in the profits of the transit-trade of Bavaria is large. There is, too, at present, every prospect of the advantages which it now enjoys being greatly increased, in consequence of the important improvements which are about to take place in the internal communications of Bavaria. Ever since the time of Charlemagne the project of uniting the Danube and the Rhine, and thus opening a connexion between the Black Sea and the German Ocean has, at intervals, been entertained; but it is not till the present day that any active steps have been taken for accomplishing that great object. The Bavarian government, however, becoming sensible of the benefits which it would entail upon the country, have at length entered seriously upon the undertaking; and a law having been passed upon the subject last year, a company has been since formed for the purpose of carrying it into effect. The plan to be pursued is this: the Maine is to be made navigable to a much higher point than it now is,—a canal is then to be cut which shall join it to the Altmühl, which, being a tributary of the Danube, is to be made navigable down to the point where it empties itself into that river, near Kehlheim. The estimated expense of the work is about eight and a half millions of florins, or upwards of 800,000l. of our money. A Munich paper of recent date, has the following paragraph on the subject: "It is affirmed, in some of our journals, that the improvement of the Maine for the purpose of rendering that river navigable in its whole course will precede the intended canal, and in concert with the neighbouring states will be commenced by Bavaria, in the course of this year. The towns of Würzburg, Kitzingen, Schweinfurth, and Bamberg, may hope to derive great advantages from this improvement, especially as the goods from Belgium and Holland, and from Southern Germany, must come that way.' A letter from Munich, of the date of June 21st last, states that the whole sum necessary for making the canal, is already procured, and thus, there being nothing to prevent the execution of this great plan, the preliminary operations will be immediately commenced. "This is an event," it is added, " of the highest importance, because the system of iron rail-roads is taken up in the other states of central Germany with extraordinary energy, and in conjunction with the canal, will give an impulse to commerce which, only ten years ago, would have been considered as a delusive dream." ON A SWIFT BROOK. WITH eager haste thy waters glide, The minutes thus of manhood's prime, To feed the craving void of Time, That never render'd back a day. Nor fleeting life, nor running stream, One smooth and prosperous course shall know; Still dimpling in the sunny beam, Still idly tinkling as they flow. Their state is false, though seeming gay, Clouds intercept the cheerful ray, That blooms around the well of truth; So bright to day, the same to-morrow; CEREMONY OF THROWING THE COCOA-NUT · 67 THE south-west monsoon blows nearly right on the western the season of rains, and of gales of wind, which would be coast of India, from June to September, inclusive. This is held very cheap by the hardy mariners of higher latitudes, the delicate Asiatics. The day of the full moon about the end of the monsoon is always held sacred by the Hindoos though they are sufficient to interrupt the coasting-trade of of that side of India, on account of its being near the period when the bad weather breaks up, and navigation and comof throwing the cocoa-nut takes place. The gods of the merce revive; and at this time the grand annual ceremony wind and the sea are then supposed to be in the fittest humour to be propitiated; and, it must be allowed, that there mony itself, however useless it may be. is no small show of taste, as well as splendour, in the cere the shore, between Malabar Point and the Fort, in their The whole population of the island were assembled along best and whitest dresses fluttering in the sea-breeze. The Brahmins, who took the lead, were collected on the beach in great crowds to officiate as priests; and the chief of the water along with his family in a circle, repeating a number caste, having repaired to the edge of the sea, stood in the of prayers, which were echoed by the other Brahmins. I could not learn what purpose the different parts of the ceremony were intended to answer, but could observe the chief of the Brahmins fling fruits and flowers into the air, and of the flowers as the wind drove back to the beach, were occasionally scatter some on the surface of the water. Such this, portions of the different articles held in highest estieagerly caught up by the multitudes in attendance. After mation amongst them were cast into the waves. consisted of rice, salt, and various spices, particularly cinThese namon, from the island of Ceylon; nutmegs, betel-nut, and cloves, from Penang and the Moluccas. Last of all came the cocoa-nut, which was not thrown into the sea till the into the most perfect good-humour by the previous comdeities were supposed to have been soothed and flattered plimentary proceedings. Along the margin of the bay were collected many thousands of the natives, all anxiously waiting for the final ceromony: and it was curious to observe the eagerness with flung into the water by the Brahmins. At the end of which they sought to possess a portion of the sacred nuts the beach commences the esplanade of the fort; a fine enclosed by railings, and forming an area of half a mile level plain carpeted with a rich but short-bladed grass, square. Upon these grand occasions the esplanade presented a singular mixture of most of the different inhabitants of the earth, each wearing his own peculiar dress, speaking his own native language, following his own cumstances by which he would have been accompanied at customs, and distinguished by many of those attendant cirhis proper home. All sorts of European coaches, barouches, chariots, and gigs, were driving about, with every other kind of wheeled conveyance, from an artillery-wagon to an engineer's wheelbarrow. Elephants bearing castles on their backs paced about the ground, in company with camels, and hundreds of small Arabian horses, just landed from ships arrived from the Red Sea and the gulf of Persia. able might be seen traversing the field, across the path of Palanquins innumernative hackaries, and fifty vehicles of which I still know not the names. By far the greater part of this immense crowd, however, were on foot; and I felt almost bewildered as I passed and repassed amongst them, watched their dresses and gestures, and listened to their various tongues. When I bethought me, moreover, of the singular political circum stances which had combined to bring together such a diversified multitude, from every quarter of the globe, to worship strange gods, to live happy and free, and to enjoy their wealth in peace and security under the guns of an English fortress, twelve thousand miles from home, I scarcely knew how to contain the expression of wonder which this novel and brilliant scene was so well calculated to inspire.—Capt. Basil Hall. THE great Samuel Clarke was fond of robust exercise; THE SACRED BEETLE OF THE EGYPTIANS, (Scarabaeus sacer.) THE singular habits of this beetle induced the ancient Egyptians to place it among those creatures on which they bestowed divine honours: it is found represented in many of their hieroglyphic paintings and sculptures, and appears to have been a symbol of the creative power; it was also particularly sacred to one of their deities, called Phthah, the lord of truth, and signified the world, or all creation. It was likewise the emblem of the Sun, "from having thirty fingers, equal to the number of days in a month." The carved figures and the pictorial representations of this insect are very numerous among the antiquities of ancient Egypt. There is at present in the British Museum, a colossal figure of the Scarabæus sacer, which was, perhaps, once the object of veneration to numerous human beings, on whom the light of revelation had not yet shone; it also occurs without end as an ornament on signet-rings, and forming the upper portion of official and other seals. The annexed engraving is a representation of one of these scarabæi seals. Many of the papyri which are found on the breast of the mummies, declaring the virtues, or other great qualities of the deceased, contain also a representation of this beetle. The cause which induced this ancient nation to place the Scarabæus among their sacred animals, appears to have been the provident habits and the great care for its young which it constantly displays. In Egypt this beetle is extremely common, and may be seen constantly engaged in the laborious task which seems to be the principal object of its life. The Scarabæi are the most voracious of the beetle tribes; the food on which they subsist is of an animal nature, and so violent are their carnivorous propensities, that, if confined in a 'box by themselves, the larger will prey upon the smaller. In walking, this kind of coleopterous (hard-winged) insects appear to move with considerable difficulty, from the apparently disproportionate size of their hinder legs. But when we inquire into their habits, we shall find that this apparent disproportion is of considerable service to the animal when engaged in preparing for the welfare of its future offspring. Their constant employ, in which they are indefatigable, is to provide little nests in which to deposit their eggs; this they de by forming round pellets of dung in which they place the egg. These pellets, in September, they bury in the earth, three feet deep, where, in the spring, the eggs are hatched. From this it will be seen, that the great length of their hinder legs is of considerable service to their possessor, enabling it to guide its curious cradle with greater certainty and less labour. I have, says a celebrated naturalist, attentively admired their industry, and the mutual assistance they gave each other in rolling these balls from the place where they formed them, to that of their interment, which is usually at the distance of some yards; this they perform by shuffling backwards, and forcing the ball along with their hinder feet. Two or three are sometimes engaged in trundling one ball, which often meeting with impediments from the unevenness of the ground, is deserted by them; yet this ball is sometimes moved onward by another party, unless it should have rolled into a deep hole, from which they find it impossible to move it. No one appears to know its own, but an equal care for all seems to affect the whole community. They form these pellets while the dung remains moist, and leave them to harden in the sun before they attempt to roll them away: in doing this, themselves and their pellets are continually tumbling and rolling one over the other down the little eminences, that fall in their way; but not discouraged by this, they repeat their attempts, and usually succeed in conquering their difficulties. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. THE abuse of power is equally prevalent among children and men. And when we every day find, by melancholy experience, that the strongest intellects and the maturest judgments, are unable to resist the intoxication of uncontrolled command, and, rioting in the plenitude of power, break through the laws of reason and of right, can we expect that the sense of childhood should be less frequently fascinated, and less easily overcome; and that when armed with the ability of distributing life and death to the subject tribes of animals and insects, it should exercise its dominion with equity, and administer its charge without injustice? Not but, with regard to myself, as well as others, the rage of despotism has been checked, and the triumphs of tyranny interrupted, by the admonitions of friendly advice, and the interposition of friendly authority. But alas! how could I regard those admonitions, or revere that authority, when, after being severely chidden for wantonly dismembering a wasp, or knocking down a butterfly, I was often called upon to crush a spider, or trample an earwig to atoms, because, forsooth, a lady in company had conceived a rooted horror for the one, or was endowed with a natural antipathy to the other. Let the parent who would keep his child pure from the stain of cruelty to animals, beware how he makes him the executioner of his vengeance, on even the most noxious,-the crusher of spiders, and the trampler of earwigs. The distinctions of harmless and hurtful are not to be explained to childhood. Self-preservation needs not the admonition. The child who executes these commands, must either, if he does not reflect at all, be steeled by their repetition against the pleadings of pity, or if he does reflect, in what light can he consider them but as dictated by the lust of destroying, cloaked indeed under the affectation of antipathy!--GEORGE CANNING. THE MACKEREL, (Scomber scombrus,) AND THE MACKEREL FISHERY. V THIS well-known fish is one of the most beautiful of the inhabitants of the British seas; it belongs to the same tribe as the Tunny, which we have already described *. The observations which have been applied to the supposed migrations of the herring tribe are equally applicable to the mackerel, and it is now the opinion of the most accurate observers, that after the spawning-season is over, these fish retire into the deep waters of the neighbouring seas. "The law of nature which obliges them and many others to visit the shallower water of the shores, at a particular season, appears to be one of those wise and bountiful provisions of the Creator, by which not only is the species perpetuated with the greatest certainty, but a large portion of the parent animals are thus brought within the reach of man; who, but for the action of this law, would be deprived of many of those species most valuable to him as food. For were the mackerel dispersed over the immense surface of the deep, no effective fishery could be carried on; but, approaching the shore as they do from all directions, and roving along the coast collected in immense shoals, millions are caught, which yet form but a very small portion compared with the myriads that escape.' For the following account of the habits and mode of taking this useful fish, we are indebted to the elegant and valuable History of British Fishes, by Mr. Yarrell. On the coast of Ireland, the Mackerel is taken from the county of Kerry in the west, along the southern shore, eastward to Cork and Waterford; from thence northward to Antrim, and north-west to Londonderry and Donegal. Dr. Macculloch says it visits some of the lochs of the western islands, but is not considered very abundant. On the Cornish coast, this fish occurs sometimes as early as March, and appears to be pursuing a course from west to east. They are plentiful on the Devonshire coast, and swarm in West Bay about June. On the Hampshire and Sussex coast, particularly the latter, they arrive as early as March, and sometimes, as will be shown, even in February; and the earlier in the year the fishermen go to look for them, the further from the shore do they seek for them and find them. Duhamel says the mackerel are caught earlier at Dunkirk than at Dieppe or Havre: up our eastern coast, however, the fishing is later. The fishermen of Lowestoffe and Yarmouth, gain their great harvest from the mackerel in May and June. The Mackerel spawns in June, and according to Bloch, five hundred and forty thousand eggs have been counted in one fish. The young Mackerel, which are called shiners, are from four to six inches long, by the end of August. They are half grown says Mr. Couch, by November, when they retire to deep water, and are seen no more that winter; but the adult fishes never wholly quit the Cornish coast, and it is common to see some taken with lines in every month of the year. The Mackerel as feeders are voracious, and their growth is rapid. The ordinary length varies from fourteen to sixteen inches, and their See Saturday Magazine, Vol. V., p. 10. 1 weight is about two pounds each; but they are said to attain the length of twenty inches. The largest fish are not, however, considered the best for the table. As an article of food they are in great request, and those taken in the months of May and Jure are generally considered superior in flavour to those taken either earlier in the spring, or in autumn. To be eaten in perfection, this fish should be very fresh, as it soon becomes unfit for food. Mackerel were first allowed to be cried through the streets of London on a Sunday, in 1698, and the practice prevails to the present time. At our various fishing-towns on the coast, the mackerel season is one of great bustle and activity; the high price obtained by early cargoes being the inducement to great exertions. In May 1807, the first Brighton boat-load of Mackerel sold at Billinsgate for forty guineas per hundred, -seven shillings each, reckoning six score to the hundred, the highest price ever known at that market. The next boat-load produced but thirteen guineas the hundred. Mackerel were so plentiful at Dover in 1808, that they were sold sixty for a shilling. At Brighton, in June of the same year, the shoal of Mackerel was so great, that one of the boats had the meshes of her nets so completely occupied by them, that it was impossible to drag them in. The fish and nets, therefore, at length sunk together. The boats engaged in fishing, are usually attended by other fastsailing vessels, which are sent away with the fish taken. From Hastings, and other fishing-towns on the Sussex coast, the fish are brought to London by vans, which travel up during the night. water. The most common mode of fishing for Mackerel, and in which the greatest numbers are taken, is by drift-nets. The drift-net is twenty feet deep, by one hundred and twenty feet long, well corked at the top, but without lead at the bottom. They are made of small fine twine, which is tanned of a reddish-brown colour, to preserve it from the action of the sea The size of the mesh is about two and a half inches, or rather larger. Twelve, fifteen, and sometimes eighteen of these nets are attached lengthways, by tying along a thick rope called the drift-rope, and at the end of each net to each other. When arranged for depositing in the sea, a large buoy attached to the end of the drift-rope, is thrown overboard; the vessel is put before the wind, and as she sails along, the rope with the nets thus attached, is passed over the stem into the water, till the whole of the nets are run out. The net thus deposited, hangs suspended in the water perpendicularly, twenty feet deep from the drift-rope, and extending from three quarters of a mile to a mile, or even a mile and a half, depending on the number of nets belonging to the party or company engaged in fishing together. When the whole of the nets are thus handed out, the drift-rope is shifted from the stern to the prow of the vessel, and she rides by it as if at anchor. The benefit gained by the boat's hanging at the end of the driftrope is, that the net is kept strained in a straight line, which, without this pull upon it, would not be the case. The nets are shot in the evening, and sometimes hauled once during the night, at others allowed to remain in the water all night. The fish roving in the dark through the water, hang in the meshes of the net, which are large enough to admit them beyond the gill-covers and pectoral fins, but not large enough to allow the thickest part of the body to pass through. In the morning early, preparations are made for hauling the nets. A capstan upon the deck is manned, about which two turns of the drift-rope are taken. One man stands forward to untie the upper edge of each net from the drift rope, which is called casting off the lashings; others hand in the net with the fish caught, to which one side of the vessel is devoted; the other side is occupied by the drift-rope, which is wound in by the men at the capstan. The whole of the net in, and the fish secured, the vessel runs back into harbour with her fish, or deposits them on board some other boat in company. Near to land, another mode of fishing is adopted, which is thus described by Mr. Couch. "A long deep net is employed, of which, unlike the former, the meshes are too small to admit any of the fish. Two boats are necessary, one of which is rowed round the schull, while the net is thrown overboard by two men to enclose it; the other boat is employed in keeping steady the end of the net, and warping it, the sooner and more surely to prevent the escape of the fish. When this is effected, the net stands like a circle, enclosing the captives, and the men proceed to draw it together at the end and bottom; at the same time throwing pebbles at that place where the circle closes, to prevent the approach of the fish to the only place where escape is possible: when at last the enclosure is perfect, and the net raised from the ground, the fish thus brought to the surface are taken on board in flaskets." Such is the mode of proceeding with the seine-net in deep water, or at a distance from shore, but in some places it is hauled on the beach in the manner of a ground-net, with less trouble and expense. A third mode of fishing is with the line, and is called railing, (trailing). The Mackerel will bite at any bait that is used to take the smaller kind of fish; but preference is given to that which resembles a living and active prey, which is imitated by what is called a lask,-a long slice cut from the side of one of its own kind near the tail;—it is found, also, that a slip of red leather, or a piece of scarlet cloth, will commonly succeed. The boat is placed under sail, and a smart breeze is considered favourable, hence termed a Mackerel-breeze. The line is short, but weighed down by a heavy plummet, and in this manner when these fish abound, two men will take from five hundred to a thousand a day. It is singular that the greatest number of Mackerel are caught when the boat moves most rapidly, and that even then the hook is commonly gorged. It seems that the Mackerel takes its food by striking across the course of what is supposed to be its flying prey. ARRANGEMENT OF THE HOOK AND LINE FOR TAKING MACKEREL. THE IVY.-This saves many animals from want and death in Autumn and Spring. In October it blooms in profusion; and its flowers become an universal banquet to the insect race. The great black fly, Musca grossa, and its numerous tribe, with multitudes of small winged creatures, resort to them: also those beautiful animals, the latest birth of the year, the admiral and peacock-butterflies. In its honey, it yields a constant supply of food till the frosts of November. In Spring, in the bitter months of March and April, when the wild products of the field are nearly consumed, the Ivy ripens its berries; and almost entirely constitutes the food of the missel-thrush, the wood-pigeon, and other birds.—Journal of a Naturalist. MISSIONARIES IN INDIA. THE following letter from King George the First to Ziegenbalg and Grundler, two Danish Missionaries at Tranquebar, on the coast of Coromandel, and the reply of the same, written at the commencement of the last century, are documents in many respects highly interesting. George, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain &c., to the reverend and learned Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, and John Ernest Grundler, Missionaries at Tranquebar. Reverend and beloved,-Your letters, dated the 20th of January, of the present year, were most welcome to us; not only because the work undertaken by you, of converting the heathen to the Christian faith, doth, by the grace of God, prosper; but also because that, in this our kingdom, such a laudable zeal for the promoting of the Gospel prevails. We pray you may be endued with health and strength of body, that you may long continue to fulfil your ministry with good success; of which as we shall be rejoiced to hear, so you will always find us ready to succour you, in whatever may tend to promote your work and excite your zeal. We assure you of the continuance of our royal favour. GEORGE R. Given at our palace of Hampton-Court, the 23rd of August, A.D. 1717, in the fourth year of our reign. The Missionaries wrote in reply,— greatest joy imaginable, and were highly comforted and Your Majesty's most gracious letter we received with the quickened in our zeal for the glory of Almighty God, when we read these your Majesty's most gracious expressions: "As we shall be always well pleased to hear of the happy success and progress of this work, so we shall, at a proper season, be found ready to assist you in what shall tend to the promotion of this affair, and your encouragement.” Your Majesty hereby most graciously allows us to make a further report of the state of our affairs, and we thence conceive joyful hopes that your Majesty will add to the glorious title of Defender of the Faith, the noble character of its zealous Promoter, not only by supporting the reign of Jesus Christ in your own dominions, but also by promoting and extending it among heathens and infidels in the heartily thanked God Almighty for inclining your Majesty's most remote parts of the world. Therefore, after having heart toward so holy a design, and, with the profoundest submission, acknowledged your Majesty's high favour towards us your unworthy servants, may it please your Majesty to accept the following account of the state of the work in which we are employed. according to the measure of the grace which God Almighty We, the Missionaries, on our part, are endeavouring, has imparted to us, plentifully to spread abroad the seed of the word of God among the heathens in their own language, there being no other means of touching their hearts, in order to their conversion. We also maintain Indians to assist us as catechists, for which function we first prepare them, by instructing them in the saving faith of Jesus Christ, and then send them to propagate it among the heathens. To places which the instruction of the Gospel by word of mouth cannot reach, we send our printed Malabarian books, which are read in these parts by many of all sorts and degrees. As we are perfectly sensible, that to promote and perpetuate such an undertaking, a solid foundation must be laid, by translating the Holy Scriptures, and publishing other instructive books in the language of the country, we did, a good while ago, finish and publish a translation of the New Testament, and are now labouring, with great application, in translating the Old Testament into the Malabarian and Portuguese languages. Besides, we compose every year some books for instructing the heathens, containing the fundamentals of the Christian religion; for better publication of which, the printing-press we have received from our benefactors in England is of great use to us. That our printing-press may always be provided with a sufficient quantity of letters, we entertain in the mission persons for cutting moulds, and casting letters, as also for binding books, being furnished every year with the necessary tools and materials from England by the laudable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel To supply the want of paper, we have been at great expense in erecting a paper-mill here. And so, under the invocation of the name of God, we plentifully dispense, both by word of mouth and writing, in this heathen country, the Gospel, which makes a happy impression on the minds of many of the inhabitants. Some indeed, particularly their brahmins or priests, gainsay and scoff; others come to a sense of the abominations of idolatry, and leave off worshipping their idols; others are brought to better principles, and show, in their discourse and writing, that they have got a greater light than their forefathers; others, again, give full assent to all the truths of Christianity, but, out of worldy considerations, wave baptism and the name of Christians. But some break through all difficulties, and, subduing their reason to the obedience of faith, resolutely profess Christianity; these are for some time instructed by us and our catechists, and afterwards, when they give true signs of repentance and conversion, are received into the bosom of the Christian church by baptism. Those who are become members of our congregation we are instructing with all diligence, that Jesus Christ may be formed within them. Our private exercises with them are daily catechisings, by sending our catechists to their habitations, to inquire into their way of life, to examine them upon the catechism, to pray with them, and to make a report to us, the Missionaries, of what passes among them. To exercise them in praying, we have set hours thrice a week, in which prayers are read to them in private. We give free occasion to every one of them, to communicate to us their concerns. Our public exercises consist in preaching to them, every Sunday, in the morning, a sermon in the Malabarian language, and another in the Portuguese, and in the afternoon we catechise in both languages. Besides, we preach a sermon in High Dutch for the Europeans. Every Wednesday we catechise, at church, in Portuguese, and every Friday in Malabarian. As to the children of either sex, that belong to our congregation, we instruct them all in our schools, in the principles of Christianity, reading, writing, and other useful knowledge. They are maintained in everything at our charge. We have erected a seminary for such as we design for the service of the Gospel, to be furnished there with proper catechists, preceptors, and clerks. Such boys as want necessary capacity, we put to learn handicrafts. We have also established schools, one in this town, and another in a populous village not far off, where they are instructed by Christian teachers, and have full allowance, except victuals and clothes, which their parents find them. The Lord having so blessed our labours that the new congregation increases every year, the first church which we built became too narrow, upon which we found it necessary to build one more spacious; and it pleased God to furnish us with means to finish it in ten years' time, and we are now constantly preaching in it, in three languages. We have, likewise, at the desire of the English who live on this coast, erected two schools, one at Fort St. George, and another at Fort St. David. The present governor of Fort St. George is a special friend to the mission, and has lately remitted to it a considerable present. The rest of our friends here have cheerfully supplied our wants this year. The Lord, whose work it is, guide us for the future by his Divine Providence, and stir up in Europe many promoters among persons of all ranks, that, in these last times, the salvation of the heathen may be sought with earnestness, and their conversion promoted by the whole Christian Church. That our most merciful God may crown your Majesty with all prosperity is the prayer of your Majesty's, &c. BARTHOLOMEW ZIEGENBALG. Tranquebar, Nov. 24, 1718. JOHN ERNEST GRUNDLER. It is pleasing to observe, that all the missionary operations mentioned in this letter are now conducted ou a much larger scale, and have for many years past received considerable aid from Christians in England. We have also to reflect with thankfulness, not only upon the labour of individual Missionaries, but also upon the establishment of the English Church in the British dominions in India; and we look forward, with anxious hope, for much good fruit, under the blessing of God, from the means which have been adopted for the spread of Christianity in these benighted regions. Much more, Much more, however, yet remains to be done, and we may even now concur with Ziegenbalg and Grundler, in praying that "the salvation of the heathen may be sought with earnestness, and their conversion promoted by the whole Christian church," J. E. R. DECISION OF CHARACTER IN MRS. HANNAH MORE. THE energy of her mind in carrying into execution any purpose which had been adopted after sufficient consideration was very remarkable. In conformity with this part of her character, her plan was, in any new resolution which involved the exercise of selfdenial, to contend with the most difficult part of the undertaking first, after which she used to say, she found the remaining sacrifices comparatively casy to be submitted to. On this principle, having resolved to desist from going to the theatre about the time her play of "PERCY" was revived, she determined to make that the immediate occasion for carrying her new resolution into practice. Mrs. Siddons was then at the height of her fame, and was to act the part of the heroine of the tragedy, a character which she was said to exhibit with remarkable success; and Mrs. Hannah More was in the midst of a brilliant society of friends and admirers, who all attended the representation; but here she was determined to make her first stand against this particular temptation, and to break the spell of the enchantment while standing in the centre of the magic circle. Another anecdote will show the same principle brought into exercise on a very different occasion. As her limited income began to be sensibly diminished at one time by her travelling-expenses, she determined to perform her journeys in stage-coaches, and in order to overcome at once every obstacle that pride might interpose, she resolved to pay a visit to a nobleman, on which she was about to set out, in one of these vehicles; which, as there was a public road through the park, set her down at the door of the mansion. She has more than once described her conflicting sensations when his lordship, proceeding through a line of servants in rich liveries, came to hand her out of her conveyance, a conveyance at that time much less used than at present by persons of high respectability. Thus it was the policy of this able tactician to commence her operations by a decisive blow whereby the main strength of the opposing force was at once broken and dispersed, and her victory made easy and secure.--ROBERTS' Memoir of Mrs. Hannah More. OUR great business, morally and religiously speaking, here on earth is not the attainment of perfection, but the doing away of imperfection, and of the faults that create it: it cannot be said that these are the same thing, for a state of progress is not a state of attainment.-DANBY. PIETY is the only proper and adequate relief of decaying man. He that grows old without religious hopes, as he declines into imbecility, and feels pains and sorrows incessantly crowding upon him, falls into a gulf of bottomless misery, in which every reflection must plunge him deeper and deeper, and where he finds only new gradations of anguish and precipices of horror.--DR. JOHNSON. As the powers and goodness of heaven are infinite in their extent, and infinite in their minuteness, to the mind cultivated as Nature meant it to be, there is not only delight in contemplating the sublimity of the endless sea, or everlasting mountains, or the beauty of wide-extended landscapes, but there is a pleasure in looking at every little flower, and every little shell that God has made. Nature has scattered around us on every side, and for every sense, an inexhaustible profusion of beauty and sweetness, if we from musical sounds, from forms, are surely not given us will but perceive it. The pleasures we derive from flowers, in vain, and if we are constantly alive to these, we can never be in want of subjects of agreeable contemplation, and must be habitually cheerfu..-CAPTAIN BASIL HALL |