Page:The Annual Register 1758.djvu/266

 252 ANNUAL REGISTER, 175S.

when he was in his peafant's drefs, though the alteraiion was made in his prefence and with his own ap- parel.

Ichappened alfo thatbeforeLud- v/ig went home there was aneclipfe of the fun, and Mr. Hoffman pro- pofed to his guefc that he fhould obferve this phaenomenon as an aftronomer, and for that purpofe furnifned him with proper inllru- ments. The impatience of Ludwig till the time of the eclipfe is not to be expreiTed ; he had hitherto been acquainted with the planetary world only by books and a view of the heavens with the naked eye; he had never yet looked through a telefcope, and the anticipation of the pleafure which the newobferva- tion would yield him, fcarce fuf- fered him either to cat or fleep ; but it unfortunately happened, that jull before the eclipfe came on, the iky became cloudy, and continued fo during the whole time of its continuance: this misfortune was more than the philofophy even of Ludwig could bear; as the cloud came on he looked up at it in the agony of a man that expeded the diflblution of nature to follow; when it came over the fun, he ftood fxed in a conflcrnation not to be defcribed, and when he knew the eclipfe was pair, his difnppointment and grief were little fliort of dif- traiSion.

Mr. Hoffman foon after went in his turn to vifit Air. Ludwig, and take a view of his dwelling, his library, his ftudy, and his inftru- inents. He found an old crnzy cot- tage, the infide of which had been long blacked with fmoke, the walls were covered with propofitions and diagrams written with chalk. In one corner was a bed, in another a cradle, and under a little window at

the fide, three pieces of board, laid fide by fide over two treflels, made a writing table for the philofopher, upon which were fcattered fome pieces of writing paper containing extrads of books, various calcula- tions and geometrical figures ; the books which have been mentioned before were placed on a fhelf with the compafs and ruler that have been defcribed, which, with a wood- en fquare and a pair of fix inch globes, conftituted the library and mufeum of the truly celebrated John Ludwig.

In this hovel he lived till the year J754, and while he was purfuing the ftudy of philofophy at his leifure hours, he was indefatigable in his day labour as a poor peafant, fometimes carrying a baiket at his back, and fometimes driving a wheelbarrow, and crying fuchgar- den-ftuff as he had to fell about the village. In this ftate he was fubjedt to frequent infults, *' fuch as patient merit takes of the un- worthy," and he bore them withr out reply, or any other mark either of refentment or contempt, when thofe who could not agree with him about the price of his commo- dities ufed to turn from him with an air of fuperiority, and call him in deiifiot) Jilly clown, and a ftupid do?.

Mr. Hoffman, when he difmiffed him, prefented him with a hundred crowns, which has filled all his wifhes, and made him the happiert man in the world : with this fum he has built himfelf a more com- modious habitation in the middle of his vineyard, and furnilhed it with many moveables and utenfils, of which he was in great want ; but above all he has procured a very confiderable addition to hislibrary, an article fo effential to his happi-

nefs.