B^i Warden*! Letters on fiapoleon. 



»un, the centre of the vortex. In like 



niiuiner, each planet is itself the centre of 



a smaller vortex, hy the subtile matter 



of which the pheuoniene of gravity are 



produced, just as with ui at the surface 



of the earth. 



'i'he gradation of smaller vortices may 

 be continued in the same manner, to ex. 

 plain the cohesion of the grosser bodies, 

 and their other sensible qualities. But I 

 forbear to enter into the detail of a sys- 

 tem, which is now entirely exploded, and 

 80 inconsistent with the views of nature 

 vnhich have become familiar to every 



LETTERS 



Written on Board his Majesty's Ship the 



Horlhumherlandf 



ANU AT 



SAINT HELENA; 



IN WHICH THE 



o'.e, that such details can hardly be 

 listened to with patience. Indeed, tlie 

 theory of vortices did not explain a single 

 phenomenon in a satisfactory manner, 

 nor is there a truth of any kind whicii 

 bas been brought to light by means of it. 

 IMone of the peculiar properties of the 

 planetary orbits were taken into the ac- 

 count; none of the laws of Kepler were 

 considered ; nor was any explanation 

 fiven of those laws, more than of any 

 other that mii;ht be inia^^ined. Tiie phi- 

 Josiijiliy of Descartes could explain all 

 thirgs equally well, and might have been 

 accoDiniiidattd to the systems of Ptolemy 

 or Tycho, ju^t as well as to that of Co- 

 pernicus. It fornis, therefore, no link in 

 the chuin of physical discovery ; it served 

 the cause of truth only by exploding 

 errors u)ore pernicious tlian its own; by 

 exhausting a source of deception, whicii 

 niiaht have misled other adventurers in 

 «cier>ce, and by leaving a striking proof 

 bow little advancement can be niade in 

 philosophy, by pursuing any path but that 

 of expefiinciit and induction. 1>escaries 

 was, nevertheless, a man of great genius, 

 a deep thinker, of enlarged views, and 

 entirely superior to prejudice. Yet, in 

 «s far as the explanation of astronomical 

 phenomena is concerned (and it was his 

 main object), lie did good only liy show, 

 ing in what quarter the attempt could not 

 be made with success; he was the for. 

 lorn hope of ihe new pliilosophy, and 

 must be sacrificed lor the benefit of those 

 »vho were to follow, 



G-issendi, the contemporary and coun. 

 trvnian of Descartes, possessed great 

 learning, with a very clear and sound 

 understanding. He was a good observer, 

 and an enlightened a<lvocnte of the Co- 

 pernieaii system, lie explained, in a 

 very saiisfactdiy manner, the connexion 

 between tlie laws of motion and ilie mo. 

 tion of the earth, and made experiments 

 to show that a body carried along by an- 

 ©ilver acquires a motion which remains 

 biier it has ceased to be so carried. 



CONDUCT AND CONVERSATION* . 

 OF 



NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 



AND HIS SUITE, 



Durins; the Voyage, and the first Month.* 

 of his Kesidence in that Island, 4r% 

 faithfully described and related. . .,h 



liY WILLIAM WARDEN, 

 Surgeon on hoard the Northumberland. 



Octavo, 10s. 6d, 



[This volume serves to record many fea- 

 tures in the character of the Empeuor 

 Napoleon. The unprincipled agents 

 of the War-Faction circulates so many 

 misrepresentations on this subject, fop 

 the purpose of stirring up a crusade to 

 enable their employers to gratify their 

 malignant passions, that an author who 

 ventures to approximate tlic truth must 

 be considered as one gifted witli pre- 

 eminent courage and virtue. We Imv^, 

 however, to regret, in regard to \.\\\i 

 work, that it did not come n'ithout 

 adulteration from the hands of the au- 

 thor. Many passages wonid, if true, 

 be disgraceful to his urbanity and 

 good manners; for, we presume, no 

 man could, as this book represents, so 

 far outrage decency as to state, with 

 snch slender qualificati«ii, all the vulgar 

 prejudices which, it seems, he had im- 

 bibed from the infamous London pa* 

 jiers. It .should, however, be known 

 that, as Mr. Waiden did not coasider 

 himself qualified to write for the press", 

 he confided his memoranda to Mr. 

 Combe, a gentleman of great ingenuity, 

 whose well-known political prejudices, 

 as well as the Adventures of Dr. Syn- 

 tax, form prominent features of the 

 work. Notwithstanding these defomii. 

 ties (for which the reader, when he 

 knows their source, can readily allow),. 

 Mr, Warden's basis of facts will, in se- 

 veral respects, disabuse the public 

 mind ; and the work, therefore, merits 

 extensive circulation.] 



ARRIVAL ON BOARD. 



FROM eleven to twelve we were pre- 

 pared to receive Napoleon on 

 board; and Lord Keith, as it may be 

 presumed, from a noble delicacy to his 

 situation and feelings, declined receiving 

 the usual compliments attendant on his 

 3 rank. 



