"PLEASANT is the voice of thy song, thou lonely dweller of the rock! It comes on the sound of the stream, along the narrow vale. My soul awakes, O stranger! in the midst of my hall. I stretch my hand to the spear, as in the days of other years. I stretch my hand, but it is feeble; and the sigh of my bosom grows. Wilt thou not listen, son of the rock, to the song of Ossian? My soul is full of other times; the joy of my youth returns. Thus the sun appears in the west, after the steps of his brightness have moved behind a storm; the green hills lift their dewy heads; the blue streams rejoice in the vale. The aged hero comes forth on his staff; his gray hair glitters in the beam. Dost thou not behold, son of the rock! a shield in Ossian's hall? It is marked with the strokes of battle, and the brightness of its bosses has failed. That shield the great Dunthalmo bore, the chief of streamy Teutha. Dunthalmo bore it in battle, before he fell by Ossian's spear. Listen, son of the rock, to the tales of other years."-Ossian. There are some who write, talk, and think so much about vice and virtue, that they have no time to practise either the one or the other. They die with less sin to answer for than some others, because they have been too busy in disputing about the origin of it to commit it; and with little or no religion of their own, from their constant though unavailing assiduities to settle that of other men. Charles the Fourth, after his abdication, amused himself in his retirement at St. Juste, by attempting to make a number of watches go exactly together. Being constantly foiled in this attempt, he exclaimed, "What a fool have I been to neglect my own concerns, and to waste my whole life in a vain attempt to make all men think alike on matters of religion, when I cannot even make a few watches keep time together!—Lacon. ITEMS OF NEWS. The Treaty with Holland has been ratified, and the embargo of Dutch vessels in England raised. The Sultan had surrendered all which was demanded of him, and of course there is peace in his dominions. The cause of Don Pedro is spoken of favourably. The English Parliament was occupied at the last dates with the slavery question, and the renewal of the Bank Charter. The Cholera was raging at Tampico to an extent almost unparalleled. In 14 days previous to the 6th of June, there had been 600 deaths by this terrible disease, out of a population of from three to five thousand. The President of the United States returned to the seat of Government on the 6th instant, without having completed his contemplated tour. Ill health is assigned as the cause of his sudden return. ONE HUNDRED AGENTS Could be advantageously employed in different sections of the Union, in obtaining subscribers for this Magazine. It is not of a local character, but is calculated for general circulation; and hence subscribers may as well be obtained in one part of the country as another. 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Now we view our object to be altogether too imporin all cases IN ADVANCE, tant to be jeoparded thus; and we shall therefore require payment Our expenses are heavy, and those who have our paper must pay them, seeing we have no money to throw away. Every reasonable man will at once perceive the propriety and necessity of these terms. Letters should be addressed thus: Editor of the Family Magazine, 222 William Street, New York. Book and Job Printing EXECUTED WITH NEATNESS AND DESPATCH AT THIS OFFICE. peared another, Anodaphus. After these reigned other kings, and last of all Sisithrus: so that in the whole, the number amounted to ten kings, and the term of their reigns to a hundred and twenty sari." "In the second book of Berossus (from Alexander Polyhistor) was contained the history of the ten kings of the Chaldeans, and the periods of the continuance of THE OLD EGYPTIAN CHRONICLE. each reign, which consisted collectively of a hundred and "Among the Egyptians there is a certain tablet called twenty sari, or four hundred and thirty-two thousand the Old Chronicle, containing thirty dynasties in 113 years, reaching to the time of the deluge. For Alexan-descents, during the long period of 36,525* years. The der, enumerating the kings from the writings of the first series of princes was that of the Aurita; the second Chaldeans, after the ninth Ardates, proceeds to the was that of the Mestræans; the third of the Egyptians. tenth, who is called by them Xisuthrus, and who reign- It runs as follows: ed eighteen sari. In his time happened the Deluge." We are next presented with a fragment of Berossus, from Apollodorus:-thus: THE REIGN OF THE GODS According to the Old Chronicle. "Next in order are the demi-gods, in number eight, who reigned 217 years. "This is the history which Berossus has transmitted both by night and day. Helius, the son of Hephaestus, To Hephæstus is assigned no time, as he is apparent to us. He tells us that the first king was Alorus of Babylon, a Chaldean. He reigned ten sari; and after-reigned three myriads of years. Then Cronus and the other twelve divinities reigned 3984. wards Alaparus, and Amelon the Chaldean, in whose time appeared the Musarus Oannes, the Annedotus from the Erythræan sea. (But Alexander Polyhistor, anticipating the event, has said that he appeared in the first year; but Apollodorus says that it was after forty sari: Abydenus, however, makes the second Annedotus appear after twenty-six sari.) Then succeeded Megalarus, from the city of Pantibiblon; and he reigned eighteen sari: and after him, Daonus the shepherd from Pantabiblon reigned ten sari. In his time, he says, appeared again from the Erythræan sea a fourth Annedotus, having the same form with those above-the shape of a fish blended with that of a man. Then reigned Eudorachus from Pantibiblon for the term of eighteen sari. In his days there appeared another personage from the Erythræan sea like the former, having the same compli cated form between a fish and a man, whose name was Thus: After these are enumerated 15 generations of the Dynasty is of the Tanites, eight descents, which lasted Cynic cycle, which extend to 443 years. The 16th 190 years. 17th Memphites, 4 in descent, 103 years.18th Memphites, 14 in descent, 348 years. 19th Diospolites, 5 in descent, 194 years. 20th Diospolites, 8 in years. 22nd Tanites, 3 in descent, 48 years. 23rd descent, 228 years. 21st Tanites, 6 in descent, 121 Diospolites, 2 in descent. 19 years. 24th Saïtes, 3 in descent, 44 years. 25th Ethiopians, 3 in descent, 44 years. 26th Memphites, 7 in descent, 177 years. 27th Tanites, in descent, 39 years. 30th a Tanite, 1 in desPersians, 5 in descent, 124 years. 28th cent, 18 years. In all, 30 Dynasties, and 36,525 years. constituent parts, that is to say, 25 times 1461 years, Which number of years, resolved and divided into its shows that it relates to the fabled periodical revolution of the zodiac, among the Egyptians and Greeks; that is, its revolution from a particular point to the same again, which point is the first minute of the first degree of that equinoctial sign which they call the Ram, as it is explained in the Genesis of Hermes, and in the Cyrannian books." FROM CASTOR. 29th "Of all kingdoms, we find that of the Egyptians to be the most ancient; of whose beginning we purpose to write, according to the relation of Manetho. The first dynasty was that of the Gods, who are classed by themselves; and I reckon their reigns thus : "Some say the God Ifestus reigned in Egypt 680 years. After him, the Sun, the son of Ifestus, 77 years. After him, Osinosiris, 420 years. After him, Oros Stoliarchus, 28 years. After him, Typhon, 45 years.The sum of the reigns of the Gods amounts to 1550 years. Then succeeds the kingdom of the Demi-gods, thus: First reigned Anubes Amusim, who composed the writings of the Egyptians, 83 years. Apion Grammaticus, who reigned 77 years. In his reign commenced the kingdom of Argos, under Inachus Afterwards, the kings of the Ecynii, by whom must be "So much concerning the wisdom of the Chaldeans. "It is said that the first king of the country was Alorus, and that he gave out a report that God had appointed him to be the Shepherd of the people: he reigned ten sari: now a sarus is esteemed to be three thousand six hundred years; a neros six hundred; and a sossus sixty. "After him, Alaparus reigned three sari: to him succeeded Amillarus from the city of Pantibiblon, who reigned thirteen sari; in his time came up from the sea a second Annedotus, a semi-dæmon very similar in his form to Oannes: after Amillarus reigned Ammenon twelve sari, who was of the city of Pantibiblon: then Megalarus of the same place reigned eighteen sari: then Daos, the shepherd, governed for the space of ten sari; he was of Pantibiblon; in his time four double-shaped *This number is also mentioned by Jamblichus, in connexion personages came up out of the sea to land, whose names with Egyptian history, as the number of the Hermaic books, perwere Euedocus, Eneugamus, Eneuboulus, and Anem- haps allowing a book to each year. All which Hermes wrote in 20,000 books, according to the account of Seleucus; but Manetho entus: afterwards, in the time of Euedoreschus, ap-in his history, relates that they were completed in 36,525. After him, understood the Demi-gods. They reigned 2100 years. | "The second volume enumerates to the 17th dynasty, FROM EUSEBIUS. "The first man, according to the Egyptians, was Hephaestus, who was the inventor of fire. From him descended the Sun. After whom Agathodæmon. After whom Cronus. Then Osiris. And then Typhon, the brother of Osiris. After whom was Orus, the son of Osiris and Isis. These were the first Egyptian kings. "After them, the empire descended by a long succession to Bites, through a lapse of 13,900 years; reckoned, I say, in lunar years of thirty days to each: for even now, they call the month a year. years. Then reigned other kings 1817 years. After "After the Gods, a race of Demi-gods reigned 1255 them, thirty Memphite kings, 1790 years. Then ten Thynite kings, 350 years. Then came the kingdom of the manes and Demi-gods, 5813. The number of years altogether amounts to 11,000; which also are lunar the Egyptians allow to the reigns of the Gods, the Demiyears, that is to say, months. All the lunar years which gods, and the Manes, are 24,900." EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES OF MANETHO. DYNASTY OF THE DEMI-GODS. "First dynasty. The first of the Egyptian kings was Hephaestus, who reigned 724 years and a half and four days. The 2nd was Helius, the son of Hephaestus, 86 years. 3rd, Agathdæmon, who reigned 56 years and a half and 10 days. 4th, Cronus, 40 years and a half.5th, Osiris and Isis, 35 years. 6th, Typhon, 29 years. 8th, Orus, the demi-god, 25 years. -, years. 7th, 9th, Ares, the demi-god, 23 years. 10th, Anubis, the demi-god, 17 years. 11th, Heracles, the demi-god, 15 years. 12th, Apollo, the demi-god, 25 years. 13th, Ammon, the demi-god, 30 years. 14th, Tithoes, the demi-god, 27 years. 15th, Sossus, the demi-god, 32 years. 16th, Zeus, the demi-god, 20 years." MYTHOLOGY. مش For the Family Magazine. SATURN. The eldest of the gods in the Grecian mythology were Æther and Dies, Cœlum and Terra, (Heaven and Earth.) Cœlum was the son of Æther and Dies, (Air and Day,) and married his own daughter, Vesta or Terra, by whom he had a numerous progeny. The most eminent among them were Saturn, Titan, the Briareii or hundred handed giants, Ceres, Tethys, Ops and others. Titan was the eldest son; but his sisters, Ceres, Tethys and Ops persuaded their mother Vesta to alienate him from the privileges of the first-born in favour of Saturn, who had married his sister Ops. Titan after a time surrendered his power to Saturn, on condition that he would bring up no male children-so that the kingdom might_revert to him or his posterity after Saturn's death. Saturn, true to his promise, devoured his male children. The representation in the preceding cut alludes to this circumstance. Saturn is seen like an old man in a recumbent posture, his scythe at his feet, his babe in his arms, and one hand of the devoted infant already in the mouth of the devourer. Saturn, however, is generally represented as a decrepid old man, his shoulders bowed as if by the weight of years, his face lank and thin, and his cheeks sunken.Sometimes he appears with wings, his scythe in his hand, and is in fact, as his name in Greek imports, no less a personage than Time. Although ranked as a terrestrial deity in consequence of his residence on earth, the associations of Saturn's history are linked to the grandest machinery of mythology. male children, she practised fraud upon him. When When his wife Ops saw that Saturn devoured their she brought forth her twins, Jupiter and Juno, she only tune and Pluto, she saved in the same manner. sent him Juno, and secreted Jupiter. Her sons, Nep prized of the circumstance, that concealed sons were It was not long, however, before Titan became apabout to sustain the usurped rights of their father. He bound him and his wife, shut them up in hell, where rose to revenge the injury, overcame Saturn, and having they suffered their gloomy imprisonment for vears, until and in one the names of all ambassadors and foreign consuls were recorded, as they came to Rome. Jupiter made proof of his filial affection, and exhibited | hill; in another the treasury of the empire was kept, the dawnings of omnipotence, by defeating the Titans and releasing his parents. It was in this tremendous conflict that mountains were first hurled as missiles.Since then, many a poet has hurled them with their shaggy tops, cavernous solitudes, and roaring cascades, through his trembling verse. An oracle had announced to Saturn that he should be driven from his kingdom by his son-and the unnatural father attempted to show his gratitude for the filial piety of Jupiter by taking away his life. But the lion-hearted son was not so easily slain. He deposed his father, maimed him, and banished him to Italy or Latium, while he grasped in his powerful hands the rule of the universe. The name Latium was given to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, whither Saturn fled.This name (Latium) is derived from the verb lateo, which signifies to hide. The country was also called Saturnia. Here Saturn found a savage people (which were afterwards called Latini or Latins) under the reign of a king named Janus, who associated Saturn with him in his kingdom. Saturn reduced the savages to social order, invented brass money for their use, and caused such an agreeable alteration in the circumstances of that region, that poets have named his times the golden age. In the words of Virgil: "Then Saturn came, who fled the powers of Jove, Robb'd of his realms, and banished from above. The men dispersed on hills to towns he brought, The laws ordained, and civil customs taught, And Latium called the land where safe he lay From his unduteous son, and his usurping sway. With his mild empire, peace and plenty came; And hence the Golden Times derived their name." The brass money made by Saturn was stamped on one side with the figure of a ship; on the other was seen the image of Janus Bifrons (double-faced.) The name Saturn was derived, either from his having taught the art of sowing, (he being considered the god of husbandry,) or from that fulness which is the effect of his bounty, filling or saturating the hungry,-or, as others affirm, because he is satisfied or filled with the years which he devours-for Saturn and Time were considered the same by the ancients. The worship of Saturn was never so general or imposing as that of Jupiter or Jove. Men were offered in sacrifices made to him, as he was considered to be delighted with the taste of human blood. The Romans considered him an infernal deity because he delighted in cruelty, and because the planet named for him was considered malignant. His priests offered sacrifices with bare heads clothed in scarlet with wax tapers in their hands, significant of his having enlightened the savage mind. There is a coincidence so close in the character of Noah and Saturn, that many regard the latter as only the heathenish copy of the former. It was said of both, that in their days mankind had but one language.Noah's name in Hebrew signifies "a man of the earth;" so of Saturn. Noah planted the first vineyard; and the same act was ascribed to Saturn, Noah was overcome with wine; so was Saturn when his son is said to have maimed him; and he was ever considered the protector of drunken persons. Saturn is said to have made the crime of seeing the gods naked punishable by law. He is said to have foretold great quantities of rain, and the building of an ark for the escape of men, beasts, and birds. Noah had three sons left him which were not destroyed by the fulfilment of his own prophecy-so had Saturn three left to him. Noah's eldest son, Ham or Cham, was the Ammon or Hammon of the Egyptians and Africans; and Ammon was one of the names of Jupiter. Japhet, Noah's second son, is supposed to be the Neptune of the ancient mythologists, having the islands for his residence; and Shem is supposed to have been Pluto, as he was so holy, and so hated idolatry, that a wicked generation strove to blacken his memory by associating it with sombre and gloomy images, and put ting into his hand the sceptre of hell. THE MEDUSE. F. THE Polar sea has a peculiar colour, which is caused by the great quantity of medusæ and other minute animals. They are most abundant in the sea water, which is of an olive-green colour. Capt. Scoresby, during one of his voyages to the Arctic regions, examined medusæ immense. They were about one-fourth of an a quantity of the olive-green sea water, and found the inch asunder. In this proportion, a cubic inch of water would contain 6-4; a cubic foot 110,592; a cubic fathom 23,887,872, and a cubic mile about 23 888,000,000,000. From soundings made in the situation where these animals were found, it is probable the sea is upwards of a mile in depth, but whether these substances occupy the whole depth is uncertain. Provided, however, the depth to which they extend be but 250 fathoms, the above immense number of one species may occur in a ception of the amount of medusa in this extent, if we space of two miles square. It may give a better con calculate the length of time that would be requisite for a certain number of persons to count this number. Allowing that one person could count a million in seven days, which is barely possible, it would have required of the world to complete the enumeration at the present that 80,000 persons should have started at the creation time. What a stupendous idea does this fact give of the im space of two miles square be so great, what must be the The Roman feasts called Saturnalia were either instituted by Tullus, king of the Romans, or by the consuls Sempronius and Minutius. They were held on the 19th of December-at first one day only, but in pro-mensity of creation! cess of time, as many as seven days were observed. The distinguishing peculiarity of the feasts of the Saturnalia was, that all servants became free on the occasion. For the time, they threw off the habits of obedience to their masters, who were even obliged to become servants, and wait upon their late menials at the great feast. Upon the days of the Saturnalia, the senate did not sit, schools were closed, presents were sent, war was not proclaimed or criminals executed, servants indulged in ribaldry and jocoseness towards their masters; were waited upon at table by them, because in Saturn's reign there was no servitude known, all men being equal; and wore the purple garment or cloak of gentlemen. Saturn was the patron of gladiators; and the conquerors among them who were in consequence entitled to freedom, hung up their arms as votive offerings in his temple. It is said that Hercules abolished the custom of sacrificing human beings to Saturn, and substituted images of clay. There were more than one temple erected to Saturn in Rome; one stood on the Capitoline WILD PIGEONS. THE accounts of the enormous flocks in which the passenger or wild pigeons fly about in North America, seem to a European like the tales of Baron Munchausen; but the travellers are "all in a story." In Upper Canada, says Mr. Howison, in his entertaining "Sketches," you may kill 20 or 30 at one shot out of the masses which darken the air. And in the United States, according to Wilson, the ornothologist, they sometimes desolate and lay waste a tract of country 40 or 50 miles long, and 5 or 6 broad, by making it their breeding place. While in the state of Ohio, Mr. Wilson saw a flock of these birds which exceeded, as he judged, more than a mile in breadth, and seemed to pass over his head at (Exhibiting the daily appearance of several remarkable spots which have, at different periods, appeared upon his surface. The lines indicate the appearance of a spot for one day; and so on successively.) The Sun is that glorious luminary which sheds light and heat on all the surrounding orbs, and is also the source of vegetation, and the prime cheerer of the animal world. This great luminary was generally considered by the ancients as a globe of pure fire; but, from a number of dark spots, which, by means of a telescope, may be seen on different parts of his surface, it appears that this opinion was ill-founded. Those who are not accustomed to astronomical calculation, will be surprised at the real magnitude of this luminary, which, on account of his distance from us, appears to the eye not much larger than the moon, which is only an attendant on our earth. When looking at the Sun, we are viewing a globe whose diameter is 890,000 English miles, whereas that of the earth is no more than 7970; so that the sun is about 1,392,500 times larger than the Earth. It is reckoned to be 539 times larger than all the planets put together. Thus, as it is the fountain of light and heat to all the planets, so it also surpasses them in its bulk. And in proportion as science has advanced, and more accurate instruments have been made, the magnitude of this luminary has been found 'o exceed considerably the limits of former calculations. The general opinion concerning the solar spots is, that they are occasioned by the smoke and opaque matter thrown out by volcanoes, or burning mountains, of im mense magnitude; and that when the eruption is nearly ended, and the smoke dissipated, the fierce flames are exposed, and appear like fecule, or luminous spots. The often mentioned term, "Via Solis," or "Sun's Path" originates from the sun's appearing to move from one sign to another in the ecliptic; but, in fact, it is the EARTH which moves in the ecliptic; and as the sun is always diametrically opposite to the earth, he appears to occupy that sign which is in reality occupied by the EARTH. Though the Sun is the central body of the System, the various attractions of the circumvolving planets give it a small motion round the centre of gravity of the system. The light and heat which the planets derive from the Sun, are always communicated in greater or smaller portions, not only in proportion to their distance from it, but according as its position is more or less oblique to any given part of the planet's surface. This is the reason that we, who live at such a distance from the equator, |