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a man selling lemonade, with a linen shirt open at the neck and a fancy waistcoat without sleeves, long whitestockings and sandals. The muleteers, or mule drivers, have broad belts of buff leather; and their captains or train masters, carry a spanish gun and a cartridge belt. In this mountainous country, the business is not carried on as in ours, but frequently by means of mules, whose strength and sureness of foot make them particularly well suited to the steep and rough paths which they have to encounter.

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In Spain, and Italy, and France, and other countries on the continent, the poorest peasants and labourers have generally a gay holiday dress, smart, and much ornamented, and often very expensive. But then they have not ale-houses and beer-shops to go to, which make many an English labourer's best dress a heap of rags. We do, however, often see a labouring man among ourselves who has a good Sunday dress, which lasts him for years; and it is a pleasure to see such a man on a Sabbath morning, looking as if he was resting from the labours of the week, and prepared to pass the day as becomes a Christian. Such a man is no frequenter of the ale-house: if he were, he would have a different look. The week-day apron, and the working-dress, worn on the Sabbath morning, show the character rather more plainly than I should like to describe it. A knot of these sort of men is generally to be seen together, on a Sunday morning, at a particular spot in the village, commonly not far from the ale-house. They will be there, whilst their neighbours are going to church, and will give a look at them as if ready to turn them to ridicule.

1834.]

OCCASIONAL THOUGHTS.

23

The clean, well-dressed working man, on the Sunday morning, does not commonly stop to join in conversation with this party of idlers. Whether he is a married man, and his wife or children with him; or whether he is a single man, and walking alone, he walks quietly on, looking very contented and happy. If you were to go to the houses of these two different sorts of men, you would generally find the first very dirty and shabby; and a good deal of discontent and grumbling is commonly within. The houses of the second sort are generally clean, and whole, and neatly furnished; and peace, and quietness, and content seem to dwell there. Sometimes I have seen matters otherwise, but not very often.

V.

OCCASIONAL THOUGHTS.

THE following extracts are taken from an excellent little book, containing the thoughts occasionally written down by the late Rev. James Yonge, formerly minister of Torquay Chapel, in Devonshire, whose early removal from the ministry was deeply felt by all who knew him, and who had seen the effects of his exertions in the service of his heavenly Master :

Oh! beware how you ever resist a good thought!you are striving against the Spirit of God. Beware how you dally with an evil thought!-you are tampering with Satan.

Draw a picture of a family where the father is religious; and contrast it with one where the father is a drunkard. Love, order, industry, cleanliness, happiness, on the one side; on the other strife, confusion, idleness, filth, misery.

O God, purify my polluted heart; strengthen my weak heart; confirm my irresolute heart; encourage my trembling heart; soften my stony heart; enlighten my dark heart; comfort my afflicted heart; warm my cold heart.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore." What most important things we here pray for! Yet I know no words in our Church Services that are generally heard with more indifference.

They pass

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for a mere winding up; as if the people fancied the clergyman meant to say- There, all is over; come, let us shut up our books and be gone.'

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O Lord, Thou art holy, and we sinful-whatever we do of good is due to Thee: whatever of evil, springs from ourselves.

NEW YEAR.

ANOTHER year is gone:-Let every one examine himself." I am now approaching nearer to my latter end;am I better prepared for it? Is my faith more firmly rooted? Has my watchfulness increased? Have I been more devout towards God? Have I been more anxious to do good to my fellow-creatures? Am I more resigned to the will of God? Have my evil dispositions been conquered, and have good ones been planted in my heart in their stead? Has a desire of earthly things found less room in my thoughts; and have I been more earnest in my desire after heavenly things? Have my desires been enlarged towards the benefit of my fellow-creatures; and have I, at the same time, become less anxious for the praise of men, and more desirous of the praise of God? Have I been enabled to conquer any evil habits-any sinful lusts? Can I, with confiding trust, rest my hopes of salvation on my Saviour's merits;-and have I, at the same time, an increased desire to obey his will? Do I earnestly wish to be so sanctified by God's Spirit, that I may live in a state of holiness and watchful preparation for eternity? V.

INTEGRITY.

A VERY respectable farmer in the parish of Alberbury, near Shrewsbury, on attending last September fair, was accosted by a man who asked him if he remembered lending him a sovereign fifteen years ago. To this the farmer replied he did, but as it was so long since, he had given up all hopes of seeing him, imagining he must be dead. "Well," said the honest debtor, "here I am, having come from London on business. I have been searching for you in order to repay you the pound, which has made my fortune; and must insist upon giving interest with it." The generous farmer strenuously objected to taking the interest, but agreed to take the sovereign.

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THIS is a village beautifully situated in the Isle of Wight. It has a handsome church; and near it are the ruins

of its once noble castle.

VOL. XIV.-NO. I.

This castle stands on high

C

ground, and it was the prison of the unhappy Charles the First, in the Year 1647, before he was delivered to the parliamentary forces. Barber, in his " Picturesque Illustrations of the Isle of Wight," says, "Carisbrook Castle, though less perfect than many similar remains of antiquity, is one of the most picturesque and interesting now extant. The original fortress was probably built before the invasion of the Saxons; but no part of the present remains can be proved to be older than the earliest time of the Normans. Considerable additions were made in the reign of Henry the First. In that of Edward the Fourth, the grand gate, flanked by round towers, was built by Lord Woodville, whose arms are yet to be seen upon it. A smaller external gate was added by Queen Elizabeth, as appears by her initials, and the date, 1598. The outer wall was probably built about the same time, and it includes an area of twenty acres. In the ruins of the building, within the walls, is shown part of the chamber in which Charles the First was confined, and the window through which he is said to have attempted to escape. The most modern part of the building is a chapel, rebuilt by George the Second in the year 1738. In this chapel, the mayor of Newport and the high constables are still sworn into office.'

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There is a well in the castle-yard 300 feet deep, which is considered to be much older than any part of the building now remaining. The construction of it is ascribed to the Romans, who are known to have gained possession of the isle of Wight in the reign of their emperor Claudius Cæsar1.

FAITHFULNESS IN SERVANTS.

[We particularly recommend this paper to our friends in the servants'hall and kitchen.]

MR. EDITOR,

IN the Cottager for November, I observed an epitaph copied from a tombstone which has been erected by a family to commemorate the faithfulness and virtues of a servant. This is creditable to both :--and I have great pleasure in believing that such instances are by no means uncommon. A family derives great advantage and benefit from the faithfulness of a servant; and, not only bene

1 Claudius died in the year of our Lord 53.

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