hundred yards of the outer walls. The greater part, indeed, come close by the point, particularly when it is calm, or the wind contrary, and it is thought adviseable to tow them against the current. From every point of view the seraglio has a charming effect. Besides a great number of palaces, houses, and groves of ve. nerable cypress, and other trees within its inclosures; the mosque of St. Sophia stands close to one of the gates, and, in a general view, mingles its domes and minarets with the whole scene. A moderately high wall surrounds the whole, and no Christian, without a firman, or licence from the Grand Signior, can enter the gates. The sight of these majestic groves which tower above the walls, and some of the palaces, almost makes a stranger forget the restraint which reigns within, and even this slight feeling for individuals, is soon removed by the reflection that the whole is in unison with the general state of manners among the Turks." Semple. COMMERCE Is of so interesting a nature, and is attended with so many advantages, that its origin merits a particular explication. "THE Origin of Commerce is almost coeval with that of society. When tribes had abandoned their wandering life, and settled in fixed abodes, their new situation gave rise to new ideas and pursuits. They soon found that the sources from which they had formerly derived this subsistence, the spontaneous fruits of the earth, and the flesh of wild animals killed in the chace, were insufficient to maintain them when their numbers were increased, and their situation more confined. Hence they were ob liged to have recourse to the breeding of tame cattle, and to the culture of the earth. Property being established and ascertained, men began to exchange one rude commodity for another. While their wants and their desires were confined within narrow bounds, they had no other idea of traffic, but that of simple barter. The husbandman exchanged a part of his harvest for the cattle of the shepherd; the hunter gave the prey which he had caught at the chace, for the honey and the fruits which his neighbour had gathered in the woods. Thus commercial intercourse begins among the members of the same community. From the in. equality and diversity with which the productions of nature are distributed in different countries, a more general correspondence was, by degrees established between distant tribes and nations. No longer satisfied with the necessaries, they aspired to the conveniences, the accommodations, and the luxuries of life. As the objects of commerce became varied and multiplied, they invented a common measure or standard of the value of commodities; after different experiments of this kind among different nations, the precious metals, from their rarity, their beauty, their permanency, and facility of transportation, were universally adopted as the symbols of property, and the representatives of all the productions that are formed by nature, or fabricated by human industry. Commerce thus introduced by the exchange of commodities between individuals, gradually diffused itself from city to city, and from kingdom to kingdom, 'till at last it com prehended and united the remotest regions of the earth, and the most distant nations of the world" Dr. Rutherford. THE SACRIFICE OF WIDOWS Is an East-Indian custom, and is in all its cir cumstances truly shocking to humanity. It is thus described by an artist, and we may rely on its fidelity. "UPON my repairing to the spot, on the banks of the river, where the ceremony was to take place, I found the body of the man on a bier, and covered with linen, already brought down and laid at the edge of the river. At this time, about ten in the morning, only a few peo. ple were assembled, who appeared destitute of feeling at the catastrophe that was to take place; I may even say, that they displayed the most perfect apathy and indifference. After waiting a considerable time the wife appeared, attended by the Bramins, and music, with some few relations. The procession was slow and solemn; the victim moved with a steady and firm step, and, apparently, with a per fect composure of countenance, approached close to the body of her husband, where for some time they halted. She then addressed those who were near her with composure, and without the least trepidation of voice or change of countenance. "She held in her left hand a cocoa-nut shell, in which was a red colour mixed up, and dipping in it the fore finger of her right hand, sle marked those near her, to whom she wished to shew the last act of attention. As at this time. I stood close to her, she observed me atten The tively, and with the colour marked me in the forehead. She might be about twenty-four or five years of age, a time of life when the bloom of beauty has fled the cheek in India; but still she preserved a sufficient share to prove that she must have been handsome; her figure was small, but elegantly turned; and the form of her hands and arms particularly beautiful. Her dress was a loose robe of white flowing drapery, that extended from her head to her feet. place of sacrifice was higher up on the bank of the river, one hundred yards or more from the place where we now stood. The pile was composed of dried branches, leaves, and rushes, with a door on one side, and arched and covered on the top by the side of the door stood a man with a lighted brand. From the time the woman appeared to the taking up of the body to convey it into the pile, might occupy a space of about half an hour, which was employed in prayer with the Bramins, in attention to those who stood near her, and conversation with her relations. When the body was taken up she followed close to it, attended by the chief Bramin; and when it was deposited in the pile, she bowed to all around her, and entered without speaking. The moment she entered, the door was closed; the fire was put to the combustibles, which instantly flamed, and immense quantities of dried wood and other matters were thrown upon it. This last part of the ceremony was accompanied with the shouts of the multitude, who now became numerous, and the whole seemed a mass of confused rejoicing. For my part, I felt myself actuated by very different sentiments: the event I had been witness to was such, that the minutest circum stance attending it could not be erased from my memory."--Hodges. WILLIAM THE THIRD MAKES a prominent figure in our history, as the Father of the Revolution of 1688, when our civil and religious liberties were placed on firm. foundations. "WILLIAM in his person was not above the middle size, pale, thin, and valetudinary. He had a Roman nose, bright and eager eyes, a large front, and a countenance composed to gravity and authority. All his senses were critical and exquisite. His words came from him with care and deliberation, and his manners, excepting to his intimate friends, were cold and reserved. He spoke Dutch, French, English, and German equally well, and he understood Latin, Spanish, and Italian. His memory was exact and tenacious, and he was a profound observer of men and things. He perfectly understood and possessed a most extensive influence over the political concerns and interests of Europe. Though far above vanity or flattery he was pertinacious in his opinions, and from a clear perception or persuasion of their rectitude, was too impatient of censure or controul. He attained not to the praise of habitual generosity from his frequent and apparently capricious deviations into the extremes of profusion and parsimony. His love of secresy was perhaps too nearly allied to dissimulation and suspicion, and his fidelity in friendship to partiality and prejudice. Though resentful and irritable by nature, he harboured no malice, and disdained |