It is doubted if feveral of the planets, and among others the moon, be furnished with an atmosphere; and, in this cafe, it is not to be conceived how living beings could breathe there or exift: 2d, We obferve in feveral planets, for inftance in Jupiter, &c. diftinct and confiderable changes on their furface; but an inhabited planet ought to remain uniform: 3d, Comets are certainly planets, but it is difficult to believe that comets are inhabited, on account of the extreme difference which the people there would experience in the heat of the fun; being fometimes burnt, and fometimes frozen. The comet of 1680, for inftance, paffed almoft clofe upon the fun, and then went off in fuch manner that it will not perhaps return for five hundred and feventyfive years. What living beings could fupport fuch prodigious heat at one time, and fuch intenfe cold at another? 4, Theological objections. To thefe conjectures it has been answered: 1ft, That the atmosphere of the planets is confirmed by a great many aftronomical obfervations, according to which the fpots, the belts of Jupiter, &c. have been confidered as long feas of water, or fome other Alud matter, and that the dark spots of the fame planet are fufficient ground for believing that the furface confifts of land and water like our earth: 2d, The different diftances of the planets, while they occafion too much heat and light on fome, and too much darknefs and cold in others, do not make it impoffible for thefe bo. dies to be peopled worlds, as the ftructure and different organs of fense, in their different inhabitants, are no doubt adapted and appropriated to the different conftitutions and temperature of the place they inhabit, by the fame wife and powerful being who has accommodated our bodies to the earth we live on : 3d, Fontenelle has sheltered himself from the objections of divines, by declaring that he did not place men there, but creatures quite diferent from men. But, after all, why fhould the opinions of Huyghers be contrary to fcripture? we are told indeed, that all men are defcended from Adam, meaning all the men on our globe; other men may inhabit other worlds, and defcend from other progenitors than Adam. Shall the infect that creeps on a point of the furface of this earth dare to prefcribe limits to the plaftic hand of nature? 4th, The doctrine of a plurality of worlds, founded on the most folid obfervations and reafonings. of aftronomy, is rendered the more probable as it gives us the most sublime idea we can conceive of the deity, and tends to demonftrate his poxer and glory. It is therefore with reafon that all modern philofophers. acknowledge as many folar fyllems, more or lefs like ours, as there are fixed stars. Interefting Obfervations on fame Common Improprieties in Writing the English Language: (Part of the Preface to Swift's Works ) By Mr Sheridan. These two words being of a fimilar found, are very improperly ufed prom.fcuoufly, the one for the other. When employed as a prepofition, the word beside thould always be ufed; when as an adverb, befides. The first fignifies, over and above; the laft, moreover: as in the following fentences. Belide (over and above) what has been advanced upon this fubject, it may lead us to enquire, &c. Befides, (moreover) what has been advanced upon this fubject, may lead us to enquire, &c. It is always an imperfection in a language to have the fame individual word belong to different parts of fpeech; but when there are two words differently pronounced, and differently fpelt, ufed promifcuously for each ether, both in point of meaning, and in difcharging the different offices of prepofition and adverb, it favours much of barbarifm, as it is fo ealy to altot their peculiar province to each. When I faid that the word befidefhould be always ufed as the prepofi. tion, and-bfides-as the adverb, the choice was not made at random. In its prepofitional ftate, it must be clofely united to the following word; in its adverbial, it fhould always have a paufe after it. Now the word befide-not loaded with the finals, is rendered more apt to run glibly into the following word: and the word befides, always preceding a paufe, has, From whence-whence. The prepofition-from-in the ufe of this phrafe, is for the most part redundant, as it is generally included in the word whence. Thus whence come you? fignifies-from what place come you? Whence it follows-from which it follows. No-not The particle-no-is often fubftituted in the place of—not ; as—I care not whether you believe me or no. To fhew the abfurdity of this, it will be only neceffary to add the words after-no-which are understood-as thus-I care not whether you believe me, or no believe me—instead of do not believe me. The adverbs no and yes, are particles expreffive of the fimple diffent or affent of the fpeaker, and can never be connected with any following word; and we might with as much propriety fay-I care not whether you do not believe me or yesas make ufe of its oppofite-no-in that manner. This vulgarifm has taken its rife from the fame caufe before-mentioned, the fimilarity of found between no and not. Never fo-ever fo. This is a strange folecifm in language. Never fo, fignifies not ever fo. Let us fubftitute the one for the other, and the abfurdity will be apparent. Thus, when we fay-I will do it, let him be never fo angryhow contrary to the intention would it appear, with u, when founded exactly in the fame manner: if we write a youth, we should also write-a use. In like manner-an-never pre cedes words commencing with w, nor fhould it therefore the vowel o, when it forms the fame found. Thus the word, one, bas the fame found as and yet it has been the cuítom to write-fuch an one. In both cafes contrary to the ufage of fpeech. if written, won, fhould the phrafe be changed to-let him not be ever fo angry. Or if we use the fame word in a phrafe of like import-I will do it however angry he be-how glaring would the abfurdity appear, fhould any one fay-hownever angry be. may I had rather. he may When words begin with the letter b, they are preceded fometimes by a, fometimes by an; and this by an invariable rule in fpeaking. When the b, or afpirate, is founded, the article a is ufed; as, a houfe, a horfe: when the his mute, an is employed; as, an hour, an honour; pronounced as if written an our, an onnor. And yet in all books published of late years, the article an preceeds all words beginning with h, alike—as an houfe, an horfe, &c. Surely the printers ought to reform this abuse, when they have fuch an obvious rule to guide them. They have nothing to do but to follow the established" . mode of speech, whereof printing ought, as nearly as poffible, to be the tranfcript. I have alfo taken the liberty of changing throughout an affected ufe of the third perfon fingular in verbs, by employing the termination eth, long fince become obfolete, as, loveth, readeth, writeth, inftead of loves, reads, writes. This habit feems to have been caught from Swift's profeffional ufe of the church-fervice, the bible, fermons, &c.; for in the early editions of his firft publications, it had not obtained; nor indeed in any of the others has it uniformly prevailed, as not only in the fame page, but even the fame fentence, the different modes are frequently to be found; and the terminating es, is, out of all propor In the ufe of this article, it has been laid down as a rule, that it fhould be written-a-before a confonant, and—an—before a vowel; but by not attending to the exceptions to this rule, the article an has been very improperly placed before words of a certain clafs, which ought to be preceded by the vowel fingly. All words beginning with u, when the accent is on it, or when the vowel is founded feparately from any other letter, fhould have a, not an, before them. As, a únite, a úniverse, a úfeful project, &c. For the vowel u, in this cafe, has not a fimple found, but is pronounced exactly in the fame manner as the diption, oftener ufed than that of eth; thongs commencing with y; nor should which would not have been the cafe, it be placed before words commencing had it been the effect of judgment, or of of choice. Now, as this fingularity as it yet remains in the tranflation of is not to be met with, in any of the polifhed writers from the days of Charles the fecond to this hour, I thought it should no longer have the fanction of fo diftinguifhed a name, by the cafual ufe of it here and there in his works; efpecially as the change was much for the better, and founded upon good tatte. None of the clements of fpeech have a lefs agreable found to the ear, than that of eth; it is a dead obtufe found, formed of the thickened breath, without any mix ture of the voice; refembling the noife made by an angry goofe, from which indeed it was borrowed; and is more difagreeable than the hiffing s, which has at leaft more of sharpness and spirit in it. On this account, as well as fome other caufis arifing from the genius of our tongue, not neceffary to be explained here, it has been long difufed by our beft writers; but the Bible, and in the Common Prayer-book, it may be ftill employed, even to advantage, in fermons, and works of divinity; as it borrows a kind of folemnity, and fomewhat of a fanctified air, from being found only in thefe facred writings; on which account, I have fuffered it to remainin fuch of Swift's Works as may be claffed under thofe heads. an Those who are advocates for the change of s into erb, aflign as a reason for it, that in fo doing we avoid the frequent repetition of that hiffing letter, objected to our language as imperfection. But in this, as in many other inftances where found is concerned, they judge by the eye, not the ear; for the letter s, after every . confonant in our language, except four, lofes its own power, and affumes that of 2, one of our most pleasing founds. Circumftances which should determine the Situation of a Highland Fifbing Village, in anfwer to Queries by the Highland Society in Scotland*. To Soni tofs advertisement, ing ground, a village, in the prefent O anfwer one of the requifitions in the neighbourhood of a good fish we shall state, what in our opinion are the circumftances, which fhould determine the fituation of a village on the coafts of the Highlands. The first thing, therefore, in our judgment, which thould determine the preference in favours of any one place as the ftance of a fishing village, upon the coats of the Weft High ands, is, that fuch place, or its vicinity, fhall be noted, by long experience, as the principal refort of fish (particularly of herrings, upon thas part of the coaft).-This confideration ought to outweigh every other one; and though other places might poffefs all other requifites or the ftance of a village, yet, if not ftate of the Highland coaft, fhould not be built there, but at the best fishing place, provided it be not impracticable, from the face of the country, (which is the cafe at fome places on the West coaft) to fet down a village, and accommodate the fettlers with even small gardens there. Next, if there are two or more places, remarkable for the greatest refort of herrings upon that part of the coaft, furely the preference should be given to that place where there is the greateft quantity of arable, or at least improveable, level land. Again, if there are two or more places upon any one part of the coaft, equally * From Obfervations on the Scotch Fisheries." By P. White, Efq. equally noted for these two advantages, the preference, no doubt, fhould be given to the one from which a road to communicate with the Low-country could be cheapest made. Oeconomy is highly neceffary: and therefore preference fhould be given to the cheapest road, though longeft, provided the difference of diftance be not attended with any confiderable difadvantage to the inhabitants of the propofed village. It is almost needlefs to explain here how the longest road may be cheapeft. Every gentleman of the Society knows that the Highland country is incumbered with rocks, and interfected by many rivulets, and that a mile of road in fome places, will coft more money than to make twenty in other places. But from what we have faid, it muft not be inferred, that we propose placing the villages at a distance from the Low-country, rather than near it. This is the fartheft thing imaginable from our meaning. What we urge is, that a cheap long road, would probably be more convenient for the funds deftined to the encouragement of the Fishery, than a fhort, but expenfive one: If any place upon the Weft coaft is found poffeffed of the two first qualifications we have mentioned, and from whence a road could be made, cheaper than from any other part poffeffed of like qualifications, the fhort nefs of the road would enhance the value of the fituation, and it ought immediately to be made choice of for the fite of a village. Next, if there are two or more places upon that part of the coaft, which fhall be equally in poffeffion of all the local advantages we have mentioned, we would prefer the one for building our village upon, which fhould be known to be beft frequented by haddocks, and other fmall fish; because these would afford fome fubfiftence to the inhabitants of the village, when the herring-fifhing fhould happen in any one year to fail. Laftly, we reckon the neighbour- hood of peat-mofs in one place, and not in another, if both are equally poffeffed of the local advantages already mentioned, a good reafon for preferring the place where mofs is found, to the other, for building a fifhing village upon. Should all thefe local advantages meet, in any fituation upon the Highland coaft, we may fafely pronounce, that fuch fituation is the very place proper for building the propofed village upon. To the great credit of the advifers of the measure of building there, the village of Ullapool will be found to be poffeffed of all thefe advantages. It is not only the best fitua tion for a village, upon the northern diftrict of the weft coaft, but (if we are not mifinformed) it is the very beft, from at least Toppermorry all along the whole range of the Weft coaft, to the North-eastermost point of this part of the united kingdom.Ullapool is in the very centre of the beft fishing grounds for herrings in Scotland: there is a fine flat of land there, most of it arable, and the rest very improveable. The making a road from it to the Low-country, will be cheaper and cafier than from any other part of the North-Weft coaft we know. Inthe bay of Ullapool, (afmooth land-locked corner of Lochbroom) fome of the finest haddocks and other kinds of fish are to be found at almost all feafons of the year, within two or three hundred yards of the doors of the refidenters there; and there is, in the hills at the back of the level land at Ullapool, mofs inexhaustible. If, therefore, the village of Ullapool does. not thrive, there must be very fmall hopes, that one built upon any other part of the Weft coaft will fucceed. In what we have faid refpecting the circumftances which fhould weigh principally in fetting down a village upon the Weft Highland coaft, we ap prehend our reafons for the efiimation in which we have held each circumftance, and the confequent priority of order |