Henry Dircks

“ Whatever a man's intellectual pursuits may be, he has the advantage over the mere man of fashion of being engaged in employments which the longest life cannot exhaust.
But intellectual pursuits partake either of the negative or the positive; they are useful or useless, and when useless they fritter away and render nugatory the talent that might have been better employed.
The Marquis of Worcester affords an eminent example of genius of a high order, grandly and effectively directed towards the advancement of man's political and social position. ”

“ We may first observe that Astrology lays no claim to inspiration, but affects a very ancient unknown origin, tracing back to a dark, heathenish, and superstitious age, in the very infancy of traditional knowledge, when the boldest assertions of the seer were received as the authority of an oracle, no one daring to question their validity. Whatever is remotely possible the Astrologer accepts as a fact; while ignorant of much around him, he assumes with the utmost complacency an intimate acquaintance with the sun and planets thousands upon thousands of miles off ”

“ Under heaven is not such an art, more promoting the honour of God, more conducing to mankind, and more narrowly searching into the most profound secrets of nature, than is our true and more than laudable Chymy. ”

“ Swedenborg introduces us to the inhabitants of the moon; they are short, the size of a youth of seven years of age; and they speak with a thunderous voice for want of an atmosphere, and not from the mouth, but from the abdomen! But many persons admire such wanderings of a pretended inward and prophetic light. ”

“ We must look with astonishment at a man of noble birth, who in a period of civil commotion, with a monarch for his friend, and a court at his command, secluded himself during his youth in a stately ancient tower, engaged in abstruse studies and wonderful mechanical operations; and who, late in life, amidst the terrors of civil war was found turning his inventive faculties, like another Archimedes, to the construction of means of defence, and terrible weapons of offence. ”

“ Delusion, however, assumes a startling character when romance in the form of mystic writings, and jugglery in the form of pretended communication with the spirit-world demand our respect and serious attention, by claiming to have a divine origin. But hallucination of the human intellect, as we shall see, is not confined to such remote visionary speculations, and it is not unimportant to remark that in mathematics, as in physics, and in other branches of investigation, there is a singular persistency in upholding errors. ”

“ The Biographer of Edward, second Marquis of Worcester, naturally finds some difficulty in rendering prominent the political position that nobleman enjoyed in the 17th century; or of impressing the minds of his hearers or readers with a just sense of the wonderful genius of the author of the "Century of Inventions," even although the fact be established of that remarkable man being also the true and first inventor of a veritable steam engine. ”

“ John Dee, the Astrologer, together with his friend Kelly, the Alchemist, may be appropriately distinguished as representing a class chimerically inclined, and hurtful to the well-being of society; while a less eminent and less blameable section of chimerical labourers are those of whom [Pg v] the worst we can say is, that they waste much valuable time, energy, and fortune, through attaching themselves to mathematics, mechanics, and other learned pursuits, only in search of marvellous, instead of useful applications. ”

“ The circumstance is scarcely worth notice except as a singular proof that such a hallucination could exist in the mind of the same genius that perfected the first practical steam-engine. We can only say that if the mystery could be cleared up, although it would be of little or no value to mathematics or mechanics, it would go far to elevate the scientific character of the Marquis, though he was not the only celebrity of his time infatuated with a thorough belief in the possibility of solving the paradox. ”

“ It is mathematically equal to the product of the length of the circumference, multiplied by half the radius. To square a circle of a given diameter in mètres, is the same as giving the number of squares, of a mètre in each side, of which the surface is the equivalent. If, the diameter being given, the exact circumference were known by a sort of inspiration, the superficial extent of the circular space would be deducible from the two numbers, by the mere multiplication of the numerical length of the circumference by the fourth of the diameter, or half the radius. ”

“ Mechanics are still living who firmly believe in the possibility of realizing a mechanical perpetual motion,—to spin, pump, or drive carriages or machinery, by means of a constantly descending weight. ”

“ To the spread of education alone, can we look with any reliance for the downfall, or at least the diminishing of the hold on the human mind which Chimeras of every order usurp in our own, in common with every other country. ”

“ Nothing remains but upon our bended knees to return most humble thanks to the Father of Lights, in vouchsafing us this art by the writings of his servants, and the high priests of Nature; without which, it would be beyond the power of man to arrive at so great a degree of knowledge. ”

“ Take as a brief illustration of the manner in which Astrologers presumptuously assign to the planets their several offices relating to human nature the following:—
Those born when Aries ascends are born under the sign Aries and planet Mars. This is the diurnal, fair, and masculine house of Mars, and partakes also largely of the nature of the magnanimous Sun, and the benevolent and moral Jupiter, who rule the fiery trigon, of which Aries is the first sign. ”

“ Until a history of the schemes invented by numerous ingenious mechanics was published in 1861, inventors of this class were continually though unconsciously reproducing obsolete contrivances, from taking up the ordinary idea that a wheel may be kept constantly over-weighted on one side, so as to raise the next weight which is to perform the same miracle of art. ”

“ It is satisfactorily ascertained, however, that upwards of seventeen persons, all living in 1663, were more or less acquainted with the Marquis's mechanical operations at Vauxhall, and must have seen the great water-engine at work, if only as a novelty, and a matter of curiosity.
Returning to the "Century of Inventions," we find it to be a journal of the fruits of its noble author's study of mechanical philosophy for nearly forty years, so that in it we may almost trace the youth and age of his mental capacity. ”

“ With title and fortune, and no ambition to hold public employment, any education is thought to be sufficient that serves to obtain the usual dignities, and to give that polish which completes the accomplished gentleman. ”

“ The influences of the stars appear to be as intimately known to Astrologers as though they had walked among, and carefully examined and fully realized their occult properties, for example:—
In every work observe Mercury, for he is a messenger between the higher gods and the infernal gods; [Pg 55] when he goes to the good, he increases their goodness—when to the bad, he hath influence on their wickedness. It is an unfortunate sign or planet, when it is by the aspect of Saturn or Mars especially, apposite or quadrant, for these are the aspects of enmity ”

“ Now we always find that fiction is more suitable than truth for romantic writings; truth is circumscribed, but the fictions whether of Astrology, Alchemy, or any other pseudo-philosophy are erratic, the delight of poets and [Pg 48] romance writers, being the comets and ignes fatui of many popular compositions in our light literature. ”

“ But of Orfyreus's wheel we know nothing more than was communicated by the eminent mathematician, 'S Gravesande, to Sir Isaac Newton, after an external view of it, while it was rotating in a chamber of the residence of the Prince of Hesse Cassel.
The most singular part of this strange delusion is the fact of its strong hold on the minds of its infatuated votaries. Once bewitched with the idea of at last succeeding in the attainment of his grand design, fortune, health, and reputation, are resolutely set at nought, in the delirium of delight that follows ”

“ Ashmole gravely assures us that Dr. John Dee and his associate Kelly, having in some way procured this precious substance, Kelly—to use Ashmole's own words—"made projection with one small grain thereof, in proportion no bigger than the least grain of sand, upon one ounce and a quarter of common mercury, and it produced almost an ounce of pure gold." ”

“ Our principal business, however, is with the so-called Hermetic Philosophy, treating of vaunted methods of transmuting the base metals into gold. It is doubtful [Pg 64] whether this particular delusion of the adepts can be referred to a date earlier than the 8th century, but even then we cannot refrain from surprise at the fallibility of the human intellect, which could be swayed by a belief in the pretended lapis philosophorum for upwards of ten centuries. ”

“ The family town mansion, Worcester House in the Strand, partly used as a State Paper Office, was eventually granted to the Marchioness of Worcester for her residence. The wearisomeness and [Pg 29] distress attendant on his residence as a refugee in France during four years, was embittered by above two years imprisonment in the Tower, the result of his venturing to revisit London while proscribed by the Parliament as "an enemy and traitor to the Commonwealth," all such being threatened that they shall "die without mercy, whenever they shall be found within the limits of this nation." ”

“ But it is only those who become immersed in studies, whether of theology, philosophy, or kindred mental pur [Pg iv] suits, who can appreciate the growing appetite for what appears to unlettered men as the driest of all dry occupations. The mere pleasure-seeker knows not how much is lost, and how little is gained by sharing the most brilliant gaieties of fashionable life.
Look at the ancient astrologers, whose pursuits were once as pure and noble as those of modern astronomers. ”

“ Those who think the velocity of the weight is the line it describes, expect that that weight shall be overpoised, which describes the shortest line, and therefore contrive machines to cause the ascending weight to describe a shorter line than the descending weight.
For example, in the circle A B D a, the weights A and B being supposed equal, it is imagined that, if by any contrivance whatever, whilst the weight A describes the arc A a, the weight B is carried in any arc, as B b, so as to come nearer the centre in its rising, than if it went up the arc B D ”

“ Delusion will have its day, and will as certainly decay, if not die out. Chimeras constantly spring up, and find ardent professors and crowds of easily led proselytes, even up to this very present time; so that although, undoubtedly with many—Knowledge is power: yet it is to be feared that far too large a proportion of mankind favour the delusion that—Ignorance is bliss.
[8] See his "Martyrs of Science."
[9] This portion of the subject was illustrated by means of a Diagram exhibiting the Diameters and Magnitudes of Planets, thus:—
The Moon's diameter is 2,160 miles ”

“ The best proof of the sincerity and earnestness of those who seek the attainment of a mechanical perpetual [Pg 79] motion, is afforded by the variety and number of their patented schemes; the patentees having among them divines, doctors, lawyers, civil engineers, carpenters, draughtsmen, jewellers, watchmakers, shoemakers, confectioners, and all classes of professions and trades. ”

“ As to when the Planets are most powerful.—Barrett says:—The planets are powerful when they are ruling in a house, or in exaltation, or triplicity, or term, or face, without combustion of what is direct in the figure of the heavens; but we must take care that they are not in the bounds or under the dominion of Saturn or Mars. The angles of the ascendant, and 10th and 7th are fortunate; as also the lord of the ascendant, and place of the Sun and Moon.
The Moon is powerful if she be in her house, in exaltation, in triplicity, in face, or in degree convenient for the desired work, &c. ”

“ But, the circumference being deducible from the diameter only by approximation, the surface alluded to cannot be computed with mathematical rigour; yet the result can be obtained with all desirable precision by the aid of the ratios usually given for such purpose; for instance, the area of the space included within a circle of thirty-eight millions of leagues radius, may be determined within such a degree of precision that the probable error shall not exceed the space of a mite. ”

“ Without absolutely pretending to any golden road, or short path to learning, superficial but ambitious scholars are the first to seize on first impressions, build up some grand theory, lay down certain postulates, seek proselytes, and display a wonderful amount of enthusiasm in creating systems which, however beautiful in appearance, can boast of no solid foundation. ”