heart. Mary Burton never forgot her good mother's advice, and the account she had given of her early life. She was very often tempted to be idle, and to waste her time, but the moment she recollected her mother, she was as busy as a bee; and she lived to be a comfort to her own family, and a blessing to many, who tried to follow her good example.

Time is a talent which is entrusted even to the poorest, and for the use of which, they as well as the rich will have to give an account. As soon as little boys and girls are able to do something, they must never be idle: that

"Satan finds some mischief still

For idle hands to do❞—

is, I fear, very true. It is seldom that we see a child doing nothing, and if he is not well employed, we shall, perhaps, see him tearing his little books, soiling his clothes, meddling with the fire, or even teazing some innocent animal. In these days when so many good schools are open, children who are so happy as to be able to go to them, may easily find useful employment for their spare hours. There are many ways in which they may help their mothers, and make some return for the care bestowed on their infancy. Even the little ones may soon help to keep the room tidy, and to take care of their own clothes, instead of giving their mother more trouble by their carelessness.

We must then try to form good habits, while we are young; it will be very difficult when we are grown up to get rid of those bad practices which we shall then wish we had never indulged in: and above all, let us strive against "Habits of Idleness." IOTA.

SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS.

ELI.-1 Sam. ii. 4.

THE first and great commandment is this, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deut. vi. 5.) Now an idol is not necessarily an image of wood or stone, but any motive, affection, or desire, that may lead away the soul from this intense love of God: or in fact, the loving any thing more than God. In the character before us, we shall

see how fearful in its consequences an idol of this kind may prove. There is much in Eli, that we may be inclined to pity, but we must not imagine for a moment that his punishment was too severe; God is a righteous judge. In order to perceive clearly how this sin first gained possession of the heart of Eli, we must briefly run over a part of his history as given us in the Bible.

cause

At the time that he is first mentioned, he was exercising the office of priest, whose peculiar duty in those times of rebellion and backsliding, was to defend, and preserve the worship of the true God, in Israel. He had two sons, both of whom were, in the emphatic words of Scripture, "sons of Belial," obeying neither God nor their father; and what made this calamity still more grievous, he had to reproach himself with being in some measure the of it. While they were yet in youth, he had suffered them to go wrong without restraint, and now that they were grown up in habits of disobedience, his reproofs and prayers were unheeded. He loved his sons, and he could not bear that they should be put to open shame by public reproof; and in this manner they went on from one sin to another, disgracing the worship of Jehovah by their abominable practices, and causing the children of Israel to despise their God. At this time the Lord sent to him one of his prophets, with a fearful denunciation of the anger of God against his sin. "I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy fathers should walk before me for ever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that know me, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." What awful words! Read them, all ye parents who suffer your children to sin without warning and punishing them. Think, that while you are thus training your children to practices of sin, you are dishonouring God, and that you will in your turn be lightly esteemed by Him. And oh! what is it to have such a God for an enemy. He can in this life, turn all our joys into sorrows, and make our dearest idols to be thorns and afflictions to our hearts; and then after this life is past, he can cast our souls into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever. You see how the sons of Eli were made to be an affliction, instead of a "crown of rejoicing" to their father.

Hardening themselves in their sins, they at last met their reward: what must have been Eli's feelings when he sat at the gate, and the messenger told him that his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were dead. He knew whither they were gone; that they had been cut off in the midst of their sins, and had just entered upon their everlasting state of punishment. Yet, seemingly unaffected by this, he waited with eager impatience to know what had become of the ark of God; but when he heard that that also was gone, he was completely overwhelmed, and fell backward from off his seat, and died. It is not only to parents that this history may read an important lesson. If there is any thing that we honour more than God, or love better than his service, whatsoever it be, whether riches, pleasure, or honour, or any such idol, we are dishonouring God.-Reader, is this your case? you have in this story a serious warning; take it and read it over to yourself; think over it, and, by the grace of God, you will not do so in vain. Think especially on the words, "Them that honour me, I will honour; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Think in your own minds, how you can best honour God; whatever your station in life may be, you have always some opportunities; at all events, you may, by an example to those around you of Christian love and holy tempers, always produce a good effect, and God will thus be honoured by you, his servant. And, oh! think for a moment of the consequences of thus endeavouring to glorify Him. God has, you see in this His holy word, promised to recompense you, and what joy and happiness can be too great for those whom He honoureth? 66 Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him." Think on this, I entreat you, and pray to God to give you his Holy Spirit, to enable you to serve and honour Him now, so that you may hereafter praise and magnify Him with angels and archangels for ever. Ě. D.

FOTHERINGAY CASTLE.

THE castle of Fotheringay is noted in English history as having been the scene of the imprisonment of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, who was closely confined here, under the custody of Sir William Fitzwilliam, of Milton, during the last six months of her life. It is from this circumstance particularly, that this place attracts the attention of the traveller, and excites in him a desire of knowing its former state. The beauty, accomplishments, and hard fortune of that extraordinary Princess, who was a captive eighteen years, have given such an interest to the place in which she suffered, that the stranger is apt to imagine he shall find something on the spot to gratify his curiosity.

It is to be regretted, that the ground on which it stood, with the surrounding moats, and small fragments of the walls near the river and on the east of the mount, are the only marks of this once strong and memorable castle.

The tale of its having been destroyed by order of King James, on account of its having been the scene of his mother's sufferings, is clearly disproved; it seems to have been after his reign consigned to ruin, and to have gradually decayed. In the month of June 1820, the earth on one side of the mount, on which the keep stood, was removed for the purpose of procuring stone, when the workmen laid open part of the castle, which had been buried by the fall of the earth from the top of the mount. The remains are small, and of no particular interest. They consist of the back of a chimney, and the entrance to two small rooms: from their situation it is probable they belonged to an apartment occupied by the domestics. Part of the pavement was remaining, formed of Norman bricks. village of Fotheringay stands on the banks of the river Nen, in Northamptonshire. The entrance to it is over a bridge of four arches, first built by order of Queen Elizabeth. It has also a very handsome Church. M. D.

EXTRACTS FROM MY FAMILY BIBLE.

The

St. Matthew, ch. vi. from the latter part of verse 9th to 14th. My dear Family,-Many persons say they have not time to pray, because they have so much business of a worldly