this mark of his mercy; then advising them as to their future conduct, he sent them to prosecute their studies at Athens. ITEMS OF INTELLIGENCE. Several of the Chinese provinces have been severely scourged by immense swarms of locusts. The Vice Roy immediately on their approach, issued a proclamation against them expressed in very strong terms! But these are not the only misfortunes the Chinese have been recently doomed to encoun ter. Canton and its environs had suffered from inundations. We perceive that the desolation was general not only through that but the adjoining provinces of Quangsi and Keangsi. The maritime city of Chieuchow situated on the north eastern verge of the province of Canton at the foot of a range of hills, was all but swept away by the sudden burst of water through a ravine; at least 18,000 houses were, it is stated in the official paper, destroyed, and many people drowned; more damage was, it is believed, suffered there, than even in Canton city. A ship lately sailed from London for India with several missionaries on board, and five hundred newly manufactured idols or false gods for sale. In another of the miraculous legends of ecclesiastical history, it is said, that when the Emperor Decius persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus having concealed themselves in a spacious cavern, the tyrant doomed them to perish there, giving orders that the entrance should be firmly secured with a pile of stones, but that they immediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolonged without injuring the powers of life during a period of one hundred and eighty-seven years. At the end of this time the slaves of Adolius, to whom the inheritance of the Extract of a letter, dated Serampore, Nov. 26th, 1833, receiplace had descended, removed the stones to supply ved per ship Star arrived from the E. Indies, and communicated materials for some rustic edifice, and the light of the to the editor of the U. S. Gazette :-"Most awful earthquakes sun darting into the cavern, the sleepers awoke after, had three or four shocks down here. They were particularly have been experienced in the Upper Provinces, and we have as they thought, a slumber of a few hours. They felt severe at Napol and Monghyr. At the former place it is suppressed by the calls of hunger, and resolved that Iam-posed that about ten thousand natives' houses have been levelled blichus, one of their number, should secretly return to to the ground." the city and purchase bread for the use of his companions. The youth, if we may still employ that appellation, could no longer recognise the once familiar prospect of his native country, and his surprise was increased by the appearance of a large cross triumphantly erected over the principal gate of Ephesus, while his singular dress and obsolete language confounded the baker, to whom he offered an ancient medal of Decius as the current coin of the empire: when Iamblichus, on the suspicion of possessing a secret treasure, was dragged before the Judge, and then mutual inquiries produced the amazing discovery that two centuries were almost elapsed since Iamblichus and his friends had escaped from the rage of a Pagan tyrant. Bishop of Ephesus, the clergy, the magistrates, the people, and, it is said, the Emperor Theodosius himself, hastened to visit the cavern of the seven sleepers, who bestowed their benediction, related their story, and at the same instant peaceably expired. "This singular tale," Mr. Gibbon adds, "Mahomet learned when he drove his camels to the fairs of Syria, and he has introduced it as a divine revelation into the Koran. The same story has been adopted and adorned by all the nations, from Bengal to Africa, who profess the Mahometan religion.-London Mirror. POETRY. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR ?-ANONYMOUS. Thy neighbour? 'Tis the fainting poor, Thy neighbour? 'Tis that weary man, Bent low with sickness, cares, and pain :- Thy neighbour? 'Tis the heart bereft Widow and orphan, helpless left :- Thy neighbour? Yonder toiling slave, Whene'er thou meet'st a human form Oh, pass not, pass not heedless by ; The It is a curious fact, that notwithstanding difference of temperthe number of deaths and births in each, is almost exactly the ament and disease, by which the two sexes are distinguished, same. Thus, at London, during the past year: christened males, 13,553; females, 13,537; buried, males 13,319; females, 13,258. The Bishop of London is the head of the British and Foreign Temperance Society. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War; Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy; and Benjamin F. Butler, attorney General of the United States, are all decided Temperance men. THE CANADIAN GIANT, well known as having exhibited himself in several countries of Europe and America, died at St. Jean des Chaillons, about thirty miles below Quebec, on the 28th ult. after an illness of near two months. His name was Modeste Malhiot, and he was a native of that or the adjoining parish. His height was six feet four inches, and his weight 619 lbs. The coffin in which he was interred was three feet wide, and two feet and a half deep. NEW-YORK MORAL LYCEUM. A Society has been recently formed in this city under the title above, the object of which is, to discuss the great moral subjects which at present agitate the community, such as Temperance, Slavery, War, &c. together with such other moral subjects as the Society may deem advisable. Its meetings for discussion are public, and are holden one evening in a week. The Society is composed of individuals of different views on the various subjects enumerated, and each party is entitled to an equal portion of time in discussion. The following is the Preamble to its Constitution. PREAMBLE. Whereas, discussion is the most thorough mode of investigation, inasmuch as it necessitates the contending parties to exert themselves in the most strenucas manner in defence of their respective sentiments, and in opposition to those of their opponents, thereby eliciting all possible arguments, evidences, and objections, and presenting a full view of a subject; and whereas, there are some peculiar advantages in oral discussion, in that, by bringing the parties face to face, by rendering them personally acquainted, and by affording immediate opportunity for explanation, and for correction of misapprehension, it tends to preserve due courtesy, to smooth the asperity of controversy, to remove prejudice, and to prevent perversion, censoriousness, and recrimination :-We the undersigned, feeling a deep interest in the propagation of correct moral sentiment in the community, do hereby form ourselves into a Society under the following Constitution. One of the articles of the Constitution provides, that no specific number of Members be necessary to constitute a quorum; and another specifies, that a majority shall always have the privilege of altering or amending the Constitution. SECTION III. HISTORY. Mankind having been scattered abroad by the confusion of tongues, settled in various regions of the earth. The descendants of each of the sons of Noah, notwithstanding the confusion of language, preserved their genealogies, and kept separate in accordance with them. The descendants of Japheth appear to have settled various countries, as follows: Gomer, Tubal, Togarmah, Magog, and Meshech, settled in and near the north parts of Syria; Ashkanez near Armenia; Tarshish in Cilicia. Kittim was the father of the Macedonians. Elishah appears to have settled the Cyclades, and Javan Greece. Madai was evidently the father of the Medes; Tiras of the Thracians. Riphath settled near the borders of Paphlagonia, and Dodanim is thought to have planted Rhodes. The descendants of Shem settled various parts of the interior of Asia. Elam settled Persia. Arphaxad resided at Ur of the Chaldees. Jocktan, the great grandson of Arphaxad, had thirteen sons, who with their families occupied the country from Mesha to Sephar, a mount of the east. One branch of the family of Arphaxad continued at Ur for several generations. Lud is supposed to have been the father of the Lydians, and Aram settled in some part of Syria. Asshur, one of the sons of Shem, built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah. This city of Resen, we are informed, was a great city. As to the posterity of Ham, they settled Palestine and Egypt. They appear likewise to have retained possession of the portion of Chaldea which was inhabited before the Confusion and Dispersion. But to be more particular. The children of Ĉush, the first son of Ham, spread in process of time into several parts of Arabia, over the borders of the land of Moab, into Arabia Felix, up to Midian and Egypt; all of which countries collectively are sometimes called the land of Cush. Mizraim, the second son of Ham, peopled Egypt with a part of his descendants, and was king of that country. Ludim and Lehabim, two of Mizraim's sons, peopled Lybia. Casluhim, another of his sons, established himself at Cashiotis, in the entrance of Egypt from Palestine. Philistim, one of Casluhim's sons, planted the country of the Philistines, between the border of Canaan and the Mediterranean. Phut, the third son of Ham, probably settled somewhere in Arabia, near to Cush, as he is mentioned in conjunction with the latter by the prophet Jeremiah. The sons of Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, peopled the land of Canaan. Sidon settled in Phoenicia, one of whose chief towns was called by his name. was neighbour to Sidon. Heth lived near Gerar, toArvad wards Egypt. Speaking of the Canaanites collectively, Moses says: "The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboim, even unto Lasha." It is observable, that the names of the individuals composing the more immediate descendants of Noah, are the names borne by the nations they founded, or the countries they settled. was denominated the land of Canaan, after Canaan For example, Palestine the son of Ham, whose posterity settled that land. VOL. II.-3 Lucian Egypt was denominated the land of Ham, after Ham himself, some of whose descendants settled that counworthy of note. try. The names of Canaan's sons also are particularly and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite," &c. All these are names "Canaan begat Sidon his first-born, borne by different nations of Canaan. other names. Gog, the king of Magog, is called the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Now Magog, And so of the Meshech, and Tubal were sons of Japheth. says that the city of Hierapolis, which is the present Aleppo, was anciently called by another name; and Pliny tells us what that name was: says he, "called it Magog." Tarshish, Kittim, and Elishah were likewise sons of Japheth; and we hear "The Syrians," of places called Tarshish and Kittim, and of the isles of Elishah. The Persians were denominated Elamites after Elam, a son of Shem. Assyria derives its name from Asshur, another son of Shem, who founded Nineveh, the capital of that empire. the very countries of the East are so many testimonies These examples suffice. We perceive by them that to the reality of the history of the early period of the world which we are now considering. The names of the immediate descendants of Noah are inscribed on the broad tablet of states and empires-on the wide wastes of the East, and the adamantine crags of the eternal hills. shall cease to be remembered; till history shall no longer recount her story; till time itself shall be no Nor till those states and empires more; will those names be erased. The records of those times need no monument of marble, no parchnar's Plain and Babel's Ruins, the land of Canaan and ment scroll, to preserve their remembrance; for Shithe land of Ham, still have locality and a name; Euphrates rolls her waters still, and Ararat rears on high its venerable summit :-all speaking in language more impressive than pen can inscribe or than tongue can utter, that the account handed down to us of the origin of nations is authentic. period when we can no longer view mankind as one We have at length traced our history down to the great community, but when we must consider each nation by itself. And in thus tracing history from the beginning, we have in our progress descended to the origin of nations, instead of ascending to that point. We have found, in the regular train of grave historical detail, whence sprang the various nations of antiquity; the Chinese, the Chateans, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Canaanites, and the Egyptians, together with all the tribes of earth which figured in ancient story. We stand at last at the disparting of that great stream divides into numerous rivulets, each one destined in which has hitherto flowed on unbroken, but which now its turn to become a mighty torrent, rolling on in its course for a season, to be finally disembogued in the oblivious ocean of time. These rivulets, these torrents, we will follow in their various meanderings, and broad expansions and their thundering cataracts. We note their rugged banks and flowery meads, their flatter ourselves that in our various expeditions, scenes of the most thrilling interest will be continually opensome fairy land. Our readers may be well assured ing before us, Nor will they be the illusive scenes of that we are now in possession of the substance, and not grasping at the shadow, of ancient days. And we take occasion here to remark, that it is to the Bible itself that we are more indebted for the history of the world thus far, than to all other writings combined. Moses is the only individual who has handed down for the benefit of all succeeding ages any thing deserving the name of universal history, from the period of the world's creation to that of the division of the earth among mankind, and the settlement of the nations. To Moses alone is it owing, that the history of the first two thousand years of our world-a period amounting to more than one third of the whole time that the earth has existed-is not involved in impenetrable obscurity. Other writers there were, but none who even pretended to give a universal history. Sanchoniathon, Berosus, Manetho, and others wrote; but they merely undertook, each one, to give an account of his own countrymen. And even their accounts are so beclouded in fable, that were it not that the bright beams of Mosaic history break through the cloud, and exhibit a clearer view, we should be at a loss indeed to know what to understand in relation to them. LITERATURE. LANGUAGE. Attempts have been made to account for the variety of languages in the world on natural principles. Difference of climate, intercourse with different nations, and the fondness of men for variety and change, are the principal causes assigned by those who take this ground. Now it must be admitted, that difference of climate will cause some change in language in respect to pronunciation. It will abound in aspirates, labials, dentals, or other particular sounds, according to climate. Intercourse with different nations, also, introduces variety into language; but at the same time it tends rather to assimilate the languages of different nations to one another, than to widen the difference. With regard to a love of novelty and change, this is no doubt a cause of some alteration, especially when we consider the various circumstances which combine to render new words necessary. "These are the general reasons of the mutability of language; and it is apparently true, that some or other of these have, ever since the confusion of Babel, kept the languages of the world in a continual variation. The Jews mixing with the Babylonians, when they were carried into captivity, quickly altered and corrupted their language, by introducing many Syracisms and Chaldaisms into it. And afterwards, when they became subject to the Greeks and Romans, their language became not only altered, but as it were lost, as any one will allow, who considers how vastly the Hebrew differs from the rabbinical diction, and the language of the Talmuds. The Greek tongue in time suffered the same fate; and part of it may be ascribed to the Turks overrunning their country, and part of it to the translation of the Roman empire to Constantinople. But some part of the change came from themselves; for, as Breerwood has observed, they had changed many of their ancient words long before the Turks broke in upon them; of which he gives several instances out of the books of Cedrenus, Nicetas, and other Greek writers. "The numerous changes which the Latin tongue has undergone, may all be accounted for by the same reasons. They had in a series of years so diversified their language, that the Salian verses composed by Numa were scarcely understood by the priests in Quintilian's time; and there were but few antiquaries within about three hundred and fifty years who could read and give the sense of the articles of the treaty between Rome and Carthage, made a little after the expulsion of the kings. The laws of the twelve tables, collected by Fulvius Ursinus, and published in the words of the kings and decemviri who made them, are a specimen of the very great alteration which time introduced into the Latin tongue. Nay, the pillar in the capital, erected in honour of Drusillus, about one hundred and fifty years before Cicero, shows, that even so small a space of time as a century and a half caused great variations. After the Roman tongue attained the height of its purity, it quickly declined again, and became corrupted; partly from the number of servants kept at Rome, who could not be supposed to speak accurately and with judgment; and partly from the great concourse of strangers, who came from the remote provinces, so that the purity of it was in a great degree worn off and gone, before the barbarisms of the Goths quite extinguished it. "And what thus happened in the learned languages is equally observable in all other languages of the world: time and age vary every tongue on earth. Our English, the German, French, or any other, differs so much in three or four hundred years, that we find it difficult to understand the language of our forefathers; and our posterity will think ours as obsolete as we do the speech of those who lived ages ago. And all these alterations of the tongues may, I think, be sufficiently accounted for by some or other of the causes before assigned; but none of them shows how or by what means the confusion at Babel could be occasioned. Our builders had travelled from their ancestors many hundred miles, from Ararat to Shinar; the climates may differ, and suppose we should imagine the country to affect the pronunciation of the children born in it, yet still it will be hard to say that this should cause confusion; for since they were all born in or near the same place, they would be all equally affected, and speak all alike. Besides, a difference of pronunciation causes difficulties only where persons come to converse after living a distance from one another. An imperfection in our children's speech, bred up under our wing, would be observed from its beginning, grow familiar to us as they grew up, and the confusion occasioned by it would be very little. And as to any commerce with other nations, they had none; they were neither conquered nor mingled with foreigners; so that they could not learn any strange words this way. And though there have been many changes of language from the variation of men's tempers, these we find have been frequent since this first confusion; but how or why they should arise at this time is the question. Language was fixed and stable, uniformly the same for almost two thousand years together; it was now some way or other unfixed, and has been so ever since. Some considerable writers seem to acknowledge themselves puzzled at this extraordinary accident. The confusion of tongues could not come from men, says St. Ambrose; for why should they incline to do mischief to themselves, or how could they invent so many languages as are in the world? It could not be occasioned by angels, good or bad, say Origen, and the Rabbins, and other writers; for they have not power enough to do it. The express words of Moses, Go to, let us go down and confound their language; and again, the Lord did confound the language of the earth, says Bishop Walton, imply a deliberate purpose of God himself to cause this confusion, and an actual execution of it. And the way in which it was performed, says the learned Bochart, immediately, and without delay, proves it the immediate work of God, who alone can instantly effect the greatest purposes and designs. Several of the Rabbins have inquired more curiously into the affair; but we fear the account they have given of it is poor and trifiing. Buxtorf has collected all their opinions; but they seem to have put him out of humour with the subject, and to occasion him to conclude in the words of Mercerus, "There is no reason to inquire too curious into this matter; it was effected instantly, in a way and manner of which we can give no account; we know many things were | fifth, Melpomene, from the excellence of her song and done; but how they were done, we cannot say. It is a matter of faith." MYTHOLOGY. الالسا THE MUSES. "The Muses are nine virgins, crowned with palms; their dress is decent and becoming. They sit together in the shade of a laurel arvor. Some of them play on the harp, some upon the cithera, some upon the pipe, some upon the cymbal, and some harmoniously sing and play at once. "They are the mistresses of all the sciences, the presidents of the musicians and poets, and the governors of the feasts and solemnities of the gods. They are the daughters of Jupiter and the nymph Mnemosyne, and were born on the mountain Pierius. Some affirm that they had other parents, and ancient writers say, that they lived before Jupiter, and were the daughters of Colum. They are called the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, (which in Greek signifies "memory,") because all students and scholars ought not only to have great ingenuity, but ready memories. The first, Calliope, was so called from the sweetness of her voice; she presides over rhetoric, and is esteemed the most excellent of all the nine.-The second, Clio, is so named from glory. For she is the historical Muse, and takes her name from the excellence of the things she records.-The third, Erato, has her name from love, because she sings of amours, or because learned men are beloved and praised by others. She is also called Soltatrix; for she first invented the art of dancing, over which she presided. She was also the inventress of poetry.-The fourth, Thalia, from her gaiety, briskness, and pleasantry. Some ascribe to her the invention of coniedy, others of geometry.-The the melody she makes when she sings. She is supposed to have presided over tragedy, and to have invented sonnets. The sixth, Terpsichore, has her name from the pleasure she takes in dancing, because she delights in balls. Some call her Citharistria.The seventh, Euterpe, or Euterpia, from the sweetness of her singing. Some call her Tibicina, because, according to them, she presides over the pipes; and some say logic was invented by her.-The eighth, Polyphymnia, or Polymnia, or Polymenia, from her excellent memory: and therefore the invention of writing history is attributed to her, which requires a good memory: it was owing to her that the songsters add to the verses that they sing hands and fingers, which speak more than the tongue; an expressive silence ; a language without words; in short, gesture and action. The ninth, Urania, was so called either because she sings of divine things, or because, through her assistance, men are praised to the skies; or because, by the sciences, they become conversant in the contemplation of celestial things. "The Muses are the favourite goddesses of the poets. The ancients used often to begin their verses by invoking the muse, that is, by a short address or prayer to one of the muses, entreating her to inspire the poet-to give him some portion of celestial intelligence, that his poetry be worthy of the favour of the goddess, and of the esteem of mankind. "They are represented as nine beautiful virgins, sometimes dancing in a ring around Apollo, sometimes playing on various musical instruments, or engaged in scientific pursuits. They are called Muses, from a Greek word signifying to meditate, to inquire. "The Muses had favourite haunts in Greece,-the vale of Tempe in Thessaly, Mount Parnassus in Phocis, Pieria in Thrace, the country Aonia, and Mount Helicon in Baotia. Their fountains were Hippocrene and Castalia, at the foot of Parnassus. Their horse had wings, and was called Pegasus-when Pegasus struck the earth forcibly with his foot, the fountain Hippocrene sprung out. The Muses are frequently represented surrounding Apollo on Mount Parnassus or Helicon; while Pegasus, with extended wings, springs forward into the air." THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. (Continued from page 398 of Vol. 1.) From the London Saturday Magazine. CAPTAIN FRANKLIN'S FIRST JOURNEY. When Captain Parry was despatched on his first attempt to explore the Polar Sea, with a view to the discovery of a passage into the Pacific Ocean, it was considered not only that the expedition might be assisted in that object, but also, that material advantage might be rendered to geographical science, by the advance of a party over land to the shores of the Polar Sea, following the route by which Hearne had reached it in 1772. Accordingly, on the recommendation of the Lords of the Admiralty, Lieutenant (now Sir John) Franklin was appointed by Earl Bathurst, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the command of a party for this service, consisting of Doctor John Richardson, a naval surgeon, well skilled in natural history; Messrs. Hood and Back, two admiralty midshipmen; and two English seamen named Hepburn and Wilks. This party left Gravesend on the 23d of May, 1819, in the Hudson's Bay Company's ship, Prince of Wales; and on the 30th of August reached York Factory, the principal depot of the Hudson's Bay Company. Here they received every possible assistance from the servants of the Company, who used the utmost endeavours to forward their progress, and readily instructed them as to the different modes of travelling appearance, under the name of cariole. A covering which it might be advisable to adopt. On the 9th of of leather is then fixed so as to protect the lower part September, the party commenced their river journey of the body; and the whole machine is painted and into the interior, and on the 22d of October, reached ornamented according to the taste of the proprietor. Cumberland House, having travelled a distance of 690 A snow-shoe is made of two light bars of wood, conmiles. The winter was now beginning to set in; and nected by several transverse bars, the spaces between the effect of a few days' frost convincing them of the which are filled with a fine netting of leathern thongs. impracticability of a further advance that season, they To this the foot is attached by straps passing round resolved to remain at this post until the ensuing the heel, but only fixing the toes, so as to allow the spring. A conversation, however, with the gentlemen heel to rise after each step. To those who are unac who had the charge of the establishment, was sufficient customed to the use of these implements, the miseries to assure Captain Franklin of the necessity of his pro- occasioned by walking in them are said to be dreadfu! ceeding, during the winter, into the Athabaska depart- in the extreme. Galled feet and swelled ankles, and ment, in order that he might be enabled to secure a track marked with blood, are the invariable accompaguides, hunters, and interpreters, and obtain informa-niments of the traveller's first trial; but the acuteness of tion as to the countries lying to the north of the Great his sufferings is gradually diminished, and soon ceases Slave Lake, before the season for active operations had altogether. begun. Accordingly, on the 18th of January, 1820, he departed for Fort Chepewyan, accompanied by Mr. Back and the seaman Hepburn; leaving Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood at Cumberland House, to devote the remainder of the winter to scientific pursuits, with the intention that they should follow with the baggage early in the spring, as soon as the navigation was open. The other seaman, Wilks, having proved to be quite unequal to the fatigue of the journey, was discharged, and sent home by the next ship. The mode of winter-travelling practised in these countries is twofold,-by conveyance in dog-sledges, or by walking in snow-shoes. The sledge is slight, and simple in its construction, consisting merely of two or three thin boards, which curve upwards in front, and are fastened together by pieces of wood running across their upper side. Its length is eight or ten feet, but the breadth inconsiderable; and the edges have a lacing attached to them, which serves to secure the lading. When used by the trader for his personal conveyance, it assumes a more finished character and More than two months had elapsed before Captain Franklin reached Fort Chepewyan, the distance being 857 miles from Cumberland House. The whole of this journey lay through an inhospitable region, barren and almost uninhabited. The party travelled by day, and rested at night. Their mode of encampment was simple, and exposed them sufficiently to the severity of the weather. It consisted merely in clearing away the snow from the ground, and covering the space with pine-branches, over which the party spread their blankets and coats. A store of fuel was collected for the night, and the fire then kindled; the sledges were unstowed, the dogs unharnessed, and the provisions hung upon the trees out of the reach of these voracious animals. Supper was then cooked, and the weary travellers ranging themselves round the fire with their feet towards it, at length slept in warmth and comfort without any other canopy than the heavens. The engraving below from Captain Franklin's Narrative, will convey a correct notion of the manner of making this resting-place. |