thickness of his skin, that he can carry on his back an armed tower, filled with many warriors, that he works machines, and carries burdens, which six horses are unable to move, that to this prodigious strength he adds courage, prudence, coolness, and punctual obedience, that he preserves moderation even in his most violent passions, that he is constant and impetuous in love, that when in anger he mistakes. not his friends, that he never attacks any but those who offend him, that he remembers favours as long as injuries, that having no appetite for flesh he feeds on vegetables alone, and is born an enemy to no living creature, and, in fine, that he is universally beloved, because all animals respect, and none have any reason to fear him "Buffon. It must be remembered that of all Animals, the elephant, dog, beaver, and ape, have the greatest degree of instinct.--Edit. THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR Is so singular a part of Nature, that the curi osity of the young mind will feel gratified in having its attention directed towards it; its height and situation yield one of the most interesting objects in the world. "With regard to Gibraltar, the views from its summit are interesting and sublime! From its bare ridge on which we stand with a kind of dread, we see to the southward, on the opposite side of the straits, Apeshill, the Abyla of the ancients, generally covered at the top with clouds, and the African shore tapering down from it, and shutting in with the coast of Spain, the entrance of the straits, and the view of the distant waters of the Atlantic! To the eastward the Mediterranean stretches out in boundless prospect, and on its northern side rise the mountains of Grenada, the lofty summits of which are generally covered with snow, or buried with thick clouds! Lastly to the westward the bay of Gibraltar lies beneath our feet; on the opposite side stands the town of Algesiras, and behind it rise the mountains which form a pretty branch of the Grenada chain, and ter. ninate at the straits, where they open out towards the Atlantic. Standing on the summit of the Pillar of Hercules, we contemplate with pleasure the ancient boundaries of navigation, one of which we seem to tread beneath our feet! The departed glories of the Mediterranean shores, the present ascendancy of the human mind in Britain, Gaul, Germany, and Russia, and the probable future destinies of the Western Continent, rush full upon the mind, and strongly impress us with the ever-changing state of the moral world, the uncertainty of political calculations, and the frailty and vanity of human life --Semple. THE HUMAN MIND Is the grand object of improvement with the wise and reflecting of every sect; and we shall do well to pay so important a subject every proper attention. "Our mind is ourselves, and our chief care should be its culture and ornament. There is nothing of equal importance. When we remove hence, when death puts a period to our present state of action and existence, we leave behind Are we humAre we pure Are we mer. us our estates and treasures--we drop our titles and all external ornaments ! But we shall carry with us the same temper and disposition which we had here, and our works follow us. Are we unholy? we shall be hereafter lodged in the company of such beings. Are we now proud? we shall then be abased. ble? we shall then be exalted. in heart? we shall then see God. ciful? we shall then obtain mercy. It is incum. bent on us therefore to employ some time in considering the nature and obligations of those virtues and dispositions of mind upon which so much depends; to confirm ourselves in the love and practice of them, and to watch against temptations that might ensnare us, and carry us from the course which leads to happiness!" Dr. Lardner. DIFFERENCES OF OPINION IN religion are attended with many advantages, though by the ignorant and bigotted they are furiously reprobated. "Differences of opinion have in all ages prevailed among Christians. If we possessed the disposition which Christianity labours, above all other qualities, to inculcate, these differences would do little harm. If that disposition be wanting, other causes, even were these absent, would continually rise up to call forth the ma levolent passions into action. Differences of opinion, when accompanied with mutua! charity, which Christianity forbids them to violate, for the most part are innocent and for some purposes, useful. They promote enquiry, discussion, and knowledge. They help to keep up an attention to religious subjects, and a concern about them, which might be apt to die away in the calm and silence of universal agreement."--Dr. Paley. GOLDSMITH Is so favourite an author with the public, that an estimate of his writings will be perused with pleasure his prose and poetry seem alike to meet our approbation. Tra "There is something in Goldsmith's prose that to my ear is uncommonly sweet and harmonious; it is clear, simple, easy to be under. stood; we never want to read his period twice over, except for the pleasure it bestows. Obscurity never calls us back to a repetition of it. That he was a Poet there is no doubt, but the paucity of his verses does not allow us to rank him in that high station where his genius might have carried him. There must be bulk, variety, and grandeur of design, to constitute a first-rate Poet. The Deserted Village,' veller,' and Hermit,' are all specimens, beautiful as such, but they are only birds' eggs on a string, and eggs of small birds too! One great magnificent whole must be accomplished before we can pronounce upon the maker of verses to be the Poet. Pope himself never earned that title by a work of any magnitude but his Homer, and that being a translation only constitutes him an accomplished versifier. Distress drove Gold. smith upon undertakings neither congenial with his studies, nor worthy of his talents. 1 1emember him when in his chamber in the Temple, he shewed me the beginning of his Animated Nature; it was with a sigh such as genius draws when hard necessity drives it from its heart to drudge for bread, and talk of birds and beasts, and creeping things, which Pidcock's showman would have done as well. Poor fellow! he hardly knew an ass from a mule, nor a turkey from a goose, but when he saw it on the table!"-Cumberland. THE NEW TESTAMENT Is an invaluable record, and its contents in every point of view are deserving our attention; they are indeed highly impressive, and eminently conducive to our moral improvement. "The parables of the New Testament are many of them such as would have done honour to any book in the world; I do not mean in style and diction, but in the choice of the subjects, in the structure of the narratives, in the aptness, propriety, and force of the circumstances woven into them, and in some, as that of The Good Samaritan,' the Prodigal Son, the Pharisee and Publican,' is an union of pathos and simplicity, which in the best productions of human genius, is the fruit only of a much exercised, and well cultivated judgment. The Lord's Prayer,' for a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a few great points, for suitableness for every condition, for suffici ency, for conciseness withont obscurity, for the weight and real importance of its petitions is without an equal or rival. From whence did these come? Whence had this man this wisdom? Was our Saviour in fact a well instructed philosopher, whilst he is represented to us as an illiterate peasant? Or shall we say that some early Christians of taste and education com. |