ever would please God, must resemble him in goodness and benevolence, and those that had it not, must affect it by politeness and good manners. These lectures and sermons were attended by all the young and gay; they were new and entertaining, and matter for conversation and criticism. In well regulated families, there was still kept up a reverence for parents and elderly friends; and when the young were admitted to their society, there was a degree of attention paid the old, yea, even servility, that this age knows nothing of, and whoever was wanting in it, was unfit for company. Nobody in those times thought of pleasing themselves; the established rule was to please your company; endeavour to make them think well of themselves, and they will think well of you for doing so. Society was not yet so much enlarged as to weaken the affections of near relations. This may easily be ascertained by every one now alive that is past fifty; not only brothers and sisters, but brothers and sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law, and even more distant connections, would leave their own families for ten or twelve days, and attend with the utmost care a friend in a fever, or dangerous disorder; these were the nurse-keepers for the first 30 years of this century, who by every method endeavoured to lessen their distress, nor left them night or day till they were recovered or bu

ried.

The intercourse between relations and friends was kept up in another way, which was of small presents, mostly consisting of meat and drink ; any thing rare or good of its kind was in part sent to a friend; whatever rank in life they were in, these presents were received with thanks, and returned in kind, on proper occasions; -neither was strangers nor people of high rank sought after in their entertainments; it was their relations, the friends they loved, that shared their delicacies.

These manners still remain in many places of Scotland. When this restraint was thrown off, every character appeared in a natural light, of which there were great variety; prudes and coquettes, romps and affected fine ladies. They were at no pains to disguise, as every one had their own admirers. The regular tea

tables, which commenced about the 20, was a meeting of all the young and gay every evening; there they pulled to pieces the manners of those who differed from them; every thing was matter of conversation,-religion, morals, love, friendship, good manners, and dress; this tended more to our refinement than any thing else,the subjects were all new and entertaining, the booksellers' shops were not stuffed, as now, with novels,-the knowledge of the ladies was gained only by conversing with gentlemen, not by reading themselves, as they had few books to read they could understand.

Whoever had read Pope and Addison, and Swift, with some ill written history, was then thought a learned lady, which character was by no means agreeable. The men thought what knowledge the women had out of their own sphere should be given by themselves, and not picked up from ill chosen books of amusement; though many of them, not without a moral, yet more fitted to reclaim the dissolute than to improve a young untainted mind, that might have passed through life with more happiness and purity than they could with the knowledge these books contained: neither was there any sceptics in those times; religion was just recovered from the power of the devil and the fear of hell. At this period, those terrors began to wear off, and religion appeared in a more amiable light; we were bid draw our knowledge of God from his works, the chief of which is the soul of a good man; then judge if we have cause to fear!-The Christian religion was taught as the purest rule of morality, the belief of a future state, and of a particular providence as a support in every situation; the distresses of individuals were necessary for exercising the good affections of others, and the state of suffering the post of honour.

The intercourse of men and women, though less reserved than at present, was full as pure. They would walk together for hours, or travel on horseback or in a carriage, without any imputation of imprudence; parents had no concern when an admirer was the guide of their daughter, neither had they cause; men shewed their attachment by correcting their faults, informing them what the world

thought of them, and what was most agreeable to the men if they wished to please them.

About the year 40, riches began to increase considerably. Many returned from the East and West Indies with good fortunes, who had gone abroad after the Union. These picked up estates through the country, and lived in a higher style than the old gentry.

The Rebellion in 45 still more increased our riches; from this time the country took a new form. Whether the dread of arbitrary power disposed us for more liberty, or if another cause, I shall leave the more knowing to determine; but surely it had powerful effects on the manners. It was then that the slavery of the mind began to be spoken of; freedom was in every body's mouth. The fathers would use the sons with such familiarity, that they would be their first friend; and mothers would allow no intimacies but with themselves for their girls. The utmost care was taken that fear of no kind should enslave the mind; nurses were turned off who would tell the young of witches and ghosts. The old ministers were ridiculed who preached up hell and damnation; minds were to be influenced by gentle and generous methods alone. The methods of instruction have been increasing since the time mentioned a bove, what may be the effects none know. May not even the love of liberty become the disease of a state, and they be enslaved the worst way by their own passions?-The word servile becomes of late years to be much used; every degree of denying ourselves to please others is servile, and for fear of the imputation of this, we are in hazard of tricking ourselves out of the finest feelings of humanity, devotion, love, and friendship, as in each of these there is a degree of selfdenial. Nobody will at present share a family dinner with a friend, for fear of being thought servile, neither will they attend them when in distress for the same cause, but satisfy themselves with daily inquiries after them. Nor yet did these manners sit easy on them; there was too much exertion in it, and through all their politeness, they still preserved a sense of their own dignity, so that their attention to others was a degree of humiliation which had more the appearance of du

ty, and the desire of applause, than real benevolence.

Neither did the manners of the women change much, which were indelicate in the married ones, who were still considered or treated only as the first domesticks; and though the men paid them more attention now than formerly, this tended only to make them easy in company, not less vulgar. Indeed, many threw off all restraint. I am at a loss to account for this, if it was not owing to our young noblemen bringing home French manners, and, lest they should be led into marriages, they made their addresses only to those who were already in that state. No doubt the contrast between those men educated abroad, and those who had seen nothing of the world, would be very great; besides, the manners of the ladies might lead the men to more freedom, as they had not yet learned that restraint so necessary where society is enlarged.

It was about this time that tea-tables were established.* It was the fashion for the men to meet regularly in the changehouse, as it was then called, for their different clubs, where they spent the evening in conversation, without much expence; a shilling reckoning was very high, and for people of the first fashion, it was more general from fourpence to eightpence, paying besides for their tobacco and pipes, which was much in use in some of these clubs. They played at backgammon or catch honours for a penny the game. All business was transacted in the forenoon, and in the change-houses; the lawyers were there consulted, and the bill paid by the employer. The wine was sherry in mutchkin-stoups,

every new one was chalked on the head of the stoup,-it was incredible the quantity that was drunk on these occasions. Every body dined at home in private, unless called to some of the entertainments mentioned above; but the tea-table very soon introduced supping in private houses, where young people found themselves happy with one another. They were loath

The discerning reader will observe, that this passage is inconsistent with what goes before, the good lady's memory having a little failed her respecting the date of established tea-tables.-Editor.

to part, so that supping came to be the universal fashion in Edinburgh; and lest the families they visited might be unprepared, they sent in the morning to know if they were to drink tea at home, as they wished to wait on them; amongst friends this was always considered as a supper, and any of their male acquaintances asked that they could command, to make up the party. The acquaintances made up at public places did not visit in this way; they hired a chair for the afternoon, and run through a number of houses, as is the fashion still. These merry suppers made young people find a want when they went to the country, and to supply the place of them was introduced collations after supper, when the young people met in some of their bed-chambers, and either had tea or a posset, where they sat and made merry till far in the inorning; but this meeting was carefully concealed from the parents, who were all enemies to these frolics. These manners continued till the 60, when more of the English fashions took place; one of which was to dine at three, and what company you had should be at dinner. These dinners lasted long. The women sat for half an hour after them, and retired to tea, but gentlemen took their bottle, and generally sat till eight. The women are all the evening by themselves, which puts a stop to that intercourse so necessary for the improvement of both sexes. This naturally encouraged public places, as women had little amusement at home; cut off from male society, and few female friends to occupy the void, they must tire of their mothers and elderly society, and fly to the public for relief. They find gentlemen there, though late in the evening, when they have left their bottle, and too often unfitted for any thing but their bed. In this kind of intercourse there is less chance of forming attachments. The women see men in the worst light, and what impression they make on men, is often forgotten by them in the morning. Thus late dinners have entirely cut off the merry suppers, much regretted by the women, while the men pass their nights in taverns, in gaming, or other amusements, as their temper leads them. Cut off in a great measure from the society of men, it is necessary the women should have some

The parents

constant amusement. provide for this void as much as possible, in giving them complete education, and what formerly began at ten years of age, or often later, now begins at four or five, and how long it is to continue the new age must determine, for it is not yet fixed in this. Reading, writing, music, drawing, French, Italian, geography, history, with all kinds of needle work, are now carefully taught the girls, that their time may not lie heavy on their hands without proper society; besides this, circulating libraries loaded with books of amusement

***

ACCOUNT OF SOME ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.

MR EDITOR,

As I am not aware that most of the appearances to which I am about to direct the attention of your readers, have hitherto been inserted in any of the more respectable journals, I take the liberty of transmitting to you the following account of them, from notices which I recorded at the time of their occurrence, together with a few observations which may serve to explain them. The splendour and rarity of the appearances themselves, as well as their connection with the peculiar condition of the atmosphere during the two or three last years, and with the interesting exhibition of the Aurora Borealis, seem to entitle them to a place in your useful Miscellany.

My journal contains the following notice: "11th September 1814. At about seven o'clock in the evening my attention was arrested by the appearance of a very vivid and well-defined arch of electrical matter, stretching across the sky from N.E. to S.W.-a few thin clouds crossed its eastern limb, where it terminated at 15 or 20 degrees above the horizon, in a pointed form, but not very well defined,its western limb reached to within 30 or 35 degrees of the horizon; it formed a complete arch in the intermediate space, its colour being white and vivid,-stretching along the dark blue of a frosty sky, its appearance was grander than that of any meteorological phenomenon I have ever witnessed. It remained almost stationary and entire for nearly half an hour, when it gradually and slowly disappeared.

"During the afternoon there had been light breezes from the south-west, which still continued, and there were distinct indications, from the greenish light and disturbed appearance of the polar regions, of an approaching play of the Aurora Borealis; by degrees these indications became more remarkable; a dark circle of clouds enveloped the northern sky, surmounted at its upper edge by a broad fringe of magnetical light; the cloud, through which occasional flashes of a vivid light were discernible, at last lost the condensed form it had hitherto maintained; and a very beautiful and widely diffused play of the Aurora commenced about ten o'clock. The thermometer during most of this time was at 43° of Fahrenheit, nearly that temperature at which water is understood to be at its greatest density.”

I afterwards learned from published accounts, that the luminous arch was seen at Dublin and Newry in Ireland, -in Scotland, at Glasgow, Dumfries, and Annan,—in England, at Whitehaven, Carlisle, Kendal, and Lancaster. I have not learned that it was observed at London, or at any part farther south.

the

From the following notice in Annals of Philosophy for 1815, I observe that a similar appearance had been visible in London on the 26th of September of that year. "About a quarter before ten o'clock on Tuesday evening, September 26th, Fornalhaut being a little to the east of the meridian, the barometer being 29. 62, and the thermometer 62, a luminous band appeared near the western horizon, and extended itself gradually towards the east, until it occupied a line beginning at the sixth of the Eagle, passing through the Fox and Goose, between the fifth and sixth of the Swan, across Almaac in Andromeda, and Medusa's head, and terminating a little to the north of the Pleiades. It was very bright and well defined near its western extremity, broader, fainter, and of shorter duration, towards the east. Its medium breadth was about five degrees, and it continued about twenty minutes.

"The afternoon of Tuesday was very wet, with violent gusts of wind; for some time before this luminous ap pearance, the sky was nearly covered with large dark cumulous clouds,

which passed away rapidly towards the north-east, and occasionally shot forth faint corruscations. The barometer and thermometer had been very variable for some days.

"At eleven P. M. the sky was very bright near the northern horizon for about a quarter of an hour, but no Aurora Borealis appeared.

"No opportunity of observing the magnetic variation occurred at the time."

On the evening of the 24th of September 1816, the attention of the inhabitants of this city was again attracted by the appearance of a phenomenon of exactly the same description. The evening had previously been mild and clear. About eight o'clock the luminous arch was seen stretching in much magnificence along the concave of the heavens; a few thin clouds crossed its western limb, but its eastern extremity and zenith portion were remarkably distinct. It was equally well defined with the bow of September 1814; it emitted a sensible light, and gave to the night the appearance of a faint moonshine, though the stars were every where visible throughout the direction of its course. Its place, referred to the constellations, was as follows: Its eastern termination was projected a little south of the Pleiades, which were at that time a few degrees above the horizon; from thence it passed upwards through the constellation of the Triangle, through Andromeda, Pegasus, the Dolphin and the Eagle, its western termination being projected on the constellation Poniatowski.

The meteor continued visible, and in much perfection, for nearly two hours, and when it at last slowly disappeared, a faint light continued for some time to mark the place where it had been visible. During the appearance of the meteor, there were the usual indications of an approaching play of the Aurora Borealis, which accordingly took place soon after the bow had disappeared.

It appears, from the foregoing extracts, that a bow of the same description has been visible in some part of this island, during each of the three last autumnal seasons, and indeed very nearly about the same time of the year, that is, in the month of September, and about the time of the equi

nox.

I have also learned, that about half a year previous to the first of these, namely, on the 17th of April 1814, a similar appearance had been observed in Dublin, and in some parts of the north of England.

Very soon after the last of these appearances, I had an opportunity of observing a similar meteor, though not of so perfect and striking a form; the notice, which I recorded at the time, being as follows: "About ten o'clock of the evening of the 3d of October 1816, my attention was arrested by the appearance of what an eye, less accustomed to such sights, would have considered as a thin and very elongated cloud, which seemed to rise from a mass of lurid vapour that covered a very considerable portion of the western and northern parts of the sky. The thin cloud extended from this mass in a direction passing very near the Great Bear, and, when I first observed it, reaching to Capella in the constellation of the Charioteer. After remaining of this length for some time, it slowly extended itself completely to the eastern horizon. Its sides were considerably broken and ragged; its breadth was not more than half that of the bow of the 24th of September last, and its light was less brilliant, but its arched appearance was equally complete.

"This, however, was not the most striking part of the phenomena of that evening. The bow did not continue visible above perhaps a quarter of an hour, but its place was almost immediately supplied by a very remarkable band, of what I dare say most of those who were abroad at that hour mistook for light coloured clouds, and which stretched, like the bow, quite across the sky from N. W. to N. E. This band had the appearance of being waved, or as if it had consisted of a succession of more prominent and more depressed parts; the depressed portions being duller in colour than the more prominent, and giving to the phenomenon very much the appearance of those fleecy clouds which are frequently visible. The northern edge of this band was distinctly defined; and, as the sky due north was clear, the burnished appearance of this luminous band, seen against the deep azure of the sky beyond it, was singularly impressive. Its southern portion passed gradually into a great ex

tent of murky vapour, through which streams of the same luminous matter that had constituted the bow and the band, were seen stretched in various directions. The sky due north was free from clouds, and only marked near the horizon by that beautiful twilight which indicates an Aurora. A deep mass of troubled vapour, however, rested over the pole of the magnetic meridian, which, it is well known, is at present about twenty-four degrees west of north, and from this mass, both the thin arch and the wayed band seemed to originate. The moon was up all the while, and a halo of a very extensive diameter added considerably to the striking appearance of the evening.

"It is worthy of observation, that, during the time of these appearances, the weather was characterized by a genial warmth, to which we have been little accustomed for many months past, and which reminded one of those fine evenings that are commonly enjoyed during the summer months by the inhabitants of the southern countries of Europe. The next day, however, was remarkable for a drizzling rain of a very peculiar character, and the whole day was one of the most dismal we have had during this portentous season,'

Beside the appearances I have already detailed, I have, on two other occasions, had an opportunity of remarking similar phenomena, namely, during the month of February 1817, and about the beginning of March of the same year. On the first of these occasions, I observed a bow in every respect similar to the most perfect of those I have already described; of considerably greater breadth indeed, and differing from them only in the less intense nature of the light which it emitted. It seemed, at the time when I observed it, to be just disappearing, but as I did not hear that it had been publicly noticed, I conclude that its light had not been remarkably brilliant at any period of its duration. Its direction was nearly due east and west, and quite in the zenith of this metropolis.

On the second occasion, which was at the distance only of a few days from the occurrence of the last meteor, I had the satisfaction of observing a vast mass of luminous matter, collect