and great blessings, thou hast kept me through the night, and raised me from my bed: O make me thankful for thy goodness, and keep me this day from all evil and danger; from evil thoughts, and evil words, and evil deeds; be thy good angels my guard; and let me walk in the fear of the Lord all the day long. Blessed Jesus, send thy Holy Ghost to guide me into all truth, and to give me a new heart and a new spirit; that I may do my duty as a child of God: and be made ready for that great and awful day, when I shall be judged by thee according to my works, O thou God of love, bless my parents and teachers, let me ever love and obey them: bless all my dear rela tions and friends: bless our own minister, and every minister of thy Church: bless all our rulers and all thy people; O that we might all meet together in heaven, and praise thy name in glory everlasting, through Jesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour. Amen. Our Father, &c. The grace of our Lord, &c. EVENING PRAYER FOR CHILDREN. Almighty and merciful Father, I humble myself and fall down upon my knees before thee, and pray that thou wilt pardon the sins that I have done this day, through Jesus Christ our Lord. O make me to repent truly and turn to thee; make me to hate every thing that is evil, the devil and all his works; to watch against every bad passion, and put away every wicked deed; so that I may not be turned into hell with the people that forget God, but may flee from the wrath to come. O that I may love thee the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength. O that I may love and honour all men; but most of all, my dear parents and family and friends: make me kind to them: bless every one of them, good Lord: bless also my enemies and all mankind. I humbly thank thee, O God, for the mercies of the day past; and for all thy great goodness to me: I thank 1838.] ORANGE PEEL, &c. ON PATHWAYS. 403 thee for what thou hast done for my body and my soul; for the Holy Bible, which tells me of the love of Jesus who died for me; and shows me the way to heaven: 0 give me grace to walk in that way every day and hour, and to rejoice in the Lord alway; that I may be numbered with thy chosen people; and sing praises, with them and the angels, to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God world without end. Amen. Our Father, &c. The grace of our Lord, &c. ON GOING TO BED. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety: O let me sleep in Jesus, on my bed, and in the grave; O let me awake with God in the morning, and rise at last to glory. J. SLADE. ON REMOVING ORANGE PEEL, BEAN SHELLS, &c. FROM THE STREET PAVEMENTS. MR. EDITOR, THE heading of this letter does not present a very dignified title to your readers; nevertheless it may do some good. I remember an article, in your useful work, recommending us to remove orange peel from the flag pavements of our streets, to prevent any person from slipping on them; for want of which easy charity, many serious accidents occur. Since reading your article, I saw, in a newspaper, a collection of little maxims, and small pieces of advice. One was this: Everybody should try, every day, to be of some use to his fellow-creatures; a man may do some good, though he only gets the habit of removing orange-peel from the pavement as he passes along the streets." I will not boast, Sir, of my own good deeds, for in truth they are few enough; but this is a habit that I have long had; and I was sadly convinced of the importance of it, by a grievous accident of which I was an eyewitness a few weeks ago. A a 4 A poor old woman had a grievous fall in the street of the city from which I write this: she was carried into a neighbouring house, and was sadly cut and bruised by her fall, and shaken moreover in a manner which is likely to be of serious consequence to her as long as she lives, and may probably hasten her end. She had slipped on a bean-pod which happened to be lying on the pavement. Now, if I had happened to have been before her, instead of behind her, this accident would not have occurred; for I should certainly have removed the cause of offence from the pavement with my walking-stick. You may perhaps deem this, Sir, an idle letter, and not worth printing: if, however, its insertion may lead others to be careful how they put this danger in the way of others, or may induce any one to exercise the cheap charity of removing it, I think you will not grudge to print the friendly caution. D. MANURE. MANY cottagers in the neighbourhood of Brigg, Lincolnshire, have adopted a mode of manuring their gardens which cannot be too generally followed. Their pig-sties are so formed that all the nuisance runs into a tub in one corner, which is emptied, as occasion requires, upon their garden ground, by which simple method their potatoe crops, &c. are doubled, and at the same time a great nuisance prevented. THE QUEEN! THE QUEEN! GOD SAVE THE QUEEN! 1838.] REFLECTIONS ON A BIRTHDAY. The Queen! the Queen! God bless the Queen To guard the laws,-the rights maintain Throned in a people's ready love, Blest, and a blessing, may she prove. The Queen! the Queen! God keep the Queen Should foreign foes in arms be seen, Give her the victory; Whilst hearts of oak maintain her sway, And hail her empress of the sea! The Queen! the Queen! God give the Queen To love his Church and Word divine, His ordinance revere ; And England keep a burning light, Truth's beacon-star, all purely bright. The Queen! the Queen! God make the Queen A joy to Britain's land; And love and loyalty combine To guard our native strand; Speed gloriously Victoria's reign Bless England's realm, save England's Queen! 405 J. B. Smith. REFLECTIONS ON A BIRTHDAY. (By a Correspondent of the Salisbury Herald) THERE are peculiar seasons and occurrences in the existence of every individual, which are eminently calculated to awaken serious reflection, even in those who are least disposed to meditation. No period, however, seems more appropriate to call us to serious and profitable thoughts, than the return of our birthday. Engaged either by the amusements or the occupations of life, time passes so imperceptibly away, that, if we were not occasionally reminded of the truth, we should probably be totally forgetful of its flight. Infancy expands into youth, and youth as rapidly ripens into manhood; manhood soon subsides into feebleness, and life itself passes rapidly away. We admit the truth of these observations, but we rarely consider them in reference to ourselves; "All men think all men mortal but themselves." In vain do we behold in the decay of others an assurance of our own mortality, or read in the changing nature of all things that we too must change. While health invigorates our frame, the lines of thought and care may deepen on our brow; but that which we most easily perceive in others, the advance of age, is least observed in ourselves. "We take no note of time," says a celebrated moralist, "but from its loss;" that loss is never more forcibly brought to our recollection than on a day like the present. The sum of our years then strikes upon our imagination in the liveliest manner; and the past, the present, and the future, arise before us, and cause a momentary pause in our thoughtless career. In the celebration of our natal day, we are naturally reminded that another year has been deducted from the term of our existence, and that, consequently, our entrance into the next world is another year nearer to us. The first reflection, therefore, that suggests itself, is one of the most awful import, and at the same time, of the greatest moment to our future happiness,—the manner in which we have allowed the former portion of our life to pass. Few, indeed, are those who can dwell on this idea without some apprehension of time misapplied, or improperly occupied, of opportunities neglected, or advantages abused, of passions unsubdued, or wrong inclinations gratified:-how many instances will conscience, in most cases, present to our view! Nor is it probable, that all the transactions that have marked our past years, will be remembered; many events that have now escaped our recollection, would, if brought to mind, justly excite our concern ;-but, though they have escaped from our memory, neither the years that are fled, nor the transactions to which they have given birth, are forgotten by "Him, with whom a thousand years are but as yesterday" they have made their report, and on that report we must stand or fall. Such a consideration alone might serve as a check to that thoughtless mirth in which some might be inclined to indulge, but which the greater number would probably feel to be unsuitable; for if the past create in us serious reflection, the present will, in most minds, awaken a pensive The feelings, which this day excites, participate, in one. |