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settled at the Union, survived; and all graced the capital, unconscious of the economical scythe which has since mowed it down. All our nobility had not then fled. A few had sense not to feel degraded by being happy at home. The old town was not quite deserted. Many of our principal people still dignified its picturesque recesses and historical mansions, and were dignified by them. The closing of the continent sent many excellent English families and youth among us, for education and for pleasure. The war brightened us with uniforms, and strangers, and shows.

operation of the commercial principle which tempts all superiority to try its fortune in the greatest accessible market, is perhaps irresistible; but anything is surely to be lamented which annihilates local intellect.

According to the modern rate of travelling, the capitals of Scotland and of England were then about 2400 miles asunder. Edinburgh was still more distant in its style and habits. It had its own independent tastes, and ideas, and pursuits. Enough of the generation that was retiring survived to cast an antiquarian air over the city; and the generation that was advancing was still a Scotch production. Its character may be estimated by the names I have mentioned; and by the fact that the genius of Scott and of Jeffrey had made it the seat at once of the most popular poetry and the most brilliant criticism that then existed. This city has advantages-including its being the capital of Scotland, its old reputation, and its external beauties-which have enabled it, in a certain degree, to resist the centralizing tendency, and have hitherto always supplied it with a succession of eminent men. But now that London is at our door, how precarious is our hold of them, and how many have we lost!

THE NAUTICAL ALMANAC FOR THE YEAR

1855.

Over all this there was diffused the influence of a greater number of persons attached to literature and science, some as their calling and some for pleasure, than could be found, in proportion to the population, in any other city in the empire. Within a few years, including the period I am speaking of, the college contained Principal Robertson, Joseph Black, his successor Hope, the Second Munro, James Gregory, John Robison, John Playfair, and Dugald Stewart; none of them confined monastically to their books, but all-except Robison, who was in bad health partaking of enjoyment. Episcopacy gave us the Rev. Archibald Alison; and in Blair, Henry, John Home, Sir Harry Moncrieff, and others, Presbytery made an excellent contribution, the more to be admired that it came from a church which eschews rank and boasts of poverty. The law-to which Edinburgh has always been so largely indebted-sent its copious supplies; who, THOUGH nearly two years have to clapse before the instead of disturbing good company by professional tradesman will enter the above date in his books, and matter-an offence with which the lawyers of we, or our survivors, inscribe our correspondence with every place are charged-were remarkably free it, yet in the work named at the head of this paperfrom this vulgarity; and being trained to take issued from the press months ago-we have a synopsis difference of opinion easily, and to conduct discus- of the important phenomena of the solar and stellar sions with forbearance, were, without undue obtru- universe for the year in question, beginning with the sion, the most cheerful people that were to be met first hour of January, 1855, and ending with that with. Lords Monboddo, Hailes, Glenlee, Meadow- which will usher in the January of 1856. It is surely bank, and Woodhouselee, all literary judges, and a wonderful effort of the human mind, and a fine illusRobert Blair, Henry Erskine, and Henry Mac- tration of the stability of those divine laws which rekenzie, senior, were at the earlier end of this file; gulate the plan of our system, and the multitudinous Scott and Jeffrey at the later; but including a orbs that glimmer out of the far-off depths of space, variety of valuable persons between these extremi- thus to have in hand an index to the celestial events ties. Sir William Forbes, Sir James Hall, and of an epoch which will not be closed till the earth has reMr. Clerk, of Eldin, represented a class of country volved upwards of a thousand times upon its axis, and has gentlemen cultivating learning on its own account. the central luminary; a register of right ascensions, more than twice accomplished its mighty course around And there were several who, like the founder of declinations, eclipses, occultations, transits and transits the Huttonian theory, selected this city for their of shadows, with lunar distances, calculated in their residence solely from the consideration in which occurrence to the minutest fractions of time; a detail science and letters were here held, and the facili- of the positions of sun, moon, and planets, satellites ties, or rather the temptations, presented for their and stars, as they will be at swiftly recurring intervals prosecution. Philosophy had become indigenous of the annual cycle referred to, nicely appreciated to the place, and all classes, even in their gayest fractions of a second of space. Thus, a line of figures hours, were proud of the presence of its cultivators. in this production reduced to writing is to the effect, Thus learning was improved by society, and society that dating three years forward from last Christmashy learning. And, unless when party spirit inter-eve, e Geminorum, a star of the sixth magnitude in fered, which at one time, however, it did frequently the constellation of the Twins, will be occulted or hid and bitterly, perfect harmony, and indeed lively by the body of the moon to the watcher at Greenwich, Cordiality, prevailed.

The

And all this was still a Scotch scene. whole country had not begun to be absorbed in the ocean of London. There were still little great places-places with attractions quite sufficient to retain men of talent or learning in their comfortable and respectable provincial positions; and which were dignified by the tastes and institutions which learning and talent naturally rear.

The

the exact times of disappearance and reappearance for that place being registered, the whole phenomenon transpiring in fifty-five minutes, while the inhabitants are enjoying their midnight slumbers. Treating another line in the same way, the information

runs as follows, that on June 21, 1855, at nine o'clock P.M. for Greenwich, the three first class stars, Regulus, Spica Virginis, and Antares, will be at certain speci fied angular distances from the apparent centre of the moon, expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of

space, Regulus being westward, Spica and Antares, the astronomer royal, Mr. Bliss, in 1765, his attaineastward of the luminary. We are told also, that from the 3rd of January to the 24th of February, 1855, the satellites of Jupiter will not be visible, owing to the planet being too near to the sun. Some general idea may be formed from these statements of the extraordinary nature of the results combined in the pages before us; and before concluding, we shall hope to render their practical purpose sufficiently intelligible.

The volume to which we are referring, a bulky octavo of six hundred and fifty pages, is founded upon the work performed at the Greenwich Observatory, and published by order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, under the superintendence of Lieutenant Stratford, of the Nautical Almanac Office, 3, Verulam-buildings, Gray's-inn-lane. It is designed to enable the mariner to find the place of his ship at sea, as well as to assist the practical astronomer in the daily routine of his observatory; and being a national undertaking, the publication is exempted from the heavy stamp duty imposed upon other almanacs. It has the advantage of now appearing at half the former price of five shillings, and considering the immense cost of simply printing such an enormous mass of figures and symbols, it is by far the cheapest production of the press with which we are acquainted. For the convenience of the voyager going on a long cruize from his native shore, and of our countrymen in general at distant stations, the work is always published three years in advance. Thus the almanac for the present year appeared in 1850, and we were supplied last March with the one for 1855. Hence the expedition under Sir Edward Belcher, recently sent to the polar seas to search for Sir John Franklin, has not only gone out victualled for an absence of some years, but provided with celestial guide books for 1852, 1853, 1854, and 1855, offering important aids for the determination of latitude and longitude in the icy ocean. We propose to give some account of the history and contents of this national work.

Its commencement, with the high character it at once acquired for scientific merit and practical utility, is due to the zeal and talents of Dr. Nevil Maskelyne, who projected it soon after the middle of the last century. This eminent man (while a student at the age of sixteen) had his attention strongly directed to astronomy by the great solar eclipse of 1748, and it is somewhat remarkable that the same event had the like effect upon the cqually celebrated Lalande, who was then also pursuing his collegiate course. Both were born in the same year; both survived the century of their birth; and while Lalande edited the Connoissance des Tems, an old-established French nautical almanac, still published under the superintendence of the Bureau des Longitudes at Paris, Maskelyne originated a similar manual for his own country, but of a far more valuable kind than its foreign contemporary, as then produced. In 1761, he sailed to St. Helena to observe the transit of Venus, and ascertain, if possible, the parallax of the fixed stars, proceeding in 1764 to Barbadoes to test the merits of IIarrison's marine chronometer. The result of this voyage brought to the ingenious constructor of the instrument the parliamentary reward of twenty thousand pounds, offered for the best improvement of the method for finding the longitude at sea. At the same time, full trial was made of Irwin's marine chair, vainly designed to mitigate the effect of a ship's oscillation, and obviate the difficulty of observing eclipses of Jupiter's satellites on the ocean, an object which still remains a desideratum. These voyages had an important influence upon Maskelyne's future labours. On the death of

ments and devotion to science procured for him the appointment to the important post; and having ample knowledge, from his maritime experience, of the wants of nautical astronomy, he speedily laid before the Board of Longitude the plan of the Nautical Almanac, to be compiled with the greatest care, and have its accuracy guaranteed by competent authority. The idea being adopted, the publication commenced in 1767, its author remarking in the preface: "The Commissioners of Longitude, in pursuance of powers vested in them by a late act of parliament, present the public with the Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the year 1767, to be continued annually; a work which must greatly contribute to the improvement of astronomy, geography, and navigation." The anticipation has been amply verified.

From this period, through an interval of forty-three years, Maskelyne devoted unceasing attention to the work, availing himself of every discovery or correction, the accuracy of which could be depended upon. It was held in the highest repute by foreign authorities, and was superior to any kindred production in the last century, the French Connoissance des Tems borrowing from the English almanac its lunar distances. Maskelyne is also known as the first who gave a catalogue of what are styled "standard stars," or a number of stars observed with such frequency and precision, that their places serve as standard points of the heavens, also called "nautical stars" from their service to navigation. He was the first likewise to suggest that meteors or shooting stars, visible over extensive regions of the earth's surface, might be used as natural signals by distant observers to ascertain the difference of longitude between their stations. In 1774, he conducted an experiment to measure the attraction of the mountain of Schiehallion, in Perthshire, by observing its effects upon the plumb line, with a view to determine the mean density of the earth. The same experiment had previously been tried by Bougier and La Condamine, upon Chimboraço in Peru; and it was subsequently followed up by Baron Zach, in relation to Mont Mimet, in the neighbourhood of Marseilles. The last observation at Greenwich registered under the superintendence of Maskelyne, is dated December 31, 1810. He died February 9, 1811; and on the 4th of January, 1813, Delambre delivered an eloquent éloge on the English Astronomer before the Institute of France. As this was at a period when war was wildly raging between the two countries, it forms a pleasant record of the amenities of science being preserved from the interruption which political hostility offers to the general ties of nations.

More recently, the Nautical Almanac lost credit, not keeping up with the advance of science, and failing to meet the requirements of the age. It lagged behind the Astronomisches Jahrbach of Berlin, the Effemeridi Astronomiche of Milan, and other works of the kind supplied on the continent. At length the government gave effect to the recommendations of the Astronomical Society, and the publication appeared in 1834 in a manner worthy of the national character, reflecting the improvements made in practical astronomy, and adapted to supply the wants of the most educated class of seamen.

It is difficult to convey a popularly intelligible idea of the contents of a volume, abounding with algebraic signs and astronomical symbols, as unmeaning to the uninitiated as the hieroglyphics of Egypt; and with figures which may literally be reckoned by the thousand in a single page. Still, we must try our hand, but shall overlook a vast amount of matter which can only be appreciated by accomplished science, and confine attention to the more accessible

and generally interesting points. The first part contains the elements of the sun and moon for the year. It extends to 240 pages, twenty being devoted to each month. These latter are discriminated by the Roman numerals I to XX. In several of the tables supplied in this department, as in those which give the sun's right ascension and declination, the moon's longitude and latitude, the months have an odd overgrown appearance at their close, in no slight degree puzzling to novices. They do not seem to be those exactly to which we are accustomed. Thus we bave March 32, April 31, May 32, June 31, and the rest are also lengthened by a single day. Now, though perfectly familiar with blustering March, showery April, flowery May, and glowing June, our readers will be oblivious respecting this increased progeny of days, never having written a letter or made out a bill bearing any of these dates, or those of September 31, October 32, November 31, and December 32. Yet these are days with which they are substantially though not literally acquainted, unless conversant with the Nautical Almanac. Nor is there any mystery in the case. The explanation is, that for convenience of interpolation, the quantities inserted opposite April 1 are also given twenty pages before as those for March 32, and so on of the rest.

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From this division of the work, the tables of lunar distances may be selected for notice, or the distances of the moon, at certain periods, from certain other celestial bodies as standard objects. These bodies include the following stars :

1. a Arietis the principal star in Aries, but of the second grade.

2. Aldebaran, of the first magnitude, in the rich asterism of Taurus, easily distinguished by its red colour.

3. Pollux, of the second magnitude, in Gemini, readily known by its companionship with the brighter Castor.

4. Regulus, a first-class star in the breast of Leo, hence often called Cor Leonis, the Lion's heart.

5. Spica Virginis, a first-class star in Virgo, remarkably conspicuous from being insulated in a dark surrounding field, only a single minute neighbour being visible.

6. a Aquila, generally known as Altair, of the first magni

tude.

17. a Pegasi, a second-class star, usually termed Markab. 8. Antares, of the first magnitude, in Scorpio, distinguished by its flery red colour.

9. Fomalhaut, a first-class star, in Piscis Australis.

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These are eminently "nautical stars," so called from the use made of them to be speedily explained. The ancients assigned an imaginary nautical distinction to the Gemini, as propitious to mariners. Hence we are told the "sign" of the Alexandrian vessel which conveyed Paul to Italy was "Castor and Pollux." Apart from superstition, the latter has now the honour of being rendered really serviceable to the sailor, along with his eight stellar companions enumerated above. in which this is accomplished is not difficult to understand. While all the stars to the naked eye hold constantly the same relative position to each other, the observation of two nights, or of a few hours on a single night, will convince the merest tyro that the moon's position with respect to them is constantly changing. The particular stars named, being conveniently situated with reference to her path, are therefore used for taking lunar distances, in order to enable mariners to deduce their longitude. The problem of the longitude of a station, or its distance east or west of another fixed station, is at once solved, if the difference of time between the two stations can be ascertained, four minutes of time being equal to one degree of space, an hour to fifteen degrees, and so on; earlier time denoting a westward, and later time an eastward position. Now the distances of the centre of the moon from some of the nine conspicuous stars

referred to, near the ecliptic-all being taken in hand in turn-are computed with the utmost care for certain regularly recurring periods, namely, for every three hours through the year, and tabulated in the Nautical Almanac with the times at Greenwich when they will take place. Hence, when out on the broad ocean, if the navigator wishes to know his longitude or distance from the meridian of Greenwich, he marks when such a lunar distance-set down in the almanac for such a day and hour-occurs, as seen from his own vessel, and deduces thereby his whereabouts on the watery waste. If, for example, after making the necessary corrections for refraction, parallax, and other circumstances, it is found to take place four hours earlier than the Greenwich time, his place of observation is 60° west, or if four hours later, it is 60° east. The principles of the problem are here stated, omitting the details. Thus, to borrow from the true and fine representation of a living astronomer, the visible surface of the celestial vault may be compared to a vast dial-plate; the stars are as fixed marks distributed upon it; the moon is a hand in motion among them, leaving one and approaching another on her monthly circuit; the whole, with the almanac, answering the purpose of a clock in the heavens, marking Greenwich time to our sailors in every part of the globe, and enabling the skilled commander to estimate the position of his ship, though no land-mark may have been seen for weeks, and no object have been visible but the billowy deep, the stormy petrel, and the changeful sky.

The second conspicuous portion of the volume is an ephemeris of the planets, occupying nearly two hundred It contains their geocentric and heliopages. centric right ascensions and declinations, latitudes and longitudes, and their times of transit over the meridian of Greenwich. The geocentric places refer to the centres of the planets as if seen from the centre of the earth; the heliocentric, as if seen from the centre of the sun. The positions of the larger planets are given for Greenwich, mean noon on every day of the year, with their times of passing the meridian. By means of the positions especially of Venus and Jupiter, which are frequently visible when the sun is above the horizon, the latitude, time, and variation of the compass may be found, with nearly as much facility and accuracy as by the sun.

Next follows a list of a hundred principal fixed stars, their respective magnitudes being denoted, and their mean places shown for January 1, 1855, together with their annual variations. The apparent places of a and 8 Ursa Minoris are then given for every day of the year; and those of the remaining ninety-eight stars for every tenth day. a Ursa Minoris is the well known Polaris or pole-star, the most practically useful star in the heavens, whether to the astronomer or the seaman, from its perpetual apparition in our hemisphere. The want of such a constant reference to the opposite pole is strongly felt in southern latitudes. "How often," meditates Hervey," has this star beamed bright intelligence on the sailor, and conducted the keel to its destined haven." It does not, however, mark the true polar point, being 1° 32′ from it, though gradually approaching it. In A.D. 2095, the nearest proximity will be gained, when a long cycle of recession will commence, to be followed by one of renewed approach. But this is only an instance of apparent motion, to which the entire stellar host is subject, produced by a slow real movement of the earth's axis. As every one knows Polaris and the indicating Pointers, it may be useful, as supplying a gazing scale, to state, that the distance between the Pointers may be roughly taken at 5°, and from thence to the pole-star at about 30°.

Tables of moon-culminating stars occur next in order, or those stars which, being near the moon's parallel of declination, and not differing much from her in right ascension, are proper to be observed with her, to determine differences of longitude. The eclipses of the sun and moon are then registered: namely, a total eclipse of the moon, May 1, 1855, partly visible at Greenwich, the moon setting there totally eclipsed; a partial eclipse of the sun, May 15, 1855, invisible at Greenwich; a total eclipse of the moon, October 24, 1855, partly visible at Greenwich, the moon setting there partially eclipsed; and a partial eclipse of the sun, November 9, 1855, invisible at Greenwich. All the particulars are furnished necessary for indicating the times and places on the earth, when and where the solar and lunar eclipses will be visible; and during the two former, the path of the moon's shadow upon the surface of the earth is illustrated by charts. This is followed by a list of the planets and fixed stars to the sixth magnitude inclusive, the occultations of which, by the moon, will be visible at Greenwich, or at places not far distant, together with the times of disappearance and reappearance for that station. Then are detailed the phenomena of Jupiter's satellites, with the times of occurrence. These include the occultations, or the passing of the satellites in the course of their revolution behind the body of the planet; the transits, both of the satellites themselves and of their shadows, across his disc; and the eclipses, or the immersion of these dependent bodies in the shadow of the primary orb. It may here be mentioned, that in the former part of the volume, the relative positions of the images of Jupiter and his satellites are depicted, at a specified time for each day throughout the year, as they would appear in an inverting telescope, except from January 3 to February 24, when the planet will be too near to the sun for his train to be visible.

The mean time of high water at London Bridge, for 1855, is given for every day of the year, with the time of high water on the full and change of the moon, called, from the French, "the establishment of the port," at the principal places on the shores of the United Kingdom and the adjacent coasts of the continent. The last table supplied, contains the latitudes and longitudes of the principal observatories; and it may be of interest to give simply the list of names, as

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A brief supplement, which annually varies in its matter, is occupied with details of Encke's periodic comet; of the recently-discovered planet Neptune, the remotest known member of our system; and of the newly-found companions of the old asteroids circulating between Mars and Jupiter. Before the present century, when no body was known to exist in this place, it seemed an anomalous gap, being more than triple the distance of Mars from the sun. But soon after the century commenced, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta were caught up in the awful void; and since the year 1846, it has been shown to be very amply occupied. Few memories are charged with the names, or even the number of the small planets, whose acquaintance has been made within the last few years; and therefore their formal introduction here will not be needless, arranged in alphabetical order :-Astræa or Egeria, Eunomia, Flora, Hebe, Irene, Iris, Metis, Parthenope, and Victoria. Still there are several others, whose announcement dates but a few weeks back, which await the names by which they are to be dis criminated. Without sanctioning the hypothesis, it may yet be remarked that, from the number and

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minuteness of these objects, it certainly seems less of an unauthorized speculation than it was when proposed by Olbers, near half a century ago, that these bodies are fragments of a greater planet which some mighty

convulsion has shattered!

An imperfect outline has now been given of the Nautical Almanac. Nothing more uninviting to the popular eye ever issued from the press. Yet, as exhibiting the fruit of the highest science and the greatest labour, and as devoted to an object of immense importance, there are few publications more worthy of the nation. Being specially designed to secure safe and speedy navigation, as far as it is allowed to human means, it is difficult to exaggerate the value of such a performance, considering the national interests at stake continually upon the seas, namely, millions of our property, and the lives of thousands of our countrymen.

SHADES OF THE DEPARTED.

JOHN HOWARD.

"On the north side of the priory of St. Bartholomew," says John Stowe, in his "Survey of London," "is the lane truly called long, which reacheth from Smithfield to Aldersgate-street." At the time when our venerable metropolitan topographer recorded this characteristic notice of a well-known locality, it was "built on both sides with tenements for brokers, tipplers, and such like;" but the brokers had the predominance afterwards, for an annotator upon Strype describes Long-lane as "a place of note for the sale of apparel, linen, and upholsterer's goods, both secondhand and new, but chiefly for old." It is more than probable, that many a thrifty salesman in that queer old neighbourhood made a decent fortune out of his yearly gains, though only one that we know of has attained to any celebrity. This is certain, that no fortune was ever laid up by any of the diligent sons of trade in our great metropolis, destined to better use in the hands of the heir and successor, than the fortune of him to whom we now refer. Many a father has felt what the wise man so touchingly expresses: "I hated all the labour which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it

to the man that should be after me, and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?" And survivors have witnessed a sad squandering by the new possessor of money scraped together by much toil, amidst not a little of selfdenial. But the prosperous tradesman in Longlane, whom we are now thinking of, was honoured as the accumulator of riches which, instead of perishing through sore travail," became, through the beneficence of his son, the instrument of mercy to England and the world, surrounding his name with a lustre at which generations to come will look back with reverence and praise.

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John Howard kept a shop somewhere about the corner of the place so noted for the sale of uphoisterer's goods; and when, by diligently following that line of business, he had obtained enough to enjoy his "otium cum dignitate," he first retired to Enfield, and then removed to Clapton. About 1790 the Clapton residence was described as a venerable mansion situated on the western side of the street, but much decayed, and lately disfigured. Very soon after it was pulled down. There, in 1739, Mr. Howard must have been living in good circumstances, as in that year he paid the fine for not serving as sheriff of London. He had then a son, about thirteen years old, who was probably born in the Clapton house; though considerable obscurity rests on the scene as well as the exact date of his birth. This son was the John Howard on whose name, by universal acclamation, the title of philanthropist has been bestowed-a title far surpassing any which heralds can record or sovereigns confer. We fancy we see him in his father's garden-a lad not tall of his age, yet thin and spare, and rather fragile in his make and appearance, with large nose, and eyes sparkling with benevolence, and compressed lips, which show that he carries with him a will too strong to be easily broken. Hair cut short in front and curled behind, and costume somewhat like a full court dress in miniature, complete the portrait. Young Howard went to school for seven years with Mr. Worsley, a good Greek scholar at Hertford; and was then removed to the care of Mr. Eames, who was tutor in a seminary conducted in Tenter Alley, Moorfields, for the edu

cation of both dissenting ministers and laymen. Mr. Eames was of rare attainments, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, and pronounced by Dr. Watts to be the most learned man he ever knew. But Howard, with these advantages, never turned out a scholar. Strange to say, he not only knew very little of Latin, and less Greek, but he could never write his own language with propriety and correctness. But among his school associations there occurs one of those instances of generosity with which his history abounds. Mr. Densham was assistant to Mr.

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