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surface. The mountainous district comprehends more than one-third of the whole county; the old inclosures about one half, and the lakes and waters 8000 acres; the remainder consists either of commons capable of improvement, or lands recently enclosed. The mountainous district is divided into two parts, the one on the borders of Northumberland, the other on the south east part of the county. The former abounds in limestone, slate coal, and lead ore; but is not remarkable for picturesque beauty; the latter is generally sterile*, but contains several rich, though narrow, valleys, wih many fine lakes, (among which Ullswater and Derwentwater, or Keswick Lake, are the most celebrated,) rivers, cascades, and woodlands, which combined, or contrasted in the view, with the gigantic rocky masses around them, exhibit many remarkable scenes of grandeur, desolation and beauty. Black peat earth is the most prevalent soil of the mountainous districts. The celebrated mine of black lead of which pencils are made is situated on the side of a steep mountain in the south eastern district. This mine is the only one of the kind in England. It is only opened occasionally, as the demand may require, and then carefully closed. The northern part of the county is in general flat, and a tract of low land, from 2 to 4 or 5 miles in breadth, winds along the western shore.About half the cultivated land consists of dry loams; the fertile clays occupy but a small portion, but clay, wet and sterile, forms the sub-soil + in many parts. Landed property is much divided in this county, and the farms are in general small. Agriculture is, in most instances, conducted with but little attention to system. Considerable quantities of coal are raised near Workington and

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Martha and Mary.

121

Whitehaven, which are exported to Ireland and the western coast of Scotland. There are very productive lead mines in the neighbourhood of Ulstone, in the eastern border of the county. The principal rivers are the Eden, the Derwent, the Calder, and the Esk. The Eden rises in Westmoreland, and passes by Carlisle into the Solway Firth; the Derwent and the Calder both rise in the southeastern district of mountains; the vales through which they flow are very beautiful; the former falls into the sea near Workington, and the latter joins the Eden near Carlisle. The Esk rises in Scotland and falls into the Solway Firth. The principal towns are Carlisle, the capital of the county, and the seat of a Bishop; Penrith, a considerable market town, on the borders of Westmoreland; and Whitehaven, Workington, and Maryport on the sea-coast. This county from its great extent of coast and numerous mountains is much exposed to rains; which prevailing, especially in autumn, render the crops very precarious.

January 8th.

N. C. T.

MARTHA AND MARY.

Martha her love and joy express'd,
By care to entertain the guest;
While Mary sat to hear her Lord,
And could not bear to lose a word.

The principle in both the same,
Produc'd in each a diff'rent aim;
The one to feast the Lord was led,
The other waited to be fed.

But Mary chose the better part,

Her Saviour's words refresh'd her heart;

While busy Martha angry grew,
And lost her time and temper too.

With warmth she to her sister spoke, o
But brought upon herself rebuke;
"One thing is needful, and but one,
Why do thy thoughts on many run ?”

Lord, teach us this one thing to choose, 1
Which they who gain can never lose;
Sufficient in itself alone,

And needful, were the world our own!

Newton.

THE MEANING OF THE WORD " AFTER" IN THE CHURCH SERVICE. 129

(From "Village Conversations on the Liturgy," &c.)

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Thomas. There is one more question, William, that I should like to ask you. Pray what do you think is the meaning of

" O Lord, deal not with us after our sins ;~~"Neither reward us after our iniquities?"

We cannot mean to beg that the Lord would have nothing to do with us after we have committed sin; and that he would never reward us after we had committed iniquity.

William.-No, it does not mean that; for that would be praying against ourselves. We mean to confess, that we have been guilty of sins and iniquities; and, if the Lord were to deal with us according to our deservings, we should be justly punished: if He were to give us such reward-such wages-as our iniquities deserved, we must perish; for "the wages of sin is death." We, therefore, plead for mercy, and beg of Him that he would not punish us according to our sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities.

T. I see it. After is a word, which, in old times, I suppose, meant according to.

W. Yes; and it is used in other places in the same sense. When we say to live after the commandments of God, we mean, "to live according

On the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. 123 to them." The greater part of our Prayer Book is taken from Scripture. The above petitions are from Psalm ciii. 10. where both expressions are used; "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities."

V.

ON THE WORD "SANCTIFY.”

THE word sanctify occurs frequently in the Bible, and the Prayer Book, and other religious writings. The following passage from Berens's Village Sermons, will serve to point out its meaning.

"You all profess, as one of the main articles of your faith, to believe in "God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth you, and all the elect people of God." Who SANCTIFIETH you? But are you sanctified by Him? The word "sanctify," you know, means, to make HOLY. Are you made holy? Are you attentive to all your duties to God, and to man, and governed by religious principles in all you say or do? You trust that, in baptism, you were made the children of God. But remember, that in order to be numbered among the children of God, it is necessary that you be led by the Spirit of God. And are you led by that Spirit? You trust that you are members of Christ, that you belong to Him. You are not His members, you do not belong to Him, unless you are influenced by His Spirit.

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LETTER IV.

ON THE INSTRUCTION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB. We cannot help expressing our best thanks to the writer of these Letters, for the very ingenious and elear instruction which they contain, on a difficult and peculiarly interesting subject.-EDITOR.

MY GOOD FRIEND,

I HOPE that, by this time, your dumb child has learned his alphabet on his fingers, and that he can write his letters on a slate. I wish you to try whether he is quite perfect in his letters. When you have a leisure moment, now and then, try him in this way. Give him his slate and pencil, making a sign to him to write; then shew him some letter with your fingers, and see whether he will immediately write that letter on his slate. Perhaps you may have been able to teach him to write, on his slate, a few little words, such as cat, dog, ball, hat, box, and perhaps you find that he wishes to learn the names of things, and that he brings you his slate sometimes, and then points at something, of which he wishes to know the name, that you may write it down for him.

If this is the case, you should always attend to his wishes, and write down the most easy words that he wants to learn; but if this does not happen, you need not be discouraged, for dumb children are, as well as others, of very different capacities, and those who get on very slowly at first, will make a sufficient progress in time, if they are taught gently and patiently. So do not be in a hurry, only go on constantly doing a little. I advise you to get a little paper book, and, whenever he has a fancy for learning a word, which you can teach him, first spell the word on your fingers, and then do you copy it out, as neatly as you can into his book, with pen and ink. Every evening, make him read over the new words he has got into his book in the day, and at the end of every week see whether he remembers all the words that you have written for him in his book, and whether he can shew you the right things, when he reads the names, or if the things are not in sight, whether he can make the right sign for each of them. Be sure never to let

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