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Taylor, as busy idleness,' the characteristic of which is a restless dislike of vacancy, combined with great indisposition to mental exertion. These idlers are great friends of the booksellers, for nothing meets their wants so well as the abundant supply of reading furnished in the present age. They may sit still, and allow the thoughts and images of other men's minds to pass in rapid succession before them; for, to occupy and not to cultivate their own, is their object. The periodical literature forms a part of their entertainment; they rapidly glance through the table of contents in a Magazine, to see what looks interesting, turn eagerly to the continuation of last month's tale, look at the notices of books in the same way as they run over the advertisements in a newspaper, and laying down the Magazine, say they have looked through it. Some such readers we must calculate on, but not all, and it is to the rational part of our readers that we now turn, feeling deeply, how unable we are to supply as we would, the material of thought which they have a right to claim, but earnestly entreating them not to suffer our labour to be entirely lost. We desire to afford useful information, but it is impossible to make it invariably entertaining; we desire to bring important scripture truth before them, but we know it is of no value if it only passes over their minds instead of working in them. We desire to follow, in some, measure, our honoured predecessor, in keeping awake the attention

of our Christian sisters to the blessed progress of divine truth, and to the insidious advances of Popery in our land but this detail of public events will be little else than vain gossip, unless it awakens the hopes, fears, and prayers of Christian patriotism. We ask, then, that the CHRISTIAN LADY'S MAGAZINE may not be considered a book of mere entertainment, but a means, however feeble, of spreading the knowledge of Him who is the great object of the Christian's life. While such fearful streams of pollution are daily, weekly, monthly, pouring from the press, it is no small responsibility to have any share in the direction of our periodical literature; and we ask the prayers of our readers, that He to whose service this Magazine was first dedicated, and who has blessed its past course, would continue to vouchsafe to use it as one instrument to promote his kingdom and glory.

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