been dead fifty years come Martlemas next-if he had been alive, you might ha' heard fro' him all about the lady o' the heath, and the crone o' Dussindale, and the black monk o' St. William's he had seen them all, and good reason had he to remember them, for they gave him scurvy treatment. Many a time, when a child, I ha' listened to his wondrous tale, till my hair ha' bristled on my head like the prickles o' this furze-bush, and my little heart ha' beat against my ribs, just as the hoofs o' yonder horse sound on the hollow heath that he's a trotting over." TO THE SUN. O thou that liv'st in yonder blue,- Well might the children of Peru Adore thy quickening ray; Well might they worship fire like thine, And call thy golden form divine. They did not deem a sky so fair They saw thee dwelling, dazzling there- But is there not above yon cloud The splendour of thy power- And was it well in rich Peru To bend the trembling knee,- Yet give it aye to thee; To mark the radiance of thy beam, Alas! not then celestial truth, Illumed that injured land; And could they deem the gospel sooth1 To rob their clime, to stain their wave, Oh! no-but now such days are fled But he can harm no more; And hark! I hear or seem to hear "Though the blood of my forefathers crimsoned the plain, "They have taught me yon beautiful orb of the sky "They have taught me that there is a heaven above "And, Spain, though thy warriors ravaged our lands, "Then, Spain, though my forefathers fell on the plain, Norwich. JUVENIO. 1 The Spaniards, in their conquest of Peru, did not hesitate to make Christianity subservient to their unjust designs; and Vincent de Valoerdo (a monk who accompanied Pizarro) infuriated the minds of the credulous soldiery by telling them their religion demanded the extirpation of the infidel Peruvians. 2 The Emperor of Peru was affectionately styled "the father of his people." 3 Atabalipa, the Peruvian Monarch, was fettered in a dungeon till an ignominious death freed him from the power of his cruel conquerors. REVIEW. A Guide to Geology. By John Phillips, F.R.S.-G.S. Professor of Geology in King's College London ; &c. &c. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Browne, Green, &c. 1834. GEOLOGY is, comparatively speaking, a science of but yesterday. Like all other novelties it has had a host of difficulties and prejudices to encounter. Galileo was imprisoned for promulgating a scientific truth, on the pretence that his discoveries were opposed to revelation, and the same objections have been made to geology; and many even now most pertinaciously persevere in this objection in opposition to all right reason and sound argument. It has been justly observed by the defenders of the science that the truth of nature can never stand opposed to the truth of revelation, because they both emanate from the same source, and that investigations in the natural world have invariably been found to corroborate rather than weaken the authority of Scripture. This we believe has been proved in all sciences, and doubtless geology instead of detracting from will add to the already large mass of collateral evidence in favour of God's word. Notwithstanding, however, the host of opponents who have blindly enlisted themselves on the side of ignorance and bigotry, the science has continued to progress, and held the noiseless tenor of its way. Men of the highest eminence for talent in the nation have successfully pursued the study, and published the results of their labours, which have amply refuted the objections of their opponents. But their works are too voluminous and expensive to be generally circulated and read. We are therefore rejoiced to see an elementary treatise on this most interesting science, which presents us with a concise, and yet a comprehensive outline of the subject. It has been published as long ago as July, 1834, but has not before come under our notice. The name of the author and the situation he holds are sufficient guarantees for the performance, and we introduce it to our readers more with a view to point out to them a cheap and lucid gram mar of the science than to criticize its merits. We may however generally observe that to us it appears admirably calculated to initiate beginners in the principles of the science, and well worth the perusal and reperusal of all young persons who are desirous of laying a good foundation for a future superstructure. The objects of geology are in the beginning ably stated by the author: "We may say that it is the province of geology to investigate the ancient natural history of the earth. For this purpose geologists must observe the effects of terrestrial agencies, both organic and inorganic, which are now in progress, in order to understand those which have been performed in earlier periods; they must enquire what changes now take place upon the land and in the sea,whether these be due to mechanical, chemical, or vital agency,—and compare these effects with the monuments of more ancient revolutions; and thus endeavour to trace the physical conditions of the globe from the earliest period to the present date, so as to present a correct history of the successive steps by which it has been brought to its actual state, and made fit for the purposes which it now fulfils." Again he is equally excellent, when he speaks of the early races of organic beings: "Were one who was completely ignorant of geological science required to consider the question, whether this globe had been tenanted in some ancient periods by races of animals and plants different from those which now inhabit it, he would perhaps be surprized at the novelty of the idea, but would find himself unable to answer. History, it is evident, can tell us nothing of those times which preceded the existence of man: there is nothing in the Mosaic records of the creation of man, and the present forms of organic life, which in any manner defines the earlier condition of the globe, further than by affirming that it was formerly in a different state, especially as to its enrichment with living beings, from that which it exhibits to us at present. This latter consideration is too little present to the minds of many sincere readers of the Bible; and in consequence a very unhappy conflict has been sometimes witnessed between those results of geology which relate to periods left wholly undefined in the Scripture narrative, and the successive works of creation which are in that narrative distinctly marked. If we merely take the first verse of Genesis as affirming the eternal superintendence of God over all the prior conditions of the world, until he saw fit to give it its present character, and to create its present races of man,' animals, and plants, and compare this with geological inferences relating to periods anterior to man, we shall find two conclusions inevitable; first that there is no word in the Scripture narrative which limits in any way the inferences or even the speculations of geology, with reference to those periods; secondly, that nothing can ever be learned about those periods by human labour except in the way of geological induction.” Having thus freed the study from the charges brought against it, and pointed out the only method of obtaining information on this subject of all-absorbing interest, he proceeds to the " enquiry which relates to races of animals and plants, not only anterior to man, but even to the elevation of most parts of our continents from beneath the waters of the ocean." In this enquiry he goes fully, though briefly, into the "geological distribution of organic remains," and other branches connected with the science, but which we have not space to pursue. We cannot conclude without recommending the work as a complete manual of the science. TOBACCO. It appears from a proclamation of the Emperor Jehangire, mentioned by that prince in his own memoirs, that tobacco was introduced by Europeans into India at the beginning of the seventeenth century, during the reign of his father Aẹber. The Hindoo and Sanscrit names of the plant appear to be corruptions of the European denomination. The practice, however, of inhaling the smoke of hemp leaves and other intoxicating drugs was already ancient; and hence the new plant soon came into very general use, and is now cultivated every where in Hindostan. The maund of eighty pounds sells at Calcutta for ten shillings. WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL? O! TELL me what is beautiful, I pray thee, mother kind! |