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Northern Star (1837-1852), 2nd October 1852, Edition 1 of 2, Page 13

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      Untitled Article

      REVIEWS . Mackenzie ' s School Geography , Part I . London E Mackenzie , Fleet-street . * ' Althoug h , written for the use of schools , this excellent Geograp hical treatise contains a vast amount of information , which renders it well worthy perusal by those who have long passed the age of boyhood , while the smallness of its price puts it withm the reach of all . Much information relative to the history and resources of every Enelish town and county is given . If the succeeding parts equal the first , this little work will form a manual of geography that may well vie with the highest priced works . The following extracts will serve to indicate the style of the work : —

      THE SYSTEM OP THE UNIVERSE . The Universe , according to William Herschel , is a vast assemblage of Astral Systems ; the dusky spots observed in the reg ions of space , by the powers of his immense telescope he discovered to be systems possessing firmaments similar to our own , which fact has since been further corroborated and elucidated by Lord Eosse . Thus our solar system and starry heavens must appear to those distant systems but as a misty spec . The whole combine in forming the mighty , sublime , and awe-inspiring System of the Universe . Erom patient and profound ex-William and John

      periments Herschel state , that having gauged our Astral system they find it to be of an obW flattish shape , divided at one extremity with an apparent partial vacancy in the centre . A section of it somewhat resembles the form of the body of a whale , rather jagged at the underpaid and rounded at the upper , having a long forked tail , like that of a swallow . The Milky Way the learned Herschels state to be comprised of an immense collection of stars or suns , some double , supposed to have solar systems resembling our own . Our sun is placed on the south of this gigantic field , and is observed to recede from the centre , having a wavy motion like the other suns ; but the regions of space being so incalculable , any effect perceptible on our planet surpasses the powers of a man ' s mind

      and becomes the inheritance ot a tuturity beyond our comprehension . In fact , Time and Space , when attempted to be measured by man , in the daring task of scrutinizing the stupendous and illimitable works of God , seem beyond his destined intellectual faculties , and lost in eternity . Maedler first by theory , and afterwards by patient examination , pointed out that the brilliant star Alcyone , in the beautiful little cluster called the Pleiades , or seven stars , now occupies the centre of gravity of our astral system , as the sun does that of our solar system , and that Alcyone is at present the sun about which the universe of stars , composing our astral system , are all revolving . It is termed the Central Sun .

      THE EARTH . The Earth , World , or Globe , is that portion of the universe on the outside , or crust , on which man dwells . It is a primary p lanet , having one satellite , or attendant , revolving round itthe moon . The waters of the earth , man and his edifices , are held on the surface by a power called gravity , which is constantly pulling them , as it were , towards the centre of the earth , and thus things are kept in their position , and prevented flying

      off . Inform the earth is round , as known by the first disappearance of the lower part of a ship at sea , by sailing in one direction and arriving at the same point from which the vessel started , and from the shadow of the earth on the moon ; but it is not a perfect sphere , being flattened at the poles , and is therefore termed an oblate spheroid . When engineers are about forming those level iron roads , called railways , they allow 7-9 inches in each mile for the curve or bend of the earth ' s surface .

      Were this not done in making canals , all the water would rest at one end ; as in three miles , if a true level , it would have to ascend from the surface of the earth nearly two feet . The most popular illustration of the form of the earth is that of an orange ; but if an insect , proportioned in size to the fruit , as man is to the earth , were placed on the orange , the inequalities of the skin would be greater to the little being than the mountains and valleys of the earth are to man . The world floats in space as a soap ' bubble floats in air , but is kept in its circular path "b y a power called the attraction of gravitation , which

      holds it the same as if a powerful rope bound it to the sun , while it swings round and round it . The position of the earth , hi the solar system , is that of the third planet from the sun , measuring a distance of 95 , 000 , 000 miles . In speaking of the distance of the earth from the sun we give the mean distance , it being sometimes nearer , and sometimes more distant . The orhit of the earth is the path it takes in its annual motion , which is not a circle , but an ellipse , or oval . From this circumstance , and the sun not heing in the centre of the earth ' s

      ovbit , it takes seven days longer to pass through one portion of its orbit than through the other . The sun is 1 , 600 , 000 miles from , the centre of the curve in which the earth moves , and thus , there is a point at which the earth is 3 , 200 , 000 miles nearer the sun , which is in Mid-winter , than it is when at the opposite of its orbit , at Midsummer ; but this difference is only one-thirteenth of the whole length . The Axis of the earth is an imaginary line around which the earth rotates its extremities on the earth ' s surface are termed the Poles . It

      would be more correct to term them Poles of Potation , since the discovery of the TSorth Magnetic Pole , by Commander Boss , in 1831 , which is about 1 , 200 geographical miles distant from the true Pole . The latitude of the spot is 70 deg . 5 min . 17 sec ; its longitude 96 deg . 46 min . 45 sec . west , and the dip of the needle 89 deg . 59 min ., being thus within one minute of the verticle . The axis is not perpendicular to the plane of the earth ' s orbit , having an inclination of 23 deg . 28 min . The earth has two motioris , one on its own axis , which it performs daily , in 23 hr . 56 min . 4 sec , which time is called a sidereal

      day ; this diurnal motion causes day and night . The earth turns from west to east , while we think the sun moves from east to west , which is a mere deception of the senses ; as , when on a pier , and a vessel leaves it , we think the pier is moving , not the vessel . Thus , the phrases the sun is rising , and the sun is setting , are wrong ; it is the earth turning its surface towards the sun , and from it . The other motion ot the earth is its annual circuit round the sun , which is accomplished

      m 365 days . 6 hours , 9 minutes , 11 ' 5 sec , or one year : this , with the inclination of the earth ' s axis , causes the change of * he seasons . The size of the earth in circumference , or round it , is about 24 , 930 English miles , and its diameter , or through its centre 7 , 916 miles ; but the flatness at the poles , and the bulging out at the equator , causes a difference of about 26 miles , that is , measuring from pole to pole through the centre ofthe earth is less , by 26 miles , than measuring from one point

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      fc ftmffift 1 &X ? ^ 7 f a V * f <™ of the earth "tS ? " ^* sphere causes the rays of the sun to be refracted or bent wMch S ^^ M ™ W * ° P l tial ^ ^ thTsun nas 2 / Sl tlleh ° " , This aerial ocea * ^ about 45 S P ™ UPO 1 - tie 1 surface of the earth with a 2 , ™ ii P r S ^ Uare mch ' but its dens % or weight becomes rapidly less as it ascends from the surface Of the S " l ^ X ^ ° - l ? W 6 ads in a C « dit ^ £ on ms body with a weight of about 14 tons . On the earth tTTt \^ ^ ' ° , ! " ° ab 0 llt one ton t ev y WhenkeLn ^ ii ?? ^ ' ' ' ' ^ . ^ - When the barometer falls 2 niches over 100 miles it is equal to the removal of 1 , 858 , 560 , 000 tons of pressure ' ^ Of thfi firtlinfm' + n , * + « ! ± - mi *

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      THE FEE-LOSOPHY OF TOOTHACHE . BY AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE . I believe the venerable father of our Semitic Chancellor of the Exchequer has omitted to chronicle the toothache amongst his " Calamities of Authors , " which fact I shall certainly re member against the old gentleman in my forthcoming work on the " Blunders of Literature . " Now , if there be one calamity more monstrous than the rest , that , like Aaron ' s rod it swallows

      up all others in its hungry hugeness , it is the toothache . I am an author , and belong to that department of literature yclepfc "light . " No matter how heavy-hearted I may be , I can't afford to indulge in the luxury of grief . I must appear like the clown in the play , with a happy smile of greeting , and a merry joke to crack , though jaws be aching , and heart be breaking , because it is my province to make merry , and my business to amuse ! Now , who can be amusin g with the toothache ?

      Who can be sparklingly witty , and give birth to brilliant fancies , that shall upspring like butterflies from summer flowers , while this infernal toothache is running up and down the octave of throbbing , gnawing , piercing , darting , gnawing , hcirrowing , thrilling , leaping , maddening pain , each one of which ( as my fiiend , the eloquent Eard of Bombast would say ) , is working with all the activity of a scalded fiend to keep the requisite torture at red-heat ? For twenty-four hours has this old enemy of mine , like some terrible Inquisition , racked and torn me with its harpy host of horrible inventions for inflicting the highest

      amount of suffering in the shortest possible space of time , until I , who have known what it is to fight poverty ' s grim combat with daily death , rind have borne the ache of " Want ' s fell tooth" uiiblenchingly , am dead beaten by this " hell of a ' diseases , " and chew the cud of my misery , while grovelling on my face , as anguished as a hedgehog rolled up the wrong way . " In multiplicity of council there is wisdom , " says some one , who never had such a toothache as mine , nor was pestered with the thousand and one " certain cures" as I have been , or he would have hesitated before' he had written such a sentence .

      Everybody can tell me of a remedy for their toothache ; but what I want is the cure for mine . I have drunk spirits and masticated spices enough to embalm a mummy . " Drops of Brandy , " have been injected into my ear , not in the shape o the tune of that name , but the genuine liquified fire , until my brain swims . The smoke of my torments has ascended from numberless cigars ; one by one have I put out their leaves , and the onl y fruit has been , like the dead-sea apples - ashes . The only tiling which lias afforded me momentary relief has been Burns ' s hearty " curse on thy envenomed stang , "' which has

      been hot as ginger in my mouth , but the toothache is not to be frightened away with curses , nor charmed away with prayer or blessing . And then one ' s friends are so superfluously kind , and so impertinently attentive , its unbearable . Who wants kindness or attention with the toothache ? One does not need burthens added to the unbearable . Only—if one did not get every attention and condolence ! Lachrymose lamentations are of small avail ; but who can be heroic , and bear the toothache with stoical indifference ? One can understand the heroism of martyrs , who have put on the furnace-flames of martyrdom aft lightsomely as a bridal-robe , and ascended its chariot

      Untitled Article

      of fire with rejoicing , because , inspired with their faith , they 7 u b j ; exalted beyond the reach of bodily pain . But I should like to see the martyr that can be heroic with the toothache ; that is , with my toothache . If I had seen the tombstone ot that hero of whom it was written , " Here lies a man who never knew fear , " instead of exclaiming with the monarch , then he never snuffed a candle with his fingers , " I should have said with exultation , "he never knew what it was to have my toothache " And , it strikes me , that if the cunning dev 1 when he held Ins torturing hour over poor Job , had ^ 11 ^ 51 ? ague ofsuch a toothache as mine , even his re ^ T 1 / -ITTT-I-1 / 5 / -1 i . ' 1 . 1 «—v . ~» . v vvu Jlllllllt VJlV / H 1110 1 C nowned patience ht have st

      mig succumbed . It has often occurred tL wLlf ^ ; etcl ^ gs on the rack and breakings on onlvltr T / - iave h T T if tyrants and tort ««« ^ onlyjstudied the science ^ toothache , possessed themselves with the power of inflicting it at will ; and I have speculated grimly as to the chances of « suicide under temporary insanity , " in numerous instances meaning a « shuffling off this mortal coil " to escape from the terrors of toothache . If it be true that Poetsi learn m suffering what they teach in song , " what an almighty fund of inspiration there must lie hidden in this worst of mortal ills , the extraction of which would transcend the beat ot those poetasters who make a Pegasus of the niehttl !! l ! m ^ th ? ^ Penmental hilosohers who

      S ^^ p p produced sunbeams out of cucumbers ! Let our expiring geniuses look to it , the subject may open up a new vein which may prove a very Australia in the poetical gold-diggmgs . It is a marvel to me that no more is thought about the toothache by mankind at large , and the community in general . "Its only the toothache , " is the universal comment , as though that " only" was not the sum total of corporeal suftenng It must have been popular because so general , and tolerated because so familiar . I suppose we grin and bear it because like the eels with skinning , we are used to it . " Its very bad , but you must bear up ; " and then your comforter will leisurely procesd to unfold his manifold experiences , with all volu

      me bility ot a mother of a large family , as though a recital ol the peculiar horror of his torments was calculated to mitigate the miseiy of yours ! or as though it was a positive virtue to bear up" under the circumstances . No , there is no merit m silently enduring the toothache ; the man who could do so must be a periect brute , without nerves , or a being in whom sensation was fossilized . Besides , what object have You in shrouding yoiuself in your pain , like a Greek in his mantle , and ot proudly disdaining act' or word ? It was all very well with the young Spartan-who must have been a black ' ' broth

      of a boy "—to let the fox tear out his entrails rather than be found out : his fortitude was sublime . But the case is different with the toothache , which does not irresistably compel you to keep it secret , but inspires you with the most vehement intention ot letting everybody know it . There are sorrows that mollify , enlarge , and ennoble one ' s nature , which rises from them like the land of Egypt from the overflowings of the river Nile irrigated and more fruitful ; and there are pains and sufferings which sublime one ' s nature , and lift it up to the heroic level of noble

      a endurance ; but the toothache shuts one up like a hedgehog m water , and sets one bristling with mortal enmity to everybody . It developes selfishness to a superlative degree It conquers and kills us by its miserable insignificance , as the torture by the falling drops of water frets to madness and murder by its remoteness . The toothache is the most subtlely malicious , and the most devilishly insidious of all enemies and diseases . If it would but assume some tangible and palpable shape , we might grapple with it , and pluck out the heart of its mystery ; but no , it works like the maggot in the kernel of the

      nut , or the mole in the darkness of the earth , and we are subjugated we know not how , and stricken we know not whence ; and like blind Polypheme groping about the cave of the Cyclops , mad with agony , and vainly endeavouring to seize the invisible foe , we are driven to admit that the bravery of man is not proof against the toothache , which " doth make cowards of us all . "

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      ONE OF ENGLAND'S FORGOTTEN WORTHIES . In August , 1591 , Lord Thomas Howard , with six English line-of-battle ships , six victuallers , and two or three pinnaces , were lying at anchor under the island of Florez . Light in ballast and short of water , with half their men disabled by sickness , they were unable to pursue the aggressive purpose on which they had been sent out . Several of the ships' crews were on shore : the ships themselves ' all pestered and

      rommaging ,- ' with everything out of order . In this condition they were surprised by a Spanish fleet consisting of fifty three menof-war . Eleven out of the twelve English ships obeyed the signal of tne Admiral , to cut or weigh their anchors , and escape as they might . The Twelfth , the Revenge , was unable for the moment to follow ; of her crew of 190 , 90 being sick on the shore , and , from the position of the ship , there being some delay and difficulty m getting them on board . The Revenge was commanded by Sir Richard Grenville , of Bideford . amanwellknown

      m the Spanish seas , and the terror of the Spanish sailors ; so fierce he was said to be , that mythic stories passed from lip to hp about hin ^ and , like Earl Talbot , or Cceur de Lion the nurses at the Azores frightened children with the sound of his name . " He was of great revenues , " they said , " of his own inheritance , but of unquiet mind , and greatly affected to war " and from his great propensities for blood eating , he had volun-£ " ££ ? TZS" ^ Queeu J . " ° ?* ° complexion was hethat I ( John

      , Hmghen von Linschoten , who is our authority here ami who was with the Spanisbfleet after the action ) have been told by divers credible persons who stood and beheld him , that he would carouse three or four glasses of wine and take the glasses between his teeth and cLh themTn piecTs and who hnf tJ T ? ^ °°% a ^ gallant gentleman who had never turned his back upon an enemy , and remarkab e m that remarkable time for his constancy and daimg In this surprise at Florez he was in no haste to fly . He first aw all his nick on board and stowed away on the ballast and then , with no more than 100 menleft him to fidit and

      work the ship he deliberatel y weighed , uncertain , as it seemed at first , what he intended to do . The Spanish fleet wereby this time on his weather bow , and he was persuaded ( we here take his cousin Raleigh ' s beautiful narrative , and follow it in his words . ) ' to cut his mainsail and cast about , and trust to the sailing of the ship . "

      But feir Richard utterly refused to turn from the enemy , alleging that he would rather choose to die than to dishonour himself , his country , and her Majesty ' s ship , persuading his company that he would * pass through the two squadrons in despite of them , and force those of Seville to give him way , which

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      ^! OBE ! 2 ^ 852 L _ ^^ STAB OF FREEDOM . J ^ - " . " I 'JK ¦ ——— - ' . __ I / i » I ^ —~ - ^ ^___^^^^ - •• ** — —— ¦ I

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      Catherine Sinclair ; or the Adventures op a Domestic in bEARCH op a Good Mistress . By a Servant of Servants . London : W . Tweedie , Strand . h Jm % , VOllI 5 S ? , a reprint from an American work , by Mrs Little . The idea of the book was , as she says in Her preface , suggested to her by the title of that very absurd publication of the brothers Mayhew , « The Greatest riague m Life , or the adventures of a Lady in search of a good Servant . " Mrs . Little ' s work is , however , of a very different nature from that of Mayhew . Catherine Sinclair is

      an orphan girl who maintains her two little brothers by Her industry . She passes through many trials , consequent upon the bad qualities of her mistress , but her uprightness and steadfast virtue is proof against them all . After encountering bad mistresses of every shade , she at length meets with one worthy of love and admiration , and at last she finds a reward for all her years of suffering in her marriage with a young man whom she loves , an enthusiastic abolitionist lecturer . Though there are many opinions expressed m this work which we can by no means endorse , we can bear witness to the good intentions of the writer , who seeks , by means of this simple tale , to inculcate lessons of purest morality and virtue .

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      The Life and Adventures op Benjamin Embleton . Edited by , T . P . Ilobson . Newcastle-upon-Tyne : T . Dodds . In this the autobiography of Benjamin Embleton , we have another chapter added to the " short and simple annals of the poor . " There is always something pleasing in the history of the joys and sorrows , the sufferings and hopes of a working man , detailed by a working man himself . It is therefore that few will not take pleasure in reading this simple history of a simple , yet checkered life . His early

      associations , his labours in the mines , his perilous life upon the ocean , his first love vows , the fickleness of his mistress , his own tinhappiness , and his subsequent love and espousal of another , have more than the charms of romance , for we feel that we haye presented to us a picture of real life—the life that is lead by the people , and that the events that are recounted are such as are occurring day by day around us . We feel assured that none will consider thrown away half an hour employed in the perusal of the " Life and Adventures of Benjamin Embleton . "

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 2, 1852, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1698/page/13/