DISCOVERY.

spirit of inquiry, so necessary to success, was characteristic of his mind. Hence he used to speak of himself as having been all his life but a child gathering pebbles on the sea-shore." This shows the spirit in which he pursued his investigations; and he was accustomed modestly to say, that "if there was any mental endowment in which he excelled the generality of men, it was that of patience in the examination of the facts and phenomena of his subject."

It was from one of the most simple incidents that Newton was enabled to disclose to the world the system of the universe-that of the fall of an apple-a thing that had been observed millions of times without any recognition and application of that principle which he discovered and carried out into the boundless universe. It is said to have taken place in his twenty-third year, when, during the prevalence of the plague in London, at his retreat in the country, he was one day sitting or lying under an apple-tree in his garden, and an apple fell beside him; he immediately began to reflect on the cause of the fall of the apple, which, attributing to the right principle the attraction of gravity-he extended it to the universe, and found that it was that which kept the sun in the centre of the solar system, the planets in their orbits as they revolve around him, and their satellites in their orbits around them. The existence of gravitation, or a tendency to fall towards the centre of the earth, was already known, as affecting all bodies in the immediate vicinity of our planet; and the great Galileo had even ascertained the law, or rate, according to which their motion is accelerated as they continue their descent. But no one had as yet dreamed of the gravitation of the heavens, till the idea now first dimly rose on the mind of Newton.

The name of Galileo furnishes another illustrious example of important discovery from common occurrence, and of the triumph of science. Standing one day in the metropolitan church at Pisa, he noticed the movements of a suspended lamp, which some accidental disturbance had caused to vibrate. The application of this regular motion to the measurement of time suggested itself to him; and the invention of the pendulum was the result the principle of the most perfect measure of time that we have. Now this incident had no doubt been noticed thousands of times before by others; but it was reserved for the philosophic attention of Galileo to turn it to advantage, though he was not yet twenty years of age.

"How striking an example is this for us,"

DISCOVERY.

observes an eminent writer, "when we discover, or think we discover, any fact in the economy of nature which we have reason to believe has not previously been observed! Let it at least be verified and recorded. No truth is altogether barren; and even that which looks, at first sight, the very simplest and most trivial, may turn out fruitful in precious results."

It was from a circumstance, if not similar, yet partaking of the nature of the same simplicity, that this philosopher discovered the noble instrument which has rendered him the most illustrious, and given his name the greatest notoriety. While he was residing at Venice, a report came to that city that a Dutchman had presented to Count Maurice of Nassau an instrument by which distant objects were made to appear as if near. This was all that was stated, and this was enough for the mind of Galileo. He set himself to work, and soon found that by a certain arrangement of spherical glasses he could produce the same effect. The discovery of the telescope was the result.

To a very simple circumstance we owe the discovery of one of the most beautiful of modern arts. Prince Rupert one morning noticed a soldier rubbing the rust off his gunbarrel, occasioned by the dew of the night before, aud that it left on the surface of the steel a collection of very minute holes, resembling a dark engraving, parts of which had, here and there, been rubbed away by the soldier. The kind of engraving called mezzotinto was thus suggested to him, and its invention the result of his experiments.

The waving of a linen shirt hanging before the fire, in the warm and ascending air, or the ascending of smoke in a chimney, suggested to Stephen Montgolfier the invention of the air-balloon.

The discovery of galvanism affords another of those instances of a great result from a very simple occurrence. About the year 1790, Galvani, a professor in the University of Bologna, was engaged in a series of experiments to show the intimate connection between muscular motion and electrical action. One day some dead frogs, which were intended to make soup for his lady, who was ill, were lying on a table near an electrifying machine, when a student, in the absence of Galvani, was amusing himself with the instrument, and noticed that convulsive motions took place in the muscles of one of the frogs, when touched by a piece of metal.

Madame Galvani, a lady of great intelligence, communicated it to her husband, who after wards discovered the means of exciting theso

DISPOSITION (A Good)-Security of. There is no security in a good disposition, if the support of good principles, (that is to say, of religion, of Christian faith,) be wanting. It may be soured by misfortunes, it may be corrupted by wealth; it may be blighted by neediness; it may lose all its original brightness; if destitute of that support. Southey.

DISTANCE-Effects produced by.

Distance in truth produces in idea the same effect as in real perspective. Objects are softened, rounded, and rendered doubly graceful; the harsher and more ordinary points of character are melted down, and those by which it is remembered, are the more striking outlines that mark sublimity, grace, or beauty. There are mists, too, in the mental as in the natural horizon, to conceal what is less pleasing in distant objects; and there are happy lights to stream in full glory upon those points which can profit by brilliant illumination.

Sir Walter Scott.

It has often been a matter of serious consideration to me, how much the natural love of distinction in man must be flattered by the sudden celebrity to which even the worst criminal stands forth, who is eminent for nothing but the greatness of his crime. He has perhaps lived a life of obscurity and want, till by some hideous act of atrocity he becomes the temporary hero of the day. Every newspaper is then thought insipid that has not a column devoted to him; his most trifling actions become objects of intense and universal interest; we are told how he eats, and

DOCILITY.

drinks, and talks, and sleeps. He is visited by the most eminent Christians; he is assured of the certainty of future blessedness. When the day of execution arrives, crowds assemble to witness his conduct and to admire his heroism. The sympathy of thousands is excited,-all gaze in breathless expectation to hear the least sound of his voice, and he dies like a martyr rather than a criminal.

There is a degree of vanity in our naturo which the approach of death can scarcely overpower; and if there be a temptation to hypocrisy, or an occasion when hypocrisy is dangerous to the salvation of all, it is on such occasions as these, when a multitude beholds the greatest of criminals almost canonized as a saint; the least relic of him is carefully treasured, the very rope on which he was suspended becomes an object of inestimable value; and we saw, on a late occasion, that when the offender became sufficiently notorious, he was finally represented on the stage. Consider how many individuals are longing for celebrity; how willingly men will sacrifice their lives for fame, and that a few would rather be thus known for their crimes, than not known at all.

DISTRAINT-by Legal Process.

Sinclair.

You have fed upon my signories, Dispark'd my parks, and fell'd my forest woods; From my own windows torn my household coat, Razed out my impress, leaving me no sign,— Save men's opinions, and my living blood,To show the world I am a gentleman.

Shakspeare.

They told me, by the sentence of the law,
They had commission to seize all my fortune.
Here stood a ruffian with a horrid face,
Lording it o'er a pile of massive plate,
Tumbled into a heap for public sale.
There was another, making villanous jests
At thy undoing: he had ta'en possession
Of all thy ancient, most domestic ornaments.
Otway.
DIVINITY-Practical

He that is most practical in Divine things, hath the purest and sincerest knowledge of them, and not he that is most dogmatical. Divinity, indeed, is a true efflux from the Eternal light, which, like the sunbeams, does not only enlighten, but heat and enliven; and, therefore our Saviour hath in his Beatitudes connext Purity of heart with the Beatifical Vision. Smith, 1660.

DOCILITY—Force of.

A docile disposition will, with application, surmount every difficulty. Manlius.

DOCTORS-Extortions of.

A wealthy doctor, who can help a poor man, and will not without a fee, has less sense of humanity than a poor ruffian who kills a rich man to supply his necessities. It is something monstrous to consider a man of a liberal education tearing out the bowels of a poor family, by taking for a visit what would keep them a week. Addison.

The purse of the patient frequently protracts his cure. Zimmerman.

DOG (Poodle)-Described.

A little, old, grey-muzzled curmudgeon, with an unhappy eye, that kindles like a coal, if you only look at him; his nose turns up, his mouth is drawn into wrinkles so as to show his teeth; in short, he has altogether the look of a dog far gone in misanthropy, and totally sick of the wor.d. When he walks, he has his tail curled up so tight, that it seems to lift his feet from the ground. This wretch is called Beauty. Washington Irving.

Modest doubt is call'd The beacon of the wise, the tent that searches To the bottom of the worst. Shakspeare.

DREAMING-Nature of. Strange state of being! (for 'tis still to be) Senseless to feel, and with seal'd eyes to see. Byron. DREAMING-Rapidity of Thought in. A very remarkable circumstance, and an important point of analogy, is to be found in the extreme rapidity with which the mental operations are performed, or rather, with which the material changes on which the ideas depend are excited in the hemispherical ganglia. It would appear as if a whole series of acts, that would really occupy a long lapse of time, pass ideally through the mind in one instant. We have in dreams no true per

steed;

Cry, Courage to the field! And thou hast talk'd

Of sallies, and retires; of trenches, tents,
Of palisadoes, fortins, parapets;
Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin;
Of prisoners' ransom, and of soldiers slain,
And all the currents of a heady fight.
Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep,
That beads of sweat have stood upon thy
brow,

Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream:
And in thy face strange motions have
appear'd,

Such as we see when men restrain their breath On some great sudden haste. Shakspeare.

DREAMS-Effects of.

Dreams, in their development, have breath, And tears, and tortures, and the touch of joy; They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts;

DREAMS.

They make us what we were not-what they will,

And shake us with the vision that's gone by. Byron. DREAMS-Felicity of.

If we can sleep without dreaming, it is well that painful dreams are avoided. If, while we sleep, we can have any pleasing dreams, it is, as the French say, tant gagné, so much added to the pleasure of life. Franklin.

DREAMS-Illusions of.

As one who in some frightful dream would shun

His pressing foe, labours in vain to run,
And his own slowness in his sleep bemoans,
In thick short sighs, weak cries, and tender
groans.
Dryden.

The fiend they found,
Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve;
Assaying by his dev'lish art to reach
The organs of her fancy, and with them forge
Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams:
Th' animal spirits, that from pure blood arise,
Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint
Like gentle breaths from rivers pure; thence
raise,

At last distemper'd, discontented thoughts,
Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires,
Blow up with high conceit, engend'ring pride.
Him thus intent, Ithuriel with his spear
Touch'd lightly (for no falsehood can endure
Touch of celestial temper, but returns
Of force to its own likeness); up he starts.
Discover'd and surprised.

DREAMS-like the Mists.

Dim and faint, as the mists that break,
At sunrise, from a mountain lake.
DREAMS-Nature of.

Milton.

Parker.

Know that in the soul

Are many lesser faculties, that serve;
Reason as chief: among these Fancy next
Her office holds: of all external things
Which the five watchful senses represent,
She forms imaginations, airy shapes,
Which Reason, joining or disjoining, frames
All what we affirm, or what deny, and call
Our knowledge or opinion: then retires
Into her private cell, where nature rests.
Oft in her absence mimic Fancy wakes
To imitate her; but misjoining shapes,
Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams;
Ill matching words and deeds long past or late.
Milton.

Dreams are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy;