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in different places. In some districts we find chalk, in others clay, in others again marl, stone, slate, and many other substances. In sinking a well also, we find that the soil varies at different depths. Again, in passing through a tract of country, we observe that a soil, which, in one place, was at a considerable depth, comes to the surface in another place. Thus the different substances of which the crust of the earth is composed are usually found in strata or layers, which are cut horizontal, but inclined, so as to come to the surface, or cross-cut, as it is called, at different points, in a manner somewhat resembling the annexed figure. Here, if a traveller went from A to B, he would pass successively over chalk, for

B

C

A

instance, in the stratum c, over clay in D, over sand in E, and so on. Or if a well be sunk through the clay, the different soils will be found at different depths, as at d, e, f, &c., in succession.

Now suppose that there is high land at P, the soil of which permits the water to pass freely, as sand or gravel does but that on each side of this stratum, as at o and Q, there is a stratum of stone or clay, which will not let the water pass. Thus the whole stratum, P, will be very full of water, and if, in another place, as м, the soil be bored through, till the stratum P be reached, as at p, the water will

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This method is frequently used to procure water artificially and the springs which rise naturally, are probably often occasioned by the same cause: and thus the water, which falls upon one district, and appears to sink into the earth, and to be lost, is stored up in reservoirs, to supply the wants of places far distant.

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directest means of intercourse by navigation: and in the interior of every civilized country, either rivers, or navigable canals, furnish the inhabitants with an easy and cheap conveyance for merchandise and productions of all kinds. Water, also, either enters, as an ingredient, into almost every article of food, or is used as the means of preparing it. Without the aid of water, many of the operations of agriculture could not be performed; nor any building constructed with any ordinary cement.

Of such universal benefit is the apparently simple substance, water: furnishing us with an instance of the numerous merciful ends, which the wisdom of the Creator produces, by the fittest means. Thus, the more deeply we reflect upon objects, even of the most familiar nature, the stronger proofs do we meet with of intelligence, beneficence, and design. C.

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The trees are propagated from shoots or layers, which are bent at the lower end into the ground, and covered with soil until roots begin to strike, when they are separated from the parent stem, and transplanted into a small excavated well about three feet deep, (lined with pieces of lava, and surrounded at the top by plantations of laurel, young faya, and broom,) until the tender orange-plants are sufficiently strong, at which period the plantations immediately round them are removed, and each plant begins to shoot up and flourish, after which no further care is taken of it, beyond tarring occasionally the stem to prevent injury by insects; and it in time spreads out with the majestic luxu riance of a chesnut troo. In this country it only requires seven years to bring an orange-plantation to good bearing, and each tree, on arriving at full growth, a few years after, will then, annually, upon an average, produce from 12,000 to 16,000 oranges:-a gentleman told me, he had once gathered 26,000.

The crops are purchased previous to their arriving at a state of maturity by the merchants, who ascertain the value of the probable year's produce, through the medium of experienced men, and then make their offer accordingly. The men thus employed to value orange-crops, gain a livelihood thereby; and such is the skill whereto they attain, that, by walking once through a plantation, and giving a general glance at the trees, they are enabled to state, with the most astonishing accuracy, on what number of boxes the merchant may calculate. It becomes, however, quite a matter of speculation to the purchaser, as orange-crops are a very uncertain property, and subject to various casualtiesbetween the time they are thus valued and the gatheringFor instance, a continuance of cold north or north-easterly wind will cut them off;-a violent storm will sometimes lay the whole crop on the ground in a night, or it may be entirely destroyed by insects.

A part of the shower, then, which we have supposed, having been immediately applied to support animal and vegetable life, and part having sunk into Nothing can exceed the rich luxuriant appearance of the earth, the remainder is poured down the sides of these Hesperian gardens, during the principal fruit months the hills, is collected in streams, and rivers, and, in-namely, from November to March, when the emerald the end, completes its circuit to the ocean, whence it

arose.

In contemplating this beautiful arrangement, it is impossible not to call to mind the language of David: "He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst. By them sball the fowls of the air have their habitation, and sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works." (Psalm civ. 10-13.)

These, however, are by no means the only benefits derived from water in its fluid state. The waters furnish the means of subsistence and enjoyment, probably to more living creatures than the carth and the air. The ocean, again, which might appear to shut out one country from another, becomes the

tints of the unripe and golden hue of the mature fruit mingle their beauties with the thick dark foliage of the trees; and the bright odoriferous blossom which diffuses a sweetness through the surrounding neighbourhood is quite delicious.

The present amount of oranges and lemons exported, is upwards of 120,000 boxes, and nearly seventy or eighty vessels are sometimes seen lying in the roads, waiting to carry them to Europe. Besides these, a large quantity of the sweet lemon is cultivated for the consumption of the inhabitants: it is produced by grafting the sour lemon on the orange, but is tasteless and vapid, though esteemed salutary and refreshing by the natives.

There is a species of epicurism peculiar to the Azores with respect to oranges, particularly observed by the higher classes, who only eat that side which has been most exposed to the sun, and is, of course, in its fresh state, easily distinguished by the tint-a refinement we are unable to emulate, the colour being rendered uniform by age. [BOID's Western Islands.]

ALEXIS ST. MARTIN.

LIFE PROLONGED BY CIVILIZATION. IF we collect England, Germany, and France, in one group, we find that the average term of mortality,` which, in that great and populous region, was formerly one in thirty people annually, is not at present more than one in thirty-eight. This difference reduces the number of deaths throughout these countries, from 1,900,000 to less than 1,200,000 persons; and 700,000 lives, or one in eighty-three annually, owe their preservation to the social ameliorations effected in the three countries of western Europe, whose efforts to obtain this object have been attended with the greatest success. The life of man is thus not only embellished in its course by the advancement of civilization, but is extended by it, and rendered less doubtful.

The effects of the amelioration of the social condition, are to restrain and diminish, in proportion to the population, the annual number of births, and in a still greater degree, that of deaths; on the contrary, a great number of births, equalled or even exceeded by that of deaths, is a characteristic sign of a state of barbarism. In the former case, as men in social developement, the population is strong, ina mass reach the plenitude of their physical and telligent, and manly; while it remains in perpetual infancy, whole generations are swept off without being able to profit by the past,-to bring social economy to perfection.-Philosophical Journal.

IN 1822, Alexis St. Martin, employed by the American Fur Company, was wounded in the side by the discharge of a musket. The contents of the gun blew from his left side integuments and muscles, the size of a man's hand, so as to leave, when the wound had healed, a perforation in his stomach, about two and a half inches in circumference. Hence the cavity of his stomach is exposed to view; its surface, and secretions from it, can be readily examined, and different articles of food can be introduced, and taken out at pleasure, to study the changes which they have undergone. Since the recovery of Martin, he has enjoyed the best health. He has performed the duties of a labourer, has married, and become the father of a family; and Dr. Beaumont, a physician stationed at the place where the accident happened, has retained Martin several years in his service, for the express purpose of examining the functions of an organ, which was so accidentally thrown open for his inspection and study. The results of this laborious inquiry, have been published by Dr. Beaumont, and he has added much important information to animal physiology. He found the inner coat of the stomach to be of a light or pale pink colour, varying in its hues, according as it was full or empty. It had a soft or velvet-like appearance, and was constantly covered with a thin, transparent, viscid mucus, secreted from small oval-shaped glandular bodies, beneath the mucous coat. When aliment or other irritants were applied to the inner coat of the stomach, there were seen, with a magnifying glass, innumerable minute lucid points, and vory fine nervous and vascular papillæ, arising from the villous membrane, and protruding through the mucous coat, and from which distilled a pure, In the preceding papers of this series, we have narlimpid, colourless, and slightly viscid fluid. This rated the principal events in the military life of Lord fluid is always distinctly acid, and is the gastric juice Wellington, from the year 1803, when he won the which converts the food into chyme. Dr. Beaumont battle of Assaye, down to the period when, in 1814, regards, with much probability, the sensation of the entry of the allied British, Spanish, and Portuhunger, as occasioned by a distension or repletion of guese army into Toulouse, closed the war in the the gastric vessels, which cannot discharge their Peninsula and the South of France; we have now contents till the stomach is irritated with food. only, for the completion of our task, to speak of the When food was placed in the gastric juice, taken out honours which awaited him at the hands of his soveof the stomach, the same chemical result was reign and his country, on the termination of so obtained, when it was kept at the temperature of brilliant a career. 100° Fahrenheit, which Dr. Beaumont found to be that of the stomach. This artificial digestion, however, occupied a period two or three times longer than when the gastric juice acted upon the same materials in the stomach.

Dr. Beaumont has published the times in which various articles of food are digested. A full meal of various articles of food was digested, in from three to three and a half hours; but when the stomach was diseased, or affected by narcotics, or when the mind was agitated by anger, or other strong emotions, or when the food was taken in large masses, the time of digestion was prolonged, while, on the contrary, it was shortened when the food had been minutely divided and mingled with saliva, and when the temperature of the stomach, and the rest of the body, had been elevated by moderate exercise. Among vegetable substances, rice was the soonest converted into chyme, viz., in one hour; and of all animal substances, broiled venison, which was converted into chyme in one hour and thirty-five minutes; while beef, roasted or broiled, required three hours; broiled veal and fowls four hours; and roasted pork, five and a quarter hours.-Edinburgh Review. O. N.

WHAT We term the course of nature is the constant administration of Providence.-HERVEY,

THE WELLINGTON SHIELD.
No. XI. THE DUKEDOM OF WELLINGTON
CONFERRED.

Of these, the most distinguished was, his elevation to the highest rank in the peerage, to which the Crown can raise a subject.

On the 10th of May, a message from the Prince Regent was communicated to both houses of Parliament, announcing that his Royal Highness, having taken into consideration the many signal victories obtained by Lord Wellington, had been pleased to confer upon him the rank and title of a Duke and Marquess of the United Kingdom, and expressing the wish entertained by his Royal Highness, to be enabled to grant such annuity to his Grace and his successors, as should tend to support the high dignity of the title conferred, and be, at the same time, a lasting memorial of his Royal Highness's feelings, and of the gratitude and munificence of the nation. The subject was speedily taken into the consideration of Parliament, in which there appeared to exist but one feeling, —that of an ardent disposition to give full effect to the gracious intentions of the Prince Regent. services of the Duke were acknowledged with equal readiness by all, however wide the difference of their political opinions; and his exploits were compared with those of a general with whom comparison was indeed glorious-the great Duke of Marlborough.

The

But Marlborough, said the Earl of Liverpool, in the house of Lords, had been opposed to Louis XIV., in

the decline of his power, when his most eminent officers were dead or unemployed, and when Marshal Villars was, perhaps, the only very great general with whom he had to contend. Let their lordships, continued the noble Earl, then, look at the Duke of Wellington, opposed to Buonaparte, in the plenitude of his power, with not only France, but Italy, and the greater part of the Peninsula at his command. Their lordships might remember what was the state of Europe four years before, when Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, nay, the whole Continent almost, was on the side of France; when nothing remained of Europe, except Great Britain, and the space within the lines of Torres Vedras, and the limits of Cadiz. Let them consider the situation of the civilized world at that period, and then look at the advance of the Duke of Wellington from Torres Vedras, in 1810; let them follow his steps to Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and the brilliant exploits there performed; let them then follow his course in those operations which closed with the battle of Salamanca; let them next trace his steps to Vittoria; see him deliver Spain and Portugal from the oppressor, carry the war into the invader's own territory, and at last, plant the British standard in Bourdeaux. Let them look at all this, and say, whether the renown which was gained, had ever been exceeded or equalled at any former period of our history.

These sentiments were responded to by every peer who spoke; and in the house of Commons a similar unanimity prevailed. It was there proposed by the government, that an annuity of 10,0007. should be granted to the Duke, to be at any time commuted for the sum of 300,000l. to be laid out in the purchase of an estate; but at the instance of those who had been the loudest in condemning the policy of continuing the war in the Peninsula, the amount was raised to 400,0007; thus making, together with what had been formerly granted to the Duke of Wellington by the nation, the sum of half a million.

It was not till towards the close of the month of June, that the Duke arrived in England; nothing could, however, exceed the rapture with which he was then received. One of his first acts was to take his seat in the house of Lords; and this he performed on the 28th of June. The ceremony was highly interesting, and nothing was omitted that could render it more pleasing or honourable to the great commander. A considerable concourse of persons were assembled below the bar of the house, and an unusual number of peers were present on the occasion. Below the throne were seated the Duchess of Wellington, and the Countess of Mornington, the venerable mother of the noble Duke; several other ladies were present, and many members of the house of Commons. His Grace was introduced with the usual formalities; and as he had not been in England since he was first raised to the peerage, the patents of his creation, as baron, earl, marquess, and duke, were severally read one after the other. The oaths were then administered to him, and having subscribed the parliamentary roll, he took his seat; when the Lord Chancellor rose to address him, for the purpose of conveying the thanks of the house, as voted to him, on the preceding evening, for the twelfth time. In the execution of that duty, Lord Eldon said, he could not refrain from calling the attention of his Grace, and that of the noble lords present, to a circumstance singular in the history of that house;-that, upon his introduction, he had gone through every dignity of the peerage which it was in the power of the crown to bestow. These dignities had been conferred upon him for eminent and distinguished services; and for the same

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services, both hotises of Parliament had bestowed the highest honours it was in their power to grant—their unanimous thanks and approbation. The glorious result of all his toils and victories, had been to achieve the peace, the security, and the greatness of his country, while, by his example, he had animated the rest of Europe, and enabled her governments to restore their ancient order. The Lord Chancellor then expressed the infinite gratification which he felt in fulfilling the commands of their lordships, by informing the noble duke, that they had unanimously voted their thanks for his eminent and unremitted services, and their congratulations upon his return to this country. The duke briefly acknowledged the honour thus conferred upon him, and observed, that the entire confidence which the government had reposed in him, the ample means which they had intrusted to his disposal, and the cordial assistance which he received from the gallant officers who shared his campaigns, contributed powerfully to those successes which the house had noticed in a manner so gratifying.

In addition to the pecuniary remuneration so liberally and cheerfully voted by Parliament to the Duke of Wellington, the House of Commons resolved to pay him the highest tribute of respect that it was possible for them to bestow; namely, voting him their thanks, and appointing a committee to wait upon him to communicate the same, and to offer him their congratulations on his return to England. The Duke, in reply, signified his desire to express to the House his answer in person; and the following day, July 1st, was appointed for the purpose. At about a quarter before five o'clock, the Speaker being dressed in his official robes, and the House being crowded with members, some of them in naval and military uniforms, and a great number in the courtdresses in which they had attended the Speaker to Carlton-House with their address to the Prince Regent, upon the definitive treaty with France, Lord Castlereagh acquainted the House that the Duke of Wellington, having desired that he might have the honour to wait upon the House, was now in attendance. Upon this it was resolved unanimously, that the Duke of Wellington be now admitted. And a chair being set for his grace on the left hand of the bar, towards the middle of the House, he came in, making his obeisances, the whole House rising upon his entrance within the bar; and the Speaker, having informed him that there was a chair in which he might repose himself, the Duke sat down covered for some time, the serjeants standing on his right hand with the mace grounded. The House then resumed their seats; and his grace, rising uncovered, expressed his thanks for the honour they had done him in deputing a committee of members to congratulate him on his return to this country;-and this after they had animated his exertions by their applause upon every occasion which appeared to merit their approbation; and after they had filled up the measure of their favours by conferring upon him, at the recommendation of the Prince Regent, the noblest gift that any subject had ever received.

At the conclusion of his address, the speaker, Mr. Abbot*, who had sate covered during its delivery, then stood up uncovered, and replied to his grace. He spoke of the splendid triumphs which the duke had achieved, and of the feelings which they had excited in the minds of nations, and then continued in these words:

"It is not, however, the grandeur of military success which has alone fixed our admiration or *Afterwards Lord Colchester.

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from a consciousness that his victories had been gained in a good cause, and that the high powers intrusted to him had never been used for purposes of cruelty and oppression. On this point, the observations of Mr. Southey are just and eloquent; and we know not how we can more appropriately close this subject than with the following extract from the conclusion of his History of the Peninsular War.

"In Gascony, as well as in Portugal and Spain, the Duke of Wellington's name was blessed by the people. Seldom indeed has it fallen to any conqueror to look back upon his career with such feelings! The marshal's staff, the dukedom, the honours and rewards which his prince and his country so munificently and properly bestowed, were neither the only nor the most valuable recompense of his labours. There was something more precious than these; more to be desired than the high and enduring fame which he had secured by his military achievements,

commanded our applause; it has been that generous and lofty spirit which inspired your troops with unbounded confidence, and taught them to know that the day of battle was always a day of victory; that moral courage and enduring fortitude, which in perilous times, when gloom and doubt had beset ordinary minds, stood, nevertheless, unshaken; and that ascendency of character, which, uniting the energies of jealous and rival nations, enabled you to wield at will the fates and fortunes of mighty empires. For the repeated thanks and grants bestowed upon you by this House, in gratitude for your many and eminent services, you have thought fit this day to offer us your acknowledgments; but this nation well knows that it is still largely your debtor ; it owes to you the proud satisfaction, that amidst the constellation of great and illustrious warriors who have recently visited our country, we could present to them a leader of our own, to whom all by common acclamation conceded the pre-emi--the satisfaction of thinking to what end those nence; and when the will of heaven, and the common destinies of our nature, shall have swept away the present generation, you will have left your great name and example as an imperishable monument, exciting others to like deeds of glory, and serving at once to adorn, defend, and perpetuate the existence of this country among the ruling nations of the earth."

When the Speaker had finished his address, the Duke of Wellington withdrew, making his obeisances in like manner as upon entering, and the whole House rising whilst his Grace was reconducted by the serjeant from his chair to the door of the House. Such marks of honour did this great general receive from the three branches of the legislature, from each the highest which it could bestow. It would be impossible to particularize the various acts by which his countrymen in general marked their gratitude and joy; one of the most memorable was that which we have recorded in this series of papers, -the offering of the Wellington Shield. But besides these he had other rewards;-those arising

achievements had been directed;-that they were for the deliverance of two most injured and grievously oppressed nations;-for the safety, honour, and welfare of his country;-and for the general interests of Europe, and of the civilized world. His campaigns were sanctified by the cause ;-they were sullied by no cruelties, no crimes;-the chariot-wheels of his triumphs have been followed by no curses;-his laurels are entwined with the amaranths of righteousness, and upon his death-ded he might remember his victories among his good works."

Since the commencement of these papers, the world has had to lament the death of the venerable artist, Stothard, who was the author of this splendid work of genius. He had lived long enough, however, to establish for himself a reputation which will not soon perish.

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Saturday

No 159.

UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

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CATHEDRAL OF SENLIS IN FRANCE.

159

VOL, V.

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