Coming hastily into a chamber, I had almost thrown down a crystal hour-glass: fear lest I had, made me grieve as if I had broken it.-But alas! how much precious time have I cast away, without any regret! The hour-glass was but crystal; each hour a pearl of great price that but likely to be broken; this to be lost outright. A better hourglass might be bought :-but time once lost is lost for ever! The Rev. Thomas Fuller, who wrote in the reign of Charles I.

The joys of religion are the encouragements of youth, and the prop of old age. Without them, we sicken even in the midst of prosperity; and, with them, adversity loses all its terrors.

་

Faber. The chief security against impatience must arise from frequent reflection on the wisdom and goodness of God, in whose hands are riches and poverty, honour and disgrace, pleasure and pain, and life and death. A settled conviction of the tendency of every thing to our good, and of the possibility of turning miseries into happiness, by receiving them rightly, will incline us to bless the name of the Lord, whether he gives or takes away.

Dr. Johnson. An Italian philosopher said, "Time was his estate;' an estate, indeed, which will produce nothing without cultivation, but will always repay the labours of industry, if no part of it be suffered to lie waste by negligence, to be over-run with weeds, or laid out for show rather than use.

The Same.

Though faith and repentance are not in themselves the cause of pardon (for the cause is the mercy of God and the merits of Christ) they are, nevertheless, the means, without which it cannot be obtained. If we repent not, our sins will not be forgiven; if we believe not in Christ, we shall not have everlasting life; if we do not abhor and

Extracts from the Public Newspapers.

191

forsake our sins, we cannot be said sincerely to repent of them, nor can we hope that they will be forgiven.

Stonhouse.

For the above extracts we are obliged to our Correspondent Veritas.

EXTRACTS FROM THE PUBLIC NEWSPAPERS, &c.

MR. R. Martin, on the 24th of February, rose in the House of Commons to introduce a bill to prevent bear-baiting, bullbaiting, badger-baiting, and other cruel sports. He was anxious to put down these sports, because they produced a savage ferocity of disposition, which led men on to the most bloody and dreadful crimes. He took occasion to expose the dreadful cruelty of tormenting animals for the sake of making idle and useless experiments, as is often done by those who are called philosophers, with the plea of enlarging the bounds of knowledge. Mr. Martin hoped that none would oppose a bill to prevent cruel sports. Mr. Butterworth recommended to the honourable member to direct his attention also to another subject, namely that of prize fighting, which he considered a disgrace to the country.-London Paper.

Whilst these savage amusements prevail, where crowds of the worst sort of people are collected together, and where every bad feeling is encouraged and increased, we need not wonder that the dreadful crimes we read of prevail, notwithstanding all the good that is attempted, and which is really done, by the numerous religious and benevolent societies with which our country abounds.

A fire in Hampshire lately destroyed a dwelling house, and several buildings in its neighbourhood. It is said to have been occasioned by a boy setting the curtains of his bed on fire by bringing his candle too near them.-London Paper. Smuggling.-Smuggling is, without exception, the greatest evil which the country endures; it surrounds our coasts, and penetrates alike the splendid palace of the noble, and the humble cottage of the peasant. It carries temptation every where; and, almost every where, its seduction is complete,→

A gentleman annoyed by the expense to which he was put in receiving, by post, valentines, anonymous letters, &c. applied to the Post Office for redress. From the following reply it appears, that persons put to such useless expence are not without remedy:

"Sir,

"General Post Office.

"We can give no general instructions as to the return of the postage on letters which the parties open, but if you will send to me any which you conceive to have been improperly addressed to you, we shall be the better enabled to judge what redress can be afforded.

"I am, Sir,

"Your obedient servant,

(Signed)

"F. FREELING, Sec."

The inspectors of the weights and scales in Pimlico, lately visited sundry butter and fishmongers' concerns, and in two instances destroyed both weights and scales for being too light.

Walton Lodge, the seat of Hugh Dagleish, Esq. near Stony Stratford, was lately destroyed by fire. It was first discovered by the guard of the Liverpool coach. It was occasioned by some linen taking fire in the laundry.

It appears that rain fell during one hundred and eighty days (nearly half) of the last year.

In the Court of King's Bench, on Friday, the Lord Chief Justice refused to allow a cause to proceed, in which a Mr. Egerton sought to recover 1001. from a Mr. Furzeman, which had been deposited with him as the stakes upon a dog-fight. The Lord Chief Justice observed, that all such wagers were illegal.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

WE have received Veritas; A Friend; F. S. E.; K. B.; A Constant Reader; Z.; the Letters of" A Cottager;" W. M. W.; N. C. T.; Mary Brown; C. M.; R. R.; T. W.; and Y.

THE

Cottager's Monthly Visitor.

MAY, 1825.

REMARKS

On the 24th Chapter of Genesis.

V. 1.-"The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things." (Prov. x. 22.)

V. 2." His eldest servant of his house," &c. Eliezer of Damascus, of whom we read, chap. xv. V. 3.- Swear not at all, says our Lord, Mat. v. 34-37, but let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil." Yet it is said, Deut. vi. 13. "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name;" and in the 14th and 21st chapters, we have instances where Abraham himself confirms a promise by oath, and also an instance where he calls upon another to How then is this? Does one part of Scripture contradict another? Does our Saviour mean that there are no circumstances in which an oath is justifiable? That can hardly be imagined, for he allowed himself to be put upon oath, by the Jewish High Priest, (Matt. xxvi. 63.) and St. Paul, who could not have been ignorant of the mind of Christ in this matter, on various occasions calls God to witness the truth of his assertions. There are cases wherein we may be allowed to attest upon oath, the truth of what we say; and this, so

do so.

to

say

far from being sinful or contrary to the word of God, if done in a right spirit, honours and glorifies him, as it is a regard to the omniscience and authority of him who is invisible, which gives to the oath its peculiar sanction. But, if we examine the passage in St. Matthew, we shall find that our Lord is there speaking of our communication, that is our common discourse one with another, and that it is with respect to this, that he commands us not to go beyond a plain "yes" or "no," and forbids those modes of speech so common among the careless and irreverent; not only all mention of the name of God, but of any thing that has any relation to Him, or dependence on Him: so that it is not only sinful to swear by heaven, which has a relation to God, being the place where his honour dwelleth, but by "our life, our souls, &c." which depend upon him. "Let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." In your common discourse, use a simple yes or no, that is, plain words-for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Why is it that people use strong expressions at all? Is it not because they are angry, or because they are conscious that they are not in the habit of speaking the truth, and therefore imagine something beyond their bare assertion to be necessary, to procure credit for themselves? Surely strong expressions used from either of these two causes "come of evil." Somè translate the passage "cometh of the evil one," and this is perhaps the right translation; and it tells us that profane swearing cometh (like lies) of the Devil.

V. 4. Abraham's care for his son, was not that he should marry a woman who would bring a large addition of wealth to his house, but that he should not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever." "Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the