nor stones. The country is as level as the face of the sea, and shows traces of many ancient canals and channels, now filled up. To a considerable extent, the plain is annually overflowed, from April to June, by the two rivers; which, however, leave no slime like the Nile. Yet these natural irrigations would make it the garden of Asia, were the waters properly distributed, and the marshes drained. The heat is intense, almost intolerable even to the people of the East. Looking westward from the crumbling, but still lofty, mounds of old Babylon, we discern the borders of the boundless Desert, which stretches, in an almost unbroken plain, to the neighborhood of Palestine.

The city and tower of Babel were built, probably, on the site afterwards occupied by Babylon. It is supposed that some remains of the tower may still exist in the vast mound of rubbish called Birs Nimrod. This is literally a hill of perished brick-work, more than two thousand feet in circumference, and more than two hundred and thirty feet in height, the ruins of the celebrated temple of Belus, which Herodotus saw at Babylon, and which is thought to have been either an enlargement of the original tower of Babel, or to have stood on the same spot. It is about five miles west of the Euphrates, and near the southwest corner of the area of the old city.

From Babel, the human race was scattered abroad over all the earth. And it is remarkable that this point is nearly central in relation to most of the ancient nations of which we have any account, viz. the Assyrians, Persians, Hindoos, Babylonians, Hebrews, Egyptians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians.

H. B. 2d.

ART. VI.

The Maiden, King Death, and his Conqueror.

WHAT, ho! on the pale, white steed, who rides?
Like a dim form of air, 'neath the moonlight he glides;
A kingly crown gleams on his shadowy head,
And ghastly the smile on his grim visage spread!
The air, in his presence, grows deadly and chill!
Who art thou, dread horseman, and what is thy will?
Each flower in thy pathway is reft of its bloom:
Ah, now do I know thee; thou 'rt king of the tomb!
But what dost thou here, with thy life-chilling breath,
And thy form so unearthly, O Death, king Death?

"From the shadowy halls of the voiceless tomb,
With a mission, a call to the living, I come;

And the prince and the peasant, the monarch and slave,
All, all, at my mandate, lie down in the grave.
In my chilling embrace the proud form I enfold;
I press the warm heart till 't is icy and cold;
In the dews of oblivion their senses I steep,

Till silent, and dreamless, and deep is their sleep!
Thou, too, must now yield to my withering breath;
Come away, gentle maiden, with Death, king Death!"

Away from my sight! thou art fearfully cold,
And thy horror-decked visage I quake to behold!
In the fathomless depths of thy drear realms hide,
And with dear ones that love me, still let me abide!
Away! 't is an awful, a piteous thing,

To be fanned by thy blighting and withering wing;
For it causes the life from my frame to depart,
And stills the warm throb in
my awe-stricken heart!
Off, off with thy grasp,- it is freezing my breath!
Release me, release me! O Death, king Death!

"O, who has e'er been from my strong grasp freed?
Up, up with thee, on my pale, white steed!
Up, up! and away we will take our flight
To my far-off realms of eternal night;
A night to which there returns no day,
To gladden its gloom with a single ray!
Nay, clutch no more at the empty air,
Nor pour on my pitiless ear thy prayer;

For I'm the dread monarch of all that hath breath,
And none may e'er vanquish all-conquering Death!"

Yet stay! what new vision appears to my eyes?
A being of glory descends from the skies!
His radiant form, as an angel's, is fair,

And the smile on his lip a pure seraph might wear.
O, gently and kindly he gazes on me,

Though stern is his eye when 't is fixed upon thee!
He approaches; despair from my bosom is fled,
And the rainbow of Hope seems to circle my head:
Like a soft gale from Eden, I feel his warm breath -
Whence, who is the stranger, O Death, king Death?

What, ho! king Death, art thou trembling now?
Is it fear that sits on thy hideous brow?
The reins fall loose from thy nerveless hand,
And the big, cold drops on thy pale form stand.
What power to thy bosom such terror can bring?
What peril appals thee, thou merciless king?

O thou who canst snatch the weak babe at its birth,
Or summon whole nations at once from the earth!

Sure, naught of this world could thus quicken thy breath:
Who, who thus subdues thee, O Death, king Death?

Pale king! is the voice from thy proud lip gone,
That thou answerest only with shudder and groan?
Peace! peace! I list to a soft, low call,
That bids thy chains from my soul to fall!

I know him, now, by thy fear and thy strife:
Hail, hail to his coming! All hail, King of life!
Bow down, O Death! from thy pale steed, bow!
For a stronger, a mightier lives than thou!
He hath broken thy bands at a single breath:
Bow down to thy victor, O Death, king Death!

"Unpitying monarch! proud king of the tomb!
To thee is my mission, prepared is thy doom!
Thou hast reveled in banquets of carnage and blood,
Since in Eden's young bowers the stern fratricide stood:
But thy sceptre and crown from thy grasp will I tear;
I will burst the strong bars of thy halls of despair;
From their sleep of long ages, thy dead will I wake,
While anthems of joy through wide heaven shall break!
Then cometh thy end! then thou thy last breath
Shalt yield up at my bidding, O Death, king Death!"

C. M. S.

ART. VII.

Scripture Doctrine of the Logos, or the Word.

"In the beginning was the Word, (Logos,) and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God. The same was in the beginning with God." &c. John i. 1, &c.

THE object of the present article is to explain the Scriptural meaning of the term Logos, and its application to Jesus Christ; and also to trace the origin of the present popular views on the subject. Though we shall not be able to treat the subject so fully as we might do, were our sources of information more abundant, yet it is believed, with a good share of confidence, that we shall satisfactorily accomplish the object proposed.

It is well known that much controversy has existed in the Christian church as to the meaning and application of the term Logos, enlisting the zeal and talent of some of the most learned theologians that have ever lived; and, unfortunately for the peace of Christendom, producing contention and bitter animosity. From this consideration, not to mention the intrinsic merits of the subject, it becomes a matter of importance to understand the term which has occasioned so much controversy and such serious consequences.

The definition of Logos, as given by Parkhurst, is as follows: "1. A word, (Matt. viii. 16; Luke vii. 7.) 2. A saying, speech, discourse, conversation, (Matt. xii. 32; xv. 12; xix. 22; xxii. 15; xxvi. 1; John iv. 39; Acts v. 24.) 3. A report, rumor, (Matt. xxviii. 15; Luke v. 15; vii. 17.) 4. A saying, a common saying, a proverb, (John iv. 37.) 5. The word of God, whether of the law, (Matt. vii. 13,) or of the gospel, (Matt. xiii. 19-23; Mark ii. 2; xvi. 20; Acts viii. 4; 2 Tim. iv. 2.) It sometimes implies the profession and practice of the gospel, (See Matt. xiii. 21; Mark iv. 17; John viii. 31; Rev. i. 9; xx. 4.) 6. Speech, eloquence, (1 Cor. ii. 1; 2 Cor. xi. 6.) 7. Ability to speak, utterance, (Eph. vi. 19.) 8. Reason, the faculty of reasoning, or discoursing, (Acts xviii. 14.) 9. An account; i. e. of one's actions or proceedings given to a

superior, (Rom. xiv. 12; Matt. xii. 36; Acts xix. 40; Heb. xiii. 17; 1 Pet. iv. 5.) 10. A discourse in writing, a treatise, particularly of the historical kind, (Acts i. 1.) 11. An account, a computation of debts or expenses,' (Matt. xviii. 23; xxv. 19.) 12. Account, value, regard, (Acts xx. 24.) 13. An account, cause, (Matt. v. 32; Acts x. 29.) 14. Show, appearance, pretence, (Col. ii. 23.) 15. An affair, matter, thing, which may be the subject of discourse, (Luke i. 4; Acts viii. 24; xv. 6.) 16. The divine and substantial Word of God, i. e. the second person of the ever blessed Trinity, (John i. 1, 14; 1 John i. 1; v. 7; Rev. xix. 13. Comp. 2 Pet. iii. 5; Heb. iv. 12, 13; Luke i. 2.)" The definition given by Passor and Schrevelius is quite similar; only Passor, in speaking of the reference of the term to Jesus Christ, says, "The only Son of God is called thus (John i. 1) by metaphor." He regards the term Logos, in its reference to the Saviour, not as a proper name, or an appellative, but a figure to represent him. And that he is right in this opinion, will be made to appear in our future remarks, in which we shall also show the importance of the distinction between saying that Logos means Jesus Christ, and that it represents him.

The Hebrew word corresponding with the Greek Logos is Dabar, which is defined in the following manner by Gibbs: "1. A word, speech, a command; a promise; a sentiment, doctrine, instruction; an oracle, revelation; counsel, advice: 2. A subject of discourse, affair, matter: 3. Something: 4. A state, condition, manner: 5. A cause, reason: 6. A suit at law."

In some instances, the Hebrew term Hhakama appears to correspond with Dabar in signification. It is defined by Gibbs, "skill, dexterity, wisdom, intelligence."

I mention these Hebrew terms, with their appropriate definitions, because they are thought, in certain texts, to refer to the Saviour, and to prove his existence during the Old Testament dispensation; and that he occupied the place of the Divine Being, and possessed the same attributes: or, in other words, corresponding as they do with the term Logos, it is maintained that the present doctrine of the deity of the Logos was known to the writers of the