crew, through whose inhumanity he was doomed to perish. Of this sorrowful narra. tive, we extract the following from the Edinburgh Cabinet Library.

"The expanse thus discovered by Hudson was the great inland sea, called from him Hudson's Bay; and it was a grand discovery, though not exactly what he imagined. The 3d of August was now arrived, a season at which the boldest of northern navigators had been accustomed to think of returning. Little inclined to such a course, he continued to sail along the coast on the left, which must have appeared to him the western boundary of America; hoping probably before the close of autumn to reach some cultivated and temperate shore, where he might take up his winter-quarters. The shores along this bay, however, though not in a very high latitude, are subject to a climate the most rigorous and inclement. Entangled in the gulfs and capes of an unknown coast, struggling with mist and storm, and ill seconded by a discontented crew, he spent three months without reaching any comfortable haven. It was now the 1st of November, the ice was closing in on all sides, and nothing remained but to meet the cheerless winter, which had actually begun. The sailors were too late of attempting to erect a wooden house; yet the cold, though severe, does not seem to have reached any perilous height. Their chief alarm respected provisions, of which they had brought only a six months' supply, and consequently had now only a small remnant left. Hudson took active measures to relieve this want. He carefully husbanded the original stock, and propounded a reward to whoever should kill beast, fish, or bird; and Providence dealt mercifully, in sending such a supply of white partridges, that in three months they killed a hundred dozen. In spring these birds disappeared, but were succeeded by flocks of geese, swans, ducks, and teal, not denizens of the spot, but on their flight from south to north. When these were passed, the air no longer yielded a supply, but the sea began to open, and having on the first day taken five hundred fishes of tolerable size, they conceived good hopes; but this success did not continue. Being reduced to great extremity, they searched the woods for moss, which they compare, however, to pounded timber: they ate even frogs. The commander undertook an excursion with a view to open an intercourse with the natives, but they fled, setting fire even to the woods behind them. Parley was obtained with one, who was loaded with gifts, yet he never returned. Discontents arose as to the distribution of the small remaining portion of

6

bread and cheese, to allay which the captain made a general and equal partition of the whole. This was a bad measure among such a crew, many of whom knew not how to govern their share,' but greedily devoured it as long as it lasted. One man even ate the whole in a day, and brought on a dangerous surfeit. Their distress, becoming thus greater than ever, soon brought on a most fatal crisis.

"Hudson, as may be observed, had from the first to struggle with an unprincipled, illtempered crew, void of any concern for the ultimate success of the voyage. He had probably hoped, as the season should advance, to push on southwards, and reach next summer the wealthy regions which he was commissioned to search. The sailors, on the contrary, had fixed their desires on the cape where fowls do breed,' the only place where they expected to obtain both present supply and the means of returning to England. Ringleaders were not wanting to head this growing party of malcontents. At the entrance of the bay the captain had displaced Ivet the mate, who had shown strong propensities towards returning, and appointed in his room Bylot, a man of merit, and who had always shown zeal in the general cause. He had also changed the boatswain. But the most deadly blow was struck by Green, a wretch whom, after he had been cast off by all his friends, Hudson, from humanity, had taken on board, and endeavoured to reclaim and restore to society. He was possessed of talents which had made him useful, and even a favourite with his superior; and among other discontents, it was reckoned one, that a veil was thrown over several flagrant disorders of which he had been guilty. Yet some hot expressions of Hudson, caused, it is said, by a misunderstanding about the purchase of a grey coat, so acted on the fierce spirit of this ruffian, that, renouncing every tie of gratitude, and all that is sacred among mankind, he became the chief in a conspiracy to seize the vessel and expose the commander to perish.

"After some days' consultation, the time was fixed for the perpetration of this horrible atrocity. On the 21st June, 1611, Green, and Wilson the boatswain, came into Pricket the narrator's cabin, and announced their fatal resolution; adding, that they bore him so much good-will as to wish that he should remain on board. Pricket avers most solemnly, that he exhausted every argument which might induce them to desist from their horrid purpose, beseeching them not to do so foul a thing in the sight of God and man, and which would for ever banish them from their native country, their wives and

children. Green wildly answered, that they had made up their minds to go through with it or die, and that they would rather be hanged at home than starve here. An attempt was then made to negotiate a delay of three, two, or even one day, but all without effect. Ivet came next, of whom, as being a person of mature age, there seemed more hope; but he was worse than Green, declaring that he would justify in England the deed on which they had resolved. John Thomas and Michael Perce now came in, proving themselves birds of a feather,' and Moter and Bennet having followed, an oath was administered to the following tenor:--'You shall swear truth to God, your prince, and country; you shall do nothing but to the glory of God and the good of the action in hand, and harm to no man.' Pricket complains of the reproach thrown upon him for having taken this oath, the bare terms of which are certainly unexceptionable; but the dark context by which they were illustrated marks them as containing an implied obligation to remain at least passive on this dreadful occasion. All was now ready, but Pricket persuaded them to delay till daylight the accomplishment of their crime. They agreed, but kept strict watch through the night, and held themselves ready to act at the first appearance of dawn.

"Daybreak approaching, Hudson came out of his cabin, when he was instantly set upon by Thomas, Bennet, and Wilson, who seized him, and bound his hands behind his back; and on his eagerly asking what they meant, told him he should know when he was in the shallop. Ivet then attacked King the carpenter, known as the commander's most devoted adherent. That brave fellow, having a sword, made a formidable resistance, and would have killed his assailant, had not the latter been speedily reinforced. The mutineers then offered to him the choice of continuing in the ship; but he absolutely refused to be detained otherwise than by force, and immediately followed his master, whom the conspirators were already letting down the sides of the vessel into the shallop. Then, with a barbarity beyond all example, they called from their beds, and drove into it, not the firm adherents of Hudson, but the sick and infirm sailors who could afford no aid, and whose support would have been burdensome. They threw after them the carpenter's box, with some powder and shot. Scarcely was this transaction completed, when they cut off the boat from the stern, 'out with their topsail,' and set off, flying as from an enemy. Hudson, thus abandoned, was never heard of more; and this great navigator undoubtedly perished on those

remote and desolate shores, though the form or duration of the distress to which he fell a victim must be for ever unknown.

The sailors, as soon as the guilty deed was accomplished, fell upon the ship as on a captured vessel, breaking open every chest, and seizing on every remnant of food which could be discovered. Green, however, who now assumed the command, used some vigour in restoring order. He placed the cabin and provisions under the charge of Pricket, who was afterwards accused of a matter no less than treason,-that of secreting some cakes of bread. As soon as the mutineers had time to reflect, rueful musings began to arise. Even Green admitted that England at this time was no place for them, nor could he contrive any better scheme than to keep the high sea till, by some means or other, they might procure a pardon under his majesty's hand and seal. The vessel was now embayed, and detained for a fortnight amid fields of ice, which extended for miles around it; and, but for some cockle-grass found on an island, the crew must have perished by famine. Considerable disputes with respect to the steerage arose between Ivet and Bylot, who alone had any pretensions to skill; but the latter, being justly viewed with the greatest confidence, at length guided them to Cape Digges, the longed-for spot, the breeding-place of fowls, clouds of which accordingly continued still to darken the air. The party immediately landed, spread themselves among the rocks, and began to shoot. While the boat was on shore, they saw seven canoes rowing towards them, whereupon they prepared themselves for all assayes.' However, the savages came forward, beating their breasts, dancing and leaping, with every familiar and friendly sign. The utmost intimacy commenced, the parties went back and forward, showed each other their mode of catching fowls, and made mutual presents and exchanges. In short, these appeared the most kind and simple people in the world, and God so blinded Henry Green,' that he viewed them with implicit confidence. One day, amid the height of this intimacy, Pricket, sitting in the boat, suddenly saw a man's leg close to him. Raising up his head, he perceived a savage with a knife uplifted and ready to strike. In attempting to arrest the blow, his hand was cut, and he could not escape three wounds, one in the breast, and one in the right thigh; by which time he got hold of the handle of the knife, and wrenched it from the assassin, whom he then pierced with his dagger in the left side. At the same time a general attack was made on the English crew, dispersed in different quar

ters. Green and Perse came tumbling down wounded into the boat, which pushed off, while Moter, seeing this medley,' leaped into the sea, swam out, and, getting hold of the stern, was pulled in by Perse. Green now cried coragio, and he and Perse brandished their weapons with such vigour, that the savages ceased attempting to enter the boat; but they poured in clouds of arrows, one of which struck Green with such force, that he died on the spot, and his body was thrown into the sea. At length the party reached the vessel; but Moter and Wilson died that day, and Perse two days after. Thus perished the chief perpetrators of the late dreadful tragedy, visited by Providence with a fate not less terrible than that which they had inflicted on their illustrious and unfortunate victim.

"The crew, thus deprived of their best hands were in extreme perplexity, obliged to ply the ship to and fro across the straits, and unable, without the utmost fear and peril, to venture on shore; which yet was absolutely necessary for obtaining provisions to carry them to England. They contrived, during some anxious and unhappy excursions, to collect three hundred birds, which they salted and preserved as the only stock whereupon to attempt the voyage. They suffered, during the passage, the most dreadful extremities of famine, allowing only half a fowl a day to each man, and considering it a luxury to have them fried with candles, of which a weekly distribution was made for that purpose. Ivet, now the sole survivor of the ringleaders in the late dreadful transaction, sunk under these privations. The last fowl was in the steep-tub, and the men were become careless or desperate, when suddenly it pleased God to give them sight of land, which proved to be the north of Ireland. They complain that, on going ashore at Berehaven, they did not meet the sympathy and kindness which they so much needed; however, by mortgaging their vessel, they obtained the means of proceeding to Plymouth."

ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF EGYPT.

MR. EDITOR,

SIR,-You will herewith receive what I am persuaded must prove very agreeable to most of your readers. It is the outline, or analysis, of the history of Egypt, projected by the late learned Dr. White, professor of Arabic in the university of Oxford. The manuscript was found among the papers of the Rev. Samuel Badcock, who, as is well known, assisted the professor materially in the composition of his far-famed Bampton 2D. SERIES, NO. 3.-VOL. I.

Lectures. Mr. Badcock was also engaged to bear a principal part in the proposed Egyptian History, but death interposed, and the work never appeared. J. W.

THERE is no doubt of the great antiquity of Egypt, as a regular empire, and every thing conspires to shew that it was the first country of the world which was improved. It is to be considered, then, as the mother of civilization; as the scene in which the powers of the human mind first began to display themselves in the foundation of government, the acquisition of knowledge, and the investigation of truth. It is therefore a curious and important inquiry what are the causes which have conferred on Egypt this singular distinction, and given it the lead in the history of human improvements. These causes may perhaps be found in the nature of the country itself.

However doubtful it may be where the remnant of the human race settled after the deluge, it seems in general to be admitted that it was somewhere in Arabia.-Description of the soil and climate of Arabia: Particularly adapted to pasturage; not so to agriculture, from the want of water. The same want naturally rendered the inhabitants migratory, for the supply of their flocks, &c. In such a situation could not increase fast. Extensive territories were necessary for the subsistence of small hordes, and not communities of any extent. From these causes, their improvement must have been slow, and their progress short. The knowledge which their state demanded was soon acquired. Their cares were confined to the charge of their flocks; and as their soil and climate offered them no other manner of subsistence, their invention was naturally confined within that narrow sphere. No divisions of rank, or great inequalities of fortune, could take place. The science of government, therefore, must have remained unknown, and the form of it naturally continued in that patriarchal state in which it is at first found.-Illustration of this from the modern state of the Arabians: The description of their ancestors in the books of Moses, is still applicable to them, and, after the lapse of so many ages, they seem to have advanced little from that state of nature in which we first find them. While men, therefore, remained in this climate, and under these circumstances, it was impossible that they should make any material advances in civilization.

It is now, also, impossible to trace what were the causes which led them from Arabia into Egypt,-whether war, or conquest, or, what is most probable, their natural disposition to migration.

R

Whatever it was,

147.-VOL. XI.

great difference appeared, in the nature of the country, from that which they had formerly inhabited. Description of the soil and climate, &c. of Egypt.-Of the Nile and its phenomena: This country ill suited to the pastoral state, from the overflowing of the river, but favourable peculiarly to agriculture. Impossible that they should not perceive the fruitfulness of the soil, and the supply it afforded for the wants of men. Agriculture rendered them stationary; introduced the idea of property in land; afforded the means of subsistence to a far greater number of men than the same portion of territory in pasturage.

The increase of population led to the division of employments, and opened a wide field for invention in the arts. Hence, the foundation of cities, the division of ranks, (introduced by the inequalities of property), the beginning of commerce, and the great outlines of regular government. While the rest of the inhabitants of the globe, in this early period, were wandering in hordes through Arabia, the citizens of Egypt were led, by the nature of their soil and climate, to establish themselves in a fixed territory, to cultivate the ground, instead of living by their flocks; and in consequence of this difference of situation and employment, were gradually advancing in improvement, in population, in subordination, and in laying the foundations of future greatness. Egypt was, therefore, naturally the mother-country of improvement, because it was the country which first led men to settle; in which agriculture was first practised; in which the number and the diversities of property among men, first called for the establishment of regular government; and in which the extent of population first gave rise to the various arts which an extensive population requires. The nature of the climate and soil of Egypt may therefore be considered as the cause of its being the mother of civilization, and of its taking the lead in the history of human improvements.

Though we can thus perhaps, with some probability, assign the cause of the early civilization of Egypt, yet we are altogether at a loss when we inquire into the period when this improvement began. The first ages of the history of this country are covered with impenetrable darkness; and so far from being able to trace the progress of improvement in it, the first credible accounts which are come down to us, commence with the period of its greatest refinement. We say, the first credible accounts, because there are not wanting writers, who ascribe to Egypt an antiquity utterly incredible.— Account of the Egyptian claims to antiquity.

Insufficiency of these claims demonstrable. First,-from their total want of coincidence with the universal history of mankind; there being no appearance that the earth was inhabited previous to the time assigned by Moses. Secondly,-from their want of correspondence with our uniform experience of the manner in which population is extended; men being always found to increase in proportion to the means of subsistence, and to spread themselves, in a much shorter portion of time than the Egyptian chronology arrogates, round the common centre from which they sprang. If the Egyptian claims, therefore, were true, the whole earth ought to have been fully peopled many thousand years before the first era of history commences. The real history of the population of the earth, on the contrary, accords perfectly well with the period of the deluge, and affords a strong proof that a more distant æra cannot be Thirdly,-from the history of arts,. sciences, &c. which, upon the Egyptian supposition, ought to have made great progress, and to have been generally diffused among mankind, long before we know that they Fourthly,-from the progress of the Egyptians themselves in the sciences and arts, which, however great, is no more than might naturally have taken place in the long period that intervenes between the æra of the deluge, and the first certain accounts we have from other nations, oft heir policy and institutions. These arguments may be thought sufficiently conclusive against the Egyptian pretensions in particular.

true.

were.

It may still, however, be urged in their favour, that other nations have made the same pretensions; and that, therefore, there is a general concurrence of opinion, which, as it hath prevailed in different ages and in different countries, may be thought to militate against the Mosaic system. It is, therefore, necessary to subjoin a brief confutation of these opinions, which may, perhaps, be classed under these three heads. First,the opinion of those who rest their arguments on ancient records, such as Sanconiatho, Berosus, the Chinese, and Indians. Secondly,-of those who argue from the advanced state of the arts in particular countries, as in Peru. And, Thirdly,-of those who argue from the appearances of nature, as Brydone.

The confutation of these pretensions, and particularly of the Egyptian, supplies a proper basis, in which we may establish the truth of the Mosaic history; and, in the prosecution of this inquiry, we shall find that, as the former betray evident marks of falsehood and imposture, whether we consider

their internal or external evidence, so the latter is recommended by every argument of which the subject is capable.-Summary view of the arguments in favour of the Mosaic æra of the creation and of the deluge.

CREATION.-NO. II.

IN essay No. 1, page 15, we left the atoms of this universe in a fluid state, one huge unformed mass in the centre of the system, and upon the face of this vast abyss was darkness; action was being induced therein by the tremulous brooding motion of the Holy Spirit upon its face, and these undulations pervaded all its parts; concocting the whole mass, and inducing therein the energies of activity. It was yet the first day, creation was not completed; the matter already called into existence was inert and opaque, its only motion arose out of the im. mediate action of the Holy Spirit upon and within it, and chaotic darkness pervaded the universe. An energetic agent was lacking; one which in the hands of the Creator would become the spirit of this inert matter, giving and continuing thereto consistence and action. Infinite wisdom beheld no such agent amidst the matter which omnipotent power had already created; or, doubtless, such is the economy of the Infinite in all His works, He would have called it forth-and therefore recourse is had to a new creation.

Elohim pronounced, "Let the light be, and the light was!" The word is spoken, and, like a flash of lightning, the light stands forth. How wonderful is this! how sublime! This first recorded speech bursts upon us from the great Master of the sentences, with a solemnity which has excited astonishment throughout the ages of time, and which will continue to excite astonishment until time is no more. Once begun, the omnific word ceases not, until creation in all its lovely forms is hailed in "beauty and perfection!" Thus rescued from the abyss of chaotic darkness, creation amidst its first day arises, robed in light, while beams of glory, shed from its present GOD, crown it with a radiance erewhile unknown.

Light, unlike the atoms of the universe, which in their primitive state were crude and chaotic, was created perfect; for, on an immediate survey, Elohim pronounced it to be "beautifully perfect." This inestimable substance is an independent essence, distributed throughout the universe in the richest plenitude; it is every thing which we call calorific-fire, in all its modes of light, of heat, of combustion, of disseveration, of association, of genial warmth, and of invigorating and renovating power.

Hydrogen gas, a substance included in the first creation, is the lightest of all ponderable matter; but here we have a substance separately and distinctly created, so exquisitely subtile, that of its specific gravity we are utterly incapable of taking the least cognizance: we cannot, therefore, compare it with hydrogen, nor indeed with any portion of ponderable matter, because we can neither analyze its substance, nor construct a test so to act upon it in mass, as to cause its real nature to stand confest before us; and the word by which it is expressed in the sacred volume, although it frequently occurs, is no where expressive of the essence, but always of the properties, of this universal substance, viz. light, heat, fire, &c. Light was the first distinct entity in the creation; and its entity at this moment is as distinct as it was on the first day.

The beauty of light transcends every other substance in creation; and the decomposition of its rays by liquids, or transparent solids, such as rain on forming the rainbow, a prism on separating the rays, &c. forms objects splendid in the extreme. Indeed, almost, if not all the objects in creation, animate and inanimate, are beautiful or not, in accordance with the action and decomposition of the rays of light upon their several surfaces. Light is therefore the crown of matter, the grandeur of visible creation, and, although faint, an emblem of that glory which surrounds the throne of Him who created all. The velocity of light is inconceivable; 200,000 miles in a second of time, is stated to be the rate of its flight from the sun to our sphere; and in electric experiments, no lapse of time can be observed between its entrance upon, and exit from, a wire of great length; the experiment has been made along a wire of even three miles in length, but no perceptible time elapsed during the passage of the flame from end to end.

It is to us, who are incarnated in, and surrounded by matter, while all our organs are material, and we can only receive and communicate through the medium of material agency, it is to us, I say, inconceivable how spirit, whose essence is spiritual, can act instantaneously and with such rapidity upon gross matter of immense bulk and correspondent density with such amazing effect as we know it really does. But, whoever has attended experiments in electricity upon a large scale, and beheld the instant rush of that powerful emblem of spirit, light; or whoever has coolly surveyed the progress of, and critically examined the devastations wrought by thunder-storms, will not easily divest himself of that awe which ever accom