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adequate to produce peace on earth, and good will amongst men; its first annunciation was accompanied with a promise of these blessings; and though the powers of darkness combine to frustrate, they shall be finally accomplished." Cottle.

DR. JOHNSON

WAS so eminent a character in the literary world, that a description both of his body and mind cannot be unacceptable; in some respects he was the most extraordinary person of the times in which he lived; he died in 1784, in the 75th year of his age.

"HIS figure was large and well-formed, and his countenance of the cast of an ancient statue, yet his appearance was rendered strange and somewhat uncouth, by convulsive cramps, by the scars of that distemper which it was once imagined the royal touch could cure, and by a slovenly mode of dress. He had the use only of one eye, yet so much does mind govern and even supply the deficiency of organs, that his visual perceptions, as far as they extended, were uncommonly quick and accurate; and so morbid was his temperament, that he never knew the natural joy of a free and vigorous use of his limbs; when he walked, it was like the struggling gait of one in fetters; when he rode, he had no command or direction of his horse, but was carried as if in a balloon! He was prone to superstition but not to credulity. Though his imagination might incline him to a belief of the marvellous and the mysterions, his vigorous reason examined the evidence with jealousy. He was a sincere and zealous chris

tian of high church of England, and monar. chical principles, which he would not tamely suffer to be questioned, and had, perhaps, at an early period, narrowed his mind somewhat too much, both as to religion and politics. His being impressed with the danger of extreme latitude, in either, though he was of a very independent spirit, occasioned his appearing somewhat unfavourable to the prevalence of that noble freedom of sentiment which is the best possession of man! Nor can it be denied, that he had many prejudices, which, however, frequently suggested many of his pointed say. ings, that rather shewed a playfulness of fancy, than any settled malignity."--Boswell."

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Is that interesting portion of the Bible, with which Christians are more immediately concerned; and it cannot, in this age of infidelity, be unnecessary to remind the young reader-... ›

"THAT the scriptures of the New Testament have descended pure to our hands, is evinced by the accordance of the early versions with our present Greek text--by the collations which have taken place of great numbers of existing manuscripts, and some of them extremely an cient, which collations, while they shew that mistakes, as it was to be expected, have been made in the individual manuscripts by the transcribers, prove those mistakes to be of trifling importance, and afford the means of correcting them--and by the utter impossibility that either negligence or design could have introduced without detection, any material alteration into a book dispersed among millions, in

widely distant countries, and among many discordant sects, regarded by them all as the rule of their faith and practice, and in constant and regular use among them all, in public worship, in private meditation, and in the vehement and unceasing controversies with each other! Receiving, on these solid grounds of rational conviction, the Holy Scriptures with thankfulness and reverence, as the word of God; regard and study them daily as the rule by which all your thoughts, and words, and actions will be tried at the last day, before the judgment-seat of Christ." -Gisborne.

THE CAT

Is so common an animal, that a description of its characteristic qualities will be acceptable; the following is a just, but not a flattering delineation.

"THE Cat is not an unfaithful domestic, and kept only from the necessity we find of opposing him to other domestics, still more incommodious, and which cannot be hunted; for we value not those people who, being fond of all brutes, foolishly keep cats for their amusement.---Though these animals, when young, are frolicksome and beautiful, they possess, at the same time, an innate malice, and perverse disposition, which increase as they grow up, and which education teaches them to conceal, but not to subdue. From determined robbers, the best education can only convert them into flattering thieves, for they have the same address, subtlety, and desire of plunder. Like thieves they know how to conceal their steps, and their designs to watch opportunities to catch the

proper moment for laying hold of their prey, to fly from punishment, and to 'remain at a distance till solicited to return. They easily as sume the habits of society, but never acquire its manners, for they have only the appearance of attachment or friendship. This disingenuity of character is betrayed by the obliquity of their movements, and the duplicity of their eyes. They never look their best benefactor in the face, but either from distrust or falseness, they approach him by windings, in order to procure caresses, in which they have no other pleasure than what arises from flattering those who bestow them. Very different from that faithful animal, the dog, whose sentiments totally centre in the person and happiness of his master, the cat appears to have no feelings which are not interested, to have no affection that is not conditional, and to carry on no in. tercourse with men but with the view of turning it to his own advantage! By these dispositions the cat has a greater relation to man than the dog, in which there is not the smallest mark of injustice or insincerity."Buffon.

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR

HAVE by many writers been held up as indicative of the progressive nature of human life, and from this representation flow some excel. lent topics of moral improvement.

"SPRING, Summer, and Autumn, have their various and engaging charms, and there is something peculiarly pleasing in each transition, but stern Winter can boast of nothing beside the fruit of preceding seasons. The life of man is often with propriety compared to the progressive

year, and the only happiness that can be expected in old age, must arise from the reflections of a well-spent life; at which time, being likewise the winter of our days, every person may generally reap the fruits of a past virtuous conduct. For although the benumbed limbs deny the body their usual support, and the hoary head tremble on its withered shoulders, there are valuable comforts yet in store for those who, like the industrious ant, have been wise enough to treasure them at the proper season!"-Dr. Hugh Smith.

THE PUNISHMENT OF INHUMANITY

Is always witnessed with a degree of pleasure, because it yields a gratification to the benevolent sympathies of the heart; even the ill usage of brutes generally meets with its requital.

"I WILL relate to you a circumstance which occurred at Abo in Finland. You will admire the despotic justice of the magistrates. A dog who had been run over by a carriage, crawled to the door of a tanner in that town; the man's son, a boy of fifteen years of age, first stoned, and then poured a vessel of boiling water upon the miserable animal! This act of diabolical cruelty was witnessed by one of the magistrates, who thought such barbarity should be publicly noticed. He therefore informed the other magistrates, who unanimously agreed in condemning the boy to this punishment. He was imprisoned till the following market day, then, in the presence of the people, he was conducted to the place of execution, by an of ficer of justice, who read to him his sentence: "Inhuman young man! because you did not

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