of which, (A. D. 672), Moawias, the sixth emperor of the Saracens, made himself master of Rhodes, and sold this statue to a Jewish merchant, who loaded nine hundred camels with the metal, which, computed at eight quintals for each load, after a deduction of the diminution the statue had sustained by rust and other casualties, amounted to more than thirty-six thousand pounds sterling.

THE smallest, but by far the most important of the great divisions of the earth, is Europe; it excels all the others in science, literature, arts, and manufactures. Its length, from the North Cape, in Lapland, to Cape Matapan, in Greece, is 2,400 miles; and its breadth, from Cape La Hogue, in France, to the River Don, in Russia, 2,200 miles. It is bounded north, by the Northern Ocean; west, by the Atlantic Ocean; south, by the Mediterranean Sea; east, by the Archipelago, the Sea of Marmora, the Black Sea, the Sea of Azof,

and Asia. The population is estimated at 230 millions. Europe is divided into the following countries: England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, and Greece.

Europe is the north-western part of the old continent, of which it forms about one-seventh. It contains four millions of square miles, being about one-fourth of the extent of Asia, and something more than one-third of that of Africa. It presents, in proportion to its surface, a much greater extent of coast than any other of the great divisions of the earth. This is occasioned by its numerous peninsulas, formed by inland seas and gulfs, which penetrate far into the continent, and greatly facilitate commercial intercourse. The length of the coast-line, commencing at the northern extremity of the sea of Azof, and terminating at the mouth of the River Kara, is nearly equal to the earth's circumference. Nearly two-thirds of the surface of Europe consist of an immense plain; the remainder is occupied by mountains of greater or less elevation, and these are principally extended along its southern and western shores. The plain stretches across the eastern boundary, from the shores of the Black Sea to those of the Northern Ocean; and, if smaller eminences be not taken into account, it may be said to extend from the Ural mountains through Russia, Poland, Prussia, and Holland, to the German Ocean, including an area of nearly three millions of square miles.

The islands of Europe are numerous and important. Great Britain and Ireland form the most powerful kingdom in the world. Iceland is full of interest, whether we regard its history, or its natural phenomena. The Balearic islands were as famous in ancient, as Corsica is in modern times. And the names of Sicily and Crete are closely connected with the histories of Greece and Rome.

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The climate of Europe is much more temperate than that of any other portion of the globe of equal extent. It be divided into three zones; the northern, middle, and southern, the boundaries of which may be marked by the parallels of 46 and 58 degrees of north latitude. In the northern zone there are only two seasons; summer and winter. In the central or middle zone, the four seasons are distinct; while in the southern, vegetation is very little interrupted, frost and snow being seldom seen except upon the mountains. The vegetable productions of the southern zone differ little from those of northern Africa and the adjacent islands. Vines, olives, figs, oranges, maize, and rice, are abundant; and the castor-oil and cotton-plants, as well as the sugar-cane, are, in some instances, cultivated. In the middle zone, all kinds of grain are produced in great abundance, and, in many of its countries, the science of agriculture has attained a high degree of excellence. In the northern zone, agriculture has made little progress. Barley, oats, beans, and potatoes are, however, cultivated; but timber, pitch, tar, rosin, and alum are the productions for

which this zone is most remarkable. Of these, great quantities are exported. There are numerous mines of iron and copper, the most valuable of which are the iron mines of Dannemora, and the copper mines of Dalecarlia in Sweden.

Of the 230 millions of inhabitants which Europe contains, about two-thirds are employed in agriculture, from 15 to 20 millions in manufactures, and probably two millions in arms. The maintenance of those employed in arms requires, it is said, two-fifths of the entire revenue. The form of government, called limited monarchy, is that which prevails in several of the most important states, and in nearly all, the subject enjoys a degree of civil liberty, greater than that which exists in most other parts of the world. The Christian religion, under some one of its denominations, prevails in every part of Europe, not excepting Turkey, where, though the religion of the state is Mahometanism, nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants are Christians, principally of the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. The number of Catholics in Europe is computed at 140 millions. This division of the earth is also distinguished as the site of the chair of St. Peter, acknowledged the centre of Christian unity, since the time of that apostle. Other regions are, perhaps, more favoured with the wealth of nature, but in none have the effects of human intelligence, enterprise, and industry, been more strikingly exemplified.

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MODESTY is one of the most amiable qualities of a superior man: it is, in fact, observed to increase in proportion to his superiority; and this is well explained by the ideas suggested by religion. Superiority is nothing more than a great advancement in the knowledge and love of truth: the first renders a man humble, the second makes him modest. Take an example: A man fears praise and shrinks from it, and he does so, though praise is naturally agreeable to our nature, and there appears, at first sight, no impropriety in seeking occasions in which it is spontaneously offered to us. His behaviour in this respect is approved by all those who prize virtue: why so, but because his behaviour is reasonable? The modest man feels that praise reminds him only of the bright part of his character, which is exactly that part which he is most disposed to consider and magnify, while he knows he ought not to look at one side only if he wishes to judge fairly; he feels that praise easily induces him to ascribe to himself that which is the gift of God; to suppose in himself some excellence

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