submit to the power of Charles, and the irresistible valour of Orlando, but had always watched his opportunities for rebellion and revenge. These two powerful sovereigns joined in a league against France; and the Empress of Babylon soon poured into the devoted country an army of 30,000 soldiers. This war, however tremendous in its commencement, did not terminate so fatally as the Christians had began to expect. Marsilius preferred waiting to see the success of first impressions; and, owing to his weakness and timidity, the intrepid Anthea was overthrown. In the dreadful battle to which Paris was, on this occasion a witness, Charles him self was fighting on horseback with his good sword Joyeuse, the Seine ran purple with the blood of Pagans and Christians, but the victory was owing to the invinci ble arm of Orlando, aided by the gallant and affectionate Baldwin, who (though a son of Gano) had always detested the treachery of his father and attacked hims self to the fame and fortunes of the first of the Paladins. Authen now gives-so ear to the solicitations of Marshas to continue the war, but humbly receives the blessing of the Christian Emperor and returns with all her remaining forces to Babylon, while Marsilius continues to delude the Christians by feigned negotiations and waits for further opportunities of vengeance. His designs were furthered by the blindness and obstinacy of the emperor himself, who had at this time not only restored the traitor Gano to his favour, but, contrary to the advice and earnest entreaties of all his court, sent him as his ambassador to the court of Saragossa to negotiate the peace with Marsilius. By this rash act he signed the destruction of Orlando and all his noblest Paladins. The traitor's first care was to confirm Marsilius in his hatred to the Christian name, by representing the demands of Charles as to the highest degree insulting and degrading. The first article (as delivered by Gano) was a change of religion, to which Marsilius answers by a very extraordinary fable: "I was once informed that in a wood near Saragossa there is a cavern, straight and narrow at the entrance, but very spacious in the midst, where six pillars are erected, each of which is guarded by a peculiar spirit. These pillars are typical of the sir Religions; that of gold is the principal and the purest. The others are of silver, brass, iron, tin, and lead. All souls, previous to entering on their corporeal habitations, must here make choice of their faith; and, in making the important choice, are beset by the guardian spirits who throng round them, each with a desire to make them embrace their own particular pillar. The souls, yet simple and ignorant, but having by nature a freedom of action, are generally determined by the force of these solicitations in their choice; and, whichever of the pillars they embrace is typical of the religion they are to follow through life. Happy are they who embrace the golden pillar!" I do not remember having any where met with this metaphysical chimera before; nor is it easy to discover the peculiar application which Marsilius, or Pulci, meant to be derived from it. However that may be, the traitor having secured Marsilius in the tram of thought in which he wished him to remain, drew him aside the next time they hunted together to a retired place, where, close to a fountain, there grew a Carob (the species of tree on which legendary tradition asserts that Judas Iscariot hung himself). In this fit place MONTHLY MAG. No. 157. Gano unfolds his project, which is that Orlando shall be invited to Roncesvalles, (a spot commodious for the purpose, being among the Alps, and on the frontiers of the two kingdoms,) there to receive from the hands of Marsilius the tribute which, after a former war, he had engaged to pay, but had for many years neglected; and that Charles himself shall be requested to meet the Spanish prince, after this ceremony is completed, at the town of St. Jean au pied de Port, there to accept his homage for the crown he wears, and to settle the remaining articles of the peace on a firm and lasting basis. Under this fair exterior, Marsilius was secretly to ann all the forces of Pagania to second his design; and then, after dispatching Orlando (which, they flattered themselves must be an easy task, engaged as he would be among the mountains), Charles himself and all his court would be at the mercy of the Spanish monarch. Scarcely was the plot announced, when a thunderbolt descending from the clouds destroyed a laurel close by Marsilius's seat; and, at the same instant, an apple was shaken from the Carob-tree and fell upon the head of our second Judas; but, not daunted with these fearful omens, the treacherous king and count sealed and ratified by oaths their bloody bargain; and Gano, returning to Paris, delivers the magnificent presents of Marsilius, together with the treacherous proposals that they had invented, which are, by the generous and unsuspecting emperor and his knights, accepted with great joy and willingness. Malagigi alone, of all the court at Paris, suspects the sincerity of Gano's mission, and retires to Montauban, there to discover by his art the secrets that he wished to know. A dæmon named Astaroth, is raised by his incantations; a dæmon wise, terrible, and fierce; not a familiar spirit, but one of a higher order, and black as his native hell. He for some time affects disobedience and contempt; but, being at last brought to reason by the terrors of the magical ring, discovers to him that his cousin Rinaldo (in whom alone Malagigi confided to avert the impending evils) is at that moment viewing the pyramids of Egypt in company with his three brothers. In answer to his enquiry concerning the success of the proposed interview at Roncesvalles, he tells him, that God alone knows all things, and that no creature, not even the son, is omniscient but, that the air is full of spirits, and 3 L that R. A. 1790 12' 30" D. N. 12° 57′ 46" It will consequently be seen in the part of the evening most convenient for observation; and, advantageously from its vicinity to the earth, and with a fine star to direct the eye to it. VEGETATION SUSPENDED. I have a fine plant, the double Saxifrage (Saxifragum granulatum) now in great beauty. In May, 1804, it flowered in my study. It withered after flowering, being exposed to too much heat. I let it remain perfectly dry, setting it aside in a shady part of the room. About sixteen months after, I took it out of the mould; and with difficulty found one or two of its small bulb-like tubers less than half the size of the seed of a sweet pea; which I replanted. It soon revegetated; flowered weakly in 1806; and, very strongly blossoms at present: it has lost nothing of its doubleness. The "Latent Scintillula forsan," should never be forgotten. It is of most extensive applica tion to vegetable and animal life, to political and moral reform. that all kinds of signs, portents, or pro- for it. It appears now like a star of the digies, are visible among the celestial sixth magnitude, according to the ac bodies, which incline him to imagine count, that something most tremendous will ensue. Part of this speech was sufficient to alarm Malagigi's Catholic faith, and his demands on this subject are answered by the dæmon in a long train of theological and metaphysical reasoning, the tendency of which has inclined commentators to attribute this canto (as I before observed) to Ficinus, or some other philosopher of the age, and a favourite with the great. Astaroth, however, concludes by promising to fly with a fellow-dæmon over to Egypt, and bring Rinaldo and Richardetto in three days to the fatal ground of Roncesvalles. He then takes his leave, and darts rapidly away like a stone from its sling, or the thunderbolt itself; and the earth trembled with his motion. Meanwhile, Orlando took his stand at Roncesvalles, together with his dear friends, Oliver, and Count Anselmo, and was soon after joined there by Berlinger (a Paladin who is marked through all the Italian romances by the epithet of gentle, il gentil Berlinghieri), by the brave and honourable Astolpho, by Sansonetto, a youth of Damascus who had become a Christian out of love and admiration of Orlando, and by the faithful and affectionate Baldwin, who had been decorated by his father with a vest of king Marsilius, which (unknown to him self) was a mark agreed upon between that monarch and Gano to protect him through the ensuing massacre from the fury of the soldiers. The innumerable host of Pagans was by this time fast approaching, and Blanchardin the principal general of Saragossa sent before with presents to keep up the delusion of the Christians, and make sure of Orlando's awaiting the issue.-(To be continued.) For the Monthly Magazine. ASTRONOMY. GENTLEMAN who has made this ATMOSPHERIC VARIATIONS. These have rarely been so great, from cold and wet, to heat and dryness (most intense heat for the season,) and again back to cold and wet. From a succession of snow, and of chill days, the medium of the first three days of May, was 701; the thunderstorm, Saturday the 2d, would have been no common one even in July. And now we are down again to the ordinary temperature of March. CAPEL LOFFT. Troston, May 6, 1807. For the Monthly Magazine. LYCEUM OF ANCIENT LITERATURE.-No. VI. A sublime study an object of general N VIRGIL. commencing this account of the Life and Poems of Virgil, the writer perfectly aware that he is treading on very common ground; and he almost despairs of presenting either novelty or interest to the reader. Virgil is an Author very early placed in the student's hands, and is more known, and better understood, than any other writer of a tiquity. There are few, indeed, whose classical studies have not enabled them to comprehend the language of this Poet, more particularly in his Encid. The |