TO THE PUBLIC.

much more of the kind as may be necessary to render them complete. It is this principle of systematizing which is a leading characteristic of this work, and which we conceive to be a decided improvement on the various periodicals of the kind.

Undertaking, as we do, to furnish a system of general knowledge, we can on no account consent to dispense with any leading branch of it, how little relish soever some may have for particular subjects. Such individuals should recollect the plan on which our paper is established. They should recollect that the particular branches under consideration are indispensable to the system; that they are useful in their place; and that there are others who will duly appreciate them, and who have a right to expect their insertion in a work like ours. They should recollect that our object is utility, and not the gratification of a vitiated taste, which prefers the fugitive amusement of a tale, to sound classic knowledge.

The great advantages of a systematic course, in a work devoted to general knowledge, cannot fail to be realized by every reader, and to be duly appreciated by a discriminating community. In perusing a desultory work, how excellent soever its various articles may be, a thirst for knowledge is excited, without being gratified. The reader, by the scattering fragments served up to him, is made to realize that there is a plenitude in store, which he nevertheless feels at a loss to know how to attain. He perceives that there is a fund of knowledge somewhere; but he has no conception of its amount, and he feels that he is not in the way to obtain it. Now, the object of this work is to remedy this defect. It is to furnish the reader with a train of knowledge; to give those articles in their place which are generally scattered at random; and to superadd as VOL. II.

1

One consideration more, and we will close.

Every country has its peculiarities and localities; and it is therefore impossible in the nature of things, that a periodical adapted to one country can be adapted to another. There are passing localities which a foreign journal cannot notice in season; and there are localities which ought not to be noticed in such a journal at all, but which, notwithstanding, should receive attention in a domestic one. Good, therefore, as a periodical may be at home, it cannot be what is desirable abroad. Indeed, the better adapted it is to one country, the worse is it fitted to another. No matter how excellent a work may be in itself; it cannot be suited to contrary conditions. An American periodical, detailing our local concerns, and re-publishing from European works what is already common in Europe, would not be remarkably edifying to Europeans: so, on the other hand, a European periodical, imbued with the monarchical spirit, describing its dilapidated old castles and gorgeous palaces," and extolling its aristocratic and Church and State institutions, however it may suit the taste of those for whom it is designed, can never be very edifying to American Republicans; especially when it is considered, that long before its general circulation among us, whatever it contains that is excellent has perchance been extracted, and given to the American community in their own periodicals. To be plain, we must say that the re-publication of foreign periodicals in this country, augurs ill for our intelligence and enterprise. It is a virtual acknowledgment, that there are not among us the means of furnishing ourselves with common information! Are we then semi-barbarians, thus to need illumination from the scattering rays of intellectual light dispensed from foreign climes? We speak not thus from interested motives. Our own publication is now established on a permanent foundation. It is circulating rapidly and extensively, and can be increased in circulation to any desirable extent. Let us have fifty more domestic Magazines, if necessary: so far as we are concerned, we care not how many. But never let it be said, to our everlasting disgrace, that to supply ourselves with information on common subjects, we are under the necessity of importing old stereotype plates from beyond the Atlantic, and of republishing matter which had been circulated among the peasantry of Europe years before! For the honour of the Republic, we do most fervently hope, that there will be American periodicals started in sufficient num ber to supply our own market. The appearance of every good work of this description, we shall hail with sincere pleasure, as an honour to the literary enterprise of our country.

NATURAL HISTORY. (Continued from page 411 of Vol. I.)

We have now completed our survey of animals of the cat kind. In all of them, from the lion down to the domestic puss, we find a similarity of temperament and conformation, with the exception of the chetah, which occupies a middle station between the cat and the dog kinds. The animals of this class, as we have seen, are the lion, the puma or cougar, the tiger, the jaguar, the leopard, the panther, the chetah, the lynx, the caracal or siya-gush, the ounce, the ocelot, the serval, the tiger-cat, the margay, the wild-cat, and

the domestic cat.

The whole feline race are the natural enemies of man; and they are the only quadrupeds that make good their ground against him, keeping some portions of the earth in their entire possession. Witness the extensive territories in Africa where the wild beasts are so numerous that the natives are deterred from taking up their residence among them; yielding to the dominant lion and leopard large tracts of country that seem adapted to human convenience.

The animals of this class are distinguished by sharp and formidable claws, which they can extend and close at pleasure. They lead a solitary, ravenous life, uniting neither for mutual defence nor support. Except at certain seasons, they are enemies to each other. They subsist entirely on flesh, and would starve on other food. In their natural state, they are rapacious and cruel, and unfit even for the society of one another, much less for human society, like some domestic animals. It is probable, however, that the fiercest of them could be domesticated. Even the lion himself has been yoked to the conqueror's car, and the tiger taught to guard those herds which in his wild state he destroys. But so great is the trouble of domesticating and subsisting them, that notwithstanding they might be rendered thus serviceable, their service would be obtained at too dear a rate, and consequently they are permitted to roam at large in their native wilds and deserts.

While other kinds of animals are classed with no little difficulty, having but few points of resemblance, and different appetites and dispositions, those of the cat kind, though differing in size and colour, have notwithstanding a near resemblance in the leading traits of their character. All are fierce, rapacious, and artful; all are unchanging in their forms, bearing, even in their domesticated state, the marks of their original wildness. The dog and the cow vary according to circumstance and clime; but the lion, the tiger, the leopard, and the panther, are every where essentially

the same.

We have now done with this ferocious tribe. As a class, it stands pre-eminently conspicuous in the animal kingdom. At its head is the monarch of the forest, the noble and majestic lion. For this reason, we have given this class the first place, contrary to the usual course pursued in natural history. In our next, we shall introduce to the notice of our readers that huge mass of animated matter, the elephant.

LITERATURE. (Continued from page 363 of Vol. I.)

LANGUAGE.

Having copied extensively from the writings of others on the interesting and important subject of language, we will now try our own hand at it, that our readers may at least have something Editorial in this department-whether very literary or otherwise, remains to be seen.

It is supposed by some that man has an innate language, as natural to him as are the various sounds produced by the brute and feathered tribes to them. But if this were the fact, it would evidently predo

minate over artificial language, and the whole earth would have the same dialect. No education, no localities, no circumstances whatever, could eradicate such a language, and substitute another in its place. As soon would the lion's roar or the tiger's yell be changed to the melodious notes of the nightingale. As a further proof of this position, we have only to consider the case of children. These have no language till they learn it of others; and then it is of that kind which they chance to learn. Were they to learn none at all, they would have none at all; as is proved in the case of individuals who have from their infancy been secluded from human society. Peter the Wild Boy, whose biography we gave on page 15 of our 1st. Vol. is a case in point. We have another case in the experiment made by Psamiticus,* king of Egypt, and Melabdin Echbar,† in the Indies, who, being desirous of ascertaining the innate or natural language, had some infants brought up without being taught to speak, or permitted to hear any human voice. The result was, that they proved to be little more than mere mutes. The sound which after two years experiment these infants were found to utter, viz. bec, somewhat resembling the Phrygian word for bread, and which Psamiticus therefore supposed to be of Phrygian origin, was a mere sound, void of any signification whatever; such as the dumb, and indeed the veriest infants, sometimes happen to utter.

Man, then, has no inherent language. But he has the capacity of acquiring language from another? The inquiry therefore next arises, How came language in the world? How came the first man by language? The conclusion is obvious: It must have been communicated to him by his Creator. There was therefore an original but not an innate language; and this language had a Divine origin.

The next proper inquiry seems to be, What was the nature of this original language? Undoubtedly it was very simple and limited. The longer a language is in use, the more complicated and copious it becomes. Consequently, at its outset it is less so. It has been supposed that language at first had but one part of speech. Without endorsing this opinion, we will give the reasons of its advocates a hearing.

"All that the first men," says Shuckford, "could have occasion to express to one another," must be a few of the names and qualities and actions of the creatures or things about them; and they might probably endeavour to express these by one and the same word. The Hebrew language has but few adjectives; so that it is easy to see how the invention of a few names of things may express things and their qualities. The name man, joined with the name of some fierce beast, as lion-man, might be the first way of expressing a fierce man. Many instances of the same sort might be named; and it is remarkable that this particular is extremely agreeable to the Hebrew idiom. In the same manner the actions of men or creatures might be described; the adding to a person's name the name of a creature remarkable for some action, might be the first way of expressing a person's doing such an action; our English language will afford one instance, if no more, of this matter. The observing and following of a person wherever he goes is called dogging, from some sort of dogs performing that action with great exactness; and therefore Cain Dog Abel may give the reader some idea of the original method of expressing Cain's seeking an opportunity to kill his brother, when the names of persons and things were used to express the actions which were done, without observing any variation of mood and tense or number or person for verbs, or of case for nouns. For all these were improvements of art and study, and not the first essay and original production. Time and observation taught men to distinguish language into nouns and verbs; and afterwards made adjectives and other parts of speech. Time and con* Herod, lib. ii. + Purchas. b. i. c. 8

sion."

This theory is indeed plausible and curious; but we incline to the opinion that when God gave to man a language, he gave him a perfect one, containing all the parts of speech and modifications necessary to the clear communication of his ideas. This seems to us more in consonance with the idea of a revealed language; whereas the theory just considered is more in agreement with the idea of a natural or innate language. We shall pursue this subject in our next, and in many of the succeeding numbers, as we intend to treat it thoroughly ere we leave it.

HISTORY.

(Continued from page 410 of Vol. I.)

The journeying of the descendants of Noah from the East, which has already been noticed, consisted, no doubt, of various migrations, made at different periods, their object being, to find a country that would suit them. Not a few years, therefore, must have elapsed, from the commencement of their peregrinations to the time of their arrival on the plains of Shinar; especially, if, as we have supposed, they made a circuitous route from Armenia, journeying thence by gradual stages to the regions east of Shinar, ere they bent their steps towards that place. This idea of a circuitous route we find confirmed by a striking passage in Berosus already quoted. After having represented Noah and several others as disappearing, he says: The remainder offered sacrifices to the gods, and, taking a circuit, journeyed towards Babylonia." According to the computation of some, they reached that land about eighty years after the Flood, viz. in the year of the world, 1736. Authors differ, however, with regard to this period. Some make it four hundred years after the Deluge. This we conceive to be a great mistake. For the earth was divided in the days of Peleg; and he died but three hundred and forty years after the Flood. Most chronologers concur in the opinion, that it was a hundred and fifty years after that event that the foundation of Babel was laid. This is probably near the truth.

66

About one hundred and fifty years, then, after the Deluge, it seems the main body of the descendants of Noah, after various migrations from place to place in quest of a country to their liking, chanced, while wending their course westerly, to find a plain in the land of Shinar, where they settled. Their leader appears to have been Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, and the son of Cush. Of him it is said :-" He began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." During the the roamings of mankind through the various regions of the East prior to their settlement in Shinar, they must have been almost continually in the wilderness, the earth being at that period unsettled. Con sequently, they must frequently have encountered wild beasts. This afforded a fine opportunity to enterprise and ambition to display their skill and prowess in their destruction. Nimrod, it seems, distinguished himself above all others in this respect; and as a reward for his services, he appears to have been selected as the Chief of that portion of mankind. It does not appear

|

or accompanied their posterity to Shinar. Egypt is indeed denominated the land of Ham, and Palestine the land of Canaan. But those countries might be named thus, even if neither Ham nor his son ever saw them. It is hardly supposable, that so distinguished men as the three sons of Noah would remain unnoticed, if they had accompanied the emigrants to Shinar. It is true Shem's age, as well as that of Noah, is given; but they do not appear to have figured at all, or to have been otherwise noticed. We conclude, therefore, that they remained with Noah, while the younger and more vigorous portion of mankind journeyed in search of fresh adventures. We see but one objection to this supposition, viz. that the age of one of these individuals is given; from which we should be led to infer that they were not separated from the main body, but continued where their ages could be known and recorded. Yet it should be kept in mind that they lived till after the Dispersion, and consequently that the same difficulty would exist in relation to ascertaining their ages, as if they had not come to Shinar at all. In all pro bability, a communication was kept open between the separated portions of mankind, by which means this and other particulars were made known to one another.

We come, then, to the following conclusion: that neither Noah nor his three sons went to Shinar, and that Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, was the Leader of the party that did go thither.

Having now reduced the subject to something definite, and found a starting point, we will proceed with our history.

After the party above mentioned had taken up their abode in the plain of Shinar, they took it into their heads to build a tower of vast height, to serve as a bond of union to keep them together in one community. So they commenced their operations by making brick, the plain which they inhabited furnishing them with clay in abundance for the purpose, and being at the same time destitute of stone. Several years are supposed to have been spent in preparing materials for building. These being ready, they began to construct their tower, using slime for the want of mortar.

The time occupied in building this tower, and the height to which it was reared, have been variously estimated. Some have supposed the time twenty years, and others even longer. According to the opinion of some, the height attained was a league; and some have supposed it was two leagues. The fact undoubtedly is, that years were employed in its construction, and that it was raised to a great height, though far less than either of the foregoing suppositions would lead us to conclude. This stupendous structure consisted of tower heaped on tower, diminishing in size at every stage of their altitude, with a staircase winding round the exterior, for the conveyance of the building materials upward to the workmen at the top, who were still engaged in raising it higher. While thus engaged in their ambitious project, fancying that they were rendering their names immortal, behold! their language became most strangely confused, insomuch that they could not understand one another. For God had come down and confounded their speech, giving them diverse tongues, whereby the utmost confusion was introduced; and thus were they induced to abandon their undertaking, and were at length scattered abroad over the face of the earth. Hence the abandoned tower obtained the name of Babel, that is, Confusion.

The cut on the next page represents the principal mound of Babylon at the present time. It is reputed to be, and no doubt is, the Tower of Babel-the identical Babel built more than 4000 years ago. It is situated near the Euphrates, fifteen or twenty miles from Bag. dad. Its appearance is that of the fallen and decayed pyramid, with the remains of a tower on the summit 50 feet in height, the rubbish whereon it stands being 200 feet high. It seems to have risen in distinct stages or