232 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[Feb. 11, 



ittfscellanfcjs. 



From the Metrical Tales ef Robert Southey. 



BATTLE OF BLENHEIM. 

 It was a summer evening;. 

 Old Kaspar's work was done, 

 And he before his cottage door, 

 Was sitting in the sun ; 

 And by him sported on the green, 

 His little grandchild, Willhelmiue. 



She saw her brother Peterkin, 



Boll something large and round, 



Which he beside the rivulet 



In playing there had found ; 



He came to ask what he had found 



That was so large, and smooth, and round. 



Old Kaspar took it from the boy, 



Who stood expectant by, 



And then the old man shook his head, 



And with a natural sigh, 



'Tis some poor fellow's skull, said be. 



Who fell in the great victory. 



I find them in the garden, for 

 There's many here about ; 

 And often when I go to plough. 

 The ploughshart- turns them out ; 

 For many thousand men, said he. 

 Were slain in the great victory. 



Now tell us what 'twas all about. 

 Young Peterkin he cries. 

 And little Wilhelmine looks up. 

 With wonder waiting eyes ; 

 Now tell us all about the war. 

 And what they kill'd each other for. 



It was the English, Kaspar cried, 

 Who put the French to rout ; 

 But what they kill'd each other for, 

 I could not well make out. 

 But every body said, quoth he, 

 That 'twas a famous victory. 



My father lived at Blenheim then, 



Yon little stream hard by ; 



They burnt his dwelling to the ground 



And he was forc'd to fly ; 



So with his wife and child he fled, 



Nor had he where to rest his head. 



With fire and sword the country round 



Was wasted far and wide, 



And many a childing mother then. 



And new born infant died. 



But things like that, you know must be 



At every famous victory. 



They say it was a shocking sight. 



After the field was won. 



For many thousand bodies here, 



Lay rotting in the sun ; 



But things like this, you know must be 



After a famous victory. 



Great praise the duke of Marlboro' won, 



And our good prince Eugene, 



Why 'twas a very wicked thing ! 



Said little Wilhelmine. 



Nay— nay— my little girl, quolh he, • 



It was a famous victory. 



And every body praised the diUje, 



Who such a fight did win ; 



But what good came of it at last ? 



Quotli little Peterkin. 



Why that I cannot tell, said he, 



But 'twas a famous victory. 



some doubts of their efficacy, expressed by the 

 editor of tb'2 London Globe and Traveller, the 

 editor of !lie Chemist, :> periodical work of 

 merit, publishes the following letter. — A. Y. 

 Advocate. 



" As you have expressed a doubt as to the 

 power of wire gauze to cool flame, so as to 

 extinguish it when exposed to the strong heat 

 of a large fire, permit me to describe two ex- 

 periments I recently witnessed in the labora- 

 tory of the Royal Institution. It is known, 

 that the heat produced by burning spirit of 

 wine, is much greater than the heat produced 

 by many flames which are much more lumi- 

 nous ; and of course, if we can extinguish a 

 flame of this kind with a small piece of wire 

 gauze, we may extinguish n larger flaii.e, 

 which may be more luminous, but not so in- 

 tensely heated, by means of a larger surface 

 of gauze. Now, a few weeks ago, I saw Mr. 

 Brande place a piece of wire gauze, about six 

 inches square, over the flame of a spirit lamp ; 

 and though the flame played rajiidly on the 

 underside of the gauze, nothing whatever was 

 to be seen above it ; but on bringing a lighted 

 pajier to the upper part of the gauze, (he va- 

 por which passed extinguished through the 

 gauze, was instantly ignited. Thus the gauze 

 completely extinguished the flame, and had 

 the appearance, when the flame was re-liglUed 

 above by the taper, of having cut it in two. 

 On the same occasion, Mr. Brande fixed a piece 

 of camphor, which is a very inflammable mat- 

 ter, on a piece of wire gauze, with the cam- 

 phor on the upper side, over a lamp ; when 

 the camphor smoked, and was gradually wasted 

 away, without ever bursting into flame : on 

 reversing the sides of the gauze, and bringing 

 the camphor into contact with the lamp, it 

 instantly burst info flame, but the flame 

 played wholly on the under svrfacc of the wire 

 gtiaze, and never passed through it. Sir, it 

 was witnessing these experiments which led 

 me lo propose, in the little publication 1 con- 

 duct, wire gauze as a proper substance lo make 

 masks for firemen, and as a valuable addition 

 to the means now in use for the extinction of 

 flame and the putting out of fires. — This pro- 

 perty of wire gauze to coel flame by radiating 

 heat, is quite of modern discovery, and seems 

 not yet to have been put to many of the uses 

 of which it is susceptible. As far as 1 know, 

 its use is confined to the safely lump ; and the 

 further application of it 1 recommended, seems 

 warranted by the ex|>erimenls above detailed. 

 i have the honor to be, sir, your obeiljent 

 servant, The Editor of the Chemist. 



TUe food which we fancy most, generally sits 

 easiest on the stomach. 



To affirm that any thing is wholesome, or 

 unwholesome, without considering liie subject 

 in ail Ihe circumsiances lo which it bears rela- 

 tion, and the unaccountable peculiarities of dif- 

 ferent constitutions, is, with submission, talking 

 nonsense. 



What we have been longest used to, is most 

 likely to agree with us best.' 



The wbolesomeoess, &.c. of all food depends 

 very much upon tlie quality of it, and the way 

 in which it is cooked. 



Those who are poor in health, must live as 

 they can ; certainly the less stimulus any of us 

 use, the better, provided it be suQicicnt to prop- 

 erly carry on the circulation. 



We learn from the best authority, that up- 

 wards of one million eight hundred thousand 

 dollars were coined during the last year at our 

 mint, principally in silver. New dies are 

 about to be cut with a new figure of Liberty, 

 by means of which the appearance of the coin 

 is expected to he much impioved. It is cal- 

 culated that two millions will be coined during 

 the present year. — Phil, paper. 



Firemen. — Every invention or improvement 

 which can add safety or comfort to firemen, 

 should be brought to notice. In the Post of 

 Ffiday last, there are some observations on 

 the use of wire ^au^c masks for firemen. From 



Ma.tims of Health — The more luxuriously you 

 live, the more exercise you require. 



Exercise, to have its full effect, roust be con- 

 tinued till we feel a sensible degree of perspira- 

 tion, which is the panacea for the prevention 

 of corpulence, and should at least once a day 

 proceed to the borders of fatigue, but never 

 beyond them, or we shall be weakened, in- 

 stead of strengthened. 



Alter exercise take care to get cool gradually 

 — when your heail perspires, rub it, and your 

 face, &c. with a dry cloth. 



Be content with one dish ; as many dig their 

 grave with ibeir teeth as with the tankard. 



Drunkenness is destructive, but gluttony de- 

 stroys a hundred to one. 



Dr Witherspoon — When a distinguished mem- 

 ber of Congress said that we were " not yet rijie 

 for a declaration of independence," this exem- 

 plary patriot answered, " in my judgment, Sir, 

 we are not only ripe, but rotting." 



When Lord Ellenborough was Attorney Gen- 

 eral, he was listening with some impatience 

 to the judgment of a Learned Judge, afterwards 

 his colleague, who said, " In — v. — , I ruled 

 that," &.C. •' You rule I" said the Attorney 

 General, in a tone of suppressed indignation, 

 loud enough to be heard, however, by many 

 of his brethren at the Bar — "you rule! you 

 were never fit to rule any thing but a copy- 

 book." 



D^ 



Jlmerican Wine. 



YtR'S superiour Red and White GroseiUe (or 

 Currant) fVine, is for sale, wholesale or retail, for 

 the present, at 65, Broad-Street, by E. COPELA^D, Jr. 

 Price per keg of 6 gallons, delivered at any part of 

 tVie city, 87 1-2 cents per gallon, including keg and 

 sending home, for the Red; — and $1,50 per gallon 

 for the White. The extensive sale of this valu.%ble ar- 

 ticle of Domestic Industry is its best recommendation. 



The following notice of this Wine is extracted from the 

 (5o/em) Essex Register. 



" We have been politely favoured with a sample of 

 the Groseille }Vine, made by the Messrs. Dyers, of 

 Providence, R. I. and have no hesitation in pronounc- 

 ing it superiour to much of the imported Wine, and a 

 everage of uncomm on richness of flavour and colour, 

 it is said to be very whole some ; and we cannot doubt 

 that it will take the place of the foreign Wines at out 

 s6cial parties," &c. Dec. 24. 



TERMS OF THE FARMER. 

 ft^Published every Saturday, at Thrfe Doli/jis 

 per annum, payable at Ihr end of the year — but those 

 who pay within sixty diri/s horn the time of subsciibing 

 will be entitled to u deduction of Firxv Cents. 



Q::j=Postage must be paid on all letters to the Editor or 

 Publisher. 



0^ No paper will be discontinued, (unless at the 

 discretion of the publisher,) until arrearages are paid. 



