whole soul, and fill me with awe and astonishment, causing me to exclaim, as I involuntarily did, Marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty!

After ascending from the navigation mine, I attempted to go up the front of one of the mountains, with the double purpose of obtaining a view of the valley from an elevated point, and of reaching the ancient castle. But my labour proved fruitless; the mountain, which from the valley seemed not difficult to ascend, proved to be exceedingly steep. I toiled on, two thirds of the way up, still finding it steeper and steeper, and still resolved not to relinquish my purpose; in the mean time it grew dark, with the decay of twilight, and I was suddenly enveloped in mist and rain; the steep side of the mountain became very slippery ; I fell frequently, and, at length, a deep and abrupt chasm, torn by the floods, completely arrested my progress, and compelled me to make the best of my way down, which I did with no small difficulty. In the midst of darkness and rain, I reached the Castle-Inn, completely drenched, and exhausted with fatigue.

Effects of the modern Diffusion of Knowledge.—
WAYLAND.

IN consequence of this general diffusion of intelligence, nations are becoming vastly better acquainted with the physical, moral and political conditions of each other. Whatever of any moment is transacted in the legislative assemblies of one country is now very soon known, not merely to the rulers, but also to the people, of every other country. Nay, an interesting occurrence of any nature cannot transpire in an insignificant town of Europe or America, without finding its way, through the medium of the national journals, to the eyes and ears of all Christendom. Every man must now be in a considerable degree a spectator of the doings of the world, or he is soon very far in the rear of the intelligence of the day. Indeed, he has only to read a respectable newspaper, and he may be informed of the discoveries in the arts, the discussions in

the senates, and the bearings of public opinion all over the world.

The reasons of all this may chiefly be found in that increased desire of information, which characterizes the mass of society in the present age. Intelligence of every kind, and specially political information, has become an article of profit; and when once this is the case, there can be no doubt that it will be abundantly supplied. Besides this, it is important to remark, that the art of navigation has been within a few years materially improved, and commercial relations have become vastly more extensive. The establishment of packet ships between the two continents has "brought London and Paris as near to us as Pittsburgh and New Orleans. There is every reason to believe, that, within the next half century, steam navigation will render communication between the ports of Europe and America as frequent, and almost as regular, as that by ordinary mails. The commercial houses of every nation are establishing their agencies in the principal cities of every other nation, and thus binding together the people by every tie of interest; while at the same time they are furnishing innumerable channels, by which information may be circulated among every class of the community.

Hence it is, that the moral influence which nations are exerting upon each other, is greater than it has been at any antecedent period in the history of the world. The institutions of our country are becoming known, almost of necessity, to every other country. Knowledge provokes to comparison, and comparison leads to reflection. The fact that others are happier than themselves prompts men to inquire whence this difference proceeds, and how their own melioration may be accomplished. By simply looking upon a free people, an oppressed people instinctively feel that they have inalienable rights; and they will never afterwards be at rest, until the enjoyment of these rights is guarantied to them. Thus one form of government, which in any pre-eminent degree promotes the happiness of man, is gradually but irresistibly disseminating the principles of its constitution, and, from the very fact of its existence, calling into being those trains of thought, which must

in the end revolutionize every government within the sphere of its influence, under which the people are oppressed.

And thus is it that the field, in which mind may labour, has now become wide as the limits of civilization. A doctrine advanced by one man, if it have any claim to interest, is soon known to every other man. The movement of one intellect now sets in motion the intellects of millions. We may now calculate upon effects, not upon a state or a people, but upon the melting, amalgamating mass of human nature. Man is now the instrument which genius wields at its will; it touches a chord of the human heart, and nations vibrate in unison. And thus he who can rivet the attention of a community upon an elementary principle hitherto neglected in politics or morals, or who can bring an acknowledged principle to bear upon an existing abuse, may, by his own intellectual might, with only the assistance of the press, transform the institutions of an empire or a world.

In many respects the nations of Christendom collectively are becoming somewhat analogous to our own Federal Republic. Antiquated distinctions are breaking away, and local animosities are subsiding. The common people of different countries are knowing each other better, esteeming each other more, and attaching themselves to each other by various manifestations of reciprocal good will. It is true, every nation has still its separate boundaries, and its individual interests; but the freedom of commercial intercourse is allowing those interests to adjust themselves to each other, and thus rendering the causes of collision of vastly less frequent occurrence. Local questions are becoming of less, and general questions of greater importance. Thanks be to God, men have at last begun to understand the rights, and feel for the wrongs, of each other. Mountains interposed do not so much make enemies of nations. Let the trumpet of alarm be sounded, and its notes are now heard by every nation, whether of Europe or America. Let a voice, borne on the feeblest breeze, tell that the rights of man are in danger, and it floats over valley and mountain, across continent and ocean, until it has vibrated on the ear of the remotest dweller in Christendom. Let the arm of oppression be raised to crush the feeblest nation on earth, and there will be heard every

where, if not the shout of defiance, at least the deep-toned murmur of implacable displeasure. It is the cry of aggrieved, insulted, much-abused man. It is Human Nature waking in her might from the slumber of ages, shaking herself from the dust of antiquated institutions, girding herself for the combat, and going forth conquering and to conquer; and wo unto the man, wo unto the dynasty, wo unto the party, and wo unto the policy, on whom shall fall the scath of her blighting indignation.

The Love of human Estimation.-BUCKMINSTER.

Is it true that a passion of such powerful and various operation, as that we have now been considering, is no where recommended in Scripture as a motive of action? Are we no where referred to the opinion of the world, no where expostulated with from a regard to reputation? Are there no appeals made by any of the messengers of God's will to our sense of shame, to our pride, to our ambition, to our vanity? Certain it is that such appeals are at least rarely to be met with. Our Saviour, indeed, seems to have thought it hazardous, in any degree, to encourage a regard to the opinion of the world as a motive to action, because, however advantageous might be its operation in some instances, where a higher principle was wanting, still the most casual recommendation of a sentiment so natural, so seducing, and so universal, would have been liable to perpetual misconstruction and abuse.

Indeed, no man can read the discourses of our Saviour, or of his apostles, without observing how utterly they are at war with the spirit of self-aggrandizement. Perhaps, however, you may expect, that I should refer you to ex amples where this temper is clearly censured or punished What think you, then, of the history of Herod Agrippa? "On a set day," says the historian, "Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto the people. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God

emn.

gave up the

the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and ghost." I make no comments on this story. It is too solThink only, if such was the punishment of a man for accepting the idolatrous flattery offered him, can they be guiltless in the eyes of Heaven, who cannot live but upon the honey of adulation, and whose whole life is but a continual series of contrivances to gain the favour of the multitude, a continual preference of the glory of themselves to the glory of their Creator? Is not this example of the requisitions of the Gospel sufficient? Read then the dreadful woes denounced against the Jewish rulers, not merely because they did not receive our Saviour, nor merely because they were continually meditating his destruction; but because they did all their works to be seen of men.

But as nothing, perhaps, is gained in point of practical improvement, by pushing these principles of indifference to the world to an extreme, or in declaiming indiscriminately against any prevailing sentiment of extensive influence, before we consider the restrictions under which the love of fame should be laid in the mind of a Christian, we will, as we proposed, endeavour to ascertain, and candidly to allow, all those advantages, which may result from this regard to the opinion of others, when more pure and evangelical motives are either wanting or not sufficiently established.

Here, then, we will allow, that much of the real as well as fictitious excellence, which has adorned the world, may be traced, in some degree, to the principle of emulation. We allow, that it calls forth the energies of the young mind; that it matures in our colleges and schools some of the earliest products of youthful capacity; and that it offers incalculable aid to the lessons and to the discipline of instructers. When we look at our libraries, we can hardly find a volume, which does not, in a measure, owe its appearance to the love of fame. When we gaze on the ruins of ancient magnificence, or the rare remains of ancient skill, we are obliged to confess, that we owe these to the influence of emulation. Nay, more, when we read the lives of great men, and are lost in wonder at their astonishing intellectual supremacy, we are compelled to acknowledge, that for this we are partly indebted to the love