The following remarks have been sent to us by a correspondent:

"Since we have left off to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, we have wanted all things." Jeremiah xliv. 18.

Such an answer as this of the Jews to the prophet Jeremiah, who reproved them for their idolatrous practices, is made by persons who have turned to a profes sion of religion without a real change of inward prin- { ciples. They, perhaps, have been induced to give up the use of unlawful methods of benefiting themselves; and if they do not immediately find advantage from so doing, they obstinately lay the blame upon God's law, instead of viewing their present difficulty or temporal ill-success as the consequence of their former guilt. It is certainly possible that irregular doings may produce apparent good, may obtain outward success, which may be permitted for the trial of our faith whether we will serve God or mammon; but we know that the word of God standeth sure, and, in that word, the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. His threatenings sooner or later will undoubtedly come to pass; and, if the wilful sinner do prosper in his ways in this world, woe more especially unto him in that day when he shall re- : ceive according to that he hath done, whether it be good or whether it be evil. M. B. A..

To a pint of peas, in a pudding, add two pounds of potatoes, boiled and well mashed; the composition eats nearly as if it were entirely peas-pudding, and is probably quite as nourishing. The bulk is increased by this mixture to double; and to some people the mixture is more agreeable than peas-pudding alone.

On the same principle, cheap peas-soup may be

Destroying Weeds.

Y

425

made, where more potatoes in proportion to the peas may be added.-Peas-soup is greatly improved by the addition of a little bacon, or dripping, and some wheat flour; it then makes a good meal:-Scotch barley, well boiled, is a capital addition, instead of the wheat flour. There should be about a quarter of a pound of barley to a gallon of soup. Split peas are better than whole peas; though dearer they give out much more of their goodness in boiling, and thus add! proportionably to the quality of the soup.

\[qiy (Method of cookery, by Eliza Melcoe) :

A CORRESPONDENT states that, celebrated as our coun-trymen are as agriculturists, they pay too little atten-" tion to the destruction of weeds at the proper season. In some parts of the kingdom, the practice is different, and he mentions particularly the case of a Mr. Hynde, banker, Swansea, who, from the beginning of June till the ending of July, employs all the poor children in the parish in clearing his lands of wild mustard, rag weed, thistles, &c. Not contented with this, he sets them to work on the public roads, and in this way clears away, before seed-time, the thistles and other weeds that would scatter their seeds into the neighbouring lands. Nor in serving his neighbours is he hurting himself. The children are directed to carry the weeds, when cut or pulled, to a certain point, and are paid at such a rate for their labour, that they are T able to earn from threepence to fourpence per day; and Mr. Hynde's steward, after the most careful cal culation he could make, has frequently given it as his opinion, that what originally cost threepence, is worth not less than sixpence, when rotted into dung. (Manchester Times.) →

GAMBLING.

WHEN a man once becomes a gambler, we cannot expect that any good principle can remain in him.His delight entirely arises from another's misery ;— and this is a feeling wholly contrary to that which belongs to a merciful man and a Christian. He is moreover, generally, bringing misery and destruction on himself. The corrupt principle exists in gamblers of all kinds-it is seen as much in the frequenters of the splendid gaming houses of London and Paris, as in the wretched creatures who live by cheating their companions in the filthiest alleys of our great cities,— or the stalls and booths of the village fair. The misery is seen in the ruined fortunes of gamblers of high rank, which has often driven them to the crime of self-destruction. The following extract from a London paper gives us an instance of the same misery in low life, leading to the same dreadful end.

Suicide of a boy, through gambling-An inquest was held by Mr. Cartar, the coroner for Kent, at the Leather Bottle, at Northfleet, on the body of a fine lad, aged sixteen. It appeared that the unfortunate lad was in the service of Mr. Law, of Northfleet, and up to a short period he always conducted himself in the most exemplary manner; but latterly he had become the associate of a party of lads, about his own age, who were much addicted to gambling, &c. On Saturday afternoon his master and his family happened to go out, and during their absence he joined his old companions, with whom he lost about seventeen shillings. His ill luck acted so powerfully upon his mind, that he went home and hung himself by his neckcloth to a beam in his master's stable.

V.

A way of getting rid of the burden of Taxes. 427

A WAY OF GETTING RID OF THE BURDEN OF

TAXES.

As my old companion in the stage-coach seemed ready to talk on any subject connected with the good of the working classes, I ventured to touch upon the subject of " taxation," as relief from this burden seems the thing sought after so anxiously by those who talk of the badness of the times.

My companion was not very eager on this point. "I am always glad," he said, "to hear that a tax is taken off, or an useless place abolished; but yet, Sir, if every tax was taken off, and every pension abolished, I don't know that the workmen hereabouts would be a bit the better for it. I remember when there was a tax on hats, and, as this seemed to be felt as a burden, it was taken off; but I don't remember that we got our hats one bit the cheaper for it. I think, too, that we give as much for a pair of shoes now as we did when the tax on leather was on: and, as to the beer tax, now that is taken off, I don't see that we get good beer for less money than we did before. So when government tries to relieve the people from the tax on any article, the benefit often goes to a particular branch of trade instead of going to the consumer of the article."

There was some truth in this statement: it is, however, too much to say, that there is no benefit in taking off a tax, though there may be by no means so much as we should be led to expect when we hear of the wonderful relief that such a measure would produce. My companion seemed to talk with much indifference on this subject. When he began life, as a workman, and his means were small, the dernands on him, he said, were so small that he never felt them as he grew prosperous, and the demands upon him increased, why his means of paying them increased, and he never could grumble at that. "My plan, Sir," said he, "is for every man to untax himself."

"How is that, Sir?"

Why, Sir, I always say to the men, 'You tax yourselves. You drink too much beer, John Jenkins. You tax yourself; and you waste time at the alehouse; and that is another very heavy tax.

99 Tim Simpson, you drink gin: that is a dreadful tax; take it off, or you'll soon be a beggar of your own making."

You, Mr. Smirker, think you are getting on in the world, and you must drink your wine. I hope you can afford it; but you are sharp at seeing how you are taxed by government, though you are not quite so sharp at seeing how much you are taxing yourself."

"And pray, Sir," said I, "do these people listen patiently to what you say?" O, Yes."

1

ff And do they mind it, and follow your advice?",

No, Sir, not one in twenty of them; and that is the reason why only about one in twenty becomes a thriving, prosperous man. Why, when I was young, Sir, I kept to these rules myself, or how do you think I should have got that excellent house to live in that I shewed you? When I had little,' Sir, I always lived upon less;' and so, instead of going about borrowing, people now that want to borrow come to me."

6

"But some people have so little that they cannot save," said I; "they can hardly maintain themselves, and their families, out of their earnings." -16T

Yes, Sir, but I am not speaking of such as these; I am speaking of a set of workmen who earn a great deal more than they need spend, and who waste it in idle extravagance, and make themselves poor; and those are the great grumblers and the complainers against taxes; when it is plain that they tax themselves."

You seem, Sir," said I, " to make very light of the taxes of which other people complain so much;