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interesting bird breeding with us have been met with, though rarely. It is, however, to be regarded as an occasional visitor only. Its habits and manners remind us of the parrot; like the parrot, though its toes are not two before and two behind, it clings in any posture with the greatest ease, and is active in the extreme; its bill consists of two mandibles arched, so as to cross each other, and that not always on the same side; the seeds of the fir constitute its principal food, and to obtain them it inserts the point of its bill between the scales of the fir-cones, and by an adroit lateral movement of the cross mandibles, wrenches open the scale, and disengages the seed, which it seizes at the same moment. Apple and pear trees sometimes suffer to a trifling extent, from the depredations of flocks of this bird; but more so on the continent than in our island. Its visits here are rare, and in inconsiderable numbers, except occasionally; for, as is the case with many of our visitors, it sometimes makes its appearance in large flocks, and then for several winters is to be looked for in vain. It is, however, one of our earliest visitors; for it breeds in the pine forests of Germany, Sweden, and Poland, during the first months of the spring; and it is very remarkable, that in the year 1821, as Mr. Selby informs us, this island was visited, even as early as the month of June, by immense flocks of these birds, which spread themselves through the country, and were to be seen whereever fir trees were abundant. The greater part of the flock, as proved by the numbers killed, consisted of old females and young birds of the year; their course was northward, as they were seen in the fir tracts of the north of Scotland in September after they had disappeared from the districts south of the Tweed. The appearance of a crossbill in January gives us reason to suppose that it will stay and breed with us.

How thronged are the open lands, near the shore, with various species of the feathered race; wild fowl of all colours, driven from the inland parts to the mouth of rivers, and to bogs and estuaries of the sea, where nature provides them an unfailing banquet, when the lakes and marshes are locked up with frost. Curlews and whimbrels are sailing on their long and pointed wings; gulls are wheeling in easy undulations, and settling and rising, at home, on the land, on the

water, or in the air; and flocks of lapwings, distinguished by their pied livery, driven from the moorlands and waste lands of the interior, to the southern shores, cover the fallow lands like rooks searching for worms or larvæ, or approach the marshes along the beach, eager for such food as may be here obtained. But why attempt to number the birds, which at this season haunt our shores, and draw their sustenance from the prolific waters ?

Where are the reptile tribes of our island at this season?" Not one is to be seen. No, the beautiful snake is torpid in its retreat; the viper is quiet in its hole; the frog lies buried in the mud of the marsh or pool; and so does the water newt, (triton,) and the toad; and the lizard in his burrow, in the brake, or coppice. The food on which these reptiles live is not now within their reach, were they even active and vigorous; and their cold blood, never much exceeding that of the atmospheric temperature, loses the requisite stimulus of warmth with the decline of summer; when, as if aware of the torpidity to be undergone, as the means of their preservation, they each retire to their appointed dormitory. How wonderful, how mysterious is that instinct, which the great Creator has imparted! Every creature, according to its organization and concomitant mode of life, habits, and food, according to its animal necessities, is guided and impelled by an irresistible influence. It reasons not, it dreams not of the why and wherefore; it refers not effects to causes; it is not made wiser by experience; it acts as all its species do and ever did, and unconscious of the part it plays in the economy of nature, fulfils its destiny, and contributes its quota to maintain the balance of creation. To man is appointed another line of duties, for him are reserved other springs of motives and actions: his is a reasoning soul; and hence between him and the most sagacious, or apparently sagacious brute, is a wide gulf, not to be filled up.

But where are the insects? many in a larva state lie buried in the ground; many, unhatched in the egg, wait for spring to emerge devouring caterpillars; many in the chrysalis state sleep torpid till the returning warmth shall bid them break forth from their mummy-like envelope, and expand their wings upon the breeze. But some are now alert; the

transient sunshine has roused whole hosts of gnats, (cuculices, and tipulidæ ;) they are dancing as if in the exuberance of pleasure; in a few hours they will all be gone, each hastening to its concealment; but to-morrow's sun will call them forth again, should to-morrow be a genial winter's day.

The naked twigs and branches enable us now to look for the eggs of such insects as deposit them in order upon the smooth bark, to which they are attached by a sort of glue or gummy excretion, which unites them to it securely. Here are the eggs of the lackey moth, and others may soon be found; but here again observe the beautiful operations of instinct; no insect deposits her eggs on any tree but that, the leaves or bark of which is ordained to form the proper food of the caterpillar progeny, when hatched. She makes no mistake, for a mistake would be fatal to the continuance of her race, and she is not left to choice in such a matter; but is instinct-directed in all she does, and acts, as far as she is concerned, without the slightest idea of the future.

What shall we say of the vegetable world; does it lie dead? Not so; the sap is already beginning to circulate in the roots, secured from the cold in the bosom of the genial earth; stilly, indeed, is the work of restoration, the commencement of the functions of vitality, but it is sure; nay, it has already made great progress, and some of our hardier plants look cheerfully. The catkins of the hazel are beginning to unfold; and the daisy "glints forth, scarce reared above its parent earth;" the red dead nettle, the white dead nettle, the primrose, the grounsel, and chickweed adorn each sunny bank; the mezereon and hepatica are about to flower, and the snowdrop is already through the ground. The mosses are green and vigorous, and the lichen tints, with its many hues, the old gnarled trunks of trees, and the timeworn stones of ruined towers, over which the ivy, ever verdant, throws a wreath as if to hide the progress of decay, or show that for nature man himself labours, even when he ministers to his own power or glory.

Surely a winter's walk in January is not destitute of interest. Reader, try it for yourself, using your eyes, (availing yourself of a pocket miscroscope,) and using your ears to catch every sound; and when you return with the glow of

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With which he now oppresses half the world.
There, undissolving from the first of time,
Snows swell on snows amazing to the sky;
And icy mountains, high on mountains piled,
Seem, to the shivering sailor, from afar
Shapeless and white, an atmosphere of clouds.
Projected huge and horrid, o'er the surge
Alps frown on Alps; or hideous rushing down,
As if old chaos was again returned,
Wide rend the deep, and shake the solid pole.
Ocean itself no longer can resist
The binding fury; but in all its rage
Of tempest, taken by the boundless frost,
Is many a fathom to the bottom chained,
And bid to roar no more-a bleak expanse
Shagg'd o'er with wavy rocks, cheerless, and void
Of every life, that from the dreary months
Flies conscious southward."-THOMSON.

THE SCRIPTURES.

THE inspired Scriptures derive their singular unity, not only from all the doctrines forming one vast and everduring system of truth, but from all the rays of heavenly light converging upon one glorious and Divine Person who is the sum and the centre of the whole dispensation : "To Him give all the prophets witness." Whatever may be their theme in the first instance, it terminates and rests at last upon the advent of the promised Deliverer. Whether they' sing of judgment or of mercy, they are carried forward to the great King, who shall break in pieces his enemies with a rod of iron, but who shall rule over his subjects with the sceptre of righteousness and peace. To Him give all the apostles witness. Their lives were spent in proclaiming His salvation; their blood was shed in confirmation of his faithfulness and truth. To Him give all his disciples witness in all ages of the world. To Him the true Church gives witness, acknowledging his omniscience, to foreshow the trials that were to befall believers, and his almightiness to rescue them from all dangers, confessing that he is the First and the Last, and that in his hand are the keys of life and of death.-Douglas.

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ENGLISH HISTORY.

ELIZABETH.

Nonsuch Palace.

QUEEN MARY died between six and seven o'clock in the morning of November 17, 1558. The council assembled the parliament then sitting, and at noon Elizabeth was proclaimed queen. This change was received with more than common rejoicing; such was the state of affairs at that time, and such the apprehensions entertained of still severer persecutions, and deeper national disgrace from the policy lately pursued. The most bigoted of the Papists expected that their cruel proceedings would be stopped; but though it was believed that Elizabeth was favourably disposed to the Reformation, yet she had conformed to the church of Rome, and they still hoped that Popery would predominate. Her early measures were such as to keep both parties in suspense as to the course she would pursue. Elizabeth was at Hatfield when her sister died. She was then in her twentyfifth year, highly gifted with natural abilities, which had been cultivated by study. But the course of instruction most beneficial, both to her subjects and herself, was the severe sufferings she experienced during her sister's reign. The poet has well said, "Sweet are the uses of adversity," and the same sentiment has been expressed by a writer of Divine authority, who has declared that "it is good

for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.' Elizabeth, though a female of the highest rank, had been bowed down as heavily as the meanest of her subjects; she learned wisdom and caution from her sufferings. The efforts made for her destruction in the late reign are well described by bishop Aylmer: "What assemblies and councils, what examinations and wrackings of poor men were there, to find out the knife that should cut her throat! What gaping among many lords of the clergy, to see the day wherein they might wash their goodly white rochets in her innocent blood! But though man may plot, he cannot execute his designs, unless the Lord permit. The time was come when Popery was to be humbled; Elizabeth was the main instrument chosen to effect this.

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On receiving intelligence of her sister's death, Elizabeth immediately appointed as her counsellors, thirteen who had been thus employed by the late Queen; but she joined eight Protestants to them: among these was Sir William Cecil, who was her principal adviser from the first. He communicated to her the intelligence of her sister's decease, he was employed to prepare the address she delivered to the council, and the first minute of business requiring immediate attention, still in existence, is in Cecil's hand-writing.

On November 23, the queen removed

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was at war with France, and consequently in a state of hostility to Scotland. The Spanish alliance had been very disadvantageous to England; but there was no reason to suppose that Philip would long continue on good terms with Elizabeth, unless she consented to marry him, which, he having been her sister's husband, would be a more objectionable measure than the union of her father with Catherine of Arragon, while another Spanish match would be hateful to the nation. The Pope and all the European powers

to the Charter-house, near London, attended by more than a thousand of the nobility and gentry, with many ladies. Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, rode next to her as master of the horse. When approaching the metropolis, she was met by the principal clergy, and others, all of whom she received with much affability, excepting Bonner: from that ecclesiastical butcher she turned with expressions of disgust. Her decided disapproval of persecution was shown on the day after her arrival, when, on learning that Sir Ambrose Jermyn, a magis-under papal influence would become her trate of Suffolk, had stopped the proceedings against the Protestants in his neighbourhood, a letter of thanks was sent to him, in the queen's name, expressing her wish that others would act in the same manner. But the desire of the Popish prelates to continue the persecutions was openly declared. At the funeral of queen Mary, on December 13, Jewel relates, that bishop White spoke in strong terms against the return of the exiles for religion, declaring that it would be a good deed if any would slay them! His discourse was thoroughly popish, and in strict accordance with his text, "I praised the dead more than the living,' Eccles. iv. 2. But he was only directed not to leave his own house for a time.

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On November 28, the queen proceeded to the Tower, entering it with very different sensations from those which oppressed her when last within those gloomy walls. The words of Psalm cvii. are very descriptive of God's merciful dealings with her: "He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder." A few days afterwards, she removed to Westminster, where she kept the festival of Christmas, on which day she withdrew from the public service when the host was to be raised as an object to be worshipped. These removals were made by public processions, in which the people displayed great joy. Elizabeth was of a goodly presence, and conducted herself so as to win and to retain the general favour. From the beginning to the end of her reign, she ever manifested a desire to possess the affections of her people. On every occasion she endeavoured to act so as to secure popularity, and she succeeded. She did not seek self-gratification as her primary object; or, rather, she was best pleased when she pleased her people.

The position of Elizabeth on her accession was full of difficulty. The nation

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open enemies, as soon as she ventured to show a decided inclination to favour the reformation. Public affairs were in the utmost disorder: the treasury empty; no adequate preparations to meet the attacks of enemies; trade in a languishing state; the people suffering severely from the effects of recent famine and pestilence; and the nation in debt to the amount of four millions, a sum in those days almost incredible.

Nor was Elizabeth free from other and still more serious causes for disquiet. Those of her subjects who were attached to the Reformation, considered her mother's union with Henry VIII. to have been valid, and her title good; upon their principles Henry's marriage with Catherine of Arragon was altogether unlawful, as the Pope had no power to do away the laws of God; thus it was void from the beginning, so that no question need be entertained as to the regularity of the divorce. But, on the other hand, the Papists both at home and abroad considered that Henry's marriage with Catherine was valid, and the divorce unlawful, so that Ann Boleyn's marriage was, in this view, null and void from the beginning; therefore Elizabeth was illegitimate, and had no claim to the English throne. This had also been declared during her father's reign; but though the act had not been repealed, he restored her to the succession, by the will he was empowered to make. Under these circumstances, Papists at home, as well as foreign powers, considered that Mary, queen of Scots, had the right to be queen of England. Francis I. of France was the only Popish monarch who had recognized the legitimacy of Elizabeth; but his successors disallowed it. Even her brother had given priority to the family of the duchess of Suffolk, which caused some to consider the surviving sisters of Lady Jane Grey as having claims to the throne.

The desire of the most bigoted Papists, | to set aside Elizabeth, and place upon the English throne Mary of Scotland, then married to the dauphin of France, appeared without delay. Some practices of this nature, in which the brothers of cardinal Pole were implicated, were made known to the council as early as November 22. Soon afterwards the disposition of the French government was shown, by the title of queen of England being openly given to Mary, as well as that of queen of Scotland. Her husband also assumed the royal arms of England as a part of his armorial bearings, in defiance of all the rules of heraldry, thereby showing his design to claim the English throne. At their marriage, before the death of queen Mary, they did not in any way mention the title of England; but within two months after Mary's decease, a grant to lord Flemming was made by the dauphin and dauphiness of France, under the title of "King and Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland."

death: the Romish prelates refused to officiate; but at length Oglethorpe, bishop of Carlisle, was prevailed upon to perform the ceremony, which was conducted agreeably to the Roman pontifical, except that the elevation of the mass was omitted. This shows how opposed the bigoted Papists were to the government of Elizabeth, though as yet she had given no decided proofs of an intention to favour the Reformation. But during the procession from the Tower, she showed her determination that the English Bible should be set forth again. In Cheapside a pageant was exhibited, representing Time leading Truth from a cave where she had been hidden. She had an English Bible in her hand, inscribed "the Word of Truth," which was presented to the queen. Elizabeth received the book and pressed it to her heart, returning thanks, and declaring that she would often read over that book. The general character of the pageants of that day was much suSub-perior to those usually exhibited. They were comparatively free from heathenism and popish superstition, while many inade direct reference to those doctrines of truth whereby alone monarchs can reign with safety and satisfaction. But the queen would not proceed so rapidly as the Protestants wished. On the following day, a gentleman presented a petition, alluding to the liberation of prisoners at a coronation, requesting that some other prisoners, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, with one Paul, might be released; the queen smiled, but answered that it was needful first to inquire whether they wished to be set at liberty.

sequently the officers of court publicly announced and addressed Mary Stuart as queen of England. It is important to keep these facts in view; for they show that from the very beginning of her reign, Elizabeth was placed in a situation of danger by the pretensions of Mary, who never formally relinquished them. This explains the subsequent proceedings between these two queens. It was impossible for Elizabeth to act in a friendly manner towards such a pretender to her throne. The Pope at once showed Elizabeth the danger of her position, by declaring that as illegitimate, she had no right to the crown of England; that it belonged to him to settle the succession; that if Elizabeth would submit to his decision, he would treat her with fatherly affection and favour! But the queen had tasted that "the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel;" she desired to have no more of the mercies of the Pope.

On January 12, 1559, the queen returned to the Tower preparatory to her coronation; from thence she proceeded on the 14th in a car richly adorned, in solemn procession to Westminster, the order usually observed before a coronation. On the following day, she was crowned in Westminster Abbey. Considerable difficulty had been experienced in finding a prelate to place the crown upon her head, without which her right to the throne would have been doubted by many. Several sees were vacant by

Doubtless it would have been far more satisfactory, as well as more gratifying to every lover of the truth, had Elizabeth at once decidedly expressed her sentiments in favour of true religion. But there is too much reason to apprehend that her heart was convinced, rather than changed. Though she never would have acted with blind bigotry like her sister, yet she seems to have been a Protestant quite as much from circumstances as from inclination. The Reformation under her never proceeded so far as under Edward VI. She would probably, if left to herself, have adopted a course still more modified, half way between her father and brother. But the nation demanded more, and she could not refuse to go farther than probably her own inclination dictated. Doubtless all this was overruled for good, and we cannot but admire

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