contrary to all that was supposed fitting for her sex, and at the same time forcing upon him a sense of the very beauty of her conduct by its principled excess. It is probable, that as he could not prevail upon her to give up her design, he had sworn some religious oath when he made his promise: but, be this as it may, he took every possible precaution to secure her modesty from hurt. The people of Coventry were ordered to keep within doors, to close up all their windows and outlets, and not to give a glance into the streets upon pain of death. The day came, and Coventry, it may be imagined, was silent as death. The lady went out at the palace door, was set on horseback, and at the same time divested of her wrapping garment, as if she had been going into a bath; then taking the fillet from her head, she let down her long and lovely tresses, which poured around her body like a veil; and so, with only her white legs remaining conspicuous, took her way through the

streets.

A FRAGMENT.

The sun was half eclipsed by the western hills, as we entered the borders of Lorrain. Le Bon was sitting on a bank by the way side-it was the same Le Bon I had formerly seen in weal

thy and gay. Shame on fortune, said I to myself-how fleeting are her favours!-the rich man of this year may be the poor man of the next.-Le Bon was sitting under a hawthorn bush, holding in his hand, Seneca on benefits his wife, the sharer of his pleasures and his woes, sat

now,

by his side-her face was still lovely, though it gleamed through the veil of adversity-nay, her whole deportment, even would have convinced any man that she had seen better days.— She was leaning on her right arm on the verdant turf, listening, as I thought, to the evening songsters in the grove, at the same time attentive to her children, sportive among the pebbles of the brook that ran at their feet. The ass was feeding hard by-it had borne its burthen in the heat of the day-and was now tasting, in its kind, the common bounty of Providence to all way-faring beasts.

Le Bon drew the book from his eyes as I approached himand after a short salutation, began his tale of woe :

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"I have travelled," said he, through the regions of art and sciences, with a light purse and a thread-bare coat-the food which nourished me I carefully culled from simples of erudition, and my drink was from the streams of Helicon. I surmounted the height of classic Appenine without a companion, and travelled the flinty fields of philosophy without a vade mecum-how, or for what I toiled, I cannot tell— but fortune shews me at length, that learning is vain, and study a weariness."

"A weariness indeed!" said I, "and wert thou in my country, where there is an asylum for the necessitous, a protection for learning and learned men, thou shouldst there find shelter, and thy labours in learning should not be in vain-thou shouldst there be favoured with the countenance of the great-thou shouldst eat the bread of prospe

rity, and drink of the horn of ease-kindness should be shown to thy offspring, and the effects of a dedication would be thy continual support."

I touched upon the string on which his sorrows hung-he looked upon the stream that run murmuring by, and began to moralize on precedency and power. "There is a tide," said he, " in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood-"

Here he paused, and casting his eyes upon his wife and children, said, "I will try some other way to be found useful."— Nature here had a struggle ! and I could perceive, by what issued from his eyes, that he was no more than mortal. "Fie on dependency," said I," how precarious is the tenure of favour-the wealthy man's friends are like the flies of a summer day, which the warmth of the sun produceth and cherisheth, but which disappear at the approach of chilly night."-Le Bon resumed the book he had laid aside on the verdant turf, and with a look expressing satisfaction at what I uttered, walked slowly towards his ass.

SHANDY.

NOBLE INSTANCE OF ROMAN
EQUANIMITY.

Julius Canus, an illustrious Roman, was always remarkable for a noble firmness of mind, calm and composed, and scarce ever disconcerted by any cross accident. In this undisturbed situation, he could behold death as a welcome present to him, from the savage Caligula. Canus's mind was well cultivated with the study of philosophy. He had

once a long dispute with Caligula, and as he was withdrawing: "Be not deceived," said that phalaris to him, (so Seneca called Calgula); " I have given orders for your being put to death," "Ithank my good gracious prince" replied Julius Canus, without betraying the least emotion. According to a decree of the senate that had passed under Tiberius, there was to be a respite of ten days between judgment and execution. Canus, during this interval, shewed neither fear nor uneasiness, though convinced in his mind, Caligula's threats, in such cases, were infallible and irrevocable. When the centurion came to give him notice to prepare for execution, he found him playing at draughts with a friend. He reckoned his men, and those of his adversary, "that" said he, "you might not brag you had the advantage over me. "And" he added, turning to the centurion, “you will be my witness that I have the best of the game by one man.' This frivolous care may shew some ostentation in the magnanimity of this gentleman; but what he said to his friends is more worthy of an intrepid soul. Seeing them in deep affliction and shedding tears, he reproved them : "Why those moans? Why those tears? Ye are very anxious to know if the soul be immortal; I am going to see this matter cleared up in an instant."

THE THEORY OF TIDES.

From Sir Richard Phillips's Essays.

The tides are simple and palpable phenomena of motion. The motion of the waters is a neces

sary consequence of other motions. If the earth stood still, there would be no tides. If the earth turned on a mathematical centre, or axis, and no cause ever disturbed the forces acting on each side of that centre, or axis, there would be no tides, or flux and re-flux of the waters. If the earth were a smooth sphere, equally covered with water, its equable and uniform motions would cause no tides.

But, if the forces which revolve the earth, were to act unequally on its sides, so as to have a tendency to vary the centre, then the waters, by their mobility, would restore the equilibrium as the disturbance took place, so that the disturbance would be simultaneously corrected, and the means of correction would, by those motions of the waters, produce what are called tides.

And, again, if the earth were not a true sphere, or had projecting parts, or were denser on one side than on the other; then, as the momenta of the two sides, produced by a common force, must necessarily be equal, the side least dense, or having least matter, would perform a larger circuit than the other; or, in other words, the centre of gyration and the mathematical centre would not be the same, and then the moveable fluids, because moveable, would rush to restore the equilibrium,

The tides are, therefore, caused by the disturbance of the centre of the earth's motion, or forces, which produce phenomena at the surface; the disturbance is rendered apparent by the waters of the sea, because fluids can move from place to place, obeying a force and restoring an equilibrium. The solid parts of the earth may have a tendency to move, but the force is great enough to move the fluids only; and, when the equilibrium is restored by these, the force created by the disturbance ceases to act.

But if, instead of a projecting side, we were to suppose a small globe to be annexed or joined to the earth, both revolving together on a common centre, or centre of their quantity of matter, then the centre of gyration would be considerably elevated towards that side, and the waters, in respecting that -centre, would be impelled towards the annexed small globe.

Suppose, further, that this annexed globe were separated from the other, and carried to a distance, their masses still revolving about a common centre acting and re-acting through a fixed or a gaseous lever, it is evident that the former effect would not be diminished, and that the waters, in being able, by their mobility, to respect that centre of motion, would be impelled or raised towards the separated globe.*

*

The moveable fluids always accomodate themselves to the centre of gyration, which becomes their centre, without regard to the disposition of the fixed concrete masses, which they keep in mundane equilibrium hence it is, that, if a mountain on one side of a globe occasions the centre of gyration to approach that mountain, the waters, in accomodating themselves to that centre, will accumulate about the mountain: hence, if another globe be annexed in contact (suppose the moon in contact with the earth), and the centre of gyration were then raised considerably towards that annexed globe, the waters, in respecting the circle of gyration performed by both globes, would fill up the chasms between the curved surfaces of the two globes and hence also, if the two globes, being separated and connected in motion only by a gaseous lever (like the earth and moon in the medium of space), still, the centre or fulcrum of motion would, as a centre of gyration, influence the moving waters, and they would flow, or endeavour to flow towards that fulcrum, and would even flow around it, if they were not restrained by a local rotatory force like that of the earth, and by a density of the fluid, sufficient to counteract the tendency to ascend to the common centre of motion.

:

Such are the circumstances of the earth and moon. They move in the medium of space, round a common centre, or fulcrum, the arms or distances of the gaseous lever being in the inverse duplicate ratio of their distances and of their quantities of matter; and the mundane fluids, as fluids, in respecting the centre of motion, rise towards the centre of motion, or towards the fulcrum of the mutual revolution of the two bodies, which is necessarily in the right line joining the centres of the earth and moon.

But, while this joint revolution of the earth and moon is performed round the fulcrum of the gaseous lever of space, the earth is turning on its axis by a separate motion; and as all parts of its surface are successively presented to the moon, or to the common fulcrum, so the successive portions of waters are elevated towards the moon or fulcrum; and hence the phenomena arise which we call tides, governed necessarily in successive rotations by the times which the moon, or the common fulcrum, passes the meridian of any places.

It

The fulcrum of the earth and moon is the point about which both revolve, and is the centre of their reciprocal momenta. necessarily lies in the line which joins the centres of the earth and moon; and, being the centre of their joint momenta, is

the point acted upon by the sun's impulses on the medium of space, in producing the orbicular motion; and is, therefore, constantly in the earth's orbit; while the centres of the earth and moon constantly revolve around it, by their mutual action and re-action on each other through the medium of space. Suppose the earth to be turning on its axis, with the fulcrum vertical over the meridian of central Africa, where, as there is no sea, there will be no apparent tide-though the seas of the antarctic ocean would be slightly affected. In an hour, the rotation carries the shores of the Atlantic opposite the moon or fulcrum, and the waters being capable of rushing to restore the equilibrium, in consequence of the disturbance already explained, they rise towards the fulcrum or centre of lunar and mundane gyration, and the elevation continues as long as the Atlantic is passing under the moon, or fulcrum.

But, when the Atlantic shores of America arrive opposite the moon or fulcrum, the waters rise along the coast, and fill the entrances of the rivers; but, when the continent is presented to the moon, or fulcrum, then no tide is raised. Nevertheless, the waters were brought to the shores and left there what then becomes of them? The cause which produced their elevation has departed over another meridian. Is it not astonishing that no one ever asked, or ever answered, this question? Must they not swing back like the oscillation of a pendulum, and is not this the true cause of the second tide ? Is not this a necessary cause of the second tide on the African

We need not accompany the phenomena to the shores of the Pacific, where the oscillations are less, because the liquid pendulum is larger and heavier-but where exactly the same causes produce a primary and secondary tide. That is, as soon as the moon, or fulcrum, arrives over the western coasts of America, the waters rise and follow the moon, or fulcrum, till it reaches the shores of Asia; and then, being left there they oscillate back, producing a second tide.

In a word, the second tide arises from the re-actions of the first tide against the visible continents and invisible rocks which bound and fill the ocean; and which re-actions concur with the departure of the force over land to other meridians, so that a returning tide is the returning stroke of a primary one. And, in confirmation of this theory of the secondary tide, is it not notorious, that in certain parts of the South Pacific, where few or no distur bances are created by re-actions or reflections of land, there is but one tide in twenty-four hours?

The other peculiarity of the tides their neap and spring, depending on the relative positions