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When Oldbuck entered this house of mourning, he was received by a general and silent inclination of the head, and, according to the fashion of Scotland on such occasions, wine and spirits and bread were offered round to the guests. Elspeth, the old grandmother, as these refreshments were presented, surprised and startled the whole company by motioning to the person who bore them to stop; then, taking a glass in her hand, she rose up, and, as the smile of dotage played upon her shrivelled features, she pronounced with a hollow and tremulous voice, “Wishing a' your healths, sirs, and often may tre hae such merry meetings."

All shrunk from the ominous pledge, and set down the untasted liquor with a degree of shuddering horror, which will not surprise those who know how many superstitions are still common on such occasions among the Scottish vulgar.?

As the general amazement subsided, Mr. Oldbuck, whose heart bled to witness what he considered as the errings of the enfeebled intellect struggling with the torpid chill of age and of sorrow, observed to the clergyman that it was time to proceed to the ceremony. The father was incapable of giving directions, but the nearest relation of the family made a sign to the carpenter, who in such cases goes through the duty of the undertaker, to proceed in his office. The creak of the screw-nails presently announced that the lid of the last mansion of mortality was in the act of being secured above its tenant. The last act which separates us for ever, even from the mortal reliques of the person we assemble to mourn, has usually its effect upon the most indifferent, selfish, and hard-hearted. With a spirit of contradiction, which we may be pardoned for esteeming narrow-minded, the fathers of the Scottish kirk rejected, even on this most solemu occasion, the form of an address to the Divinity, lest they should be thought to give countenance to the rituals of Rome or of England.'

The coffin, covered with a pall, and supported upon handspikes by the nearest relatives, now only waited the father to support the head, as is customary. Two or three of these privileged persons spoke to him, but he only answered by shaking his hand and his head in token of refusal. With better intention than judgment, the friends, who considered this as an act of duty on the part of the living, and of decency towards the deceased, would have proceeded to enforce their request, had not Oldbuck interfered between the distressed father and his well-meaning tormentors, and informed them, that he himself, as landlord and master to the deceased, would carry his head to the grave." In spite of the sorrowful occasion, the hearts of the relatives swelled within them at so marked a distinction on the part of the Laird; and old Ailison Breck, whe was present among other fish women, swore almost aloud, His honour Monk barns should never want sax warp of oysters in the season, (of which fish he was understood to be fond), if she should gang to sea and dredge for them hersel, in the foulest wind that ever blew."

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The procession to the church-yard, at about half a mile's dis

tance, was made with the mournful solemnity usual on these occasions, -the body was consigned to its parent earth,-and when the labour of the grave-diggers had filled up the trench, and covered it with fresh sod, Mr. Oldbuck, taking his hat off, saluted the assistants, who had stood by in mournful silence, and with that adieu dispersed the mourners.'

THE STEAM-ENGINE

Our readers are well acquainted with the extraordinary qualities of gunpowder when employed as a mechanical power. The whole art of war was suddenly changed so soon as it was discovered that a mixture of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, when touched by a single spark of fire, would drive to an immense distance any hard substance rammed into a tube of iron. By this contrivance cannon and mugkets became the principal weapons of war: the work of death being remarkably changed by substituting these for the ancient arms of attack and defence. It is probable that the poor Monk, who is said to have been the inventor, little dreamt of the fatal use that would be made of his discovery by military men; those of more peaceful disposition hoped that it would lead to very important advantages in other arts, and it was naturally expected that such a force might be successfully applied instead of human strength, to perform many great and difficult works. Thus mines and quarries, which before the invention of gunpowder were excavated with much labour, are now worked with far greater ease and rapidity by the process of blasting. The great defect of gunpowder, when employed as a mechanical force, arises from its being only instantaneous. The power ceases the moment after it is produced. Water supplies a force of great value in driving machinery, but this power has the objection of uncertainty. It is only in peculiar situations that waterworks can be erected, and a frost or a drought may suddenly put a stop to the movements. Machines agitated by wind are liable to similar objections, and are subject to many others peculiar to themselves.

The Steam-engine has supplied exactly what was wanting in them all. It furnishes a force more powerful even than gunpowder; it possesses the great additional quality of being perfectly manageable, and may therefore be applied with safety and dispatch to the minutest as well as the greatest undertakings. It has the further advantage of being applicable to all situations; it is subject to no change of weather, and the whole machinery may be placed in the compass of a closet. The variety and extent of its powers are wonderful. 'The trunk of an elephant, which can pick up a pin, or rend an oak, is nothing to it. It can engrave a seal, or crush masses of metal like wax before it-draw out without breaking a thread as fine as gossamer, and lift a ship of war like a bauble into

the air; it can embroider muslin, and forge anchors-cut steel into ribbands, and impel loaded vessels against winds and waves.'

Like most other great inventions, the discovery was not made at once. So early as the middle of the seventeenth century, the Marquis of Worcester made known the principle upon which steam might be applied to mechanical purposes. In his Century of Inventions he calls it' a forcible method of driving water by fire.' Most of our readers probably know that water is not elastic. It cannot be pressed into a less space than it naturally fills; but when fire is applied it is thrown off in the form of steam, and becomes then so elastic, that it will act against any thing opposed to it with astonishing force: a simple proof of this may be seen when a tea-kettle boils over; that part of the water changed into steam expands and presses the water out of the spout, or if this be stopped, it will drive off the lid with violence. In 1696, Captain Savary employed this principle to force the water from mines, and in 1705, it was greatly improved by Mr. Newcomen; but it was reserved for the late Mr. Watt to carry it to the high degree of perfection it now possesses. This gentleman was a working mathematical instrument maker at Glasgow. It happened that among the models of machines belonging to the Natural Philosophy Class in that University, there was one of Mr. Newcomen's Steam-engines which wanted repair, and was sent to him for that purpose. His ineffectual attempts to set it right induced him to give his whole attention to improve the principle, and availing himself of a valuable discovery relative to latent heat made about that time by Dr. Black, he produced the machine now universally known, and distinguished by his name.

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The genius of Mr. Watt raised him speedily above the condition of his parents, and aided by persevering and successful study, rapidly conducted him to reputation and fortune, He engaged in partnership with the late Mr. Boulton, of Birmingham; near which they established their celebrated manufactory of Soho, at once the delight and admiration of strangers, and the boast and honour of British science, Mr. Watt was elected a fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and was also a member of the Philosophical Institute at Paris. Amidst. all the distinctions which he received, he seems never to have lost the native simplicity of his character; and he preserved his faculties unimpaired to the advanced age of 83. He died at his seat of Heathfield, near Birmingham, August the 25th, 1819, leaving one son, who had long been associated with him in his profession.

EDITOR L.

ANECDOTE,

SIR ISAAC NEWTON, a little before he died, said, I don't know what I may seem to the world; but, as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before

me.'

SPENCE

THE ENGLISH MONTHS. FEBRUARY.

WINTER seldom leaves us during this month. We have frequently frost and snow; and more generally chilling rains and sleet, which are even more uncomfortable than the direct severities of January. Yet occasionally a few fine days of this month present a singular contrast of brilliancy and clearness. Such a day has been thus described :

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The mist still hovers round the distant hills;
But the blue sky above us has a clear

And pearly softness; not a white speck lies
Upon its breast: it is a crystal dome.
There is a quiet charm about this morn

Which sinks into the soul. No gorgeous colours
Has the undraperied earth, but yet she shews
A vestal brightness: not the voice is heard
Of sylvan melody, whether of birds

Intent on song, or bees mingling their music
With their keen labour; but the twittering voice
Of chaffinch, or the wild unfrequent note
Of the lone woodlark, or the minstrelsy
Of the blest robin, have a potent spell
Chirping away the silence: not the perfume
Of violet scents the gale, nor apple-blossom,
Nor satiating bean-flower; the fresh breeze
Itself is purest fragrance. Light and Air
Are ministers of gladness; where these spread
Beauty abides and joy: where'er Life is

There is no melancholy.'

The most obvious appearance of the approach of Spring is the lengthening of the days. The sun begins to have considerable power. Sudden thaws often take place, which fill the rivers, and inundate the low country around. But the frost as often returns. Indeed the month may be generally described as one of alternate changes;sometimes exciting us with much of the beautiful promise of Spring, and at other times depressing us with some of the gloomiest appearances of Winter.

But however uncertain may be the general character of February, the indications of the renovation of Nature are pretty constant. The flower-buds are generally disclosed on the elder-trees;-the hazel - begins to sprout;-and the young leaves of the gooseberry and currant bushes of our gardens become visible about the end of the month. The principle of vegetation now begins to be in full activity. Immediately after the frost is moderated, the sap ascends in trees. The following description of the wonderful economy of Providence, in making provision for the growth of plants, is extracted from Aikin's Natural History of the year :

'The first vital function in trees, after the earth is sufficiently thawed, is the ascent of the sap, which is taken up by the absorbent vessels composing the inner bark of the tree, and reaching te the extremity of the fibres of the roots; the water thus imbibed

by the roots is there mixed with a quantity of saccharine matter, and formed into sap, whence it is distributed in great abundance to every individual bud. The amazing quantity of sweet liquid sap provided for the nourishment of some trees, is evident from a prevalent custom in this country, of tapping the birch in the early part of the Spring. This great accession of nourishment causes the bud to swell, and to break through its covering, and to spread into blossoms, or lengthen into a shoot bearing leaves. This is the first process, and, properly speaking, is all that belongs to the springing of trees; and in many plants, that is, all those which are annual or deciduous, there is no other process. But in trees, though the beginning and end of the first process is exactly similar to what takes place in vegetables, yet there is a second process, which at the same time that it adds to their bulk, enables them to endure and go on increasing through a long series of years.

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The second process begins soon after the first, in this way :-At the base of the foot-stalk of each leaf a small bud is gradually formed; but the absorbent vessels of the leaf, having exhausted themselves in the formation of the bud, are unable to bring it nearer to maturity in this state it exactly resembles a seed, containing within it the rudiments of vegetation, but destitute of absorbent vessels to nourish the embryo. Being surrounded, however, by sap, like a seed in moist earth, it is in a proper situation for growing; the influence of the sun sets in motion the juices of the bud and of the seed, and the first operation in both of them is to send down roots a certain depth into the ground for the purpose of obtaining the necessary moisture. The bud accordingly shoots down its roots upon the inner bark of the tree, till they reach the part covered by the earth. Winter now arriving, the cold and defect of moisture, owing to the clogged condition of the absorbent vessels, cause the fruit and leaves to fall, so that except the provision of buds with roots, the remainder of the tree, like an annual plant, is entirely dead: the leaves, the flowers, and fruit, are gone, and what was the inner bark is no longer organized, while the roots of the buds form a new inner bark; and thus the buds with their roots contain all that remains alive of the whole tree. It is owing to this annual renovation of the inner bark, that the tree increases in bulk; and a new coating being added every year, we are hence furnished with an easy and and exact method of ascertaining the age of a tree by counting the number of circles of which the trunk is composed.'

Those who observe the works of God even in their common appearances, must necessarily learn to acquire happiness and knowledge. The book of Nature is open to every one; and it is full of the deepest truths.

The approach of Spring sets the farmer to his work. He ploughs up his fallows; sows spring-wheat and rye, beans and pease; repairs hedges; drains wet lands; and plants those trees that delight in moisture, such as willows and alders. Though one month may be more busy than another, there are no times of idleness for those who have to follow the course of the Seasons. EDITOR K.

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