was unobjectionable when the experiment did not extend beyond a few seconds but that, if a case occurred in which a greater space of time were consumed, he would find his plan tedious: "Now I will give you a general rule that will enable you to obtain the answer in a shorter time without the details of addition. 6 The spaces described by a falling body increase as the squares of the times increase.' I conclude that you already know that the square of a number is the sum obtained by multiplying the number into itself." 66 'Certainly," answered Tom; "the square of 4 is 16; that of 3, 9, and so on." "This, then, being the case, you have only to square the number of seconds, and then multiply that product by 16, being the space described by the falling body in the first second, and you will have the required answer: apply this rule to the present case; the stone fell to the bottom in four seconds; square this number, 4 × 4: 16; multiply this by 16, and we obtain 256." 66 = That," said Tom," is certainly much more simple than my method." "And it has the advantage," observed the vicar, "of being more portable for the memory." "Should any of the villagers observe us," said Mrs Seymour, "they will take us for a party of fortune-tellers." "Of fortune-tellers!" repeated Louisa, with surprise. "Yes, my dear, there is a foolish superstition attached to this, and I believe to many other wells in the neighbourhood of remote villages, that by dropping pebbles into it, and observing whether they produce a loud, or only a slight sound, and by noticing the number of times they rebound from the sides before they reach the bottom, and other absurd distinctions, a person can predict whether good or evil awaits them." (7.) Mrs Seymour now proposed the party's return to the Lodge; but Mr Twaddleton expressed a hope that they would first favour him with a visit at the vicarage; to which proposition they readily assented. His antiquated residence, mantled in ivy, and shaded by cypress, stood on the confines of the churchyard, from which his grounds were merely separated by a dwarf hedge of sweet-brier and roses; so that the vicar might be said to reside amidst the graves of his village parishioners, and the turf-clad heap evinced the influence of his fostering care by a grateful return of primroses and violets. Around the house the reverend antiquary had arranged several precious relics, which were too cumbrous for admission within its walls; amongst these was an ancient cross, raised upon a platform on four steps, which from the worn appearance of the stones had evidently been impressed with the foot of many a wandering pilgrim. These mouldering monuments of ancient days cast a shade of solem nity around the dwelling, and announced its inmate as a person of no ordinary stamp. Annette, the vicar's trusty servant, had watched the approach of the squire and his family, and, anticipating the honours of a passing visit, was busily engaged in removing the chequed covers from the cumbrous oaken chairs, and the various other bibs and tuckers with which his curiosities were invested, when the party entered the study. Lucky was it for the vicar's repose, that the notice had been so short, or the tidy housewife would, without doubt, have scoured some of the antique commodities, and destroyed a crop of sacred verdure, which ages could not have replenished. As matters stood, nothing was left for poor Annette, but to defend her character at the expense of her master, who she declared treated her as though she was an old witch, whenever she was seen with a broom. "Why, papa," exclaimed Tom, as he cast his eyes around the study, "all these curiosities have been put up since I went to school." "The boy is right," said the vicar; "I have only just completed their arrangement, and I believe," continued he, addressing himself to Mr Seymour, "that there are several rich morsels of antiquity which you have not yet seen: but I must, in the first place, introduce my young friends to the wonders of my magic gallery; wherein they may converse with the spirits of departed emperors, heroes, patriots, sages, and beauties;-contemplate, at their leisure, the countenances of the Alexanders, Cæsars, Pompeys, and Trajans ;-behold a legion of allegorical and airy beings, who have here, for the first time, assumed appropriate and substantial forms;-examine the models of ancient temples and triumphal arches, which, although coeval with the edifices they represent, are as perfect as at the first moment of their construction, while the originals have long since crumbled into dust. They shall also see volumes of history, condensed into a space of a few inches, and read the substance of a hundred pages at a single glance." "How extraordinary!" said Tom: "why, we never read anything more wonderful in our Fairy Tales." "And what renders it more wonderful," observed the vicar, “is its being all true." So saying, the antiquary took a key of pigmy dimensions from the pocket of his waistcoat, and proceeded to a cumbrous ebony cabinet which stood in a deep recess, and displayed an antique structure, and curiously-carved allegorical devices by the celebrated Gibbons, in strict unison with that air of mystery with which the vicar had thought proper to invest its contents. It was supported by gigantic eagles' claws; its keyhole was surrounded by hissing snakes; while the head of Cerberus, which constituted the handle, appeared as if placed to guard the entrance. The children were upon the tiptoe of expecta tion and impatience the vicar applied the key with the wonderstirring exclamation of "OPEN SESAMA !"—the lock yielded, and the doors flew open. Disappointment and chagrin were visibly depicted on the countenances of the brothers and sisters. “And so,” exclaimed Tom, “this fine magic gallery turns out to be nothing more than a box full of rusty halfpence !" "I am sure," said Louisa, "it was quite unnecessary to have engaged Cerberus as a sentinel over such rubbish!" “Hush!” cried the vicar; "you talk like one not initiated in the mysteries of enchantment: have you not read, that under its spells the meanest objects have assumed forms of splendour and magnificence?"* "Like the fabled touch of the Phrygian monarch," said Mrs Seymour, “which we are told transmuted the meanest materials into gold." "Or the infatuated brain of Don Quixote, which converted the barber's basin into Mambrino's golden helmet," added her husband. "In like manner, then, may treasures of the greatest value, as in the instance before us, appear to ordinary eyes as mean and worthless." "This cabinet," continued Mr Twaddleton, "is under the influence of a potent magician; by the touch of her wand, it would become irradiated as with magical light, and these rusty coins would be transformed into all those various objects of interest and delight which I had promised to show you." Tom and Louisa looked at the coins, then at the vicar, and afterwards at Mr Seymour, to whom they cast an inquiring glance. 66 66 Then, pray," exclaimed Tom, wave this mighty wand of your enchantress, and fulfil your promise." "The enchantress,” replied the vicar, "is not disposed to grant her favours to those by whom she has not been propitiated." "And what ceremony does she require?" inquired Louisa. "The perusal of sundry mystic volumes; and the consumption of "The a midnight lamp at her altar," replied the vicar. "Do you not comprehend the allegory?" said Mr Seymour. enchanted gallery is no other than a collection of antique medals ;the potent enchantress, ERUDITION, or that classical learning, without which they appear of less value than so many rusty halfpence." "You are right," cried Mr Twaddleton; "the poetical import of a device can be alone felt and appreciated by those who are acquainted with the classical subjects to which it alludes; for, as Addison forcibly *In the legends of Scottish superstition, the magic power of imposing upon the eyesight was termed Glamour. "It had much of glamour might: Could make a ladye seem a knight; The cobwebs on a dungeon wall And youth seem age, and age seem youth- Lay of the Last Minstrel.-Canto iii. 9. observes, there is often as much thought on the reverse of a medal as in a canto of Spenser; besides, how frequently do you meet with hints and suggestions in an ancient poet, that give a complete illustration to the actions, ornaments, and antiquities which are found on coins! In short, the person who examines a collection of medals, without a competent knowledge of the classics, is like him who would explore a subterranean cavern without the aid of a torch." “I have already learned one fact,” said Louisa, “with which I was certainly unacquainted; that the ancients possessed a much greater variety of money than modern nations." (8.) “Of that, my dear,” replied the vicar, “there is some doubt ;—the learned are divided upon the question: some authors maintain that every medal, and even medallion, had its fixed and regular price in payments, while others, on the contrary, assert that we are not in the possession of any real money of the ancients, and that the medals never had any currency as coins. The truth probably is between these two extremes." "If these medals were not used as money," observed Louisa, “for what purposes could they have been coined?" "Pro gemmis,' as gems. They are the monuments of historic truth, and serve to perpetuate the memory of great actions; and, faithful to its charge of fame, the medal has transmitted events, the history of which must, otherwise, have long since perished. Nay, more," exclaimed the vicar, his voice rising as he became warmed by his subject," the lamp of history has been often extinguished, and the medalist has collected sparks from the ashes of antiquity which have rekindled its flame. You perceive, therefore," continued the reverend antiquary, “that such collections are of the highest importance, and if your papa will allow you to pass a morning in their examination, I shall easily bring you to admit, that I have not exaggerated the wonders of my magic gallery. I will convince you that it contains a series of original miniature portraits of the greatest heroes of antiquity; a compendious chart of history, chronology, and heathen mythology; a system of classic architecture; and an accurate commentary upon the more celebrated poems of Greece and Rome. Ay, and I will show you a faithful resemblance of the very ship that carried Æneas to Italy, and of the lofty poop from which the luckless Palinurus fell into the ocean." 66 "Of course," said Tom, "you will show us the likeness of your favourite, Virgil." "I grieve to confess," replied the vicar, "that the portrait so generally believed to be authentic, has been lately proved to be that of an orphan muse palmed upon us by Ursinus; as to its paternity, I can only say that it is a gem without an inscription, or even an attribute." Mr Twaddleton then favoured Mr and Mrs Seymour with a sight of some of those rarer medals, which he considered as constituting the gems of his collection. "You do not mean to say," exclaimed Tom, as he seized a small coin, "that this brass piece is of more value than the large coin of gold that lies next to it?" “Mercy upon us!" cried the vicar, in a tone of agony, "how the boy handles it!-restore it to its place-gently-gently-that 'little brass piece,' as you call it, is gold, and although it might not have been worth one guinea fifteen hundred years ago, is now valued at a hundred. It is a coin of Ptolemy VIII. of Egypt. On the obverse is the portrait of the king beautifully raised; on the reverse a cornucopia. I do not believe that the coin was known to Pinkerton when he wrote his Essay." “There is certainly," said Mr Seymour, "something very inexplicable in the tastes and enthusiastic feelings of you patrons of antiquity." "The antiquary," observed the vicar, "does not regard a cabinet of medals as a treasure of money, but of knowledge; nor does he fancy any charms in gold, but in the figures that adorn it; it is not the metal, but the erudition, that stamps it with value." Mr Twaddleton now passed on to a different compartment of his cabinet, observing, that he must exhibit a few of his Roman treasures. "Behold," said he, "two gems of inappreciable value; never do I look upon them but with feelings of the purest delight. Let my young friends come nearer and inspect them minutely. This is a large brass coin of Tiberius, and was current when Christ was upon the earth; next to it lies a silver Denarius of the same Emperor; its value was about equal to sevenpence of our money, and was the coin that tempted Judas to betray his Master." 66 I think," said Mrs Seymour," I have heard you speak of some English coins of rarity and interest." "True, Madam, very true, but they are in another cabinet: before I close the present one, I will, with your permission, give you a glimpse at my Sulphurs, Paduans, and Beckers." "Paduans and Beckers!" exclaimed Mr Seymour, " and pray what may they be? I never before heard the terms." 666 “My poverty but not my will consents.' The antiquary who is poor in purse," observed the vicar, "must needs be contented with being rich in counterfeits, or, I ought rather to have said, in possessing copies instead of originals. Becker was an artist of Frankfort, who excelled in imitating ancient coins, but he never used his skill for the purpose of deception, but honestly sold his productions as avowed copies, which are admitted into the cabinets of the curious under the name of Beckers. The Paduans," the vicar added, "derived their names from two brothers at Padua, celebrated for the accuracy with which they imitated large Roman coins." |