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ty. Our hopes of the continued progress Mohammed to direct satanic agency, are, of this work are in great measure bound in our opinion, mistakes in a treatise which with the Hatti Humaioun, or charter we would gladly see placed in the hands of religious liberty, lately granted by the of educated Mohammedan youths, especiSultan. We are inclined to believe that ally in India. We have also felt a certain this will not be a dead letter, but that its want of arrangement which may render power and influence will be increasingly it difficult for persons unacquainted with felt. For this inestimable boon, not too Mohammedanism to gain a consecutive dearly purchased even by the blood and historical view of its state and tenets from treasure spent in the late war, Europe is these pages. From one so able as our mainly indebted to Lord Stratford de author we should gladly have heard more Redcliffe. Foreign jealousy and domestic about the different sects of Islam. To ignorance may have conspired in his de- occasional slips of the pen we will not adtraction, but every unprejudiced person vert, satisfied that these will, on revision, acquainted with the political, social, and readily occur to the learned author himreligious state of Turkey will admit that self. Of Dr. Arnold's proposal to estabin him England possessed one of her most lish a Missionary Society for propagating sagacious statesmen, and Turkey one of the Gospel among the Mohammedans we her wisest and best friends. can only say it has our cordial sympathy, provided it is not intended in any way to supersede or interfere with the labors of our American friends. Surely the fifteen millions of our Moslem fellow-subjects in India, and the recent events in that country, constitute a loud call upon the Churches of Britain to address themselves to this work. Some such undertaking as that which presently engages the attention of the two English Universities, prayerfully commenced and believingly sustained, might prove a source of incalculable blessing. We close this volume, from which we have derived not a little information, and which we have persued with no small interest, with the recommenda tion to our readers speedily to make themselves acquainted with its valuable contents.

The mention of American missions leads us to notice-perhaps somewhat tardilythe work which we have placed at the head of this article. Its main object is to delineate the rise and character of Mohammedanism. With considerable learning Dr. Arnold traces the Korân to its origin in Jewish and Christian legends, explains and refutes its teaching, and vindicates Christian truth and dogma from the objections and aspersions of the Moslems. In some respects, however, the book is open to criticism, especially from the want of what we might call a sufficient grasp of the subject. To deny every thing good and great about Mohammedanism, to slight or ignore its culture, to connect it with earlier Christian heresies, and to ascribe the utterances of

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"E pur si muove." What if, when starry Galileo uttered these memorable words to the bigoted and unbelieving Inquisitors, the globe had moved, not, indeed, in the sense that the philosopher meant, but quaked under the influence of those mysterious and unknown causes which produce the astounding and terrific phenomena of Earthquakes? Then, indeed, the skeptical Jesuits-if they had not been whelmed in yawning gulfs, or crushed beneath falling columns-might have admitted that the all-powerful Being producing such phenomena might also cause the globe to revolve. And it is worthy of remark, that an earthquake of great severity occurred in Italy during the very year (1633) in which Galileo was brought before the Inquisition at Rome. At Mantua and Naples much damage was done, and the village of Nicolosi, at the foot of Etna, was totally destroyed. For Galileo, a bright light amidst his fellows, lived in an age when storms and tempests, thunder and lightning, flashing meteors, and, above all, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, were regarded either as instruments of punishment or as awful portents of the fall of kingdoms or the destruction of tyrants. Earthquakes were especially dreaded on account of their destructiveness. "We know, indeed," says Butler, in his Analogy of Religion, "several of the general laws of matter, and a great part of the behavior of living agents is reducible to general laws, but we know nothing in a manner by what laws earthquakes become the instruments of destruction to mankind." The progress of science and education has stripped astronomical phenomena of many of the superstitions which the vulgar and uneducated attach to them. The lightning has been controlled, electricity made to obey our mandates, and storms have been brought in a great measure under certain well-established physical laws, but it is only very recently that volcanic and earthquake phenomena have been investigated by exact science; and although

PHENOMENA.

theory and speculation must still enter largely into all attempts to fathom the cosmical laws connected with earthquakes, still much has been done to enable us to arrive at a tolerably just knowledge of the nature of these phenomena.

Earthquakes have long engaged the attention of philosophers. The works of Aristotle and Pliny contain many passages and allusions to them; and innumerable books and tracts, some abounding with extraordinary, and curious, and occasionally with shrewd speculations, testify how interesting the study of earthquake phenomena has always been considered.

But, numerous as these investigations have been, it is equally certain that the bibliography of earthquakes is singularly deficient in scientific results of any value, the staple of earthquake stories being made up of gossip and accidents that befell men, animals, and buildings, rather than of the phenomena themselves.

This loose and inconclusive method led the Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science to devote a sum of money for the purpose of investigating earthquake phenomena, and drawing up a report on their principal features. The labor has been excessive, and the results, for which we are mainly indebted to Mr. Robert Mallet, F.R.S., are extremely interesting. Four valuable Reports have been made. The last consists of a large volume containing records of nearly seven thousand earthquakes, observed over every known part of the globe, both on land and ocean, from 285 years B.C. to A.D. 1850.

As may be supposed, the records of early observed earthquakes do not present that scientific exactitude desired by modern physicists anxious to explain earthquake phenomena; but nevertheless, the great mass of observations has enabled Mr. Mallet to arrive, by careful discussion, at results of great interest, and to him are we mainly indebted for the fact that seismology (from σɛoμos, an earthquake) has become an exact science.

During the first three centuries of historic time according to our commonly accepted chronology-there are no earth quake records; and while between A.c. 1700 and A.c. 1400 there are a few scattered facts, there is again, from A.c. 1400 to A.c. 900, nearly a period of five hundred years of perfect blank, followed again, with a few exceptions, by another blank from A.c. 800 to A.c. 600. Even in the succeeding century, but two earthquakes are recorded; so that in fact, records of any value for scientific analysis may be said to commence at the five hundredth year before the Christian era.

Before, however, giving any account | by a very severe epidemic, of which many of the deductions from the 6831 recorded persons died. In 859 we read that upearthquakes, we purpose laying before our wards of fifteen hundred houses were readers some of the most striking pheno- thrown down at Antioch; and in the mena noted in the Catalogue. following year Holland was greatly convulsed, and one of the mouths of the Rhone suddenly closed. The latter end of the ninth century witnessed a terrific earthquake in India, which destroyed one hundred and eighty thousand persons. This was preceded by an eclipse of the sun, the falling of the showers of black meteoric stones, and followed by great storms. In 1021 extensive areas in Southern Germany, and especially Bavaria, were devastated by an earthquake, the wells were troubled, and the water in many became red, like blood. Great inundations were produced in many places, and igneous meteors were observed. In The sacred writings abound with allu 1089 a terrible convulsion was felt over sions to earthquakes which occasioned the England; houses were seen to leap updestruction of cities; and Thucydides, wards; fruit trees were blasted; and the Tacitus, Josephus, Livy, Pliny, and Julius harvest was not gathered until the thirObsequens, make frequent mention of tieth November. In 1158 the Thames disasters arising from these phenomena. was dried up, so that it could be passed Thus, in the year A.c. 33 an earthquake occurred in Palestine, by which thirty thousand persons were killed. Thirteen important cities were destroyed in Asia Minor six years before the Crucifixion of our Saviour; and Matthew, Luke, and Eusebius have told us how the earth quaked during that awful tragedy. Passing on to the fifth century, we find that the whole of Europe was convulsed about that period. In the year 446, earthquakes, which lasted six months, desolated the greater part of the civilized world; and in 494 Laodicea, Hierapolis, Tripolis, and Agathicum, were overwhelmed. In the middle of the sixth century, (562,) bellowing noises proceeded from mountains adjoining the Rhone, and from the Pyrenees, followed by the falling of huge rocks and subterranean commotions. In 684 the Japanese province of Josa was visited by a terrible earthquake, causing great destruction of life, and the loss of five hundred thousand acres of land, which sank into the sea. In 801 the Basilica of St. Paul at Rome was destroyed by an earthquake felt over France, Germany, and Italy. In 842 the greater part of France was convulsed by shocks, attended by awful subterranean noises; and it is worthy of remark, that on this occasion we have the first record of the phenomenon having been followed

dryshod; and in 1179 the earth in Durham swelled up to a great hight from nine in the morning to the setting of the sun, and then with a loud noise sank down again, leaving pools of water in various places. This, however, though extremely severe, was far exceeded in intensity by a convulsion in April, 1185, which destroyed many buildings in England, including Lincoln Cathedral. In 1348 shocks of great violence during the winter months desolated Europe. The earth opened in different places, and pestilential exhalations came forth. A rain of blood is mentioned as having fallen in several localities. In 1505, earthquakes which lasted, with scarcely any intermission, for four weeks, day and night, occurred in Cabul and Afghanistan. The earth opened in many places, and closed again, after throwing forth water, which occupied the place of dry land. Over an area of fortynine square miles the surface of the earth was so altered and disturbed that parts were raised as high as an elephant above their former level, and then sank as deeply below it.

In 1580, England, and especially Kent, was visited by a terrible earthquake. At Sandwich, the sea was so much agitated that the ships in harbor were dashed against one another. The same happened at Dover. The great bells at Westminster and other places

tolled, buildings were thrown down, and ceded by a violent tempest. In Septemimmense damage was done. It is record-ber, 1726, Sicily was again devastated. ed, that during the visitation the heavens A great part of Palermo was destroyed. were serene, and the air quite tranquil. Four churches, ten palaces, and sixteen In 1626, thirty towns and villages in the hundred houses were thrown down, and Neapolitan territory were destroyed by six thousand persons perished. The earth an earthquake, and seventeen thousand opened and threw out burning sulphur persons lost their lives. Clefts opened in and red-hot stones, and the atmosphere the ground, lakes were dried up, moun- appeared as if on fire. The great earthtains riven, forests overthrown, and jets quake of Lisbon, which occurred on the of water and mud thrown out of the wells. first of November, 1755, was preceded by The shock was accompanied by subter- an unusually large number of earthquakes ranean noises and a smell of sulphur. In in Europe, particularly during the years 1683 England was again convulsed. The 1749 to 1765. In 1750, (March nineteen,) shocks were particularly violent in Ox- the earth in St. James's Park and else fordshire. Persons on the Cherwell felt where swelled up and seemed on the the boats in which they were tremble point of opening. Dogs howled dismally, beneath them, the fish rushed about in fishes threw themselves out of the water; great alarm, and articles of domestic fur- one person is recorded to have been turnniture were moved from their places. ed on his feet, and a girl had her arm Many persons stated that they saw the broken. This earthquake, and another ignis fatuus before the earthquake. The which occurred on the twentieth of barometer was higher than it had been March, terrified the inhabitants of Lon for three years. In 1692 a remarkable don to such a degree, that to avoid the phenomenon was witnessed in Jamaica. fatal effects of a more terrible shock, preThe island rose in waves like the sea, and dicted by a madman for the eighth of then sank a little, permanently. At Port April following, thousands of persons, Royal, three fourths of the houses were particularly those of rank and fortune, thrown down, three thousand persons passed the night of the seventh of April perished; and a piece of land of about in their carriages and in tents in Hydeone thousand acres sank into the sea. A park. strange accident happened to an inhabitant of the island. He was precipitated into one of the fissures, and forcibly ejected, uninjured, by a second shock. This year seems to have been famous for earthquakes over the globe. In Sicily, forty-nine towns and villages, and nine hundred and seventy-two churches and convents, were overthrown, and ninetythree thousand persons lost their lives. The earthquakes were accompanied by fearful eruptions of Etna, Vesuvius and Hecla. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, earthquakes were again very prevalent in Europe, the oscillations were so powerful as to rock people in their beds, noises similar to those produced by grinding stones were heard, and great damage done.

The early part of the eighteenth century was also marked by very violent earthquakes. In Japan two hundred thousand persons were killed in 1703; the following year the south of Yorkshire experienced violent shocks; doors and furniture were set in motion, and a noise like the sighing of wind was heard, though the air was perfectly calm. The shocks were pre

VOL. XLIX.-No. 2

A great number of strange meteorological phenomena are recorded as having been observed in October, 1755, throughout Spain and Portugal. Indeed, for some time before the Lisbon earthquake, accounts of halos round the sun and moon, igneous meteors, alterations in well and river water, which generally acquired an offensive odor, besides violent thunder, lightning, and rain, are to be found as having occurred in almost all parts of Europe. These phenomena, however, were most remarkable in Spain, where the well-water was discolored, rats and reptiles came forth from their holes terrified, and domestic animals were frightened and uneasy.

The great Lisbon earthquake was first perceived at 9.38 A.M. The convulsion, one of the most violent and widely extended on record, produced terrible effects over a space of the earth's surface included between Iceland on the north, Mogador, in Morocco, on the south, Töplitz, in Bohemia, on the east, and the West-India Islands on the west. It was felt in the Alps, on the shores of Sweden, in the West-Indies, on the Lakes in Canada, in

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Ireland, Thuringia, and Northern Ger- fectly calm. Furniture was moved at many. Taking the area convulsed at thirty- Canterbury, Dover, and Ashford. Church three hundred miles long, and twenty- bells rang, and rumbling noises were seven hundred miles wide, which is equal to seven million five hundred thousand square miles, and supposing the motion only extended to a depth of twenty miles, there must have been one hundred and fifty millions of cubic miles of solid matter put in motion, a mass which conveys to the mind a bewildering conception of the enormous power of the originating impulse. Actual shocks were not, however, felt over the whole of this surface; in some places agitation of the water, in lakes, canals, etc., being the only sensible effect produced. The center of disturbance seems to have been situated beneath the the Atlantic Ocean, a little west of the coast of Portugal. In Portugal itself, and especially in Lisbon,* the most terrible destruction took place, partly owing, of course, to its contiguity to the seat of volcanic action, and partly to the nature of the earth's surface at that place. The shocks appear to have been from west to east, and to have lasted from one minute to ten minutes.

The calculated rate of motion of the earth wave was 7955 feet per second; at this rate the equatorial circumference of the earth would have been gone round in about forty-five hours. At ten o'clock on the same day, the north-west portion of Africa was violently convulsed; near Morocco a mountain opened and swallowed a village with 8000 or 10,000 people. At 11.30 Milan was shaken, the lamps swung in the churches; and about the same time a noise like that of a great wave breaking on the shore was heard in Sweden and Norway, followed by shocks which shook the furniture in the houses. The springs in the Pyrenees were affected, and in the Alps some wells became salt.

The latter part of the eighteenth century was marked by numerous violent earthquakes. On the twenty-seventh of November, 1776, the Kentish coast experienced several shocks. The day was per

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heard. In January, 1780, Sicily was again convulsed, and Etna, which had been tranquil for fourteen years, broke forth, and continued in violent eruption until the sixteenth of June, accompanied by frightful noise. At Florence, Faenza, and Marseilles, the earth rose several times, and the Mediterranean and Swiss lakes were agitated in various localities. Passing over many violent earthquakes, we come to the year 1783, when a frightful convulsion, which proved fatal to forty thousand persons, desolated Calabria and Sicily. This earthquake, unparalleled for its duration, for it may be said to have lasted until 1786, abounds with interesting phenomena. Fortunately for science, these phenomena were observed with great care by various trustworthy persons, sent by the King of Naples to the scene of the disasters, and by Sir William Hamilton, who surveyed the country, at considerable personal risk, before the shocks had ceased. The earthquake commenced on the fifth of February, and between that period and the end of July the most violent shocks were experienced. The subsequent convulsions were comparatively slight. All the towns and villages in Calabria were shaken with tremendous violence. At first those built on loose detrital foundations were laid low, while others situated on rocks, though greatly shaken, for the most part remained standing. But strange to say, the earthwave in March produced a contrary effect. The ground yawned throughout the convulsed district in a frightful manner. Statues and obelisks were twirled on their pedestals to such a degree as to give rise to the supposition that the earth had undergone a twisting movement. Mr. Mallet, with greater probability, asserts that this movement of the stones arose from the center of gravity of the body lying to one side of a vertical plane in the line of shock; and this is partly confirmed by the circumstance that at the monastery of St. Bruno stones were moved horizontally upon lower stones, without the position of the latter being altered.

But

The sea in the Straits of Messina was violently agitated, the quay sank fourteen inches below its original level, and the houses in the vicinity were much fissured.

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