THE young author of the poems entitled, The Omnipresence of the Deity, A Universal Prayer, &c. &c. has put forth another volume, under the above title, which bids fair to be as popular as those which have preceded it. If we were at all disposed to cavil with the plan of this poem, we should say that Satan has been made too philosophical; that such reflections could only occupy the mind of one who thought and felt as the creatures of earth, and not as a being doomed to behold fair scenes, and witness happiness from which he is for ever excluded: but this is one of the licences that poetry enjoys, and we are free to confess that it has afforded an opportunity of introducing many highly imaginative and powerful scenes.

We think there is much to admire in the glance at the terrors of the French Revolution, contained in the following

lines:

From out an injured Nation's heart! And

A stately contrast o'er a ruined scene;
Though petty tyrant, and domestic lord,
That elevating charm have long eclipsed
Of happy peasantry, with honest hearts
For country glowing, and for God prepared;
Though wither'd all that pastoral poets sang,
Enough for homage, or refreshing thought,
Doth consecrate her yet. And thus, methinks,
Sweet Country might imparadise my soul
Of fine perceptions and delightsome moods,
Grey towers, and streets all surfeited with
throngs

Of worldlings, greedy-eyed, and stale of heart, As the dead air around them, who should deem

Enchantment, while a lovelier world is free?

From dusky cities, where forced Nature grieves
To wear the meanness of surrounding men,
On wings of gladness might her lovers fly
To haunts divine as these. Lo! how she laughs
In sunshine, tinting with her bright romance

Hill, wood, and valley, rock and wayward

stream;

What blue deliciousness of arched sky! What flow'ry hues, what odorous delights, And, as her gales in sounding glory come, What ocean-mock'ry from her voiceful trees Is heard, in rapture echoing the winds !

The English press is thus characterized: of course, our author's severe animadversions can only apply to a portion :

That mighty lever that has moved the world, The Press of England, from her deadless

source

Of living action, here begins to shake
The far-off isles, and awe the utmost globe!
She is a passion, pour'd into mankind,
Dark, deep, and silent oft, but ever felt;
Mixed with the mind, and feeding with a food

Of thought, the moral being of a soul;
Or, shaping solemn destinies for Time,
And dread Eternity. Terrific Power!
Thou mightst have half annihilated Hell,
And her great denizens, by glorious sway:
But now, so false, so abject, and so foul
Become, no blasting Pestilence e'er shed
Such ruin from her tainted wings, as thou
May'st carry in thy circulating floods
Of thought and feeling, into human hearts.
One wrecks the body, thou dost havoc souls,
And who shall heal them? Let thy temples
rise,
Britannia!-they are but satiric piles
Of sanctity, while poison in thy press
Is pour'd, and on its lying magic live
Thy thousand vulgar, who heart-famish'd
seem,

When Slander feeds not with her foul excess
Their appetite for infamy. The sun
Not surer where his hot intenseness falls
The spirit of his burning nature proves,
Than masses of pollution, roll'd from day
To day, across an Empire's heart, awake
A tinge of sentiment and hue of thought
In many, till they act the crimes they read.

Altogether, we view "Satan" as one of the finest epic poems that has appeared

for many years past; indeed it is a noble exertion of genius. We shall, if possible, enrich our pages with some further selections in a future number.

ASTRONOMY.

MR. WALLIS'S LECTURES AT THE MECHA-
NICS' INSTITUTE.
For the Olio.

The more science is divested of technicalities and is simpiified to the plainest understanding, it acquires greater popularity. For this we admire especially the manner in which lectures are delivered at the Mechanics Institute,' they are always practical and demonstrated by diagrams and transparencies, fixing the subjects elucidated in the memory, so as to be recalled and useful for reflection or impartation. If Mr. Wallis have not brought forward any thing new in the science of Astronomy, he has succeeded admirably, by establishing the Newtonian hypothesis in our minds; at least, by his clear and convincing knowledge of the links which connect terrestrial and celestial phenomena, their gravities, phases, and attractions. By the regular method which Mr.W. adopted in this course, and the intimate acquaintance which he displayed even in the most intricate parts of the science, his labour has been of much service to those mechanics who seek to be improved rather than employ their evenings in waste and riot. We were much pleased by the expensive and ingenious apparatus which Mr. W. used in the lectures. The rotatory transparencies relative to the solar system and the mathematical diagrams to establish positions and enforce the views of the lecturer, were such as to delight and improve the juvenile part of the auditory and refresh the minds of the more mature patrons of the Institute, which are now receiving new information from the valuable and gratuitous labours of Mr. Buckingham on the Geography of the East.'

Customs of Various Countries.

FESTIVALS IN TIBET.

A very curious work upon Tibet, by a Chinese author and civil functionary of the Celestial Empire, resident in that country, has recently been brought to Europe by Father Hyacinth, chief of the Russian mission to Peking. It has been rendered into that language and also into French; from the latter translation we obtain the following.

"During the first three days of the year, the Tibetan traders cease their transactions. At this period the people send presents to each other, consisting of tea, wines, fruit, and eatibles. On the second day, the Dalaïlama gives a feast at Botala, to which he invites the Chinese and Tibetan dignitaries, and a warlike dance is performed with battle-axes and halberds. For this purpose ten boys are selected, who dress themselves in partycoloured garments; they have little bells attached to their feet, and hold axes and halberds in their hands. Before them are arranged in a line ten kettle-drums, the drummers in the same costume as the dancers. The latter commence their performance the instant wine is offered to the

guests; motion and rest, the swiftness and slowness of their gestures, are regulated by the strokes on the drums. These pastimes appear to be no more than the relics of our Chinese dances and pantomimes. On the succeeding day is exhibited the Play of the Fluttering Spirits, for which they procure people from the neighbouring province of Zang, (one of the Tibetan provinces.) A rope of leather is conducted from the temple of Botala to the foot of the mountain upon which it is situated; the performers ascend and descend along this rope; they grasp it and move up it with great agility, like monkeys. When they reach the top of the mountain, they cover their chests with a kind of breast-plate of deer-skin, and extending their arms and legs, let themselves glide along to the end of the rope with the rapidity of an arrow shot with force, or of a swallow which skims with its wings the surface of the water; this is a most curious sight. After this festival, the day is fixed on which the lamas of all the convents situated in the mountains are to assemble at the H'lasseï-tsioh-khang, or great temple at H'lassa. They assemble to meet the Dalaï-lama, who takes his seat upon an elevated bench, and explains the law. The inhabitants of the most remote parts of Tibet crowd to H'lassa on this occasion, so that all the roads are covered with praying men. When they come into the presence of the Dalaï-lama, they place on their head gold, pearls, and other precious articles, which they offer to him on their knees. If the grand lama accepts the offerings, he pas ses a fan or lays his hand three times over the head of the giver. Those who have been thus received, ved. retire full of enthu. siasm, felicitating themselves in the presence of the rest on having happiness thus heaped upon them by the living divinity.

"On the 15th of the first moon, the

interior of the temple at H'lassa is illuminated; several rows of scaffolding are erected, whereon are placed an innumerable quantity of lanthorns, adorned with coloured figures of men, dragons, serpents, birds, and quadrupeds, the whole very skilfully executed in a paste made of farina and oil. This illumination lasts from night till sunrise next morning. During the night, observations are carefully made whether the sky is serene or cloudy, whether rain or snow falls, whether the light of the lanthorns is bright or dull; according to these indications, they prognosticate whether the coming year will be barren or fruitful.

"On the 18th a review of troops takes place. Three thousand men, infantry and Tangout cavalry, in their military uniforms, and fully armed, make a circuit of the temple three times; when they reach the southern extremity of the bridge of varnished tiles, they commence firing cannons to drive away the demons. These cannons are not all of the same size. Upon the largest, cast in the Tang dynasty, are engraved in Chinese characracters, I menace traitors with death, and rebels with destruction. At the close of this review, gold, silver, stuffs, and tea, from the public treasury, are distributed as rewards amongst the soldiery; and 360 ounces of silver are given to the priests who perform service, for their annual subsistence. Two or four days afterwards, the kalons, the deibons, and the lamas, bring little boys, who mount on horseback, and gallop all the way between the temple of Mount Sera to beyond Botala, a distance of about thirty li; a prize is awarded to him who first arrives at the appointed spot. There are other little boys, quite naked, without even shoes, who start at the same time from the western side of Botala, and run towards the east in the direction of H'lassa, a distance of about ten li. He who gets before the others, and reaches the goal first, receives a prize. If, during the race, one of the boys happens to become exhausted, his relatives and friends, who form a kind of lane to look at the runners, hasten towards him, and relieve his fatigue by pouring cold water upon his

head."

the Dalaï-lama, and a lay-person to enact the prince of the devils, or Logungghiaboo, as he is called. His costume is as follows: his left cheek is bedaubed with white, and the right with black; he has a pair of immense green ears, his hat is surmounted with a small flag, in his left hand he holds a sort of stick, and in his right a cow's tail. This outlandish figure advances towards the pretended Dalaï-lama, who is placed on a high seat, with his lamas on each side, and after sundry astonishing leaps, says to him, contemptuously, " what is perceivable by the five sources of intelligence is not illusory; what you teach is not true." A dispute takes place between the devil and the human deity, which they agree to decide by casting dice. The Dalaï-lama throws his die upon a silver plate, the devil throws his on the ground. It may be easily imagined which loses; the Dalaï-lama's die has six on each of its faces; the devil's die has but the ace. The prince of the devils thereupon takes flight immediately, and the, lamas, assisted by the people, pursue him with bows and arrows, muskets, and cannon. The actor of the devil, who is hired for the purpose, is obliged to conceal himself in the mountains, where he finds a store of provisions for several months, and he must not quit his hiding-place for some time.

Another odd ceremony takes place in the third moon. On the day of the discovery of treasure, as it is called, plate and precious vases are set out in the temple at H'lassa; they also hang up images of the great Buddhas in the temple. The lamas disguise themselves in the costume of good and bad genii; the people of Tibet dress themselves up like tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, elephants, and other beasts; and they circumambulate the

temple, saluting the great image of Buddha, dancing and singing.

On the last day of the year, there take place, in one of the mountains of H'lassa, sacred pantomimes, together with the expulsion of the devils. On this occasion, quacks and conjurors tell fortunes by chiromancy and physiognomy; both women and men, in holiday dresses, assemble in crowds, singing and drinking together till they are all fuddled; and thus ends the year amongst the Buddhists of Tibet. Asiatic Jour.

He who boldly interposes between a merciless censor and his prey, is a man of vigour; and he who, mildly wise, without wounding, convinces him of his error, commands our veneration.

such accidents, as soon as they feel that they can swallow no more food from being half chocked by the old skin, they take care to secure themselves from danger by moorings of silk spun upon the leaf or the branch where they may be reposing." Ib.

SILK AND SILK WORMS.

We transfer to our pages the following interesting particulars from Part VII. of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge. The intelligent author of the work before us, in his account of the silkworm, says:

When we consider the enormous quantity of silk which is used at present, the number of worms employed in producing it will almost exceed our comprehension. The manufacture of the silk, indeed, gives employment, and furnishes subsistence, to several millions of human beings; and we may venture to say, that there is scarcely an individual in the civilized world who has not some article of silk in his possession.

"In ancient times, the manufacture of silk was confined to the East Indies and China, where the insects that produce it are indigenous. It was thence brought to Europe in small quantities, and in early times sold at so extravagant a price, that it was deemed expensive even for royalty. The Emperor Aurelian assigned the expense as a réason for refusing his empress a robe of silk; and our own James I., before his accession to the crown of England, had to borrow of the Earl of Mar a pair of silk stockings, to appear in before the English ambassador, a circumstance which probably led him to promote the cultivation of silk in England. The Roman authors were altogether ignorant of its origin, some supposing it to be grown on trees, as hair grows on animals, -others that it was produced by a shellfish similar to the mussel, which is known to throw out threads for the purpose of attaching itself to rocks, others that it was the entrails of a sort of spider, which was fed for four years with paste, and then with the leaves of the green willow, till it burst with fat, and others that it was the produce of a worm which built nests of clay and collected wax. The insect was at length spread into Persia; and eggs were afterwards, at the instance of the Emperor Justinian, concealed in hollow canes by two monks, and conveyed to the isle of Cos. This emperor, in the sixth century, caused them to be introduced into Constantinople, and made an object of public utility. They were thence successively cultivated in Greece, in Spain, in Italy, in France, and in all places where any hope could be indulged of their succeeding. In America, the

culture of the silk-worm was introduced into Virginia in the time of James I., who himself composed a book of instructions on the subject, and caused mulberry-trees and silk-worms' eggs to be sent to the colony. In Georgia, also, lands were granted on condition of planting 100 white mulberry-trees on every ten acres of cleared land.

"The growth of the silk-worm has also been tried, but with no great success, in this country. Evelyn computed that one mulberry-tree would feed as many silkworms annually as would produce seven pounds of silk. 'According to that estimate,' says Barham, the 2000 trees already planted in Chelsea Park (which take up one-third of it) will make 14,000 lbs. weight of silk; to be commonly worth but 20s. a pound, those trees must make £14,000 per annum.' During the last century, some French refugees in the south of Ireland made considerable plantations of the mulberry, and had begun the cultivation of silk with every appearance of success, but since their removal the trees have been cut down. In the vicinity of London, also, a considerable plantation of mulberry-trees were purchased by the British, Irish, and Colonial Silk Company in 1825; but we have not learned whether this Company have any active measures now in operation.

"The manufacture of silk was introduced into this country in 1718, at Derby, by Mr. John Lombe, who travelled into Italy to obtain the requisite information; but so jealous were the Italians of this, that, according to some statements which have obtained belief, he fell a victim to their revenge, having been poisoned at the early age of 29."

PROFESSOR LESLIE.

John Leslie, professor of natural philosophy, like the Ettrick Shepherd, is of low origin; in his younger days he was a poor cowherd, but in this alone does the resemblance consist their pursuits, their persons, and the natural bent of their talents, all widely differ; the Professor is short and stout, with exceedingly coarse unmeaning features-no intellectual expression to be discovered in them, no, not even when a smile pervades his features, in fact it only heightens their animal character, so that, from their general appearance, all you could suppose to result from him would be the hideous excrescences of a swampy brain; he is a professed atheist; and, in asserting which, there can be no impropriety, as his appointment to the chair in the University caused much discussion in the General Assembly on that very score,