III. If the smaller lake be at the north pole, and the larger one at the equator, there would still be tides in them; for though the moon might be considered as constantly in the horizon of the smaller lake; yet she would produce unequal pressures on the waters of the large lake,-depressing it when in the horizon, and elevating it when in the zenith and nadir, and consequently producing double elevations and depressions in the smaller lake. What would take place with respect to these lakes, does absolutely take place as it respects the wide seas and the narrow. They are connected together in such a way as to permit the waters to rise in one sea while they are depressed in every other that is 90 degrees distant; and if the one where the waters rise be smaller than those where the waters fall, there must be a greater rise in the small sea than there is a depression in the larger. There cannot be a rise in one place without a depression in some other place;—and that place has already been shown to be 90 degrees from the greatest elevation. What we have now said concerning the moon, is equally applicable to the sun;-only that his power is not so great as the moon's. For if you suppose D to be the sun, his distance from B 24000 semidiameters of the earth, and his weight 169282 times that of the earth; if the attraction of the earth for a particle of matter at C be 1, then will the attraction of the sun be If this force, again, be 169282= 1 3402. 1 24000X24000 resolved into the forces C M and C B, then, as C M is 24000 times as long as C B, the gravity of a particle at C will be increased only one 24000th part of the sun's attraction at C. We might dilate on the new doctrine we have broached to account for the tides rising higher in the narrow seas than in the wide ones; but if we have demonstrated that tides in the lakes, situated as above, would rise inversely as the superficial extent of those lakes, the application of the doctrine to the seas themselves is so easy, that we shall leave it to be made by our readers. Indeed, we are vain enough to believe, that the hints of demonstration which we have here thrown out might be advantageously amplified by applying them to the various phenomena attending the ebb and flow of tides; but, for the present, we must leave such an amplification to those who are able to publish larger books than we can; and content ourselves with hoping that at some future time we may have another occasion of drawing the attention of our readers to this very interesting, though rather obscure, portion of astronomy. ART. V.-Letters from Virginia. By a Northern Man. THE HE following Letters were written by a Gentleman from the north during an excursion through Virginia. A series of the same kind will probably be given to the public in the course of the ensuing summer. Letter I. DEAR FRANK,-Inasmuch as I only mean to give you a few occasional sketches of 'Ould Virginia,' as captain Smith calls it, I shall content myself with merely reminding you that its first effectual settlement commenced somewhat more than two centuries ago, and a few years anterior to that of Plymouth, in Massachusetts, the oldest settlement, I think, in that quarter. Farther back than this I will not go; for, to use the words of the first historian of Virginia, so called after the most famous, renowned, and worthie of all memorie, queen Elizabeth' For the stories of Arthur, Malgo, and Brandon, that say a thousand years agoe they were in the north of America; or the Fryer of Linn, that by his black art went to the north pole, in the yeare 1360; in that I know them not. Let this suffice.' The history from whence this extract is taken is highly curious, and contains a variety of minute particulars of the dangers and hardships encountered by the early adventurers. Among these the most sagacious, brave, and enterprising, by far, was the famous captain John Smith, who, on all occasions of emergency, acted as a sort of dictator among them. It was he that negotiated or fought with the Indians; explored the neighbouring waters, and visited the Indian tribes on the Chesapeake and its tributary streams. He visited the 'Weanocks, Anontahocks, Appamattocks, Manahocks, Massawomocks, Kusharawocks, Sasquasahannocks, Acquintanakocks, Quiyoughcohanocks;' and all the names that end in nocks; at the end of which pilgrimage he breaks forth into the following poetic stanzas: Thus have I walkt a wayless way, with uncouth pace, But yet I know this not affects the minde, Which eares doth heare, as that which eyes doe finde.' The first explorers of James river, called Powhatan, after the great emperor, were, it appears, subjected to a variety of inevitable hardships; sometimes were ill governed, and not unfrequently rather difficult to govern. A writer makes the following complaints against a certain president of the colony: 'Had we,' says he, 'been as free from all sinnes as gluttony and drunkennesse, we might have been canonized for saintes; but our president would never have been admitted, for ingrossing to his private oatmeale, sacke, oyle, aqua vita, beefe, egges, or what not, but the kettell: that indeed he allowed equally to be distributed, and that was halfe a pint of wheat, and as much barley, boiled with water, for a man, a day; and this being fryed some 26 weeks in the ship's hold, contained as many wormes as graines; so that we might trulie call it rather so much branne as corne. drink was water; our lodgings castles in the ayre.' Our This notable president was deposed, and another chosen, 'who,' says the historian, being little beloved, and of weake judgment in dangers, and lesse industrie in peace, committed the managing of all things abroad to captaine Smith, who, by his owne example, good wordes, and faire promises, set some to mow, others to binde the thatch, some to build houses, others to thatch them, himselfe bearinge the greatest taske for his owne share, so that, in a short time, he provided most of them with lodgings,neglectinge any for himselfe, How admirably this simple picture sets forth the fine character of Smith; himself the first example of industry, in procuring shelter, and the last to take advantage of it. Only give such men a sphere of action, and they will lead all mankind by the nose, whenever danger comes. In this way Jamestown was built, on what was then the territory of the great emperor Powhatan, a name inseparably connected with the early history of Virginia. Powhatan appears to have been a salvage,' as the phrase then was, of liberal and magnanimous principles, although he became at last an irreconcilable enemy to the white people. It appears that the 'salvages,' all along the coast of North America, with very few exceptions, treated the whites with hospitality, while they continued to think them mere visitors. But whenever it was discovered that they came with views of permanent settlement, a sort of vague perception of what would be the final result to themselves and their posterity, generally converted this friendly disposition into deep, permanent, and irreconcilable hostility. Powhatan was so called from the place of his residence; but his real name was Wahunsonack. The person and state of 'Powhatan the great emperor' is thus described. 'He is of personage a tall, well-proportioned man, with a soure look, his head somewhat gray, his beard so thinne that it seemeth none at all; his age near sixtie, of a very able and hardy body to endure anye labour. About his person ordinarily attended 40 or 50 of the tallest men his countrie doth afforde. Every nighte upon the foure quarters of his house are foure sentinells, each from the other a flight shoot, and at everye halfe houre one from the corps du guard doth hollow, shaking his lips with his finger between them, untoe whom every sentinell doth answer round from his stand. If any dothe faile, they presentlie send forth an officer that beateth them extreamelye.' From Jamestown they penetrated up the river by degrees to a place at the Falles,' where they founded a settlement, and called it Nonsuch, because they knew no place so strong, so ● pleasant and delightful, in Virginia.' This, I presume, was what is now called Richmond. I do not mean to enter into any further details of these matters; having neither time nor patience; although there is something in the fire-side simplicity and minuteness of these early historians that is inexpressibly interesting to their descendants, and countrymen of the first old argonauts of this western world. But to copy these is rather a tedious job; and so I must refer you to the history itself, which, however, is very scarce. In it you will read the familiar details of the progress of the colonists, the treachery of the 'salvages,' the gallantry of Smith-the treason of certain Dutchmen, and, above all, the beautiful and romantic story of the tutelary angel Pocahontas:-how she saved Smith first, and afterwards the colony from extermination-how she married 'to Master John Rolfe, an honest gentleman, of good behaviour' how she went to England, was christended Rebecca, and died, in 1617, making a goodlie and religious ende.' All this you will find told with that picturesque simplicity and nature, which so often accompanies the relations of those who tell what they have seen, and which is so infinitely preferable to the laboured and rhetorical flourishes of after writers, whose art seems to consist in spreading the least possible quantity of matter over the greatest possible surface. 6 Though I abhor copying any thing, and had rather write out of my own head, as the saying is, a great deal, yet I cannot just now refrain from transcribing the following curious directions for the outfit of such as shall have cause to provide to go to Virginia, whereby greate numbers may in parte conceive the better how to provide for themselves.' It is worth all the vague talk in the world about the state of the times, and the simplicity of living among the first adventurers. 'A Monmouth cap, 3 Falling bands, 3 Shirts, 1 Waste coat, 1 Suit of canvas, 1 Suit of frize, 1 Suit of cloth, 3 Paire of Irish stockings, s. d. 1 Paire of garters, 0 10 1 Dozen points, 0 3 1 Paire of canvas sheets, 8 0 7 Ells of canvas, to make a bed, to be filled in Virginia, serving for two men, 8 0 5 Ells of coarse canvas, to make a bed at sea for two men, 5 0 6 0 l. 4 6 0 4 Paire of shoes, What would one of our spruce supercargoes say to such an outfit for a new world, I wonder, Frank? The whole of the indispensable necessaries for a family emigrating to Virginia, clothes, victuals, arms, tools, furniture, &c. is estimated by the writer at twenty pounds! Thus have I fairly settled Virginia, and as fairly settled you down in it, with my own hand. I will bring its history down to the present time in as few words as possible. Like other states it grew, and spread, and flourished, and increased in population by the good old way, only a good deal faster than they before did these things; the women, as will be found by experience, always accommodating themselves to the exigencies of a new country. In a little while the stately thatched castles of Jamestown became crowded with little white headed urchins, that grew by rolling and sunning themselves in the sand,—and when they got to be men, the hive swarmed, and the young bees went forth, made a new hive, which swarmed again,-until in process of time the land was peopled, and became a goodly state. Neither Neptune, nor Jupiter, nor Minerva, took them especially under their protection: nor did Medea assist them in overcoming the obstacles in their way by any of the arts of magic. Fortitude, valour, perseverance, industry, and little Pocahontas, were their tutelary deities; and their golden fleece, fields of corn, and plantations of tobacco. Good bye. Letter II. DEAR FRANK,-The first settlers of Virginia generally located larger tracts of land, than those to the north, either because they saw more clearly its prospective value, or that the early introduction of slaves enabled them to cultivate more extensively. Hence arose the distinction subsisting between the two parts of the Union-the one being occupied by farmers, cultivating farms, the other by planters, cultivating plantations. To this day, the land in the occupancy of individuals lies mostly in large tracts, some of them containing several thousand acres. In one of my late excursions previous to setting out on my grand tour, I spent several days at the seat of one of these planters; who, by the way, was a lady, and such a one as you will not see every day, Frank. In the place of general description, which is for the most part vague and unsatisfactory, take the following picture; which, however, is a favourable one; as the establishment was one of the most liberal and hospitable of any in Virginia. The master of the house, at least the gentleman who officiated as such, was a son-in-law of the family, who dressed exceedingly |