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thought he should give him? Why, fays Baron, give the poor fellow four piltoles: Well, fays Moliere, here are four piftoles which I would have you give him in my name; and here are twenty more which I defire you would give him in your own. To this pre. A Tent Maliere added alfo a very handfome fuit of cloaths.

Thefe are little incidents indeed, but they difcover his character better than those which, in the estimation of no-thinkers and half-thinkers, are of .more importance.

B

Another time Moliere having relieved a beggar, the poor wretch ran after im as he was going away, crying out Sir, Sir, perhaps yon did not intend me a Lewidores; bere it is again: "Hold "my good friend, fays Moliere, here "is another," crying out at the fame time, What Arange hiding places has Vir· C tue! an exclamation which thews that he reflected upon every object which prefented itself to him, and that he Itudied that nature which he was follicitous to paint through all the variety of her works.

was the Malade Imaginaire*. He had been fome time afflicted with a diforder in his breaft, and he had frequently fpit blood. The third day of the reprefentation of this piece he felt himfelf more indifpofed than usual, and he was advised not to play; he was, however, determined to make an effort to furmount his infirmity,, and this effort coft him, his life. He was feized with a convulfion as he pronounced the word Juro.

He was carried in a dying conditi on to his house in Ricblieu Areet, and was affifted for a few minutes by two of the Mendicant fifters, who go about Paris during Lent to make a gathering for their convent, and who happened then to lodge in his houte. He expired in the arms of these women, ftrangled by the blood that gushed out of his mouth, on the 17th of February 1673, and in the 53d year of his age.

He left only one daughter, who was afterwards celebrated for her wit, and his widow married a player, whose name was Guerin.

The misfortune of dying without the facraments, and the fuppofed turpitude of his profeffion, determined Harley de Chauvalon, then Archbishop of Paris, a man infamous for debauchery, to deny him what is called Chriftian burial. The king very much regretted him, and having been both his domeftic and his penfioner, he made it his requeft to the archbishop, that Moliere might be buried in a church, which the rector of St Euftacbia, his parish, would not undertake to perform. The populace, who con fidered Moliere only as a player, and had no knowledge of him as an exF cellent author, a philofopher, and a man of fuperior abilities, gathered in crowds before his door on the day of the funeral, and appeared to be fo brutal and tumultuous, that bis widow was obliged to throw them money from the window. This at once obviated all their fcruples, and the wretches, who would otherwise have interrupted the ceremony, they knew not why, being thus mollified, attended the body with reverence to the grave.

But Moliere, though he was happy in his reputation and his fortune, in his patrons and friends, he was not fo in his family. In the year 1661, the 41ft of his age, he married a young girl, the daughter of La Bejart the actress, by a gentleman whole name was Mo dena. Among other calamities which bigotry and dulnefs fpread against E Moliere, a report was induftriously propagated that this girl was his own daughter; the flander, however, was refuted by many perfons who, on this occafion, became his advocates, and who proved that Moliere never faw La -Bejart till after this child was born. This young perfon was upon the stage when Moliere married her, and her great perfonal beauty, the disproportion between her, age and that of her husband, and the temptation to which her fituation perpetually expofed her, made this marriage unhappy. Moliere, notwithstanding his philofophy, fre. quently fuffered all the vexation, diftrefs, and ridicule in his own family, which, to the unfpeakable merriment of his audience, he had fo often repre fented upon the age. So true is it that thole who are fuperior to others with respect to their talents, are upon a level with them in misfortune H and infirmity; and, indeed, why fhould talents be expected to make us more than men ?

The last piece which Moliere wrote

G

The difficulty that was made in giving him burial, and the injuries that he had fuffered from the factions that were formed against him during his life, induced the celebrated Bobours to

• The fick in conceit,

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compofe a few verfes to his memory by
way of epitaph, which, among all
that have been written on the subject,
are alone worthy of being remember-
ed, and they alone are omitted in that
miferable mixture of dullnefs and A
falfhood that has been hitherto pre-
fixed to his works, under the title of
bis Life.

Literally tranflated they are as fol. low:

Thou didst reform both the city and the court;
But what was thy reward?
The French fhail one day blush
At their want of gratitude.
They needed a comedian

Who fhould make it his glory and his fudy
to polish them :

And, nothing would have been wanting, Moliere, to thy glory,

If, among the faults which thou haft painted so well,

Thou hadft reprov'd them for their ingratitude.

In this life of Moliere no notice is taken of the popular ftories concern ing Chapelle and his friends, and the author declares, that all the talés adopted by Grimateft, are wholly without foundation, as he has been perfonally affured by the late Duke of Sully, the laft Prince of Vendome, and the Abhe Chaulieu, who lived much with Chapelle, and, in this particular, could not be mistaken.

diagonal; in like manner DC will
be equivalent to DH and De, two-
fides of a fquare, whereof DC is the
diagonal; therefore the two fides AD
DC, will be equivalent to the four
DO, DH, DT, DE, or to the two
DE, DF, fuppoking DE=D TX De,"
and DF-DO-DH. It must be ob
AD XDC
ferved that DE-
AD-DC

DF =

.

: and This fuppofed,

it will be eafily demonftrated that the B rectangle on the fides A D, DC has the fame diagonal as that on the fides DE, DF; form only the parallelo. gram A B CD, and from the point B draw the perpendicular BE, and the rectangle BEDF is formed, whofe diagonal will be the fame as that of the parallelogram ABCD, one of whole AD-DC, fides= and the other'

C

AD+DC

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for the fide BC will

cut DE in M, fo that CD=CM from the fimilarity of the femi-right angler! ECDM, DMC; wherefore we thall have BMBC-CM=AD-DC! But the triangle BME is both rightangled and ifofceles; therefore 2BE2AD-DC, and confequent

E

A new Demonflration of the Principle of
the Compofition of Forces.
SUPPOS
UPPOSE a body to be impelled by
two caufes, at the fame time, ac-
cording to the two directions AD,
DC, at right angles to each other,
and with velocities expreffed by the
fame right lines. The velocity DA
will be equivalent to the two veloci.
ties DO, DT, which reprefent two F
fides of a square, whereof D A is the
D
H

B

ly BE=

AD-DC

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: but DE=DM

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+ ME
Therefore DEADX

ADX DC

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Having thus fixed thefe preliminary. and purely geometrical notions, let us refume the confideration of the com pound motion. The body then will move with the two velocities DA, DC, in the fame direction as with the two velocities D F, DE; this direction will therefore be manifeftly between DA and D E, and it is not lefs evident that the new direction will ap proach nearer to that of the two forG mer to which a greater velocity belongs; and confequently that the caufe to which fuch greater velocity is owing, must be not only fufficient to make the body move fwifter, but likewife to make it deviate lets from its proper direction; and the greater the difference of the two velocities fhald be, the less will be the deviation of the direction of the greater velocity. Wherefore the fines of the angles formed by the new direction with the

H

two

two former ones, must be to each o ther as fome function of the separate velocities. But fuch function will be either greater, less, or equal to the fimple inverse of the velocities. We will firft fuppofe it greater; the body impelled at the fame time according to DA and DC will move in some right line Db, above the diagonal DB of the rectangle AC, to which correfpond the fines of angles in the inverfe ratio of the fides; and for the fame reason the fame body being im pelled along DF and DE, mut move according to fome right line Dc, be. low the right line DB, which is likewife the diagonal of the rectangle FE. From whence it follows, that if the function be greater than the fimple inverse, a body impelled by equivalent caufes in the directions of DA and DC, and of DE and D F, will move in two different directions; but this is abfurd. Therefore the fines of the angles will not be to each other as a function of the velocities greater than the fimple inverfe. By a fimilar reafoning, it will be demonftrated that the ratio of thefe fines cannot be less; it will therefore be equal, that is, the direction of the body's motion will be DB, the common diagonal of the two rectangles A C, FE.

Mr URBAN,

B

falfhoods by fword, fire, and every o·
ther act of cruelty; and, therefore, a
reformation in other countries is as
much to be defired as it altogether ap-
pears necessary. Yours, &c.

A
The Anfwer of ber maft ferene Majefly,
Queen CHRISTINA of Sweden, to
the Letter of the Chevalier Terlon,
tranflated from the original French.
Since you are defirous to know my
fentiments on the pretended extirpas
tion of herefy in France, I am very glad
to acquaint you with them on fo im-
portant a fubject. As I profefs nei-
ther to fear nor flatter any one, I shall
frankly own to you that I am not alto-
gether perfuaded of the fuccefs of this
great defign, and that I cannot exulɛ
at it as at a thing very advantageous
to our holy Religion. On the con-
C
trary, I foresee many prejudices that
this new manner of proceeding will
occafion to spring up every where.
Are you fufficiently convinced, bona
fide, of the fincerity of these new con
verts? I with that they may fincerely
obey God and their king, but I am
D
fearful of their ftubbornefs, and I
would not, upon any confideration,
be accountable for all the facrileges
that will be committed by thefe Ca-
tholics, conftrained by miffionaries,
who treat too cavalierly our holy myf-
teries. Soldiers are ffrange Apoítles;

A Toleration in Religion has & judge them more fit by their profef

been much the topic of converfation fince the fufferings of the innocent and unhappy Calas family in France, and that writers of the first rank have made it the fubject for their pens, and that the legislative power in that very kingdom have taken proper means to condemn fuch p barbarous and inhuman usage, it may not be amifs to offer to the publick a letter written in the last century by the Queen of Sweden, after her converfion to Popery. We may learn from all this, that however the miffionaries of the church of Rome may prejudice ignorant and unthinking or G interested people, in matters purely doctrinal, yet the perfecuting fpirit. infeparable from the fee of Rome, will at all times be repugnant to human na ture. Notwithstanding all the artful infinuations and falle allegations of Philips, in his life of Cardinal Pole against the Reformation in England, yet that religion can never be called the religion of Jefus Chrift, which, inftead of fcriptural truths, obtrudes Monkish lies, and would inforce thofe

H

fion to kill, ravish, and steal, than to perfuade: And, indeed, from accounts that are not to be doubted, we hear that they fulfill their miffion entirely agreeable to their own notion of things. I pity the people abandoned to their diferetion, I lament fo many ruined families, fo many worthy citi zens reduced to beggary; and I cannot behold the fcenes now acting in France, without fentiments of compaffion. I pity these unfortunate subjects for being born in error, but on this account I judge them more worthy of pity than of hatred; and as I would not, for the empire of the universe, partake of their error, fo alfo would not be the caule of their misfortune. I confider France at this juncture as a fick perfon, who is to fuffer the amputation of both arms and legs to cure him of a complaint that a little patience and gentle means might have en tirely recovered. But I am much afraid that this malady may grow worse, and may become incurable; that this fire, fmothered under afhes, may, in time, blaze out fiercer than ever, and

that

that all this mifked herefy may, by thefe very means, become more dangerous. Nothing is more praife worthy than the design of converting Heretics and Infidels; but the methods ufed on this occafion are very unac

We

many fields and fand-banks.
found them to be of the cricket kind,
and that they had membranaceous,
thin, and tramparent wings, covered
with cafes curionfly ornamented, jult
in the fame manner as those that fie-

countable; and fince our Lord and Aquent chimney-corners. But though

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Saviour chofe to decline these terrible methods in the converfion of the world, they should not be adopted as the heft. I admire this zeal and thefe political principles, which furpafs my comprehenfions. Are you of opinion that now is the time to convert the B Huguenots, and make them become good Catholics, in an age when fuch visible attempts are even made in France against the refpect and fubmiffion which, are due to the church of Rome ? that is the fole and firm foundation of our religion, fince to this church our Lord was pleafed to C make this magnificent promile, That the gates of bell shall not prevail againf ber; notwithstanding, never was the Gallican church pushed on fo near to a rebellion as now. The last propofals figned and published by the clergy in France, are fuch as feem to have given but too apparent a triumph to herefy; and I imagine that they (the hereticks) must have been infinitely furprised to fee themselves fo foon afterwards perfecuted by thofe whose dogmas and opinions, upon this fun. damental point of our church, are so conformable to their fentiments. These are the cogent reafons that hinder me from rejoicing at this pretended extirpation of Herefy. The intereft of the church of Rome is, without doubt, as dear to me as my life; but it is this fame attachment to it that makes me look with forrow upon the bufinefs in hand; and I also confefs that I love France fufficiently to be grieved at the defolation of fo fine a kingdom. I with, with all my heart, to be deceived in my conjectures, and that all may end to the greater glory of God and of the king your malter. I even perfuade myself that you are not in the least doubtful of the fincerity of my wishes, and that I am, &c.

Rome, Feb. 2, 1686.

Some Account of the Field-Cricket; and the Gryllotalpa, or Mole Cricket.

with a friend, curious in fuch matters, to examine into the nature of thofe animals that make that chearful shrill cry all the fummer months in

We

they have long legs behind, with large brawny thighs, like grafs-hoppers, for leaping, it is remarkable that when they were dug out of their holes they fhewed no manner of activity, but crawled along in a very thiftlefs manner, fo as eafily to be taken. found it difficult not to fqueeze them to death in breaking the hard ground; and out of one to bruifed I took a multitude of eggs, which were long, yellow, and covered with a very tough fkin. It was very easy to difcover the male from the female; the former of which is of a thining black colour, with a golden ftripe a-cross its thoulders, fomething like that on one fort of humble bee; the latter was more dufky, wanted the ornaments on its wing-cafes, had a larger alvus, and was diftinguifhed by a long terebra at its tail, which, probably, may be the inftrument with which the depofits her eggs in crannies and safe receptacles. Swammerdam fays, "that the males only make that thrilling noise with the crashing and tremulous motion of their wings;" which they may do out of rivalry and emulation, during the time of their engendering, as is the cafe with many animals. They are folitary infects, living fingly in boles by themselves, and will fight fiercely when they meet, as I found by fome which I put into the chink of a F dry tone wall. For though they had expreffed diftrefs at being taken out of their knowledge, yet the first that had got poffeffion of the crevice seized the next with a vast pair of ferrated fangs, fo as to make it cry out. It was not practicable to make them take to their new habitation, for eG very night they wandered farther and farther a cross the garden, as we could find by their cry in the day, and molt probably by degrees returned to their native colony: And as Nature bestows no parts or limbs in vain, doubtless they do occafionally make ufe of their wings, fo finely constructHed, and fo curioufly preferved under their cafes from all injuries. The night fhould feem to be the likely feafon for them to fly in, as they then be fecure from birds. they have over-stocked any

A

B

fpot poffibly they may migrate to new
fettlements in that manner. For I
myfelf remember, when a boy, an
house fo infested with crickets (which
in general make no more ufe of their
wings than the field ones) that as foon
as candles were lighted in hot wea-
ther, they were buzzing round the
flame like moths; and I have seen
them at thofe times fly out at the
windows, and have watched them o-
ver the houses, as far as my eye could
follow them. With their trong
tooth'd jaws, (like the fheers of lob-
fter's claws) they must tenebrate their
curious regular burrows, as they have
no feet fuited for digging like the gryl-
lo talpa, or mole cricket. I could but
wonder that when taken in hand they
never offered to bite, though furnished
with fuch formidable weapons. They
are remarkably fhy and cautious, e-C
ver ftirring but a few inches from
their holes, and stopping fhort in their
fong, and retiring backwards to their
faftneffes by that time you come with-
in feveral yards of them: Hence I
conclude they may be defirable food to
many forts of birds. Whatever herbs
and graffes grow nearest at hand, feem D
to be their food; these they gnaw
down very clofe, and form a kind of
open area round the mouths of their
caverns, and here they drop their
dung in confiderable quantities. They
ery all night as well as day in fine
weather, beginning about the middle
of May, and continuing their fong
(which grows fainter and fainter) till
the middle of July, and may in the
might be heard to a confiderable dif-
tance, abounding moft in fandy foils,
on the fides of Heaths in Hants, Surry,
and Suflex; but thefe that I caught
were in a steep rocký pafture field, fa- F
cing to the afternoon fun.

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The low jarring noise heard in the month of May (which continues for a long space without paufe or interruption, and which, incurious obfervers Tay is the note of a frog) is made by the gryllo talpa, or mole cricket, called by the country people the chur: worm, a most uncommon infect, that has foré feet like the mole. It frequents low meadows, and the moist banks of rivulets and ponds, where it burrows like the mole in the fwampy foft Toil, cafting up ridges as it works along. This unregarded creature is a fingular inftance of the wifdom of God in the creation; with what infinite propriety he has adapted the formation of the meanest being to its mutñoles in life. Those that are unac

E

quainted with this animal may fee an
account, and a good engraving of it
in Spectacle de la Nature, and an exact
defcription of the ftructure, and utes
of its fore feet, in Derbam's Phyfico-The-
ology.
Yours, &c.

Mr URBAN,

have a greater collection of ingeniHave always obferved that you

ous and learned correfpondents than perhaps all the other Magazines together, and that obfervation has induced me to requeft of some of them an eclaireciffement of the following paffage in St Irenæus, lib. v. cap. 33. where, I think, hinting, or rather ipeaking of the Millenium, he lays,

De temporibus illis docebat Dominus, et dicebat: Venient dies, in quibus vinea naf centur, fingula decem millia palmitum bachiorum, et in uno vero palmite dena milbentes, et in una palmite dena millia bra lia flagellorum, et in unoquoque flagello dena millia botruum, et in unoquoque botro dena millia acinorum, et unum quodque acinum expreffum dabit vigintiquinque me tretas vini. Et cum eorum apprebenderit aliquis fan&torum botrum, alius clamabit, Botrus ego melior fum, me fume, per me dominum benedic.

To acquaint me what Gospel, or other account of the fpeeches of our SAVIOUR, St Irenæus has this from, will much oblige, Yours, &c. Clerkenwell. W. T-KE.

Heads of an Aa for the Relief of Insolvent

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Debtors.

THE preamble to this aft recites, That

as many persons, by loffes and other misfortunes, are rendered incapable of paying their whole debts; and though willing to make the utmoft fatisfaction they can, and many of them are able to ferve his majefly by fea or land, yet are detained in prifon by their creditors, or have been forced to go into foreign parts out of this realm: For the relief therefore of infolvent prisoners and fugitives, who fhall comply with the terms contained in this act, and faithfully, upon oath, délivér Gup and affign all their effects and eftates for the benefit of their creditors, it is e nacted as follows:

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