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these latitudes. The university of Oxford immediately conferred on him the degree of A. M., and the Royal Society elected him one of their members.

In the course of his after life he visited several parts of the world for the purpose of scientific experiment and discovery. In 1703, he was appointed professor of geometry in the university of Oxford, and, as before stated, succeeded, in 1719, Mr. Flamsteed as astronomer royal.

Although Dr. Halley had arrived at the advanced age of sixty-three, when he entered upon his office at Greenwich, yet, for the period of eighteen years, he watched the heavens with the closest attention, hardly ever missing an observation during all that time, and, without any assistant, performed the whole business of the observatory himself.

During this period, an offer was made him of being appointed mathematical preceptor to the Duke of Cumberland, but he declined that honour, on account of his advanced age, and the duties of his office.

About the year 1737, he was seized with a paralytic disorder in his right hand, which gradually increasing, his strength wore away, and he expired on the 14th of January, 1742, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. His remains were interred in the church-yard of Lee, near Blackheath.

The third astronomer royal was Dr. James Bradley, of Sherborne, in Gloucestershire, at which place he was born, in the year 1692.

He was admitted a commoner of Baliol❘ College, Oxford, March 15, 1710; where he took the degree of bachelor, October 14, 1714, and master of arts, the 21st of January, 1716. Being designed for the church, he was ordained, at the proper age, by the bishop of Hereford, who gave him the living of Bridstow, and shortly afterwards he was inducted to that of Landewy Welfry, in Pembrokeshire.

Mr. Pound (the celebrated astronomer) was the uncle of Mr. Bradley, with whom, at his residence at Wanstead, he passed as much time as he could spare from the duties of his office. Here he made such astronomical observations as laid the foundation of those discoveries which afterwards distinguished him as one of the greatest astronomers of his age; these observations gained him the notice and esteem of the learned of that day, and led to his being elected a fellow of the Royal Society.

When only twenty-nine years of age, Mr. Bradley was elected Savillian professor

of astronomy at Oxford, upon which he resigned his church livings, and applied himself wholly to the study of his favourite science. In the course of a long series of observations upon the fixed stars, with a view to determine the amount, if any, of their annual parallax, he discovered and settled the laws of the apparent alteration of their positions, arising from the progressive motion of light, combined with the earth's annual motion about the sun, and the nutation of the earth's axis, arising from the unequal attraction of the sun and moon on different parts of the earth. former of these splendid discoveries, which is termed the aberration of the fixed stars, he made public in 1727, and the latter in 1737; so that in the space of ten years, he communicated to the world two of the finest discoveries in modern astronomy; making a memorable epoch in the history of that science.

The

His appointment as successor to Dr. Halley, was dated February 3, 1742. This placed him in his proper element, and he pursued his observations with unwearied diligence. In addition to the instruments already at his command, he obtained from the king a grant of one thousand pounds, to be expended in procuring others of the best kind. An additional mural quadrant, by the celebrated Mr. Bird, was at this time erected, which still occupies the eastern face of the pier, which carries the iron quadrant of Graham, before spoken of, also the famous zenith sector, with which he made the above grand discoveries, is preserved in the same room with the quadrants.

Upon his appointment to the observatory at Greenwich, the university of Oxford sent him a diploma of doctor of divinity, and during his residence there, the living of the church of Greenwich became vacant, and was offered to him. Upon his refusing to accept it, from a conscientious scruple, “ that the duty of a pastor was incompatible with his other studies and necessary engagements," the king granted him a pension of two hundred and fifty pounds per annum, in addition to his salary as astronomer royal; which pension has been continued to each of his successors.

By too close application to study and observations, Dr. Bradley became afflicted, for nearly two years before his death, with a grievous oppression on his spirits, which interrupted his useful labours. He died on the 13th of July, 1762, at Chalfont, in Gloucestershire, in the seventieth year of

his

age, and was interred at Minchinhamp- | beginning, after recommending us, in judgton, in the same county.

Át his death, his observations filled thirteen folio volumes, which were presented to the university of Oxford, in 1776, on condition of their printing and publishing them, which has only been very recently accomplished.

THE GOSPEL.

THE same power which the gospel has to save, it has to destroy. It increases the condemnation and misery of those who reject it, and it were far better never to have heard its gracious invitations, than, having heard them, to cast them voluntarily away. To this destroying power of the gospel, to those who reject it, Jesus refers when he says, "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." It has an irresistible energy. It comes with an overwhelming force upon those who have despised its mercies, and makes it better for such persons if they had never been born. This gospel must appear in the great day, as a witness for or against every child of man. It will bear testimony for all who have accepted its invitations, that justice is satisfied, and all condemnation must pass away; that the Lamb is worthy, to whom infinite honour and glory must be ascribed. It must witness against all who have refused its mercies, that they are without hope; the law must take its course, while their condemnation and ruin have been awfully increased, by choosing death rather than life. With a destructive weight it falls upon such, to grind them to powder, to consign them over to everlasting ruin, and bind them in chains of eternal darkness and death.-Dr. Tyng.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY.

THE idea of specific gravity, or that relation which arises from comparing the weight of a body with its bulk, did not originate with Archimedes, who was killed at the sacking of Syracuse, B. C. 212, as some would seem to suppose; for we find an implied allusion made to it by Hippo

crates, to whose skill Athens owed so much, during the plague that began B. C. 430, in his treatise concerning airs, waters, and places, which was published at Paris, in 1800, by Corcey, with a translation, long notes, and a preliminary dissertation in French.

In this treatise, Hippocrates, near the

ing of the comparative salubrity of different places, to pay particular attention to the virtues or properties of the waters, says, that as the virtue or peculiar property of each differs from that of any other part, just so they differ in taste, and in weight: v T στοματι καὶ ἐν τῷ σταθμῷ; literally, “ in the mouth and in the balance."

And without question, the great physician wished us to understand, that the waters of different places were to be meted and weighed in some unvarying measure; suppose, for illustration, an attic xestes, or about an English pint.

As the specific gravity of different bodies is often referred to, it is important that the reader, who is fond of philosophical researches, should have a distinct idea of what is meant by it.

The following short definition will convey the idea as it was understood by Hippocrates :-Specific gravity is the weight of some constant magnitude taken as a standard.

Let the constant magnitude to be assumed as the standard, be the imperial gallon, which weighs ten pounds avoirdupois, when filled with pure water. Call ten pounds the specific gravity of water. If the same unvarying measure be filled with aqua fortis, we shall find its weight to be thirteen pounds, which will be its specific gravity. The measure itself is supposed to be without weight, as in practice it must be balanced before the liquid is introduced.

Again, let us suppose, that Hippocrates used the xestes, or attic pint, and finds that when filled with the purest water, it weighs twenty ounces avoirdupois, and that another kind, impregnated with mineral substances, weighs twenty ounces and a half. Then he might have called twenty ounces, and twenty ounces and a half, their specific gravity respectively.

"The specific gravity of a body is its weight, compared with the weight of another body, whose magnitude is the same." -Vince.

This definition differs in appearance from the one given above; but if we have what we apprehended to be the original made ourselves understood in explaining notion, the reader will be prepared to understand it.

RELICS.

THE christian traveller who visits the monastery of Great St. Bernard, cannot but be deeply pained to see the worship

that is paid in the chapel belonging to this establishment, to the waxen figure of a young woman, richly dressed, and contained in a glass case, the frame-work of which glitters with gold and jewellery. Nothing can exceed the earnestness of the priest who conducts this worship; his expressions of respect, faith, and love, are most numerous and varied. This waxen image contains some bones said to have belonged to a noble Roman lady, named Faustina, who suffered martyrdom under the reign of Nero! A well-worded certificate declares these relics genuine! They were purchased at Rome by a man who holds a high situation as a member of the Reformed Church of Switzerland. He presented them to this chapel, and the Pope paid the expenses of the statue and case. This may remind us of the conduct of those Europeans, who have lately made, and sent into India, images | of the idols worshipped there, and who thus contribute to strengthen the stupid and barbarous idolatry, which the missionaries of the gospel are labouring to abolish at the peril of their lives. It is not, however, probable, that the Swiss gentleman would be well satisfied with the effects produced by his present, if he were to witness the devoted idolatry which he has occasioned. His conscience, perhaps, would remind him, that he will one day be called to give an account of it before the tribunal of the living God, who has declared, that He will not give his glory to another. Who knows what will be the end of this impious worship, which has now existed two or three years? Who can tell how many souls it may be the means of leading from the paths of truth, to perish in the way of deceit? It has been particularly noticed, that this newly set up image attracts the notice and fervent adorations of many of the pious travellers who pass that way.-Ar

chives du Christianisme.

HUMILITY.

PRAY much for the spirit of humility, the spirit of Christ, for that is it; otherwise, all thy vileness will not humble thee. When men hear of this or of other

graces, and how reasonable they are, they think presently to have them, and do not consider the natural enmity and rebellion of their own hearts, and the necessity of receiving them from heaven. And therefore, in the use of all other means, be most dependent on that influence, and

most in the use of that means which opens the heart most to that influence, and draws it down upon the heart; and that is, prayer.

That spirit of Christ, which is all sweetness and love, so calms and composes the heart, that peace with God, and that unspeakably blessed correspondence of love with him, do so fill the soul with lovingness and sweetness, that it can breathe nothing else. It hates nothing but sin, it pities the sinner, and carries towards the worst the love of good will, desiring their return and salvation. But as for those in whom appears the image of their Father, their heart cleaves to them as brethren indeed. No natural advantages of birth, of beauty, or of wit, draw a christian's love so much, as the resemblance of Christ; wherever that is found, it is comely and lovely to a soul that loves him.-Leighton.

ANTICIPATION OF THE JUDGMENT.

STRANGE things await us in futurity. A the bar of God. Our associations in life, wonderful developement is to be made at our social dependencies, our domestic relations ;-what numerous, what diversified, and what deep-tending issues are to arise from them all! It is, when we view the judgment-seat through the medium of such thoughts as these, that it

assumes its most characteristic usefulness. It is when we extend our eye through the far-stretched line of consequences. It is not the individual commission of sin, it is not the perpetration of personal inithe most appalling anticipa ion of the quity, painful as this is, which makes up awaiting decision. It is the influence we have had, and the part we have taken, and the example we have set in the affairs of immortal souls; it is the far-reaching result through them in their turn again.

We shall never understand how consequences multiply, until we behold them examined before the throne of the heavens. -Dr. T. C. Henry.

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SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.-No. XIII. "He that exalteth his gate, seeketh destruction." Prov. xvii. 19.

To the inhabitants of Europe, the language of this proverb is by no means intelligible. Matthew Henry, who lived before oriental customs were so well understood as they now are, has given the probable spirit of this passage; but its striking al'usion was evidently unknown to him. He

says, "Those that are ambitious and aspiring, expose themselves to a great deal of trouble, such as many times ends in their Fuin. He that exalteth his gate, builds a stately house, at least a fine frontispiece, that he may overtop and outshine his neighbours, he seeks his own destruction, and takes a deal of pains to ruin himself; he makes his gate so large, that his house and estate go out at it." The moral which Matthew Henry seems to deduce from this

VOL. III.

proverb is, that extravagance leads to ruin. Perhaps it should rather be, that the most humble are the most safe. The Arabs are accustomed to ride into the houses of those they design to harass, as they seldom dismount in their attacks. To prevent this, Thevenot tells us, that the door of the house in which the French merchants lived at Rama, was not three feet high, and that all the doors of that town were equally low. Agreeably to this account, the Abbé Mariti, speaking of his admission into a monastery near Jerusalem, says, "The passage is so low, that it will scarcely admit a horse; and it is shut by a gate of iron, strongly secured in the inside. As soon as we entered, it was again made fast with various bolts and bars of iron, a precaution extremely necessary in a desert place, exposed to the incursions and insolent attacks of the Arabs."-Travels through Palestine, vol. iii. page 37. The same illustration we may

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58

derive from the customs of the Persians.
Morier says,
"A poor man's door is
scarcely three feet in height; and this is a
precautionary measure to hinder the ser-
vants of the great from entering it on horse-
back; which, when any act of oppression
is going on, they would make no scruple to
do. But the habitation of a man in power
is known by his gate, which is generally
elevated in proportion to the vanity of its
owner. A lofty gate is one of the insignia
of royalty. It must have been the same in
ancient days; the gates of Jerusalem, Zion,
&c., are often mentioned in scripture, with
the same notion of grandeur attached to
them." From these illustrations, it is evi-
dent to what the writer of the proverb al-
luded;
and to exalt the gate, would conse-
J. C.
quently be to court destruction.

CHEMISTRY.-No. IV.

SIMPLE SUBSTANCES-OXYGEN.

THOSE bodies which are found, on close examination, to be composed of only one kind of matter, are termed simple substances, and are, consequently, the elements from which all other bodies are formed. Substances that contain two or more of these elementary principles, are designated compound bodies. Through the labours of Sir Humphrey Davy, and other eminent chemists, many substances that had always been considered simple, have been decomposed, and proved to be compounds; and it is highly probable, that future discoverers will analyze some of the substances now included in the class of simple bodies.

|

instantly burns with vastly greater brilliancy
and splendour. This gas is the basis of at-
mospheric air,and the supporter of life. When
inhaled in a pure state into the lungs, it
has the effect of raising the pulse, and in-
creasing the motions of the animal fluids.
It has sometimes been termed vital air,
from the well-established fact, that no ani-
mal can breathe for a moment where there
is no oxygen. It is 740 times lighter than
water, but somewhat heavier than atmos-
pheric air. Oxygen is one of the principal
agents in promoting the numberless pro-
cesses of decomposition that are continually
taking place in nature. Many interesting
and instructive experiments may be per-
formed with oxygen gas, and there are se-
We will
veral methods of procuring it.
describe two of the most simple. Procure
'some fresh green vegetable leaves, and place
them in a bell glass filled with water, then
invert the glass over a flat dish, also filled
with water. Expose the whole to the rays
of the sun, and the gas will be formed, and
ascend in bubbles to the top of the glass,
displacing the water. Another mode of
obtaining this gas is the following:-Pro-
cure a Florence flask, and put into it a
small quantity of the black oxide of man-
ganese, reduced to a powder, (an article
which may be purchased of any chemist,)
and a sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid
to wet it thoroughly, and let them be well
mixed together. If the flask be then ex-
posed to the heat of a small lamp, oxygen
gas will ascend, and may be received into
another bottle, in which may be preserved

for use.

The first air that rises is common air contained in the flask, and should be permitted to escape.* Oxygen enters into

The collecting of gases being sometimes at

ple method mentioned in Donovan's Chemistry.

There are now about fifty substances that are considered by chemists to be simple; oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, chlorine, iodine, the various metals; carbon, phos-tended with difficulty, we will describe a simphorus, sulphur, boron, and fluorine. It is not intended to treat upon the distinct properties of all these substances in this precise order, though each of them will receive some consideration in the subsequent remarks.

"In order to collect a gas, let a glass bottle be filled to the top with water, and cork it so that the cork mains full. The bottle from which the gas is to

having excluded its own bulk of water, the bottle re

come, and the vessel of water, should be previously

so arranged, that the end of the tube of the bottle can be plunged under the surface of the water. The

gas will bubble up through the water; the first por

tion will be common air, expanded by heat. When this has been allowed to escape, slip the mouth of the glass bottle over the end of the tube, so that the bubbles of gas may enter the bottle. In proportion as gas enters, water will leave the bottle: and when it is filled with gas, put in the cork and remove it; or, without putting in the cork, pass a cup into the water, under the mouth of the bottle, and remove both bottle and cup, the latter remaining filled with water, so as to prevent gas from escap

OXYGEN is one of the most important substances that fall under the notice of the chemist. It is an energetic and powerful agent, acting an important part in almost all the changes that take place in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. When united with light and heat, it forms oxygen gas. This gas is colourless and invisible. It is also permanently elastic, ing, or common air entering. Other bottles may

or subject to great expansion and compression, though incapable of being condensed into a fluid or solid. It is the chief supporter of combustion. If a lighted candle be placed in a jar containing this gas, it

then be filled in succession. The most convenient vessel for holding water for these purposes, is a trough or cistern of wood or japanned tin, with a shelf, about two inches under the intended surface of the water, for supporting jars or phials while they are filling with gas. This vessel is called the pneumatic trough.'

"

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