grows a considerable hardy flora, in troughs or boxes, on the tops of the walls that enclose his back yard, and on the roofs of the outbuildings in it; and in the different rooms of his house, including his own bed-room, he grows upwards of a hundred specimens of English and foreign ferns.Loudon's Suburban Gardener. Drunkenness.-Drunkenness is a beastly vice, and hath this property, that it is one of those vices that increaseth with age; which discourse the marquis prosecuted by a certain story of a certain philosopher, that having a drunken man brought before him to know what suitable punishment he should suffer for the offence, the vice was so rarely known in those days, that the philosopher was wholly ignorant of it, and therefore caused him to be brought before him the day following; in the interim of which time the philosopher drank himself drunk, and thereby was so sick that he judged nothing but death would immediately ensue; but it once being over, and the man appearing the next day to know his doom, he said: "I adjudge thee no other punishment than to be drunk again, for certainly, that crime carries its punishment along with it."—Apophthegms of the Marquis of Wor cester. The last Bath and West of England Society's Ploughing Match was at Runnington near Wellington, where there was a great competition for the premiums offered by the Society, not less than 28 ploughs being in the field, which was an old ley. There were 20 candidates in the first class, which is for ploughs of any description and of any draught, and eight in the third class, which is confined to farmers' sons. It was admitted by every body present that the ploughing was excellent in both classes; and that the umpires had great difficulty in coming to a decision. E. A. Sanford, Esq. M.P., was the Chairman of the Committee, and presided at the Market-house, at Wellington. The Secretary read the report of the judges, and the prizes awarded were distributed.-Salisbury Herald. Labourers' Friend Societies.-The Society at Hadlow, Kent, has drawn up its second report. The facts which it states are the following:-32 families have been received into the society, to whom were let eight acres of land, being 40 roods to each, at the rate of 40s. the acre. During the summer a public meeting was held, when the subscribers and friends inspected the allotments, and awarded prizes to the best cultivators. The committee had decided on extending the system through the parish, and have taken ten more acres, for which they have already forty applications. Payment of half-a-crown a year constitutes a member of the society, and so well have its objects been received, that most of the ladies and gentlemen in the parish have become subscribers. In receiving the tenants there is no particular selection as to character, as the object of the society is to reclaim the indolent and reward the industrious; and the propriety of this plan was made apparent at the last meeting; when one of the tenants received a prize for good conduct, who had been previously considered one of the worst characters in the parish. By spade husbandry the ground is made to produce double the quantity raised by the plough.-Morning Herald. The Dutch have a proverb, which says, 66 thefts never enrich; giving never impoverishes; and prayers hinder no work." NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. We have received the communications of B.; A. M. S.; N. B.; E. M.; V. S.; L.; Y.; L. N. ; and M. D. papers, &c. ibid. .... The Labourer's Noon-day Hymn. ibid. Notices to Correspondents LIVES OF THE SAINTS1. (Continued from p. 366, in our last year's volume.) ST. BARTHOLOMEW was one of the twelve Apostles. It is uncertain where he was born. He is considered to be the same person, who, in some parts of the New Testament, is called Nathanael, one of the first disciples that came to Christ. The reason for this opinion is, that St. John does not mention Bartholomew in the number of 1 Our correspondent who has obliged us with the Lives of the Saints, will perceive that the beginning of this article is not his. This arose from the loss of a portion, which was written on the same sheet with the former article, and was therefore destroyed, with that, after passing through the printer's hands. the Apostles, and the other Evangelists do not mention Nathanael. St. John mentions Philip and Nathanael together in coming to Christ; and the other Evangelists, in recording the same transaction, speak of Philip and Bartholomew. The example of this Apostle is given for our imitation: and who does not feel inspired with admiration for a character which could draw forth these approving words from our Lord, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile?" The eye of God, which sees into the depths of the human heart, and which no art or hypocrisy can escape, perceived the sincerity of Nathanael's; in him there was no necessity for concealment; every thought, every feeling might have been disclosed, and laid open to the whole world; and the value of such a heart cannot be better estimated, than by the gracious reception it met with from the God of truth Himself. It had been foretold that Bethlehem was to be the birth-place of the promised Messiah; therefore, when Nathanael heard from Philip, that Jesus came from Nazareth, he doubted, and said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" but no sooner had he been accosted by our Saviour, than all former prejudices and opinions were removed; and, struck with wonder at our Lord's assurance of having previously seen him under the fig-tree, where he had probably retired for private prayer and meditation, and where he well knew he was concealed from human eyes, he acknowledged his entire belief, that Jesus was, in truth, the Messiah, so long and earnestly expected, and he exclaimed with fervour, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." Upon which his heavenly Teacher proceeds to assure him, how much stronger reasons should in future be given for his belief, by the miracles he should witness; and how, in viewing these wonderful works, he might be said to see, as it were, the heavens opened, and the angels performing the commands of God'. St. Bartholomew is mentioned among the Apostles at the time of the ascension; and, when they were afterwards sent to spread the blessed truths 1 John i. 51. 1838.] LIVES OF THE SAINTS. 75 of the Gospel, in various and remote regions, he travelled as far as India, where he remained some time, and had many converts. It is recorded, that, about two hundred years afterward, a traveller in that country found the knowledge of Christ still retained by some of the inhabi tants; and a copy of St. Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew was shown to Him, which was supposed to have been left there by St. Bartholomew. After returning from India, this Apostle preached with much success both in Lycaonia and Phrygia: and, in the latter country, had the grief of witnessing the martyrdom of his friend St. Philip. Though he then escaped sharing the same fate, yet his sufferings were but delayed; for, having removed to Abanapolis, a city of Greater Armenia, and being earnest and energetic in his endeavours to draw the people from worshipping idols, he was, about the year seventy-two, put to death by order of the governor. Accounts vary as to the mode in which the sentence was performed, but it is supposed he was crucified with the head downwards; a punishment, one would imagine sufficiently dreadful, without adding to it any other kind of torture; nevertheless, some writers farther tell us, that he was flayed alive previously to his crucifixion. The dying martyr bore with firmness and cheerfulness his cruel treatment; and comforted and instructed his Christian converts, till the blessed moment arrived, in which it pleased God to release his pure spirit from further suffering, and receive him among the saints of heaven. St. Bartholomew may be easily known in all Scriptural paintings, by being represented with a knife in his hand, in allusion to the dreadful death, which he is said to have endured. In meditating on the character of this saint, we are chiefly led to dwell on the virtues of simplicity and sincerity. When St. Peter in his Epistle points out the perfection of the Saviour, he says, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." Again, in the 32nd Psalm we read, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Greatly blessed indeed must he be, who like the pious Nathanael, possesses a pure and guileless heart! Though sorrows may encompass him, temptations assail him, and trials distress him, still the soothing consciousness of his own sincerity and uprightness, will sustain him through every difficulty. The man without guile, that is, without deceit, will act with sincerity both towards God and man: his piety towards God will be the sincere and living principle within, and not merely that lip service, and outward form of godliness which, though it may appear genuine to the eyes of men, springs not from the heart, and which is, in fact, but a hypocritical religion; an outward show of devotion without the life or power of it. His unfeigned and unspeakable love towards God, will cause him to be as devout in private as in public, he will not (like the Pharisees of old) merely display his religion to the world, but will be equally pious and observant, when he hath no witness save God and his own soul; and, moreover, this conduct will not proceed from the cold feeling that such is his prescribed duty, but it will arise from the real happiness and comfort, which it affords the pure in heart, to commune with their God, and to obey his will. Sincerity in our dealings towards men will be shown in a simplicity of mind and manners, in singleness of heart, and a constant plainness, and honest openness of behaviour, free from low deceit or cunning, and all false appearance. Hypocrisy is not only wicked, but unwise, and oftener serves to deceive ourselves than others. We all know "that the ways of men are before the eyes of the Lord, and He seeth all his goings; there is no darkness nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." The hypocrite, moreover, when his deceit is found out, is treated by all men with the contempt which he deserves; no one trusts, no one esteems him; and, having once forfeited his character, he is unable to regain it while the honest and sincere man gains friends and confidence every moment of his life. In various parts of Scripture, the vice of hypocrisy is mentioned as one deserving of great abhorrence. We read in Job how vain and perishable is the hope of the hypocrite. "His hope," it is said, "shall be cut off, his trust shall be as a spider's web;" and the portion of the hypocrite, our Saviour tells |