a arrow from the unerring bow of Apollo quickly It was about noon when we reached a small stream winged its flight to the heart of Amion. The cup towing down from the mountain, on the banks of of grie: of the widowed, childless Niobe was now filled which we halted to refresh ourselves, and soon after to overrowing. Disgusted with life, she went forth reached the village of Sibbeehel above it. We saw into the wilderness, there in solitude to pour forth her here some ancient sepulchres in the rocks, and a new tears. Her melancholy and deplorable fate excited the church just finished, the inhabitants being all Christians compassion of the gods themselves, and determined of the Greek communion. There was an appearance them to put a period to her woes. On a sudden, the of fresher health and vigour in the men than is seen in once auteous but now disconsolate Niobe found the plains, and the women were fairer than their lowherself deprived of the power of motion, and gradually and neighbours. The former were dressed in the stiffening into stone. And there on Mount Sipylus usual costume of the peasantry of the country; but the she stands, a statue of solid marble; still, however, latter wore a horn of metal, differing in shape and poshedding tears, as if conscious of her former grief. sition from any that I had yet seen. It was placed on Pausanias, a Greek writer of the second century, who the crown of the head pointing rather backward, like a was not a little fond of the marvellous, tells us that on smal diadem; and being flat at the top, and larger this mount he saw the wondrous statue. 66 'When you there than at the bottom, it looked exactly like one of are near it," says he, "it is nothing but a steep rock, the small boiling kettles of the country reversed. There bearing no resemblance at all to a woman, much less is a fine spring, in an arched well, just over Sibbeehel, to one weeping; but when vou are at some dis-over which is a cross, and at which we drank. The tance, you might imagine it to ne the figure of a female population of the place might amount to 200 persons; in distress." and the state of their grounds spoke favourably of their industry. The story of Niobe has been a favourite subject for sculptors; and it is probable there were once several groups representing the mother and her children. One of these groups forms the Frontispiece to our first volume. Pliny speaks of one in a temple of Apollo at Rome in his time. There is now extant a very large number of short Greek pices in verse, commonly called epigrams, though not in our sense of the word. Several of these epigrams refer to some figure or figures representing Niobe, or Niobe and her children. One of them, in two lines, runs thus: "The Gods turned me while living into stone, but out of stone Praxiteles has restored me to life." This was undoubtedly intended to express the writer's admiration of some statue of Praxiteles. There is a longer inscription than the foregoing. It is couched in the following terms. "Daughter of Tantalus, Niobe, hear my words which are the messengers of wo; listen to the piteous tale of our sorrows. Loose the bindings of thy hair, mother of a race of youths who have fallen beneath the deadly arrows of Phoebus. Thy sons no longer live. But what is this? I see something more. The blood of thy daughters too is streaming around. One lies at her mother's knees; another in her lap; a third on the earth; and one clings to the breast: one gazes stupified at the coming blow, and one crouches down to avoid the arrow, while another still lives. But the mother, whose tongue once knew no restraint, stands like a statue, hardened into stone." MOUNTAIN SCENE NEAR THE CEDARS OF Our way up the side of Lebanon was steep, and in many parts difficult; but we were repaid by the delightful freshness of the air as we mounted, and the grandeur of the views on every side. In about an hour from hence we passed under another Christian village on the summit of a high hill on our left. This was called Aytou, and though small, had several large and well-built dwellings in it. The road became here so fatiguing to our horses, as to require occasional halts. It was in many places dangerous too, as it presented only a bed of smooth stones, on which the foot could take no hold. The layers of rock having exactly the same form as the surface of the soil and shape of the mountain, presented in masses a steep smooth side, over which it was necessary to lead our animals, and to use great caution ourselves. This same cause renders many parts of the road along the coast disagreeable. It was fully another hour before we reached the summit of the mountain, this part of which is called Jebel Arrneto. The whole body of this is white limestone rock of different qualities, and here the stone has streaks, or layers of red, as if coloured by the oxide of iron, or some other metal. There was, at this moment, snow still remaining here, though the heat of the sun was nearly equal to that of an English summer. Flocks of large white long-haired goats were browsing on the rocks, under the care of boys and their faithful dogs; and pines and young cedars of a smaller size were abundant. The view from hence, on looking westward, commands an unbounded horizon at sea, with the whole of the coast from Ras-el-Shukkah to the extreme northern point of land seen from Tarabolus. The port and island of that town bore from us about N. by W. W. perhaps fifteen miles; but the town itself was not visible, from the intervention of the hill which overhangs it. The whole of the plain below, with the deep valleys which intersect it, looked beautiful from hence, presenting corn lands of the freshest green, bare patches of ploughed land, showing a deep red soil, and olive trees, and streams of water in abundance. The bluff point of Ras-el-Shukkah, which had been called, according to Strabo, the Face of God, from an idea of its being the end of Lebanon, looked from hence quite insignificant, from being so much lower than our own level; and the white hills and valleys, over which we had crossed with much fatigue, now looked like the little eminences raised by ants, and resembled very much the white hills on the banks of the Jordan, as seen in that valley from the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. We descended over the eastern side of this Jebel Arrneto, and opened a narrow but exceedingly deep valley, called Wadi Khezheyap. The descent down the perpendicular cliffs of the eastern part of this hill was by winding steps, cut originally in the rock in some places, and formed by stones and earth in others, over which it was necessary to lead our horses with great caution. The valley was watered by a fine stream, running through it, and presented on all sides marks of the most active industry.-Bucking regions is singular. During the time the sun is ham's Travels among the Arab Tribes. THE NORTH CAPE. This Cape forms the most northerly point of the continent of Europe, and may be regarded as one of the sublimest wonders of nature. It is situated within the arctic circle, in seventy-one degrees ten minutes north latitude. It has been accurately described by a late voyager, from whose account the following particulars are extracted. In approaching the Cape, a little before midnight, its rocks at first appeared to be nearly of an equal height, until they terminated in a perpendicular peak; but, on a nearer view, those within were found to be much higher than those of the extreme peak or point. Their general appearance was highly picturesque. The sea, breaking against this immovable rampart, which had withstood its fury from the remotest ages, bellowed, and formed a thick border of white froth. This spectacle, equally beautiful and terrific, was illuminated by the MIDNIGHT SUN; and the shade which covered the western side of the rocks rendered their aspect still more tremendous. The height of these rocks could not be ascertained; but here every thing was on so grand a scale, that a point of comparison could not be afforded by any ordinary known objects. On landing, the party discovered a grotto, formed of rocks, the surface of which had been washed smooth by the waves, and having within a spring of fresh water. The only accessible spot in the vicinity was a hill, some hundred paces in circumference, surrounded by enormous crags.-From the summit of this hill, turning towards the sea, they perceived to the right a prodigious mountain, attached to the Cape, and rearing its steril mass to the skies. To the left, a neck of land, covered with less elevated rocks, against which the surge dashed with violence, closed the bay, and admitted but a limited view of the ocean. To see as far as possible into the interior, our navigators climbed almost to the summit of the mountain, where a most singular landscape presented itself to the view. lake in the foreground had an elevation of at least ninety feet above the level of the sea; and on the top of an adjacent, but less lofty mountain, was another lake. The view was terminated by peaked rocks, chequered by patches of snow. Α At midnight the sun still remained several degrees above the horizon, and continued to ascend higher and higher til noon, when having again descended, it passed the north, without dipping below the horizon. This phenomenon, which is as extraordinary to the inhabitants of the torrid and temperate zones, as snow is to the inhabitants of the torrid zone, could not be viewed without a particular interest. continued day-light, during which space the sun never Two months of sets, seem to place the traveller in a new state of existence; while the effect on the inhabitants of these perpetually above the horizon, they rise at ten in the morning, dine at five or six in the evening, and go to bed at one. But, during the winter season, when, from the beginning of December until the end of January, the sun never rises, they sleep above half of the twenty-four hours, and employ the other half in sitting over the fire, all business being at an end, and a constant darkness prevailing. The cause of this phenomenon, as it affects ine northern and southern regions of the earth, may ne readily understood. The sun always illumines half the earth at once, and shines on every side ninety degrees from the place where he is vertical. When he is vertical over the equator, or equidistant from both poles, he shines as far as each pole; and this happens in spring and autumn. But, as he declines to the north in summer, he shines beyond the north pole, and all the countries near that pole turn round in perpetual sunshine: he, at the same time, leaves the south pole an equal number of degrees, and those parts turn round in darkness. The effect is contrary at each polc, in our winter the sun declining south of the equator. About three miles from the North Cape lies Maso, the northernmost part of Norwegian Lapland. formed of a very fine bay, in which ships may winter It is with the greatest security.-Monthly Repository. BIOGRAPHY. (Continued from page 382 of Vol. 1.) "The venerable BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE, who died in Boulogne on the 26th of March, 1748. When a child, At six away out of the window, read pious books as he walked, turned the house of his uncle, a priest, into a kind of monastery, observed religious poverty, monkish silence, and austere penance, and, by way of humility, performed abject offices for the people of the parish, fetched provender for their animals, took care of their cattle, and cleaned the stalls. The aversion which he had against the world induced him to enter into a convent of Carthusians; where he discovered that he disliked profound retirement, and imagined he should not be able to save his soul unless he embraced an order more austere. Upon this he returned home, added extraordinary mortifications to his fasts and prayers, instead of sleeping on his bed lay on the floor, and told his mother he wished to go and live upon roots as the anchorets did. All this he might have done in the Carthusian convent, but his brain seems to have been a little cracked, for he resolved to go into another Carthusian convent, the prior of which would not admit him till he had studied philosophy for a year, and learned the Gregorian chant. Church music was very agreeable to him-but it was not so with regard to logic. "Notwithstanding all his efforts, he was never able to conquer his repugnance to this branch of study;" yet he somehow or other scrambled through an examination; got admitted into the convent; thougt its rules far too mild for such a sinner as he looked upon himself to be;" and after a six weeks trial, left in search of admission into the order of La Trappe, as the most rigid of any that he knew. The Trappists would not have him. This refusal he looked upon as a heavenly favour, because the monastery of SeptFonts surpassed La Trappe in severe austerities and discipline; and there he became a novice" till this life he fancied did not agree with him. "Having a long time before quitted his father's house, he could not think of returning to it again ;" and at two and twenty years of age he knew not what to do. His biographer says, that "little fit for the cloister, and still less fit for the world, he was destitute of the means of getting a livelihood; and being now persuaded of what were the designs of God concerning him, he resolved to follow the conduct, the light, and inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and to submit himself to all the sufferings and afflictions which might await him." His first step to this was writing a farewell letter to his parents, on the 31st of August, 1779, "and from that time they never received any account of him till after his death." (To be concluded in our next.) THE DEVIL'S BLOOD. The Rev. Mr. Hecwelder relates the following fact of the influence of RUM upon an Indian. POETRY. THE HERMIT.-BY BEATTIE. While his harp rung symphonious, a hermit began ; And sorrow no longer thy bosom inthral. Now gliding remote, on the verge of the sky, 'Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more; I mourn; but ye woodlands, I mourn not for you; Kind nature the embryo blossom will save: "Twas thus by the glare of false science betray'd, O pity, great Father of light, then I cried, Thy creature who fain would not wander from thee! Lo, humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride; From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free. And darkness and doubt are now flying away; No longer I roam in conjecture forlorn: So breaks on the traveller, faint and astray, The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn. See, truth, love, and mercy in triumph descending, And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom ! On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb. OUR FIRST VOLUME. It will be perceived that various subjects are continued from our first volume. Such is the character of this measure is unavoidable. We cannot, for example, this publication, and the nature of those subjects, that treat fully on Universal History in a small weekly An Indian who had been born and brought up at periodical, in less time than several years. And there Minnisink, near the Delaware Water Gap, told me, are various other subjects which require more than a near fifty years ago, that he had once, under the in-year for this purpose. It will therefore be readily perfluence of strong liquor, killed the best Indian friend he had, fancying him to be his worst avowed enemy. He said that the deception was complete, and that while intoxicated, the face of his friend presented to his eyes all the features of the man with whom he was in a state of hostility. It is impossible to express the horror with which he was struck when he awoke from that delusion; he was so shocked, that he from that moment resolved never more to taste of the maddening poison, of which he was convinced the Devil was the inventor; for it could only be the Evil Spirit who made him see his enemy when his friend was before him, and produced so strong a delusion on his bewildered senses. ceived, that it is necessary for those who would have the whole of certain subjects, to take the work from its commencement. It should be recollected that it is not like purchasing a lot of old newspapers, to buy the 1st. Vol of this paper. We treat principally on standard subjects of knowledge; and, to such as have not already perused that volume, it would be as new and as valuable as the current one. As we stereotype our work, we can furnish it to new subscribers to any extent. The price unbound is the same as the present, viz. $1,50; well-bound and lettered, $2. APE. The highest order of the class Simia, or of fourFrom that time until his death, which happened handed animals, having a separate thumb on each, cathirty years afterwards, he never drank a drop of ardent pable of being opposed to the other fingers. Their spirits, which he always called "THE DEVIL'S BLOOD," hands, &c. nearly resemble those of men; they are desand was firmly persuaded that the Devil, or some of titute of tails, walk upright, are mild and gentle, imithe infernal spirits, had a hand in preparing it.-Pio- tate human actions more closely, and are susceptible of greater attainments, than any others of the same tribe. neer. SECTION II. HISTORY. The following additional heathen testimony to the fact of the building of Babel and the Dispersion, is given by Josephus. by their first founders; but some have lost them also, and some have only admitted certain changes in them, that they might be the more intelligible to the inhabitauthors of such mutations; for when in after ages they ants. And they were the Greeks who became the "The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower, and of grew potent, they claimed to themselves the glory of the confusion of the language when she says thus: antiquity; giving names to the nations that sounded When all men were of one language, some of them well, [in Greek,] that they might be better understood built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up anong themselves; and setting agreeable forms of to heaven, but the gods sent storms of wind and over-government over them, as if they were a people dethrew the tower, and gave every one his peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called Babylon. But as to the plain of Shinar, in the country of Babylonia, Hestiæus mentions it, when he says thus: Such of the priests as were saved took the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius, and came to Shinar of Babylonia."" rived from themselves." of the second great period in the annals of mankind. Our history is now brought down to the termination Before proceeding further, therefore, we will insert our biographical notices belonging to this period. DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS WHO LIVED DUR. ING THIS PERIOD. Noah, as we have already stated, was both an Antediluvian and a Postdiluvian character. But his biography properly belongs to the latter period, as his ca The same events are evidently alluded to by Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Lucian, under the allegory of the attempt of the Giants to scale heaven. Abydenus and Eupolemus likewise mention the same. That it was constructed of burnt bricks and bitumen, is attest-reer did not terminate till long after the Deluge. This ed by Justin, Quintus Curtius, Vitruvius, and other heathen writers, and by modern travellers who have visited the ruins. And the numerous languages in the world, unaccountable on any natural principle, are so many existing evidences of the confusion of tongues in the miraculous manner already described. How strikingly do all the foregoing accounts, traditions, and circumstances, coincide in proof of the great historical truth, that mankind, not long after the Deluge, erected a stupendous tower to gratify their pride and ambition, and were forced to abandon the work before its completion, in consequence of the miraculous confusion of their language. To those who object to the reality of the occurrence of these events, we have only to say:-What further proof could there be than has been adduced? What ancient historical fact can be proved, if these evidences are insufficient to prove the one under consideration? And how can these various coincidences be accounted for, excepting by the admission of the fact? We say in this instance as we did in that of the Deluge: that it requires far greater credulity to believe, under all the circumstances of the case, that such events did not take place, than to believe that they actually did occur. We have already remarked, that after the Confusion of Tongues, mankind were scattered abroad over the face of the earth. The Jewish historian Moses speaking of this event says:-" So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. Unto Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan." Josephus another Jewish historian, having described the confusion of Tongues, says: "After this they were dispersed abroad, on account of their languages, and went out by colonies every where; and each colony took possession of that land which they lighted upon, and unto which God led them, so that the whole continent was filled with them, both the inland and maritime countries. There were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited the islands; and some of those nations do still retain the denominations which were given them VOL. 11.-2 renowned individual was the second great Parent of the human race. He was the ninth in descent from Adam, being the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam. He was therefore one of the patriarchal line from Adam. He was distinguished for his piety amid the universal moral corruption abounding in his time; was "a preacher of righteousness" to a perverse generation; and was the honoured instru ment selected by God for the preservation of mankind from utter destruction. He was the connecting link between the Antediluvian and Postdiluvian worlds. Being warned by God of the destruction impending o'er the heads of the Antediluvians, he prepared an ark, which he seems to have been a hundred years in constructing, and took into it his family and some of the various kinds of beasts, and fowls, and creeping things. This being done, the Deluge came, destroying all without the ark, and bearing aloft that vessel and its inmates in safety. Noah was six hundred years old when this event transpired. For more than a year he continued in the ark; but the Flood having at length subsided, he went out of it, and, as an expression of his gratitude, built an altar and offered a sacrifice of beasts and fowls to his merciful Preserver; whereupon God made a covenant with him that there should not be another such Deluge, and made the rainbow the sign of that covenant. Of Noah it was said by Lamech his father, in the spirit of prophecy, "This same shall comfort us concerning our work, and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." Some, taking it for granted that animal food was not permitted till after the Flood, have supposed that the comforting here mentioned consisted in the grant made to Noah to use animal food. But on examining the subject, we find a far more probable solution of the passage in the promise of God to Noah after the offering of his sacrifice, as follows:-" The Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake;-neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease."-After this, Noah planted a vineyard, on the fruit of which he became inebriated. Ham, his youngest son, observing him in this condition, exposed him to his brethren, who, taking a garment, went backwards, and covered their father. When Noah awoke from his wine, and learned what his sons had done to him, he denounced a curse against the posterity of Canaan, the son of Ham, and pronounced a blessing on Shem and Japheth. All that we can positively learn of Noah after this is, that he lived till he was 950 years of age. The probability is, as we have heretofore stated, that he finally settled in some part of China, and founded that empire. Japheth was the eldest son of Noah. He was born about a hundred years before the Flood. His sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The blessing pronounced upon him for his act of filial respect above noticed, was as follows:"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant." Japheth's age and place of residence are not given. There is reason, however, to suppose, that he continued with his father. Shem was the second son of Noah. He was born about ninety-eight years before the Flood. In him was the The blessing pronounced al line continued. him ran thus:-" Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." The children of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. He probably continued with his father. He attained the age of 600 years, and was the only son of Noah whose age is given. Ham was the third son of Noah, born probably about ninety-six years before the Flood. His sons were these: Cush, Misraim, Phut, and Canaan. He was cursed by his father for his exposure of him when inebriated, and doomed to be a servant of servants. How long he lived, and where he lived, we are not informed. He probably remained in the neighbourhood of his father. Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, and the son of Cush, was the most conspicuous character, Noah excepted, that figured during this period. He appears to have excelled all others in hunting. He was also the founder of the Chaldean empire. He is the first monarch mentioned in all history. "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." On what authority he is said to have waged war on his species, we have yet to learn. VIEW OF THE SUPPOSED SITE OF BABYLON. Now that we are on the subject of Nimrod's government, it might not be untimely to give a description of the situation and appearance of that spot so celebrated in the annals of the world where he began his reign. The cut above, with the following description, is from the Monthly Repository. "Babylon is described by Herodotus as enclosing within its walls, a space of fifteen square miles. The walls he states were eighty-seven feet thick, and three hundred and fifty feet high. Sir Robert Ker Porter, to whom we are indebted for the annexed view of the supposed site of this famous city, and of the river. Euphrates, thinks that Babylon was so far from being exactly divided by the river, that its greatest extent lay to the west. He says, from the situation of Birs Nimrood, on the western plain, and the chain of buildingremains intersected by patches of verdure, which connect the bank of the river from beyond Anana with that extraordinary pile, the sketch of the city that way seems fully equal to the prescribed bounds; and wherever the old Tower of Babel could be traced, there we should doubtless look for the most ancient portion of the city: that which had comprised the capital until Nebuchadnezzar, despising the palace of his ancestors, and the boundaries of their habitations,' erected a vaster and more magnificent structure on the opposite bank of the river, and spread the walls of the city yet further towards the rising sun. The eastern bank, certainly, has preserved more remains than the west, but if the Kasr, or palace, &c. are really the ruins of the new palace and its citadel, then we have the natural solution; wherever the court was, there would the population draw, till the opposite side were comparatively deserted. The aggrandizement of the temple of Belus in that quarter, by the same monarch, who had given a rival to its ancient palace, would in some measure act as a counterpoise. But when Cyrus, for his own immediate object, so effectually stopped the course of the river, the consequences of the haste with which it Iwas done are said to have broken down certain defensive dykes to the west of the city, and hence those parts ever afterwards became a marsh. No person can doubt, that all who could, would withdraw from such unwholesome quarters; and when the temple was sacked by Xerxes, then we may suppose that the inhabitants would emigrate to the other shore." LITERATURE. LANGUAGE. Our next subject of inquiry will be, Which was the original language? To this we readily reply: No one as it now is. Too many changes have occurred in every language to permit us to expect to find any one now like that one. And yet it is but rational to conclude, that the original language was not destroyed at Babel, but that a portion of mankind retained it as one of the many kinds spoken after the Confusion. The portion of mankind which did retain this language were undoubtedly those who remained in Chaldea This is a more natural supposition, than that those whose language was changed remained there. We come therefore to the conclusion, that the primitive Chaldean language was the original one. Now it will be recollected that Abraham was a na tive of Ur of the Chaldees. From him descended the Jews or Hebrews. Thus we perceive at once that the ancient Hebrew and Chaldean languages were from the same source. And if Noah was not present at the Dispersion, as has been supposed, but was at that time dwelling in China with a portion of his posterity, then of course his party also retained the original language. Thus we arrive at the conclusion, that the ancient Chinese, Chaldean, and Hebrew languages were all substantially the same, and may all be considered as the primitive language. This deduction, drawn from the circumstances of the case, is confirmed by those languages themselvespek "I am inclined to think," says Shuckford, "that if any one would take the pains to examine strictly the Chaldean and Hebrew languages, and take from each |