Confusion in the concerns of business has brought many men to ruin, who began the world with a respectable capital and fair prospects. This fatal defect renders it almost impossible for a man to ascertain the state of his affairs, and the difficulty makes him averse to attempt it. Mistakes of great importance are, likewise, almost sure to occur; and, when they do occur, cannot, perhaps, be discovered, until too late to remedy the evil. Thus blindly groping in the dark, and rendering that confusion which was at first inconvenient, at length inextricable, ruin ensues, and the wretched subject of it is left to lament in vain his inattention to good order in the conduct of his affairs. Confusion in families is generally owing to imprudence in the heads of them, who either do not possess the abilities necessary for governing their households with propriety, or a resolution to practise what they know to be right. A family is a little commonwealth, under a patriarchal government; and if the father of it be a man of sound judgment and firmness of purpose, it generally displays comfort, good order, and regularity; but if the head be ignorant or imbecile, confusion is generally the result; each is pursuing his or her separate views, without regarding the interests or comforts of the rest; confusion and insubordination ensue, and the house is a scene of disquiet and perpetual jars. In states where wise laws are enacted, and able magistrates dispense justice with firmness and impartiality, peace and tranquillity are generally the result. But where the laws are partial and tyrannical, and are administered under corrupt influence, confusion must inevitably ensue; the most abject slaves that ever submitted to the caprice of a tyrant will, if goaded excessively by wrongs and exactions, turn on their oppressors, and raise tumults and seditions which may make their haughty rulers tremble. Should confusion not produce all the terrible consequences above enumerated, it, at best, retards greatly the completion of an undertaking; renders that which would otherwise be a pleasure, irksome and disgusting,—and a light employment tedious and wearisome. Let us then avoid it as much as possible, if we have any regard for our interest or comfort. HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA. NOVEMBER-(Concluded). On the 28th, in 1499, was beheaded EDWARD PLANTAGENET, earl of Warwick, eldest son of George, duke of Clarence, and Isabel Nevil, nephew to Edward IV. He was born in Warwick castle, and after the death of his father, created earl of Warwick. He was, from his childhood, unfortunate, having, during infancy, been nursed in prison. He was confined a considerable time in the castle of Sheriff Hutton, in the county of York; but immediately after the death of RICHARD III., at the battle of Bosworth, HENRY VII. caused him to be imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he remained till his death. He was executed on Tower Hill, upon the day above named, A.D. 1499. Such was the end of this noble and commiserated prince, EDWARD, earl of Warwick, in whom the male line of the Plantagenets became extinct, after having flourished in splendour from the period of Henry II., being a space of 331 years. On the 29th, 1330, was executed MORTIMER, earl of March. He was impeached and brought before parliament upon the following charges; namely, that he had assumed the government of the kingdom without authority, contrary to the express regulation of parliament; that he had placed spies about EDWARD II., and procured the death of that monarch, by his express orders; and that through his machinations, the late earl of Kent, the king's uncle, lost his life; that he had appropriated to his own use MACHINATION (pro.¡makinashon), a plot, artifice, or wicked contrivance. £20,000, of the king's money; and lived in too familiar a manner demned, as a traitor, to be hanged, and drawn to the common with ISABEL, the queen-mother: for all which Mortimer was congallows at Tyburn, which sentence was put into effect this 29th of November, when his body hung exposed two days and nights. The 30th of this month is dedicated to SAINT ANDREW. He was the son of Jonas, a fisherman of Bethsaida, and younger brother of Peter. He was crucified on a cross in the form of the letter X. He is the tutelary saint of Scotland; and is also the patron saint of tailors and sempstresses.† On the 30th, in 1530, CARDINAL WOLSEY was arrrested by the 9 earl of Northumberland, at the king's command, for high treason; order to take his trial. He at first refused to comply with the and preparations were made for condueting him to London, in requisition, as being a Cardinal; but finding the earl bent on performing his commission, Wolsey complied, and set out, by easy acted, in every sense of the word, as a monarch. In his way, he journeys, for the capital, to appear as a criminal, where he had stayed a fortnight at the earl of Shrewsbury's; where, one day, at dinner, he was taken ill, not without suspicions of having poisoned himself. Being brought from thence, he, with much difficulty, gained Leicester abbey, where the monks, going forth to meet him, the Cardinal said, "Father Abbot, I am come to lay my bones among you;" and immediately ordered his bed to be prepared. As his disorder increased, an officer being placed near, expired to the following effect: "I pray you have me heartily both as his guard and attendant, he spoke to him a little before he recommended to kis majesty, he is a potentate of most royal carriage, and hath a most princely heart; and rather than he will miss, or want any part of his will, he would endanger one half of his kingdom." "I do assure you, I have kneeled before him for three hours together, to persuade him from his will and appetite, but could not prevail. Had I but served GoD, as diligently as I served the king, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs: but this is the just reward that I receive for my indulgent pains and study, not regarding my service to God, but only to my prince." Cardinal Wolsey expired soon after, a prey to all the pangs of remorse; and left a life, which he had all along rendered turbid by ambition, and wretched by mean assiduities. He left two natural children behind him, one of whom, being a priest, was loaded with church preferment. Wolsey is said to have been the son of a butcher, at Ipswich. He studied at Magdalen college, Oxford, where he became acquainted with the learned ERASMUS. In the year 1500, he and obtained several preferments. Having acquired great ascenbecame rector of Lymington, and at length chaplain to Henry VIII., deney over Henry VIII., he necessarily obtained several bishopries, and at length was made Archbishop of York, Lord High Chancellor of England, and Prime Minister, and was for several years the arbiter of Europe. Pope Leo X. created him Cardinal in 1515; and the Emperor Charles V., and the French king, Francis I., loaded him with numerous favours, in order to gain him over to their interests; but, after having first sided with the Emperor, he deserted him to esponse the interest of France. As his the greatest height. He had five hundred servants, among whom revenues were immense, his pride and ostentation were carried to were nine or ten lords, fifteen knights, and forty esquires. He promoted the divorce of Queen Catherine of Arragon; but, at length endeavouring to destroy Queen Anne Boleyne, whom he charged with heresy, she so effectually vindicated herself to King Henry, that he confiscated all his riches, deprived him of all his places and benefices, except the archbishopric of York, and bishopric of Winchester, and ordered him to be sent to the Tower, on which occasion he was arrested for high treason, by the earl of Northumberland, as described above. He died at the age of 60, in the year 1533. On this day, in 1762, a singular, and somewhat awful circumstance, occurred in the county of Surry, near Mitcham. A man, having stolen a sheep, tied its legs together, and put them over his forehead to carry it away; but in getting over a style, by some means the feet had slipped down to his throat; and they were found in the morning, the sheep hanging on one side of the fence, and the man dead on the other. MIRROR OF THE MONTH. DECEMBER. DECEMBER derives its name from the Latin word decem, ten. It was so called from the place it held in the Roman calendar, it having been the tenth month of their year. The Romans began their reckoning in March, and ended with February. Our Saxon + SEMPSTRESS, sometimes written seamstress, a woman who lives!by making linen and sewing. 688 ancestors "called it Winter Monat (Winter Month), until they need them. Firs, pines, the bay, and the holly, with its lustrous The SATURNALIA of the ancients were held in this month. They were instituted before the foundations of Rome, in commemoration of the freedom and equality which prevailed on earth in Indeed the feasts in honour of the golden reign of Saturn.t Saturn have been held from time immemorial; and our customs of Christmas gambols, feastings, and merriment, are relics of that heathen custom which, among many others, remained to be observed among the people, notwithstanding the aseendency of Christianity in Europe. Saturn, or Time, was the inventor of husbandry, or agriculture; hence, he was said to be the son of Calum and Terra; which, as the latter brings forth through the influence of the former, was an appropriate title for Time, which brings every thing to maturity, and also to decay: for this reason HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA. it was that Saturn was accused of devouring his own children. LUCRETIUS makes a jest of this idea, with respect to the Phrygians, who first sowed corn, and probably among whom the The reign of Saturn, by the wisdom and mildness of his government, is said to have produced the "golden age." Might not this designation have arisen from the golden colour of the yellow ears of ripe corn? Mr. Creech, in his translation of Lucretius, describes the Saturnalia as a season of outrageous mirth, bordering on madness: "Here some in arms dance round among the crowd, Look dreadful gay in their own sparkling blood; By dancing quick they make a greater sound, And beat their armour as they prance around, Lest Saturn should observe and eat the boy, And Ops for ever mourn her prattling joy." feasts of the Saturnalia were first celebrated. Our Saxon ancestors kept this season with great hilarity; and throughout many centuries, since the Christian era, it has been constantly celebrated with much gaiety, some splendour, and full of superstition; but now vanishing away before the light of KNOWLEDGE. Those reptiles which hide or sleep during winter, have now retired to their dark recesses; the atmosphere is fraught with dimness and chilliness, being loaded with cloud and vapour; the fields are damp and miry; the trees stripped and wretched in their bareness of the whole race of insects which animate the summer scenes, great numbers have perished, and the remainder are wrapped in profound slumber; and even those animals or birds which still remain about, or dependent on us, are so intent on the mere preservation of life at this cheerless season, that they have lost, or cease to exert, those powers of pleasing, which, at other periods, afford so much delight to the attentive observer of nature, and contribute so greatly to their own enjoyment; but we have yet something to relieve the dreary dulness of the time. Eve greens and winter flowers, like real friends, afford us their cheerful beauties and consolation at a time when we especially DECEMBER 1. ADVENT SUNDAY takes its name from advenire, to come into: or from adventus, an approach. The term advent here more particu larly signifies the coming of Christ; and in the calendar, denotes the time immediately preceding Christmas, or the nativity of Our SAVIOUR. It includes four Sundays, or weeks, which begin either on St. Andrew's day, or on the Sunday before or after it. On this day, in 1648, King CHARLES I. was committed prisoner to Charles I. was born at Dumferling, in Scotland, Hurst castle. the 10th of November, 1600. He succeeded his father, James I., in 1625. He witnessed a very chequered life, and finally he was brought to trial before a high court of justice, was found guilty, and was beheaded before Whitehall, on the 30th of January, 1648, in the 49th year of his age, and the 25th of his reign. On the 2d, in 1135, died HENRY I., during whose reign, wheat, to make bread for the support of one hundred men, during a day, was valued at one shilling, a sheep at four-pence; one hide of land, being as many acres as one team could plough, was taxed at one shilling per annum. Henry was the son of William the ConHe was the youngest brother to William Rufus and queror; he was surnamed Beauclerk on account of his great Robert. He defeated his brother Robert, at Tinchbury, and made learning. him prisoner; after which Henry had the cruelty to cause his eyes to be put out, and confined him twenty years in Cardiffe crown to Maud, or Matilda, his daughter, but was succeeded by castle, in Glamorganshire, He died in 1135, aged 68, leaving his Stephen of Blois, his nephew. On this day, in 1791, died HENRY FLOOD, the celebrated opponent to Henry Grattan. He was learned, witty, and eloquent. He bequeathed his whole estate to the Dublin university, after the decease of his wife.. TO CORRESPONDENTS. We beg to acknowledge J. M.'s letter, and to inform him that the subject of Chemistry will form a portion of our Work; and that it is also our intention to give a complete History of Literature, Science, and the Arts, in which will be shewn their origin, progress, theory, use, and practice; together with a brief Historical View of the Progress of the Human Mind, and a Concise Analysis of the Belles Lettres and the Fine Arts. In our next will be given a full View of the ROYAL EXCHANGE, ·with Description, &c.; together with a curious Engraving, illustrating the CRYSTALLIZATION OF SNOW. LONDON: Printed for the Proprietors, and Published by W. EDWARDS, 12, Ave-Maria-lane, Paternoster-row. Printed by R. Clay,' Bread-street-hill) Cheapside. PINNOCK'S GUIDE TO KNOWLEDGE. THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. DEC. 14, the south, the City arms; THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, situated in Cornhill, was originally built by SIR THOMAS GRESHAM, in the years 1566 and 1567; but being destroyed by the great fire of 1666 was rebuilt in the form it now appears, at a cost of about 80,000l.; and is generally allowed to be the finest structure of its kind in the world. It is 203 feet in length, and 171 in breadth. contains sixty-one perches, which is surrounded with The area in the centre substantial and regular stone buildings, wrought in rustic. In each of the principal fronts, which are north and south, is a piazza, and in the centre are the grand entrances into the area, under a lofty and noble arch. twenty of which are filled with the statues of Edward I., In the inter-columns there are twenty-four niches, The south front, in Cornhill, is the principal, on each side Edward III., Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV., Edward of which are Corinthian demi-columns, supporting a V., Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, Elizacompass pediment, and in the intercolumniation on beth, James I., Charles I., Charles II., James II., William each side in the front, next the street, is a niche, with well and Mary, Ann, George I., George II., and George III., executed statues of CHARLES I. and CHARLES II. in Roman standing erect in their royal robes. habits. Over the aperture on the cornice, between the two pediments, are the king's arms in relievo;§ on each side of this entrance is a range of windows placed between demi-columns and pilasters of the composite order,** above which runs a balustrade.ft From the centre of this front rises a tower, erected in 1821. It consists of a square story, ornamented with colossal griffins supporting the city arms, and with four heads of Queen Elizabeth, during whose reign Sir Thomas Gresham lived. Above the square story is an octagon, containing the clock, over which is raised a circular story, surrounded by a colonnade of the Corinthian order, the whole surmounted by a dome, and terminated by a vane of gilt brass in the shape of a grasshopper, the crest of Sir Thomas Gre sham's arms. The inside of the area is also surrounded with piazzas, forming ambulatories for merchants and others to shelter themselves from the weather, when met there on business. Above the arches of this quadrangular piazza is an entablature, standing round, with a compass pediment in the middle of the cornice of each of the four sides. Under the pediment on the north side are the King's arms; on +PEDIMENT, an ornament used to finish a frontispiece, and placed over gates, doors, windows, &c.; it is sometimes circular, sometimes triangular. INTERCOLUMNIATION, the space between two pillars. RELIEVO, that part of a figure which projects beyond the ground on which it is carved. it rises much, or after the life; and basso, where it rises but It is distinguished into alto, where little. || DEMI, half; one part of a thing which is divided equally in two. PILASTER, a square pillar, sometimes insulated, or set within a wall, and only shewing a fourth part of its thickness. ** COMPOSITE, the last of the five orders of columns, so called because its capital is framed from those of different orders, and is termed likewise the Italian or Roman Order. ++ BALUSTRADE, an assemblage of one or more rows of balusters, high enough to rest the elbow on, fixed on a terrace, bridge, or building, by way of security, or for separating one part from another. A baluster is a small column, or pilaster, from 1 inch to 4 inches square or diameter, sometimes adorned with mouldings of no certain form, and placed with rails on stairs, and in the fronts of galleries in churches. CORINTHIAN ORDER, SO called from the city of Corinth, in Greece; one of the five orders, and is the most noble, rich, and delicate of them all. ings with them, meet every day; but the hours in which In this area merchants, and those who have any dealbusiness is chiefly transacted are between three and halfpast four o'clock. south fronts are two spacious staircases, with iron rails; past four o'clock. Within the piazzas of the north and these lead into a kind of gallery that extends round the four sides of the building, and where Lloyd's Coffee House, the Royal Exchange Assurance Office, the Lord Mayor's Court, and other offices are kept. On the north side of the Royal Exchange is the Bank of England, near which, in Bartholomew Lane, is the Mart. The Bank was established by act of parliament, in 1693, and is under the management of a governor, deputy governor, and twenty-four directors, OF THE TERM EXCHANGE. In agreement, whereby one thing is given for another. EXCHANGE, in a general sense, signifies a contract or tween one place and another by means of "Bills of commerce, it means the trade of money carried on beExchange.". The things necessary to be considered in exchange are, their imaginary monies; 3, the par of one exchange. 1, the real monies of each country or trading town; 2, coined by the authority of a state, and current at a certain 1. By real money is meant a certain quantity of metal, value by virtue of that authority. minations used to express sums which have no real spécies, 2. By imaginary money we are to understand all denoor coins, of the value of any of these denominations. ̧ 1. THE REAL MONIES OF ENGLAND. |