Sovereign's servants. A pretty long course of
observation on these component parts of a Parliamentary audience begets
some doubt if noble passages, (termed 'fine flourishes,') be not taken
by them as personally offensive."

Take, for example, "such fine passages as Mr. Canning often indulged
himself and a few of his hearers with; and which certainly seemed to be
received as an insult by whole benches of men accustomed to distribute
justice at sessions. These worthies, the dignitaries of the empire,
resent such flights as liberties taken with them; and always say, when
others force them to praise--'Well, well, but it was out of place; we
have nothing to do with king Priam here, or with a heathen god, such
as AEolus; those kind of folk are all very well in Pope's _Homer_ and
Dryden's _Virgil_; but, as I said to Sir Robert, who sat next me, what
have you or I to do with them matters? I like a good plain man of
business, like young Mr. Jenkinson--a man of the pen and desk, like his
father was before him--and who never speaks when he is not wanted: let
me tell you, Mr. Canning speaks too much by half. Time is short--there
are only twenty four hours in the day, you know.'"

* * * * *

MATHEMATICAL SAILORS.

Nathaniel Bowditch, the translator of Laplace's _Mecanique Celeste_,
displayed in very early life a taste for mathematical studies. In the
year 1788, when he was only fifteen years old, he actually made an
almanack for the year 1790, containing all the usual tables, calculations
of the eclipses, and other phenomena, and even the customary predictions
of the weather.

Bowditch was bred to the sea, and in his early voyages taught navigation
to the common sailors about him. Captain Prince, with whom he often
sailed, relates, that one day the supercargo of the vessel said to him,
"Come, Captain, let us go forward and hear what the sailors are talking
about under the lee of the long-boat." They went forward accordingly,
and the captain was surprised to find the sailors, instead of spinning
their long yarns, earnestly engaged with book, slate, and pencil,
discussing the high matters of tangents and secants, altitudes, dip,
and refraction. Two of them, in particular, were very zealously
disputing,--one of them calling out to the other, "Well, Jack, what have
you got?" "I've got the _sine_," was the answer. "But that ain't right,"
said the other; "_I_ say it is the _cosine_."

*