segment of a circle; at present, however, it is not possible for us to enter into this difficult branch of science, although I trust that at some future period I shall be justified in an attempt to explain it.” [Illustration: Drawing of a pendulum and its movements.] Mr. Seymour having concluded his lecture, was about to return to the Lodge, when Mrs. Seymour approached the party, carrying in her hands a letter, which the smile on her countenance announced to contain agreeable intelligence. “I have just received,” said Mrs. Seymour, “a letter from Miss Villers, whom you must all remember as a most delightful person. I am informed that she is about to be married to the nephew of a gentleman who is at present in our neighbourhood in search of a country residence.” “Does she mention the gentleman’s name?” inquired the vicar. “Mr. Henry Beacham,” said Mrs. Seymour. “The nephew of Major Snapwell, I declare,” exclaimed the delighted vicar. The whole party participated in the pleasure which their excellent friend expressed at this discovery, and Mr. Seymour immediately accompanied Mr. Twaddleton to Ivy Lodge, to congratulate the major, and to make such arrangements as might expedite the purchase of Osterley Park, and the consequent introduction of a family into the neighbourhood of Overton, from whose society the Seymours anticipated the highest satisfaction. At the same time Mrs. Seymour hastened to dispatch a letter to Miss Villers, in order to solicit her immediate presence at Overton Lodge. ----- Footnote 25: See page 65. Footnote 26: “Not one amongst you shall depart without a gift from me.” _Æn_. v. 305. Footnote 27: Lib. xiv. epig. 43. Footnote 28: “Mæcenas goes to tennis, hurtful game  To a weak stomach, and to tender eyes,  So down to sleep with Virgil, Horace lies.”--FRANCIS. Footnote 29: “Two Hundred and Nine Days,” or “The Journal of a Traveller on the Continent,” by Jefferson Hogg: London, 1827. Footnote 30: Pope’s Odyssey, lib. v. Footnote 31: This etymology has been disputed, and it has been said that the holding or keeping possession of the ball is no part of the game; for, during the play, the ball is in continual motion, or passing from one to another. Others seek the etymology of the name, and the origin of the game, in a place in France called Tennois; or, by a change of one letter, Sennois, in the district of Champagne, where balls were first made, and the game, as it is said, first introduced. Footnote 32: Herodotus speaks of the inhabitants of Lydia having successfully had recourse to gaming as a partial substitute for food, during a famine of many years’ continuance. Footnote 33: See page 61. Footnote 34: This discovery was published at Paris, in a treatise called “_L’Usage du Cadran, ou de l’Horloge Physique Universelle_,” in the year 1639; from which may be dated the invention of the pendulum. Footnote 35: