lence of an instrument that it can command a great extent of the scale. The apparatus of the voice can exccute enough of the scale for all common purposes. It is wonderful that its compass is so great as it is, for it is a very small instrument, occupying a space of less than an inch squâre where the vibrating ligaments are situated.

In every respect besides compass, this instrument far excels all others. Listen to a good voice which has been well educated. Its transitions have an ease and a grace which the workmanship of man cannot equal; the richness and sweetness of its tones are above all imitation with the most perfect instruments; and utterance is given to its various notes with so little apparent effort, with so little show of machinery, in comparison with the instruments made by man, that we are filled with wonder at the effects produced by so simple, delicate, and beautiful a piece of mechanism.

But the most important circumstance to be noticed is, that there are parts connected with this apparatus, which give articulation to the voice as it comes from the vocal chords; thus making it the principal medium of communication between man and man. This distinguishes it from any other musical instrument, and constitutes its crowning excellence.

And if you try to measure, with the utmost stretch of conception, the endless variety of thought and feeling which this apparatus conreys daily, hourly, every moment, from heart to heart in the intercourse of life, you will be able to estimate in some good degree the value of those organs, which, though we seldom spend a thought upon them, are so constantly ministering to our enjoyment.

Such being the high uses for which the voice is designed, when it possesses a rich and flowing melody, and its articulation is graceful and easy, its powers of fascination are wonderful. Such a voice is a fit medium of communication for "thoughts that breathe and words that burn." This is more often true of the voice of conversation than that of song. It is in the hourly intercourse of life that melody of voice is most valuable to us as a source of enjoyment, and here its influence is often astonishing. It will sometimes give a charm, not to say beauty, to an ordinary face; while on the other hand, the fascination of beauty is often destroyed by the utterance of a voice harsh and without melody. And it may be remarked that a rich and finely modulated voice of conversation, and a melodious voice of song, do not always go together. The voice which has delighted the ear of multitudes at the public concert, may be divested of all its charms when used in conversation; and on the other hand, there are many who sing unskillfully, and yet in conversation give utterance to genuine and varied melody.

There is music not only in the human voice, but in the voices also of the brute creation. And the varied forms of the apparatus by

which it is produced, show the impress of the same power. What variety there is in the sounds which come from the multitudes of different animals on our globe, and how diversified is the handiwork exhibited in their vocal organs! The power from which springs this endless variety, is the same as that which gives such diversity to the human countenance, and I know not which is the most wonderful display of it. And it may be remarked, that although the voices of animals are harsh and discordant, those which we most frequently hear are melodious. Even some of those which are unpleasant to the ear, become in some degree pleasant when occasionally heard at the right time and in the right place, from the addition which they make to the variety of sounds that we hear, and from the associations which become connected with them. A goose on a common, says Cowper, is no bad performer.

DR. WORTHINGTON HOOKER.

CXIV. THE BATTLE.

HEAVY and solemn,

A cloudy column,

Through the green plain they marching came,
Measureless spread, like a table dread,

For the wild grim dice of the iron game.

The looks are bent on the shaking ground,

And the hearts beat loud with the knelling sound;
Swift by the breast that must bear the brunt,
Gallops the major along the front—

"Halt!"

And fettered they stand at the stark command,

And the warriors, silent, halt!

Proud in the blush of morning glowing,

What on the hill-top shines in flowing?

"See you the foemăn's banners waving?"
"We see the foeman's banners waving!"
Now God be with you, woman and child,
Hark! oh! hark! to the music wild-
The mighty trump and the mellow fife,
Nerving the limbs to a stouter life;
Thrilling they sound with their glorious tone,
Thrilling they go through the marrow and bone!
Brothers, God grant when this life is o'er

In the life to come that we meet once more!

See the smoke how the lightning is cleaving asunder!

Hark! the guns, peal on peal, how they boom in their thunder!
From host to host, with kindling sound,

The shouting signal circles round,
Ay, shout it forth to life or death-
Freer already breathes the breath!
The war is waging, slaughter raging,
And heavy through the reeking pall,
The iron Death-dice fall!

Nearer they close-foes upon foes—
"Ready!" from squâre to square it goes.

Down on the knee to a man they sank,
And the fire comes sharp from the foremost rank.
Many a man to the earth is sent,

Many a gap by the balls is rent

O'er the corse before springs the hinder man,
That the line may not fail to the fearless van.
To the right, to the left, and around and around,
Death whirls in its dance on the bloody ground.
The sun goes down on the burning fight,
And over the host hangs the brooding night.
Brothers, God grant when this life is o'er,
In the life to come that we meet once more!

The dead men lie bathed in the weltering blood,
And the living are blent in the slippery flood,
And the feet, as they reeling and sliding go,
Stumble still on the corses that sleep below. `
Hitherward--thitherward reels the fight,
Darker and darker comes down the night.-
Hark to the hoofs that galloping go!
The adjutants flying-

The horsemen press hard on the panting foe,
Their thunder booms in dying-

Victory!

The terror has seized on the dastards all,

And their colors fall.

Victory!

Closed is the brunt of the glorious fight,

And the day, like a conqueror, bursts on the night.
Trumpet and fife swelling choral along,

The triumph already sweeps marching in song.
Adieu, fallen brothers! though this life is o'er,
In the life to come we may meet you once more!

J. C. F. SCHILLER.

CXV. THE CITY OF BAGDAD.

ALMANSOR, the brother and successor of Shaffah, laid the foundations of Bagdad, A. D. 762, the imperial seat of his posterity during a reign of five hundred years. The chosen spot is on the eastern bank of the Tigris, about fifteen miles above the ruins of Modain: the double wall was of a circular form; and such was the rapid increase of a capital now dwindled to a provincial town, that the funeral of a popular saint might be attended by eight hundred thousand men and sixty thousand women of Bagdad and the adjacent villages.

In this city of peace, amidst the riches of the east, the Abbassides soon disdained the abstinence and frugality of the first caliphs, and aspired to emulate the magnificence of the Persian kings. After his wars and buildings, Almansor left behind him in gold and silver about thirty millions sterling; and this treasure was exhausted in a few years by the vices or virtues of his children. His son Mahadi in a single pilgrimage to Mecca expended six millions of °dinars of gold. A pious and charitable motive may sanctify the foundation of cisterns and caravanseras, which he distributed along a measured road of seven hundred miles; but his train of camels, laden with snow, could serve only to astonish the natives of Arabia and to refresh the fruits and liquors of the royal banquet.

The courtiers would surely praise the liberality of his grandson, Almamon, who gave away four-fifths of the income of a province-a sum of two millions four hundred thousand gold dinars-before he drew his foot from the stirrup. At the nuptials of the same prince, a thousand pearls of the largest size were showered on the head of the bride, and a lottery of lands and houses displayed the capricious bounty of fortune. The glories of the court were brightened rather than impaired in the decline of the empire, anda Greek ambassador might admire or pity the magnificence of the feeble Moctader.

"The caliph's whole army," says the historian Abulfeda, "both horse and foot, was under arms, which together made a body of one hundred and sixty thousand men. His state officers, the favorite slaves, stood near him in splendid apparel, their belts glittering with gold and gems. The porters or doorkeepers were in number seven hundred. Barges and boats, with the most superb decorations, were seen swimming upon the Tigris. Nor was the place itself less splendid, in which were hung up thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry, twelve thousand five hundred of which were silk embroidered with gold. The carpets on the floor were twenty-two thousand. A hundred lions were brought out, with a keeper to each lion. Among the other spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury, was a tree of gold and silver, spreading into eighteen large branches, on

which, and on the lesser boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals as well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery affected spontaneous motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony. Through this scene of magnificence the Greek ambassador was led by the vizier to the foot of the caliph's throne."

In the west, the "Ommiades of Spain supported with equal pomp the title of commander of the faithful. Three miles from Cordova, in honor of the favorite sultana, the third and greatest of the Abdalrahmans constructed the city, palace, and gardens of Zehra. Twenty-five years, and about three millions sterling, were employed by the founder: his liberal taste invited the artists of Constantinople, the most skillful sculptors and architects of the age; and the buildings were sustained or adorned by twelve hundred columns of Spanish and African, of Greek and Italian marble. The hall of audience was incrusted with gold and pearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curious and costly figures of birds and quadrupeds. In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one of these basins and fountains, so delightful in a sultry climate, was replenished not with water but with the purest quicksilver. Abdalrahman was attended to the field by a guard of twelve thousand horse, whose belts and scimitars were studded with gold.

In a private condition, our desires are perpetually repressed by poverty and subordination; but the lives and labors of millions are devoted to the service of a despotic prince, whose laws are blindly obeyed and whose wishes are instantly gratified. Our imagination is dazzled by the splendid picture; and whatever may be the cool dictates of reason, there are few among us who would obstinately refuse a trial of the comforts and the cares of royalty. It may, therefore, be of some use to borrow the experience of the same Abdalrahman, whose magnificence has perhaps excited our admiration and envy, and to transcribe an authentic memorial which was found in the closet of the deceased caliph. "I have now reigned above fifty years in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my °felicity. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to fourteen. O man! place not thy confidence in this present world.” EDWARD GIBBON.

CXVI. THE PHILOSOPHER'S SCALES.

WHAT are they?—you ask; you shall presently see;-
These scales were not made to weigh sugar and tea;