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The lawyer's eyes were both bunged up, so that he could not see his client's brief; and the doctor's nerves were so unsteady, that he could not discern whether his patient's pulse was 60 or 199.-Rev. G. S. Bull.

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ANECDOTE.

ARE YOU QUITE SURE?

is fulness of joy; where reigns heavenly, sweet, calm, delightful love, without alloy; where there are continually the dearest expressions of this love; where there is the enjoyment of this love without parting; and where those persons, who appear so lovely in this world, will be inexpressibly more lovely and full of love to us. How sweetly will those who thus mutually love, join together in singing the praises of God and the Lamb. How full will it fili us with joy, to think that this enjoyment, these sweet exercises, will never cease or come to an end, but will last to all eternity. Remember, after journeys, removals, overturnings, and alterations, in the state of my life, to reflect and consider, whether therein I have managed the best way possible respecting my soul; and before such alterations, if foreseen, to resolve how to act.President Edwards.

IMITATION.

AN officer in Uhlan's corps of cavalry, says Major Keppel, well known to the consul, was walking along the streets, when a Bulgarian woman rushed out of her house, and ran towards him, exclaiming, My dear boy! what! now that you are in a fine dress, are you ashamed of your poor mother?" Soon after, an older woman claimed him for her grandson, and the younger branches of the family hailed him as a brother. He managed to make his escape for the time; but in passing, shortly after, through the streets, he was upbraided for his unnatural conduct in disowning his relations. Thus assailed, he applied to ELIAN tells us that he had heard of a Count Diebitsch for protection. An in- law in force among the Thebans, which quiry was instituted through the medium commanded all mechanics, painters, and of the Bulgarian archbishop. The parties potters, to surpass their models, or, to were confronted; the supposed mother translate the Greek phrase literally, to called out, "If it be my son, he has a scar imitate them for the better; and, that the on the left side of his forehead." The offienactment might not be merely a dead cer's cap was removed, and, strange to say, letter for want of a sanction, a fine was the scar on the identical spot appeared. directed to be imposed upon all who The woman triumphantly exclaimed, "He should be found at any time imitating for had that scar when he was eight years old." the worse, or falling short of the excelBut here several Russian officers inter-lence of their respective patterns. Ælian, posed, and said that the officer had left St. Lib. iv. cap. 4. Petersburgh without that scar, and had received it in an affair with the enemy, before Shumla. Be not too positive, is a maxim, which this, as well as many other facts, will strikingly illustrate and enforce.

A COMMON MISTAKE.

I HAVE always, in every different state of life I have hitherto been in, thought that the troubles and difficulties of that state were greater than those of any other state I proposed to be in; and when I have altered, with assurance of mending myself, I have still thought the same; yea, that the difficulties of that state are greater than those of that I left last. Lord grant that from hence I may learn to withdraw my thoughts, affections, desires, and expectations, entirely from the world, and may fix them upon the heavenly state, where there

A law of this nature was more just in theory, than easy of execution; yet a reference to the reason and spirit of it may suggest a useful hint to all learners, whether in religious or civil knowledge; for nothing tends more to keep us below mediocrity, either in spiritual or natural attainments, than the being contented to come behind what are currently looked upon as models for imitation; for it often happens, that in strictness these repeated models fall far short of any standard of real and unquestionable excellence.

THE WONDERFUL CHANGE.

How wonderful a thing, my brethren, is the soul of man! by first creation, of kindred with the holy angels and with God; by the fall, debased in fleshly lusts and vile affections. In what danger once, through

original and actual sin; and yet, for a long | Eph. ii. 1, Col. ii. 13; and although these time, as insensible of danger, as the child expressions are the strongest which lansleeping on the edge of the precipice! guage can supply, they are not too strong Brought at length, in a mysterious way, to to describe the grand reality of what takes repent and to acquiesce in the wondrous place, when any of your souls are brought plan of salvation; made, through grace, a out of ignorance, worldliness, vanity, and true believer in the meritorious righteous- a sinful course, into penitence, faith, love ness and death of Jesus Christ, and a real to God, adoption into his family, and partaker of the glorious privileges procured the animating desire to live to his glory. for sinners by his mediation; there, ar- If any of you understand it not, it is high rived at that point, the soul, we might time ye did, "Ye must be born again," have thought, will know no more such John iii. 7.-Hambleton. strange vicissitudes; all henceforth will be uniform joy and peace; the vessel, having weathered such a storm, will sail on in smooth waters, till she reaches the wishedfor haven

But there is a conflict thus described by the apostle, Rom. vii. 22, 23: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." The

true believer is a new creature. It is through the Holy Spirit deeply convincing of sin, leading the burdened soul to Jesus Christ for pardon, and so first implanting and then nourishing true faith; it is only thus that any man with the heart believeth unto righteousness. And in this process, the Holy Spirit infuses a cordial hatred of sin, and a genuine desire after holiness; so that faith worketh by love, Gal. v. 6; the

love of Christ constraineth all who believe in him for justification, 2 Cor. v. 14.

And now, the believer has new views, new pleasures, and new pursuits. He has far other thoughts of God than once; the world's vanities have lost their charm'; he lives to a new object, even to the glory of his God and Saviour, an object which once had no place in his concern. And whence this change? Is it through his own wisdom and strength, or through man's persuasion and influence? It is, brethren, only through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. He only can have softened the heart once hard as adamant, subdued the spirit once so proud and self-willed, turned the current of the affections once following the course of this world, and have produced this grand change in the whole character and life. The scripture calls it a regeneration, and so it is, for there is a new nature, a new heart, a new spirit, and a new life. The scripture calls it an awakening from sleep, 1 Cor. xv. 34, a spiritual resurrection, Eph. v. 14, the being quickened when dead in trespasses and sins,

SOLITUDE.

MORE and greater sins are committed
themselves in fellowship.
when men are alone, than when they keep
When Eve, in
paradise, walked alone, then came the
evil one and deceived her. Whoever is
amongst men, and in honest company, is
ashamed to sin; or, at least, he has no
When
place or opportunity to do so.
king David was alone and idle, and went
not out into the wars, he fell into adultery
and murder; and, I have myself found,
that I have never fallen into more sin,
than when I was alone. Solitariness in-
viteth to melancholy; and a person alone
hath often some heavy and evil thoughts;
so hath he strange thoughts, and con-
strueth every thing in the worst sense,
by which he accomplishes his wicked pur-
Melancholy is an instrument of the devil,
poses. The deeper a person is plunged
hath over him. To live in an open, pub-
into that state, the more power the devil
lic state, is the safest.
Openly, and

amongst other persons, a man must live
civilly and honestly; must appear to fear
Luther's Table Talk.
God, and do his duty towards men.-

IMPORTANT HINTS.

HE who cannot find time to consult his Bible, will find one day that he has time to be sick; he who has no time to pray, must find time to die; he who can find no time to reflect, is most likely to find time to sin; he who cannot find time for repentance, will find an eternity, in which repentance will be of no avail.—H. More.

JOHN DAVIS, 56, Paternoster Row, London, Price 1. each, or in Monthly Parts, containing Five

Numbers in a Cover, 3d.

W TYLER, Printer, 4. Tv Lane, St. Paul's

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THE HAMSTER.

(Cricetus Vulgaris.)

THE HAMSTER.

THE little animal which we now introduce to the notice of our readers, belongs to the order rodentia, and is one of the most curious of the mammalia of Europe, but at the same time, one of the most injurious, as it regards the interests of the inhabitants of the districts in which it is found. Inoffensive in its manners, and prettily ornamented with a variety of well-disposed markings on its soft fur, it gains no admiration, but is regarded with dislike, as a despoiler of human industry. It robs the fields of their most valued produce, and that, in no stinted measure, filling its own magazines with hoards of the finest grain.

In size the hamster equals a rabbit of six weeks old; it is spread over the whole of the flat, or sandy districts, from the north-east of Germany, as far as Siberia.

VOL. III.

In Poland, Ukrane, and the adjacent parts of Russia, (an immense corn tract,) it is especially common, living in burrows of great depth, and most ingeniously constructed, having various chambers adapted, some as reservoirs for the corn, others as apartments to lodge in.

The depth to which these subterranean retreats are carried is often seven or eight feet. The passage runs obliquely downwards, till it terminates in several chambers or excavations sunk perpendicularly; one being reserved as the dormitory of the inmate, and lined at the bottom with a bed of dried herbage or grass; the others designed as granaries, to which at all times there is a ready access. In this dormitory the female brings forth and rears her young, of which she has five or six at a time; twice or thrice a year; sc that the increase of the species, were it not checked by

counterbalancing causes, would be almost illimitable, and produce dearth and famine. The hamster, however, has innumerable enemies; beasts and birds of prey attack and destroy it, and so thin its numbers, as to keep the annual increase equalized by the annual diminution. Nor is it an unimportant agent in its own destruction. The males fight desperately with each other when they meet, the weaker usually falling a sacrifice, and these contests are said to be very frequent.

In August, the hamster begins to gather in its winter stores. As in certain of the monkey-tribe, it is furnished with cheekpouches, which serve to carry the grain to the appointed reservoir; these it crams as full as possible, and returns home with its load, which it discharges by pressing the forepaws (using them in the manner of a squirrel) against the sides of the cheeks, so as to extricate the contents. The hoards thus industriously accumulated are sometimes enormous; in some instances the astonishing weight of a hundred pounds of grain has been found amassed in a single store-house. This, however, is not commonly the case; still it is always considerable, and when we reflect that this system of robbery is carried on by thousands of these animals, even in an area of moderate extent, we may form some idea of the aggregate of the loss arising from their destructive propensity. Though the hamster lays up a winter store, still it is one of those animals that hibernate, or pass the severer season in a state of lethargy. This lethargy is most probably but of short duration, or interrupted, as in the porcupine and hedgehog, by periods of reviviscence, when it rouses itself to take its food. Warned, by the increasing chillness, of the approach of the winter, it retreats to its subterranean dwelling, where it has laid up its provisions, and carefully stops up the entrance, there to wait, in tranquil repose, till the return of spring.

The length of time which intervenes between the period of its retirement and the state of lethargy into which the hamster ultimately sinks, is not ascertained; we may consider, however, that it depends much upon the temperature of the earth around it, and the depth to which the frost has penetrated. The lethargy of the hamster, during its hibernation, is complete. It reposes rolled up, on its bed of straw, its head being bent between its forelegs, and the hind ones being drawn forward to meet them; the eyes are closed, and the respiration (as in the bat and dormouse,

&c.) is suspended, while the vital heat is scarcely higher than that of the atmosphere. It awakens from this life-preserving trance early in spring, when its stores, collected the preceding autumn, are of main importance, as they are the only means of support till the season is farther advanced, and the verdure of the ground renewed.

Its colour, on the head and upper parts, is reddish-grey, verging to yellow on the face; the under parts are black, with the exception of the throat and feet, which are white; three large distinct spots of white are also disposed on each side; one on the cheeks, one on the shoulders, and one on the ribs. The fur is fine and soft, the ears are moderate and rounded, the eyes small, the nose pointed, the tail short, and covered with close hair. Besides the present animal, several species have been discovered in Siberia, and the border countries. M.

CHOLERA IN SWEDEN.

THE Rev. George Scott, of Stockholm, states the following particulars, in a letter dated September 26, 1834:

About three years ago, that fearful disease, the malignant cholera, raged in the neighbourhood of Sweden, and excited great alarm in the country; but, through the especial providence of God, this pestilence, to the astonishment of all Europe, travelled round the coast without making one attack. The gloom which before overhung the land, then gave place to this giddy people's accustomed lightness; and, instead of devoutly and gratefully acknowledging the sparing mercies of the Lord, they talked of efficient quarantine regulations, the features of the country, its rocks, and lakes, and falls, as proving impregnable barriers to the disease.

Some time after this, the cholera appeared in Norway and thus a second warning was given to this land; but its residence was too short, and the mortality too insignificant, to rouse the Swedes to serious thought. This also passed away; every thing returned to its usual course; the quarantine establishments were discontinued; and on the meeting of the Diet last January, the assembled States presented an address to His Majesty, thanking him for the excellent arrangements adopted in guarding the coasts against this fearful destruction. The Divine protection was here certainly adverted to, but no acknowledgment of national guilt was made; no call to national repentance

heard, either in the speech with which the King opened the Diet, or in the address now alluded to. The disease itself seemed to be forgotten till about the end of July last, when news arrived at Stockholm that three deaths, after a few hours' illness, had taken place in one house in Gottenburgh. The number of deaths increased daily; yet for some time the physicians would not acknowledge that the disease was the Asiatic cholera. It continued, however, to rage with dreadful malignity; and the awful result of its ravages there, is the diminution of the population to the extent of one-eighth, nearly three thousand persons having been swept away by this scourge. The next place attacked was Jonkopong, where at least oneseventh part of a population of four thousand fell before the disease. Scarcely an individual in this town has escaped an attack, more or less severe.

who possessed the means, fled from the town; not a few of the authorities, who ought to have directed the arrangements, were unfortunately absent; and the calamity burst upon the place so unexpectedly, that little had been done in the way of preparation. The number of medical attendants was utterly insufficient. It is true, five were despatched from Stockholm, and as many from Copenhagen, as soon as possible; but ere this reinforcement arrived, the resident practitioners were so worn out, that some of them were necessitated to keep their beds. The supply of medicine was speedily exhausted : two or three hundred persons at once besieged the doors of the laboratories, urgent for drugs, which could not be given them; till at length the apothecaries closed their shops against the public, and only the prescriptions of physicians were attended to. Persons to bear the sick to the hospitals, or the dead to the burial-ground, and nurses to attend the pa

a voluntary association of burgesses was formed, by the example and influence of which a few, but still an inadequate number, of the lower orders consented to act.

Not to mention several villages partially visited, the cholera appeared in Stockholm on the 19th of August; but the official re-tients, could not be obtained for a time, till ports only commence with the twenty-fifth; and from that date up to the twenty-fifth of September, the number of cases reported is 7,312; of deaths, 3,126; of sick, then remaining in hospitals or private houses, ⚫ 1,444. The greatest number of new cases on any single day was 541, on the 9th of September; of deaths, 217, on the 11th. When the population of Stockholm, namely, eighty thousand, is remembered, it will be seen with what violence the cholera has exerted its destroying energy in the capital. Thanks be to God, he is removing this heavy visitation, and in wrath remembering mercy. The last day's report gives only one hundred and eight new cases, and twentyeight deaths.

A

The medical attendants laboured with unwearied diligence; but they began to fail through excessive fatigue, when the Lord in compassion said, " Spare;" and the number of cases rapidly diminished. considerable proportion of the middle and higher classes have fallen before the destroying angel; and, as if to mock the arrangements of human wisdom, the individual raised on the saturday, by the vote of the four States, to the responsible office of commissioner, to watch over the administration of the laws during the five years Without losing sight of the finger of God, which intervene between every Diet, was to whose decree alone this visitation must be seized with cholera on the sabbath, and traced, several circumstances may be men- died on the same night; and a very protioned which, humanly speaking, greatly mising young nobleman, (Count Cronhaggravated the evil. The summer was ex-jelm,) from whose enlightened and energetic ceedingly sultry; the heat unwonted; and for weeks together unmitigated by a single shower. Not unfrequently the thermometer, as well in Gottenburgh as Stockholm, stood as high as 116° in the sun, and 90° in the shade. This state of the atmosphere induced an uninterrupted and copious perspiration, took away all desire for solid food, and occasioned the drinking of an unusual quantity of liquid; whereby the digestive organs especially were much injured, and the population generally predisposed for the disease.

In Gottenburgh a universal panic seized the inhabitants; several hundreds of those

services much political good was expected, died shortly after his appointment by the Diet to the president's chair in the bank direction.

The principal editors of newspapers combated the opinion of this visitation being a Divine judgment on the nation, and exhorted the clergy to avoid publishing any such notion to their flocks. The Government, however, acknowledged the Divine hand, by a form of prayer, which was ordered to be read in all the churches, of which the following is a literal translation :

"Lord our God, fatherly in thy chastisements as in thy gifts, we have enjoyed

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