The Conversion of tbe Roman Empire. The Boyle 
Lectures for the year 1804, Delivered at the Chapel 
Royal, Whitehall. By Charles Merivalk. B. D., 
Rector of Law lord ; Chaplain to the Sneaker of the 
House of Commons; Author of “A fllefory of the 
Romans uuder the Empire." Svo.—pp. 207. New 
York: D Appleton & Co. 
The history of the first, three centuries of the 
Christian era is replete with interest to the thought- 
fal mind. During this period the Christian church, 
almost entirely undisturbed by such fierce Internal 
disssentions as afterwards arose and shook it to its 
foundations, in attempting to settle the tenet- of doc¬ 
trinal belief, was attempting to gain a foothold in the 
i. minds of men, opposed on the one baud with frantic 
energy by the teachers of the old faiths, aud^llscour- 
aged on the other by a wide-spread and desolating 
spirit of infidelity among the masses. With what 
force conld Christianity, which establishes so intimate 
and personal a relation between the Creator and the 
creature, expect to appeal to lhe Roman, to whom re¬ 
ligion was not, an individual aft air but. .‘a matter of 
state? What arguments could that religion, which 
teaches the equality of all men before Gait, bring to 
the fastidious Greek, who claimed immortality as the 
exclusive right of the cultivated few, bat left the com¬ 
mon mass of men to perish as the beasts of the field ? 
Providentially, no doubt, the decadence of the Roman 
Empire bad somewhat shaken tbe faith of tbe one in 
the protecting care of the gods, and the other had al¬ 
ready become disgusted with the puerile speculations 
of a horde of sophists, who, pretending to .revive 
Greek learning and Greek philosophy, were themselves 
unable to comprehend the principles they attempted 
to teach. Moreover the conquests of the Roman and 
Macedonian Empires had. brought distant commu¬ 
nities Into close relations, had broken down national 
exclusiveness, and by widely diffusing Greek art and 
culture and tbe principles of the Roman civil polity, 
had foreshadowed a time when Bocial harmony, lead¬ 
ing eventually to spiritual unity, might prevail npon 
the earth. To the pagan world thus situated came 
Christianity: and "the conversion of the Empire," 
says our author, " seems to have been effected princi¬ 
pally in four ways:—I. By the force of tbe external 
evidence to the truth of Christianity: 2. By internal 
evidence, from the sense or spiritual destitution; 3. 
By the testimony to tlie truth of Christianity from 
the lives and deaths of the primitive believers; 4. By 
the temporal success with which Christianity was 
eventually crowned." 
It is not our purpose to follow the author in the 
elaboration of his theory of the conversion of the 
Empire —we hare not the space at command. He 
truly says of bis subject that it is one " not for a dis¬ 
sertation hnt for a history; yet in some respects this 
dissertation is rather better than history, since it 
furnishes so clear aud interesting an outline of one of 
the most important periods in the history of man, that 
it will lie likely to stimulate its readers to special his¬ 
torical investigations. The style of the work is 
necessarily terse and condensed and will not. be gener¬ 
ally found such easy reading as tbe author's late 
“History of the Empire." The matter, however, is 
worth all the study the text may require. An idea of 
the author’s method may he gained from the follow¬ 
ing titles to chapters:—" Christian Dolief Contrasted 
with neathen Unbelief;” “ Heathen Bclier Directed 
towards a Temporal Providence;’ 1 '• Expansion of the 
A SWARM OF BEES WORTH HAVING, 
B patient, B prayerful, B humble, B mild, 
B wise as a Solomon, B meek as a child; 
B studious, B thonghtrul, B loving, B kind: 
B sure yon make matter subservient to mini. 
B cautious, B prndent, B trustful, B true; 
B courteous to all men, B friendly with few. 
B temperate in argument, pleasure and wine 
B careful of conduct, of money, of time, 
B cheerfu 1 . B grateful, B hopeful, B firm, 
B peaceful, henevolent, willing to learn; 
B courteous. B gentle, B liberal, B just, 
B aspiring, B humble, became thou art dust 
B patient, circumspect, sonnd in the faith; 
B active, devoted, B faithful till death; 
B honest, B holy, transparent and pure; 
B dependent, B Christ-like, and you’ll B secure, 
ripe fruit fill - ing, For the Au - tumn now is call 
Come, and 
mg vine, 
WHAT IS A TYPE 
“ Mamma, you said that the cloud which went 
with the children of Isreal was a type of God’s 
love for us.” 
“Yes.” 
“ Now, mamma, I wish you would tell me 
what a type is.” 
“A type, my ear, points for ward to some¬ 
thing which is to come and which is of more 
value or importance than the type itself.” 
“Mamma, tell me all about some of the 
types.’ ’ 
In the Old Testament Scriptures, which were 
written long before our Saviour was born in 
Bethlehem, there are a great many things which 
are supposed to point forward to him, and to 
his mission from heaven for the salvation of the 
world. And these are called types, or are typi¬ 
cal of Jesus Christ, or of some event connected 
and therefore -Jesus Christ is 
Come, when morning smiling gayly, 
Drives the mists along the valley; 
Come, when first the distant horn, 
Winding, wakes the joyful morn. 
In the early morning hour, 
Ere the dew has left the bower; 
In the ruddy, purple beam, 
Come, and see the vineyard's gleam. 
Thou shalt feel a new-born pleasure, 
Gazing thus on autumn’s treasure 
And the Joyful songs shall raise 
Sweeter songs of grateful praise. 
iu 
I we passed on to the Nineveh Gallery, where six 
I sculptured slabs from the palace of Sardanapa- 
lcs are placed in the walls, and above these are 
fresco paintings of figures found in the same 
ruins. What strange sensations fill the mind 
when looking on such tangible relics of the 
past! They bring ns face to face with the dead 
centuries, and we forget this modern world. 
Still more wonderful was the Ichnological 
Cabinet containing 9,000 examples, from the 
impression of raindrops to the footprints of 
birds and beasts, lithographed by the Master 
npon the unyielding stone. The Zoological 
Cabinet next claimed oar attention, with its 
thousands of specimens, including the famous 
Gorilla. There were many curious things, 
among them a model of the skeleton of the 
Megathereum, which was fairly startling by its 
huge proportions. We paid hurried visits to 
the library and other buildings, and again en¬ 
tered our carriage and started for the mountain, 
anxious to enjoy the sunset from its summit. 
Frank was asked to halt a minute at the Pass 
of Thermppyla 1 for my benefit, and he obligingly 
reined in our steed as we entered. The wall of 
amethysts from a collection of minerals which 
she kept for sale, and then we journeyed on 
again, concluding that Sydney Smith was about 
right when he said that “a man is the happier 
for life, for having made once an agreeable tour 
or enjoyed for any interval some innocent 
pleasure.” 
Early next morning my adieus were said, and 
I started for home. How many times I repeated 
that one little word through the long day of car- 
riding. I said it under my breath as I took my 
last look at the towns along my route, I whis¬ 
pered it as we slid through the sweet valley of 
the Mohawk. I repeated it aloud as I stepped 
off the care and took my seat In the stage, and 
at last I was at home, dear home. 
Happy are they who, even at life’s early noon, 
have some place to which their hearts and hopes 
cau cling, around which their affections center, 
and where some one waits to give them a “ wel¬ 
come home, 
IN MASSACHUSETTS AND HOME AGAIN. 
Dear Rcral :—Less than a month ago I wa 3 
in the heart of the Bay State, and two happy 
days have so fixed their gold and crimson glory 
npon my mental canvass that l can never forget 
them. A long year had passed away with its 
care and toil, and my trunks were packed for 
the homeward journey t but cousinly persua¬ 
sions, and the curiosity to sec Mr. Holyoke, 
caused me to tarry still longer. 
"Massachusetts isn’t as weli adapted for farm¬ 
ing as New York,” said Frank, as wc left 
Springfield behind us, and dashed off into tbe 
country by an unfenced road; “yet there are 
line lands in the Conneeticnt valley, and as for 
scenery, I don’t find anything that suits me 
better than some wild places in Berkshire, or 
than the view from the mountain yonder.” 
“No need of praising the Bay State to me,” 
I replied. “ I happen to carry mountains and 
valleys in my sonl, and have an appreciating eye 
tor rocks and rushing streams." 
It was a lovely day; aerial ranges of shlnlDg 
mountains loomed up against the sky ; the trees 
were luxuriant in their summer dress; golden 
lilies nodded bj' tbe wayside, and glassy clumps 
of kalmias displayed tbeir white and pink 
blossoms. 
“ We shall be in 8outh Hadley very soon now,” 
said Avis, after we had gone some distance; 
“that is the * dark woods' at the right, where 
we botanists went for pitcher plants and climb¬ 
ing fern, and here is the plaee we named Para¬ 
dise—the stream makes quite a pretty cascade 
sometimes; that grove on the hill is famous for 
chestnuts and strawberries.” 
The village was small, only a few neat houses 
and a church, but the most prominent building 
was the celebrated Mt. Holoyoke Seminary, 
which was five stories high and built of brick. 
“ We must give Isidore a peep at my school- 
house,” said Avis. 
One of the teachers conducted us through the 
institution, showing us the recitation rooms, 
chapel, library, cabinet, and gymnasium. Every¬ 
body knows that each youug lady performs a 
certain amount of domestic labor each day; and 
I was highly gratified when we descended to 
the basement. Wc passed through the large 
dining hall first, where the cloths were already 
laid lor dinner, and a pleasant jingling of knives 
and forks showed that busy hands were at work. 
Avis was perfectly at home, and directed our 
attention to the machine for cutting bread, the 
china closet, the bread room filled with fresh 
loaves of bread and tins of cake. She pointed 
out the “dinner circle,” who were deep iu the 
| with his death 
called the Antitype^ 
“ Ihus the lamb which was slain in memory 
of God’s passing over the houses of the Israel¬ 
ites when he smote the first-born of the Egyp 
tians, was a type of Christ’s death at the time 
he was crucified on the cross on Calvary. 
“So Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac on 
Mount Moriah, was a type of the great offering 
which Christ made for sin in the sacrifice of him¬ 
self. And the brazen serpent which Moses made 
and lifted up in the sight of those who had been 
bitten by serpents so that they might be healed, 
was a type signifying that the Saviour would 
he lifted up, so that everyone who looked to 
him in faith might be healed from sin and be 
saved.” 
“ O, I remember, our pastor preached about it 
last Sunday.” 
“Now, in these cases the lamb was the type, 
Jesus was the antitype; the brazen serpent was 
the type, and Jesus was the antitype. All these 
pointed forward to something which was to 
take place after, and which was worth more 
than the. type3 themselves.” 
“I see, mamma.” 
“ Aud so the land of Canaan, which God prom¬ 
ised the children of Isreal if they would obey 
him, represented to ns a better land than that 
we live in, and to which we shall go if we be¬ 
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ as eur Saviour, 
and do what he tells us it will please him to have 
ns do.” 
“ I do try, mamma.” 
“ And as the cloudy pillar was Israel’s guide 
and protection, so Christ is the guide and pro¬ 
tector whom we must follow and in whom we 
must trust, if we hope to be brought in safety 
to the heavenly Canaan, the home which he has 
gone to prepare for all his children.” 
“ Thank you, mamma, I hope I shall so love 
the Saviour as there to dwell with him," said 
Maria. 
Dorb Hamilton. 
®0IP It5 
reined in our steed as we entered, 
rocks on either side was festooned with wood- 
biue and wild grape fanes, and graceful little 
ferns peeped out of the rough seams. The 
luxuriant erowth made a rare tapestry over the 
gray granite, and it was altogether a charming 
place. The Pass opened not into the vale of 
Tempo, and yet I wonder if even that classic 
spot would have given ns more pleasure. Be¬ 
fore us were the fair Northampton meadows, 
wherein the 
ALLIGATORS’ NESTS, 
These nests resemble hay-cocks four feet high, 
and five in diameter at their basis, being con¬ 
structed with grass and herbage. First they 
deposit one layer of eggs on a floor of mortar, 
aud having covered this with a second stratum 
of mud and herbage eight inches thick, lay 
another set of eggs upon that, and so on to the 
top, there being generally from one to two hun¬ 
dred eggs in a nest. With their falls they then 
beat down around the nest the dense grass and 
reeds five feet high to prevent the approach of 
unseen enemies. The female watches her eggs 
until they are all hatched by the heat of the sun, 
aud then she takes her brood under her own 
care, defending them and providing for their 
subsistence. Dr, Lutenburgh of New Orleans, 
once packed up one of these nests, with theeggs, 
in a box, for the Museum of St,. Petersburg, but 
was recommended before be closed It to see 
that there was no danger of the eggs being hatched 
upon the voyage. On opening one, a young 
alligator walked out, and was soon followed by 
National Lrracs. By .Ton* Gueenleaf Whittier 
With Illustrations by George G. White, H. Fenn 
and Charles A. Barry. Paper— pp. lw. Boston: 
Ticknor it Fields. 
We naturally expected a good deal from this scries 
of Companion Poets for tub People, both from 
what we thought to be the excellence of the design 
itself, and from tlic usually fine taste of its enterpris¬ 
ing publishers. Cheap good reading for the peop:e is 
surely a decUteraturrK aud the contents of the first 
publication of this aeries, ’• Household Poems, by 
Longfellow,"’ was a compilation creditable to the 
taste and akill or the editor, and every way calculated 
to enhance the reputation of the poet. The second 
number, “Songs for All Seasons," consisting of selec¬ 
tions from Tennyson was about as poor and undis- 
crimtnatiBg a collection as could well bo made, failing 
Tar short of furnishing anything like a fair expression 
of the genius and abiLlty or the greatest of living 
poets. Wc think tho New York Review is Justifiable 
in suggesting that It ought to be withrawn from cir¬ 
culation. 
“National Lyrics” contains the campaign and 
anti-slavery songs of Whittier, all of them unques- 
mooth Connecticut wanders at 
will; the mountains were around us, and the 
rays of the descending sun gave a rare beauty 
to the whole scene. 
Soon we began to ascend the steep side of the 
mountain; and at the “Half-way house” we 
entered the care, and were taken the remainder 
of our journey with ease and speed. 
Can I ever forget that lovely sunset with its 
light aud shade, the purple shadows in the val¬ 
leys, the pearl and gold of the west; and when 
we stood, later on in the evening, in the same 
spot, with the falut starlight and the newly 
ri8cn moon upon us, and the low brooding mist 
showing ns where the silver river had been, it 
seemed to me there was nothing more to be 
desired. 
How can I tell of the royal sunrise that we be¬ 
held next moruing! It was beautiful to watch 
the red arrows shooting out of the gray,—to 
see the yellow spears dart over to the hill tops,— 
to know that tho coiling serpent of vapor was 
melting away, waking our river luto new and 
sparkling life. Then began our real enjoyment 
of the landscape. The Prospect House was 
built on the very summit, and bolted down into 
the solid rock; the whole lower story was de¬ 
voted to sight seeing, and being ftirnished with 
several fine telescopes gave extraordinary facili¬ 
ties for observation. Directly across the river 
hundreds of acres of perfectly level land with 
Its various crops, nude a novel and beautiful 
mosaic. What illusions the magic glass brought 
to light! A speck far down the river turned 
out to be a steam ferry-boat, aud an alder, as I 
thought, swelled out into the magnificent elm 
that Dr. Holmes mentions lathe Autocrat. The 
White Mountains loomed up in the distance—a 
shadowy range in tho west was pointed out as 
the Catskills, and iu the east old Greylock raised 
his head 3,600 feet above the level, while;Mount 
Holyoke was only a thousand feet high. *Several 
uotablo places were pointed out to us;'among 
CANNOT PLEASE EVERYBODY 
“ If yon please,” said the Weathercock to the 
Wind, “ turn me to the South. There is such 
a cry out agaiust the cold, that I am afraid 
they’ll put me down if I stop much lODger in 
this North quarter.” 
So the wind flew from the South, and the 
Sun was master of the day, and rain fell abun¬ 
dantly. 
“ Ob, please to turn me from the South,” said 
the Weathercock to the Wind again. 
“ The potatoes will all be spoilt, and the corn 
wants dry weather, and while I am here, rain 
it will; and, what with the heat, and the wet, 
the farmer; are just mad against me.” 
So the wind shifted into the West, and there 
came sott, drying breezes day after day. 
“ Oh dear! ” said the Weathercock. 
“ Here’s a pretty to do! such evil looks as I 
get from eyes all around mo the first thing every 
morning 1 the grass is getting parched up. and 
there is no water for the stock ; and what is to 
be done ? As to the gardeners, they say there 
won’t be a pea to be seen, aud the vegetables 
will wither away. Do turn me somewhere 
else.” 
“What do they say to you now?” 
CHINESE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS 
They never punish’; [hence, a mule that, in the 
hands of a foreigner, would be not only useless 
but dangerous to every one about it, becomes in 
the possession of a Chinaman as quiet us a lamb 
and as tractable as a dog. We never beheld & 
runaway, a jlbiug, or a vicious mule or pony in 
a Chinaman’s employment; but found the same 
rattling, cheerful pace maintained over heavy 
or light ground by means of a turr r or cluck fc, 
the beast turning to the right or left, aud stop¬ 
ping with but a hint from the ruins. This treat¬ 
ment is extended to ail tho animals they press 
into their service. Often have I admired the 
tact exhibited in’getting a large drove of fright¬ 
ened sheep through narrow crowded streets and 
alleys, by merely having a little boy to lead one 
of the quietest of the flock In front; the others 
steadily tollowed without aid either from a yelp¬ 
ing cur or cruel goad. Cattle, pigs, and birds 
are equally cared Jor.—Trauek on Horseback in 
Tart ary. 
he asked. 
“What!” cried the Weathercock; “why 
everybody has caught cold, everything is blight¬ 
ed—that’s what they say; and there isn’t a mis¬ 
fortune that happens but somehow or other they 
lay it to the East wind." 
“ Well! ” cried the Wind, let them find fault; 
I see it’s impossible for you aud me to please 
everybody; so In future I shall blow where Hike, 
and you shall go where I like, without asking 
auy questions. I don’t know but that we shall 
satisfy more than we can do now, with all our 
consideration. 
WHAT iS SALERATUS 
Wood is burnt to ashes, ashes arc lixivated, ley is 
the result Ley is evaporated by boiliug, black 
salts is the resldum. The salt undergoes puri¬ 
fication by tire, and the potash ot commerce is 
obtained. By another process, we change pot 
ash into peartash. Now put these iu sacks and 
plaee them over a distillery wash-tub, where the 
fermentation evolves carbonic acid gas, and the 
peariash absorbs it and is reudered solid; the 
product beiug heavier, whiter aud drier, than 
the peariash. It is now saltsrutus, How much 
salts of ley aud carbonic acid gas a human stom¬ 
ach can bear aud remain healthy is a questiou 
for a saleratus cater. Some people say saleratus 
will not harm the stomach. It is a lev 
lection* of the people. Thu publishers have really 
done the country good service In presenting tlie his¬ 
tory or this remarkable State Trial in so durable a 
form, siuce the horror ot’ title great, crime will only 
increase as the awful story goes down the ages, and 
the day is y,-t far distant when every incident in rela¬ 
tion to it, nod the arrest, the trial, condemnation and 
execution of the guilty parties, will not be read with 
absorbing Interest. For sale by all booksellers. 
Memory presides over the past ; action pre 
sides over the present. The first lives in a rich 
temple hung with glorious trophies, and lined 
with tombs; the other has uo shrine but duty, 
aud it walks the earth like a spirit. 
Deferred,—N otices of several now publications 
are necessarily deferred. 
