of the mountain, and a number of considerable tracts have their surface of a brick-red colour; but by far the largest part of this singular collection of mountains is composed of red granite, whose bright and beautiful hues, time and the elements have converted into a dull, reddish brown. Other shades appear in various localities, but I have enumerated those which predominate and control the aspect of the whole. All is dark and gloomy in hue, and sublimely magnificent in altitude and form.

The eye of a spectator upon the top of Sinai ranges over hundreds of these wild, dark masses, which might seem to have been specially formed by the hand of God to be the theatre of his divine manifestations, and to give the highest sanction and effect to the precepts of morality and religion promulgated on Mount Sinai. It is not given us to comprehend the reasons which guided Infinite Wisdom in the choice of circumstances; why the law was delivered in the midst of thunder and earthquakes on Mount Sinai, while the Gospel was promulgated in the simple accents of a mild and persuasive benevolence. We may be sure, however, that these sublime and awful manifestations were wisely adapted to the age, to the dispensation, and to the character and condition of the people. Barbarous, ignorant, debased, and depraved by ages of bondage and grinding oppression, it was necessary, perhaps, to accompany the revelation of the divine will by such displays as should impress most deeply their feelings and imaginations. Hence those exhibitions on the mountain, the sight of which was so terrible, that Moses himself said, "I exceedingly fear and quake." We do no violence to probability by applying this principle upon a broader scale, and supposing that "the great and terrible wilderness," and the no less dreary and savage mountains which it imbosoms, were selected, or even formed, with reference to this great moral effect. No one who duly appreciates the influence of the Decalogue upon the destinies of the human race, can suspect that this magnificent array of circumstances was disproportioned to the importance of the end.-Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land, by the Rev. Stephen Olin, D.D., President of the Wesleyan University.

SENTENCES FOR REFLECTION.

LET thy studies be not so much upon the pleasant and ornamental parts of learning, as the useful; such as may enrich thy thoughts, inform thy judgment, regulate thy life, and fit thee for thy station and business. A man may be a good Divine, Physician, or civilian, and yet may not be very good at a copy of verses, or a mathematical demonstration.

If thou hast done an injury, rather own it than defend it. One way thou doest right, and gainest forgiveness; the other thou doublest the wrong and reckoning. Some oppose

honour to submission; but it can be no true honour to maintain what is dishonourable to do. To confess a fault that is none, out of fear, is indeed mean; but not to be afraid of standing in one, is brutish.

In the discharge of thy place set before thee the best examples; for those are a globe of precepts. And after a time set before thee thine own management, and examine thyself strictly whether thou didst not best at first. Neglect not also examples of those that have carried themselves ill in the same, or like places; not to set off thyself by taxing their miscarriages, but to direct thyself what to avoid.

Instead of labouring in nice learning and intricate sciences, instead of trifling away precious time upon the secrets of nature or mysteries of state, do thou embrace only that which is really and substantially good for thyself. Let thy pains be to moderate thy hopes and fears, to direct and regulate thy passions, to bear all injuries of fortune or men, and to attain the art of contentment: and then thou hast not much more to wish for.

LITERARY ARTICLE.

IT is to the word of God that we must ever refer as the original and direct source from whence a correct and saving acquaintance with divine things is to be derived; and, therefore, as we say, in the language of that word, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding;" so, speaking of that which is the Holy Spirit's great instrument for teaching us wisdom, we say, "The Bible is the principal book;

therefore read the Bible; and with all thy reading, read the Bible." The more we read it, provided we read in a right spirit the more, we shall value it; for not only shall we, by understanding it better, derive more wisdom from it, but likewise see more beauty in it. It will be our companion and friend, as well as our counsellor and guide. They only are tired of the Bible who read it seldom, and thus have little experience of its excellence and goodness. The Psalmist uses words which, to the reflecting mind, open some very remarkable subjects of thought. He not only speaks of the value of the word of God, declaring it to be "more precious than gold; yea, than much fine gold;" but of its sweetness also, "Sweeter also than honey, or the honeycomb." Always, and earnestly, therefore, do we recommend the readers of "The Youth's Instructer to be diligent readers of the holy Scriptures: they are indeed able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And when we are disciples in this school, the principles which we receive will most materially assist us in other studies, and enable us to conduct them aright, and to divert them to their proper end. This will be especially the case in perfecting the study of natural science, by enabling us to connect it with genuine theology, and thus to give it a truly religious character. In studying natural science, we are studying the works of God; and surely we shall best study the works of God, when we possess that true knowledge of God which the Scriptures impart. We are then studying in light, and not only see every object more distinctly, but the connexion between various objects. Nature is before us, comprehensively, as well as in detail.

We have thought that this was particularly the case with those two important branches of science, ASTRONOMY and NATURAL HISTORY.

On the former subject, a volume has been recently published, deserving a place in all family and Sunday-school libraries. The title is,

Astronomy and Scripture; or, some Illustrations of that Science, and of the Solar, Lunar, Stellar, and Terrestrial Phenomena of Holy Writ. 12mo., pp. 398. John Snow.

In addition to the usual information, which, while decidedly scientific, is given in a pleasing and popular style, after every specific statement a chapter is added, for the important purpose of explaining the phenomena connected with the subject to which the statement refers, which are mentioned in the course of the sacred volume. In addition, therefore, to its value as a work on astronomy, that which is derived from its illustration of various passages of Scripture is to be taken into the account. To our juvenile readers we have great pleasure in recommending the volume.

We are likewise glad to see the continuation to the excellent work on Natural History now publishing by Mr. Knight.

The Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature; with Five Thousand Woodcuts. To be completed in Twenty-five Monthly Parts. Folio. C. Knight.

We have now before us Parts I. to VI. The illustrations are splendid, giving, as far as drawings can give, representations of the character and habits, as well as of the form, of the animals described. The letter-press descriptions are unavoidably brief; but they are scientific, and made as interesting as possible. It promises to be one of the best books of reference on the general subject that we possess.

NOTICES OF ANIMATED AND VEGETABLE

NATURE,

FOR SEPTEMBER, 1843.

BY MR. WILLIAM ROGERSON, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

"SEASON of mirth and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruits the vines that round the thatch'd eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel-shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o'erbrimm'd their clammy cells."

THIS is the last month of summer, and the first of autumn; and is usually one of the most charming of the year. The harvest which commenced last month is now completed, and the industry of man is rewarded with the blessing of Heaven. There can be no sight on earth more delightful than the view of an open corn country, when the compact sheaves stand ready for their removal to the farmer's stores; when the loaded waggon moves slowly through the stubble to receive the abundance which lies around it; when the busy gleaners follow its scattered course, to collect the little portion which the custom of the primitive ages has bequeathed to their humble wants.

The first half of the month.—The blackcap, (philomela atricapilla,) the nightingale, (philomela luscinia,) the fauvette, or garden-warbler, (philomela hortensis,) and several other migratory birds, whose sweet songs delighted us during the spring and early part of summer, now bid us adieu, and wing their flight to distant climes, probably the smiling plains of the Delta, in Egypt, &c., where they will pass the autumn and winter in silence, and sparing their musical powers, to favour Britannia's fair isle, when enlivened by the lovely beams of the ensuing spring.

The barbel, the chub, and dace, are now about to leave the weeds, and get into deeper water; the eel descends rivers.

The phalana russula and the saffron butterfly appear; the sulphur butterfly is seen in the bright mornings of this month, flitting about the gay flowers of our gardens. The large green grasshopper is very noisy among reeds, bushes, &c., in the evenings. In the middle of the night, when all is calm and still, the little death-watch (atropos pulsatorius) is heard ticking like a watch, behind pictures, &c., where there is paper. This insect is very common, during the summer months, in all parts of our houses, among furniture, books, &c.: it is of a greyish colour, almost like a louse in appearance, though less in size, and runs very nimbly. Last summer I paid much attention to these insects; and in July I put a number of them into large bags made of strong writingpaper, and gave them pieces of cork, cheese, bread, with some wheat-flour. I made the bags secure so that none of the insects could escape, and there they lived and bred. In October, the weather becoming cold, I placed them on the wall of a warm room, within seven feet of the fire, and one or another of these little creatures kept beating, almost every day, throughout the autumn, winter, and the following spring. The youthful reader, who delights to notice the works of nature, by attending to my plan, may have the pleasure of hearing the watch-like noise of these insects, throughout every month of the year; and thus convince the superstitious around him, that the noise which has been, and is still, to a certain extent, considered supernatural, and an omen of death, is produced by a minute insect striking its head against paper.

China-asters and African marigolds are now leading ornaments, with some chelones and phloxes. The flowering rush, smallage, and the great burnet saxifrage, are now in flower. The convolvuli, or bindweeds, adorn almost every hedge with their milk-white blossoms.

The second half of the month.-"At whatever season we go forth, we shall find that God has been walking abroad before us, beautifying or fertilizing the earth. The little plots of ground that we sow or set with flower-seeds, and fence in with hedges or walls, we call gardens; but nature's garden the world around us. Mountains and moors, forests and fields, prairies, steppes, and deserts, are but the parterres in the wide-spread domain. Here the towering cedar excites our wonder, and there the purple heath-flower equally challenges our admiration with beauty. As September rolls on, the farmer is able to calculate the produce of his broad acres. The squirrel and the dormouse lay up stores for the winter; and thousands of the feathered race prepare for their autumnal voyage across the mighty deep. Hark! the blackbird and thrush are mingling their carols with those of the woodlark, and the grasshopper is heard in the field; and, see! the golden yellow flowers of the ragwort, and the bright red petals of the herb-robert, adorn the banks and hedge-rows. The very air is gladsome."