The Sun. — London, England, 1812-12-10 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY • BOY. [For, the following_ account of an American Boy,, whose powerfinicaleulation arc of the 1»ost wonderful nature, we are indebted to . ACKER MA.N'S-REPOSITORYI • • • The attention of -the philosophical world tras been lately attracted by the most -singular . phe-' nomenon in the history of the human mind that perhaps ever existed. It is the case of a Child; tinder eight years of 'age, who, without any pre vious knowledge of the conniton talks of arid:, metic, or even cif the use and power of the Arabic numerals, and' without having given 'any particu lar attention to the subject. possesses (as if by intuition) the singular faculty of solving a great variety 'of Arithmetical Questions by the mere operation of the mind, and withoutthe usual as-. sistance of any visible syMbol or contrivance. — His name is Zerah Colburn, born at Cabot - (a town at the head of Onion River, in tile. United States of America), September 1., 1804. In Au gust, 1810, although at that time not six years of age, he first began to shew those wonderful powers of calculation which have since so much attracted the attention and excited 'the astonish- . ment of every person who has witnessed his ex traordinary abilities. The discovery was made by accident : His father, who had nut given hint any other instruction than such as was to be ob tained at a small school establishment in that nu-, frequented•and remote part of the country (add which did not include either writing or cypher: rug), was much surpri-.;cd one day to hear 'him' repeating the products of several numbers.—, Struck with amazement at the circumstance, he proposed a variety of arithmetical questions to him, all of which the child solved with remara able facility and correctness. The news of this infant prodigy soon circulated through the 'neigh bourhood, and many persons came from distant parts to witness so singular a circumstance. The father,' encouraged by the, unanimous opinion of all who came to see him, was induced to under take, with the child, the tour of the United Stites. They Were every where received with the most flattering expressions ; and in the several towns which they visited, vatious plans were suggested to educate and bring up the 'child, free front all expense to his family. Yielding, ltowever;:to the pressing solicitations of his friends, and urged by ,the most respectable and powerful recommenda tions, as well as by a view to his son's more com plete education, the father has brought the child to this country, where they Arrived on the 12th of May last, and the inhabitants of this 'metropolis have, for these last three months . , had an oppor tunity of seeing and examining this wonderful phenomenon and of verifying the reports that have been circulated respecting him. • Many persons of the first eminence for their knowledge in mathematics; and well known for ' : their philosophical inquiries, have a made a point of seeierg and conversing with him, and have been struck with astonishment at his extrordiimry powers. It is correctly true, as stated of him— " he will not only determine, with the greatest facility and dispatch, the exact number of minutes and seconds in any given period o f ti m e, - but will also solve any other question of a similar kind.— He will tell the exact product arising from the Multiplication of any number, consisting of two, three, or four figures, by any other number con sisting of the like ntu•aber of figures ; or any number consistiut , of six or seven places of figures, being proposed, he will, determine, with equal ex ' pedition and ease, all the factors ,of which it -is composed. This singular faculty extends not only to the raisingof powers, but also to the extraction of the square and cube roots of the number propos ed ; and likewise to - the means of determining whether it be a prime number (or a number in capable of division by any other number) for which case there does not exist at present any ge neral rule amongst mathematicians." All these,. and a variety. of other questions connected there with, are answered by this child with such prompt ness and accuracy (and in the midst of his juvenile pursuitil, as to astonish every person who has sited him. At a meeting of his friends,• which was held for the purpose of concerting the best method of pro moting the views of his fattier, this child under, took, and completely succeeded in, raising the number 8 progressively up to the sixteenth power! and in naming the last result, viz,. 281, 471, 976, 710, 656, he was right in every figure: Be was then tried as to other numbers, consisting of one figure ; all of which he raised (by actual mul tiplication, anti not by memory) as high as the . tenth power, with so much facility and dispatch that the 'person appointed to take down the re sults, was obliged to enjoin him not to be so rapid. With ,respect to numbers consist ing of two figures, . he would raise some of them to the sixth,seventh; and eighth power; but not alwa y s with equal faci ' lity: for the larger the products became, the more difficult he found it to proced. He was asked the square root of' lua29, and before the number Could be written down, he immediately answered, 327. He was then required to name the cube ,root of 268, 536, 125, and with equal facility and promptness he . replied 645: Various other ques -tions of a similar nature, respecting the roots and powers of very high nurnbers, were proposed by several of the gentlemen present, to all of which lie answered in - a manne. One of the party requested hini to mime the factors which produced the number'247,4B3 which he immedi ately did by mentioning the two numbers !-;41 and. 263,' which, indeed, are the only two numbers that will produce it, viz . .: s> , 31279, 7 24415, _ . 290, 83'el '..2065; 35;4 481i7,..295'el 581, and 313;4415. Be was then asked to give the'fac 7 iors of 36,083 5 but he immediately replied , that it had none, which in diict was the case, s 36,083 is a prime number. Other numbers were indis criminately proposed to hitd, and hd always suc ceeded in giving the correct factors, except in, the case of prime, numbers which Ale discovered annost as soon as proposed. Oise, of the gentle men asked hire how many minutes there were in. 48 years.; and before the question could be writ- LONDON: printed by THOMAS' 'At the Ghieu ten down, he replied, 23,225,500; and ittsi”nti adited, that the number of seconds in the saute period was 1;513,728,000, . Various queetionS of the like kind were put to him, and to, all of thdin he answered with equal facility and promptitude, So as to astonish every one present, and to excite a desire that so extraordinary a faculty should (if possible) be rendered more extensive and use ful. lle positively declares (and every observation made seems to justify 'the 'assertion) that he does not know how the answers Conte into his mind ! • and moreover he is entirely ignorant of the Coin mon rules of arithmetic, and cannot perform, tip on paper, a simple Sum in multiplicatioet or sion. It has been already observed, that it was evi dent, from some singular facts, that the child operated by certain rules known only to himself: This discovery was made in one or two instances, when had been closely pressed npoti that point. In one case he was asked to tell • the square of 4395 : liu at first hesitated, fearful, he shonld not be able to answer it correctly; hut when he ap plied himself to he staid it was 19,316,025.-- I On being questioned as to the cause of his-hesita tion, he.repliel, that lie (lid not like'to multiply fohr figures by four figures : " But," said he, " I have found out another way; P inultipli!.!d 293 by '293, and then multiplied this product twice by. the number 15, Which produces the same result.:'-- On another occasion hiS* Highness the Duke. of Gloucester asked him the product of 21,734 mul, tipliecl by 343; heimmediately replied 11,801,562: but on sonic remarks being made on the subject, the child said that he had, in his own mind, mul ,tiplieci 65,202 by 181. ' it must be evident, from what has been here stated, that the singular faculty Which this child possesses is not altogether dependent upon his niemory. In the Multiplication of numbers, and in•the eaising of powers, he 'is doubtless consi-• derably assisted by that remarkable quality of the mind, and in this respect, •he might be consider ed as bearing sonic. resemblance (if the diffeYence of age did not prevent the . justness of the cOmpa.- - rie,on)' to the celebrated Jedediah Buxton, and other-persons of similar note. But in the extrac tion of the roots of numbers, and in determining their factors (if any); it is cle'ar to all Who have witnessed the astonishing quickness and aceur.cy of this child, that the memory has little or nothing to do with the process. Anti in this particular point consists the remarkable difference beteen the present and former instances of an apparently t similar kind. It has been recorded as an astonishing effort of memory, that the celebrated Euler (who, in the science Otanalysis, might vie even with Newton hitmelf, _could remember the first six powers of everN; number under 100. 'This, probably, must be taken with some res t r i c ti ons ; b u t if true to' the fullest extent, it is not more astonishing than the efforts'of this child : with this additional cir cumstancein_favour of the latter, that he is capa ble of verifying, in' a very few seconds every II- , gu7e which he may have occasion for. We may be permitted to hope and expect'that those wonderful talents, which are so conspicuous at this tally age, ni - ty, by a suitable education, be considerably improved and extended, and that some new light will eventually be thrown upon those subjects, for the elucidation of which his • mind appears to be peculiarly formed by nature, since he enters into the world with all those pow ers and faculties which are not even attainable bi7' the most eminent, at a more .advanced period of life., Every mathematician must be aware of the important advantages which have sometimes been derived from the-most simple and trifling circum stances, the full efict of which has not always been evident at first sight. To mention one sin gular instance of this kind : 7 —the very simple irtt-: , provement of expressing the Powers and roots of of quantitie by means' of indices, introduced a new and general arithmetic of exponents ; and this algorithm of powers led the way to the invention of logarithms, by means of which all arithmetical computations are so much facilitated and abridged: Perhaps this 'child posseSses a knowledge of some mo..e important properties connected with. this subject ; and though he is incapable at present of, giving et re satisfactory account of - the state of his mind, or of communicating to others the knowledge which it is so evident that he does possess, yet there is every reason to believe, that when the mind is more cultivated, and his ideas more expanded, he will be able / not only to divulge the mode by'which he at peseta-- operates, but also to, point out some new sources of information on this interesting subject. Thr case is certainly one of great novelty and importance, and every literary character, and every friend to science,. must be anxious to see the experiment fairly tried, as to the effect which a suitable education may prodUce on a !bind consti tuted as MI apnears to be. With this view, a. nomber of gentlemen have taken the child under their .patronage, and have formed themselves into a commif.tee for the purpose. of superintending his education. • Application has,been made to a gen tleman of science, well known for his mathemati cal abilities, who has consented to take the child under his immediate tuition. A British squadron was .stationed• at the en trance of the Gulph of ' : Dantzic during the whole of the months of August, September, ?Ind Octo ber, and kept the enemy in a state of anxiety' and inquietude. The vessels freqtAmtly adventured close in to shore, and exchanged shots with , tlu -forts and land batteries, without however sus taining or doing much injury : the principal ob ject of their cruise, that of detaining a large body of troops from being sent to Russia, was coin pletely answered. , About three weeks before the squadron departed, the officers learned 'from the fishing boats which ventured out, that the Go vernor had received orders to send all his dispos able force to Vilna, to aid the retreat of Buona parte from Moscow; and.thaf he waited with im patience for the departure of the British squa dron, which he hadgearnediwould. take place in a feW clays, when he would, dispatch' 22,000 Men, compliance with his directions. WOOD, of No. 22, Russell-court, Brydges-street, Givent-q:l7 , Cl - 6' ) No, 112, SU'aild, WheiT ildvortisOnc;it o Ord o Tiit ARMY, HORST.GUARDS, Nov. 7. 181.2. At a General Court Martial, held at Quebec on the I Ith of Ma'y, 1812, and continued by adjourn na,nts to the I,:;th of the same month, Lieutenant William Sheehan, of the Royal .NewlOanclland Fencibles, was arraigned upon the under-men fined Charg e, viz. For beini . driink on the Caqie-guard, of w'Mch he had the command at Quebec, on the night of . Thursday, the 7th of 1812. Upon Which Charge the Court came to the fol lowing decisiim The Court having beßrd, and examined the in formation, exhibited against the prisoner, to gether with his -defence, is. of ophlion, that Lieu tenant Willitun‘ Sheehan, of the Royal Newfound land Feneible Regiment 'of Infantry, is Guilty of the Charge preferred :Ig...hist ii n, and 'cloth there fore,_ for the smne, adjpdge the said William Sheehan to be cashiered. , His Royal Hiu:hness the 'Prince Regent was pleased, in the name and on the behalf of his Ma jesty, to approve and confirm the finding and -sen tence of the Court, and the CoMmaner-in-Chief directs, that the Charge preferred againct Lien tenant William Sheehan, tog'ether with the find ing and sentence of the Court, be read at th.. head ()revery corps, and entered in the General Order Book. By Command of his . Royal Highness the Com mander-in-Chief, HARRY CALVERT, Adj. Gcn. FICrtE GUARDS, Nov. 17, 1812. At a General COurt Martial held at liallinasloe, on the 2th and 29th of August, .1112, Private Thomas Graley, of the :21st Regith e nt of Foot, was arraigned upon the undermentioned Charge_ viz. -lit. For desertiOn from the 21st Regiment of Foot, sonic time in July or Augm'it, 1811. 2d. For,maiming himself, or pel.mitting himself to be tmiimed'on or.about the night of the 3d of August, 181'2, (.while prisoner in the main-guard) , by cutting off two and injuring a third finger of his lvft hand, with an intention of rendering him self utifit for his Majesty's service. Upon which Charges the Court came to the fol lowing decision : The Court having considered the evidence in support of the prosecution on'the first Charge, as also what -was ol::.'red by the prisoner in his de - - , fence, are of opinion, that he is guilty .of the crime laid to his charge: • The .Court are farther of opinion, and do find 'the prisoner guilty on the second Charge. The Court having found the_prisoner, private. Thomas Graicy, of the 21st Re4iment of Foot, guilty of both Charges, being in breach of the Articles of War, do sentence him, private Thomas Graley, to be transported as a felon for life. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was . pleasedy in the name and on the behalf of . his Majesty, io approve and confirm the finding and sentence of the Court : and the Commander-in- Chief directs, that the Charges preferred against private Thomas Graley, together with the finding and - sentence of the Court, shall be read at the head ?I' every corps, and entered in the General Order Book.. By command of his Royal Highness the Com mander-in-Chief, HARRy Adj, Gen. Account .(y some late occurrences in Madrid, ex tracted, and ,in part abiidged, froth thaeonciso, of the 20th and 21st of N-Jvember, 1812. MAnyap, Nov.. 10.-I'he brave people of Aradrid were, not ignorant that the .French Army of the South was approaching„by La Mancha, and as little NI - are they ignorant that its force exceeded fifty thouLinGl men, but at the same time it was known, how great a number,of troops iiad passed through the city towards the Tagus, and that the Spanish ArMy of the Centre, under the command of Senor Elio, rendered - the total of our forces greater than that of the enemy. When the French had taken the castle of Chinchella, they advanced, and consequently the Whole Allied Army aban doned the left bank of the Tagus, breaking down the bridg es , &c. On the 29th of October, at two, P. M. orders from his Exceilencv.the Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo were.received, th.A the whole army on the rfaus should retreat to Ohl Castile. It would, be ditli cult to describe the alarm which seemed to have seized all the Officers of GGvernment, without re-: fleeting on the effect which so sudden and incon siderate an impression might produce on the in habitants. Nothing seemed to be thought of but the individual. security of their pers9us , and the Junta having dissolved itself, on the Captain Ge ner:d, the. Political Chief, and . the Intendant affix ing: a notice, in substance purporting that the en. trance of the enemy into the capital being at hand, and considering that the sacrifice of their persons would be useless, they hail resolve(J to remove to another place, where they Might issue their orders with more freedom. On the evening of the 20th it was almost generally believed that th e F renc h had broken the lines of the Allied Army ; others reported !.he English had suffered a defeat in Castile ; yet, notwithstanding, ajnd though on the morning of the 30th, the people were without go vernment of any kind, and the care of the pri soners and hospitals abandoned, 110 'robbery or mischief of any kind was committed. The indignation at the. paper left by the Chiefs was indeed great,- but it was not .manifested by any cries or expressions which could ..propagat?, • alarm. The two Alcides were among the first to abandon the people—the greater part of the Regi dors did the same—but there were not wanting of a firm chal . acter, and generous soul, who, far from feeling alarm, brayed ail danger w:hen the safety of the people. Was in qvcstion Three Regidors alone remained, ,Dou P. S. de Baranda, I)un M. de Rivacob4 y Gorhea, and I'. Uriarte, 'vho having called in the.assistanee of the Regi- : d6r, Lominatcd of conpnoo accord, as. Corregidor ud the : Corregidor Juan Don Pedro Sainz de baranda: • ;leti ; IPublished by , ARMIGER. SCRIPPS, South rtio - Paper, Le.U.:rs tor the I:l;tp . r, (ptet peat), r. THE .LUDDITL'S. trot TIE LEEI) UhRCI/ItY, DEC. t HunDENsPIELb i Di.c..5.-- , -Our Correspondent male,. the above . (bite, sa's - that the spirit a - ... Luddism ~ w hich his last letter; like the Plinct.- Regent's s'peeeb, 'represented to be extinct, naer raged with more than usual violence. Last Still- , day night; about a quexter past nine o'olOck, a number of men armed with pistols or short guns, one of them with the lower part of his face co vered" with a black handkerchief, entered the house of Mr. William Walker, of New-Hail, fartowp, near Iludderz:field, Cloth-manufacturer, and after taking from him a gun, a pistol, and a. power- born,_ demanded his money ; and obtained From him about fifteen pounds in notes ; the wt ole of which they offered to return him except one, lie would give them a guinea in gold; not be; b,,- 41%are of this "decoy, he took out a small yin containing five guine:ts, which they seized, and took all.the gold, without returnia the notes : the 'chief then proceeded to rans.:ly-: his papers, while others •of the patty presentc,i their pieces at Mr. Waller, -and - after cantioning the family, on pain of death, not to quit' the house for two hours after, they departed. . The same gang then proceeded to the house of -Mr. George Scholes, a shopkeeper, at .1.-',:u - to:J.T t ; from whom they took a gun, between 30 and 40 , 5. 'in silver; one five pound not and 9or 10 pro vincial onq poimd notes ; • together with a pair of silver tea tongs, mitt two silver ea-spoons ; Dot content with this,booty, they went into the-cel- , lar, and seized and carried away a bottle of tum, and. some provisions. On taking their leave, they told the family, that they should leave a guard about the house to prevent anyone quitting it for two hours. After their departure, it was .!'oruid that they had left behind them a sort of blunder bws, and a Ratchet. • From thence they proceeded to the house of Mr. ,JOsias Thornton, of Gilley Royd, near Fixby; farmer, where they arrived about half -rest tea o'clock ; here four men entered the house, c,vo . of them armed with blunderbusses, a, third with a gun; and the caner with a pistol ; their ;I..st wand was for arms, but on being tdld that the fa mily had neither arms nor money, they or4ere,, ‘‘. Enoch, Captain, Serjeant, and Hatchet-men to enter," and two others entered the house, but oa• "Mrs. Thornton promising to endeavour to fiat them some money, they returned at the wortl'of command ; she then took a locket-book contain ing five one-pound notes from a drawer, witic.ll - of them snatched from her, while others.were: employed as guards over Mr. Thornton ; all rbi.i .. party was distiuised, and one of these wrerch;:s struck Mrs. 'lhornton a violent blow over the head, and another of them snapped a pistol . , which did not explode, at her husband. They next proceeded to the house of Mr. JPrnes Brook of Bracken-Hall, in Fartown, whet e after conducting themselves in the same outs igeons manner, they carried away his silver watch, a one-pound note, and 4s. in silver. , From thence they proceeded to John Wood's ,tvli ere after break ing the door and windows and rummaging the btak'se without finding any thing that answered their pur pose, they called over the numbers from 1 to 9 and went away. From John Wood's they went to the house of Mr. William Radcliffe at Woodside, where they obtained 111. 10s. 6d. in notes, six .;itineits gold, and between two and three pounds in sil ver and copper, besides a quantity of tea, some loaf sugar and liquors, and several articles t;e plate. Their last visit was to Moses Ball, Gilley Rord„ which they plundered of about Two pounds worth of silver change. The number of this desperate banditti is nat precisely linoWn, but it is supposed to: be a1.)..t;.t sine or ten. Several persons have been appre hended on suspicion of having been concerned in, the above robberies, but the result we. have heard. BIRTHS. On the 48th October, the Lidif! of Henry ;'7,sPi. :Majesty's Corisul, - &e. fus the Islaad of Madeira, of a ter. Ou Tuesday, the Lady at-Charles lloolse. Esq. of -AYcn tague-iquare, of a Daughttr. I~IA~ZhIEI7, On the Wth ult. at Pershore, the .Hon. Cocits,. sc corrd son of the late, and brother to the present Lord 6:2:nefs, t0r414.5; Herbert, Attie above Oi Wednesday, tha 9th lust. in London, the Bev. Vincent Edmiids,-Vicar of liro.onificid, to Jane, second da - ugnter of Robert Tindal,. of Chelmsford, intim County of Essex, Esq. DIED On the 6th inst. at Gc.sport, the infant s...at of Captain Bal lard, of the Royal Navy.. .On the ist the youngest s3n- of Richard Te . ...in; E 9. aged seven, .ears, of linglohcid. Green. The L - 4am, day,. at his house in Yto.oulsbary-square,••Julta Rey:. - ,!:1,, Esq. On Itttriay, Ehz.o)eth, second daughter of Mr. Spitler, of St. John's street, ilesuninster. •. On Tuesday night, Mr. John Macpherson, aged 23 year.„ Son of Mr. -Alexander :Ilacpher3on, - 3'rinter, lianll-conrt. Carlimb - ola, on 2c3t117 Septeiuber, Major-Cr acrat Androx 9il Tuesday- se'nnight, at ,Market Harborongli, aged 33`,. the Rty. H. Knapp, SLA. Rector of Stoke Alhany, in North hir a.na formerly Head-master of the Grammar Schools at uppin g ,ton and Stamford. On'Thursday last, in the sotb yearmf her age, I‘lrs..Etcro thy Dicl:erson, of liartest; in Suffolk. • . . - On S;.iturday se'nnight, at - 11,flig - oland, in his 4th Buchtey Hunt, Esq. Cdpiain of His "Aiajr,sty's , sioup soniorOtticer of 'His 3lajc , i4,):s ships und'k.os sei3 Soddenly, on Friday, Mr. Yarrovy, Gate-keeper in St,Jaiuti:;'n Park, adjoining the Queen's Palace. Ilia wift; went mit early in the morning with her milli, left him in apparent gum/ health, and'ou Ler return slit found him a copse. • 60AL MARKET, DEc. 9.. Ships at Mar Act. Ships sold.'Price. GOA- Newcastle . . 35-1 . . . 42. G. 3d. to 545. 9d. 9 Sunderland . . . . 9 . . . 43,. Od. to 48s. Gd. 1 Cinders . . . . 1 . . . scs. Od. to od. PRICE OF Sigel Bank Stock, Navi-5 per Cent. shut• Irish .5 Ter Cent. 4 per Ccnt. 7310 3 per Cent. Red. 59111 3 per Cent. Cons. shnt llankL.Ann. 13 3-tGths India Builds, 7s. Ss. 7s. dis. KS YESTERDAY. • • Old .-no. Exclieq. Hills, M. per day, 5;, pr. 0 Lupin , 7 luiperial a per Cent..s7-gi Ditto Ann. Cons. for 190 Jan. sltini • IN BRIDGE TO-MORROW. EN'cning, 27 Lainutcs aftgr -7. IJJGH WATER Xr - LONTX . Morning, 2 minutes after . 7. Niolton-street, Grosverlor-iquare nst 44: addressed. *i ~.