And kept him at home while he scouted the rest,
For the Abbot of Stephen was always the best.

Then hail to the Abbot of Saint Stephen, &c. &c.

3.

High in the chair this Abbot is placed,
And never was chair so guarded and graced:
At Popery sly

He sharpened his eye;
In the moment of need,
Without relic or bead,
Book, candle, or bell,

In Saint Stephen's chappell,

Our altar and throne he relieved from her pest;
And good Father Charles is of Abbots the best.

Then hail to the Abbot of Saint Stephen, &c. &e.

27.-JOHN EVANGELIST.-See p. 143.
28. INNOCENTS.

The slaughter of the Jewish children, by Herod, is commemorated on this day. The festival is very antient, for Tertullian and Saint Cyrian call these Innocents martyrs, and Prudentius has written a hymn upon the subject. Childermas-day is another name for this feast.

*28. 1817.-DR. CHARLES BURNEY died.

Dr. Burney is the second luminary in that bright constellation of learning formed by PORSON, Parr, and himself, that has now disappeared from our view. His family have all been conspicuous: his father, the historian of music, and friend of Johnson, was one of the most elegant writers of that age; his brother, Captain Burney, who accompanied Cook in his two last voyages, is one of the first geographers the country possesses; and Mad. D'Arblay, his sister, has equally distinguished herself by her well-known writings.

31.-SAINT SILVESTER.

He was Bishop of Rome; and succeeded Miltiades in the papacy, in 314. Silvester is accounted the author of several rites and ceremonies of the Romish church, as asylums, unctions, palls, corporals, mitres, &c. He died in 334.

Astronomical Occurrences

In DECEMBER 1819.

THE Sun enters Capricornus at 5 m. after 3 in the afternoon of the 22d of this month, and he rises and sets as in the following table during the same period.

TABLE

Of the Sun's Rising and Setting for every fifth Day. December 1st, Sun rises 57 m. after 7. Sets 3 m. after 4

6th,

11th,

16th,

21st,

8

26th,

31st,

3

co co co co co

Equation of Time.

From the apparent time as indicated by a good sun-dial, if the quantities be subtracted in the first five lines of the following table, or added to that time in the other instances, the results will be the mean time answering to the same epochs.

Wednesday

m. s.

TABLE.

Dec. 1st, From the time by the dial subtract 10 56

Moon's Passage over the Meridian.

The Moon will pass the first meridian of this country at the following times during this month; which will afford good opportunities for observation, if the weather prove favourable: viz.

December 8th, at 7 m. after 5 in the morning.

9th,

7

48

13th, 21st, 22d, 23d, 24th, 25th, 26th,

11

Enlightened part {Dark part

10

Phase of Venus.

11.70688 digits.

0.29312

Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites.

There will only be one visible eclipse of each of Jupiter's first and second Satellites this month, which will be as follows:

EMERSIONS.

1st Satellite 15th day, at 58 m. after 4 in the evening.
2d Satellite 2d day 8

Mercury will attain his greatest elongation on the 5th of this month; he will also be stationary on the 13th; and be in his inferior conjunction at 6 in the

morning of the 23d. Mars will be stationary on the 7th. Saturn will be in quadrature at 1 in the morning of the 17th; and Georgium Sidus in conjunction at 45 m. after 9 in the morning of the same day. The Moon will be in conjunction with ß in Taurus at 42 m. after 4 in the evening of the 2d; with Pollux at 5 m. after 3 in the morning of the 5th; and with Spica in Virgo at 29 m. after 3 in the afternoon of the 12th. There will also be an occultation of the star marked & in Scorpio: the immersion will take place at 16m. past midnight on the 15th, and the emersion at 53 m. after the same epoch; at the former of these times the star will be 7' north of the Moon's centre, and at the latter 9' north of the same point.

On the EFFECTS of GRAVITATION.

[Concluded from p. 295.]

That the effects of gravity are not merely confined to the Earth, and what are generally denominated heavy bodies, but extend to all surrounding matter, was first proved by the experiments of Galileo and Torricelli; by whom it was shown that the pressure of the atmosphere, like that of other bodies, was derived from the principle of gravitation. This discovery banished the idea of absolute levity from the mind of the philosopher, and convinced him that those bodies which ascend in the air rise for the same reasons as cork floats in water, or head in quicksilver; and, consequently, that the difference of the intensities with which bodies gravitate towards the Earth, is the sole cause of this phenomena. The same power also forms such an indissoluble connexion between the Earth and its atmosphere, that the latter invariably participates in all the motions of the former; and by that means not only renders us altogether insensible of these motions, but prevents Dd

those direful effects that must result from the want of such an inseparable union. Were the influence of gravity upon the terrestrial atmosphere suspended but for one moment, and all that is fair in terrestrial creation, or most magnificent in the works of man, would be levelled with the dust; for the one being thus rendered stationary while the motion of the other was continued, a universal wind would instantly take place, in comparison with which the most violent hurricanes of nature are mere zephyrs.

All that we know of force relates to its quantity and duration; and when we are convinced by observation of natural phenomena, that they proceed from powers that coincide in these respects, there is sufficient reason to conclude, that these phenomena result from the same or a similar cause. The observations of astronomers show that the Moon is constantly deflected from a rectilineal path, and caused to describe a curve concave towards the Earth. But as this movement does not describe an exact circle, the Moon sometimes approaches the Earth, and at others recedes from it, during each of her revolutions; and experience proves, that during the former of these periods her motion is accelerated, and in the latter it is retarded; and hence the analogy between these effects and those which are constantly observed with respect to terrestrial bodies, leads to the inevitable conclusion that the power which produces them acts in the same direction. The analogy, however, does not stop here; for when the variation of gravity, which universal experience establishes with respect to terrestrial bodies, is supposed to extend to the Moon, an exact coincidence is found to subsist, not only with respect to the direction, but also with regard to the intensity of the force and the distance of the attracting body. It is therefore equally consonant with the dictates of common sense and the principles of true philosophy to conclude