melancholy sound, like the whistling of a tempest through a ship's rigging at sea. Though thus thick in the trunk, it is not more than fifteen feet high, and its branches are very few."-I. P. Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 293.

THERE stands a lonely tree on Shinar's mount—
No kindred stem the far-spread desert rears;
Scant are its leaves, for spent the juicy fount,
Which fed its being through unnumbered years:
Last of a splendid race that here have stood,
It throws an awful charm o'er ruin's solitude.
Lone tree! thou bear'st a venerable form—
Shrunk, yet majestic in thy late decay,-
For not the havoc of the ruthless storm,

Nor Simoon's blight thus wears thy trunk away;
But time's light wing, through ages long gone past,
Hath gently swept thy side, and wasted thee at last!
Empires have risen-flourished-mouldered down-
And nameless myriads closed life's fleeting dream,
Since thou the peerless garden's height did'st crown,
Which hung in splendor o'er Euphrates' stream:
Fountains, and groves, and palaces, were here,

And fragrance filled the breeze and verdure decked the year.
Here queenly steps in beauty's pride have trod,
Hence Babel's king his boastful survey took,
When to his trembling ear the voice of God
Denouncing woes to come-his spirit shook.--
But all this grace and pomp hath pass'd away,
"Tis now the wondrous story of a distant day.
How wide and far these tracts of chaos spread,
Beyond the circuit of the lab'ring eye!
Where the proud queen of nations raised her head,
But shapeless wrecks and scenes of horror lie;
Glorious and beautiful no more!-her face

Is darkly hid in desolation's stern embrace.

Lorn as the pining widow, who doth bend
In solitary grief o'er some lov'd tomb,
Thy worn and drooping form appears to lend

A mourner's presence, to this scene of doom;

And from thy quivering leaves there breathes a sound,
Of sullen, hopeless wail, for death's wide waste around.

Sole living remnant of Chaldæa's pride!

Reluctant thou dost wear the garb of joy;

Thy heart is withered, strength hath left thy side-
And the green tints time spareth to destroy,
Seem like the hectic flush--which brighter glows,
Upon the sunken cheek, just passing from its woes!
HUGH HUTTON.

FEMALE EDUCATION.

At a time like the present, and in an age of improvement like this, when Christianity is planting its standard on the ruins of paganism and idolatry; when science is throwing open its portals to the entrance of the mighty and the mean-when "man is seeking, through blood and slaughter, his long lost liberty," it is a source of much gratification to perceive the fairer part of creation, whose rights have so long been slumbering in darkness and neglect, beginning to assume to itself the dignity and station in the round of human existence to which nature and reason entitle them.

There are few subjects which draw after them a train of more interesting consequences than female education; no matter whether we view it as relating to the welfare of society at large, or with a tendency to individual happiness, it still presents a claim to our consideration which we should not neglect. Upon the distribution of knowledge depends the stability of our liberties, and where can the seeds of this knowledge be better sown than in the nursery, and whose hand is better calculated to direct the tender scion than that of a mother. The situation in which she is placed by the laws of nature and the rules of human society, of being the constant guardian and companion of youth during the hours of infancy, and the subsequent influence she exerts over her offspring, give her the opportunity and power, of moulding in almost any form her judgment may dictate, and impressing on their minds the first rudiments of education. How important, then, is it, that she should possess the capability of performing this office so necessary in spreading the germs of knowledge. I have never myself given the least credence to the opinion, I sometimes hear expressed, that the female mind is not sufficiently strong to receive the improvement necessary to enable her to discharge this office, or when so improved, it tends to render matrimonial life unhappy. I have always thought that when the female mind enjoyed the same sphere of ob

servation, and the same opportunity of information, it has never yielded supremacy to man.. We have something of evidence of this in all orders of society. The influence which she exerts is powerful, though as silent as the feathered footsteps of time. Where ever man goes, whether he climbs the summits of the Andes, whether he scours the sandy desert, or seeks a home on the restless wave, he feels the charm and yields a silent obedience to the supremacy of its power. Woman was not created to be as a hireling or a slave. Nature has thrown around her attractions and qualifications that fit her for a different sphere. Her path through life, though perhaps it may in some measure lead through "flowery meads and verdant dales," yet it requires all the boasted powers ascribed to men to enable her to " preserve the even tenor of her way." In the discharge of her duties, whatever they may be, they are thronged with the same difficulties, and require the same energy to perform, that attend the pathway of men.

If knowledge has unrolled its ample page to her view-if education has regenerated and enlightened her mind, how "happy would she go on rejoicing in her way." Interest and gratitude speaks to man in a voice which cannot be misunderstood, to the great means of acquiring this knowledge which will yield him so abundant a harvest of profit and pleasure.Their relative dependence, the one upon the other, call for it. The first for her protection and support, the latter for that sweet peace which is only in her power to give. It is from her that all man's joys and pleasures emanate. His fireside is the throne of his happiness, and if ignorance, accompained with the grosser feelings of our nature, spreads its mantle there, how gloomy is the scene. The cultivation of the female intellect cannot detract from the power, influence, or pleasure of man. It will bring no "rival in his kingdom"-it will not render her conversation less agreeable-it will not render her judgement less sure and certain in the management of the domestic affairs of a family-it will not render her less capable to discharge

the duties of a mother in rearing and implanting correct sentiments on those over whom nature has ordered her to be the natural guardian and tutor. When man finds his little all swept from him by repeated misfortune, it will not render her less capable to "sooth his melancholy mind." When he finds himself stretched upon a bed of sickness, certainly knowledge and information, added to the tender feelings of her nature, will not incapacitate her to administer the "balm of Gilead" to his fevered mind.

CABINET OF NATURE.

GENERAL FEATURES of the earth's surface.

In taking a general survey of the external features of the earth, the most prominent objects that strike the eye, are those huge elevations which rise above the level of its general surface, termed HILLS and MOUNTAINS. These are distributed in various forms and sizes, through every portion of the continents and islands; and, running into immense chains, form a sort of connecting band to the other portions of the earth's surface. The largest mountains are generally formed into immense chains, which extend, in nearly the same direction, for several hundreds, and even thousands of miles. It has been observed, by some philosophers, that the most lofty mountains form two immense ridges, or belts, which, with some interruptions, extend around the whole globe, in nearly the same direction. One of these ridges lies between the 45th and 55th degrees of North Latitude. Beginning on the western shores of France and Spain, it extends eastward, including the Alps and the Pyrenees, in Europe, the Uralian and Altaic mountains, in Asiaextending from thence to the shores of Kamtschatka, and, after a short interruption from the sea, they rise again on the western coast of America, and terminate at Canada, near the eastern shore. It is supposed that the chain is continued completely round the globe, through the space that is covered by the Atlantic ocean,

70

General Features of the Earths Surface.

and that the Azores, and other islands in that direction, are the only summits that are visible, till we come to the British isles. The other ridge runs along the Southern hemisphere, between the 20th and 30th degrees of South latitude, of which detached portions are found in the mountains of Tucuman and of Paraguay, in South America,-of Monomotapa and Caffraria, in Africa; in New Holland, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Friendly, the Society, and other islands in the Pacific ocean. From these ridges flows a variety of ramifications, in both hemispheres, towards the Equator, and the Poles, which altogether present a magnificent scenery, which diversifies and enlivens the surface of our globe.

The highest mountains in the world, according to some late accounts published in the "Transactions of the Asiatic Society," are the Himalaya chain, north of Bengal, on the borders of Tibet. The highest mountain in this range is stated to be about 27,000 feet, or a little more than five miles in perpendicular height, and is visible at the distance of 230 miles. Nineteen different mountains in this chain are stated to be above four miles in perpendicular elevation. Next to the Himalayas, are the Andes, in South America, which extend more than 4000 miles in length, from the province of Quito to the straits of Magellan. The highest summit of the Andes, is Chimboracco, which is said to be 20,600 feet, or nearly four miles, above the level of the sea. The highest mountains in Europe, are the Alps, which run through Switzerland and the north of Italy,-the Pyrenees, which separate France from Spain, and the Dofrafeld, which divide Norway from Sweden. The most elevated ridges in Asia, are Mount Taurus, Imaus, Caucausus, Ararat, the Uralian, the Altaian, and the mountains of Japan, -in Africa, Mount Atlas, and the Mountains of the Moon. Some of the mountains in these ranges, are found to contain immense caverns or perforations, of more than two miles in circumference, reaching from their summits to an immeasurable depth into the bow, els of the earth. From these dreadful openings,