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GRAVITATION.

(_For the Mirror._)


In a matter-of-fact age like the present, methinks it behoves every man
to apply the improvements of scientific research as much as possible to
the ordinary concerns of life. Science and society may thus be called _at
par_, and philosophical theory will hence enlighten the practical
tradesman.

To demonstrate the truth of the above remarks, I mean, with the editor's
leave, to prove the necessity of keeping a friend in one's pocket, upon
the principles of gravitation, according to Sir Isaac Newton's
"Principia."

The learned doctor has mathematically proved that all bodies gravitate or
incline to the centre. It is on this principle only that we can account
for our being fixed to the earth; that we are surrounded by the
atmosphere; and that we are constantly attended by, and seem constantly
to attend, the planets around us.

Should any farther demonstration be necessary than the incomparable Sir
Isaac has himself furnished us with, let any sceptic who doubts that the
earth attracts all smaller bodies towards its centre, only take a hop
from the Monument or St. Paul's, and he will soon find the power of
gravitation, and die by the truth of the experiment.