remarkable that the blackcap can swallow an ivy-berry, more particularly as it neither does, nor can crush it, or break it; yet we have often witnessed the same process even with a grape, which is still larger than an ivy-berry. Besides the black-cap, we have little doubt, though we cannot add our own ocular testimony, that several of our winter birds, such as the song-thrush and the missel-thrush, feed also upon ivy-berries; but even if this is not so, the black-caplone in this instance furnishes a fine illustration of the text, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them." Matt. vi. 26. The berries, however, are not the only supply of provender which the ivy is destined by Providence to furnish. " In the month of October," says Knapp, "the ivy blooms in profusion, and, spreading over the warm side of some neglected wall, or the sunny bark of the broad ash on the bank, its flowers become a universal banquet to the insect race. The great black fly, (musca grossa), and its numerous tribes, with multitudes of smallwinged creatures, resort to them; and there we see those beautiful animals, the latest birth of the year, the admiral (vanessa atalanta) and peacock (vanessa Io) butterflies, hanging with expanded wings, like open flowers themselves, enjoying the sunny gleam, and feeding on the sweet liquor that distils from the nectar of this plant. As this honey is produced in succession by the early or later expansion of the bud, it yields a constant supply of food, till the frosts of November destroy the insects, or drive them to their winter retreats." But besides furnishing food to so many and such different species of animals, the ivy furnishes also an admirable shelter to many species which care not for the honey of its flowers, or the provender of its berries. During summer the house-sparrows are extremely partial to ivy for their nests, as it saves them the trouble of constructing the large dome of straw and feathers conspicuous in those sparrows' nests which are built on the exposed branches of trees. The little wren, also, very frequently chooses to construct her ingenious nest under the shelter of ivy leaves; but she is not, like the sparrow, content with the coping which these leaves furnish, and always frames a mossy dome of her own workmanship, whether she have other shel ter or not. During the cold nights of winter, both the sparrows and the wrens, as well as the gold-crests (regulus cristatus,Ray), and several of the tits, resort to the thick leafy shelter of the ivy to roost. At this time, the gold-crests may be heard emitting their little tinkling notes, the wrens chickchicking most pertinaciously, as if they were scolding the sun for leaving them in the dark, and the sparrows cackling in multitudinous concert, so as nearly to drown the more feeble voices of their little neighbours. No sooner, however, is the sun down, than the noise becomes gradually hushed, and the birds sit snugly and warm under their ivy canopy, till roused by dawn to go forth to forage. We may, then, well conclude in the pretty lines of a living poet : O smile not! nor think it a worthless thing, Should aught be unlovely, which thus can shed s alone worth a serious thought! This moral he deduces from ivy entwined round a dead oak, and asks the reader,— Hast thou seen in winter's stormiest day The trunk of a blighted oak, Not dead, but sinking in slow decay, Round which a luxuriant ivy had grown, And wreathed it with verdure no longer its own? Perchance thou hast seen this sight, and then, As I, at thy years, might do, Pass'd carelessly by, nor turn'd again, Beneath time's resistless stroke, That scathed wreck to view : could have easily extended to a much From these few illustrations, which we greater number, our readers will be able to judge of some useful purposes for which ivy has evidently been intended by the J. R. great Creator. ON THE USE OF THE WORD "NATURE" INSTEAD OF "GOD." Na PHILOSOPHERS frequently speak of "Nature" as though it were not a figure of speech, but a real, intelligent, and active energy, enacting and regulating the laws of creation and providence. ture wills, nature plans, nature acts, nature gives laws, and attends to their execution." Nature, in this manner, by the very frequent recurrence of such phraseology, instead of being regarded as merely an influence, or the product of that influence, slides imperceptibly into the place which should be occupied by the God of nature; 66 which suddenly brought him down on the hind parts of one of them being hereby startled, they instantly plunged forward, and knocked down the poor man in question; over him went the horses, and off ran his comrades with all speed. He arose from the ground as quickly as possible; but, on perceiving him stand up, the lion turned round, and with a seeming consciousness of his superior might, stretched forth his paw, and by a single stroke on the back part of the neck laid him prostrate again. He had but just time to roll on his back, before it set its and his immediate and universal agency, ever present, ever felt," is apt to be forgotten. Moralists, too, speak in the same manner, and apparently with the same forgetfulness of Him whose province it is to direct the conduct and to require the homage and obedience of all his intelligent creatures. "Nature teaches parents to love their children, and children to be dutiful to their parents: nature inculcates truth and humanity: nature reprobates malevolence and falsehood," &c., &c. Thus the laws of nature are spoken of, till it slips out of mind that they are the laws of God; and the real impulse or the sup-foot upon his breast, and lay regularly posed dictate of nature assumes the place of the Divine will. God is the Ruler of the world he governs the universe by laws of his own appointment, and the operation of which he constantly directs. He rules the moral world, or all his intelligent creatures, by laws which he has either indelibly impressed on the mind, or which he has expressly revealed in the scriptures, and generally by both. The expression, “The laws of nature," seems to the writer a heathenish mode, of speaking of the laws of God, which should be rarely, if ever, uttered by a christian. A. THE LION AND THE HOTTENTOT. MR. KAY relates the following account of a Hottentot. "Accompanied by several other individuals, he one morning went out on a hunting excursion, and on coming to an extensive plain beyond the precincts of the colony, where there was abundance of game, they discovered a number of lions, which were disturbed by their approach. One of the males instantly separated himself from the troop, and began slowly to advance towards the party, most of whom were young, and altogether unaccustomed to rencounters of so formidable a nature. While droves of timid antelopes only came in their way, they were all brave fellows, and boasted loudly of their courage; but this completely failed, and the young Nimrods began to quake, when the monarch of the desert appeared. Nevertheless, while the animal was yet at a distance, they all dismounted, and, according to general custom on such occasions, began tying their horses together, with the view of keeping them between themselves and the beast, until they could take deliberate aim at him. His movements, however, were too quick, and before the horses were properly fastened, the lion made a tremendous bound or two, down at full length upon him. He now became almost breathless, partly from fear, but principally from the intolerable pressure of his terrific load. In order to get breath, he endeavoured to move himself a little, upon which the lion instantly laid hold of his left arm, just below the elbow, and bit it in several places down to the hand, in the thick part of which its teeth seemed completely to have met. All this time, however, it does not appear to have been at all furious, but merely to have caught at its prey as the cat would play with a mouse that is not quite dead. In this dreadful situation he remained for a considerable length of time, writhing in pain, gasping for breath, and momentarily expecting to be torn limb from limb. On raising his head a little, the creature opened his mouth to receive it, but providentially lost his hold, in consequence of the hat (which was shown to me) slipping off; the points of the teeth, therefore, only just scarified the pericranium. Thus narrowly was he prevented from crushing the head to pieces. He then placed his paw upon the arm from which the blood was copiously flowing, and the purple stream soon covered it. This he again and again licked clean; and then fixing his flaming eye intently upon that of the man, now smelt on one side of his face, and then on the other, and appeared to be only waiting the inducement of voracity wholly to devour his helpless prey! At this critical moment, said the poor fellow, I recollected having heard that there was a God on high, who was able to deliver at the last extremity: I therefore began to pray that he would prevent the lion from eating my flesh and drinking my blood. While engaged in this act of devotion the beast turned completely round, placing its head towards his feet, and its tail over his face. This induced hope in the mind of the sufferer, that he might now possibly rid himself of conducted themselves like scorpions, which, when surrounded by fire, are said to turn their stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding took place among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means you pro his load; and under this impression he made an effort, which was no sooner discovered than checked by a terrible bite in the right thigh. He again lifted up his voice to the Almighty for help; nor did he pray in vain. The lion, without being disturbed in any way whatever, soon after-mised to furnish?" said Payan to Henwards relinquished his hold. Calmly rising from his seat, he deliberately walked off to the distance of thirty or forty paces, and there lay down on the grass; whence, after watching the movements of the Hottentot for some minutes, he finally took his departure, and was seen no more."Kay's Travels in Caffraria. ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE. THE doctrine of Divine Providence is so suited to the wants and wishes of men, so soothing in the season of sorrow, and of approaching difficulties, that it may well occupy our attention, and fix the affections of our hearts. It is this which confirms the faith of God's people in that declaration, that "all things shall work together for good to them that fear him, to them that are the called according to his purpose." It is this which gives energy to their hope of protection at all times, and under all circumstances. His dominion extends over angels, who are his subjects, hearkening to the voice of his word, and doing his will; are employed by him on errands both of mercy and vengeance to mankind, and minister daily to the heirs of salvation. It extends, too, over the powers of darkness: for he gives strength to his people to reject and vanquish them, and will, ere long, take to himself his great power, and reign till all his enemies become his footstool. It extends also over the children of men: for the hearts of all men are in his hands; he is the refuge of the needy, and the Father of the fatherless; and from our individual experience we know that "He overrules all mortal things, riot, whom he found intoxicated and incapable of resolution or exertion: and seizing on him as he spoke, he precipitated the revolutionary general from a window. Henriot survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which he was afterwards discovered, and brought out to execution. The younger Robespierre threw himself from the window, but did not perish on the spot. Las Basas despatched himself with pistol shot. St. Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, at tempted his own life with an irresolute hand, and failed. Couthon lay beneath the table brandishing a knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without daring to add force enough to reach his heart. Robespierre, in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself, had only inflicted a horrible fracture on his under-jaw. In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with blood, mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay on a table in an ante-room, his head supported by a deal box, and his hideous countenance half hidden by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round the shattered chin. The captives were carried in triumph to the Convention, who, without admitting them to the bar, ordered them, as outlaws, for instant execution. As the fatal cars passed to the guillotine, those who filled them, but especially Robespierre, were overwhelmed with execrations from the friends and relatives of victims whom he had sent on the same melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the cloth had never been removed, till the executioner tore it off, added to the torture of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch yelled aloud, to the horror of the spectators. A masque taken from that dreadful head, was long exhibited in different nations of Europe, and appalled the spectators by its ugliness, and the mixture of fiendish expression with that of bodily agony.-Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon. Verily, the triumphing of the wicked is short;"" there is a God that judgeth in the earth;" "the righteous hath hope in his death, but the wicked is driven away in his wickedness." "BECAUSE they had transgressed against the Lord," Judea was invaded by the king of Egypt. So true is it that righteousness is stability, and sin destruction. "Shishak took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took away all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made." And this he was allowed to do, that Rehoboam might know that God, and God alone, was the sun and shield of his chosen but rebellious people. In this case the first line is to be read like the Hebrew, from right to left. It is generally supposed that we ought to com mence at the point towards which the faces of the various animals used in this symbo lic writing, are turned; and for this reason, they are invariably represented in profile. COURAGE IN MARTYRDOM, WHEN the popish crusaders against the Albigenses, in the early part of the thirteenth century, took possession of the Castle of Minerva, they entered singing Te Deum, preceded by the cross and the drums of the Count of Montfort. The heretics (falsely so called) were in the meantime assembled; the men in one house, and the women in another; and pouring out their fervent supplications to the Most High, and calmly awaiting their terrible fate. One of the abbots exhorted the men to embrace the catholic faith: they replied, "We will have none of your faith we have renounced the church of Móns. Champollion, who has recently Rome: your labour is vain : neither death been making considerable discoveries in nor life shall make us renounce the opiEgypt, mentions a circumstance which nions that we have embraced." He then throws a very interesting light over this proceeded to the house where the women important piece of history. On the 23d were assembled, but found them equally of April, 1828, he went to the palace of stedfast in the faith, and more resolute in Karmac, on the eastern part of Thebes; the expression of attachment to the truth. and, amongst other paintings upon its The count having prepared an enormous walls, saw one of this very Shishak drag-pile of dry wood, then exhorted them to ging to the feet of the Theban trinity the embrace the catholic faith, “or,” said he, chiefs of thirty conquered nations, amongst which, as was to be expected, was a certain figure inscribed in "letters at full length, JOUDAH AMALEK, the kingdom of the Jews, or of Judah. This," says he, "is a commentary on the 14th chapter of the 1st Book of Kings, verses 25-28, 46 you must ascend this pile." None were shaken. They set fire to the pile, which covered the whole square with a tremendous conflagration. The heretics, amounting to 144 in number, were then conducted to the place. Violence was not necessary to compel them to enter the flames : they suffered this fiery death, commending their souls into the hands of Him on whose grace they relied, and before whose altar they are now, exclaiming, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" THE HARMONY BETWEEN REDEMPTION THAT which is seen with comparative obscurity in God's general administration towards our world, namely, the union, in the Divine Ruler, of holy righteousness with inexhaustible goodness, appears in all its his memory is impaired, or that a hard From my to satisfy his hunger and his thirst. No doubt she assisted many who were unworthy, for she relieved all within her in fluence. For my own part, I never think of my mother, without thinking, at the same time, of unnumbered kindnesses, exercised not towards me only, but to all around her. earliest years I can remember that the moment her eye caught the combled in her pocket. mon beggar, her hand mechanically fumNo shoeless and clearness of manifestation and fulness of stockingless Irish-woman, with her cluster glory, in the purpose and execution of the of dirty children, could pass unnoticed by scheme of redemption: and appears with her, and no weary and wayworn traveller a radiance, of which it is difficult to say, could rest on the milestone opposite our whether the sweetness or the brilliance pre-habitation, without being beckoned across dominates; whether it most attracts by its loveliness, or awes by its grandeur. The one transaction of Calvary combines the lessons of God taught by all the diversified operations of nature and providence. The cross speaks the double language of justice and grace, of offended holiness and relenting mercy. It speaks the same language Had her kindness, like that of many, on the one hand, as the tempest, the vol- been confined to good counsel, or the mere cano, the pestilence, the famine, and all the act of giving what she had to bestow, it varieties of human woe: one and the same would not have been that charity which on the other, as the exhilarating, warming," beareth all things, believeth all things, fructifying sun, the rains and the dews of heaven, and all the luxuriance of the productive earth. This redemption, and creation, and providence, seem to evince themselves to be only varied manifestations of the same Infinite Mind. The word of God corresponds with his works: and redemption, by its very harmony with all the other manifestations of the Godhead, becomes an additional proof of the Divine Unity.Wardlaw. MY MOTHER. WITH whatever respect and admiration a child may regard a father, whose example has called forth his energies, and animated him in his various pursuits, he turns with greater affection, and intenser love, to a kind-hearted mother. The same emotion follows him through life, and when the changing vicissitudes of after years have removed his parents from him, seldom does the remembrance of his mother occur to his mind, unaccompanied by the most affectionate recollections. Show me a man, though his brow be furrowed, and his hair grey, who has forgotten his mother, and I shall suspect that "Careless their merits or their faults to scan, Her pity gave ere charity began." hopeth all things, endureth all things." Her benevolence was uniform, and unceasing; it was a part of her character. In benefiting another, difficulty only increased her desire and determination to be useful. She was one who "searched out" the cause that she knew not; her pen addressed the peer, and her feet trod the threshold of the pauper, with equal alacrity in the cause of charity. To be occupied in relieving the poor, and pleading the cause of the friendless, was medicine to her body and mind. No child could cry, no accident take place, no sickness occur, without my mother hastening off to render assistance. She had her piques, and her prejudices, but kindness was the reigning emotion of her heart. Reader, if you think that I have said enough, bear with me; remember, I am speaking of my mother. Among the many sons and daughters of affliction, whose hearts were made glad by her benevolence, was a poor widow of the name of Wim, who resided in an alms' house; my mother had known her in her childhood. Often have I gazed on the |