the young. It is not only the instrument of improvement, but the foundation of pleasure and of health. Knowledge can never be acquired without it, and no fortune or elevation of rank exempts us from it; and it is the demand of nature, of reason, and of God. Idleness, like water, first putrifies by stagnation, and then sends up noxious vapours to injure the inhabitants of the earth. It is the great corrupter of youth, and the bane and dishonor of middle age." Pisistratus, the Grecian general, walking through some of his fields, several persons implored his charity. "If you want beasts to plough your land," said he, “ I will lend you some; if you want land, I will give you some; if you want seed to sow your land, I will give you some; but I will encourage none in idleness." By this conduct, in a short time, there was no beggar in his dominions. DAILY MAXIMS FOR FEBRUARY. *1 THE Sabbath is the soul's market day. 2 Knowledge is the food of the mind. 3 Exercise moderation in all things. 4 He sanctions sin who does not oppose it. 5 Pray for a sound mind in a healthy body. R. C. 6 He is a wise man who prepares for death and eternity. 7 It is hard to forget what it is sinful to remember. *8 Religion is the soul of happiness. 9 The world promises comforts, but pays sorrows. 10 Trust not in appearances. 11 A desire of happiness is natural; of holiness supernatural. 12 Glory follows virtue, as the shadow follows the body. 13 To have a portion in the world is a mercy. 14 To have the world for a portion is a misery. #15 There is grace in the desire of grace. 16 Prayer gives relief to the mind. 17 There is sin in the desire of sin. 18 Every one thinks his own trouble the most severe. *22 They that would have comfort in the Day of the Lord, must make conscience of the Lord's day. 23 Neither leave the world, nor love it. 24 Common mercies are sweet; covenant mercies are sure. 25 No wicked man is happy. 26 They that are the least serious, have the greatest reason to be so. 27 It is no small virtue to restrain the tongue. 28 The prayers of Christians meet at a throne of grace. These Maxims weigh, and practice them with care, Keep near to God, and shun each latent snare, R. C. ICE AND WATER. A few days ago, a Number of your Magazine (February, 1827) accidentally fell into my hands. Under the title "Thermometer," I came to the following:-" It is a general, though I believe not a universal law in nature, that heat expands bodies, and cold contracts them." There is, 1 believe but one exception to this rule, in which the wisdom of Providence is much illustrated. As Dr. Arnott, in his lately-published work upon Natural Philosophy, General and Medical, &c., has so excellently explained it, I prefer giving it in his own words. He says-(p. 301, 3d edit.)—“ It is a general truth in nature, that substances contract in size as they cool. There is, however, in water, a curious exception to this rule, which, operating through the principle of specific gravities, effects most important purposes in the economy of nature. Water contracts only down to the temperature of forty degrees, below which, towards thirty-two degrees, or the freezing point, it goes on dilating again, and, as ice, is much lighter than as a fluid, it therefore floats on the surface of water, and, being a very bad conductor of heat, defends the water underneath from the cold air, preserving it liquid, and a fit dwelling for the finny tribes, until the return of the mild season. Not only is the extreme of cold below thus prevented, but, because water becomes more bulky in proportion as its temperature falls under forty degrees. Very cold water remains floating on the surface of a wintry lake, as cream floats on milk, and preserves underneath that warmth which is agreeable to the fishes, just as very hot water in summer remains uppermost, preserving underneath an agreeable coolness. By the formation, then, of ice and snow, nature has prepared a winter garb for the inhabited lakes and rivers, as complete and effectual as she has for the terrestrial animals by the periodical thickening of their wool or fur. Had ice become heavier than water, so that it must have fallen to the bottom, and have left the surface without protection, a deep lake would have been frozen, in European winters, into a solid lifeless mass, which summer suns would no more have melted than they now do the glaciers of Switzerland. But for this important exception, therefore, to a general law of nature, many of the now most fertile and lovely portions of the earth's surface would have remained for ever barren and uninhabited wastes." E. J. B. THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE. Ir men have been termed pilgrims, and life a journey, then we may add, that the Christian pilgrimage far surpasses all others in the following important particulars: in the goodness of the road-in the beauty of the prospects-in the excellence of the company-and in the vast superiority of the accommodation provided for the Christian traveller, when he has finished his course. Lacon. NOSEGAY. THE practice of the judges having a nosegay placed before them, is not, as is generally imagined, a mere preservative against the close air of a crowded court, but is the relic of a primitive and ancient custom of the judge holding the bough, or sceptre of justice, in his hand: it was formerly called a bouquet, or little bough, whence the French took their word bouquet for a nosegay. L. P. S. PRAYER. PRAYER is the key which unlocks the gate of heaven. FEBRUARY. BORNE by irresistless force, Months are urging months away, February, thou canst stay Spreads its wings and flies away, Laid upon its dusty bed Thou wilt see the youthful eye Clos'd upon earth's vanity. W. D. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. "Where, child of Zion, dost thou go?" "I tread the true, the living way, Whose end is joy, unmix'd with woe." That voice from Zion heard ye not? "Soon shall the heavenly Bridegroom come. "And thou shalt call his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. i. 21. JESUS, that sweet and lovely name, Let heaven and earth his love adore! O may it be our constant aim, To love and praise him evermore, 'Tis he who sweetly condescends To notice all our mean affairs, To listen to his people's prayers; |