in connection with the May-pole was Dr. Parr, the great Grecian scholar and political writer, who was always the first of the throng to assemble round the May-pole in his village of Hatton, and to promote the dance around it, himself cordially joining in.*

The love of the May-pole was not confined to our own happy isles. In France and other parts of the Continent it formed a principal feature in the universal homage to the day; and even in Upper India, we are told by Archer, the rude natives, erect a pole decorated with garlands and festoons in honour of the season, and with strings of flowers around their heads give themselves up to the joyousness of the time.

The Milk-maids have been incidentally mentioned. Of them a goodly paper might be pen'd. They were till within the memory of ancient people living diligent observers of May-day. Their bright new gowns, caps, and aprons-their clean and polished pails-their choice garland of plate-a magnificent silver pile set off with the greatest taste by delicious bouquets-gladdened for a while the streets and squares of "the work-a-day world;' but that has passed away.

The poor Sweeps, too, made lords and ladies of themselves for the nonce; and tired themselves around the "Jack-in-the-green to pleasure the citizens and gather a few pence. But they have gone by-the annual dinner given to the remnant of them by the masters instead of this holiday has proved too much for this relic of by-gone mirth, and the "Jack-in-the-green has fallen into the hands of the idle and dissolute, who are deservedly discouraged. In some country towns the attempt is however still made to trick out the dingy person of pour sooty with a few gay coloured rags and flowers, but the performance is so miserable, and there is so little heart for such things now, that he has scarcely a sympathiser (the kind-hearted Elia and his pleasant friend Jem White, alas! are gone) in his merry making.

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The "May-lord" and his "lady" are not yet quite forgotten personages; at least in our own county; for in some parts it is still, we believe, customary for the young people of the farms to go a-maying and return in procession with a "May-lord" and May-lady," decorated with flowers and many-coloured ribbons. They go through the village singing a song, more lengthy than poetical, but partaking of a religious feeling (for our simple-minded ancestors in all their pastimes never forgot to whom all things were owing;) and receiving money from the inhabitants, terminate the joyous day with a feast of plumcake and tea.

PHILO-MAIA,

* In some parts of England, a May-pole is even now, occasionally raised, and a long string of men and women, hand in hand, after encircling it a few times, in a species of dance, rush with noisy merriment, through all the streets of the town. ED.

MORAL REFLECTIONS.

Continued from Page 57.

If an inhabitant of one of those bright and blessed worlds where sin is unknown, or known only by report, as having blasted the happiness of an obscure and remote part of the dominions of God, should sojourn for a brief space among mortals, he would instantly perceive, by unequivocal indications, that this was one of the lapsed provinces. He would be assailed by a number of singularly novel emotions on finding himself in the very heart of a rebellious community; whilst he would exult in his own consciousness of rectitude and in his power to abstract himself, at pleasure, from all contact and communication with the polluted and guilty race. His pure and lofty sentiments would be often outraged, by observing the debasement and selfishness of the species, the innumerable forms and modes of hideous deformity in which sin, as the ruling power, presents itself in their actions, and the almost

demoniacal facility which men of all ranks have acquired in the commission of crime. All this would appear to him an enormous mass of evil, over which an angel might weep. But on his becoming acquainted with the history of man's revolt; of the consequences which have continued, through so many ages, and in so many forms of direful calamity, to afflict the race; and of the economy of divine mercy, instituted for his recovery through the mediation of the Son of God, the utter indifference to the whole subject, which he would speedily have discovered to be almost universal, would strike him as a strange anomaly. The reflections of such a being, in relation to this subject, would, not improbably, take some such form as the following" The Supreme Ruler might, justly, have abandoned a race of intelligent creatures, in revolt, to the inevitable consequences of their rebellion, There would have been no difficulty, in that case, in perceiving the principles, or the equity of the procedure. "The heavens would have declared His righteousness for God is judge himself." But that mercy should have triumphed over judgment; that a free pardon, and full restoration to virtue and happiness, should have been offered to the human race, on terms so gracious, and involving so vast a sacrifice as the incarnation and death of the Son of God; that, although this all important topic has been urged upon the attention of the successive generations of men, in every possible form of earnest and persuasive representation, the great mass of them should have continued, to this day, to exhibit the most absolute immobility and unconcern; and that, notwithstanding, the Divine forbearance should continue the race in a probationary condition, form, together, a grand phenomenon in the universe-a mystery which, probably, none but the Infinite Mind can fully comprehend. It is not unreasonable to imagine that such a being would feel a strong, impulsive, curiosity to identify the causes whose combined action has produced in the human species this anomalous apathy to the highest interest. In making his analysis with this view he would begin with what should appear to be the immediate cause-the last agent in the production of so strange and dismal an effect. From that he would descend to the rest, individualizing them, one by one, until he should reach the most remote. He would soon perceive that a vast and complicated machinery was at work in human nature,—a mighty array of powerful agencies, all co-operating, with never-failing fidelity, in the production of this effect. His surprise at the prevailing insensibility, would gradually lessen, as he became acquainted with the nature, power, and activity, `of the causes conspiring to produce it, and as he perceived that men yield themselves, without resistance, to the influence of these causes, until like the fated ship in a dead calm, they become incapable of motion, though the question at issue be one of life and death. His wonder would now turn upon the circumstance, that men do so yield in relation to a subject whose importance and urgency demand a resistance so prompt, determined, and unyielding, that it would not rest, until the last vestige of the hostile influences should have been exterminated.

Of the causes, whose discovery would be the result of the supposed analysis, probably, the following would be specified as amongst the chief. Perhaps the almost universal neglect of the mind and things pertaining to it, observable amongst men, would be noted as uppermost in the series. The heavenly visitant, in making his observations on human character, from the very commencement of its formation, would discover, that, with few exceptions, that formation was conducted on a scale utterly exclusive of all reference to the mind and its interests, in the sense in which those expressions are to be understood, as implying the true mentul character of the species. He would percieve that mankind are not taught, inured and trained to think in the direction of the highest concerns. That they were taught to think, indeed, and that circumstances were of a nature to oblige them to think; but that the whole mental operation had an exclusive reference to sublunary objects and interests, rather than to those objects and interests which form the true element of mind in all its grades. That the process of mental developement and culture so far as it goes, is of a nature to place the mind in a situation of mere passive subordination to that power which inspiration emphatically denominates the flesh, as an instrument to be employed for the sole purpose of securing its gratification; rather than to raise it to its true position, as a sublime spiritual agent whose grand business it is, to subordinate every thing in working out its eternal well-being. Soham. To be continued.

S.

ECONOMICAL HINTS TO COTTAGERS.

Continued from Page 53.

Another cheap dish, which I am surprised I do not hear of oftener in this part of the country, is beef tripe; few things go further, and it seems to me a sad pity it should be given to dogs, when so many people would be so thankful for it, if they did but know its value. Any poor woman who was cleanly might make a very comfortable livlihood in dressing tripe. The art is very easily acquired, although certainly a troublesome one, but experience would soon teach you the best and easiest method. It is merely done by scalding and scraping very well till all the dark part is removed, having the water a proper heat, and often rincing it well, and when thoroughly cleansed par-boiled. I have no doubt the dresser might make treble her expenses by selling it out in dinners for 3d. or 4d. and what she could not sell would keep well in a little sour milk and water, or salt and water. This is always done in large towns, and most people are very fond of it, either fried with onions till nicely brown, or boiled with milk and water, served in a deep dish, with some of the liquid, and eaten with onion sauce. You seem, also, here, to be unacquainted with what hundreds live upon in many places, and are most thankful to get, that is, salt herring. I do not mean red ones, which are much dearer, but those that are prepared in barrels in strong pickle, and sent abroad. As those barrels contain a great many, no private family could consume them while they were good, but I am surprised that the shopkeepers do not sell them here, as you are not so very distant from Yarmouth, where they are cured. At any time when fresh herrings are plentiful, and you can afford to purchase more than you want for present use, you may easily preserve them in the following manner: clean the insides well, removing the gills, &c., then put a little salt over and within them, and let them stand all night singly on a dish, which will purify them of all offensive matter, then clean off the salt quite well, and fill the insides quite full of fresh salt, and lay them in rows in a dish, or deep oval earthen pan, such as they usually cure tongues in; sprinkling the bottom well with salt, and putting a layer of salt between every layer of herrings, and covering the whole well with the same, which ought to make sufficient pickle to cover them, by which means they will keep good a long time; some months if you wish it. They must also have a dish or some close cover over them, to exclude the air. They will go further in this state than when fresh, and you may cook them by boiling them by themselves, or with your potatoes, to which they give a flavour: observing to put them in the pan just as the potatoes boil, and they will all be done at the same time. If at any time, you happen to have nothing but cold meat for your dinner, you may improve it very much, and make it go further by making it into potatoe-patties. It is only putting on your potatoes an hour or two before you want them, and when boiled enough, mash them very fine with a little milk, a very small piece of butter, and a little salt to your taste, then make them up into the shape of small raised round pies, working them with a little flour to make them keep together better, fill the hollow which you make in them, with your cold meat minced very small and seasoned with a little pepper and salt, shred onion and a little water. Put them before the fire in a tin oven or cheesetoaster and turn them till they are nicely browned all round. If you have any gravy of the bones, (which you can readily make while the patties are baking,) you No. 5. F2

Vol. I.

you can serve it up in a sauce boat, which will be a great addition if prepared properly. If you have to send your husband his dinner out, you will find this dish a great comfort, as it will keep a long time warın, wrapped up close in a clean napkin, and covered in a basket. Undressed meat goes a long way when made into small raised pies, and nicely seasoned. You may work up your flour with a little nice dripping, or skimmings melted and poured amongst it with a little salt, and made into the most convenient size for your oven. A short time will bake them, and they also keep hot a good while, if well covered from the very first. I may here take notice of a defect I have frequently observed in people who are not regular bakers, in regard to their ovens, In the first place, they never clear their ashes well out but leave them to stick to the bottom of the loaf, which is not only disgusting, but unwholesome, and might so easily be avoided by having a wooden hoe made rather wide, and scraping the oven quite clean but with it, which is much better than a broom. To be continued.

OUR LETTER BOX.

The Editors do not wish to be considered responsible for all the sentiments of their Correspondents.

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To the Editor of the Soham Magazine.

Sir,―The suggestions of your correspondent, concerning the Police, in the April number of this magazine, though very à propos,—will, I fear, be entirely lost upon our Town," if no one should be found sufficiently patriotic to consider it his duty to call the attention of the inhabitants publicly to this subject, by which means, a meeting might be convened, to take into consideration, whether the advantages attending the establishment of a body of Rural Police, would counterbalance the expense naturally resulting therefrom.

There are many other points for consideration which a friendly challenge to those of your readers and correspondents, who have it in their power to furnish facts, and statistical accounts, might enable you to bring forward, through the medium of your valuable magazine, preliminary to this meeting. Hoping, my wishes for the wellfare of my native place, may be considered ample apology for trespassing on your pages. I remain, Sir,

Soham, April 17, 1847.

Your obliged and humble Servant,

L. P. J.

We willingly insert this letter of our friend L. P. J. with the hope that it may lead to some decisive steps upon so important a subject. Taking it in a merly MORAL point of view, there cannot be a question as to its expediency. There is not a respectable inhabitant of the Town, who does not feel that the condition of our streets, particularly on Sunday Evenings, is in the highest degree disgraceful. ED.