And there dear little children dwell
Who've been through Christ forgiven,
Like pure and holy spirits blest
Within this happy heaven.

But if you wish to reach this place,
You must at once begin

To pray to God to give you grace
To conquer ev'ry sin.

E. G.

SOME MORE ACCOUNT OF THE NEW SOCIETY FOR
BENEFITING THE POOR.

"A LARGE body of gentlemen have been recently aroused to a sense of the necessity of making more efforts to better the condition of the labouring classes. They have desired that the sphere and operations of the Labourer's Friend Society should be extended and strengthened. They have wished that after having, for several years, suggested and recommended various plans for bettering the condition of the poor, the Society should now be enlarged and its funds augmented, so as to allow of its undertaking some of these improvements on its own responsibility.

"Three modes of effecting great benefits for the working classes have been particularly pointed out. These are:

"I. By endeavouring to introduce the Allotment System into some parish in the neighbourhood of London, to such an extent as materially to reduce, if not entirely to remove, the pauperism heretofore existing in the place; and having so done, to invite the personal inspection of the results of their operations, by that great mass of landed proprietors who are in the habit of spending some part of every spring in London. It may be hoped, that by thus offering to the public the fruits of actual experiment, more may be done to convince the landed gentry of England of the practicability and benefits of the system, than by many years of mere discussion and correspondence.

"II. By raising, either in the metropolis or near it, a planned dwelling, or cottages, for a certain number of poor families; so contrived as to unite comfort with economy. There is reason to believe that the poor of London are now paying a rental of one million per annum, over and above the actual value of the wretched dwellings they inhabit. The best way of acting upon this grievance will be, by showing how accommodation can be provided, for a rent of 2s. or 3s. per week, of a superior kind to that for which 4s. or 5s., or even 6s. per week, is frequently exacted at present; the intent of so operating in or near London being chiefly that the landed proprietors of the whole kingdom, during their residence in the metropolis, may be enabled to observe and take advantage of all such experiments in house or cottage improvement.

"III. One other point is that of well-conducted LOAN FUNDS. These, in Ireland, under judicious management, have proved most beneficial. It will be an especial object with the new society to discover the means of applying a similar system to the wants of the industrious poor of England."

THE SWIFTS.

The glad swifts in their buoyant and towering flight,
Soared aloft in a glorious path-way of light,
While they uttered their shrill and re-echoing cry,
As they bathed in the glow of the sun-setting sky,
Their soft feathers gleamed bright as they rapidly past,
High above all the shadows the dark earth can cast;
With no wind to disturb them, no clouds to annoy,
They quivered their wings in exuberant joy.

And 'tis thus to the Christian some moments are given,
When he soars and he sings in the full light of heaven;
But the night will succeed, he must sink to the earth,
And await 'mid the darkness a heavenly birth.

And then Death too will hide him awhile from the sight,
But his spirit shall soar to the fountain of light,
Whence all shadows and darkness have vanished away,
There, unwearied, to sing through perpetual day!
Sept. 1829.

C. W. P.

EXTRACTS FROM PUBLIC NEWSPAPERS.

FORCE OF CONSCIENCE.-A few days ago a merchant of Perth, retired from business some years, was waited upon by one of his old apprentices. The young man was received with marked kindness, and, on taking leave, seemed greatly embarrassed, but plucking up courage he said, “ Mr. I do not well know what to say-I am in your debt." "In my debt?" was the answer; "I do not know how that can be, I am not aware of it." "I know you are not," resumed the young man ; "but the fact is, when in your employ I was, like many other young men, foolish and wicked, and appropriated what was not mine to myself. My chief object to-day in calling was to confess, and make what restitution I was able. My conscience has often accused me since." Saying which, he laid down before the astonished gentleman several pounds, adding, "That is all I am able to give at present, but I will soon repay you the whole." He then took his leave, saying, "That he felt much easier in being so much of an honest man."-Glasgow paper.

ANCIENT SEEDS.-In the garden of Mr. W. Grimstone, of the Herbary, Highgate, is now to be seen a pea plant in full bearing, which is remarkably illustrative of the great length of time the principle of life can continue in seeds. This plant was produced from one of three peas presented to the above gentleman by Mr. J. T. Pettigrew, surgeon, of Saville-row, having been taken by the latter and the authorities at the British Museum from one of the vases recently extracted from an Egyptian stone coffin; and where, according to accurate reckoning, the vases with their contents must have remained for no less a period than two thousand eight hundred and forty-four years. The vases contained a large quantity of dust, supposed to be the remains of a number of grains of wheat, vetch, and peas. Some of the grains of wheat have been sown and found productive, but the vetch peas have not grown; the other pea, resembling the British kitchen pea, has in the above instance been tried effectually. The three peas were placed by Mr. Grimstone's gardener in a hot-bed, and watched with great care. After some time, one only was found to sprout; it gradually increased in height, growing like a sprout, and finally burst forth a beautiful white bloom, with green stripes, having only four petals (an English pea having five); at the end of each are three singular fangs. Each flower was of a bell-shape, something like a convolvulus, but not so large, from the centre of which the pods have shot forth, and are now nineteen in number, and fit to gather, and they are in shape something between our marrowfat and scimitar peas. They have, of course, not been tried, but it is believed they are suitable for kitchen purposes, judging from the blossoms having been white. Mr. Pettigrew and several eminent botanists, scientific and other gentlemen, have seen this wonderful production of nature, and take great interest in it.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have received the communications of E. A.; L. S. P.; A Layman; J. C. G.; P.; W. A. Shippard; and some anonymous correspondents.

1 Kings xix. 9. "What doest thou here, Elijah?”

WHO is there that does not feel for the Holy Prophet, when faint and weary, oppressed by bodily fatigue and sorrow of heart, he lay down under the juniper-tree and requested that he might die? "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."

We can sympathize in the Holy Prophet's feeling, for most of us have, at some time or other, felt the same sickness and sorrow of heart, and the same impatience of continued suffering-but few, if any, of us have had the same cause for our sorrow, or the same excuse for our impatience. Elijah sorrowed for the sin of his peoplehis burthen was the weight of national guilt: "The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to

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take it away." For many long years Elijah had warned this rebellious nation-he had worked miracles, in the name of the God of their fathers, to convince them, and miracles to punish them-he had seen the long-suffering of God towards them, and he had seen, too, the hardness and impenitence of their hearts-he had just been the minister of God's wrath in the slaughter of the idolatrous prophets of Baal, and he now found the only result of that awful manifestation of God's power and justice was, that they sought to take his life also. A feeling of despair, mixed with holy indignation, appears to have taken possession of the Prophet at this last proof of their obduracy; and he exclaims, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." By his fathers he probably meant the prophets who had gone before him, and who had already been slain by the wicked hands of this rebellious nation.

Let us pause here a moment, and ask ourselves whether we have never uttered this impatient cry, or something very like it? And under what circumstances have we thus given way to despair? It may have been a fit of pain, or perhaps some temporal loss, or some other still more trifling disappointment. I have heard such a wish. thoughtlessly expressed by the sick man, unnerved by pain, and wearied by a night of sleepless watching, and have hoped that the impatient prayer would be forgiven, in consideration of bodily weakness and suffering; but I have, at other times, heard it from the lips of those who had blessings heaped upon them, and mercies strewed around them, but the loss of some long-cherished hope, the disappointment of some favourite scheme, has been sufficient to make them forget all the loving-kindness of the Lord and his abundant mercies, and they cry out, "It is enough; take away my life." This feeling, chastened and softened as it was in the case of the prophet Elijah, was yet checked and reproved by God. Will it, think you, be overlooked in our case, when no such excuse can be offered? What was the answer of God to Elijah?"What doest thou here?" Is the wickedness of my people, or the danger of your own life, a reason for shrinking from the service of your God? Hide not thyself