Page images
PDF
EPUB

heads couped Gules, Ragon; 9. Argent, a fess and canton Gules, Widvile; 10. Argent, a maunch Sable, with a mullet for difference, Hastings; 11. Argent, on a fess Azure three boars' heads couped Or, in chief a lion passant guardant...., Aprice. At the end of the monument are also the arms of Dyve; impaling Gules, a saltire Argent, between twelve cross crosslets Or, Denny.

Beatrice, widow of Sir John, and mother of Sir Lewis Dyre, was married secondly to John Digby, afterwards Earl of Bristol, and gave birth, at Madrid, in October 1612, to George

the second Earl. She had also another son, John, born in 1618; and two daughters, Lady Mary, who was married to Arthur Earl of Donegal; and Lady Abigail, married to George Freke, esq. Having survived the Earl about six years, she died in 1658, and was buried at Sherborne, where a flat marble within the altar-rails was thus inscribed:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

[The hands are intended to point to the two lines on each side, the larger letters of which give the date 1658.]

The name of Lewis was introduced into the Dyve family by the marriage of William Dyve, esq. great-grandfather of the subject of this memoir, with Anne, daughter and heiress of Lewis Aprice, of Hanslope in Buckinghamshire, esq. William had a son Lewis, the father of Sir John Dyve, and of a Lewis who died an infant. Sir Lewis (son of Sir John, as before mentioned) was born and christened at Bromham in 1595. The next notice

we have of him is that he was knighted at Whitehall, April 19, 1620. The probability is, that he accompanied his inother to Spain, when his stepfather went ambassador to that country; and spent his youth chiefly in the Court of Madrid, as we find him quite at home there in 1623. It was then the incident occurred which is narrated in the Private Memoirs of Sir Kenelm Digby. On the evening after Sir Kenelm's first visit to his cousin the Earl of Bristol, the latter

"sent his son Leodivius, with many of his servants and torches, to accompany him to

his lodgings, which was not far off. But the night had slided so insensibly away while they were in their pleasing conversation (it being the nature of long absence of dear friends to cause at their first encounter much greediness of enjoying each other) that when they came out of the house they found the streets quiet, and no living creature stirring in them; and the moon, which was then near the full, shining out a clear light upon them, so that the coolness and solitude was the greatest sign that it was not noon-day. Wherefore they caused the lights and other servants to stay there (who then could serve but for vain magnificence), and Theagenes sent his servants to his lodging before, while he, and Leodivius, and another gentleman that Leodivius took with him to accompany him, that he might not return all alone to his father's house, came softly after, sucking in the fresh air, and pleasing themselves in the coolness of the night which succeeded a hot day, it be ing then in the beginning of the summer. But, as they were entertaining themselves in some gentle discourse, a rare voice, accompanied with a sweet instrumeut, called their ears to silent attention, while with their eyes they sought to inform themselves where the person was that sung; when they saw a gentlewoman in a loose and night habit, that stood in an open window supported like a gallery with bars of iron, with a lute in her hand, which with excellent skill she made to keep time with her divine voice, and that issued out of as fair a body, by what they could judge at that light, only there seemed to sit so much sadness upon her beautiful face, that one might judge she herself took little pleasure in her own soulravishing harmony. The three spectators remained attentive to this fair sight and sweet music, Leodivius only knowing who she was, who coming a little nearer towards the window, fifteen men all armed, as the moon shining upon their bucklers and coats of mail did make evident, rushed out upon him with much violence, and with their drawn swords made sundry blows and thrusts at him, that, if his better genius

had not defended him, it had been impossible that he could have outlived that minute; but he, nothing at all dismayed, drew his sword, and struck the foremost of them. such a blow upon the head, that if it had not been armed with a good cap of steel, certainly he should have received no more cumber from that man; yet the weight of it was such that it made the Egyptian [which name Sir Kenelm gives the Spaniards] run reeling backwards two or three steps, and the blade, not able to sustain such a force, broke in many places, so that nothing but the hilts remained in Leodivius's hand; who seeing himself thus disarmed, suddenly recollected his spirits, and using short discourse within himself, resolved, as being his best, to run to his father's house to call for assistance, to bring off in safety his kinsman and his other friend, whose false sword served him in the same manner as Leodivius's had done, as though they had conspired to betray their masters in their greatest need."

It would extend the extract to a great length to allow Sir Kenelm to relate in this place the whole of his account of this hazardous adventure, particularly as he enlarges very copiously on his own chivalrous defence when left as the sole combatant. After slaying the head of the opposite party, he was enabled to follow Leodivius back.

"By this means," he continues, "Theagenes, who received but little hurt, had time to walk leisurely to the Ambassador's house, from whence, upon the alarm that Leodivius gave, many were coming to his rescue with such arms as hastily they could recover; the cause of whose coming so late (for he met them half way) was, that it was long before Leodivius, though he knocked and called aloud, could get the gates open, for all in the house were gone to take their

rest.

The next day the cause of this quarrel was known; which was, that a nobleman of that country, having interest in a gentlewoman that lived not far from Aristobulus's [the Earl of Bristol's] house, was jealous of Leodivius, who had carried his reflections too publicly; so that this night he had forced her to sing in the window where Leo divius saw her, hoping by that means to entice him to come near to her, while he lay in ambush, as you have heard, to take his life from him."

It is a matter of some surprise that after the fatal catastrophe in which this affray terminated, no bad consequences are said to have accrued to the victorious party; for, though the Spaniard was the aggressor, yet it might have been expected that his death would have been in some way resented.

It is true that the retinues of ambassadors were extraordinarily protected by the customs of the age; but it is probable that the arrival of the Prince of Wales at Madrid, which we are told occurred the very next day, induced the Spaniards to treat the English with more than customary indulgence, it being their object to conciliate them as much as possible at this crisis. As for the slayer of the Spanish nobleman, the only consequence to himself which he mentions, is, that "this action made the name of Theagenes known not only in Egypt, but in Morea [England];" and, for Sir Lewis Dyve, we find a passage in Howell's Letters, which shews that he was riding in the streets of Madrid within two days of Prince Charles's arrival. "Now," says that amusing letter-writer, "it was publicly known among the vulgar that it was the Prince of Wales that was come; and the confluence of people before my Lord of Bristol's house was so great and greedy to see the Prince, that, to clear the way, Sir Lewis Dyve went out and took coach, and all the crowd of people went after him; so the Prince himself a little after took coach," &c. &c.

The Earl of Bristol returned to England in the beginning of 1624, and his step-son about the same time. It was in this year that Sir Lewis entered into the state of matrimony. His bride was a young Dorsetshire widow, whom he met when with his stepfather at Sherborne-castle. She was Howard, the eldest daughter of Sir John Strangeways, of Melbury Sampford, knight (ancestor to the Earls of Ilchester), by Grace, daughter of Sir John Trenchard of Woolveton. This young lady had been first married in 1622, to Richard Rogers, of Brianston, in Dorsetshire, esq.; but he had died without issue in the following year. Sir Lewis's first child, a daughter, was christened at Melbury Sampford in 1625, and named Beatrix, after her grandmother, the Countess of Bristol. She died before her father; his sons Francis and Lewis, who survived him, were baptized at the same place in 1632 and 1633. They will be further noticed in the sequel. Lady Dyve died February 24, 1645-6, as appears by the parish-register of Bromham, where she was buried.

In the two parliaments summoned in the first year of Charles the First,

Sir Lewis Dyve was one of the members for Bridport in Dorsetshire. On the assembling of the Long Parliament in 1640, he was again returned*; but was afterwards "disabled," probably in 1643, when several members were under that term expelled, for their then holding commands in the King's army.

Although Sir Lewis does not appear as a speaker in Parliament himself, yet we find he was active in 1641 in publishing the speech which his halfbrother Lord Digby had made against

the condemnation of the Earl of Strafford, and which was afterwards publicly burnt by the common hangman. It was delivered on the 21st of April that year, and on the 15th of July the House resolved, "that Sir Lewis Dyve and John Moor, as also Thomas Parslow, printer of the said speech, are delinquents, in printing and publishing thereof." Lord Digby, in his " A pology," issued in Jan. 1641-2, states, that he did not only find that it was unfaithfully reported and uncharitably represented, but was informed that copies went abroad of it, so falsely and maliciously collected, as made the whole speech a justification of my Lord of Strafford's innocence; and Sir Lewis Dyve, having heard of such a copy in the house of a citizen of good quality, where he heard me inentioned as a person fit to have his name fixed upon posts, that it might be torn to pieces by the people, upon that reason earnestly desired me to give him a true copy of what I had said in that argument, which I did; and he forthwith gave directions for the printing of it, without any privity of mine."

(To be continued.)

MR. URBAN,

J. G. N.

Summerlands, Exeter, July 1, 1829.

Twork has nearly arrived; and beHE centenary of your valuable ing peculiarly distinguished by ancient lore, without excluding useful scientific disquisition, a complete set, when obtained, constitutes a desirable article in every select library. Few subjects are of more real national importance

List of that Parliament in Cobbett's

Parliamentary History; the list of Burgesses in Hutchins's Dorsetshire, in which the two former elections of Sir Lewis are found, gives other names under 15 Car. I.

than the science of magnetic variation, on which a series of papers appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine. Permit me to add one, including some farther progress, sanctioned by observations and experiments. The advancement of a science still in its infancy, and on the establishment of which navigation and commerce mainly depend, is much retarded by the erroneous supposition of the existence of a multiplicity of magnetic poles. As it has been recently stated with confidence that the alleged position of a north-east pole has been confirmed by the observations of an eminent philosopher in a remote quarter of Eastern Russia, it is the object of this paper to disprove the supposition, and to attempt to make out that there can be but two magnetic poles, viz. the north-west and southeast; that is to say, one in each hemisphere.

It is necessary to give an equatorial projection of the sphere, in order to elucidate clearly the object in view, and the demonstration will, cæteris paribus, be equally applicable to the southern hemisphere. It may be previously requisite to observe, that on several parts of the earth, in whatever direction they are approached, the needle is attracted by magnetic strata. In the northern hemisphere, these have a south polarity above, and a north below, with a reverse effect in the other hemisphere. The iron and guns of ships act similarly, in occasioning the local attraction of the needle, on the due knowledge and application of which life and property greatly depend; and this may induce me hereafter to give you my studied view of so very important a branch of magnetism. As one instance of local terrestrial attraction, the variation at the Falkland Islands has altered only a degree and a half since it had been first observed there; and this small attraction is to be ascribed to the constant movement of the north-west pole eastward, and of the south-east westward, at the rate of half a degree annually, and amounting only to a few miles, reckoned in the high latitude of the position of the eccentric curves in which they manifestly move. Eminent philosophers have situated each his pole in the south-west quarter, in order, by their supposed action, to account for the nearly stationary variation; but celebrated navigators, who have approached

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Over N, the north pole of the earth, is drawn LNS, the meridian of London, being the line of no variation in 1657, because the needle at L, London, pointed due north to the magnetic pole S, corresponding to its real place within the earth. At P, on the west side of the figure, is situated the north-west magnetic pole, by approximations, in the year 1820, at the intersection of 70° north latitude and 100° west longitude. The pole is moving eastward in

a curve probably more eccentric than PP. In order to discover the nature and position of this curve, it is now well understood, that at intervals of a few years, the site of the pole must be found at the positions, by means of the dipping-needle; and thus also its real rate of movement will be ascertained. This now can be effected easily, by the short run from the mouth of the Mackenzie, or Coppermine River. After former repeated

attempts, the enterprising Captain Ross has but a slender chance of getting through Regent's Channel, contiguous to the magnetic pole. This spirited navigator will try to get through one of the large channels on the north side of Barrow's Straits, and if he finds an open sea, he may plant the British flag on the pole of the earth; or he may steam along the north side of the Georgian Islands, and find a passage down to Behring's Straits*. No time ought to be lost in finding the points, because the pole is moving on to the inaccessible regions. It is of the most essential moment to navigation and commerce, that the place of the pole should at all times be known, in order to calculate the variation, and to find the local attraction of a ship, which is the difference between the observed and calculated variation, allowing for a small attraction by the more remote magnetic pole.

PwN is the meridian of the northwest line of no variation, at the above period; and Ny P is the north-east line, running through western Russia and along the Coromandel coast. On this meridian in the southern hemisphere, a little to the south of the equator, a west variation arises, because the south extremity of the needle there is attracted eastward by the south-east pole, causing the north end to incline westward. For the same reason, in moving southward from the

equator, the west variation increases, and would attain its maximum at the south pole of the earth. Moving thence, on the same meridian, the variation would become nothing, in approaching on the west side of the earth to the north-west pole. The celebrated magnetician, Mr. Churchman, supposed that the pole moved under a parallel of latitude, as PmKP. Were this the case, the present west variation would increase manifestly, till the pole arrived at the tangetical point m, when the angle N Lm would express the angle of west variation. After this, it would decrease to nothing on the meridian of London, as in 1657. But as the variation was at its maximum in 1817, or 24° 17', and has been since decreasing, it is evident that it cannot be moving with its pole, under the parallel PB. The pole cannot be moving in a straight line, or in a curve, under the meridian of no variation PNP, because all living under such meridian would have no variation at any time, a thing not a fact. The pole cannot be moving in a straight line on the north or south side of the pole of the earth, as, for instance, in the line Pro; because those living at P and o would always have the same variation, rPN or roN; excepting when the variation would vanish, when the pole was directly under their situation, P and o. On every other situation on this line, such

Captain Ross, having determined once more to attempt the discovery of the NorthWest Passage, lately equipped a steam-vessel, called the Victory, entirely at his own expence. The steam power employed is on a wholly new principle; being so contrived as to combine every advantage of steam-power, with perfect capability as a sailing vessel. The boilers in use occupy so small a space, that they are fixed between the engines; the consumption of fuel is one-half, and the weight of the engines only one fourth, of those generally in use. Another advantage is, that a chimney may be dispensed with, which leaves the deck, masts, and rigging wholly unencumbered. The last intelligence from Captain Ross was dated Loch Ryan, June 14th and 15th. It appears that the engineer of the steamer was so severely hurt by the rod of the piston, that Captain Ross was obliged to amputate his arm. On joining the John (a vessel that was to have accompanied him) Captain Ross found that great discontent prevailed among the crew of the vessel; and upon his going on board, the crew individually refused to heave the anchor. Captain Ross then goes on to state,-" On my saying that my men (i. e. the crew of the Victory) should do it for them, the cowardly vagabonds took to the boats, and landed amidst the hisses and execrations, not only of the gallant crew (who gave three cheers, and said 'Let us go without them'), but of the villagers, who assembled to witness the landing. A scuffle took place between the captain and the crew; and in their attempting to take one of our boats to escape with, one man was knocked overboard; but no lives were lost. I immediately decided on removing what stores were necessary to complete us from the John, and.to proceed without her; which has, I am happy to say, given my brave fellows universal satisfaction. They answered my determination with three cheers, and declared they would follow and stick to me wherever I went. We are all in the highest spirits; the wind is fair, the engine, bellows, and boiler, are all in repair, and the anchor is now up. Farewell!" GENT. MAG. July, 1829.

« PreviousContinue »