friends to forego their grief, and rather rejoice | ceding holiday. Shelah is in some way mysat his comfortable exit, for the better further- teriously connected with St. Patrick;-the ance of which he advised each one to take a exact degree of relationship is not acourately drop of something to drink; and this last in- set down, and does not invite to investigation. junction of the saint, in reverence to his cha-She was something between a cousin twice reracter, was complied with." That his obedient countrymen, in their enthusiastic admiration, annually memorialize his very palatable advice, is sufficiently well attested. There are always several "fairs," or "patterns," held in Ireland on this day. These festive gatherings are

assembled to do honour to the virtues of some patron saint, and from this circumstance are in reality named "patrons," but the word is seldom so pronounced. The amusements on such occasions are sometimes of a questionable character. Unbounded libations of the "crathur" inspire the merry jig and song; but, unfortunately, as the day advances, in consequence of the spirited condition of the valorous sons of Erin, the vigorous use of the "shillelagh" succeeds to the more innocent mirth and healthful exercise of the morning. In Dublin, all classes of the people celebrate this day with the utmost hilarity. Balls, and dinners, and all sorts of entertainments, are made the medium for social enjoyment. The disciples of temperance are in a decided minority, and prudently for the time hide their diminished heads. The following verse is taken from one of the favourite songs of the day, sung with equal relish in lordly hall or lowly hut, when conviviality rules the hour:

"St. Patrick was a gentleman, and he came from decent
people;

In Dublin town he built a church, and on it put a steeple.
His father was a 'Wollaghan,' his mother an 'O'Grady;'
His aunt she was a Kinaghan,' and his wife a widow
Brady!"

In the amiable attempt to trace the genealogy of the saint, there is an unpardonable degree of poetic license in the introduction of the "widow Brady," for the saint was a member of the Roman Catholic clergy, and by virtue of his oath eschewed matrimony for ever. On this day the "green, immortal shamrock," -the trefoil,-is worn in every hat in Ireland. It is the national cognizance of the Irish. When St. Patrick, in 443, landed in the Emerald Isle, the Pagan inhabitants were prepared to stone him for attempting to expound Christianity. He begged a temporary respite, and then, having won their attention, very ingeniously illustrated his conception of a Trinity by plucking a trefoil, and pointing to the three leaves on a single stem of this simple plant. They comprehended his meaning, and were at least sufficiently converted by his arguments to allow him to pass on uninjured.

On the 18th of March we have Shelah's day, a continuation in its observances of the pre

moved and a grandmother. The shamrock should be worn till the last glass is drank on the second day, and then be drowned in a parting bumper.

Mid Lent Sunday or Mothering Sunday, falls this year upon the 30th of March. There is none of the old holidays more innocent and interesting in mode of observance than was this. Going a mothering is from the Roman Catholic custom of making offerings on this day at the altar of the mother church, adopted from the ancient Roman celebration in honour of the mother of the gods, on the Ides of March: another of those prudent modifications that have been already noted. These offerings of religious faith, through connexion with the maternal sentiment, led to a very beautiful commemoration of the day in the sphere of domestic life. All those whose employment as servants, apprentices, &c., obliged them to live apart from their parents, on that day were free to revisit the old home; and thousands of happy family circles assembled to cement the purest earthly ties, by the grateful joy of their hearts, sanctified, and made this, in the truest sense of the words, a holy day. At these reunions, the mother always received from her children some little present, however simple, as a tribute of affection and remembrance; whilst she in turn ever prepared some simple feast for their reception, making perchance with her own hands some favourite dish of their childhood as a pleasant surprise for the occasion. William Howitt, speaking of the observance of this day, says, "Everything that can cast a charm over social life, and cherish the best impulses of our nature, meet in the celebration of this holiday. It were a thousand pities to let it perish for ever out of our usage; it is the very kind of thing we want in this busy and stirring world" With this beautiful custom revived, in how many humble dwellings would be realized such scenes as Bloomfield has so admirably described in his "Richard and Kate."

"Kate viewed her blooming daughters round,
And sons, who shook her withered hand;
Her features spoke what joy she found,
But utterance had made a stand.

"The father's unchecked feelings gave
A tenderness to all he said:
'My boys, how proud I am to have

My name thus round the country spread!
"Through all my days I've laboured hard,
And could of pains and crosses tell;
But this is labour's great reward,
To meet you thus, and see you well.'"

SCENES IN THE LIFE OF THE SAVIOUR.

BY THE REV. JOHN TODD, D.D.

(Continued from page 88.)

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by JOHN SARTAIN & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

What good would it do to these doubting. beclouded disciples to tell them these things? Why distress them with these sad predictions, whose fulfillment they might perhaps never see? All they could do was to bear witness that such words fell from the lips of their Teacher. But Christ was not thinking of them alone; he was dropping jewels, which would be picked up in other times and by other generations, and then it would be seen that they were from heaven. The great use of prophecy is after its fulfillment. Every such prediction, in after ages, is woven into that cord of faith which draws such multitudes to heaven. The cord has a thousand strands, but each one is seen distinctly, and strengthens the rest.

every one will at last come to pass? "Heaven the train was laid for thousands of years, yet and earth shall pass away, but His words shall it would at last explode :-His word comes to not pass away." The humble disciples of pass. Christ had spent nearly their whole lives in far-away Galilee, and to their admiring gaze nothing but their own blue sea seemed so beautiful and grand as this temple. As they looked at its magnificence, "the goodly stones, and the gifts," in wonder they exclaimed, "Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" How hard it was for them to believe that they should ever be overthrown! They could not bear to think of such a desolation; they mourned over the ruin of their beloved city of David, but their Master wept over the city full of people." The disciples wondered where the instruments were to come from, by which such stones could be overthrown, such a city demolished, such a world destroyed; but He who mournfully predicts these things will surely bring them to pass. We, who labour most for the body, and think most of time, might perhaps lament the fate of so proud and beautiful a building, and weep over the stones which composed it; but He who cares for the soul and plans for eternity, will mourn over souls hardening in sin. We stop at the grave, as the place where man is lost; He thinks only of the spirit, as she starts from that point on her eternal progress. The child whose warriors were to lay low this temple was probably then unborn; but though

Where is now that beautiful temple, and that glorious city in her magnificence? Where is now the "Gate Beautiful," and the lofty towers of Zion? Perished all; and Ruin hath driven his ploughshare through their dust. But, through the silence and darkness brooding over these ruins, voices come to us, saying, "He told you all this; He knew all this; and not a word he hath uttered, whether it bear the name of promise or of threatening, will ever fail." The lowliest of his friends will find his words yea and amen, and the proudest of his foes shall confess that his arm is omnipotent.