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GOOD RESOLUTIONS.

minister to my gratification, shall one day witness against me, if I neglect to contemplate, to admire, and to delight in the wonderful works of God.

GOOD RESOLUTIONS.

THOUGH I'm now in younger days,
Nor can tell what shall befall me,
I'll prepare for ev'ry place,

Where my growing age shall call me.

Should I e'er be rich and great,
Others shall partake my goodness;
I'll supply the poor with meat,
Never showing scorn or rudeness.

Where I see the blind or lame,

Deaf or dumb, I'll kindly treat them :
I deserve to feel the same,

If I mock, or hurt, or cheat them.

If I meet with railing tongues,
Why should I return them railing?
Since I best revenge my wrongs,
By my patience never failing

When I hear them telling lies,
Talking foolish, cursing, swearing;
First I'll try to make them wise,
Or I'll soon go out of hearing.

What though I be low and mean,
I'll engage the rich to love me,
While I'm modest, neat, and clean,
And submit when they reprove me.

If I should be poor and sick,
I shall meet, I hope, with pity;
Since I love to help the weak,

Though they're neither fair nor witty.

GOD'S MINUTE AND INCESSANT CARE OVER US.

I'll not willingly offend,

Nor be easily offended;

What's amiss I'll strive to mend,

And endure what can't be mended.

May I be so watchful still

O'er my humours and my passion,
As to speak and do no ill,

Though it should be all the fashion.

Wicked fashions lead to hell;
Ne'er may I be found complying;
But in life behave so well,
As not to be afraid of dying

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GOD'S MINUTE AND INCESSANT CARE Over us.

How widely diversified, and how multiplied into many thousand distinct exercises, is the attention of God! His eye is upon every hour of my existence. His spirit is intimately present with every thought of my heart. His inspiration gives birth to every purpose within me. His hand impresses a direction on every footstep of my goings. Every breath I inhale is drawn by an energy which God deals out to me. This body, which, upon the slightest derangement, would become the prey of death, or of woful suffering, is now at ease, because he at this moment is warding off from me a thousand dangers, and upholding the thousand movements of its complex and delicate machinery. His presiding influence keeps by me through the whole current of my restless and everchanging history. When I walk by the wayside, he is along with me. When I enter into company, amidst all my forgetfulness of him he never forgets me. In the silent watches of the night, when my eyelids have closed, and my spirit has sunk into unconsciousness, the observant

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eye of Him who never slumbers is upon me. I can not fly from his presence. Go where I will, he leads me, and watches me, and cares for me; and the same Being who is now at work in the remotest domains of nature and of providence, is also at my right hand to eke out to me every moment of my being, and to uphold me in the exercise of all my feelings, and of all my faculties.

THE SEASONS.

AMONG the great blessings and wonders of the creation, may be classed the regularities of times and seasons. Immediately after the flood, the sacred promise was made to man, that seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, should continue to the very end of all things. Accordingly, in fulfilment of that promise, the rotation is constantly presenting us with some useful and agreeable alteration; and as all the pleasing novelty of life arises from these natural changes, so we are no less indebted to them for many of its solid comforts. It has been frequently the task of the moralist and poet, to mark, in polished periods, the particular charms and conveniences of every change; and, indeed, such discriminate observations upon natural variety cannot be undelightful, since the blessing which every month brings along with it, is a fresh instance of the wisdom and bounty of that Providence which regulates the glories of the year. We glow as we contemplate; we feel a propensity to adore whilst we enjoy. In the time of seed-sowing, it is the season of confidence: the grain which the husbandman trusts to the bosom of the earth shall happily yield its seven-fold rewards. Spring presents us with a scene of lively expectation. That which was before sown, begins now to discover signs of successful vegetation. The labourer observes the change, and anticipates the harvest; he watches the progress of nature, and smiles at her influence; while the man of

ACCOUNT OF THE TIGER.

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contemplation walks forth with the evening, amidst the fragrance of flowers, and the promises of plenty, nor returns to his cottage till darkness closes the scene upon his eye. Then cometh the harvest, when the large wish is satisfied, and the granaries of nature are loaded with the means of life, even to a luxury of abundance. The powers of language are unequal to the description of this happy season. It is the carnival of nature. Sun and shade, coolness and quietude, cheerfulness and melody, love and gratitude, unite to render every scene of summer delightful.-The division of light and darkness is one of the kindest efforts of Omnipotent Wisdom. Day and night yield us contrary blessings; and, at the same time, assist each other, by giving fresh lustre to the delights of both. Amidst the glare of day and bustle of life, how could we sleep? Amidst the gloom of darkness, how could we labour? How wise, how benignant, then, is the division! The hours of light are adapted to activity; and those of darkness, to rest. Ere the day is passed, exercise and nature prepare us for the pillow; and by the time that the morning returns, we are again able to meet it with a smile. Thus every season has a charm peculiar to itself; and every moment affords some interesting innovation.-Let us never forget that this is the arrangement of Almighty God; and that, as it is an expression of his skill and his goodness, it should always beget in us the feelings of admiration and gratitude.

ACCOUNT OF THE TIGER.

THE Tiger is peculiar to Asia, and is found as far north as China and Chinese Tartary. It inhabits Mount Ararat and Hyrcania. It is chiefly met with in India and its islands.-The following description is given of the Royal Tiger exhibited in England in 1787. It was nearly the same height as the Lion. Every part of its body was streaked with beautiful bars of black. The colour of the ground was yellow, deeper on the back, and softening by degrees towards the belly, where it

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THE FARMER AND HIS DOG.

was white: the throat and insides of the legs were also white. A white space, spotted with black, surrounded each eye. And on each cheek a stripe of the same colour extended from the ear to the throat.-The Tiger seldom pursues its prey, but bounds upon it from the place of its ambush with an elasticity and from a distance that are almost incredible. Its strength is so great, that when it has killed a deer or a buffalo, it carries it off with such ease, as scarcely to be incumbered by it in its flight. If it be undisturbed, it plunges its head into the body of the animal, up to its very eyes, as if to satiate itself with blood.-The Tiger is one of the few animals whose ferocity can never be wholly subdued. It would equally tear the hand that feeds, and the hand that chastises it. Yet when young it has been known to be quite harmless and playful as a kitten. A Tiger taken on board the Pitt East Indiaman, when it was only a month old, was so far domesticated before it reached this country, as to admit every kind of familiarity from the people in the ship. It frequently slept with the sailors in their hammocks; suffered punishment, when it had done wrong, with the greatest patience; would often play with a dog which was on board, in the most diverting manner; and climbing about the ship like a cat, performed a number of tricks with an agility that was truly astonishing. How long this tameness continued we are not informed.-The Tiger attacks all kinds of animals. It will engage even with an Elephant. Sometimes it has fought with the Lion so furiously and obstinately, that both have perished in the combat.-The skin of the Tiger is much esteemed all over the East, particularly in China. The Mandarins cover their seats of justice with it; and during the winter, use it for cushions and pillows.

FABLE OF THE FARMER AND HIS DOG.

A FARMER, who had just stepped into his field to mend a gap in one of his fences, found at his return, the cradle where he had left his only child asleep turn

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