Evening and morn hast thou watch'd the bee The bee for herself hath gather'd and toil'd, Hast thou gone with the traveller Thought afar, There are teachings on earth, and sky, and air, WHEN gathering clouds around I view, When vexing thoughts within me rise, When mourning o'er some stone I bend, Thou, Saviour, mark'st the tears I shed, WHO LOVES ME BEST? WHO loves me best ?-my mother sweet, Who loves me best ?-my father dear, Who from the bank where the sunbeam lies, Who loves me best ?-the gentle dove Whose soft coo soundeth when I come near; Yet perhaps it loves me because I bring Who loves me best ?-my brother young, My mother loves me,-but she may die; Mary Ann Brown. A QUAINT SERMON. MR. DODD was a minister who lived many years ago, a few miles from Cambridge; and having several times been preaching against drunkenness, some of the Cambridge scholars, (conscience, which is sharper than ten thousand witnesses, being their monitor) were very much offended, and thought he made reflections on them. Some little time after, Mr. Dodd was walking towards Cambridge, and met some of the gownsmen, who, as soon as they saw him at a distance, resolved to make some ridicule of him. As soon as he came up, they accosted him with "Your servant, sir!" He replied, "Your servant, gentlemen." They asked him if he had not been preaching very much against drunkenness of late? He answered in the affirmative. They then told him they had a favour to beg of him, and it was that he would preach a sermon to them there, from a text they should choose. He argued that it was an imposition, for a man ought to have some consideration before preaching. They said they would not put up with a denial, and insisted on his preaching immediately (in a hollow tree which stood by the road-side) from the word Malt. He then began, Beloved, let me crave your attention. I am a little man-come at a short notice-to preach a short sermon-from a short text-to a thin congregation-in an unworthy pulpit. Beloved, my text is Malt. I cannot divide it into sentences, there being none; nor into words, there being but one; I must therefore, of necessity, divide it into letters, which I find in my text to be these four -M, A, L, T. M is moral. A is allegorical. L is literal. T is theological. The moral is to teach you, rustics, good manners therefore M, my masters, A, all of you, L, leave off, T, tippling. The allegorical is when one thing is spoken of, and another meant. The thing spoken of is Malt. The thing meant is the spirit of Malt which you rustics make M, your meat, A, your apparel, L, your liberty, and T, your trust. The literal is according to the letters. M, much, A, ale, L, little, T, trust. The theological is according to the effects it works, in some, M, murder, in others, A, adultery, in all, L, looseness of life, and in many, T, treachery. I shall conclude the subject, first, by way of exhortation. M, my masters, A, all of you, L, listen, T, to my text. Second, by way of caution. M, my masters, A, all of you, L, look for, T, the truth. Third, by way of communicating the truth, which is this :-A drunkard is the annoyance of modesty; the spoil of civility; the destruction of reason; the robber's agent; the alehouse's benefactor; his wife's sorrow; his children's trouble; his own shame; his neighbour's scoff; a walking swill-bowl; the picture of a beast; the monster of a man!"-Penny Magazine, 1832. FAIR PLAY. A NOBLEMAN, resident at a castle in Italy, was about to celebrate his marriage feast. All the elements were propitious except the ocean, which had been so boisterous as to deny the very necessary appendage of fish. On the very morning of the feast, however, a poor fisherman made his appearance with a turbot so large that it seemed to have been created for the occasion. Joy pervaded the castle, and the fisherman was ushered with his prize into the saloon, where the nobleman, in the presence of his visitors, requested him to put what price he thought proper on the fish, and it should be instantly paid him. "One hundred lashes," said the fisherman, “ on my bare back, is the price of my fish, and I will not bate one strand of whipcord on the bargain." The nobleman and his guests were not a little astonished; but our chapman was resolute, and remonstrance was in vain. At length the nobleman exclaimed, "Well, well; the fellow is a humourist, and the fish we must have; but lay on lightly, and let the price be paid in our presence.' After fifty lashes had been administered, "Hold, hold!" exclaimed the fisherman; "I have a partner in this business, and it is fitting that he should receive his share. "What! are there two such madcaps in the world ?” exclaimed the nobleman. "Name him, and he shall be sent for instantly." "You need not go far for him," said the fisherman; "you will find him at your gate in the shape of your porter, who would not let me in until I promised that he should have the half of whatever I received for my turbot." "Oh, oh," said the nobleman, “bring him in instantly; he shall receive his stipulated moiety with the strictest justice." This ceremony being finished, he discharged the porter, and amply rewarded the fisherman. ARROGANCE. THE petty sovereign of an insignificant tribe in North America every morning stalks out of his hovel, bids the sun good morrow, and points out to him with his finger the course he is to take for the day. THE Chinese affect to despise European ingenuity; but they cannot mend a common watch; when it is out of order, they say it is dead, and barter it away for a living one. |