lf more
intelligible. You would talk to me about honor--about religion; but these
have never stood in the way of a well-considered and a firm resolve. Tell
me, Du Saillant, when you lead your regiment into the heat of battle, to
conquer a province to which he whom you call your master has no right
whatever, do you consider that you are performing a better action than
mine, in stopping your friend on the king's highway, and demanding his
purse?"

"I obey without reasoning," replied the count.

"And I reason without obeying, when obedience appears to me to be contrary
to reason," rejoined Mirabeau. "I study all kinds of social positions, in
order to appreciate them justly. I do not neglect even those positions or
cases which are in decided opposition to the established order of things;
for established order is merely conventional, and may be changed when it
is generally admitted to be faulty. Such a study is a dangerous, but it is
a necessary one for him who wishes to gain a perfect knowledge of men and
things. You are living within the boundary of the law, whether it be for
good or evil. I study the law, and I endeavor to acquire strength enough
to combat it if it be bad when the proper time shall arrive."

"You wish for a convulsion then?" cried the count.

"I neither wish to bring it about nor do I desire to witness it; but
should it come to pass through the force of public opinion, I would second
it to the full extent of my power. In such a case you will hear me spoken
of. Adieu. I shall depart to-morrow; but pray leave me now, and let me
have a little sleep."

Count du Saillant left the room without saying another word. Very early on
the following morning Mirabeau was on his way to Paris.

TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL.)

It is proposed in the following article to give the reader some idea of
one of the greatest and most extensive scientific works going on at the
present time in this country--namely, the examination of the phenomenon of
the earth's magnetism; but before doing so, it will be necessary to make a
few prefatory observations respecting magnetism generally.

The attractive power of the natural magnet or loadstone over fragments of
iron seems to have been known from the remotest antiquity. It is
distinctly referred to by ancient writers, and Pliny mentions a chain of
iron rings suspended from one another, the first being upheld by a
loadstone. It is singular tha