The Sun.
London, England, 1811-10-18 00:00:00

JEDIDIrIH BUXTON.

•
JOClidiall Buxton. was a prodigy with respea
skill in numbers. His faiher, Win. Buxton, was,
schoolmaster of the parish where he was born, in
1704 ; yet Jedidian's education .was so much ne-
glected, that ho was never tattght to w rite ; and,
with respect 'to any other kind of knowledg,e but
that of numbers, seemed Always as ignOrant as a.boy •
of ten years of Age. '
,How he came first: to know 'the relative 'propor-
lion of numbers and their progressiye denomina-
AionS, lie did not rerriembi:r ; but to this he applied
the whole force of his mind, and upon this his at-7
tention wa4 constantly' tiKed, so that he frequendy
took no cognizance of ekternai objeos, and when
:he did, it was only with respe?.:t.to their number,.--
If any Space of time was mentioned, he would
.00t:i
after say, it was so many Minutes; and it any dis-
tancect way, he would ,assign the number of hait's
breadths without any question being Asked, or any,
calculation expetied by the Company.
When he once understOod a question, began
to'swork Witty-amazing facility, after his own me-
thol, without the use of pen, pencil, or chalk, orl
undeipancling °the common rules of arithmetic, as.
taught in et he schools. lie would snide over apiece
of land or a field, and 'tell the contents, of it,
most as eitaC.ily- as if cue had measured: it by the
chain : iu this' manner he tue3sured the whole
Lordship of 01 some. .thousand acres, be-,
longing to Sit John Rhodes, and, brought hint the
contents of it, not Only in acres, roods, and perches,
but even in square inches, Alter this, fur hie own
amusement, he reduced , them into squsre hair-
breadths, corupnting forty-eight to each side of the
inch.

His memory. was so grew, that, while resolving a
question, he could leave: otr and resume the opera-
tion again,,where he left off',. the next morning, 'or
.at a week, amontp, or-at several months, and pro-
ceed regularly till it was completed. . .
His memory would ;doubtless have, been equally
retentive with respect to other objeCts, if he had at-
toad to other.objects with -equal diligence ; but
his. perpetual application to figures prevented. tile
.smallest acquisition of any other „knowledge. Ha
was souretimila asked, on his return from church,
whet lwr lie remembered the text or any part of the
sermon, bur it never appeared that he brought away
ooe-rientence ;- his mind, upon a closer examination,
being sound to have beep' busied, even during divine
service, in'his favourite operation, either. divldhig
some time, or some space, into the smalfest known
parts, or resolving some question, that had beeu given
him as a test of his abilities,

As this extraOrdinary.persOn lived in laborious po-
verty,' his life was unitorrn and obscure. Tirne,
with respect to him, changed nothing but his age;
nor did the seasons vat), his employment, except
that in winter he had used a.tlail, auci in summer a
ling-hook'. In 1754, he,earne to London, Where he
was introduced to the Royal Society, who, in order
to prove his abilities, asi(edt him several questions is
arithmetic,,and he gave them such satishittion, that
they dismissed him with a handsome gratnity.. Jo
this visit to the metropolis, the only objets of his
curiosity, except figures, was to see the King
and Royal Family ; but they being at: Kensing-
ton, JedkEith was disoppoinied. During his resi-
dence London, he. was taken to see King
Richard the Third- performed at Drury-lane Play-
house ; and it. was. expected, either- that the novelty
and the splendour of the show would have fixed him
astoitillitneot,.or kept his imagmation iu a conti-
nual hurry, or that his passions would, in some de-
gree, have been touched by the power of notion, if
he bad opt pertealy, understood the dialogue. But
Jedidialii,s Mind was emploicd in the Play-houOe
just as it was employed in every other place. During
the dance, he fixed his attention upon the num-
ber of steps ; he declared, atter a fine piece of mu-
sic, that the innumerable sounds produced by the
instrornents.had peiplexed him beyond measure ;
and be attended to Mr. Garrick, 'only to count ilia
words that he uttered, 'in which it is said, he per,
fettly succeeded. returned to the pl:lCe of
his birth, where, if his enjoyments were kw, hii
wishes did not seem to be greater. He applied ro
ltis labour With cheerfulness; he regretted nothing
that, .he left behind him hi London ; and it conti-
nued to be his opinion,
that a slice of rusty bacon
afforded the most delicious repast

PEDESTRIANI3I4.--A farmer, at Holt, near DOC-
chesta, of the name of ftimmington, commenced
an undertaking on Saturday last, to perform on toot,
eigt►ty miles a day f'or seven successive days. He
a, cotl/41plished ninety miles on Sunday, and eighty -on
Monday, when •the last acco uut was received;

ibed by WILLIAM.RR I6E1scgiipS, South Moitotust Vet,
t a vcr.or tcuare.
PO O', Lettc z fur the 4ct (post-pia), mug be ildoleti:A.d.-
‘