Part 6

There was a struggle to live even a hundred years ago; we do not find that being a century nearer to the Golden Age than we are made much essential difference in men's characters:--The author of 'Arithmetick in Epitome,' published in 1740, entertains a professional jealousy of interlopers, for he observes, 'When a man has tried all Shifts, and still failed, if he can but scratch out anything like a fair _Character_, though never so stiff and unnatural, and has got but _Arithmetick_ enough in his Head to compute the Minutes in a Year, or the Inches in a Mile, he makes his last Recourse to a Garret, and, with the Painter's Help, sets up for a Teacher of _Writing_ and _Arithmetick_; where, by the Bait of low Prices, he perhaps gathers a Number of Scholars.'

Another, named Chappell, indulges in a little political illustration in his book, published in 1798--was he a disappointed place-hunter? He tells us in his versified tables--

'So 5 times 8 were 40 Scots, Who came from Aberdeen, And 5 times 9 were 45, Which gave them all the spleen.'

The latter being an allusion to Wilkes' notorious No. 45 of the North Briton.

Some curious facts with respect to old systems of arithmetic were published at a meeting of the Schlesische Gesellschaft in Breslau in 1846. On that occasion Herr Löschke gave an account to the learned assembly of an old arithmetical work, 'Rechnen auf der Linie,' by the 'old Reckon-master,' Adam Rise. Adam was born about 1492; of his education nothing is known; he lived at Annaberg, and had three sons, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His first 'Reckon-book,' in which he explained his peculiar method, appeared in 1518. It was somewhat on the principle of the calculating frame of the Chinese; a series of lines were drawn across a sheet of paper, on which, by the position of counters, numbers could be reckoned up to hundreds of thousands. The first line of the series was for units, the second for tens, the third for hundreds, the fourth for thousands, the fifth for ten thousands, and so on. It is remarkable that the highest counting-limit at that time was a thousand. The word 'million' was as yet unknown to the great body of calculators. Every number was counted, specified, and limited by thousands. The numeration of large numbers was thus expressed: the sum was divided into threes from right to left; a dot was placed over the first, and a second dot over the third of the following three, and so continued along the whole, until at last a dot stood over every fourth figure from the right. For example,

. . . . . . . . 6432798642102791527462,

which were read, six thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand times thousand, 432 thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand times thousand, 798 thousand thousand thousand thousand times thousand, 642 thousand thousand thousand times thousand, 102 thousand thousand times thousand, 791 thousand times thousand, 527 thousand and 462. With this curiosity of arithmetic we close our Jottings for the present.

THE LITTLE WOODLAND GLEANER.

'Art thou weary, Dove Annette--say, hast thou been roaming far? Seeking flowers fresh and wild, watching for the evening star? Heavily thy basket weighs; 'tis a cruel load for thee; Shades of night are stealing o'er; thou at home, fair child, shouldst be.'

Dove Annette laughed merrily as she ope'd her basket lid; There no hyacinthine bell or sweet eglantine was hid: Pine cones, and fallen leaves, and slender twigs were gathered there; Far more precious these to her than the woodland treasures fair.

'My old grandam she is cold, for the autumn nights are chill; So I search the golden woods over dale and over hill; Sticks, leaves, and cones together, make a warm and blazing fire; Shame 'twould be if Dove Annette on this errand e'er could tire!

'My old grandam she is blind, but our scholars are a score; And she tells them how to spell, and the blessed Bible lore; At A B C I toil all day--alas, they are not quick to learn! Little 'tis that we are paid--poor the living thus we earn.

'Forest glades are dusk and drear, save when pretty deer skip by; Evening stars I cannot see, trees arch overhead so high; Safely sleep the birds around: He who numbers them each one Cares, I know, for Dove Annette in the wild wood all alone.

'So I fill my basket full--sure it is a heavy load; But I sing a pleasant song all along my homeward road: And within our cabin walls, gleaming with the ruddy blaze, Grandam teaches Dove Annette hymns of thankfulness and praise.'

C. A. M. W.

BRIAN BOROIHME'S HARP.

It is well known that the great monarch Brian Boroihme was killed at the battle of Clontarf, A.D. 1014. He left his son Donagh his harp; but Donagh having murdered his brother Teige, and being deposed by his nephew, retired to Rome, and carried with him the crown, harp, and other regalia of his father. These regalia were kept in the Vatican till Pope Clement sent the harp to Henry VIII., but kept the crown, which was of massive gold. Henry gave the harp to the first Earl of Clanricarde, in whose family it remained until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it came by a lady of the De Burgh family into that of M'Mahon of Glenagh, in the county of Clare, after whose death it passed into the possession of Counsellor Macnamara of Limerick. In 1782 it was presented to the Right Hon. William Conyngham, who deposited it in Trinity College Museum, where it now is. It is 32 inches high, and of good workmanship--the sounding-board is of oak, the arms of red sally--the extremity of the uppermost arm in part is capped with silver, well wrought and chiselled. It contains a large crystal set in silver, and under it was another stone, now lost.--_Tipperary Free Press._

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End of Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 305, by Various