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where he had found it; the man replied, the gun is not charged, therefore there is no danger of its going off: true, said Mr. Wallis, but I had a fowling-piece stolen the other day, so that you see it may go off, though it is not charged.

PERHAPS Dr. Johnson never composed anything so truly excellent as his prayer against inquisitive and perplexing thoughts. Boswell has justly said, it is so wise and energetic, so philosophical and so pious, that I doubt not of its affording consolation to many a sincere Christian, when in a state of mind to which I believe the best are sometimes liable.

"O Lord! my Maker and Protector, who hast graciously sent me into this world to work out my salvation, enable me to drive out from me all such unquiet and perplexing thoughts, as may mislead or hinder me in the practice of those duties which thou hast required. When I behold the works of thy hands, give me grace always to remember, that thy thoughts are not my thoughts, nor thy ways my ways; and while it shall please thee to continue me in this world, where much is to be done, and little to be known, teach me by thy Holy Spirit to withdraw my mind from unprofitable and dangerous inquiries, from difficulties vainly curious, and doubts impossible to be solved; let me rejoice in the light which thou hast imparted, let me serve thee with active zeal and humble confidence, and wait with patient expectation for the time in which the soul which thou receivest, shall be satisfied with know

ledge; grant this, O Lord! for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen."

PITY.

No radiant pearl which crested fortune wears,

No gem that twinkling hangs from beauty's ears;
Not the bright stars, which night's blue arch adorn,
Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn,
Shine with such lustre as the tear that breaks
For others' woe, down virtue's manly cheeks.

Darwen.

HOYLAND, in his Epitome, page 306, says, "The bountiful hand which fed the seed of Abraham immediately from the clouds, for forty years together, feeds us through a process only a little longer, by compounding the qualities of earth, air, and water. While we adore the Providential care which fed Israel by streams from the rock, let us acknowledge His bounty in keeping our rivers ever flowing, our fountains constantly supplied, and the clouds of our atmosphere, in their season, always impregnated with the rain and the dew."

THE TRUE DIGNITY AND USEFULNESS OF THE FEMALE

CHARACTER VINDICATED.

A celebrated writer says, that the ladies insist, that it is highly derogatory from the dignity of the sex, that the poet should affirm that it is the perfection of the character of a wife

"To study household good,

And good works in her husband to promote ;"

now, according to my notion of "household good," which does not include one idea of drudgery, or servility, but which involves a large and comprehensive scheme of excellence, I will venture to affirm, that let any woman know what she may, yet, if she knows not this, she is ignorant of the most indispensable, the most appropriate branch of female knowledge. Without it, however she may inspire admiration abroad, she will never excite esteem, nor insure durable affection, at home; and will bring neither credit nor comfort to her her illstarred partner.

The domestic arrangements of such a woman as filled the capacious mind of the Poet, resembles, if I may say it without profaneness, those of Providence, whose under-agent she is: her wisdom is seen in its effects; indeed, it is rather felt than seen; it is sensibly acknowledged, in the peace, the happiness, the virtue of component parts, in the order, regularity and beauty of the whole system, of which she is the moving spring. The perfection of her character, as the divine poet intimates, does not arise from a prominent quality, or a showy talent, or a brilliant accomplishment, but it is the beautiful combination, and result of them all. Her excellencies consist not so much in acts as in habits, in "Those thousand decencies which daily flow From all her words and actions."

A description more calculated than any I ever met with, to convey an idea of the purest conduct, resulting from the best principles; it gives an image of that tranquillity, smoothness, and quiet beauty, which is the very essence of perfection in a wife. H. Moore.

FROM A MEMORIAL OF A BELOVED SISTER.

"SENSIBILITY has had her honours done by a thousand hands, and her praises sung by a thousand voices. With her admiring votaries, she is the substance of every virtue, and the soul of every grace. Were such expressions simply extravagant, they might pass; but as they are hurtful, it is necessary to correct them. Let her young and fond admirers know, then, that sensibility is a gift, like some we read of in Arabian story, of doubtful character; and which will benefit or injure us, as it is used; as the handmaid of an enlightened mind, she bears the key which commands the richest treasures of earth and heaven; as the mistress of a weak and enslaved judgment, she shows the path and leads the way, to chambers of vexation, anguish and despair; without sensibility there can be no enjoyment, without something more and better, our very enjoyments are poisonous."

Martha.

THE moment in which the claims of principle are triumphant over those of passion, is a point of time, in the history of character, the most interesting and auspicious; it contributes largely to the formation or settlement of the mind, and brings with it the elements of all that is good or exalted; passion relaxes and enfeebles the spirit; principle braces and invigorates it; passion is dark and stormy and vexatious, like the troubled sea which cannot rest; principle, like the rocks of our shore, stands out the bulwark of the soul

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in the night of adversity; passion is the voice of that old serpent, ever the most dangerous when most beguiling; principle is the voice of God in the soul of man, calling him off from the enchantments of earth and sense to communion and confidence in him, without whom the strongest are weak, and the best protected insecure, in the hour of trial!

Martha.

It was a rule with our parents, to begin early with the children, and I am persuaded, that they could not recur to the time when first religion was presented to their notice. From the cradle, we were taught to lift our hands in prayer, and behave with seriousness in the house of God, and from childhood were made known the holy scriptures.

Our parents knew, how soon soever they attempted to occupy the heart with the good seed of the kingdom, they should find it pre-occupied by an enemy who scattereth tares.

They revered the sacredness and mysteries of religion, but they saw nothing in these, which forbade them to explain divine truth to the infant mind; they did not urge their children into those depths where the elephant may swim; they led them to those shallows where the lamb may stand and drink, and be refreshed; they rejoiced in that goodness which had supplied a food on which, like the manna of the wilderness, the infant might thrive, and the man be invigorated; they admired that wisdom which had made truth familiar to

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