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This again divided by 25000 = 34,0885 the verfed fine of the ark, which fubtracted from 3979 the radius of the earth, leaves a remainder of 39449115.

Whence, as 3944.9115: 3979 3979: 4013. 31

miles, the altitude required.

Subtract

Remain

3979.

34.31 or 34

Note, if in the apparent motion our Saviour fhould be vifible two hours to each place, his altitude will be 1301⁄2 miles pearly.

Poet:y.

SPRING.

AN IMITATION OF THOMSON.

Infcribed to Aary-Ann T——.

NOW walk we forth, my dearest An, to view
New Nature's (miling face, and hail the icene
Of bounteous ftores the here difplays profufe:
Hail too, and chiefeft hail, that Lord of Light,
Of warmth and ftrength, of nature-cheering pow'r,
The ne'er exhaufted fource.

Flush'd from the radiant chambers of the Eaft,
Rides forth the King of Day, illuming all,
And feems t' expel ftern Winter's drear remains
Before his vafty orb. How glad the change!
How fmiles Creation's fpace at Aries' guest,
When driving forth on high his car rotund,
He joys refplendent all th' ethereal sky.

That car which heathen fons have thought pent up
In fome huge stall while Winter held his reign,
A fullen neighbour to th' ambrofial steeds,

On ether hay regal'd.

-Shall we o'er realms

On t'other fide the Sun that feem to be,

Caft an enquiring eye? No fun-beams there
Glad the cold fcene, and all is Winter, e'en

In the full midst of Spring. Grim Zembla scarce

Perceives

Perceives the change, nor does Ardanger's top;
And the huge Kraken ftill fweeps northern feas,
O'er icy ifles amufive, Lord of all.

Light we on Iceland's fhore, where Hecla ftill
Uprears a frozen fide, and th' hot Geyser,
Unfroze and ftrange, oft fpouts her fcalding fpring:
There Winter growls in Northern Majesty,
And ftill defies the glorious orb of Heav'n.
Nor can link'd Caucafus and Tarus heights
Boaft friendlier regions now: 'tis Winter still,
Still their stern heads that awful pierce the clouds,
(Which round their frozen crowns difportive play)
And feem to prop the sky, like Atlas old,
Yet rife in wint'ry grandeur toward Heav'n,
That looks with them one cloud by fnows conjoin'd.
But turn we now from diftant fancy'd scenes,
Nor reft on Appenine or frightful Alps,
Whofe high forbidding tops and deathful vales,
That frown in horror itern, muft with one vest
Of hoary fnow cover'd o'er impartial,

Make the bold traveller think himfelf in clouds.
But let us turn our eyes into our milder isle,
And vifit realms within our Albine tow'rs,
Thofe tow'rs by Nature's hand, that feem defign'd
By Nature's Lord to fhield a favour'd land!
Oh, Britain! bleft in this thy temp'rate clime,
Why fo abuse the gracious gifts of Heav'n,
Thou, whofe good year rolls round in earthly blifs,
And feafon follows feafon thro' the whole,
In sweetest harmony fucceffive?

Why forget'ft thou th' eternal cause of all,
And by the blindest infidelity

Repay ft th' all-creating Benefactor?

Now while gay Spring bedecks the fatt'ning foil,

Oh turn thee, turn from thy corrupted ways,
And with the genial face of Nature hail

With me the general good.

Let us not mount on chilling Wrekin's top,
Nor let my Mufe on big Plinlimmon's height

Freeze me with Cambrian scenes, while my fond heart
Pants to purfue foft Spring's reviving smiles,
And trace her thro' her daily fpangled meads,
Congenial laughing round. As when stern war
Has fpread from year to year his baneful ire,
And indifcriminate, nor fex nor age
Has will'd to kindly fpare, but gor'd alike,
And as at last he flowly leaves the stage,
Big with fell anger and fanguinary luft,

A fullen look cafts back, yet loth to quit the scene
Of defolation and far fcattered woe:

So even now does warring Winter cease
His iron reign; but oft his frowning eye
He ftern reverts as onward yet he moves,

And yields to gentle Spring thofe dreary fcenes.
The humble crocus now with kingly hue

Rifes in modeft growth, a virgin tinge,

And the round bud peeps thro' the knotted bough,
Of fruitful gratitude indicative.

Here let my Mufe lead me with joyous hand
Through Sipfon's rural road, to fee enraptur'd
That fecund bed of blooming orchards sweet.
Each ancient fruit-tree now in vernal bloom,
All with fragrant vegetation teeming,

The gladden'd eye beholds with fresh delight,
And takes in all the bounteous range of Spring,
Bleffing each fimple villager's hard toil.
Regardless paffes by the village clown,

His rougher eye views them as things of course;
He inconfid rate thinks it fhould be so,

And thanks not Him by whofe command they were,

Whose frown could kill, whose breath could blast the whole.
Unwifeft ingrate! whofe accuftom'd mind
Rubs on thro' life unknowing half its bliss,
And looks on all the precious stores thereof
As common gifts each man should well expect,
How diff'rent far the grateful lab'rer's eye,
That views enraptur'd Nature's blossom'd face,
And in each feature finds increafing charms :
From his deep foul he pours forth fervent thanks,
As o'er the ample bofom of his field,
He walks in raptur'd contemplation sweet.
And thus let me

Stray in the well-known field, by softest notes
Of dulcet harmony invited forth,

Of the glad feather'd race that joy the scene,
And now with tuneful throats feem to hail Man,
As harbingers of life return'd from far.

Glad the fweet primrose 'mongst the mole hills,
In pleasant Towny-Mead fends forth her fweets,
And grateful rears its odours to the sky;
While Man receives the happy new-born taste,
And joyous owns the gift.

See Nature now affume a blissful mien :
He who e'er now fat fhiv'ring on the hearth,
With ev'ry joint by cruel cold benumb'd,
Goes whistling to the plough, a happy swain,
Cheer'd by the parent-foft'rer the Sun,
That gladly nurs'd him from the pinching froft,
And in a bleft gradation, day by day,
In him the man revives, the native man,
Inftill'd with prefent life, and calls him forth
From out the well-deferved bed of reft,
To tafte the genial morn by happy note,
Encourag'd of the lark. The meadows laugh,
And lavish Nature pours her vernal stores
In fair Aurora's lap, and gladdens thus

The once cramp'd heart, of now strong, grateful Mani.

JUVENIS.

MONTHLY

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MONTHLY OCCURRENCES.

March 26.

ed immediately to quit the dominion

BY the German papers, it appears of the Republic, that orders were if

to be the intention of France and the Emperor to fecularize the ecclefiaftical states, and many of the ec. clefiaftics, alarmed at the unexpected changes which are daily taking place, have began to fell their timber, and convert all their moveable property into fpecie.

fued to arrest all Americans who had taken up their abode in France fince the year 1792, and their property, which is fuppofed to be worth three millions sterling, to be confifcated, to abide the determination of the differences between the two Go.

vernments.

APRIL 4. The whole of the Swiss Cantons have now declared, that they are willing to accept the plan of a conftitution proposed for them at Paris.

27. A letter from Waterford, dated the 20th, ftates, that notwithstanding 20 men a day, on the average were fent from the prifons to Duncanon fort, and to the tender for the navy, the two gaols were crowd- 9. An encampment is to be formed with perfons accufed of defen-ed in Windfor Forest; Gen. Harderifm.

28. A requifition of every third man able to bear arms is expected to take place in Holland; the object feems to be to raife a fufficient number of men to man their fleet, intended to co-operate in the descent upon this country.

29. The French Government at | Mentz have prohibited the monks from wearing their usual habits, and fuch as are incapable of fubfifting by their literary talents have been given to understand they may go and work in the vineyards up the Rhine.

court is nominated to the command.

A mutiny having broke out on board one of the homeward-bound Indiamen, in which the gunner ftruck a mate, the captain, who was prefent, inftantly fhot him dead.

12. The Porte is threatened with a new storm; a dangerous rebellion has broken out in the Morea, and the greater part of the Greeks in that country have joined the infur, gents.

19. The Duke of York, a few days fince, by way of example, difmiffed a General Officer, commanding an important poft in Hampshire, on account of his frequent inebriety, observing on the occafion, that these were not times for either officers or foldiers to be unguarded, or neglectful of their duty.

30. By the last Irish papers we have fome particulars from the South, which fhew that part of the kingdom in its true colours. Some months ago we fhuddered at the fituation of the North, but that was peace and happiness compared with the prefent ftate of the South. Not a day paffes without fome outrage, and the imprifonment of fome perfons. The city of Cork is filled with families who have abandoned the country through fear, and every one 24. A courier extraordinary arlooks with anxiety and difmay to rived at Paris on the 29th of Gerthe termination of the prefent un-minal, who brought intelligence happy state of affairs.

31. It was currently reported yefterday on 'Change, that the American Commiffioners, appointed to adjuft the differences between their -country and France have been order

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23. Lord Briftol, an Irish Bishop, has been feized by the French, on the charge of being a spy; he had many papers about him relative to the ftate of France, their fleets, &c. and is to be tried by a Council of War at Ferrara.

from Raftadt to the Directory, that the deputation of the empire had accepted all the conditions of peace proposed on the part of the French Republic.

THE

Univerfalist's Mifcellany

For MAY, 1798.

A

NATURAL HISTORY.

Continued from Page 479 of the first Volume.

Great influx of temporary matter has prevented us from attending to this pleafing article, in feveral of our preceding numbers. We now refume the fubje&.

In our laft effay, we endeavoured to prove that Mofes has given a rational and philosophical account of the fubfiding of the waters of the Deluge, and the re-formation of the earth. Various have been the conjectures of modern philofophers concerning the internal ftructure of our orb. The lively Buffon fancied it to be a globe of glafs. Whifton thought it was a sphere of heated iron. Kircher faid it was one great dreadful volcano. Burnet, who seems to have taken his idea from Mofes, fupposes it to be a great mafs of waters. Indeed, we can know nothing of the matter by experience; and if Revelation has faid nothing about it, we must be for ever ignorant. Our inquiries have been carried but to a very little depth below the furface. The deepest mine, which, perhaps, is that at Cottenberg, in Hungary, is little more than than three thousand feet in depth; but what proportion does that bear to the diameter of the earth, which is near eight thousand miles?

So far as human curiofity or avarice have carried their researches, the globe has been found to confift of different layers or beds of earth; thefe, in general, lie horizontally one over another, like the leaves of a book, and each of them is compofed of materials that increase in weight as they lie deeper; but this order is fometimes inverted, probably from accidental Vor. II. caufes,

S

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