ered with a vaulted roof, and these on market-days are scarcely passable for the crowd. Among the numerous public buildings the Musjed e Jumah stands conspicuous, with its domes and minarets, once ornamented superbly, but now going to decay, though it still covers, with its reservoirs, courts, and arcades, an area of 800 yards square. The private dwellings are in good order, the population is dense, and the commerce thriving."Frazer's Hist. pp. 62, 63.

Mr. Elphinstone writes concerning Candahar.

"The ancient castle of Candahar was situated upon a high rocky hill; but Nadir Shah, after taking the fortress, perhaps unwilling to leave so strong a place in the hands of a people in whom he could not confide, destroyed both, and founded upon the contiguous plain a new city, which he called Nadirabad. This, which was completed by Ahmed Shah Dooranee, is now denominated Candahar, and occupied, in the time of Foster, a square of about three miles in compass, surrounded by an ordinary fortification. It was then populous and flourishing; and, as it lies in the route which directly connects India with Persia, it is still an important entrepôt. The bazar is well filled, and many rich Hindoo merchants are found there, who occupy an extensive range of shops filled with valuable merchandize."-Frazer's Hist. p. 323.

That our readers may better understand the preceding quotations, we subjoin a brief account of various countries through or near which the enterprising travellers passed.

The Punjab. This country is terminated on the north by the Himilaya mountains; westward by the Indus or Sinde, east and south by the river Sutlege, with four kindred streams, that water the country, and affix to it the name of Punjab. It is now governed by a very enlightened prince, named Maharaja Runjeet Sing, who has adopted many of the institutions of Europe. The population is about 3,500,000, of whom 50,000 are Seiks. The city of Lahore is the capital, in 31° 34' north latitude.

Affghanistan. This country is bounded on the north by the crests of the Himilaya or Koosh mountains, on the east by the rivers Indus and Jelum; on the south by the Salt Range mountains and Jeweestan or Cutch Gundava; and on the west by the Salt Desert, Heermund, the Paropamisan mountains, and the country of the Hazaras. It is now divided into several chiefships. 1. Peshawur, governed by

Sirdar Sooltan Mohammed Khan, with a population of 50,000, and an army of 3,000. 2. Cabool, governed since 1826 by Dost Mohammed Khan, a chief of excellent character, with 11,000 troops, eighteen lacs of rupees for revenue. 3. Western Affghanistan, including the chiefships of Herat and Candahar, the former ruled by Kamran, and the latter by Shere Dil Khan. Herat is now dependent on Persia.

Koondooz. This territory lies between Cabool and Bokhara, north of Hindoo Koosh, south of the Oxus, and east of Balkh. It is under the government of a chief of the Uzbek family named Moorad Beg. His united forces. amount to about 20,000 horse, and six pieces of artillery.

Bokhara. Situated between the richest regions of Europe and Asia, Bokhara becomes the resting place of the merchant and the traveller, and the centre of an extensive commerce. The military force of Bokhara is levied from the different districts of the kingdom, and has no discipline. It consists of 20,000 horse, 4,000 infantry, and forty-one field-pieces. The connection of Bokhara with China, Cabool, and Tartary is friendly. The entire country is comprised between the parallels of 36° and 45° north latitude, and 610 and 67° east longitude. A very small portion of this extensive tract is peopled. The political divisions of the kingdom are nine. The climate is salubrious and pleasant. It is dry, and in the winter very cold. It has an elevation of about 1,200 feet above the sea. There is a constant serenity in the atmosphere, and a clearness in the sky. The heavens are a bright azure blue, generally without a cloud. At night, the milky way shines gloriously in the firmament. There is also a never ceasing display of the most brilliant meteors. It is a noble country for astronomical science, and great must have been the advantages enjoyed by the observatory at Samarcand. Gold is found in considerable quantities in the Oxus. There are no large towns in the kingdom but Bokhara. Kurshee, Samarcand, and Balkh are but provincial towns.

Budukhshan. This district lies east of Koondooz, and is sometimes called Fyzabad. It is now almost without inhabitants, having been overrun by a chief of Koondooz about thirteen years since. It has acquired great celebrity for its ruby mines. The rubies are said to be imbedded

in limestone. North of Koondooz and Budukhshan, and beyond the Oxus, are the small hill states of Hissar, Koolab, Durwaz, Shoognan, and Wukhan, all mountainous districts. The high plain of Pamere lies between Budukhshan and Yarkund, and is inhabited by an erratic race, the Kirgizees. The tract that lies beyond the Beloot mountains and Budukhshan, and between it and Cashmere is filled up by the cantons of Chitral, Gilgit, Iskardo, and Gungoot, all which go under the general name of Kaushgar. On the south east corner of Budukhshan, are that extraordinary people the Siahposh Kaffirs, are blackvested infidels, so called by the Mohammedans from their wearing black goat-skin dresses.

Yarkund. This with the adjacent province Cashgar, formed the principality of a Mohammedan ruler, called Khoju of Cashgar. About eighty years ago the Chinese took possession of the government. There are about 5,000 Chinese in the garrisons. An express may be sent to Peking in fifteen days.

Kokan is the paternal kingdom of Baber, and is much smaller than Bokhara. It is the ancient Ferghana, and is situated on the Sir or Jaxartes.

Toorkmania is the country lying south of the Oxus or Toorkistan, stretching from Balkh to the shores of the Caspian, and filling up the space between that sea and the Aral. It is generally a flat and sandy desert but scantily supplied with water. The total number of families of the Toorkmun race has been rated at 140,000.

Khiva, or Orgunje. This region is formed by the Oxus before falling into the Aral. It is referred to in Arrian under the name of Chorasmi. It lies about 200 miles north west of Bokhara. The inhabited part is 200 miles from north to south, and 100 from east to west. It is a fertile principality, surrounded on all sides by the desert. Ulla Kholi, is the present Khan of Khiva.

ARTICLE X.

TRUE GROUNDS OF MORAL REFORM.

BEFORE presenting our views directly upon the subject which we have placed at the head of this article, we would offer a few remarks, by way of introduction, upon what we suppose constitutes a marked feature of the present age, viz: A spirit of ultraism.

This is indeed a period of benevolence, of daring enterprise, of successful and unsuccessful experiment, of thought followed by speedy action; in a word, it is an age of liberty of mind and body. The whole world seems somewhat like a giant whose limbs have been confined one by one, while he lay in unconscious sleep, from which he has gradually awaked to a consciousness of his fetters and of his strength. Finding, as he makes one effort after another to relieve himself, that his efforts succeed and his chains fall off, he is preparing to stand up in his full strength and perfect freedom. But this is the moment of danger. There are men-they are honest, and they are not a few-who are standing round this giant, and not satisfied to see one limb after another emancipated and tested, they would fain gather round each limb at once, and force asunder the cords which bind them, alike regardless of the hazard they incur of striking a fatal blow at the very limb they intend to extricate; or of planting the giant upon his feet before they have measured his strength, or prepared themselves to follow in his train, rather than to fall before him as he moves, Such are the men whom we call ultra men. Some of them cluster round his head and threaten his life,-these are nullifiers. Others loosen the tie that confines his throbbing heart so as to send the blood with its full force, through the yet compressed arteries, these are immediate emancipationists. Some aim a blow at the right arm and endanger the strength of the whole system,-these are called experimentmen. But round the giant's legs are gathered men of differing views and wishes, the good and the bad, the honest and dishonest, like the place where extremes meet, here vice and virtue unite their efforts. The one class meaning

that he shall never rise upon his feet, the other too impatient to wait and give him time. These last two are the modern infidels and over-heated moral reformists. It is fearful to see the latter of these two, (as it were unconsciously,) teaching the former by their rash conduct how to maim and endanger these valuable limbs. Every blow, instead of waking a thrill of joy in the heart of the prudent, honest observer, calls forth a deep sigh at the threatened danger.

Let us not be misunderstood. We do not intend on this occasion to express an opinion of the merits of State rights, anti-slavery principles, or Jacksonism, but only to illustrate, by these examples, the position, that ultraism is too much in vogue at the present day, inasmuch as these remarks, it will be perceived, have no reference to the moderate men or measures of either of these parties. This principle of ultraism may be easily and satisfactorily explained, and its operation upon the mind shown to be similar to the effect produced upon the whole body by a use of part of the members of the body. If, for example, one limb of the body is exercised to the neglect of the others, it will become disproportionate to the rest in size and strength; so if one object occupies the mind exclusively or nearly so, or is looked upon as paramount to every other, it will of course assume an undue relative importance in our estimation. Let the object be as good as possible ;-Be it music, or metaphysics, or any branch of science or literature, or any thing else; if the whole soul is wrapped up in either alone, the person so absorbed is not competent to form a just estimate of other subjects, or to give a correct idea of the relative value of his favorite pursuit.

The same is true of what is evil. If a man should wish to remove a defect from a building, and should become so intent upon his purpose as to allow his mind to dwell only upon the hideousness and inaptitude of the defective parthe might attempt himself, or compel those under his influence, to proceed at once to its removal, without regard to the safety of the building; whereas the same object might be attained without hazard, if he would have patience to prop up the walls, and prepare the whole building for the loss of the defective part. So of politics, of morals, of vices. A man becomes disgusted with an administration of government, give him the reins and he will go to the opposite