rious Being, who, in the language of inspiration, is "the bright and morning star."

There is poetry in the stars, and I love to gaze at them. The calculating astronomer may teach us to view them as bodies governed by fixed laws; but even then free scope is left to the imagination. Conjecture may weary herself in attempts to span the immeasurable extent that stretches between us, and to penetrate the deep mystery that envelops them. Are they the abodes of creatures like ourselves, subject to change and decay, or do beings of celestial mold expatiate amid the pure light of their ever-during brightness? Has sin ever entered those fair domains, bearing with it sorrow, pain and death, or do its inhabitants enjoy the bliss of purity and innocence? If fallen, have they ever listened to the wonderful story of a Savior's love, or sighed for a higher and better state of existence?

These are questions which philosophy may vainly essay to answer. They are, and ever will be “a sealed book," which the speculations of mortals may not open; but so long as the contemplation of the stars gives pleasure to the mind, or serves to elevate the heart in

lar spheres, so long shall the philosopher, the poet, and the Christian direct his eye to them in wonder and admiration, and with adoring gratitude bless the divine Architect of nature, not only that he thus spreads out before us the wonders of his great creation, but that he also gives us, creatures of a day, beings of a span's breadth as we are, capacities and powers that fit us to perceive and admire the grandeur of his works-that enable us, in a measure, to pry into the secrets of his creation, and even to find out a part of God himself. SOPHIA.

Though philosophy sublimely reasoned that they are worlds, and form a part of the material creation, yet in the poetry of my feelings, I have imagined they were the|| wandering spirits of an ethereal world-the bright inhabitants of a region more glorious than our own. I have queried if they were not the arbiters of our fate-thoughtful devotion to Him who dwells above the stel the good or evil genii that presided at our nativity, and that still watch over and control the events of our life. The hoary astronomer of olden time, in his midnight reveries, felt the mysterious influence of these living fires, and yielded his soul to the belief of their magic power. In the darkness of a mind, into which the pure light of Christianity had not shined, he would fain have deified the hosts of heaven, and called them gods which were no gods; and the poet in all time, even he who sings in the blessed light of the Gospel day, has first caught the divine inspiration of the muses, and felt the fires of fancy glow and burn within him, while contemplating the varying beauty of the stars. The ancients, in the depth of their poetical imaginings, listened to the music of the spheres; and the EARTHLY AND HEAVENLY LOVES ear of the pious modern, whose imagination is not less vivid in conception, with more truth and reason, nightly hears the chorus of the stellar lights in harmonious measure repeating

"The Hand that made us is divine."

Myriads of years have rolled away since first that star beamed forth in its brightness. The "orb now o'er me quivering," was one of the radiant band that by mned the birth of this fair creation. Adam, happy in paradise, saw it set, a bright gem in the coronet of the skies. Noah, from the world of waters, looked out upon it, and was gladdened by its peaceful ray. From the plains of Bethlehem the shepherds descried it, when summoned from their midnight watch, they hastened to behold and adore the infant Savior.

The devout worshiper of the burning god gazes upon it as the purest emblem of his deity of fire. The Christian, with stronger trust, and more of joy and love in his heart, likens it to the star of faith, that shines with most enlivening beam in the season of the deepest gloom, or (without impiety in the thought) to that glo

Original.

BY MISS DE FOREST.

"WHAT shall I love?" exclaimed a gentle girl whose brow wore yet the innocence of childhood; and in her simplicity she answered, "I will love this little flower. It is very beautiful. I will shelter it from the rude winds, lest they ruffle its leaves. I will shield it from the burning heat of noon, and it will bloom on year after year, to repay me for my care." The rosebud flourished, as well it might, and each day beheld the maiden at her pleasant labor.

Well did she redeem her pledge; and among the flowers of the arbor, Helen's rose-tree exceeded all in beauty. There came a summer morn, when the clustering dew-drops mirrored forth the glowing grace which breathed around them; but why was Helen sad? why glistened the tear-drop in her eye? The rose had withered, and never more would its life be renewed. But the silent monitor within, reproving, said, “Why do you weep? Is there nothing else for you to cherish? There are some who have a claim upon your affection,

DESTRUCTION OF PHARAOH'S HOST.

GONE IN THEIR BEAUTY.

Suggested by the death of Augustus N. and Mary Jane Ellis, of THREE youthful sons, a widow'd matron's pride,

NOTICES.

NOTICES.

Stephens' IncidenTS OF TRAVEL IN CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS, AND YUCATAN.-This is a book of wonders. It does not exactly make a new revelation in regard to American Antiquities, but it ascertains to us the truth of former almost unheeded statements, respecting the venerable and imposing ruins of American temples, cities, &c. Mr. Stephens' book records the comic, perilous, and semi-tragic events of a tour of three thousand miles in the interior of Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. In these journeyings he visited eight ruined cities, and by the aid of Mr. Catherwood, obtained illustrations of the ruins by drawings taken on the spot. The drawings are engraved, and accompany the volume to the number of nearly two hundred, adding exceedingly to the interest of the work.

The first ruins visited by Mr. Stephens, on his way to Guatamala, were those of Copan, The description and illustration of these ruins occupy almost sixty pages of his work. On approaching the Copan river, conducted by a guide who was to show him the ruins, he says:

"Here we dismounted, and, tying our mules to trees near by, entered the woods, Jose clearing a path before us with a machete; soon we came to the bank of a river, and saw directly opposite a stone wall, perhaps a hundred feet high, with furze growing out of the top, running north and south along the river, in some places fallen, but in others entire. It had more the character of a structure than any we had ever seen, ascribed to the aboriginals of America, and formed part of the wall of Copan, an ancient city, on whose history books throw but little "I am entering abruptly upon new ground. Volumes with out number have been written to account for the first peopling

light.

of America. By some the inhabitants of this continent have| been regarded as a separate race, not descended from the same common father with the rest of mankind; others have ascribed their origin to some remnant of the antediluvian inhabitants of

the earth, who survived the deluge which swept away the great est part of the human species in the days of Noah, and hence have considered them the most ancient race of people on the earth. Under the broad range allowed by a descent from the sons of Noah, the Jews, the Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Scythians in ancient times; the Chinese, the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Welsh, and the Spaniards in modern, have had ascribed to them the honor of peopling America. The two continents have been joined together and rent asunder by the shock of an earthquake; the fabled island of Atlantis has been lifted out of the ocean; and, not to be behind-hand, an enterprising American has turned the tables on the Old World, and planted the ark itself within the state of New York.

287

"The ignorance, carelessness, and indifference of the inhabIn our own country, the opening of forests and the discovery of itants of Spanish America on this subject are matter of wonder. tumuli or mounds and fortifications, extending in ranges from the lakes through the vallies of the Ohio and Mississippi, mummies in a cave in Kentucky, the inscription on the rock at Dighton, supposed to be in Phoenician characters, and the ruins of walls and a great city in Arkansas and Wisconsin territory, had suggested wild and wandering ideas in regard to the first and populous nations had occupied it and had passed away, peopling of this country, and the strong belief that powerful continue in Texas, and in Mexico they assume a still more dewhose histories are entirely unknown. The same evidences

finite form.

"The first new light thrown upon this subject as regards Mexico was by the great Humboldt, who visited that country at a time when, by the jealous policy of the government, it No man could have better deserved such fortune. At that time was almost as much closed against strangers as China is now. the monuments of the country were not a leading object of re search; but Humboldt collected from various sources informa tion and drawings, particularly of Mitla, or the Vale of the Dead; Xoxichalco, a mountain hewed down and terraced, and called the Hill of Flowers; and the great pyramid or Temple of Cholula he visited himself, of all which his own eloquent account is within reach of the reader. Unfortunately, of the great cities beyond the Vale of Mexico, buried in forests, ruined, desolate, and without a name, Humboldt never heard, or, at least, he never visited them. It is but lately that accounts of their existence reached Europe and our own country. These accounts, however vague and unsatisfactory, had roused our cu riosity though I ought perhaps to say that both Mr. C. and I were somewhat skeptical, and when we arrived at Copan, it was with the hope, rather than the expectation, of finding wonders."

We give this extract to our readers as a token of the char descriptions of ruined structures and buried cities, are similar acter, in part, of the book. Its "incidents," aside from these in style and interest to those contained in his journal of oriental travels. The book is more interesting than any novel, and withal, may be read with real profit.

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FOREIGN EVANGELICAL SOCIETY: Presented May 11, 1841.-This society is laboring for the revival of Christianity in countries nominally Christian. Its field is Continental Europe. The Report exhibits in a most interesting light of gradual change and improvement, the various kingdoms of this part of the world. The American society is laboring in concert with other evangelical societies, of which there are several. Lille, Lyons, Strasbourg and Bor deaux in France have each one. That at Geneva is the most efficient. The Report states that

"The Evangelical Society of Geneva has three great depart

so called; and 3, the training of young men for the work of God in its Theological School. It is not our intention to dwell long on each of these great operations of the society. We shall here merely give a summary, and refer to the Appendix of the Report the letters in which the brethren of that noble society speak to the committee in detail, most happily and fraternally. From these documents it will be perceived that the Evangelical Society has taken a still greater expansion this year than it did last. In the work of colportage it has employed during the winter, 60 regular and 12 irregular colporteurs, who have been busily occupied in distributing the sacred Scriptures and religious tracts, visiting from house to house, holding meetings, etc., in 15 of the departments of France which are nearest to Switzerland."

"The monuments and architectural remains of the aboriginals have heretofore formed but little part of the ground-work for these speculations. Dr. Robertson, in his History of Amer-ments of labor. 1. Colportage; 2. Evangelization, technically ica, lays it down as 'a certain principle, that America was not peopled by any nation of the ancient continent which had made considerable progress in civilization.' 'The inhabitants of the New World,' he says, 'were in a state of society so extremely rude as to be unacquainted with those arts which are the first essays of human ingenuity in its advance toward improvement.' Discrediting the glowing accounts of Cortez and his companions, of soldiers, priests, and civilians, all concurring in representations of the splendor exhibited in the buildings of Mexico, he says that the 'houses of the people were mere huts, built with turf, or mud, or the branches of trees, like those of the rudest Indians.' The temple of Cholula was nothing more than 'a mound of earth, without any steps or any facing of stone, covered with grass and shrubs;' and, on the authority of sons long resident in New Spain, and who professed to have visited every part of it, he says that 'there is not, in all the extent of that vast empire, a single monument or vestige of any building more ancient than the conquest.' At that time, distrust was perhaps the safer side for the historian; but since Dr. Robertson wrote, a new flood of light has poured upon the world, and the field of American antiquities has been opened.

per.

These societies, European and American, are accomplishing a work of vital importance in its relations to the conversion of the world. May they be prospered by the Head of the Church.

THE MARTYRS OF SCIENCE; or, the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. By Sir David Brewster.-This production, constituting No. 130 of Harpers' Family Library, combines in a high degree the useful and entertaining. This book

will teach small writers to bear with patience small disap- || dies are now more active in the cause of education than the pointments; for it shows how great men suffered in the midst of their greatness. The connection which the labors of these four men had with important astronomical discoveries, renders their biography peculiarly interesting to the lovers of that beautiful science.

A SUMMER JOURNEY IN THE WEST. By Mrs. Steele.-This is a tastefully written sketch of scenes in nature and in life, as they were presented to the authoress in a journey through the lakes, the prairies, and the rivers of the west, and in her return over the Alleghany mountains to the east. It is written in the form of letters, which afford the writer the advantage of a familiar, epistolary style. This adds a charm to the volume. It commences with her departure from New York to Albany. We select a few paragraphs from the letter which describes this city:

"MY DEAR E.-As much as we had heard of Cincinnati, we were astonished at its beauty and extent, and of the solidity of its buildings. It well merits the name bestowed upon it hereQueen of the West. We have explored it thoroughly by riding and walking, and pronounce it a wonderful city. The hotel to which we were recommended, the Broadway House, was commodious and well conducted. The family is a very agreeable one, and well educated, but remain in their own private apartments. There are numerous other hotels of all descriptions, but none rival it, unless it may be the new one called the Henrie House. Soon after breakfast we ordered a carriage, which we found to be quite as handsome as any we have in our city. We spent the morning slowly driving up and down each street, along the Miami canal, and in the environs of the city in every direction, and were quite astonished-not because we had never seen larger and finer cities, but that this should have arisen in what was so lately a wilderness. Its date, you know, is only thirty years back. The rows of stores and ware-houses; the thirty churches, many of them very handsome, and other public buildings, excited our surprise. Main-street is the principal business mart. While in the centre of this street, we mark it for a mile ascending the slope upon which the town is built, and in front it seems interminable, for the river being low, we do not observe that we are looking across it to the street of the opposite city of Covington, until a steamboat passing, tells us where the city ends. Broadway is another main artery of this city; not, however, devoted to business, but bounded upon each side by rows of handsome dwellings. Third, Fourth, Seventh, Vine, and many other streets, show private houses not surpassed by any city we had witnessed. They are generally extensive, and surrounded by gardens, and almost concealed from view of the passers, by groves of shade-trees and ornamental shrubbery. An accidental opening among the trees shows you a glimpse of a piazza or pavilion, where, among groves and gardens, the air may be enjoyed by the children or ladies of the family."

ADDRESS before the Phi Delta Sigma Society of Cincinnati College. By John P. Harrison, M. D.-Dr. Harrison is a popular and gifted orator, and several of his occasional addresses which have fallen into our hands, were well written. But we prefer this to those which have gone before it. Its theme is, "Discouragements to the attainment of a sound and accurate Scholarship." These discouragements are justly represented to be defects in our collegiate institutions as to endowments and course of instruction-insufficient scholastic preparation for the learned professions-the want of a field for the exercise of literary attainments-and the spirit of society. The style of the address is ornamented and glowing, yet not beyond the limits of the orator's license. It is a chaste and valuable production.

EDITOR'S TABLE.

THE following notice of literary institutions under the patronage of the New York annual conference, is from the New York Express:

Methodists. The New York conference closed its annual session recently in this city, embracing in its geographical boundaries only, this state south of Albany, and Connecticut as far west as Hartford. The numbers in society are 36,520 preachers upwards of 200. The conference annually requires a report upon the subject of education-a most excellent plan-from which we gather the following interesting items:

"Wesleyan University, at Middletown. Its receipts were last year over $19,000-about 100 of the students are professors of Christianity, and the moral deportment of the whole institution is proverbially excellent among the citizens of that most beautiful place. The professorship created by the conference last year, is to be called the 'Fisk Professorship of Moral Philosophy and Belles Lettres.'

"Preparatory School, at same place. Number of scholars limited to 30. Some of our most respectable citizens have their sons here, and every facility for English and classical instruc tion afforded by their excellent teacher, Daniel H. Chase, A. M. "Middletown Female Seminary.-This school was opened last fall, and has already more than 50 scholars. It is highly prosperous-the studies, ancient and modern languages-the sciences and arts. The chemical and philosophical apparatus, telescopes, &c., are very abundant and complete.

"The Amenia Seminary, near Poughkeepsie, is a successful school. During the short period it has been carried on, 200 students have made a public profession of religion. Many have entered the University, and several have become ministers of the Gospel. We may add that the literary character of the institution has been highly commended.

"The White Plains Academy and Female Institute is another flourishing literary establishment, located at the beautiful village whose name it bears.

"The Port Chester Institute is another literary institution about to be opened. A suitable edifice has been erected at this point, easy of access by stages and steamboats.

"It is certainly cheering to the friends of literature to witness the means of its advancement multiplying so abundantly, and highly praiseworthy that the Methodist Episcopal Church is thus affording every opportunity for a religious and thorough education to their vast and widely extending connection."

WILLIS GAYLORD CLARK, who was among the most gifted American writers, and an amiable man, died the Christian's death on the 12th day of June last. The Rev. Dr. Duchachet, in a letter to Mr. Clark's twin brother, says, among other things: "At four o'clock on Friday, P. M., the day before his death, I saw him again, he himself having selected the time, thinking that he was strongest in the afternoon. He assured me that he enjoyed a sweet peace in his mind, and that he had no apprehension about death. He was 'ready to depart' at any moment. Leaving him, after an hour's interview, I promised to return on Saturday, A. M., at ten o'clock, and to administer baptism to him then. This was done accordingly, in the presence of his father-in-law, and three or four other friends and connections, whom he had summoned to his bed, as he told me, for the express purpose of letting them see his determination to profess the faith of the Gospel which in life he had so long neglected. It was a solemn, moving sight; one of the most interesting and affecting I ever saw. More devotion, humility, and placid confidence in God, I never saw in any sick man. He told me he felt a happy persuasion that when he passed from this miserable world and that enfeebled body, he should enter upon the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.' He asked: 'Do you observe how these words labor to convey the idea of Heaven's blessedness to our feeble minds? The inheritance incorruptible! Beautiful thought! Undefiled!'-more beautiful still! That fadeth not away!-most beautiful of all! I think I understand something of the peace and glory these redoubled words were designed to express.' And then, raising his wasted hand, with great emphasis, he said, 'I shall soon know all about it, I trust!'"

Such is the testimony of the gifted and the admired to the "EDUCATION AMONG THE METHODISTS.-Few religious bo- divinity and the excellence of the Christian religion.