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While improving his own property, he added to the beauties of his favourite spot, and freely imparted to his townsmen the advantages which he had provided for the enjoyment of the lovely scenery around him. The churchyard was planted with elms by Kyrle, and a gate was erected by him leading to a field, called "The Prospect," from its commanding a noble view of the rich scenery of the Wye. In times when the art of conveying water by pipes, for the accommodation of all the dwellers in a town, was yet in its infancy, a great benefit was conferred on the inhabitants of Ross, by the skill and enterprise of Mr. Kyrle, who made, in this field, an oval basin of considerable extent, lined it with brick, and paved it with stone, and caused the water to be forced into it by an engine from the river, and conveyed by underground pipes to the public cocks in the streets.When a more effectual mode of supply was introduced, the use of the fountain was abandoned, and the basin was filled up.

This public work is recorded by the poet, in the

lines,

From the dry rock, who bade the waters flow?
Not to the skies, in useless columns tost,
Or in proud falls magnificently lost;

But clear and artless, pouring through the plain Health to the sick, and solace to the swain. The next work noticed by Pope is a causeway, which was constructed through the exertions of Mr. Kyrle, and paid for by a subscription, to which he largely contributed. It crossed the low ground between the town and the bridge, on the high road to Hereford and Monmouth. This causeway has been since extended, and rendered permanent by the Commissioners of Turnpikes, who have converted it into a spacious driving way, better adapted to the more frequent and rapid journeyings of modern times.

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The walk in the Clevefields above alluded to, was not only beautified with elms, his favourite tree, but seats were placed at intervals, where the "weary traveller" might "repose," or the lover of fine scenery contemplate at his ease, the beauties before him. his work of planting or ornamenting, the "MAN OF Ross" was wont to go forth, with his spade on his shoulder, and a wooden bottle of liquor in his hand, assisted by two or three, or sometimes more workmen, according to the task to be performed. The

bottle served his fellow-labourers as well as himself.

On one occasion, his companion so thoroughly enjoyed the draught, that he did not part with the bottle from his head till the last drop was drained. In vain did the Man of Ross call aloud to him to stop his draught; the workman's thirst was too intense to listen. When he had done, Mr. Kyrle said, " John, why did not

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you stop when I called to you?" Why, sir,' said the man, "don't you know that people can never hear when they are drinking?" The next time Mr. Kyrle applied the bottle to his head, the man placed himself opposite to him, and opened his mouth as if bawling aloud, till Kyrle had finished. The draught ended, Kyrle asked, "Well, John, what did you say?" "Ah, you see, sir," said the man, "I was right; nobody can hear when he is drinking."

The passage which relates to the church of Ross is calculated to convey an erroneous notion of what was actually done by Mr. Kyrle. The line

Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise; coupled with another,

Who builds a church to God, and not to fame;

has led many to suppose, that the church of Ross was built by Kyrle. The facts are as follows:from whatever point it be viewed, was at one time in The elegant spire which ornaments the landscape architecture led him to discover. A parish meeting a dangerous state, which Mr. Kyrle's knowledge of was convened at his special motion, and about fortyseven feet of the spire taken down and rebuilt, himself daily inspecting the work, and contributing, over and above the assessment, towards its speedy conclusion. The great bell was given by Kyrle, who attended when it was cast at Gloucester, and threw into the melting pot his own large silver tankard, having first drunk his favourite toast of "Church and King."

Behold the market-house, with poor o'erspread; The Man of Ross divides the weekly bread. The distribution of the "weekly bread" at the market-house is a circumstance of peculiar interest in the life of Kyrle. The donation of bread was furnished by a grant, renewed by successive lords of the manor, of certain tolls on all corn brought to market. The "Man of Ross" acted as the lord's almoner. Tradition reports, in homely language, that " it would have done one's heart good to see how cheerful the old gentleman looked, while engaged in the distribution." At length the toll, thus voluntarily transferred to the poor at the will of each succeeding lord, was claimed by the townsmen as their's of right. The question was referred to the Man of Ross by consent of both parties; and he, preferring truth and justice before popularity and self-gratification, determined, as the evidence compelled him to do, that the toll belonged to the lord. So are pride and covetousness found in communities as well as individuals. Unwilling to acknowledge an obligation, lest they should be compelled to own a superiority in the giver, they endanger or lose the benefits which benevolence and liberality would bountifully bestow.

The remaining lines refer to various private acts of charity, for which a man of Kyrle's noble disposition would find frequent opportunities in whatever part of the world he might be placed. The town of Ross could tell of many who, before and since his time, and at this day, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, instruct the ignorant, and teach the infant's tongue to praise the name of the Creator and Redeemer ; and so we hope can every town and every village in our native land;-but such Christian love seeks not its own praise.

There is, however, one anecdote of Mr. Kyrle, which we are unwilling to omit, as it exhibits that noble confidence, which none but an honest man can feel or express towards his fellow-man. About a year after the death of the Man of Ross, a tradesman of the town came to his executor, and said privately to him, "Sir, I am come to pay you some money that I owed to the late Mr. Kyrle." The executor declared he could find no entry of it in the accounts,

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IN walking through a street in London, I saw a crowd of Why, sir," said the tradesman, "that I am aware men, women, and children; they were hooting and laughing of. Mr. Kyrle said to me, when he lent me the moat a woman, who, looking neither to the right hand nor to ney, that he did not think I should be able to repay the left, passed through the midst of them in perfect silence. it in his lifetime, and that it was likely you might Upon approaching her, I saw that all this derision was want it before I could make it up; and so, said he, caused by her dress, which, equally unsuited to the weather I wont have any memorandum of it, besides what I and to her apparent rank in life, was from head to foot enwrite and give you with it; and do you pay my kins-tirely white. Her bonnet, her shawl, her very shoes, were man when you can; and when you show him this paper, he will see that the money is right, and that he is not to take interest." Here the story stops. No doubt our readers would wish to know, that the executor declined to receive what the tradesman might have withholden, without fear of human discovery. Let us hope that he did so.

The Man of Ross died a bachelor. At the time of his decease, he owed nothing, and there was no money in his house. He was borne to the grave by his workmen and usual attendants, and amidst the whole population of Ross.

The spot of his interment was, by his express desire, at the feet of his dear friend, Dr. Charles Whiting, a former vicar, a man of genuine piety and christian benevolence, who died in 1711, and whose epitaph modestly records him as "the affectionate but unworthy pastor of this church." It is supposed that this excellent and amiable man was greatly instrumental in forming the character of the Man of Ross. To Dr. Whiting, the town is indebted for the establishment of an excellent Blue-Coat School, in 1709. Mr. Kyrle was not only an annual subscriber to that institution, but when boys were to be apprenticed, he was generally concerned, and often put them out at his own expense. He left 407. to the school, Several of his old workmen were legatees in his will. The personal appearance of Mr. Kyrle was agreeable; his dress, a plain suit of brown dittos, with a King William's wig, according to the fashion of the day. Though he disliked large parties, his house was open to the reception of his friends, in the genuine spirit of old-fashioned English hospitality. "He loved a long evening; enjoyed a merry tale, and always appeared discomposed when t'was time to part." His dishes were generally plain; malt liquor and cider were the only beverages introduced; there was no roast beef except on Christmas-day. At his kitchen fire-place was a large block of wood, for poor people to sit on; and a piece of boiled beef and three pecks of flour, in bread, were given to the poor every Sunday. The Man of Ross was a daily attendant at the service of the Parish Church, When the chiming of the bells began, all business ceased with him; he washed his hands and proceeded to his pew, When the church was newly pewed, about twenty years after his death, the rector and parishioners resolved that Mr. Kyrle's seat should remain, as it does at this day, in its original condition and style. A handsome tablet, with a bust of the Man of Ross, has long since removed the stigma imputed in the concluding lines of Pope's eulogy of Kyrle.

The Man of Ross, then, it has been seen, was a private gentleman of small fortune, with a talent for architecture, and a taste for what is now termed the picturesque, which he employed in the improvement and adorning of his town and neighbourhood. Simple in his manners, he lavished no money on gaudy show or equipage. Faithful to his God, and upright in his dealings with man; intelligent, active, and ingenious; he was confided in as a friend, as an umpire, as a receiver and disposer of the subscriptions of others, whether to be employed in works for the public good, or in relieving the wants of indigence

and age,

white; and though all that she wore seemed of the coarsest materials, it was perfectly clean. As I walked past her, I looked steadfastly in her face. She was very thin and pale, of a pleasing countenance, and totally unmoved by the clamour around her. I have since learned her story. The young man to whom she was betrothed died on the bridalday, when she and her companions were dressed to go to Church. She lost her senses; and has ever since, to use her own words, been "expecting her bridegroom." Neither insult nor privation of any kind can induce her to change her dress; she is alike insensible of her bereavement by death, and of the lapse of time. "She is dressed for the bridal, and the bridegroom is at hand."-THOUGHTS ON LAUGHTER, by a Chancery Barrister.

NATIONAL AFFLICTIONS AND BLESSINGS. In the latter part of the reign of James the First, a number of Psalms and Hymns were published, all written with the true spirit of piety, and many recommending themselves as beautiful specimens of congregational devotion. The following, with its introduction, will hardly be regarded as out of season at the present hour. In many parts of the kingdom its sentiments will be felt; and the praises offered centuries ago, will again be poured forth from many a grateful heart.

"FOR DELIVERANCE FROM A PUBLIC SICKNESS.

"The pestilence and other public sicknesses are those
arrows of the Almighty, wherewith he punisheth public
transgressions. This hymn, therefore, is to praise him when
he shall unslack the bow which was bent against us; and
the longer he withholds his hand, the more constantly ought
we to continue our public thanksgivings; for when we for-
get to persevere in praising God for his mercies past, we
usually revive those sins that will renew his judgments."
WHEN thou would'st, Lord, afflict a land,
Or scourge thy people that offend,
Prompt to fulfil thy dread command,
Thy creatures on Thee all attend,
And Thou to execute thy word,
Hast famine, sickness, fire, and sword.
And here among us, for our sin,

A sore disease hath lately reigned,
Whose fury so unstayed hath been,

It could by nothing be restrained;
But overthrew both weak and strong,
And took away both old and young.
To thee our cries we humbly sent,
Thy wonted pity, Lord, to prove ;
Our wicked ways we did repent,

Thy visitation to remove:
And Thou, thine angel didst command
To stay his wrath-inflicting hand.
For which thy love, in thankful wise,

Both hearts and hands to thee we raise,
And in the stead of former cries,

Do sing thee now a song of praise;
By whom the mercy yet we have
To escape the never-filled grave.

After enumerating the many favours enjoyed by the blessing of Providence in these islands, the sacred poet to whom we have already been indebted, thus beautifully conveys the sentiments of a pious and grateful heart.

FOR these, and for our grass, our corn,
For all that springs from blade or bough,
For all those blessings that adorn,

Or wood, or field, this kingdom through:
For all of these thy praise we sing,

And humbly, Lord, intreat thee, too,
That fruit to Thee, we forth may bring,
As unto us, thy creatures do.
So, in the sweet refreshing shade
Of thy protection, sitting down,
Those gracious favours we have had,
We will relate to thy renown;

Yea, other men, when we are gone,

Shall, for thy mercies, honour thee,
And far make known what thou hast done

To such as after them shall be.

A SACRED SONG, in which our ancestors used to express their thankfulness for a seasonable change, after their alarm had been excited by continuance of bad weather.

LORD! should the sun, the clouds, the rain,
The air and seasons, be

To us so froward and unkind,

As we are false to thee;

All fruits would quite away be burned,
Or lie in water drown'd,'
Or blasted be, or overwhelmed,
Or chilled on the ground.

But, from our duty though we swerve,
Thou still dost mercy show,
And deign thy creatures to preserve,
That men might thankful grow:
Yea, though from day to day we sin,
And thy displeasure gain,

To cry no sooner we begin,
Than pity we obtain.

The weather now thou changed hast,
That put us late to fear,

And, when our hopes were almost past,

Then comfort did appear:

The Heaven the Earth's complaint hath heard,
They reconciled be,

And thou such weather hast prepared,

As we desired of Thee.

For which, with lifted hands and eyes,

To Thee we do repay,

The due and willing sacrifice

Of giving thanks to day;

Because such offerings we should not

To render Thee be slow,

Nor let that mercy be forgot

Which Thou art pleased to show.

PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER.

DURING our late war with France, the want of a secure and extensive anchorage in the entrance to the Channel was much felt; the Sound at Plymouth, comprising the bays named Cawsand Bay, the Catwater, and Hamoaze, offered a suitable asylum to a great fleet returning from a cruize, and being one of the grand naval arsenals, could supply without delay every thing requisite to enable it to put to sea again; but unfortunately, this road being wholly open and exposed to the ocean and south-west wind, afforded, in its natural state, no protection whatever during those very storms which most frequently obliged our fleets to seek an asylum in it. It has, therefore, frequently happened that they have been obliged to run into Torbay, which is perfectly sheltered from the south-west; but this bay had also great inconveniences: first, it is more to the east than Plymouth, which is an important circumstance, because when the west wind is constant, it is very difficult for vessels to get out of the Channel by tacking; for great fleets it is impossible. These serious inconveniences having long shown the necessity of converting Plymouth into a safe harbour, government at length resolved that something should be done, and various plans were proposed and discussed.

To Lord Grey, when at the head of the Naval Administration, the first contemplation of this great national work is due; but to Mr. Yorke belongs the merit of having adopted the plan, and caused it to be carried into execution, notwithstanding the forebodings of those who were hostile to it. His own sound judgment, however, backed by the opinion of Mr. Rennie, (the celebrated engineer, under whose guidance Waterloo Bridge was erected,) gave him assurance of the propriety and of the successful issue

of the undertaking. The failure of a work of the same description which was executed by the French at Cherbourg-owing to the small size of the stones used in its construction, and the ill-judged form of the mound-showed, that to resist the force of the heavy sea that rolls in from the south-west, a very considerable slope would be necessary, and that great masses of stone, from one to ten tons each, would be required.

The quarries from which these were procured are situated at Overton, on the eastern shore of Catwater; they lie under a surface of about 25 acres, and were purchased from the Duke of Bedford, for ten thousand pounds. These quarries consist of one vast mass of compact close-grained marble, many specimens of which are beautifully variegated; seams of clay, however, are interspersed through the rock, in which there are also large cavities, some empty and others partially filled with clay*.

These huge blocks of stone are conveyed from the quarries on trucks, along iron railways to the quays, and from thence into the holds of vessels, built expressly for the purpose†. On their arrival over the line of the Breakwater, they are discharged from the trucks by means of what is called a typing-frame at the stern of the vessel, which falling like a trap-door, lets the stone into the sea. In this manner, a cargo of sixteen trucks, or eighty tons, may be discharged in the space of forty or fifty minutes.

The following sketch of the ground plan and section, will best explain the form and dimensions of this great national work.

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The width of the section from A to B, is upwards of 250 feet; the total length of the Breakwater is 5100 feet. The first stone was sunk on the 12th of August, 1812, and on the 31st of March, 1813, the Breakwater made its first appearance above the surface of the Sound at low water, spring-tide. At the conclusion of the year 1816, upwards of one million tons had been deposited.

The whole of the work above the line of low-water mark has been some time finished, and this splendid

In one of these caverns in the solid rock, 15 feet wide, 45 feet long, and 12 feet deep, filled nearly with compact clay, were found imbedded fossil bones belonging to the Rhinoceros, being portions of the skeletons of three different animals, all of them in the most perfect state of preservation, every part of their surface being entire to a degree, that Sir Everard Home says, he had never observed in specimens of this kind before. The part of the cavity in which these bones were found, was 70 feet below the surface of the solid rock; 60 feet horizontally from the edge of the cliff, where Mr. Whidby, who was associated with Mr. Rennie in the undertaking, began to work the

quarry, and 160 feet from the original edge by the side of the Catwater. Every side of the cavern was solid; nor was there any external communication through the rock in which it was imbedded; when, therefore, and in what manner these bones came into that situation, is among the secret and wonderful operations of Nature, which will probably never be revealed to mankind.

Monsieur Dupin, the celebrated French engineer, gives an animated description of the working of these quarries, and thus concludes:

"The sight of the operations which I have just described, those enormous masses of marble which the quarry-men strike, with heavy strokes of their hammers; and those aerial roads of flying bridges which serve for the removal of the superstratum of earth; those lines of cranes all at work at the same moment; the trucks all in motion; the arrival, and the loading, and the departure of the vessels; all this forms one of the most imposing sights that can strike a friend to the great works of art. At fixed hours, the sound of a bell is heard, in order to announce the blasting of the quarry, The operations instantly cease on all sides, all becomes silence and solitude; this universal silence renders still more imposing, the noise of the explosion, the splitting of the rocks, their ponderous fall, and the prolonged sound of the echoes.'

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undertaking is proceeding steadily towards its completion.

The fitness of this immense mound for the purpose for which it was intended, has been clearly proved by the manner in which it has withstood the attacks of the sea during so many stormy winters; never, except in one instance, having had a stone displaced during the most violent gales. The instance alluded to, occurred on the night of the 19th of January, 1817, when such a hurricane came on, as had not been remembered by the oldest inhabitant. The waves rose six feet higher than the usual height of spring-tides. The Jasper sloop-of-war, and the Telegraph schooner, being at anchor without the cover of the Breakwater, were driven to the head of the Sound, and lost; while a collier, heavily laden and under its cover, rode out the gale, and no damage was sustained by any of the vessels in the Catwater.

After the hurricane was over, it was found that a portion of the upper layer of the finished part, about 200 yards long, and 30 yards in width, had given way and been displaced; the whole of the huge stones, from two to five tons each, having been carried over and deposited on the northern slope of the Breakwater. It has now resisted the effects of fifteen other winters, and still remains, and there is no doubt will for ages remain, a monument of the arts, worthy of the nation by which it has been constructed.

[Abridged from the Quarterly Review.]

MORNING.

THE God of mercy walks his round From day to day, from year to year,

And warns us each with awful sound,

"No longer stand ye idle here."

Ye whose young cheeks are rosy bright,

Whose hands are strong, whose hearts are clear, Waste not of youth the morning light,

Oh fools why stand ye idle here? And ye whose scanty locks of grey Foretel your latest travail near, How fast declines your useless day, And stand ye yet so idle here? One hour remains, there is but one,

But many a grief and many a tear Through endless ages, must atone

For moments lost and wasted here.-HEBER.

EVENING.

How sweetly now do outward things
To tender thoughts give birth,
When evening's deep and holy calm
Broods o'er the tranquil earth.
Alas! how often tender thoughts
To sad thoughts are allied!
How often by the silent tear

Our joys are purified.

Oh! that the peace which reigns without
Might also dwell within!

Oh! that my restless, wayward heart
Might free itself from sin!
Why is it, that year follows year,
And still in self-control
My heart is feeble as a child,-

Still passion rules my soul.
Alas! in vain I know the truth,
And love God's holy word:
In vain the surface of my heart
To gratitude is stirred.
Still sin does in its embers live,

Though quenched its fiercer fires;
That sin whose everlasting taint

Still breeds impure desires. O Lord of Hosts, against my peace What enemies are ranged! Change thou my nature, Lord, and then Shall I indeed be changed.

Come thou, and my corrupted heart

To holiness renew!

Christ's servant am I, and in Him
Thy promises are true.

LONDON:

T. K. A.

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THE

COMMITT

EDUCATION.

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UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

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was doubled, and even trebled, to make up the deficiency.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. THIS far-famed monument of antiquity extends along the whole of the northern frontier of China, separat-made incursions as far as Pekin, and defeated In the year 1212 the Monguls forced the wall, ing that country from Tartary. Its computed length made incursions as far as Pekin, and defeated is upward of 1500 miles; in height it varies from an army of 300,000 men. After many changes of twenty to twenty-five feet; while the thickness or destiny, the last Chinese emperor, Whey-tsong, being width is fifteen feet. Towers forty-eight feet high deserted by his people, and opposed by the Tartars, are erected at distances of one hundred yards from destroyed himself, along with his queen and daugheach other throughout its whole length. ter; and the empire has been governed ever since by The country over which it passes is wild and hilly, a Tartar monarch, though, by removing the seat of and in some places it is built on the steep sides of empire to Pekin, and by adopting the Chinese lanmountains between five and six thousand feet above guage, manners, and customs, Tartary seems rather the level of the sea; it surmounts their summits, and to be incorporated with China than the conqueror of again descends into the valleys; in crossing a river it. The state of preservation in which this great work it forms a ponderous arch; sometimes large tracts of remains, leads to the belief that it must have been boggy country opposed great obstacles to the pro-repaired several times since it was originally erected. gress of the architects, but all these difficulties were overcome by their perseverance, and the gigantic undertaking was completed in the space of five years. To accomplish this object the power of a despotic emperor was exerted, and every third man in the kingdom forced to labour at the work till it was finished.

ENGLAND.

AN Englishman has good ground for thankfulness in the happiness of his native land-England has indeed been famed, by God's blessing far, very far beyond other nations. We do not here speak of her just and equal laws-the moderation of her government, or of A large mound of stone erected in the sea, in that well-regulated liberty, both in civil and religious the province of Pechelee, east of Pekin, formed the matters, of which the very poorest of her inhabitants foundation, or rather beginning of this mighty bul- partakes. Great and valuable as these blessings are, wark. It is said to have been erected about 2000 there are others attached to the soil and climate of years ago, by the first Chinese emperor of the family Great Britain, and we shall prove its superior healthiof Tzin, to check the inroads of the Tartars, who had ness, by a general comparison with other countries. continually harassed the inhabitants of the northern We are too ready to join with foreigners in the districts of China. In some spots where the natural abuse of our climate, but, variable as it certainly is, aspect of the country is weak, this wall of defence | Charles II. spoke an undoubted truth when he said

VOL. I.

22

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