this kingdom, who, according to the best and most recent computation, do not amount to less than Two Millions and a Half of souls.

Your petitioners, therefore, pray your Honourable House to take the premises into your consideration, and to grant them such relief therein as to your Honourable House may seem meet.

THE WALL-FLOWER. BY DELTA.

[From Mr. A. Watts's "Literary Souvenir, for 1828."]
THE wall-flower-the wall-flower,

How beautiful it blooms!
It gleams above the ruined tower,
Like sunlight over tombs;

It sheds a halo of repose

Around the wrecks of Time:
To beauty give the flaunting rose,
The wall-flower is sublime.
Flower of the solitary place!
Grey ruin's golden crown!
That lendest melancholy grace
To haunts of old renown ;
Thou mantlest o'er the battlement,
By strife or storm decayed;
And fillest up each envious rent
Time's canker-tooth hath made.

Thy roots outspread the ramparts o'er,
Where, in war's stormy day,
The Douglases stood forth of yore
In battle's grim array:

The clangour of the field is fled,

The beacon on the hill

No more through midnight blazes red,
But thou art blooming still!

Whither hath fled the choral band
That filled the Abbey's nave?

Yon dark sepulchral yew-trees stand
O'er
many a level grave;

In the belfry's crevices the dove
Her young brood nurseth well,

Whilst thou, lone flower! dost shed above
A sweet decaying smell.

In the season of the tulip cup,

When blossoms clothe the trees,
How sweet to throw the lattice up,
And scent thee on the breeze!
The butterfly is then abroad,
The bee is on the wing,

And on the hawthorn by the road
The linnets sit and sing.

Sweet wall-flower, sweet wall-flower,
Thou conjurest up to me,
Full many a soft and sunny hour
Of boyhood's thoughtless glee;
When joy from out the daisies grew
In woodland pastures green,
And summer skies were far more blue
Than since they e'er have been.
Now Autumn's pensive voice is heard
Amid the yellow bowers,
The Robin is the regal bird,

And thou the Queen of Flowers!
He sings on the laburnum trees,
Amid the twilight dim,

And Araby ne'er gave the breeze,
Such scents, as thou to him.

Rich is the pink, the lily gay,
The rose is summer's guest,
Bland are thy charms when these decay,
Of flowers-first, last, and best!
There may be gaudier on the bower,

And statelier on the tree,

But, wall-flower-loved wall-flower!

Thou art the flower for me.

LECTURES ON A CATECHISM IN A SUNDAY-SCHOOL.
LECTURE II.

2. Who is your Creator?

The great God that made the world.

In explaining to you the first question and answer of your catechism, dear children, I shewed you that religion and virtue are pleasant and satisfactory, because it must be very desirable to know and believe that there is a good Being who governs the world, and orders the affairs of all

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its inhabitants; and that he is pleased with all the good we do, but displeased with every thing that is evil. Now, if it be desirable that there should be such a Being, we shall naturally be eager to inquire whether there actually is such a Being, and what are our connexions with him. We are naturally led, therefore, to the inquiry, "Who is our Creator?" This is the second question in your catechism, and the answer you have returned is "The great God who made the world is our Creator."

Now how does this appear? Very easily, if we consider one thing.-When we see a house, or a clock, or a picture, we say at once, that some person made these things, who was able to contrive them properly, and make them fit for the purposes they were meant to answer. So, when we see a horse, or a tree, or a flower, we as naturally say, these could not have been made but by some one that knew how to make them; they could not make themselves, for they know nothing; they could not be made by us, for we know not how they are made, nor can we make any thing like them. Again, when we see the different parts of any work, as of a clock or watch, nicely fitted to each other, and made to do all together what they were designed to do, which is, to tell the hour of the day, we are sure that one person contrived and finished the whole; and not that after one man had made one wheel, and another another, they then came altogether nobody knows how; but that all the wheels, and the fingers, and the dial, and the case, were put together by one workman. Just so, if we find that the earth and all things in it are a proper habitation for man, and that we are fitted, in every respect, to dwell in it and enjoy it, we are sure that the same Being that made the earth, made us also, and prepared the whole creation to depend upon and subsist by each other.

The earth on which we dwell is made light by the sun in the day-time, and in the night by the moon and stars; these great bodies keep their courses regularly, and cause a constant round of seasons-spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the spring the earth, having been at rest during the winter, begins to throw out a vast abundance of all kinds of plants, which shew first leaves, and afterwards flowers in great variety; these flowers dying away, are followed by fruits and seeds, which again produce plants, and many of them, in the mean time, furnish food for multitudes of animals, while other tribes of animals feed upon

the plants themselves, and enjoy such different shares of happiness as the great Contriver of the whole has appointed for them. In the midst of all these wonderful works is placed man, who is fearfully and wonderfully made, and to whose enjoyment every thing is excellently fitted. He is qualified to admire whatever he sees; he looks up with wonder to the sun, and blesses the Giver of so glorious a light; he beholds with pleasure the beauties of the fields, and is delighted with the skill which every flower discovers. The various plants which spring from the earth supply him with pleasant food, and all the animals which live upon it are made for his advantage. The horse is fitted to supply his weakness; the dog is his faithful guardian and friend, the cow, the sheep, and the goat are moving kitchens, which prepare for our use the herbs and grass of the fields, and strain their juices into pleasant and wholesome milk; they also yield every year a quantity of wool or hair for clothing, as well as their skin and flesh, when killed, to cover and feed us. Silkworms spin silk bees make honey and wax in short, every thing we see is made for our use, and serves, in one way or other, to increase our enjoyments. So that we are fitted for the world, and the world is fitted for us; we are a part, and a principal part, of the things we see created: therefore the same great Being that made every thing besides, hath made us also; the great God that made the world is also our Creator.

And are we then the work of a Being who was able to produce all the wonderful things which we see? Did he who made the heavens and the earth and the sea, did he stoop so low as to attend to such insignificant creatures as you and I? My dear young friends, he made far more than you can see; he made far greater and more wonderful works than the wisest of us have any knowledge or notion of; and yet he hath made us also, and thinks it not beneath him to attend to our interests. But what did I say? He attends to the meanest things which you see: not a sparrow falls to the ground without his will; and a fly, a worm, or a plant, are made with as much skill, and appear as curious to those who examine them with attention, as the largest and most extended of the works of God.

So great a being is God! He hath made without difficulty the sun, and the moon, and the stars; and he attends without trouble to every little plant and animal. Nothing

is great when compared with him, and nothing is trifling which has been made by him; for he is greater than all his works, and yet the smallest of them is not beneath his notice.

O then, dear children, wherever you are, be always mindful of God. For every thing which you see bears the marks of his hand, and nothing can present itself to your notice that may not remind you of him. When you come forth on a clear day, and behold the sun in all his glory, you cannot avoid saying to yourselves, "How beautiful is that great ball which rolls round us every day, and makes every thing look pleasant and delightful!"-but never fail to add to this thought, "How much more glorious and excellent must be the great Being who made it, and how good is he to allow us the benefit of it!" When you walk into the fields, and see them adorned with flowers of every shape and size, think how elegant must his mind be, and how perfect his skill, who could contrive and finish such beautiful works; who could turn the dust of the ground, which has no form or beauty, into so many delightful shapes; paint them snch a variety of colours, and give them so different, but so fragrant and agreeable, a smell! And never admire the glory of his greater, or the beauty of his smaller works, without having your hearts filled with gratitude to his goodness that he has made you capable of enjoying them; that he has given you eyes to see and hands to handle them and turn them to your own use and advantage.

And, above all, be careful to obey all your Maker's commandments, and to do whatever may be pleasing to him. What a shame will it be if you mind not your duty; and how will people reflect upon you" Are these the works of God's hands? and do they thus disgrace their Creator!" No, rather consider the dignity. of your natures, as the children of God, and your importance as the chief of his visible works ; and study to act worthy of the rank which he has given you, by making the best use of the talents and advantages you enjoy.

III. Who is your preserver?

The great God that made me preserves and maintains me, and in him I live and move and have my being.

I have already explained to you what is meant by that which you have acknowledged to be your duty, viz. to "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth;" I