32 



History fff Astronomy y hy Lalandc. 



[Atig. I, 



an.r. any whcTre but in his churclj, may 

 call the people together, and exhort 

 th&m. to combine for an alteration in the 

 rubric. Wliere would there be in fuch 

 condudl any thing inconiiftent with his 

 rfuty ? The charge of hypocrify is only 

 applicable to filent acquiefceiice. 



Some pcrfons iunilarly circiimflanced 

 tave indeed religned tlieir livings ; a dif- 

 pLiyof fincerity and dilintcreliediK^fs en- 

 titled to the appropriate adminiti(>n, but 

 not to tlie merit of fiicilitating the pro- 

 jrefs of refunn. While public opinion 

 exacts heavy pecuniary facrifices as a fine 

 tbrfpeakingout, filence will be generally 

 preferred. The refigners of livings, to 

 be confident, niuft maintain that the ma- 

 giftrate has no right to decree a public rc- 

 Hgion; for if the Ibite cftabliibes any re- 

 ligion whatfoovcr, there cannot but be 

 fome coinpnimife with private judgment. 

 It is impoffible that the clergy fliouirl all 

 exactly and entirely coincide with the 

 fyftem ordained by public authority, no 

 two independent inquirers having ever 

 been found to interpret alike every fingle 

 text of Scripture. An agreement to teach 

 in the church the religion of the fove- 

 rcign is coufequently the only pratiicablc 

 bargain between the ftatc and the clergy, 

 if uniformity be made a condition. How 

 much better would it have been ncA er 

 to have propofcd the A6t of Uniformity 

 at all, but to have left the prieft and the 

 parifhioners at liberty, by a feparatc lo- 

 cal concert, to vary at pleafure their li- 

 turgies and their rites : here to replace 

 die pompous pageantry of Cathollcifui ; 

 there to imitate the chearful fellivities of 

 Paganifm. Somewhere a Clarke might 

 have inflitutcd his Arianifm ; yonder 

 a Middleton his Antifupernaturalifm ; 

 and the wife and good of every feft of 

 fcntiment, the ornaments of literature 

 and the inftruflors of their cotmtry, might 

 all have remained within reach of ap- 

 propriate rocompcnfe. It is furprifmg 

 that at the llelloration, when the Court 

 ■was faid to fwarm with philofophers, men 

 of influence 

 Knew no fucli fyftem : no fuch piles could 



raifc, 

 Of natural worfliip, built oii prsycr and praife 

 To one fole God. Uryoen. 



Surely a petition for the repeal of the 

 Aft of Uniformity might with entire pro- 

 priety be fubfcribcd by any of the efta- 

 blilhed clergy, and would be received 

 with complacence by thofe members of 

 the legillaturc who are moll anxious to 

 conciliate the aft'eCtions and to extend 

 the liberties of the Catholics and other 

 DifleiUer:. 1 



Far th& Monthly Magazine. 



HISTORY of ASTR0KOMV_/<>r 1805, 6^ JE- 

 ROME DE I.ALANUE. 



MDR I.^i])lace has read to the In- 

 , ftitute a Memoir on Capillary 

 Tubes, in which he gives an analytical 

 calculation of their atrraftion, perftftly 

 confonnable to experience. 'I'here is an 

 extract from it in the Journal de P/iii/'tque 

 for January 180C. I read another on 

 furvcying, in which I dcmonllrated the 

 ditVerence between the Table of Jx'vel> 

 which is »ifed in proreeding from r\ortli 

 to fouth, and that which (bould be cm- 

 j)loyed in gf>ing from eaft to well, on ac- 

 count of the figure of the earth ; ii coii- 

 iideration which had hitherto efcaped all 

 the authors who have treated on this fub- 



je<;t. 



The fifth volume of the Inftitiite which 

 appcarcfl on the lltli of January, con- 

 tains fourteen INIemoirs on aftjonomicij 

 fubjci'ts. Among thefe I have giVen lle- 

 fearcheson the Motion of Mercury, Mars, 

 A'enus ; Calculations of the Kclipfos of 

 the Stars, and a Dcfcription of the Zodiac 

 of Stralburg. M. Dclamhrc treats of 

 the ftercograjihic projertion, and of the 

 ailrolahe of Senelius, which M. (lail had 

 introduced to the notice of the Clafs. 

 There are alfli a !\Temoir by M. Mellier 

 on the PalVage of Mercury ; Obfer\'a- ' 

 tions by M. i'crrcrs in America ; llie 

 Occultation of ]Mars, by !\I. Due laCha- 

 pelie; a Notice on the Great I'ables 

 which were calculated by M. do Prony's 

 direftion, and Remarks on the lliflory of 

 'irigonometrical Tables. M. CafTini has 

 given a Dcfcription of the Mariner's 

 Compafs. 



The Tranfatiions of the lloyal Society 

 of London for loiK! contain a Memoir by 

 Dr. Herfchel on the Tranlit of ilercury, 

 in which hepercei\cd no ring; another on 

 the Caufes that nuike the Mirrors of Te- 

 lefcopes change their Form. 



In thofe of 180t he treats of the 

 Double Stars, which in the laft twenty- 

 five years feeni to have unden;one fome 

 variations, efpecially with rctpect to tlie 

 angles of diitance with the ecliptic ; 

 wliich Icivds him to imagine that they 

 turn, but fo llowly, tliat it is di.*1icn!t to 

 alKriu it. lie ha,-, feen one part hide the 

 other in one of thefe double liars. 



The Tables of the Sun, by M. Dc- 

 lambre, and of the Moon, by M. But^, 

 have been fmiflicd and prefented. M. 

 Delambre has recoinpofed the Tables of 

 the Moon in fuch a manner, that rv the. 

 equatioub are additive, which will lare * 



time 



