tents piled on the top, instead of standing by the side of each other.

Even that other swarm from the Tartar hive, which, at a later period, under the name of Turks, overwhelmed the Greek empire, distant as are its dominions, enables us to trace, in the stationary dwellings of the inhabitants, the form of the portable tent of its nomadic ancestors. While the mosques and public buildings of this people partake of the fashion of the once flourishing empire which they subdued, their private habitations, from the roof of the meanest cottage, to the porch of the grandest kiosk or the palace, in its low-spreading expanse, its widely extended eaves, broken at various angles, supported by numerous pillars, and almost reaching to the ground, still strikingly recall the same model, and differ little in shape and distribution from the real Tartar tent.

The architecture of the native Hindoos is of a character altogether different, and its type may be traced in the gigantic caves of Ellora, and the temples of Elephanta and Benares. It represents, in a form less ponderous, the cavern dug in the solid rock, or the pyramidal dwelling composed of the rude materials which had been extracted from the bosom of that rock, in forming the huge excavations.

In the buildings of the ancient Egyptians, derived from a similar origin, the fancy may please itself by tracing the preservation of this same form. The temples, the mausoleums, all the subsisting remains of that people every where, are considered by Mr. Hope, as deriving their original type from the cavern cut in the side of the rock, and the dissevered fragments again raised in the neighborhood. "Not merely the catacombs," says our author, "but the edifices springing aloft from the ground, in the spread of their space, in the slope of their sides, in the overhanging of their brow, in the mass of their solid parts, in the smallness and lowness of their apertures, in the thickness and shortness of the pillars that support these, resemble the ridge of rock partially pierced, or the insulated mountain rising from its wide base, and tapering to a narrow apex."

In the Greek edifice of stone and marble, it is more obvious, that the form of the primitive cabin in which it originated, constructed of the stems, branches, and foliage of trees, was religiously preserved. Every later improvement for use, every more elaborate addition for ornament, which was displayed in these, only appeared as a supplement to the fundamental form, and was in no way allowed to alter or conceal it. Indeed, in proportion as the building was of a more public nature, the wooden hut might be even said to be more carefully imitated. No where was it seen more distinctly marked, than in that magnificent temple at Athens, dedicated to Minerva, the patron deity of the city. As the rude Greek cabin of wood was more varied and definite in its component parts, than either the tent or the excavation, the similitude was much more striking in all its details, and throughout all its alterations and embellishments.

So powerful is the principle which has been stated as influencing the peculiar style of architecture belonging to any particular race of men, that should some original and fundamentally different mode of building be any where discovered, we may be sure its singularities have, at some period, taken their rise from a temperature, a material, or a system of customs and manners, radically at variance with those of the communities we have mentioned.*

There is one mighty element in the perpetuation of a distinct style of architecture among extensive races, which requires special notice. I allude to religious views and prepossessions. The priesthood, in early ages, form a powerful and united fraternity, who excel the other members of their tribe in learning, and exercise a despotic power over their ignorant and superstitious minds. Prejudice and policy combine, in such a body, to repress innovation, and to perpetuate the customs, habits, and practices, of the remote antiquity from which they date their origin, and with which their fabulous mythology is intimately associated. Such a class of men was found in the Egyptian priesthood, in the Indian Brahmins, and in * Hope on Architecture, chap. iv.

the religious order of Greece. From these societies emanated the laws which regulated the public taste; and under their direction the mighty fabrics were reared, which have preserved, even to our own day, a practical knowledge of the architecture of their age. Had it been otherwise, it would have been scarcely possible to account for the uniformity which prevails in the character and style of their public buildings. Tyrants are capricious, and a free people are inventive. It belongs to a corporation of priests alone, to wield a power such as that displayed in the art we are considering, with a rigid and undeviating uniformity of design.

TENTH WEEK-SUNDAY.*

THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD WISER THAN THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT.

66

"THE children of this world," says our Divine Teacher, are wiser in their generation than the children of light," and this truth is confirmed by all experience, and is obvious to the most cursory view. The astonishing labors and inventions of man in promoting his own plans of comfort or luxury, or in gratifying his love of acquiring, and his thirst for power, which we have been contemplating, give an additional force to the aphorism; and while they exhibit, in a very striking light, the powers of the human mind when strongly called forth and intensely occupied, serve at the same time to mark more distinctly the difference which exists in the success with which men prosecute their temporal and their eternal interests.

If we inquire into the cause of this difference, it will not be difficult to discover that it lies in the comparative

*[The papers for this and the next Sunday, as they stood in the original, have been abridged and brought into one in this edition.-AM. ED.]

degrees of zeal and intelligence which are applied to each. In the one case men are in earnest, in the other they are careless and indifferent. This at once explains the mystery, and unfolds a very painful view of the perverseness of the human mind. It has been alleged, in excuse for man's disobedience to the law of God, that human nature, in its fallen state, is so constituted as to be unable to perform the moral and religious duties required of it. But, though there be truth in this assertion, it cannot be urged as an adequate excuse; because the very principle which prevents our obedience is a principle of obstinacy, rebellion, and ingratitude. Our impotence lies neither in our understanding nor in our bodily power, but simply in our inclinations. The duties of religion are around us and within our reach. 66 They are not hidden from us," as Moses expresses it, "neither are they far off. They are not in heaven, that we should say, who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring them to us, that we may hear them, and do them; neither are they beyond the sea, that we should say, who shall go over the sea for us, and bring them to us, that we may hear them, and do them; but they are very nigh to us, even in our mouth and in our heart, that we may do them." Yet the law of God, although it be thus obvious and practicable, is not performed by us. Why? Just because we are disinclined. There is no other disability. But it is inveterate.

To be convinced of the truth of this view, we have only to ask our conscience, what prevented our performance of religious duty, in any one instance that may occur to us. We shall be forced to acknowledge, that we failed merely because we were unwilling, or rather, because our propensities and desires urged us in an opposite direction. We were sensible, perhaps, all the while, that the action to which we were tempted was sinful,-contrary to the law of God, and contrary, also, to our own best interests; but inclination prevailed over judgement and principle, and thus we fell.

Let us take a particular example, and we shall be able more clearly to estimate the nature and extent of this disa

bility. A familiar instance occurs to us in the keeping of the Sabbath. What does this command imply? Čertainly nothing impossible. It implies, that we abstain from our usual worldly employments; that we reject worldly conversation; that we check and banish worldly thoughts. In this negative part of the duty, there is clearly nothing impossible; nor can it be said, that its positive duties are beyond our reach. It requires that we be actively employed in religious exercises in our closets, in the bosom of our family, and in the house of prayer; and, while thus occupied, that we raise our souls from the contemplation of things which are seen and temporal, to the contemplation of those that are unseen and eternal.

These are exalted and sublime employments, but they imply no impossibility. The great bulk of mankind, indeed, do not perform them, and the very best of men perform them but imperfectly; but it is not from want of mental or physical capacity. There is no other disability but want of inclination. From the moment we love such exercises, they become easy and agreeable. Men execute tasks as difficult every day, and delight in them, although the real value of these tasks be infinitely inferior. They are able to do this, because their hearts

are set on them.

Of this, the progress society has made in the arts of civilized life, which we have lately been considering, is a striking proof. The laborious improvement of agriculture, the inventions connected with manufacturing industry, and those amazing piles, or beautiful or convenient structures, which have crowned architectural skill, all show what can be effected by human ingenuity and labor, when the mind is roused, and gives itself willingly to the work. Who can examine a well-cultivated farm, with all the implements of husbandry employed in its management; or consider the magical labors of the cotton-mill; or contemplate the gigantic ruins of Egypt, without being filled with astonishment at the capabilities of man's natural powers. Nor will our wonder be lessened when we turn to the achievements of science, and think of the reach of intellect which could define and demonstrate the laws of the