Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

the one side, and several neighbouring powers on the other. The history of this war we will give in the words of Scripture, as contained in the fourteenth chap ter of Genesis. It is a very curious document of olden times, and gives a graphic view of the wars of infant

nations.

"This victorious

women, who went on in a joyful tumult, he extended his beneficent conquests as far as the Ganges, teaching the conquered nations the cultivation of the vine, toge ther with a higher enjoyment of life, and giving them laws. In the divine person of Bacchus, men revered the more cheerful delights of life, as a particular, sub"It came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of lime being, who, under the form of an eternally flourShinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of ishing youth, subdues lions and tigers, that draw his Elam, and Tidal, king of nations, that these made chariot, and who, in divine ecstasy, accompanied by war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king the sound of flute and timbrels, proceeds in triumph of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber from east to west throughdition, undertaken for the beall countries. king of Zebolim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, nefit of the nations on earth, was accomplished by Bacwhich is the salt sea. Twelve years they served Che-chus in three years, for which reason the festivals dorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. afterwards instituted in remembrance of it, were always And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and celebrated after an interval of three years. Then the the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims joyful tumult which accompanied the march of the god in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and through the earth was repeated, and echoed anew from the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in every hill and every mountain. The priestesses of the their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wil- god of wine, roaming with dishevelled hair upon the derness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, mountains, filled the air with noise, proceeding from which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the the beating of timbrels, playing on flutes, and the wild Amalekites, and also the Amorites that dwelt in Ha- continual cry, Evoe Bacchus! The threatening thyrzezon-tamar. And there went out the king of Sodom, sus† in their hands, from which the coloured ribands and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and waved, while the pine apple on its top concealed the the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined wounding point, is an emblem of the expedition to Inbattle with them in the vale of Siddim; with Chedor- dia, on occasion of which the clamour of war and din of laomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of na- battle were hidden under song, and playing on flutes, tions, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the

goods oom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals,

and went

way. And they took Lot, Abram's bro

ther's son,
departed.
"And there came one that had escaped, and told
Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre
the Amorite, brother of Eschol, and brother of Aner:
and these were confederate with Abram. And when
Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he
armed his trained servants born in his own house, three
hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
And he divided himself against them, he and his ser-
vants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them
unto Hobah, which is on the
the left hand of Damascus.
And he brought back all the goods, and also brought
again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women
also, and the people.150

, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and
Jamsa edi le feil &

[ocr errors]

"And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the the kings that were witghter of Chedorlaomer, and of him, at the valley of Shaveh,

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

nob

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors][merged small]

which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high These inspired priestesses of Bacchus afforded a God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. sublime subject to ancient poetry. A Bacchante, in And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom her ecstasy, was as if raised above the bounds of husaid unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the manity. Inspired by the power of the deity, the boungoods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of So-daries of human life were too narrow for her. Thus an dom, I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most ancient poet describes such an inspired personage as high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I on the top of a mountain, which she had unconsciously to a shoe-latchet, and ascended; she suddenly awakes from her mental slumthat I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou ber, and beholds beneath her the river Hebrus, and all shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Thrace covered with snow. beaten, which the young men have The danger is sweet, and the ly that portion thus to follow the god whose temples are encircled of the men which went with me, Aner, Eschol, and with verdant leaves. The straining of all the Mamre; let them take their portion." Bik vinode co thus bil zguntou tady powers, climbing up a steep mountain, in wild

a

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

90

inspiration, is what renders this picture so beautiful.
Even old age is to be seen in Bacchus retinue,
intoxicated by the sweet juice of the grape, and stag-
They are known under the name of Dyonisia, or Baccha-
nalian Festivals.
+ The thrysus was a
as a dart, or small spear, entwined with ivy
or the vine leaves, borne by the devotees of Bacchus.

[ocr errors]

ZINADAM YJINAN AHT

bodde in THE SATYRI OR SATYRS.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

gering about with uncertain step. The most conspicu- Satyri or Satyrs, and the Fauni or Fauns. We will bous figure in the train, however, is old Silenus, riding notice each of these classes separatelys Hau with heavy head on his ass, supported by Satyrs and pudo ban doidy Fauns, and making, in this state, the most charming contrast in the youthful picture." and gata a Besides the Bacchantes, or regular priestesses of Bacchus, there were two other classes of beings that belonged to his train. They were denominated the

22

[ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

The Satyrs were monsters having the horns, legs, and feet of goats, and the bodies of men. The cut below is a representation of one of them, sacrificing to Bacchus, by pouring wine from a horn upon an altar. at and bisa 290); raid setup-i: 9197 ud bastedit od 88 d bangoned bus 1991001 ingliz ballso 91977 yds blu oso at yol swd Jellt y d

aonis bens av chop de

[graphic]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

- to dreste li pov
Ford The Satyrs were, according to some, the offspring of
those nymphs called Naiades, who presided over foun-
forest. They were of the most libidinous character
tains. Their abode was the deep recesses of the
imaginable.bus obsitque uw eeof and ho
llud ad THE FAUNI OR FA

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

76

THE FAMILY MAGAZINE.

Irw W Baus 10 inu od baservisa 10 nyeusigeno Jeom odTqsta aisteonu diw, nods gang, ways drunk, as we find him described in the sixth to us to be lost the point where smiling sport and Eclogue of Virgil. The cup which he and Bacchus heavenly sublimity seem to unite. At Elis, in Greece, used was called Canthrus; and the staff with which Silenus had a temple of his own, and was worshipped he supported himself, Ferula: this he used when he as a higher being." "uniq lutdinov edi ni testos was so drunk, as it often happened, that he could not to aseestesing luger 10 sdt anbies osit, but fell from his ass. to goitstageenger s ai woledad egnied to a9eals PRIAPUS. 9tow 919d aud The Satyrs were not only constant companions of dr bataions, se ei air.of bassolad Silenus, but were assistants to him; they held him in "Priapus, painted with a sickle in his hand, was great esteem, and honoured him as their father; and the son of Venus and Bacchus, born at Lampsacus; when they became old, they were called Sileni too. from whence he was banished, till by the oracle's comAnd concerning Silenus's ass, they say that he was mand he was recalled, and made god of the gardens, translated into heaven, and placed among the stars; and crowned with garden herbs. He carries a sickle because in the Giants' war, Silenus rode on him, and in his hand, to cut off from the trees all superfluous helped Jupiter very much. boughs, and to drive away thieves and beasts, and mischievous birds; whence he is called Avistupor. His image is usually placed in gardens, as we may learn from Tibullus, Virgil, and Horace. He is called Hellesgontiachus by the poets; because the city Lampsacus, where he was born, was situate upon the Hellespont. He was very deformed, which misfortune was occasioned by the ill usage that his mother suffered from Juno. He was named Priapus, Phallus, and Fascinum, from his deformity. All these names have an indecent signification; though by some he is called Bonus Dæmon, or the good Genius.

[graphic]

bead blad sson tal e diw x9

eid asvirsh of ybod in

bodoad-elbbsa a Roq

"Aristæus was employed in drawing oil from the olive, which art he first invented. He also found out the use of honey. For these two profitable inventions, the ancients paid him divine honours.

"He was otherwise called Nomius and Agræus, and was the son of Apollo by Cyrene; or, as Cicero says, the son of Liber Pater, educated by the nymphs, and taught by them the art of making oil, honey, and cheese. He fell in love with Euridice, the wife of Orpheus, and pursued her into a wood, where a serpent stung her so that she died. On this account the nymphs hated him, and destroyed all his bees to revenge the death of Euridice. The loss was exceedingly deplored by him and asking his mother's advice, he was told by the oracle that he ought by sacrifices to appease Euridice. Wherefore he sacrificed to her four bulls and four heifers, and his loss was supplied; for suddenly a swarm of bees burst forth from the carcasses of the bulls." vino en Nieryje odmor 1shib cave sAT NATURAL HISTORY. Med sin on 910 vode tenet te 1990 VW atod bas lood oved yed 90T 900ls dos ed diw adr vliquis ved a basebog is at modt les vitego odt lo erood dirw beams 918 you caused Jooga mat meds yo .29gade siding or botning bas elisa bas zavod

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Vol 9H modo esbiess Hoot ad deid mi asobant a bad on ica, which alone properly and originally belong to this New Continent, are almost all without

is teomia saw phasupernos bus on THE TAPIR, OR THE ANTA.
"This animal is, with the exception of the horse, South America,
the largest animal in America. The animals also of

[ocr errors]

defence, without horns, and without tails; their bodies and their limbs are disproportioned; and some, as the sluggish and crawling animals &c. are of so miserable a nature, that they scarcely have the faculties of moving or of eating; they drag on a languishing life in the solitude of a desert, and cannot subsist in the inhabited world, where men and powerful animals would have soon destroyed them.

"The Tapir is of the size of a small cow, or zebu, but without horns, and with a short naked tail; the legs are short and thick, and the feet have small black hoofs. The body is thick and clumsy, the back somewhat arched, and the hair of a dusky or brownish colour. On the short thick neck is a kind of bristly mane, which, near the head, is an inch and a half in length. His head is of a tolerable size, with roundish, erect ears, and small eyes, and the muzzle terminates in a kind of proboscis, which can be extended or contracted at the will of the animal. The latter it uses in feeding, to grasp its food and convey it to the mouth, in the same way that the rhinoceros applies its upper lip; and in this are also contained the organs of smell. He has ten incisive teeth and ten grinders in each jaw; a character which separates him entirely from the ox, and other ruminating animals. His skin is so thick and hard as to be almost impenetrable to a bullet; for which reason the Indians make shields of it. "The Tapir seldom stirs out but in the night, and delights in the water, where he oftener lives than upon -land. He is chiefly to be found in marshes, and seldom goes far from the borders of rivers or lakes. He swims and dives with singular facility. When he is threatened, pursued, or wounded, he plunges into the water, and remains there till he has got to a great dis

[ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

tance before he re-appears. These customs, which he has in common with the hippopotamus, have made some naturalists imagine him to be of the same species; but he differs as much from him in nature, as he is distant from him in climate. To be assured of this, there needs no more than to compare the description we have now recited, with that of the hippopotamus. Although the Tapir inhabits the water, he does not feed upon fish; and although his mouth is armed with twenty sharp and incisive teeth, he is not carnivorous: he lives upon sugar canes, grasses, the leaves of shrubs, and various kinds of fruit; and does not make use of what Nature has armed him with against other animals. He is of a mild and timid nature, and flies from every attack or danger: when, however, he is cut off from retreat, he makes a vigorous defence against dogs and men. Its usual attitude is that of sitting on its rump like a dog; and its voice is a kind of whistle. The flesh is wholesome food. It may be tamed, and is then very gentle and docile. This animal is commonly found in Brazil, Paraguay, Guiana, and in all the extent of South America, from the extremity of Chili to New Spain.

A

"A species of Tapir which has recently been discovered, is very common in the island of Sumatra and the forests of Malacca. Its body is of a dirty white, while the head, legs, and tail are of a deep black. This species has no mane, and its proboscis is from seven to eight inches long.

[ocr errors]

Among the numerous fossil remains of a former world are found fragments of Tapirs of enormous size. One of these extinct species, the gigantic Tapir, must have been more than equal to the elephant in magnitude."

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
[graphic]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

3091

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

grads aids or seroqmi eest LANDSCAPE

The garden, at first intended merely for producing esculent vegetables, fruits, and flowers, began to assume another character as soon as the increase of civilization tempted the feudal baron to step a little way out of the limits of his fortifications, and permitted his high dame to come down from her seat upon the castle walis, so regularly assigned her by ancient minstrels, and tread the neighbouring precincts which art had garnished for her reception. These gardens were defended with walls, as well for safety as for shelter; they were often surrounded with fosses, had the com

Mous adTdtron ont le bontan mand of water, and gave the disposer of the ground an opportunity to display his taste, by introducing canals, basins, and fountains, the margins of which admitted of the highest architectural ornament. As art enlarged its range, and the nobles were satisfied with a display of magnificence, to atone for the abridgement of their power, new ornaments were successively introduced; banqueting houses were built; terraces were extended and connected by staircases and balustrades, of the richest forms. The result was, indeed, in the highest degree artificial; but it was a sight

beautiful in itself a triumph of human art over the imported from China. The art of printing was known elements; and, connected as these ornamental gardens here long before its discovery in Europe. Moveable were with splendid mansions of the same character, metal types have not been used, and are not, perhaps, there was a symmetry and harmony between the baron- so well adapted to the language, as the wooden ial palace itself, and these its natural appendages, blocks on which their pages are engraved, after the which recommended them to the judgment as well as manner, somewhat, of stereotyping. The children are the eye. The shrubs themselves were artificial, inas- every where taught to read; and this written language much as they were either exotic, or, if indigenous, is understood throughout the empire, and in several of were treated in a manner and presented an appearance the neighbouring countries. The writings of Confuwhich was altogether the work of cultivation. The cius, the great prophet and philosopher of China, who examination of such objects furnished amusement to lived more than 2000 years ago, are to the Chinese the merely curious, information to the scientific, and what the Bible is to us. These have contributed vastpleasure at least to those who only looked at them, and ly to the sameness of the language. No other lanpassed on. Where there was little extent of ground, guage on earth has so many readers. It is the medium especially, what could be fitter for the amusement of of communication for one third at least, of the human learned leisure, than those trim gardens" which Mil- family.-St. Louis Observer. A to si bood eiH dryasl ton has represented as the chosen scene of the easy as assum edi bar 15919 and unoccupied man of letters. He had there around 000 10 LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN CHINA & ai him the most delightful subjects of contemplation, in Dangers attending Authorship in China, illustrated by the fruits and flowers, the shrubs and trees, many of them interesting from their novelty and peculiar apset forth in the Report of his Judges. se si ni the Fate of Whang see-Heou, whose crime is thus pearance and habits, inviting him to such studies as lead from created things up to the almighty Creator. This sublime author, indeed, has been quoted, as bearing a testimony against the artificial taste of gardening in the times when he lived, in those well-known verses, to 9ts list bon buladi olid to a Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon 19 of 69798 Poured out profuse on hill and dale and plain, Both where the morning sun first warmly smote The open field, and where the unpierced shade 1 bivaw Embrowned the noon-tide bowers. Then was this place A happy rural seat of various view." 910 day

[graphic]
[ocr errors]

We find," say they" 1. That he has presumed to meddle with the great Dictionary of Kang-hi; having made an abridgment in it, in which he has had the auand authentic work. 2. In the preface to his abridg dacity to contradict some passages of that excellent ment, we have seen with horror that he has dared write the little names (that is, the primitive family names) of Confucius, and even of your Majesty a temerity, a want of respect, which has made us shudder. 3. In the genealogy of his family and his poetry, he has asserted that he was descended from the Whang-tee.

great Dictionary of Kang-hi, he replied That Diction"When asked why he had dared meddle with the ary is very voluminous and inconvenient; I have made an abridgment which is less cumbersome and expensive.

This passage expresses exquisitely what park scenery ought to be, and what it has in some cases actually become; but we think the quotation has been used to authorize conclusions which the author never intended. Eden was created by the Almighty fiat, which called heaven and earth into existence; and "Being questioned how he could have the audacity poets of genius much inferior, and falling far short of to write in the preface to this Dictionary the little Milton in the power of expressing their meaning, names of the emperors of the reigning dynasty, he anwould have avoided the solecism of representing Par-swered-I know that it is unlawful to pronounce the adise as decorated with beds and curious knots of flow-little names of the Emperors. I introduced them into ers, with which the idea of human labour and human my Dictionary, merely that young people might know care is inevitably connected-an impropriety, indeed, what those names were, and not be liable to use them which can only be equalled by that of the French by mistake. I have, however, acknowledged my error, painter, who gave the skin dress of our first father the by reprinting my Dictionary, and omitting what was cut of a court suit. Milton nobly conceived that Eden, emanating directly from the Creator, must possess that majestic freedom which characterizes even the less perfect works of nature; and, in doing so, he has anticipated the schemes of later improvers. But, we think it extremely dubious, that he either meant to recommend landscape gardening on an extensive scale, or to censure those "trim gardens," which he has elsewhere mentioned so affectionately.-Quarterly Rev.

LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE.

It could hardly be expected, that so numerous a people would have exact uniformity in language. Various dialects are found in parts remote from each other; so that the inhabitants of the souken language ly be understood at the north. The is composed of monosyllables, with so little difference of sound, that an American could not distinguish more than about 350 terms. By various intonations and inflections of the voice, however, these are made to anbaiswer the usual purposes of conversation. The written language is unlike, in the manner of its formation, every other of which we have any knowledge, They have no alphabet, but every character stands for a Word; so that there are as many characters as words. The whole number is about 80,000, not more than half of which, however, are in common use. Every one almost has seen them on chests of tea, which are

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

"We replied that the names of the Emperor and Confucius were known to the whole empire. He protested that he had long been ignorant of them, and that he had not known them himself till he was thirty years where the literati compose their pieces, in order to obold, when he saw them for the first time in the hall, tain degrees.

"When asked how he had dared assert that he was descended from the Whang-tee, he said:-It was a vanity that came into my head. I wanted to make people believe that I was somebody."

If there were in these three charges any thing really reprehensible, according to the broad principles of universal morality, it was the fabrication of an illustrious genealogy. This imposture, censurable in any case, might have been designed to make dupes, and perhaps attached less importance to this charge than to the to form a party; but the Judges of Whang-see-heou other two. They declared the author guilty of hightreason on the first charge, and pronounced this sentence:

[ocr errors]

According to the laws of the empire, this crime ought to be rigorously punished. The criminal shall be cut in pieces, his goods confiscated, and his children and relatives above the age of sixteen years put to death. His wives, his concubines, and his children, under sixteen, shall be exiled, and given as slaves to some grandee of the empire." bereins

The Sovereign was graciously pleased to mitigate the severity of this sentence, in an edict to this effect.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »