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volution of the planets round the fun: the fhorter the curve, in proportion to the velocity, the more it is difpofed to fly off in a tangent; and the outer parts, moft remote from the centre of their tendency, fly off where the turning is fharpeft. To the bodies called non-conductors it tends only at fmall diftances, but arrived in contact it adheres; fo that on these it may be accumu lated more copiously, and retained longer; and by means of an armature, or conducting medium, to convey it from the whole furface at once, it may be difcharged in a much denser stream.

The general laws of the deferent fluid are: That it tends to all bodies, at greater diftances than the electric matter tends to any; that its tendency, like that of the electric matter, is always from the body which has more, to that which has lefs;that, cæteris paribus, the body which has most of the electric fluid, has moft of the deferent alfo;-that the tendency of the deferent to other bodies diminishes, like that of the electric matter, in proportion to the distance;-that it has a particular affinity with the electric matter, but that their union is very weak, infomuch that the electric fluid is in a perpetual state of decompofition and recompofition, even more fo than watery vapours.

Such are the general laws which Mr. De Luc, with great fagacity, has developed and applied to the folution of the feveral phenomena. We fhall give, for an example, the hitherto inexplicable phenomenon of the Leyden jar, or (which is the fame thing in a fimpler form) the magic picture, that an accumulation of electricity on one fide produces a deficiency on the other.

The electric fluid being analogous to watery vapour, let us. fuppofe a plate of glass, of the fame temperature with the neighbouring bodies, to be bedewed with decompofed vapour on both fides, and to receive on one of its fides, A, a ftream of vapour warmer than the plate itself. These vapours, on touching the plate, will be in part decompofed; their water will be depofited on the fide A, and the fire, now liberated, paffing through the glafs, will unite with the water on the other fide, B, and promote evaporation from that fide. This greater evaporation from the fide B confumes the fire that came from A; and the fide A, by this lofs of its heat, becomes able to condense more vapour. Thus the water continues diminishing on the one furface, and increafing on the other, till the whole plate has acquired the temperature of the vapours: the condensation must then ceafe, and the inequality of diftribution is at its maximum; in which state, as the fide B is a little more diftant than A from the fource of heat, its vapours will have fomewhat lefs expanfive force than those which fall upon A. The Author fhews, that the cafe is precifely the fame with the electric fluid; and defcribes an apparatus, by which all the phenomena of the electric jar or plate, even the difcharge, may be imitated with watery vapour,

except only in thofe particulars which depend upon the extreme rapidity, or other characteristic and incommunicable properties of the electric fluid or its deferent.

The chapter concludes with fome conjectures on the component parts of the electric fluid, as they discover themselves in its decompofition. When the quantity furrounding the largest conductor paffles off at once in a fmall thread, its denfity and velocity must be amazingly increafed, and the deferent fluid itself appears to be decompoled, the light, which is the general principle of all the deferents, being difengaged. Some curious hints are added refpecting magnetism, and the probable existence of fome other fluids as yet unknown. But we must take leave, for the present, of this pleasing, as well as inftructive, writer; and hope to meet him again foon, in the second volume.

ART. VI. The Fair Syrian, a Novel. By the Author of Mount Henneth, and Barham Downs +. 12mo. 2 Vols. 6s. fewed. Walter. 1787.

Tis unquestionably the bufinefs both of the dramatic writer

and the novelift, "to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature; to fhew virtue her own feature, vice her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and preffure." The man of genius, therefore, who writes with the view of affording amufement to his readers, will, when felecting materials for his work, make choice of fuch particular incidents and scenes in life. as may be fomewhat familiar to the people in general, but which are ftill of fuch a nature as to admit of amplification, and which will allow him to exercife his inventive faculty in a certain and limited degree; that is, in fuch a degree as that he do not 'o'erftep the modefty of nature,' or in all events, that probability do not receive from it any great or violent fhock.

Our three great novel-writers are Richardfon, Fielding, and Smollet; and thefe,-to illuftrate one art or profeffion by another, we would compare with Reynolds, Le Brun, and Hogarth. The firft for truth and beauty of colouring, the fecond for a lively difplay of the paffions, and the third for caricatura. We almoft defpair of feeing them equalled. It is, however, no little fatisfaction to us to find, amid the multitude of unfinished things,' which are continually iffuing from the prefs under the denomination of novels, or romances; and which we should really be at a lofs to characterize, were it not that the writers of them have kindly, and in imitation of the fhowman, fet down in the title-pages of their respective performances- this is a novel-it is no little fatisfaction to us, we fay, to meet with † Ib. vol. lxxi. p. 223.

* See Rev. vol. lxvi. p. 129.

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a writer

a writer like the prefent, who to ease and correctness of expreffion unites that very effential requifite of a novelift,-a talent for nice and accurate delineation of character: who contrafts his feveral perfonages with confiderable (kill and ability: who gives to them their appropriate language, fpirit, and manners; and who Finally prefents us with a fable or ftory, tolerably harmonious in all its parts.

The juft and pertinent observations contained in the following extract will fhew that our Author is fomething more than a novel-writer: he appears, indeed, in the honourable and amiable character of a philofopher, and friend of man,-for though in the dialogue which we have here felected, a quaker and a petitmaitre compofe the fcene, it is very easy to difcover that the quaker, the favourite character, fpeaks the fentiments of the Author's heart.

My next excurfion was to Philadelphia, to do my baifemains to that terrible congrefs, whofe name is to be celebrated by future Livys, as the ancient preferver of the only ftorehouse for liberty in the four quarters of the globe; where thirty generations of men, exclufive of accidents, may be furnished with what they want. tell you a fecret, my dear Count; I had it from a Quaker, one of the people who never fwear, and very feldom lie.

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"The heads of the Kings and rulers of the old world are wormeaten." The man is a farmer, and though I have the honour to be the Marquis de St. Claur, and not to know wheat from barley in the blade, yet, as it is the fashion to vifit him on account of his numerous improvements, I chofe to be in the fashion. His converfation was fo entertaining, his hofpitality fo warm, and his wife to pretty, that I flayed three days with him in the country, without becoming an ennuyè, except once, when the differtation upon plants had been ftretched out rather too long. I had the misfortune to gape. tire thee," fays he. I was afluring him to the contrary. tudy here the language of nature more than that of politenefs," fays he; "come, let us take a walk."

"We

In a field, where many fheep were feeding, one of them very often, holding its head awry, ftaggered round and round, fell down, and foon rofe again and eat. The brain of that poor animal,' fays he, has worms in it; I muft order it to the flaughter-houfe out of compaffion. We call this diforder the turn; and I am apt to think, kings have it fometimes. Thou knoweft the Americans are ftruggling for liberty. Thy King, and the King of Spain, who dote upon it fo, that they keep it all to themfelves, and tell their people it is not for common wear, help us forward in the obtaining it with all their might; and the King of England, who lives but to extend and fecure this blefling to all his fubjects, is labouring as luftily to deprive us of it. Much in the fame manner acted thy fourteenth Louis, when he revoked the edict of Nantz, to destroy liberty of thinking at home, and fent millions to fupport it in Germany.— What thinkeft thou?- Did not it denote worms?"

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"Poffibly

"Poffibly it might," replies I; "but this accufation brought against the prefent Kings of France and Spain, comes not well from the mouth of an American."

"Thou doft not imagine," fays he, "that I think they can err on this fide. But thou wilt not fay they are confiftent. Let them give their own people that liberty they endeavour to procure us, and they will be as high in my efteem almost as William Penn."

"I should like to know what standard you measure merit by? It feems odd to compare the Kings of France and Spain with William Penn."

"Thou mistakest; I do not. I know of no point of comparison between them. One ftandard of merit is the good done to mankind. In reading the hiftories of thy country, one would be apt to conclude Kings thought themselves great in proportion to the mifchief they did; and that their fubjects were blind enough to fanctify the error."

"Surely mankind is much benefited by being well governed." "I grant it.-Is thy country fo?"

"We think it is."

"Who dost thou mean by the term we?"

"The public in general."

"The public in general then must be funk low indeed in the fcale of political freedom. Let us for converfation fake turn naturalifts; and confider man by his inward as well as outward marks. The people of thy country, and ours, are doubtless claffed under the name MAN as a GENUS; let us fee, if the SPECIES may not differ.

"We will begin the comparison with the rank of peasants, that numerous class employed in raising fubfiftence for the whole community. In France, how poor they are! how abject! ftarving in the midst of thofe delicacies they are daily creating, as it were, for the use of others. See their rags, their black bread, and rancid bacon! If a man of the Noblesse honours them with his commands, they are abymès infiniment, and ready to jump into a well, to fhew their fenfe of the amazing condefcenfion. View the fame rank in America, and acknowledge the difference. It would be infulting thy underftanding to point it out. Every man feels himself a MAN; claims his fhare of the common bounties of nature; and above all, of Liberty. It is true, you have a vaft fuperiority in your trinket men, your taileurs, parfumeurs, your perruquiers, and especially your cuifiniers; and may a thousand ages elapfe, before America becomes your rival! "St. Paul fays, whatsoever you do, let it be to the praise and glory of God. A good Frenchman obeys the precept, but his god is the grand Monarque.

If half a million are fent to Germany or Flanders, to die of the fword, difeafe, or famine, the King's glory requires it, and we are content. If Verfailles and Fontainbleau wafte the treasures of a nation in ufelefs magnificence, or childish fplendor, it is for the King's glory, and we are content. In return, the grand Monarque, or the grand Monarque's mistrefies, take the trouble to govern these obfequious people according to their own good will and pleasure.

"At prefent, thou feeft America conceives it poffible, though doubtless very afflicting, to fubfift without this species; and when

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they

they had it, they faid not with the French, We are thy fervants, O King, do unto us as feemeth good unto thee.-But, thou art our fervant, O King, execute our laws in righteoufnefs. Doft thou perceive any difference?"

"I do. But Frenchmen have a great deal to learn, and unlearn too, before they can enter into fo licentious a course of thinking, and trample upon the facred majefty of Kings."

"Sacred majefty of Kings! Lord's anointed! Delegates of heaven! Juft lefs than gods! In my youth I alfo read tragedies, epic poems, romances, and divinity. Now, I read COMMON SENSE. And what pretty epithets haft thou adapted to the dignity of the facred order? Wilt thou not think we are given over to all uncleannefs of fpirit, living, as we do, unfprinkled, dying un-unctioned. Can there be falvation, thinkeft thou, without a Bishop? Without that order of men fo ufeful to a nation that chufes to think by proxy? But to tell thee a fecret, and it may ferve to confirm the difference in fpecie, American heads are fo pertinaciously conftructed, that rather than not take their own road to heaven, they will take none at all."

"The road to heaven, my dear Sir, has always been represented to us as a thorny path, and hard to find. Why then should we not take guides ?"

"I grant thee, to the people of thy world, the path is burthened with incumbrances; and prithee who put them there? I fancy it is the work of thy hierarchy only. They feem to me like pilots who tell of a thousand imaginary fand-banks obftructing the road into port, in order to be paid the pilotage. Scarce any thing to us is fo fafe, fo eafy, and fo pleafant, as the way that conducts to heaven. Love God; love thy neighbour; and be just. This is our law and our prophets."

"In all the true holy catholic mother church, my dear Sir, there is not a priest who does not derive his defcent, fpiritually, from the twelve apostles. We believe they are called to the facred work of falvation. We believe they know fomething of what they teach. We are fure we do not know. If they inform us right, we have all the advantage of it. If wrong, as we cannot guide ourselves better, we are no worfe than we were.

"Thy plea is fo good a one, that I promife thee whenever the men thou fpeakeft of, prove their defcent, exclufively-we will come over unto their faith. Till they do this, thou wilt excufe us, for not trusting wholly our eftates to ftewards, our confciences to confeffors, or our fouls to priests. We think all thefe of importance enough to look to them ourfelves."

"Well Sir, all that I know is, that you have fucked in one fet of maxims with your mother's milk, and we another. Yours tends to establish reafon, that damnable faculty according to our creed; ours faith; which whofoever has enough of, may remove your Apalachian mountains."

"Thou art right. Education is all in all."

Were it within the limits and compafs of our Review, we would willingly follow this lively and ingenious writer through the feveral windings and meanderings of his work; but we muft,

however

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