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joy, anger, and complacency, wholly distinct from pause, emphasis, and whatever else is taught under the name of propriety or elegance, which the infant, that can as yet but lisp, invariably preserves till it has been taught to read; then, indeed, if you should write down any thing it says with this native propriety, and give it a lesson to be read, you would soon find that artificial speaking is not the improvement but the degradation of nature. The turgid emphasis, long pause, affected vehemence, and violent gesture of some teachers of elocution, who have yet acknowledged nature to be the standard, tend only to produce a kind of caricatura of speaking, in which beauty is exaggerated into ugliness, and easy elegance into the foppery of a coxcomb.

All that should be attempted with respect to grace in elocution is to avoid positive ungracefulness-forced gesture, vicious accent, false emphasis, barbarous phrases, hemming, coughing, unmeaning expletives, and other effects of ill habit. How much oftener do speakers and actors offend by doing too much than by doing too little?

He who shall thus read, and thus converse, will soon be able to think without the assistance either of books or company; to select a subject from the treasures of his own mind, to examine it without perplexity, and pursue its consequences without deviation.

To think is a kind of disputation with one's-self; ideas are recollected, and suppositions formed; we regulate them where they are perplexed, and support them where they are weak; we suggest and obviate doubts, raise and discuss objections, and draw final conclusions.

To speak is to think audibly; a confused thinker will necessarily be a confused speaker; and he who thinks with method, vigour, and perspicuity, wants nothing but the observation of a few simple and negative precepts with practice; to speak with ease and precision, grace will naturally result in proportion to the power of his fancy and the rectitude of his taste.

AN EASY, SIMPLE, AND INFALLIBLE METHOD TO FORCE
FRUIT-TREES TO BLOSSOM AND TO BEAR FRUIT.
[Translated from the German of the Rev. GEORGE CHARLES LEWES
HEMPEL, (Secretary to the Pomological Society of Altenburgh, in
Saxony,) by GEORGE HENRY NOEHDEN, L.L.D. F.L.S. &c.*]

IN my early years I saw my father, who was fond of pomology, and skilled in that science, cutting a ring on several branches of trees, which already were in blossom, for the purpose of producing, by that means, larger fruit than usual. This was not his own invention, but, as far as I recollect, derived from a French journal. Thirty years ago, when I was a boy, I practised this operation, in imitation of him, and thereby obtained larger pears and plums. In repeating this operation of ringing the branches, which I did merely for the purpose of getting larger fruit, I observed that the branches so operated upon always bore the next year. By

From the Philosophical Magazine.
D

this reiterated appearance I was led to the idea, that perhaps this mode of ringing the bark might be the means of compelling every unproductive branch to yield fruit. With this view, I cut rings upon a considerable number of branches, which as yet showed no blossom; and found, by repeating the experiment, the truth of my supposition indisputably confirmed by experience.

The application of this experiment, whereby upon every bough or branch fruit may artificially be produced, is very simple and easy, and the mode of proceeding as follows:

With a sharp knife make a cut in the bark of the branch which you mean to force to bear, and not far from the place where it is connected with the stem, or, if it be a small branch or shoot, near to where it is joined to the larger bough; the cut is to go round the branch, or to encircle it and to penetrate to the wood. A quarter of an inch from this cut, you make a second cut, like the first, round the branch, so that, by both encircling the branch, you have marked a ring upon the branch, a quarter of an inch broad, between the two cuts. The bark between these two cuts you take clean away with a knife, down to the wood, removing even the fine inner bark, which immediately lies upon the wood; so that no connection whatever remains between the two parts of the bark, but the bare and naked wood appears white and smooth. But this bark-ring, which is to compel the tree to bear, must be made at the right time, that is, when in all nature the buds are strongly swelling or are breaking out into blossom. In the same year a callus is formed at the edges of the ring, on both sides, and the connection of the bark, that had been interrupted, is restored again without any detriment to the tree or the branch operated upon, in which the artificial wound soon again grows over.

By this simple though artificial means of forcing every fruit-tree, with certainty, to bear, you obtain the following important advantages:

1. You may compel every young tree of which you do not know the sort, to show its fruit, and decide sooner, whether, being of a good quality, it may remain in its first state, or require to be grafted.

2. You may, thereby, with certainty, get fruit of every good sort, of which you wish to see the produce, in the next year.

3. This method may probably serve to increase considerably the quantity of fruit in the country.

The branches so operated upon are hung full of fruit, while the others that are not ringed, often have nothing, or very little on them. This effect is easy to be explained from the theory of the motion of the sap. For, when the sap moves slowly in a tree, it produces fruit-buds, which is the case in old trees; when it moves vigorously, the tree forms wood, or runs into shoots, as happens with young trees.

Though I arrived at this discovery myself, in consequence of trying the same process with a different view, namely to increase only the size of the fruit, but not to force barren branches, that were only furnished with leafbuds, to bear, this latter application being before quite unknown to me; I will on that account by no means give myself out for the first inventor of this operation; but I was ignorant of the effects to be produced by this

method, and only discovered them by repeated experiments of my own, which I made for the promotion of pomology. Frequent experience of the completest success has confirmed the truth of my observations. Nor do I think that this method is generally known; at least, to all those to whom I showed the experiment, the effect produced appeared new and surprising. At all events, that method, supposing it even to be an invention of older date, has, as far as I know, not yet been fully described by any one, and published in print.

MEMOIR OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE,

By Mrs. Hofland.
�ཨོྃམ་ལ་སྙི༦༨༦༦ནམ་

THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA, the only child of the Prince "and Princess of Wales, was born in Carlton-House, on the 7th of January, 1796. The earlier years of the young Princess were spent in probably the most advantageous manner for a constitution naturally infirm, and a mind which, from all that has transpired of it, seems to have been vigorous, original, and fond of acquirement. Much of this period was also passed with her mother, who appeared to take a peculiar interest in this promising and noble child, to whom she was so strongly endeared, that no subsequent circumstances had the power of weakening the attachment.

At a more advanced age, the young Princess was placed under the immediate superintendance of Lady de Clifford. The Bishop of Exeter was nominated to direct her studies, and a sub-preceptor was also chosen from among the English clergy. Her studies were urged with singular assiduity. Those who look upon royal life as unmixed indulgence, may be surprised to know, that, with the heir-presumptive of England, the day's tuition generally began at six in the morning, and continued with slight intermission till evening. This labour may have been too severe, but it is certain that her acquirements were of an order much superior to those of females in general society.

We have understood that she was acquainted with the principal writers in the classical languages, that she was solidly informed in the history and policy of the European governments, and peculiarly of the constitution and distinguishing features of her native history. She spoke French, German, Italian, and Spanish, with considerably fluency. The lighter accomplishments were not forgotten; and she sung and performed on the piano, the harp, and the guitar, with more than usual skill. Nature had been kind to her in endowing her with tastes which are seldom united; she had, in addition to her talents for music, a fine taste for the picturesque in nature, and a portion of her earliest hours, and subsequently those happier ones which she spent in the society of her husband, were given up to drawing. She wrote gracefully, and had a passionate fondness for the nobler ranks of English poetry.

These were fine and singular acquisitions in any place of society, and it may be a lesson from the grave to the youth and rank who turn away from

exertion through fear of its difficulty, to know, that this mass of delightful intellectual enjoyment, and preparation for the deeper duties of life, was attained by a girl who died before she was twenty-two, and that girl heir to the first throne of the world.

As she advanced beyond childhood, she had trials to encounter which exhibited the strength of her resolution. In the painful differences which occurred in the establishment of the Prince of Wales, she took the part of her mother; and though we may question the soundness of her judgment in this particular, we must allow she took the side to which an affectionate child, equally attached to both parents, would naturally have turned.

Her marriage, which was expected to have taken place with the Prince of Orange, now excited the public solicitude; and as it was an alliance which promised well from the English education and habits of the young Prince, some disappointment was evinced, when it was known to be broken off; but as the circumstances were never fully known to the public, and have ceased to interest, we are by no means desirous to investigate them at the present awful period.

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'The birth-day of the Princess was for the first time kept at court when she entered her twentieth year; and on the May following, she was introduced to the Queen's drawing-room. The assemblage was unusually full; and her sudden appearance in the splendid dress of the court, glittering with jewels, her head encircled with a diamond tiara, surmounted with the Prince's plume, above a countenance replete with ingenuousness, animation, and dignity, attracted universal admiration. The private life of the highest rank seldom transpires in its truth. The anecdotes of her youth, so far as they are known, all give the same impression of a judgment fond of deciding for itself; of a temper hasty, but generous; of a disregard of personal privation, and of a spirit peculiarly and proudly British. She frequently spoke of Queen Elizabeth, as a model for a British queen; and it has been remarked that in her ample forehead, large blue eye, and steady, stately countenance, there was a strong similitude to the portraits of Elizabeth, in her days of youth and beauty.

In 1814, the Prince Leopold of Cobourg visited England: be had distinguished himself in the French war, and came over in the train of the Allied Sovereigns. His graceful manners attracted the young Princess, and he was permitted to become a suitor for the honour of her alli

ance.

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This marriage, an union of affection rare among the great, was solemnized on the 2nd of May, 1816. The favours of the court were crowded upon the man whose merit had obtained the heart of her who was the general hope of the royal family, The garter and a regiment of horse were given to the Prince, and he was offered the revived Dukedom of Kendal. The popular bounty was not less generous; and an annuity of £50,000 per annum was, with an ominous provision, settled on him, in case of his surviving his wife. The settlement for the married pair was munificent, £50,000 per annum, with £60,000 as an outfit: £10,000 a-year for the independent use of the Princess; a splendid suit of jewels; and Claremont, purchased by the nation, as their residence.

The Prince

The happy prospect thus offered was more than realized. was an amiable and honorable man, and he loved his wife. The Princess increased day by day in fondness for him whom she had chosen from the world. Their time was spent in the happiest enjoyments of active though private life. They were seldom asunder; they rode together, visited the neighbouring cottages and relieved the poor together, and seemed made and prepared for the truest and most unchanging happiness of wedded life. They seldom left Claremont, and never came to London but on the public occasions which required their presence; but at home they were busied in all the pursuits of diligent and accomplished minds. The morning was chiefly devoted to exercise, and the direction of those improvements at Claremont, which rendered their residence so beneficial to the country.After dinner, the Prince studied English, or assisted the Princess in her sketches from the surrounding country; the evenings generally closed with music. Thus glided away the day usefully and happily; that of the sabbath was marked by an attention to its duties the most solemn and affecting; and it is remarkable that even in the severe affliction which has now succeeded to this picture of almost unequalled happiness, Prince Leopold has compelled himself to attend hours of worship with his family; and, notwithstanding the suddenness and deepness of his sorrow almost unsettled reason in the first agony of the stroke, we trust he will soon be enabled to experience that Divine aid to which he so wisely turns in the day of trouble.

The circumstances attending the death of this beloved and lamented Princess are universally known, and have been detailed with the minuteness demanded by the public mind for its sad satisfaction so completely, that we deem it unnecessary to repeat them; more especially as dwelling upon them can scarcely fail to be injurious to many of our amiable country-women. We can only add, that this awful visitation of Providence hath, in the language of holy writ, "bowed the heart of the people as the heart of one man ;" all ranks, all parties, characters, sects, and opinions, as if harmonized by one master-key, unite in deploring her loss, extolling her virtues, and sympathizing with the father and the husband, who may naturally be supposed to stand the most in need of this and every other species of consolation.

All the branches of the royal family have flown to support their suffering head. The Queen returned to Windsor from Bath for the same purpose, struggling with the severe shock she had received, for the purpose of supporting her son under his unexpected misfortune, while the Prince Regent himself, though under the pressure of both bodily and mental affiction, has sought to dispense comfort to the widowed heart of his bereaved son-in-law. The town of Kingston, from its immediate vicinity to Claremont, has perhaps evinced more acute sensibility to this public loss than any other could possibly do, but every place throughout the empire, from the metropolis, (in which every action of respect and form of mourning has been adapted with a celerity which speaks genuine feeling,) to the humblest village, is at this moment full of sorrow for the national loss and of lamen tation for the sufferings of the royal family.

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