me upon earth, and "King of Terrors." and the "hated one, " and "the feared one; when clinging to fleshly things and men's, vanities, they would not have me interrupt them, but "friend," and "dear one," and "welcome one," when to the heart pining after its own true home, and the heavenly Jerusalem, and the city, whose maker and builder is Gov, I come to break the bonds of earth, that keep them here with thee.

Life. What causeth this? Why art thou thus feared by some, and withal loved by others?

Death. SIN. My sting is sin. Get sin within thee; love the world; live for the world; hoard up money; get lands and riches; count up thy gains; build barns into which thou canst put thy goods, and then build greater; call lands after thine own name, and leave thy substance for thy babes; say to thy soul; 'soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, eat, drink, and be merry"— And then I come and gnaw upon thee, and hell openeth her pit for thee, and when thou lookest down deep into it, thou shrinkest back, for that which is beyond me, the land to which I convey thee, is a fearful land indeed.

But hate the world, O Life, and love GOD; live, for GOD; His poor His Church; have thy true end, Eternity, ever before thee; struggle against thyself; beat down rising sins, and fightings of the flesh; pray always; seek the Sanctuary; be with the LORD where He may be found-upon His Altar, where He loves to come to thee, and pour himself into Thee, and be one with theethis-and my sting is gone, and thou wilt love me then, and seek for me, that I may be; not thy enemy, and thy conqueror; but thy peace, and thy joy, and thy crown.

-do

Life. Who art thou then that thus bearest a double face ?

Death. The only one, who rightly serves two masters. Satan's servant am I, when my sting is fixed within thy soul; and fool-like thou fliest hither and thither seeking for thyself-but God's servant am 1, when through One who came to me for three short days, to conquer me, thou drawest out my sting, and hating thyself, lovest GOD. I am the Reaper that gathers in the harvest. A fearful crop I bring of tares, to bind them up in bundles, where my sting abides; but where He,

who once was as thyself, has taught thee how to cure my wounds-then out of thee I gather a joyful harvest of good wheat, and lay them up in that great Master's granary: for whom I come.

Life. And when thou hast done thy work, what then?

Death. Then I give place to Him, and there will be the end.

Life. And when shall this end be? Death. We know not. ONE only knoweth; but meanwhile, take thy place, and I mine. Arrange thy ranks, and I mine. One more of Time's cycles comes round again for our warfare. Let us fight.

Life. Yes, I shall bring in many for the war this coming year.

Death. And I shall carry many out. Life. Thou canst not count them. How many thousands shall be born, and all be mine.

Deuth. How many thousands shall pine away and die, and all be mine.

Life. But spare the young-the beautiful-the brave. Spare the tender ones; the gentle and the good.

Death. I take them to a better home than thou canst give them.

Life. O, spare the young mother and her tender babe.

Death. They are taken from some evil to come. Thou knowest not, thou never wilt know; but 'tis GOD's mercy, not His wrath.

Life. Spare them this year.

Death. Let them trust in GoD, and be holy. Let them put on their wedding garments, and wait at the door. Let them buy oil for their lamps, and have them burning. Let them set a watch against the thief that cometh by night, and keep awake. Let them be very busy in their work against my "Sting;" without which I am harmless to injure; drawing it out, purging its wound, and healing it. IIow to do this they know, for One has told them. If they do not know, let them learn.

Ah, Life! Beautiful and glorious wert thou made-long before me. Thou first, and I never, hadst thou not forgotten thy GOD. I am thy enemy by thy nature; but thy friend by Grace. Thy conqueror if thou be against GOD; thy conquered one if thou lovest CHRIST. I come but once to take thee, and I take thee to thy rest. Thou passest through by me the

The Element doth then remain,
Or else must needs ensue,

St. Austin's words be nothing plain,
And cannot be found true.

For if "the Word," as he doth say,
"Come to the element,"

Then th' element is not away,
But bides there verament.

Yet who doth eat that lively food,
And hath a perfect faith,
Receiveth JESUS' flesh and blood,
For CHRIST himself so saith.

Not with our teeth His flesh to tear,
Nor take blood for our drink;
Too great absurdity it were
So grossly for to think:

For we must eat Him spiritually,

If we be spiritual;

And whoso eats Him carnally,
Thereby shall have a fall.

For He is now a spiritual meat,

And faithfully we must

That spiritual meat right spiritually eat,
And leave our carnal lust.

Thus by the spirit, I spiritually
Believe, say what men list;
No other transubstantiation I
Believe of th' Eucharist :

But that there is both bread and wine,
Which we see with our eye;
Yet CHRIST is there by power divine,
To those that spiritually

Do eat that bread and drink that cup:
But some esteem it light,

As Judas did, which eat that sop,
Not judging it aright.

For I was taught, not long agone,
I should lean to the Spirit;
And let the carnal flesh alone,
For it doth not profit.

GOD save him, that me thus taught,
For I thereby did win

To put from me that carnal thought,
That I before was in.

For I believe CHRIST Corporally
In heaven doth keep His place,
And yet CHRIST sacramentally
Is here with us by grace.

So that in this high mystery
We must eat spiritual meat,
To keep His death in memory,
Lest we should it forget.

This do I say, this have I said,
This saying say will I;

This saying, though I once denied,

I will no more to die.

SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

No. III.

THE BAT.

THIS strange animal appears to be a connecting link between quadrupeds and birds, and of all the numerous race of creatures which suckle their young, is the only one which also possesses the power of flight.

There are but few varieties of the bat tribe, and amongst those which inhabit England the differences are very slight. The distinctive features of the whole race consist in their erect sharp-pointed teeth placed near together, and the elongated bones of the fore feet, which are connected by a most delicate membrane or skin, of so fine a texture as to be capable of being folded into the smallest space when the animal is at rest, or of being stretched out to a great extent when it is in its flight. The bats of the southern climates are of a great size, but those in Great Britain are small.

The common bat of England is about the size of a small mouse; but when extended, the wings measure nine inches from tip to tip. The ears are short and erect like those of a mouse, and have an inner valve: the eyes are very minute; the body is covered with short fur of a reddish mouse-colour.

The females make no nest for their young, but content themselves with any hole in an old wall, or cavern, or hollow tree. There she suspends herself by the claw of one of her fore feet-her two young ones hanging to her: when forced by hunger to go in search of food, she detaches the little ones and suspends them to the side of the hole, where they remain patiently until her return. Instances,

however, have been known of females being caught flying with their young ones clinging to them in the act of sucking; and when weighed there was but little difference between the mother and her young.

Bats are capable of being tamed to a certain degree; and White tells of one which would eat flies out of a person's hand. "If," he says, "you gave it any thing to eat, it brought its wings round before its mouth-hovering and hiding its head in the manner of birds of prey when they feed."

This bat seemed to prefer insects, although it did not refuse raw flesh if it was offered to him.

Professor Bell also mentions a longeared bat which fed from the hand, and would even settle on its master's cheek and take a fly from his lips. The little creature was so accustomed to this, that it would could come to its master's lips whenever he made a buzzing noise. When it went to sleep in the day time and during the long winter, it would fold its beautiful ears under its wing.

Bats are never seen in daylight unless they have by some accident been dislodged from their hiding places; but on the fine summer evenings they come out in search of their prey, and may be seen wheeling in large circles in their noiseless, rapid flight, catching the gnats, flies, and moths which come out at the same time. They always reject the wings of flies and moths, and shear them off with the greatest skill. In some old buildings known to be inhabited by these curious little creatures, the floor in the morning is found strewed with the wings of moths, which are cut clean off without losing a particle of the delicate scales, or powder, with which they are covered.

In this country, when bats feed entirely on insects, they remain in a torpid state during the winter months, when they can no longer find their means of sustenance.

All this time they are suspended in some place, such as old ruins, caverns, &c. such as they choose for their daily resting places in summer. Here they remain hanging by one claw, whilst the other wing is folded round their body, without food or motion; most of the animal functions being suspended, and the action of the heart and the respiration scarcely perceptible.

Any person who has seen a bat in a room, will have noticed that they never fly against the windows as birds do, but always avoid every obstacle. Many experiments have been tried to discover what sense is exerted to guide them so peculiarly. It is certainly not the sight, for when blinded they fly without ever striking against the walls, or touching any thing. It is most probable that they have some additional power of hearing, or some extreme sensitiveness in the region of the ears; as in one experiment, when the ears of the blinded bats were closed, they flew against the sides of the room.

In

There are two well-authenticated accounts of bats having been fond alive in old timber-in one case in a large wild cherry tree, which was being split for rail posts; in the other, a pear tree. both instances, the bats were of a scarlet colour, and the wood had been quite closed over them. On exposure, they unfolded their wings and flew away.

The bats of the Southern countries are, as has been said, of a great size: the principal of these is the great bat of Madagascar. When the wings are extended, it measures four feet in breadth, and the body is one foot long, from the tip of the nose to the tail. They are found along the coasts of Africa, in Java, and all over the East Indies. Those of South America do not differ very much from them; and the name Vampire appears to be by some authors applied indiscriminately to all. From their propensity to suck blood, not only from animals, but from men, they are held in great aversion. They also feed on the juices of plants. It is said, that whilst sucking the blood from some unconscious sleeper, they fan their enormous wings in such a way as to render his sleep all the sounder. In attacking horses, cows, and such animals, they make a bite, not larger than that of a leech, in the ear.

Captain Stedman, whilst sleeping in the

open air in Surinam. awoke early in the morning, and found himself weltering in blood, though suffering no pain. He ran to a surgeon. and a small wound in the tip of the great toe was discovered. These large bats appear to have given the idea of harpies to the ancients. They always fly, like bees, in swarms, and settle on the boughs of trees, as an old writer tells us, "they hang to the bougl:s of trees near Suriat, in the East Indies, in such vast clusters as would surprise a man to see; and the noise and squealing they make is so intolerable, that 'twere a good deed to bring two or three pieces of ordnance and scour the trees, that the country might be rid of such a plague as they are to it." Bats were condemned as unclean by the Levitical law, being classed thus-" The stork, the heron after her kind, the lapwing and the bat." (Leviticus x1. 19.) Isaiah also speaks of this animal when picturing the exceeding glory and power of the LORD, and exhorting men to put away their idols and worship Him. "In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles, and to the bats." (Isaiah ii. 20.) The figure of the bat is used in ecclesiastical ornament, and is frequently found in ancient carving, especially under stalls; perhaps, because as says Sylvanus Morgan, in his Sphere of Gentry, "The batt may signifie men of quick and secret execution."

From the equivocal appearance of the bat, and his mysterious mode of life, it is not wonderful that in olden times it should have been looked upon with superstitious dread, especially as it was one of the animals used by sorcerers in their unhallowed incantations. Thus as we find Shakspere's witches putting it into their terrible cauldron

"toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog." Certainly, there is nothing very terrible in the little creatures of this race which inhabit our land, and they have their appointed place and work, like everything else in this wonderful world.

Abundance is a trouble-Want a misery-Honour a burden-Baseness a scorn-Advancement dangerousDisgrace odious. Only a competent estate yields the quiet of Content. I will not climb lest I fall; nor lie on the ground lest I be trod on. I am safest while my legs bear me.

Many of the pleasures of memory are but the pains of the past spiritualized.-Coleridge.

MARTHA AND HER CLOCK. (From the German of Theodor Storm.)

DURING the last years of my school life, I lived in a little house in the town, the sole occupant of which was an old woman- the last remnant of a large family of brothers and sisters Her parents aud two brothers were dead; her sisters-all excepting the youngest, who had married a doctor residing in the same town-bad followed their husbands to a distant part of the country. Thus Martha remained alone in her paternal home, and managed to earn a small subsistence by letting what had once been the family home.

If

She complained little, for she had scarcely any wants the consequence of the early training her father had given to all his children, as much from principle as on account of his limited circumstances. Martha had, however, only received an usual school education, she had used the lonely hours of her later life in reflecting; and that, joined to the natural seriousness of her disposition and a good understanding, had made her, at the time I was acquainted with her, a highly cultivated woman- -that is to say, for her station in life.

It is true she did not always speak grammatically, although she read a great deal, and with attention. What pleased her most was history or poetry. She knew how to form a right judgment of what she read. and, what so few succeeded in doing, could distinguish the good from the bad. Morik's "Maler Nolten," which appeared at that time, made a great impression on her, and she read it several times, first entirely through, then her favourite passages. The characters the poet depicted became to her living, self-acting beings, who were no longer confined within the rules of poetry; and she would think for hours how the fate of so many human beings might have been averted.

Martha was never oppressed with ennui in her solitude, but she felt her life was objectless; she needed some one to work and care for. This want of nearer ties caused her to do kind actions towards her lodgers; and I, too, have experienced many friendly attentions from her. Flowers were her friends, and her partiality for simple white ones, was a sign of her

unassuming spirit. It was always her first holiday in the year when her sister's children brought her the first snowdrop and March violet from their garden. At such times, a little porcelain basket was brought from a cupboard, and the flowers ornamented the little room for weeks under her care. Martha saw but few people since her parents' death, and spent the long winter evenings almost always alone; but a quick, lively fancy, which was quite peculiar to her, endowed the objects around her with a sort of life. She gave individuality to the old furniture, which was thus enabled to converse as it were with her, and although it was a silent communication, it was so much the more felt and understood.

Her spinning wheel, her carved brown arm chair, were strange things, which often had the most peculiar caprices; but most peculiar of all, was the old-fashioned table clock her father had given her fifty years before, and which he had then bought at a pawnbroker's shop in Amsterdam as an old-fashioned article.

It did look very strange: two mermaids, cut in tin, and painted, rested their long, hairy heads on either side of the yellow dial plate; their scaly bodies which had once been gilt, encircling it at the bottom -the hands were like scorpion's tails. Probably the machinery was worn out by long use; for the tick of the pendulum was hard and uneven, and the weights sometimes fell several inches at a time. clock was its mistress's most eloquent companion-it was mixed up in all her thoughts. If Martha brooded over her solitude the pendulum went tic, tac! tic, tac! louder and louder, till she could sit still no longer.

This

The sun burnt brightly through the window panes, the pinks smelt sweetly, and the swallows flew twittering through the air. The world was so joyous all around, how could she but be joyful, too? But the clock had its own notions-it was old, and did not trouble itself about the modern time-so when it ought to strike twelve it often struck six, and at other times it would not leave off striking till Martha held the chain. The most remarkable thing was, that it sometimes could not strike at all, and only a rattling and buzzing was beard amongst the wheels, but the hammer made no sound. This

Отно, a landowner, spake thus one day to his neighbour Gotthold-"I have for many years observed thy life and ways; but one thing appears to me, above all, excellent, and, at the same time, strange. Although thy fortune has often changed wonderfully, and many and various sorrows and troubles have fallen upon thee and upon thy house, still thou remainest cheerful and tranquil in thy countenance, thy words, and thy behaviour in evil as in good days. Teach me how thou art able to do this."

Then answered Gotthold-"That is told in few words. My own calling and daily labour teaches it to me. See, I have learnt to look upon myself and my life as a cultivated field."

At these words, Otho looked at Gotthold as though he did not understand him, and he continued "Behold, my brother, if sorrow comes upon me I think of the plough and the harrow which break up the ground to destroy the weeds and enable the seeds of corn to take root. Then I seek for the barren spot within my breast, and for the weed which dwells within me. The one must be destroyed, and the other must be cultivated, in order that fruit may grow and thrive. Sometimes also I look upon my trouble as upon a storm which approaches all black and threatening, but brings rain and cools the air, and I think 'when it is over the sun will shine again.' See, thus do I look upon myself and my life as a cultivated land. But ought the land to say to the husband, 'What doest thou ?'”

Then said the other-"Thou speakest to me of the fruits instead of the root. Tell me how didst thou get such a mind of such thoughts ?"