EDUCATIO

THIS mysterious monument of antiquity, or as it has been called the "Glory of Wiltshire," and the "Wonder of the West," is situated on Salisbury Plain, about two miles directly west of Amesbury, and seven north of Salisbury.

It is the general opinion of historians, that it was an ancient temple of the Druids, the pagan priests of Britain, or at any rate, that it was employed by them for the celebration of some of their mysteries.

Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who holds this opinion, in describing it, says, "This temple consists of two circles and two ovals: the two latter constituting the cell or sanctum. The outward circle, about 300 feet in circumference, is composed of huge upright stones, bearing others over them, which form a kind of architrave. Though they evidently show the mark of tools, they are still irregular in their forms and sizes. The height of the stones on each side of the entrance is a little more than 13 feet, and the breadth of one 7 feet, and of the other 6 feet 4 inches; the impost over them is about 2 feet 8 inches deep. The space between the stones in this outer circle varies; that between the entrance-stones is 5 feet, and rather wider than in the rest this circle consisted originally of thirty stones, of which seventeen still remain standing. At the distance of 8 feet 3 inches from the inside of this outer circle, we find another, composed of smaller stones, rude and irregular in their shapes.

with a third laid over them as an impost. The placing of the imposts is also varied, for they are not continued all round, as in the outward circle, but are divided into pairs, thereby giving a greater lightness to the work and breaking its uniformity; neither are they, like those of the outer circle, parallel at top: but they rise gradually in height from east to west."

On examining the stones that have fallen down, we perceive in those that formed the imposts, or crosspieces, deep cavities, or mortises; and on the top of the upright blocks are corresponding projections, acting as tenons, and giving great solidity to the work. The largest stones in the outer oval measure 22 feet in length.

The whole mass of stone-work was surrounded by a deep ditch, on the outside of which was an embankment. From that part of the ruins where it is supposed the entrance was originally placed, a raised pathway is still to be seen, which, after running towards the north-east, the distance of 594 yards, branches off to the south and north.

The plain in the neighbourhood of these ruins possesses a very singular character, being covered with numerous barrows, that is, mounds of earth, which, on being opened, appear to have been places of burial, from their containing bones of human beings, and such relics as were usually buried in old times with the deceased.

Within a short distance, also, are two long level pieces of ground, surrounded by a ditch and a bank, with a long mound of earth crossing one end, bearing a great resemblance to the ancient Roman courses for horse-racing.

It may be worth while mentioning here, the opinion

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of two authors who suppose it to have been built for a very different purpose; one assuming it to have been a temple dedicated to Apollo, and the other a heathen burial place.

Mr. Davies, who falls in with the first of these ideas, supports his notion, by quoting a passage in the Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, describing a round temple dedicated to Apollo, which Mr. Davies concludes to have been most likely our monument of Stonehenge. The substance of the Grecian author is, " among the writers of antiquity, Hecatæus, and some others, relate, that there is an island in the ocean, opposite to Celtic Gaul, and not inferior in size to Sicily; lying towards the north, and inhabited by Hyperborei, who are so called because they live more remote from the north wind. The soil is excellent and fertile; and the harvest is made twice in the same year. Tradition says, that Latona was born here, and therefore, Apollo is worshipped before any other deity; to him is also dedicated a remarkable temple, of a round form," &c.

The Reverend James Ingram, in his "Inaugural Lecture on the utility of Saxon Literature," considers it to have been destined as a heathen burial-place, and the oblong spaces adjoining, as the course on which the goods of the deceased were run for at the time of the burial; and this opinion, he thinks, is strengthened, from the circumstance of the vast number of barrows which abound in this part of the plain.

In the year 1797, three of the stones which formed part of the oval in the centre, fell to the earth; and this appears to have been the only instance on record of any alteration having taken place in these remains of antiquity.

For whatever purpose it was erected, or whoever may have been the architects, the immense labour necessarily employed in bringing together the materials, and the amazing mechanical power that must have been used to raise the stones, some of which weigh upwards of 70 tons, to their proper situations, show, that it could have been only constructed for some great national purpose, connected either with religion or the government of the state.

The author whose description we have quoted concludes his remarks in this manner :—

"Such, indeed, is the general fascination imposed on all those who view Stonehenge, that no one can quit its precincts without feeling strong sensations of surprise and admiration. The ignorant rustic will, with a vacant stare, attribute it to some imaginary race of giants; and the antiquary, equally uninformed as to its origin, will regret that its history is veiled in perpetual obscurity; the artist, on viewing these enormous masses, will wonder that art could thus rival nature in magnificence and picturesque effect. Even the most indifferent passenger over the plain must be attracted by the solitary and magnificent appearance of these ruins; and all with one accord will exclaim, "How grand! How wonderful! How incomprehensible!"

ADDISON died at Kensington, in the house at present inhabited by Lord Holland. Lord Warwick, a connexion of Addison's by marriage, was a young man of very irregular life, and perhaps of loose opinions. Addison, for whom he did not want respect, had very diligently endeavoured to reclaim him; but his arguments and expostulations had no effect. One experiment, however, remained to be tried; when he found his life near its end, he directed the young lord to be called; and when he desired, with great tenderness, to hear his last injunctions, told him, "I have sent for you that you may see how a Christian can die."- -Lives of the Poets.

OF VALUE. PART I.

GOLD and Silver are the most convenient metals to use as money, because they take up but little room in proportion to their value. Hence they are called the precious metals.

But why should Gold and Silver be of so much more value than Iron? For they are not nearly so useful. We should be very ill. off without knives, and scissors, and spades, and hatchets; and these could not be made so well from any thing as from iron and silver or gold would make very bad tools indeed.

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To understand this, you must remember that it is not the most useful things that are of the most value. Nothing is more useful than air and water, without which we could not live. Yet these are, in most places, of no value, in the proper sense of that word; that is, no one will give any thing in exchange for them, because he can have them without.

In some places, indeed, water is scarce; and then people are glad to buy it. You may read in Scripture of many quarrels that arose about wells of water; because, in some of the Eastern countries, water is so scarce that a well is a very important possession. But water is not more useful in those places where people are glad to buy it, than it is here, where, by the bounty of Providence, it is plentiful. It is the scarcity that gives it value and where iron is scarce, it is of great value.

Some islands which our ships have visited produce no iron; and the people there are glad to get a few nails in exchange for a hog. But, in most countries, iron, which is the most useful of all metals, is also, through the goodness of Providence, the most plentiful. But still it is of some value; because it must be dug from the mines, and smelted in furnaces, and wrought into tools, before we can make use of it. If knives and nails were produced by nature readymade, and could be picked up every where like pebbles, they would be of no value, because every one might get them for nothing. But they would be just as useful as they are now.

Scarcity alone, however, would not make a thing valuable, if there were no reason why any one should desire to possess it. There are some kinds of stones which are scarce, but of no value, because they have neither use nor beauty. You would not give any thing in exchange for such a stone, not because you can easily get it, but because you have no wish for it.

But a stone which is scarce and very beautiful, may be of great value, though it is of no use but to make an ornament for the person. Such are diamonds, and rubies, and many others. Many people will work hard to earn money enough to buy, not only food and necessary clothing, but also lace, and jewels, and other articles of finery.

And they desire these things the more, because, besides being beautiful to the eye, they are reckoned a sign of wealth in the person who wears them. A bunch of wild flowers will often be a prettier ornalikes better to wear these last, to show that she can ment than a fine riband, or a jewel; but a woman afford the cost of them; whereas the wild flowers may be had for picking.

There is no harm in people's desiring to be well dressed according to their station in life; but it is a pity that so many should be fond of expensive finery above their station, which often brings them to poverty. And often they spend money on ornaments which would be better laid out in buying good usefu clothes and furniture, and in keeping them clean. A

mixture of finery with rags and dirt is a most disgusting sight.

You understand now, I hope, that whatever is of value must not only be desirable for its use, or beauty, or some pleasure it affords, but also scarce; that is, so limited in supply, that it is not to be had for nothing. And of things which are desirable, those are the most valuable which are the most limited in supply; that is, the hardest to be got.

This is the reason why silver and gold are of more value than iron. If they had been of no use or beauty at all, no one would have ever desired them; but being desirable, they are of greater value than iron, because they are so much scarcer and harder to be got. They are found in but few places, and in small quantities. Gold, in particular, is obtained chiefly in the form of dust, by laborious washing of the sand of certain streams. It costs only as much in labour and other expenses to obtain about fifteen pounds of silver, as to obtain one pound of gold; and this is the cause that one pound of gold will exchange for about fifteen pounds of silver.

But besides being desirable and being scarce, there is one point more required, for a thing to have value; or in other words, to be such, that something else may be had in exchange for it. It must be something that you can part with to another person. For instance, health is very desirable, and is what every one cannot obtain; and hence, we sometimes do speak of health as being of value; but this is not the strict use of the word value. For no one can

give his health to another in exchange for something else. Many a rich man would be glad to give a thousand pounds, or perhaps ten thousand pounds, in exchange for the healthy constitution and strong limbs of a poor labourer; and perhaps, the labourer would be glad to make such a bargain: but though he might cut off his limbs, he could not make them another man's; he may throw away his health, as many do, by intemperance; but he cannot transfer it; that is, part with it to another person.

PART II.

ON these elementary points such questions as the following may be usefully put to themselves by those to whom the subject is new:

1. Why is air not an article of value?-Because, though it be very useful, it is to be had for nothing.

2. Why is some scarce kind of stone, that is of no use or beauty, not an article of value?-Because, though it be not a thing that every one can get, no one desires to get it.

3. Why is a healthy constitution not an article of value?-Because, though it be very desirable, and is not what every one can get, it is not transferable that is, cannot be transferred, or parted with by one person to another.

4. Why is a spade an article of value?-Because it is, 1st, desirable, as being of use; 2ndly, limited in supply, that is, it is not what every one can have for nothing; and 3rdly, transferable, that is, one person can part with it to another.

5. Why is a silver spoon of more value than a spade? Because, though it be not more useful, it is more limited in supply, or harder to be got, on account of the difficulty of working the mines of silver. When any thing that is desirable is to be had by labour, and is not to be had without labour, of course we find men labouring to obtain it; and things that are of very great value will usually be found to have cost very great labour. This has led some persons to suppose that it is the labour which has been bestowed on any thing that gives it value; but this is quite a mistake. It is not the labour which anv thing has |

cost that causes it to sell for a high price; but on the contrary, it is its selling for a high price that causes men to labour in procuring it. For instance, fishermen go out to sea, and toil hard in the wet and cold to catch fish, because they can get a good price for them; but if a fisherman should work hard all night, and catch but one small fish, while another had perhaps caught a thousand, by falling in with a shoal, the first would not be able to sell his one fish for the same price as the other man's thousand, though it would have cost him the same labour. It has now and then happened that a salmon has leaped into a boat by chance; but though this has cost no labour, it is not for that reason the less valuable. And if á man, in eating an oyster, should chance to meet with a fine pearl, it would not sell for less than if he had been diving for it all day.

It is not, therefore, labour that makes things valu, able, but their being valuable that makes them worth labouring for. And God, having judged in his wisdom that it is not good for man to be idle, has so appointed things by his Providence, that few of the things that are most desirable can be obtained without labour. It is ordained for man to eat bread in the sweat of his face; and almost all the necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, are obtained by labour. [Our next article of this series will embrace the subject of "Wages."]

ARGUMENTS AGAINST PRIDE. REMEMBER what thou wert before thy birth! Nothing. in all thy life?-A great sinner. What in all thy excelWhat wert thou for many years after?-Weakness. What lencies? A mere debtor to God, to thy parents, to the earth, to all the creatures. But we may, if we please, use the method of the Platonists, who reduce all the causes and arguments for humility, which we can take from ourselves, to these seven heads. 1. The spirit of man is light and troublesome. 2. His body is brutish and sickly. 3. He is constant in his folly and error, and inconsistent in his manners and good purposes. 4. His labours are vain, intricate, and endless. 5. His fortune is changeable, but seldom pleasing, never perfect. 6. His wisdom comes not till he be ready to die, that is, till he be past using it. 7. His death is certain, always ready at the door, but never far off. Upon these or the like meditations, if we dwell, or frequently retire to them, we shall see nothing more reasonable than to be humble, and nothing more foolish than to be proud. JEREMY TAYLOR.

SIN NOT WEAKENED BY OLD AGE.-I know scarce any thing that calls for a more serious consideration from men than this for still they are apt to persuade themselves that old age shall do that for them, which in their present fulness of strength and youth, they have not the reason, nor the heart to do for themselves. Whereas the case is directly the reverse; for nothing will grow weak with age, but that which will at length die with age; which sin never does. The longer the blot continues, the deeper it sinks. Vice, in retreating from the practice of men, retires into their fancy.--SOUTH.

THE COTTAGER'S SABBATH. Ан! why should the thought of a world that is flying, Encumber the pleasure of seasons like these? Or, why should the Sabbath be sullied with sighing, While Faith the bright things of Eternity sees! Now let us repose from our care and our sorrow, Let all that is anxious and sad pass away; The rough cares of life lay aside till to-morrow, But let us be tranquil and happy to-day Let us say to the world, should it tempt us to wander, As Abraham said to his men on the plain; There's the mountain of prayer, I am going up yonder, And tarry you here, till I seek you again. To-day on that mount we would seek for thy blessing, O Spirit of Holiness, meet with us there.

Our hearts then will feel, thine high influence possessing The sweetness of praise and the fervour of prayer. Homerton. JAMES EDMESTON.

THE WHITE TIGER. THE tribe to which the tiger belongs, is noted for containing within its ranks some of the most ferocious of the animal creation. To the neighbouring species, the Lion, has been attributed, on rather doubtful authority, a great degree of nobleness and generosity in the exercise of its formidable power; while, on perhaps no better grounds, a character of the most unbounded and uncalled-for ferocity has been applied to the less-favoured Tiger.

The White Tiger.

The native country of these creatures is central and southern Asia, and the Asiatic islands; in Sumatra, in particular, the ravages of the Tiger are almost incredible, whole villages being at times nearly depopulated by them; yet, from some superstitious prejudice, the natives can hardly be prevailed upon, by the offers even of large rewards, to endeavour to destroy them. The Tiger appears to prefer (when it has once partaken of it) the flesh of man to all other food, and in that case, will haunt the village or town that has been the scene of its depredations, until it is destroyed by the inhabitants; it never again returns to its native forests, but lies concealed in the day-time in some neighbouring jungle. In spite, however, of all that has been said of the savage nature of these animals, it is very doubtful if they display more ferocity than is absolutely necessary to furnish them with the means of supporting their existence, or of defending themselves against their enemies.

The strength, the size, and the swiftness of the prey on which these tyrants of the jungle and the desert exist, require on the part of the latter superior power, activity, and watchfulness: again, the ravages they necessarily commit in the pursuit of their sustenance, has raised up enemies to them in every direction. Man, in a state of nature and of civilization, the enormous dwellers in the forest, the Elephant and Rhinoceros,—and, in addition to this, the enmity of even their own species, all combine to keep them in a continued state of excitation; can it be wondered at, then, that armed as they are at all points with strength and courage, their acts should appear to a cursory observer as the result of an indiscriminate appetite for

blood and destruction.

are sufficiently large and formidable to remove the skin from any part the animal may lick.

Hunting the Tiger is a favourite diversion of the great in the eastern parts of the world, and is always conducted with much pomp and ceremony. When the monarch, princes, or nobles, engage in this sport, they are usually mounted on Elephants, and their retinue, consisting of hunters and soldiers, attend, some on horseback and others on foot. Combats in enclosed spaces between the Tiger and Lion, or Elephant, are also on some grand occasions the barbarous amusements of those Eastern nations; but as they consider the Elephant the most valuable of the two, so many precautions are taken to prevent its defeat, that the Tiger is in general the principal sufferer.

The Bengal Tiger, of which the White Tiger figured above is but a variety, is about four feet and upwards in height, and more than nine in length; and its strength is such, that when it has killed a deer, a horse, or even a buffalo, it carries off its prize with such ease, that it seems no impediment to its flight. THE CLOUDED OR TORTOISESHELL TIGER is a native of Sumatra ; a specimen, about fourteen months old, measured nearly three feet in length, and one foot four inches in height. Sir Stamford Raffles, in speaking of a younger specimen, has added the following particulars respecting its manners.

"While in a state of confinement, it was remarkable for good temper and playfulness: no domestic kitten could be more so. On board the ship, there was a small dog who used to play round the cage and with the animal, and it was amusing to observe the playfulness and tenderness with which the latter came in contact with his inferior-sized companion.

"He never seemed to look on men or children as when wild, they live principally on poultry, birds, and prey, but as companions; and the natives assert that small deer; they are not found in numbers, and may

be considered rather a rare animal even in the southern part of Sumatra. They are generally found in the vicinity of villages, and are not dreaded by the natives, except as far as they may destroy their poultry."

If we look with wonder upon the great remains of human works, such as the columns of Palmyra, broken in the midst of the desert, the temples of Pæstum, beautiful in the decay of twenty centuries, or the mutilated fragments of Greek sculpture in the Acropolis of Athens, or in our own Museum, as proofs of the genius of artists, and the power and riches of nations now past away; with how much deeper feelings of admiration must we consider those grand monuments of Nature, which mark the revolutions of the

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another destroyed; the bottom of the ocean become a fertile soil; whole races of animals extinct; and the bones and exuvia of one class, covered with the remains of another, and upon the graves of past generations-the marble, a rocky tomb, as it were, of a former animated worldnew generations rising, and order and harmony established, and a system of life and beauty produced, as it were, out of chaos and death; proving the infinite wisdom, power, and goodness of the GREAT CAUSE OF ALL BEING!— H. DAVY.

-SIR