ble of his misconduct, and began to reflect upon it with ferioufnefs and contrition. Refolutions of amendment fucceeded to penitence; he fet a guard upon his words; fpoke little, and always with caution and reserve; and he foon found, by sweet experience, that truth is more easy and natural than falfhood. By degrees the love of it became predominant in his mind and fo facred at length did he hold veracity to be, that he scrupled even the least jocular violation of it. This happy change restored him to the esteem of his friends; the confidence of the public; and the peace of his own confcience.

B

VIGILANT OBSERVATION.

E attentive, my dear Alexis, to every event which occurs, and to all the objects which furround you. Suffer nothing to escape your notice. The minutest fubftance, or the most trivial incident, may furnish important knowledge, or be applied to fome useful purpose. I have heard that

the

the great law of gravitation, by which the whole fyftem of the univerfe is governed, was first fuggefted to the mind of Sir Ifaac Newton by the accidental fall of an apple, which he observed on a very still day, in a garden. Archimedes, a Sicilian philofopher, who flourished about two centuries before Chrift, happened to remark, whilst he was bathing, that the bulk of the water was increased, in a certain proportion, by his immerfion in it. A fortunate train of ideas inftantly arofe, in his mind; he faw at one view the method of ascertaining the specific gravities of bodies, that is, how much they are lighter or heavier than others of a different kind; and he perceived that he fhould now be able to detect the fraud of an artist, who had mixed base metal with the gold of king Hiero's crown. So overjoyed was he at this discovery, that, it is faid, he ran naked out of the bath into the streets of Syracufe, crying out, “ I have found it! I have found it!" The hydroftatical balance is framed on the theorem of Archimedes, "that a body heavier than

« water

"water weighs lefs in water than in air, by "the weight of as much water as is equal to "it in bulk." And this inftrument is employed to estimate the purity of metals, the richness of ores, and the relation which a variety of fubftances bear to each other.

Dr. Franklin, when he was on board the fleet of fhips bound against Louisbourg in 1757, happened to observe that the wakes of two of the veffels were remarkably fmooth, whilst thofe of all the reft were ruffled by the wind, which then blew fresh. He was puzzled with the appearance, and pointing it out to the captain of his fhip, afked him the cause of it. "The cooks," faid he, "have probably been pouring out their greafy water." Though this folution by no means fatisfied the philofopher, he determined to take the firft opportunity of trying the effect of oil on water. And you

are well acquainted with the success of his curious and very ufeful experiments on this fubject.

We

We are informed by Mr. Boyle, that Harvey had the first glimpse of the circulation of the blood, from a view of the valves of the veins, as they were exhibited by Fabricius the anatomift, to his pupils. The invention of mezzotintos is faid to have taken rife from the observance of regular figures on a rusty gun-barrel. Geoffroy relates that the virtues of the Peruvian bark were discovered by an Indian, who in the hot fit of an intermittent, drank largely of the water of a pool, into which fome of those trees, that yielded it, had fallen.-----But I fhall repeat no farther inftances of this kind, till I can add to the number fome valuable acquifition of yours; the happy fruit, my dear Alexis, of your fagacity and at tention.

PASSION.

Tw

wo gentlemen were riding together, one of whom, who was very choleric, laappened to be mounted on a high-mettled

horse,

horfe. The horse grew a little troublefome, at which the rider became very angry, and whipped and spurred him with great fury. The horse, almost as wrongheaded as his master, returned his treatment by kicking and plunging. The companion, concerned for the danger, and ashamed of the folly of his friend, faid to him coolly, Be quiet, be quiet, and fhew yourself the wifer of the two.

THE WORLD, Vol. IV.

I

FAMILY LOVE AND HARMONY.

WILL amufe you with a little experiment, faid Sophron, one evening, to Lucy, Emilia, Alexis, and Jacobus; and rifing from the table, he took the candles, and held them about half an inch afunder, oppofite to a medallion of Dr. Franklin, *

* Made by the author's very ingenious friends Meffrs. Wedgewood and Bentley; whofe improvements in the fine arts do honour to this age and nation.

and