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TEMPERANCE MEETING AT SALISBURY.

AT a meeting held in the Council Chamber, in this city (Salisbury) for the purpose of hearing the statements and arguments of Mr. Allen, the representative of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, which was very numerously attended, the Rev. S. R. Capel, Curate of St. Thomas, was called to the chair, and expressed his conviction of the importance of Temperance Societies, and his delight at their introduction into this city. Their aim was to keep the temperate from intemperance, and to reclaim the drunkard. By joining a Temperance Society they incurred no expense whatever: the institution would do much to make men richer, but nothing to impoverish them. Mr. Allen explained the nature and objects of the institution at great length. He commenced by stating that the Lord Bishop of Salisbury had expressed himself strongly in favour of the design; and though he could not take an active part in forwarding it, owing to his infirmities, he had marked his approval by sending a donation of 57. to the Parent Society, and had consented to become patron of an auxiliary society for Salisbury. Mr. Allen proceeded to state that the heads of the Army and Navy, and also some departments of Her Majesty's household, had patronized and adopted the plans of the society, which had been attended with the happiest results. Many interesting anecdotes, in proof of this, were adduced by the speaker; who mentioned, among other things, the astounding fact, that a sum of 23,000,000l. was annually expended in this country in distilled liquors! The signing of the subjoined declaration constitutes membership:

We agree to abstain from the customary use of distilled spirits, and to do all we can to prevent drunkenness." -Salisbury Herald.

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1838.]

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THE COLISEUM AT ROME.

WE have, at different times, spoken of the splendid buildings which adorned the great city of Rome in the days of its power, and of which so many noble ruins are to be seen at the present day. When the light of the Gospel was brought into the world, and our blessed Saviour dwelt among men, the power of Rome was at its greatest height. Such was the Roman power, that a great part of the known world had been conquered by her, and Rome was called, the "Mistress of the World." She was in truth the mistress of many of those countries which still were allowed to retain the appearance of power, by having their own forms of government, and their own kings, and, in a considerable degree, their own laws. When our blessed Lord was upon earth, in the land of the Jews, we find that Herod was called the king, though the country was under the power of the Romans. When the malice of the Jews led them to persecute our blessed Saviour, though they had considerable power, yet, when they were determined to put Him to death, that could not be done without the consent of their Roman masters; and it was on that account that our Lord was brought before the judgment seat of "Pilate," who was a Roman, and appointed, as a governor, to live among the Jews. The countries thus in the power of Rome, had generally a chief of this kind residing among them, and officers under him; and a Roman army was stationed amongst them; and taxes were gathered from the conquered countries for the benefit of their Roman conquerors. As it is far more vexatious to pay taxes and tributes to foreign conquerors, than for the support of our own country, the Jews were grievously vexed at the thoughts of this mark of their subjection; and we know how they hated the public tax-gatherers, the publicans, who were, it is true, often persons of bad character, for the office was a very unthankful one, as no Jew liked to pay tribute to Cæsar," the Roman Emperor, and therefore disliked the persons who collected it.

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The Jews were the only people to whom the knowledge of the true God had then been revealed; and it was

grievous to them to be under the power of a nation of heathens, as the Romans were; and their impatience of this led them to frequent revolts and rebellions, till they were, at length, completely subdued by the Romans under one of the Cæsars, the Emperor Vespasian, whose armies were led by the Emperor's son Titus, (who was afterwards Emperor himself) and who totally destroyed the city and the beautiful temple; and, according to our Saviour's prophecy, not one stone was left upon another. When Titus returned to Rome in triumph, a noble triumphal arch was erected to celebrate his victory, the ruins of which remain to this day, and of which we have, in a former number, given a drawing.

Our present drawing is a ruin of what is called the Coliseum. The Romans were very fond of gaudy shows, where thousands of spectators were brought together to witness scenes of dreadful cruelty, such as the heathen would delight in, but which can give no pleasure to those who understand the mild and merciful religion of the Gospel. Wild beasts were brought forth to fight with men for the amusement of the people; and in this barbarous sport many human beings, especially their slaves, were put to death; several of the early Christian believers were thus exposed, and torn to pieces by wild beasts. Men were made to fight with one another with swords and other deadly weapons; and numbers of lives were thus every year sacrificed to gratify the large assemblages of people who came together to witness the barbarous spectacle.

It was necessary that the ground, on which the shows were exhibited, should be large; the company sat in a spacious building surrounding the place, and on seats rising above each other, so that every person was able to see what was going on. These buildings were called Amphitheatres, and afforded ample accommodation for the vast crowds which assembled to witness the games. The print which we have given of the Coliseum at Rome, shows its present state; and these ruins convey to us a notion of the beauty, and splendour, and greatness of the Roman buildings, and of the eagerness of these people to assemble together to witness sights which would be alto

1838.]

COUCH GRASS.

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gether offensive to the minds of those whom the mild spirit of the Christian religion has taught compassion and kindness to their fellow creatures, however humble their condition, and which leads a true believer in the Gospel to show mercy to the dumb animals which he is allowed to employ in his service, but which he is not allowed to treat with cruelty, or to torment for the sake of his amusement. V.

COUCH GRASS.

"I BEG to call the attention of British agriculturists to the use made in Italy of couch grass,' which in England is collected in the fields into heaps and burnt in pure waste. The long gramineous under-ground shoots of couch grass, when fresh dug up, are tender, and of a flavour not unlike asparagus, but sweeter. Sarsaparilla is a near relation to it; and Italian physicians as frequently order decoctions of the one as of the other to their scorbutic patients. But this is not the purpose to which I should like to see this grass applied in this country, but as a most excellent, wholesome, and favourite article of food for horses. The children of an Italian peasant will follow the plough and the harrow, and collect as much couch grass roots as pays for their own keep. After the couch is picked, it is well washed, and becomes quite white. It is then tied into bundles of about two feet long and six inches in diameter, then kept in, or well sprinkled with, clean water until served out to the purchaser, who generally throws the bundles in the never-failing clear fountain of an Italian court-yard, before he gives it to his horses. Of this graminia, or of carrot, the Italians always give to their horses (in the spring or summer at least) a certain number of bundles every day at twelve o'clock. Upwards of forty thousand pounds sterling worth of grass is thus annually sold by the peasants to the inhabitants of the city of Naples alone. In this country, every bit of this valuable provender is burnt on the ground which produces it. In Italy the peasants are very thankful for being allowed to pick couch grass from off the fields, and often pay for it; in England many hands are employed, at

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