Elian, Solinus, and Theophrastus; among the moderns, Linnæus, Buffon, and Cuvier. The works of Linnæus and Buffon are well known; those of Cuvier are less known, from their being so recently published.

Linnæus was a Swede, Buffon and Cuvier were Frenchmen.

BIOGRAPHY

WALLACE; THE HERO OF SCOTLAND.

Nor even prejudice itself can prevent some degrees of human virtue from exciting human admiration and esteem.

Were any proof of this truth required we should have a con

MORAL PHILOSOPHY is the science that lays down the RULES of a virtuous and happy life, and excites us to the practice of them ;-or, in other words, it is the science that directs and forms our manners, explains the reasons, nature, and consequences, of our actions, and in-vincing one in the high esteem in which the memory of Wallace, structs us how to acquire that felicity which is agreeable to human nature.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY is the same as what we sometimes call ETHICS;

at other times MORALITY.

the hero of Scotland, is held by Englishmen. For it was as the bitter and untameable enemy of England that his courage, his sagacity, and his perseverance were displayed. But the nobler qualities of his head and heart have aroused the nobler feelings of our nature, and we forget the implacable enemy in the patriot and hero. But, though the fame of Wallace is established among us, the particulars of his public life are by no means universally Among the moral virtues are justice, humanity, gratitude, temper-known; and a brief sketch of those particulars will not be desti tute, we imagine, of either interest or usefulness to the majority of

The MORAL OF A FABLE is the instruction drawn from it.
MORALS, any thing relating to the manners and conduct of life.
MORAL ACTIONS are such that render the agent good or evil; and

consequently, rewardable or punishable.

ance, &c.

MORAL CERTAINTY is used to signify a very strong probability, in our readers. contradistinction to a mathematical demonstration.

Alexander the Third, King of Scotland, being killed by an acoidental fall from his horse, the Scottish sceptre devolved upon his

MORAL IMPOSSIBILITY is what we otherwise call a very great, and almost insuperable difficulty, in opposition to a physical, or natural im-grand-daughter Margaret, the infant child of his daughter Marpossibility. garet, who had but a few years previously been married to Eric of Norway, whom in the third year from her marriage left that prince a widower.

CULINARY, relating to the kitchen.

GELATINE, formed into a jelly. Gelatine is usually prepared from the skin of animals. Common glue is a gelatine contaminated or polluted with impurities, to which it owes its colour. ISINGLASS is a gelatine nearly in a state of purity.

Gelatine, when quite pure, is transparent and colourless, hard, brittle, and breaks with a glassy fracture. It has scarcely any taste or smell, and is heavier than water.

Scarcely any event could have been more immediately productive of misfortune and suffering to Scotland than the sudden decease of Alexander, while the princess, his successor, was yet in her infancy. For, the internal state of the kingdom required the exertions of a vigorous and sagacious ruler; while the ambition and the splendid military talents of Edward the Third, of England threatened to subvert the Scottish monarchy altogether, and to render Scotland itself a mere province, and appanage of the English crown. At first, indeed, it seemed not improbable that the union of the two kingdoms, though inevitable, would be peaceably OSMAZOME is obtained from the muscles, and has a brown yellow brought about, and productive of future peace. For Edward, who, colour. It swells up when heated, and is decomposed.

ALBUMEN is the most frequent of the proximate animal principles. The white of an egg is almost pure albumen. Albumen is abundant in all red-blooded animals. It is present in the blood, ligaments, veins, bones, &c.

PROXIMATE, near and immediate.

CARBON is a chemical element, which is sometimes met with pure in the mineral state, as in the diamond. It exists in combination in many

minerals; is also found in considerable abundance, in all vegetable and animal matter. The CHEMIST usually obtains CARBON, according to the different uses to which it is to be applied, from coal, from animal matter, and from vegetables. CARBON is solid, insipid, without smell, and generally black.

To carbonise a thing is to burn it in a close vessel until all that is volatile by heat is evaporated, when a black mass of CARBON is left, which is applicable to different arts, manufactures, and uses. are produced the cokes and charcoal of commerce.

FARINACIOUS, mealy, tasting like meal.

Thus

SAPID, tasteful, palatable, powerfully stimulating the palate.
EMPYREUMA (em-pè-rú-ma), the burning of any matter in boiling or
distillation.
EMPYREUMATICAL, having the smell or taste of substances as above

burnt,

: AMMONIA is obtained 'abundantly by manufacturers from the decomposition of animal matter; chiefly from horn, hoofs, and bone. They are put into an iron pot or still, closely covered, and then exposed to a strong heat. The liquid ammonia of commerce is of very variable strength, which is readily ascertained by CHEMISTS.

A solution of AMMONIA is recommended for restoring the appearance of gold trinkets, which have lost their colour from wear, by removing part of the copper from the surface of the alloy.

SOLUTION, matter dissolved, that which contains any thing dissolved. (Also the removal of a doubt, or intellectual difficulty).

Alloy, baser metal mixed with a superior, as in coinage, &c.
BLAND, Soft.

when the ambitious and warlike frenzy was not upon him, could to give the hand of the young princess Margaret to his son. Eric prove himself as politic as he was brave, applied to Eric of Norway was too sensible of the advantages which would accrue to him from an alliance with so powerful a monarch as Edward, to make any difficulty about giving his consent to the match; and the young princess speedily set out from Norway on her voyage towards Scotland.

But those who hoped that the union of the young queen of Scotland with the son of the English monarch would avert a war between the two countries were doomed to see their hopes frustrated by an event as unexpected as it was lamentable. For, scarcely had the young princess sailed from Norway, when she was seized with a severe fit of illness, which rapidly increased to so alarming a degree as to induce those who were charged with the care of her, to anchor at the island of Orkney. She was conveyed on shore, but, though every care and attention were lavished upon her, she died soon after her landing. This sad event alarmed and grieved all those of the Scots who were anxious for the preservation of peace. For, while on the one hand it destroyed the hope of giving Edward an interest in the welfare of the Scottish people, king, it also rendered it very probable that Baliol and Bruce, the and exposed them to the enmity of that ambitious and war-loving rival candidates for the crown, would light up the flames of civil war in the prosecution of their respective claims.

earned him a fame and an admiration which will cease only when mankind shall prefer slavery to freedom,

In May, 1297, he made a bold, though an unsuccessful, attempt to capture the person of Ormesby. That personage contrived, indeed, to escape, but his very flight gave new energy to the followers of Wallace, and in an alniost incredibly short time they expelled the English troops from all the chief and strongest places in Scotland. For some time, every day in Wallace's life brought him the on toils and the dangers of battle; and every battle left him in possession of greater power and higher renown. He began with but a few bold followers; but in a short time he found himself at the head of a ugh numerous and enthusiastic army, well provided with all the impleLoupments and munitions of war.

Edward, who at this juncture was in France, ordered the Earl of Surrey to crush this daring revolt. That nobleman, with all speed, marched an army of forty thousand men into Scotland. Even that immense force would have availed but little, had not the ignorant pride of some of the Scottish nobility fought against themselves and their country. They had been well enough pleased to see Wallace take the lead in the vindication of their national

ina silt abad ton li alusineg spout to store and a bha awon hotam o of Meeting of Wallace and Bruce, sami owu War, indeed, was to ensue; but not precisely from the causes leed, was to ensue ; but The rival, competitors, in which were expected to produce it. instead of arming their countrymen against each other, took the honour while its cause was almost utterly hopeless. But, when his more honourable, though, as it subsequently proved, scarcely less genius and his valour had given a new aspect to the conflict, they fatal, course, of referring their dispute to the arbitration of the Eng-command should be in the hands of a private gentleman! This suddenly discovered that it was degrading to them that the chief

lish monarch.

Edward gladly accepted the task thus offered to him; and, by way of rendering his mediation effectual, he marched an immense army to the border position at which he appointed the rivals to

meet him and make their claims.

paltry pride deserved no lenity and no indulgence. But Wallace was a real hero, and a real lover of his country, and when he perceived, by numerous and continued defections, that his authority really was painfully felt by his ignorant compatriots, he voluntarily resigned When Baliol and Bruce, with their respective supporters, ap- Irresolution and procrastination had already worked their usual his command. But this noble act of self-denial came too late. peared before Edward, he astonished them by declaring that though evils. Edward himself, with the very flower of his troops, had they had, indeed, solicited him to arbitrate between them, he was about to do so, not in mere compliance with their solicitation, but by this time arrived, and in a battle which was fought near Falby virtue of his authority as feudal superior of the kings of Scot-kirk, the Scots were completely routed. Bruce, who had all along land. It was in vain that it was represented to him that the more endeavoured, at whatever sacrifice, to make a friend of Edward, correct course would be to decide upon the sovereignty first, and then the foe and the scourge of his native land, was actually at this to claim of the new sovereign whatever the sovereignty owed to period serving in the English army; he was encountered by him. He was too confident in the might he possessed, to pay any Wallace near the Carron; and the latter sternly, yet with feeling, attention to reasoning upon his right. His feudal superiority was, said Wallace," are especially bound to oppose the English king, reproached him for his desertion of the cause of Scotland. 66 You," at length, formally acknowledged by the competitors; and then, as if desire grew with indulgence, he stated that in claiming the for he wrongs you while wronging your country!" So powerfully feudal lordship, he by no means intended to preclude his future claim to the direct and immediate sovereignty itself.

After making this startling declaration, Edward appointed trusty commissioners to decide between the rivals, Baliol and Bruce. The claims of the former were held to be the stronger, and he was accordingly crowned. :

But it soon appeared that Edward viewed his feudal superiority in no nominal or honorary light. In fact, he interfered so strongly, and so vexatiously, in the internal affairs of Scotland, that even the tame and pliant spirit of Baliol was, at length, aroused, and a war was the consequence. But though Baliol was roused to resistance, he was not competent to defend his kingdom against an adversary so warlike and powerful as Edward, and he was soon defeated, and taken, as a prisoner of state, to England. Cressingham, the treasurer, and Ormesby, the justiciary of Scotland, were jointly entrusted with the vice-royalty of Scotland; while, Baliol, the crowned king, was a prisoner in the hands of his conqueror. Now it was, when Scotland groaned beneath the petty and vexatious tyrannies of the servants of its conqueror, that the hero Walace started into that bold and spirited course of patriotism, which

was Bruce affected by these words that he from that time resolved to deliver his country; and Wallace may be said to have been, like Sampson, the most victorious on the eve of his death. For, though unsuccessful himself, he raised up for Scotland a more fortunate, though a less disinterested champion. For a time, Wallace found safety in concealment. The cowardly and mean submission of the nobles who had refused to serve under his command left him no hope of delivering his country. But he would not be an active assistant in her enslavement, and neither threat nor promise could induce him to submit himself to Edward.

To the eternal shame of Scotland he was at length betrayed into the hands of the English, by Sir John Monteith, and carried to the Tower of London as a prisoner. And to the still greater shame of the warlike Edward, this gallant man was murderously beheaded there, upon the preposterous charge of treason towards a monarch to whom he neither owed, nor had promised, allegiance. Ilis posterity, however, has rightly judged him; and all time will admire his ability and patriotism, and lament his death.

Published by JAMES GILBERT, 228, Regent-street, and 51, Paternoster-row
Printed by WHITING, Beaufort House.
[Stereotype.

1. THE above engraving represents the heavens, in which the come from beneath the horizon. Rising to different heights in the Solar System is considered as forming part; and in order to con-heavens, they descend again, and set in their turn, like those which template a spectacle so grand, let us imagine ourselves upon some preceded them. But if, in our latitude, we place ourselves in such high elevation, in an open country, where the view is uninterrupted a manner, as to have the east on our right, and the west on our on every side. The best time for this purpose is upon the setting left, we shall see, in that part of the heavens which is before us, of the sun, when the western sky is faintly illuminated; at and which we call north, some groups of stars which seem set; which time, we shall see this light fade away by degrees, the such for example, is the remarkable collection called the "Great darkness increase, night come on, and the sky will appear a vast Bear." This constellation, and the greater part of those which are dome studded with a multitude of brilliant points. These found in that part of the heavens, disappear only when their light are the stars, which the too strong light of the sun has pre- is lost in that of the sun. They may be seen during the whole of vented us from perceiving during the day. The disposition of the night, and followed through the lowest part of their course, for these stars seems to be immutable; which is essentially the same now they never descend to the horizon. If observed at different times as it was in periods the most remote. The different elusters are of the night, they will be found to have their positions in the such in their configurations as the ancients described them, when heavens reversed, the natural effect of the rotary movement, which they grouped them together under the name of constellations; and, they have in common with all the other stars; and the centre, about to assist the memory, associated them with the figures of men, which they move, is a point of the heavens situated directly north. animals, &c. But these stars, while they preserve the same order, The light that appears in the east at the approach of day, soon are carried round the heavens as by a common motion. Those becomes strong enough to eclipse the stars which have just risen in towards the west, decline more and more, and disappear when the that direction; the west is now in darkness, and the scene is the sun sets; while others, presenting themselves in the east, seem to reverse of that which happens at the beginning of the night. The

VOL. I.

E

light continuing to increase, the stars grow fainter and fainter till descried the continent of America, which had been previously disthey at length disappear, and day sheds its brightness upon every covered by other navigators, pursuing the same route. Not finding object. The sun now presents itself, is seen in the east like the an opening to enable him to continue his course in a westerly distars; it ascends and passes through the heavens, declines to the rection, he sailed along the course towards the south, till coming west, and disappears in the part opposite to that in which it rose, to its southern extremity, he sailed round it, and found himself in when all the phenomena of night are repeated in the manner just the great Southern Ocean. Then he pursued his course towards described. the west; after some time he arrived at the Molucca Islands; By examining the heavens for a number of nights successively, and sailing continually towards the west, he made Europe from we observe certain stars change their places with regard to others; the east, and thus arrived at the place from which he set passing from one constellation they pass towards another; which, out. This great achievement, since repeated by several navifor a few days is scarcely perceptible. But these small changes, gators, as Sir Francis Drake, Lord Anson, Cooke, &c., &c., at length become apparent, and the stars is which they take place proves that the whole surface of the water and land is conare transferred to different parts of the heavens, on which account vex, returning into itself, that the heavens do not touch any they are called planets, or wandering stars, to distinguish them part of it, and that in whatever country we travel, the general from those which preserve the same relative situation, and which system of stars is seen to revolve round the Earth in consequence are called fixed stars. of its diurnal motion. From this, it is plainly shown, that the heavens do not rest upon the horizon of the sea, as one might be led to believe from a hasty observation; and by this, we also ascertain, that the Earth has nothing to rest on, but is suspended in open space by the hand of the CREATOR.

*This is the common language made use of in astronomy, but the sun's appearing to rise and set is caused by the revolution of the earth on its axis, once in every twenty-four hours.

OF THE ROTUNDITY OF THE EARTH.

THE Earth, it will be remembered, is a vast solid body, of a shape nearly round, like an immense ball; and that, although it appears to be permanently at rest, it is in fact in constant motion. And it is so large, that its surface, except where it is irregular by hills and mountains, appears to be flat. About two-thirds of the Earth are covered with water, whose surface is rounded to conform with the general shape of the Earth. On this surface we can sail found the world in all parts of it, and in all directions. All this is easily and readily solved by navigators and travellers. When navigators depart from a coast, they observe that edifices and mountains sink by degrees, and at length disappear as if immersed in the This effect is not to be ascribed to distance, which causes objects to appear smaller; for, when we lose sight of land from a ship's deck, we perceive it again by ascending the masts. The same takes place with respect to the ship as seen from the shore. It declines by little and little, and finally disappears, descending below the horizon like the Sun at its setting. These phenomena, which are observed continually, and in all directions, prove, that the surface of the sea is convex, and that it is by its interposition that distant objects are concealed. (See engraving.)

ocean.

If the earth were a plain surface, a single mountain, or a tower, elevated above it, would be perceived from every quarter, at least if the spectators were not so far off as to render its dimensions invisible on account of the distance; and this would not be the case, except at very great distances. The bases of elevated objects would not disappear before their summits. They would not seem to sink by degrees; and when they disappeared from the deck of a wessel, they would not be visible from the top of the mast.

The horizon of the sea, which seems to terminate its surface, is only an apparent limit with respect to the situation of the observer, and is produced by the convexity of the surface of the water. Navigators, who we see depart from the shore, seem to us to go beyond that limit, but their horizon moves on with them. When they have disappeared from our view, we may ascend a mountain near the shore, and see again, for some time, the same vessel which had before appeared to sink in the waters. It would be a bold and important undertaking to ascertain what becomes of this apparent horizon as we advance towards it continually in the same irection. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese, was the first who executed this enterprise. He embarked from a port in Portugal, and directed his course towards the west. After a long voyage he

Here it may be well to explain what is meant by the relative terms up and down. On whatever part of the earth we may be situated, the direction towards the sky, or heavens, is called up, and the direction towards the centre of the earth is called down. So that, with regard to open space, what is up from any given point of the earth's surface, is down from the opposite point thereof; which point is on the opposite side of the earth, and is called our antipodes, where people are walking on the earth, with their feet towards our feet, and their heads in an opposite direction, towards the sky, in the same manner as we are at the present moment. Anti signifies against, podes, feet. This brings us to explain what is meant by

THE ATTRACTION OF GRAVITATION, Which keeps all heavy bodies upon the earth, unless moved from it by some other force, and which reduces the surface of the water to a form, corresponding with the general form of the earth. (See engraving, page 21.) Now, observe the power of attraction, which makes all bodies near the earth fall towards it, would make the earth fall to the sun, if this attraction were not counteracted by some other power. The earth being in constant motion round the Sun, the velocity of which being so great, if it were not restrained by the attraction of gravitation, the earth would fly off to a greater distance from the sun, in the same manner that a stone whirled about in a sling flies off the instant it is discharged from the sling. The two powers are made to balance each other so exactly, that the earth has continued from the creation to revolve about the sun, varying its distance in different parts of its course, but regaining it by fixed laws, so that every revolution is the same, and is performed in the same period of time.

Of all the phenomena of the heavens, there are few, if any, that engage the attention of mankind more than the eclipses of the sun and moon; and, to those who are unacquainted with astronomical principles, nothing appears more extraordinary, than the accuracy with which they can be predicted.

OF ECLIPSES.

By eclipse is meant the privation of the light of some luminary, by the interposition of an opaque or dark body, either between it and the eye, or between it and the sun. An eclipse of the sun or moon is caused by the situation of the moon with regard to the earth.

The eclipses of the sun take place, when the moon, passing the sun and earth, intercepts his rays. Those of the moon take place

when the earth, coming between the sun and moon, deprive the | instead of taking vengeance on these thoughtless beings, resolved moon of her light. (See engraving.) to select one family to restore the true religion, and in due time to give birth to a Saviour.

It was in the neighbourhood of these mountains that Noah and From this part of the narrative, we may learn, that the most ter his family continued to dwell for nearly one hundred years, during rible judgments will not reclaim men from the error of their ways, which, they increased so rapidly, that it became necessary for them unless their hearts be changed by the Grace of God. For though to enlarge the bounds of their habitation. On this occasion they almost the whole human race had been destroyed for their impiety, descended southward, and seated themselves in the "Land of no sooner was the earth replenished with inhabitants, than idolatry Shinar," which lies on the south-east of Mesopotamia, not far dis-again prevailed, and the worship of the true God was observed only tant from the Gulf of Persia,† where they founded the first king- by one or two individuals. dom, or empire, which they called Babylonia, from Babel. Thus began the origin of nations.

When the confusion occasioned by this miracle, had, in some measure subsided, the immense multitude began to form them-red dust, that turns to worms; these they kill with wine, when they