to whom they may be grateful in prosperity, to whom they may have recourse in affliction; and, even should they fall from their stedfastness, we leave them not without hope, inasmuch as they have been taught to know, that, "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father." All reason, all Scripture, all experience agree in this-" IN THE MORNING sow thy seed:" often has it sprung up, and brought forth the fruits of grace, when it seemed, to outward eyes, to have been choked with tares." QUESTIONS FROM THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. IN (For the Answers see page 59. Vol. 4.) * In what year did queen Mary, of England, die? Who became queen after her? What relation was queen Elizabeth to queen Mary? What religion was established in England by Elizabeth? What person laid claim to be considered heiress to the throne of England? Did Mary, queen of Scots, enter into any conspiracies against Elizabeth? What religion did Mary, the queen of Scotland, profess? Was any battle fought between Elizabeth's forces and Mary's? Which succeeded? Did Mary surrender herself to the queen of England? Was she kept in confinement? * 1558. Reflections on the Month of April. What became of the queen of Scotland? 173 From what quarter was an invasion planned against England? What religion did the Spaniards profess? What did the Spaniards call their great fleet which was fitted out to invade England? What became of the Spanish armada? How did queen Elizabeth shew her gratitude to Providence for the dispersion of the Spanish fleet? What sort of persons did queen Elizabeth choose for her ministers? What sort of people did she like to have about her court? Who was Lord Leicester? Is there any account of a great entertainment which Leicester gave to the queen? Where was this? Who was the Earl of Essex? What was the end of Essex? Do you remember the story of the Countess of Nottingham and the ring? Did Lady Nottingham ever confess the truth about the ring? How did the queen receive this confession? What was the general character of queen Elizabeth? Had the Reformation the effect of improving the state of the country? * In what year did queen Elizabeth die? V. REFLECTIONS ON THE MONTH OF APRIL. THE clouds consign their treasures to the fields; And, softly shaking on the dimpled pool A few large drops, let all their moisture flow; * 1603. Till in the western sky, the downward sun The above lines give a beautiful description of an April shower. Many animals seem to know of the approach of rain, and the birds prepare themselves for it in a manner which shows the care of the Creator, in furnishing them with a natural oil, with which they rub themselves to prevent the wet from penetrating their feathers. This is the time of year when the rainbow is most often seen. It is produced by the light of the sun striking on the drops of rain as they fall; thus the sun is described as looking out effulgent, that is, bright and glowing, upon the grand ethereal or airy bow, caused by the reflection of his light. This beautiful object is not only curious in itself, but is more particularly worthy of our notice as being a visible sign continued to the present day, of a covenant between God and man, which we ought never to see without considering, that the God who made the world, once overwhelmed the surface of it, by a flood of waters, and that he graciously promised, nearly four thousand years ago, never again to afflict it in the same manner. There are abundant traces over all the world, that the earth has at some time been covered with water, and in a very different state from what it is at present; beds of sand, oysters, and other sea-shells being found in places far inland, where it is impossible the present sea can ever reach. Many of the hardest rocks appear to have been once soft like mud, for they are found to contain shells, plants, and even fishes*. F. S. These sorts of things are so much valued by the curious, Vaccination. VACCINATION. 175 THE last Report of the London Vaccine Institution states, that, "before the introduction of the practice of vaccination into America, a hundred thousand Indians were destroyed by the small-pox in one year, in the single province of Quito; but that this dreadful mortality was effectually stopped by the practice of vaccination, which was introduced into that country by the missionaries." It is rather curious that vaccination, though an English discovery, should be saving the lives of thousands of people in distant parts of the world, and yet that many of the English themselves should be still prejudiced against it. They see that some few people take the smallpox after being vaccinated, and they say at once that vaccination is of no sort of use,-that there is no certainty in it. It is true that there is no absolute certainty in this, or in any thing else in this world ;-but yet we see, with our own eyes, that-in towns and villages where the small-pox used to rage every two or three years, since vaccination has been practised, there has, in these same places, been no small-pox for the last thirty years. So true is this, that some people are disposed to think that there is no danger of the small-pox ever coming amongst them again. This apparent security is apt to make them careless, and to lead them entirely to neglect vaccinating their children ;-and then, if the smallpox does come among them, the greater number of that I take this opportunity to recommend persons employed in quarrying stones, cutting canals, or the like, to pay attention to any thing remarkable that they may meet with small things should be laid by in a box, and they may greatly oblige those who collect such curiosities; but any thing large that appears out of the common way, should not be disturbed till some one who understands such matters has seen it. These observations may be applied to those who find bones, coffins, jars, weapons, &c. the people are ready to take it. This has already happened in many places; and the people then lay the blame on vaccination, when the fault was their own, for neglecting to guard against infection by having their children vaccinated. When we see numbers of instances of small-pox coming into towns or villages, and seizing all the people who have not been vaccinated, and touching very few, or none, that have, we cannot help concluding, that, if all parents would have their children vaccinated,-in a very few years no such disease as the small-pox would be known in England. V. BENEFIT CLUBS. Dialogue between Ralph and William. Ralph. I HEAR, William, that you have joined yourself to the new "Benefit Club." William. Yes, I have. R. Well, but you were all for Savings' Banks at one time; and I remember you said you thought these better than Benefit Clubs; and I know you would never belong to the old Benefit Club in the parish. W. Why, Ralph, I am just as much in favour of Savings' Banks as ever I was; but I see a good reason why I should belong to a Benefit Society too,I now belong to both. R. But how was it that you would never join the old Benefit Club, and that you have now gone all at once, and joined the new one? W. Why, because, I felt pretty sure that the old one would not answer my purpose. W. Why I had looked about me, and I saw that many of the old Benefit Societies did hardly |