Another proof of the evanescence of contractility is the physical weakness which invariably attends total inaction.

Another law of contractility is this: that it is in PERPETUAL STRIFE with the laws of fermentation and putrefaction. This law arises necessarily out of what I have just said, viz. that life is a contrivance to withdraw, for a time, organized beings from the influence of fermentation and putrefaction. It is proved, also, by the fact, that healthy living beings cannot putrefy-that living beings, in whom life and strength, that is, contractility, are at a very low degree indeed, as in putrid fevers, do begin to putrefy partially—and that all beings who have lived are instantly acted upon by the fermentative and putrefactive forces as soon as contractility has left them. Observe, NOT as soon as life has left them, for contractility will sometimes remain, for a short time, after life has ceased. Contractility, you must remember, is not life, but one of the secondary causes from which life results.

ganized matter. But in order that organized | ply of healthy and well vivified blood, for it matter might not be permanent, and so de- is out of the blood that the solid body is restroy or neutralize that original law, by which paired-reproduced. it was enacted that there should be no permanent condition of matter except the inorganic, all organized matter was made subject to the laws of fermentation and putrefaction, whose office it is to destroy its organism, and bring it back to its original inorganic condition But if this had been all that was done, the objects for which matter had been organized could never have been accomplished; for no sooner would matter have become organic, than it would instantly have begun to be disorganized again by virtue of the laws of fermentation and putrefaction to which it has been made subservient. But the ends to be answered by organized beings required time -required a continuity of existence, in a perfect state of organism, for a determinate period. It was necessary, therefore, that there should be another contrivance, in order to withdraw organized beings beyond the influence of the laws of putrefaction and fermentation for a definite time—that is, until the purposes for which it had been organized should be accomplished. The phenomena of life are this contrivance-a number of temporary phe- Another law of contractility is, that it is nomena, set up in order to withstand the phe- in an inverse ratio of sensibility. When nomena of fermentation and putrefaction for contractility is vigorous, sensibility is dull; a limited period. But since the phenomena of and when contractility is deficient, sensibility life result from contractility, and because is acute. This will be proved when speakcontractility can only reside in full activity ing of the laws of sensibility. in very recently organized matter, it was necessary, in order to make the matter of an organized being a fit residence for vigorous contractility, that it should be continually renewed-that while the whole being, as a being, grew older and older, the molecules of which he is composed should nevertheless be always young. And thus we observe in the În my next letter, I shall speak of certain aged, in whom the process of renewal goes laws and characteristic facts peculiar to senon but feebly, and in whom the laws of ter-sibility. Till then, adieu. mentation and putrefaction are gradually E. JOHNSON. gaining the ascendancy over the laws of life -the laws of that contrivance, which was instituted in order to remove, for a time, living beings from the influence of fermentation and putrefaction-we observe, I say, in the aged that contractility is greatly diminished-it has waned, it has faded-their strength is greatly reduced-they are no longer a fit residence for active contractility; since this property can only reside, in its perfection, in very recently organized matter, whereas, in the old organization goes on very slowly and imperfectly. On the contrary, in children, contractility exists in a very high degree, because, in them, the process of organization goes on with great rapidity. A child will play about on its legs for a whole day without fatigue; and will endure far longer exertion than a man, when we take into consideration the comparatively small size of the child's muscles.

it is a law, then, of contractility that, in order to its perfection, it is necessary that the molecules of the parts in which it resides should be rapidly re-organized-in a word, that they should always have a plentiful sup

It will be as well, perhaps, here to caution you against confounding the sensibility of science, which signifies the property of feeling, or becoming sensible of impressing stimuli, and that other kind of young-lady sensibility, which is, I believe, peculiar to boarding-schools.

WOMAN'S LOVE.

THERE's a light in the glance of woman's eye,
When with love its lustre teems,
That thrills to the heart, till its feelings vie

With the poet's raptur'd dreams:
There's a bliss in the birth of woman's sigh,
Which awakens such gush of entrancing joy

When affection bids it live,

As no other source can give:

Oh, the heart that is steel'd to fond woman's love,
Hath its like in the falcon when caged with the

dove!

There's a buoyant strength in woman's love,
Which change can ne'er repress;
And a constancy that soars above

The chill of false caress:
Woman, dear woman! vigil keeps
By the midnight couch of pain,

Her eye ne'er droops, her love ne'er sleeps,
She deigns not to complain:
For woman's love is the only trait

That hath 'scaped the curse of our fallen state.

Affectionate woman-
an-daring as true!

Hath severed the gyves of the brave;
And reckless of peril, by love nerved anew,
Hath rescued the doomed to the grave.
The wrestling waves of the restless seas,
The winds in their tireless flight,
Shall we liken the love of a woman to these,
When aroused to its slumberless might.
Oh, no! for there's naught in creation's range,
Se strong as this love, so unwitting of change.

I go to the St. James's Coffee-house and get another," because ladies are not in the habit of frequenting coffee-houses; but I am of opinion that those ladies, who are in the habit of frequenting boarding-houses, can be at no loss to remember innumerable instances where the temple of friendship, instead of being laid by a stone at a time, has sprung up, like Aladdin's palace, in the course of a single night. Stanley and Travers, however, were not without many points of congeniality; they were both young, both remarkably good-looking, or what the young ladies of the house called "transcendeatly handsome," both poor-Stanley was . Driefless barrister, and Travers a lieutenant on half-pay-both gentlemanly and we'i-educated, and both desirous to be married, only Stanley was hopeless, and Travers hopeful, of entering that blissful state. But I cannot better make my readers acquainted with the characters of these gentlemen, than by taking up the thread of the conversation in which they were engaged.

"It is in vain to reason with me, Travers," said Stanley; "I feel that I am condemned, for many years at least, to a single life. I could not love a woman who was not calculated to shine in society, and accustomed to the elegances of life, and I could not reduce such a one to submit to deprivation and drudgery."

"There is no occasion you should," said Travers; "such a speech would come well from the lips of our opposite neighbor at the table, who is past sixty, has a glass eye, and seven children by a former marriage; but you, Stanley, who are young and handsome, have an obvious path cut out for you; marry a woman of fortune, and provide her with the elegances of life out of her own income."

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Perhaps I may not find it so easy to meet with one."

"Nay, can you deny that you stand high in the favor of more than one in this very house? Has not the widow from Somersetshire intimated to you that her heart and acres are at your disposal whenever you please to ask for them?"

bury?"

It was a beautiful morning in autumn, and "Yes, and the amiable spirit of candor the inmates of the Granby at Harrogate prevalent in boarding-houses, has induced a were dispersed in various ways. Some were dozen of the inmates of the Granby to conriding or strolling in the vicinity, some stu- fide to me that I am only the third gentleman dying newspapers and magazines at the li- to whom she has made a similar communicabrary, a few gentlemen were engaged at tion during the six weeks she has been in the billiards, and, not a few ladies intent on forth-house!" coming conquests, were busily employed in "Well, then, the young lady from Lothselecting and arranging the decorations of the evening; the drawing-room was left to the undisturbed possession of two young men of the names of Staniey and Travers. These gentlemen had been resident for a week at the Granby: they were strangers when they came, but a league of amity had taken place between them, not at all uncommon under similar circumstances. I once heard a gentleman say that it was impossible any lady could enter into the spirit of Horace Walpole's declaration, “When I lose one friend,

"Do not mention her, I shudder at the very thought of her cockney pronunciation. I could not endure to listen to it for life, even were it to conduct me to the ultimatum of penny-book felicity, a gilt coach and six: besides, she has a cast in her eye."

"She casts it very favorably towards you, at all events; but I do not blame your spirit; neither of these ladies have property worth your acceptance. I remember a very fine young fellow, who, when recommended by

his friends to pay his addresses to a lady with five thousand pounds, replied, Five thousand pounds! I value my teeth and eyebrows at the whole of that sum !"

"Contemptible coxcomb," said Stanley, indignantly.

"Not at all," replied his friend, laughing. "In a mercantile country we must all trade on our capital; and if we are not possessed of money or goods, we are surely at liberty to venture our persons; perhaps, like Whittington's cat, the article seemingly of no intrinsic value may prove more precious than all the rest of the cargo, and conduct us to greater wealth in a moment, than we could amass in an office or counting-house in a quarter of a century."

"But I am unfortunately difficult to be pleased," said Stanley; "my future bride must possess beauty, intellect, and grace." "And do you think you can attain all these articles united with fortune?"

"I must be as vain as your friend of the teeth and eyebrows, if I expected such a thing," said Stanley with a smile; "therefore, I repeat, I must lead a single life, unless I do a far more silly thing, and marry for love."

'He tender sighs through groves of-timber vents, And runs distracted for her-three per cents!""" interrupted Stanley, with a smile; "but pray proceed in your enumeration.”

"The untitled dasher," continued Travers, " contents himself with the bride who can insure him curricles, race-horses, and foxhounds; the smooth-tongued professional man pays his court to the carriage and jointure of the middle-aged widow; the ensign looks with complacency on the few thousands which he destines to purchase him promotion; and the tradesman sighs to gain the few hundreds which may extend his business."

"And could we descend to the loves of lower life," said Stanley, ironically, "I doubt not that we should see the serving-man anxiously calculating the probable amount of his sweetheart's wages, and laying schemes to ascertain the extent of her investments in the savings bank!"

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Very probably we should," said Travers, coolly; "for, as I have just said, the prudent men of all classes think alike on these points; for my part, I have fixed my price, although, like many other salesmen, I do not think myself bound to make it known, except to those who have an interest in asking it."

"And should a lady who was old and ugly,

"Marry for love!" repeated Travers, with a look of horror; "pray leave that to hay-seem inclined to offer it?" asked Stanley. makers and laborers, who have nerves sufficiently strong to gaze on the probable perspective of a workhouse as the termination of their happy union.”

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Nay, Travers, do not flatter yourself that fortune hunting is so gentlemanly a pursuit, as to be exclusively confined to the higher classes. I remember a farmer's man, who, after paying his addresses to the prettiest girl in the village, suddenly deserted her in favor of her deformed and ill-tempered cousin. His master good-humoredly rallied him on the subject, and asked him if he could really prefer his new sweetheart to his former one. Surely not,' said the clown, but her father will give her a portion of two cows; now with her cousin I should only have one; and to tell your honor the truth, I do not think there is the difference of a cow between any one woman and another?" "

"That should not interfere with the bargain," said Travers, "although, of course, I should be better pleased if she were young and handsome."

"Then you are actually a fortune-hunter?" said Stanley.

"Confessedly so," answered Travers; "but do not look as horror-struck, Stanley, as if I had avowed myself a vampire! I hear the sound of carriage-wheels, probably they intimate an arrival."

A travelling carriage now drove up to the door, and Stanley and Travers planted themselves at the window to watch the descent of the new-comers. Probably, my readers will say that this officious curiosity furnishes no proof of the gentlemanly manners that I have attributed to them; but much must be allowed for the habits of a watering-place. How eagerly have I seen people by the sea"He showed an acuteness," said Travers, side watch the appearance of the steam ves"not generally seen in his sphere. However, sel-how repeatedly have they interrogated Stanley, believe me me I am too much a mas- the boatmen standing about as to the time it ter of the subject of fortune-hunting (since is expected-how rapturously have they acyou are resolved to apply such a plain term cepted the offer of a by-stan er's telescope to the pursuit of a wealthy wife) to suppose when the small speck first comes in sightit confined to the upper classes. If a woman how courageously do they plunge into the be once independent, however moderate that midst of the dense mass of people who crowd independence, she will find some lover to to behold the passengers land on the pier. whom it is of consequence. The prudent You would feel assured that a beloved wife men of all classes are much the same in their or husband, or an only child, must be in the veneration for property, although their habits, ardently-welcomed vessel; and yet, if you rank, and education influerce their opinion ask them whom they expect, the answer, in as to its necessary amount. The impoverished nine cases out of ten, will be-" Nobody that nobleman, who wishes to pay off his mort- I know of!" How natural, then, is it for the gages, and repair his paternal inheritance, inmates of a boarding-house to feel anxious will only sacrifice his liberty to a fair one ca- curiosity for the first glimpse of a new arripable of conferring those favors upon him."val, for in an hour or two the strangers will "Permit me to illustrate your prose by a be at the same table with them, by the evenpoetical quotation,ing they may be on terms of intimacy, and

on the following day they may possibly be the washing week in a damp cottage, with a walking out together deep in confidential smoky chimney, a solitary servant, a banquet communication. Having thus defended my of hashed mutton, and a family of five small heroes from the charge of looking at the car- children; but the dressing-bell summons us: riage, I will proceed to relate what they saw. I am quite disappointed in these new arrivals, An elderly gentleman of highly respecta- I was in hopes we should have had someble appearance alighted, and handed out, body worth dressing for." first a lady of a similar description, and afterwards, a very lovely girl, apparently about twenty. The fair stranger had blue eyes, a dazzling complexion, and nut-brown ringlets; in short, she was that being so often talked about and so seldom seen-a real beauty.

"How enchanting a creature!" said Stanley: "if it were the custom of this country to travel with passports, hers should be drawn in the terms of that given to the bewitching Sontag Presque Angelique.""

"She is extremely pretty," said Travers, carelessly, "far too pretty, I am sure, to be worth a guinea. Depend upon it, Stanley, in the words of the song, 'Her face is her fortune.'"

The young men now separated, neither of them at all raised in the opinion of the other by the conversation I have recorded; they met again in the drawing-room a few minutes before dinner, and had just time to ascertain from Mr. Fielding, one of the gentle. men who happened to be acquainted with the last comers, that the name of the beauty was Helen Lennox, and that her companions were her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell, when the dinner-bell sounded. Helen looked still more lovely than in the morning; her beautiful shape was displayed to advantage by a light evening dress, and her shining hair, redeemed from the confinement of a bonnet, flowed in rich ringlets over her high forehead and finely-turned throat. Stanley could scarcely look at any other object, while Travers appeared unconscious of her pres"It will prove an ample fortune, undoubt-ence, and directed all his attention to the edly, to her," said Travers, "if she has sense young lady from Lothbury, of whom honorato play her cards well; but I would advise ble mention has already been made. Shortly you, Stanley, to be very shy of her-I mean after the ladies had retired, Mr. Maxwell folto be so, for my part. Flirtations that lead to nothing are all very well in a cheap obscure place; but living at Harrogate is expensive, and ought to lead to something worth having."

"And who would wish a more ample fortune?" said Stanley, continuing to gaze upon

her.

lowed them, and inquiries were then eagerly addressed to Mr. Fielding by several of the young men in company, respecting the additions to the party. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell, he informed them, were a rich couple residbeing in Harley street, and moving in a high circle of society.

"And would not so lovely a creature worth having?" said Stanley, pursuing her with his eyes as she entered the house.

“I earnestly hope, Stanley,” said Travers, "that you will not waste your own time, and that of the girl, by any foolish attentions to her; I would not even advise you to dance with her however, I dare say she will have too much good sense to encourage you to dangle after her. I will wager something that before this time to-morrow, she is laying violent siege to Sir Harry Dashwood, or old Lord Shakerly."

"Travers, you really put me out of all patience by your selfish, cold-hearted calculations!" exclaimed Stanley.

"Selfish!" said Travers, "far from it. What is Hecuba to me, or I to Hecuba?' that I should care whether she marries well or ill; but I am speaking disinterestedly and benevolently. She has a right to make a good market of her attractions as well as myself; if she be well-born and well-educated, I think she may expect a handsome income, and some sort of title: nay, if she were my sister, I do not know whether I should not insist on her stipulating for an opera-box, and a set of diamonds into the bargain."

"And should you not think it sacrilege to condemn such a creature to a union with a booby fox-hunting baronet like Sir Harry Dashwood, or a decrepit peevish invalid like Lord Shakerly?"

"Not at all; I should think it far greater sacrilege to condemn her to the horrors of

"Have they any children?" asked Travers, with earnestness.

"A son and two daughters, all married," replied Mr. Fielding with some surprise.

"I only asked," said Travers, "because if they had been childless, it would have been a good thing for the interests of their niece.”

"Happily," said Mr. Fielding, "she stands in no need of their wealth; few unite the goods of fortune with the gifts of nature like Helen Lennox.”

"Indeed!" said Travers, eagerly.

"Her father was a rich country gentleman, and Helen was his only child," said Mr. Fielding. "At his death, his family estates became the property of a nephew, but he bequeathed to his daughter the whole of his personal property, which amounted at that time to sixty thousand pounds; in the course of the two years that have elapsed since his death, it must have received a handsome accumulation. Miss Lennox comes of age in February, when she will take possession of her fortune."

"She is a fortune in herself!” said Travers, with vehemence. "I never beheld so lovely a creature; I could not take my eyes off her all dinner time; she is equally a study for a painter, and a theme for a poet."

"You are a young man, Mr. Travers," said the unsuspicious Mr. Fielding, with a benev olent smile, "and employ very unmeasured terms of approbation; however, I do not

think your enthusiasm will do you any harm with my young friend, Miss Lennox; she is, to own the truth, a little too much inclined to romance."

who, for a little time, refrain from contributing to the gossip, and protest that it is "too bad," and "very unfair," always end in the thorough enjoyment of it, like the schoolboy, who shares in the apples taken by his comrades, although he would not for the world have led them on to the plunder. Many peo

which those affairs of the heart are talked over, which in private circles are generally confined to the most intimate friends and relations of the parties. The thoughts, hopes, Stanley sighed heavily, as he reflected on and feelings of any two people suspected of the little gratification her propensity to ro- a penchant for each other, immediately bemance would receive, if she formed an attach- come the joint-stock property of the whole ment to the calculating and worldly-minded house, to be commented on as freely and Travers, but he never dreamed of contesting publicly as the style of their caps and coats; the brilliant prize with his friend. Humble and even the few conscientious individuals and unassuming, he might have ventured to indulge his admiration for the beautiful Helen, had she been moderately portioned; but he now regarded her as far beyond his pretensions, and rejoiced that he had obtained such early information respecting her property, that he might subdue his infant passion in the bud. Travers rejoiced still more fervent-ple wonder how a man can have courage to ly at this discovery, although for very oppo- make love in a large house in the country,. site reasons; he paid the most marked atten- full of staying company; I wonder much tion all the evening to the beautiful stranger, more how he can have courage to make love of whom he had previously determined to be in a boarding-house! The owner of a large so very shy; danced three quadrilles with country house, who is rich enough to fill it her, flattered her incessantly; and, in short, with company, has generally many different gave her to understand in very refined terms, apartments for their reception and entertainthat she had performed that feat, which in ment: besides the regular public rooms, there vulgar language is denominated "making a are the music-room, billiard-room, and liconquest." I cannot undertake to keep a brary; and then there are pleasure-grounds, correct diary of every thing said and done with arbors and summer-houses, and perhaps at the Granby during the next fortnight, a park in addition, where the "high contracttherefore trust my readers will be contented ing parties" may easily elude the observawith the general outlines. Travers had suc- tion of the multitude, and carry on their neceeded in making Helen believe that he was gotiation in comparative privacy; but a boardviolently in love with her, and in getting her ing-house, (I allude now particularly to those to fancy that she was a little in love with by the sea-side, which accommodate about him. Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell had not yet twenty inmates,) has, generally speaking, no been taken into the confidence of the young garden, no variety of rooms. In the diningcouple, for the quick tact of Travers enabled room every body always sits in the same him to perceive that he was far from being place according to priority, and a lover may a favorite with either of them. Stanley, the be divided the whole length of the long tawarm-hearted, amiable Stanly, who had more ble from the lady of his heart, and may be tender thoughts about Helen in an hour, than obliged to have recourse to the kind offices of her avowed adorer had in a week, was high-the waiter, even to make known his wish to ly esteemed, and liked both by herself and take wine with her. her uncle and aunt; nor could Helen avoid noticing the superiority of his intellect and accomplishments to those of Travers, but the one had never addressed to her any professions beyond those of friendship, the other had poured forth to her the fondest vows of affection; and Rochefoucauld says with some truth, "We love those who admire us more than those we admire." "The course of true love," however, seldom "runs smooth" anywhere, and certainly not in a boardinghouse.

The large square drawing-room is the only theatre of action; there is, to be sure, a small sitting-room opening into it, but this is almost always let off as a private apartment, either to a newly-married couple, to whom a tête-àtête is yet a novelty, and consequently a luxury, or to an invalid lady, "who likes occasionally to be out of the noise and bustle of the company," and is therefore willing to pay handsomely for the privilege of excluding so much of the aforesaid noise and bustle, as a thin partition and a badly shutting door will I have already alluded to the amiable can- enable her to do. Where then are the enador and openness displayed by the members moured couple to carry on a little private of these establishments, and therefore my discourse? The large open verandah is genereaders will not be surprised to hear that rally the place first thought of, from the undemany of the ladies at the Granby, headed by niable fact that it is out of the room; then it the widow from Somersetshire, and the dam- is really a very pretty locale for a love scene; sel from Lothbury, assured Helen that her there are green garden chairs and several suitor was in love with her property and not pots of flowers placed in it, and a canary with herself; and many of the young men hung on one side, with a lump of sugar beexpressed their earnest hope that she would tween the bars of his cage, holding an harnot throw herself away on an avowed and monious duet with a bullfinch similarly situacknowledged "Fortune Hunter." Nothing ated on the other; there is also, perhaps, "the amuses me more in a boarding-house, than sea, the open sea" in front. Here then the the perfect unreserve and nonchalance with | lady seats herself on one of the garden chairs,