sibility, from which he never revived. Medical assistance was resorted to, but too late to be effectual. Verdict-" Died from intoxication."-London paper.

A gentleman who was in the habit of using wire riddles in his barn, for the dressing of his corn for many years, never suspected that any hurtful consequences would be the result, till lately, when one of his cows died: he had no suspicion, however, that the riddles were the cause of the cow's death. He caused her to be opened, and found the heart to be of more than usual dimensions; and on examining it more attentively, he found a wire of more than two inches in length sticking in it, which had so mortified the part, that a hole had broken out, in which a finger might have been introduced. People ought to be extremely cautious in using these riddles, particularly when they are old and rotten. When fresh, and in good order, there can be no danger; but, when any of their parts are broken, it is very dangerous. We consider that many cattle are destroyed by pins, needles, nails, and other substances taken with their food. Glasgow Chronicle.

An inquest was held at Dalston, on the body of John Ruddock, aged 15, who had, on the morning of Sunday last, eaten about two ounces of the root of the Hemlock Dropwort, from the effects of which he died in about an hour. The young man had found the root in question, which grows abundantly in the neighbourhood of Dalston; and being perfectly ignorant of its poisonous quality, he ate of it. In half an hour afterwards, he fell senseless to the ground, and vomited a quantity of the root from his stomach; but the poison gave him no respite, it seemed to have seized upon all the functions of life, as he was completely deprived of sense from his first convulsion, between which and his death he never once spoke. Mr. Wise was called, but he could give no assistance, and it was not a case in which the stomach-pump could have been used. The verdict of the Jury was, of course, "Accidental death."-Carlisle Patriot.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have received the communications of T.; P.; M.; X. W. ; L. S. R.; and ▲ Herefordshire Cottager.—Also a Liverpool Chronicle, and some little books.

It was not from any objection to W. L.'s communication that we did not insert it; our limits forbid us to admit all the articles which we receive, even though they may be unobjectionable.

We are glad to find (by an advertisement on the cover) that our correspondent G. B. has published his excellent "Scripture Characters" in a separate form.

THE

Cottager's Monthly Visitor.

MA Y, 1828.

REMARKS ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF EXODUS.

In this chapter we see the first effect of the message of God to Pharaoh. His proud heart rose against the command to let Israel go, he laid heavier burdens upon the people; and the consequence was, that they thought themselves injured by Moses and Aaron, which led Moses to complain to the Lord, and tempted him to murmur.

V. 2." And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." "Who is the Lord?" such haughty and rebellious scorners shall know who he is, they shall know him by the terrors of his anger, they shall feel the power of his wrath; his hand shall be lifted up, and they shall sooner or later see and be afraid. “He will cause his judgments to pass before them,-yes, and to fall upon them, and they shall be forced to confess, that "He is excellent in power and in judgment." And more than this:-thou shalt see him, but not now; thou shalt behold him, but not nigh. The day is coming when he will stand on the earth,—and then will they know who it is that they have insulted. They will seek to enter into the rock, and hide them in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty." But no shelter will hide them from No. 5.-VOL. VIII. K

his awful countenance, which, full of wrath, bent on his foes, will fill them with intolerable wretchedness and shame, and compel you to flee into outer darkness. What an awful doom! But present punishment came to the proud king whose words were so bold against the Lord. He learnt to know the Lord in the dreadful character of an avenger and a judge, but in the gracious character of a Father he never knew him. He learnt that " our God is a consuming fire ;"-he never learnt that "God is love." My friends, do you ever feel this desire to resist God's commands ? does your heart ever rise against him with a rebellious murmur, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" When his law says to you, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart-thou shalt honour thy father and mother-thou shalt not steal-thou shalt not bear false witness-thou shalt not covet-thou shalt not hate thy neighbour in thine heart, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself-love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,does your soul revolt from these commandments? When your minister comes to you, and sets before you the folly of your ways, and the danger of your state, when he tries you with questions, and warns, and persuades, and exhorts, and testifies to you,→→ is this grievous to you? are you ready to say, I can not bear it, let me alone? do you, as often as you can, get out of the way of meeting those who would lead you in the right way? do you thus say to the Almighty, "depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways?"-then you are acting just as Pharaoh did. And what will be the end of this? You now turn away from the law of God, you refuse to listen to the voice of your minister, you shut your eyes and ears against every warning-but, when illness comes, can you drive that away too? and when death comes, can you put off that king of terrors? can you bid him be gone? can you turn a

Remarks on the Fifth Chapter of Exodus. 195

deaf ear to his summons? and when the Son of Man appears in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, can you refuse to stand before him? can you brave it out then? No; when the day of wrath is come, there is no more resistance-no putting off the account then. "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." You cannot resist that decree which ordains that before him shall be gathered all nations. Be wise, then now, consider and hear. And, if you are living in such a way, that you hate counsel, and " do not choose the fear of the Lord,"-in such a way, that you will wish to put off death when he comes,-be afraid to go on in it-turn from it-take that good, that wise advice, "acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace." There is a knowledge of God which roots out all hatred, takes away all terror, and fills the mind with love, peace, and hope. It is thus that he appears to us in that merciful display of his character which we see in the Gospel. Through Christ we are reconciled; and the thoughts of the great sacrifice thus made, by our Saviour for us, is, above all motives, calculated to draw us to the love of him. Thus may we not only be at peace with God here, but may look forward with cheerful hope to the great day of accounts; for Christ is our surety, and he will answer for his people. And how are we to know that we are among his faithful people? Let us ask ourselves, " Do we love him?" This was the question that Christ put to the apostle Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me." And how can we judge whether we do love him or not? Our Lord himself says, "if ye love me, keep my commandments." Do we then love God's service? do we desire to do his will? do we delight to keep his commandments? Let us ask these questions honestly. We may deceive ourselves, we may deceive others; but at the great day, all will be seen and known.

- V. 4-8. How harsh and grating the disdainful language of Pharaoh must have sounded in the ears of Moses and Aaron :- "get you unto your burdens." "Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens." God gave them meekness; or otherwise such insulting words would have provoked an angry answer. Reader, remember their patience, when you find yourself pressed above measure by the scornful behaviour of a fellow creature; and lift up your heart to the God of patience and long-suffering, to make you like-minded with them.-Pharaoh says, "They be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God." An accusation like this is very common in our own days. Men are so much more anxious for the things of this world, than for those of the next, that, when they see a person giving his attention to the concerns of religion, they are ready to call him "idle," and to think that he is negligent of his worldly duties. If, indeed, a person were to think he was serving God by only reading God's word, whilst he was neglecting his duty to God and to his neighbour, he would be in a grievous mistake. Still the study of God's word is of immense importance, because it is from it we are to learn how to do God's will, and how to discharge the duties of life properly. And this study belongs to parents and children, to masters and servants; it belongs to all ;-and if we all did in sincerity read our Bibles, and seek, through God's help, to live by them, all ranks of people would discharge the duties of their stations in a very different manner from what they do at present. And in fact those who do make God's word their guide are the most to be depended upon in every rank of life; and as far as my Cottage enquiries have led me, I have always observed, that servants who read the Bible in earnest, are more industrious, frugal, and trust-worthy, than any others; and that