for the healing of multitudes who resort thither, and not for him alone who is fortunate enough to be first plunged into the troubled stream. WIDE AND EXTENDED PLAINS Also cover a considerable portion of the face of our globe, and these are not without their uses.-Did nothing but huge mountainous districts, intercepted by deep vallies, present themselves, what room would be left for tillage? What incredible labour and fatigue in travelling! What insurmountable barriers to the purposes of trade and commerce-But these facilitate the operations of agriculture, and cause the stubborn glebe be broken up with ease.Carriages, with immense burdens, glide along on the level of a rail-way ;—the traveller on horseback, enveloped in darkness, pursues his journey without danger of stumbling; the loaded waggon is wheeled onwards without interruption; and the swift post flies with astonishing celerity on the wings of business. The last thing I shall touch upon in the general appearance of the surface of the dry-land is the VERDANT COLOUR OF THE EARTH; For whatever diversity of hue there may be in natural objects when viewed separately, there can be no doubt but this is the most general and prevailing colour; and as nature does nothing in vain, the circumstance certainly ought not to be overlooked. In this the wisdom and goodness of God will appear by attending to the following considerations. Had the robe of nature assumed a more light or brillian'. cast, and the generality of objects appeared of a white, yellow, orange, or red complexion, it would have been too much for the strength of our nerves, and instead of being refreshed and delighted, we would have been blinded and overpowered with the dazzling splendour, Had she put on a more sombre aspect, and been clothed with a violet, purple, or blue mantle, the prospect must have been sad, dismal, and gloomy, and instead of imparting to the animal spirits the exhilarating draught to keep them in full play, would have suffered them to subside to dejection and despondency. To prevent. these two extremes, an all-wise and gracious God has clothed nature with a verdant mantle, being that proper combination of light and shade, that neither dazzles nor darkens the prospect, which rather refreshes than fatigues the eye, strengthens and invigorates instead of weakening the powers of vision, and creates in the soul that increasing delight and lengthened rapture, which the poet had in view when he penned the following lines. ! "Gay green EVENING INSTRUCTIONS; OR, A. C. P. FATHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SON ON THE CHOICE OF A TRADE. THE ART OF PAPER-MAKING Is akin to Printing; the first business of which is the selection of the rags and arranging them into different lots, according to their quality, and to the demand of the papermill. They are then placed on an iron grate, which covers They' a large chest, where they are beat, and otherwise turned, till the filth and dust pass through the bars of the grate and fall into the chest. The number of lots in the selection of rags must be proportioned to the mass from which the selection is made, and to the kinds of paper produced by the mill. The duster is made in the form of a cylinder, altogether covered with a wire net, and put in motion by its connection with some part of the machinery. A convenient quan. tity of rags before the selection is inclosed in the duster, and the rapidity of its motion separates the dust from them, and forces it through the wire. The tables for cutting off the knots and stitching, and for forming them into a proper shape, are erected in the same place with the cutting table. The surface both of these and of the cutting table is composed of a wire net, which in every part of the operation allows the remaining dust and refuse of every kind to escape. The rags are again carried from the cutting table back to the duster, and thence to the engine, where, in general, they are in the space of six hours reduced to the stuff proper for making paper. The hard and soft of the same quality are placed in aifferent lots; but they can be reduced to stuff at the same time, provided the soft, be put somewhat later into the engine. The ENGINE is that part of the MILL which performs the whole action of reducing the rags to paste, or, as it may be termed, of trituration. The engine is charged with a proper quantity of rags, and fresh water is admitted by a spigot placed at one of the corners. In this situation, when the engine is put in motion, the roller turning upon its axis draws the water and the rags by the least inclined plane, and making them pass between its blades and the channels of the plate, dashes dashes them against the chapiter and the wicker frames. When the stuff is brought to perfection, it is conveyed into a general repository, which supplies the vat from which the sheets of paper are formed. Every vat is furnished in the upper part with planks, inclosed inwards, and even railed in with wood, to prevent any of the stuff from running over in the operation. Across the vat is a plank which they call the trapan, pierced with holes at one of the extremities, and resting on the planks which surround the vat. The forms or moulds are composed of wire-cloth, and a moveable frame. It is with these that they fetch up the stuff from the vat, in order to form the sheets of paper. The vat being furnished with a sufficient quantity of stuff and of water, two instruments are employed to mix them ; the one of which is a simple pole, and the other a pole armed with a piece of board, rounded and full of holes. This operation is repeated as often as the stuff falls to the bottom. In the principal writing mills in England, they use for this purpose what is called a hog. After this operation the workman takes one of the forms, furnished with its frame, by the middle of the short sides, and fixing the frame round the wire-cloth with his thumbs, he plunges it obliquely 4 or 5 inches into the vat, beginning by the long side, which is nearest to him. After the immersion he raises it to a level: by these movements he fetches up on the form a sufficient quantity of stuff; and as soon as the form is raised the water escapes through the wire-cloth, and the superfluity of the stuff over the sides of the frame. The fibrous parts of the stuff arrange themselves regularly on the wire cloth of the form, not only in proportion as the water escapes, but also as the workman favours this effect by gently shaking the form. Afterwards, having placed the form on a piece of board, the workman workman takes off the frame or deckle, and glides this form towards the coucher; who, having previously laid his felt, places it with his left hand in an inclined situation on a plank fixed on the edge of the vat, and full of holes. During this operation, the workman applies his frame and begins a second sheet. The coucher seizes this instant, takes with his left hand the form, now sufficiently dry, and laying the sheet of paper upon the felt, returns the form by gliding it along the trapan of the vat. They proceed in this manner, laying alternately a sheet and a felt, till they have made six quires of paper, which is called a post; and this they do with such swiftness, that, in many sorts of paper, two men make upwards of 20 posts in a day. When the last sheet of the post is covered with the last felt, the workmen about the vat unite together and submit the whole heap to the action of the press. They begin at first to press it with a middling lever, and afterwards with a lever about 15 feet in length. After this operation, another person separates the sheets of paper from the felts, laying them in a heap; and several of these heaps collected together are again put under the press. The exchange is the next operation. It is conducted in a hall contiguous to the engine, supplied with several presses, and with a long table. The workman arranges on this table, the paper newly fabricated, into heaps; each heap containing 8 or 10 of those last under the press, kept separate by a woollen felt. The press is large enough to receive two of them at once, placed the one at the other's When the compression is judged sufficient, the heaps of paper are carried back to the table, and the whole tarned sheet by sheet, in such a manner that the surface. of every sheet is exposed to a new one; and in this situation they are again brought under the If the stuff be fine, or the paper slender, the exchange is less frequent press. ly |