the Divine blessing, to sustain them: it was not until after the general deluge had destroyed the old world, that man was permitted to eat flesh. Our next essay, which will be the last, will introduce us, as we have already observed, to man, the very last and highest link in the chain of creation-the link which connects matter and spirit—in whom we, at once, behold matter, connecting him with the animals, and spirit connecting him with the infinite God; and upon man hung the well-being of this whole sphere. Head of all, and the bond of union for all, with the living God, while he stood firm, all were sustained; and when he fell, the whole fell with him. Alas, how changed are all things here! To what a depth his fall precipitated this else fair sphere, is but imperfectly known, even to men who have made it the business of their lives, and have lived long to observe upon it; while to the man who has merely skimmed the surface of things, it is hidden in impenetrable darkness. I originally intended, after having concluded the history of creation, to have entered upon a regular investigation of the operations of the curse throughout the sphere we inhabit; beginning with the third chapter of Genesis, and ending with the ninth chapter, which includes the destruction of the old world by the general deluge; but the materials I have already prepared could not be compressed into less than eight or ten essays, which would occupy the whole year; and I have not courage to undertake the compression of this matter.

King Square, Sept. 5, 1832.

W. COLDWEll.

INDICATIVE SIGNS OF DISPOSITION.

Ir has been the opinion of many philosophers, both ancient and modern, that the disposition and temper of individuals may be ascertained by various indications of external structure. Hence has arisen the physiognomical system of Lavater, and the more recent but complicated theory of phrenology by Gall and Spurzheim.

Of the first, or system of physiognomy, considerable probability exists, respecting accuracy of determination, and that from the following reasons:

1. The operation of the passions, when they are habitually indulged, and suffered to rule the conduct unsubdued by the restraining hand of reason, will be found, on investigation, to have a powerful influence on the muscular structure; and consequently on the features of the face, which

will thus acquire a different expression at different periods of life. It has often been observed, for example, that drunkards have large and red noses. Now, this most probably arises from the accelerated circulation occasioned by the liquor, and the viscidity of the blood being thus forced through the small vessels which are plentifully distributed over this organ: yet it does not follow, that all those who have red noses are drunkards, as this peculiarity may arise from bodily constitution as well as intemperate habits; though the latter, from the above reason, is likely to occasion it.

Again, anger, and general irritability of temper, will induce a constriction of some of the muscles of the face, particularly those of the mouth and chin, which often cause a fixed expression to mark the countenance. Grief preying upon the mind will also have a similar effect. These are to be attributed to that mysterious union which exists between the soul and body during their co-operative action, since they are often much mitigated during sleep, and sometimes they entirely subside after death.

2. Habit also has a considerable effect on the muscular parts of the face, in which physiognomical character greatly consists. Deep thought and mental abstraction are apt to produce a wrinkled forehead, and constriction of the mouth; which is often far from the natural expression of the countenance, when the mind is engaged with light and pleasing thoughts; but if constantly employed in deep reflection, this character may become as much fixed by the mere force of habit, as that arising from anger or grief.

3. Hereditary disposition may have a powerful influence in producing physiognomical character, according to the opinion of some writers on this subject, though the problem is involved in too much mystery to admit of actual demonstration.

4. Though passion, habit, and hereditary disposition are thus allowed their full influence in producing indicative signs of disposition, as far as the operation of the mind on the muscular structure of the face is concerned, it becomes extremely doubtful whether the same causes can be allowed to produce the same effects on the ossific structure of the face; which constitutes, what Lavater terms, the facial angle, and gives a general character to the whole countenance, by which the disposition can be determined. Much less can we yield to the doctrine, that the organs of the medullary substance of the brain can, by their expansion, through the influence of sentiment or passion operating at and after the

age of puberty, when the bone is fully formed, impress its substance, and occasion those external developments which form the foundation of the theory of Gall and Spurzheim.

Some persons have imagined, that indications of disposition may be collected from hand-writing. This, however, admits of much doubt; for though there can be no question that the mind, acting upon the animal machine, has considerable influence over the motions of the hand in writing, through the medium of the nervous system, in moments of passion, excitement, or ill ness; yet these are transient in their effects, and cannot operate with certainty on the hand under a state of bodily health and mental composure. In considering the subject of hand-writing we may observe-that it has been an art cultivated for its utility in all ages and countries. It is a perfectly imitative art, like drawing; and of its most ancient state, the Hebrew, Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Arabic, and other Oriental engraved and written characters, now in existence, afford specimens. In later times, in our own country, court-hands prevailed; and though somewhat different in the various reigns, as may be seen in " Wright's Court-hand restored," they had all the same essential character of being an imitation of print.

The modern "join-hand," as it is sometimes called, appears to have arisen either in France or Italy, but most probably the latter, as the professors taught what they termed the Italian hand (if I mistake not) as early as the reign of Elizabeth; but previous to this period, the manuscripts are awkward attempts at modifying the old court-hands; and being filled with contractions, are scarcely legible.

From this period writing began to be more cultivated; but as all did not learn of a master, the writing was unequal, and the formation of the letters often regulated by the caprice of the writer. During the interval from the reign of James I. to George III., the hand-writing of individuals varied, according to their own taste; and in this case the temper and disposition, and general habit of thought, might, and probably did, have its effect: thus the literary student was either precise and round in his letters, or small and cramped; both which characteristics are to be found in the manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries. The middle and higher classes exhibit a careless running style, in which the pen seems to have moved over the paper in horizontal lines, mingled with dots and slanting strokes, in which little distinction of letters is to be

detected. The poorer classes who could write, imitated a kind of round hand; which, though imperfect in formation and orthography, was much more legible than the scrawl of their betters.

About the latter end of the reign of George III., a new system was adopted by Butler, Lewis, and others of the same school; which was universally taught both to young and old, at their writing academies. This, which is now common, has had the effect of reducing most, if not all hands, to the same general character; so that though the disposition of the individual could be guessed at when the hand-writing depended upon his own ideas and habits, the case it materially altered, and the test rendered nugatory, when it depends, as at present, on a fixed and determined system.

The following very curious Theory of discerning Temper by the Tones of the Voice, is from an anonymous Manuscript among the Birch and Sloane Manuscripts, No. 3080.-The author, after speaking of the principles of speech, and general tones of the voice in different individuals, proceeds thus :

"I know no reason why many observables as pertinent, if not more, may not be deduced from ye musick of tones in ordiary speech." He then goes on to state the various characters of the moods among the Greeks; which he thus specifies :

"The Doric

The Lydian
The Eolique.

Gravity and sobriety.

. Buxome freedome.

Sweet stillnesse and quiet composednesse.

The Phrygian. . Jollity and youthfull levity. The Ionque. A stiller and allayer of stormes and dirturbances arising from passion. "Now why may not we conclude, yt such persons, whose speeche is accustomed to ye notes peculiar to either of these moodes, yt they ymselves are of such and such a nature? "Tis true, none knowes particular thoughts of ye heart (if theire should be a serious composure of body) besides God; yet if thoughts are bred and nourished by any affection, or passion, ye meanest will, and may presume to guess att ym in generalls, by alterations of ye outward man.

As this will be sufficient for a specimen of the style and orthography of the original, I shall give the remainder of this curious manuscript in modern language.

He proceeds to argue thus:

If, according to the testimony of scripture, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," we may, by the tone and manner of the delivery, form some judgment of the thoughts passing in the mind; and not only by the words them

selves as significant of the ideas, but by the key, and other particulars, of the musical tones in which they are conveyed. For example :

He that speaks in the key of C, is a man of ordinary capacity and good disposition : in G, peevish and effeminate, if not peevish, of a weak and timid disposition. He who has a voice that will in some measure agree with all keys, is of good parts, and suited to a variety of employments; but fickle and inconstant.

Then as to time: He who uses semibreves in his speech, may be judged to be heavy, dull, and phlegmatic. Minims denote gravity and seriousness. Crochets, wit and fancy. Quavers indicate passionate persons; as scolds use them. Sharps, bespeak a man effeminately sad. Flats, manly and melancholy sad. Semibreve rests, denote a man to be either full of more matter than he can utter, or to be troubled with a natural hesitation. Minim rests, shew thought and deliberation. Crochet, and lesser rests, passion.

Thus, by the several musical marks, we may collect indications of disposition. But the effort of nature, in thus modulating the musical character of the speech in accordance with the feelings of the mind, is almost incorrigible; and though by custom and watchfulness we may in some degree remedy its influence, the best method is to correct the mind, and there will then be no necessity for affected attempts to disguise the voice by artificial modulation. August 25, 1832.

E. G. B.

EXTRACTS, CHIEFLY FROM THE GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORIANS.

An Ancient Greek Riddle. THE following lines on the birth of the god Pan, are a curious specimen of the ancient enigma, and are, perhaps, the oldest instance of that species of composition in existence, with the exception of the riddle proposed to the lords of the Philistines, by Samson; they are to be met with in the Syrinx of Theocritus.

Ουδενὸς ἐυνάτειρα, Μακροπτολέμοιο δε ματηρ

Μαίας Αντιπετροιο θοὸν τέκεν ἰθυντῆρα Ουχὶ Κεράσαν, ὃν ποκα θρεψατο ταυροπάτωρ,

Αλλ ̓ ὅυ Πιλιπὲς αἶθε πάρος φρένα Τέρμα σάκους.

Ουνομ' Ὅλον.

The wife of Nobody, the mother of Macroptolomeus, has conceived a son, who shall

govern the swift nurse of Antepetrus; not that Kerastes, who was formerly fed by the daughters of the bull, but he whose heart was scorched by the border of a buckler, which wants the letter pi. His name is All.

According to heathen mythology, Pan is the son of Mercury, and Penelope, the wife of Ulysses. Those who have read the Odyssey will remember, that Ulysses, when taken prisoner by the giant Polyphe mus, and asked his name, replied Ouris, that is, Nobody; Penelope is therefore called the wife of Nobody, and mother of Macroptolomeus, or Telemachus. Jupiter is by the poet called Antepetrus, because his mother Rhea gave his father Saturn a stone to swallow instead of the child, Saturn having determined to destroy all his children; he having been informed by the oracle, that one of them should dethrone him. Jupiter was suckled by the goat Amalthea, here called his swift nurse, and fed with honey; the bees are said to be daughters of the bull, because the ancients supposed the only way to produce bees was to kill a young bull, stop up the nostrils and mouth, and leave the carcase exposed; that in a few days bees would be produced from the putrefaction of the entrails, and burst in swarms from the body. Pan is well known to be the god of shepherds, and is always represented with horns, and so is Jupiter under the name of Amon, so that both are properly called kerastes, that is, horned. The circumference of a buckler in the Greek is called irvs; add the letter p to it, and it becomes Pitus, the name of a nymph who was much beloved by Pan. Both Olon and Pan signify all, and the name is said to have been given to this god because he presides over all nature: the more scandalous legend is, that Pan was the son of Penelope, and one of the numerous suitors who besieged her during the ten years' absence of her husband at the siege of Troy; and as it was uncertain which of them had the best claim to name the child, it was determined to call him after the whole of them; he was therefore named Pan, that is, all.

The Pagan Account of the Destruction of Sennacherib's Army.

Herodotus, in the 141st section of the ing account of the destruction of the army 2d book of his history, gives us the followof Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: it is a remarkable corroboration of the history given in the 19th chapter of the 2d book of Kings, and proves that such a discomfiture

did take place by the evidence of a heathen writer, who never could have seen the Jewish account.

"After Anysis, a priest of Vulcan, named Sethos, mounted the throne of Egypt. He had no respect for warriors, and treated them with contempt, as if he expected never to require the assistance of soldiers. Among other outrages, he took from them that portion of land which had been assigned to each individual of the tribe of warriors, by the kings, his predecessors, for their support. But in process of time, when Sennacherib, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched to attack Egypt with a numerous army, the military tribe refused to muster for the defence of their country. The priest, finding himself very much embarrassed by this mutiny, retired into the temple, and throwing himself at the feet of the statue of Vulcan, began with sighs and groans to lament his unhappy lot. While he thus deplored his misfortunes, he fell asleep, and in a dream thought that the god appeared to him, to encourage him, assuring him that if he marched against the Arabians, no ill should befall him, for that he himself would come to his assistance.

"Full of confidence in this vision, Sethos took with him all of the nation whom he found well affected to his cause, placed himself at their head, and went and encamped at Pelusium, which is the key of Egypt. This army was formed only from the tribe of merchants, and that of artisans, and from the lowest of the people: not a single man of the tribe of warriors accompanied him. These troops being arrived at Pelusium, a prodigious number of fieldrats spread themselves through the enemy's camp during the night, and gnawed in pieces all the quivers, the bows, and the leather thongs, which serve as handles to the bucklers; in so much, that in the morning, the Arabians, finding themselves without arms, took to flight, and the greater part of the army perished. There is to the present day, in the temple of Vulcan, a statue of stone representing this king, and having a rat in the hand, with the following inscription: Whoever you are, learn, in seeing me, to honour the gods."

6

It is probable that the above legend was invented by the priests, to conceal their ignorance of the true meaning of the hieroglyphic, and that the statue holding the rat in its hand, was meant to represent Tirhakah, king of Æthiopia, who came to the assistance of the Egyptians. The Ethi opians were called Troglodytes because they inhabited caverns, and were thus said

to resemble rats. It is to this king that the prophet alludes, when he tells Sennacherib that "he shall hear a rumour." Libnah, where this awful destruction of the Assyrian army took place, is the same that Herodotus calls Pelusium, and is now called Tineh; it was while besieging this town that Sennacherib heard the rumour, that Tirhakah had joined his forces to those of the king of Egypt, and here "that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred fourscore and five thousand." Whether this angel of the Lord was the king of Ethiopia, as some think, or a pestilential blast, as others contend, is of little consequence; Jerusalem was delivered, Sennacherib confounded, and the prophecy fulfilled.

The Altar at Athens dedicated to the Unknown God.

It is stated in the 17th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that St. Paul, during his sojourn at Athens, took an opportunity of declaring many important truths to the assembled multitude on Mars' Hill, from the circumstance of his having observed an altar in the city inscribed to the Unknown God. It has been supposed by some writers, who are fonder of making assertions than of inquiring into facts, that this was an altar which in some miraculous manner had been, in the midst of a heathen nation, erected to the honour of the true God; a little research will put the matter in a different light, and the following is the account given by Herodotus, Diogenes Laertius, Pausanias, and Strabo, of the origin of these altars.

In the 35th Olympiad, or about A.M 4102 of the Julian æra, Cylon of Athens having been proclaimed conqueror at the Olympic games, became so filled with ambition as to aspire to the absolute government of Athens. In order to succeed in his enterprize, he engaged some of the chief men of the city to unite with him, and they endeavoured to seize the citadel, but were defeated, and obliged to take refuge at the foot of the statue of Minerva. From this asylum they were induced to depart under the most solemn promises of the magistracy that their lives should be spared; but no sooner had they left the temple, than they were all put to death. What may have been the reason for this breach of faith we know not, history leaves us quite in the dark on this 'subject; all that we know is, that it gave rise to a very dangerous commotion in Athens, and the citizens were so much divided, that a civil war in the city

itself was very near breaking out to add to the distress, a pestilential disorder devastated not only Athens, but all Attica. In this dilemma, the Athenians, being a very religious people, (and here the historian makes use of the very same term, which in our version and the Vulgate, is translated superstitious, Aɛoidaiμwv,) had recourse to the gods, and sent to consult the oracle. The answer was, "If you wish to put an end to these plagues, let Epimenides purify your city."

Epimenides of Phæstos, in the isle of Crete, then enjoyed the highest reputation; he was a celebrated magician, who was in the habit of making expiation for nations or individuals, by means of certain ceremonies and mysterious words. To do this man honour, the Athenians sent one of their most illustrious citizens, Nicias, son of Niceratus, to invite him to Athens. On his arrival, he purified the city, and the plague stayed, and peace was restored. The following were the means he used to purify the city. He collected a number of black and white sheep at the Areopagus, or Mars' Hill, and then ordered them to be scattered in all directions, setting people to watch where each animal lay down; and upon this spot it was sacrificed, and an altar erected to the NAMELESS UNKNOWN GOD. The words made use of by Pausanias are remarkable, as being the same used by the Apostle the historian says, in memory of this expiation, the Athenians erected, Boμoi de Oεwv Tε ¿voμašoμévwv ȧyvoorwv, that is, altars of unknown and nameless gods; most likely where each sheep was sacrificed, a separate altar to an unknown god. The Apostle says, "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, αγνωστω θεώ, to the UNKNOWN GOD," Acts xvii. 23.

:

WELCH TRADITION.

THE following curious tradition is extracted from the collections of Hugh ThomasHarleian MSS. No. 6831.

The great pool called Llinsavathan, is in a pleasant country, surrounded on all sides with high hills. It is about two miles in length, and above one in breadth, and between five and six miles round. It is very deep and is full of fish, and has several parishes and fine houses on its banks.

The inhabitants of this country have a general tradition, that there was once a great and beautiful lady, who was heiress of all the land covered by this vast lake; of whom a young man of mean or no fortune was very much enamoured; but with

out much gold, that so much dazzles the eyes of poor mortals, it was impossible for him to gain her.

The unfortunate Inamerato, finding nothing but gold would do, doating more upon her than regarding his own soul, cared not what courses he took to make himself rich enough to obtain her favour. The lady, on the other side, like many of her sex, let him come by wealth as he might, it mattered not, so he had it; she cared not what the man is or was, if he had enough to satisfy her wishes. The youth, in his despair, met, with a great charge of money, at a place not far from the pool, a carrier, whom he not only robbed, but murdered; and buried in the place, for fear of a discovery.

Afterwards, going to his darling saint, he told her he had gold enough: the lady, incredulous, would not believe him till she had seen it; and then would not marry him, till he discovered to her how he came by it. The youth, to satisfy her, and fearing no discovery, having enjoined her to secrecy, told her the unhappy story. Then was there a report of a spirit troubling the place where the murdered was buried. At this the lady, being somewhat surprised, resolved again not to marry him till he went to the grave in the night, to appease the ghost, and to hear what he had to say. Love fearing no dangers, and having a conscience seared after his foul deed, to satisfy his mistress, he undertook this last task to please her. When at midnight, he heard à voice cry aloud, "Is there no vengeance for innocent blood?" and another to answer, "Not till the ninth generation;" at which, presuming upon the mercy and patience of the Almighty, and thinking himself free from the heavy vengeance, he was not moved or terrified in the least at this judgment; but, without remorse of conscience, he resolved to prosecute his amour; and going to the lady, he told her the dreadful judgment. She, on the other side, caring not for the eternal punishment, so as she could escape the temporal shame, most audaciously answered him, "Before that time, we shall be rotten in our graves; therefore, we will enjoy ourselves while we may, and take our fill of the pleasures of this world."

Behold! how these poor miserable mortals satisfied their brutal passions at the expense of their souls. They married, and, the tradition assures us, had a numerous family; who first uniting themselves with the inhabitants of the city, their children married among themselves, like the dwellers in Sodom and Gomorrah, till all the people