IT is unworthy of a reasonable being to spend any of the little time alloted us without some tendency, either direct or oblique, to the end of our existence, and though every moment cannot be laid out on the formed and regular improvement of our knowledge, or the stated practice of a moral or religious duty, yet none should be so spent as to exclude wisdom or virtue, or pass without a pos. sibility of qualifying us, more or less, for the better employment of those which are to come. It is scarcely possible to pass an hour in honest conversation, without being able when we rise from it to please ourselves with having given or received some advantages, but a man may shuffle cards from noon till midnight, without tracing any new idea in his mind, or being able to recollect the day by any other token than his gain or loss, and a confused idea of agitated passions, and clamorous altercations. Rambler, No. 80. WE are frequently importuned (says Dr. Johnson) by the bacchanalian writers, to lay hold on the present hour; to catch the pleasures within our reach; and remember that futurity is not at our command. But surely these exhortations may, with equal propriety, be applied to better purposes: it may be, at least, inculcated that pleasures are more safely postponed than virtues; and that greater loss is suffered by missing an opportunity of doing good, than an hour of giddy frolic, and noisy merri ment. MONTHLY NOTICES. MARCH. Guardians are elected in this month, or within forty days from the 25th of March. Before the 5th of this month, Overseers of every parish containing a population exceeding 2000, to enter in a book the names and addresses of persons who before the 1st of February have claimed to vote as Owners or Proxies; such book to be open for inspection till the 10th. On the three first Sundays of this month, the List of persons nominating as Constables must be on Church and Chapel doors. Burnt Fen Tax, due in October last, must be paid this month. 10th.-On or before this day, Overseers are bound to distinguish in the Rate Book the persons qualified to vote in the forthcoming election of Guardians. 24th.-Last day for Overseers to return Lists of Constables to Justices. 24th.-Between this day and the 9th of April, Justices appoint Constables, and, within fourteen days of appointment, Overseers to publish their names on Church doors. 25th. Overseers to be appointed this day, or within 14 days after. The accounts of those whose year has expired must be verified by them on oath before a Magistrate within 14 days, and be delivered to their successors. 25th. Surveyors of the Highways to be appointed for the ensuing year. SOHAM PLAYFORD'S MAGAZINE, AND Friendly Monitor. APRIL, 1847. EN of all classes in society, and of every shade of religious and political sentiment, seem to agree in the opinion that the moral renovation, so much needed in our overgrown population, must begin in the young. The subject, therefore, of comprehensive and universal education, occupies a prominent position in the public mind; and is regarded with more or less of interest and anxiety, as the well-being of the community, and the advancement of social happiness are desired. But while we are looking forward with hope and expectancy to the development of some extensive scheme which is to prove the panacea of all the evils we deplore, what have we already done with the means that are within our reach? Is the mischief which we are so anxious to remedy, really to be traced to any defective system of instruction in our schools; or is it to be attributed to the indifference and neglect of individual members of the community to the moral welfare of those who are immediately within the sphere of their influence? How hopeless must be the efforts of the most zealous friends of intellectual advancement if the rising generation are withdrawn, under every frivolous pretext, from their care! Under what insuperable obstacles must the most perfect form of instruction labour, if the atmosphere of home is infected with the pestilence of vice! What permanent results can be anticipated from stated lessons of virtue and morality, however earnest, however frequently repeated, if so far from being enforced by the precept No. 4. Vol. I. E and example of those with whom they habitually associate, they are counteracted and practically reviled ! Education and Instruction are words of very different import. The latter, even in its most limited sense, is almost confined to the walls of the school room; while the former is exerting an almost unceasing influence upon us from the earliest dawn of life. Among the many existing obstacles to any lasting improvement in the social condition, and moral character, of the labouring classes in our own immediate locality, the unrestricted employment of females in the fields has hitherto had a most deplorable effect; and, so long as it remains unremoved, it will inevitably thwart the most strenuous exertions that can be made for their benefit. It may be asserted, without any fear of contradiction, that the good morals of any community will always bear a direct proportion to the purity and retirement of the female character. What, then, is to be expected if we habituate them from early youth to masculine occupations, coarseness of manners, and the violation of that natural modesty which the great Creator has implanted in the breasts of all his creatures? How unseemly is the picture, so often presented to the eye, of large numbers of females, degraded by male habiliments, not only neglecting their proper duties at home, and occupied in the rude and unfeminine labours of agriculture, but positively displacing their husbands, and brothers, and sons from the station they alone are duly qualified to hold, and throwing them altogether out of employment! Is not such a state of things an indication of those barbarous habits of life, which must be banished from our land before we can make any real progress in civilization and christian refinement. But, with regard, more particularly, to the young;-need we recount the evils that so palpably spring from this fatal source? What system of instruction can avail if our children are deprived of its influence, and sent to toil in the fields, from day to day, from almost the earliest period of their existence? What lessons of obedience, of morality, of religion can be expected to impress their hearts with a lasting and active energy, while they are exposed to the baneful effects of vicious example, and thrown into contact with those "whose glory is in their shame?" Moral and intellectual depravity must be the infallible result of such a course; and the evidences are before our eyes in the rudeness and licentiousness of the young, whose very language has become so gross as to shock the ears even of those who are most accustomed to the sound. We would earnestly, therefore, call the attention of all who are concerned for the welfare of the community to this subject. No palliation but necessity can be pleaded for a practice which is fraught with such incalculable evils. We hold those parents who thus, for the sake of gain, crush the best feelings, and blight the best hopes of their female children, to be culpable in the highest degree. The misery and disgrace which they, too often bring upon themselves, is only the inevitable result of their unnatural course; but the cruelty they are guilty of towards their offspring is so deep and so durable, that they must be lost to all parental affection if they allow it to continue. But let those, also, who offer the inducement for such a ruinous and demoralizing practice reflect upon the responsibility they incur. "Am I my brother's keeper," once said a proud enemy of God and man. We trust there are none who would feel disposed to make a similar reply when appealed to upon the subject we have thus briefly touched, Let us take heed that we do not become our brother's destroyer by indirectly nipping the seeds of virtue in the bud, by depriving him of every opportunity of mental improvement, and by exposing him to the unchecked influence of that evil example which will ultimately render him unfit for intercourse with any but the lowest of his species, and a pest to society at large: debased as to all the better feelings of the present life, and utterly regardless of the life which is to come. POPERY. In the memorials of Richard earl of Corke, as also in those of Archbishop Usher, and the manuscripts of Sir James Ware, a singular circumstance is narrated tending to show by what apparantly trivial means it pleases Divine Providence sometimes to preserve his people from the hands of those who seek their life. Queen Mary having dealt severely with the protestants in England, about the latter end of her reign signed a commission to take the same course in Ireland. In order to execute it with greater force, she nominated Dr. Cole as one of the commissioners, and sent the commission by him. Upon his reaching Chester, the mayor being also a papist, waited on the doctor, who took the commission out of his box, saying: "Here is a commission that shall lash the heretics of Ireland;" calling the protestants by that title. The good woman of the house, being well affected to the protestant religion, and having a brother who was a protestant, then residing in Dublin, was much troubled at the doctor's words; and watching the opportunity, whilst the mayor took his leave and the doctor was complimenting him down stairs, she opened the box, took the commission out, and wrapped up in its place a pack of cards in a sheet of paper, with the knave of clubs facing uppermost. The doctor soon returned to his chamber, and suspecting nothing of what had been done, put up the box as formerly. The next day, having reached the sea side, and the wind being favourable, he sailed for Ireland, and landed on the 7th of October, 1558, at Dublin, Upon coming to the Castle, the Lord Fitz-Walters, being lord deputy, sent for him to attend the privy council; when Dr. Cole, having made a speech upon the subject of his mission, presented the box to the lord deputy, who having caused it to be opened that the secretary might read the commission, there was nothing to be seen but the pack of cards with the knave of clubs, face uppermost, on the top. The lord deputy and the council were much startled at the discovery, the doctor himself being equally amazed, who could only assure them that the commission had been produced by him at Chester, and that he could not conceive what had become of it. To this the lord deputy answered: "let us have another commission, and we will shuffle the cards in the mean while." The doctor, much troubled in mind, returned again into England, and coming to the court, immediately obtained another commission; but while he was waiting for a fair wind at the sea side, news was brought that the Queen was dead; and thus her cruel commission fell to the ground, and the lives of the protestants of Ireland were saved. Queen Elizabeth was so delighted with the cirucmstance, that she settled a pension of forty pounds a year for life upon Elizabeth Edwards;-the woman who had thus been the instrument of so much good. ECONOMICAL HINTS TO COTTAGERS. Some years back, in the time of scarcity, digesters were invented to make the most of all bones, refuse meat, &c.; but as they might not be to be procured now, I see no reason why a pan, as above described, might not answer the purpose quite as well. If the rest of the fireside looks neat and clean, a saucepan in the same order would not take from the comfort of it by standing on, or beside the fire. Let me recommend you to try this plan; collect all your bones, fat, and scraps, that you would otherwise throw away; break the bones as small as you can, which will make them yield better, and put them into a pan with no more water than will cover them; let them simmer all the evening and all night, and in the morning when the soup is cold, remove all the fat from it. This you may put by in a clean cup, and it will serve to fry pancakes, potatoes, or any other thing you may have to prepare in that manner, than which, nothing can be better. Drain the soup from the dregs at the bottom, and set it by till you have prepared the following addition. Tie up |
