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rough convert to your correfpondent's hints; and I defire to publish it for the benefit of my fifterhood. Delia's are moft certainly grown very scarce; for my own part, by endeavouring to merit a Sir Charles Grandifon, I do not defpair to render myself a suitable mate for a man who may at least emulate his character. Should I fail, of fuch an one, I determine, hence forward, at all events, to carry my virtue and virgity along with me to the grave, rather than match with a buck, blood, or fribble.

particular perfon in that memorable event, or remarkably active therein, nay, Burnet's words are these. “The earl of Dwas spoke to, and he went into it." That the Cavendish family have been attached to the interest of their country, no honeft man will deny; but as to afcribing the life, and caufe, and fupport of the revolution, to that family alone, it is a mere partial cram: let this memorialift look over the history of his country again, if he is an Englishman, and there fee how active Herbert, Ruffel, Sidney, Dunblaine, the bishop of London, the duke of

XXXXXXXXXXXXX Norfolk, the marquis of Halifax, the

From the LONDON MAGAZINE.

Remarks on Memoirs of the Devonshire Family.

I

N reading a monthly publication for October laft, among other things, I met with what is there entitled, "Memoirs of his grace the late duke of D." Some parts of it may be true for me; but one paffage I hope you will take the trouble to infert the following remarks upon. The paífage runs thus:

"When James, meaning James II. had well nigh destroyed the conftitution of England, in order to establish his own doctrine of popery, flavery, and paffive obedience, his lordship invited over the prince of Orange to rescue these kingdoms from his arbitrary defigns, and was the first who had virtue and courage enough publickly to avow it, while James was yet upon the throne. This gave life to the publick cause, and his great example was its chief support. He raised all Derbyshire, &c. cherished the princess Anne, when she food most in need of a friend, and was the fountain of his country's deliverance."

Now, Sir, where the writer has met with all this I really cannot tell, as he has not quoted his author. Smollet, Rider, Rapin, Burnet, &c. only mention him amongst those, with whom the noblemen and gentlemen that went to Holland correfponded; but not as a

earls of Dorset, Nottingham, and Danby, the lords Lovelace, Delamere, Paulet and Eland were, and how many gentiemen of interest and fortune united in an application to the prince of Orange, intreating his affiftance for the recovery of their liberties; but to impute the example, or influence, of the earl of D, as the great and chief procur ing caufe of this, fhews either plain partiality, or that this memorialist wrote to please a m-n-y. He says, he, viz. the e-l, had the courage to avow bis disapprobation of James's government, but takes care not to inftance one particular action of that difapprobation, only" he raised all Derbyshire, &c." a mighty rife! but avoids mentioning any thing of the Derbyshironians rifing in rebellion against Edward the sixth, when defeated by Lord Ruffel, a time equally important, and the cause the same.

N. B. These were not Scotch rebels.

But do you think he raised the half? if he raised the third, these were more than were of any use ; and these he did not attempt to raife, till he heard most of the army had declared in favour of the prince of Orange, and particularly Lord Churchill (afterwards duke of Marlborough) whole example had by far more influence than that of the earl of D. He further fays, he cherifhed the princess Anne," How this could be, when he, viz. the earl, was in Derbyshire, and the princess retired to Oxford, he has not informed us;

nor

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nor does it appear that the earl was at
any of the meetings among the nobility,
at or near London, till the fray was
moftly over. The last paragraph I shall
take any notice of, is that, where he
adds, He was the fountain of his
country's deliverance," and having
fhewn the impropriety of what he said a
bove, it in a great meafure inval.dates
that. But the truth of the matter is,
when a person has done a popular action,
gained applaufe, as the late D. of D
did, by his adhering to Mr. P-t, he
would have been extolled by fome, if
he had died in France with Mr. Wilkes,
as much avoiding the laws of his king
and country, provided he had cried out
with his last breath, Liberty! liberty!
tho' licentioufnefs were the principle.

From the LONDON MAGAZINE.

To Mr. JOHN WESLEY,
Rev. Sir,

HA

AVING ever been defirous of true, useful knowledge, I hope you will excuse the freedom ufed in the fubfequent remarks; and that you will give a folution to my queries confequent thereupon.

1. In your compendium of natural philofopby, vol. II. p. 140, you fay, that the fun revolves upon his axis once in 27 hours." Qu. If this fhould have been once in 27 days nearly?

2. Lower, in the fame page, you inform us, that "he is fuppofed to be ahundantly larger than the earth." Qu. Why you cautiously fay fuppofed, when it is demonstrable that he is really fo?

3.P. 42, you tell us that "the moon always turns the fame fide to the earth." Qu. If you fhould not have faid nearly the fame fide? I have a map or representation of nativa lune plence facies, nec non ejufdem libratio, juxta obfervationes. Cl. Herved. t.

4. And a little lower you acquaint us, that "it does not appear that he moves at all round her own axis.". Qu. How then do you account for her turn

ing always the fame (or nearly the fame) fide to the earth, if the does not revolve upon her axis in the fame time in which the revolves round the earth? 713093

5. P. 141, you write, that fo the

moon is Tupposed to be 45 times Tmaller than the earth." Qu. Why ayou gain ule the word fuppofe, when the ratio of the moon's bulk to that of the earth is nicely known?

6. At the bottom of p. 145 you say, that "Jupiter is fuppofed to be twent ty-five times larger than the earth,' and in next page, that his 'd 'diameter is fuppofed to be 130655 miles, and the earth's 7967 miles." Qu. It fo, whether Jove must not be (inftead of 25. times, the cube of 16 at least, that is) 4096 times larger than the earth?

7. You inform us, that " even a good eye feldom fees more than an hundred stars at a time:" Qu. Whether by a time, you mean one look, or that' field of view, which the human eye is capable of taking in at one look, or view? if not, you contradict what you fay in p. 133, where you tell us, "that the number of fixed stars, visible to the naked eye is 2200."

8. P. 148 you fay, "even with refpect to the distance of the fun (which fome demonftrate to be ninety millions of miles, others, to be not three millions of miles from the earth) that it is wifeft to confess our ignorance, and to acknowledge we have nothing to rest on here, but mere, uncertain conjecture.” In p. 189 you tell us, Dr. Rogers makes the fun's distance 2,910,164 miles : but that no credit is due to his affertion shall be fhewn before I conclude, and then his opinion will no more bring an opprobrium upon true astronomy, than herely upon true religion. The knowledge of the fun's distance from the earth depends upon finding its parallax, that is, the angle that the femidiameter of the earth appears under at the fun ; which (angle) is fo very minute, that an error, of but a fingle fecond only, will give the distance very confiderably greater, or lefs than the true distance. To obtain this angle many nice obferYyy z

vations

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vations must be made with moft exquifite inftruments, by obfervators equal to the task. As very confiderable improvements have been made in fcience and aftronomical inftruments, the aftrono-" mer is thereby enabled to approximate nearer and nearer to truth; just as by improvements in time-pieces we are enabled to determine the time of the day more and more exactly. By various methods, explained by Keil in his 21ft aftronomic lecture, made ufe of to obtain the fun's parallax, we are affur-, ed, he says, that his distance from us is more than 7000 femidiameters of the earth, that is, about 28 millions of miles. But this not being fufficiently fatisfaçtory, the parallax of Mars (be fays) has been moft accurately obferved by two of the most eminent aftronomers of our age; who have determined thereby the fun's parallax to be fcarce eleven feconds; and his distance to be about nineteen thoufand femidiameters of the earth; that is, about feventy-fix millions of miles. Now, Sir, if theíe, things be true, if the leaft diftance poffibly is (as has been obferved) abfolutely determined; and approximations are making toward getting the true distance, how can it be wifeft to confefs our ig norance, and to acknowledge we have nothing to reft on here, but mere, uncertain conjecture? I, from certain data, may determine that the diftance of two places (London and Canton for example) must be more than a certain number of miles; but till the latitude and difference of longitude are very nicely known, I can't be certain as to the abfolute diftance: but yet the former knowledge cannot be called mere, uncertain conjecture.

9. P. 244, you afk, to what end, do they (the fixed ftars) ferve? To ilJumine worlds? To impart light and, heat to their feveral choirs of planets ? Or (as the ingenious Mr. Hutchinson, fo you call him, fuppofes) to gild the extremities of the folar fphere? which, according to him, is the only inhabited part of the universe." That gentleman

fo ingenious as to hide his meaning,

at least from me, for I confefs, I do not understand him. And in p. 143, you tell us," you doubt we shall never prove that the primary (planets) are (inhabited) and fo (you fay) the whole ingenious hypothefis of innumerable funs and worlds moving round them vanishes, into air." Not fo indeed, the hypothefis, having much more to be faid in its favour than against it, is more likely to be permanent than evanefcent. That each of the itars cailed fixed stars are of the fame kind, nature, and magnitude, with our own fun, and serves for much the fame purposes, is, to me, evident; when we confider, 1. That it is found, by oblervations made for getting the parallax of the earth's orbit, that a fixed far cannot be less than ten thousand times farther from the fun than we are, and fo z. They appear fo fall, and fubtend fuch unperceivable angles at the eye, that except they were fiery bodies, they could not be feen by us. Thus the flame of the candle may be perceiv ed in the night, at two miles diftance, whereas, in the day-time, an opake object, tho' ftrongly illuftrated by the fun, and fix times bigger than the flame of a candle, is not to be perceived by the naked eye at that distance. 3. It is demonftrable, that the fixed ftar called Sirius is about the bignets of our own fun. Hence 4. Seeing the fixed flars are not, cannot be illuftrated by, nor shine with, the borrowed light of the fun, but that each is a fiery body thining (like the fun) with its own native light, and not much bigger nor lefs than the fun is, they therefore are to be efleemed as fo many funs. By their different. apparent diameters they, it is probable, are fixed every where thro' the vast indefinite space of the univerfe; fo that there may be as great distance between any two next to one another, as there is between our fun and the nearest fixed ftar. A fpectator who is near one of them (even yourself) would look upon that to which he is nearest as a real fun, and all the reft, our own fun included, as fo many fmall fhining stars, fixed in his own heavenor firman.ent. You

fee,

Lee, Sir, that the hypothesis of innume rable funs, is fo far from vanishing into air, that it is almost altogether founded on demonftration, deduced from obfer vation. But the hypothefis of the ingenious Hutchinfon is founded only on fuppofition, and highly improbable. For whether by the extremities of the folar fphere he means the periphery of the orbit of the earth, or of Saturn, yet either of thefe orbits, viewed at the diftance of the nearest fixed ftar, is fo fmall, that it cannot be reasonably fuppofed to have had that ftan created to gildits extremity and much lefs can we reafonably fuppofe the far greater number of fixed ftars made for that purpofe (I mean the telescopical) fince very little gilding can be had from bodies which, except they are magnified very many times, cannot be feen, nor, without the affiftance of a telefcope, could by us have been known to exift. Whether the primary planets are inhabited or not, let the impartial reader judge, when he fhall have confidered the mutual rela. tion and likenefs there is between our earth and them.

:

10. It is of prodigious magnitude, Jove and Saturn are each much greater t

11. It has one moon, or con comitant, of fignal fervice to her, in caufing the tides, reflecting light, fixing the lon gitude of places, &c. Jupiter has four moons, and Saturn five, each of which is larger than the earth's attendant, and, no doubt as useful

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12. It is eclipsed by its moon, Sais Jove and Saturn by each of their moons 13. It eclipfes its moon. So do Jove and Saturn each of their moons.

Add to all, this that Saturn hangs within a ring, a ftupendous arch oft many thousand miles in diameter, which conftantly reflects the light of the fung down upon Saturn himself, and for in fome measure fupplies the loss of light; to Saturn, occafioned by the fun's great distance from him. Now, Sie, is it probable that God Almighty (who always acts with infinite wildom and does nothing in vain) fhould have created planets fo much like our own, and fure nifhed them withsuch amazing apparatus,i fo very neceffary to make the life of an intelligent being happy, and yet not to!

1. The earth is a fphere, or nearly have placed inhabitants in thofe planets fo. So is each planet.

2. It is opake.So is each planet. 3. It cafts a fhadow oppolite to the 4. It is illuftrated by the light of the, Jun.-So is each planet. fun. So does each planet.

5. It conftantly is revolving upon its So is Jupiter, Mars, and

own axis.

probably the rest.

6. It has a regular fucceffion of day and night. So have Jove, Mars, and probably the rest.

7. And of fummer and winter.--So, has each planet, the axes of whofe orb. and equinoctial do not coincide,

8. It is always revolving round the fun.-So is each primary planet,

9. The fquare of the time of its revolving round the fun, is to the cube of its distance from him; as the fquare of the time of any other primary planet's revolution round the fun, is to the cube, of that planet's diftance from him. The fame proportion holds with respect to any two of the primary planets.

to partake of the benefit of fuch ample provifion? To fuppofe the wifeft of all beings to have created Saturn's ringy only to reflect the fun's light ftrongly down upon the body of Saturn, and at the fame time no inhabitants, there to. enjoy the benefit of that light, is to: fuppofe his power, wildom and goodness. exerted to little or no purpose.

They who affirm, fays Mr. Keil, that God created thofe great bodies,. (the fixed stars) only to give us a fmall, dim light, muft have a very mean opis nion of the divine wisdom. It is more reasonable to fuppose that in the indefi.. nitely great space of the universe, are placed innumerable funs, which (tho they appear to us like so many small: stars, yet) are bodies not behind our own fun, either in bigness, light, or glory; and each of them conftantly. attended with a number of planets,. which dance round him, and conftitute fo many particular fyftems: Every fun

doing

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doing the fame office to his proper pla, net, in illustrating and cherithing them, which our fun performs in the fyftem to which we belong. Hence, we are to confiders the whole univerfe as a glorious palace for an infinitely great and every where present God; and that all the worlds, or fyftems of worlds, ares as so many theatres, in which he difplays his divine power, wisdom and goodness. How mean are the Hutchinfonians idea of creation, when compared to this!

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16. Let us fuppofe the earth viewed from one of the planets (not from Saturn, for at that planet our mighty globe cannot be feen, but as a very fmall spot tranfiting the fun's difk now and then) fome intelligent beings there, who were,

Slaves to no fect, who fought no private road,

But look'd through nature up to nature's God,

would argue that our earth must be inhabited in much the fame manner that we argue that the other planets are inhabited: but the fuperftitious would oppose this doctrine and call it mere, uncertain conjecture.

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11. In p. 189, you quote Dr. Rogers, who fays the diameter of the fun is but 23373 miles," I admire, Sir, how you could give place in your book to fuch an affertion, except to explode it. If this be true, the Earth would appear at the sun under an angle of above ten minutes (of what the fun himself appears under at the earth) and half as big again as the fun appears at above Jupiter! Amazing! That the parallax of the fun, which Meff. Caffini, Flamstead, Huygens, Halley, and all our best and most affiduous obferva tors, could I never find to be above 10 or 11 feconds, fhould now be half as many minutes! Why, doctor, if this be true, our earth has approximated thirty times nearer to the fun, though his apparent diameter has not increafed at all wonderful indeed To conclude, fince there is no arguing a gainst facts, and unce it is true that

P

the fun's parallax is found not to exceed 11 feconds, and Dr. Rogers's non-inge nious hypothefis othefis makes it above 5 minutes: Qu. Whether you ought not to give up that hypothefis as abfurd and ridiculous?

Lord! not to earth's contracted span,'

Thy goodness let me bound
Or think thee Lord alone of man,
When thousand worlds are round!
PHILOSOPHASTER.

From the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. Obfervations on the late Improvements in Hufbandry.

T

HERE certainly never was a time when the study of Agricul ture was fo univerfally attended to as the prefent. Societies in all civilifed, countries are formed, or forming, for its improvement; and the labours of the moft ingenious and learned men in Europe are at this time directed to the cultivation of an art, which was formerly

abandoned to the rude practice of the moft illiterate clafs among the people.

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Indeed the practice is fill too much in the hands of a fet of men who are not easily perfuaded to try any new experiments, and who think themfelves interested in difappointing as far as their influence can reach the expectatis. on of those who do. The writings. therefore of learned men, unaccompa nied by fuitable practice, tend only to clear the way to the improvement of the art, but do not advance one step the art itself.

The few experiments that are made in fmail and narrow spots, with a view to confirm the philofophic enquirersin. the principles he is endeavourings to establish, when they come to be extended into larger practice by thofe who have been perfuaded of their utility by the evident effects they have produced, fel dom have been found to answer the ex pectation of the undertaker; and what is remarkable, most of thofe gentlemen who have ventured out of the common road of husbandry in large concerns; .. after a few fruitless endeavours to intro

duce

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