Nothing, it is said, so highly offended the late Mr. Windham, as any careless or irreverent use of the name of God. A friend, reading a letter addressed to him, in which the words, "My God!" had been made use of on a light occasion, he hastily snatched a pen, and, before he would finish the letter, blotted out the misplaced exclamation.

At a place near Oxford, thirty-two families, containing at least one hundred and thirty individuals, are, by means of only four acres of land, enabled to benefit themselves to the amount of, at least, eighty pounds a-year, at a cost of six pounds to a few benevolent persons. Thirty-two families thus obtain at least four hundred sacks of potatoes.

Integrity. A soldier in a Russian regiment of carbineers having found a gold watch and seals, some persons offered him four hundred roubles for it, which he refused, and deposited the watch in the hand of his captain, to be restored to the owner. When the Emperor was informed of the circumstance, he ordered the man a present of eight hundred roubles for his honesty.

Treachery and Ingratitude." Of all the executions, during this dismal period, (the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth in the west,) the most remarkable were those of Mrs. Gaunt and Lady Lisle, who had been accused of harbouring traitors. Mrs. Gaunt was noted for her beneficence, which she extended to persons of all religious persuasions. One of the rebels knowing her humane disposition, had recourse to her in his distress, and was concealed by her. Hearing of the proclamation which offered an indemnity and reward to such as discovered criminals, he betrayed his benefactress, and bore evidence against her! He received a pardon as a recompence for his treachery; she was burned alive for her charity!"—History of England.

Disinterested Bravery.-During the contest between Great Britain and America, Earl Rawdon (afterwards Moira) sent a grenadier on one of those severe days which happened in the Southern Provinces, to reconnoitre a rebel post, from which his troops were much annoyed. The soldier, with the utmost calmness and intrepidity, examined the ground, notwithstanding the enemy kept up an incessant fire, and wounded him in two or three places. Having deliberately finished his observations, he

returned, and gave an account of the situation, without betraying the smallest symptom of pain: Lord Rawdon, however, perceiving his blood ran freely, pulled out his purse, and presented it to him, with a warm panegyric upon his heroic conduct. This, however, the generous grenadier refused, saying that his "acceptance of it would tarnish whatever merit his action might be supposed to have!" This noble and brave man was soon promoted, and, at the end of the war, commanded the very company in which he was then only a private.

In the year 1750, the city of London was greatly alarmed by two terrible shocks of an earthquake, which happened precisely within a month of each other. This unusual visitation filled the minds of the inhabitants with the greatest dismay and apprehension of another periodical shock, still more destructive than the first. This notion was propagated among all ranks of people by a fanatic soldier, who preached up repentance, and boldly prophesied that the next shock would take place precisely a month from the last, and totally destroy the cities of London and Westminster. "The churches," says Smollett, "were now crowded with penitent sinners: the sons of riot and profligacy were overawed into sobriety and decorum. The streets no longer resounded with execrations, or the noise of brutal licentiousness; and the hand of charity was liberally opened."

Bishop Horne, alluding to this event, says, "Infidelity is often punished with credulity. The prediction of a mad life-guardsman was attended to in London by those who never heeded the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah; and an impudent mountebank sold a large cargo of pills, which he told the people were excellent against earthquakes !"

Prosperity too often has the same effect on a Christian, that a calm at sea hath on a Dutch mariner, who frequently, it is said, in those circumstances, ties up the rudder, gets drunk, and goes to sleep.-Ibid.

Liberty. There is no term which has been more prostituted than the word "Liberty." Among a corrupted people, the cry for liberty is heard the loudest from the most profligate of the community. With these its meaning has no relation to patriotism; it imports no more than the aversion to restraint: and the personal character of the demagogue, and the private morals of his disciples, are always sufficient to unmask

the counterfeit. The spirit of patriotism, and a general corruption of manners, cannot possibly be co-existent in the same age and nation.

The late Dr. Clark thus apostrophizes his native country, in the last volume of his Travels-" Oh, England! decent abode of comfort, and cleanliness, and decorum! Oh, blessed asylum of all that is worth having upon earth! Oh, sanctuary of religion and of liberty for the whole civilized world! It is only in viewing the state of other countries, that thy advantages can be duly estimated! May thy sons, who have "fought the good fight," but know and guard what they possess in thee! Oh, land of happy firesides, and cleanly hearths, and domestic peace! of filial piety, and parental love, and connubial joy; the cradle of heroes, the school of sages, the temple of law, the altar of faith, the asylum of innocence, the bulwark of private security, and of public honour!

"Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see,

My heart, untravell'd, fondly turns to thee!"

Art of Swimming.-Men are drowned by raising their arms above water; the unbuoyed weight of which depresses the head. Other animals have neither notion nor ability to act in a similar manner, and therefore swim naturally. When a man falls into deep water, he will rise to the surface, and will continue there, if he does not raise his hands. If he move his hands under water in any manner he pleases, his head will rise so high, as to allow him free liberty to breathe; and if he move his legs as in the act of walking, (or rather of walking up stairs,) his shoulders will rise above water, so that he may use less exertion with his hands, or apply them to other purposes. These plain directions are recommended to the recollection of those who have not learned to swim in their youth, as they may be found highly advantageous in preserving life.

In September, 1789, William Fawsey, a farrier from London, was struck dead by lightning, while standing under a tree in the Earl of Aylesford's park at Packington, in Warwickshire. To commemorate this event, as well as to warn others from exposing themselves to the same danger, by taking shelter in a thunder storm under trees, his Lordship caused a handsome monument to be erected on the spot; a distinguished instance of the most laudable humanity, associated with elevated rank.

The Spider.-T. A. Knight, Esq. of Herefordshire, has, in his treatise on the culture of the apple and the pear, introduced the following

anecdote concerning this curious insect: "I have," said he, " frequently placed a spider on a small upright stick, whose base is surrounded by water, to observe its singular mode of escape. After having discovered, that the ordinary means of retreat are cut off, it ascends to the point of the stick, and stands nearly on its head, ejects its web, which the wind readily carries to some contiguous object. Along this the sagacious insect effects its escape; not, however, till it has previously ascertained by several exertions of its own strength, that its web is firmly attached at the opposite end."

Cardinal de Sales, who died at the age of 110 years, in the full enjoyment of his faculties, used to tell his friends, when asked what regimen he observed: "By being old when I was young, I find myself young now I am old. I led a sober, studious, but not lazy, or sedentary life. My diet was sparing; I rode or walked every day, except in rainy weather, when I exercised for a couple of hours. So far I took care of the body; and as to the mind, I endeavoured to preserve it in the due temper, by a scrupulous observance of my religious duties, and keeping, as the apostle directs, a conscience void of offence towards God and man. By these simple means, I have arrived at the age of a patriarch, with less injury to my health and constitution, than many experience at forty."

If you were a just man made perfect, and living in heaven, the companion of happy spirits, what should you answer to a person who would say to you, "Will you go again through a second life of pain and sorrow, will you go into some distant star, live there for thirty or forty years, endure a life of suffering and dishonour, be despised and rejected by the people who inhabit it, and, at last be put to a painful and shameful death, to save them from ruin ?-Will you consent to leave heaven and glory on such an errand, or would you rather stay here, contented with the happiness you at present enjoy ?"

What do you think you should answer?

Consider well, and you may gain some insight into the greatness of the sacrifice which Jesus Christ made, in coming to redeem us. It is true, that he had not lived amidst unhappiness, as the men who are gone to heaven have done; but he well knew and perfectly understood all that he had to suffer and what he resigned, to come and be a man of sorrows, was the glory which he had with the Father before the world (John xvii. 5.)

was.

THE

FAMILY MONITOR.

No. VI.

JUNE, 1831.

VOL. I.

FEASTS AND FASTS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND EXPLAINED.

St. Barnabas' Day.

June 11. St. Barnabas was born at Cyprus, he was descended from the tribe of Levi, and was brought up in the study of the law, under the tuition of Gamaliel at Jerusalem. His proper name was Joses, or Joseph, which was given him at his circumcision; but afterwards the Apostles surnamed him Barnabas, i. e. the son of consolation, because he generously sold his whole estate to minister to the wants of the Church. The first fruit of his ministry was at Antioch, where he converted vast numbers to the faith; and after some time he engaged St. Paul to be his fellow-labourer in that great work. The converts at Antioch, on a great famine happening among the poor Christians in Judea, made considerable contributions to supply their necessities, and committed the whole matter to the management of Barnabas and Paul, who faithfully executed their charge. After this, these two returned to Cyprus, and at Paphos they converted Sergius Paulus, the Roman governor. From thence they went to Perga in Pamphilia; and having preached the gospel through several cities, they returned to Antioch in Syria. The Apostle having thus spent great part of his life in planting and propagating Christianity, at last betook himself to his native country; and at Salamis the Jews set upon him, and barbarously stoned him to death.

VOL. I.

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