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Mr. Windham, as any careless or irreverent use of the name of the Creator. A friend, reading a letter addressed to him, in which the words "My God" had been made use of on a light occasion, he hastily snatched a pen; and, before he would hear the re'mainder of the letter read, blotted out the offensive exclamation.

It is related of the late Mr. Kemble, the actor, that, whenever the name of the Supreme Being was mentioned, either by himself, or others in his presence, he always took off his hat from a feeling of reverence. This is the more striking, as he belonged to a profession by no means favourable to the exercise of piety and devotion.

V.

LETTER FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON, AN APPRENTICE BOY.

MY DEAR BOY,

In our last letter, we talked about King Henry the Fifth, and his great wars in France. The next king was Henry the Sixth; but, at the time of his father's death, he was only a year old. The Duke of Bedford was therefore appointed protector of the kingdom, till the little king should be old enough to govern for himself. The Duke of Bedford continued to carry on the war in France; but things took so strange a turn there, that the English power in France, in a few years, came to an end. This was brought about in a way so extraordinary, that it seems almost beyond belief.

There lived, in a village in France, a country girl, called Joan of Are, who had been servant at an inn; and, this girl had got a notion that she was fated to deliver her country from its enemies. She gave it out that she had particular messages from heaven on this business: and this so inflamed the minds of the people that they were excited to wonderful deeds of courage; and this girl, clad in armour, sword in

hand, led the soldiers against the English army, which was then besieging the town of Orleans, and completely drove them away. This poor girl was, however, some time afterwards taken in battle by the English, and was burned alive as a witch. I don't know which to wonder at most, the ignorance of the people in those days, who believed in witches, or the cruelty of burning a poor woman alive. The French, however, continued their successes, till the English had scarcely a place left in France.

Things were going on very badly, too, all this time, in England. The king had not abilities enough to govern such a nation, and there was dissatisfaction, and a disposition to rebellion, all over the kingdom. I think I told you before, that Henry the Fourth (the grandfather of this king) had no just right to the throne, but that he got it by force. He was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, -the third son of Edward the third; but the crown properly belonged to the family of the second son (on the failure of the first.) Now the Duke of York was descended from this elder branch, and therefore was the right person to be king; and the peo ple, dissatisfied with their present king, began to turn their thoughts to the House of York.

In this state of things, a fellow named John Cade pretended that he belonged to the York family, and that he was the proper king; and he persuaded many people to believe him, and to follow him. He had as many as twenty thousand followers,-he encamped at Blackheath, and then marched to London. He was soon, however, driven back again; and he ran away as far as Rochester; and, there, many of his friends forsook him. A reward was offered to any one who would bring his head, and he was soon seized, and put to death, and his head was set upon London Bridge.

I suppose the Duke of York was glad of all these disturbances, as they gave him a better chance of dethroning the king, and being made king himself

He soon began to shew his intention of claiming the crown. The king was seized with an illness, and the Duke of York was appointed to govern in his place. And, having once acted as king, he did not choose to give up his power, even when the king was well again. But, though the king's gentle disposition might have given way, the Queen Margaret was a very different sort of person, and she proceeded to open war against the Duke and his friends. And this was the beginning of the war between the Houses of York and Lancaster, which raged for many years, and was the cause of so many dreadful battles, and such bloodshed, and savage contentions. War, at all times, is dreadful, but a civil war, where those of the same country, and many relations perhaps, and neighbours are fighting one against another, is perhaps the most dreadful of all kinds of war. I shall not attempt to describe to you the different places where these battles were fought, but sometimes one side gained the victory, and sometimes the other. There was a battle at Blore-heath, and another at Wakefield, and one or two at St. Albans, and I don't know how many places besides.

At the battle of Wakefield, the Duke of York's army was beaten, and himself killed. However, his party soon recovered themselves, and in a battle at Tewkesbury, were victorious,-and the son of the Duke of York was proclaimed king, by the title of Edward the Fourth, in the year 1461.

Poor King Henry, it is said, was afterwards murdered in his chamber by King Edward's brother; the Duke of Gloucester, who was afterwards crooked-back King Richard the Third, of whose cruelty we read such terrible accounts:-and the son of Henry was likewise stabbed by this same Gloucester and the Duke of Clarence, after the battle of Tewkesbury. Thus I have given you an account of this reign in which we read of little else besides battles and cruel murders. I think you will

now understand what is meant by the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster. These are sometimes called the wars of the Roses, because the Lancaster party wore red roses in their hats, and the York party wore white ones. At this time of year, they might have got rosès enough, but the writer of a pretty little book that I have by me, wonders where they got them in the winter, and supposes that they wore roses of red and white ribbons instead of real roses.

You see we have had three kings together of the House of Lancaster, and now we get into the House of York. I am very glad to hear that you attend to your book, and that you try to remember what you read, and to improve by it. Your master tells me, too, that your reading, instead of making you neglect your business, makes you more steady and thoughtful, and therefore more desirous of doing every thing well. He tells me that you are the best workman of all his apprentices. You may be sure that it always gives me great pleasure to hear good accounts of you.

May 4, 1823.

I am your affectionate Father,

J. S.

HINTS TO THOSE WHO KEEP BEES.

We ought to have inserted the following Letter earlier in the season; but a press of matter has prevented us.

To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor.

SIR,

If you should approve of the following observations on Bees, they are at your service.

BEES differ much from each other, not only in size, but disposition-some being vicious and lazy

others gentle and active. An attentive observer tells us, that he had some bees requiring 250 to weigh an ounce, which were extremely vicious, and so very lazy, that he changed them for others which were smaller, requiring 296 to weigh an ounce, and these were active and good tempered.

The Hives should be formed of Straw. These are found to be cool in summer, and warm in winter, and far preferable to any other material. They should correspond as nearly as possible with the size of the swarm: inattention to this destroys most of those stocks that perish every year. Bees endeavour to fill, with combs, whatever hive they are put into, before they begin to gather honey. Consequently, when the hive is too large for the swarm, the time for collecting their winter store is spent in unprofitable labour, and they die. Hives with empty combs are highly valuable for second swarms.

The situation for Hives.-They should stand at some distance from walls and hedges and should receive the earliest rays of the sun, that they may lose no time in going to work in the morning.

Covering the Hives. The hives which are best covered during the winter, are found to prosper most the following summer. About the end of harvest, add a thick covering of straw to that which was put on at the time of swarming; and shut up the entrance, so that only one bee can enter at a time; and, during very severe frosts, shut it up entirely. During the winter frequently remove by a crooked wire, the dead bodies and filth of any kind, which may be seen near the entrance, and, which the live bees are unable in cold weather to perform.

Of Swarming.-The first swarm, according to the season, is sent forth from about the beginning of May to the second week in July. This is so long preceded by the appearance of drones, and hanging out of working bees, that, if they fly off, it must be owing to want of care. The signs of the second are

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