and to familiarize them with some of the details of the controversy itself. Mr. Clarkson's attention was first drawn to the African Slave Trade in 1785. Dr. Peckhard, the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, proposed, in that year, to the senior Batchelors of Arts, the following subject for a Latin dissertation:-" Is it right to make slaves of others against their will?" Mr. Clarkson having, the previous year, obtained a prize for the best Latin dissertation, felt he should sink in the estimation of his college, if he did not succeed this year also.

tion.

I reflected upon them, or rather upon the
authorities on which they were founded,
the more I gave them credit. Coming in
sight of Wade's Mill, in Hertfordshire, I
sat down disconsolate on the turf, by the
Here a
road-side, and held my horse.
thought came into my mind, that, if the
contents of the Essay were true, it was
time some person should see these cala-
mities to their end. Agitated in this
manner, I reached home. This was in
the summer of 1785."*

considerably aided the parliamentary efforts of Mr. Wilberforce. He did not pursue this course without much opposition. The same parties who now oppose the abolition of Slavery were then equally strenuous in their opposition to the abolition of the Slave Trade. The most violent and infamous means were employed to counteract the labours and to blast the character of Mr. C. Even his life was sometimes threatened. This was particularly the case at Liverpool." The temAfter this, Mr. Clarkson translated and per of many of the interested people of published his Dissertation, and, at length, Liverpool had now become still more irridetermined on sacrificing the fair prospect table, and their hostility more apparent, of preferment in the church which he than before. I received anonymous lethad, in order to devote himself entirely ters, entreating me to leave it, or I should to this work of mercy. In 1787 a com- otherwise never leave it alive. The only mittee was formed in London, for the effect which this advice had upon me was purpose of procuring and putting into to make me more vigilant when I went circulation authentic information respect-out at night. I never stirred out at this ing the Slave Trade. Mr. C. was the time without Mr. Falconbridge; and he most active member of this body. He never accompanied me without being well called on the leading members of the two armed. Of this, however, I knew noHouses of Parliament, soliciting their at- thing until we had left the place. There tention to the subject, and furnishing was certainly a time when I had reason them with whatever information he had to believe that I had a narrow escape. I procured. Amongst other persons he was one day on the pier-head, with many called on Mr. Wilberforce; and it is in- others, looking at some little boats below teresting to know the reception which at the time of a heavy gale. Several was given to this subject by that distin-persons, probably out of curiosity, were guished and philanthropic statesman, hastening thither. I had seen all I inwhen it was first proposed to him. "On tended to see, and was departing, when I my first interview with him, he stated noticed eight or nine persons making tofrankly, that the subject had often emwards me. I was then only about eight ployed his thoughts, and that it was near or nine yards from the precipice of the his heart. He seemed earnest about it, pier, but going from it. I expected that and also very desirous of taking the trou- they would have divided to let me through ble of inquiring further into it. Having them; instead of which they closed upon read my book, which I had delivered to me and bore me back. I was borne him in person, he sent for me. He expressed a wish that I would make him acquainted with some of my authorities for the assertions in it, which I did afterwards to his satisfaction. He asked me if I could support it by any other evidence. I told him I could. I mentioned Mr. Newton, Mr. Nisbett, and several others to him. He took the trouble of sending for all these. He made memorandums of their conversation, and, sending for me afterwards, showed them to me. On learning my intention to devote myself to the cause, he paid me many handsome compliments. He then desired me to call upon him often, and to acquaint him with my progress from time to "As it is usual to read these essays pub-time. He expressed also his willingness licly in the senate-house soon after the to afford me any assistance in his power prize is adjudged, I was called to Cam- in the prosecution of my pursuits." bridge for this purpose. I went and per- From this period Mr. C. was employed formed my office. On returning, how-in visiting the different sea-ports of the ever, to London, the subject of it almost wholly engrossed my thoughts. I became, at times, very seriously affected while upon the road. I stopped my horse occasionally, and dismounted and walked. I frequently tried to persuade myself, in these intervals, that the contents of my Essay could not be true. The more, however,

Under the influence of this literary ambition, he commenced his inquiries. He soon found himself at a loss for materials on which to form an enlightened judgment respecting the African trade, and repaired to London to obtain them. Having procured the information which he needed, he began his work; but he had not proceeded far before his mind underwent a thorough revoluIt would be injustice to the subject to substitute any phraseology in the place of his own unaffected and touching narrative:" But no person can tell the severe trial which the writing of it proved to me. I had expected pleasure from the invention of the arguments, from the arrangement of them, from the putting of them together, and from the thought, in the interim, that I was engaged in an innocent contest for literary honour. But all my pleasure was damped by the facts which were now continually before me. It was but one gloomy subject from morning to night. In the day-time I was uneasy-in the night I had little rest. I sometimes never closed my eyelids for grief. It became now, not so much a trial for academical reputation as for the production of a work which might be useful to injured Africa. And, keeping this idea in my mind ever after the perusal of Benezet, I always slept with a candle in my room, that I might rise out of bed and put down such thoughts as might occur to me in the night, if I judged them valuable, conceiving that no argument should be lost in so great a cause. Having, at length, finished this painful task, I sent my Essay to the Vice-Chancellor, and soon afterwards found myself honoured, as before, with the first prize.

kingdom, in order to obtain, from persons
engaged in the Slave Trade, authentic
information of the manner in which it
was conducted. The facts elicited, in the
course of his inquiries, were of the most
revolting and atrocious character, and

History of the Abolition, vol. i. p. 208.
+ History of the Abolition, vol. i. p. 241.

within a yard of the precipice, when I discovered my danger; and, perceiving among them the murderer of Peter Green, and two others who had insulted me at the King's Arms, it instantly struck me that they had a design to throw me over the pier-head; which they might have done at this time, and yet have pleaded that I had been killed by accident. There was not a moment to lose. Vigorous on account of the danger, I darted forward. One of them, against whom I pushed myself, fell down. Their ranks were broken, and I escaped, not without blows, amidst their imprecations and abuse."*

We should be glad to pursue our narrative of Mr. Clarkson's labours, but our limits forbid. Such of our readers as wish to know more of the details of the Abolition controversy, we refer to his History, from which we have quoted. This work, though little read at the present day, is one of the most deeply interesting publications which our language supplies. It is written with all the simplicity of truth, and will serve to disclose the falsehood and hypocrisy of many statements which the colonists now

History of the Abolition, vol. i. p. 409.

put forth.
We need not attempt a
nomy, which became the leading passion of
formal delineation of Mr. C.'s charac- his life. Quitting a profession uncongenial to
ter. His moral worth was seen in the such pursuits, he went to Bologna to study astro-
unwearied and disinterested labours which nomy under Dominic Maria; and, after having
enjoyed the friendship and instruction of that
he prosecuted for upwards of twenty able philosopher, he established himself at
years. Enlightened posterity will enrol Rome in the humble situation of a teacher of
his name amongst the benefactors of his mathematics. Here he made numerous as-
species; while the consciousness of hav-tronomical observations which served him as
ing aided the triumph of humanity must the basis of future researches; but an event
soon occurred which, though it interrupted for
console and gladden his own spirit in this
a while his important studies, placed him in a
latest stage of his earthly pilgrimage. situation for pursuing them with new zeal.
May he and his distinguished coadjutor, The death of one of the canons enabled his
Mr. Wilberforce, yet survive to witness uncle, who was Bishop of Ermeland, to ap-
the entire abolition of Colonial Slavery! point him to a canonry in the chapter of Frau-
enberg, where, in a house situated on the brow
of a mountain, he continued, in peaceful seclu-
sion, to carry on his astronomical observations.
During his residence at Rome his talents had
been so well appreciated that the Bishop of
Fossombrona, who presided over the council
for reforming the Calendar, solicited the aid
of Copernicus in this desirable undertaking.
At first he entered warmly into the views of
the council, and charged himself with the
determination of the length of the year and of
the month, and of the other motions of the
sun and moon that seemed to be required; but
he found the task too irksome, and probably
felt that it would interfere with those inter-
esting discoveries which had already began to
dawn upon his mind.

Mr. Clarkson was the author of the following works :-" Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, particularly the African. 8vo. 1786." "The Impolicy of the African Slave Trade. 8vo. 1788.". "The Comparative Efficiency of the Regulation and Abolition of the Slave Trade. 8vo. 1789.""Letters on the Slave Trade, &c. 4to. 1791."—"Three Letters to the Planting and Slave Merchants. 8vo. 1807.""The Portraiture of Quakerism. 3 vols. Svo. 1807."—" History of the Abolition, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. 1808."- "Memoirs of William Penn. 2 vols. 8vo. 1813.""Thoughts on the Necessity of Improving the Condition of Slaves, &c. 8vo.

1823."

ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS.

NO. I.

COPERNICUS.

In the century which preceded the birth of Newton, the science of astronomy advanced with the most rapid steps. Emerging from the darkness of the middle ages, the human mind seemed to rejoice in its new-born strength, and to apply itself with elastic vigour to unfold the mechanism of the heavens. The labours of Hipparchus and Ptolemy had indeed furnished many important epochs and supplied many valuable data; but the cumbrous appendages of cycles and epicycles with which they explained the station and retrogradations of the planets, and the vulgar prejudices which a false interpretation of Scripture had excited against a belief in the motion of the earth, rendered it difficult even for great minds to escape from the trammels of authority, and appeal to the simplicity of nature.

Copernicus is said to have commenced his inquiries by a historical examination of the opinions of ancient authors on the system of the universe; but it is more likely that he sought for the authority of their great names to countenance his peculiar views, and that he was more desirous to present his own theory as one that he had received, rather than as one which he had invented. His mind had been long imbued with the idea, that simplicity and harmony should characterize the arrangement of the planetary system; and, in the complication and disorder which reigned in the hypothesis of Ptolemy, he saw insuperable objections to its being regarded as a representation of nature. In the opinions of the Egyptian sages, in those of Pythagoras, Philolaus, Aristarchus, and Nicetas, he recognized his own earliest conviction that the earth was not the centre of the universe; but he appears to have considered it as still possible that our globe might perform some function in the system more important than that of the other planets; and his attention was much occupied with the speculation of Martianus Capella, who placed the sun between Mars and the moon, and made Mercury and Venus revolve round him as a centre; and with the system of Apollonius Pergius, who made all the planets revolve round the sun, while the sun and moon were carried round the earth in the centre of the universe. The examination, however, of these hypotheses gradually dispelled the difficulties with which the subject was beset, and, after the labours of more than thirty years, he was permitted to see the true system of the heavens. The sun he considered as immovable in the centre of the system, while the earth revolved between the orbits of Venus and Mars, and produced by its rotation about its axis all the diurnal phenomena of the celestial sphere. The precession of the equinoxes was This great man, a native of Thorn, in Prus- thus referred to a slight motion of the earth's sia, following his father's profession, began his axis, and the stations and retrogradations of career as a doctor of medicine; but an acci- the planets were the necessary consequence of dental attendance on the mathematical lec- their own motions combined with that of the tures of Brudzevius excited a love for astro-earth about the sun. These remarkable views

The sovereign of Castile, the generous and noble-minded Alphonso, had long before proscribed the rude expedients of his predecessors; and when he declared that, if the heavens were thus constituted, he could have given the Deity good advice, he must not only have felt the absurdity of the prevailing system, but must have obtained some foresight of a more simple arrangement. But neither he nor the astronomers whom he so liberally protected seem to have established a better system, and it was left to Copernicus to enjoy the dignity of being the restorer of astronomy.

were supported by numerous astronomical observations; and, in 1530, Copernicus brought to a close his immortal work on the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies.

He

The

But, while we admire the genius which triumphed over so many difficulties, we cannot fail to commend the extraordinary prudence with which he ushered his new system into the world. Aware of the prejudices, and even of the hostility, with which such a system would be received, he resolved neither to startle the one nor provoke the other. allowed his opinions to circulate in the slow current of personal communication. points of opposition which they presented to established doctrines were gradually worn down, and they insinuated themselves into reception among the ecclesiastical circles by the very reluctance of their author to bring them into notice. Schonberg, Bishop of Capua, and Gyse, In the year 1534, Cardinal Bishop of Culm, exerted all their influence to induce Copernicus to lay his system before the world; but he resisted their solicitations; and it was not till 1539 that an accidental circumstance contributed to alter his resolution. George Rheticus, Professor of Mathematics at Wirtemberg, having heard of the labours of Copernicus, resigned his chair, and repaired to Frauenberg to make himself master of his discoveries. This zealous disciple prevailed upon his master to permit the publication of his system; and they seem to have arranged a plan for giving it to the world without alarming the vigilance of the church, or startling the prejudices of individuals. Under the disguise of a student of mathematics, Rheticus published, in 1540, an account of the manuscript volume of Copernicus. This pamphlet was received without any disapprobation, and its author was encouraged to reprint it at Basle, in 1541, with his own name. The success of these publications, and the flattering manner in which the new astronomy was received by several able writers, induced Copernicus to place his MSS. in the hands of Rheticus. It was accordingly printed at the expence of Cardinal Schenberg, and appeared at Nuremberg in 1543. Its illustrious author, however, did not live to peruse it. A complete copy was handed to him in his last moments, and he saw and touched it a few hours before his death. This great work was dedicated to the Holy Pontiff, in order, as Copernicus himself says, that the authority of the head of the church might silence the calumnies of individuals who had attacked his views by arguments drawn from religion. Thus introduced, the Copernican system met with no ecclesiastical opposition, and gradually made its way in spite of the ignorance and prejudices of the age.—Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton.

LIFE.

SWIFT down the pathway of declining years,
As on we journey through this vale of tears;
Youth wastes away, and withers like a flower,
The lovely phantoms of a fleeting hour.
'Mid the light sallies of the mantling soul,
The smiles of beauty and the social bowl,
Inaudible the foot of chilly age
Steals on our joys, and drives us from the stage.
Hedgson's Trans'et'on from Juvenil.

SELF-LOVE.
MEN own each little fault and failing,
But of their heavier sins-not one;
A thousand 'gainst their memories railing,
But 'gainst their understanding-none!
LEANDER.

THE ORIGIN OF THE BUILDING OF ing of corresponding magnificence; to prose

ST. PETER'S, ROME.

splendid edifice which the world has ever seen
was building for the Catholic faith, the reli-
to its foundation.-Duppa's Life of Michael
gion to which it was consecrated was shaken
Angelo.

MORNING.

cute the undertaking money was wanted, and indulgencies were sold to supply the deTHE views of Julius II. were as distinguished ficiency of the treasury; and a monk of Saxony opposing the authority of the church profor the encourage vent of talents as his ambi-duced this singular event, that whilst the most tion was impetuous and unbounded in the exercise of sovereign power. It was a favourite observation of his, that LEARNING elevated the lowest orders of society-stamped the highest value on nobility-and, to princes, was the most splendid gem in the diadem of sovereignty. He was no sooner seated on the throne, than surrounded by men of genius. Michael Angelo was among the first invited to his court, and he accompanied his invitation with an order for a hundred ducats to pay his expences to Rome. After his arrival some time elapsed before any subject could be determined upon for the exercise of his abilities; at length the Pope gave him an unlimited commission to make a mausoleum, in which their mutual interest should be combined; but the sculptor may be said to make the monument for himself, when it only serves to record an illustrious name that will live in the page of history: he alone makes it for another, where a tablet is necessary to retard the hour of oblivion.

Having received full powers, Michael Angelo commenced a design worthy of himself and his patron. The plan was a parallelogram, and the superstructure was to consist of forty statues, many of which to be colossal, and interspersed with ornamental figures and bronze basso-relievos, besides the necessary architecture, with appropriate decorations, to unite the composition into one stupendous whole.

AWAKE! awake! the flowers unfold,
And tremble bright in the sun,
And the river shines a lake of gold,-
For the young day has begun.
The air is blithe, and the sky is blue,
And the lark, on lightsome wings,
From bushes that sparkle rich with dew,
To heaven her matin sings.
Then awake, awake, while music's note
Now bids thee sleep to shun;
Light zephyrs of fragrance round thee float,-
For the young day has begun.

I've wandered o'er yon field of light,
Where daisies wildly spring,
And traced the spot where fays of night
Flew round on elfin wing:

And I've watched the sudden darting beam
Make gold the field of grain,
Until clouds obscured the passing gleam,
And all frowned dark again.
Then awake, awake!-each warbling bird
Now hails the dawning sun;
Labour's enlivening song is heard,-
For the young day has begun.
Is there to Contemplation given
An hour like this sweet one,
When twilight's starless mantle's riven
By the uprising sun?
When feathered warblers fleet awake,
His breaking beams to see,
And hill and grove, and bush and brake,
Are filled with melody?

Then awake, awake!-all seem to chide
Thy sleep, as round they run;
The glories of heaven lie far and wide,-
For the young day has begun.

Time's Telescope.

When this magnificent design was completed, it met with the Pope's entire approbation, and Michael Angelo was desired to go into St. Peter's to see where it could be conveniently placed. At the west end of the church, Nicholas V., half a century before, began to erect a new tribune, but the plan had not been continued by his successors: this situation Michael Angelo thought the most appropriate, and recommended it to the consideration of his Holiness. He inquired what CHICHESTER CROSS, SUSSEX. expence would be necessary to complete it; to which Michael Angelo answered, "a hundred THE crosses, of which the above is a these few years, the population of the thousand crowns." "It may be twice that specimen, were erected by our forefathers city having greatly increased, a sum," replied the Pope; and immediately in many ancient cities and towns, as mo- convenient Market-place was required, gave orders to Giuliano da Sangallo to con-numents of Christianity; and, in the and, in supplying this want, it was prosider of the best means to execute the work. From this Sangallo, impressed with the importance genuine spirit of popery, they constructed posed to demolish the cross. and grandeur of Michael Angelo's design, many of them with much care, and ex- fate, however, it was saved, by the intersuggested to the Pope that such a monument pended considerable sums in their embel-vention of certain members of the corpoought to have a chapel built on purpose for it, lishments. Their situations and specific ration, to whom the antiquary owes a where local circumstances might be so at- objects were various: frequently at the considerable debt of gratitude. tended to as to display every part of it to ad- entrance of churches, to impress a feeling vantage; at the same time remarking, that of devotional reverence for the edifice, St. Peter's was an old church, not at all and its sacred uses; frequently, on high adapted for so superb a mausoleum, and any alteration would only serve to destroy the cha- roads, as at present in many countries of racter of the building. The Pope listened to Europe, to remind the traveller of the these observations, and, to avail himself of respect due to religion. They are also them to their fullest extent, ordered several found in Market-places, where they were architects to make drawings; but in consider- designed, by the associations connected ing and reconsidering the subject, he passed with them, to enforce integrity and fair from one improvement to another, till at length he determined to rebuild St. Peter's itself; dealing; sometimes, on the site of batand this is the origin of that edifice which tles, to commemorate victory or peace, took a hundred and fifty years to complete, and sometimes they were erected to mark and is now the grandest display of architec- civil or ecclesiastical boundaries. tural splendour that ornaments the Christian world.

By those who are curious in tracing the re

mote causes of great events, Michael Angelo, perhaps, may be found, though unexpectedly, thus to have laid the first stone of the Reformation. His monument demanded a build

The Cross at Chichester was designed
as one of the Market Crosses, to which
we have alluded, and of which one was

formerly to be found in almost every
town which had a religious foundation.
To this use it was applied until, within

From some deeds still extant, it appears that this cross was completed about the year 1500; but the name of the architect, and the total expence at which it was built, are unknown. It is considered one of the finest structures in the florid Gothic style which England contains. Its form is octangular, with pier buttresses at each angle, surmounted with pinnacles: on the summit are vanes, bearing the arms of the see. In each of its eight sides is an entrance under an arch; on four of these sides are niches, formerly occupied by figures, and, on the other four, are dials, facing the principal streets. It is also ornamented with a bust of Charles

the Second, in whose reign it was first repaired.

WE owe this stately building to the ambition and luxury of Cardinal Wolsey. He became the lessee of the manor of Hampton in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII., and expended large sums of money in converting the manor-house into a palace, so gorgeous that, to avoid the envy it occasioned, he gave it to the king in 1526. After this time, however, he occasionally inhabited it (probably as keeper), and made it the scene of boundless magnificence and pomp, more especially when, as the king's representative, he entertained the French ambassadors there in 1527. Subsequently to this, Henry added considerably to the extent of the palace, and, in the latter part of

THE CAPTIVE OF CAMALU.

O CAMALU-green Camalu!
'Twas there I fed my father's flock,
Beside the mount where cedars threw,
At dawn, their shadows from the rock;
There tended I my father's flock

Along the grassy margined rills,
Or chased the bounding bontébok,*
With hound and spear, among the hills.

Green Camalu! methinks I view

The lilies in thy meadows growing;
I see thy waters bright and blue
Beneath the pale-leaved willows flowing;
I hear, along thy valleys lowing,
The heifers wending to the fold,
And jocund herd-boys loudly blowing
The horn-to mimic hunters bold.

HAMPTON COURT PALACE. his reign, it became one of his principal | residences. Queen Elizabeth also frequently resided here.

made his escape on the 11th of November of that year.

King William III. was particularly In January, 1604, Hampton Court partial to this residence, and employed palace was the scene of the celebrated the skill and taste of Sir Christopher conference on the subject of conformity, Wren in effecting considerable alterations held before King James, as moderator, in it. In its present state it consists of between the Presbyterians and the mem-three principal quadrangles, the eastern, bers of the established Church; the most middle, and western; of which the first important result of which was the order contains the state apartments, which are of the new translation of the Bible, exceedingly superb, and decorated with which is now generally received. some valuable pictures by the old masters. Among the works of art which embellish this palace the Cartoons of Raphael hold by far the most distinguished place.

In 1625, Charles I. retired to this palace, to avoid the ravages of the plague; and in August, 1647, he was brought hither as a captive, and remained in a state of splendid imprisonment until he

My brothers too!-Green Camalu,
Repose they by thy quiet tide?
Ay! there they sleep-where white men slew
And left them-lying side by side:
No pity had those men of pride,

They fired the huts above the dying!-
White bones bestrew that valley wide--
I wish that mine were with them lying!

I envy you, by Camalu,

Ye wild harts on the woody hills;
Though tigers there their prey pursue,
And vultures slake in blood their bills:-
The heart may strive with nature's ills,
To Nature's common doom resigned;
Death only once the body kills-

But thraldom brutifies the mind.
Oh, wretched fate !-heart-desolate,
A captive in the spoiler's hand,
To serve the tyrant whom I hate-
To crouch beneath his proud command-
Upon my flesh to bear his brand-

His blows, his bitter scorn to bide!-
Would God, I in my native land

Had with my slaughtered kinsmen died!
Ye mountains blue of Camalu,
Where once I fed my father's flock,
Though desolation dwells with you,
And Amakosa's heart is broke,-
Yet, spite of chains these limbs that mock,
My homeless heart to you doth fly,-

As flies the wild dove to the rock

To hide its wounded breast-and die.