ould ever ring frae thae sweet
innocent lips ae word o' abjuration o' the faith in which the flower is
growing up amang the dew-draps o' her native hills?

_North_.--Never--never--never!

_Shepherd_.--She proved it, sir, in death. Tied to a stake on the
sea-sands she stood; and first she heard, and then she saw, the white
roarin' o' the tide. But the smile forsook not her face; it brichten'd
in her een when the water reach'd her knee; calmer and calmer was her
voice of prayer, as it beat again' her bonny breast; nae shriek when a
wave closed her lips for ever; and methinks, sir,--for ages on ages hae
lapsed awa' sin' that martyrdom, and therefore Imagination may withouten
blame dally wi' grief--methinks, sir, that as her golden head
disappear'd, 'twas like a star sinkin' in the sea!

_North_.--God bless you, my dearest James! shake hands.

* * * * *

SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

* * * * *

POPULAR PHILOSOPHY.

_Dr. Arnott's Elements of Physics._

Vol. ii. Part I.

We are warm friends to the diffusion of knowledge, and accordingly
receive the present portion of Dr. Arnott's work with much satisfaction.
We believe the sale of the first volume to have been almost
unprecedentedly rapid, (a _fourth_ edition being called for within two
years) in comparison with the usual slow sale of _scientific_ works.
This success may easily be traced. The title of the work is not
extraordinarily inviting, illustration, not embellishment, is attempted
in a few outline diagrams, and the only external inducement to read, is
a plain, legible type, to suit all sights. Looking further, we find the
great cause in the manner as well as the matter of the volume, which is
throughout a text-book of _plain-spoken philosophy_, or as the author
says in his title-page, "independently of technical mathematics." Again,
in his introductory chapter on "Imponderable Substances," he says, "To
understand the subjects as far as men yet usefully understand them, and
sufficiently for a vast number of most useful purposes, it is only
necessary to classify important phenomena, so that their nature and
resemblances may be clearly perceived." The main error of most people
who write on philosophical subjects, or the stumbling-block of all
students, has been that of the writer presuming too much upon the
cultivated understanding of his reader. Thus, in the midst of very
familiar explanations we h