were to place its hinder legs on the edge of the table, the line of direction would fall considerably beyond the base, and the horse must be precipitated to the ground; you will, however, perceive that

there is a stiff wire at

tached to a weight which is connected with the body of the horse, and by means of such an addition, the horse prances with perfect security at the edge of the precipice; so that the figure which was incapable of supporting itself is actually prevented from falling, by adding a weight to its unsupported end!"

The children admitted the truth of this statement, and were not immediately prepared to explain it.

"The weight, indeed, appears to be added on that side; but, in reality, it is on the opposite side," said the vicar.

"In order to produce the desired effect," observed Mr. Seymour," the wire must be bent, so as to throw the weight far back, under

the table; by which contrivance, since the centre of gravity of the whole compound figure is thrown into the leaden weight, the hind legs of the horse thus become the point of suspension, on which the ball may be made to vibrate with perfect security."

"Now I understand it," cried Tom; "instead of the weight supporting the horse, the horse supports the weight."

"Exactly so. You perceive, therefore, from these few examples, that the balancer, by availing himself of such deceptions, and combining with them a considerable degree of manual dexterity, may perform feats, which, at first sight, will appear in direct opposition to the laws of gravity. There is also another expedient, of which the balancer avails himself, to increase the wonder of his performances, and that is the influence of rotatory motion, which, you have already seen, may be made to counteract the force of gravity."

"I remember that the most surprising of all the tricks I witnessed was one, in which a sword was suspended on a key, which turned round on the end of a tobacco pipe; on the top of the sword a pewter plate was, at the same time,

"I well remember the trick to which you allude. The rotatory motion prevented the sword from falling, just, as you will hereafter find, the spinning of the top will preserve it in an erect position. There is also another effect produced by rotatory motion, with which it is essential that you should become acquainted. You, no doubt, remember that momentum, or the velocity of a body, will compensate for its want of matter. A number of bodies, therefore, although incapable of balancing each other, when in a state of rest, may be made to do so, by imparting to them different degrees of motion. I believe that you are now acquainted with all the principles, upon which the art of balancing depends; and I have little doubt, should we again witness a performance of this kind, that you will be able to explain the tricks, which formerly appeared to you so miraculous."

THE WHIP AND PEG TOP. HISTORICAL NOTICES
RELATIVE TO THE TOP.- THE POWER BY WHICH
IT IS ENABLED TO SUSTAIN ITS VERTICAL PO-
SITION DURING THE ACT OF SPINNING. THE
SLEEPING OF THE TOP EXPLAINED.
- WHAT
ENABLES IT TO RISE FROM AN OBLIQUE INTO
A VERTICAL POSITION. THE CAUSES OF ITS
GYRATION. THE SEE-SAW.- AN ANTIQUARIAN
HISTORY OF THE BALL.

"My dear," said Mr. Seymour, addressing his wife, as he entered the library with the vicar, "we have just returned from a visit to Major Snapwell; he is, indeed, a scholar, and a man of the world, and his misfortunes give him an additional claim upon our friendship and hospitality. He appears delighted with

remain for several weeks, at least, amongst us; I have, therefore, requested him to favour us with his company at dinner to-morrow, and our worthy friend here has promised to join our party; and," added he, "I will make one other attempt to engage the company of Mr. Richdale."

The vicar now related to Mrs. Seymour the account of Miss Kitty Ryland's visit to the major, with the particulars of which the reader has been already made acquainted.

66

By the by," said the vicar, "I have a piece of news to tell you about Miss Kitty, that, I think, will astonish you. She left Overton this morning in the mail for London."

"Miss Kitty gone to London!" exclaimed Mrs. Seymour; "well, that is indeed extraordinary news."

"Yes," replied the vicar; and Annette tells me, that the journey was hastily decided upon, in consequence of some advertisement that appeared in the Times of yesterday."

"An advertisement for a wife. I will venture a wager that I have guessed it."

"I actually believe you are right,” said the vicar, "for, on seeing the village newspaper, I observed so many marks opposite to an adver