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which the boy is familiar. The whole are put in motion at the same time by machinery, within the box, acted upon by a handle like that of a hand-organ. A weaver upon his loom, with a fly-shuttle, uses his hands and feet, and keeps his eye upon the shuttle, as it passes across the web. A soldier, sitting with a sailor at a change-house table, fills a glass, drinks it off, then knocks on the table, upon which an old woman opens a door, makes her appearance, and they retire. Two shoemakers upon their stools are seen, the one beating leather and the other sewing a shoe. A cloth-dresser, a stone-cutter, a cooper, a tailor, a woman churning, and one teasing wool, are all at work. There is also a joiner sawing a piece of wood, and two blacksmiths beating a piece of iron, the one using a forge-hammer and the other a small hammer; a boy turning a grinding-stone, while a man sharps an instrument upon it; and a barber shaving a man, holding fast by the nose with one hand. The boy is only about 17 years of age, and since the bent of his mind could be first marked, his only amusement was his working with a knife, making little mechanical figures; and this is the more extraordinary, as he had no opportunity whatever of seeing any person employed in a similar way. He was tred a weaver with his father, and since he could be employed at the trade, has had no time for his favourite study, except after the work ceased, or during the intervals; and the only tool he ever had to assist him was a pocket knife. In his earlier years he produced several curiosities on a smaller scale, but the above is

his greatest work, to which he has devoted all his spare time during the last two years.

SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION.-A steam-boat is to be launched at Pittsburgh, to be employed in an expedition to the Yellow Stone-river, the object of which is to obtain a history of the inhabitants, soil, minerals, and curiosities. Maj. Long, of New Hampshire, topographical engineer; Mr. Graham, of Virginia; Mr. W. H. Swift, of Massachusets, from the Military Academy; Major Biddle, of the Artillery; Dr. Jessop, mineralogist; Dr. Say, botanist and geologist; Dr. Baldwin, zoologist and physician; Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia, landscape-painter and ornithologist; Mr. Seymour, ditto; and Major Fallow, of the Indian Department, form the Expedition. The boat is 75 feet long, 13 beam, draws 19 inches of water, and is well armed: she carries on her flag a White Man and an Indian shaking hands, the Calumet of Peace and the Sword. Her machinery is fixed to avoid the snags and sawyers of the rivers.-The Expedition departs with the best wishes of the friends of science.

The MAUSOLEUMS of the three last branches of the illustrious and unfortunate House of Stuart, that is, of the Pretender (James III.) his son Prince Charles Edward, and Cardinal York, his son, have been opened in the Vatican at Rome, to the view of the publick. All the curious admire these master-pieces of the celebrated sculptor Canova, which contain an expression, and evince a taste, that are worthy of the age of Pericles, and do honour to the munificence of the Prince Regent.

ANTIQUARIAN AND PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCHES.

RESEARCHES IN EGYPT.

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In our Magazine for June (p. 529), we introduced some remarks relative to the enterprizing spirit and successful searches of Major Fitzclarence. Since which we have perused, with considerable pleasure, his "Journal of a Route across India through Egypt," &c. It contains some interesting particulars respecting the labours of Belzoni, Salt, and Caviglia.

On the author's arrival at Cairo, he introduces us at once to some of the curiosities collected by Mr. Salt. "At last," says he, "we reached the door of the house I was in search of, and learned, with pleasure, that its owner was at home. I jumped off my donkey, and passing through a narrow passage, entered 'court-yard of small dimensions; and from the extraordinary figures against the walls around me, should have fancied I was in the catacombs, had I not recollected that I was in the sanctum sanctorum of an inveterate and most successful antiquarian.

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The lanterns illuminated the massy figures around; and having the prospect of viewing them the next morning, I went on with the hope of entering when supper was on the table; but before I could attain the desired object, I had to pass two large wooden figures, like porters, at the door, from the tombs of the Kings of Thebes While at supper, Mr. Belzoni, of whom I had heard so much, made his appearance, and I was greatly struck with his person, being in the Turkish costume. He was the handsomest man I ever saw, was above six feet six inches high, and his commanding figure set off by a long beard. He spoke English perfectly, and the subject which had engrossed our thoughts so long, that of opening the second pyramid, was brought on the tapis."-It was agreed that they should set off next day to see the adjacent wonders.

"I had much conversation with Mr. Salt and Signor Belzoni respecting the

late

late discoveries in and near the ruins of Thebes, which seem to surpass every thing in the world except Ellora. The tomb lately opened by Mr. Salt was discovered by Mr. Belzoni, by what he calls a certain index, which has guided him in opening the second pyramid: what this index is I know not; but certainly he has been most successful, and cherishes the intention, if supported by our Government, of doing much more. In my opinion, he is too valuable a man for us to permit to labour for any other nation. Fame appears to be the object for which he is most anxious, though he has nothing to live on but the produce of a few statues sold to the Comte de Forbin (who has been in this country travelling for the French government), to replace those various niches in the Louvre now vacant by our having forced them to deliver back divers works of art to their original possessors. Mr. Salt showed me some beautiful specimens of papyrus which he had himself taken out of the mummy wrappers. They all appeared to have at the top of the roll a representation of religious worship, and the figures were painted in more than one colour. He pointed out some small wax figures; one with the head of a woman, one with an eagle's head, one with a monkey's, and another with that of a ram: these were uniformly found in the better kind of mummies. To prove that sculpture had been carried to very great perfection among the antient Egyptians, he showed me a small leg and thigh made of wood, about 10 inches long, most correctly carved, and equal to, if not surpassing, any thing I had previously seen. He showed me also a piece of linen covered with hieroglyphics, which appeared exactly as if it had been printed. Several mummies which he had opened had down the front of their person broad pieces of leather, gilt, as fresh as the day they were made; and I have understood that gilding has, in several instances, been proved to be well known to the Egyptians.

Both Mr. Salt and Mr. Belzoni were enraptured with the sarcophagus they had discovered; and when I fully comprehended its beauty and value, my feelings were congenial with theirs without having seen it. A piece of alabaster 9 feet 3 inches long would in itself be a curiosity; but when it is considered that so much pains have been used in the elaborate carving of so fragile a material, it almost surpasses belief. It is made something in the form of a human body, but the sides of it are not above two and a half inches thick, all deeply carved in miniature figures representing triumphs, processions, sacrifices, &c. All these figures are stained in the deepest blue; and when a light is placed in the inside, the alabas

ter being transparent, they appear upon, a pellucid ground. It was found in what Mr. Belzoni supposes to be a tomb of the god Apis, and was most unaccountably placed across the top of a hollow passage (which leads 300 feet beyond, into the solid rock, and has not yet been explored to the utmost) with not above one inch resting on one of the sides, so that, had it slipped, it would have fallen and been shattered to pieces. We visited the court-yard which I had passed through last night, and surveyed four statues of black granite as large as life, with women's bodies and heads of lions. They are in a sitting posture, with the emblematical key of the Nile in one of their hands. Belzoni discovered these, with about thirty others, deep under the sand. They had been deposited there without regularity, as if to be concealed. Two of these he had sold to the Comte de Forbin for the French Museum. Mr. Salt next drew my attention to two wooden figures as large as life, found at Thebes in a standing position. They were covered with a sort of varnish, and had their eyes and part of their bodies inlaid with some metal."

On the 10th of March, 1818, the author set off with Messrs. Salt and Belzoni to view the Pyramids. He pays a just tribute to Capt. Caviglia, who so successfully explored the well as it used to be called in the great pyramid; to him and Mr. Salt, in laying open the front of the sphinx; and to Belzoni, of whose labours in opening the second pyramid he gives some particulars. "At a distance were Arabs employed on the third pyramid, by Belzoni; and certainly, if we may judge from his former success at Thebes, and the second pyramid, it is to be hoped he will not labour in vain."

A few weeks ago, that accomplished and gallant officer, Col. Straton, of the Enniskillen dragoons, presented to the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, through Professor Playfair, an Egyptian mummy, in a very high state of preservation. It was brought from Thebes by the Colonel himself, along with several other Egyptian remains, which he has also presented to the College. This mummy, to judge from its triple inclosure, rich and varied hieroglyphical ornaments, and situation when in Thebes, must be the body of a person of the highest rank, and which was probably consigned to the catacombs 3000 years ago.

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES.

Twenty-eight Roman coins, some silver, and the other brass, were discovered a few weeks ago inclosed in a small oaken box, on Longton Moss, in Lancashire, by a man employed in cutting turf. Those which are legible are coins of Trajan, Adrian,

Adrian, Antonine, and Faustina, the wife of Marcus Aurelius.

The following is an extract of a letter from Rome, dated May 25:-" In the course of this month the search of the Tiber will begin. The preparations for this grand undertaking are carrying on with the greatest activity. The excavations of Pompeii are continued with success. They have lately discovered there several edifices, in the fine street which leads to the Temple of Isis, to that of Hercules, and to the Theatre. In a house which doubtless belonged to some man of science, there were found some surgical instruments of excellent workmanship, and some paintings representing fruit and animals, which are worthy of admiration for the extreme truth of the imitation."

The ruins of an antient Naunachia, or Aquatic Amphitheatre, have been discovered at Lyons.

NEW COMET.

Its

On Saturday, the 3d of July, a Comet, being the first observed here since 1811, made its appearance about 15 degrees above our horizon. From its magnitude and its splendour, it must be at a comparatively short distance from the sun. nucleus was clearly defined, of a brilliant white light, and through a small telescope appeared superior in size to Venus. It had a tail extending several degrees, and slightly curled at the top. In less than an hour it described a curve of many millions of miles. Its situation among the stars seemed to be near the fore feet of the constellation Lynx, not far from the star called (B) Beta Auriga, nearly in a line with it and the very bright star called Capella its tail extends considerably more than that of September and October, 1811. Probably the present Comet has long traversed the ethereal space, and is now rapidly making its way towards the sun, its foci, in which case it will become more brilliant in approaching the sun, but appear to sink towards the northern horizon, and very soon become invisible.

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A singular and recent event excites the astonishment of the inhabitants of Namur and Dinant, which seems worthy the attention of the learned, who study the nature of our globe. Behind one part of the Castle of Namur there is a pretty high mountain (perhaps hill), at the foot of which there was a spring of water, of considerable magnitude, which never dried up. Since the time that the plan of the new fortifications of Namur and of its citadel has been executed, this spring has been choked up, and has disappeared. The proprietors of all the parts of the mountain perceived that a revolution of some kind was preparing in the interior of their property; and nothing could equal their surprise when they became convinced that the powerful action of the waters of the choked-up spring was undermining a great part of this mountain, and continued to make it move in a mass, without any sinking or cracks which might assist the observers in their calculations respecting it. The news of this event soon spread; in a short time the whole part of the road which leads to Dinant has been occupied by one of the points of this mountain; and it has been necessary, in consequence, to remedy this inconvenience by throwing a bridge over the Meuse, towards the bank which leads to Ivoir, the actual residence of Count Depatin, formerly Commandant of Tournay.-The people have now given to this mountain the name of the walking mountain; and in fact its motions are perceptible, as well as the direction that the weight of the waters, which daily increases more and more, makes it take toward the bank of the Meuse.

SELECT

SELECT POETRY.

LINES ON ITALY.
By J. HOLLAND.

Is there a genial clime, a favour'd spot, Where Freedom whispers-Slavery is not?

Where Man, unshackled, independent, free, Breathes and respires the breath of Liberty!

And every scene and every note inspires, Expansive charity and pure desires? Where virtue, temperance, health-begetting toil, [smile? Love, Science, Justice, sweet Religion By ages essenc'd from all meaner strife, At once the balsam and the bread of life. -O bear me there my wishes-there repose

[close;

Thy smile, blest country, on my life's late Be there my home-whate'er in heaven's decree,

Of good or evil is reserv'd for me;
To delve its quarries, or to dig its ores,
To dress its vineyards, or defend its
shores;

Or, blest with competence, to taste of ease,
Ease blest indeed, where realms are blest

with these!

Or then to wake imagination's theme,
A fond enthusiast raptur'd with the dream;
This were the spot, if any could inspire,
The pregnant bosom with poetic fire.

Is there a land-or habitable spaceSmiles there a spot of such distinguish'd grace?

Where shall we turn; when human cir[man?

cles ran

First round the birth-place of primeval And culture first receiv'd, to raise her crop, Sweat from young Labour's brow-the newborn drop?

Or turn we where the roaming Savage strides [tides; O'er isles thick scatter'd amidst ocean's Where Nature's finger at unthwarted length, [strength; Roves o'er his form of gracefulness and And Nature's smile, that flashes in his mien, [scene?

Reflects his landscape's wildly-beauteous Or shall we find that imprescriptive nook, That loveliest pictur'd page of Nature's book;

Where every scene by Science is defin'd, And every note is Harmony refin'd? Where Genius walks, and round her peaceful fane,

August Refinement leads her sacred train? And richly various-every feature wears The tutor❜d aspect of past thousand years? That surely were the spot-and they were wise

A world's example spread before their

eyes;

GENT. MAG. July, 1819.

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A weaken'd race with sanguinary laws;
Or if a Tyrant's, or a Bigot's nod,
Rules in the power of man-or name of
God-

Where Persecution's mould'ring embers light

The gloom of Papal or of Pagan night!
Where deified Corruption scowls to see
The altars sacred to Idolatry.—

Ah turn we but to that delightful clime, Where sev'n-seated Rome once rose sublime;

When thron'd in awful plenitude of power, Greatness her diadem-the world her dower!

Fair clime, thy name how splendidly unfurl'd,

Garden of Europe-mistress of the world! There warmer suns indulgent smiles be[glow;

stow,

And teeming Nature owns the genial There Spring, in verdant robe, and rosy crown'd,

Scatters her budding redolence around; And Summer wakens, into earliest birth The flowery fragrance of the blooming

earth;

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Shall revolutions-shall a Monarch's nod-
The voice of reason-or the hand of God-
Or shall the Muse predate its final hour,
And war obsequious own the Poet's
power? +

Such was the theme when Mantua's
vales along,

The tuneful Maro pour'd his rural song;
His was the task, in sweet didactic verse,
The swain's delightful labours to re-
hearse;

In classic style to charm the polish'd ear,
And sing the various pleasures of the year:
To call the warrior from his bloody toil,
To sow and reap the long-neglected soil;
And see the sun that frown'd on constant
war,

Gleam on the plough's now bright earth-
burnish'd share.

See regal hands the cult'ring rite bestow, And vict'ry's laurels deck the sacred plough.

Auspicious omen of a nation's weal!
When scepter'd Monarchs condescend to
feel

Their country's weakness, and partake
the pain,

Its virtues shelter, and its vice restrain;
Sway Truth's bright sceptre in degenerate
times,
[crimes.
With Cæsar's greatness-without Cæsar's
Italia! once the world beheld thee such;
Rich in industry, as in science rich ;
Piled by thy art, what glorious structures
rise,
[skies;
Thy lofty temples pierc'd the nether
But how exalted once, no more avails
Thy fruitful vallies and thy fragrant gales;
Or marble columns once that lifted high
The graceful colonade, and charm'd the

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And wind like serpents round the lover's
To think the seeds of Roman loins, once
brave,
[slave!
Boasts but the abject birth-right of a
To him these marble wrecks insinuate
There was an æra, tho' of distant date,
When they were rear'd to consecrate to
fame

Some polish'd climax of the Roman name.
When on each, by distant lands descried,
The flag of freedom wav'd in martial pride;
In Roman states, to Roman hearts en-
dear'd,

By enemies, and faithless allies fear'd;
Of freedom proud, beneath that flag, un-
furl'd,

They rock'd the cradle of the infant world!

These lines were written during the dynasty of Buonaparte, when Italy was subjugated by France.

↑ Happily for Europe, that war has closed; would that we could hope, with it, the spirit of war was quenched for ever, and that Europe's latest animosities were buried with her victims on the field of Waterloo! that field would be sacred, indeed, could the genius of peace erect on that "place of graves" a monumental column, and inscribe it with "There shall be war no more!"

‡ Virgil, we are told, wrote his exquisitely finished poem of the Georgics, at the solicitation, and under the auspices, of the prime minister of Augustus Cæsar. To invest the art of Husbandry with its antient and proper dignity, and to promote a disposition to cultivate the ground, which had been much neglected, the glories of the warriors having eclipsed other calmer and more beneficent occupations, it was not un usual in the days of the Republic to decorate the plough with the laurels of her couquerors and dictators; nor did they disdain to honour the occupations of husbandry by directing the plough with their own hands.

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