MINOR, in music, is applied to certain concords, which differ from or are lower than others of the same denomination by a lesser semitone or four commas. Thus we say, a third minor, or lesser third, or a sixth major and minor. Concords that admit of major and minor, i. e. greater and less, are said to be imperfect concords.

To MINORATE. v. a. (from minor, Lat.) To lessen; to diminish (Glanville).

MINORATION. s. (from minorate.) The act of lessening; diminution; decrease (Brown). MINORBINO, a town of Naples, in Terra di Bari, with a bishop's see, twenty-six miles N. of Cirenza, Lon. 16. 19 S. Lat. 41. 8 N. MINORCA, an island of the Mediterranean, lying fifty miles to the N.E. of Majorca. It is thirty miles long and twelve broad; and is a mountainous country, with some fruitful valleys, where there are excellent males, Cittadella is the capital; but the town of Mahon claims greater consequence, on account of its excellent harbour, called Port Mahon, which is defended by Fort St. Philip, ose of the strongest fortresses in Europe, and on the fate of which the whole island depends. Minorea was taken by the English in 1708, and confirmed to them by the treaty of Utrecht. The French took it in 1756; but it was restored in 1763. It was retaken by the Spaniards in 1782, and confirmed to them by the peace of 1783. It was again taken by the English, without the loss of a man, in 1798. Port Mahon lies in Lon. 3. 48 E. Lat. 39. 50 N. MINORI, a town of Naples, in Principato Citeriore, with a bishop's see. It is seated on the gulf of Salerno, between the town of that name and Amalfi.

MINORITY. s. (from minor, Latin.) 1. The state of being under age (Shakspeare.) 2. The state of being less (Brown). 3. The smaller number.

MINOS, a king of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, who gave laws to his subjects, B.C. 1406, which still remained in full force in the age of the philosopher Plato. His justice and moderation procured him the appellation of the favourite of the gods, and the wise legislator, and, according to the poets, he was rewarded for his equity, after death, with the office of supreme judge in the infernal regions. In this capacity he is represented sitting in the middle of the shades, and holding a sceptre in his hand. The dead plead their different causes before him, and the impartial judge shakes the fatal ern, which is filled with the destinies of mankind. The second was a son of Lycastes, the son of Minos I. and king of Crete. He married Pasiphae, the daughter of Sol and Perseis, and by her he had many children. He showed himself cruel in the war which he carried on against the Athenians, who had put to death his son Androgeus. (See ANDROGEUS.) He took Megara by the treachery of Scylla, (vide SCYLLA); and not satisfied with a victory, he obliged the vanquished to bring him yearly to Crete seven chosen boys, and the same number of virgins, to be devoured by the Minotaur.

(Vide MINOTAURUS.) This bloody tribute was at last abolished when Theseus had destroyed the monster. (Vide THESEUS.) He was at last put to death by Cocalus king of Sicily, who had given an asylum to Dædalus, (vide DÆDALUS) whom he pursued from Crete for ministering to the unnatural desires of Pasiphae. MINOTAURUS, a celebrated monster, half a man and half a bull, according to Ovid. It was the fruit of Pasiphae's amour with a bull. Minos refused to sacrifice a white bull to Neptune, an animal which he had received from the god for that purpose. This offended Neptune, and he made Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, enamoured of this bull. Dedalus prostituted his talents in being subservient to the queen's unnatural desires, and, by his means, Pasiphae's horrible passions were gratified, and the Minotaur came into the world. Minos confined in the labyrinth a monster which shewed his wife's indecency. The Minotaur was at length killed by Theseus, who was one of the tributary Athenian youths to be devoured by it. Theseus received, it is said, a clue from Ariadne, which served to extricate him from the mazes of the labyrinth, and to effect his escape after he slew the Minotaur. The tradition of the Minotaur, and of the commerce of Pasiphae with a bull, is explained by making her enamoured of one of her husband's courtiers, called Taurus, whom she met at the house of Dædalus, and also by supposing her to bring forth twins, one resembling Minos, the other Taurus.

MINOW, in ichthyology. See CYPRINUS. MINSFELDEN, or MENSFELDEN, a town of Germany, in the archbishopric of Treves, 25 miles E. of Coblentz. Lon. 7. 57 E. Lat. 50. 26 N.

MINSINGEN, a town of Suabia, in the duchy of Wirtemberg, with a castle. Lon. 9. 35 E. Lat. 48. 32 Ñ.

MINSKI, a town of Lithuania, capital of a palatinate of the same name, with two citadels. The country is pretty fertile, and has forests containing vast numbers of bees, whose honey makes part of its riches. Minski is 65 miles N. of Sluczk, and 100 S.E. of Wilna. Lon. 26. 48 E. Lat. 54. 11 N.

MINSTER. s. (minrzeɲe, Saxon.) A monastery; an ecclesiastical fraternity; a cathedral church.

MINSTREL, in ancient customs, certain persons who combined the character of poet and musician, and whose profession it was to wander about the countries they inhabited, singing panegyrical songs and verses on their occasional benefactors, accompanying them with some musical instrument.

Borel derives the word from manus and histrio, one who diverts with the hand; or from minor histrio, little buffoon: Du Cange from ministellus, a diminutive of minister, because the minstrels were anciently ranked among the lower officers, ministers, or servants.

According to Dr. Percy in his Essay on the Ancient English Minstrels, the word is derived from the French menestrier; and was not in use here before the Norman conquest: and it

is remarkable, that our old monkish historians do not use the word citharoedus, cantator, or the like, to express a minstrel in Latin; but either mimus, histrio, joculator, or some other word that implies gesture. Hence it should seem that the minstrels set off their singing by mimickry or action; or, according to Dr. Brown's hypothesis, united the powers of melody, poem, and dance. These minstrels were probably the genuine successors of the ancient bards, who joined the arts of poetry and music, and sung verses to the harp of their own composing. After the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity, the poets and minstrels became two separate professions: and the latter continued to be a distinct order of men, and got their livelihood by singing verses to the harp at the houses of the great: where they were hospitably and respectfully received, retaining many of the honours shewn to their predecessors the bards and scalds. And though some of them only recited the compositions of others, many of them still composed songs themselves, and all of them could probably invent a few stanzas on occasion. There are two remarkable facts in history, which prove that the profession of a minstrel was held in great reverence among the Saxon tribes, as well as among their Danish brethren. In the year 878, when king Alfred wished to learn the true situation of the Danish army, which had invaded his realm, he assumed the dress and character of a minstrel, fingens se joculatorem, assumpta cithara, &c. and under this character, though he could not be known to be a Saxon, obtained an honourable reception. About sixty years after a Danish king made use of the same disguise to explore the camp of our king Athelstan. The minstrel was, therefore, a privileged character with both these people: and so late as the reign of Edward II. the minstrels were easily admitted into the royal presence; an instance of which is mentioned by Stow, Survey of London, 1703, p. 469. In the fourth year of Richard II. John of Gaunt erected at Tutbury, in Staffordshire, a court of minstrels, with full power to receive suit and service from the men of this profession within five neighbouring counties, to enact laws and determine their controversies, &c. for which they had a charter. (See Plott's Hist. Staff. p. 435, &c.) The minstrels continued down to the reign of Elizabeth; in whose time, however, they had lost much of their dignity, and were sinking into contempt and neglect; yet still they sustained a character far superior to any thing we can conceive at present of old ballads. Towards the end of the sixteenth century this class of men lost all credit, and were sunk so low in the public opinion, that in the thirty-ninth year of Elizabeth a statute was passed, by which minstrels, wandering abroad, were included among rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars, and were adjudged to be punished as such. This act seems to have put an end to the profession, for after this time they are no longer mentioned. Judge Blackstone observes, that in some manors the copyholders were bound to perform many servile offices for the lord, who found

them meat and drink, and sometimes, (as is still the use in the highlands of Scotland) a minstrel or piper for their diversion. Comm. b. ii. p. 96.

MINSTRELSY. s. (from minstrel.) 1. Music; instrumental harmony. (Davies). 2. A number of musicians (Millon).

MINT. s. (minte, Saxon.) in botany. See MENTHA.

MINT (Cat). See NEPETA.

MINT (Pepper). See MENTHA.

MINT, the place in which the king's money is coined. (See COINAGE.) There were anciently mints in almost every county in England; but the only mint at present in the British dominions is that in the Tower of London. The officers of the mint are, 1. The warden of the mint, who is the chief; he oversees the other officers and receives the bullion. 2. The master-worker, who receives bullion from the warden, causes it to be melted, delivers it to the moneyers, and, when it is coined, receives it again. 3. The comptroller, who is the overseer of all the inferior officers, and sees that all the money is made to the just assize. 4. The assay-master, who weighs the gold and silver, and sees that it is according to the standard. 5. The two auditors, who take the accounts. 6. The surveyor of the melting; who, after the assay-master has made trial of the bullion, sees that it is cast out, and not altered after it is delivered to the melter. 7. The engraver; who engraves the stamps and dyes for the coinage of the money. 8. The clerk of the irons; who sees that the irons are clean and fit to work with. 9. The melter; who melts the bullion before it be coined. 10. The provost of the mint; who provides for and oversees all the moneyers. 11. The blanchers, who anneal and cleanse the money. 12. The moneyers; some of whom forge the money, some share it, some round and mill it, and some stamp and coin it. 13. The porters, who keep the gate of the mint.

Mint was also a pretended place of privilege, in Southwark, near the King's Bench, pat down by statute. If any persons, within the limits of the mint, shall obstruct any officer in the serving of any writ or process, &c. or assault any person therein, so as he receive any bodily hurt, the offender shall be guilty of felony, and be transported to the plantations, &c. Stat. 9. Geo. I.

MINT, is also used figuratively for any place of invention.

To MINT. v. a. (from the noun.) 1. To coin; to stamp money (Bacon). 2. To invent; to forge (Bacon).

MINTAGE. s. (from mint). 1. That which is coined or stamped (Milton). 2. The duty paid for coining (Ainsworth)

MINTER. s. (from mint.) Coiner (Cum.). MINTHE, a daughter of Cocytus, loved by Pluto. Proserpine discovered her husband's amour, and changed his mistress into an herb, called by the same name, mint.

MINTMAN. s. (mint and man.) One skilled in coinage (Bacon).

MINTMASTER. s. (mint and master.) 1.

One who presides in coinage (Boyle). 2. One who invents (Locke).

MINTURNÆ, a town of Campania, between Sinuessa and Formiæ. It was in the marshes of its neighbourhood that Marius concealed himself in the mud, to avoid the partizans of Sylla. (See MARIUS.)

MINUET, (from the French menu, little, and signifying a small pace.) A movement of three crotchets or three quavers in a bar; of a slow and graceful notion, and always beginning with the beating note. This is the dancing minuet, and is said to have been invented at Poitou but there are other minuets of a time somewhat quicker, and which were formerly much used as concluding movements of overtures, sonatas, &c.

MI'NUM. s. 1. (With printers.) A small sort of printing letter. 2. (With musicians.) A note of slow time. See MINIM. MINUTE. a. (minutus, Lat.) Small; little; slender; small in bulk (South).

MINUTE. s. (minutum, Latin.) 1. The sixtieth part of an hour (Shakspeare). 2. Any small space of time (South). 3. The first draught of any agreement in writing. To MINUTE. v. a. (minuter, French.) To set down in short hints (Spectator).

MINUTE is the 60th part of a degree, or of an hour. The minutes of a degree are marked with the acute accent, thus, the seconds by two, "; the thirds by three, "". The minutes, seconds, thirds, &c. in time, are sometimes marked the same way; but, to avoid confusion, the better way is by the initials of the words; as minutes, seconds, thirds t, &c.

MINUTE, in architecture, usually denotes the 60th part of a module, but sometimes only the 30th part.

MINUTE-BOOx. s. (minule and book.) Book of short hints.

MINUTE-GLASS. s. (minute and glass.) Glass of which the sand measures a minute. MINUTELY. ad. (from minúte.) To a small point; exactly (Locke).

MINUTELY. ad. (from minute, the substantive.) Every minute; with very little time intervening (Hammond).

MINUTENESS. s. (from minúte.) Smallness; exility; inconsiderableness (Bentley). MINUTE-WATCH, s. (minute and watch.) A watch in which minutes are more distinctly marked than in common watches which reckon by the hour (Boyle).

MINUTIA, a vestal virgin, accused of debauchery on account of the beauty and elegance of her dress. She was condemned to be buried alive because a female supported the false accusation, A. U. C. 418. (Liv.).

MINUTIUS, a name common to some eminent Romans, the most remarkable of whom is Rufus, a master of horse to the dictator Fabius Maximus. His disobedience to the commands of the dictator was productive of an extension of his prerogative, and the master of the horse was declared equal in power to the dictator. Minutius, soon after this, fought with ill success against Annibal, and

was saved by the interference of Fabius; which circumstance had such an effect upon him that he laid down his power at the feet of his deliverer, and swore that he would never act but by his directions. He was killed at the battle of Cannæ.

MINUTIUS FELIX, was a famous Roman orator. He was an African; when he lived is very uncertain. The earliest date allowed him is 170; the latest 220. Dr. Lardner after Baronius supposes he lived in 210, towards the close of the reign of Septimius Severus. His defence of the christian religion is allowed to be an excellent one. It is in form of a dialogue between Cæcilius Natalis a heathen, and Octavius Januarius a christian; in which Minutius sits judge. Cæcilius first objects, and then Octavius answers. The issue is, the conviction of Cæcilius, and his conversion to christianity. This work of Minutius is a learned, ingenious, and eloquent performance. The editions most prized are that of Leyden in 1652 and 1672, of Leyden by Gronovius in 1709, the Cambridge edition of Dr. Davies, in 1712, the Glasgow edition of 1750, and the Leipsic edition of 1773.

MINX. s. A young, pert, wanton girl (Shakspeare).

MINYE, a name given to the inhabitants of Orchomenos, in Boeotia, from Minyas, a king of the country. Orchômenos, the son of Minyas, gave his name to the capital of the country, and the inhabitants still retained their original appellation in contradiction to the Orchomenians of Arcadia.

MINYAS, a king of Boeotia, son of Neptune and Tritegenia, the daughter of Æolus. He married Clydodora, by whom he had Presbon, Periclymenus, and Eteoclymenus. He was father of Orchomenos, Diochithondes, and Athamas, by a second marriage, with Phanasora, the daughter of Paon. According to Plutarch and Ovid he had three daughters, called Leuconoe, Alcithoe, and Leucippe, They were changed into bats. See MI

NEIDES.

MINYCUS, a river of Thessaly, falling into the sea near Arene, called afterwards Orchomenos.

MIOLANS, a fortress of France, in the de partment of the Lower Alps, seated on a craggy rock, in the valley of Barcelonetta, six miles N.E, of Montmelian. Lon. 6. 20 E. Lat. 45. 35 N.

MIOSS, a lake of Norway, in the province of Hedemarke, 80 miles in circumference. It is divided by a large peninsula, and contains a fertile island 10 miles in circumference,

MIQUELON, a small desert island, S. W. of Cape May in Newfoundland, ceded to the Freuch in 1763, for drying and curing their fish. They were dispossessed of it by the English in 1793. Lon. 56, 10 W, Lat, 46, 42 N.

MIRA, a town of Portugal, in Beira, 16 miles N.W. of Coimbra. Lon, 8. 25 W. lat. 40. 20 N.

MIRABILE, in mineralogy, a genus of the

class salts. Of a bitter taste; not easily soluble in cold water, and the solution not made turbid by a mixture of soda; not effervescing with any acid; exposed to a white heat with powdered charcoal producing an alkaline sul phur. Four species.

1. M. genuinum. Vitriolated natrum; sulphat of soda: Glauber's salt. Of a cool ing taste, easily melting in the fire, when dissolved and slowly evaporated crystallizing into very transparent unequally six-sided prisms, which moulder in the air. Found in many mineral waters of Britain and other parts of Europe, sometimes dry, rarely in a crystallized state, sometimes in a state of white efflorescence on moist walls, in vast quantities under the surface of the earth in the neigh bourhood of Astracan, and in summer at the bottom of lakes, seldom found pure, but usually mixed with soda, common salt, Epsom salt, or selenite; the sides of the crystals are commonly grooved; and when exposed to a warm atmosphere they soon lose their transparency and water of crystallization, and fall into a white opake powder; when exposed to heat the salt first melts, and after the evaporation of its water becomes a white powder, which melts in a red heat. Contains,

in the air, emitting an alkaline odour when rubbed together with quick-lime. Found rarely in the vicinity of volcanic mountains.

4. M. sulphureum. Vitriolic ammoniac; sulphat of ammonia; sulphuric acid united to ammonia. Evaporating in fumes when heated, deliquescing in the air, when rubbed together with quick-lime emitting an alkaline odour, and when sprinkled with nitric acid an odour like burnt sulphur. Found in the neighbourhood of volcanoes, in some lakes in Tuscany, at the bottom of a burning well in Dauphigny, and on the surface of the earth near Turin. It is generally found mixed with sulphur, alumina, alum, or vitriol, and hence its colour is seldom white, but of a grey, yellowish-grey, or lemon: it is found also in a stalactitical form, or investing lavas, or in an earthy state with little or no lustre: its crystals are generally six-sided prisms whose planes are unequal, terminated by six-sided pyramids : soluble in twice its weight of cold water, and slowly attracts moisture when exposed to the air; when heated it first decrepitates, and then melts, and in close vessels, sublimes. Contains, Acid Ammonia Water

54,66

·

14,24

31,10

100,00

100

Its use as a cooling purgative is sufficiently known, for which see NATRUM VITRIOLATUM, and SULPHAT OF SODA.

2. M. potassinum. Sal polychrest; vitriolated kali; vitriolated tartar; sulphat of potass, or potash. Of a bitterish taste, decrepitating when placed on hot coals and melting in a read heat, soluble in sixteen times its weight of cold water; its crystals not mouldering in the air. With an excess of acid this salt is denominated supersulphat of potash.

Found in various parts of Spain, of a greyish white colour, and sometimes luminous in the dark; when its diluted solution is evaporated it affords six-sided prisms, or short hexangular prisms terminated by one or more hexangular pyramids; the supersulphat of potash from its excess of acid turns blue vegetable juices red, and is soluble in twice its weight of water. It was formerly used as a purgative under the name of sal polychrest; which has since been changed successively to vitriolated tartar, vitriolated kali, and now under the Lavoisierian nomenclature to sulphat of potash. For its medicinal properties, see KALI VITRIOLATUM. Specific gracity 2,298. It contains, 1

Acid Potash Water

3. M. semivolatile. Of an acrid taste, evaporating in fumes when heated, deliquescing

MIRABILIS. Marble of Peru. In botany, a genus of the class pentandria, order monogynia. monogynia. Corol funnel-form, superior; calyx inferior; nectary globular, inclosing the germ. Four species: natives of India and South America; the roots of one of which, M. jalapa, was formerly, but erroneously, supposed to be the officinal jalap, for which see CONVOLVULUS JALAP. The roots, however, of all these species are purgative in some degree, and are occasionally used to produce this effect. The M. jalapa is chiefly cultivated for its flowers, which are very showy and in different varieties of almost every colour.

MIRACLE, in a'popular sense, is a prodigy, or an extraordinary event, that surprises us by its novelty.

MIRACLE, in a more accurate and philosophical sense, is an effect that does not follow from any of the regular laws of nature; or which is inconsist ent with some known law thereof; or contrary to the settled constitution and course of things: accordingly all miracles presuppose an established system of nature, within the limits of which they operate, and with the order of which they dis

agree.

Spinoza denies, that any power can supersede that of nature; or that any thing can disturb, or interrupt, the order of things: and accordingly defines a miracle to be a rare event, happening in consequence of some laws that are unknown

to us.

Divines define a miracle, an extraordinary and wonderful effect, above the power of nature, wrought by God, to manifest his power or providence; or to give credit to some messenger sent from himself. Thus Jesus Christ evinced the

truth of his mission, and his doctrine, by mi,

acles; and thus also did Moses. But there are scarce any theological writers that precisely agree in their definition of a miracle. Mr. Locke defines it to be a sensible operation, which, being above the comprehension of the spectator, is, in his opinion, contrary to the course of nature, and taken by him to be divine. Dr. Clarke's definition of a miracle, in the theological sense of the word, is this: that it is a work effected in a manEer unusual, or different from the common and regular method of Providence, by the interposition either of God himself or of some intelligent agent superior to man, for the proof or evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attestation to the authority of some particular person. According to Dr. Sykes, a miracle is a designed effect, sensible, unusual in itself, beyond the art and power of man to do. Dr. Chandler says, that a miracle is an action done, or an operation visibly performed by any being, which is really and truly above the reach, natural power, and capacity of that being who does it, of himself, and without the assistance of some superior agent to perform. With this Dr. Hutcheson's definition nearly coincides, viz. that it is a work far exceeding human power, yet performed by the command, or upon the volition of a man. And the same writer farther observes, that, though miracles may prove the superintendency of a voluntary agent, and that the universe is not guided by necessity or fate; yet that mind must be weak and inadvertent, who needs them to confirm the belief of a wise and good Deity; since the deviation from general laws, unless upon very extraordinary occasions, must be a presumption of inconstancy and weakness rather than of a steady wisdom and power; and must weaken the best arguments we have for the sagacity and power of the universal mind.

That the visible world is governed by stated general rules, or that there is an order of causes and effects established in every part of the system of nature which falls under our observation, is a fact which cannot be controverted. If the Supreme Being, as some have supposed, be the only real agent in the universe, we have the evidence of experience, that, in the particular system to which we belong, he acts by stated rules. If he employs inferior agents to conduct the various motions from which the phenomena result, we have the same evidence that he has subjected those agents to certain fixed laws, commonly called the laws of nature. On either hypothesis, effects which are produced by the regular operation of these laws, or which are conformable to the established course of events, are properly called natural; and every contradiction to this constitution of the natural system, and the correspondent course of events in it, is called a miracle.

If this definition of a miracle be just, no event can be deemed miraculous merely because it is strange, or even to us unaccountable; since it may be nothing more than a regular effect of some unknown law of nature. In this country earthquakes are rare; and for monstrous births perhaps no particular and satisfactory account can be given: yet an earthquake is as regular an effect of the established laws of nature as any of those with which we are most intimately acquainted; and under circumstances in which there would always be the same kind of production, the monster is nature's genuine issue. It is therefore necessary, before we can pronounce any effect to be a true miracle, that the circumstances under which it is produced be known, and that the common course

of nature be in some degree understood; for in all those cases in which we are totally ignorant of nature, it is impossible to determine what is, or what is not, a deviation from its course. Miracles, therefore, are not, as some have represented them, appeals to our ignorance. They suppose some antecedent knowledge of the course of nature, without which no proper judgment can be formed concerning them; though with it their reality may be so apparent as to prevent all possibility of a dis pute.

Thus, were a physician to cure a blind man of a cataract, by anointing his eyes with a chemical preparation which we had never before seen, and to the nature and effects of which we are absolute strangers, the cure would undoubtedly be wonderful; but we could not pronounce it miraculous, because, for any thing known to us, it might be the natural effect of the operation of the unguent on the eye. But were he to recover his patient merely by commanding him to see, or by anointing his eyes with spittle, we should with the ut most confidence pronounce the cure to be a miracle; because we know perfectly that neither the human voice nor human spittle have, by the established constitution of things, any such power over the diseases of the eye. No one is now ignorant, that persons apparently dead are often restored to their families and friends, by being treated in the manner recommended by the Humane Society. To the vulgar, and sometimes even to` men of science, these effects appear very wonderful; but as they are known to be produced by physical agency, they can never be considered as miraculous deviations from the laws of nature. On the other hand, no one could doubt of his having witnessed a real miracle who had seen a person that had been four days dead come alive out of his grave at the call of another, or who had even beheld a person exhibiting all the symptoms of death instantly resuscitated merely by being desired to live.

Thus easy is it, in all cases in which the course of nature is understood, to determine whether any particular event be really a miracle; whilst in cir cumstances where we know nothing of nature and its course, even a true miracle, were it performed, could not be admitted as such, or carry any conviction to the mind of a philosopher.

If miracles be effects contrary to the established constitution of things, we are certain that they will never be performed on trivial occasions. The constitution of things was established by the Creator and Governor of the universe, and is undoubtedly the offspring of infinite wisdom pursuing a plan for the best of purposes. From this plan no deviation can be made but by God himself, or by some powerful being acting with his permission. The plans devised by wisdom are steady in proportion to their perfection, and the plans of infinite wisdom must be absolutely perfect. From this consideration some men have ventured to conclude, that no miracle was ever wrought, or can rationally be expected; but maturer reflection must soon satisfy us that all such conclusions are hasty.

Man is unquestionably the principal creature in this world, and apparently the only one in it who is capable of being made acquainted with the relation in which he stands to his Creator. We cannot, therefore, doubt, but that such of the laws of nature as extend not their operation beyond the limits of this earth were established chiefly, if not solely, for the good of mankind; and if. in any par ticular circumstances, that good can be more effectually promoted by an occasional deviation from