a digreffion concerning hair-breadth efcapes, and (however oddly it may feem to be introduced) a fketch of the antient hiftory of Ireland; in which the Author hath fhewn either a great deal of reading, or a great deal of invention, or both together: but, to return to his journey. After paffing and re-paffing fuch horrible heights, and difmal descents, as were enough to have frighted not only Mr. Buncle, but Mr. Belzebub himself, out of his wits, he arrives at a pretty hermitage, in an open plain, like a ring, and going up to it, found the skeleton of a man. He lay on a couch, in an inward room, without any covering, and the bones were as clean and white, as if they had come from the furgeon's hands. The pifmires, to be fure, had eaten off the flesh, Who the man was, a paper lying on the table, ina ftrong box, informed me. It was called the case of John Orton. A copy of this paper follows; and it contains the hiftory of the life of faid Orton: who, according to this his own account, had been a moft profligate, abandoned fellow: but being converted by a fort of miracle, had retired to this out-of-the-way place, to spend the rest of his days in folitary penitence, and to add one wonder to the lift of the many frange ones which Mr. Buncle was to meet with among the hills of Stanmore. Our Author was fo affected with this adventure, that he began to entertain thoughts of ending his days alfo in this folitary place. Accordingly, having, fans ceremonie, taken poffeffion of all the goods and chattels of the late Mr. Orton, of which an exact inventory is given, he falls to planning his scheme of life, and a most romantic and pretty one it is: but for the particulars, we refer to his book. One thing, however, muft not be paffed over, as it cannot fail to make the Reader fmile. Mr. Buncle, it feems, thought it incumbent upon him (being fo well paid for it, by making himself heir to the deceased) to bestow a decent interment on the bones of Mr. Orton-all but the fkull: which,' fays he, 'I kept, and still keep, on my table, for a memento mori; and that I may never forget the good leffon which the Percipient, who once refided in it, had given. It is often the fubject of my meditation. When I am alone of an evening, in my closet, ❝ which is often my cafe, I have the skull of John Orton before me, and as I fmoke a philofophic pipe, with my eyes fastened on it, I learn more from the folemn object, than I could from the most philofophical and laboured fpeculations. What a wild and hot head once: how cold and ftill now; ⚫ poor skull, I fay: and what was the end of all thy daring •fro frolics and gambols-thy licentioufnefs and impiety?-A fevere and bitter repentance. In piety and goodness, John Orton found at laft that happiness the world could not give ❝ him. There is no real felicity for man, but in reforming • all his errors and vices, and entering upon a strict and con• ftant course of virtue. This only makes life comfortable; renders death ferene and peaceful; and fecures eternal joy • and bleffedness hereafter. Such are the leffons I extract from the fkull of John Orton.' For the manner of our Author's quitting Orton's hermitage; his meeting with a wonderful cave; his falling in with a fociety of philofophers, in the wilds of Stanmore; his curious microscopical obfervations; his account of feveral uncommon books; his afcent through the inside of a mountain, from the bottom to the top; his arrival and extraordinary entertainment at Mr. Harcourt's; his working the Athanafians, in a flaming discourse concerning religion, delivered to Mifs Harcourt; his fine account of that extraordinary young lady; his return to the philofophical fociety, by a ftrange and dangerous way; the odd manner of his ftumbling upon the dwelling of his friend Mr. Turner; with an hundred other notable adventures, till his accidental meeting again with Mifs Melmoth, and marriage with that peerless beauty;-for all these we refer to the book: of which, however, we must not take leave, without giving one other fhort extract: from it. We have, in our accounts of this volume, and of the Memoirs of feveral Ladies, prefented our Readers with a sketch of this Author's character and performances, as a Divine, Philofopher, Poet, and Knight-errant; but we have not yet brought them acquainted with his capacity as a Mathematician. For a fpecimen, however, of his talent in this branch of learning, we fhall add the following new method of drawing tangents to curves, as it is much more concife than the common way. • Suppofe BDE the curve, BC the abciffax, CD the ordinate, A B the fubtangent linet, and the nature of the curve be fuch, that the greatest power of y ordinate be on y3 = y one fide of the equation; then y 3x3xxx79 a 3 +a ay —a a x + a xx-ayy: but if the greatest power of y be wanting, the terms must be puto. Then make a fraction and numerator; the numerator, by taking all the terms, wherein the known quantity is, with all their figns; and if the known quantity be of one dimenfion, to prefix unity, and of two, 2, if of three, 3, and you will have -3 a3 +2аay. 2 a a x + a x x - -ayy: 3 The fraction, by affuming the terms wherein the abscissa x occurs, and retaining the figns, and if the quantity x be of one dimenfion, to prefix unity, as above, etc, etc; and then it will be 3 x 2x xy + xyy—a a x + 2 axx: then diminish each of thefe by x, and the denominator will be - 3xx 2xy+yy aa+2ax. 3 • This fraction is equal to A B, and therefore is -3a3+2aay-zaax+axx-ayy 3 x x − 2 xy + yy—aa+zax. In this eafy way may the tangents of all geometrical curves be exhibited; and I add, by the fame method, if you are skilful, may the tangents of infinite mechanical curves be determined. We have extracted the above method of our Author's, not only as a fpecimen of his mathematical talents, but as it may be of use to those who are not well acquainted with the doctrine of fluxions; fuch, however, who have made fome progrefs in that noble branch of science, may poffibly prefer the following very concife and easy rule. Find the fluxionary value of the abfciffa from the equation expreffing the nature of the curve: multiply this fluxionary value by y the ordinate; and divide this laft product by y, the fluxion of the fame ordinate. Or, which is the fame thing, in the room of y, in the fluxionary value of the fubtangent, fubftitute the fluent itself, and the refult, in either cafe, will be the value of the fubtangent in the terms of the first given equation. At the end of this book is an advertisement, concerning a fecond volume of Mr. Buncle's life; which we fhall be glad to fee, whenever the ingenious writer fhall think fit to publish it; for though he may be, as himself candidly intimates, Preface, p. ix. fomewhat of an odd man, he is nevertheless a respectable man. Whatever are his imperfections, his whims, and peculiarities, as an Author, this will, perhaps, be found inconteftible, viz. That he is mafter of a vaft compass of literary knowlege; that his learning is very confiderable; his invention prodigious; his imagination, for the most part, grand and elevated; his ftile and fpirit, free and manly; and his defign, throughout his whole performance, benevolent towards men, and pious towards God. In fine, as he is truly original in all things, inimitable in fome, and defpicable in none; fo his very faults feem to be only the deviations of a great genius, a little warped. Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Travels through Germany, I' N our Number for May laft, we gave a view of the first volume of this valuable work; to which we prefixed a fhort account of Mr. Keyfler, its learned and judicious Author:-a further mention of whom may y now be added, from the English Editor's Preface to the whole. This worthy German, we find, was born in 1689, at Thurnau, a town belonging to the Counts of Giech. His father, who was of the Count de Giech's Council, took extraordinary care of his education. His early years were not idly fpent in the ufual diffipations of youth; on the contrary, he was fo well fixed in the principles of religion, that he never was carried away by the torrent of Libertinifm, or tainted by the prevalence of cuftom, or fashion. His inclination for learning was vifible very early, and he received his first inftructions under the best masters that could be procured. When at the university of Hall, he grew fond of the Civil Law; but was not fo attached to it, as to neglect the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Languages, Hiftory, Antiquities, and, in fine, the whole circle of the Sciences. Mr. Keyfler's abilities were foon diftinguifhed; and, on his leaving the univerfity, an honourable field was opened to him, for the exercise of his talents, in quality of Preceptor to the two young Counts of Giech-Buchau; with whom, in 1713, he returned to Hall; and afterwards attended them in their travels; and nothing could have happened more agreeable to Mr. Keyfler's inclination of knowing the world from his own experience. The firft place of note they vifited, was Utrecht; where Mr. Keyfler contracted an intimate acquaintance with the learned Profeffor Reland who perfuaded him to put in execution a defign, of which he had before entertained fome thoughts, viz. the writing an accurate Hiftory of the Antiquities of his own country. Leaving Leaving Utrecht, Mr. Keyfler attended his young Pupils through the chief cities of Germany, France, and the Ne therlands; and, wherever he came, he failed not to gain fome literary acquifition; and he always bestowed his attention on fuch objects, as not only made him the wifer, but the better man. His acquaintance with books was of confiderable advantage to him, in vifiting public and private libraries, and focieties of learned men. Bandolet, Montfaucon, and other celebrated persons in France, departing from their prejudices against the Germans, heartily joined in friendship with a man, of whofe abilities, particularly as an Antiquarian, they had entertained the higheft opinion, grounded on full experience of the excellence to which he had attained, in that branch of fcience. On his return with his Pupils, fo high an idea was conceived of his qualifications for fuch an important trust, and he was fpoken of, in fuch honourable terms, to Baron Bernftorf, First Minister to his Britannic Majefty, as Elector of Brunfwic-Lunenburg, that this Nobleman gladly committed to him the education of his grandfon, a youth of the greatest hopes, and the happy confequences have fhewn, that no perfon could have been more worthy of the Baron's choice.His talent of infinuating himfelf into the affections of young perfons of quality, and reftraining their natural impetuofity, and love of pleasure, by delicate remonftrances, delivered with great mildness and cordiality, appeared with the greater ad vantage, as proceeding from a mind, actuated by virtue, and undiflembled religion, and a fingular difinterestedness in the difcharge of his duty. Thefe were the laudable means by which he fo eftablished himself in the favour of this noble family, that the two brothers, one of whom is Gentle. man of the Bed-chamber to the King of Denmark, and the other, the prefent Baron Bernstorf, rewarded this worthy guide of their youth, with extraordinary liberality; the fruits of which he enjoyed to the day of his death. In 1718, Mr. Keyfler made a voyage to England; to which, whatever other commiffions he might execute, he gave the appearance of a philofophical journey; and the fame free access to learned focieties, by which he had reaped fuch great advantages in France, and the Low Countries, rendered London and Oxford highly agreeable to him. A fignal proof of the efteem he acquired in England, is, that he was unanimously chofen a Member of the Royal Society; an honour which he particularly owed to a learned Effay De Dea Nehalennia numine veterum Walachrorum topice: in which treatise |