Page images
PDF
EPUB

cause they appear to enjoy more of the notice of your parents and friends than you, consider that this partiality may exist only in your own jealous imagination; or that if it is real, it is probably owing to their possessing that which you have never been at any pains to cultivate, and to their acting in a manner which you will not follow.

It is the duty of brothers and sisters to admonish one another for their faults. There are failings in the temper, and defects in the manners, which are concealed with care from the eyes of the world, but which are apparent amidst the ease and the freedom of domestic life. If follies are not checked at home, or by strangers, they will settle into habits. The indolence from which the young were never roused has kept them all their after days in poverty; and the pride, which was never repressed, has rendered them odious. Never let affection render you blind to the deformity of sin, or induce you to palliate what you ought decidedly to condemn.

It is the duty of brothers and sisters to sympathize tenderly with each other. Providence hath so framed the human heart, that it requires the aid and rejoices in the comforts of sympathy. We are bound to show pity to a stranger's sorrows, and more strongly is this required from us to a brother or a sister in affliction. How soothing to a sufferer's heart are the ministrations of a sister, and the word spoken by a brother in season; and how different are the feelings which are excited by the cold inquiries of a neighbour, and the anxious questions of affectionate relatives, eager to know his uneasiness, that it may be relieved!

Let sisters consider how much the persuasive language of mildness and affection is adapted to form the roughest and most impetuous tempers to meekness and wisdom; and that their remarks may direct a brother's attention to sentiments full of beauty, and feeling, which he has overlooked.

Brothers and sisters should vie with each other in promoting the comfort of their parents. "Honour thy father and thy mother" is a precept which God has placed at the head of the second table of the law, and which he has enforced by a promise of a long and prosperous life. You owe to your parents respect to their authority, compassion to their infirmities, attention to their wishes,

solicitude to give them all necessary aid, and reverence and love undiminished by the decline of their faculties; and in the performance of those duties your credit and peace of mind are deeply interested. It is a delightful encomium, when heard from the lips of parents about children, "I cannot tell which of them is kindest to me." Happy is that dwelling in which there is not one root of bitterness among the olive-plants around the table, and where there are no children of whom parents can complain as having disappointed their hopes and broken their peace. Belfrage.

A GOOD CONSCIENCE.

GRANT me, O God! that sweet repose
Which from approving conscience flows;
A conscience spotless from offence;
Which gives us with the enlightened sense
Of charity to all mankind,

To serve thee with a quiet mind;
Which shall for aye our moments bless,
As pain we lull, and soothe distress,
And of each act, whate'er it be,
Resigns the merit all to Thee!

O! it is conscience, clear and calm,
For every trouble hath a balm ;
Allays the tumult from within,

And cures each wound except from sin.
'Tis like the blaze that lights the walls

Of hamlets or of loftier halls

The genial blaze though round were gloom,
That brightens up our tranquil home!
Without, the dreary winds may roar!
The cheerful hearth but charms the more.

Polwhele.

THE TEA-TREE.

THE history of commerce does not, perhaps, present a parallel to the circumstances which have attended the

introduction of Tea into Great Britain. This leaf was first imported into Europe by the Dutch East India Company, in the early part of the seventeenth century; but it was not until the year 1666, that a small quantity was brought over from Holland to this country, by the Lords Arlington and Ossory. The tea-plant is a native of China or Japan, and probably of both. It has been used among the natives of the former country from time immemorial. It is only in a particular tract of the Chinese empire that the plant is cultivated; and this tract, which is situated on the eastern side, between the 30th and 33rd degrees of north latitude, is distinguished by the natives as tea country." The more northern part of China would be too cold; and farther south the heat would be too great. There are, however, a few small plantations to be seen near to Canton.

the

The Chinese give to the plant the name of tcha or tha. It is propagated by them from seeds, which are deposited in rows four or five feet asunder; and so uncertain is their vegetation, even in their native climate, that it is found necessary to sow as many as seven or eight seeds in every hole. The ground between each row is always kept free from weeds, and the plants are not allowed to attain a higher growth than admits of the leaves being conveniently gathered. The first crop of leaves is not collected until the third year after sowing; and when the trees are six or seven years old, the produce becomes so inferior that they are removed to make room for a fresh succession.

The flowers of the tea-tree are white, and somewhat resemble the wild rose on our hedges: these flowers are succeeded by soft green berries or pods, containing each from one to three white seeds.

The leaves are gathered from one to four times during the year, according to the age of the trees. Most commonly there are three periods of gathering; the first commences about the middle of April; the second at Midsummer, and the last is accomplished during August and September. The leaves that are earliest gathered are of the most delicate colour and most aromatic flavour, with the least portion of either fibre or bitterness. Leaves of the second gathering are of a dull green colour, and have less valuable qualities than the former; while those

which are last collected are of a dark green, and possess an inferior value.

The leaves, as soon as gathered, are put into wide shallow baskets, and placed in the air or wind, or sunshine during some hours. They are then put on a flat cast-iron pan, over a stove heated with charcoal, from a half to three quarters of a pound of leaves being operated on at one time. These leaves are stirred quickly about with a kind of brush, and are then as quickly swept off the pan into baskets. The next process is that of rolling, which is effected by carefully rubbing them between men's hands; after which they are again put in larger quantities on the pan, and subjected anew to heat ; but at this time to a lower degree than at first, and just sufficient to dry them effectually without risk of scorching. The tea is then placed on a table, and carefully picked over, every unsightly or imperfectly dried leaf that is detected being removed, in order that the sample may present a better appearance when offered for sale.

The names by which some of the principal sorts of tea are known in China, are taken from the places in which they are produced, while others are distinguished according to the periods of their gathering, the manner employed in curing, or other extrinsive circumstances. It is a commonly received opinion, that the distinctive colour of green tea is imparted to it by sheets of copper, upon which it is dried. For this belief, there is not, however, the smallest foundation in fact, since copper is never used for the purpose. Repeated experiments have been made to discover, by an unerring test, whether the leaves of green tea contain any impregnation of copper, but in no case has any trace of this metal been detected.

The Chinese do not use their tea until it is about a year old, considering it too actively narcotic when new. They drink the infusion prepared in the same manner as we employ, but they do not mix it with either sugar or milk. Vegetable Substances.

TO AN INFANT.

SWEET infant when I

gaze on thee,
And mark thy spirit's bounding lightness,
Thy laugh of playful ecstasy,

Thy glance of animated brightness,
How beautiful the light appears

Of Reason in her first revealings;
How blest the boon of opening years,
Unclouded hopes, unwithered feelings!
Thou hast not felt Ambition's thrall,
Thou dost not sigh for absent treasures,
Thy dark eye beams in joy on all,

Simple and artless are thy pleasures;
And should a tear obscure thy bliss,

I know the spell to soothe thy sadness,
The magic of thy father's kiss

Can soon transform thy grief to gladness!

The world, my fair and frolic boy,
May give thy feelings new directions,
But may its changes ne'er destroy
The fervour of thy warm affections!
Still may thy glad contented eyes
Smile on each object they are meeting,
Yet, most of earthly blessings, prize
A parent's look-a parent's greeting!
And, oh! may He, whose boundless love
Excels the ken of human blindness,
The wisest father's care above-

Beyond the fondest mother's kindness-
Teach thy young heart for Him to glow;
Thy ways from sin and sorrow sever,
And guide thy steps in peace below,

To realms where peace endures for ever!—Anon.

COURTESY AND POLITENESS.

CARE should be taken to cultivate, in all intercourse with friends, gentle and obliging manners. It is a common error to suppose, that familiar intimacy supersedes atten

« PreviousContinue »