124 
ward prefix, I do not see why we should 
set up for such rigid models of exactness, 
as to object to follow their example. 
Yet if we must be precisely correct, 
tetter adopt Von Linné, than the boerish 
Linnaeus. Your’s, &c. 
Dec. 1, 1809. A’ Linnean. 
To the Editor of ,the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
OUR correspondent E, in conse- 
quence of my having quoted two 
very amusing definitions of Bailey, under 
the words Gregorian and Thunder, has 
called upon me to specify the editions. | 
To this [ reply, that I shall not take such 
trouble, because I have been informed, 
that the author was the. father of Miss 
Bailey, whose gbost.so haunted Captain 
Smith, as we find in a well-known dole- 
ful bailad, and Imay get haunted too, if I 
meddle too far inthe family affairs, &c. 
E. adds, that the information of Grego- 
rian being a fashionable wig in the eigh- 
teenth century, is curious information. 
Tf so, Catalani bonnets,. and Neison’s 
chip-hats, with Hobies for boots, and 
Wogdons for pistols, are not properly 
confined to Dictionaries of English Cos- 
tume, but ought to be extended to Dic- 
tionaries of the English language, toge- 
ther with Grose, the Slang, &c. Xe. 
I agree with E, that John Bailey, and 
Miss Bailey, have. both amused the 
public, and I have not the smallest wish 
to prevent their continuing to do so. 
Your’s, &c.. 5 F, 
See 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ACCOUNT Of BENARES, written in 1785. 
ENARES,. (otherwise Canshee,) 
B stands on the northern side of the 
Ganges, and is reputed the most holy 
city of the Hindoo sect... Regarded with 
the same veneration as Mecca. by the 
Mussulmans, a.pilgrimage to Bémares 
absolves every sin, and,secures to the 
Pagan a settlement in heaven... A num- 
ber of rajahs, and opulent Lindoos, 
‘have contributed . to. its, celebrity . by 
monastic institutions for Fakeers and 
Brahmins; .by establishments for, pago- 
das; by fine flights of stone. steps down 
to the Ganges, for the convenience of 
-justration ; by gardens contiguous, to the 
town; by long avenues of trees ; and by, 
extensive tanks. Same of these. bene- 
factions they were enabled to. bestomat 
a moderate expense, on, account of 
several stone quarries within the moun- 
tains, at no great distance,either from, 
the place, or from the river side... There 
Account of Benares. 
[March 1, 
are few Hindoos, indeed, of distinction, 
who have not their small pagoda at. Be- 
nares, in charge of a Brahmin entertained 
by them, for the purpose of offering up 
prayers and sacrifice, and of distributing 
alms, on their account, at the conse- 
crated city. 
A pagoda, called Visswishor, or Vi- 
shishor, is the principal place ef wor- 
ship. \Though small, it is a handsome 
temple, built who'ly of stone, stained of 
ared colour, and sculptured, both inside 
and out, in an elegant manner, The 
idol within the temple is a black cylin- 
drical stone, called Seeb, or Mah Deeoo, 
(the Phallus of the ancient A:gyptians,) 
that is, the Great God. Both men and 
women resort in crowds every morning 
and evening, to the adoration of: this 
image, to which they are summoned by 
the ringing of bells. To the homage of 
this curious divinity, they bear with 
them Ganges water, rice, beetle, plans 
tains, sugar, flowers, and frankincense, as, 
an offering. They carry also a small - 
lamp filled with ghee (or grease) and a 
little bell. On their entering the temple, 
they light the lamp, and fire the frank. 
incense, and place them both, with se- 
veral other articles of the offering, before 
the idol. They then sprinkle the idol 
with water, and part of the rice, and | 
crown the top of it with flowers. — After _ 
the oblation they pray, and in the interval 
of every prayer, tinkle their little bell, 
When the hour of prayer is ended, the 
_ Brahmins, carry away .their offerings, 
which are considered as their subsistence. 
There is a stone figure of a bull within 
the payoda, and usually a consecrated 
live bull kept within the court’ of the 
temple, ©. . paiense 
Fire is not only a sacred offering of 
the Hinduos, but is itself also worshipped 
by them, as is its prototype, the sun, 
As in other sacred places of Indostan, 
devotee Fakeers are here seen, with their 
limbs distorted by voluntary acts of pe- 
nance, | icp) kia wea Te 
Besides the Visswishor, there are a 
multitude of smaller pagodas in Benares, 
and a celebrated observatory, erected 
near a century ago, by a-rajah of Joy- 
nagur.. But the mosques ‘are few only. 
The largest was erected on the highest — 
part of the bank, by the:emperor Akbur; 
but it is remarkable. for) nothing “more 
than its lofty minarets! © ° O09") Oot 
All. the» principal houses ‘are: baile of 
stone, in streets, (or ratheralleys) so very 
narrow, that-a palanquin has barely room 
to pass. Abundance of wealthy mer- 
chants 
