XII. Mon. DECEMBER, hath 31 Days. 1770.

Let ev'ry spicy odorit'rous Tree
Present its Incense and its Balm to thee.
And thou, Heav'n's Viceroy o'er this World below,
In this blest T'ask superior Ardor show :
To view thyself inflect thy keason's Ray,
Transported, Nature's Theatre survey.
Then all on Fire the Author's Skill adore,
And in loud Songs extol creating Pow'r.

De-

Full Moon 2 day, 4 h. 46 m. aft.
Last Quart. 9 day, 8 morn.

N. Moon 16 day, 10 h. 27 m. aft.
First Quart. 25 Day. 4 morn.

<table><thead><tr><th>Month</th><th>Calendar, &c.</th><th>1</th><th>2</th><th>3</th><th>4</th><th>5</th><th>6</th><th>7</th><th>8</th><th>9</th><th>10</th><th>11</th><th>12</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>7 & 26 m. Snow, with</td><td>7</td><td>24</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>25</td><td>5</td><td>50</td><td>11</td><td>1</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>G Advent Sunday.</td><td>7</td><td>25</td><td>5</td><td>8</td><td>20</td><td>arms</td><td>D</td><td>life</td><td>10</td><td>56</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>2 Middling Tides.</td><td>7</td><td>26</td><td>5</td><td>9</td><td>12</td><td>23</td><td>5</td><td>41</td><td>10</td><td>52</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>3 high winds, then</td><td>7</td><td>26</td><td>5</td><td>10</td><td>15</td><td>breast</td><td>6</td><td>45</td><td>10</td><td>47</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>4 Perigee.</td><td>7</td><td>27</td><td>5</td><td>11</td><td>15</td><td>22</td><td>7</td><td>56</td><td>10</td><td>43</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>5 & 26 m. very cold.</td><td>7</td><td>27</td><td>5</td><td>12</td><td>9</td><td>heart</td><td>9</td><td>7</td><td>10</td><td>39</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>6 Twilight ends 6 h. 7 m.</td><td>7</td><td>28</td><td>5</td><td>1</td><td>3</td><td>21</td><td>10</td><td>15</td><td>10</td><td>34</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>7 Concept. Virgin Mary.</td><td>7</td><td>28</td><td>5</td><td>1</td><td>54</td><td>belly</td><td>11</td><td>28</td><td>10</td><td>30</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>G 2d Sunday in Advent.</td><td>7</td><td>28</td><td>5</td><td>2</td><td>45</td><td>19</td><td>morn.</td><td>10</td><td>25</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>2 A ½ &amp; December, like a cruel tyrant,</td><td>7</td><td>29</td><td>5</td><td>3</td><td>26</td><td>reins</td><td>0</td><td>37</td><td>10</td><td>21</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>3</td><td>7</td><td>29</td><td>5</td><td>4</td><td>10</td><td>15</td><td>1</td><td>40</td><td>10</td><td>17</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>4 & 26 m. shows his teeth,</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>4</td><td>54</td><td>28</td><td>2</td><td>45</td><td>10</td><td>12</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>5 O fall of clock 5 m.</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>5</td><td>37</td><td>secrets</td><td>3</td><td>45</td><td>10</td><td>8</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>6 and, like a Ruffian</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>25</td><td>24</td><td>4</td><td>45</td><td>10</td><td>3</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>7 & 8 O &amp; bear, grows</td><td>7</td><td>31</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td>15</td><td>thighs</td><td>5</td><td>45</td><td>9</td><td>59</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>G 3d Sunday in Advent.</td><td>7</td><td>31</td><td>5</td><td>8</td><td>8</td><td>19</td><td>D</td><td>fets</td><td>9</td><td>55</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>2 & 8 O &amp; madder as the storms increase.</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>8</td><td>56</td><td>knees</td><td>5</td><td>20</td><td>9</td><td>50</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>3</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>9</td><td>45</td><td>14</td><td>6</td><td>20</td><td>9</td><td>46</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>4 & 26 m. Apogee.</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>10</td><td>30</td><td>26</td><td>7</td><td>15</td><td>9</td><td>41</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Moderate a few days,</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>11</td><td>17</td><td>legs</td><td>8</td><td>13</td><td>9</td><td>37</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>6 St. Thomas.</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>12</td><td>0</td><td>20</td><td>9</td><td>10</td><td>9</td><td>33</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>7 then a severe storm,</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>12</td><td>45</td><td>feet</td><td>10</td><td>9</td><td>9</td><td>28</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>G 4th Sunday in Advent.</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>1</td><td>24</td><td>14</td><td>11</td><td>7</td><td>9</td><td>24</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>6 & 26 m. followed by CHRISTMAS.</td><td>7</td><td>32</td><td>5</td><td>2</td><td>4</td><td>26</td><td>morn.</td><td>9</td><td>20</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>25</td><td>3</td><td>7</td><td>31</td><td>5</td><td>2</td><td>45</td><td>head</td><td>0</td><td>49</td><td>15</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>26</td><td>4 St. Stephen. &amp; 2</td><td>7</td><td>31</td><td>5</td><td>3</td><td>32</td><td>22</td><td>1</td><td>09</td><td>11</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>27</td><td>5 St. John. severe cold,</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>4</td><td>20</td><td>neck</td><td>2</td><td>7</td><td>9</td><td>6</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>28</td><td>6 Innocents. and thus</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>5</td><td>9</td><td>19</td><td>3</td><td>15</td><td>9</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>29</td><td>7 O fall of clock 3 m.</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>0</td><td>arms</td><td>4</td><td>20</td><td>8</td><td>57</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>30</td><td>G Sunday past Christmas.</td><td>7</td><td>30</td><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>54</td><td>17</td><td>5</td><td>22</td><td>8</td><td>53</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>31</td><td>2 Ecc. 0631. ends the year.</td><td>7</td><td>29</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td>52</td><td>breast</td><td>6</td><td>18</td><td>8</td><td>49</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Degen'rate Minds in mazy Error loft
May combat Heav'n, and impious Triumphs boat.
But while my Veins feel animating Fires,
And vital Air my breathing Breast inspires,
Grateful to Heav'n I'll stretch a pious Wing,
And sing his Praise who gave me Pow'r to sing.

On COMETS.

" Who can the Comet's wondrous Journey tell?

" Seats not unaptly deem'd the Place of Hell?

" Now burning in the Sun's immediate Beams;

" More frigid now than Greenland's frozen Streams.

" Of all God's Works, our Reason nothing shows

" So fully form'd for Torments and for Woes."

THAT they are permanent hard bodies, I believe none
will dispute, if the degree of heat is considered that many
of them are expofed to while pafling the fun; particularly the
Comet of 1680, which in its perihelion pafled through a degree
of heat sufficient to diffolve any matter that we are acquainted
with, and yet underwent no alteration of its parts that we
know of.

But very little was known of the laws and motion of Comets
before the time of our illustrious NEWTON, who shewed a divct
geometrical method of delineating their orbits, which method
could be expected from no one but him of whom we have it.

From obfervations of Comets, while they are in the neigh
bourhood of the fun, their orbits are found not to differ greatly
from that conic fection called a parabola; but as obfervations
prove that they continue to revolve about the fun in certain
periods of time, we may reasonably conclude their orbits are
not parabolic trajectories, but that they describe the fame conic
fection which the planets do, only vafly more eccentric; for as
a parabola does not return into itself, if a Comet were to move
in a parabolic trajectory, having once pafled by the fun, could
never return again.

For want of more accurate obfervations, we have no direct
way to discover the time of a Comet's revolution from its once
appearing; the only way at preſent is, whilet the Comet is with-
in our view, from obſervations, to trace its path in the heavens,
and get the place of its nodes, perihelion, and perihelion-diftance
from the fun; and when a Comet appears to deſcribe the fame
path among the fixed ſtars, with the fame velocity, and in every
reſpect attended with like circumftances, it is then known to be
the fame Comet (as it is not probable that two Comets deſcribe

C

one

18

one and the same orb) and to the time of its revolution is known when the transference and conjugate diameters of its orb may likewise be immediately known.

Dr. HALLEY (following the steps of the great NEWTON) by reading ancient hitherto of Comets, and getting from thence such accounts as he could rely on, traced the paths of 24; but upon a review of his work, he found several of those to be one and the same Comet; so by comparison the periods of 4 are precisely certainly determined. The first of which appearing in 1607 and 1682, once before, and once in Dr. HALLEY's day, did likewise appear in 1759, and will probably be seen again in 1834. The second appeared in 1556, and 1718, and may be expected again in 1799. The third, which appeared in 1661, may be looked for again in 1789. The fourth appeared in 1680; its period being no less than 575 years, it will not be seen again before the year 2255. This last mentioned Comet is now making its eighth revolution since the flood, at which time, according to the opinion of a very ingenious writer, it met with the earth in its way, and by the violence of the shock the foundation of the great deep was broken up, and the waters were put into such an agitation, that they overflowed the whole face of the earth; and thus was brought about the general deluge.

The more immediate occasion of my giving this account of Comets, was the appearance of the extraordinary one in August and September last. It was surpizing to hear from many parts of the country, the great concern people were thrown into by an anonymous piece in the news-papers, dated at Elizabethtown, in the Jerjeys, which was looked upon, by the more judicious part of mankind, as a lively demonstration of the author's ignorance of the matter he wrote about.

This Comet was not observed in Providence with that accuracy I could have wished. From its first appearing in some of the neighbouring towns to its disappearing, was about 28 days; the last time that I saw it myself was the 13th of September, in the morning, when it was no less than seventy-five millions of miles from the earth, and the length of its tail, from such an observation as I was able to make, could not be less than one hundred millions of miles. In three days after this the Comet descended below the orb of Venus, and in 22 days more arrived at its perihelion, being then but about nineteen millions of miles from the fun's centre: The light and heat there thrown upon the Comet were 25 times greater than with us; the apparent motion of the Comet, at the fun's center, the 8th of October, was about 14 degrees and an half in 24 hours; having passed the fun, it bent

19

bent its course northerly, so that its distance is now increasing both from the sun and earth. The 17th of October it will ascend up to the orb of Mercury, the 30th day it will arrive at the orb of Venus, and the 11th of November the earth and Comet will be at an equal distance from the sun. As this Comet has never been observed before, that we know of, its next visit cannot be predicted.

The tails of Comets proceed from the matter of their atmospheres. When they make their first appearance, their tails are generally short, in proportion to what they are afterwards, when advanced near the fun; for as the heat of the fun on them increases, their atmospheres are more and more expanded, or ratified, and by the same laws that smoke or other light bodies are driven up a chimney by the heat of the fire, the matter of the Comet's atmosphere is driven off from that part of the Comet next the fun, and those particles of the atmosphere, as they are illuminated by the light from the fun, cause that stream of light from the Comet called its tail. This opinion was first flarted by the celebrated NEWTON. The theory every way answers to appearances. The observations of HEVELIUS upon Comets strengthen this opinion; he says he has observed that the atmospheres of Comets, especially those parts next the fun, are remarkably contrasted when near the fun, and dilated again afterwards. Another observation which strengthens this theory is, that their tails are always found to be in the plane of their orbits, and extending nearly opposite the fun.

The tails of Comets, like all other kinds of vapour, dilate themselves as they ascend, and meeting with the atmospheres of the planets and this earth in their way, and having the power of gravitation like other matter, descend, and mix with them; thereby supplying the diminution caused in the humid parts by vegetation and putrefaction. Our great author says further, that it is his opinion the most subtle and active parts of our air, upon which the life of things depends, is derived to us and supplied by the Comets.

At his command, affrighting human kind,
Comets drag on their blazing lengths behind?
Nor, as we think, do they at random rove,
But, in determin'd times, through long ellipses move.
And though sometimes they near approach the fun,
Sometimes beyond our system's orbit run;
Throughout their race they act their maker's will,
His power declare, his purposes fulfilled.

Providence, October 13, 1769.

/ Universe.

20

A short and comprehensive View of the Siege and Deftruction of JERUSALEM, by Titus.

VESPASIAN, before he left Judea, committed the managament of the war against the Jews to his son Titus, as well knowing his extraordinary valour and skill for such an undertaking. Himself had reduced most of the country, except Jerusalem; but Jerusalem was the capital city, fortified with three walls on every side, except where it was fenced with deep vallies, having the castle of Antonia, the temple, the palace of Acra, the towers on Mount Sion, and several other places, almost impregnable; so that great consultation, and a preparation of many materials, were required to carry on such a siege. But what facilitated its reduction, were the several parties and factions which had possession of different parts of the city, and were not only murdering and maiming one another, but in their rage and madness, had destroyed the provisions likewise, which might have served the city for many years. Jerusalem was involved in these sad circumstances, when Titus, with a powerful army, and all kinds of warlike engines, approached, and ran down within six or seven furlongs of the city, a little before the feast of the Passover, by which means he shut up an infinite number of people come from all parts to that solemnity, which, in a short time, occasioned a great consumption of their provisions.

Upon the fight of so numerous an army, the several factions unanimously agreed to oppose it; and fallying out with great resolution and fury, put the Romans to disorder, obliging them to abandon their camp, and fly to the mountains: But the Jews were at last repulsed and driven into the city by the extraordinary skill and valour of Titus; who in this and all other actions during this siege, greatly signalized himself.

When Titus had placed his engines (which was not done without great opposition) he battered the outward wall, and on the third day of May, making a breach, entered and took possession of the north quarter of the city, as far as the castle of Antonia, and the valley of Kedron; which when he had done, he gave the besieged all possible assurances of pardon and civil treatment, if they would but submit. But they judging his humanity to be the effect of cowardice, refused all terms and conditions. Five days after this Titus broke through the second wall: And though the besieged made several falls, and drove him out again; yet on the fourth day he recovered the place, and possessed himself of the new lower city: Which when he had done, being still desirous

21

of them to show their mercy, he sent Josephus to his countrymen, to exhort them to yield. But, though he used all the powerful and pathetic persuasions imaginable, he was entertained with nothing but schemes and reproaches: So that Titus was now resolved to proceed with more severity against a people who had been perfidious to the highest degree, and stubborn beyond all example; and accordingly, whenever any escaped out of the city, (as the famine compelled many to make their escape) they were no sooner taken by Titus, than he caused them to be scourged and crucified; and that in such numbers, that room was wanting for croffes, and croffes for persons, though, by the cruelty of this spectacle, he only designed to terrify the city, and haften its surrender.

On the 12th of May Titus began four mounts for his batteringrams; two near the castle of Antonia, where he was in hopes of taking the temple; and two near the monument of John the high priest, where he supposed he might break into the upper city with the greatest facility. But in two bold falls, the besieged ruined and destroyed the mounts; and having burnt several batteringrams, and other engines, prefed forward, and broke into the very camp of the Romans; though at length they were valiantly repulsed by Titus; who (in a council of war) now resolved to surround the whole city with a wall or intrenchment, to hinder the flight of the besieged, and to prevent all relief from coming into the city; thereby verifying our blessed Lord's predictions to a title: The days shall come upon thee, that thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compaſs thee around, and keep thee in every side.

This work, though near five miles in compafs, was, with incredible celerity, finished in three days. But it made no impression upon the besieged, though the famine began to rage violently, and such a mortality ensued, that, from the 14th of April to the 1st of July, 115,080 carcasses of the poorer fort were carried out to be buried at the public charge, 600,000 were cast out of the gates, and when the number of dead bodies increased so that they had no place to dispose of them, they gathered them together into the largest houſes adjoining, and there shut them up. All this while the famine increased to such a degree, that a bulohel of corn was sold for 600 crowns; that wives took the meat out of their hufbands mouths, children from their parents, and mothers from their infants; that old men were driven from their meat, as persons of no use, and young men mortured to confess where their provisions lay; that finks and holes were continually raked to find the old dung of oxen for food;

22

food; that the very soldiers (who were the last that would want) began to eat girdles, shoes, ficks, and hay; and that a woman of quality even boiled her own child, with an intent to eat it; an act so detestable, that Titus, after he had infilled upon his frequent offers of peace and pardon to the Jews, declared publicly, that he would bury the abominable crime in the ruins of their country, and not suffer the fun to shine upon that city where mothers eat their own children, and where fathers, no less culpable, reduced them to that extremity by their obediency.

With this resolution he cut down all the groves within a considerable distance of the city, and causing more mounts to be raised, on the first of July he began to batter the wall of Antonia, and, on the 5th, entered the castle by force, and purfued the flying Jews even to the temple; which when he had done, both he and Josephus again exhorted them to surrender: But all to no purpose; they obstinately refused all accommodation, and made it their boat, that they had rather endure the worst of miseries. Titus hearing this, in order to make an easy ascent to the temple, overturned the foundation of Antonia; and having seized the north and west porticoes or cloisters of the outward range of the temple, he set them on fire; as the Jews did the other porticoes, to hinder the Romans from making their approaches. On the 8th day of August, Titus, perceiving that the walls of the inner temple were too strong for the battering rams, and that the foundation of the gates could not be undermined, was obliged to set fire to them; yet still with an intent, if possible, to fave the temple itself; but it so fell out that on the 10th a certain soldier, contrary to the command of the general, excited by a kind of divine impulse, cast a flaming firebrand through the golden window into the chambers and buildings on the north side, which immediately set them on fire, and, notwithstanding the utmost endeavours to the contrary, spread throughout the whole fabric, and consumed the most glorious and beautiful structure that the world ever saw; whilst the Roman soldiers, pursuing their victory with all imaginable fury and revenge, cut all in pieces that they found about the temple, and set fire to the rest of the buildings.

In all these confusions, those who were the chiefs in this sedition found means to retire to the upper and strongest part of the city, called Sion, situated upon a steep rock, where they threatened to defend themselves to the last, and there tyrannized with more cruelty than ever; till Titus having raised his batteries, and made a breach in the wall, they lost all their courage, and, in

in great conflagration, abandoned the towers, which were their only strength, and in vain fought to escape, by hiding themselves in vaults and privies, from whence both John and Simon, two principal ringleaders of their different factions, were dragged out, and the former condemned to perpetual imprisonment, whilst the latter was appointed to grace the general's triumph.

The Romans having now gained the walls, and with shouts of joy placed their colours upon the towers, broke loose all over the city, and ranged up and down in the streets, killing all that fell in their way, without distinction, till the pavilions and allies were choaked with carriages, and the kennels of the city ran with blood, as if it had been to quench the fire, which was now become one general conflagration.

To this fatal end was the famous city of Jerufalem, after a siege of above five months, reduced, in the second year of Vespasian's reign, and 38 years after our Lord's crucifixion; in which siege there perished no less than 1,100,000, and no fewer than 97,000 were taken captives, besides the 237,490 more (according to Josephus) who fell in the wars which preceded it. At last, when the soldiers had neither rapine nor bloodshed left for their rage and indignation to work upon, Titus ordered them to lay the city and the temple level with the ground, or, in the words of our Saviour's prediction, not to leave one stone upon another; which order was so punctually executed, that (except three towers, which, for their strength and beauty, were left as monuments of the city's statelines to posterity) the whole was laid flat, that the place looked as if it had never been inhabited.

## FRIENDS Yearly Meetings are as follow, viz.

* At Sandwich, the 6th Day before the last first Day in the 3d Month.

* At Greenwich, the last first Day in the fifth Month.

* At Rhode-Island, the second sixth Day; and at Nantucket, the 4th sixth Day of the sixth Month.

* At Providence, the fourth seventh Day; and at Kingston, the 2d first Day of the eighth Month.

* At Salem, the fourth first Day of the ninth Month.

* At Scituate, the fourth sixth Day; and at Dartmouth, the 4th sixth Day of the tenth Month.

* At Swanfey, the second seventh Day of the eleventh Month.

## COURTS,

24

COURTS,

In the New-England Governments, with the Days for holding them in the Year 1770.

THE Colony of RHODE-ISLAND is divided into five Counties.

1. The County of NEWPORT, including the Towns of Newport, Portsmouth, James-Town, New-Shoreham, Middle-town, Tivertown, and Little-Compton. The INFERIOR COURTS of Common Pleas will be held at Newport, in the County of Newport, on the 28th of May, and 19th of November. The SUPERIOR COURTS, on the 3d of September and 5th of March.

2. The County of PROVIDENCE, including the Towns of Providence, Smithfield, Scituate, Gloucester, Cumberland, Cranston, Johnston, and North-Providence. The INFERIOR COURTS of Common Pleas will be held at Providence, in the County of Providence, on the 18th of June, and 17th of December. The SUPERIOR COURTS, on the 17th of September, and 10th of March.

3. KING'S COUNTY, including the Towns of South-Kingstown, North-Kingstown, Westerly, Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond, and Hopkinton. The INFERIOR COURTS of Common Pleas will be held at South-Kingstown, in King's County, on the 13th of August, and 19th of February. The SUPERIOR COURTS, on the 1st of October, and 2d of April.

4. The County of BRISTOL, including the Towns of Bristol and Warren. The INFERIOR COURTS of Common Pleas will be held at Bristol, in the County of Bristol, on the 2d of July, and 1st of January. The SUPERIOR COURTS, on the 8th of October, and 9th of April.

5. The County of KENT, including the Towns of East-Greenwich, Warwick, West-Greenwich, and Coventry. The INFERIOR COURTS of Common Pleas will be held at East-Greenwich, in the County of Kent, on the 16th of July, and 15th of January. The SUPERIOR COURTS, on the 15th of October, and 23d of April.

### Superior Courts in the Province of Massachusetts-Bay.

At Boston, March 13, and August 28.

At Salem, November 6.

At Ipswich, June 19.

At Cambridge, October 30.

At

25

At Charlestown, April 10.

At Springfield, September 25.

At Worcester, September 18.

At Plymouth, May 15.

At Barnstable, May 9.

At Taunton, October 9.

At York, July 3.

At Falmouth, June 26.

### Inferior Courts in the Province of Massachusetts-Bay.

At Boston, January 2, April 17, July 10, and October 2.

At Salem, July 10, and December 25.

At Ipswich, March 27.

At Newbury-Port, September 25.

At Cambridge, May 15.

At Charlestown, March 20, and November 27.

At Concord, September 11.

At Springfield, May 15, and August 28.

At Northampton, February 13, and November 13.

At Worcester, January 2, May 8, August 21, and Nov. 6.

At Plymouth, April 10, July 3, October 2, and Decem. 11.

At Barnstable, April 3, June 26, September 25, and Dec. 4.

At Taunton, February 20, May 1, August 21, and Nov. 20.

At York, January 2, April 10, and July 10.

At Biddeford, October 9.

At Falmouth, April 17, and October 16.

At Pownallborough, June 5, and September 25.

At Edgarton, March 6.

At Tifbury, October 30.

At Nantucket, March 27, and October 2.

At Great-Barrington, April 24, and September 4.

At Pittsfield, March 6, and December 4.

### Superior Courts in the Colony of Connecticut.

At Hartford, March 6, and September 4.

At New-London, September 25.

At New-Haven, February 27, and August 28.

At Windham, March 20, and September 18.

At Norwich, March 27.

At Fairfield, February 20, and August 21.

At Litchfield, August 14.

### Inferior Courts in the Colony of Connecticut.

At New-London, June 12.

At New-Haven, April 3, and November 13.

D

Aa

At Windham, June 26, and December 11.

At Norwich, November 27.

At Hartford, April 10, and November 6.

At Fairfield, April 17, and November 20.

At Litchfield, April 24, and September 25.

## Superior Courts in the Province of New-Hampshire.

At Portsmouth, May 8, and November 13.

## Inferior Courts in the Province of New-Hampshire.

At Portsmouth, March 6, June 5, September 4, and Dec. 4.

### A LIST of PORTENTOUS ECLIPSES, taken from RICCIOLUS.

*Before Chrift.*

754, July 5.

A N eclipse of the fun, on which day the foundations of Rome were laid.

721, March 19. A total eclipse of the moon. The Assyrian empire at an end; the Babylonian established.

585, May 28. An eclipse of the fun foretold by Thales, by which a peace was brought about between the Medes and Lydians.

523, July 16. An eclipse of the moon, which was followed by the death of Cambyses.

502. November 19. An eclipse of the moon, which was followed by the slaughter of the Sabines, and death of Valerius Publicola.

463, April 30. An eclipse of the fun. The Persian war, and the falling off of the Persians from the Egyptians.

431, April 25. An eclipse of the moon, which was followed by a great famine at Rome, and the beginning of the Peloponnesian war.

431, August 3. A total eclipse of the fun. A comet and plague at Athens.

413, August 27. A total eclipse of the moon. Nicias and his ship destroyed at Syracuse.

394, August 14. An eclipse of the fun. The Persians beat by Conon, in a sea engagement.

168, June 23. A total eclipse of the moon. The next day Perseus, King of Macedonia, was conquered by Paulus Emylius.

*After Chrift.*

59, April 30. An eclipse of the fun. This is reckoned among the prodigies, on account of the murder of Agrippinus, by Nero.

237, April 12. A total eclipse of the fun. A fixth perſecution of the Chriſtians.

306, July 27. An eclipse of the fun. The stars were seen, and the Emperor Conſtantius died.

843, May 4. A dreadful eclipse of the fun; and Lewis the pious died within fix months after it.

1009, —. An eclipse of the fun. Jerusalem taken by the Saracens.

1133, August 2. An eclipse of the fun. The stars were seen. A ſchism in the church, occasioned by there being three Popes at once.

*Subſtance of a Letter, supposed to be written from Pilate, the Roman Governor, to the Emperor Tiberius Cæsar, relative to the Cruciſation of our Saviour.*

I HAVE been forced to confent at length to the cruciſation of JESUS CHRIST, to prevent a tumult among the Jews, though it was very much against my will; for the world never laws, and probably never will fee, a man of ſuch extraordinary piety and uprightneſs. But the High Priests and Sanhedrim fulfilled it in the oracles of their prophets, and of their Sybils. Whilſt he hung on the croſs, an horrid darkneſs, which covered the earth, ſeemed to threaten its final end. His followers, who pretended to have ſeen him rife from the dead, and aftend into heaven, and acknowledge him for their God, do ſtill ſubſiſt, and by their excellent lives, ſhow themselves the worthy diſciples of ſo extraordinary a maſter. I did what I could to ſave him from the malice of the Jews, but the ſear of a total inſurrection made me ſacrifice him to the peace and intereſt of your empire.

### A divine SOLILOQUY.

N Othing in vain has thy great hand deſign'd, Replete with all that lavish hearts can wifh.

Shall theiſts ſay this glorious fabric roſe

From nature only, not from nature's God?

O reign ſupreme, in majesty ador'd,

Extend thy ſeptre o'er the hearts of men;

Crueſh theaſſm in its birth, from age to age,

While thou remain'st one universal cauſe,

The Father, and the Sov'reign of the world.

### A TABLE