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"Man goeth forth to toil.* The PLOUGH
Smooth through the upturned fallow glides;
And as the keel-like share divides
The surface, 'mid the furrow dun
Shows its bright polish to the sun.

The PLOUGHMAN o'er the yielding land,
With eye intent, and steady hand,
Defines the intended path; and cheers
And guides his steeds, or patient steers,
With voice across the indented plain,
And shaking of the slackened rein."

BISHOP MANT'S British Months.

THERE is not a more important duty belonging to the cultivation of the soil than PLOUGHING; and there is not a more ancient or more interesting implement than the PLOUGH. A very pleasant thing it is in early spring to walk abroad into the fields where the fresh-turned

earth sends forth a grateful smell, and there to watch proceedings, as

"Unassisted through each toilsome day, With smiling brow the ploughman cleaves his way. Draws his fresh parallels, and, widening still,

Treads slow the heavy dale, or climbs the hill."

A quiet and easy life does the ploughman seem to lead; his very whistle betokens a calm and contented mind. Regular and slow are his steps; upright is his posture; ruddy are his cheeks; but if you look at him closely, you will observe that his eye is for the most part fixed in one direction. He does not look off from his work; still less does he look back; but he keeps a steady gaze in a direct line before him. Is there, then, any difficulty in the ploughman's work requiring this attention? Is there any art in thus guiding the plough backwards and forwards over the same piece of land for hours? There is. The art of holding the plough, and directing the horses, simple as it may seem, is only to be acquired by long experience; but when a man has once attained it, he becomes a valuable servant; and, supposing his character to be otherwise satisfactory, he is sure to rise in the respect and esteem of his master. Much patient and diligent toil must be gone through before a man can become a good hand at the plough: the same may be also said of sowing the seed, which is often the ploughman's work; but a willing mind, constant practice, and a patient attention to orders, will overcome great difficulties. Moreover the ploughman is encouraged to ask the blessing of God upon his labours; for it is written, "Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rie in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him." (Isaiah xxviii. 24, 25, 26.)

VALUE OF INDUSTRY.

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The tillage of the soil has been the destined lot of man from the beginning of the world. In a state of innocence Adam was placed in the garden of Eden "to dress it and to keep it.” (Gen. ii. 15.) And after the fall it was declared to him, “In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou return unto the ground." (Gen. iii. 19.) There is great mercy in this appointment, for it may truly be said in the words of an old writer, “The true handmaide of Virtue is Labour, and the only foe to them both is Idleness."

When people were few on the earth and widely scattered, we may naturally suppose that they cultivated only such spots of ground as they found to yield a good return, and as required the least amount of tillage. Their labour may have been much lighter than ours, and their tools and implements much simpler, as their wants were also fewer or more easily satisfied. Yet with them as with us, Industry alone could secure them from want, and Sloth would most certainly be their ruin. “Therefore to thee whom virtue hath taught to thrive, and honest labour made capable of honest profit, embrace diligence, and with a thousand eyes watch, least that ougly monster sloth, distill the juice of his hemlocke into thy braine, blasting the happy fruit of thy better labor."

The use of the plough was known at a very early time in the history of mankind; but it was a much simpler implement than ours. At first it was little more than a stout branch of a tree, from which projected another limb, shortened and pointed; this being turned into the ground, made the furrows, while at the further end of the larger branch was fastened a transverse yoke, to which the oxen were harnessed. Afterwards a handle to guide the plough was added.

The Syrian plough was light enough for a man to carry with one hand: it was drawn by oxen, which were sometimes urged by a scourge, but oftener by a long staff with a flat piece of metal at one end, for clean