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of boroughs, and latterly for the shire much thunder and lightning, and torof Sutherland in the room of Mr Wil-rents of rain, in this neighbourhood. liam Dundas.

In 1804 he superintended the levy, and in I805, the discipline of that gallant but ill-fated second 2d battalion of the 78th, which, when but recruits, in fact, beat the chosen troops of France on the plains of Maida, but were afterwards annihilated with their gallant young leader, Lieutenant-colonel M'Leod, in the last Egyptian expedition. He was a zealous, steady, cool soldier—a mild and most friendly man. The service loses in him a most excellent officer-his friends an estimable and amiable man. The 78th adored him, and will long lament him. His estate, called Suddie, devolves to an only sister, married to a Captain Potts, of the 42d regiment, by whom she has a large family.

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July 12. A Sea Pike (Esox be

1809 lone) was taken in the Frith and sent to market. This is by no means a common fish in our frith.

30. Ferraria pavonia, or Spotted Ferraria, a native of Mexico, introduced into Britain in 1794, flowered beautifully in the Botanic Garden here. Its flower lasts only a very few hours. Cobea scandens now produces its large bell-shaped blossoms very freely here; but it has not yet been tried in the open borders, tho' it possibly may survive our winters in a sheltered place, and next to a southern wall.

August 3. At half past seven P. M. a thunder storm passed over Leith and Edinburgh. The lightning killed a boy at the former place.

11. At half past nine P. M. a meteor was seen in the North West. It appeared about the same time at Glasgow. Aug. 12.

At 3 P. M. there was

13. Again there was much thunder and lightning at 1 P. M and exceedingly heavy showers of rain, or rather half-melted hail.

20. For a month rain has prevailed. Still the crops are not, it is thought, much injured, at least the blight is not so prevalent as it was last year.

P.S.-Herrings. During the greatest part of June and July last, herrings were taken in vast quantities off Caithness, both in the mouth of the Pentland Frith, and in the Bays of the German Ocean. Considerable quantities of these have come to the Edinburgh market in a salted state.

About the end of July a shoal appeared in the bay of St Andrews, and the mouth of the Frith of Forth. For these some weeks past the fishery has been very successful off Dunbar. Many boats from Dirlton, Fishetrow, Burntisland, and Weems, have attended. Some have been fortunate enough

to take from 5000 to 8000 in a morning;

worth from L.30, to L.50. Vast numbers of sea-dogs, (Squalus acanthias,) accompany it, and prove very destructive to the nets; and several whales have been seen, one apparently between 40 and 50 feet long.

Salmon in the Frith of Forth.For some time a couple of stake nets have been tried on the shelving beach opposite to Hopetoun House. A good number of salmon has been taken; but more skate, thornback, and flounders.

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On the return of the late Professor

James Anderson of Glasgow from the Continent, I had the pleasure of being introduced to his company; and, on one occasion in particular, heard him detail the circumstances which occurred relative to his invention of the Flying Artillery, and of his interviews with the Master-General of the Ordnance at the time. Dr Anderson repaired to London, and remained there at considerable expense, solely for the purpose of submitting his discovery to the notice of that Board.

Without entering at present into any enquiry as to the cause which operated against his invention being attended to, and adopted by his country, every one knows that it was afterwards laid before the rulers of the French nation at that time, who, certainly with much prudence, directed officers of the Engineer and Artillery departments to investigate its merits. Having been approved of by them, it was brought into action for the first time, at the celebrated battle of Jemmapes, and with what success, Dumourier's opponents are not likely soon to forget.Neither is it very necessary here to observe, that the Flying Artillery has since, very properly, been adopted in this country.

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officers of great experience, and their report of its merits, as far as they Could comprehend the value and national importance of such a discovery,

(so eminently calculated to save the

effusion of human blood) he offered, as was his duty, to his Majesty's Ministers.

You have also produced copies of letters and certificates of the merits of this invention from some officers of the greatest celebrity; notwithstanding of all which, the subject is still overlooked. Every one who has seen this model seems to express admiration as to its excellency and utility, yet the advantages of its adoption are neglected, and, as it too often happens, freezing commendation is all that has hitherto been the reward of the projector.

Although my voice, unlike Sempronius, is for peace, still I wish my country to reap all the advantages arising from the ingenuity of its friends in improving the art of war; indeed, I have even led myself to imagine, that if the expedition, which is at present offensively employed on the shores of Holland, had been furnished with three or four such tremendous engines as the Revolving Battery, that more terror and destruction would have been hurled from them, than twice the number of ships of the line could produce, not to mention the incalculable advantage resulting from the preservation of the lives of our brave countrymen.

A very considerable sum of money has been expended, I had almost said wasted, in erecting Martello towers on the coast, and

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Mr Gillespie's design, I believe," was originally confined to the defence and security of the sea coast and shores of Britain and Ireland, and to save our colonial islands from invasion and spoil. He has since submitted his model to the inspection and scrutiny of many Military and Naval

-damned custom, Which makes us proof and bulwark against sense,"

has favoured the erection of one of these comparatively useless buildings on the Beacon rock near to Leith. I wish this Utopian scheme were abandoned; and if it is found useful to erect a battery for the defence of the

town

town and harbour of Leith, I trust that government will take into serious consideration the superior advantages of the Revolving Battery, and substitute such a fort in lieu of the Martello

tower.

The largest Martello towers, which, it may be here remarked, are about40 feet in height, have only two, or three guns at most, and cost the nation an enormous sum of money; while the Revolving Battery, of 50 feet diameter, which exposes only a surface of four feet in height, and does not, from its construction, afford any lodgement for shot, contains 112 guns, of different calibres;

and these can be traversed with more

permanent facility, by one man only, than one gun of a large calibre can be traversed by ten men in the ordinary way. Every gun in the battery can, in the course of three minutes, be brought to bear on any particular object!

At this time I am informed such a battery could be constructed for something about L.6000; and that two floating batteries, built on this principle, with two hundred good seamen, and three hundred chosen artillerymen in each battery, would unquestionably prove more terribly destructive to the enemy's coasts and harbours than a large fleet, and that without the risk of losing a single man.

I beg leave, Sir, in addition to what has been said, to transmit to you the opinion of a General Officer in our service respecting the merits of this invention; in the hope that it may fall into the hands of some individual who will feel an interest in procuring a trial of it to be made, and thus be one of the means of bringing about the time “When France must vail her lofty-plumed

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of Great Britain and Ireland as free and independant nations, never existed; requiring vigour and judgement to manage public affairs, and to secure this empire from the ruin Europe has experienced since 1790.

"I therefore feel it my duty to state my opinion on a subject of the greatest importance and national advantage, for the future as well as for the present safety and protection of this kingdom.

"The Revolving Battery, invented by Mr John Gillespie, I have no hesitation to pronounce, to be of a most perfect and simple construction, and fitted for the protection of Great Britain and Ireland, by land or by sea, against all the force and efforts of the most powerful and numerous enemies of our country.

"A few men in each battery are amply sufficient for working them; who, while remaining in perfect security themselves, would inevitably cause the utter destruction of an invading or an opposing foe. It will at once clearly appear, that, by this invention, a most desirable and long-wished-for end would be attained-that of creating a great disposable force, to be employed in forwarding the views of government, either on the continent, or elsewhere.

"In truth, I believe, that from 20,000 to 40,000 men would thus accomplish more, either at land or at sea, if well managed, than a million of men heretofore ever effected, unassisted by this discovery."

As the Magazine under your charge, Sir, is the only national register in this part of the kingdom, I use the freedom of transmitting the above particulars to you, in the hope that their insertion may prove useful; for only

"Sloth and folly "Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard,

"And make th' impossibility they fear." I am, SIR, yours,

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PHILO-VAUBAN.

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were it not for the frequent errors in

Life of Mrs MARY RALPHSON, who the non-naturals, which so evidently tend to the abbreviation of human life.

died at the age of 110.

Long was thy date of life, therefore thy

name

Shall live to ages in the rolls of fame.

THE desire of self-preservation, and of protracting the short span of life, is so intimately interwoven with our constitution, that it is justly esteemed one of the first principles of our nature, and, in spite of pains and misery, seldom quits us to the last moments of our existence. It seems, therefore, to be no less our duty than our interest, to examine minutely into the various means that have been considered as conducive to health and long life; and, if possible, to distinguish such circumstances as are essential to that great end, from those which are merely accidental. But here it is much to be regretted, that an accurate history of the lives of all the persons remarkable for longevity, so far as relates to the diet, regimen, and the use of the non-naturals, has not been handed down to us; without which, it is impossible to draw the necessary inferences.

Great Britain appears to contain far more instances of longevity than could well be imagined. Britons are in general longer lived than North Americans, and a British constitution will last longer, even in that climate, than a native one. But it must be allowed in general, that the human constitution is adapted to the peculiar state and temperature of each respective climate, so that no part of the habitable globe can be pronounced too hot or too cold for its inhabitants.

From the light which history affords us, there is great reason to believe, that longevity is, in a great measure, hereditary; and that healthy, long-lived parents, would commonly transmit the same to their children, August 1809.

Whence is it, but from these causes, and the unnatural modes of living, that, of all the children which are born in the capital cities of Europe, nearly one third die in early infancy? To what else can we attribute this extraordinary mortality? Such an amazing proportion of premature deaths is a circumstance unheard of among savage nations, or among the young of other animals! In the earliest ages, we are informed, that human life was protracted to a very extraordinary length; yet how few persons, in these latter times, arrive at that period which nature seems to have designed ! Man is by nature a field animal, and seems destined to rise with the sun, and to spend a large portion of his time in the open air; to inure his body to robust exercises, and the inclemency of the seasons, and to make a plain homely repast only when hunger dictates. But, art has studiously defeated the kind intentions of nature; and by enslaving him to all the blandishments of sense, has left him, alas! an easy victim to folly and caprice, ennumerate the various abuses which take place from the earliest infancy, and which are continued through the succeeding stages of modish life, would carry us far beyond our present intention. Suffice it to observe, that they prevail more particularly among people who are the most highly polished and refined. To compare their artificial mode

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* It appears, by the bills of mortality for the town and parish of Liverpool,

that there were 3912 births, and that in 1807; it also appears, that there were 1445 5'children died under 5 years of age, 3713 births, and that 1381 children died under 5 years of age, in 1808.

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mode of life with that of nature, Saxe. When the rebellion broke

would probably afford a very striking contrast; and at the same time supply an additional reason why, in the very large cities, instances of longevity are so very rare.

The inhabitants of Scotland have a peculiar claim to our attention on the score of longevity. Sir Robert Sibbald mentions one Lawrence, who married a wife after he was 100 years of age, and would go to sea a-fishing in his little boat, when he was 140 years old, and died of mere old age. Prod. Hist. Nat. Scot.

As an example of Scottish longevity in more modern times, we have this month introduced to the notice of our readers some account of Mrs Mary Ralphson.

Mary Ralphson, whose maiden name was Cameron, was born in the neighbourhood of the old castle of Inverlochy, once a royal residence, near Fort William, in the parish of Kilmanivaig, in the dreary district of Lochaber, Inverness-shire, on the 1st of January 1698, O. S. Early in life she married Ralph Ralphson, a private dragoon. On the war breaking out in French Flanders, in 1741, she embarked with her husband, and shared in the toils and vicissitudes of the troops, whom she afterwards accompanied in the battle of Dettingen, June 15,1743. In this engagement (fought by the British and French, the former commanded by George II. and the brave Earl of Stair, and the latter by Marshal Noailles,) being on the

out in Scotland, in September 1745, Mrs Ralphson accompanied her husband to Britain, his regiment being among those sent to the north on that occasion. In this expedition she was present at the skirmish at Clifton, near Penrith, where the highlanders sustained some loss. On the 17th of January 1746, she was present at the defeat of the royal army at Falkirk, under Gen. Hawley. On the 16th of April, same year, she was present at the defeat of the highland army, by the Duke of Cumberland, at Culloden, near Inverness. When the rebellion was quelled at home, Mrs Ralphson again went to the continent with the British army, and was present at the battle of La Val. Sometime after this she lost her husband, at which period she bid adieu to the fatigues of the army, and settled in Liverpool, where she subsisted for several of the latter years of her life, by the assistance of some benevolent characters, chiefly female, who contributed every thing to her comfort and accommodation.

She died on Monday, June 27, 1808, having arrived at the very advanced age of 110 years and 6 months, and was interred in the burying ground of the Scotch kirk, Oldham Street, where a stone with a suitable inscription points out the resting place of the remains of this venerable person.

SIR,

To the Editor.

ABOUT six or eight years ago,

field during the heat of the conflict, Extraordinary case of Capt. KENNEDY, and surrounded with heaps of slain, she observed a wounded dragoon fall by her side, disguised herself in his clothes, mounted his charger, and regained the retreating army, in which which she found her husband. She was also present at the unfortunate affair of Fontenoy, May 1st, 1745, fought by the British and Austrians, under William, duke of Cumberland, against the French, under Marshal Count de

happening to be in Glasgow, I heard of a Capt. Kennedy, a ship-master of the United States of America, being also then in that city; and as I had some years before been informed of his miraculous escape from shipwreck and consequent famine, I was

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