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THE SABBATH.

Isaiah lviii. 13, 14.-Freely Paraphrased.

Let no vain business tempt thy foot to stray, No pleasures lure thee on this holy day : "Tis God's own Sabbath ;-let its hours be given To solemn thoughts which lift the soul to heaven: Thus shall thy life be calm, thy death be blest, Safe in His hand who made this day of rest; While thy glad heart it's grateful notes shall raise, And through eternal SABBATHS hymn his praise, Oxford. I. M. T.

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EASTER.

FROM the peasant's reeded cell,
To the domes where princes dwell,
Loud and long a mourning cry
Startled Egypt's midnight sky :
Not a mother's eye but wept
O'er her first-born, ere she slept;
Death was heavy on the blast,
As the avenging Angel passed,
But from Israel's guarded balls
Sounds were heard of festivals,
Girt, and standing, as in haste
Their unleaven'd bread they taste;
And the blood of lambs they pour
Over lintel, post, and door:
To the mark a look he cast
And on the Avenging Angel passed.
In thy blood of power to save,
Spotless Lamb! 'tis thus we lave;
Till the Archangel trump of doom
Bursts the bondage of the tomb:
Then, through Thee, we cast away
All this mortal vest of clay,
And to Life, which never dies,
Thou hast risen: we shall rise.

From the Collection of Hymns sung at St.
Philip's Chapel, Regent-street.

GAMING.

"GAMING is an offence of a very high nature, and highly injurious to the interests of the public.Gaming-houses bring ruin not only on the individuals actually engaged in gaming, but upon their families and connections, blasts their prospects, and too frequently produces irretrievable ruin. Upwards of a century ago, keeping a common gaming-house was held to be an offence at common law. A common gaming-house is a nuisance of the worst description. It has a tendency to make persons lose not only the property belonging to themselves and their families; but in many instances, it holds out a temptation to persons intrusted with the property of others to hazard that property."

Mr. Justice Bayley. The above is a part of an excellent speech made by Mr. Justice Bayley before pronouncing the severe punishment of the law on C. Rosser, W. Humphry, F. Oldfield, R. Bennett, and T. Carlos, for keeping gaming-houses in London. Mr. Phillips had before very eloquently stated the wickedness and the dangerous consequences of gaming. We should hope that the fines imposed of 1000l. and 5007. with imprisonment for a year, eighteen months, or two years, according to the degree of guilt, will tend to put an end to these dangerous houses. Our Cottagers" will not be in danger of getting into gaming-houses of the above description; but the same spirit which leads the rich to risk their pounds, tempts the poor to risk their pence and their shillings. It ought to be a rule with them never to play at any game for money. How often does the common practice of children in pitching and tossing for halfpence produce that very spirit of gaming, which ruins them in after life.

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Parents should be very particular in preventing their children from getting into this snare.

V.

SELECTIONS FROM DIFFERENT AUTHORS. IT is by the gracious and blessed operation of the Holy Spirit, that we are strengthened and established in every good word and work. Doddridge.

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Let us call on God to preserve and maintain the graces he hath implanted, that they may be exerted with growing vigour and constancy even unto the end. The same.

Unreasonable and wicked men will oppose the progress of the Gospel, which has so powerful a tendency to promote holiness and comfort. The same.

Whatever stations of life people are in, they must expect to meet with some things agreeable, and some disagreeable, and should strive to make the best of their condition. The more patiently we bear the evils that fall to our lot, the greater share of comfort we shall enjoy here; and, if we practice this patience in obedience to the commands of God Almighty, and in imitation of our blessed Saviour's example, we shall obtain the greater share of happiness in the other world. Mrs. Trimmer.

All persons, who put their children to charity schools, should have a particular care of their own behaviour; for it is a dreadfully wicked thing for a parent to lead a child astray from the path of goodness, when God Almighty's Providence has put them into it. The same.

If we attend to the writings of some, and the manners of more, in the present age, we shall be led to think, that we are not to serve either God or manbut that we are born free and independent. Alas, poor creatures! free and independent, indeed! why, we should not live six hours to an end, after our birth, in such a state. From the first moment in which we see light, we depend for preservation and support on the assistance of those around us, they depend on others, and all on God. One planteth, and another watereth; but who else can give the increase? Bishop Horne.

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EXTRACTS FROM THE PUBLIC NEWSPAPERS, &c.

Anecdote of the King.-When his Majesty's arrival in Ireland was expected, a pupil belonging to the" National Institution for the Deaf and Dumb," near Dublin, mentioned one day, to a friend, his intention of writing a letter to the King, as soon as his Majesty should come to Dublin. The boy was told that he might if he pleased, without, however, it being thought that he would do so. Soon after this, he produced a letter which he had written wholly without the advice or correction of any person whatever, expressed in the most affectionate and beautiful language, and begged that it might be sent. His friend, finding him so much in earnest, advised him to alter one or two sentences, which might perhaps be misconstrued. After which, having procured a couple of sheets of gilt paper, he copied it out fair, and, with much persuasion, at length succeeded in getting it forwarded to his Majesty, accompanied by a few lines, apologizing for a liberty, which, under many other cir cumstances would have been presumption, but in him was ignorance and unaffected simplicity. Nothing more was heard of this letter until near the time of the King's departure from Ireland; when two gentlemen drove up to the door of the Institution, and inquired for one of the pupils by name, saying, that they had been commanded by his Majesty to see him, in consequence of a simple but interesting letter, which the King had received soon after his arrival. They directed that the boy should be called up, without being told who the persons were that wanted him, or why they came. He was accordingly brought to them. The gentlemen stood at a distance as he entered, to watch his manner and countenance on reading a letter which they handed him. On reading the letter, which contained an order for 107, he was beyond measure delighted, and expressed his feelings by his countenance, and gestures, and words (such as he could utter), so that the strangers were quite gratified. As soon as he received the money, he put it into the Savings Bank. Our correspondent does not feel himself at liberty to give the boy's letter, or the answer with which it was honoured. We understand that the lad is one of those interesting youths, who assisted at the lecture the Education of the Deaf and Dumb," lately given at Bath. Brighton Gazette.

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on

Pain in the Ear.-A violent pain in the ear has for some time been prevalent, and particularly among children. The most effectual remedy yet discovered has been a small clove of garlic, steeped for a few minutes in wärm sallad oil, and put into the ear rolled up in muslin, or thin linen. After a

time the garlic is reduced to a pulp, and when the pain is removed, some cotton should be put into the ear to prevent the patient taking cold.-London Paper.

A tread-mill was erected last year at Swaffham Bridewell (Norfolk), and the prisoners set to work on it in October. Since that period, it has been found necessary to send for prisoners from other divisions to work it; although before it was brought into use, the Bridewell was always crouded during the winter, and the prisoners frequently unhealthy; now, on the contrary, there is plenty of room, and all are in good health; and although the allowance of a jail is never very fattening, it is a fact, that the men who work in the mill increase in weight, and improve in appearance.-Bury Gazette.

This is exactly what we should expect. The hard and regu lar work of the tread-mill does not please those whose former idle habits have led them to dishonesty, and brought them to jail. They will therefore try to keep out; and the way to keep out is to be honest. Thus we see the good of a tread-mill. Neither are we at all surprised, that the men who are in should be healthy and strong; for regular exercise in an upright position, and moderate food, are the very best things in the world for health: drunkenness and irregular living out of a jail, or idleness in it, are exactly the worst. And these were the former habits of most of the prisoners. Many persons think, that the way to be fat and strong and healthy, is to eat a great deal. It is just the contrary. Loading the stomach with more than it can bear, is the way to make a man ill and thin. And this is the cause of half the diseases of people, who have weak stomachs. We remember a gentle. man, who thought himself a moderate and temperate liver, but his digestion was bad, and he was always ill, and had been so for many years. Mr. Abernethy, the celebrated surgeon, told him, that he must eat and drink less. He confined him to about six ounces at a meal, that there might not be a weight to press upon his stomach, and prevent digestion. The gentleman presently got better. He weighed himself every day, and found that he got heavier. But, when he began to think himself pretty well, he did not like to keep to his rule; and he eat and drank more than he was allowed (without saying a word to the Doctor): he however still had the curiosity to weigh himself; and he found sure enough, that all this time he was getting thinner and lighter.

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Horses poisoned. Notwithstanding the poisonous qualities of the yew-tree have been frequently made known, it now and then occurs that horses are lost for want of due caution. Lately, Messrs. Woodward and Co. of this town, turned three of their horses into a small close, adjoining to which there

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