140 



the Sun, and those of Saturn, the 

 Gcorgium Siilus, and Jupiter and his 

 Satellites, are the result of immense la- 

 bour, and are marked with a dc^,rce of 

 ])recision far beyond the expectations of 

 the most sanguine astronomer. His 

 Traite d' Astronomie Theorique ct Pra- 

 tique, in three volumes, and his Histoire 

 de VAslronomie Ancienne, in two 

 volumes, his Histoire de I' Astronomie dii 

 Moijen Age, in one volume, and the two 

 first volumes of his Histoire de V Astrono- 

 mie BJoderne, arc works of great judj;- 

 raent and erudition, and will maintain 

 their value as long- as the science of the 

 heavens is cultivated. 



To a profound knowledge of science, 

 Delambrc added the rare acconiplish- 

 ment in a scientific man, a deep know- 



Oi igiiiul Pot III/. [March i, 



ledge of ancient and modern larjguages. 

 He was so thorouglily acquainted with 

 tiie Greek language, that he could 

 speak it as fluently as his native tongue ; 

 and it is impossible to read his History 

 of Ancient Astronomy, without ad- 

 miring the advantages which this ac- 

 quirenient has given him over all the 

 other historians of science. He also 

 read English, Italian, and German, with 

 fluency ; antl, though his erudition was 

 principally directed to the purposes of 

 science, yet he often relaxed from his 

 severer labours in the study of Virgil, 

 Homer, Plutarch, and Cicero. In his 

 scicntilic character, Dulanibrc was uni- 

 versally admired. In private life ho 

 displayed the most amiable dispositions. 



STEPHENSIANA. 



NO. XXVII. 



GEORGE BUCHANAN, 



THIS great man, like Milton, was a 

 republican. In the dedication of 

 his celebrated dialogue, "De jureregni 

 apud Scotos," to his pupil James VI. 

 (afterwards James I. of England,) he 

 promises him, at a more eoHvenient 

 opportiuiity, to write a treatise " on the 

 rights of kings ;" in the mean time, he 

 jncsents him with one of the best pro- 

 ductions ever penned '* on the rights of 

 the people." 



malherbe's son, 

 a young man who promised to \,e 

 as celebrated as his fattier, having fallen 

 in a duel, nothing could as.^uage the de- 

 spair of his afflicted parent, who actually 

 challenged tiie murderer of his son, and 

 was with great diflicully prevented from 

 lighting him. On being reminded that 

 his adversary was not half his age, " so 

 niucli the belter, (replied the coura- 

 geous old man,) I am but half as valua- 

 ble now as I was at his tine of life : the 

 risk is therefore less, and the glory will 

 be greater." 



EPITAPH FOR THE LATE DUKE OF N. 



In filth and dirt, though high his birth, 

 A human hog here rots in earth; 

 Whose hist'ry'.s told in this short placard ; 

 He iiv'd a beast, and died a blackguard. 



WILKES AND SMOLLETT. 



On the publication of Smollett's 

 History, and while the expunged pas- 

 sage, relative to the first indications of 

 mental derangement in George the 

 Third, was matter of public curiosity, 

 Drs. Smullcft and Shebbcare, and the 



celebrated whig John Wilkes, niei 

 casually at the publishers. These three 

 prominent characters, between whom 

 there subsisted little else than mere 

 personal knowledge, entered info a con- 

 versation on the subject of Smollett's 

 recently published History, and its 

 a|)parently decided success ; which 

 conversation was however managed, on 

 the part of Wilkes, in his usual style, 

 very gentlemanly, but sufBciently sati- 

 rical. The immediate topic was the 

 horrible and brutal conduct of the re- 

 publican soldier, who spat in the face 

 of the royal martyr, in his passage to the 

 scaffold. On this memorable example 

 of Christian charily, Smollett, after 

 some feeling and rational observations, 

 exclaims, " 'J'hus to spit upon his anoint- 

 ed sovereign !" Wilkes said, "Why, 

 doctor, your observations on such a 

 d d fact are very just and appro- 

 priate," adding, with one of the choicest 

 and most poignant of his satirical grins, 

 " but you might as well have left out the 

 greasing jirocess.'" Smollett langlicd 

 heartily, replying, " Pshaw ! pshaw ! 

 Mr. Wilkes, you know I was not 

 writing Roderick Random." Sheb- 

 bcare preserved a sullen silence. — This 

 was related to a friend by Smollett's 

 willow, when under the necessity of 

 soliciting charity. 



PRESS-WARRANTS. 



During the mayoralty of Alderman 

 Sainsbury, (formerly the tobacconist on 

 Ludgate-hill,) the government happened 

 to be suddenly in want of sailors. Press- 

 warrants 



