THE SWING. THE DOCTRINE OF OSCILLATION. GALILEO'S DISCOVERY. THE PENDULUM. A CONTROVERSY BETWEEN THE VICAR AND THE MAJOR. MAJOR SNAPWELL PURCHASES OSTERLEY PARK.-CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

As a week has now nearly elapsed, since the departure of Miss Kitty Ryland, the reader will doubtless be anxious to obtain some information respecting the plan and success of her operations; we will, therefore, by the aid of a little talismanic wand, with which Mother Goose has happily furnished every author, transport him, at once, to Bond Street, without the otherwise essential machinery of locomotion. We shall find our heroine snugly lodged in the little back parlour of Mrs. Tenterhook, the widow and successor of a fashionable glover, in whose house, it may be remembered, Miss Kitty thought it probable that she might have formerly seen the nephew of Major Snapwell; for, to use her own expression, her friend was "hand and glove" with all the beaux of Bond Street. On the morning after her arrival, she carefully composed a letter, with the signature A. B., and appointed an interview with X. Z. on the following day at one o'clock. Miss Kitty had informed Mrs. Tenterhook that she adopted the signature A. B., for very particular reasons, but, as she never dropped a hint as to the object of

that she imparted the nature of those reasons, which had influenced her in so important a decision. The reader is, therefore, abandoned to his own conjectures; but, as we are always willing to assist his judgment on questions of difficulty, we shall, without hesitation, state it as our firm conviction, that one of the following motives had actuated her upon this occasion. She was, as the reader will probably remember, rather inclined to a superstitious belief in ominous words and things; she has, for instance, been known to be in a state of despondency for a week together, from throwing down the salt, or accidentally putting on the left before the right shoe. With this knowledge of her character, and having frequently heard her repeat the popular saying, that "extremes are sure to come together," we cannot help thinking that the initials A. B. were selected on this very account, as being in opposition to the letters X. Z.; although some of our fair readers may probably prefer the more poetical explanation which we shall, in the next place, suggest for their consideration, viz. whether the aforesaid initials might not have been preferred as being most remote from X. Z., and

therefore beautifully expressive of that maiden reserve, which the delicacy of her situation rendered so particularly decorous?

At

The epistle having been despatched by a confidential messenger to Gray's Inn Coffeehouse, the lady's spirits became more tranquil, and she was enabled to dedicate the remaining portion of the day to the purchasing of white ribands, and sundry other articles, which she thought it probable that she might hereafter require. With Mrs. Tenterhook she also came to a very satisfactory understanding, that lady having promised to provide her with any number of white kid gloves at the trade price. length the morning dawned, and Miss Kitty, having passed a sleepless night, owing, as she said, to the unaccustomed noises of Bond Street, proceeded to her toilet, where she spent several hours, in consequence, doubtless, of that inferior accommodation which was afforded by the · house of business in which she lodged. The hour of one arrived, and the appointment was faithfully observed. As an account of the interview may afford some amusement to our readers, and as, indeed, the relation of it is ab

we shall, with a delicacy and decorum which we trust were never even exceeded in a police report, proceed to describe its commencement, progress, and conclusion. Those of our readers, who have ever been placed in the anxious situation in which Miss Kitty found herself on this occasion, will scarcely expect us to describe the sighs, palpitations, and nervous tremours, which must ever precede so momentous an interview; we shall, therefore, at once, proceed to our drama without the usual ceremony of a prologue; although, before the curtain rises, the author, as stage-manager, feels it his duty to explain an irregularity which may possibly occur from the mauvaise honte of the principal performer, that of deferring the Overture until after the first scene.

"Ma'am, here's a man, if you please, enquiring for a B-who's just com'd from the country," bawled the strapping maid of all-work, as she thrust a moiety of her dusty person into the little back parlour where Miss Kitty was sitting cosily with the cat.

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Enquiring for a B-!" exclaimed the sensitive spinster. "What unheard of insolence! Are these your manners of Bond Street, girl?