that no such desecration prior to his publication had taken place. He minutely describ s.the rich brass on the grave-stone, speaks of the untimely end of Thomas of Woodstock, &c. Hence, it must not be thought that since the writings of Keepe (a continued course of devotion to Royalty) any intruders had, until now, ever given cause for their being “watched," and called to order.

It remain for an "Old Correspondent" to explain his meani: g, in what manner it is possible for those who have disturbed the ashes of Thomas · of Woodstock, to be the people who have preserved his remains from violation!

Mr. Urban, though it is not quite clear that your Old Correspondent defends the situation that was inteuded for Addison's monument in the Confessor's Chapel; yet it is extremely plain he says nothing in extenuation for the presumptuous proposal, or for the deed of breaking into 2 Royal vault, without some higher authority than what appears to have been obtained on this occasion*.

An Old Correspondent is reserved also on the wanton manner in which the grave-stone was broken into two pieces (traces of the indents for the brass-work still visible): though he takes great pains in letting us know that the bones, coffin, and lead, are purely embellishments of mine; yet in a line or two above he had confessed, "that the corpse of Thomas of Woodstock was there deposited." I repeat, that the two coffins were in form, as was also the skeleton, &c. A piece of the oak and lead I preserve, with some other sepulchral relicks, for the inspection of the curious.

I take upon myself to say, Mr. Carter and Mr. Capon harbour no animosity against the Abbey Mason personally; but, when he is trumpeted forth as the preserver and restorer of

* When the tomb of Edward I. was opened a few years back, at the express desire of some eminent Antiquaries, permission was first had, as it is said, from His Majesty; and nothing more was done than raising the large stone covering the tomb, so high as conveniently to give a view of the Royal remains; the Right Reverend the Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster there attending to see that due care and respect was observed on the awful exploration.

Carter and Capon § pay dear;
For their prying and watching,'
Behold they lay low,
Thus the Dean' on poor Jack

Has return'd his fell blow.' "See how they sheak off,

Like dogs without tails, We 've magg'd them, and gagg'd them, We 've lower'd their sails; Then sing O be joyful!

So

And put up our thanks,
come, my dear Tommy,
We 'il now play our pranks.
"The Statues of Kings, Queens,
Lords, Ladies, and Knights,
We'll knock them, and block them,
We'll set them to rights;
Make tombs, monuments, brasses,
And slabs cut with letters,

Bow down, give their places,

My dear boy, to their betters. "Then on the Church walls We'll mount up,in the air,

* A certain supposed gravé and learned F. A. S. who is now and then caught napping; consequently may forget his duty as an Antiquary, &c.

+ The Abbey Mason, who possesses much skil in his way, but, perhaps (like poor Carter), having not more than he can do, may be glad to turn his hand to the detruction of our Autiquities, or other such laudable employment.

A dull Artist, a mistaken Antiquary, and an Architect, who, standing between the "Altar" and "Communion"-table, remains of course unemployed.

§ Another dull Artist, who is more intent upon studying our Antiquities, than the "fantastic" style of Architecture of the present day. We'll

We'll shake 'em, and rake 'em,

Clap on Compo so rare; We'll throw down the Turrets,

Window-basements we 'll hack, And perhaps, in due time,

Lay the Church on its back.

"Thus, thus, my tight fellow,

By IMPROVEMENT we 're led; Thus go it, all know it,

With heart, hand, and head; Thus we piously touch

Lead, glass, timber and stones;'

No matter who pays,

We 're safe in our bones.

"If our nests are well feather'd,
Let Antiquities fall,
The Singers,' the Ringers,'
'Dean, Vergers,' and all;
Let them go to old Harry,

With Capon and Carter,
And there let them settle-

Who has caught out the Tartar' !"

DESCRIPTION OF AN UNIMMERGIBLE LIFE-BOAT.

IT seems now so generally understood and allowed, that the wealth, prosperity, and independence of Britain must depend, in no inconsiderable degree, upon the state of its nautical exertions and marine defencethat the lives of its Naval Officers and Seamen, though always valuable, have in the present times become of the greatest importance to the public welfare. The number of these valuable men that are every year lost to their families and to the State by accidents, now EASILY PREVENTED, is much larger than is apprehended by those who are not in the habit of particularly noticing the frequent losses sustained by the upsetting of ships boats passnig to and from the shore.

To ascertain the truth of this melancholy fact, as far as relates to the loss of lives, so afflictive to individuals, and so injurious to the State, it is only necessary to refer to the public papers, or to the knowledge of the inhabitants of the Sea Ports. And the fullest assurance that the greater part of these accidents might be PREVENTED, may now be obtained by a reference to the Committee of the Humane Society at Lowestoff in Suffolk, and the Pilots and Boatmen of that part of our coast, who can supply the most satisfactory evidence of the utility of an Unimmergible Boat built and launched at that place in November 1897, by order of the Gentlemen of that County, who had

previously raised a subscription for that particular purpose, under the direction of Mr. Lukin* of London, who was a casual resident at Lowestoff during the Autumn of that year.

As upwards of twelve months experience has demonstrated to the Gentlemen of Lowestoff (what Mr. Lukio's pamphlet on the subject states from his former experience) that Boats constructed upon this principle cannot be overset or sunk by any power of wind and water, the following particulars and description of the construction are made pub-/ lic, with the hope of rendering more generally known the EASY

MEANS OF SAVING MANY VALUABLE

LIVES; which might certainly be done, if one or two of these Boats were built at each of our Ports, and every ship furnished with one (at least) in proportion to her size. Description and Dimensions of the Lowestoff Life-Boat.

The form the same as the yawls of that coast; the stern-post nearly upright.

External gunwales hollow, forming an oblique section of a parabola with the side of the boat, and projecting nine inches from it on each side: these gunwales are reduced a little in their projection towards their ends, and are first formed by brackets and thin boards, covered at top and bottom with one thickness of good sound cork, and the extremity or apex of the projection having two thicknesses of cork, the better to defend it from any violent blows it may meet with in hard service. The depth of these gunwales, from top to bottom, was 15 inches; and the whole covered with very strong canvas, laid on with strong cement to resist the water, and that will not stick to any thing laid upon it.

A false keel of wrought iron, three inches deep, made of three bars rivetted together, and bolted under

the common keel, which it greatly strengthens, and makes a very essential part of her ballast; being fixed so much below the floor, it has nearly double the power the same weight would have if laid on the floor; and, therefore, much preferable to any other ballast that can be used for sailing-boats.

Thwarts and gang-board as usual; three masts and lugg-sails, and 12

short oars.

In this state, this Boat is much safer than any common boat of the same dimensions, will carry more sail, and bear more weather; but, to make it completely unimmergible, empty casks of about 22 inches diameter were ranged along withinside the gunwales, lashed firmly to the boat, lying even with the tops of the gunwales, and resting upon brackets fastened to the timbers for that purpose; also two such casks in the head, and two in the stern, and all removable in a short time, if desired; there were also some empty casks placed under the gang-board; these would be an addition to the boat's buoyancy if empty, and an increase to her ballast if full.

was

Thus equipped, this boat launched on the 19th of November, in a very squally day. About 20 men were launched in her, most of them pilots or scamen. They ran her immediately from the beach across the Corton sand, in the midst of the breakers, which would have been almost certain destruction to any common sailing-boat, as that would have been filled and sunk immediately. They then turned to the Southward, along the top of the sand to its end; when they tacked and stood to the Northward, pulled up the plugs in her bottom, and let in as much water as would come in that way; the water rose very little above the thwarts, With all this water in it, the boat sailed better than without it. The plugs were now put in again, and water poured in by buckets, until it ran over both gunwales; and in this state, it was the opinion of those on-board, that she would have carried 60 men without sinking, and to upset it is not possible. But it is Mr. Lukin's opinion, that more than 50 men should not be taken in when the boat is full of water, and all her casks empty.

Shall echo through Creation's ample round, Wak'd from this sleep, may I, with joy, survey

The opening splendours of eternal day.”

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. A Collection of Poems, burlesque, dramatic, and miscellaneous, by W. C. OULTON, is in forwardness.

The English Tutor, or Juvenile Assistant; being a new Grammar, in familiar Letters from a Father to his Daughter, by the same Author, will also soon be published.

In a Treatise of Arches, Bridges, Domes, Abutment and Embankment Walls, which may soon be expected from Mr. S. Ware, that ingenious Architect purposes to shew a simple mode of describing geometrically the Catenaria, and to deduce his theory principally from that line. Sections of Trinity Church, Ely; King's College Chapel, Cambridge; Salisbury Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey, will be given in corroboration of the principles advanced in the work.

Outlines of Mineralogy; containing a general History of the principal varieties of Mineral Substances; together with a particular Statement of their Physical Characters, and Chemical Analysis; by J. Kidd, M. D. Professor of Chemistry at Oxford; will shortly be published.

*See vol. LXXVI. pp. 1097-8; vol. LXXVII. pp. 724-5; and LXXVIII. 702. 165. The

165. The Poems of Richard Corbet, late Bishop of Oxford and of Norwich. The Fourth Edition, with considerable Additions. To which are now added, "Oratio in Funus Henrici Principis," from Ashmole's Museum; Biographical Notes, and a Life of the Author, by Octavius Gilchrist, F.S.A. Longman and Co. 1807. HE Works of this learned and ingenious Prelate and Poet, the revision of which Mr. Gilchrist has laudably undertaken, are too well known to the Publick to need any discussion here upon their merits.

THE

The fourth edition of them is now

published in an elegant octavo volume by Mr. Gilchrist; to which he has added a well-written Life of the Author, containing some interesting particulars of his progress as a Scholar; his celebrity as a Wit and a Poet, at the University; and of his promotion, first to the see of Oxford, and afterwards to that of Norwich. In his domestic history Mr. Gilchrist laments that his research has been unavailing in ascertaining with precision the date of the Bishop's marriage, and some facts relative to his descendants.

Of the three former editions, Mr. Gilchrist conceives the second, or that of 1648, to be the most correct; and of that he has retained the Preface. The present volume contains some considerable additions; and, "in collecting the scattered materials of Bishop Corbet's biography," Mr. G. has very creditably to himself, and satisfactorily, we doubt not, to the Publick, "employed some leisure hours.”

166. Letters from England. By Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella. Translated from the Spanish. In Three Volumes, small 8vo. 2d Edit. Longman and Co. 1808. IN considering this work, we shall treat the Author with all the gravity and respect his Spanish character demands; and by no means betray our suspicions that, though he may have, and has probably seen Spain, he is a true Briton in more ways than one; perhaps we might add, in his own words, and he will make the application, "If an Englishman spends the Summer in any of the mountainous provinces, or runs over to Paris for six weeks, he publishes the history of his Travels." But we forget; not a word about Travels in Spain occurs in the above extract. How GENT. MAG. Supplement, 1808.

E

ever, whether Spamard or Englishman, Don Alvarez appears to have studied our national character wtih great success; and, supposing him to be the former, we cannot pay him too many compliments on the facility with which he seems to fathom causes and foresee effects often concealed from the view of native and more common observers. But let him speak for himself, in the Preface of the Translator and the Author's Preface. The first says, The remarks of foreign travellers upon our own country have always been so well received by the publick, that no apology can be necessary for offering to it the present translation." The Translator considers the Author as possessed of more advantages than any of his predecessors, and as having made a good use of them; but, although he extols his own impartiality, and generally with truth, he sometimes betrays a bigoted attachment to the superstitions of his native country: "and we may well suppose that those parts of the work in which this bigotry is most apparent have not been improved by the aid for which he thanks his Father Confessor. The Translator has seldom thought it necessary to offer any comments upon the palpable errors and mis-statements which this spirit has sometimes occasioned. The few notes which he has annexed are distinguished by the letters T." The Reader who doth not acknowledge that this is making a good use of the Spanish mantle must be extremely envious indeed, and very ready to depress the spirit of enterprize. Don Alvarez asserts, that a volume of Travels rarely or never in our days appears in Spain; it is very different, as we have before said, în England; where, "if a work of this kind be announced in France, so great a competition is excited among the London Booksellers, that they import it sheet by sheet, as it comes from the press, and translate and print it piece-meal." We agree with the Don in thinking that most of those Travels are of little value, and that some information may be gleaned from them worth the attention of the curious. Were we to judge from the preceding sentence of the Preface, Seignior Espriella supposes Literature has nearly become a trade with us;

but