566 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 215. 



softened into Cassiopeia, and supposed it to have been 

 her mother; . . ." — Mythological Astronomy, part se- 

 cond, Norwich, 1823, 12mo., p. xiii. 



" The story of Abraham, notwithstanding all the 

 endeavours of theologians to give it the appearance of 

 the history of human beings, has preserved its mytho- 

 logical features with an outline and colouring, easily 

 to be recognised by every son of Urania [Ur of the 

 Chaldees is subsequently made to contain the root of 

 Uranus^. We have just seen that the Egyptians have 

 their harvest about the time which the sun passes over 

 the equator, and if we go back to the time of Abraham 

 we shall find that the equator [perhaps he means 

 equinox] was in Taurus ; the Egyptians must, then, 

 have had their harvest while the sun was in the Bull ; 

 the Bull was, therefore, in their figurative way of 

 .speaking, the father of harvest, not only because he 

 ploughed the ground, but because the sun was there 

 ■when they got in their harvest: thus the Bull was 

 doubly distinguished as their benefactor; he was now, 

 more than ever, become the Bull of life, i. e. he was 

 not only called Abir, the Bull, but Abir-am or Ab'-r-am, 

 the Bull of life, — the father of harvest. And as their 

 harvest was originally under the direction of Iseth, or 

 Isis, whatever belonged to harvest was Isiac ; but the 

 Bull, Abiram, was now become the father of Isiac I and 

 to give this the appearance of a human descent, they 

 added to Abir, the masculine afl^x ah; then it became 

 Ab'-rh-am who was the father of Isiac. And we 

 actually find this equivoque in the hebrew history of 

 Abram whom the Lord afterwards called Abraham, who 

 was ihe father of Isaac, whose seed was to be countless 

 as the sand on the sea-shore for multitude ; even this 

 is truly applied to Isiac the offspring of Ab'-rh-am ; for 

 countless indeed are the offspring of the scythe and 

 sickle ! but if we allow Isiac to be a real son of Ab-rah- 

 am we must enquire after his mother. During the 

 time that the equator [perhaps he means the sun] is 

 passing through the constellation of the Bull in the 

 spring, the Bull would rise in the east every morning 

 in the harvest time, in Egypt, — but in the poetical 

 language of the ancients, it would be said that, when 

 Asia- AM consorts vAth Attrora he will produce Isiac. 

 But Aurora is well known to be the golden splendour of 

 the cast, and the brightness of the east is called Zara, 

 and the morning star is Serah, in the eastern lan- 

 guages, and we find a similar change of sound in the 

 name of Isaac's mother, whom the Lord would no 

 longer call Sarai but Sarah. These are remarkable 

 coincidences!" — Companion to the Mythological Astro- 

 nomy, Norwich, 1824, 12mo. pp. 177 — 179, 



M. 



In ansvrer to the inquiry respecting this sin- 

 gular man, I beg- to say that I remember him be- 

 tween the years 1826 and 1830, as a shoemaker 

 in Norwich. He was in a low rank of trade, and 

 in poor circumstances, which he endeavoured to 

 improve by exhibiting at private houses an orrery 

 of his own making. He was recognised as a 

 "genius;" but, as maybe seen by his writings, 

 had little reverence for established forms of belief. 

 At the period of which I speak, which was soon 

 after the publication of his first work, I knew but 



little of his mind, and lost sight of him altogether 

 till about 1840. Then circumstances connected 

 witli my own line of study led me to call on him 

 in Doughty's Hospital, Norwich, an asylum for 

 aged persons. I found him surrounded by astro- 

 nomical apparatus, books, the tools of his former 

 trade, and all kinds of strange litters. In the 

 conversation that ensued, I learned much of the 

 workings of his mind ; though his high self-appre- 

 ciation could not descend to unreserved converse 

 with a woman. My object was, to ascertain by 

 what steps he had arrived at his theory of the 

 earth's motion, but I could gain nothing distinct. 

 He mentioned the Asiatic Researches as contain- 

 ing vast infoi'mation on his peculiar subject ; 

 quoted Latin, and I think Greek, authors ; and 

 seemed to place great dependence on Maurice and 

 Bryant ; but, above all, on Capt. Wilford's Essays. 

 He showed me some elaborate calculations, at 

 which he was then working ; and still fancied him- 

 self qualified, perhaps destined, to head a great 

 revolution in the astronomical world. I cannot 

 say how far his knowledge of geology went, as I 

 am not well acquainted with that science. He 

 had evidently read and studied deeply, but alone ; 

 his own intellect had never been brushed by the 

 intellects and superior information of truly scien- 

 tific men, and it appeared to me that a vast deal 

 of dirt, real dirt, had accumulated in his mind. 

 My visit disappointed and pained me ; but he 

 seemed gratified, and I therefore promised to call 

 again, which I did, but he was not at home. I 

 think this visit was soon after he had removed 

 into the hospital, for I then purcliased his last 

 work. The Age of Mental Emancipation, published 

 1836, before he obtained that asylum. He died 

 before 1849, but I do not know the exact year. 



In my next visit to Norwich, I will make in- 

 quiries on all points relating to Mackey, of the 

 very few persons now left who took interest in 

 him, and I think I can find the printer of his last 

 pamphlet. 



I have not the work mentioned in "N. & Q. ;" 

 but, besides his last work, I have The Mythological 

 Astronomy of the Ancients demonstrated, which is 

 partly in poetry. 



I have been obliged to write this Note in the 

 first person, as I can give only my own impres- 

 sions respecting Mackey ; and I wisli that ere this 

 you may have received clearer information from 

 more competent persons. If your Querist have 

 the least grain of faith in the theory of Mackey, I 

 hope he will not let the subject drop, for I have 

 long been deeply interested in it. F. C. B. 



Diss. 



Mackey, of whom your correspondent inquires, 

 was an entirely self-educated man, but a learned 

 shoemaker, residing in Norwich. He devoted all 

 his leisure time to astronomical, geological, and 



