220 
proper to affizn to the god who fabricated 
the arms of Achilles.a place in the hea- 
vens, near the God of War—to the huf- 
‘band of Venus a place near her paramour. 
Nor could Vulcan murmur that it was fo 
Jate before this honour was done him, and 
a planet of fo fmall luminofity called 
after his name, fince he himfelf, on account 
of his unfortunate lamenefs, is not’ very 
{wift-of-foot, or ftately in his appearance. 
Vulcan too, he fays, being the fon of Ju- 
_ piter, is one of the family, and in this 
refpeét, likewife, had a well-founded claim 
to the nonor intended him.” 
~ Profeffor Reimarus, of Hamburg, is of 
opinion that it fhould be called Cupid. . It 
being an eftablifhed cuftom:to name the 
planets after the deities of antiquity; 
there is, he thinks, fufficient reafon for 
adopting that of Cupid, for he would: be 
the neareft (reckoning downwards from 
Venus) to Mars, the lover of Venus.— 
Others think, that the name of Cupid 
would therefore, be prover, becaufe it con- 
veys an idea of blindnefs; for the new 
planet has the appearance of a ftar of only 
the 8th magnitude, and cannot be feen by 
the unaffifted eyes of man. But on this 
point, if the right of the newly-difcovered 
{tar to be admitted among the number of the. 
planets be confirmed, the plurality of 
voices, or perhaps only accident, - will de- 
cide. Itis, likewife, poffible, that, as it 
happened with refpeét to Uranus, there 
will be no general agreement among aftro- 
nomers. In Italy it will, perhaps, retain 
the name of Ferdinandeum Sidus, in France 
that of Planéte Piazzi, till time and cir- 
cumftances fhall have otherwife decided. 
Memoirs of Prince. Pignatelh. 
1 [Nov. 4, 
Tt has long been euftomary to exprefs 
the order of the planets in Latin verfes, . 
that they might the more eafily be com- 
mitted to memory ; as for inftance, in the 
old well-known diftich :— 
Saturni atque Jovis fidus, Mars, Sol, Venus — 
alma, 
Mercurius, claudit ultima Luna chorum. 
When Herfchell difcovered the new 
planet beyond Saturn, Poinfinet Defivry 
wifhed to have it named after Cybele, the 
wife of Saturn ; and gave us the order oF 
the feven planets in the following verfes:— 
Ambit Solem Hermes, Venus*hunc, mox 
Terra, Diana, 
Mars fequitur. 
* Saturnus 5 
Omnes hos orbes ampleftitur alma Cubelle. 
A friend of M. von Zach expreffes the 
order of the now eight planets, in the fol- 
lowing lines :— 
Pergit Rex Jupiter. Hune 
Mercurius primus ; Venus altera; Terra deinde ; 
Mars pofthac; quintam fedem fibi:vindicat 
Hera: 
Fupiter hanc ultra eft. Sequitur Saturnus 3 at 
illum 
Uranus egreditur, non aufim dicere fummus. 
Or, 
‘Mercurius Solem comitatur proximus. Ilum 
Infequitur Venus, hanc Tellus, Luna comi- 
tante; -- 
Mars pofthac ; Martem’ prohibet Jovis effe 
fequacem. ° 
Hera \atens fruftra, et melioribus obvia vitris. 
Saturnum extrema proavi ftatione locabant, ~ 
‘Nos aliter. Supremam celi nunc Uranus 
arcem 
Ufurpat, peenas auf fortafle daturus. 
MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
MEMOIRS 6f PRINCE PIGNATELLI, date 
_ -VECEROY of NAPLES. 
RANCIS PIGNATELLI, of the 
A” Princes of Strongeli, was born about 
the year 1730, from an illuftrious family, 
whofe origin is certainly prior to the foun- 
dation of fhemonarchyof the two Sicilies,and 
probably derived from fome of the Lombard 
Lords in the principality of Benevento. 
If we may give credit to the ancient and 
uncontradicted tradition, the name of this 
family was undoubtedly derived from the 
Ttalian word Pzguattello, a {mail pipkin, 
‘and adopted by the founder of the family, 
fince he penetrated vittorioufly into the en- 
trenched camp of the Greek Emperor, 
and into the very tent of the general of 
the army. He went out of the aparment 
with three pipkics in his hand, fhewing 
them to his foldiers as a proof of a com- 
plete victory. This accords, at leaft, with 
the coat of arms of the eldeft branch of 
the family. "It reprefents three fmal! pip- 
kins in a triangular figure, with the fol- 
lowing line under them, if we recollect 
: rightly : 
Quas rapuit Graecis ollas Landolphus fe. 
Prince Francis early in his youth en- 
tered the army ; and he began his career 
with fuch unfavourable autpices that no- 
body could forefee he would one. day be - 
raifed to the pinnacle ef dignity in the 
kingdom, Being an inferior officer, and - 
hardly 
* 
