"When the house was repaired in 1798, a tablet of white marble was put up by Mr. Turner in the room where Sir Isaac was born, with the following inscription:

"Sir Isaac Newton, son of John Newton, Lord of the Manor of Woolsthorpe, was born in this room on the 25th December, 1642.'

Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night,

God said "Let Newton be," and all was Light.

"The house is now occupied by a person of the name of John Wollerton. It still contains the two dials made by Newton, but the styles of both are wanting. The celebrated apple tree, the fall of one of the apples of which is said to have turned the attention of Newton to the subject of gravity, was destroyed by wind about four years ago; but Mr. Turner has preserved it in the form of a chair.

"The modesty of Sir Isaac Newton, in reference to his great discoveries, was not founded on any indifference to the fame which they conferred, or upon any erroneous judgment of their importance to science. The whole of his life proves, that he knew his place as a philosopher, and was determined to assert and vindicate his rights. His modesty arose from the depth and extent of his knowledge, which showed him what a small portion of nature he had been able to examine, and how much remained to be explored in the same field in which he had himself labored. In the magnitude of the comparison he recognised his own littleness; and a short time before his death he uttered this memorable sentiment: I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the

great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.'

'In the religious and moral character of our author there is much to admire and imitate. While he exhibited in his life and writings an ardent regard for the general interests of religion, he was at the same time a firm believer in Revelation. He was too deeply versed in the Scriptures, and too much imbued with their spirit, to judge harshly of other men who took different views of them from himself. He cherished the great principles of religious toleration, and never scrupled to express his abhorrence of persecution, even in its mildest form. Inmorality and impiety he never permitted to pass unreproved; and when Dr. Halley ventured to say any thing disrespectful to religion, he invariably checked him and said, 'I have studied these things, -you have not.'

Pronunciation. The difficulty of applying rules to the pronunciation of our language may be illustrated in two lines, where the combination of the letters ough, is pronounced in no less than seven different ways, viz: as o, eif, of, up, ow, oo, and ock :

Though the tough cough and hiccough plough me through,
O'er life's dark lough my course I still pursue.

It is computed that there are in the United States about 300 whale ships, employing about 1000 men, and which bring home every 30 months, about 227,960 barrels oil, the value of which is not far from $4,000,000. The outfit of each ship, for 30 months' cruise, is from 15,000 to 20,000 dollars.

A writer, M. De Candolle, has given the following ages of trees. Whether they are common or extraordinary we do not know :-Elm, 335 years; Cypress, 350; Ivy, 450; Larch, 575; Orange, 630; Olive, 700; Oriental plane, 720; Cedar of Lebanon, 800; Oaks, 810, 1080, 1500; Liine, 1076, 1148; Yew, 1214, 1458, 2588, 2880; Toxodium, 4000, 6000; Baobab, 5150. The last named tree is a native of Africa, and grows to the circumference of 60 feet.

THE BASS ROCK.

"The fierce Dane,

Upon the eastern coast of Lothian landed,
Near to that place where the sea-rock immense.
Amazing Bass, looks o'er a fertile land."

Home's Douglas.

One of the first objects that strikes the eye of the traveller, after he has crossed the Scottish border by Berwick, is this remarkable rock in the sea, which lies at the mouth of the Frith of Forth, at the distance of about a mile and a half from the coast of East Lothian. It continues to be seen during the rest of the journey, until the traveller approaches Haddington, when the mountain called Berwick-law, and other high grounds, conceal it from view. It is about a mile in circumference, and not much more than four hundred feet above the level of the sea, but looks considerably higher. The water that washes its precipitous sides is from thirty to forty fathoms deep. The rock can be approached in safety only in fine weather; and its stark, rugged cliffs are only accessible by one narrow passage that faces the main land. Close by this only landing-place is a castle, now in ruins, but once a place of great strength and some importance in history, consisting of four square towers and connecting works. During the war of religion between Charles II., and the Covenanters this castle was converted into a state prison, and became the solitary residence of many west country Whigs and recusants. When the dynasty of the Stewarts was driven from the throne of the United Kingdom, the Bass Rock was occupied by a brave garrison devoted to that ill-fated family, who obstinately defended it for several years, and gained for the place the dubious honor of its being the last spot of

British ground to yield to the improved and more constitutional government introduced by the revolution of 1688. Besides the castle there seems once to have been a hermitage and some other habitations on this rock; but soldiers, monks, prisoners, and peasants have all been long gone; and now the only inhabitants of the Bass are immense flocks of Solan geese and some score of sheep, that contrive to climb up its precipitous sides and find pasture on its summit.

The base of the rock is perforated completely through from east to west by a natural cavern fearfully dark in the centre, and through which the sea frequently dashes and roars with astounding violence, but which may be examined at low water on a calm day. When the tide is out, the water remaining in this curious fissure, at a few yards from its mouth, is not more than knee-deep. The young fishermen often go through it though its aspect is exceedingly terrific. At one of the entrances to this cavern it appears as if the Bass were composed of two immense rocks, the larger of which leans diagonally against the smaller, leaving this narrow chasm between them at the bottom, but closely. joining with each other at all other points. There are several other caverns of considerable length, the openings into which resemble fretted Gothic windows or doors that have been made to deviate from the perpendicular by time or violence. The pencil of an able artist alone could convey an idea of their singularity and beauty.

The Bass is now the property of the family of the Dalrymples, of North Berwick, a little fishingtown on the coast, about three miles distant from