as much as any one man, except one that was blown from the shrouds into the sea. Some ships were so shattered, that as soon as they came in, and all was taken out of them, they immediately sunk. Men are upon such occasions apt to flatter themselves upon the points of providence. In France and England, as it was believed that our loss was much greater than it proved to be, so they triumphed not a little, as if God had fought against us, and defeated the whole design. We on our part, who found ourselves delivered out of so great a storm and so vast a danger, looked on it as a mark of God's great care of us, who, though he had not changed the course of the winds and seas in our favour, yet had preserved us while we were in such apparent danger, beyond what could have been imagined. The princess behaved herself at the Hague suitably to what was expected of her. She ordered prayers four times a day, and assisted at them with great devotion. She spoke to nobody of affairs, but was calm and silent. The States ordered some of their body to give her an account of our proceedings. She indeed answered little: but in that little she gave them cause often to admire her judgment."

Nothing can more strongly depict the deep impression on Mary's mind, of the awfulness of her situation, than this sort of silence and withdrawing from communication with others at a time when most minds would have sought encouragement and consolation from all around them. Mary seems to have felt where only it was to be efficiently obtained. Her biographer gives us elsewhere an account of these very frequent regular devotions in publick as well as in private, where he says, "Her punctual exactness, not only to public offices of religion, but to her secret retirements, was so regular a thing, that it was never put off, in the greatest crowd of business or little journeys; then though the hour was anticipated, the duty was never neglected: she took care to be so early on these occasions, that she might never either quite forget, or very much shorten that, upon

which she reckoned that the blessing of the whole day turned. She observed the Lord's day so religiously, that beside her hours of retirement, she was constantly thrice a day in the public worship of God and for a great part of the year, four times a day, while she lived beyond sea. She was constant to her monthly communions; and retired herself more than ordinary for some days before them. In them as well as in all the other parts of the worship of God, an unexampled seriousness appeared always in her, without one glance let out for observation and such care was taken to hide the more solemn elevations of her mind to God, that these things struck all who saw them, and had never seen any thing like it before. This did spread a spirit of devotion among all that were about her, who could not see so much in her, without somewhat to arise in themselves; though few could chain themselves down to such a fixed and steady application as they saw in her. Nothing in it that was theatrical; nothing given to show; every thing was sincere as well as solemn, and genuine as well as majestical."

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After considérable detention by contrary winds, the violence of which threatened the whole fleet with destruction, and the undertaking with defeat, William again set sail for England with his armament, and from this time every event proved favourable, and every change of wind and weather exactly served to promote their purposes, and put it out of the power of the English fleet, the greatest object of their fears, to approach or molest them. This concurrence of fortunate circumstances was so striking, that Burnet says William, on landing, shook him heartily by the hand, and 'asked him if he would now believe in predestination-to which the Bishop answered, that he would never forget the providence of God, which had appeared so signally on this occasion. While alarm and confusion reigned in the councils of James, every thing with William prospered beyond his utmost expectation. The kingdom hailed

him as their deliverer, he marched through the country without meeting an enemy; those who feared or were averse to join with him, fled from his approach. Once James had sent his army within two miles of the advancing foe; but their faith could not be relied on, and they were hastily withdrawn. The nobles of his court, whom he most favoured, and most trusted, were the first to forsake him; and even his younger daughter, the princess Anne, the object of his utmost kindness and affection, fled from the palace; while her husband, prince George of Denmark, joined his enemies. James saw nothing around him, but traitors to his cause, and heard nothing but songs of triumph for his ruin. The historian says, "A foolish ballad was made at that time, treating the papists, chiefly the Irish, in a very ridiculous manner, which had a burden, said to be Irish words, lero, lero, lilibulero, that made an impression on the army, that cannot be well imagined by those who saw it not. The whole army, and at last all people both in city and country, were singing it perpetually, and perhaps never had so slight a thing so great an effect."

All was rapidly decided-the queen and the infant prince of Wales were secretly conveyed out of the kingdom, and the king attempted to follow them in disguise. Nothing could be more desirable to his enemies than such a flight; it being considered by them as the forsaking of his people and the relinquishment of his crown. Unfortunately some persons detected him, and by most ill-timed interference, placed him in the hands of the invaders. This was extremely embarrassing to William, who knew not what to do with so dangerous a captive. Some would have had him imprisoned: to this the prince said," he could not deny but that this might be good and wise advice; but it was that to which he could not hearken he was so far satisfied with the grounds of this expedition, that he could act against the king in a fair and open war; but for his person, now that he had him in his power, he could not put such a hardship on him

as to make him a prisoner: and he knew the princess' temper so well, that he was sure she would never bear it." We are pleased to read this further testimony of Mary's feeling towards her unfortunate parent, at a time when every tie of natural affection seemed to have been severed by the fate that pursued him; and we can please ourselves with believing that Mary was in her closet, humbled rather than exulting in her situation, and mixing her parent's name in her petitions, at the moment when the following picture is sketched of the employ of some in England. "The king was carried down the river, in a very tempestuous day, not without some danger; and while the poor old king was thus exposed to the mercy of the elements, and an actual prisoner under a guard of Dutchmen, that very moment his daughter, Anne of Denmark, with her great favourite, Lady Churchill, both covered with orange ribbands, in her father's coaches and attended by his guards, went triumphant to the play-house."

Pity at such scenes began to move the hearts of many, and perhaps had James remained, the Revolution had not been so easily effected: but the will of Heaven was fixed with his royalty James seemed to have lost at once his senses and his courage; and being left at liberty, soon disembarrassed his enemy by a second flight.

(To be continued.)

CONVERSATIONS ON GEOLOGY.

CONVERSATION I.

INTRODUCTORY.

MRS. L.-I have been thinking, with some hesitation, what subject we had better make choice of for our evening conversations in succession to the Botany, which we have dismissed.

MATILDA.—I should like Chemistry. Anne thinks she would prefer Mineralogy; desirous, as she says, to have some knowledge of the various substances of which the earth is formed, in the state in which we find them, before she proceeds to enquire of their more secret properties and their action on each other. I do not myself see much reason in this.

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MRS. LI confess, Matilda, I see a great deal; and from something of the same motive, should propose deferring both these studies to that of Geology, as affording general ideas of the structure of the earth, the mode of its formation, and the arrangement of its larger parts, before we proceed to examine the separate substances that form the study of the mineralogist. What say you to Geology?

MATILDA. Before I say any thing, I should like to know exactly what Geology is-I hear the word continually, but never have been able, in my own mind, to affix to it any determinate idea.

MRS. L.-Geology, Geogony, or Geognosy, as it has been variously called, may, I think be defined to be the Knowledge, or the Theory of the Earth. "It teaches us to observe and classify the several substances which form the surface of our planet, the circumstances under which they occur, the order of their succession to each other, and their relative position; also the forms, heights, and directions of mountain chains, and the several phænomena of vallies, rivers, and seas. The great object of Geology is to infer the former states of the earth from its present one, and understand something of the changes it has undergone." Perhaps though you have walked over this solid earth for sixteen years, it has never yet come into your mind to consider of what it is composed, or by what process it came into its original form.

MATILDA. It certainly has not-but that is the less extraordinary, since you may recollect that, till you drew our attention to them last year, we had trodden as carelessly over the flowers and herbage on its surface, with