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every period of the negociation, and
confeffed that it had been the most fa-
tiguing and the most embarraffing bu-
finefs that he had ever been engaged
in. He acknowledged that the bar-
gain he had made was more advan-
tageous to the money-lenders than he
could have wifhed it to have been;
and the negociation had been fufpend-
ed, and had like to have been totally
broken off on account of his fcruples
on that head. He wished to have had
the negociation regulated by the price
of the stocks. This propofal was pe-
remptorily rejected: and the matter
was obliged to be accommodated by
what is vulgarly called splitting the dif-
ference. His lordship then ftated the
various fums which had been voted by
the Committee of Supply for the fer-
vice of the army, navy, ordnance, &c.
for the year 1783, the whole of which
amounted to 16,812,5681. 25. 11d.
Towards raifing this fupply the Com-
mittee of Ways and Means had voted
1,000,000l. fterling in Exchequer bills
and 2,750,000l. on lands and malt.
In addition to these grants he would
propofe a loan of 12,000,000l. for
every 100l. of which he proposed to
give rool. ftock 3 per cent. valued at
£.66 10 o

251. ftock, 4 per cent. at
831. 10s.

Annuity for 79 years of 13s. 4d.

A lottery ticket

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13

was fo fluctuating and precarious that it never could be made a fixed rule by which to regulate any meafures of ftate. The rumour of a loan would of itfelf caufe the flocks to fall. And as foon as the terms are known they always rife. The prefent loan was indeed very advantageous to the money lenders. They would reap an enormous profit; no lefs than a premium of fix per cent. He need not fay how much the nation would lofe by fo extravagant a bargain. He thought the best method to prevent fuch exorbitant gains would be to create a competition among the monied men; and put up the loan to the beft bidders. He alfo was of opinion that a minister ought not to have fuch an inftrument of corruption in his hands as the premium attending fo vaft a loan. He stated it to be 240,000l.

Lord John Cavendish declared it was impoffible for him to have made a more advantageous bargain. He ear neftly wifhed it; and as earneftly endeavoured to effect what he wished; but he found it out of his power to borrow the money that was requifite to fupply the neceffities of the ftate on other terms and of other perfons. He attempted to create the competition which Mr. Pitt recommended; but he found his attempts fruitlefs. He withed and endeavoured to extend the loan to other parties; but thofe who had treated with him would not confent to it; and if they had left him, there O were none capable of advancing the money required. He was reduced to a very difagreeable alternative; and the Houfe would excufe him for making choice of the leaft evil.

17 6

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Total 103 18

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His lordship concluded with making a motion which called upon the Com-, mittee to agree to the above terms.

Mr. W. Pitt readily admitted that his lordship's claims of indulgence were well founded: but whatever fayour was due to the noble lord, yet in a matter of fuch confequence to the public as a loan of twelve millions, it was a debt he owed his conftituents to deliver his opinion with freedom. He did not confider the market price of the ftocks as the proper criterion to fettle the terms of a public loan. It

Mr. Fox acknowledged that the loan confidered as a peace loan was not an eligible one: but as it was the best that could be made, and as good as could have been expected, we must rest fatisfied with it. He contradicted Mr. Pitt's ftatement of the premium, and faid it was not fo great as he had reprefented it. After feveral calculations and comparifons, he inferred that the lofs to the nation would, on the whole, be no more than 5000l. He reflected on Mr. Pitt for not having

made

made the loan himself while he was in office.

Mr. Pitt replied, that his time was wholly taken up between negociations abroad and at home: that the ftate of the nation was unfettled whether for peace or war; and his own feat at the Treasury fo very precarious that it would have been the height of imprudence in him to have undertaken a matter of fuch a nature as the loan.

Mr. Martyn fpoke handfomely of Lord John Cavendish; but on faying that Lord North had ruined the nation, and ought to be called to an account, Mr. Fox faid he did not fuppofe any one would fecond the honourable member in calling his noble colleague to account. He did not think that any one entertained even the idea of it! The question was at laft put, and carried without a divifion.

ASTRONOM Y.

AN ACCOUNT OF A REMARKABLE PHENOMENON WHICH ATTENDS THE FIXED STAR ALGOL, IN THE HEAD OF MEDUSA. DISCOVERED BY MR. GOODRICKE, SON OF SIR JOHN GOODRICke, of BRAMHAM-PARK, NEAR YORK.

IT was first, I believe, difcovered by Montanari, an Italian, that the magnitude of Algol was variable. Maraldi obferved the fame thing about the years 1692 and 1693, as may be feen in the memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, for the year 1695. The latter took notice that it varied from the fecond to the fourth magnitude; but neither of thefe gentlemen difcovered that this variation had any fixed period. Mr. Goodricke, led by what had been faid by Maraldi, began to obferve Algol fometime in the latter end of the laft year; and on the 12th of November, at 8h 30' in the evening, for the first time, faw it at its greateft obfcuration. It was 3" from the time that he first perceived it to diminish to the time of its greatest obfcuration, and as much in recovering its ufual fplendor. He obferved its greatest obfcuration again Dec. 28th, at 5 30', after an interval of 45d 21"; which, if we fuppofe it to contain 16 periods, gives 2 20 49' for the time of one period. January 14th, 1783, he obferved the greateft obfcuration, a third time, at 9 15'; which, fuppofing this interval of 17 3h 45' to contain fix periods, gives 2 20h 37 for the time of one period. He obferved it again on the 31ft, at 14h 15', after an interval of fix periods, of

24 20h 50' each. Again February 6th, at 8h, after two periods of 21 20 52 each. Again the 23d, at 12" 15', after fix periods of 2d 20 42 each. Again the 26th, at 9h 30', after a fingle period of 2° 21h 15. Again March 21ft, at 8h 30', after eight periods of 2d 20h 52' each. Again April 10th, at 10 15', after feven periods of 24 20 49. Again the 13th, at 8", after a fingle revolution of 2" 21" 45'; but Mr. Goodricke thinks this a bad obfervation. Laftly, on the 3d of May, at 9" 15', he obferved the fame thing again, after feven periods of 2d 20° 45′ each. The medium of thefe ten gives 24 20h 55', 8, for the length of one period; or if we reject the two fingle periods, which are both of them longer than any of the others, where the errors of the obfervations are divided into a greater number of parts, the time of one period will be 2 20" 47

Mr. Goodricke remarks that Algol, when at its greatest brightness, is much lefs bright than a Perfei, not fo bright as y Andromeda, brighter than a Čafiopea or B Arietis, and nearly the fame, if not rather brighter than a Pegafi, and 6 Cafiopea. At its leaft magnitude, it is nearly of the fame brightnefs as Perfei. The relative magnitudes of thefe ftars, according to different obfervers, are as follow:

Stars

Stars Names. Ptolemy. Prince Tycho. Hevelius. Flamfted. La Caille. Bradley.

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Heffe.

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This variation of the light as well as the periodical time of its returning has alfo been verified by Mr. Edward Pigot, to whom Mr. Goodricke had communicated his difcovery. The fame things have also been verified by Mr. Herschel, to whom the discovery had been communicated by the Rev. Dr. Makelyne, Aftronomer Royal. Mr. Herschel relates, that he faw Algol at its greatest obfcuration May the 3d, 1783, from 8 53' to 10" 10'at Windfor: the medium is 9h 30'; or 15' later than it was determined by Mr. Goodricke, at York. York is about of a degree to the weft of Windfor. Mr. Herschel faw the fame phænomenon again on the 20th of May, from 14h 17 to 14h 30'; the medium is 14" 24. The interval between Mr. Herfchel's two obfervations contains fix periods of 2" 20" 49'each; agreeing with thofe determined by Mr. Goodricke, as near as can poffibly be expected. Mr. Herfchel fent an account of his firft obfervation to the Royal Society, which was read there before the account given by the firft difcoverer, Mr. Goodricke; but this account of Mr. Herfchel's obfervations is taken from a letter which Mr. Herschel wrote to M. De la Lande, and which was printed by him in the Journal des Sçavans, for July laft. The account of Mr. Goodricke's obfervations is made out from memorandums taken at the reading of his paper, and therefore may be liable to fome numerical errors; but, I flatter myfelf, to no material ones.

As the magnitudes of many of the fixed ftars have been obferved to be variable, and as it is highly probable that the variations of feveral may be fubjected to itated periods of time, as thofe LOND. MAC. Sept. 1783.

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of Algol are, I fhall here collect together all that has come to my knowledge on this head; that such as have opportunities of obferving them may examine further into this matter.

The first thing we meet with on record of this kind, was observed by Hypparchus, about 170 or 180 years before Chrift; at which time a new ftar appeared; but of what degree of brightnefs, or in what part of the Heavens, I do

not find. We may, however, fuppofe it to have been of a confiderable magnitude, or it would not have been taken notice of in thofe times, when aftronomy was fo little cultivated, and. fo little was known of the number, magnitudes, and fituations of the fixed ftars. The next new ftar we meet with on record, is that mentioned by Leovicius to have been feen in the conftellation of Cafiopea, about the year 945. He tells us, alfo, of another very bright one, feen near the fame conftellation, in the year 1264. Many aftronomers think thefe two were the fame ftar, and the fame with that famous one in the chair of Cafiopea, which, as far as can be gathered from the beft accounts of it, blazed forth, at once, with the brightnefs of Jupiter; and which was, at one time, equal in fplendor to the planet Venus. Wolfangus Schulerus was, perhaps, the fift aftronomer who faw this aftonishing phenomenon, on the 6th of November 1572, about 6 o'clock in the morning, at Wittenberg, and thought it to be a comet. It was feen by P. Hainzelius, at Aufberg, on the 7th; and by Cornelius Geinma, at Lovain, on the 9th. Tycho faw it not before the 11th in the evening, immediately after fun-fet, at Copenhagen, not far from the ze

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aith;

nith; and relates that he was fo furprifed with the fight, that he could fcarcely believe his own eyes. Hieronymus Munofius, then profeffor of Mathematics at Valentia, in Spain, fays he is certain this ftar was not visible on the 2d; because that night he pointed out the ftars of Cafiopea's chair to his pupils, without perceiving any fuch thing.

This ftar formed a rhombus with the ftars, a, B, and y of Cafiopea, and remained conftantly in the fame pofition during the whole time of its being vifible, which was about 16 months.

During the month of November it was fo bright as to be frequently feen after the fun was up; but in the month of December it began to decline a little in its luftre: it however ftill continued as bright as the planet Jupiter. In January 1573, it was fentibly less than Jupiter but ftill more confpicuous than the ftars of the first magnitude, even than Sirius, to which it feemed equal in the months of February and March. In the next two months it did not exceed the ftars of the 2d magnitude; and in the months of June, July, and Auguft, it appeared of the fize of the larger ftars in Cafiopca's chair, which were then accounted of the 3d magnitude. In September, October, and November, it was thought to be of the 4th magnitude; and in December it was thought to be rather lefs than the ftar near it, marked by Bayer. In January 1574, it was ftill of about the 5th magnitude; was but juft difcernible in February; and in the month of March was totally extinct. Its light for many days after its first appearance, was white and fparkling: afterwards it inclined fomewhat to a yellowish caft; and in the fpring of 1773 it was of a darkith red, like that of the planet Mars, or the itar Aldebaran. In May it became of a pale white, much like that of Saturn, and retained that colour until a few days before it totally difappeared, when it changed into a kind of muddy white.

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Above twenty aftronomers employed their pens on this fubject, and particularly Tycho Brahe, who has left us an excellent work on the fubject, entitled

De Nova Stella anni 1572, in which he has determined its place in the ecliptic, from very accurate obfervations, to be 8. 6° 54, and its latitude 53° 45' N. He moreover informs us, that in all pofitions of its diurnal motion, he found its diftance from other fixed ftars invariable; from which he justly inferred, that it was free from parallax, and confequently placed far beyond any of the planets, in the region of the fixed ftars.

Kepler, and feveral other aftronomers obferved another star of this fort in Serpentarius, from the month of October 1604, to the end of the year 1605; which, it is faid, equalled Jupiter in luftre. In 1600 Kepler alfo difcovered a new ftar in the breast of the Swan, which Baver has marked P, and which remained vifible until the year 1660 when it difappeared; but in the year 1666 it was again feen by Hevelius in the very fame place. Before its difappearance, Hevelius remarks that it was of the 3d magnitude; but when it was feen by him the fecond time, he could not estimate it more than the fixth; under which circumftances it remains at prefent. Befides this, there are two other stars in this conftellation, namely, one in the head, obferved by Hevelius, in 1670, and that marked x by Rayer in the neck; in which fome variations have been obferved, İ may add that the learned Montanari, profeffor of Mathematics at Bononia, in a letter to the Royal Society dated April 30th, 1670, fays that two stars

and y Navis, both of the fecond magnitude, were then wanting, notwithstanding he himfelf had obferved them in the year 1664, on account of the comet which then appeared in that part of the Heavens.

In none of thefe, mentioned above, has any thing been difcovered that in the leaft denotes a periodical return. The only circumftance of this nature that has come to my knowledge, before the difcovery of Mr. Goodricke, is in the far marked o, by Bayer in the neck of the Whale; and on that account called the Miraculous Star. The variability of this ftar was first remarked by David Fabricious, a German aftro

nomer,

nomer, in the year 1595. For eight or nine months of the year this ftar is wholly loft to us; and for the other three or four months it is conftantly changing its luftre and bignefs. Some aftronomers have pretended to fay, that its periodical returns are regularly made in about 339 or 340 days; but others affert that the periodical returns are extremely irregular.. Its greatest magnitude is alfo different, at different returns; being fometimes equal to ftars of the fecond magnitude, while at others it is fcarcely equal to thofe of the third.

tude; Tycho, Bayer, Hevelius, and Flamfted of the third: yet to Montanari it appeared but of the fifth. Dr. Bevis makes it fcarcely of the fourth: La Caille makes it of the fourth; and Dr. Bradley a double ftar of the third.

Bayer reprefents Andromeda of the fourth magnitude: Caffini, in the latter end of the last century, found it confiderably lefs. Both editions of the British Catalogue give it of the fourth or fifth; and Dr. Bevis fays it scarcely exceeded the fifth magnitude in 1740. We meet not with this ftar in the Catalogues of La Caille and Bradley.

M. Caffini loft the ftar No. 49, of Andromeda, in Flamited, and markedbut wrongly, in the 2d edit. for fome time before the year 1695. In that year it became again vifible, and between the years 1740 and 1750 was of the fifth magnitude.

Befides these there are feveral stars which may be fufpected of variations of this kind. Ptolemy makes a Dra-, conis of the rd or fourth magnitude. Ulugh Beigh, in 1437, makes it a final one of the third. The Prince of Heffe, in 1593, makes it of the third. Tycho in 1600, and Bayer, foon after, put it of the fecond, and the latter marked it with the letter a, as the moft eminent in the constellation. Hevelius in 1660 makes it of the third; and fo does Mr. Flamfted, in 1690; but Dr. Halley in his edition of the British Catalogue, in 1712, puts it down only of the third, though he has been heard to fay he remembered it a very good fecond. Between the years 1740 and 1750, Dr. Bevis fays it was between the third and fourth magnitudes; certainly lefs bright than, and not brighter than 6, in the fame conftellation: yet La Caille makes it of the third magnitude in 1755, or 1756, and Dr. Bradley of the fecond magnitude in 1760.

Again. Ptolemy and Ulugh Beigh make Serpentis of the fourth magni

'The Ift edit. of the British Catalogue makes a Gemino (Caftor) between the firft and fecond magnitude: the zd edit. makes it of the firft. Dr. Bevis fays, that between the years 1740 and 1750 it was fenfibly lefs than 6, which all agree in making of the fecond magnitude. Ptolemy makes both of the fecond; Tycho Brahe, the Prince of Heffe, Hevelius, La Caille, and the prefent Aftronomer Royal the fame; but Dr. Bradley makes both of the first magnitude.

It feems highly probable that feve ral of the fmaller variations, here mentioned, may be entirely owing to difference of judgement in the obfervers; but there are others fo great that they cannot poffibly be placed to that account., P. Q

MECHANIC S.

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE MACHINE LATELY ERECTED, BY COMMAND OF HIS MAJESTY, AT WINDSOR, FOR RAISING WATER OUT OF A VERY DEEP WELL TO SUPPLY THE CASTLE.

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