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will not be trumpery. You may never live in South America; never mind that, for there are diamonds to be had here as well as there.

Some people add to the number of their books, by little and little, until the heap is a great one; but if you give yourself the trouble to examine them, they are of a bad quality, they are good for little or nothing. Now, a good book is a diamond; get a good book then when you can, whether you are seven years old or seventy, for its contents may be very valuable to you, when diamonds shall be as dust in your estimation.

Try also to lay up good principles in your heart, as well as good books on your shelves; principles that will preserve you through time, and prepare you for eternity. What is all the trumpery in the world to be compared to them?

Lastly, add to your wisdom; for laying up folly will be laying up trumpery indeed. Get a knowledge of your own hearts, and learn to know Him, whom to know is eternal life. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding." Now, I cannot but hope that you have learned a little from the trumperybag of Old Humphrey.

It may not be very wise in me to let you know any of my weaknesses, and perhaps it might have been as well to have kept this affair of the trumperybag all to myself, but it cannot be helped now; and, after all, now I think of it, it will be better that Old Humphrey should be laughed at for his whimsicalities, than that you should lose the benefit of a lesson of instruction. At any time that you may be passing his way, he will willingly show you his trumpery-bag, on condition that you will give over laying up trumpery yourselves.

BOTANY.-No. XXXI.

COMPOSITE. COMPOUND FLOWERS.

THIS is a widely extended and highly diversified family of plants; during the months in which nature is in her vigour and freshness, we can scarcely turn our eyes in any direction, without meeting with numerous examples. If we look abroad in the opening of the spring, we

behold the green meadows pied with daisies: if we cast our eyes along the pathway side in summer, we find the dandelion, and cat's-ear, or the hawk'sbeard, upon the nearest hedge-bank; or if we take a peep into a cottager's garden, we see the marigold and the sunflower. The dahlia and the African marigold are special objects of the gardener's solicitude; the housewife collects the flowers of the feverfew, or lays up the strong-scented wormwood to drive away the moth; the farmer roots up the thistle and the may-weed, and the children of the village adorn their clothes with the southern-wood and the lavendercotten, upon the sabbath. All these, and many others, equally familiar to our recollection, are members of this highly interesting and populous family.

The eye of the most uninstructed discovers some affinity or mutual relationship in the structure of their flowers, though the foliage and the habit may be very dissimilar. The herbage of the marigold and the thistle are very unlike each other, not only in point of offensiveness, but in their form and texture. At first sight, perhaps, the blossom of the marigold, and the rosy head of the thistle, might not strike the superficial observer as in any way related to each other, their colour and outline being very different. But if the blossom of the former be examined with a little attention, we shall perceive that it is compounded of a multitude of little flowers or florets, as it is usual to call them, the whole encircled by a common calyx, consisting of numerous leaves, or segments.

And if, after dividing the head of a thistle by a cut downwards, we proceed to disengage its component parts, we shall find that there are numerous florets inclosed within a common calyx, whose thorny points are only the terminations of the several leaves which compose it.

In both cases, therefore, we have a collection of florets bound together by the empalement of a common or general calyx.

If we next examine the dandelion, we shall meet with many florets surmounted in like manner by a leafy calyx, which contains them within a common circle. When we call these little flowers by the diminutive term of floret, it must be understood only in reference to their size, for in point of structure, they have all the essentials of the largest and most perfect

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flower. In fig. a of No. 1, which repre- | from the fork, where the style divides

sents the floret of the dandelion, we have

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into two horns by the anthers. The floret in No. 2, and the floret a in No. 3, have likewise all the parts in perfection, though differing from a No. 1, considerably, in respect of their outline.

We have already shown that the circumstance of many florets within a common calyx, is an obvious and remarkable feature; but, in this particular, it agrees with dipsacea, or the teasle and scabions of Botany, No.xIII., p. 302. We must therefore look for some other characteristic, which is peculiar to the family under consideration. And this we find in the anthers, which are united together by their sides or edges, so as to form a tube or pipe, through which the pistil or central thread passes. This peculiarity is exhibited in fig. c of No. 1, where the bent threads at the lower end of the tube represent the filaments, which are free and disengaged from each other, where they grow out of the tube of the corolla. Fig. c of No. 3, this union of the anthers is again shown, where the lines are drawn with greater prominence than they are seen in nature, to bring this curious and distinguishing peculiarity under the eye of the student. This union of the anthers is indicated in the modern language of botanists, by calling this family synantheræ, or the order of comprising plants with united anthers. The term composite was applied to them, because one large flower is composed of many lesser ones.

For the sake of easier reference and contemplation, we may consider this order as distributed into three principal sections. The first (cichoracea) oomprehends all those compound flowers, which resemble the succory or the dandelion. They are distinguished by having all their florets like figs. a and b of No. 1, which are lengthened out on one side into a strap or ribbon, while the five segments seen in No. 2, are dwindled into five little teeth at the upper end.

The

Fig. 6, No. 1, represents a similar floret taken from the cat's-ear (hypocheris vadicata,) which resembles the dandelion, and, like that, is seen on every piece of grassy sod during the summer. minute speckled leaf below it is called the chaff, because of its thin and chaffy nature. The presence of this chaff is a generic mark of the hypocharis. These little specks seem to be unnatural excrescences, though the writer of these remarks has never seen a flower of the

cat's-ear without them. In fact, they form a pretty object, as their brown colour is contrasted with the yellow ground on which they grow.

On dry grassy banks, which are exposed to the sun, we often meet with the mouse-ear hawkweed, forming a large patch which, for a considerable space of ground, excludes all other plants. The leaves are small, hairy, and of a pale ash beneath, so that they have a fanciful resemblance to the ear of a mouse, whence its name. The flowers which here and there rise upon a solitary stem, out of this leafy sheet, are of a bright yellow, and have a sweetish smell.

Among the useful plants belonging to this division, we may reckon the garden lettuce (lactuca sativa,) and the endive, (cichorium intybus,) the utility of which is too well known to render it necessary to be insisted upon in this place.

The plants of this division are often milky; of this we find examples in the dandelion, (leontodon,) and sow-thistle, (sonchus oleraceus,) not excepting the full-grown plant of the lettuce, which exudes a whitish liquor when broken.

A few years ago, the dried leaves of the coltsfoot (tussilago farfara) were used as a substitute for tobacco, and esteemed as good for the stomach.

an example; while the milk-thistle, known by its magnificent leaves, variegated with spots of a milky whiteness, will illustrate the latter.

The woolly thistle (onopordon acanthium) is another curious example, sometimes seen growing among rubbish, or on old banks of gardens and small enclosures. It happens, in this instance, that the name "woolly thistle," for the purpose of knowing the plant, is equivalent to a long description.

Among the useful members of this division is the artichoke, (cynara scolymus,) whose calyx leaves swell into such a remarkable size, that the head forms a principal dainty in the list of culinary vegetables.

The third division contains such as have two kinds of floret in the same flower, the strap-shaped or radial, fig. a, No. 3, and the regular, fig. b. The central ones are generally perfect, or have stamens, as well as a pistil; the radial have only the pistil, and are in some instances even destitute of that, as in the sun-flower. Our figure represents the florets of the fleabane, (inula dysenterica,) a yellow-flowered, strong-smelling plant, often found by road-sides. Of this division, the marigold, daisy, feverfew, and the aster and chrysanthemum, with a multitude of others, may serve as examples. Among the useful may be reckoned, the chamomile, (anthemis nobilis,) and the groundsel (senecio vulgaris,) the erigeron of the ancients. The latter, when allowed to remain some time in hot water, forms an excellent wash for the hands, when chapped by cold.

MANNERS IN FORMER TIMES.

The second division (cynarocephala) embraces the various kinds of thistle, and is distinguished by having the florets all regular and perfect, as represented in fig. No. 2. It is the floret of the common burdock, a large and sturdy plant, bearing numerous "burs," which, by means of their hooked calyx leaves, lay hold on the clothes of the unwary passenger, and thus transport themselves for propagation, far off from the parent. There are half a dozen varieties of this plant, which differ from each other in the structure of the burs; in some they are very handsome. Among the quack herbalists it is called cockle, and is said to possess extraordinary virtues; the writer was assured, a few days before writing this, that for some disorders, 66 no better thing existed in the world, than a wash made of its leaves, when young.' thistles afford examples ever at hand, and should be studied, as consisting of two genera or kinds. The one (cnicus) as having down, which, when held between the eye and the light, resembles a feather; the other as having the down smooth (carduus.) Of the former, the common large road-side has been known for the great number of its schools thistle (cnicus lanceolatus) may serve as

"9 The

has left us a few interesting particulars of JOHN AUBREY, an antiquarian writer, his period, which are preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford. He says, nerally taught Latin in the monasteries, "Before the Reformation, youth were ge and young women had their education, not at Hackney,* as now, 1678, but at nunneries, where they learnt needlework, confectionary, surgery, physic, (apothecaries writing, drawing, &c. Old Jacquar, now and surgeons being at that time very rare,) living, has often seen from his house the nuns of St. Mary, Kingston, in Wilts, coming forth into the Nymph Hay with their rocks

It would appear from this note that Hackney from the earliest records of such establishments in England.

and wheels to spin, sometimes to the number of threescore and ten; all whom were not nuns, but young girls sent there for education." Again, "The gentry and citizens had little learning of any kind, and their way of breeding up children was suitable to the rest. They were as severe to their children as their schoolmasters, and their schoolmasters as the masters of the house of correction: the child perfectly loathed the sight of his parents, as the slave his torture. Gentlemen of thirty and forty years old were made to stand like mutes and fools. bareheaded before their parents; and the daughters (grown women) were to stand at the cupboard-side, during the whole time of her proud mother's visit, unless (as the fashion was) leave was desired, forsooth, that a cushion should be given them to kneel upon, brought them by the serving man, after they had done sufficient penance by standing. The boys had their foreheads turned up, and stiffened with spittle."

THE MISERABLE INFIDEL.

Taken from the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine. A MAN who possessed reason and sagacity above the common proportion, and about the age of thirty, fell into such a state of debility as rendered him incapable of much attention to business. Before this he had discovered an inordinate attachment to property, and omitted neither diligence, nor art, nor parsimony, to obtain it. His state was called hypochondriac by his neighbours; for a certain recluseness of temper prevented his communicating to them the distracting feelings of his mind. When he was in this state, I accidentally passed a day in his company. After a short conversation, I discovered marks of a wounded conscience, and told him my suspicion, that his whole disorder proceeded from anxiety on spiritual accounts. Finding I had detected his feelings-he made a frank acknowledgment, it was the case; but solicited that it might remain a secret with me. He told me of sundry times, in his past life, when, for short seasons, his conscience had continually accused him. He had seen himself to be a sinner, if there were any truth in the Scriptures; and he dreaded an appearance before God, as the most awful of all events; still he could not bear to think of another kind of life, and of parting with those worldly designs which had governed his past conduct. He said he had been many months in this situation; and something continually sounded in his

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ears that he was a sinner, that he must die and come to judgment, and without another state of heart, must be miserable; but," added he, "I cannot part with my worldly schemes. I must again be a man of business; I have just laid a foundation for success; and if I give way to these apprehensions, there is an end of my prospects. This I own to be the cause of all my gloom, and if I could put another world, and my own preparation for it, out of sight, I should again be a happy man."

Timmediately perceived, that although he felt some conviction of the truth, he was contending against it. I set before him the danger of resisting such impressions; the folly of preferring an avaricious life of gain to the immortal interest of his soul; and the superior wisdom of subordinating all our worldly labours, views, and hopes to our eternal well-being. I endeavoured to show him his true state, his need of another heart, the danger of his being left to a most ruinous blindness, and to eternal misery. After much solemn conversation, we parted.

Nearly a year from this time, we had another opportunity for free discourse. It was sought by himself, with an evident design to confront and reproach me for the exhortation I had given him with the most friendly intention. I instantly saw that his seriousness had departed, and that his conscience was seared. By his own account, he continued several months longer in that state of apprehension and resistance to the truth, which has been described; when he came to the rash opinion, that the whole of his past feelings were but an hypochondriac gloom, and supported himself by the following argument:"You know that hypochondriacism is a false imagination of the mind; and within one week after I detected my folly in being so anxious for another world, I became well and happy, and have so continued." He further added, "I now think that all the notions that I have had concerning the holiness of God, and the rewards of another world, are false. As to sin, it is evident there can be no such thing; nor shall I any more exist after this body dies, than those trees before us will exist hereafter, and be happy or miserable." "But," replied I, is it not a gloomy thought, that your existence will cease when your body dies?" "As for that," he answered, "I cannot help it; and we must make the most of

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what we have." I perceived that he was determined not to think, lest it should make him unhappy; and on my solicitously urging him to review the momentous subject, he became peevish, and said I was trying to give myself importance in the world, by all I said concerning religion. His life, for several years after this, was such as might be expected from his principles. Riches were his idol. His parsimony preserved him from licentious excess. Honest men detested the principles by which they saw him to be governed. His unprincipled associates were afraid of falling under his power. There was something in his countenance indescribable, that marked him for another Cain: and while many, through necessity, resorted to him for assistance, there was not a man on earth that loved him.

known his previous opinions, that he cer tainly should exist; and that the future · being of men was indicated by nature, and made sure by scriptural evidence, an aspect of still greater horror settled on his countenance; and, after a pause of a minute, he replied, "If those Scriptures are true, eternity will be more dreadful to me than the loss of being. I will not believe them ; yet, how dreadful the idea of sinking into eternal, thoughtless night!" This struggle of feeling lasted but a few minutes before this miserable man sunk, not into the eternal sleep which he dreaded, but to open his eyes in an eternity to him more dreadful!

Such are the dying comforts of impiety and infidelity. Thus, at last, will the excuses and pleas of irreligion torment those who adopt them in their lives to quiet an accusing conscience, and resist the warnings of the Holy Spirit.

Passing over several parts of his conduct, which evidently proceeded from an endeavour to erase from his mind a sense of moral obligation, of sin, and a state where impenitent sinners shall receive a A CHRISTIAN SPIRIT IN A SLAVE. reward according to their deeds, I shall now come to his death-bed. A just ProIt is related in an American that paper vidence forbade him a long state of lina poor christian negro, being in the congering illness, as a season of admonitionfidence of his master, accompanied hinı and preparation for eternity. An awful to the purchase of twenty able-bodied accident in a moment placed him in a hope- slaves. On entering the market, he fixed less state, and within two days of his exit on one poor, old, decrepit slave, and told from this world. This accident, though his master he must be one. So useless fatal, did not immediately affect his head, was the first object of his choice, that the and the powers of reason were in full slave-dealer gave him into the bargain strength. with the twenty. The care which the confidential slave bestowed on the old negro, feeding him at his own table, laying him on his bed, and lavishing upon him every kindness, excited the curiosity of his master, who concluded he must be his father, or brother, and inquired to that effect. He replied, "No! massa, he not my broder, he mine enemy! He sold me to the slave-dealer; but Bible says, 'If thine enemy hunger, feed him!'” This man knew what it was to forgive the trespasses of another.

Now, behold the man who exploded moral obligation, denied the existence of sin, determined there was no future life, and consequently there was no punish ment for him; and all this for the sake of gaining and enjoying this world, without the molestations of his own conscience. True it is, that, in this awful moment, he was left to a great degree of judicial blindness concerning another world, the nature of hopeful preparation for death, and the just and eternal reward of sin; but misery and dismay rose upon him from a quarter he did not expect. His beloved scheme of ceasing to exist at death, became his terror. "And have I now," said he, " done with existence? Shall I presently cease to think, to see, to feel? Am I to exist but a few moments

filled with pain, and then lie down to be nothing for ever? I am pained for the fruits of my labour; I have laboured for nothing; I cannot bid farewell to the earnings of so many years."

On being toid, by one who had not

BLESSEDNESS.

THE promises of eternal blessedness are not given to the strength of faith, but to the truth of faith; not to the degrees of faith, but to its reality.

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

Numbers in a Cover, 3d.

W. TYLER, Printer, Bolt-court, Fleet-street.

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