cipitated into the excavation, were instantly covered with earth and stones, which the sons and warriors of Odin emulously hastened to throw upon their remains. Not only was the excavation filled, but an immense mound was raised above it, and formed a kind of pyramid; a barbarous and terrible, yet noble monument, raised to the glory of the conqueror of the north.

For many ages this monument braved the destructive effects of time. The superstition which converted Odin into a divinity, induced the Scandinavians to build around it a vast temple, some traces of which may still, be seen, near the city of Odinsee in Denmark.

The sons and sons-in-law of Odin separated from each other; each, at the head of a numerous and terrible nation, employed himself in accomplishing the oracles of Freya, and those oracles were justified by the event. R.

TO THE EDITOR OF ARLISS'S POCKET MAGAZINE.

SIR, ON perusing your excellent miscellany, I find much variety both in prose and verse; and perceiving also that prose articles are "admissible," I have ventured to send you the following. It is written as a peep into futurity, under the idea that if England, France, and Europe generally, have risen, and Egypt, Turkey, and Asia, have fallen, England and the surrounding states may fall, and their glory retire more westward, as that of the eastern parts has done; and thus America, in the end, rise to the splendour of a mid-day sun. However improbable this may seem, yet we have example before us, and I think it may form an amusing speculation. In the hope of its insertion, I remain your obedient humble servant,

*** D*****

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS HENCE!

LONDON, OCTOBER 1, 2318.-This place, once a metropolis, but now an obscure village, is daily becoming less in the estimation of its inhabitants and its neighbours. The small fishing trade, which is now the only trade exercised here, is incompetent to support much longer the few people who reside here:

There is no other resource, as the ground, for many miles round, cannot be cultivated, it being all a complete heap of ruins. There were found here lately a few of the coins of George III. called, at that time, sovereigns and regents. They are considered by the curious as being well worthy attention, as they involve much speculative opinion, relative to the cause of our present low station in the scale of nations. One ballad press does all the printing required to be executed here.

OXFORD, OCTOBER 1, 2318.-This place, once an university, and a large, extensive, and flourishing town, has dwindled, year by year, to its present insignificance. Yesterday there arrived here three students, to the only one college remaining, and, we are sorry to say, it is expected no more will come this season. This is not much to be wondered at, as the sight of colleges desolate, inhabitants fled, and every part of the town showing, that the prosperity of the country had long since been at its meridian, and is now sinking into oblivion, is no very interesting prospect, or enticement for young men, to those studies, which flourish as a country flourishes.

LIVERPOOL, OCTOBER 1, 2318.-Two vessels, laden with the produce of Spain, touched here for water a few days since. These are the only vessels which have been seen here for above a month.

EDINBURGH, October 1, 2318.-Last week, by a special order from government, three men were executed in the new way (by hanging with their heads downwards), for having the daring impudence to assert, in the open street, in public violation of respect for the three great kings, that "America was the only country for liberty, and England was becoming desolate." They appeared resigned, but did not seem sorry for what they had done. They died in two hours and twenty-nine minutes.

PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER 1, 2318.-This city, now so flourishing, lately added, by an act of the assembly, thirteen new parishes, all of which are extremely well built, and every house has the excellent recommendation of being slated with iron. The population of this place, and suburbs, has been computed lately, and

is stated at two millions souls. The markets here are kept in the strictest order, and no filth is seen about the streets. The method of keeping the markets clean we recommend to general notice. The waggons with ten wheels are used for this purpose; and, as they pass through the markets every hour, the people throw into them all waste whatever. For this purpose a small tax is levied, which the inhabitants pay with pleasure, as it conduces so much to their own comfort.

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 1, 2318.—This large city, which was called after the name, and in honour of a warrior, who lived more than six centuries ago, is now in the most flourishing state. We need scarcely mention more than the size of it. It, at this time, covers forty square miles, and being built on its original plan, of a garden to every house, it affords the best possible convenience to the inhabitants. There are three monuments here, to the memory of General Washington, and his contemporary, that eminent philosopher and statesman, Benjamin Franklin. These are erected, to remind the citizens of the means they used for freedom and independence.

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1, 2318.-The progress of literature, which has been attended to so little for such a length of time, is now much encouraged. Upon an average, there are forty new works published every week in this city. There are twenty daily, and forty weekly newspapers. It may be a matter of some surprise, from whence materials arrive to form such an amazing expenditure (if it may be so called) of literary matter; but when it is considered that England, France, and the whole of the eastern territory, have been falling for many ages, this idea will furnish much speculation; and when we consider, that in this country genius is every where encouraged, to an extent that the barbarous ages of English superiority never knew, this will redeem us, in some measure, from a charge of improbability.

The curious works printed some four or five hundred years ago, are objects of great curiosity among the connoisseurs of the day. The mathematical uprightness of the roman type then in use, and the curious inclination of the italic, form an amusing

companion with the works of the day; as, of course, our prevailing letter leans the contrary way to the italic of former times. These are sufficient to denote the barbarous state of the arts at that period.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRECEDING ARTICLE. SUCH predictions as those of our correspondent have often been hazarded; but we are strongly disposed to think, that they will not be verified by time. We believe that the celebrated Bishop Berkeley was one of the first, if not the first, of the prophets on this subject. There are some lines of his, four of which, if we remember right (for we quote from memory), are as follows:

"Westward the scene of empire bends its way:
The first four acts already past,

The fifth shall close the drama with the day!
Time's noblest offspring is his last."

Since the period when Bishop Berkeley lived, the prediction has been often repeated. We have somewhere seen, but we cannot immediately point out where, a paper of much the same kind as that which we now insert from our ingenious correspondent. Like his, it goes on the supposition that the glory of Britain is at an end, and that of America shining with superlative splendour. That the American continent will hold a distinguished rank in the civilized world, there can be little reason to doubt; but we doubt very much whether it will ultimately form that immense and overpowering empire, which some persons imagine it will. It appears to us, that long before the lapse of five centuries, perhaps even before the lapse of fifty years, the vast extent of territory between the St. Laurence, the Mississipi, and the Atlantic, will be divided into, at least, three independent states. This is, indeed, in the natural order of things. There is no strong natural bond of union between the Northern, the Southern, and the Trans-Alleganian States. Between the manners, habits, and pursuits of the New England and the Southern States there is a striking difference. The Western States are bound by a feeble tie to the rest of

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the American confederacy. The whole must, inevitably, be split into fractions on some future day. Nor do we think that this disjunction will be injurious to the happiness of the Americans themselves. We sincerely hope that it will not. Much as we dislike some parts of their character, we trust that they will be a flourishing and a happy people.

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With respect to our native country, we cannot give our assent to the opinion, that it must necessarily decline. Whatever defects there may be in some of its institutions, and we are not blind to those defects, we are convinced that it possesses an inherent, ever-during energy and spirit, which will preserve it from sinking into the wretched decrepitude, which is now the lot of many nations that formerly were great. It would, perhaps, not be difficult to show, that the causes which brought about the ruin of the ancient states, neither do, nor can exist for us. It has been a favourite practice with many persons, to draw a comparison between kingdoms and individuals, and to infer that the one, as well as the other, must necessarily pass through all the various stages, from infancy to extinction. But, on this question, we entirely agree with the sentiments which Mr. Burke has elegantly expressed, in the opening of his first Letter on a Regicide Peace. am not," says he, "quite of the mind of those speculators, who seem assured, that necessarily, and by the constitution of things, all states have the same periods of infancy, manhood, and decrepitude, that are found in the individuals who compose them. Parallels of this sort rather furnish similitudes to illustrate or to adorn, than to supply analogies from whence to reason. The objects which are attempted to be forced into an analogy, are not found in the same classes of existence. Individuals are physical beings, subject to laws universal and invariable. The immediate cause acting in these laws may be obscure. The general results are subjects of certain calculation. But commonwealths are not physical, but moral essences. They are artificial combinations, and, in their proximate efficient cause, the arbitrary productions of the human mind. We are not yet acquainted with the laws which necessarily influence the stability of that kind of work,