Friendship of women. Women are more constant în friendship than men, for these reasons: the temperament of women is more cold, and therefore less likely to change or fly off from an object, to which they are once attached. The same coolness of constitution renders them more subject to timidity; and so they adhere to objects of affection, be cause they are fearful of losing what they value.

Scaliger.

Scaliger used to say, that he could not comprehend the causes

well described by an ancient phrase "cor suum edens," eating his own heart. Absolute singleness is the character of the Deity only; but man is too feeble and dependent to subsist by himself.

Swift was invited by a rich miser with a large party to dine; being requested by the host to return thanks at the removal of the cloth, uttered the following grace:

Thanks for this miracle this is no less,
Than to eat manna in the wilderness.
Where raging hunger reign'd we've found relief,
And seen that wondrous thing a piece of beef.
Here chimneys smoke, that never smok'd before,

Medici.

The family of the Medici, most probably, took their rise from some ancestor, who was an eminent physician, as they still bear in their arms the device of five pills.

Etymology of Decreptitude. The comparison of human life to the burning and going out of a lamp was familiar with Latin authors, as we know by the terms "senes decrepiti." A lamp, just about to expire, was said decrepare, to cease to crackle. Hence metaphorically, persons on the verge of the grave were called decrepit

men.

Solitude.

It is an observation of Seneca, that we should mix company and retirement, in order to make them both pleasant by change. The wish always to be alone shows the temper of a wild, ferocious aniinal, carries with it the dismal darkness of the tomb. The effect of such a disposition of mind is

Aristippus was very fond of magnificent entertainments, and loved a court life. court life. Dionysius asked him, in a sarcastick manner, the reason, why philosophers were seen often at the gates of princes, but princes never at the doors of philosophers? "For the same reason," replied the philosopher, "that physicians are found at the doors of sick men, but sick men never at the doors of physicians."

...

Sonnet on a Sonnet, by Lopez de Vega.

Capricious-a sonnet needs must have;

I ne'er was put to't before-a sonnet ! Why fourteen verses must be spent upon it, "Tis good however t'have conquer'd the first

stave.

Yet shall I ne'er find rhymes enough by half, Said I, and found myself i' th' midst o' the

second,

If twice four verses were but fairly reckon'd, I should turn back on th' hardest part, and laugh.

Thus far with good success I think I've scribbled,

And of the twice seven lines clean got o'er ten;

Coutage! another'll finish the first triplet; Thanks to the Muse, my work begins to shorten. See thirteen lines got through, dribblet by

dribblet;

'Tis done, count how you will, I warr'nt there fourteen.

She frequent look'd behind, and chang'd her hue,
While fancy tipt the candle's flame with blue.
And now they gain'd the winding stairs' ascent,
And to the lonesome room of terrours went.
When all was ready, swift retir'd the maid,
The watch-lights burn, tuck'd warm in bed was
laid

The hardy stranger, and attends the sprite
Till his accustom'd walk at dead of night.

At first he hears the wind with hollow roar Shake the loose lock, and wing the creaking door;

Nearer and nearer draws the dreadful sound
Of rattling chains that dragg'd upon the ground:
When lo, the spectre came with herrid stride,
Approach'd the bed, and drew the curtains wide!
In human form the ghastful phantom stood,
Expos'd his mangled bosom dy'd with blood.
Then, silent pointing to his wounded breast,
Thrice wav'd his hand. Beneath the frighted
guest

The bed-cords trembled, and with shuddering fear,

Sweat chill'd his limbs, high rose his bristled hair; Then mattering hasty prayers, he mana'd his

heart,

And cried aloud: Say, whence and who thou art?
The stalking ghost with hollow voice replies,
'Three years are counted since with mortal eyes
I saw the sun, and vital air respir'd.
Like thee benighted, and with travel tir'd,
Within these walls I slept. O thirst of gain!
See, still the planks the bloody mark retain.
Stretcir'd on this very bed, from sleep I start,
And see the steel impending o'er my heart;
The barbarous hostess held the lifted knife,
The floor ran purple with my gushing life.
My treasure now they sieze, the golden spoil
They bury deep beneath the grass-grown soil,
Far in the common field. Be bold, arise,
My steps shall lead thee to the secret prize;
There dig and find; let that thy care reward,
Call loud on justice, bid her not retard
To punish murder; lay my ghost at rest:
So shall with peace secure thy nights be blest;
And, when beneath these boards my bones are
found,

Decent inter them in some sacred ground.

Here ceas'd the ghost. The stranger springs from bed,

And boldly follows where the phantom led: The half-worn stony stars they now descend, Where passages obscure their arches bend. Silent they walk; and now through groves they pass,

Now through wet meads their steps imprint the

grass.

At length amidst a spacious field they came: There stops the spectre, and ascends in flame, Amaz'd he stood, no bush or brier was found, To teach his morning search to find the ground. What could he do? the night was hideous dark, Fear shook his joints, and nature dropt the mark: With that he starting wak'd, and rais'd his head, But found the golden mark was left in bed.

What is the statesman's vast ambitious scheme, But a short vision and a golden dream? Power, wealth, and title, elevate his hope; He wakes: but, for a garter, finds a rope.

PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATES.

A fable. By Cowper.

I SHALL not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau,
If birds confabulate or no;

'Tis clear that they were always able
To hold discourse, at least in fable;
And ev❜n the child, who knows no better,
Than to interpret by the letter,

A story of a cock and bull,

Must have a most uncommon skull.

It chanc'd then, on a winter's day, But warm and bright, and calm as May, The birds, conceiving a design

To forestal sweet St. Valentine,

In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
Assembled on affairs of love,

And with much twitter, and much chatter,
Began to agitate the matter.

At length a Bulfinch, who could boast
More years and wisdom than the most,
Entreated, opening wide his beak.
A moment's liberty to speak;
And, silence publickly enjoin'd,
Deliver'd briefly thus his mind.

My friends! be cautious how ye treat
The subject upon which we meet ;
I fear we shall have winter yet.

A Finch, whose tongue knew no control,
With golden wing and satin pole,
A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried
What marriage means, thus pert replied.
Methinks the gentleman, quoth she,
Opposite in the apple-tree,

By his good will would keep us single,
Till yonder heav'n and earth shall mingle,
Or (which is likelier to befal)
'Till death exterminate us all.
I marry without more ado,

My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?

Dick heard and tweedling, ogling, bridling Turning short round, strutting and sideling, Attested, glad, his approbation

Of an immediate conjugation.
Their sentiments so well express'd,
Influenc'd mightily the rest,

All pair'd, and each pair built a nest.
But though the birds were thus in haste,
The leaves came on not quite so fast,
And destiny, that sometimes bears
An aspect stern on men's affairs,
Not altogether smil'd on theirs.
The wind, of late breath'd gently forth,
Now shifted east and east by north;
Bare trees and shrubs but ill, you know,
Could shelter them from rain or snow,
Stepping into their nests, they paddled,
Theirselves were chill'd, their eggs were addled
Soon ev'ry father bird and mother
Grew quarrelsome, and peck'd each other,
Parted without the least regret,
Except that they had ever met,
And learn'd, in future, to be wiser,
Than to neglect a good adviser.

Instruction.

Misses! the tale that I relate

This lesson seems to carryChoose not alone a proper mate, But proper time to marry.

* It was one of the whimsical speculations of this philosopher, that all fables which ascribe reason and speech to animals should be withheld from children, as being only vehicles of decep tion. But what child was ever deceived by them, or can be, against the evidence of his.

senses

ARTICLE 1.

Memoirs of the American Academy
Vol. I.

of Arts and Sciences.
1785. 4to. pp. 568.

[Continued.]

V. SOME select astronomical ob servations made at Chelsea, latitude 42° 25′, and 26′′ in time east of the university at Cambridge. By the Rev. Phillips Payson, F.A.A.

The astronomical observations, here selected, are those of several emersions of Jupiter's first, second, and third satellites in 1779; three solar eclipses, namely, in June, 1778, October, 1780, and April, 1782; two lunar eclipses, namely, in May, 1779, and November, 1780; and the transit of Mercury in November, 1782.

VI. Observation of the transit of Mercury over the sun, Nov. 12, 1782, at Ipswich. By the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, F.A.A.

The going of the clock was carefully examined, and the times of all the contacts, except the first external, were determined.

VII. A memoir, containing observations of a solar eclipse, October, 27, 1780, made at Beverly: Also of a lunar eclipse, March 29, 1782; of a solar eclipse, April 12, and of the transit of Mercury over the sun's disc, November 12, the same year, made at the president's house in Cambridge. By the Rev. Joseph Willard, president of the u niversity.

Beside his own observations the author of this memoir furnishes

Neque ulli patientius reprehenduntur, quam qui

us with those of some other gentlemen, who accompanied him in attending to these phenomena. And having corresponding observations of the first of the said eclipses at Beverly, Chelsea, Penobscott-Bay,and Providence in the state of Rhode-Island, he subjoins their differences of longitude,which he had deduced, and consequently their longitudes from Cambridge, that of Chelsea relatively to Cambridge being known. Hence it appears, that the longitude of Beverly eastward from Cambridge is l' 11" in time; that of PenobscottBay 9' 15"; and that of Providence 1' 7" westward.

From the times of the contacts of Mercury at the said transit, president Willard, using Mayer's solar tables, and De La Lande's tables of Mercury, calculates the angle of Mercury's apparent way with the ecliptick, the time of the ecliptick conjunction, the errour of the tables in the latitude of Mercury at that time, which appears

to be 5".98 in defect. He also deduces the place of Mercury's ascending node, and calculates it from the tables; whence it appears, that the latter differs from the former 1′ 34′′ in excess.

VIII. Observations of a solar eclipse, October 27, 1780, made at St. John's Island, by Messrs. Clarke and Wright. In a letter from Mr. Joseph Peters to Caleb Gannett, A. M. Rec. Sec. Amer. Acad.

These observations were made at a place called Charlotte-town, which, according to Mr. Wright's

determination, is situated in 46° 13' of north latitude, and 62° 50' of west longitude from Greenwich. In this account it is stated on the authority of a gentleman, belonging to Yarmouth-Jebouge-Harbour, on the western coast of Nova-Scotia, that this eclipse, which excited great attention in this part of the country, was total there for a moment.

IX.

Observations of a solar eclipse, October 27, 1780, made at the university in Cambridge. Communicated by Caleb Gannett, A.M. The observers of this eclipse at Cambridge were the Rev. Professor Wigglesworth, Mr. Gannett, and the Rev. John Mellen. They did not perceive the beginning of the eclipse, but noted very particularly the disappearance and reappearance of various spots, which were then visible on the sun, and the end of the eclipse. And these may be compared with other corresponding observations; some attention having been paid to the passage of the moon's limbs over solar spots by most of the astronomers, who observed the eclipse. The quantity of the eclipse they estimated at 113 digits.

X. An observation of a solar eclipse, October 27, 1780, at Providence. By Joseph Browne, Esq.

The beginning of the eclipse was not seen, but the times, when the moon's limb first touched certain solar spots, were ascertained, and that of the end was noted by three observers. By measure with a micrometer Mr. Brown determined the quantity of the eclipse to be about 11 digits.

XI. Observatians of the solar eclipse of the 27th of October, 1780, made at Newport, Rhode-Island, by Mons. de Granchain. Translated

from the French, and communicat◄ ed by the Rev. President Willard.

By these observations times are determined, when limbs of the sun and moon, and the sun's horns passed over the vertical and hori, zontal wires of a telescope, and when the eclipse ended, at a station on Goat-Island in 41° 30′ 30′′ of northern latitude.

M. de Granchain also observed the lunar eclipse of the 11th of November, 1780, at the same place. And the memoir contains his observed times of the beginning, immersion, and emersion of certain spots, and the end.

XII. An account of the obser vations made in Providence, in the state of Rhode-Island, of the eclipse of the sun, which happened the 23d day of April, 1781. By Benjamin West, Esq. F.A.A.

The quantity of the eclipse and the time of its end were determined.

And Mr. West calculated the moon's diameter from the magni, tude of the eclipse and the length of the chord, joining the cusps at the time of greatest obscuration.

Mercury, observed at Cambridge, XIII, Account of the transit of

November 12, 1782. By James Winthrop, Esq. F.A.A.

Observations of this transit by Judge Winthrop are contained in Professor Williams' account of those, which were made by himself and others. But, in the me moir before us, the author gives a more particular relation, with some additional facts and remarks.

XIV. Observations of an eclipse. of the moon, March 29, 1782, and of an eclipse of the sun, on the 12th of April, following, at Ipswich, lat. 42° 38′ 30′′. By the Rev. Manas sch Cutler, F.A.A.

Relative to the lunar eclipse,