Edevards 11-18-46 [ 3 ] THE HE remains of the Caftle of St Andrews* are ftill to be feen on the eaft fide of the city, on a rock overlooking the fea. This fortrefs was founded in 1401, by Bishop Trail, who was buried in the high altar of the cathedral; and was afterwards the refidence of cardinal Beaton; who, after the death of George Wishart, apprehending fome danger, caufed it to be fortified fo ftrongly as to be at that time deemed impregnable. In this fortrefs, however, he was furprized and affaffinated by Norman Lefly with 15 others. They seized on the gate of the caftle early in the morning of May 29, 1546; it having been left open for the workmen who were finifhing the fortifications; and having placed centinels at the door of the cardinal's apartment, they awakened his numerous domeftics one by one; and, turning them out of the caftle, they, without violence, tumult, or of fering the fmalleft injury to any other perfon, inflicted on Beaton the death he juftly merited. The confpirators were immediately befieged in this caftle by the regent, Earl of Arran ; and notwithstanding they had acquired no greater ftrength than 150 men, they refifted all his efforts for five months. This, however, was owing to the unfkilfulness of the befiegers more than to the strength of the place; for, in 1547, the castle was reduced and demolifhed. The entrance of it is ftill to be feen; and the window is fhown, out of which it is faid the cardinal looked, to glut his eyes with the cruel martyrdom of George Wifhart, who was buit on a fpot beneath. FOR THE EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. \ S the following calculations are made according to apparent time at the meridian of Edinburgh, which is 12.59" to the weftward of the royal obfervatory of Greenwich, it will be neceffary to point out the method of finding the time when thefe phenomena happen at any other place whofe longitude, from Greenwich obfervatory, is known. If the place is to the weftward of Greenwich, add 12'..59", or the longitude of Edinburgh, to the time when the phenomenon takes place at Edinburgh; from this fum fubtract the given place, and the refult will be the time when the phenomenon happens at this place. If, on the other hand, the place is to the eastward of Greenwich, add its longitude to 12..59", the longitude of Edinburgh, then this fum, added to the time at Edinburgh, gives the time when the phenomenon happens at the given place. It may be neceffary alfo to remark, that if either a Newtonian reflector, or a common refracting telescope with a fingle convex eye glafs, be made ufe of in obferving the eclipfes and relative fituations of Jupiter's fatellites, or the pofition of the moon with respect to a fixed ftar or planet, then the fituation of the fatellite, with refpect to to Jupiter, and the pofition of the fixed ftar, with respect to the moon, will be directly contrary to what is here fet down; that is, if the fatellite is faid to be on the right hand of the planet, and if the moon is faid to pafs above a fixed ftar or planet, then, when a telescope of the above defcription is used, the fatellite will appear on the left hand of the planet, and the moon will feem to pass below the fixed ftar. Sunday, February 1ft. At twelve o'clock in the evening, the Georgium Sidus may be feen in the fouth east, about 22 degrees above the horizon. It is fituated a bout 37 minutes fouth-weft of ʼn Vir ginis, a ftar of the third magnitude, and will retain that pofition, without any fenfible deviation from it during the whole of February, excepting only that it will come into the fouth eaft, with an altitude of 22 degrees, about four minutes fooner every night. Tuesday, February 3d. About a quarter paft two in the morning, the moon will be in conjunction with the Georgium Sidus, and will pafs very near it. Saturday, February 7th. The firft fatellite of Jupiter will emerge from behind his fhadow, which at that time lies to the left of the planet, at 12 minutes and 46 fe conds paft 11 in the evening; and about 2 hours and a quarter before this emerfion, the firft, fecond, and third fatellites are all invifible; the firft being eclipfed by his fhadow, and the other two being on the face of the planet. Monday, February 16th. At 35 minutes and 52 feconds paft in the evening, the first fatellite of Jupiter will emerge from behind the fhadow of the planet; and about half an hour after, viz. at 6 minutes and 36 feconds paft 8, the fecond fatellite will alfo emerge from the fhadow of Jupiter. Near about the fame time the fourth fatellite will be found a little to the right hand of Jupiter, and the third about thrice as far from the planet as the fourth, but on the fame fide with it. with Wednesday, February 18th. The planet Venus is in conjunction Pifces, a ftar of the fourth magnitude, and paffes below it, at the diftance of 25 minutes. Thursday, February 19th. The fun enters the fign Pifces at 25 minutes past one in the morningMonday, February 23d. The firft fatellite of Jupiter will emerge from behind his fhadow at 9h..44..38", and about an hour after, viz. at 10h..30'..32", the fecond fatellite will alfo emerge. At the fame time, the fourth fatellite will be found a little to the right hand of the planet, and the third fatellite, about twice as far from it, on the fame fide. Tuesday, February 24th. The fourth fatellite of Jupiter will enter into the fhadow of the planet at 11h..21..38", and about four hours afterwards, viz. at 3h..49'..4" next morning, it will alfo emerge from the fhadow. In the fame evening, about two hours and a half before the emerfion of the fourth fatellite, the firft and third fatellites are fituated, towards the right hand of of Jupiter, the first being nearest his body; and the fecond and fourth towards the left hand, the fecond being fartheft from the difc of the planet. Thursday, February 25th. At 7h..40'..2", the third fatellite will emerge from the fhadow of Ju piter, and immediately after its emer- FOR THE EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. INSCRIPTION ON A GRAVE-STONE IN THE OLD CHURCH OF MONIMAIL, FIFESHIRE. N clearing the area of the old church of Monimail, fome time ago, a ftone coffin was difcovered, about one foot below the furface, without a cover, nearly fix feet by two of excavation; a few bones were found, of large dimensions, and feveral pieces of lace in wonderful prefervation. Unhappily the mafons who had a right to the walls of the old church, for building the new one, thoughtlessly broke down this -- Conditus hoc tumulo recubat Melvinus o It is fuppofed the mutilated words are opimus exiguo. The date is 1594. Anno Etatis 54. The arms of the families of Melvill* and Duglas are blended on a fhield of four depart ments, coarfely executed, below the MONIMAIL MANSE, REMARKS *The name of Malville, or Melville, is that of very ancient noblefe in Normandy, one of which, Galfridus (Geoffry) de Malville, a confiderable perfon, attended William the Conqueror, but being difgraced very foon after the battle of Haftings, came to Scotland in the year before the reign of Malcolm Canmore; under which king he received fuch favour, that he became the poffeffor of the lands or barony of Malville, in Mid-Lothiar, now Melville, and belonging to Mr Secretary Dun. das. Three generations of other Malvilles are mentioned in Hafted's history of Kent, foon after the conqueft, but had been long extinct, and the name in Scotand foon became Melville, afterwards Melvill, and among the common people Melvin, which laft is in Fifeshire, and elfewhere more numerous than all the reft, and is diftinguished by the famous fcholars and divines Andrew and James Melvins. The firft family was loft by the marriage of an heirefs into the family of Rofs of Halkhead, who afterwards quartered the Melville arms with their own, and thofe of the fame Melvilles, who had established themselves, near fix centuries ago, as barons of Raith in Fifeíhire, and barons of Glenbervie in Kincardineshire. The latter, according to Douglas, was alfo loft by an heirets, and of the Melvilles 6 SIR, IN REMARKS ON THE STYLE OF ADDISON, STEELE, AND GIBBON. TO THE EDITOR OF THE EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. N the beginning of your Magazine for December 1800, I took notice of a letter figned Crito, in which he fets to rights, (at least fays fo,) two of your former correfpondents, who had been writing Criticifms on the ftyle of Gibbon and Addison, as they fuppofed. It is not my intention, Mr Editor, to efpoufe either fide of the difpute, but leave to these able critics themfelves, to determine, whether of these two Authors have ufed the better ftyle, or was poffeffed of the greater genius; and point out to Crito, that in fome inftances he is equally as illi beral in his criticifms, as either of the two critics to whom he refers. In his opinion," it is a ftrange perverfion of tafte to prefer the ftyle of Gibbon to that of Addison :" a very little reflection, might have taught him, that there was nothing very ftrange in the cafe. The reader who wishes to be amufed only with defcriptions of private life, and inftructed in precepts of morality, will, no doubt, beftow the palm upon Addifon; on the contrary, whoever wishes to be informed of the fate of nations, of armies, of great men, and of the hiftory of the world in general, will as certainly give the preference to Gibbon; while the man of a more liberal mind, who wishes to be more generally in. formed, will read both with pleasure, and profit, and without condemning the one, because he has adopted an arrangement, and diction, different from the other, confer a fhare of his approbation on both "Facta dictis funt exaequanda." Who, except the illiterate pedant, or he who has confined his reading to Decifions of the Court of Seffion, or fuch formal compofitions, would ever expect to find an exact fimilarity of ftyle ufed in two fuch different fubjects as the " Decline, and Fall of the Roman Empire," and that of the papers of the Spectator, whether written by Addifon or Steele? for it is not certain that any of the criticifing triumvirate can, except by the Index, diftinguish the author of one paper from that of another. To defcribe the Goths and Vandals, rushing from their forefts, deftroying whole armies, and fpreading havoc and deftruction over the Roman Empire, muft certainly require a different ftrain of language from what was well adapted for retailing the amours and marriage of William Honeycomb, or raifing a laugh at the hoops, patches, tuckers, &c. worn by the Belles in the beginning of laft century, or even the love ftory of Inkle and Yarico. After what we have heard from the fapient critics, I would not be furprifed, fhould they favour us with a learned and elaborate difquifition upon fome pretty fpeeches they may have heard fall from the pretty lips of fome fair declaimer, while fhe poured out the tea, and expatiated on the perfon and behaviour of fome fairer abfentee; and point out their merits, in Fifefhire, which were once numerous, there remain no other proprietors of lands, but Major Melvill of Murdo-Cairny, and General Robert Melvill of Mount Melvill. The Earl of Melvill, by lineal male defcent from Sir Robert Melvill, created Lord Melvill by James VI. being obliged, by a claufe in the entail of the ad Earl of Leven, from whom he maternally defcends, to carry his name, arms, and title, and himself to fign as Earl of Leven only on pain of the eftate paffing to the next in the entail; but he may with propriety be addreffed with the addition of Earl of Melvill, and the reafon given in the Peerage by Douglas for this prefer ence is a falfe one. Editor. merits and defects, by comparing them with the orations of Cicero, or Fox, or any other orator ancient or modern, who may be fortunate enough to be their favourite. a It is, however, neceffary to fay few words in particular on that part of Crito's letter which refers to Sir Richard Steele: " his fentences," we are told, are "flat," " involved," and "harfh" when the critic had got this far he feems to have repented of his severity, but rather than blot the elegant triad he had committed to paper, he adds, in the next line, that he was a writer of confiderable wit and talents." O excellent critic!-of all the harsh, involved, and flat fentences, that Steele ever wrote, few I am perfuaded will be found to convey fo harsh a conclufion, fo involved an idea, or rather so flat a contradiction as this. Perhaps it may be offered as an apology that the Author is an Hibernian, or, as fome of our historians call Fergus the first, an " Irish Scot." The next time these gentlemen become infected with the itch for writing, they will do well to follow the advice of Horace, "Sumitis materiam veftris, qui fcribitis æquam viribus." For fuch criticifers carping at the diction of Gibbon, of Addison, or Steele, the most applicable fimile that I know is, the little dog baying at the Decius. lion. ISLAND-REE, 2 20th Jan. 1801. ANECDOTES OF THE EMPEROR PAUL. From Secret Memoirs of the Court of Petersburg, &c. THE I fhall here fubjoin fome traits, which will ferve to defcribe Paul by his own actions; and will prove, that, when grand duke, he announced what we have feen of him fince his acceffion. Near his caftle of Paylofsky he had a terrace, from which he could fee all the fentinels, whom he delighted to ftation about him wherever there was room for a fentry-box. On this covered terrace he spent a part of each day, and obferved with a spyingglafs all that was paffing about him. Often he fent a fervant to a fentinel, to order him to button or unbutton a little more of his coat, to keep his mufket higher or lower, to walk at a greater or lefs diftance from his fentry-box. Sometimes he would go himfelf nearly half a mile, to give thefe important orders, and would cane the foldier, or put a ruble into his pocket, according as he was angry or pleased with him. Paylofsky was an open village; yet guards were appointed, who wrote down the names of all who entered it *He is greatly changed; or rather, he now dares fhow himself what perhaps he was already. A poor foldier, in the agony of his fufferings under the cane, by Paul's orders, for a trifling fault in his exercise, cried out in despair, "Curfed baldhead! curfed baldhead!" The enraged autocrate gave orders that he should expire under the knout. |