was summoned before the king. He told Belshazzar, with all the bold integrity of truth and holiness, that God's displeasure was roused against him, because of his pride and impiety, and that he had given his kingdom to the Medes and Persians. The Bible says that in that night was Belshazzar slain, and Darius the Median took the kingdom. What! those stupendous walls overthrown, those strong gates broken open! You would think that after the fearful sentence just pronounced all feasting would have concluded: but no; with all the selfdelusion of which man is capable, the Babylonians imagined that this threatened calamity would not yet happen, and continued their ill-timed merriment.

Cyrus the Persian, and Darius the Mede, were besieging the city at this time, and long would its mighty bulwarks have disappointed their efforts, if God had not doomed it to destruction. Amidst the confusion and mirth of the festival, some of the gates had been left open and unguarded: Cyrus and his army entered without meeting resistance, marched to the palace, and there put the king to death.

At this day none can ascertain with certainty the site of this great Babylon.

HINTS ON COTTAGE ECONOMY.

E. G.

He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread; but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.-PROVERBS xxviii. 19. Close economy is the very life and existence of a poor man's comforts. Without it he will run in arrear with every one with whom he deals; starvation will stare him in the face; the wretchedness of his wife and children will drive him, in despair, to the beer-shop; and that, finally, as a drunkard, a pilferer, and a poacher, to the workhouse; whereas, if on the Saturday night he finds that by good management he has made both ends meet without running into debt, he will have the heartfelt satisfaction of providing bread for his children, and perhaps for a worn-out parent, who fed him while he was himself yet more helpless; he will shun the profligate associates of the pot-house; he will cling to his humble home, and look forward with satisfaction to his evening

meal; his family will be happy, and himself respected in his station; and if, at the close of the week, he can lay by a sixpence, he will, by pursuing the same plan, acquire habits of careful industry, which will at length render him, to a certain degree, independent. It can, however, only be done by his having at least a week's wages beforehand, so as to enable his wife to buy every thing for ready money, without having a score at the shop. He should, therefore, pinch and screw the family, even in the commonest necessaries, until he gets it; for if in debt to the shopkeeper, he will pay for every thing at the highest price, and of the worst quality. Neither can it be done unless, besides being of industrious habits, he is a good workman; for low as wages now are, yet such is the present competition for employment, that it is to be feared no labourer who is not a superior workman can look for more than a mere subsistence; and although the price of labour may be higher in many of the mining and manufacturing than in the purely agricultural districts, there is often in such places a corresponding increase in the cost of the necessaries of life, which deprives the workman of any additional benefit. He should toil early and late to make himself perfect in ploughing, ditching, draining, and every farming practice which he may be called upon to execute. He will, then, not only have constant employment at the highest wages, but also frequent profitable jobs at task-work; and if known to be a trustworthy, intelligent fellow, he may look forward to become the bailiff of the farm with the prospect of one day renting land for himself. This, to be sure, is the work of time, for a good character cannot be acquired in a moment; but farmers and land-agents are not unobservant of the habits and qualities of those employed under them, and will ever prefer a man on whom they know that dependence can be placed. If the poor man does this on his part, there can be no doubt that the rich will do theirs. They are the natural guardians of the poor, and they cannot but discover their own advantage in the conviction, that whatever is calculated to improve the health will add to the strength of the labourers who work for them, and thus increase the per

manent welfare of the whole body. Every landowner and farmer has it more or less in his own power to contribute to the comforts of the peasantry, and to enable them, by honest industry, to guard themselves from the humiliating prospect of parish relief. Their attention to it tends to foster a kindly feeling between man and man in the different ranks of society, and to encourage in the poor man's breast that wholesome sense of independence, without which he must feel himself degraded in the scale of creation. It can be done by good-natured advice, and occasional assistance, even without any advance of wages. A small loan of money, to be gradually repaid out of the weekly wages, will go far to put an end to that system of credit which renders him dependent on the village shopkeeper. The adoption of money payments, instead of allowances in beer, would also be desirable; and, in short, the farmer who stretches forth a helping hand in aid of a sober, industrious servant, will reap his reward not only in his own sense of benevolence, but also in the increased attention of the labourer.

If it be the husband's business to bring home money, it is the business of the wife to see that none of his earnings go foolishly out of it. To attach a man to his home it is necessary that home should have attractions; and if his wife is a slattern, every thing will go wrong; but if she be industrious, thrifty, and good-tempered, cleanly in her person and her cottage, all will then go right. She will forego tea and gossip, she will put every thing in the neatest order; her little fire trimmed, and her hearth swept up for the reception of her husband on his return. from labour. Whatever may have been her cares during the day, she will meet him with a smile of welcome; the family meal will close the night in social enjoyment, and he will find as cheerful and as happy a home as if he were the lord of the manor.

In many of our inland counties, although there is a great scarcity of fuel, yet the ashes and cinders are often cast out before the cottage door. Now, instead of this waste, they should be mixed up with an equal quantity of small coal and some clay to bind them, together with water; then mix the heap into mortar, make that into bricks, and when dried in the sun, put them at the back

of the fire, where they will soon heat, and form a useful saving of coals and wood.

A plot of ground allotted as a garden around a cottage is far preferable to one placed at a distance; for the cottager's wife is equal to work, and would fain employ herself frequently in her garden, if she had it within her reach. But she cannot leave her infant in its cradle, nor the child crawling upon the floor, and requiring constant attention. She is, therefore, deprived of the means of thus assisting her husband in his labours; and even when he returns to his house, how much more pleasant will he find his cottage when surrounded by the smiling produce of their toil, than if that be not under their view !— Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.

EMIGRATION-UPPER CANADA.

WE are always much pleased to be able to give our readers some true and authentic information on this subject. The minds of many are turned to it at present, and very prudently; for when industrious men find it difficult to obtain work to maintain their families in their own country, it becomes no doubt their duty to travel to other lands, where the population is less numerous, and the means of life more abundant. If a good workman, and prudent person, can only summon resolution to emigrate, and conducts himself well, in a few years he is pretty sure to be much better off, in our best colonies, than he probably would have been had he continued at home. Our only objection arises from the want of religious teaching and the worship of the Church, in some of the colonies. This, however, we are happy to say, is now being felt and attended to at home, and something is done every year to supply churches and clergymen in Canada and elsewhere.

EXTRACT FROM THE LETTER OF AN EMIGRANT TO

TORONTO.

ACCORDING to my promise, on leaving England, I am now to give you some account, as far as in me lies, of the true state of things in this country. Embarking at Liverpool, we arrived at New York, after a favourable passage. We thence proceeded by boat up the river Hudson, to Albany; thence, by canal, to Oswego, on the south-eastern bank

of Lake Ontario, which we crossed by a steamer to the place of our destination. The whole distance from New York to Toronto is about 450 miles, and we were nine days on the passage.

It was late in the evening when we reached Toronto; so we took our things to the emigrants' sheds; and, on the following morning applied for relief, and obtained plenty of bread for three days. I began to look out for work, and had no difficulty in obtaining it. I hired myself one month for £4. 10s., and boarding and lodging for myself, my wife, and family. My master kept a store, or shop, where every thing is sold. He did not act honestly by me. When my time was up, he brought me in debt 11s. on purpose to set me fast, so I left him. But there are not many such. There is plenty of work, and regular payment for it, and good masters; because no one would work for them, if they did not use them well. Provisions are very plentiful among the farmers, who think much of their servants, and sit down at table with them, as is the custom throughout this country. Here they have only (!) three meals a day; and at every meal both tea and coffee, and a variety of other dishes, such as pies and tarts, shortcakes, and two or three different sorts of meat, &c. A travelling man wants no money; for you may always get plenty to eat and drink, and a night's lodging, if you wish it. This I have proved myself. I saw no beggars. A great deal of business is done without money, such as labourers working farms on the halves,-mowing grass, cutting up corn into sheaves, &c. on the halves, i. e. the labourer gets half the produce for his hire. The tanner tans the hides on the halves, that is, takes in the green hide, and dries one half. The same by the wool, except with those who card and spin their own, which most of them do. The business of a shoemaker is very good. The leather is not so good as at home. There is very little stitching in them, as they are all tacked together. I rode in a waggon with a shoemaker, who told me that twelve years since, he arrived in Toronto, with 15s., and two sons, and that he had lately been offered 15000 dollars (about £3250) for his property. Tailors, smiths, carpenters, and wheelwrights,