dissent from him, it may not be unne- The phenomena of water dilating when Thus far, I believe, does my opinion coincide with that of your correspondent; but I consider that his attempt to prove the increased volume at 320, and so continued down the thermometrical scale, is produced by the absorption of frigoric, as wanting far more of evidence than I observe he adduces to its support. If we allow that water has decreased in temperature, and dilated by the presence of frigoric, why should frigoric, which must be equally present when mercury or al cohol lose caloric, cause no dilatation in them, but produce a contrary effect, viz.. Contraction. I confess, I consider this objection as not easily answered; but my assent to the theory would not completely follow, were that done; I should perhaps ground my objections nearly as follow: In the change that takes place in bodies when they alter from a state of so lidity to that of fluidity, or further to vapour, a large portion of caloric is absorbed and becoines latent. Thus to be rendered fluid, from a solid state, water receives 140, bees-wax 175, or spermacati 115, none of which is discoverable either in the temperature or increased bulk of the new compound. I under stand solidity to arise from the attraction that is exerted between the original particles of matter, which attraction is become weakened in the fluid state, and in the gaseous is counteracted by repulsion; and that any extension, or contraction of substance, is resolvable to these laws, which renders the mechanical idea of the interposition of caloric, frigoric, or any other matter, unnecessary. We observe the same particles of matter capable, as in water, of being in a state of fixity, as in lime; of crystallization, as in ice; of liquidity, as in its natural and most usual state; of vapour and of gas, as when resolved into its constituent parts, oxygen and hydrogen; from which it may be inferred, with all the certainty so abstruse a point can be supposed to have, that the particles of which materiality consists, are capable of taking an infinite variety of forms, so numerous as to give reason to believe in identity of its original nature. We are not to conclude that we are acquainted with all the agents that exert themselves in producing the innumerable appearances and qualities that appear in nature; several of those known to be among the most productive of conse quences are but of comparatively recent discovery, such as magnetism, electricity, or, its more intense application, galvas mism. From these discoveries it may be inferred, others may be added to the stock of human knowledge, and perhaps many are fated to be for ever hidden from human sagacity. It has been made apparent by the late discoveries of our illustrious countryman, Professor Davy, that chemical affinities are entirely dependent on electricity. That bodies to decompose each other must be in separate states, which being artificially altered, the most powerful attractions are overcome, and vice versa. It is a known fact, that when fluids are produced from solids, a change takes place in their conducting powers: for instance, ice, which is a bad conductor, by being changed to water becomes a good one; and similar effects take place by the same changes in sulphur and resin. This seems by no means unfavour able to the idea, that electricity, or some agent equally invisible, may dispose the particles of matter to a different power of attraction, and produce a change of volume, not unlikely that of water, which is the subject under our more immediate consideration. These considerations are not affected by the theory of matter we adopt; the causes of attraction and repulsion are never likely to be discoverable by human nature; even these are but the effects of the great First Cause, who is discoverable only in the power and wisdom displayed in his works, equally so in the formation of a particle of matter, or the law that directs the course of revolving worlds. It is only for philosophy to trace the workings of nature near their source; and` Q92 The 16 2 Chron. 1-comma omitted after Asa. Stepticism has so daringly aimed, in opposition to the injudicious theory of abso. lute inspiration, to level with the puerile cosmogonies of the Greeks, or the extravagant legends of the Hindoos, is the general deluge. This memorable catastrophe took place, according to the He brew text, 1656 years, and, agreeably to the Samaritan copies, 1307 years, subse quent to the era of the creation. But the Septuagint version declares it to have happened in the 2262d year of the world, a variance in chronology which no sagacity can now hope to reconcile. The obscure notion of a universal deluge ap pears to have obtained very extensive credit amongst the nations of antiquity; and the Grecian story of Deucalion exhi bits a remarkable analogy to that of Noah, the second father of the hunian race. Berosus, a Chaldean historian, who flourished about the reign of Alexander the Great, and of whose writings some fragments have been preserved, speaks of a tremendous flood, which happened many centuries before, under the reign of the good Xisuthrus, who, being apprised of this event in a dream, built a prodigious large vessel, in which his friends and family found a secure refuge, and 6 Proverbs, 11-for “travelletb" read "tra he was afterwards received among the vaileth." 8for "settetb" read "sitteth." 8-foris his eyes" read "is his eye." 28 Isaiah, 25-for "rie" read "rye." 12-"shall be as this day;" Cambridge stereotype reads, "shall be as to-day." 56 , gods. Sanconiathon, who compiled the his tory of the Phoenicians at an era perhaps still more remote, deduces the origin of mankind from a primæval pair, citing as his authority the writings of Thout, a per sonage much more ancient than himself, and styled by him the inventor of letters; but this imperfect narrative, in its present mutilated state, makes no mention of the flood. Manetho wrote his account of Egyptian antiquities by command of Ptolemy Philadelphus. For the purpose of reflect ing the highest honour possible on his country, he enumerates no less than thirty dynasties of gods, besides demigods and heroes, who reigned in Egypt before the flood, or the period assigned for that great event. But the more re cent and credible chronology of this writer does not essentially militate against that transmitted to us by the Jewish legislator. It has been observed by a celebrated modern writer, M. Voltaire, in the Discourse prefixed to his Essay on History, "that many of the ancient oriental historians have spoken of a terrible inundation in the days of Xexoutrou, who reigned over Chaldea some thousand years ago. Probably," says he, "the Tigris and Euphrates overflowed their banks more than ordinary; but the Chaldeans could not possibly have known by any other means than revelation that the whole habitable earth was covered with water." The veracity of Moses, however, and other oriental writers, is sufficiently maintained, if the deluge recorded by them extended itself over what was at that period regarded as the whole habitable world. For many centuries subsequent to the general deluge we have scarcely any guide but the scriptures of the Old Testament to assist us in our historic investigations: and the notices of events contained in them are so concise as to afford very imperfect satisfaction. Nimrod, descended in the third degree from Noah, is represented as famous on the earth, and a mighty hunter. In these early ages the hunting and destruction of wild beasts, and the consequent clearing and cultivation of land, would rank among the chief means of acquiring honour and renown. Babel or Babylon is said to have been founded by him, and was ap parently, from its commanding situation on the banks of the Euphrates, intended as the seat of his empire. Misraim, the son of Ham, is conjec. tured to have first planted Egypt, there being some fancied analogy between the names of his descendants, Ludim, Amamim, Pathrusim, &c. and Lybia, Ammo nia, and Pathros, or Thebais, &c. And Egypt is frequently in Scripture styled the Land of Mizraim. Canaan, the brother of Mizraim, fixed his residence on the eastern border of the Mediterranean Sea, and gave his name to the country which he thus occupied, till, in his distant posterity, the curse of Noah was in all its bitterness and vengeance fulfilled. Gomer, son of Japbet, is supposed to have been the ancestor of the Gomeri, Cumri, or Cymri, that is, the Celts, that great people who after. wards possessed the larger part of the continent of Europe. But the posterity of Shem are most distinguished in Jewish history. Ashur, the son of Shem, is regarded as the founder of the kingdom or empire of Assyria, and of its celebrated capital Nineveh, of which not a vestige now remains. From Heber, another of his descendants, the Hebrew nation are be lieved to derive their immediate origin. The race of mankind becoming very numerous in the plains of Shinaar, sup posed to be the country lying between the Tygris and the Euphrates, felt at length the necessity of separation; previously to which, as this venerable memorial of historic antiquity informs us, they resolved to build a tower, which should serve them as a signal or centre of union, and occasionally of assemblage. To this reasonable motive they seem to have added a culpable sentiment of pride. "Let us," said they, "build a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven," as if in defiance of the divine power. The idea of such a structure, allowing for the oriental extravagance of the figure, could not have originated but with a people who had made great advances in the arts of life and civilization; yet were their notions respecting the nature of the Deity strangely gross and anthropomorphitical. For it is related that "God came down to see the city and tower which the children of men builded." From this mode of expression here and elsewhere used, it is evident that both materiality and locality where ascribed to the Supreme Being, who is also represented as imperfect and limited in respect to his knowledge, and seeking the means of information. In consequence of the miraculous interposition which, according to the tenor of the narrative, ensued, the building was discontinued, and the name Babel, or confusion, given to the place. The race of Heber, though distinguished by peculiar marks of divine fayour, had in a long series of years sunk into idolatry from the example of the sur rounding tribes, or communities; and these fathers of the Jewish nation, described as dwelling on the other side the flood, that is, the Euphrates, are expressly accused of serving other gods, At length the renowned patriarch Abra ham, whose name is still of the highest celebrity in Arabia, and throughout the East, and whose family seems to have escaped the general contagion, departed with his whole household, conformably to the divine direction, from his native country, and finally settled in the land of Canaan, the ultimate possession of which was destined to him and his chil dren, who were in the course of ages to become a mighty people. Such are the principal occurrences, and little more can now be known of the history of this long period, extending to 427 years according to the Hebrew account, but to no less than 1078 years, reckoning by the more probable Samari tam fan chronology. This immense blank resembles, as has been remarked, a vast book with writing only on a few of its pages. The learned Bryant has, in his celebrated and elaborate work, shewn that the sacred history derives, in various respects, considerable support from the poetical, allegorical, and mythological fictions, the scattered assertions and obscure allusions, of the ancient heathen writers; but it is to be regretted that on many occasions his imagination has too obviously predominated over his judg ment. The narrative of events from the grand era of the departure of Abraham from Chaldea, comprehending the occurrences which were peculiar to the family of that famous patriarch, is frequently very minute, curious, and interesting. Few materials, nevertheless, exist from which we can form a tolerable judgment of the general state and condition of mankind during this period. Chaldea was probably at this time the most populous and civilized of all countries, but its religion was evidently corrupt and barbarous. Canaan, the modern Palestine, was divided among a great number of roving hostile tribes, subject to different chief tains, resembling the present Arabian sheikks or enirs, and engaged incessantly in bloody intestine wars. Egypt is the country of which we have the fullest account in the sacred writings, and upon the various revolutions of this ancient kingdom, some faint gleams of light are also thrown, even at this very remote era, by the precarious and indistinct testimony of profane history. The very first mention of this country in the scriptural records suggests the idea of its being a Jand of plenty; for, in consequence of a temporary scarcity or famine in Canaan, Abraham went to sojourn in the land of Egypt. The inhabitants we find also trafficked in slaves; for Hagar, the handmaid of Sarah, was evidently a female slave purchased in Egypt. The country, or that part of it where Abraham resided, was under the government of a king known by the appellation or title of Phamoh. Of the extent of his kingdom, or how many other contemporary monarchs might reign in different or distant dis tricts of the extensive region since called Egypt, it is impossible to know, and useJess to conjecture. We hear no more of Egypt for the space of 200 years, at the end of which period we find the sons of Jacob conspiring to sell Joseph their brother as a slave, to a caravan of Arabian merchants, tra velling from Gilead to Egypt, with a rich cargo of spices, balin, and myrrh. The kingdom at this time seems to have been subject to a great and powerful monarch, living in much magnificence, and surrounded with officers of state and men of science. Occasional mention is made of court festivals, of silken vestures, of silver cups, golden chains, jewels of gold and silver, chariots of state and of war; and the land also appears to have been highly cultivated, producing grain of dif. ferent'sorts in great quantities. With respect to manners and customs, we are told that the Egyptians held it an abomination to eat bread with the Hebrews, or doubtless any other nation. They were probably already divided into Castes. But, what is still more remarkable, it is given as a reason why the children of Israel were settled with their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen," that every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." Gen. xlvi. S4. This abomination must have originated in some powerful cause, and was perhaps closely connected with some great historical event. That the order of priests was held in high estimation and reverence is manifest from their having a portion assigned them of Pharaoh during the seven years of famine, as well as from the unalienable nature of their property. It is certain that the pleasing superstition of embalming dead bodies was now commonly prac tised in Egypt. Jacob was embalmed and kept several months previous to his interment, and Joseph was embalmed and put into a coffin, in order to be removed, at some distant and uncertain period, to the sepulchre of his fathers. When the oppression of the Israelites commenced, they were employed by Pharoah in building and, probably, fortifying two cities, called treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses: and the total omission of all mention of, or allusion to, the pyramids has been urged as a proof or forcible presumption that these enormous edifices were vot yet erected. But the city of Memphis, near the site of which the pyramids stand, was at a great distance from the land of Goshen; and that part of Egypt might possibly be under the dominion of another sovereign. Amid the splendour of the court of Pharaoh, much simplicity, not to say rusti city, of manners, apparently, in some respects prevailed. The king's daughter is represented as coming down to the river side to bathe. Homer, describing the 66 On these occasions we must suppose some appropriate spot to be selected, wrapt in embowering shades," and secure from the foot of intrusion. From numerous passages in the Iliad and Odyssey, we find that the use of strong and intoxicating liquors," the bowl with Bacchus crowned," was in the age of Homer very general; but, in the far more ancient times, of which we are now treating, we may infer that the fermented juice of the grape, or wine, was not yet known; for the chief butler, in relating his dream to Joseph, describes himself as pressing the clusters of ripe grapes into the cup of Pharaoh, in order to produce a liquor such as the king was no doubt accustomed to drink. [The remainder of this interesting paper is deferred till our next.] To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, THE Chaldeans and Egyptians who first gave names to the great fixed stars, and divided them into constellations, representing several kinds of animals, take precedence; yet have they, through defect of taste and understanding, disgraced the celestial mansions with the names of reptiles, snakes, fish, dogs, centaurs, horned and winged horses; and, in modern times, triangles, mechanic figures, and such mean substitutes have been added, that are inconvenient and unbecoming the dignity of illuminated Heaven, (except the globe, sextant and telescope,) which should be represented by the most noble and handsome creatures, which I have introduced, consisting, for the most part, of large birds and beasts, which reduce the multiplied constellations, and comprehend many unformed stars, making no material change in the system, as all the stars retain their old names. Each of the figures have their heads to the polar star as their zenith, being antipodes to those south of the equator; 1 have made as few mutations in my drawings of the globe as consistently could be made, which has been approved by some of the first astronomers and persons of good 1 Chrysætos, the golden eagle, in place of the Greyhounds and Berenice's hair. Hallætus, the osprey, in place of the great Hydra. Platale, the spoonbill, in place of the sign Fishes. Pelicanus in place of the South ern Fish. Water birds. of the Fly, two Triangles, and Fish. Urogallus, the mountain cock, in place Ibis, the red curlew, in place of the Serpent's Head in Serpentarius. Ciconia, the stork with extended wings, in place of the chemical Furnace and Sculp tor's Apparatus. Butes, the bittern, in place of the Painter's Easel. Phasianus, the Argus pheasant, in place of the Sword-fish and Hydra. Corona Ariadne in place of the North Crown. A Quiver in place of the Horse in Sagitarius. Castor, the beaver, in place of the Crow and Cup. Elephantus in place of the footed Whale. Camelus, the white camel, in place of the Centaur and Wolf. Cervus, the stag, in place of the Linx. Alces, the elk, in place of the Lizard. Equus in place of Monoceros, the horned Horse. Zebra in place of the Dolphin. Antelaus major, the antelope, in place of the Great Dog. Antelaus minor, in place of the Little Dog. Leopardus, in place of the Flying Fish. Antarctic Circles. WILLIAM COLQUITT. Chester, Sept. 9, 1812. POPULATION |