THE CHRISTIAN'S GLORY.

The Christian does not pray to be delivered from glory, but from vain-glory. He also is ambitious of glory, and a candidate for honor; but glory, in whose estimation? honor, in whose judgment? Not of those, whose censures can take nothing from his innocence; whose approbation can take nothing from his guilt; whose opinions are as fickle as their actions, and their lives as transitory as their praise; who cannot search his heart, seeing that they are ignorant of their own. The Christian then seeks his glory in the estimation, and his honor in the judgment of Him alone, Who,

"From the bright Empyrean where he sits,

High throned above all height, casts down his eye,
His own works, and man's works at once to view."

ANCIENT SEPULCHRES.*

Our view from the summit of the hill was really splendid; beneath us lay the barren, rocky island, with scarce a tree to diversify its monotonous cliffs, and beyond it the broad expanse of the Adalian Gulf, with its countless islands and glittering silvery waves; while on either side extended the towering shores of Karamania. Of the ancient city of Megiste the perfect circuit of the walls can still be traced, enclosing a space of nearly half a mile in circumference.

The vestiges of this forsaken city are now abandoned to the winds and the beasts of prey. They stretch in loneliness along the deserted beach; and amidst the ruins of lofty walls, proud theatres, and gorgeous temples, a few miserable huts, inhabited by grovelling serfs, alone give life to the scene of desolation. The roadstead in which it is situated, is known by the name of Port Piandouri; and a narrow tongue

"Letters from the Egean, by James Emerson, Esq." is the title of an 8vo. volume published by the Messrs. Harpers, of this city. This work is one of general interest. It gives a much better idea of ancient and modern customs in the Levant, illustrative of mysterious passages of scripture, than any other work of the kind we have ever met with. It ought to be in the hands of at least every clergyman and biblical student.

of land stretching out from the shore, divides the line of the coast into two commodious harbors, called Vathi and Sevedo, at the junction of which the few habitations I have mentioned, now shelter the population of Antiphellus, while the fallen edifices and mouldering tombs of their ancestors stretch far along the level shore.

As our boat grounded on the strand, some three or four of them came down to meet us; they appeared poor, and miserable, and naked; but, alas, as Nehemiah said unto Ahasuerus, why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth waste? As we drew near to the land, the first objects which were visible were the remnants of the ancient terrace which repelled the sea, and the ruins of a theatre on an eminence above the shore; on coming closer still, the tombs became gradually more and more distinct, while their gloomy aspect and melancholy association served to increase the sombre dreariness of the scene.

On landing, we proceeded first to the examination of these singular, and in many instances beautiful sepulchres. They are principally situated above Port Sevedo, and are formed out of the rock of the coast, or constructed with materials found on the spot, being a sort of limestone approaching to marble, with a slight yellow tint, save where it has assumed a grayish hue, and the surface has become corroded from the effects of time and the siroccos. They are of two kinds, either built upon the surface, or hollowed from the face of the cliff.

The former are not by any means so numerous as the latter, but are in many instances of extremely elegant design, though the workmanship, especially in the ornaments and mouldings, is by no means equal to the conception of the arts. Their form is that of a parallelogram, of seven feet long inside, by three feet wide. This is cut from one block of stone, the exterior carved into pilasters to receive inscriptions, many of which are still legible; and we observed a few in which the lower plinth was chiselled from the native rock

which was levelled to receive the superstructure. The coverings, which have, with very few exceptions, been all removed, were likewise formed from one single block, shaped into a lancet arch, each end decorated with a wreath, and the sides with lions' heads projecting very boldly from the surface.

In some, the two ends are formed like doors with sunk panels, one of which is generally open, by which access has been gained to the interior: and from the holes for hinges and fastenings, there can be no doubt of doors having been once attached to them; but in others no aperture whatever is visible, and the body must have been deposited within ere the ponderous roof was placed upon the sepulchre.-There does not remain one which has not been violated by the curiosity of Europeans or the avarice of the Moslemen, who expect in such monuments to discover the gold reputed to have been enclosed along with the remains of the deceased; all, without exception, have been opened and plundered of their contents.-These repositories of dust are pretty numerous, and in some instances (perhaps those of relatives) are placed side by side; but it does not appear to have been an object to produce a general effect by their location, or to arrange them in streets as at Pompeii, though such a design might perhaps have been rendered impossible by the unevenness of the surrounding soil.

THE MICROSCOPE.

The invention of the microscope must have been almost necessarily coeval with that of the telescope, depending, as they do, on principles so nearly allied; and it is clear from Friar Bacon's Works that he was not less acquainted with the one than with the other. It was first brought into use in more recent times by the same Jansen of Middleburgh, to whom Borellus ascribes the invention of the telescope. Jansen presented the first microscope he constructed, to Prince Maurice, from whom it passed into the hands of Albert, Archduke of Austria. William Borrell, who gives this

account in a letter to his brother Peter, says, that when he was ambassador in England, in 1619, Cornelius Drebell showed him a microscope which he said had been given to him by the Archduke, and was the same Jansen himself had made. Many of those who purchase microscopes are so little acquainted with their general and extensive usefulness, and so much at a loss for objects to examine by them, that after diverting their friends some few times with what they find in the slides which generally accompany the instrument, or perhaps with two or three common objects, the microscope is laid aside, as of little further virtue; whereas no instrument has yet appeared in the world capable of affording so constant, various, and satisfactory entertainment to the mind. Of this, a recent observer has furnished us with the following very curious particulars. On examining the edge of a very keen razor by the microscope, it appeared as broad as the back part of a very thick knife; rough, uneven, full of notches and furrows, and so far from any thing like sharpness, that an instrument so blunt as this seemed to be, would not serve even to cleave wood. An exceedingly small needle being also examined, the point thereof appeared above a quarter of an inch in breadth, not round nor flat, but irregular and unequal; and the surface, though extremely smooth and bright to the naked eye, seemed full of ruggedness, holes, and scratches. In short, it resembled an iron bar out of a smith's forge. But the sting of a bee viewed through the same instrument showed every where a polish amazingly beautiful, without the least flaw, blemish, or inequality, and ended in a point too fine to be discerned. A small piece of very fine lawn, appeared from the large distances or holes between its threads, somewhat like a hurdle or a lattice, and the threads themselves seemed somewhat coarser than the yarn with which the ropes are made for anchors. Some Brussels lace, worth five pounds a yard, looked as if it were made of a thick, rough, uneven hair line, and twisted, fastened or clotted together in a very clumsy manner. But a silkworm's web being examined, appeared perfectly smooth and

shining, every where equal, and as much finer than any thread the finest spinster in the world ever made, as the smallest twine is finer than the thickest cable. A pod of this silk being wound off, it was found to contain nine hundred and thirty yards; but it is proper to take notice, that as two threads are glued together by the worm through its whole length, it makes really double the above number, or one thousand eight hundred and sixty yards; which being weighed with the utmost exactness, were found no heavier than two grains and a half.

What an exquisite fineness was here! and yet this is nothing when compared to the web of a small spider, or even with the silk that is issued from the mouth of this very worm when but newly hatched from the egg. Let us examine things with a good microscope, and we shall be immediately convinced, that the utmost power of art is only a concealment of deformity, an imposition upon our want of sight, and that our admiration of it arises from our ignorance of what it really is. This valuable discovery will prove the most boasted performances of art to be ill-shaped, rugged, and uneven, as if they were hewn out with an axe, or struck out with a mallet and chisel; it will show bungling inequality and imperfections in every part, and that the whole is disproportionate and monstrous. Our finest miniature paintings appear before this instrument as mere daubings, plastered on with a trowel, and entirely void of beauty, either in the drawing or the coloring. Our most shining varnishes, our smoothest polishings, will be found to be mere roughness, full of gaps and flaws. Such are the works of man compared with those of his Maker.

THE ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY OF NATIONS.

OF THE GRECIAN MONARCHY.

We shall now recite the most memorable facts recorded of those states of Greece which flourished in what is usually termed the Third Monarchy, beginning with Athens as the most eminent. It has already been