Judging from the astonishment with which I learned from an eye-witness the circumstance, I think that some of your readers will be surprised to learn that, within the memory of witnesses still alive, a woman was burnt to death under sentence of the judge of assize, for the murder of her husband.

This crime—petty treason—was formerly punished with fire and faggot; and the repeal of the law is mentioned by Lord Campbell in a note to his life of one of our recent chancellors, but I have not his work to refer to.

The post to which this woman was bound stood, till recently, in a field adjoining Winchester.

She was condemned to be burnt at the stake; and a marine, her paramour and an accomplice in the murder, was condemned to be hanged.

A gentleman lately deceased told me the circumstances minutely. I think that he had been at the trial, but I know that he was at the execution, and saw the wretched woman fixed to the stake, fire put to the faggots, and her body burnt. But I know two persons still alive who were present at her execution, and I endeavoured, in 1848, to ascertain from one of them the date of this event, and "made a note" of his answer, which was to this effect:—

"I can't recollect the year; but I remember the circumstance well. It was about sixty-five years ago. I was there alone with the crowd. I sat on my father's shoulder, and saw them bring her and the marine to the field. They fixed her neck by a rope to the stake, and then set fire to the faggots, and burnt her."

She was probably strangled by this rope.

One Query which I would ask is, Was this execution at Winchester, in 1783 (or thereabouts), the last instance in England? and another is, Are you aware of any other instance in the latter part of the last century?

E.S.S.W.

CORNELIS DREBBEL

In a very curious little book, entitled Kronÿcke van Alemaer, and published in that town anno 1645, I read the following particulars about Cornelis Drebbel, a native of the same city.

Being justly renowned as a natural philosopher, and having made great progress in mechanics, our Drebbel was named tutor of the young Prince of Austria, by the emperor Ferdinandus II.; an office which he fulfilled so well, that he was afterwards chosen councillor to his Majesty, and honoured with a rich pension for past services. But, alas! in the year 1620, Prague, the place he dwelt in, was taken by Frederick, then king of Bohemia, several members of the imperial council were imprisoned, and some of them even put to death.

Bereft of every thing he possessed, a prisoner as well as the others, poor Drebbel would perhaps have undergone the same lot if the High Mighty States of the United Provinces had not sent a message to the King of England, asking him to interfere in their countryman's favour. They succeeded in their benevolent request for his English Majesty obtained at last from his son-in-law, the Dutch philosopher's liberation, who (I don't exaggerate) was made a present of to the British king; maybe as a sort of lion, which the king of Morocco had never yet thought of bestowing upon the monarch as a regal offering.

Drebbel, however, did not forget how much he owed to the intercession of King James, and, to show his gratitude, presented him with an object of very peculiar make. I will try to give you an exact version of its not very clear description in the Dutch book.

"A glass or crystal globe, wherein he blew or made a perpetual motion by the power of the four elements. For every thing which (by the force of the elements) passes, in a year, on the surface of the earth (sic!) could be seen to pass in this cylindrical wonder in the shorter lapse of twenty-four hours. Thus were marked by it, all years, months, days, hours; the course of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, &c. It made you understand what cold is, what the cause of the primum mobile, what the first principle of the sun, how it moves the firmament, all stars, the moon, the sea, the surface of the earth, what occasions the ebb, flood, thunder, lightning, rain, wind, and how all things wax and multiply, &c.,—as every one can be informed of by Drebbel's own works; we refer the curious to his book, entitled Eeuwige Beweginghe (Perpetual Motion)."

Can this instrument have been a kind of Orrery?

"He built a ship, in which one could row and navigate under water, from Westminster to Greenwich, the distance of two Dutch miles; even five or six miles, as far as one pleased. In this boat, a person could see under the surface of the water, and without candlelight, as much as he needed to read in the Bible or any other book. Not long ago, this remarkable ship was yet to be seen lying on the Thames or London river.

"Aided by some instruments of his own manufacture, Drebbel could make it rain, lighten, and thunder at every time of the year, so that you would have sworn it came in a natural way from heaven.

"By means of other instruments, he could, in the midst of summer, so much refrigerate the atmosphere of certain places, that you would have thought yourself in the very midst of winter. This experiment he did once on his Majesty's request, in the great Hall of Westminster; and although a hot summer day had been chosen by the King, it became so cold in the Hall, that James and his followers took to their heels in hasty flight.

"With a certain instrument, he could draw an incredible quantity of water out of a well or river.

"By his peculiar ingenuity, he could, at all times of the year, even in the midst of winter, hatch chickens and ducklings without using hens or ducks.

"He made instruments, by means of which were seen pictures and portraits; for instance, he could show you kings, princes, nobles, although residing at that moment in foreign countries. And there was no paint nor painter's work to be seen, so that you saw a picture in appearance, but not in reality."

Perhaps a magic lantern?

"He could make a glass, that placed in the dark near him or another, drew the light of a candle, standing at the other end of a long room, with such force, that the glass near him reflected so much light as to enable him to see to read perfectly."

Was this done by parallel parabolical mirrors?

"He could make a plane glass without grinding it on either side, in which people saw themselves reflected seven times.

"He invented all these and many other curiosities, too long to relate, without the aid of the black art; but by natural philosophy alone, if we may believe the tongues whose eyes saw it. By these experiments, he so gained the King's favour, his Majesty granted him a pension of 2000 guilders. He died in London, anno 1634, the sixtieth year of his age."

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