only the powers of locomotion and sensation, but also those admirable faculties which constitute the instincts of animals, and, in the case of man, culminate in reason and conscience. How numerous and marvellous are the instincts of the lower animals! They have instincts for self-sustenance; instincts for self-defence; instincts for the production and support of their offspring; instincts of migration, of nest-building, of incubation, of gregariousness: and some of them, as the domestic dog and horse, exhibit acquired as well as original instincts, which in a generation or two become hereditary.

Immense as is the number of plants, the number of animals is far greater. Every spot of earth, every tree, every leaf, every bunch of seaweed, every drop of water, is peopled with living inhabitants. "Everywhere," says Humboldt, "even near the icebound poles, the air resounds with the song of birds, and with the busy hum of insects." In fact, creation, throughout all its departments, swarms with living beings; and while some of the countless myriads are so large that man is but a pigmy in comparison, others are so diminutive that even the microscope fails to reveal them to our senses.

These Three Kingdoms of Nature are closely connected and mutually dependent. The inorganic kingdom supports the vegetable, and the vegetable kingdom is essential to the existence and development of the animal. The animal kingdom, again, exhibits within itself a chain of dependence and development in the gradual modification of the nervous system from the zoophyte up to man. "Thus," as Dr Struthers finely remarks, "the whole scheme of nature may be likened to a pyramid in three successive zones towering upwards to a summit, on the top of which is placed a human brain, the habitation of mind-there fitly placed as the connecting link between the material and mortal below, and the spiritual and immortal above." Compiled.

THE VISION OF MIRZA.

On the fifth day of the moon, which I always keep holy, after having washed myself and offered up my morning de

votions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdad, in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer. As I was airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on the vanity of human life; and passing from one thought to another, "Surely," said I, 66 man is but a shadow, and life a dream." Whilst I was thus musing, the Genius who haunts the mountain came to me, and taking me by the hand, said, with a look of compassion and affability, "Mirza, I have heard thee in thy soliloquies; follow me."

He then led me to the highest pinnacle, and placing me on the top of it, "Cast thy eyes eastward," said he, "and tell me what thou seest." "I see," said I, "a huge valley and a prodigious tide of water rolling through it.”—“ The valley that thou seest," said he, "is the Vale of Misery, and the tide of water that thou seest is part of the great Tide of Eternity."-" What is the reason," said I, “that the tide I see rises out of a thick mist at one end, and again loses itself in a thick mist at the other?"—" What thou seest," said he, "is that portion of Eternity which is called Time, measured out by the sun, and reaching from the beginning of the world to its consummation. Examine now this sea, and tell me what thou discoverest in it.""I see a bridge," said I, "standing in the midst of the tide."—"The bridge thou seest," said he, "is human Life; consider it attentively." Upon a more leisurely survey of it, I found that it consisted of threescore and ten entire arches, with several broken arches, which, added to those that were entire, made up the number about an hundred. As I was counting the arches, the Genius told me that this bridge consisted at first of a thousand arches, but that a great flood swept away the rest, and left the bridge in the ruinous condition I now beheld it. "But tell me further," said he, "what thou discoverest on it."-"I see multitudes of people passing over it," said I, " and a black cloud hanging on each end of it." As I looked more attentively, I saw several of the passengers dropping through the bridge, into the great tide that flowed underneath it; and upon further examination, perceived there were innumerable

passen

trap-doors that lay concealed in the bridge, which the gers no sooner trod upon but they fell through them into the tide and immediately disappeared. These hidden pitfalls were set very thick at the entrance of the bridge, so that throngs of people no sooner broke through the cloud but many fell into them. They grew thinner towards the middle, but multiplied and lay closer together towards the end of the arches that were entire. There were indeed some persons, but their number was very small, that continued a kind of hobbling march on the broken arches, but fell through one after another, being quite tired and spent with so long a walk.

I passed some time in the contemplation of this wonderful structure, and the variety of objects which it presented; and as I looked, my heart was filled with a deep melancholy. "Alas!" said I, 66 man was made in vain! How is he given away to misery and mortality!" The Genius, being moved with compassion towards me, bid me quit so uncomfortable a prospect. "Look no more," said he, "on man in the first stage of his existence, in his setting out for eternity; but cast thine eye on that thick mist into which the tide bears the several generations of mortals that fall into it." I directed my sight as I was ordered, and (whether or no the good Genius strengthened it with any supernatural force, or dissipated part of the mist that was before too thick for the eye to penetrate) I saw the valley opening at the further end, and spreading forth into an immense ocean, that had a huge rock of adamant running through the midst of it, and dividing it into two equal parts. The clouds still rested on one half of it, insomuch that I could discover nothing in it; but the other appeared to me a vast ocean planted with innumerable islands, that were covered with fruits and flowers, and interwoven with a thousand little shining seas that ran among them. I could see persons dressed in glorious habits, with garlands upon their heads, passing among the trees, lying down by the sides of fountains, or resting on beds of flowers; and could hear a confused harmony of singing birds, falling waters, human voices, and musical instruments. Gladness grew in me upon the discovery of so delightful a

scene. I wished for the wings of an eagle that I might fly away to those happy seats. But the Genius told me that there was no passage to them, except through the gates of death that I saw opening every moment upon the bridge. "The islands," said he, "that lie so fresh and green before thee, are the mansions of good men after death, who, according to the degree and kinds of virtue in which they excelled, are distributed among these several islands, which abound with pleasures suitable to the relishes and perfections of those who are settled in them; every island is a paradise accommodated to its respective inhabitants. Are not these, O Mirza, habitations worth contending for? Does Life appear miserable, that gives thee opportunities of earning such a reward? Is Death to be feared, that will convey thee to so happy an existence? Think not man was made in vain, who has such an eternity reserved for him."

I gazed with inexpressible pleasure on these happy islands. At length, said I, "Show me now, I beseech thee, the secrets that lie hid under those dark clouds which cover the ocean on the other side of the rock of adamant." The Genius making me no answer, I turned about to address myself to him a second time, but I found that he had left me. I then turned again to the vision which I had been so long contemplating, but instead of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and the happy islands, I saw nothing but the long hollow valley of Bagdad, with oxen, sheep, and camels grazing upon the sides of it. ADDISON.

THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE,

NOT a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning,
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light,
And the lantern dimly burning.

No useless coffin enclosed his breast,

Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him;
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest,
With his martial cloak around him.

Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

We thought as we hollowed his narrow bed,
And smoothed down his lonely pillow,

That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
And we far away on the billow!

Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,
And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him,—
But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on
In the grave where a Briton has laid him.

But half of our heavy task was done,

When the clock struck the hour for retiring;
And we heard the distant and random gun
That the foe was sullenly firing.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,

From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone—
But we left him alone with his glory.

WOLFE.

LANGUAGE.

LANGUAGE is the outward medium or vehicle by which men communicate their thoughts one to another. It exists, among all nations, in the form of Spoken Language or Speech; and among civilized nations, in the further form of Written or Printed Language. Spoken Language consists of breath-sounds formed by the human voice, and addressed to the sense of hearing; Written Language, of visible signs of these breath-sounds, addressed to the sense of sight.

The human voice owes its power to a complicated assemblage of organs which act upon the air, and modulate it, as