1811.] Means of Meliorating the 'Condition of the Poor, 31 
■vvofk, in 1723, not at London, but at 
Leyden ; see his account of that Piodo- 
inus in the preface to the Botanicon, 
and Haller, Bibl. Botan. v. ii. p. 140. 
Lastly Sir Richard sets down D. de ia 
Croix and Mac En Croix, for so he was 
pleased to call him, as brothers, and both 
botanistsi. We have seen above, that 
Sir Richard, in his preface, seemed to 
know but one De la Croix, poet and bo¬ 
tanist. Be tiiat as it may, here by D. 
de la Croix he means, or rather Velley 
meant, the Demetrius, of whom I have 
already treated. They could not have 
been brothers; Mac En Croix, that is, 
as Sir Richard ounht to have written the 
name, Mac Encroe was an Irishman, 
Demetrius a Frenchman. The name of 
the brother, to whom the poet addressed 
ills epistle, was Denis. As he was a 
clergyman, and much burthened with 
ecclesiastical duties, as appears from a 
passage above quoted, I dare say he was 
jjot a botanist; perhaps he vvas a poet. 
I have a very pretty Latin ode, addressed 
to Charles O’Brien, Comiti de dare, 
Ciistrorum Fraefecto^ tac. printed at 
Paris in 1706, and signed simply Mac- 
Encroe. But whether written by the 
physician or the clergyman, I cannot 
ascertain. The praise bestowed in a 
note on Daniel O’Brien, last king of 
Munster, for his piety in founding 
churches and monasteries, seems to lead 
to the clergyman as its author. 
Permit me to Qljserve, by the bye, that 
several Irishmen distinguished themselves 
at that period, by their Latin poeins at 
Paris. Next to the incomparable Mac 
Encroe, of those, any of whose poems 
have fallen into my hands, I should place 
St. John a priest, and a native of the 
county of Tipperary, who was poet lau- 
reat to King James II. 
Mac Encroe was very much attached 
to Vaillant, and had a great esteem for 
Dr. Slierard. 
Peadebant ipsi dicentjs ab ore Sherardi.” 
V. 491. ^ 
Thus much to satisfy the laudable cu- 
inosity of your correspondent, Irdm, &c. 
JDuhlin, June 3, 1811. J.L. 
For the Monthly Magazine, 
RCMEOy rOR THE TOOTII^ACHE. 
HERE the actual or external 
caustic cannot safely be applied 
to the nerve, perhaps extraction alone 
is to be trusted. The remedy by burn¬ 
ing behind the ears, seems likely to create 
jSiischiefs worse than the disease* Ar¬ 
dent spirits applied’with cotton, produc* 
deafness, and may cause still worse. 
Character of the Piano, 
I am apprehensive that my hint of the 
distinctive character of tlie harpsichord, 
in its original state, and of the modili- 
cation by which it becomes a piano¬ 
forte, may be misunderstood. < 
Ido not mean tiiat the piano-forte is 
not capable of the most sublime expres¬ 
sion; perhaps in this it is only inferior to 
the organ. But the female voice, and 
manrrer of singing, is also capable of ihe 
most sublime expression ; and in this £ 
have understood Madame Mara has never 
been excelled, nor perhaps equalled. 
I do not mean the tone of tiie piano is 
more acute, or sharp, than tiiat of tha 
harpsichord, for it is obviously the con¬ 
trary. But I mean to intficate from its 
construction, that superior capacity , of 
obeying the touch, in all its delicacy of 
gradation, which is so well expressed by 
Dr. Busby, iir his Dictionary, and so 
well adapts to tbose gradations of light 
and sliade which characterise the rrm&t 
refined compositions of the present day ; 
that elegance, softness, sweetness, and 
tenderness, in which a fine female per¬ 
former is by organization, as well as sen¬ 
timent and habit, qualified to excel. 
The harpsichord, perhaps, by its clear, 
strong, shrill, tone, may be even betttr 
qualified to lead the hand in a full con¬ 
cert; to mark the time, and toTre dis¬ 
tinctly audible, where lequisite. It may 
he fitter for passages of continued firii- 
liaiicy, rapiflity, and force ; but not, I 
presume, for such where the for e sinks 
into the. piano, or the piano rises into the 
forte, and the several degrees of both 
are to be given wdth expressive effect: 
not for legato passages, and adagio 
movements, of sweetness, tenderness,' 
grace, and dignity. 
On the Means of Meliorating the Condition, 
of the Foo?', 
One, suggested by the benevolent, sa¬ 
gacious, and indefatigable. Di. Edwards, 
actually, in a great measure, 'exists. 
There are comparatively few removals 
since Mr. East’s Bill. There would he 
still fewer, if there were a power (which 
new exists oidy in sickness, or case of 
temporary disability by accident) of or¬ 
dering relief vvhere the pauper and family 
reside at the time to be removed, by 
the parish where they are settled, instead 
of removing ih.em, perhaps, across the 
