1824] 
ference. From these hollows issued 
two immense volumes of muddy water, 
and, uniting at a distance of upwards of 
100 yards from their sources, consti- 
tuted, for about two hours, an over- 
whelming flood from forty to fifty 
(sometimes seventy) yards in width, 
and seldom less than four yards in 
depth. This dark slimy mixture. of 
mud and water followed the course of 
a rivulet, overflowing its banks for 
twenty or thirty yards on each side, and 
to the distance of seven or eight miles 
from the immediate irruption. All this 
way there is deposited a black moorish 
substance, varying from eight to thirty- 
six inchesin depth, and mixed occa- 
sionally with sand and rocky fragments, 
pieces of timber, and uprooted trees, 
which had been borne along by the im- 
petuous torrent. This heavyand power- 
ful stream broke down one solid stone 
bridge, made breaches in two others, 
clogged up and stopped several mills, 
laid flat and destroyed several whole 
fields of corn, and overthrew to the 
foundation several hedges and walls. In 
its course it entered the houses, float- 
ing the furniture about, to the astonish- 
ment and terror of the inhabitants. 
At the time of the irruption the clouds 
were copper-coloured and lowering : 
the atmosphere was strongly electric, 
and unusually close and sultry. There 
was, at the same time, loud and fre- 
quent thunder, with. much zigzag light- 
ning, peculiarly flaring and vivid. An 
hour before, there was scarcely a breath 
of air stirring; but the wind quickly 
rose to a hurricane, and after blowing 
hard from six to eight o’clock, sunk 
again into a profound calm, at. which 
time the heavy rain, which had con- 
tinued all the while, ceased, and, with 
the exception of a few floating clouds, 
the sky was very serene. The whole 
is conjectured by the neighbours to be 
caused by some subterraneous commo- 
tion, the most considerable as to its 
results that has taken place in this 
kingdom for many generations. The 
river Aire, at Leeds, presented the 
effects of this phenomenon last Friday 
afternoon: the water that came down ° 
the river was in such a polluted state, 
as to have poisoned great quantities of 
fish ; and the water, continuing in much 
the same turbid state, has become en- 
tirely useless for culinary purposes, as 
well as for dyers, &c. The commis- 
sioners of the water-works have given 
public notice to the inhabitants of Leeds, 
that they will at present suspend the 
Montuty Mac. No. 401, 
Literary and Miscellaneous Intelligence. 
249 
supply of water so totally useless to 
them, until the stream subsides into 
a proper state. 
In a country newspaper it is an- 
nounced, that there is a society of 
Christians formed at Manchester, who 
have determined to refrain from animal 
food, and to live on vegetables. 
Tales of the Crusaders, by the au- 
thor of Waverly, is announced as pre- 
paring for publication. 
It is a fact, that not one solitary 
epistle in the hand-writing of George II. 
is known to exist. This circumstance 
is more remarkable, if we refer to his 
gallantries and intrigues recorded by 
Walpole and by others, To Mr. Up- 
cott, of the London Institution, and 
Mr. Dawson Turner, the banker at Yar- 
mouth, the great collectors of autograph 
letters in England, the discovery and 
the possession of an original letter by 
this singularly odd monarch would be a 
desideratum. 
Prideaux says, that gold and silver 
were much more plentiful in the time 
of David and Solomon, and 1,500 years 
afterwards, than they are at present; 
and that the mines of Arabia being ex- 
hausted, and the gold and silver with 
which the world abounded being wasted 
by the barbarians, the mines of Mexico, 
Peru, and Brazil, have not been able to 
Tepair the loss. He mentions two or 
three instances of the vast riches of 
private men in ancient times. Pythias, 
the Lydian, possessed gold and silver to 
the amount of nearly five millions 
sterling. Marcus Crassus, the Roman, 
after feasting all the people of Rome at 
10,000 tables, and giving every citizen 
corn enough to last him three months, 
found the remainder of his estate to be 
equal to about 1,400,000/7. Lucullus, a 
Roman Senator, used to expend 50,000 
denarii (1,400/.) every time he supped in 
his hall of Apollo, and this was as often 
as any of the better sort supped with 
him. It has been computed that Ne- 
buchadnezzar’s golden image, and the 
various other images, utensils, &c., of 
gold, in the temple of Belus at Baby- 
lon, amounted in value to about 
34,000,000/. Vast loads of gold and 
silver were often carried in triumph be- 
fore Roman Generals, when they re- 
turned from conquered provinces. The 
gold with which Solomon overlaid the 
most holy place only, a room thirty 
feet square, amounted to more than 
38,000,000/. Crito, a writer in Lhe 
Christian Spectator, supposes also, that 
2K the 
