it relates to public buildings of all sorts, it cannot be without some general interest. Documents placed under In laying the first stone of the gaol of Longford twenty years ago, I placed in a cavity sunk in a large stone, under the foundation the S. W. corner of the building, several tiles, upon for posterity. which, before they were baked, there were inscribed various memorandums for pofterity, the Greek and Roman alphabets, the latitudes and longitudes of Paris and London, the variations of the needle, the nature and dates of various inventions, of gunpowder, of printing, of the steam-engine, of iron bridges, of the balloon; some of the discoveries of chemistry, and several remarkable events, with the names of celebrated books, and of their authors. mended on If this were done in various places in Europe, it might This recomhereafter be not only gratifying to future curiosity; but other occa might be useful to mankind. We have reason to believe, sions. that fictile compositions are among the most durable substances that exist, and as we may, with the greatest ease, inscribe what we please on them before they are baked; it is but a small sacrifice to posterity, to give up an hour or two of leizure, from a hope, however feeble it may be, of preserving some of the discoveries, which have hitherto been made in art or science. Swift tells us, that a shrewd fellow Posterity. inquired, why we did so much for posterity, when posterity has never done any thing for us. It is true, that posterity has never done any thing for us; but the idea of a posterity, that can bestow posthumous fame, has ever been and ever will be an excitement to present exertion. Our own immediate descendants reap the harvest which we sow, and nothing is more natural or more laudable than a wish to preserve our names among those who have been be nefactors of society. Edgeworthtown, Ireland, the 17th of April, 1811, II. Method of making any Ship's Boat a Life boat, to preserve the HAVING AVING a great many years ago witnessed a melancholy scene of shipwreck, and seen men perishing at little more than the distance of one hundred yards from the shore, it forcibly struck me, that though there was no possibility of getting from the shore to them, yet there was a great probability that means might be found, by which those in such situations might with safety be enabled to effect their escape to the shore; and farther considering, that the very preca rious aid of some accidental piece of wreck (under every disadvantage and in a tempestuous sea) sometimes serves to save life, I was confirmed in the opinion, that some method might be devised, which, upon good grounds, would hold forth the promising prospect of safety in all the common and general cases of shipwreck. Hence it was, that to devise such a scheme became the object of my research ever after. The following plans (especially the first) are so simple, and the effect so obvious, that I cannot allow myself to think that any seaman can entertain the smallest doubt, but that a boat so prepared would live in any sea whatever, could neither sink nor overset, and could carry in safety a number of people, in proportion to her size, over a bar, or from the wreck to the shore through any surf. That empty casks must float, almost wholly above the surface of the water, is so clear, that no person can be so absurd as to question it; and it is equally certain, that every cask will support weight of any kind in proportion to its size. In order then to accomplish the end proposed, there is only one thing more wanted, and that is, by means of sufficient seizings or holdings, to secure the casks in their places. Were you to tell a seaman, that he is not master of Trans. of the Soc. of Arts, vol, XXVIII, p. 135. The silver medal of the Society and twenty guineas were voted to the author. this mighty operation, it is easier to conceive than to express It no doubt has been upon these simple and obvious prin- Were I to go back to cases that are well known to have happened, I could easily point out many, wherein had this plan been thought of, there can be no doubt but it would have been attended with the happiest consequences; and probably the recollection of many seamen may furnish cases of the same kind, which have happened within their own knowledge. I shall only add, that I expect no benefit or advantage whatever to myself from my perseverance and labours on this subject, nor reimbursement for an expense of some hundred pounds which it has cost me in repeated journies to Edinburgh and London, as well as in experiments, which a living of less than seventy pounds a-year could very ill af ford; but I shall nevertheless reckon myself amply rewarded, if what I have to propose shall at any time, or in any case, prove the means of relieving from the deepest distress, and of rescuing from otherwise inevitable death, even a few of those who have had the misfortune to be involved in all the horrours of shipwreck. Mariners are unavoidably exposed to incomparably greater Hardships and hardships sufferings of hardships and sufferings, than are to be met with in any other line in human life. mariners. While the labours of all others are moderate, and find relief at stated intervals by day, and repose by night, the seaman must contend with the storm so long as it lasts, and encounter danger at a moment's warning, whether at midday or midnight. Whilst the tempest rages, no respite can be allowed him; he must keep his station without intermission, and after toiling above strength and above measure, it is often his hard fate to be shipwrecked at last. The complicated distress attending this frequent and fatal disaster it would be in vain to attempt to describe in any words; nor is it possible to conjecture nearly the number, which is added annually to the innumerable multitude of dead which the ocean contains. Sometimes several hundreds in one ship are involved in this direful calamity, where the misery of each sufferer is increased, in proportion to the accumulated wo that surrounds him; the cry of despair is heard on every side, and in distraction each exclaims, What shall we do? Amidst overwhelming waves and wreck, the mariner suffers in his person all that a living man can undergo, and in his mind all the anguish that despondence can create, heightened by the agonizing thought, that he is never more to behold wife, child, family, or friend; still however amidst all his sufferings an ardent love of life prevails, and the hapless mariner, struggling hard to preserve it, clings to what ever seems to promise a momentary reprieve. In the mean time the wreck is rapidly giving way, some are washed away in one place, and others in another; those who remain redouble their efforts for life; but alas! they strive in vain; one decisive blow has dashed their last and only support to pieces, and all are going down togethera general shriek is heard to be heard no more! the melancholy scene has closed, and neither survivor nor wreck is left behind. Any plan then that has for its object to afford relief in situations of such extreme distress, and which seeks to extend the same benefit to thousands of perishing men in future future ages, will no doubt meet with a favourable reception from every humane and benevolent mind. principle. But humanity and true benevolence are not merely spe- True humaculative, but active principles; and wherever they really nity an active exist, the helping hand is instantly stretched forth, to execute the dictates of the feeling heart. As no subject can be more interesting to individuals than the present, or more important to society, may it not then be expected, that every friend to humanity and to his country will not only heartily wish success to the present plan, but also lend his best assistance to have it brought into all the practical effect, of which it may be found susceptible? It is to be understood, that the plan is intended to apply to cases of shipwreck in general, and that it may very often succeed even in cases of extraordinary difficulty and peril. This will comprehend the far greater number of all shipwrecks that happen, and the author thinks himself warranted to say, that no solid objection can be offered to the effectual operations of his plan to this extent, and that it will be found fitted to answer all the purposes of a life boat, by saving lives, where otherwise men must inevitably have perished. At the same time he begs it may be understood, that he The plan approved by does not speak with this confidence from his own opinion competent only, however well-founded in principle and experiment it judges. may be, but because the plan itself, after repeated investigation, has received the unanimous testimony and approbation of professional men, and of men too who must be allowed to be the most competent as well as the most respectable judges in the kingdom, namely, the Trinity House of Leith, in whose records a copy of it will be found. The Report of the Highland Society of Scotland confirms, that in their Committee appointed to witness the experimentat Leith there were naval men of that number who were competent judges, and in whose skill they could confide, and for this reference is made to the Appendix of their second volume. It has been repeatedly submitted to the Trinity House of London. It was first submitted to them by Lord Melville, the treasurer of the navy, and their answer uuder the hand of |