a 
I have little fear in fubmitting thefe ftric- 
tures to the difciples of Locke, Hartley, 
and HoRNE TOOKE. 
SINBORON. 
P. S. Excufe a fentence of egotism: the 
Anti-jacobin mif-ftates whilft he compliments 
this fignature by afcribing it to the author of 
the valuable and interefting ‘* Hiftcry of 
Eaglifh Wars.”” 
SE Ea 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
I CANNOT help congratulating the 
world, through the medium of your 
mifcellany, on the probable overthrow of 
that enormous ufurpation in fcience, 
which has fo long prevailed, under the 
name of the Newtonian fyftem of the uni- 
verfe; and by a caufe, too, which one 
could not fuppofe adequate to the effect. 
As I was breakfafting very lately with 
a friend, two reputable trade{men of Lon- 
don were introduced into the room—a 
father and his fon—both, as I was inform- 
ed, fenfible, induftrious, and wealthy. 
’ The old gentleman was the very picture of 
urbane good nature, but better acquainted 
with the price of ftocks and trade, than 
with philofophy. ‘The fon had made fome 
little progrefs in fcience ; having bought 
an air-pump lately, and dabbled a little 
in chemiftry : he feemed, however, as I 
thought, to poflefs fomething of the prr- 
gue ingenium, ot the father. ek 
<¢ Tis all over !’’ cry’d the old gentle- 
man, as he entered.—‘* A difcovery has 
been made, which brings to light frange 
things indeed! Many a reputation, 
which isnow high, will foon be fhaken!” 
My friend and I thought fome dangerous 
plot againft the ftate had been difcovered : 
---but he proceeded---‘* Newton is con- 
futed by an ingenious, felf-taught af- 
tronomer, whofe name is Martin! He 
has an exhibition in Leicefter-fields, 
which I faw yefterday, or I could not 
have believed it. My fon faw it too. 
.--Every thing is as plain, as that two 
and two make four !”’ 
We were very glad to find that our 
alarm was groundlefs ;---and began to 
periuade our vifitors, that the mathemati- 
cal demonftrations of Newton, on which 
his fyftem was founded, were not in fuch 
great danger of being confuted, as they 
eluppofed. It was all in vain; the idea 
had taken too deep rcot in their minds to 
be eafily eradicated. We then enquired 
what were the diftinguifhing features of 
Mr. MArtin’s fyftem? the old gentle- 
~ ppananfwered, to the beft of his recollection, 
that the earth was in the centre of the uni- 
bie 
, 
Attempt to refute the Newtonian Sy/tem. 
ftars, annually revolved. 
[June 
verfe ; round which the fun, moon, and 
This, faid- he, 
as Mr. Marrin informed us, coincides 
with the account Moses givesof the crea- 
tion—with thepfalms of David alfo—and 
with the interdiction, that Jofhua laid on 
the fun at Gibeon, and on the moon, in 
the valley of Ajalon. ~ 
Breaktfaft being. over, we refolved te 
become eye witnefles ourlelves, of Mr. 
MARTIN'S new diicoveries. Our vifi- 
tors declared, they would not grudge a 
fecond fhilling a piece, to fupport the 
caufe of truth againit error, and would 
accompany us, therefore, unmediately to 
Leicetter-fields. 
Having reached the place ef our defti- 
nation, we beheld, ftanding at the corner 
of a ftreet, a kind of herald of this new- 
born {cience ; with a placard, faftened te 
a barber’s pole * ; announcing to the pub- 
lic, in capital letters, the confutation of the © 
Newtonian fyftem of the univerfe ! This 
at firft. ftartled me, for I could hardly 
fuppofe fo much fire could evaporate 
into {moke: and even the honeft citizen 
was forced toapologize for Mr. MARTIN, 
by faying, ‘* that confcious ability and 
merit would fometimes bear down a few 
{cruples of modefty.”” eA 
We entered, impatiently, the apartment 
of the aftronomer ; in the middle of which, 
we beheld his famous epitome of the uni- 
verfe. As he tock a kind of wand and 
prepared to give his lecture, my imagi- 
nation pictured the fhades of Galilea, 
Kepler, Copernreus, and Newton, trem- 
bling for their immortality, and hovering 
about in all the agonies of exploded im- 
pofition, and pofthumous difgrace. . 
The earth, as had been deicribed to us, 
was pointed out in the center of the uni- 
verfe ; moving on an axis perpendicular ~ 
to the plane of theequator. ‘To preferve 
the inequality of day and night, the fur 
was ingeniou{ly contrived to move inthe | 
plane of the ecliptic. The fixed ftars, he - 
told us with Hibernian precifion, moved 
in circles, parallel to the plane of the 
equator: the diameters, however, of their 
orbits round the earth, being greater than 
that of the fun, no inconvenience took 
place from this incongruity of motion. 
The fun and moon were reprefented as two 
fatellites of the earth---the planets, as 
fatellites of the fun. In this fyftem, the 

* Mr. Mar Tin was formerlya barber, but 
thinking it more eafy to become a fyitem- 
monger, than to fhave hard beards, formed 
at once, the bold refolution of attacking the 
Newtonian philofophy. 
: orbits 
