ENGLISH CIRCULAR MASONRY MILLS. 81 many improvements to it. By means of a steam-engine, a number of saws are set in motion, by which a solid block of marble or stone, rough from the quarry, can be cut into shafts of columns of diminishing diameters, one within the other, at the same time: the blocks are fixed in an iron circular frame, resting upon four small wheels, by which they can be turned round by the person who has the care of a certain number of them, to keep the saws, which are almost in a horizontal position, constantly acting upon them: the blocks are a little inclined, to enable the saws to be supplied with water from a trough above, conducted by means of tin pipes to the respective orifices. By means of this admirable invention, a saving of three-fourths of the stone is produced upon a block of large diameter; the outer cases being as strong as the cube, five men can perform the work which occupied forty before the discovery; and stone columns are reduced to the price of wooden ones. These saws can also cut out an entire gothic window, which they effect at a saving of 801. per cent. with great beauty and precision, and which in its former construction was divided into six different parts: the last savings or cubes, upon being cemented together, constitute a complete gothic column, and the concavity of the divided outer case of a large column forms M 82 ENGLISH CIRCULAR MASONRY MILLS. an entire recess; a block will also, after it has afforded several shafts of columns, form a handsome series of chimnies. The pipes for conveying water by this machinery are much preferred, on account of their durability: the proprietors of several public works have adopted them in preference to those of wood, which are continually wanting repairs. This highly ingenious discovery has been matured and prosecuted with great public spirit and expence by the proprietor, and promises, from its great utility and economy, to become an object of high national importance. In our treckschuyt, I witnessed a strong contrast to the spirits and loquacity of the French and Germans : all was smoke and silence, save when it yielded to a few short sentences, in which the word mi vrow frequently met my ear. One very grave elderly gentleman, who wore an enormous curled and powdered wig, and who somewhat resembled Lord Burleigh in the Critic, spoke but once all the way, and that was in the following oracular sentence: Wat is goed voor de man is ook goed voor de vrouw-What is good for the husband, is as good for the wife;" so similar many instances are the Dutch and English languages, that some of our witlings have observed that bad English will make very good Dutch. M. Siegenbeek, minister of the anabaptist church at Leyden, and the first who has occupied the chair for Dutch literature and eloquence in the university of that city, in which, by his genius and attain 6.6 in ments, he reflects honor upon his country, has published a very ingenious work, entitled, Verhandeling over de Nederduitsche Spelling-a Treatise on Dutch Orthography, tending to render it uniform: this work and another by the same author, called Verhandeling over den Ionsted, &c. or a Treatise on the Influence of Euphony or agreeable Sound, and of the Facility of Pronunciation, on the orthography of the Dutch language, were, at the instigation and by the able exertions of M. Vander Palm, the agent of national education, some years since published, for the improvement of the national language and poetry. The late Batavian government adopted the system of orthography proposed by M. Siegenbeek, and ordered it to be used by all the offices of administration. It is generally understood that the language of Holland is divided into High and Low Dutch, whereas there is but one pure language, as in England, which is called Neder Duitch, the language of the Netherlands, or of a country lying very low. In Holland, as in In Holland, as in every other country, there is a variety of provincial idioms; for instance, a raw native of Friezeland would not be understood at Amsterdam. Of the Dutch language our immortal lexicographer, Johnson, says, "Our knowledge of the northern literature 84 ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND GERMAN LANGUAGES. "is so scanty, that of words undoubtedly Teutonic the original is not always to be found in any ancient language, and I have therefore inserted Dutch or German substitutes, which I consider not as radical, but parallel; "not as the parent of, but as sisters to the English." To close this digression, the language, I must confess, did not sound dissonant to my ear from the lips of well-bred persons. The following specimens will enable the reader to observe the solidity of the learned Doctor's remark. Was you at Lord Nelson's funeral? Yes. Waart gy by Lord Nelson's begravenis? Ja. Waren sie bey Lord Nelson's begræbniss? Ja. Be then so good as to describe it to me. Weest dan zoo goed en beschryft het my. Sein sie dann so gut, und beschreiben sie es mir. The procession was abruptly broken into three parts, De processie was volmaakt afgebroken in drie deelen, Die procession war plotzlich abgebrochen in drey theile, or rather there were three distinct and unconnected pro cessions. of eerder er waare drie veschillende & afgezonderde processien. First came trumpeters playing the dead march in Saul, ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND GERMAN LANGUAGES. followed by a large body of cavalry and foot soldiers, gevolgd door een groot corps ruitery en infantery, auf welche ein grosses corps cavallerie und infanterie folgte, having the appearance as if they were going to a review. het voorkomen hebbende als of zy naar een revue ginge. welches aussahe, als wenn sie nach einer revue giengen. 85 When they had passed, and patience was nearly exhausted, Toen zy voorby waaren, & het geduld byna ten einde was, Als sie vorbei waren, und die gedult beinahe erschopft war, and a million or more of teeth had chattered with the cold, en een millioen van tande ge klappert hadden van de koude, und millionen zæhne geklappert hatten vor kælte, more melancholy trumpeters appeared, blowing dirges, verscheenen nog meerder droevige trompetters treur liederren blaazende, erschienen andere melancholische trompeter, die trauerlieder bliessen, then followed a line of mourning coaches, one filled with daarna volgde een rey rouw koet zen van de welke eene alsdann folgte eine reihe trauerwagen, der eine gefüllt mit little flags, as returning from a Dutch fair; met kleine vlaggen gevuld was, als komende van een Hollandsche kermis; kleinen flaggen, als kæme er von einer Holländischen kirmis zurück; another with a knight's shirt, spurs, and gloves, een ander met een ridders hembd, spooren & handschoenen, ein anderer mit eines zitters hemd, spornen und handschuen, which dangled in the air from little white wands, al het welke in de lugt wapperde, hangende aan witte stockjes, welche flatterten in der luft, an kleinen weisen stecken bangend, |