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SCIENCE AND USEFUL DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS.

a number of light balls, and instead of supporting them by a thread, as in the former case, we may so far overcome the force of gravity by the attractive energy of the electric fluid, as to raise them continually several inches from the prime

conductor.

To effect this, I shall connect a glass tube with the machine, and, on turning the cylinder, the balls will be electrified, and, possessing a similar electricity with the prime conductor, of course repelled. Upon reaching the upper plate, which is dissimilarly electrified, they deposit their superabundant quantity, and then return to the lower plate for a fresh supply. The same species of attraction and repulsion going on, as long as the prime conductor continues overcharged.

Bells may also be rung by the electric attraction acting upon small balls, or clappers.

3

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Mr. Partington then concluded his remarks by observing, that these apparently trifling phenomena are, as we shall presently find, of considerable importance in foretelling the amount of danger to be apprehended from the passage of lightning during a thunder-storm.

SCIENCE AND USEFUL DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS.

IMPROVED GUN-LOCK.

IN a former number of our work we took occasion to call the reader's attention to a percussion lock, which possesses considerable advantages over that in or dinary use, and we have now to describe an ingenious apparatus for nearly similar purposes, by Mr. Cook of Birmingham,

a

In the above diagram is represented a section of the improved gun-lock, inserted in a walking-stick; a, is the barrel of the gun, at the end of which is the breech, b, formed upon what is called the patent breech principle; and immediately behind it is the nipple, or touch-hole, to receive the copper cap, or other detonating contrivance; the end of the plunger, or hammer, is projected forward by the discharge of a helical spring, coiled round the rod of the plunger. This rod slides through a square aperture in the cylindrical piece, f, and at the end of the rod is the bridle, g, with a cross or button at its extremity. The button is passed into a transverse slot, or hole, in the plate of the buckhorn handle, h, which handle rises up on the hinge joint, i.',

The gun is to be loaded in the usual way, but, instead of a ramrod, a brass plug, carried in the pocket of the sports man, is to be made use of, for the purpose of boring the paper, or wadding, upon the charge. For priming the gun, the stick unscrews at the joint, b, when the copper cap, or other detonating contrivance, is put upon the nipple, or touch-hole, and the parts screwed together again. In cocking, the end of the hooked handle is to be raised upon its joint, which, by means of the button passed through the slot, draws

the sliding plunger and spring back, and they are held in that position by the lever c, which falls into a notch in the plunger rod. When the gun has been thus cocked, the handle is pressed down again to its former position, and it may be carried as an ordinary walking-stick. To discharge the gun, it is to be brought up to the shoulder, as usual, and aim taken along the side of the barrel, the trigger being then pulled by the finger, the lever liberates the sliding rod, and the helical spring carries it forward with great force, causing the plunger, or hammer, to strike against the end of the touch-hole, or nipple, and by the blow to explode the detonating composition, which sets fire to the gunpowder within.

The lock, with all the mechanism for discharging the gun, being placed within the diameter of the barrel, its appearance is simply that of an ordinary cane, with a buck-horn head, and a plug ferrule in the bottom or muzzle. In the heaviest rain no water can find its way to the priming, and the copper cap or other detonating contrivance being enclosed, its particles cannot fly about when discharged; and the simplicity of the contrivance renders

* Vide p. 25.

it extremely improbable that the fock should at any time get out of order when using.

denied them those advantages for the culs tivation of science enjoyed by other indi viduals. The consequence is they have remained in some degree stationary, and an inferior and insulated caste; they have

SPECULUM CÆLORUM FOR THE not contributed to, nor shared in, the

ENSUING WEEK:

Conjunctions. On the 17th, at a quarter past one in the afternoon, the moon and Mercury will be in conjunction; on the morning of the 18th, at half past four, the moon and Mars; at half past six the same morning, the moon and Venus; and at half past six in the evening, the moon and Saturn. The four first conjunctions will be made in Taurus, and the fifth in 9 degrees and 26 minutes of Gemini. The inferior conjunction of the sun and Venus will take place in the afternoon of the 19th, at a quarter past four, in 28 degrees 19 minutes of Taurus. The conjunction of the two luminaries of day and night, (or what is popularly called the new moon,) will be on the morning of the 18th, at fiftytwo minutes before one, in 26 degrees 42 minutes of Taurus, the latitude of the moon's centre being 2 degrees 10 minutes

north.

Geocentric places of the Planets. The Georgium Sidus is retrograde in 19 degrees of Capricorn, at the rate of about a minute per diem; Saturn is direct in Gemini at the rate of about 7 minutes and 40 se conds per diem. Jupiter is direct in Leo, at the rate of 8 minutes per diem; Mars is direct, being on the noon of the 15th in 37 degrees 15 minutes of Taurus, and on the noon of the 21st in 1 degree 29 minutes of Gemini. Venus is retrograde; being on the noon of the 15th in 53 minutes of Gemini, and on the noon of the 21st in 27 degrees 12 minutes of Taurus. Mercury is retrograde in Taurus.

Rising and Setting of the Planets. The Georgium Sidus will be above the horizon almost the whole night; Saturn sets towards 9 in the evening; Jupiter between 12 and 1 in the morning; Mars very soon after 8 at night. Venus and Mercury, being near the sun, will be in visible,

Review and Analysis.

MEMOIRS OF MOSES MENDELSOHN, THE

JEWISH PHILOSOPHER. BY M. SAMUELS. 8vo. pp. 171. LONGMAN AND Co. THE Jews have not been remarkably prolific in learned men. For this intellectual sterility two reasons may be assigned first, the peculiar and exclusive character of their own institutions; secondly, the laws and opinions of most countries have

general improvement of the age. With the exception of Spinoza and Manasseh Ben Israel, the friend of Grotius, and favourite of Oliver Cromwell, there have been no Jews who have attained intel lectual celebrity since the days of Maimonides in the twelfth century. Those Israelites who have devoted themselves to study, have chiefly directed their inquiries to scriptural subjects, to theological and Talmudic disquisitions; and, as they wrote exclusively in Hebrew, and that mostly rabbinical, their writings, however excellent in their kind, did not circulate farther than the limited circle for which they were intended, to which only they could be intelligible and of practical utility.

The subject of these memoirs is an exception to the general character of the Jewish literati. Moses Mendelsohn was a fluent and elegant writer of his native tongue, and in metaphysical acuteness, and enlarged and liberal views, he was scarcely inferior to the English Locke. But this forms the least interesting portion of his history. Born of humble and indigent parents, by industry and perseverance he attained, not only opulence and social consideration, but a distinguished reputa tion for science and literary acquirement.

Mendelsohn was born, in 1729, at Dessau, in Germany, where his father was a transcriber of the Pentateuch, and kept a Hebrew day-school; both humble and precarious professions, and scarcely ade quate to the support of their followers. According to the custom of educating Jew-boys, young Mendelsohn was sent to the public seminary, where children were taught to repeat mechanically the Mishna and Gemarra, comprising various abstruse points of civil and ecclesiastical law, far above their comprehension. To pursue these unprofitable studies, when he was only seven years of age, and naturally of a delicate constitution, his father would make him rise at three or four o'clock on winter mornings, and, after giving him a cup of tea, would carry him wrapped in a delsohn, however, was not like other roquelaure to the Jewish seminary, Menchildren; already at that tender age the spirit of inquiry stirred within him, and he apprehended he was not pursuing the proper course to arrive at solid knowledge. He applied himself to study the Hebrew language grammatically, was soon able to write it with purity and elegance, and

MEMOIRS OF MOSES MENDELSOHN.

before his tenth year composed indifferent Hebrew verses. Intense study impaired his health, and brought on a nervous dis order, the neglect of which produced deformity of the spine, and made him a valetudinarian the remainder of his life. At the age of fourteen, his tutor, Rabbi Frankel, leaving Dessau, Mendelsohn followed him to Berlin, where he arrived without money sufficient to provide a single meal. Mr. Bamberg, a friend to knowledge, sympathizing in his destitute condition, gave him an attic in his house, and two days' board weekly, while he con tinued the study of the Talmud under his former teacher, and that of philosophy in his sequestered chamber. His funds were so limited, that he used afterwards to relate among his friends, that when he purchased a loaf, he would notch it according to the state of his pocket into so many meals, never eating according to his appe tite but his finances. Amid these privations he taught himself Latin, and in structed a friend in it, Israel Moses, who in return taught him geometry: he next made himself acquainted with the French and English languages.

A more cheering prospect opened to Mendelsohn; Mr. Bernard, an opulent man of the Jewish persuasion, became in terested in his favour, admitted him into his house, and intrusted him with the education of his children. He had now the means of pursuing comfortably his studies in every department of science: he applied himself zealously to mathematies; his knowledge of algebra, fluxions, and astronomy were considerable, and his acquaintance with natural history was far above mediocrity. He also wrote a beautiful and masterly hand, and possessed peculiar dexterity in mercantile accounts. These caligraphic and arith metic acquirements suggested to Mr. Ber nard that Mendelsohn might be placed in a more profitable sphere than a schoolroom. Accordingly he engaged him first as clerk; then raised him to cashier; he next made him manager of his extensive silk manufactory, and finally he became partner.

Such is a brief outline of the career of Mendelsohn: by genius, integrity, and perseverance, he surmounted all the disadvantages of humble birth, feeble constitution, religious prejudices, and limited means of education. His love of literature and philosophy continued through life unabated. Disgusted with the vain and unprofitable inquiries of the rabbins, he endeavoured to warn the Jewish youth of the defects of their system, and direct them to more useful and rational studies. For this salutary purpose he commenced, with

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a literary friend, a Hebrew periodical, containing inquiries in natural history, and essays on the beauties of creation, &c.

One of the most important eras in the life of Mendelsohn was his acquaintance with Lessing, one of the most learned and enlightened men in Germany. Mendelsohn admired Lessing for his inflexible consistency and transcendant abilities, and in return he was no less esteemed for his excellent heart, and highly cultivated understanding.

"Lessing once brought to Mendelsohn a work written by a celebrated character, to hear his opinion on it. Having given it a reading, he told his friend, that he deemed himself a match for the author, and would refute him. Nothing could be more welcome to Lessing, and he strongly encouraged the idea, Accordingly Mendelsohn sat down and wrote his 'Philosophical Dialogues,' on the most abstruse subjects, in which he strictly redeemed his pledge of confuting the author, though, for quietness' sake, he forbore mentioning his name, and carried the manuscript to Lessing for examination. When I am at leisure,' said Lessing, I will peruse it.' After a convenient interval, he ree peated his visit, when Lessing kept up a miscellaneous conversation, without once mentioning the manuscript in question; and the other being too bashful to put him in mind of it, he was obliged to depart, no better informed than when he came, which was also the case at several subsequent meetings. At last, however, he mustered sufficient resolution to inquire after it, and still Lessing withheld his opinion. Want of leisure was pleaded as before, but now he would certainly read it; Mr. Mendelsohn might, in the mean time, take yonder small volume home with him, and let him know his thoughts on it. On opening it, Mendelsohn was not a little surprised to behold his own

Dialogues' in print. Put it into your pocket,' said Lessing, goodnaturedly, and this mammon along with it. It is what I got for the copy-right; it will be of service to you.'

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Mendelsohn became one of the most distinguished writers in Germany; in controversy he was almost without a rival, and besides composing in his native tongue with singular fluency and correctness, he imparted to it a grace and energy it did not before possess. Lavater, an amiable, but rather over-zealous, protestant minister of Zurich, challenged him to a contest on the truths of Christianity. In an admirable letter Mendelsohn declined the invitation of Lavater he explained the relative positions of Judaism and Christianity, and showed that the laws of the Jews are

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obligatory on themselves alone, and so remote is the spirit of their religion from proselytism, that they endeavour to dissuade by forcible remonstrance every attempt to enter their communion. The following extract from the letter of Mendelsohn will explain these facts, and illustrate the liberal and philanthropic feelings of the Jewish philosopher.

"Whoever is not born conformable to our laws, has no occasion to live according to them. We alone consider ourselves bound to acknowledge their authority; and this can give no offence to our neighbours. Let our notions be held ever so absurd, still there is no need to cavil about them, and others are certainly at liberty to question the validity of laws, to which they are, by our own admission, not amenable; but whether they are acting manly, socially, and charitably, in ridiculing those laws, must be left to their own consciences. So long as we do not tamper with their opinions, wrangling serves no purpose whatsoever.

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Suppose there were amongst my contemporaries a Confucius or a Solon, I could, consistently with my religious principles, love and admire the great man, but I should never hit on the extravagant idea of converting a Confucius or a Solon. What should I convert him for? As he does not belong to the congregation of Jacob, my religious laws were not legislated for him; and on doctrines we should soon come to an understanding. Do I think there is a chance of his being saved?-I certainly believe, that he, who leads mankind on to virtue in this world, cannot be damned in the next. And I need not now stand in awe of any reverend college, that would call me to account for this opinion, as the Sarbonne did honest Marmontel.

"I am so fortunate, as to count amongst my friends many a worthy man, who is not of my faith. We love each other sin cerely, notwithstanding we presume, or take for granted, that, in matters of belief, we differ widely in opinion. I enjoy the delight of their society, which both improves and solaces me. Never yet has my heart whispered, Alas! for this excellent man's soul-He who believes that no salvation is to be found out of the pale of his own church, must often feel such sighs rise in his bosom."

It was an invariable rule with Mendelsohn, never to enter into a discussion on any particular matter without first coming to a perfect understanding on the funda mental principles; for he maintained truly enough-that the majority of disputes arise from definitions misunderstood. The following anecdote of this amiable man is amusing.

"The great Frederic once sent for him to come to Potzdam. It happened to be Saturday, on which days Jews are not allowed to ride on horseback or in coaches. Mendelsohn therefore entered the royal residence on foot. The officer on duty, a sprig of nobility, who, of course, had never read either Phædon,' or the Philosophical Letters, being informed that he was a Jew, called Mendelsohn, asked, amidst a volley of swearing, and guard-room wit, what could have procured him the honour of being called to the king? The terrified philosopher replied, with the true causticity of Diogenes,' I am a slight of hand player. Oh!' says the lieutenant, that's another affair,' and suffered the juggler Mendelsohn to pass, when he would have examined - who knows how long?-the philosopher Mendelsohn, and perhaps have arrested him in the guard-room; since it is well known that more jugglers than philosophers pass through palace gates."

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We must now conclude our account of this interesting individual. The fortune of Mendelsohn enabled him to live genteelly, keep a hospitable table, and support both his own and his wife's poor relations with a most liberal hand. His death is supposed to have been accelerated by his zeal to vindicate the reputation of his friend Lessing, who was accused of Spinozism: he wrote a pamphlet in answer to the imputations of one Jacobi, the mental and physical exertions in which were too much for his feeble frame. He died the 4th of January, 1786, aged fiftyseven years and four months.

"When his death became known, the whole city of Berlin was a scene of unfeigned' sorrow. The citizens of all denominations looked upon the event as a national calamity. The nobility, the court sent letters of condolence to the widow; professor Rammler, amongst several other celebrated poets, wrote a beautiful elegy on his death, in alternate stanzas by the Jewish and Christian nations, represented by two mourning females, Sulamith and Eusebia: and the learned of all parts of Europe, where his writings were known, paid him a tribute of their respect by joining the general lamentation.

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"Mendelsohn was of a short stature, very thin, and deformed in the back. His complexion was very dark and sallow hair black and curly; nose rather large and aquiline. A gentle smile constantly played round his mouth, which was always a little open. Nothing could exceed the fire of his eyes; and there was so much kindness, modesty, and benevolence portrayed on his countenance, that he won every heart at first sight. His vaulted

THE DRAMA,

brow, and the 'general cast of his features, bespoke a vast intellect and noble heart

1. "He was very fond of company, and never courted solitude, except from four or five o'clock in the morning, till about eight or nine, when he adjourned to his countinghouse, and remained there till noon. After dinner, he generally attended to business again, till about four in the afternoon. About this hour, his friends and pupils used to meet at his house, and, on his return, he usually found a numerous assembly in his room, who anxiously awaited his appearance. There were theologians, literati, philosophers, public functionaries, merchants, natives, foreigners, old and young, in promiscuous groups, with whom he conversed till eight o'clock on various topics.

"He possessed, in an eminent degree, the talent of conversing with each person on his individual pursuits; and that, with such' judgment and technicality, as if the pursuit had been peculiarly his own. He would never maintain any thing positively, but always made his assertions appear like a problem, beginning his remarks, for instance, with the words, I should think,' It may be said,' 'What is your opinion?' Suppose we say,' &c. In his discourses, indeed, we never lose sight of his illustrious model, Socrates."

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The writings of Mendelsohn, a list of which is prefixed to this interesting volume, were chiefly of a moral and religious character. On a hust in professor Herz's study is the following tribute to his memory:

"Moses Mendelsohn,
The greatest sage since Socrates,
His own nation's glory,
Any nation's ornament,

The confidant

Of Lessing and of Truth,
Died,

As he lived,
Serene and wise."

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

THE Successful career of this summer theatre, so far as it has proceeded, is the best proof of its well-appointed company, and the judgment exercised in the choice of its pieces. The new comedy, (in two acts,) lately produced here, under the title of Tribulation, or the Unwelcome Visitors, from the pen of MR. POOLE, author of the pleasant farce of Simpson and Co., and other agreeable bagatelles, is an ingenious little drama, full of bustle,

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and characterised by much cleverness of incident, and whimsicality of effect. Indeed, we do not recollect any scenic com position that, in the same circumscribed limits, contains so many excellent equi voques, so much comic and ludicrous situation, and such an uninterrupted strain of mirth and spirit.

Of the plot, which of course is short and simple, it is sufficient to say that it principally turns upon the following points:- -That of a husband who has quitted business, though not his former gay habits; objecting, amidst the prose cution of his own pleasurable pursuits, to his wife being visited by a lady, the purity of whose character he suspects. This lady, formerly Mrs. Mortimer, but now Mrs. Dashmore, prevailing on Mrs. Dorrington to make one at her approaching rout, the latter goes there by stealth, and incognito; while her husband introduced by a friend of Mrs. Dashmore, under the name of Jenkins, they meet, but take no notice of each other. Dorrington amuses himself as freely as if his wife were not present; and she, after being persecuted by the obtrusive attentions of Sir George Faddle, escapes under the care of Forrester, a friend of her husband. These circumstances, and a game of cross purposes, which lead to the laughable exposure of Sir George's flippant gallantry, and the contrition of Dorrington for the idle propensities in which he has so freely indulged, brings the piece to an agreeable and satisfactory close.

Of the excellence of the performers in this little sketch of modern manners, we cannot speak too highly. Each seems to feel an interest in its success, and does not fail to give to every jest and witticism its full point. DowTON, as the frail husband, is as lavish as usual with his humorous powers. His embarrassment at the discovery of some of his peccadilloes is skilfully manifested. MRS. GLOVER enters with so much spirit into the character of the gay and dashing woman of ton, as to be evidently quite at home in her task. VINING's Sir George Faddle was just as idle, as vapid, and as fluttering as he should be; while there cannot be a Bond-street lounger in the house but may imagine himself the original of the picture at which he himself is laughing. MRS. DAVISON personates the chaste and modest wife with an air of gentility and refinement that couples well with the ease and taste displayed in Forrester, by RAYMOND, who seems to improve every time we see him.

A variety of favourite pieces have been acted at this, theatre in a style which does every credit to the general abilities of

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