were silently bringing to perfection, an invention which, by means equally effectual and unexpected, secured to the world the result of their labours. This was the Art of Printing with moveable types; a discovery of which the beneficial effects have been increasing to the present day, and are yet advancing with accelerated progress. The coincidence of this dis covery, with the spirit of the times in which it had birth, was highly fortunate. Had it been made known at a much earlier period, it would have been disregarded or forgotten, from the mere want of materials on which to exercise it; and had it been further postponed, it is probable that, notwithstanding the generosity of the rich, and the diligence of the learned, many works would have been totally lost, which are now justly regarded as the noblest monuments of the human intellect.-Roscoc.

VIRTUOUS LOVE

Is of that refined and delicate nature that it raises, multiplies, and extends all the comforts of life; its fascinating influence is better conceived than described. She may be supposed thus to address the human race.

"YE children of men! Ye abound in the gifts of Providence, and many are the favours heaven has bestowed upon you. The earth teems with bounty, pouring forth the necessaries of life, and the refinements of luxury. The sea refreshes you with its breezes, and carries you to distant shores upon its bosom; it links nation to nation in the bonds of mutual advan tage, and transfers to every climate the blessings of all. To the sun you are indebted for the

splendor of the day, and the grateful return of season; it is he who guides you as you wander through the trackless wilderness of space, lights up the beauties of nature around you, and makes her break forth into fruitfulness and joy. But know that these, though delightful, are not the pleasures of the heart. They will not heal the wounds of fortune, they will not enchant solitude, or suspend the feeling of pain. Know, that I only am mistress of the soul. To me it belongs to impart agony and rapture. Hope and despair, terror and delight, walk in my my train. My power extends over time itself, as well as over all sublunary beings. It can turn ages into moments, and moments into ages. Lament not the dispensations of Provi. dence, amongst which the bestowment of my influence is one. He who feels it may not be happy, but he who is a stranger to it must be miserable !"-Hall.

THE CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE IN the year 1453, proved the means of diffusing literature throughout Europe; it threw open all the treasures of antiquity.

"NEARLY the same period of time that gave the world the important discovery of printing, saw the destruction of the Roman empire in the east. In the year 1453, the city of Constantinople was captured by the Turks, under the command of Mahomet II. after a vigorous defence of fifty-three days. The encouragement which had been shewn to the Greek professors at Florence, and the character of Cosmo de Medici as a promoter of letters, induced many learned Greeks to seek a shelter in that city,

where they met with a welcome and honour. able reception. Amongst these were Demetrius Chalcondyles, Johannes Andronicus Calistus, Constantius, and Johannes Lascaris, in whom the Platonic philosophy obtained fresh partizans, and by whose support it began openly to oppose itself to that of Aristotle. Between the Greek and Italian professors a spirit of emula. tion was kindled that operated most favourably on the cause of letters. Public schools were instituted at Florence for the study of the Greek tongue. The facility of diffusing their labours by means of the newly-discovered art of printing, stimulated the learned to fresh exertions; and in a few years the cities of Italy vied with each other in the number and elegance of works produced from the press."-Roscoe,

REMARKABLE DREAM.

THOUGH little or no attention ought to be paid to Dreams, yet the following dream of the late truly excellent Dr. Doddridge, is altogether so very singular that the Editor of this little volume, has been induced to give it room in his Selection. It is said to have been related by the Rev. S. Clark, son of Dr. Clark, of St. Albans, who was the Doctor's particular patron and friend. The pious reader will excuse its length and be gratified with its insertion.

"DR. DODDRIDGE and my father had been conversing together one evening on the nature of the separate state, and on the proba bility that the scenes upon which the soul would first enter, after its leaving the body, would bear a near resemblance to those it had been conversant with while on earth, that it

might, by degrees, be prepared for the more sublime happiness of the heavenly world; this, and other conversation of the same kind, pro. bably occasioned the following dream :-

"The Doctor imagined himself dangerously ill at a friend's house in London: after lying in this state for some time, he thought his soul left his body, and took its flight in some kind of fine vehicle, which, though different from the body he had just quitted, was still material. He pursued his course till he was at some distance from the city, when turning back and reviewing the town, he could not forbear say. ing to himself, how trifling and how vain do these affairs, in which the inhabitants of this place are so eagerly employed, appear to me, a separate spirit! At length, as he was conti nuing his progress, and though without any certain director, yet easy and happy in the thought of the universal providence and government of God, which extend alike to all states and worlds: he was met by one who told him he was sent to conduct him to the place appointed for his abode; from whence he concluded that it could be no other than an angel, though he appeared in the form of an elderly man. They went accordingly together, till they were come within sight of a spacious building, which had the air of a palace: upon enquiring what it was, his guide informed him it was the place assigned for his residence at present; upon which the Doctor observed, that he remembered to have read, while on earth, that the eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart conceived, what God had prepared for them that love him whereas he could easily have conceived an idea of such a building, from others he had seen, though he

acknowledged they were greatly inferior to this in elegance. The answer his guide made him was plainly suggested by the conversation of the evening; it was, that the scenes first presented to him were contrived on purpose to bear a near resemblance to those he had been accustomed to while on earth, that his mind might be more easily and gradually prepared for those glories that would open upon him hereafter, and which would at first have quite dazzled and overpowered him.

By this time they were come up to the mansion, and his guide led him through a kind of saloon into an inner parlour: here, the first thing that struck him was a large golden cup, which stood upon a table, and on which were embossed the figure of a vine and clusters of grapes he asked his guide the meaning of this, who told him it was the cup in which his Saviour drank new wine with his disciples, in his kingdom; and that the figures carved thereon were intended to signify the union between Christ and his people; implying, that as the> grapes derive all their beauty and flavour from the vine, so the saints, even in a state of glory, were indebted for their establishment and happiness to their union with their head, in whom they are all complete.

"While they were thus conversing, he heard a tap at the door,and was informed by the angel it was the signal of his Lord's approach, and was intended to prepare him for the interview: accordingly, in a short time, he thought our Saviour entered the room, and upon his casting himself at his feet, he graciously raised him up, and with a smile of inexpressible complacency assured him of his favour, and his kind acceptance of his faithful services; and as a token of