recollection that sovereigns and pontiffs, and even philosophers, made it the central ball, around which the sun and moon and planets, and even the stars themselves, revolved in obsequious subjection.

7. The dignity of being the seat of intellectual and animal life, however, still seems to be our own; and if our globe does not swell so largely to the eye, or shine so brightly in the night, it has yet been the seat of glorious dynasties, of mighty empires, of heroes that have bled for their country, of martyrs who have died for their faith, and of sages who have unravelled the very universe we are surveying. Pursuing our outward course, a new wonder is presented to us in the gorgeous appendages of Saturn, encircled with his brilliant rings, and with eight moons, for the use, doubtless, of living beings. Advancing onwards, we encounter Uranus, with his eight pledges that he is the seat of life; and after passing the new planet Neptune, and his one or probably two attendants, at the frontier of our system, we reach what is the region, and what may be regarded as the home, of comets.-Sir David Brewster, LL.D. (1781–1867).

ON A SURVEY OF THE HEAVENS.

1. Ye many twinkling stars, who yet do hold
Your brilliant place in the sable vault

Of night's dominions!-planets, and central orbs
Of other systems;-big as the burning sun
Which lights this nether globe,-yet to our eye
Small as the glowworm's lamp!-To you I raise
My lowly orisons, while, all bewildered,
My vision strays o'er your ethereal hosts;
Too vast, too boundless for our narrow mind,
Warp'd with low prejudices, to unfold,
And sagely comprehend. Thence higher soaring,
Through ye I raise my solemn thoughts to Him,
The mighty Founder of this wond'rous maze,

The great Creator! Him! who now sublime,
Wrapt in the solitary amplitude

Of boundless space, above the rolling spheres
Sits on his silent throne, and meditates.

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2. The angelic hosts, in their inferior heaven,
Hymn to the golden harps his praise sublime,
Repeating loud, "The Lord our God is great,'
In varied harmonies. The glorious sounds
Roll o'er the air serene. The Eolian spheres,
Harping along their viewless boundaries,

Catch the full note, and cry, "The Lord is great,"

Responding to the seraphim. O'er all,
From orb to orb, to the remotest verge
Of the created world, the sound is borne,
Till the whole universe is full of Him.

3. Oh! 'tis this heavenly harmony which now
In fancy strikes upon my listening ear,
And thrills my inmost soul. It bids me smile
On the vain world and all its bustling cares,
And gives a shadowy glimpse of future bliss.
Oh! what is man, when at ambition's height?
What even are kings, when balanced in the scale
Of these stupendous worlds? Almighty God!
Thou, the dread Author of these wondrous works,
Say, canst thou cast on me, poor passing worm,
One look of kind benevolence? Thou canst;
For Thou art full of universal love,
And in Thy boundless goodness wilt impart
Thy beams as well to me as to the proud,-
The pageant insects of a glittering hour.

4. Oh! when reflecting on these truths sublime,
How insignificant do all the joys,

The gauds, and honours of the world appear!
How vain ambition! Why has my wakeful lamp
Outwatched the slow-paced night?-why on the page,
The schoolman's laboured page, have I employed
The hours devoted by the world to rest,
And needful to recruit exhausted nature?
Say, can the voice of narrow Fame repay
The loss of health? or can the hope of glory
Send a new throb into my languid heart,
Cool, even, my feverish aching brow,
Relume the fires of this deep-sunken eye,
Or paint new colours on this pallid cheek?

5. Say, foolish one, can that unbodied fame,
For which thou barterest health and happiness,-
Say, can it soothe the slumbers of the grave?

Give a new zest to bliss, or chase the pangs
Of everlasting punishment condign?
Alas! how vain are mortal man's desires!
How fruitless his pursuits! Eternal God!
Guide Thou my footsteps in the way of truth,
And, oh! assist me so to live on earth,
That I may die in peace, and claim a place
In thy high dwelling. All but this is folly,
The vain illusions of deceitful life.

-Kirke White (1785-1806).

HISTORY OF SOCIETY.-STUART PERIOD.

1. During this period, the commercial progress of England scarcely fulfilled the promise which it had given during the reign of Elizabeth. For this, several causes might be easily assigned. In Holland our commerce found a formidable rival, with whose pertinacious industry, skill, and commercial enterprise, England as yet was unable to compete. The late wars with Spain and Portugal had in a great measure shut up the ports of these countries against the introduction of English produce. The grants of patents and monopolies upon several articles of commerce-a mode of rewarding favourites or cancelling obligations, which Elizabeth and her father had reckoned a cheap substitute for draughts upon the royal treasury-were greatly increased by the weakness and yielding spirit of James I., and the pecuniary necessities of his unfortunate successors. But the last and most especial cause by which the progress of English commerce was retarded during this season, may be found in the political troubles with which the country was occupied, and the civil war that followed.

2. The chief trade still consisted in native wool, which continued to be in higher estimation than that of any other country; and woollen cloths, which, in spite of their superior material, were so imperfectly dyed and dressed that they were sold at a considerable discount as compared

with the rate of foreign goods. The present period was an important era of trading companies in England. The one of greatest importance was the "East India Company," originally chartered on the 31st December, 1600. The company traded to Persia, India, and Arabia, from which its chief imports into England were spices, cotton, silks, rice, perfumes, rich woods, and precious stones. The facilities afforded for prompt and safe mercantile transactions were considerably enlarged. This was to be expected from the result of past mercantile experience, as well as the certain prospect of future prosperity. The religious hatred to large interest upon money under the name of usury had so greatly increased, that the former rate of ten per cent., which had been fixed by statute during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, was reduced in 1624 to eight per cent., and in 1651 to six per cent. A still more important movement was the introduction of regular banking. Hitherto the London merchants had been wont to commit their money to the custody of the Royal Mint in the Tower, until Charles I. made a forced loan of the amount thus deposited. They then tried the experiment of intrusting their clerks and apprentices with the keeping of the cash. On the collapse of this system, the money was committed to the charge of the London goldsmiths, who in time rose into wealthy and consequential bankers.

3. Another improvement, not only of mercantile, but universal benefit, was the establishment of a regular internal postage. A foreign post had been established by James I. for the accommodation of English merchants in their transactions with the continental marts; but the means of home correspondence were wanting till 1635, when a home post-office was established by Charles I. Its first object was the maintenance of communication between England and Scotland, which was effected by a post running night and day between London and Edinburgh, and accomplishing the journey in three days, delivering letters at the intermediate towns by the way; and soon afterwards other by-posts, branching from the main line, were multiplied, until the principle was finally ex