In process of time, Mr FERGUSON attained so much celebrity for his scientific knowledge, mechanical inventions, and discoveries, that he was admitted to read lectures be. fore the King, from whom he obtained a pension, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society without paying the admission fees, or the annual subscriptions.

ECONOMICAL RECEIPTS.

Substitute for Hemp and Flax. AS hemp and flax (lint) is now very high-priced, if the 13 public would turn their attention to the Urtica Dioica (common nettle), an excellent hemp might be obtained from it, by cutting it just before the seed is ripe, and steeping it in water as they do hemp or flax and manufacturing it in the same way:

Other uses of tlie Common Neltle. THE root of the plant is esteemed to be diuretie, and the

4 roots, boiled with allum, will dye yarn a yellow colour, 'It is likewise used by making a strong decoction of the young 1: plant, and salt put to it, and bottled up, which will coagulate

milk, and make it very agreeable; by which means that plant, , which is an obnoxious weed, might be turned to good ac*count.

• osoby

USEFUL INFORMATION...

ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE. To Batinguish Fires speedily, before they have got to a great

.' height. M UCH mischief arises from want. of a little presence of

three buckets of water thus used early, will answer better than laundreds applied at a later period. Linen thus wet will be useful, but will not answer so well as woollen. ***

This experiment seems to have been successfully tried in a late fire on board His Majesty's ship Bulwark, as appears from the following quotation from the London Courier of the 20th August last, even after the conflagration had assumed a very alarming appearance.

"A fire took place yesterday afternoon on board . His Majesty's ship BULWARK, of 74 guns, lying in Cawsand Bay. It is stated to have taken place in the carpenter's cabin in the forepart of the ship, having communicated to some turpentine, and was at first so alarming that a number of men jumped overboard, but were all taken up again. ,

The fire was extinguished by the means of wet blankets thrown thereon, before any material injury was done. The Abercrombie, of 74 guns, laying at anchor near her, cut her cables, fearing the ship might blow up*": Plymouth, 16th Aug. 1812.

' HOUSES ON FIRE. .' isi W SAS soon as a house is discovered to be on fire, some persons

should be sent for the nearest engines, and if there be none in the town or village where the fire happens, waggons should be sent for them, not only for expedition, but for safety. The utmost dispatch should be used in collecting buckets, pails, and other vessels, which will be highly useful on many accounts. The nearest and best supplies of water

uti!; . should

* It may not be unacceptable to the public to be informed, that Mr HORNBLOWER, of Featherstone-street, City-road, has so modified the construction of the fire-engine, as to become a most valuable acquisition to those who are under any apprehensions of accidents by fire. It has been proved by experiinent, that the four sides of a bed. room, all on fire, may be extinguished in the space of a minute, with little more than a pail of water. It stands in the compass of fourteen inches square, and two feet high, and may be carried from one room to another with ease ; all that is required being ito keep it full of water, in its properly assigned place, and to work it off every month or six weeks, to keep the water from becoming putrid, and, at the same time, to be assured that the engine is in working order.

** EUROPEAN MAG. APRIL 1807.

uts wers,

Be stilld,'ye passions of the breast!

And own Reflection's sober power;
Be hush'd each' earthly care to rest;

At circling day's departing hour:
And let me seek the hermit path : .

That winds along Tyne's pebbly bed : :
There let me, contemplative stray,

And muse beneath the silent shade.
: Yon glorious Sun !" that fast retires
... And leaves the placid eve behind, .!

Again, with renovated powers,

Day's golden portals will unbind':
So when life's glimm'ring star shall set,'.

And I rest with my kindred clay,
Through CHRIST renew'd, my purer soul

Will rise to meet eternal day.
Ye antique tow'rs! ye mould'ring domes!

That by the river stately stand ;...
Sublimely rising o'er the tombs,

The muse's tribute ye demand : i.
No more your lofty sculptur'd walls

The cheerful chime of bells resound, "No more, within your silent choir, »

** The organ's awful voice is found. ? In wel.6

.

Banish'd those rites that fix the eye,

And strains that charm the fickle ear,
More sweet to Heaven the contrite sigh,

And humble praises lisp'd with fear.
O blest be Gop! we live to see

The age of Superstition fled:
And, Oh! by pure Religion's flame,

May still my countrymen be lęd.
Behold yon Sun withdraws his beams

To other climes to give the day;
And many a Pagan knee will bow

To worship his returning ray:
The Christian more exalted stands,

And lifts to Heaven his wond'ring eye,
To Him, who bade yon circling orbs

Perform their courses in the sky.
Fair stream! o'erhung by bush and tree,

Thou too may'st claim the tribute song ;
Fair Tyne! how oft my artless Lyre

I've struck, thy imbow'ring shades among.
Now placid as the humble man,

Thou calmly wand'rest to the main ;
Anon, with angry storms thou swell'st,

And wildly sweep'st the deluged plain.
O blest ! O happy, is that man !

Who leaves the world, to muse on Heaven:
At that enlighten'd, raptured hour,

A more than mortal feeling's given.
Thus holy patriarchs roam'd of old :

At eve devoutest fervour flow'd :-
Thus often, often, let me stray,

And “rise from Nature up to God.”

WILLIAM AND MARY;

:>!
O

h
OR, THE

ya silt

vacacia UNCERTAINTY OF HUMAN ENJOYMENTE, VILLIAM, fed his little flock,

P T
By a burn fa's into Yarrow ; xx x
MARY, span beneath the oak,

Which grew beside their cot so narrow.