The Book Of Curiosities Part 57

Of the same kind also, most probably, are those small luminous appearances which sometimes appear in houses, or near them, called, in Scotland, _Elf-candles_, and which are supposed to portend the death of some person about the house. In general these lights are harmless, though not always; for some of them have encompa.s.sed stacks of hay and corn, and set them on fire; so that they became objects of great terror to the country people.

Of these, it was observed, that they would avoid a drawn sword, or sharp-pointed iron instrument; and that they would be driven away by a great noise.

Several philosophers have endeavoured to account for these appearances, but hitherto with no great success; nor indeed does there seem to be sufficient data for solving all their phenomena. Sir Isaac Newton calls it a vapour s.h.i.+ning without heat; and supposes that there is the same difference between a vapour of the ignis fatuus and flame, that there is between the s.h.i.+ning of rotten wood and burning coals. But though this seems generally to be the case, there are exceptions, as has been instanced in the vapours which set fire to the stacks of corn. Dr.

Priestley supposes that the light is of the same nature with that produced by putrescent substances; others, that the electrical fluid is princ.i.p.ally concerned; but none have attempted to give any particular solution of the phenomena.

From the frequent appearance of the ignis fatuus in marshes, moist ground, burying-places, and dunghills, putrefaction seems to be concerned in the production of it. This process is attended with the emission of an aqueous steam, together with a quant.i.ty of fixed inflammable and alkaline air, blended together in one common vapour. It is likewise attended with some degree of heat, and there are some vapours, that of sulphur particularly, which becomes luminous with a degree of heat much less than that sufficient to set fire to combustibles. The putrid vapour, therefore, may be capable of s.h.i.+ning with a still smaller degree of heat than that of sulphur, and consequently may become luminous by that which putrefaction alone affords. This would account for the ignis fatuus, were it only a steady luminous vapour arising from places where putrid matters are contained; but its extreme mobility, and flying from one place to another on the approach of any person, cannot be accounted for on this principle.

If one quant.i.ty of the putrid vapour becomes luminous by means of heat, all the rest ought to do so likewise; so that though we may allow heat and putrefaction to be concerned, yet of necessity we must have recourse to some other agent, which can be no other than electricity. Without this, it is impossible to conceive how any body of moveable vapour should not be carried away by the wind; but so far is this from being the case, that the ignes fatui described by M. Beccari, were but little affected by the wind.

It is, besides, proved by undoubted experiment, that electricity is always attended with some degree of heat; and this, however small, may be sufficient to give a luminous property to any vapour on which it acts strongly: not to add, that the electric fluid itself is no other than light, and may therefore by its action easily produce a luminous appearance independent of any vapour. We have a strong proof that electricity is concerned, or indeed the princ.i.p.al agent, in producing the ignis fatuus, from an experiment related by Dr. Priestley, of a flame of this kind being artificially produced.

A gentleman, who had been making many electrical experiments for a whole afternoon in a small room, on going out of it, observed a flame following him at some little distance. This was doubtless a true ignis fatuus, and the circ.u.mstances necessary to produce it were then present, viz. an atmosphere impregnated with animal vapour, and likewise strongly electrified, for the quant.i.ty of perspiration emitted by a human body is by no means inconsiderable; and it, as well as the electricity, would be collected by reason of the smallness of the room. In this case, however, there seems to have been a considerable difference between the artificial ignis fatuus, and those commonly met with; for this flame followed the gentleman as he went out of the room, but the natural ones commonly fly from those who approach them. This may be accounted for, from a difference between the electricity of the atmosphere in the one room and the other; in which case the flame would naturally be attracted towards that place where the electricity was either different in quality or in quant.i.ty; but in the natural way, where all bodies may be supposed equally electrified for a great way round, a repulsion will as naturally take place. Still, however, this does not seem to be always the case. In those instances where travellers have been attended by an ignis fatuus, we cannot suppose it to have been influenced by any other power than what we call attraction, and which electricity is very capable of producing. Its keeping at some distance, is likewise easily accounted for; as we know that bodies possessed of different quant.i.ties of electricity may be made to attract one another for a certain s.p.a.ce, and then repel without having ever come into contact. On this principle we may account for the light which surrounded the woman at Milan, but fled from the hand of any other person. On the same principle may we account for those mischievous vapours which set fire to the hay and corn stacks, but were driven away by presenting to them a pointed iron instrument, or by making a noise. Both these are known to have a great effect upon the electric matter; and by means of either, lightning may occasionally be made to fall upon, or to avoid, particular places, according to the circ.u.mstances by which the general ma.s.s happens to be effected. On the whole, therefore, it seems most probable, that the ignis fatuus is a collection of vapours of the putrescent kind, very much affected by electricity; according to the degree of which, it will either give a weak or strong light, or even set fire to certain substances. This opinion seems to be confirmed from some luminous appearances observed in privies, where the putrid vapours have been collected into b.a.l.l.s, and exploded violently on the approach of a candle. This last effect, however, we cannot so well ascribe to the electricity, as to the ascension of the inflammable air which abounds in such places.

In the Appendix to Dr. Priestley's third volume of Experiments and Observations on Air, Mr. Warltire gives an account of some very remarkable ignes fatui, which he observed on the road to Bromsgrove, about five miles from Birmingham. The time of observation was the 12th of December, 1776, before daylight. Many of these lights were playing in an adjacent field, in different directions; from some of which suddenly sprang up bright branches of light, somewhat resembling the explosion of a rocket that contained many brilliant stars, if the discharge was upwards, instead of the usual direction; and the hedge, and trees on each side of the hedge, were illuminated. This appearance continued but a few seconds, and then the jack-with-a-lantern played as before. Mr. Warltire was not near enough to observe if the apparent explosion was attended with any report.

Cronstedt gives it as his opinion, that ignes fatui, as well as falling stars, are owing to collections of inflammable air raised to a great height in the atmosphere. But, with regard to the latter, the vast height at which they move, evidently shews that they cannot be the effect of any gravitating vapour whatever; for the lightest inflammable air is one-twelfth of that of the common atmosphere: and we have no reason to believe, that at the distance of forty or fifty miles from the earth, the latter has near one-twelfth of its weight at the surface. From the account given by Mr. Warltire, we should be apt to conclude, that there is a strong affinity betwixt the ignes fatui and fireb.a.l.l.s, insomuch that the one might be very easily converted into the other. Electricity can a.s.sume both these appearances, as is evident in the case of points; or even when the atmosphere is violently electrified, as around the string of an electrified kite, which always will appear to be surrounded with a blue flame in the night, if the electricity be very strong. On the whole, it appears that electricity, acting upon a small quant.i.ty of atmospherical air with a certain degree of vigour, will produce an appearance resembling an ignis fatuus; with a superior force it will produce a fire-ball; and a sudden increase of electrical power might produce those sparks and apparent explosions observed by Mr. Warltire. This appearance has produced many superst.i.tious fears in the ignorant and uneducated.

To those who have, unfortunately, been badly educated in this respect, a friendly act would be, to endeavour with sound reasoning to convince them of their error, and dissuade them from giving heed, in future, to idle, superst.i.tious, or inconsistent stories of any kind; advising them to furnish themselves with such knowledge, as may have a tendency to produce true pleasure and happiness through life, and which, when dying, they can reflect upon without uneasiness. "The natural offspring of prevailing superst.i.tion is infidelity. Of the truth of this, the present times afford us a lamentable example. Where ignorance and fear once ruled supreme, there has rash philosophy but too successfully planted presumption and atheism. 'Tis the diffusion of pure and solid knowledge, which alone can preserve us from the dominion of these opposite tyrants. How should this consideration increase our zeal and stimulate our endeavours! The immediate sphere of our action may be circ.u.mscribed, but our exertions will not on that account be entirely lost. In that circ.u.mscribed sphere let us labour to root out every superst.i.tious lying vanity, and plant pure religion and unsophisticated truth in its stead.

"How charming, how enlivening to the soul, to gaze upon the dawning beams of opening light, to behold them irradiate that dismal gloom of intellectual darkness, which long overwhelmed the millions of mankind: how supremely pleasing, to view them wider and wider spreading their invigorating influence: how rapturously transporting, to contemplate the resplendent prospect of pure and perfect day!

"--------------Power supreme!

O everlasting King! to thee we kneel, To thee we lift our voice!"--

"O spread thy benign, thy vivifying light over the dwellings of the sons of men; dispel the yet impending mists of ignorance and superst.i.tion: and, O preserve us from the dismal gulf of infidelity and atheism; let thy truth run and prevail gloriously; let pure celestial wisdom overspread the earth as the waters cover the sea!--Then shall millions kneel before thee with grateful and enraptured hearts; then shall they rejoice to sing the praises of thee, their Benefactor, their Father, and their G.o.d: then shall this vale of tears be filled with the mansions of joy and gladness, and become a blissful foretaste of those regions, where thy saints, crowned with unfading glory and felicity, surround thy throne with never-ceasing hallelujahs!"

See _Naylor on Vulgar Superst.i.tions_.

CHAP. LXVI.

CURIOSITIES RESPECTING VARIOUS PHENOMENA OR APPEARANCES IN NATURE.--(_Continued._)

_Extraordinary Properties and Effects of Lighting--Thunder Rod--Fire b.a.l.l.s--Terrible Effects of Electrified Clouds--Surprising Effects of extreme Cold--Astonis.h.i.+ng Expansive Force of Freezing._

----By conflicting winds together dashed, The thunder holds his black tremendous throne: From cloud to cloud the rending lightnings rage; Till, in the furious elemental war Dissolv'd, the whole precipitated ma.s.s Unbroken floods and solid torrents pours.

_Thomson._

EXTRAORDINARY PROPERTIES AND EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING.--A very surprising property of lightning of the zigzag kind, especially when near, is, its seeming omnipresence. If two persons are standing in a room looking different ways, and a loud clap of thunder, accompanied with zigzag lightning, happens, they will both distinctly see the flash, not only by that indistinct illumination of the atmosphere which is occasioned by fire of any kind, but the very form of the lightning itself, and every angle it makes in its course, will be as distinctly perceptible as if both had looked directly at the cloud from whence it proceeded. If a person happened at that time to be looking on a book, or other object which he held in his hand, he would distinctly see the form of the lightning between him and the object at which he looked. This property seems peculiar to lightning, and to belong to no other kind of fire whatever. In August 1763, a most violent storm of thunder, rain, and hail, happened at London, which did damage in the adjacent country to the amount of 50,000.

Hailstones fell of an immense size, from two to ten inches in circ.u.mference, but the most surprising circ.u.mstance attending the hurricane was, the sudden flux and reflux of the tide in Plymouth pool, exactly corresponding with the like agitation in the same place, at the time of the great earthquake at Lisbon. Instances have also occurred where lightning, by its own proper force, without any a.s.sistance from those less common agitations of the atmosphere or electric fluid, has thrown stones of immense weight to considerable distances; torn up trees by the roots, and broke them in pieces; shattered rocks; beat down houses, and set them on fire, &c. The following singular effect of lightning, upon a pied bullock, is recorded in the sixty-sixth volume of the Philosophical Transactions.--

"In the evening of Sunday the 28th of August, 1774, there was an appearance of a thunder storm, but we heard no report. A gentleman who was riding near the marshes not far from this town, (Lewes) saw two strong flashes of lightning running along the ground of the marsh, at about nine o'clock P. M. On Monday morning, when the servants of Mr. Roger, a farmer at Swanborough, went into the marsh to fetch the oxen to their work, they found one of them, a four-year-old steer, standing up, to appearance much burnt, and so weak as to be scarcely able to walk. The animal seemed to have been struck by lightning in a very extraordinary manner. He was of a white and red colour; the white in large marks, beginning at the rump bone, and running in various directions along both sides; the belly was all white, and the whole head and horns white likewise. The lightning, with which he must have been undoubtedly struck, fell upon the rump bone, which was white, and distributed itself along the sides in such a manner as to take off all the hair from the white marks as low as the bottom of the ribs, but so as to leave a list of white hair, about half an inch broad, all round where it joined to the red, and not a single hair of the red appears to have been touched. The whole belly was unhurt, but the end of the sheath of the p.e.n.i.s had the hair taken off; it was also taken off from the dewlap: the horns and the curled hair on the forehead were uninjured; but the hair was taken off from the sides of the face, from the flat part of the jaw-bones, and from the front of the face, in stripes.

There were a few white marks on the side and neck, which were surrounded with red; and the hair was taken off from them, leaving half an inch of white adjoining to the red. The farmer anointed the ox with oil for a fortnight; the animal purged very much at first, and was greatly reduced in flesh, but afterwards recovered." In another account of this accident, the author supposes that the bullock had been lying down at the time he was struck; which shews the reason that the under parts were not touched.

"The lightning, conducted by the white hair, from the top of the back down the sides, came to the ground at the place where the white hair was left entire."

The author of this account says, that he inquired of Mr. Tooth, a farrier, whether he ever knew of a similar accident; and that he told him "the circ.u.mstance was not new to him; that he had seen many pied bullocks struck by lightning in the same manner; that the texture of the skin under the white hair was always destroyed, though looking fair at first; but after a while it became sore, throwing out a putrid matter in pustules, like the small-pox with us, which in time falls off, when the hair grows again, and the bullocks receive no farther injury;" which was the case with the bullock in question. In a subsequent letter, however, the very same author informs us, that he had inquired of Mr. Tooth, "whether he ever saw a stroke of lightning actually fall upon a pied bullock, so as to destroy the white hair, and shew evident marks of burning, leaving the red hair uninjured? He said he never did; nor did he recollect any one that had. He gave an account, however, of a pied horse, belonging to himself, which had been struck dead by lightning in the night time." The explosion was so violent, that Mr. Tooth imagined his house had been struck, and therefore immediately got up. On going into the stable, he found the horse almost dead, though it kept on its legs near half an hour before it expired. The horse was pied white on the shoulder, and greatest part of the head, viz. the forehead and nose, where the greatest force of the stroke came. "The hair was not burnt nor discoloured, only so loosened at the root, that it came off with the least touch. And this is the case, according to Mr. Tooth's observation, with all that he has seen or heard of, viz. the hair is never burnt, but the skin always affected. In the horse, all the blood in the veins under the white parts of the head was quite stagnated, though he could perceive it to flow in other parts as usual; and the skin, together with one side of the tongue, was parched and dried up to a greater degree than he had ever seen before." Another instance is mentioned of this extraordinary effect of lightning upon a bullock, in which even the small red spots on the sides were unaffected; and in this, as well as the former, the white hair on the under part of the belly, and on the legs, was left untouched.

One very singular effect of lightning is, that it has been observed to kill alternately, that is, supposing a number of people standing in a line; if the first person was killed, the second would be safe; the third would be killed, and the fourth safe; the fifth killed, &c. Effects of this kind are generally produced by the most violent kind of lightning; namely, that which appears in the form of b.a.l.l.s, which frequently divide themselves into several parts before they strike. If one of these parts of a fire-ball strike a man, another will not strike the person who stands immediately close to him; because there is always a repulsion between bodies electrified the same way. Now, as these parts into which the b.a.l.l.s break have all the same kind of electricity, it is evident that they must for that reason repel one another, and this repulsion is so strong, that a man may be interposed within the stroke of two of them, without being hurt by either.

THUNDER ROD.--Dr. Franklin has demonstrated the ident.i.ty of thunder with the electric explosion. He availed himself of many curious discoveries which he had made of electrical laws: in particular, having observed that electricity was drawn off at a great distance, and without the least violence of action, by a sharp metallic point, he proposed to philosophers to erect a tall mast or pole on the highest part of a building, and to furnish the top of it with a fine metallic point, properly insulated, with a wire leading to an insulated apparatus for exhibiting the common electrical appearances. To the whole of this contrivance he gave the name of _Thunder Rod_, which it still retains. He had not a proper opportunity of doing this himself, at the time of his writing his dissertation in a letter from Philadelphia to the Royal Society of London; but the contents were so scientific, and so interesting, that in a few weeks they were known over all Europe. His directions were followed in many places. In particular, the French academicians, encouraged by the presence of their monarch, and the great satisfaction which he expressed at the repet.i.tion of Dr. Franklin's most instructive experiments, which discovered and made known the theory of positive and negative electricity, as it is now received, were eager to execute his orders, and make his grand experiment, which promised so fairly to bring this tremendous operation of nature, not only within the pole of science, but in the management of human power. But in the mean time, Dr. Franklin, impatient of delay, and perhaps incited by the honourable desire of well-deserved fame, put his own scheme in practice. His inventive mind suggested to him a method of presenting a point to a thunder cloud at a considerable distance. This was, by fixing his point on the head of a paper kite, which the wind should raise to the clouds, while the wet string that held it should serve for a conductor of the electricity. With a palpitating heart, Dr. Franklin, unknown to his neighbours, and accompanied only by his son, went into the fields, and sent up his messenger that was to bring him news from the heavens. He obtained only a few sparks from his apparatus that day; but returned to his house in a state of perfect satisfaction with his success. We may justly consider this as one of the greatest of philosophical discoveries, and as doing the highest honour to the inventor; for it was not a suggestion from an accidental observation, but arose from a scientific comparison of facts, and a sagacious application of the doctrine of positive and negative electricity; a doctrine wholly Dr. Franklin's, and the result of the most acute and discriminating observation. It was this alone, that suggested the whole; and, by explaining to his satisfaction the curious property of sharp points, gave him the courage to handle the thunderbolt of the heavens. It is now a point fully ascertained, that thunder and lightning are the electric snap and spark, as much superior to our puny imitations as we can conceive from the immense extent of the instruments in the hands of Nature.

If (says Dr. Franklin,) a conductor, one foot thick, and five feet long, will produce such snaps as agitate the whole human frame, what may we not expect from a surface of ten thousand acres of electrified clouds? How loud must be the explosion! how terrible the effects!

To this wonderful discovery, Dr. Darwin alludes in the following lines:--

Led by the phosphor light, with daring tread Immortal Franklin sought the fiery bed; Where, nurs'd in night, inc.u.mbent tempest shrouds The seeds of thunder in circ.u.mfluent clouds, Besieg'd with iron points his airy cell, And pierc'd the monster slumb'ring in his sh.e.l.l.

FIRE b.a.l.l.s,--are a kind of luminous bodies, commonly appearing at a great height above the earth, with a splendour surpa.s.sing that of the moon, and sometimes equalling her apparent size. They generally proceed in this hemisphere from north to south with vast velocity, frequently breaking into several smaller ones, sometimes vanis.h.i.+ng with a report, and sometimes not. These luminous appearances, no doubt, const.i.tute one branch of the ancient prodigies, or blazing stars. They sometimes resemble comets, in being attended with a train; but frequently they appear with a round well-defined disk. The first of these, of which we have any accurate account, was observed by Dr. Halley and others, at different places, in 1719. From the slight observations they could take of its course among the stars, its perpendicular height was computed at about seventy miles from the surface of the earth. The height of others has also been computed, and found to be various; though in general it is supposed to be beyond the limits a.s.signed to our atmosphere, or where it loses its refractive power.

The most remarkable of these on record appeared on the 18th of August, 1783, about nine o'clock in the evening. It was seen to the northward of Shetland, and took a southerly direction for an immense s.p.a.ce, being observed as far as the southern provinces of France and Rome. During its course, it appears frequently to have changed its shape; sometimes appearing in the form of one ball, sometimes two or more; sometimes with a train, sometimes without one. It pa.s.sed over Edinburgh nearly in the zenith, and had then the appearance of a well-defined round body, extremely luminous, and of a greenish colour; the light which it diffused on the ground giving likewise a greenish cast to objects. After pa.s.sing the zenith, it was attended by a train of considerable length, which, continually augmenting, at last obliterated the head entirely; so that it looked like a wedge, flying with the obtuse end foremost. The motion was not apparently swift, by reason of its great height; though in reality it must have moved with great rapidity, on account of the vast s.p.a.ce it travelled over in a short time. In other places its appearance was very different. At Greenwich, we are told, that "two bright b.a.l.l.s, parallel to each other, led the way, the diameter of which appeared to be about two feet; these were followed by an expulsion of eight others, not elliptical, seeming gradually to fall to pieces, for the last was small. Between each two b.a.l.l.s a luminous serrated body extended, and at the last a blaze issued, which terminated in a point. Minute particles dilated from the whole. The b.a.l.l.s were tinted first by a pure bright light, then followed a delicate yellow, mixed with azure, red, green, &c. which, with a coalition of bolder tints, and a reflection from the other b.a.l.l.s, gave the most beautiful rotundity and variation of colours, that the human eye could be charmed with. The sudden illumination of the atmosphere, and the form and singular transition of this bright luminary, contributed much to render it awful: nevertheless, the amazingly vivid appearance of the different b.a.l.l.s, and other rich connecting parts, not very easy to delineate, gave an effect equal to the rainbow in the zenith of its glory."

TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF ELECTRIFIED CLOUDS.--The most extraordinary instance of this kind perhaps on record, happened in the island of Java, in the East Indies, in August, 1772. On the 11th of that month, at midnight, a bright cloud was observed covering a mountain in the district called _Cheribou_, and at the same time several reports were heard like those of a gun. The people who dwelt on the upper parts of the mountain, not being able to fly fast enough, a great part of the cloud, almost three leagues in circ.u.mference, detached itself under them, and was seen at a distance, rising and falling like the waves of the sea, and emitting globes of fire so luminous, that the night became as clear as day. The effects of it were astonis.h.i.+ng: every thing was destroyed for seven leagues round; the houses were demolished; plantations were buried in the earth; and two thousand one hundred and forty people lost their lives, besides fifteen hundred head of cattle, and a vast number of horses, goats, &c.

Another instance of a very destructive cloud, the electric qualities of which at present can scarcely be doubted, is related by Mr. Brydone, in his Tour through Malta. It appeared on the 29th of October, 1757. "About three-quarters of an hour after midnight, there was seen, to the south-west of the city of Valetta, a great black cloud, which, as it approached, changed its colour, till at last it became like a flame of fire mixed with black smoke. A dreadful noise was heard on its approach, which alarmed the whole city. It pa.s.sed over the port, and came first on an English s.h.i.+p, which in an instant was torn in pieces, and nothing left but the hull; part of the masts, sails, and cordage, were carried to a considerable distance with the cloud. The small boats and selloques, that fell in its way, were all broken to pieces and sunk. The noise increased, and became more frightful. A sentinel, terrified at its approach, ran into his box; but both he and it were lifted up and carried into the sea, where he perished. It then traversed a considerable part of the city, and laid in ruins almost every thing that stood in its way. Several houses were laid level with the ground, and it did not leave one steeple in its pa.s.sage. The bells of some of them, together with the spires, were carried to a considerable distance; the roofs of the churches demolished and beat down, &c. It went off at the north-east point of the city, and, demolis.h.i.+ng the lighthouse, is said to have mounted up into the air with a frightful noise, and pa.s.sed over the sea to Sicily, where it tore up some trees, and did other inconsiderable damage; but nothing material, as its fury had been spent at Malta. The number of killed and wounded amounted to near two hundred; and the loss of s.h.i.+pping, &c. was very considerable."--The effects of thunder storms, and the vast quant.i.ty of electric matter formed in the clouds which produce these storms, are so well known, that it is superfluous to mention them. It appears, however, that even these clouds are not so highly electrified as to produce their fatal effects on those who are immersed in them. It is only the discharge of part of their electricity upon such bodies as are either not electrified at all, or not so highly electrified as the cloud, that does all the mischief. We have, however, only the following instance on record, of any persons' being immersed in the body of a thunder cloud. Professor Saussure, and young Mr. Jalabert, when travelling over one of the high Alps, were caught among clouds of this kind; and, to their astonishment, found their bodies so full of electrical fire, that spontaneous flashes darted from their fingers with a crackling noise, and the same kind of sensation as when strongly electrified by art.

Among the awful phenomena of nature, none have excited more terror than lightning and thunder. Some of the profligate Roman emperors, of whom history records that they procured themselves to be deified, confessed, by their trembling and hiding themselves, when they heard the thunder, that there was a divine power greater than their own--_Coela tonantem Jovem_.

The greatest security against the terrors of a thunder-storm, although no certain one against its effects, is that life of piety and virtue, which is the best guardian of every earthly blessing. The good man, who knows that every event is under the direction of an overruling Providence, and that this life is only a part of his existence, introductory to the blissful scenes of immortality, will behold the terrors of the storm with unshaken resolution: grateful to the Supreme Being, if permitted to escape from the danger; and acquiescing in the Divine Will, if thus to be conveyed, by an easy and instantaneous pa.s.sage, to that heaven where his conversation had long been, and to that G.o.d with whom he delighted to walk.

These sentiments are beautifully expressed in the following lines, written in a midnight thunder-storm, by the celebrated Mrs. Carter, and addressed to a lady:--

Let coward guilt with pallid fear To shelt'ring caverns fly, And justly dread the vengeful fate That thunders thro' the sky:

Protected by that hand, whose law The threat'ning storms obey, Intrepid virtue smiles secure, As in the blaze of day.

In the thick cloud's tremendous gloom, The lightning's lurid glare, It views the same All-gracious Pow'r, That breathes the vernal air.

Thro' nature's ever-varying scene, By diff'rent ways pursu'd, The one eternal end of Heav'n Is universal good.

The same unchanging mercy rules When flaming ether glows, As when it tunes the linnet's voice, Or blushes in the rose.

By reason taught to scorn those fears That vulgar minds molest, Let no fantastic terrors break My dear Narcissa's rest.

Thy life may all the tend'rest care Of Providence defend, And delegated angels round Their guardian wings extend.

When thro' creation's vast expanse The last dread thunders roll, Untune the concord of the spheres, And shake the rising soul;

Unmov'd may'st thou the final storm Of jarring worlds survey, That ushers in the glad serene Of everlasting day.

The following lines on the same subject were written by Mrs. Chapone:--

In gloomy pomp, whilst awful midnight reigns, And wide o'er earth her mournful mantle spreads; Whilst deep-voiced thunders threaten guilty heads, And rus.h.i.+ng torrents drown the frighted plains; And quick-glanc'd lightnings, to my dazzled sight, Betray the double horrors of the night:

A solemn stillness creeps upon my soul, And all its powers in deep attention die; My heart forgets to beat; my stedfast eye Catches the flying gleam; the distant roll, Advancing gradual, swells upon my ear With louder peals, more dreadful as more near.