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had done about two-thirds, to my great vexation, I heard the old clock strike eight, and my uncle said, "Come, Tommy, high time for little boys to go to bed." "Uncle," I exclaimed, in great anger, "I wish your clock was all broken to pieces and burned up." "What for?" said my uncle. "Because I can never do anything comfortably, but as soon as I am in the middle, that nasty clock strikes, and I know I must go to my lessons or to bed." "And so you think," said uncle, "that if my poor clock was destroyed you could play as much as you like.” 'Yes, uncle," I said. "And you think, too, that God put you into the world to do nothing but play and amuse yourself? hey, Tommy." "Not quite, uncle," I answered. "What then?" he asked. "You tell me, sometimes, that God sent me here in this world to prepare for another." Very true, my boy, and though you know that so well, yet when the clock warns you that you ought to be at your duties, you wish it was burned up. Tommy, Tommy, that will never do! You are a little boy now, and your duty, which you hate so much, is only to improve yourself; but in a few years you will become a man, and will have important and perhaps difficult occupations to attend to; and how do you think you will be able to discharge them unless you learn to be industrious and punctual now? If you let your little pleasures draw you away from your tasks now that you are a child, you will be good for nothing when you grow to be a man, and God will not love you nor bless you. Take my advice, my boy, and every time you hear the old clock strike, instead of being vexed and wishing it destroyed, think to yourself, There is the beginning of another hour; let me see how much I can do in it, because every hour brings me nearer to the time when I must die, and then it will be too late to work.'"

Fifty years, as I have said, have passed since that night, but I have never forgotten my uncle's lesson. In the midst of weighty and important business I have been able to succeed by making the best use of every hour, and not letting pleasure or idleness draw me away; and in the deep sorrow and disappointment which has been my lot—and such is more or less that of every one in this world of trial—

I have frequently heard the clock strike in the dead silence of midnight, and been cheered by the thought that every succeeding hour brought me nearer the end of time and the beginning of eternity.

Y.

POETRY.

"REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR."

REMEMBER thy Maker in life's early days,

For in youth is the time to begin;

To serve well thy Saviour, and join in His praise,
Who redeemed thee from sorrow and sin.

Remember thy Maker ere evil days come,
Or the years of enjoyment are fled,
For happy the heart is, and peaceful the home,
Where the love of a Saviour is spread.

Remember thy Maker, and thee He will guide,
Though the journey of life may be long,
His promise declares, that no ill shall betide,
Those who lean on the arm that is strong.

If in youth we remember the Being, who gave
Us existence, and all we enjoy,

In age he will help us, and up from the grave,
He will raise us to meet Him on high.

Then Youth love thy Maker, there's honour in store,
For all those, who love and obey Him,

While the careless and wicked must ever deplore,
Their misery, their loss, and their sin.

Remember thy Maker wherever thou art,
And then, never will He forget thee;

But when from this life thou art call'd to depart,

Thou with Jesus for ever shalt be.

Blackburn, April 1850.

DELTA.

We suppose that most of our readers have frequently seen some of the extraordinary race of people who are called Gypsies. They wander about in almost every part of England, and usually sleep in the open air, or in tilted carts, or little tents, which they set up in some lane, or upon some common. Many of the men are itinerant tinkers, or scissor grinders, and many of the women are professed fortunetellers, and obtain money from silly persons, under the pretence of being able to tell them what events will happen to them-such as whether they will get married, and whether they will be rich or poor, and other things about which they really know nothing.

Gypsies are found in a great many other countries; in Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and other parts of the world. In Great Britain they are called Gypsies, because it is supposed that the tribe originally came from Egypt; but in other countries they are called by other names. Some historians are of opinion that the Gypsies originally came from Hindoostan, and it has been

found that there is a similarity between the language spoken by them and the Hindoos. It is supposed, that when the Mahomedans ravaged India, that the Gypsies were driven out of their native land and travelled through Persia into Europe, and thus became scattered among the nations in which they have subsequently appeared. Perhaps some of them wandered into Egypt, and were expelled from that land. It is reported by some writers of authority that Sultan Selim, who conquered Egypt, expelled the Gypsies from that land.

Like the Jews, the Gypsies have oftentimes been subjected to very harsh treatment by many of the European nations. In an act passed by the parliament of England, in the year 1530, the Gypsies are described, as "an outlandish people, calling themselves Egyptians, using no craft nor feat of merchandise, who have come into this realm, and gone from shire to shire, and place to place, in great companies, and used great, subtle, and crafty means to deceive the people; bearing them in hand that they by palmistry (that is, by looking at the palms of their hands,) could tell men's and women's fortunes, and so many times by craft and subtilty have deceived people of their money, and also have committed many heinous felonies and robberies." The act then directs that the Gypsies should quit the kingdom, and not return, under pain of the forfeiture of their goods and chattels.

Formerly, many persons were so superstitious as to suppose that the Gypsies possessed such supernatural, diabolical power, that they were capable of practising arts of sorcery or witchcraft, so as to injure the persons or property of those who offended them. These foolish notions are now generally exploded. The inhabitants of this highly privileged land are now much better instructed than they formerly were, and the foolish notions which troubled weak-minded persons about ghosts and witches are now generally put away, as ridiculous absurdities.

Gypsies are generally suspected of being greatly addicted to pilfering; and it is supposed that many of them obtain a large portion of the means of their subsistence by dishonest means. Formerly, they were charged with being addicted

to the cruel practice of stealing children. We do not think it likely that they were often guilty of this crime. Some instances of its commission by them are well attested. We have met with the following account of a child who had been stolen, and was afterwards, in a remarkable manner, restored to his father. This occurred more than a hundred years since, and the account is as follows---

"As the boat, which carried passengers from Leyden to Amsterdam, in Holland, was putting off, a boy running along-side of the canal, desired to be taken on board, but the master of the boat refused, because the lad had not quite money enough to pay the fare. An eminent merchant being pleased with the looks of the boy, and feeling compassion for him, paid the fare, and ordered the boy to be taken on board. Upon talking with him, the merchant found that the boy could converse in several languages, and also learned from him that he had been stolen, when a child, from his parents, by a Gypsy, and had ever since rambled, with a gang of these strollers, up and down several parts of Europe. The merchant had himself lost a child some years before; and, after a long search for him, had given him up, supposing that he had been drowned in one of the canals, there being many canals there. The merchant's wife was so distressed at the loss of her boy-who was her eldest son-that she died of grief on his account. The merchant thought that perhaps the boy, whose fare by the boat he had in compassion paid, might be his own son. Upon examining his person, there were found upon him the moles and marks by which the merchant's wife used to describe her son when he was sought for. Upon laying all the circumstances together, the merchant became satisfied that he had found his long-lost child. The lad was very well pleased to find his father, and to find that he was rich, and likely to leave him a good estate. The merchant was not a little delighted to see his son, whom he had given up for lost, and to find that he possessed such quickness of understanding and skill in languages. The boy was then educated and brought up as a gentleman; and it is said that he was afterwards sent as a public minister to foreign courts, in countries in which, when he was young, he wandered as a Gypsy child."