172 
infinite fucceflion, the very condition of 
which is unchangeable progrefs, as finite 
fums are compared. The obje€tion is an 
eld one revived. “But is it not manifeft, 
thatthe fum of an infinite afcending fe- 
ries never can be rbached. And it muft 
be taken as fixed, contrary- to its mature, 
before the dilemma ftated by your cor- 
refpondent, with its fuppofed inconfe- 
uences, on either fide, can arife. 
With refpe& to an infinitefmal defcend- 
ing feries, ipfeems equally clear, that it 
muit be always, in whatever term ‘affign- 
able, lefs than +. taking unity for the 
finite quantity, thus divided, in coxten- 
pletion, into inhnitefmal parts: For if it 
could be greater, or equal, it-muft be 
true, that the parts are greater than the 
whole, and'that an aihgnable number of 
tafinitefmals contained in a given quan- 
titv, could not be increafed by continu- 
ing the infiuite feries. Ina word, any 
quantity is infinite, which is greater or 
lefs than any aihgnable. quantity : but 
actual infinity can be found in no point. 
of aétual divifion, or of a€tua! progref- 
fion. In KEIL’s PHysrea, fome ob- 
fervations of that great author, worthy, 
as | apprehend, of clofe attention, may 
be found on this fubjett. 
i fulfpeé&t your correfpondent NorTH- 
UMBRIENSIS*™ will find, that 1f the {un’s 
rays were to be taken as fry parailel, 
and not diverging, the confequence would 
be very different from what he-intends. 
But this queftion (and indeed the former 
will be.more properly left in other hands. 
I would now fay a word as to the Co- 
met; on which you have been fo indul- 
gent to me. 
efest of 
ffe&t of its not having been an- 
d when firft feen in- the neigh- 
od cf London,- was this; that a 
acknowledged eminence in 
Comets, loft the opportu- 
it earlier than the 23d. 
i 
L gentleman, whofe name J 
€ 
I believe that 
iiders it as having come to its ajcending 
Nede in 28 of Aguarivs, after paifing its 
Perihelion on the roth of July : and that 
it has been neareft to the earth of any 
Comet oblérved hitherto, except that of 
477@. 
A. word now ona fu 
atter myfelt T amymor home : that 
: the power af Accent. Lf your corref- 
oodent CLERICUS+ tries the queftion, 
ither by theory or his ear, I rhink-he 
on which [ 
= 
— 
(2 | 
CA 
oO 
ips) 
pe) 
c 
t 
e) 
"cf 
wiil find, that even in Exglifb, the acute 
from aiways prolonging the time 
feos 5 
- that fz72 and foe are dif- 
* Pase < 
$ “ae Zij- 
Mr. Loft on Comets, Accint, B Counckife Poetry 
{ Sept. : 
tinct attributes of found; the ote relative 
tO its rhythm, harmony or commenfur- 
abie proportions ; the other, to its audi- 
ble differences, as found. Any perfon 
who will try this on an inftrument, or in 
attending to a voice in /finging; where the 
tones and tunes are more determinable by 
their proportions, and their prolonged 
utterance, than in {peech, will find that 
an acute, or a grave accent or tone, may 
be annexed to a long or a thort note. In 
’ our poetry, if I am right, the emphafis ° 
often, and the melody fometimes, changes 
the accent from acute to grave, or from 
grave to acute; differently from what it 
would be in common pronunciation, the: 
relative times remaining ftill as before 3 
though recited in a quicker or flower 
movement, according as the exprefMion 
of the paflage will require: ~ When mn- ~ 
fic is {ung in parts, the grave tone will’ 
be given ‘to the fame fyllable by one 
finger, which has the acute given it by - 
another, yet the times will be unaffetted 
by this difference of tones. Something 
of this I have, T think, iiluftrated in a 
{pecimen of an intended edition of P= 
RADISE<os7:> | 37 
I remain, yours, with great efteem; 
Carpet Lorr; 
To the Editor of tte Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
© BSERVING in one of your late Magazines, 
that a correfpondent had very properly in- 
vited fome perfon, fuficiently qualified, to fol=? 
lew the fteps of MEIRIoN, in regard to the 
Erfe poetry, I have tent you the following piece 
of information, in the hope, that it may tend, 
to aroufe fome of your northern correfpondents, 
and produce fome additions to Mr. Macruer= 
son’s colle€tion : 
A dramatic work has lately appéared at Paris, 
compofed from the moft prominent features of 
the Erfe poetry. The idea is new, and the avthor 
(Arnaup) has combined the fingular. details, 
with which the fubjeét’ abounds, with a judg. 
ment which cannot fail to infure fuccels. The 
{cenery is placed among the Bards of the third 
century, in the mountains of Scotland. — 
The hero of the tragedy is @fear, the fon of © 
Offian, and grandion of Fingal. In this piece 
the poet has had no track to follow; he has, 
however, nobly depiéted the energy of apaffion 
new and ardent in a foul jike that of Ofcar; 
the fcene in which he ayows his fatal paffion 
to Dermid, poififies uncommon beauties, and 
the defcriptions, gathered. from the phyfical 
{tate of the ikies and foil, and from the varied 
icenes which they prefent to the inhabitants of 
the mountains, are imitated from Offian’s po- 
etry, with much ability. The ttyle is charac- 
teriftic of the time and place wherein the fce- 
nery 1s placed. 
* Page 98, 

