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We humbly beg that this mind may be steadfastly in us; and that thou, by our hands, and also by the hands of others, on whom thou shalt bestow the same spirit, wilt please to convey a largess of new alms to thy family of mankind. These things we commend to thy everlasting love, by our Jesus, thy Christ, God with us. Amen.

SENTENCES FOR REFLECTION.

WHEN thou art in the company of thy betters for sense and prudence, it is as much more advisable to hear than to speak, as it is more profitable to reap than to sow.

Disappointments and crosses that come not by thy own folly or negligence, are corrections of heaven; and it is thy own fault if they prove not to thy advantage.

As it was necessary that God should become like man on earth to purchase felicity for thee; so thou must become like God in heaven, before thou comest to possess it.

In judging of thyself, if conscience either cannot or will not inform thee, there is a certain thing, called self-love, that will be sure to deceive thee.

The greatest honour thou canst do to God or good men, is to endeavour to be like them; to express their virtues, and represent them to the world in thy life.

So deliberate that thou mayest resolve; so resolve that thou mayest perform; so perform that thou mayest persevere. Mutability is the badge of infirmity.

Let it frequently come into thy thoughts that death lieth in wait for thee; and may catch thee (as it hath many others) anywhere, suddenly, and unawares.

When the elect of God are afflicted with the adversities of this life, when they suffer reproaches and scoffings, pains of body, and the loss of goods, they feel the things which exercise them to be indeed grievous: but when they direct their mental vision to the consideration of their eternal heritage, from the comparison of the reward for which they hope with the trials through which they are passing, how light do all their sufferings appear! That which would be intolerable if merely regarded as pain, becomes light and

easy by the consideration of the remuneration so mercifully provided and offered.-Greg. Magn.

The mind of the elect continually tends to the contemplation of eternity, even when the present life rolls on with them most felicitously; nor is it allowed even to disturb their faith and hope. They wait not for the very article of death to break in upon them, in order to prepare for it; for daily do they regard it as though it were present. The stream of life flows so uncertainly, that their hope of living is cut off at its very root. [They live for dying, and die to live for ever.]-Ibid.

REVIEW.

WE never forget that our readers are, for the most part, strongly attached to poetry; and therefore do we devote to the subject so large a share of our attention. A taste for good poetry is, in our view, an important element, not merely in the literary, but even in the moral and religious, character. Much of the word of God is given in the poetical form; and some of the finest and most beautiful instances of poetry itself, illustrating its adaptation to the noblest objects to which the human mind can be directed, the loftiest subjects by which it can be occupied, are to be found in holy Scripture. And, by the way, though we cannot think of everything, much less find room for everything, yet we must try and make room for a few papers on the sacred poetry of the Hebrews. Of poetic composition the English language furnishes many admirable specimens; and many of them completely contradict the hastily pronounced judgment of Dr. Johnson against devotional poetry. But the strongest evidence in favour of an opposite sentence is found in the Bible. We will try, as we have said, to give our readers the opportunity of judging on the question for themselves. They will find it as instructive as it is delightful. A form which the Holy Spirit has chosen to employ so largely in communicating his revelations to mankind, can never be considered as unimportant.

Because we wish to foster in our readers the taste of which we have spoken, and to render it more discriminating and acute, that they may both derive more pleasure from its exercise, and know what are the reasons of that pleasure, we are always glad when we can bring before them specimens of good composition. Our Review department for the year shall open with this same delightful poetry. There are some good volumes on the table before us, and we will now introduce them to the notice of our young pupils and friends.

1. Poems on Moral and Religious Subjects. 12mo. pp., 208. John Masor.

By John Byrne.

MR. BYRNE is an old and valued friend of ours, and has occasionally afforded us the opportunity of gratifying our readers by the insertion of some of his pieces. They always discover the true poetic spirit, and are the more valuable as being always subservient to the sacred interests of divine truth, proving that poet and Christian are not incongruous epithets. We are glad to see the present volume. Some portions have already appeared in print; but there is much that is new, and the new is as good as the old. Even where Mr. Byrne's compositions do not rise into the highest order of poetry, they do not cease to be respectable, and their subjects are always profitable. We do not hesitate to recommend the volume. We hope it will be extensively circulated. Whether the "poetry-shelf" belong to the juvenile, the family, or the Sabbath-school library, Mr. Byrne's volume will be found not unworthy a place on it.

2. The Lake, and other Poems. Seeleys.

Foolscap 8vo., pp. xii, 255.

WE have, ourselves, been highly gratified with this volume; so much so, that as soon as we had read it, we copied six or eight pieces from it, and forwarded them to our printer, that he might have them in hand for occasional insertion. The compositions are not characterized by a lofty-soaring imagination, nor does the writer lose himself in the dark profound which is sometimes mistaken for philosophy. His own mind is calmly meditative; but when he walks abroad, he is evidently awake to the objects, near and remote, by which he is surrounded. Some of his descriptions are as beautiful as they are correct, and all that he sees is suggestive. Now and then we have thought that the allusions bordered on the fanciful; but even then, the reflections themselves were full of good sense and good feeling, always guided by Christian truth. The versification, too, is good; and it is not often that a modern composer succeeds so well, either in substance or form, in the sonnet. There is throughout a happy mixture of the objective and the subjective. Altogether it is a good volume, and we are glad to notice and recommend it: our readers, we believe, will coincide with us, when they see the specimen extracts with which they will be furnished.

3. Household Verses. By Bernard Barton. Foolscap 8vo., pp. xiii, 240. George Virtue.

We never had the opportunity of seeing Bernard Barton but once of that once, however, we gladly availed ourselves, that we might thank him-and we did it most sincerely-for the useful pleasure he had so often afforded us. The present volume increases the obligation. Many of our readers, we doubt not, will participate in our feelings, and be glad to see this announcement. Mr. Barton

modestly says, Verses, but his pieces are genuine poetry; and we envy not those persons who can read them, and not feel that their own minds are in communion with that of the author. It is evident that he is not only a careful, but an admiring observer of nature; and equally evident that to him all nature is, as it were, living, and sentient, and vocal. We had almost written ourselves into a regular climax, by saying, it is most evident of all that he understands the true language of nature, and having read her lessons rightly, pleasingly and instructively to communicate to others what he has himself learned. Our poetical department, in some following Numbers, will furnish our readers with the opportunity of judging for themselves. It is a volume, wherever poetry is kept on the shelf, either for the juvenile, domestic, or Sabbathschool, library.

NOTICES OF ANIMATED AND VEGETABLE

NATURE,

FOR JANUARY, 1847.

BY MR. WILLIAM ROGERSON, of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

IT freezes on,

Till Morn, late rising o'er the drooping world,

Lifts her pale eye unjoyous. Then appears
The various labour of the silent night.

Prone from the dripping eave, and dumb cascade,
Whose idle torrents only seem to roar,
The pendent icicle; the frost-work fair,
Where transient hues and fancied figures rise;
Wide spouted o'er the hill, the frozen brook,
A livid tract, cold gleaming on the morn;
The forest bent beneath the plumy wave;
And by the frost refined, the whiter snow,
Incrusted hard, and sounding to the tread
Of early shepherd, as he pensive seeks
His pining flock, or from the mountain-top,
Pleased with the slippery surface, swift descends."

THOMSON.

How rapidly in succession move the revolving seasons of the varied year! Spring, summer, autumn, and winter statedly return, in compliance with the mandate of the great Author of the universe. Is not this regularity of revolving seasons fraught with important lessons of instruction to human beings? Shall nature,

in all her different departments, yield implicit obedience to her great Creator? Shall spring's vivifying rays, and summer's genial warmth, succeeded by autumn's fruitful scene, and winter's frozen reign, fulfil the great designs of the Almighty, and man, with rational and immortal powers, be indifferent to, or reluctant to be governed by, his Maker's will?

Winter now becomes our theme for contemplation. What hollow blast is that which strikes on mortal ears? It is the northern wind, announcing stern winter's arrival. "Out of the

south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north." The trees, which a short time ago were clothed in cheerful green, are now dismantled of their gay attire, and their leafy honours are levelled with the dust. The plumy warblers, so lately melodious, have now suspended their vocal harps, and some of them have migrated into warmer climes, until the foliage in our region reappear, and winter's desolating reign be again succeeded by returning spring. "The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed time, and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming." The mountains, so lately covered with herbage, and the valleys smiling with waving corn, are now clad with snow: "For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth." The purling rivulet is arrested in its meandering course, and becomes congealed, so that man and beast may tread upon its surface. "By the breath of God frost is given, and the breadth of the waters is straitened." Inundations at this period are not unusual, especially after heavy snows: "By watering he wearieth the thick clouds; he scattereth his bright cloud; and it turneth round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world, in the earth."

The first half of the month.-The dormouse and squirrel are now in torpidity: in mild evenings bats awake from their sleep, and fly about. The sarcelle-duck, merganser, and tufted-duck àre occasionally, but not regularly, seen; their appearance and departure depending on the severity or mildness of the weather. The common wild-duck is the largest in size of the species that frequent this country. The general name duck is taken from the female; the male being the mallard, or drake, and the young birds, flappers. These birds are known to exhibit great ingenuity for the preservation of their young or mates. Captain Back relates, in his "Arctic Land Expedition," that one of his companions having killed a female duck, fired again, and, as he thought, disabled its companion, a fine drake. Accordingly, leaving the dead bird, which he had the mortification of seeing, in a few minutes afterwards, carried off by one of the white-headed eagles, he waded after the drake, which, far from being alarmed, remained motionless, as if waiting to be taken up. As he drew nearer, it glided easily away, through innumerable little nooks and windings. Several times he extended his arm to catch it; and having at last, with great patience, managed to coop it up in a corner, from whence there appeared to be no escape, he was triumphantly bending down to take it, when, to his utter astonishment, after two or three flounders, it looked round, cried "Quack," and flew off so strongly that he was convinced he had never hit it at all. The object of the bird had evidently been to draw away his attention from his companion, of whose fate it was ignorant.

Our gardens now exhibit but few charms: here and there a monthly rose-tree presents its cheering blossoms: laurustinus unfolds its fine clusters of white flowers.

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