;,' ,. - , ,
increased. The vapour when tney
are thus delated, rare fid V. .
lued through all the cetesuai ic
gW may probably I by httle and
little, by means of their own gravi
ty, be attra:ted down to the passing
planets, and become intermingled
with their atmospheres.
That for the conservation oi the
w .rer and 'moisture ot tne pianets,
.. am ahsol
seem absolutely requisite,
s... ' - i j
from whose t onaensea vapours ana .
tions, all that moistdre, which
T : - u f io-tior,
is sprutu r - rrfv-V
ami yuti c ... , . T
l tz-unn ann nirn f-"f l nrn nnr i
e irtit, &c m iy be re -supplied, and
recruited, i 7 ; ,
For all' vegetables grow and, in
crease wholly from flui ds and the
greater part, is turned by put eta c-
;ti)i int'K earth .again, an earthy
slime being perpetually precipitated
to the bottom of putrefying liquors
Hence the quantity of dry earth ,
m ust c ami n u a I IV i n ere ase , a n c 1 t h e
moisture of the globs decrease, and
at last be qnite ev iporated, if it has
not a continual supply from som
part or other of the universe.
1 And it is reasonable to suppose
th jt the spirit which makes the fines-,
subtil"St and the bfi par; of our
air; and 'which is absolutely recui-
site for the life and being oc i
things, comes principally from th
"c-ornits. j So far then tVom viewing
-conaets with any apprehensions t
dr;d, we ought to consider them,
as the harbingers of the merciful dis
pe'isat'on of provideuce towards us.
Although comets are only succes-
T sive in appearance, they are perma
newt in reality, and perpetually r -
fn wing and imparting, that essen
tial requisite, 1 perhaps so important
to our vital existence -'.i.
The tails of comets are supposed
. to have a great affinity to the zodia-
"cal Ughtj and to the aurora bore alis,
a -ul'ihat the common cause of them
all, is the action of the suns light on
th' atmosphere o the comets, of
itvlf, arid of the earth. That thp
iaiulse of the ra)'s of light, on the
atmosphere of comets, miy drive
some; of. the finer particles of that
atmosphere, far beyond its limits,
and that this force or impulse, corn
bin d with that of gnavitv, towards
th comet, would produce a .tail,
. vh h would always be irr oppo
sition to the sun, if the comet did
h') m'vt. But the motion of the
com t-t in its orbit, and aboyt an axis,
must v.iry the position and figure of
the:, tail, giving it a curvature, and
a deviation from a line drawn from
tlv centre of the sun, to that of the
comet ; and that this deviation of
th tad, , will he greater as the orbit
: )Ot ?he comet has the .greater curva
tun, and as the motion of the come'
is more rapid. J It may t ven happen
th it the velocity of the comet, in its
perihelion, may be so great, that the
force of the sun's rays may produce
7; a ncy tail, before the old one can
follow, in which case the comet
. mic;ht havej two or more tails.
'The possibility of this is confirmed
by the comet of ir44; which was
observed to have several tails while
it was in its perihelion. The attrac
tive qualities in planets and comets
beforelHmenfioned, although' appa
rently contradictory, seem to exist,
or how are we to reconcile, and jVx
plain such, opposi te elft cts, from one
and the same cause ; for attraction, j
if the repulsive qualities are ad
mitted, has a tendency to obviate
" many things in themselves ihexpli
cible That such ideas may, per-hap-,
not have numerous advocates,
lm s not satisfactorily prove the non-i
-. cxi-irencj; pi those contrary qualities ;
"howpvef. we find no difficulty in believ
intbe theory of positive and negative
. electricity, and experince justifies the
belief Much has been said and admitted
on the subject of attraction, gravitation,
p.roie tilei centrifugal and centripetal
forces; but how are we satisfactorily to
explain the immense attractive power of,
the sun, that at the amazing1 distance of
eleven thousand two millions of miles,
attracts so heavy "and dense a body
as a comet, so that in its approach
to the fun, its velocity is increased ac-
cording .o the square of its distance from
It seems
Those who lived before Aristotle. &7m-
posed the heavenly spacefill of,an in-
finite number of stars ; many of them too
remote or too small, to cone under the no-
tice of astronomers. . . j
And a comet according to tJiem, was
" a vast heap or assemblage o f these stars,
meeting together by reason of " the inequal-
xy oj mar wyuw. m5 u vi-
reanble in tTie common corrceptton of
th
vast attractive, power of
the Jiia, it it does attract from such vast
regions, (of which there remains but little
a.u u;--,m AAva ihp"mmt
in particular, to its own bodyby its cen-
tripetal force, never more Jo part, and
the comet would then become a part of
the sun. That not being the case, is evi- ;
dent, for all comets, when attracted with- J
in, or near a certain distance of the at-
. . '
mosphere of the sun, fly off into infinite ;
..l-."v nrnhahlv tnav -Hrpnd on I
."-vj t- rv.- i - .
the U:cnl?1 !
en not irrauvimi, iu aup,H,sr, umi lucjr
are renulsed,fbr the purpose of perfbrming
aain the revolutions, prescribed by that
unerrins: first rause, who made and gave
laws to the uni erse. The repulsive quali
ties of the sun may depend on a certain
density of materials, contained in the
comet, which may be acted upon, by
that heat or light, which produces such
extensive atmospheres, around the comets,
and the matter in the sun, may contri
bute largely towards) it. Some .comets
approach very near tin?, sun, when in
their perihelion, while others, perhaps
prssessing less of this! quality, what ever
it may he,rare kept at an awful distance.
No donbt can be entertained but that
our system is jroverned by laws immuta-
- ' - - . . .
ble. for it is impossible that the result of I
chance,) however fortuitous, could have J neighborhood of Cadiz and it was sup
produced, or have compelled,' stubborn j posed-thev, would be embarked from some
crude materials to arrange themselves j other point." Nothing is said of the Trea-
in such bcautifuland exquisite order.' ty in these letters , '
The magnitude of comets, have not
been , satisfactorily noticed, they are ge
nerally supposed to be muCh larger than
our moon and some of them equal to
some of the primary planets. Helvelius
made the diameter of the comet of 1632,
to that of the earth as b l to 100. The
atmosphere 'of comets, is ten, or fifteen
times as great as that of the nucleus,
the former in the comet of 1682 was
measured by Flamstead : it was found to
be two minutes, but the diameter of the
nucleus only eleven seconds. 'Hie di
ameter of that of 1744, when at that dis
tance of the sun from us, measured about
one minute, therefore its diameter must
be about three timesthe diameter of the
earth ; at another time, the diameter of
its nucleus was nearly equal to that. -of
Jupiter. !. .
If the sun, the planejs, and the comets,
are all inhabited, (and there is no good
reason to doubt it,) and all the fixed stars
be suns, which can hardly be doubted, J
their immense distance, would exclude
them from our view, if their light, trans
mitted to us, was not of the solar kind.
The analogy; may also be proved very sa
tisfactorily ; the sun revolves on its axis, so
does the star Algol, so does Lyrea?, Ce
phei, Antinoi, Ceta, and many more
probably all. Again, our sun has spots,
so has the star Algol and so have those
already mentioned, and probably every
star in the heavens.! ; On our sun these
spots are changeable, so they are on the
star Ceti, as isr evident from the irregu
larity of its changeable lustre. While their
general periods -continue unalterable,
some of their revolutions or rotations on
their own axes, are shorter and some are j constitution, could take place,
longer than our sun. As to the' number " The American ship Horatio," Skin
of fixel stars, they may be considered in-- ner sailed 10th June, without a, clear
numerable, j Dr. I Ierschel reckoned in a ance; a brig, conimanded by Capf (jlal-
space,!eight degrees in length and three
in breadth, 44,000 stars. ()n the 22d of
August 1792, lie found no less than 258,-
j 000 stars passed through the field of view
of his I elescope in 41 minutes of time.
The greater perfection Telescopes are
brought to, the more stars are discovered.
Now, considering those stars to be suns,
and should their size equal our. sun which
is 1,384,462, times larger than the earth,
and that those sun's, have their planets,
and comets all inhabited, what a vast field
opens itself to view for animated nature.
If it were possible for the utmost stretch
of the human imagination, to conceive
any idea adequte to such prodigious, stu
pendous, and magnificent works of crea- j
tion innumerable worlds and systems
all in rapid motion," each pursuing the
separate paths prescribed to them, with
harmony and precision, such ideas must j
have a powerful tendeicy by contempla
tion, exalt our minds above the limited
prejudices of superstition, with a pleas
ing and certain conviction of the immu
tability, of a supreme all seeing Creator,
and with an indescribable satisfaction,
we should joid a sublime author who
says, The universe is the work of in
finite power, prompted by infinite good
ness, having an infinite space to exert it-
sible mass, which must again disappear as
those stars separated, and eachproceeded
I on its course. But how those stars should
thus meet, Coalesce and; form a bodu
' which in all positions of the sun, should
' substituting another in its stead but cqual-
lv as erroneous. ! !
The ancient Chnnrritrs'aiid AtJwits.
believed the solar systen to be the result
of chance, and self created; the incor-
redness of which must he evident ; for to
8ay that any one thing is cause of itself ,
is to say that it existed before it did ex-
isU which is absurd ; or else, that its ex-
istencetcas necessary, which can only be
saia oj trie Deity,
self in, so that oar iraai
no bounds to it." Ofjhs
to that which is infinite,
so that our imaginatians can set
that which is finite,
there is no pro-
"
portion; neither canthat which is im-
mpasarable be contained wiunn me
roits of space, or be debned by human
calculation. We also might join the
above author with solemn fervency when
he says, " How great, how mse, froio
good, must he be, who made and governs
the whole. : N
FOREIGN.
PlIILADELPHlA, OcT. 2.
Bv the arrival of the Fanny, we have
accouiits from Cadiz to the 28th August,
at which, time it was not known that the
Florida Treaty was ratified by King Fep
dinand. The six months allowed for its
ratification by the Spanish government. . cess in the province of 1 unja, m New
it will be recollected expired on th 26th Grenada, and the royal force ; there was
of August.- It was very sickly at Cadiz nearly destroyed, When his last des
when the Fanny sailed. patches were sent off, viz June the 2th,
-1- Letters from Cadiz dated the ZSlh of he was preparing to march for the capi
August, represent hat the yellow 'fever tol (Santa Fe) at theheaolof 6poq troops,
had broken out at lslay, a large town a- Ae had previously formed a junction with
bout 8 miles from Cadiz and that -appre- , Gen. Santander in Cassanare.
hensions wef? etvtertained of its reaching j Paez has obtained another victory over
Cadiz. The inhabitants were generally a part of Morillo's army on a.branch of
removinsr. and all business was at a; stand.
Numerous bodies of troops were in the
UtUer letters trom iaoiz state, tnai ine
merchants of that place were debarred
making shipments in American" vessels,
on account of the uncertainty of the Trea
ty being ratified. V ' a-'
Extract of a letter from the Cape of
Good Hope, dated Cape Town, May 5.
" The Caffres have broken out, and a
very Serious war is carried on at present
on the borders. It is said that the Sava
ges are to the amount of 50,000 ; and a
detach tuent of 6,000 attacked Graham's
town on Saturday week about 12 o'clock
in the day, but were repulsed, and 150
left dead on the field. They carried off.!
300 wounded. Orders have been issued
in evepy district of the colony, for the
young boors to enrol themselves to op
pose the enemy. The settlers are in a
bad state, as the Gaffres have stolen all
their cattle.
" May ,10.- The 1 5th regiment," com
manded by Col. Villshire, have come up
withlthe main body of the Caffres near
(irahum's town, and have defeated them
with great loss, ince then, they have
withdrawn from the British territory."
FROM BULAOS AYRES.
. AUCiUST
5.
Extract of a Letter.
" A new director, ad interim) went
into office in Buenos Ayres, on the 10th
of .June," in the person of Don Joze Roni
deau, 1'uerrydon not being able on ac
acount of ill health, to remain in the si
tuation until the appointment of a new
diiector, according to the forms of the
j vm"; was despatched to bring her back.
but did not;overtake her.
' The Chilian privateer Congress,
lying in the port of Lnsenada, was run
away with by the crew it is supposed,
provided with an Artias commission.
" A Portuguese trader between Uue
nos Ayres and Montevideo, oh her voy
age to the latter place, with considerable
money on board, was taken by an armed
boat in the night, and the passengers
landed on the beach.' s ' 7
."The American schooner Montezu
ma, of Baltimore, Was captured on the
coast of Peru, in April, by Lord Coch
rane's squadron, on account 'of having,
as L,ord tochrane stated
port, munitions of. war,
by Cheval er Onis. -
!' ff 1
in ins otncial re -
vvl,uavicu iUl
" Lord Cochrane havi
ng made an ex-
cursion along the coast of Peru, to the
northward, left , the greater part of the,
squadron at Cdllao, under the command
of Admiral Blanco, who, before his re
turn, left the station, but put iritolVal
paiaiso, in want .of provisions. The ut
most activity prevailed to supply die
fleet, and to renew the blockade, while
Blanco was arrested, to be tried by a
court martial. ' 7
" Lord Cochrane had. made several
captures, and taken several sums of mo
ney out of neutral vessels after having
ascertained them to be Spanish property.
' " " We have much talk here of the war
accounts from Gibraltar resoectinfy th
Spanish expedition from Cadiz. God
uimnciai concerns, iney oniy owe one rail-
lion and a half of dollars. Let them have
only ten years more, and they will give
an example to the world of what a people
can do in spite of every prejudice, and
in spite of internal enemies when with-
out foreign aid. -
" pur American commerce to Buenos
Ayres is of--no. value. British imports
have been very reat ; the markets ex-
i ensively depressed and no spirit of spe
culation. Oar shops are alt tilled wun
active young Creoles, wno are geiuug.
well ; forward in the world. ;. rrouuee
- . C - cam
e-f
ui uiaes io-o-
11--nois auji
. Accounts were received from Buenos
Aug. A new director had been appoint
ed in place of Puerrydon resigned on ac
count of ill health.
Lord Cochrane's squadron had cap
tured th e American Schooner Montazu-
m of Baltimore on account of havin'ff on
board , munitions of war contracted for by
Don Onisr - He had made several other
captures, and had taken sums of money
out ot the neutral vessels naving asscer-
tained it to be Spanish property.
FROM VENEZUELA.
General Bolivar has had brilliant suc-
the A nure.
General Urdenata and Col.j v English
are reported to -have been very1 success
ful, and were in hopes of reducing Cuma
na. - . . - .' 7 ' . . - j.. - -.
Col. Elsom had arrived at Angostura
with the residue of his 'regiment. It is
now 700 strong. ) -
GenArismendi was in Angostura, un
der arrest for disobedience of orders ; but
it was believed he would be acfjuitedi
Having had scarcely time to form , a
j hasty abstract from a very long jbut satis
factory letter, we abstain from jcomment,
which in most cases every reader can best
make for himself. 7 Bait. Am.
lRqM NEW C RESEDA.
Yq were, with regret at the! moment,
the first to communicate the neSvs receiv
ed from the Spanish Maine, concerning
Hon RedroTFa.' letters from himself,
qf20tn April, stated that he was ready
to embark for Porto Bello : and were ap
prized afterwards that a vessel had sailed
about the beginningof May, vh ch had
alien into the hands of the Spaniards
the wljole on board of which were shot :
this vbssel sailed from the same port at
which Mr. Wall's letter, was previously
written. The account of his; death we
received from jVVashington city a gen
tleman in office there having stated that
he had keen the name of Don Pedro Gual
among those that had been shot.
It is with great safisfaction that we are
now informed by a letter of date 12th of
August, from one bne of the West Indja
Islands, written on that day by himself,
that he
still
lives ai prosperous gentle-
man.
i I'v thr same Conveys nee that has
brpgirht this pleasing information from
New Grenada, we learn that Gen. St. An
der had penetrated the interior of "April
last, with a respectable armyj where he
obtainrd many advantages over the roy
alists, and found the inhabitants every
where ardent in favor of, the indepen
dence of Europe. It was believed that
the rity of Santa Fe de Bagota had fallen
into his hands. The Vice Hoy had found
himself in a situation so critical that he
gave orders to draw 500 men from tlie
garrisons of Carthegena and Santa Mar-
tha, to reinforce him, in order to resist the
pan iot army. This royal reinforcement
had marched in July, from the sea coast.
The situation of New Grenada may be
appreciated, when succors of men and
money have been required from Cartha
gena and Santa Martha where the great
est distress already prevailed, and. where,
for months past, the troops had been sub
sisted only by daily contributions levied
from the inhabitants. Verv intprptincr
. . J-
. ; advices may be therefore expected every
.day- Mad AylcUregor npt changed his
destination frpm the plan under which he
was instructed to act, the fate of New-
Grenada would have been decided in Ju
ly- 7fj,j--'.:- Aurora.
Information had reached StlThamas on
the 15th of September, of the' capture of
anta tee, the capitol of J New Gre
nada on the 17th, by Bolivar, the pat-
D OM E STICt
I FRANKLIN, (mo) AUG. 20.
Scientific. Bxpediton. By a! letter from
one of the officers of the United States'
steam boat Western F.nnrl inM,a
itois, dated Fort Osage, A up. 10 welearn
that she arrived, there on the 1st inst. and
departed on the 10th. On the 12th she
! proceeded as far as the mouth of the FOan-
; sas, aDout 40 miles. J. i
Messrs. Say, jesup," reale,! Seymour,
Biddle, and Swift, accompanied by Mr.
Dougherty, assistant Indian agent and
; interpreter, left the boat at Fort Osage,
and proceeded by land to visit the Kan-
i sas Indians, and from thence to the Paw-
m?es, and will join the Engineers at the
Council Btuff3. - TJiis mode of p'ros'ress-"
ing will enahle tlie naturalists lti explore
the country leisurely, and obiaili a correct'
and gene rat knowledge of it. Major
Long, Ma far OTallon, and Lieut, lira
ham, proceeded in the Engineer.
; Col. At kinson; commander of the ex
pedition for the Yellow Stone, left Frank
ling on the 13th inst. for Fort Osage, and
from thence would proceed immediately
for the Council Bluffs, i
Col. Chambers, and the troops under
his command, still remain at Fort Osage.
The steam boat Expedition, with iuJ
visions, troops,' &c. was within 20 miW
oi rotiusagc on uie iuin inst. Ufth-
three steam boats belonging to Col: J0,n.
son, that have ascended the Missouri, the
Expedition, either from her construction
ui iuci iuaw apcai iu uve oeen the
most fortunate.
The Johnson (another of the stmm
boats) was on Monday last 16th inst
near the mouth of Grand river, on a sand
bar, her, rudder broke ; and it was stip
posed that a part, if not the whole, of her
cargo would have to be taken up bv keel
boats. !
The Jefferson steam boat, which was
mentioned in our last as having been h int
about 30 miles below Franklin, for jme
time past, is unable to proceed any higher
up the iMiss6uVi,and has been aban
doned. Her cargo is to be taken up i0
keel boats.
' From a series of astronomical and other
observations, taken at Franklin, on board
uj iiie,.juiieu oiiiies sieam ooat Westera
Engineer, the following deductions have
been'' made : 7 j -
Latitude, 38 degrees' 57 minutes 9 se
cond N. Longitude, 92 degrees 53 min
utes 36: seconds W. . From Greenwich.
Do.v 15 degrees 58 iniriuies 6 second
w. from Washington1, city. Jlaonetic
variation, 1 1 degrees 42 minutes 5 se
cond E. :
Magnetic dip, 69 degrees 25 minutes. .
Rise and fall of the River Missouri, at
Camp Belle-Fontaine, in 1803.
From the Daily Report of the officer of
the giutrd. under tiie orders of Gentry
(then Colonel) Bis'seJ, commanding the
post. Belje-Fontaine is four miles frcro
the mouth of the Missouri.
'rise.
Feet In.
. 9 4
. '. 4 6 '
. . 1 10
FALL.
"Feet inr
. 1 10.
. 3 I
Feb. 6 to 23. . .
24 to March 5.
: March. 6 to 15 . .
16 to 301 . . .
31 to April 2 j
April 3 to .8 . .!
9 to 14 . . . .'
7L5 to 30 .. . .
.May 1 to 14 . .
15 to 17, . . .
18 and 19 . .
.20 to 22 ...
23 to JLs
26 to 28 . . .
29 to 30: .
June 1 to 3 . . .
4 to 7 . .
8 to. 16 . .
2 6
1 5
2 2
1 8
11 2
3 7
16
. t-,.;
5 1
1 8
17 to July
July 3 to 11
12 to 20 .
, 21 to 31 .
Aug. 1 to 12
2 1
2 S
12 to 17
Total rise from Feb. 6
to August 17 . 47 10
Fall during same time 25 3
2j
Net gain 22 7
. From-the 17th August fhp riv-pr Sun.
sided till the 19th of Decemher, wten it
i closed over' with ice.
llie rise of the .Missouri is periodical,
and may be counted upon annually, with
sufficient certainty for all practical pur
poses. 7
The causes of its rise are perrrnnent
and uniform. They depend upon the
melting of the snows iipon the different
tributary streams, which, from their geo
graphical positions, are bound, by the
laws of nature, to bring down their tri
butes at successive periods, from early
in the Snrine till late in the Summer.
These tributaries are ' -
V ' ' !,
Missouri 133 miles from its mouth, in
north latitude 38, 22. -its sources in la
titude 35, 36, and 3?. Six hundred
miles in length, and 397 yards wide at
the mouth. 7
2. The Konzas entering the Mis
souri 300 miles . from its- mouth, in lati
tude 39, 59, 1 ,200 miles . in Jength ; its
sources between the parallels 38 and 40.
3, The Platte joining the Missouri
600 miles from its mouth, in lat. 41.
2,000 miles in length ; its sources in the
Rocky Alountains, between parallels 41
and 42. ; J
4. The Yellowstone entering the .Mis
souri, 1,800 miles above its mouth, in
lat. 48 ; about. 1,100 miles long j s
sources in the Rocky Mountains, between
the latitudes 42 and 44. r
i 5. Rivers which issue directly from th
Rocky Mountains, between the latitudes
44 and 49, and unite their streams above
the Falls of the Missouri, from 2,500 to
3,000 miles above its mouth. Theprm-
cipal of these rivers are Gallatin s,
dison's, Jefferson's Medicine, and Maria.
(About 30 rivers from UH)-ho
miles in lengtli, also joined the ?J; ri
between its month and the iiocky