"In this," replied I, "you are of the same belief with a pious dignitary, and of an intelligent living literary chara ter of the church of England, whose sentiments I am happy be able to bring forward on the present occasion, in addition those of the learned doctor and respectable dissenter I have jus quoted, of the Scottish or presbyterian persuasion. Bishop Po TEUS remarks, that it has been found by experience, that th sort of composition is better calculated to command attention to captivate the heart, and to make deeper and more lasting impressions on the memory, than the most ingenious and t most elegant discourses that the wit of men is capable d and Dr. MAVGR, who certainly, (as has been remarked in t prospectus above alluded to,) has had some experience in the education of youth, says; A fable, a moral, an interesting story, has often left an impression on the mind, which no thing could efface': and again, Dry lectures he has seldo found to leave any lasting impression, but convey the mor you wish to inculcate through an interesting story, or an in cidental reflection, and the effect is seldom lost.' With such authorities before our eyes, backed by the example of an ADDI SON, a JOHNSON, a FENELON, and a ST. PIERRE, and above all sanctioned by the practice of HIM, who knew well what was in man, and the most suitable means to be adopted for his intellectual and moral improvement, it becomes us not to con demn a thing in the gross, merely because some malignant and worthless beings have perverted it to the diffusion of their poisonous tenets; as if we should condemn the use of the press because it has been abused to propagate licentiousness, or the pulpit because it has been disgraced by the fanatical ravings of a distempered maniac. Of the merits of the works of an ADDISON and a JOHNSON, I need say nothing, as their instructive stories are too well known to need illustration. To the spirit which breathes through TELEMACHUS We may, in a great degree, ascribe that humanity in modern warfare which has of late so much distinguished the sovereigns of Europe; and those who have read the writings of ST. PIERR can be at no loss to conceive the beneficial influence they must have to soften and humanize the heart. Every obser vation contained in the productions of GENLIS on the subject of Education, is said to be entitled to respect. No work perhaps, had ever such a striking effect on the manners of an age of absurdity as the work of CERVANTES. What desig can be conceived more laudable than that which determined RICHARDSON to take up the pen. In what discourse do we find religious feelings more strongly awakened, and the excel lence of religion over philosophy more ably demonstrated, that in the prison-sermon of GOLDSMITH's Vicar of Wakefield What hat a beautiful illustration of pious sentiment have we from pen of the author of the Man of Feeling; and so strongly the beauties of virtue and deformities of vice depicted in Fool of Quality by BROOKE, that Mr WESLEY, the father Methodism, has been at pains to abridge, and give part of to the world in another form. The excellent little stories Mrs. TRIMMER and Mrs. BARBAULD, cannot fail to leave inlible impressions of philanthropy and rectitude of principle the minds of the rising generation. An awful lesson ainst some of the prevailing vices of the lower orders is held t in the little history of Will and Jean. Modern extravance is exposed to ridicule in Bygane Times, and Late-come anges; and to go no farther than the publication under conleration, who can read the interesting History of an Irish zmily without discovering the laudable, benevolent, and aise-worthy object the authoress has in view, to say nothing the tendency of the many little stories which are to be und in that Miscellany, and of my own humble and imper ct attempt to check the first approaches to vice, by painting e deplorable consequences to which a perseverance in the aths of idleness and vice must naturally be expected to lead.” "That it is not possible, to make those at least who stand nost in need of instruction, to attend to plain, naked truths, or, n other words, to hear it so delivered,' must indeed be grantd, or the Saviour of the World, who did nothing in vain, would 1ot have left us the example of his having adopted a contrary nethod," replied Mr. MEANWELL; "and on this account, I cannot but now wish that men of talents in modern times, ad devoted more of their leisure to this method of conveyng useful information to the public, as, in this case, we would not likely have so many complaints of a want of a taste for reading among the young folks, proceeding most probably more from the indigestible stuff with which unthinking parents attempt to load the stomachs of their children, than from any defect of appetite for their most proper mental aliment." "This is coming exactly to the point of my argument," said I;" and as you been so candid as to state what at first gave you rather an unfavourable opinion of the Cheap Magazine, I will mention an objection against that publication which I have more than once met with from adults in my travels: viz. that a considerable part of it was more adapted for the capacities of children than grown-up people, and that it did not contain such a proportion of religious and serious matter as they had been accustomed to in other Magazines: thus objecting to the work for one of its greatest excellencies, and merely because that part of it, which was undoubtedly intended by the publishers (as might have been learned from the prospectus) as childrens' bread, was not so palatable palatable as they could have wished to their stronger stomachs Cruel and unfeeling parents! they would engross every species of mental food to themselves, and suffer nothing to enter their houses prepared and dressed up in a suitable manner for their little ones! It is from this consideration that I am at a loss how to proceed to fulfil the dying request of poor BRAGWELL Such an example as his case affords cannot be too generally known, both for the benefit of the young generation, and as a war ing to those parents who suffer their children to listen to the dangerous harangues of those fanatical declaimers, who would separate for a moment the necessity of holiness from the doctrines of the gospel; and if I had made up my mind to give the sad tale publicity before you entered, I must now be more determined to do so since I have heard your affecting account of the last moments of a life so replete with guilt I have indeed reason to be pleased with my former experi ment, for I have learned in my rambles, that DAVID DOUBT FUL and WILLIAM CANDID are not the only two individuals who have profited by the Beacon;' and it is far from being improbable that the good consequences of the Sequel to that story, may infinitely extend their beneficial influence beyond the arousing JOHN CARELESS to a sense of his danger in the event of his not taking more heed to his ways. Poor BRAG WELL exclaimed in prison: 'O what a living comment,' upon the words he had quoted, does my guilty life afford;' but now that we have seen the end,-what line upon line, what precept upon precept have we in the tragical manner of his death!what an additional comment and striking illustration have we in the affecting and heart-rending scene he exhibited dur ing his last night in prison. "In that dread moment, how the frantic soul A little longer, yet a little longer, O! might she stay to wash away her stains, BLAIR. "But still I have my fears, that my best efforts will meet with opposition, and that a thing which has so much the air of a story, and the nature of an allegory in its composition, however well calculated to do good among the young, will not meet with a very cordial reception from those unreflect ing heads of families, who do not approve of any thing that is not seasoned up to please their own palates. Besides, I could wish, that some of those declaimers themselves should ould also be profited by the melancholy example now before , which, I am not without hopes would be the case could I ly prevail upon them to give the relation a patient and atative perusal; but I know well, that such characters are ever re apt to put a reproof by them than to take it home, and that ey will be more likely to view The Beucon in a Blaze again th inverted optics at a distance, than as a thing in which ey have any immediate concern; and in regard to these, so, I am rather at a loss how to proceed." This," replied Mr. MEANWELL, "needs give you no great ncern, for a fancy has just struck me, and which I am a good al surprised has not occurred to you sooner. These people, u have observed, are fond of mystery; now, as persons of is description are generally not the best informed, I should t be surprised if they are utterly ignorant of some of the anent customs and usages of their native country, suppose you erefore change the name of the sequel of your story from the acon' to that of the Fiery Cross,' without giving any explanaon why you have done so, till you arrive at the conclusion; is may have the good effect of inducing the admirers of mysry and of the marvellous, to give the whole a patient readg, and as the significant token may be deservedly sent to those ho have slighted or paid no attention to former warnings, do not see that they have any right to complain." The conceit pleased me exceedingly; for as the human mind verdelights in something new, I thought the novelty of the name night even have a good effect upon all classes, while the myserious sound of a term happily so little known in our days, ould not fail to be peculiarly acceptable to the mystical part f the community: I therefore, gentlemen, send you the Fiery Cross, and beg you will be particularly careful to convey it with the greatest possible celerity to the dwellings of the numerous clans of the SIMON FRISKS, the PETER LANGHEADS, and the SCHEMEWELLS of the day, wherever they are scattered,-with certification, that if they do not immediately send it forward to the places of residence OF THOSE IT MAY CONCERN, but by any means endeavour to arrest it in its course before it has traversed the various districts, and produced the desired effect among the habitations of the DESPERATES, the BRAGWELLS, and the CARELESSES, they must look to the consequences at The great Gathering of the Nations, WHEN THE DEAD, SMALL AND GREAT, SHALL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT-SEAT OF CHRIST, THERE TO BE VOL. II. JUDGED ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS. A A A O. P. The Book of Nature laid Open. (Continued from p. 510.) "Hast thou ne'er seen the comet's flaming flight." COMETS. BESIDES the planets and their satellites, there are other bodies called comets, which revolve round the sun in very eccentric ellipses, and in all manner of directions. These comets in one part of their orbit, called the perihelion, ap proach very near the sun, and appear all in a blaze; this appearance, however, they gradually lose, as they fly off with inconceivable rapidity to the opposite part of their orbit, cal led by astronomers their aphelion; there they are totally di vested of their luminous tail, and being at such an immense dis tance from the sun, it is concluded they must experience a degree of cold, of which we can have no adequate conception. There are a variety of opinions as to the number of comets belonging to our system; and as these bodies appear but seldom, and their stay is so short, it is not surprising that so much ignorance should prevail respecting them. It is, however, now sufficiently ascertained, that these, like the pla nets, shine not by their own but by a reflected light, and were it not for the sun, these bodies instead of alarming our fears by their glaring magnificence, would move unseen and unheed⚫ed by us; for however naturalists may have differed respecting the composition of their tails, it seems now to be pretty well understood, that they possess nothing fiery or combustible in them, and may with more propriety be likened to the mild radiance that proceeds across the street from the illuminated glass in an apothecary's window in a dark night, than to any thing of a baneful or pestilential nature‡ It * According to M. STARCK, an astronomer at Augsburg, the Comet that appeared in 1811, was, Oct. 16th, at the distance of 32' millions of geographical miles from the Earth. The tail of the comet was 800.000 miles in length, and the diameter of the nucleus about 860 miles! The number of comets is certainly very considerable. RiccioLI enumerated 154; others assert that 450 had been seen previous to 1771; the tables of Berlin estimate them at 700, and some have even supposed that there are millions. Gregory. The following very rational account of the simple manner in which the tail of a comet may be occasioned, is given in the Monthly Magazine for Nov. 1811, in a paper signed COMMON SENSE. Sup pose a globe of water, with an opaque ball in its centre-in other sup 27 |