private person to inform against, the shameless blasphemy and corruption. We have had a noble example set us very lately, by a gentleman who chose to undergo a fine himself rather than not bring to justice a case of this sort, which he saw in the streets of London. Mr. Knight Bruce, on passing a shop in that city, saw a book placed open in the window, which, on reading, he found to be full of impious and abominable slanders against the Bible. He became so indignant at seeing these things exposed for sale, for the corruption of the ignorant, and the dishonour of God, that he decided upon taking the quickest measure for securing the offender, although knowing that he himself would be brought into trouble, and incur expense, in doing it. Dashing his hand through the pane of glass, he seized the book, and then delivered himself willingly to the person whose property he had damaged, to be taken beforethe magistrate. This was exactly what Mr. Bruce desired; and when questioned by the magistrate, he gave a full account of what he had done, and produced the blasphemous publication, requiring that the bookseller might be punished according to law. The magistrate said that he was sorry to be obliged to fine him 5s. for breaking the window, but he then proceeded to execute the duty of his office upon the much more serious offender. The bookseller was first most severely reprimanded, and then punished according to the provisions of law.

The following extracts are taken from the public papers, giving information on the course which the government is pursuing on this important subject:

"We understand that communications have been exchanged between the Bishop of London and the AttorneyGeneral on the subject of the impunity which has hitherto been permitted to the publishers of blasphemous tracts and placards, and that measures are about to be adopted by the government for the punishment of the guilty parties. A very few days before the interference of Mr. K. Bruce, a young gentleman of the name of Willis had applied to Bow-street and other police-offices for warrants against the miscreant whose windows were broken by Mr. Bruce, without success; those gentlemen, although one

of the placards was produced before them, declining to interfere."

At another trial for the same offence, the following was a part of the speech of the counsel for the government :"Mr. Chambers then addressed Mr. Hall, and said that he appeared on the part of the government, who had felt themselves called upon to punish the parties who had, in a narrow street called Holywell-street (which was a great thoroughfare), exhibited to public view certain blasphemous papers, which must raise feelings of indignation in the minds of all well-disposed and well-thinking people. The government, he repeated, had felt themselves bound to remove an exhibition which tended to sow in the minds of young persons the seeds of damnation, ruin, and agony, which must necessarily follow should the cause be allowed to continue. But in the prosecution of their duty the government did not wish to deal harshly with the parties who were the prime cause of the mischief. They would not, therefore, demand a warrant on the present occasion. It was their intention to proceed firmly, but not severely."

AN ADDRESS TO PARENTS.

E.

THE Consequences of the early mismanagement of children are perceivable through the whole course of their lives; and it is from a sense of this, founded on actual experience, that I am induced to make the following remarks, hoping that they will be taken in the same spirit in which they are offered, and trusting that they may, through God's blessing, induce my readers to be more careful in forming the minds of their children, more watchful over their own conduct towards them. It is well known that young children are quick to observe and ready to imitate whatever is said or done before them, and therefore you cannot too carefully avoid using such language, or committing such actions, as you would be ashamed and grieved to hear or see in them. And these remarks are equally applicable to the best instructed and to the most ignorant among you : you all know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and few can be so utterly

depraved as wilfully to bring up the helpless beings entrusted to your charge to idleness and vice. But there is a great and fearful error into which too many, I fear, have fallen, I mean that of not practising what you preach. Have you not often and often corrected your children with severity for quarrelling and fighting, and pointed out to them the wickedness of so doing, yet have not forborne to do the very same thing in their presence, thus destroying the good effects your admonitions would have produced had they been followed up, as they always should be, by a good example? Often when passing groups of children at play, I have been deeply shocked at the language I have heard them use, and when I have stayed to remonstrate with them, and have asked where they could have learnt so shocking a habit, the answer has invariably been, "Father always uses bad words at home." This is dreadful! I consider it my duty to point out to these children the great sin they are guilty of in swearing, and to do this I must teach them that their father is a wicked man. Again, you teach your children to say their morning and evening prayers, but do you show them the propriety of this in your own conduct, or do you sinfully neglect that duty which you require them to perform? Can you expect them when older to continue a practice which yourselves do not seem to think needful? or if they learn to feel the value of constant prayer, and to know that He who is the Father of all has promised to give all things unto them that ask in his Son's name, what must they think of the sinful, negligent conduct of their parents? For their sakes I entreat you, if blind to your own future welfare, let your conduct be such as becometh the servants of the Lord : teach your children to respect, and they will not fail to love you; and when, in after years, you see them grow up adorned with every virtue, how sweet will be the satisfaction of knowing that this, with God's assistance, has been your work. But if, on the contrary, you see child after child wandering from the path of rectitude, and hurrying from vice to vice, disregarding alike the misery of their parents and the wrath of God, how deep will be your remorse, how bitter your grief, when your

conscience, that will not be hushed, tells you that this is your work! Consider seriously what I have written; and if you would escape the misery I have represented as the unavoidable consequence of the conduct I have described, attend to, and be warned by, my words, and lose no time in repairing, as far as you are able, the sin you have committed, remembering that if you " train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it." T. B.

THE OAK-CURIOUS EXPERIMENT.

TAKE an acorn at this time of the year, tie a string round it in such a way that, when suspended, the blunt end of the acorn, where the cup was, is upwards. Hang it thus prepared in the inside of a bottle, or hyacinth glass, containing a little water, taking care that the acorn does not reach the water within an inch; wrap the bottle all over in flannel, so as to keep it dark and warm, and put it in a warm place. In three or four weeks the acorn will have swollen, its coat will have burst, and a little white point will make its appearance at the end opposite the water. This point is the root; the acorn is now changing its nature and becoming an oak: still, however, it must be stationed in the dark, still it must be kept clear of the water, and so it must continue till the young root is at least half an inch long. Then the water may be allowed to rise higher; but it is only when from the neck of the root a little point begins to turn upwards that it is safe to allow the water to touch it. At that time the acorn has ceased to be an acorn, and has really become a young oak; for the little point directing itself upwards is the beginning of that trunk which a century later may form the timber of a frigate. As soon as this young stem begins to shoot, the oak will require light, a little every day; and it also yearns for more food, so that its root, which is, in reality, its mouth, must be allowed to touch the water, and to drink it. After these events have come to pass, the little creature breathes, and must have air; digests, and must have light; sucks greedily, and must have fresh water given to its root, which, however, should never be permitted to be wholly covered; just that point where the stem begins should always be kept out of the

water. The pet having been brought to this its first state of existence, must be put in the window. At first it will be a stout thread, whitish, and covered with tiny scales; then the scales will expand a little, and the end will become greener. Next will appear some little leaves; hair will begin to grow, veins will branch; the old scales will fall off, and by slow degrees the leaves will arrange themselves upon the stem, each unfolding from the bosom of the other. And thus, out of a little starch and gum, for the acorn was not much more, manifold parts will be curiously produced by the wonderful creative powers of nature.-Gardeners' Chronicle.

EXTRACTS FROM NEWSPAPERS, &c.

PAYMENT OF WAGES EARLY IN THE WEEK.-We have been favoured by the Secretary of the East Devon and Honiton Lord's Day Society with several documents, in which the benefits resulting from a payment of wages early in the week, both as regards Sabbath observance, the domestic happiness and the individual advancement in moral and Christian improvement among the workpeople, are fully laid down. The subject is one which involves highly important moral and religious considerations; and, although the laudable exertions of respectable and influential bodies, and the powerful tone of Christian feeling throughout the country, have done much to lessen the enormities of Sunday travelling practised in former years, yet a vast deal remains to be accomplished ere those individuals, debarred by its continuance from the highest and holiest enjoyments which the day of rest affords, can be emancipated from the thraldom of the business of the world on the one day in seven set apart for rest.

BOOK SHELVES.-To give some idea of the extent of the new portion of the library of the British Museum, it has, as a point of useful information, or perhaps also as a matter of curiosity, been ascertained that the whole length of the shelves, which hold 260,000 volumes, was 42,240 feet, or eight miles. The length of the shelves in the library at Munich, containing 500,000 volumes, taking the same proportion, will be fifteen miles and twofifths. The King's library in Paris of 650,000 volumes, must, by the same calculation, have not less than twenty miles of shelf!

A friend lately visited one of my schools, where we teach English,-for having first produced an identity of religion, we try to produce an identity of language, and he asked a boy why he had left the Catholic Church? "I did not leave it," said the boy. "How is that?" inquired the gentleman. "I did not leave the Catholic Church, I left the Roman Church." Why, what is the difference?" "A very great difference," replied the boy. "In the first place, one Church has its services in a tongue that I don't understand, and the other in one which I do; in the next place, the head of the Roman Church lives in Italy, and is called the Pope; but the head of the Catholic Church lives in heaven, and is the Lord Jesus Christ." -London Paper.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have received the communications of E. A.: Rev. T. Farley ; X. Y. Z. M. W.; L. S. R.: and some anonymous correspondents.