On the 16th June, 1806, there was a total eclipse of the sun. The following is all the "Salem Gazette" of the 17th has to say of such a remarkable event.
Yeſterday the great Solar Eclipſe took place, agreeably to the calculations which had been made. The day was very favourable to viewing it. The air was remarkably clear, and there was not a cloud in the hemiſphere. As the ſun ſhut in, the ſtars appeared, and many were viſible at the time of total darkneſs. A conſiderable alteration in the temperature of the atmoſphere was felt during the continuance of the Eclipſe.
In the "Boston Palladium" of 1819, copied from a London paper, is Lord Mansfield's opinion about a word in Johnson's Dictionary. In the original editions of this work are to be found many very curious definitions, some of which bore so hard upon the government as to be construed into libel.
FROM A LONDON PAPER.
EXCISE.
The following curious little document is the opinion of Lord Mansfield, when Attorney-General, upon Dr. Johnson's explanation of the word Excise:—
CASE.
Mr. Samuel Johnson has lately published a book, entitled "A Dictionary of the English Language, in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed a History of the Language and an English Grammar."