mass of water falls, lit up with successive flashes of foam, and contrasted with the rich, creamy whiteness of the two sides or wings of the same crescent; then the sober gray of the opposite precipice of Goat Island, crowned with the luxuriant foliage of its forest trees, and connected still further on with the pouring snows of the greater and less American Falls; the agitated and foamy surface of the waters at the bottom of the Falls, followed by the darkness of their hue as they sweep along through the perpendicular gorge beyond; the mist, floating about and veiling objects with a softening indistinctness; and the bright rainbow which is constant to the sun-altogether form a combination of color, changing too with every change of light, every variation of the wind, and every hour of the day, which the painter's art cannot imitate, and which nature herself has perhaps only effected here.

[To be concluded.]

ATTRIBUTES OF MAN.

Extract from an oration delivered at Madison College, Penn., by the Rev. H. B. Bascom.

Man is, perhaps, the most singularly constituted being in the high scale of heaven's mysterious workmanship; and if we except the heavenly intelligences, he stands pre-eminent among all the works of God. Uniting in himself a thousand modifications of matter and the endless varieties of mind; by his material part connected with things terrestrial; by the immaterial claiming alliance with a higher and nobler world above; mortal and immortal in his complex nature; tending to the tomb, and yet superior to its ravages; ever converging to corruption and the darkness of the grave, and yet conscious of undying energies within-he presents us with a problem in the science of being, the solution of which can only be realized in a direct communication from the Creator to the creature-of whose mysterious formation and attributes we are now speaking. Man seems in himself to unite the diversities of created nature, and stands forth not unaptly to the contemplation of intelligence as an epitome of being-an abridgement of the universe! Of the primitive condition and ultimate destination of man it cannot be necessary for us to speak

at length here. Nature, tradition, and inspiration unite in their testimony, that he left the hand of the Creator combining in himself the elements of an existence splendid in its structure and boundless in prospect.

Endued with the high and distinguishing attributes of intelligence, volition, and emotion, man is distinguished as occupying the summit of creation's visible pyramid, and prepared to move forward forever with firm and unfettered tread in the paths of virtue, of science, and of moral illumination.

The phenomena attendant upon the original formation of man stamped upon him the signature of his value, and intimated in no obscure way the part he was to act in the great drama of existence. The manifestations of nature, his own consciousness, and the affirmation of the Being who made him, all gave notice that he was destined to run a high career amid the eventful and unknown fortunes of creation.

Man's intellectual dominion is almost without limit. His knowledge of the present, compared with the past, and reaching forward to the future, enables him to arrange and classify important and kindred facts upon the grand principle of induction, and hand them down to future generations as the well-attested record of experience. New and more ample fields of discovery continually open before him, and he only ceases to learn with the termination of his earthly being. And, indeed, it is not at all improbable that the virtuous and good beyond the grave will continue to increase the sum of knowledge by observation, intuition, and intercourse, until universal nature shall be spread out before the eye of the heavenly inhabitant as a boundless exhibition of the infinite God! It is the distinguishing prerogative of man, while all the living creatures with which he finds himself surrounded are necessarily confined within the narrow and grovelling limits fixed and defined by instinct, to extend his researches beyond his own immediate wants and concerns, and delight and improve himself in the contemplation of the universe.

The wide and impressive prospects of this fair creation are all before him. The glory of the heavens, the beauty of the earth, and the grandeur of the ocean, the hill. the dale, the mine, the quarry, afford an intensity

of delight, a force of appeal, calculated to improve and mend the heart. They all hold one common language, and that language is directed to man—the only terrestrial being who is capable of intelligent admiration.

CIRCLE OF THE SCIENCES WITH SUITABLE REFLECTIONS.

THE GREAT ASTRONMICAL MIRACLE.

Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon, in the valley of Ajalon. [Illustrated by an explanatory plate.]

The stupendous miracle recorded in the book of Joshua, when the Prophet" said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon," has for centuries been a fruitful subject of discussion and controversy. Scoffers and infidels have made it the pretext for impugning the authenticity of the scriptures, some asserting that so sudden a suspension of the most important motions in the universe would have produced irremediable confusion, and others declaring that as this miracle supposes the Earth to be the centre of the Solar system, which is, demonstrably, false philosophy, they find in it sufficient evidence that the history could never have been dictated by the Spirit of Truth. On the other hand, the ablest astronomers and Divines have laboured to show that the miracle was wrought without the production of any violent change in the known laws of nature, and that the terms employed in the text, when rightly understood, convey nothing contrary to the established principles of the true system of the universe. In presenting the present simple explanation to our youthful readers, we wish them to bear in mind that we do not pretend to say how the miracle was performed, but merely to show how easily the idle objections brought against it may be obviated; the endeavour to trace the operations of omnipotence is at all times innocent when made in a becoming spirit, with the full conviction that the God of nature is the master and not the servant of his own laws which he can suspend or alter as his unerring wisdom may see fit, and with an unwavering assurance that though our finite faculties may fail to discover how these things were done, yet were they so, because "the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.'

The preceding cut is intended to answer a double purpose. It is first a map showing the geographical situation and distances of the principal places upon the scene of the miracle. These are designated by letters and may be understood by turning to the references. It is also a dial, having the hours marked around it those during which the daylight and twilight continued being distinguished by the lighter shading from those of the night, to show what number of hours was required to unite the last daylight of the first day with the first daylight of the second, to make both days one centinuation of light; that being the time of the duration of the miracle.

The plate represents the supposed horizon which might be visible to Joshua; the Sun rising in the north east and continuing his course till he had nearly reached the north west part of the heavens, where at half past seven o'clock he is supposed to be naturally setting, and the twilight commencing. This evening twilight is represented as lasting till near nine o'clock, from nine till three in the morning as wholly dark; about three o'clock the day begins to break, and the morning twilight ends in perfect day, at sunrise about half past four o'clock. During all this time, the moon being nearly full, would be above the horizon, having risen about five or six o'clock in the evening, and not setting till about five o'clock the next morning.

The distance of the towns mentioned in the scripture narrative may be measured by a scale of ten miles to the inch, the white path marks the course of Joshua's army.

The passage in which the miracle is recorded stands verbally thus: "Joshua went from Gilgal; attacked the enemy at Gibeon; drove them to the ascent to Bethoron, to Azekah and Makedah. As they were going down to Bethoron, a violent hail storm overtook them and by this was the chief slaughter of them made. Then spake Joshua to the Lord, and he said in the eyes of Israel, "Sun on Gibeon continue, and moon, in the valley of Ajalon." The original words are taken to imply, not the bodies of the sun and moon, but their light, by which a day of twelve hours was lengthened out to twenty-four. What our translators have rendered the midst of heaven, is also translated the divison, which may mean the horizon, the grand natural division which strikes every eye, separating the upper from the under heavens. Ajalon is literally translated, the valley of Oaks. "Here the enemy was posted, probably among the oak trees, and here Joshua would naturally desire the moon to shine in order to distinguish and attack. them. Two words in the original denote the delay of the great lights. "Solar rays upon Gibeon stay." The very phrase seems to imply that he was then upon the edge of the horizon, and his rays gilding the hill of Gideon. And the solar ray remained level and the lunar stayed," stood equally bright during the whole