Selections from different Authors. 187 Were mothers more careful to root out this dangerous weed from the hearts of their children, there would be less strife and evil-speaking in the world. And let the most fearful humble parent take courage; and be assured that if she sincerely endeavours to do her duty towards her children, praying for Divine Grace to assist her, she will not labour in vain.-As the fields around her cottage are covered with grain, resembling the seed which was cast into them; so may every mother rest assured, that "whatsoever she soweth" in the heart of her child (whether of good or evil) 66 'that she shall assuredly reap." Dec. 16, 1827. IOTA. SELECTIONS FROM DIFFERENT SURELY the vice of gaming, more than any other, I foresee that gaming will one day be the ruin of Europe. During play, the body is in a state of indolence, and the mind in a state of wicked activity. Montesquieu. There is no better armour against the darts of death than to be busied in our Maker's service. No malice of man can shorten my life, if my Maker hath any work for me to do. And when all my daily task is done, why should I grudge then to go to bed? Fuller. Grant, Lord, that I may not mangle and dismember thy word, but study it entirely, comparing one place with another: for diamonds only can cut diamonds; and there are no such comments on Scripture, as Scripture. The same. Peacefulness is a more useful acquisition than learning. Thomas à Kempis. It is not difficult to live in peace with the gentle and the good; but to maintain peace with the churlish and perverse, the irregular and impatient, and those that most contradict and oppose our opinions and desires, is an heroic and glorious attainment, which only an extraordinary measure of grace can enable us to acquire. The same. The blush of diffidence is the chief beauty of a female and let her value, above all praise, a chaste and delicate habit of mind. Let her learn that her fairest bloom is modesty, and virtue her noblest distinction. Sunday School Catechist. To walk with God, to live unto him, is not merely to abstain from open vice, or to perform outward duties, for these things may be done to gain credit with the world. It is our hearts that he requireth, and we can in no other way give them up to Him, than by sincerely and diligently endeavouring to keep all His commandments. If we think of his goodness with delight; if our meditations on Him be full of pleasure to us; this is to be spiritually minded ;this is to walk with God. G. P. Before you do any thing pleasing to your nature, be sure that you have God's leave; and whatever he commands, though ever so unpleasant at the time, be sure to do it. Make a grievance of nothing but sin. A. The will of God is my pole-star, and with my eye constantly on it, I shall be carried safely through all storms and tempests. A. Extracts from the Public Newspapers. 189 EXTRACTS FROM THE PUBLIC NEWSPAPERS. GAME LAWS.-The General Quarter Sessions for the county of Chester were held in the Court, at our Castle, before Trafford Trafford, Esq. Chairman, and a Bench of Magistrates. The CHAIRMAN, in addressing the Grand Jury, observed, that their labours were likely to be protracted to an unusual length, on this occasion, in consequence of the numerous cases which were recorded in the calendar. There was a very peculiar feature in some of them, to which he would briefly draw their attention he meant those persons indicted for the destruction of game, under the common denomination of poachers. The consequences of this marauding system were not confined merely to this, for many of the individuals nightly so employed, had become reputed thieves, and implements for housebreaking had been found in their possession: and if the laws of the country were not attended tc, and enforced, by the crime being nipped in the bud, the result would be destructive to the morals and prosperity of multitudes. The principle must be put down, for evil-minded men would as readily destroy sheep, cattle, or other property; therefore, the remedy ought immediately to be applied. The evil of poaching would be greatly suppressed, if heads of families, or individuals connected with them, would give information of those persons who were frequently absent from their dwellings during the night time. The Chairman remarked, that every one convicted of purchasing game was liable to a severe punishment. He had said thus much on the subject, because he conceived it to be important, in consequence of the abominable course of midnight plunder which was now syste matically pursued in defiance of the laws, and to the destruction of the property of individuals, as well as the lives of those employed by them.-Chester Advertiser. Mangel Wurzel.-Mr, L's letter on Mangel Wurzel, was read at the Somersetshire Agricultural Meeting, and the specimens were then considered. The specimens were very large roots being nearly two feet long each, and one eighteen inches, and the other nearly two feet, in diameter. Mr. L. in his letter says, "These are specimens of what I have grown this season on strong blue clay soil of two acres of land, where I have endeavoured to grow turnips, but generally without success. The mode I pursued in manuring the land was by folding it over twice with sheep, and ploughing down the same immediately after the fold; then it was harrowed over as fine as the soil would admit of, and the land gathered up in drills, on the same principle as for sowing Swedish turnips; then, depositing the seed by hand about two inches below the surface of the soil, and 18 inches asunder. The result of which, after having been twice hand-hoed over, was an excellent crop (with the exception of a few intervals where the seed did not vegetate) of about fifty tons an acre; the roots, in general, from 15 to 30lbs. each, and some considerably more. I feel confident it may be grown on strong wet clay soils, to considerable advantage, for the feeding of cattle. I have some heifers and oxen now feeding on them, and improving fast. It may be grown on soils where there is scarcely a chance of producing turnips, and the plants preserved from the ravages of the fly. Also, the advantage of its being carted off in time for the land to be sown with wheat; all of which are of considerable importance, as well as a great saving of hay, in times of scarcity or a bad hay-harvest." Mr. Bailward said that such weight was not remarkable; he had grown them of 35 lbs. weight. Mr. W. Hall said the root was of great value, and it was important to establish the advantage of growing it in a stiff soil. Most young growers of it planted the seed too deep; half an inch, instead of two inches, was quite enough; and he doubted not that the planting of the seed too deep had occasioned the partial failure in the crop of which the letter spoke. His produce, from the fields yearly grown on, was at the rate of 30 tons per acre; but he had heard of 90 tons an acre having been produced. Swallowing pins.-Very great mischief often arises from the dangerous habit of putting pins into the mouth. The London papers have lately contained several very curious facts on this subject. The following account is from a letter written by a medical gentleman at Gloucester to the editor of the " Londou Medical Gazette." The lacemakers in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, &c. require to be strongly cautioned against a habit which may lead to such serious consequences. Elizabeth Townsend, aged 24, was admitted Nov. 10, 1810, into the infirmary, and gave the following account of her situation. "About two years ago, while employed as a laundry maid, she happened to have a great number of pins in her mouth; at that time a person came behind her and struck her unexpectedly on the back. During the alarm thereby occasioned, the whole of the pins were swallowed. Twenty-four of them, she affirms, have made their way to the surface and been cut out. The scars are visible chiefly about the chest and arms. She had not been long in the infirmary before this account was as much confirmed as it could be. She remained in it till the 9th of May 1811. During that period ten pins were discharged. The greater number came from between the ribs and through the breast, and one was brought up by vomiting. The last pin, being the forty-third, was extracted on the 29th of July. While the pins were making their way through the internal parts she was not aware of their progress, but when they approached the surface, her sufferings from violent convulsions and pain were very great. She had also very painful experience of the passage of the pins through the mamme and the intercostal muscles, and she could tell with great accuracy the number Extracts from the Public Newspapers. 191 of pins that happened to be in the breast long before they could be felt by any other person. Precautions in case of Fire.—It ought to be universally known, that in case of fire, the danger of suffocation from smoke is prevented by keeping the face near the floor, because the smoke floats, and does not descend to the floor till the room is quite full, and even then is very rare near the floor. By attending to this principle, the firemen of London creep about houses on fire. When the clothes of females take fire they should instantly lie down, and a person near them may put out the flame before a serious injury has been inflicted. A yard of muslin held perpendicularly, will explode, as it were, with a dense roaring flame in a few seconds; but laid horizontally, the flame would be not only inconsiderable, but would be ten minutes progressing over the surface. A distressing circumstance occurred lately at Bognor, in the neighbourhood of Arundel. A gentleman intended to take some cream of tartar, but by a sad mistake, arsenic was mixed up with honey, and the whole of it unsuspectingly swallowed. A very short period elapsed ere the fatal appearances manifested themselves, and, in spite of surgical aid, the poor fellow's existence was speedily terminated in the greatest agonies.-Brighton Herald. A fatal accident lately occurred to two little girls, the eldest four years old, and the other two. Their mothers lived next door neighbours. Mrs. Lee, the mother of the eldest, had gone out, leaving some potatoes boiling on the fire, and the children were set in a chair on one side of the fire-place rocking each other. It is supposed that they must have upset the chair from going too far in the rocking, which precipitated them into the fire-place, and the upper part of the chair caught the bandle of the saucepan, and overturned it. The poor woman arrived soon after, and found one lying in the ash-hole, and the other in the middle of the floor. One survived till Tuesday noon, being dreadfully scalded about the head; the other lingered till nine o'clock on Tuesday night, when it also expired.—Sheffield Mercury. A few evenings ago, a maid-servant, at Barnwell, near Oundle, was nearly killed in the following manner :—In drinking a cup of tea, she swallowed a small nail, which had been put into the cup with the sugar; the nail getting into her windpipe threw her into strong convulsions, which would speedily have termi nated her existence, had not the assistance of a medical gentle. man been promptly obtained, who, with some difficulty, sueceeded in extracting the nail just in time to save the girl's life. An inquest was held at Lowestoffe, on view of the body of Bartholomew Mewse. The deceased met his death from drinking to excess, under the following circumstances. A eask of spirits happened to have been washed ashore, and the deceased drank profusely of its contents; he was taken home in a state of insen |