FLAGSTONE ROOP. 85 



it relates to public buildlngi of all sorts, it cannot be with- 

 out some general interest. 



In laying the first stone of the gaol of Longford twenty Documents 

 years ago, I placed in a cavity sunk in a large stone, under the foundation 

 the S. W. corner of the building, several tiles, upon *^®'" P®*^®"^y» 

 which, before they were baked, there were inscribed various 

 memorandums for pofterity, the Greek and Roman alpha- 

 bets, the latitudes and longitudes of Paris and London, the va- 

 riations of the needle, the nature and dates of various inven- 

 tions, of gunpowder, of printing, of the steam-engine, of iron 

 bridges, of the balloon ; some of the discoveries of chemistry, 

 and several remarkable events, with the names of celebrated 

 books, and of their authors. 



If this were done in various places in Europe, it might This recoio- 

 hereafter be not only gratifying to future curiosity ; but ^ther •!:». 

 might be useful to mankind. We have reason to believe, sions. 

 that fictile compositions are among the most durable sub- 

 stances that exist, and as we may, with the greatest ease, in- 

 scribe what we please on them before they are baked ; it is 

 but a small sacrifice to posterity, to give up an hour or two 

 of leizure, from a hope, however feeble it may be, of pre- 

 serving some of the discoveries, which have hitherto been 

 made in art or science. Swift tells us, that a shrewd fellow Ppsteritj. 

 inquired, why we did so much for posterity, when pos- 

 terity has never done any thing for us. It is true, that 

 posterity has never done any thing for us; but the idea 

 of a posterity, that can bestow posthumous fame, has ever 

 been and ever will be an excitement to present exertion. 

 Our own immediate descendants reap the harvest which we 

 sow, and nothing is more natural or more laudable than ^ 

 wish t« preserve our names apaong those who have been b«?» 

 nefactors of society, 



JEdgeworthtown, Ireland, 

 the 17th of April, I8\l, 



IL 



