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foreman had succeeded to the business, and that, in his hands, he had left a hundred pounds (the remains of his little property after my brother's debts were paid) to be delivered to me, with the assur, ance of his dying forgiveness, in case I ever returned; for, to the last, he entertained the expectation that I should. This sum has enabled me to procure a lodging in the village, until, with the assistance of some humane and charitable ladies in the neighbourhood, I can fix on some plan for providing by my own exertions for my future support.

Thus have I endeavoured to set before your readers a practical proof of the ill effects of bringing up their children with those ideas, and that description of instruction, which are unsuited to their peculiar station. Had I been differently educated, I might have turned out contented, industrious, and happy, like many others whom I left plodding on in the good old beaten track, at the village school; whereas, my mind, having been raised to the contemplation of stations in which I never could be placed, I became disqualified for the practice of duty or the enjoyment of happiness in my own; and am now reaping the bitter fruits of an ill governed mind, the natural consequence of a mistaken and ill directed education.

A. Z..

ON MEDICINAL WATERS.

MANY unhealthy persons go to Cheltenham, and to Leamington, and to Harrowgate, and to other places, to drink the waters, and often come away very much benefited by the use of them ;-for these waters are all good. The greater number of our complaints arise from indigestion and overloaded stomachs; whatever, then, tends to relieve us of our burden will be likely to be of use. But when

the patient returns to his own home, he is desirous of procuring a mixture, resembling the water from which he has received so much benefit. And this can be manufactured for him at the apothecaries' shop. Yet he complains that it does not produce the same effect.

Pray, Sir, tell your readers, that air, and exercise, and temperate living, and a walk before breakfast, make a part of the plan at watering places, and that these go as far towards restoring or preserving health as the waters themselves. Persons of all classes will do well to remember this receipt. Take air, exercise, plain and temperate living, early-rising, and (weather permitting) a walk before breakfast. X.

DANGER OF EATING BERRIES.

CHILDREN should be very particular in doing as their parents and instructors bid them. Disobedience is very sinful. Besides, what children are told to do is usually for their own good. They cannot tell what is good for them, and what is not; they will find a great benefit then in listening to the advice of those who have more age and experience. For example, parents allow their children to run in the garden, and amuse themselves; but they tell them that they must not pluck the fruit which they see. Now, if children do contrary to what they are told, and take the fruit, it is both dishonest and disobedient.

But parents have often a reason for what they do, which children cannot always understand. There are many trees in a garden which bear berries which look like wholesome fruit, and taste perhaps pleasantly, and yet they are deadly poison.

Children should be particularly cautioned against gathering the berries of the niezerion, a shrub

which flowers before winter is well over. And, besides this, to prevent any accident, it would be wise in parents to rub off the berries as soon as they are formed, for fear the very little children, who know no better, should eat them. When ripe they are very tempting to look at, and not of an unpleasant flavour at first, but they prove a deadly poison to those who eat them.

ON SLEEP.

BY SIR THOMAS BROWN.

THE night is come, like to the day,
Depart not thou, great God, away;
Let not my sins, black as the night,
Eclipse the lustre of thy light.
Thou, whose nature cannot sleep,
On my temples sentry keep;
Guard me against those watchful foes,
Whose eyes are open while mine close.
Let no dreams my head infest,
But such as Jacob's temples blest.
While I do rest, my soul advance;
Make my sleep a holy trance,
That I may, my rest being wrought,
Awake into some holy thought;
And, with as active vigour run
My course, as doth the nimble sun.
Sleep is a death! O, make me try
By sleeping what it is to die;
And as gently lay my head
On my grave, as on my bed!
Howe'er I rest, great God, let me
Awake again, at last, with Thee;
And, thus assured, behold I lie
Securely, or to wake or die.
These are my drowsy days; in vain
I do now wake to sleep again.

O come that hour, when I shall never
Sleep again; but wake for ever!

NO. 45.-VOL. IV.

T

LINES ON A BIRD'S NEST.

BY HURDIS.

Ir wins my admiration

To view the structure of that little work,
A Bird's Nest. Mark it well within, without.
No tool had he that wrought; no knife to cut,
No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert,

No glue to join: his little beak was all;
And yet how neatly finished!-What nice hand,
With every implement and means of art,
And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot,
Could make me such another? Fondly then
We boast of excellence, whose noblest skill
Instinctive genius foils.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

The first Sunday School, it is believed, was opened in Gloucester, by Mr. Robert Raikes, in the

SILENT, attentive, are the little band;

year

1781.

Mute is the tongue, and still the restless hand :
Peace reigns o'er all, while mild instructions sway
Each list'ning group;-they listen, and obey:
And as th' allotted task, the hymn, the prayer,
Their artless tones in change alternate bear:
The simple accents angels might approve,
And smile upon them with angelic love.

From Cromwell's Poems.

UPON THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS.

To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor.

SIR,

THE book which stands at the end of the New Testament, perhaps few Cottagers have read with attention, and probably fewer still have rightly understood. Nor is it, indeed, wise to direct our

us.

thoughts to that which is too hard, whilst so much that is plain and important and practical, lies before At the same time it is highly interesting to Christians to think of those things which are written in the Holy Volume; and we may, therefore, with much benefit, turn our attention to the sublime vision of St. John.

The first part contains a message from God to the churches in seven of the principal cities of Asia. And here there is much to attend to, which affects ourselves as well as the persons whom St. John addressed. Here we find, in the most beautiful and earnest exhortations, the lukewarm reproved, and the truly faithful followers of Christ encouraged and commended. We hear St. John, in the awful voice of a messenger from God, threatening the impenitent with utter destruction, even those mighty cities, who, in the pride of earthly grandeur, thought themselves secure in their own strength. These proud cities are humbled in the dust; their power is no more; they are given up to worship vain idols; Christ is no longer their God; and we should have known nothing of their former splendour, if St. John had not recorded it.

The word of God standeth sure. Those very cities, amongst the seven, which were the most guilty, and which were, therefore, the most severely threatened, are, in truth, now utterly destroyed, leaving a tremendous warning and example to those Christian nations who now hold their heads on high, to beware of sin, lest they bring the like judgments on themselves.

The second part of this book contains a prophetic history of the Church, from the days of our Saviour, to the end of the world. The learned who have examined these prophecies with care and diligence, have seen that many of them have been fulfilled, and that the history of the Christian world agrees with them in the most exact

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