GOODRICH CASTLE-GOODRICH COURT-LYDBROOK COURTFIELD-WELCH BICKNOR-COLDWELL'S THREE miles below Ross, on the left, stands New Hill Court, a large and roomy mansion, and on the right bank at no great distance beyond, Pencraig, crowning the brow of a steep eminence at a sudden turn of the river, and embracing a lovely view of Ross, mellowed by distance. After gliding onwards for another mile, the tourist beholds that singularly interesting ruin GOODRICH CASTLE, crowning a bold eminence clothed with trees in the most picturesque grouping. The river here makes one of its most graceful and brilliant sweeps, and the landscape is one of the finest along its course. It is difficult, indeed, to conceive any scene more exquisitely beautiful, than Goodrich presents, whether viewed from a boat, or from the height on which rest the massive remains of the aged ruin. A steep pathway through the wood, from the edge of the river, leads to the castle, the exterior of which, on a near approach, we agree with Mr. Roscoe, " is less striking than that of many other castles, except the gateway, which is eminently beautiful," and the most curious and perfect front. The Anglo-Saxon keep, evidently the most ancient portion, is a fine specimen of castellated Roscoe's Wanderings in South Wales. VOL. XIII. architecture; and owing to the amazing thickness of the walls, it has fortunately been tolerably well preserved from the assaults of time and the spoiler. A beau Several of the towers are richly decorated by ivy, that" adorner of the ruin," as well as by clematis, tiful pointed archway, part of the chapel in the inwhich add greatly to the general effect. terior of the castle, is exceedingly graceful, and from a breach in the wall beyond, there is a very sweet view of Goodrich Court, the residence of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, the eminent antiquary. Rush Meyrick, the eminent antiquary. Much of the ancient history of the castle is lost in obscurity, but we find that a Doomsday proprietor, the ford on the river here before the Conquest, from of the name of Godric, held a fort which commanded whence it is probable that the castle derives its name. In 1165, William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, held of Chepstow; and this noble was the feudal lord of it, and sixty-five knights' fees belonging to the honour the whole district from Ross to Chepstow. The castle in its earliest days consisted only of the keep, since which, the courses in the masonry, and the various styles of architecture in the round towers and other parts, abundantly testify that many additions were made at subsequent periods, the latest of which appear to be of the time of Henry the Eighth. It was anciently a seat of the Talbot family, and in 1347, Richard Talbot, lord of the castle, founded a 398 priory of black canons at Flansford, in the neighbourhood. Goodrich was a very strong and important fortress during the civil war, and successively taken and retaken by the opposing parties. In 1646, it was garrisoned for the king by Sir Richard Lingen, who defended it with great gallantry and resolution against Colonel Birch and the Parliamentarian forces. The leaguers commenced a close siege on the 10th of March, and the castle did not surrender until the beginning of August following. It was afterwards dismantled and "slighted," (as stated in the records of the period,) by order of the Parliament, since which it has been " silently decaying." And thou proud Goodrich, changed and worn, And the fox nestles in those halls. Let us now proceed to visit the unique and castellated mansion which crowns the opposite height GOODRICH COURT, the seat of Sir S. R. Meyrick, whose magnificent collection of ancient armour is well-worthy of inspection. The elevation embraces examples of the styles in use in the period between the reigns of Edward I. and Edward III. "The surrounding battlements, turrets, loop-holes, and machicolations look bristlingly on the defensive, while the small, dry moat, laid with velvet turf, and the fair flower-beds perfuming the quiet air around, are ont of keeping, though agreeably so *." By the kind permission of the worthy owner, free access to this interesting mansion is cheerfully accorded to the public at all times. There are some fine paintings in the dining-room and several of the other apartments. The library is adorned with oak carving, which, with two miniatures by Holbein, enclosed in exquisitely carved ivory frames, particularly attract attention. The antiquities of different ages and countries are arranged with exceeding taste and skill in the various apartments. The Wye, after passing Goodrich Castle, takes so bold a turn, that the ruined fortress remains long in sight-a memento for the moralist. On the right may be seen the crumbling fragments of FLARESFORD PRIORY, the chapel of which has been converted into a barn. At KERNE BRIDGE, the banks of the river assume a new and grander aspect, gradually rising into steep woody eminences, occasionally intermingled with beautiful slopes of verdant green. Upon the right side Coppet Wood, with its bold swells and hollows, ex hibits a fine effect of light and shade, and on a more gradual rise to the left stands Bishop's-wood House, with cottages, fields, and orchards, rising amphitheatrically above each other. Both sides of the river are here steep and woody; and the tall and Roscoe's Wanderings. distant spire of Ruar-dean church may be distinguished amidst the trees on the left bank, whilst the deep umbrage of the "Forest +" hills, which here rise in lofty grandeur in the front, confer an almost indescribable charm on the landscape. A streamlet called Bishop's brook, which empties itself into the Wye at this spot, divides the counties of Hereford and Gloucester. At Lydbrook, is a large wharf, where coals brought on a steep tram-way from the Forest of Dean, are shipped for Hereford, Ross, and other places. In the background is a rich woody hill, and there is sometimes a degree of bustle about the place which is pleasing from its variety. A turn of the river brings us to Courtfield House, a modern mansion, said to have been the site of an ancient building where our fifth Harry was nursed by the Countess of Salisbury, whose effigy some antiquaries have pretended to discover on a tomb in Welch Bicknor church, just below Courtfield. Sir Samuel Meyrick, has, however, pronounced the costume on the monument to be of the era of Edward the First. Rosemary Topping, a picturesque eminence, so called from the mellow luxuriance of its sides, leads us to that "majestic piece of rock scenery," the COLDWELL ROCKS. The These magnificent and, in some parts, precipitous masses of limestone rock, overhung with oak copse and underwood, present at their commencementabout two miles from Welch Bicknor, on the left bank of the river-an insulated appearance, rudely resembling the donjon tower of some ancient fortress. A wall of rocks of irregular outline, somewhat similar to the much admired St. Vincent's range at Clifton, next succeeds, and displays stern and sometimes fantastic masses, scathed and weather beaten, here and there relieved by many coloured lichens, and stunted shrubs. The river at their feet is deep, dark, and solemn, and the effect, more especially by moonlight, is wild and romantic in the extreme. opposite bank is a succession of steep, woody slopes, terminating in a hilly common of brown and uncouth aspect, though occasionally relieved with an oasis of verdure. The lofty and abrupt rocky promontory which terminates the Coldwell range, is called SYMONDS (or CYMONS) YATT. The ascent from the river, by a "winding rocky road, between high banks, under arches of hazels and underwood," commands several exquisite bits of landscape. The summit once attained, a scene of electrifying beauty, especially if the day is sunny and cheering, bursts upon the sight. In the foreground, the attention is occupied by a picturesque view of Goodrich village and church; beyond which rise the spires of Ross, and of several village fanes ;-now and then a glimpse is caught of the placid Wye, pursuing its “devious way” through a richly-wooded and fertile country; the beautiful, undulating outline of the Malvern hills partly fills the background, and more to the left the mountains of Radnor and Brecknock loom darkly. The morris dancers of Monmouth, the Forest of Dean and Lydbrook, generally assemble at Cymon's Yatt, at Whitsuntide, to celebrate their annual "revels" on its summit-a verdant carpet of turf, with a natural barrier of rocks and underwood. Last year (1836) the "revellers" contended for the possession of the post of honour, and a serious conflict took place, the result of which was that several of the combatants were carried off the field, very seriously injured. Affairs like this, however, rarely occur at the celebration of this curious old custom. Traces of Offa's dike may be discerned in the Forest about a mile from Cymon's Yatt. Forest of Dean. RECREATIONS IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. No. V. ON PERPETUAL MOTION. AN amusing, but at the same time a melancholy and instructive history might be formed, of the various visionary schemes which, in all ages, have disposed some enthusiastic men to dissipate their time and fortune in seeking to obtain some object, which should either confer boundless riches on its possessor, or shield him from all the ordinary accidents of life. The alchemist who sought for the art of transmuting the baser metals into gold, was not a greater visionary than the mechanist who sought, or who seeks, for the "Perpetual Motion." In the same class likewise we may place the geometer, who aims at the impossible achievement of squaring the circle. as long as the materials of the watch lasted. The being who could do this would be superhuman, for his machine would furnish of itself the power by which it works. Art supplies us with no such instances whatever; and if we seek for instances at all, we must look to science: but if we go even to the sublimest of all sciences, Astronomy, it will not avail us in such a search; the planets move round the sun in beautiful regularity, but it required the will and the power of the Creator to set them in motion. When we descend from the mechanism of the heavens to the rude machines made by man, we find ourselves still more removed from the object of our search. The purpose of every machine is either to increase power or to change its direction. Man may make the steam-engine pump up water; here steam is the force and the moving power, but man will Most persons have a vague and incorrect idea of never be able to construct an engine which shall the real nature of the difficulty and futility of the pump up sufficient water to keep itself at work. question before us. The writer has frequently met The question how such a machine, the very object of with well-educated persons, who, on seeing the which is ridiculous in its enunciation, may be conbeautiful motions produced in electro-magnetism, structed, has occupied the thoughts and the fortunes exclaim, Why, this is perpetual motion!" But this of many men, and may still continue to occupy both, is an incorrect application of the term. If by it we until projectors see the necessity of studying mechamean "the production of a machine which, being nical science, before they think it possible to attain once set in motion, shall go on, without stopping, to that skill which really exists only in the Creator. until it is worn out," then we admit that such a Science confers a double boon upon man; it increases machine can be produced. A common water-mill his power, and it teaches him that that power has a will continue to move until worn out, if the river limit, by which he is restrained from seeking after into which it dips afford a due supply of water. If impossibilities. it be objected that the river may possibly become dry, we answer that it is not uncommon on the Continent, to construct water-mills in boats, which are moored in rivers that are never dry. The steamengine will continue in motion so long as a due supply of steam is kept up; and electro-magnetism gives instances of rotations which may be made perpetual, by means of permanent galvanic batteries. But the projector of "perpetual motion" will not apply that term to these instances; for, according to him, perpetual motion can only be produced by a machine which, being set in motion, shall go on till worn out, without any power (such as wind, water, steam, galvanic agency, &c.) being employed to keep it in motion. Now we ask whether any man in his senses, or one in the possession of the slightest knowledge of mechanical science, could, for a moment, think of taking any means towards the attainment of such an object? If he arrange levers, cords, and pulleys in a peculiar way, or do not arrange them at all, how can he expect motion to result without the continued application of a moving power? He may as well bid the carriage proceed without the tractive force of the horse, the steam-engine to work without steam, the ship to sail without wind, tide, or paddles, or the water-mill to grind corn when it dips into a tranquil lake. If our definition of perpetual motion be correct, we would ask what is it that first sets the machine in motion? This must be a force of some kind; but all our experience tells us, that a force is also necessary to keep it going when motion has commenced. However strongly a boy spins his top, it will soon cease to rotate. If our watch be set going, the attempt of the spring to uncoil itself is a constant source of motion; and, after a certain number of hours, that motion ceases, and can only be renewed by winding up the watch again. If a watch were a machine capable of exhibiting perpetual motion, all that would be necessary would be, to put the works together, and then leave them to move spontaneously The alchemist who sought to convert the baser metals into gold, was a less culpable projector than he who seeks the perpetual motion. The former proceeded on the mistaken assumption, that all the metals consisted really of gold and silver, but that certain impurities, combined with the noble metals, gave each of the baser metals its distinctive character. Thus, lead was supposed to consist of gold and a certain impurity, which two constituted lead, and, consequently, if the impurity could be removed, gold would remain, and so on with the other metals. The alchemists were in general men who had studied all the chemical knowledge, or what passed for knowledge, of their age; but the projector of "perpetual motion" is, we believe, always an ignorant enthusiast, who has not studied the commonest principles of mechanical philosophy, or, if he have passed through this purifying ordeal, he comes out unpurified, for he disbelieves those principles which would, if understood, prevent him from pursuing such futile researches. Our distinguished countryman, Dr. Thomas Young, says, that To seek for a source of motion in the construction of a machine, betrays a gross ignorance of the principles on which all machines operate. The only interest that we can take in the projects which have been tried for procuring a perpetual motion, must arise from the opportunity that they afford us to observe the weakness of human reason; to see a man spending whole years in the pursuit of an object, which a week's application to sober philosophy might have convinced him was unattainable. It will be amusing to adduce a few examples of this "gross ignorance," in some out of the numerous attempts which have been made to obtain perpetual motion. Many machines have been constructed on the supposition that any number of weights ascending by a certain path, one side of the centre of motion, and descending on the other side at a greater distance from the same centre, must cause a constant preFor this ponderance on the side of the descent. purpose the weights have been fixed on hinges, (as | which the mechanical world had so long languished,. in fig. 1, where the small balls represent the weights attached to hinges,) which allow them to fall over at a certain point, and so, by a peculiar contrivance not shown in the figure, are made to become more distant from the centre of motion. This disposition of the weights is shown in Fig. 1. as in fig 3; (a ball being in each division, and prevented from falling out by a disc of glass covering the wheel,) so that the balls are, in succession, during the descent, driven nearer to the rim of the wheel. But all such contrivances are built upon a fallacy. Although the number of weights on one side of either of the above wheels may be larger than that on the other side, yet they are proportionally nearer to the axis; so that what they gain in number, they lose in exactly the same amount in leverage, or moving power. One of the above fallacious machines was made the subject of a patent. Another projector thought to obtain perpetual motion, by constructing a goblet of the form shown in fig. 4. This goblet gradually diFig. 4. minished in size towards the bottom, until it became a tube, which was turned up, so as to point into the mouth of the vessel. He imagined that a pound or more of water in a, must more than counterbalance an ounce of water contained in the tube b; and must, therefore, be constantly pushing that ounce forward into the vessel again; so that there would be a constant stream circulating through the vessel and tube. When he made the trial, he found, to his dismay, that the liquid rose to the same height in the tube as it stood in the goblet, by virtue of the well-known law, that liquids tend to a constant level. The "perpetual motion" was advertised some years ago as being exhibited in London. The advertisements were well written, and had an air of scientific authority about them, which imposed on the credulous. "The scientific world, and an enlightened public, are respectfully invited to come and pronounce as they find; for in this extraordinary combination of simple agents, the motion could not be diminished by any resisting power; and the desideratum for is now patent to all at a shilling a-head.-Children and servants half-price." Crowds of the " enlightened public" went to see this wonder, thus so liberally and so cheaply thrown open. In the midst of a large room, there was an octagonal frame supported on legs, about three feet from the floor. Within the frame-work appeared several, slender, metallic rods, radiating from a point, and descending at an angle of about 40°, till they terminated in small, flat projections, attached to a circle which was enclosed within a glass case. The whole being suspended, or balanced on an upright centre, moved slowly round, the motion seeming to originate in, and to be perpetuated by, itself. This exhibition was one of the London lions for a few weeks. But a scientific man, examining the apparatus somewhat narrowly, observed certain minute apertures within the exterior case, and satisfied himself that streams of air were admitted thereby, so as to strike against the projections at the bottom of the rods, and thus keep the machine in steady motion. The publication of this explanation stopped the perpetual motion immediately, but not before the projector had gleaned a rich harvest. A similar exhibition was got up in Edinburgh some years ago, by a Scottish shoemaker; and, more successful than the London exhibition, it is said to have imposed upon several scientific men. The motion was said to be due to an "alternation of magnetic influences, by means of an interposed substance, which neutralized them in turns." In this substance, which the inventor pretended to have discovered, lay the whole secret. But it happened that some accident discovered a suspended weight in an adjoining room, which communicated with the perpetual motion apparatus by a cord that passed under the floor, and up through the leg of the table on which the apparatus stood. This weight, was wound up every night except Saturdays, the wife of the impostor insisting that, perpetual or not, the motion should have a respect for the fourth commandment. We may conclude this short article, by advising any ingenious person who may fancy that he has discovered the " perpetual motion," or any machine endowed with new powers, to pause deliberately before he endeavours to realize the creations of his imagination. Let him read those scientific books which are connected with his subject, with the determination to know, and to profit by, the labours of those who have preceded him, and not to proceed with his project if he find either that it is impossible, according to the rules of science, or that it has been discovered before. Had patentees always grounded their invention on scientific principles, much misery, and many a sickened heart from "hope deferred," would have been spared, for mechanical discoveries are rarely made by those who are ignorant of science. A man may find a sum of money by accident, but the reader may be assured that accident never discovers a new machine or a new principle, unless the mind be previously prepared by study to receive it. A few years ago, a person fond of mechanical pursuits, submitted to the writer a plan for a machine, whose object was to supersede steam in all those cases where the steam-engine is now employed. Water was to be the moving power, and the principle was somewhat similar to that of the hydrostatic press. The writer advised the projector to study the subject well, by referring to such works as treated of hydrostatical machines, before he embarked his capital in the project. This, however, he refused to do, stating that he should read no such books, | what millions of pounds have been invested in buildbecause his invention, being quite new, could not be affected by any thing that had been written on the subject. Upon this resolution he acted,-contrived such arrangements of machinery as had either been discovered before, or had been proved to be fallacious, and spent much money, without the smallest prospect of a proportionate return for it. We fear that such instances are far from rare. AN AMERICAN'S OPINION OF THE WEALTH AND POWER OF GREAT BRITAIN. As in approaching a great and wealthy city, every thing conspires to excite high expectations, long before you get a glimpse of its tall steeples and magnificent buildings; so you cannot approach the island of Great Britain, from any quarter, without perceiving, while yet its cliffs are below the horizon, that you are drawing near to a great commercial country. If it is the Irish Channel which you enter, you find it covered with coasters, and steam-vessels, and stately merchantmen and splendid packets. Is it the harbour of Plymouth or of Portsmouth for which you steer, it is whitened, in like manner, with a busy and prosperous commerce; and proudly bears upon its bosom many a gallant ship of the Royal Navy. Or do you bear away for the English Channel, the waters are everywhere instinct with commercial enterprise, and laden with its richest products. And as you sweep round the island, and enter the Thames, and are borne onward by the rising tide, towards the great emporium of the world, you are astonished to see what fleets of merchantmen are arriving and departing; and still more, when, for many miles below London, you are obliged to thread your way through dense forests of masts, from the tall " Norwegian pine," down to the slender spars of the humble fishing smack. Such are the thousand demonstrations of the wealth and power of Britain which strike you, even before you set your foot upon her shores; and as you make the tour of the island, it is impossible not to feel that she is the richest country on the globe. Let me suppose then, that you take one of the packets for Liverpool. You will, of course, when you arrive there, embrace the earliest opportunity to see what is most worthy of a stranger's attention in that prosperous town. You will look at the public buildings at the long ranges of lofty warehouses-at the immense piles of cotton and other commodities, just discharged upon the quays; and, above all, at the docks themselves, ample enough almost for a great navy to ride in, and crowded with merchantmen and packets, as if the trade of a kingdom was concentred there all these you will pass in rapid review, and they will, I may venture to predict, give you a higher idea of the wealth of the place, and the extent of its trade, than any description has ever conveyed to your mind. And then, too, the quantities of goods daily arriving by the Liverpool and Manchester rail-road, for shipment to the United States and other foreign markets, will vastly exceed all your previous conceptions. Is Manchester your next stopping place? See how many thousand bales of cotton are transported to that vast market in a single day, to be consumed, almost as soon as they reach the mills; pass through some of the largest factories-look into the warehouses, many stories high, and near a furlong in length-think what cargoes of crates, bales, and packages are put up and sent off every week, and ings and all kinds of machinery; then pass on, if you choose, to Leeds, from Leeds to Sheffield, from thence to Birmingham, and so on, from one manufacturing town to another, diligently making your observations and inquiries, and it will be strange, indeed, if you do not say, "the half was not told you." Nor, if you would form any just estimate of the enormous wealth and resources of England, must you fail to notice what a vast amount of business is done upon the numerous canals and great roads of the kingdom. You must look, also, at the crops and pasturage, and flocks and herds, such as the world can nowhere exhibit, on an equal extent of territory; and when you have done all this, and glanced at the proud castles and wide domains of the nobility, and thought of their princely incomes, and looked into the depots, and arsenals, and dockyards of the kingdom, conceive, if you can, what must be the aggregate wealth, and what the power of such a country. But I have not yet spoken of the metropolis the heart of this mighty empire, whose beat fills every great artery, and sends life and health to all the extremities of the body politic. You must see London, or all your conceptions of the riches and greatness of the empire will be extremely inadequate. London! its palaces, its churches, its Post-office, its Customhouse, its Exchange, its Bank of England, its wilderness of costly and magnificent edifices, both public and private; its bridges, its warehouses, its docks, its commerce, its merchandise, its liveries, its nobles, its bankers, its thousands of high-minded and wealthy merchants; but I forbear. There have been more populous cities in the world than London; but she is incomparably richer than any other, whether ancient or modern. It would scarcely be extravagant to say, that she possesses the means of buying out half a score of the largest capitals of Europe, at a fair valuation. Who will deny that London is, at this moment, the great banking-house of the world, and is able seriously to affect every moneyed system of every nation under heaven, almost at pleasure! What was it but British gold, that enabled Spain and Germany, and other continental powers, to meet the shock of the French Revolution; to keep such vast armies in the field; to maintain the struggle with the greatest conqueror of modern times, for almost twenty years, till the whirlwind of the last battle swept him away, and a rock in the wide ocean received him to its safe and final custody? What other nation was ever able to build and keep in commission a thousand ships of war, like those which rode triumphant in every sea, and I may say, blockaded the whole continent of Europe for ten years? It appears from authentic sources, that during the French Revolutionary War, which broke out in 1793, and lasted till 1802, Great Britain expended 464 millions of pounds. The war against Bounaparte began in 1803, and ended in 1815. During those twelve years of extravagance and carnage, she spent the enormous sum of 1159 millions!!-771 millions of which were raised by taxes. Yes, seven hundred, seventy-one millions of pounds, or about 3759 millions of dollars, were paid into the treasury, by the people, in twelve years!-that is to say about 312,000,000 of dollars annually, or more than 800,000 dollars per day!! Thus the expenditure of Great Britain in these wars during 20 years amounted to 1623 millions of pounds, or 8000 millions of dollars. Was there ever any other nation since the world began, that could have raised one-third part of the sum without utter bankruptcy and ruin? Now, be it remembered, that nine |