The farmer was from home when the fire happened; and as but little help was at hand, and there were few persons who knew how to render assistance, the property was entirely consumed; and the women and children were with difficulty rescued from destruction, chiefly by the exertions of the man we just met. As the terrified children gathered round their mother, one of them exclaimed, 'Where is old Nanny?' This brought to the recollection of the bystanders that one inmate of the family was missing— an aged relative who assisted in taking care of the children. While all regretted that the poor old creature should so miserably perish, all agreed, as the staircase was already in flames, that it was utterly impossible to rescue her. This one noble fellow, however, resolved to take his life in his hand, and make the attempt. No entreaties could deter him; he rushed forward regardless of danger, --and yet not exactly so, for he adopted every prudent precaution that time and circumstances would allow, to defend himself both against flames and suffocation: he reached the chamber where the poor creature was, and bore her in safety to the window, whence she was removed unhurt. Her deliverer, however, had received a violent blow on his leg, which in its effects proved even worse than a fracture. He has ever since been a sufferer, and, in all probability, will, to the end of life, feel the effects of his generous enterprize. But he considers his sufferings highly compensated in the success that crowned his endeavour, and the gratitude of those on whose behalf he nobly ventured."

"It was a noble action," said cousin Frank; "the man ought to receive a medal or premium from some of the societies. I don't know that such a mark of honour would add to his satisfaction; but it is due to his merit."

We proceeded on our way, noticing as we passed, the various scenes of nature, the instincts and habits of the animal tribes, or the features of human character which presented themselves to our view. Our minds are sometimes more disposed to investigate the minute; at others, more inclined to dwell on the majestic. The latter tone of feeling seemed to prevail on this occasion. The noble river, and the stately oak, with its massive trunk and wide-spreading branches, enriched and mellowed with the tints of autumn, were more in unison

with our feelings than the busy pismires at its feet. And yet these were not altoget her overlooked; for, as my uncle Barnaby observed, when we expressed our warm admiration of the noble tree that stood before us, "Its nobleness is displayed not merely in its stately trunk, its expanding branches, and its beautifully varied tints, but also in the numerous creatures that seek shelter at its base, or feed on its fruits, or make their nests among its branches."

The titled gamblers, the athletic soldier, the courageous and kind-hearted labourer, the spreading oak, all presented to my mind different, and somewhat confused ideas of the epithet "noble ;" and on reaching home, I hastened to the library, hoping to obtain from the explanations of Dr. Johnson, some more definite sense of its import. My uncle came in, and found me with my head on my hand, and the volume on my knee open at the words nobility," 'noble,' "nobleman,” "nobleness.' As I had not found all the satisfaction I desired, "Uncle," said I, "I wish you would tell me what you really call a noble man: I wish to have your own sentiments on the subject, I don't want any more dictionary explanations."

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'Well," said my uncle, "do not let us reject the dictionary altogether, but take its definitions as far as they go, and add any ideas or explanations of our own that may present themselves." At my uncle's desire, I read the several definitions of "noble :"

1. Of an ancient and splendid family.
2. Exalted to a rank above common-
ality.

3. Great, worthy, illustrious.
4. Exalted, elevated, sublime.
5. Magnificent, stately.
6. Free, generous, liberal.
7. Principal, capital.

My uncle remarked, “As you ask me what I mean by a noble man, we may drop some of these definitions, and modify others. The seventh relates not to man himself, but to the vital or most important parts of the human frame, or the chief cities of an empire, or to the principal portions of any given whole. The fourth is yet more strictly applicable to the stupendous works of creation and the discoveries of revelation, than to human sentiments and actions, which can be "exalted, elevated, and sublime," only in a very inferior and imperfect sense. The fifth we more frequently apply to

objects we behold, especially to such as are the productions of human labour and art; we speak of a magnificent cathedral or palace, a stately dome, arch, or tower. But as far as the word noble is applied to man, it strikes me to signify the possession of superiority; corporeal, intellectual, circumstantial, moral, or prospective. Some of these distinctions are extrinsic and adventitious, and do not necessarily combine the elements of moral greatness, nor are they essential to it-a man may be noble without them; yet they are not to be despised, for when superadded to intellectual and moral qualifications, the happy combination confers on its possessor additional lustre, power, and influence. To begin with a vigorous bodily frame and sound health: these are not absolute conditions of greatness of soul, yet it would be wrong to affirm that they have no affinity with it. They are certainly favourable to the growth and exercise of magnanimous sentiments, and though we have seen some signal instances in which mind has exerted a noble energy in surmounting all the disadvantages of a feeble and diseased body, and some lamentable instances in which exterior symmetry and grace of person have been associated with feebleness of mind and depravity of heart,-in general we look for a correspondence between the inner and the outer man, and feel that there is an unfitness when that correspondence is wanting. We feel something of the same kind of disparity when a very diminutive or feeble body is connected with high-sounding titles."

"Yes," said Frank, "I could scarcely refrain from laughing at those two little skinny, meagre-looking striplings, mounted on their noble hunters, and addressed at every turn,My lord,' and, 'Your lordship.' I should have been much pleased had their conversation been characterized by lofty and noble sentiments, as much as I was disgusted by its meanness, vulgarity, and profanity, which seemed quite a libel upon their high birth.”

"And the handsome soldier," I observed, "whose manly form and graceful movements we so much admired,— would it not have been more agreeable to our feelings, and more accordant with our sense of the fitness of things, to know that his strength and courage had been employed in saving men's lives, rather than in destroying them?"

"I think it would," replied my uncle;

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"and on this principle, taking a single action, the poor labourer who hazarded his life and sacrificed his health to save a fellow-creature, is, in my esteem, more noble than the titled cockfighter, or the courageous soldier."

“But suppose, uncle, he had been as high-born as the young lords, and as tall and vigorous as the soldier, and at the same time as generous and benevolent as he has proved himself to be?"

UNCLE. I am happy to say I know some individuals who combine all these distinctions, and the others to which I have alluded, as coming under the description of "noble," and I reckon them | noble indeed.

FRANK. You spoke of intellectual superiority, uncle, as belonging to a noble character, but I do not think great talents and nobleness always go together. One of the cleverest fellows in our school (indeed Dr. has often said he has talents enough for two) does not acquit himself in so honourable a manner as some who are far his inferiors in genius.

:

UNCLE. Very likely the intellectual superiority to which I refer, is essentially different from genius, which, in its common acceptation, means such a decided bent for some one pursuit as enables a man to attain his object in it with little or no labour. This is often the companion of great inequality, and incompleteness of character. The intellectual superiority which I claim for my noble man comprehends a capacious mind, capable of admitting truth in its various aspects, and bearings, and relations to general principles; with a lively perception and ardent relish for what is beautiful, sublime, and good. He must be neither a mere dry speculative reasoner, nor a sentimental enthusiast, but the possessor of a sound judgment and a correct taste. Then to give that mental superiority claim to the character of noble, it must be practical. There is nothing noble in discerning and admiring the good, and yet choosing and following the evil. True nobility of mind will lead to moral superiority. It is utterly at variance with selfishness, sensuality, and malignity. These, however varnished over and dignified with specious names, are unvarying indications of meanness of character. True nobleness can never co-exist with them. Self-control and a generous regard to the claims and interests of others are inseparable from true magnanimity. A noble-minded man cannot but

be benevolent and social too. Without this, great mental energy, will only lead to selfish ambition.

FRANK. I think you are quite right, uncle; but I know some who seem to think that they show their nobility by pursuing their own pleasures in utter disregard of others.

UNCLE. Whatever they may think of themselves, and assume to themselves, I think they are the slaves of a mean and ignoble disposition. Another feature of a noble mind is that of capacity and courage for enterprise, especially benevolent enterprise. As the former qualities will lead the individual to conceive good and great purposes and desires, this will enable him to put them in execution. He will watch his opportunities, select his means, employ his energies, encounter difficulties, endure delays, and surmount opposition, with a steadiness of purpose, a promptitude of perception, a clearness of judgment, a cheerfulness of sacrifice, and a perseverance of exertion truly astonishing to minds of an ordinary sort; which, had tenth part of his difficulties opposed them, would have relinquished the enterprise in despair. "There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets," is their language. Nothing but a conviction of duty, or the overruling operations of Providence, will induce a truly noble mind to relinquish or stop short of the accomplishment of its good purposes.

But then, together with this capacity for action, there is a capability of repose. Some persons are in continual bustle: their lives are a course of purposes eagerly taken up, and ardently pursued, and perhaps quickly forgotten; or, if remembered, the recollection is not followed by permanently beneficial results, but becomes a matter of vain-glorious boasting. There seems to be neither time nor disposition for reflection or for tranquil enjoyment; the accomplishment of one scheme is but the signal for taking up another; and life is passed in a continued whirl. Such persons are the subjects of a restless mental activity, but not the possessors of real greatness. The quietness of a noble mind will discover itself in its readiness to meet dangers in the way of duty; its tranquil resignation under suffering and affliction and its noiseless manner of doing good. A noble-minded person will be humble, modest, unassuming, and charitable. These dispositions will be called into ex

;

ercise by a clear perception of his own utter destitution of merit; his entire obligation to the free and sovereign bestowment of God for whatever superiority he possesses; a consciousness of his numerous defects and failures; a sense of his distance from the attainment of perfection either in purpose, feeling, or action; and a just respect for the claims and merits of others. It will take a benevolent pleasure in their excellence and happiness, put a candid construction on their motives and conduct, and cherish a benevolent regret for their failings and sufferings. There is often greater heroism exercised in the silent endurance of domestic privations and crosses, in the meek uncomplaining suffering of the sick chamber, in the self-denial that furnishes the means of doing good, and in the humility and modesty that conceal the doer, than in the splendid sacrifices of the patriot, or the reckless selfdevotion of the warrior on the field of battle.

Amongst the quiet features of true nobleness of soul, we must not overlook, though they are frequently sought for in vain from great pretenders to magnanimity, the capability-the spontaneous readiness to forgive an injury, and to confess a fault. They are the characteristics of a great mind, and should be cultivated by all who aspire after excellence. They will be best acquired by bringing the spirit into new and constant intercourse with the perfect and Divine Pattern of forgiveness and love, the Incarnate Saviour.

To complete a great character, or rather to give vitality to all the elements of greatness, the truly noble man must be a truly religious man.

Whatever is bounded by earth and time must be comparatively mean and grovelling, and whatever is regardless of, or hostile to the nature and claims of Supreme Authority and Excellence, must be rebellious, debased, and impure. Truly to ennoble the immortal spirit of man, it is essential that it should be conversant with objects and themes commensurate with itself in dignity and duration. It must look into eternity with realizing faith. And since, whatever original or acquired advantages man may possess, as his actual condition is that of a sinner, an alien, an enemy to God, the soul must embrace that wonderful plan of mercy and reconciliation which the gospel reveals; must humbly and cordially

gift of God; must implicitly yield itself
to the guidance of the Sacred Spirit, by
whose gracious influence alone, what in
human nature is dark can be enlight-
ened, what is grovelling raised, and
what is polluted purified; the man
must become a partaker of the faith
that receives the kingdom of God as a
little child, that will enable him in true
repentance to fall at the feet of a for-
giving Father, to submit to his authority
and rest in his love, and live in continual
intercourse with him. When this course
is established and maintained, growing
dignity and excellence will adorn the
spirit and character; and daily advances
will be made in preparation for the in-
heritance of the saints in light, of which
daily anticipations will be cherished.
"When one that holds communion with the skies,

Has filled his urn where those pure waters rise,
And stoops to converse with us meaner things,
'Tis e'en as if an angel shook his wings.
Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide,
They tell us whence its treasures are supplied."

As uncle Barnaby closed the above quotation, he rose and left the room. As I mused awhile on his sentiments and his character,

"I'll tell you what, Samuel," said my cousin Frank, "my uncle Barnaby himself is a noble man." "I think so too,' was my reply," and I wish we could be like him. We must seek such excellences from Him who gives power to them that believe to become the sons of God,"

PRIDE.

WHOEVER has paid attention to the manners of the day, must have perceived a remarkable innovation in the use of moral terms, in which we have receded more and more from the spirit of Christianity. Of this the term to denote a lofty sentiment of personal superiority supplies an obvious instance. In the current language of the times, pride is scarcely ever used but in a favourable sense. It will, perhaps, be thought the mere change of a term is of little consequence; but be it remembered, that any · remarkable innovation in the use of moral terms betrays a proportionable change in the ideas and feelings they are intended to denote. As pride has been transferred from the list of vices to that of virtues, so humility, as a natural consequence, has been excluded, and is rarely suffered to enter into the praise of a character we wish to commend,

that of the Saviour of the world, and is still the leading characteristic of his religion; while there is no vice, on the contrary, against which the denunciations are so frequent as pride. Our conduct in this instance is certainly rather extraordinary, both in what we have embraced and in what we have rejected; and it will surely be confessed we are somewhat unfortunate in having selected that one as the particular object of approbation which God had already selected as the especial mark at which he aims the thunderbolts of his vengeance.-R. Hall.

PROGRESS OF THE GLACIERS.

PROFESSOR Hugi has recently made some interesting experiments and observations upon the movement and rate he noted the position of numerous loose of progress of the glaciers. In 1829 blocks lying on the surface of the lower glacier of the Aar, relative to the fixed rocks at its sides. He also measured

the glacier, and erected signal-posts on it. In 1836 he found every thing altered; many of the loose blocks had moved off, and entirely disappeared, along with the he had hastily erected, to shelter himself ice that supported them. A hut, which and his companions, had advanced 2184 feet; two blocks of granite, between which it stood, then eight feet apart, had been separated to a distance of 18 feet,

the beams and timbers had fallen in between them, and the nails and pieces of iron, used in fastening them, exhibited not the slightest trace of rust. A mass of granite, containing 26,000 cubic feet, originally buried under the snow of the firn, which was now converted into glacier, had not only been raised to the surface, but was elevated above it, in the air, upon two pedestals, or pillars, of ice; so that a large body of men might have found shelter under it. A signal-post, stuck into a mass of granite, had not only made as great an advance as the hut, but the distance between the two had been increased 760 feet by the expansion of the glacier. The mass of the glacier had grown or increased near the point where it begins to descend 206 feet: lower down there was less augmentation perceptible. The advance of the icefield of the Mer de Glace is calculated at between 400 and 500 feet yearly, and for eight or ten years past, the mass of the glacier has been sinking and retiring gradually-Hand Book of Switzerland.

MOSS.

Ir is a very striking and remarkable phenomenon of the visible creation, that every part of it, so far as is known to us, should be full to overflowing with something in a living or growing state. The earth, the air, and the waters swarm either with animals and animalcula, or with numberless forms of vegetable life; which, though not like ourselves endowed with consciousness, nor, in some points of view, with sensibility, are unquestionably of indispensable importance in the great scheme of universal being, designed and called into existence by the wisdom and power of God.

But, though the fulness of life in the world is so striking as to attract the attention of the most incurious, error and prejudice are too commonly prevalent respecting circumstances of great interest, when well understood, as may here be briefly illustrated. The microscope proves that the waters swarm with animalcula, invisible to the naked eye, and affording so much nourishment to larger animals, that several species, such as the herring, the salmon, and even the whale, seem to require little else for their

d, Capsule with the orifice covered by the beaked veil, the pod containing the sporules or

seeds.

e, Veil, inner side.

subsistence; and hence the food they lived upon was long, and is among many now, an unexplained mystery. The fact of the waters being thus full of life is therefore undeniable; and, by reasoning analogically, it has been con cluded, that the same is true of the air, which is consequently affirmed to swarm with invisible insects and other minute

creatures.

This is not true, however, of the atmosphere as it is true of the waters. The minute animals which swarm in water are chiefly such as are covered with transparent or translucent crustaceous shells, somewhat similar in composition to those of shrimps or lobsters, and so specifically heavy that they could not float in the air, and consequently could not fill it. But independently of this negative consideration, we can see, when a bright ray of light streams through an apartment, or a shaded corner of a wood or of a garden, that

"The gay motes which people the sunbeams" show no sign of life, and consist of minute particles of dust, shreds of hair, down, cotton, wool, and similar inanimate

F