go to the right, the head yards are braced with their right sides forward, and the after yards the contrary way. Hence the wind, striking the fore sails obliquely on the left, tends to force them to the right; and, on the contrary, the after sails, being acted upon in an opposite direction, are forced to the left; but the fore sails are forward of the centre of rotation, while the after sails are abaft it; consequently the efforts which they respectively exert will tend, the first to force the ship's head to the right hand, the others the stern to the left. The sails thus trimmed, now heave up the anchor, profiting of the trifling advance through the water to turn the ship's head still more, and make the angle of the wind with the keel more open, by the action of the rudder. As soon as the anchor trips, and the wind begins to force the ship sternward, shift the rudder to the opposite side, that, by offering an obstacle on the left of the ship, the right side may turn backward round it more rapidly. This action of the rudder, in conjunction with the sustained effort of the sails to turn the ship to the right, and, presently, the addition of the jib, will gradually make the wind more and more open on the left bow, until at length it becomes sufficiently so to fill the after sails, which have hitherto lain aback. When this is the case, the fore yards are braced fall, the spanker and courses set, and the ship immediately begins advancing. This mode of weighing is practised where there are other ships or a shore to leeward; otherwise it is more common not to hoist the jib, or fill the fore sails, until the anchor is raised to the cat-head. The ship being under weigh, the time occupied in clearing the harbor is employed in stowing the anchors, unbending the cables, if the nature of the coast render it safe to do so, applying mats to the rigging and yards, to prevent chafing, and in securing the boats, water-casks, and whatever other movable objects might be in danger of starting by the pitching and rolling of the ship. Our ship is now at sea, and it only remains to us briefly to explain the manner in which she is propelled and governed, and made obedient to her crew. There is no difficulty in conceiving how a ship may be made to move before the wind through a quiescent fluid like the sea. Let us suppose one at rest in a perfect calm, and equally pressed on every side by the gravitating action of the same fluid: she is maintained in equilibrio. But, by and by, a wind rising be hind her, strikes her sails perpendicularly, and exerts a pressure in a single direction. As, however, the sails are attached to spars, and these in turn to the ship, it is evident that they cannot obey the impulse independently of the ship, but that all must move in unison; and the ship, being before pressed by the water equally, and maintained in quiescence, requires but a slight additional pressure in any directionto destroy her equilibrium. This pressure is abundantly supplied by the air of our atmosphere; for, though little more than a thousandth part the density of the sea, it may receive a velocity enabling it to strike the sails with its particles in such quick succession as to force the ship forward with great rapidity, and, if the resistance of the water check her escape before it, may even act with sufficient power to blow away the strongest sails, or even tear the masts out. Thus a beneficent Nature, in providing an element essential to our existence, by subjecting it to laws requisite for its healthy preservation, and forming a necessary link in the universal economy, has at the same time supplied an ever-active agent, which the ingenuity of man-an emanation of the same great Intelligence-has rendered subservient to the noblest purposes. Conceiving, now, how it is possible for a ship to move freely before the wind, with a velocity determined by the force of that wind, the quantity of sail exposed to it, and the adaptation of her form to divide the sustaining fluid with the least resistance, we will now show how it is also possible for her to move in directions other than directly before the wind, and even to approach it. Let us suppose that the wind, at first dead aft, gradually veers towards the side, until it blows at an angle of forty-five degrees with the keel. If, with the wind thus blowing, I still preserve my sails braced perpendicularly to the keel, it must necessarily strike their surfaces obliquely, dividing itself into two forces, one passing off to leeward, the other exerting itself in the direction of the keel, and therefore tending to propel her forward. If, however, in order to expose my sails more fairly to the wind, I brace them forward until it becomes again perpendicular to their sur faces, the action of the wind on the sails is simple, but that of the sails on the ship is, in turn, compound, subdividing itself into two forces; one acting to drive her to leeward in a direction perpendicular to the keel; the other, forward in a line with it. If, now, the ship were of a figure to move with equal freedom in any direction-round, for instance-it is evident that she would assume a mean motion between these two forces; but, being so formed as to divide the water with infinitely greater difficulty sidewise than forwards, the force exerting itself perpendicularly to the keel is neutralized, whilst that in a line with it, encountering an inferior resistance, compels the vessel to advance. We will next suppose the wind to have drawn forward until perpendicular to the course. The sails, being trimmed forward, so as to keep full, are struck obliquely, and, if the ship were again free to move in any direction, would impel her in a course perpendicular to its surface; but the portion of this force tending to drive the ship to leeward, being again encountered by the lateral pressure, is almost balanced; while, on the contrary, she freely obeys the force tending to propel her forward. Lastly, let us consider the situation of our ship when the wind gets before the beam, so as to make an angle of less than ninety degrees with the course. It is evident that, if she still continue to advance, it must be towards the wind: this seeming paradox of a vessel approaching the wind by the very effort of that wind to drive it away, will still appear clear by the application of the same principles. To meet the emergency, let us now suppose the yards braced forward, until they make an angle of only thirty degrees with the keel; the wind, being thirty farther aft, will make an angle of sixty with the keel. In this position, the wind will strike obliquely on the after side of the sails; and though the greater part of the force passes off to leeward, there is still a partial effort to drive the sails in a direction perpendicular to their surface. This effort subdivides into two forces; one perpendicular to the keel, the other in a line with it: the first is nearly overcome by the lateral resistance; the second, encountering less, causes the ship to advance, with a velocity proportioned to the smallness of the angle of incidence, and the disadvantageous application of the propelling power. From what has been here stated, it would seem that, in theory, the situation of the wind most favorable to propelling a ship, is when it acts perpendicularly to the sails, and they in turn to the keel; that is, when dead aft. In gales of wind, this is likewise true in practice; but in moderate weather, a ship will sail faster with the wind on the quarter, or even abeam; for then the sails do not mask each other, but all receive the wind without interruption. On this account they more than make up the disadvantages of the unfavorable angle; of having the sails transported to leeward, by reason of which that side tends to advance faster than the other, to the disordering of the steerage: of the ship's heeling, and receiving the wind obliquely in the vertical direction; and, finally, of making her sail partially on one side, instead of on an even keel, as she is designed to do. On this account our sharp schooners will sail nearly or quite as fast on a wind as off it, the sea being smooth and wind light; for whilst all their sails act advantageously, by ap proaching the wind, they add to its force, instead of diminishing it, as when running from it. In square-rigged ships, bracing the yards correctly is one of the nicest points of seamanship: in general, the nearer the yards approach to being perpendicular to the keel, consistently with keeping the sails full, the greater will be the velocity. But to return to our ship: It may chance that the wind does not stop at the exact point which would enable her, close-hauled, barely to go her course, but even heads her off so far that she can no longer approach it nearer than a right angle. It is evident, now, that she is gaining nothing; but since she can sail within sixty degrees of the wind, by closing with it on the other side, she may approach within thirty degrees of the desired course. Hence it becomes essential to change sides. There are two ways of performing this evolution: the first consists in turning round towards the wind, and is called tacking; the second in turning before it, and is called veering. As the first requires the ship to turn a much smaller segment of a circle, and moreover maintains her head towards the desired course, so that all her progress during the evolution is gain, and finally, since it is performed with greater ease and expedition, it is always preferred when practicable. To tack, the crew are all stationed at the tacks, sheets, braces, and bowlines, ready to change the position of the sails. The ship being already close to the wind, the helm is gradually eased down, so that the rudder may not exert its full force until she begins to turn, nor act suddenly to check the headway, so essential to the success of the evolution; at the same time, the head sheets are flown, so as to cause the sails before the centre of rotation to shake, and lose their power of balancing the after ones. As the ship approaches the wind, the spanker is drawn gradually from the lee side towards the centre, that it may keep full, and, by its action so near the stern, continue promoting the rotation. As soon as the sails reach the direction ofthe wind, and cease to draw, the corners of the courses are drawn up, and the tacks and sheets overhauled, ready to swing the yards. After a while, the sails catch aback, and the fore sails, soon masking the after ones, act with a powerful lever to turn the bow. At length, having come head to wind, without loss of headway, and the evolution being certain, the after yards are swung round, ready to receive the wind on the opposite side; which operation is then more easily performed, from the sails being becalmed by the fore ones. Lastly, when the after sails are filled by the wind, the head yards are also braced round to receive its impulse, and the ship at once recovers headway. Should she gather sternway before the sails become full on the new tack, the helm is shifted, that its action in a backward direction, instead of checking, may aid the rotation. There may, however, be occasions in which it is impossible to tack, either because the wind is not of sufficient force, or else so strong as to render it dangerous; then veering is resorted to. To veer, we put the helm hard up, brail the spanker, and shiver the after sails: in this situation the pressure of the head sails, not being balanced by the after ones, tends, in conjunction with the rudder, forcibly to turn the ship. As she falls off, the after sails are still kept shivering until braced sharp on the opposite tack; when before the wind, the spanker is set to aid the after yards and helm in bringing her to; the fore sails are then squared, and gradually braced forward until the ship be by the wind again. Thus easily is a ship manoeuvred in fine weather. Not unfrequently, however, a gale comes to disturb the peaceful course of the mariner, and call forth all his exertions. Let us suppose that, whilst our ship is contending against the head wind, the misfortune is augmented by its gradual increase. Shortening sail becomes necessary, and is determined by two leading considerations-the stability of the ship, and the strength of her masts: it is to diminish the careening of the one, and avoid endangering the other, that the surface spread to the wind is reduced. In shortening sail, we always begin with the highest and lightest sails, descending gradually, and keeping pace, in an inverse ratio, with the increase of wind. The sails do not, however, come in uniformly in the direction of the length; but the after sails most rapidly; because, as the wind increases, the energy which it exerts in a forward direction upon the masts, tends, with a powerful lever, to depress the bow and raise the stern; hence the latter drifts more easily to leeward, thereby bringing the bow towards the wind; this effort is also promoted by the action of the sails passing farther to leeward, and by the ship ceasing to sail on an even keel. From all these reasons, the more the wind increases, the more she tends to come to; so, to avoid a constant recurrence to the action of the rudder, it becomes necessary to shorten sail faster aft than forward; taking in the mizzen-topgallant-sail, and even the spanker, before the fore and main-top-gallant-sails: for the same reason, when it becomes necessary to reef, it is not unusual to begin with the mizzen-top-sail. Reefing consists in binding a portion of the sails to their respective yards, so as to reduce the surface. To reef the top-sails, we clew the yards down, haul up the sides of the sails by means of reeftackles, and brace the yards to the wind, until the sails shiver and spill; then the men go out on the yard, and, by means of the earings and reef-points, securely bind the requisite portion. When the top-sails are double-reefed, it is time for the jib to come in to relieve the jib-boom and foretop-mast of the pressure: to counterbalance the loss of this head sail, the mizzentop-sail may be furled. When the top-sails are close-reefed, the main-sail is either reefed or furled. As the gale increases, furl the fore-top-sail; taking care to draw up the weather clew first, that the sail may not be in danger of shaking and blowing away. Our ship is now under reefed fore-sail, main-top-sail close-reefed, fore-top-mast-stay-sail, and storm staysails; these are stout triangular sails, running in the direction of the fore, main, and mizzen-stays; they are often advantageously replaced by gaff-sails, which are similar to the spanker. Should it blow still harder, it may be necessary to take in the fore sail, replace the foretop-mast by the storm stay-sail, and even furl the main-top-sail. The ship now drifts much, and, tending to fall off, from her greater draught abaft, and consequent resistance of the water, will require the reefed spanker, and even the continued assistance of the rudder, to keep her to: the helm being kept constantly hard down, she is said to lie to. This is the way in which most ships make the best weather; some, however, tend so much to fall off into the trough of the sea, as to be in perpetual risk of being boarded by the waves (which wash the boats and other movables loose, sweep the crew overboard, to creep up the side again by the channels, or find a watery grave), and, if the hatches be not well secured, of having her existence fatally endangered. In this case, it may become necessary to bear up and scud. To do this with least risk, it is necessary to show the head of the fore-top-mast-stay-sail, or part of the fore-sail or fore-top-sail; taking advantage of a momentary lull and smoothness of the sea to bear away. The after sails are taken in on putting up the helm, and it may even be necessary to cut away the mizzen-mast. When before the wind, sufficient sail must be spread to keep the ship before the waves, that they may not overtake and strike her with too much force; the main-top-sail, from its height, is never becalmed by the sea, and is therefore a good sail to scud under. At such a season, special care must be taken to provide for the security of guns, boats, and other movables, liable to tear themselves loose; also that the pump-well be sounded at short intervals, to have timely notice of a leak. Too often the ship yields to the fury of the elements, disappearing for ever, with all her treasures of property and of life; oftener, however, the elements become weary with their own violence, and man remains triumphant; the gale abates; the mariners, all alacrity, send up the masts and yards which they had housed and taken down on the approach of the tempest; the reefs are all shaken out, and sail is added, to keep the ship from laboring in the still raging waves. Hope mounts with the ascending canvass: and now the wind, become less wayward, again permits us to turn the prow towards the haven whither we would arrive: the wings, whose spreading and furling are ever the signal to the mariner of joy or of sorrow, are once more wide extended; every spot is white with the bellying canvass, the sea foams beneath the bow, and we bound merrily towards the land. And are we not justified in expressing our admiration at this great achievement of man--the production of this wonderful machine-the most complicated, most perfect, sublimest of all the works of art? If it be well said that man is the noblest work of God, it may with equal truth be asserted that the ship is the noblest work of man. Our language has indeed done well in awarding to her the honors of SHIP OF FOOLS. (See Brandt.) SHIRE; a Saxon word, signifying diruion; the old Saxon name for the larger districts into which England was divid ed, and which has been, in a great meas ure, superseded by the Latin term county. (See County.) Hence the name sher (q. v.), given to the chief officer of the It is a peculiarity of the English language to apply the feminine pronoons to a vessel; in "art the illiterate in England and America have a peculiar inclination to give the femmine gender ta inanimate objects. Carpenters, moving a large piece of timber, will say, Here she comes; a sar calls his watch she. The navy, in Enginast, heng a subject of universal interest and pride, peca anities in the language of seamen would be more likely to come into general use, then the cam phrases of other classes. The mower ends a language. Mr. Cobbett, in his Grammar of the sevthe she; but this was never admitted int > good English Language, Letter V. says—“ İt is curious to observe that country laborers give the tem nine appellations to those things only wirch am more closely identified with themselves and ve the qualities and condition of which the efforts and their character as workmen are afters ed. The mower calls his seythe she man calls his plough she, but a prong or a shee el, or a harrow, which passes promiscuously “29 30 hand to hand, and which is appropriated to me particular laborer, is called he," &e. The an male persous, as our readers know from Sewu i Highlanders even use the feminine pronem far novels. shire, and shire-gemote (Saxon, gemote, meeting), to the sheriff's tourn or county court. (See Courts.) The English county members of the house of commons are called knights of the shire. In the U. States, the word is little used, except in composition; as shire-town, the capital of the county. SHIRLEY, James, a poet and dramatic writer, was born in London about 1594, was educated at Merchant Tailors' school, and thence removed to St. John's college, Oxford. He became a favorite with doctor Laud, who discountenanced his entry into the church, on account of a large mole upon his cheek, which he deemed a disqualification by deformity, according to the canons. On removing to Cambridge, he met with no difficulty on this score, and obtained a curacy near St. Alban's. He soon after went over to the church of Rome, and, giving up his curacy, sought to establish a grammar-school in the same town. Failing in this endeavor, he removed to London, became a writer for the stage, and acquired a reputation which caused him to be taken into the service of queen Henrietta Maria. His first comedy is dated 1629, and he wrote nine or ten between that year and 1637, when he accompanied the earl of Kildare to Ireland. He returned the following year, and when the civil war broke out, he left London, with his wife and family; and, being invited by the earl of Newcastle, he accompanied that nobleman to the wars. On the decline of the king's cause, he returned to London, and, the acting of plays being prohibited, resumed his school. In 1666, he was forced, with his wife, by the great fire, from his house in St. Giles's parish; and, being extremely affected by the loss and terror that the fire occasioned, they both died, Oct. 29, within twenty-four hours. Besides thirty-seven tragedies and comedies, he published a volume of poems, some specimens of which may be found in Ellis's Collection. SHISHAC OF SESAC; an Egyptian king, mentioned by the Hebrew writers, who made an incursion into Judea in the reign of Jeroboam, and pillaged the temple (about B. C.791). He has been commonly supposed to be the same as Sesostris (q. v.); but Champollion has proved (Précis du Système hieroglyphique, pp. 255257) that he is the Sesonchis of the Greeks, or Sheshonk; and an inscription at Karnac represents him as carrying into captivity the king of the Jews. SHIUMLA. (See Choumla.) SHOCK. (See Choc.) SHORE, Jane; the wife of a rich goldsmith of London, in the fifteenth century, and mistress of Edward IV, whose favor, which she entirely possessed, she never abused to any man's hurt, but often employed to many a man's relief. After the death of Edward, in 1482, she seems to have been the paramour of lord Hastings. (See Edward IV.) Richard III (q. v.), partly to revive among the citizens the memory of his brother's licentiousness, and partly on account of her connexion with Hastings, whom he accused of being "the chief abettor of that witch Shore," determined to expose her to public ignominy. Laying bare his arm, all shrivelled and decayed from his birth, he declared before the council, that the incantations and witchcraft of Jane Shore and her associates had reduced him to that condition. He then had her summoned to answer against a charge of sorcery; but, unable to effect his purpose in this manner, he directed her to be tried for adultery and lewdness by the spiritual court, and she was obliged to do penance in a white sheet, at St. Paul's, before the whole people. She is supposed to have died at an advanced age in the reign of Henry VIII. Her story has been consecrated by the muse of Shakspeare (Richard III) and Rowe, and has been introduced upon the French stage, in the tragedies of Liadières (Jane Shore, 1824) and Lemercier (Richard III et Jane Shore). SHORT-HAND. (See Stenography.) SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS. (See Optics, head Vision.) SHOT; a missive weapon, discharged by the force of ignited powder from a fire-arm in battle. Of these there are various kinds. Round-shot or bullets are balls or globes of iron, whose weight is in proportion to the bore of the cannon. Double-headed, or bar-shot, are formed of a bar, with a round head at each end, which fits the muzzle of the cannon. The middle is sometimes filled with a composition, and the whole covered with linen dipped in brimstone, so that the cannon, in firing, inflames the combustibles or composition of this ball, which sets fire to the sails of the enemy. One of the heads of this ball has a hole to receive a fuse, which, communicating with the charge of the cannon, sets fire to the bullet. Chain-shot consist of two balls chained together, being principally designed to annoy the enemy by cutting sails, rigging, &c. Grape-shot is a combination of balls strongly corded in |