it does not appear from any known records that there was any preceptory of the above order in any part of the county except at Swingfield; and that the establishment was a splendid one, and therefore most likely to become the scene of King John's humiliation, the remains of the building afford evidence, as well as the ground forming the park, which is connected with this estate, and under its ancient appropriation included about 200 acres. Shakspeare, in his King John, act v. scene i. makes the palace at Northampton the place where the king yielded his crown to the legate. CURIOS.

The Encyclopedist,

OR CIRCLE OF THE SCIENCES. No. VI.

GEOMETRY.

(For the Mirror.)

HAVING already submitted to the readers of the MIRROR, a brief outline of the origin and progressive improvements made in the sciences of Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Logarithms, and Algebra, (for which vide Nos. 84, 92, 98, and 104.) I now present an attempt to elucida e Geometry. The term is derived from two Greek words, yn, the earth, and μergew, to measure, literally signifying to measure the earth; but this grand science must not be understood as being so narrowly circumscribed, since it comprehends everything which relates to extension or magnitude. Almost every want of mankind in every state of society calls for some knowledge of Geometry; and hence we cannot find any period, however remote, at which it was altogether unknown, though of course in a very rude degree. Tradition ascribes its invention to Egypt (the fertile parent of many other arts): its origin was derived from the necessity of annually determining the just share of land due to its proper owner, after the waters of the Nile (which every year overflowed the country) had again returned to their ordinary channels. Aristotle ascribes its invention to the Egyptian priests, who had sufficient leisure for study by their seclusion from the world. Herodotus (the father of history as he is usually called) fixes the date when canals were intersected in Egypt by Sesostris. Sir Isaac Newton concurs in this opinion, and thinks Sesostris and preceptory of St. John's, at Swingfield: from this circumstance has originated the mistake of those who conclude Ewel: to have been the theatre of ae pope's triumph over King John.

Osiris are only different names for the same individual: whether the origin of this science be correctly attributed to the Egyptians has been a matter of much dispute, although it is agreed that through them Geometry was transmitted into Greece. This took place about 640 years B. C. by that celebrated philosopher, Thales, afterwards the founder of the Ionian school and inventor of the method of measuring the height of pyramids, &c. by their shadows; together with the means of determining the distances of vessels remote from the shore. He also first found out that all the angles in a semi-circle are right angles; and although a few slight traces of what may be called amusing Geometry are indeed read of rather earlier (as some of the properties in a triangle by Euphorbus, the invention of the square and level by Theodorus, the compasses by Dædalus, &c.) yet to Thales alone, for any solid improvement, is Geometry first indebted. In his school he was succeeded by his scholar, Anaximander, about 620 years B. C. who composed the first express treatise on this science, (though now lost,) and also invented the sphere, gnomon, charts, and dialling; at his death he was followed by Anaxagoras, a great cultivator of Astronomy, and the first proposer of the (to this day) unmastered problem “squaring the circle."

Pythagoras was the next to whom Geometry stands greatly indebted. He was born about 495 years B. C. and travelled into Egypt to consult the columns of Sothis, on which were engraved many valuable theories; he then went to India and learned much from the Brahmins on the banks of the Ganges; upon his return to Greece, finding his native country a prey to tyranny, he settled in Italy, and introduced Geometry to the Romans; he invented many valuable problems, particularly that celebrated one in Euclid, book 1. prop. 47, and also the Multiplication Table.

Archytas next claims attention; he made great improvements, solved the problem of finding two mean proportionals, and first applied geometry to mechanics, or as some will contend, mechanics (or moving machines) to illustrate geometry. Passing over the names of Democritus, (of Abdera,) Hippocrates, Bryson, An. tiphon, and a few others, who all made some further improvements, we come to Plato, who not only made Geometry the basis of all his instructions, but even put an inscription over his school, forbidding any to enter who did not understand something about Geometry; to Plato and his successors we owe Geometrical Analysis,

How beautiful this solitude, how still,
And calmly clear the night,-the very winds
Have mingled with the waters, and have sought
One bed of rest together! not a sound
Save in the hedge the fluttering of a bird.

My step has woke from dreaming of his love,
Disturbs its calm repose. O quiet night,
And ye fair stars that twinkle in the stream,
And thou bright moon whose light illumes the
boughs

Of yon far oak in which the woodlark sits,
And with soft challenges calls from the copse
The jealous nightingale-1 bid ye hail!
The fever of the brain, the fiery throbs
Of an impetuous blood, the careful thoughts,
The sinkings of the heart, the prosing things
Of day toil all depart, and my worn mind
Becomes relieved, and place is found again
For soft imaginings. O lovely night!
May-night! no month in all the varied year
Can have one night in gentleness like thine.
As I now walk along the grassy path
Shaking a thousand dew-drops from the leaves,
O'erarching my disturbed brow, the trees
Joining their arms above me, like two maids
Above a brother, form a pleasant bower,
Through which the moon at intervals doth peep
Watching as 'twere my safety. Let me here
Repose and listen to night's melody.
The nightingale has rous'd him from his rest.
Hark! how he sweets and currs, away from him
Another with low piping answers soft,
Where thicker are the trees another stirr'd
With envious rivalry pours forth a burst
Of matchless music, sweet-sweet, jug, jug, jug,
And that rich bubbling sound following so fast
With the long swelling tone, so truly timid,
So clear, so pensive, charm the very soul,
And fill the heart with a rich ecstacy.
Sing on, sing on, for ere yon waning moon
That westward of those poplars now retires,
Shall glide thro' heaven with light renew'd
again

Thy voice shall be no more, or but be heard
At intervals; the woodlark sileuced now
Shall woo the night with his soft warblings.
'The moon has gone, and one by one the sounds
Fade on the ear, the sweet, the tender jug,
The piping fainter sinks, then softly dies.
'Their bright eyes shine no longer in the trees,
Upon the breeze a chilling feeling comes,
And other sounds succeed-a rustling, then
A sighing in the leaves, then a loud gust
That to the water's brink the willow bends
And drives the affrighted billow to the shore,
These cease and dark and dreary silence
reigns.

The mid of night has come, the world's at rest,
And o'er the sleeping city like a bird
She spreads her spacious wings, and careful sits
Watching its safety. I'll unto my home,
And folded in the arms of slumber, dream
Of this calm wood, the music, and the stream.
S. R. J.

HERNE'S OAK.

(To the Editor of the Mirror.) SIR,-In looking over your last vol. (8) of the MIRROR, I find it stated at pages 17 and 18, that Herne's oak is felled.

Having resided all my lifetime, till lately, in the venerable castle of Windsor, and often regarded, with a friend, the peculiar appearance of this old tree, I wrote to him, expressing a little surprise that he had not ever mentioned the circumstance of its destruction; his reply was, that the oak is still standing where it has stood for ages. The insertion of this correction will oblige J. W-N.

We have attended to the call of our correspondent, for the purpose of more fully substantiating our former statement. We are aware that a tree called Herne's oak is pointed out to the visiter to this day, and it may be fairly presumed, with the same truth of individual identity as we are shown the real genuine relics of monkish superstition in Catholic countries. There have been several conjectures as to this oak. Mr. Steevens says, that the oak alluded to by Shakspeare may be one still standing in Windsor forest, which is shown as Herne's oak. But this is inconsistent with Shakspeare, who makes Page say, "We'll couch i' the castle ditch, till we see the light of the fairies;" that is, the mock tairies, who were to hide in the pit near the oak. But from no part of the forest could a light be visible in the castle ditcn. Near to the path which leads through the Little Park towards Frogmore, and not far from the little hand-gate which opens from the park into a field, that was probably once part of it, are now two hollows, resem. bling dried up ponds; one of these was a pond within the last forty years; the other is supposed to have been originally a saw-pit, and afterwards enlarged to hold water for cattle. The opinion of his late majesty was, that an old oak, which stood near to these hollows, but which was cut down some years since, was the oak of Herne the hunter. A light from that spot would have been easily visible to any one in the then castle ditch, now filled up. His majesty had, perhaps, better means of information than other persons; and his opinions upon matters relative to English antiquities and scenery have been found very correct.

SUMMER.

BY BARRY CORNWALL.

Now have young April and the blue-eyed May
Vanished awhile, and lo! the glorious June
(While nature ripens in his burning noon,)
Comes like a young inheritor; and gay,
Altho' his parent months have pass'd away:
But his green crown shall wither, and the

tune

That ushered in his birth be silent soon,

And in the strength of youth shall he decay. What matters this-so long as in the past

And in the days to come we live, and feel The present nothing worth, until it steal Away, and, like a disappointment, die? For Joy, dim child of Hope and Memory, Flies ever on before or follows fast.

ANGLING IN THE DOCKS.

(For the Mirror.)

To the lovers of angling the East and West India Docks afford some most excellent sport, when, like all other fishing, the fish are found to be in the humour to bite. It is true that the pleasing accompaniments of angling in the country are wanting; no refreshing verdure or pic turesque landscapes delight the eye; and in lieu of rural scenery, here we have forests of tall masts, and the stately forms of shipping from the most distant parts of the globe. The fish taken in the docks are perch, roach, bream, dace, and eels; and the same observation which may be applied generally to all kinds of angling is applicable to it. viz. that it possesses its local peculiarities, and if a person accustomed to fish elsewhere imagines that he will be able to exercise his skill in them without some instructions, he will not fill his basket with fish. Being a constant pursuer of this diversion there, I will furnish those that may require it with such instructions as may be useful to them.

PERCH FISHING.

THE angler does not require a long rod for perch fishing, and for this reason,— experience has proved to me that you cannot fish too near the wharfing or copingstones, as there the perch are almost invariably found seeking their food, the shrimps, which adhere closely to the sides, except during the white-bait season, when, in the pursuit of those singular little fish, they follow them more into the middle. On account of the great depth of the water, you must have a line of twelve feet in length appended to your running tackle, and three or four hooks, from No. 3 to 5, at the distance of a foot and a half apart from each other. A reel or winch is required, as you may occasionally get hold of a pearch of two or even three pounds weight. Bait for them with live shrimps, or transparent small prawns, caught in the docks with nets for that purpose, or minnows, to be obtained at Eaton's, in Crooked-lane, or Brandling worms. is advisable to keep moving about, as when not found in one spot you may often alight upon them in another.

It

ROACH, BREAM, AND DACE. ALTHOUGH these are very inferior to the perch, yet they sometimes afford the angler excellent sport, particularly the bream, which often run to the size of four or five pounds. The way to fish for them is on the bottom, or within an inch of it at most. A long rod is necessary, as you must angle some distance off the wharfing, with very fine gut lines, and a porcupine quill float, to carry a number of shot to speedily sink, and six or seven hooks at various distances, of No. 7, to 9 or 10. You must use ground bait of bread and bran, well mixed together, and made into small balls, with live gentles for bait; and to make surer of success, bring a bag of horse-gentles, which may be obtained from any knacker's. A landing net is requisite for the bream, and also for the roach, which often run more than a pound in weight. Great accuracy is required in plumbing the depth, as on this chiefly depends your good sport. These observations will apply to all kinds of dock fishing.

They are private, and tickets are to be obtained through the directors or dock

Astronomical Occurrences

FOR JUNE, 1827. (For the Mirror.) "With what au awful world revolving power Were first the unwieldy planets launch'd along Th' illimitable void! thus to remain Amid the flux of many thousand years, Firm, unremitting, matchless in their course, To the kind temper'd change of night and day, And of the seasons ever stealing round, Minutely faithful."

THE orbit of the earth being so small with respect to the distance of the fixed stars, the same aspect of the heavens will be presented whether the spectator be placed in the earth or the sun. If the earth be in Aries, the sun will appear in Libra. Whilst the earth is moving to Gemini, the sun will seem to pass through Scorpio and Sagittarius; and a person in the earth observes the sun go through the same space in the heavens that one in the sun would see the earth pass through; and as he is not sensible of the earth's motion, he ascribes that motion to the sun, which is in reality unmoved. Hence, because the relative motion is the same, and all effects are the same as to their places, the sun is generally described as

moving along the ecliptic, and the earth supposed to be at rest.

The earth's axis being inclined to the plane of its orbit at an angle of 66 deg., and during the earth's motion the axis always remains in a parallel position, or pointing to the same star. Suppose the earth at Libra; in this position the circle dividing the light and dark hemispheres passes through the poles, and divides any given parallel of latitude into two equal parts; therefore any point in that parallel will remain as long in the light hemisphere as the dark. The earth is in this position at the vernal equinox, when the sun enters the first sign Aries, and the days and nights are equal.

As the earth moves to Scorpio, the north pole comes into the light hemisphere by reason of the oblique position of its axis; and as it proceeds to Sagittarius, the light reaches farther and farther be yond the north pole, till coming to Capricornus, it is at the farthest; then the opposite pole is as far involved in darkness. In north latitudes the days have been increasing from Libra, while in the southern they have been decreasing, and are at their shortest. A parallel described through that point to which the sun extends, (66 deg. north latitude,) is called the Arctic Circle; all the space contained therein is illuminated, and there is no night when the earth is at that place. For the same reason the space between a parallel drawn through a similar southern latitude will be all dark; this is termed the Antarctic Circle. A parallel drawn through 23 deg. north latitude is called the Tropic of Cancer, and the sun will then shine perpendicular upon the inhabitants in that parallel. The earth presents this appearance at the summer solstice, the sun being in Cancer, and our days have reached their utmost length.

While the earth moves from Aquarius to Aries, the circle of light comes nearer to the north pole till it vanishes in Aries; then it passes through the poles, and our days and nights are again equal all over the earth. We are in this part of the heavens at the autumnal equinox.

As it moves from Aries to Cancer, the sun seems to go from Libra to Capricorn, and the circle separating, light and darkness falls more short of the north pole, and goes farther beyond the south pole, till it extends to that parallel of latitude describing the antarctic circle. It is winter in the northern hemisphere, the days being the shortest; and summer in the southern, the days being the long

est.

At the south pole it will be day for six months, while there will be six months' night at the north, just the re

verse of what happens when the earth is at Capricorn. A parallel drawn through 23 deg. south latitude is called the Tropic of Capricorn, to the inhabitants of which the sun will appear vertical. The earth is in this position at the winter solstice.

When the earth moves from Cancer to Libra again, it is evident that the circle dividing the light hemisphere from the dark, draws nearer to both poles, by which the light and dark parts of the parallels become nearer on equality, and so do the days and nights. Therefore, in the northern parts of the globe the days are increasing, while in the southern they are decreasing, until the days and nights become equal in every place, when the earth arrives again at Libra.

In this manner are the several seasons caused, owing to the obliquity of the axis of the earth to the plane of its orbit. If the axis was perpendicular to it, as is the case with Jupiter, there would be no variety in the length of days in whatever part of her orbit the earth was, and all seasons would be alike. Thus the inclination of the earth's axis to the ecliptic is the cause of the different seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, during the year. Without this it would not be easy to determine the length of the year, otherwise than by observations of the stars; for its duration being known from finding the time when the sun is in the equinoctial point, there could be no other method but to observe the position of the stars, when the same star was again in opposition to the sun, which none but an astronomer could do. The sun appears 47 deg. higher in the summer than in the winter tropic.

All these phenomena may be thus represented. Take a small globe that has the equinoctial and parallels drawn upon it, and placing a candle on a table, move the globe round the candle in a circle parallel to the table, so that the axis of the equator may be oblique to that circle, and be kept always in a parallel position whilst it moves about. The candle will illuminate the globe as it is carried round, just as the sun does the earth in its orbit, and the poles and the parallels will be affected the same way with light and darkness as the earth.

The Greeks represented the year by this riddle:-"The father is one; the sons twelve, to each belong thirty daughters, half of them white, the other black, and though immortal they all perish."

The sun arrives at his extreme northern elevation 23 deg. 28 m. from the equator, and enters the first point of the cardinal and tropical sign Cancer, on the 21st, at