restless bird, caring not whether the weather be fair or foul, for he has a coat of the thickest down: light, too, as he is, he tops and rides over the roughest waves without an effort, and his wide wings insure him a safe conveyance from every peril but the gun." "I wonder how it is," said Rose, "that the wet does not soak into the feathers?" "It is clear," said Miss Sidney, "that if wet did soak into the soft feathery covering of a bird, every shower of rain would be the death of thousands, as it would increase their weight and prevent their flight. But against such a possibility they are guarded by an abundant oily covering, which is constantly renewed, so that the rain, instead of sinking in, runs off, without remaining an instant. If we take up a duck or any swimming bird, we shall find that it is perfectly dry, and free from all damp. But this principle of life, if it may be so called, in a feather, ceases with the life of the bird; for if we were to throw a dead duck or gull into the water, we should find that its coat has lost all power of resisting wet, and would become a spongy mass. "One of the handsomest of this elegant species of birds is the laughing gull. It frequents all parts of the coast during winter, but, unlike other gulls who place their nests on the tangled grass of the cliffs and rocks of the sea shore, it chooses for its breeding place low, swampy, inland ground. Early in the spring, the laughing gulls assemble in vast numbers, and seek favourable places to build their nests. From these inland habits they have been called lapwing gulls; the inhabitants of Orkney call them their sea-crows. Some of their habits, indeed, much resemble the crow tribe, especially the rook. When ground has been newly turned up near their breeding places, these gulls and rooks may be seen together, rendering great service to the farmer by the large quantity of worms and grubs they destroy. "In the middle of the county of Norfolk, about 25 miles from the sea, is a large piece of water called Scoulton Mere. In the middle of this is a boggy island, of 70 acres in extent, covered with reeds and a few birch and willow trees. This place has from time immemorial been a place of favourite resort for these birds, and during the breeding season a man and three boys find constant employment in collecting their eggs for sale in the markets of Norwich and Lynn. They are eaten cold, like those of the lapwing, but have rather a coarse flavour. person who sells these eggs gives fifteen pounds a year for the privilege of taking them, and as many as a thousand have been collected in a day. The young birds are also eaten, but are not so much esteemed as they were formerly, when great numbers were annually fattened for the table. In the household book of the fifth Earl of Northumberland, begun in 1512, 'Sea gulles' are among the delicacies for his lordship's own mess.' 66 The In a state of captivity the gull will eat bread and meat, and if turned into a garden will almost wholly maintain itself by eating slugs, worms, and insects. It is readily tamed, and various anecdotes are told of its friendly association with other animals. A young gull, hatched and reared by the crew of a revenue cutter, lived for many years quite tame in the possession of a smith at Dartmouth. It swam in the river every day, and looked out for the fishermen, who used to throw it small fish." "How I should like to have a tame gull in our garden at home," said Rose. THOUGHTS, HINTS, AND BOOKS FOR YOU. MEDITATIONS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER. TUESDAY EVENING. ་་ "Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven: " O GOD the praised of Angels, and all the whole family of Thy elect the Fountain of all blessedness, the Giver of all good-what love transcendant, incomprehensible, beyond the reach of man, is the mystery of our Redemption, the benefits of so blest a wonder! Self-seeking and self-pleasing, we are ever erring and straying from THY holy WILL and commandments like lost sheep repeating with our lips THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN denying it by our deeds and lives, continually doing despite to Thy Spirit of grace: and as unworthy children under a thankful sense of Thy forbearance and long-suffering, needing to be ever humbling and confessing ourselves guilty. And yet, there ever flows that sacred stream wherein to wash away our sins! there ever flows that fountain opened for all uncleanness, to cleanse away our stains of deepest dye! Yea, the very Blood our hands have shed, the very Wounds we made-we plead them and they prove our pardon, not our guilt; we try them, and we find them Springs of sanctity and grace!! Gracious Father! under a deep sense of these Thy unspeakable mercies, we bring the burden of this day's sins before Thee, and through Atoning Blood, may we sweetly fall asleep in Jesus, pass the darkness of the night under the shadow of His wings, and under a peaceful sense of Thy forgiveness rise again with morning light! We would close our eyes in sleep tonight with every sin confessed, and in the comfort and hope that seeds of pure intention, supple will, and self-sacrifice, sown this day in Him, may through the mighty working of Thy Spirit in us, take root, spring up, and in Thine own good time and way, bear fruit. May we glorify Thy Name, O Most Holy God! the remainder of our days, by more diligence, constancy, and perseverance, in DOING THY WILL even AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. With Thy holy Angels, may we strive to do Thee honour. We would render Thee cheerful obedience, with alacrity; whatsoever our hand findeth to do, do it with zeal and ardency, hearkening for Thy commands, and ever watching to receive them, quick to execute them, not disputing when we should be obeying; or, wearying of our work,-but, following after that for which we are apprehended, be blessing, praising, serving Thee, with all reverence and godly fear; esteeming THY WILL our glory and our great reward! O God! would that Thou wouldst darken to us the light of nature, that in the light of grace we might run the way of Thy commandments! would that it were more the supreme desire and glory of us all to witness for thy Power and Glory, in more entire crucifixion of self; that to conquer the flesh, contradict our own wills, despise the flatteries of prosperity, and inwardly overcome the fears of adversity, might be our glory above all price! Father! according to the measure of Thine Own most perfect rule, and not according to ours, do Thou sanctify | defenders, in whatsoever Thy good us. We would yield ourselves to Thy loving discipline, with all submi sive thankfulness, and waiting upon Thee in the way of Thy judgments, live examples bettered by Thy training. Oh, Lord! pity those who would "set their nests on high, that they may be delivered from the power of evil;" convince them of the folly of their ways, and may we all be willing to be humbled, proved, and shewn our own vile hearts; so Thy Presence forsake us not, so that in bearing our cross for Christ's sake, the shadow of His encompass us! Lord, "not my will, but THINE BE DONE: "THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN," and in Thine Own good time and way, Thou wilt make it the wisdom and prudence of us all, to know and understand Thy loving-kindness and draw our hearts where disappointment will not wither, where transitory joys become eternal, and where in possessing Thee, our whole affections will be satisfied! Gracious Father! we live in a world where much is to be done, little to be known; but we know Thy thoughts are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us an expected end: " Thou seest things present, as we see them past; what we see past, Thine Eyes foresaw to come!! Oh, give us grace to leave our present and our future entirely with Thee, and unreservedly commit our bodies, souls, and spirits, into Thy keeping; "Looking unto Jesus, let us cast aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us;" and do Thou give Thy holy Angels charge concerning us, to keep us in all our ways; yea, Lord, like as they do Thee service in HEAVEN, SO may they do THY WILL ON EARTH, and by Thine Own appointment be our succourers and Providence orders for us! O God! we would be the servants of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in body, soul, and spirit; that thinking, speaking, doing, all things here for the glorifying of Thy Name ON EARTH, we may hereafter be partakers of His glory Who by His Cross and Precious Blood redeemed us according to Thy Will, and before Whom, with the holy Angels, we would prostrate ourselves this night, and say, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! For Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. HINTS FROM A SERVANT. We print the following letter which we think must interest our friends and may give them a useful hint. To the Editor of the Penny Post. June, 1851. SIR,-I hope you will excuse the liberty I (a servant) have taken in addressing you; I do so to tell you how much pleasure, and I trust, profit I have received in reading your excellent little Magazine, and to ask you to be so kind as to answer two questions for me in your next number. I should be glad if you could tell me if there was a Volume of the "Churchman's Companion" published this month, and also if the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel are publishing a little Missionary Magazine, and if so, how it may be procured. I understood the first number was to be published in January last. I live in a far away country place, where I have no means of finding these things out, or I would not have troubled you. I have made an humble effort to promote the sale of the Penny Post, and I either sell or give away 6 or 7 copies every month, and I hope to sell more. I trust it will have a large circulation, and then I hope it will be published oftener; I should like to see it come out every week. I remain, Sir, Your humble servant, OLD NEWS BETTER THAN NONE. NOTES ON CHURCH HISTORY. No. VIII. MR. JONES was rather an early riser, but on the morning after the conversation last related, Butler was beforehand with him. On his going down stairs he found the Schoolmaster waiting in his "talking room"; for so the children of the village had come to name the little study by the porch door, where the Parson was used to receive all who came to him for spiritual or temporal help. Here was Butler looking intently on the frontispiece of an old folio, part of Bishop Taylor's works, which was lying open on the tall desk by the window. Ah," " said the Vicar, as he entered, "there you are, my good friend, at your Church matters already this morning: perhaps you have not left them off all night:" and he gazed earnestly and kindly on Butler's face, which, it must be owned, did look a little haggard, as though he had not had his usual rest. 66 "Well, Sir," said Butler, "I have certainly been rather full of thought since you went away yesterday evening; but my thoughts, though restless, have not been particularly uncomfortable: only, before I let myself go on with them, I wanted you to tell me whether they are right; for I am afraid of their getting hold of me, and becoming settled fancies, without sufficient ground. So I have made bold to bring you the paper you began to read yesterday ; in the latter part of which I have since made alterations, sufficient, I think, to let you know what the kind of thoughts are which I mean; the rather, because if I may say so, you yourself gave me the hint for them.” "How so," said Mr. Jones, taking the paper, and beginning to unfold it. B. " Why, Sir, as you went away, you said a word about tracing the great purposes of God in the course of Church History, particularly this portion of it: and that was what set my mind on working in the way which I am now reporting to you." Mr. J. "Very good: I am sure I shall be glad to look it Sit down, if you have time, and take a book for half an hour, whilst I read this to myself." over. Butler, with thanks, took the volume of Bishop Taylor, and sat down with it on his knees, still thoughtfully looking on the frontispiece. Mr. Jones read to himself, making corrections as he went along, so that the whole, when finished, ran as follows: "The great city, when the Apostle came there, was very much taken up with the work of rebuilding, after the fire of the preceding year; a work which would of itself keep up the remembrance of the accusations against the Christians, to whose charge the fire had been laid. People, as they went about the city, would ask, 'And how did the great fire begin?' and it would be said, 'Some say the Christians did it:' and again, 'Who are these Christians?' and the reply would be, 'A sect of the Jews, teaching a deadly superstition:' and when it was asked, "Why, "deadly?" stories would be told of their slaying and devouring children, and of all manner of horrid crimes committed in their night assemblies: reports, very easily accounted for, when one considers that they were forced to meet in the night,—that their principal ceremony was a Feast on the Body and Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, and that one part of the ceremonial always was the mutual kiss of peace, mentioned by St. Paul, (the men of course keeping to the men's side of the assembly, and the women to the women's). Besides, they were accused of hating mankind,' which might very well arise from our Saviour's saying, 'If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother,-yea, and is own life also, he cannot be my disciple.' And, further, they were accused of insulting holy things, because they would have nothing to do with the idols and their sacrifices. These notions about the Christians had made them so unpopular, that the wicked Emperor Nero, had found it convenient to cast the blame of the great fire upon them; being himself, with much more reason, accused of it. And so a most cruel and insulting persecution had commenced: some were covered with skins of beasts, and so cast to be worried by dogs; some crucified; some impaled; some clothed in garments steeped in pitch, which was then set fire to, and they left to burn and by their light, as by a newly invented torch of his own, Nero, who was thought to be half mad through his crimes, celebrated a kind of show of horsemanship'in his garden. All these doings were fresh in the memory of the Romans, perhaps they were even still going on, when St. Paul came to Rome, as was said, in the summer or autumn of A. D. 65. And by the grace of God, the effect was such as it has always been in persecutions of the Truth. It turned out rather to the furtherance of the Gospel. The blood of Martyrs was the seed of the Church. |