358 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd S. VII. April 30. '59. 



inventors, and it was from the experiments of these men 

 and of English mechanists that Fulton acliieved success. 

 The eleven experiments preceding that of Fulton were as 

 follow: — 1. A small skiff moved seven miles an hoar by 

 steam, 1786, by John Fitch, assisted by Henry Voight. 

 2. A boat 45 feet by 12, built by John Fitch, tried at 

 Philadelphia in August, 1787. 3. One built by James 

 Rumsey, of Virginia, and tried in December, 1787, but 

 only made one short trip at the rate of four miles an hour. 

 4. One built by John Fitch, 60 feet long by 8, tried in 

 July, 1788, and made a trip of 20 miles in three hours 

 and ten minutes from Philadelphia. 5. Another by Fitch, 

 in 1789, Vhich conveyed passengers from Philadelphia to 

 Burlington at the rate of eight miles an hour. 6. One 

 built by Samuel Moray, of Connecticut, which made a 

 trip from Hartford to New York at the rate of five miles 

 an hour. 7. A yawl moved by a screw propeller at the 

 stern, and tried upon "The Collect" by John Fitch, in 

 1796. 8. One built by Samuel Moray, built with paddle- 

 wheels, and tried upon the Delaware in 1798. 9. A screw 

 built by Oliver Evans at Philadelphia, 1804. 10. By 

 John Cox Stevens, of New York, which went from Ho- 

 boken to New York in 1804. The eleventh steamboat 

 was constructed by John Cox Stevens at New York in 

 May, 1804, which went to New York and returned, being 

 propelled by a wheel at the stern. There were steam- 

 boat experiments also known to have been made before 

 1800 by Nicholas I. Rooseveldt, under the patronage of 

 Eobert R. Livingston, at New York ; but a detailed ac- 

 count of them has not been preserved. After the propul- 

 sion of these 11 vessels bj' steam in the United States, 

 came Fulton with the twelfth in 1807, 21 years after 

 Fitch's first experiments; and Fulton, instead of being 

 the inventor of steamboats, was only the successful adap- 

 ter of the discoveries and ideas of others." 



Tbe Bee, 



caucrte^. 



MANUSCRIPT VOLUME ON IRISH MILITARY AFFAIRS, 



1756-80. 



I have lately purchased an interesting MS. 

 volume folio, containing, with other pieces, the 

 following, which have been very neatly transcribed 

 from the originals : — 



" 1. Colonel Rov's Observations during a short Tour in 

 Ireland, 1766." 



" 2. Military Despatch of Lord Townsend, Lord-Lieu- 

 tenant, on the State of Ireland, with his Scheme for esta- 

 blishing Barracks, 1770." 



" 3. Letter from Lord Rochford, Secretary of State, to 

 Lord Townsend, with Lord Townsend's Reply, 1771." 



" 4. Quarter-Master-General Dundas' Considerations 

 on the Invasion and Defence of Ireland, in case of a Rup- 

 ture with France, 1778." 



" 5. Observations on the Bays of Bantry and Baltimore, 

 and Military Posts, 1756." 



" 6. Reports on the Roads and Passes from Limerick to 

 Kerry; and on the Fords, &c., on the Blackwater, the 

 Suir, and the Shannon, 1760." 



" 7. Dundas on Irish Military Associations, 1780." 



" 8. Colonel Vallancey's llilitary Survey of Ireland, 

 1777-9." ^ . ^ 



Can any of your correspondents give me in- 

 formation respecting the foregoing documents, in 

 which I have read many curious particulars ? 

 Where are the originals ? and have they appeared 



iti print? Colonel I^oy give?, at considerable 

 length,^ a description of the face of the country ; '* 

 the principal rivers, and how far navigable ; the ') 

 roads ; the principal towns, harbours, forts, &c. ; 

 with observations on the movements of an army 

 in Ireland. ^ Colonel (subsequently General) Val- 

 lancey is still more explicit, and begins his Pre- 

 face with these words : 



" Ilis Majesty having been pleaslt to order one copy 

 of this Rejjort to be deposited with himself, and another 

 to remain in my hands to be called for at the pleasure of 

 the Lord-Lieutenant and Commander in Chief of Ireland, .-. 

 I thought it not improper to explain the nature of such 

 Military Surveys in a short preface to the copy left in 

 Ireland." 



I am particularly desirous of knowing more 

 about the documents by Colonels Roy and Val- 

 lancey. Who was Colonel Roy ? Abhba. 



Minav caueric^. 



Paraphrases used in. the Scotch Kirk. — The 

 communications relative to the hymn attributed to 

 Robertson, the father of the historian (ante, pp. 

 168. 223.), gives me an opportunity which I have 

 long wished for of inquiring whether anything is 

 known of the authors of the others of these, for 

 the most part, beautiful paraphrases. The able 

 article on Hymns and Hymn-writers in the Ox' 

 ford Essays for 1858, merely glances at the sub- 

 ject in the following brief terms : " The Scotch 

 Kirk has added to its version of the Psalms, some 

 of which are not without a characteristic rugged- 

 ness of grandeur, a large selection of paraphrases of 

 Scripture." I have heard that the eccentric John 

 Logan and the unfortunate Michael Bruce were 

 both contributors ; and if so, I should look for 

 their portion of the work among the first sixteen 

 of the number, if we may judge by comparing 

 them with the acknowledged productions of these 

 writers. In support of this opinion, as to Bruce, 

 I will place his Elegy to Spring ("Now spring re- 

 turns, but not to me returns," &c.) in juxta-posi- 

 tion with paraphrase eight (" Few are thy days, 

 and full of woe," &c.), and I think the conge- 

 niality of thought and sentiment pervading both 

 of these pathetic little poems will be obvious. I 

 may add that there are some lines in this para- 

 phrase pleasingly reminding us of the " Ode to 

 the Cuckoo," of which Burke, on his visit to the 

 North, spoke with so much admiration to Logan ; 

 but there is some suspicion that Logan was ar- 

 rayed in borrowed honours on this occasion, and 

 that the real author of this well-known and most 

 delightful ode was his young friend, the amiable 

 and lamented Michael Bruce. Senex. 



Balthazar Regis, D.D. — Dr. Regis was rector 

 of Adisham in Kent from 1717, canon of Windsor 

 from 1751, and chaplain, to the king. He died in 



