Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

1834.]

FAITHFULNESS IN SERVANTS.

27

fit, but comfort. I use these words advisedly. Tried and faithful servants are real blessings; and always ought to be, and often are, regarded as such. They command the esteem, and love, and respect alike of the parents and children.

I say not this to puff up servants, I do it to show them their proper value. To show them that " continuance in well doing" even in this life, often meets its reward. Besides, Scripture, in many places, teaches and enforces, on its right principle, the duty of servants. Let me advise every Christian servant to examine the following texts, to refer to them,-and to mark them in His own Testament, and often to meditate upon them. Matt. xxv. 23. Ephes. vi. 5-9. Col. iii. 22-25. 1 Tim. vi. 1. Tit. ii. 9, 10. 1 Peter ii. 18. As King Solomon "spake of all trees from the Cedar of Lebanon to the Hyssop that grew upon the wall," So (we see) Holy Scripture speaks to all men, and of all men, to high and low,-to rich and poor,-to kings and people, to masters and servants. None are free from its commands, all may gather wisdom from it. "It stoops down to take the lowliest servant by the hand, to lead him in the way to Heaven, and not only in that part of it which is the general way of Christians, but even in those steps of it which lie within the walk of their particular calling, teaching them not only the duties of a Christian but of a Christian servant."

"Grace finds a way to exert itself in every state where it exists, and regulates the soul according to the particular duties of that estate. Whether it find a man high or low, master or servant, it requires not a change of his station, but works a change on his heart, and teaches him how to live in it. The same spirit that makes a Christian master gentle and prudent in commanding, makes a Christian servant faithful and diligent in obeying." (Leighton on St. Peter.) I delight in those tributes of esteem which we read on the Epitaphs of faithful servants. Sure I am, that, though melancholy tokens of regard for departed excellence, they have great influence on the conduct of others. They in a manner reward parents in humble life for the pains taken in bringing up their children as they ought, and they encourage others

to live according to the example of those who have departed this life in the faith and fear of the Lord.

I know a village where there are several Epitaphs like that at Alphington. It is a pretty and peaceful village on the eastern bank of the Trent. Cottages of the neatest kind, whose thatched roofs and white walls are covered with roses and honeysuckles, cottages which no country but England can boast of, lie scattered in an irregular manner round the mansion house and the village school. The Church stands on a hill: and in a sheltered corner of the churchyard there is a little spot, in which the departed servants of the owner of the hall lie mouldering side by side. It is kept with all the neatness of a garden, and is decked with flowers. The inscriptions on the headstones of the servants record the long servitude, the faithfulness, the patience under disease, the Christian conduct of those upon whose remains they stand, and are testimonies of the esteem of their masters and mistresses.

It is some months since I saw this happy village-probably I shall never see it again-but I shall never forget its regularity and peacefulness. I copied the Epitaphs, and will, if this be inserted, send parts of them at some future time, in the hope, that, by God's blessing, they may encourage the living to imitate the virtues of the dead. M. D. G.

[ocr errors]

GARDENING.

THE great advantage of deep digging seems to be every day more clearly perceived. Mr. Poynter, in his Cottage Gardener," says, "Land can never be dug too well. The spits should be thin, and finely broken. The old adage of according to your pains will be your gains,' will be found to be particularly true in good digging. Trenching may be very often done to advantage. It is superior in its effects to digging, simply because the land is thus more deeply and regularly moved." Mr. P., of course, considers manure to be useful; but he thinks deep digging still more so. When the digging is deep, the root makes its way down, and seeks nourishment for itself. The plough goes only a few inches into the ground, and leaves the soil strongly

1834.]

GARDENING.

29

pressed down below;-the root is stopped at this hard part. But, if the ground were loose for six times the depth, the root would work its way, and find out nourishment. The spade goes much deeper than the plough, and, moreover, leaves the ground comparatively loose under it. But if spade husbandry be too expensive for the farmer, the cottage gardener may apply it with success. "There are many instances of wheat dibbled in the spring, two grains in a hole, the holes nine inches apart each way, having produced forty and even fifty bushels to the acre. In this manner, the expenditure of seed is not, perhaps, two pecks per acre."(Poynter, page 12.) But in this way the ground is well dug, and loosened, and cleaned, which is of vast importance; for weeds often take up more nourishment than the corn.

The British Almanack for this year, in its plan for a cottage garden of a quarter of an acre, or of half that size, says, "The first thing necessary," in making a garden, "is to drain the ground: without draining, unless the soil is very light indeed, your garden will never prosper. The stagnant water, in the winter, autumn, and spring, rots the roots of plants, and kills the seeds; and the soil is rendered less fertile by the constant soaking wet. Cut some drains, slanting across the ground, into a ditch on the outside, if there is one, and fill up the lower part of the drains with bushes and loose stones; but if there is no ditch, dig out the walk pretty deep, and fill in the bottom with stones, broken bricks, and dry rubbish, and bushes. Next to draining comes trenching —and trenching deeply. Nothing improves ground so much as working it: begin by trenching it (if the soil admits of it) three spits deep. This, however, cannot be done, of course, all in one year, as it would take too much time; but it may be done by degrees. After it has been trenched three spits for one crop, then a simple digging will be enough for the second crop; and, for the third, a digging of two spits will, for the three crops, always give a fresh surface, which is a matter of great importance in growing fine vegetables. Draining and trenching are of more consequence even than manure, as those will find who try the experiment. Of course,

manure is not to be neglected, when it can be got; and it may be procured from many sources which are not sufficiently attended to. Wood-ashes will do something; the rotten leaves, stalks, &c. not eaten by the pig, are excellent manure. Soap-water of the wash-tub is of value. The scouring out of the ditch is good manure; and a few barrows of turf sods, chopped up and dug in, green, will be as valuable as a load of dung; the scrapings of roads, if the soil is heavy, are also excellent, and assist much in lightening the ground." The following is the plan given for forming a garden:-A border all round, four feet wide, marked B, for the smaller vegetables, pot-herbs, &c., leaving the middle of the plot for larger crops. Next to the border, make a walk of two feet wide, in the position of that marked W. Then divide the middle into beds, in size according to your convenience, with a narrow walk trodden between them. These can be altered in size at any time when it is found necessary.

[blocks in formation]

MARY and Joseph in their punctual compliance with the ordinances of their religion and in their bringing up their child Jesus to the same, have set an example to parents of all ages and places. An example which, grounded on the express command of God, should make them sensible of how great importance it is, that they who govern families should be conscientious in frequenting God's public worship themselves; that they should season the tender years of their children with early notions

1834.]

CASTING ALL YOUR CARE ON HIM.

31

of good and evil, and bring them to a right knowledge of religion by such methods and in such degrees as their years will bear: that they should turn their childish curiosity to profit, by explaining to them the occasion of the Christian festivals, begetting in them an early reverence for the glorious mysteries of Christianity, and a becoming value for the inestimable benefits of our redemption in short that they should from the first, make their children their companions in the service of God, and imprint upon their minds such strong and lasting characters of his majesty and goodness, such an habitual awe and love of him and his commands, as may lay the foundation of a wise and holy life; may preserve their riper years from the contagion of irreligion and vice, direct their choice, and secure their perseverance by habits of goodness, and exemplary improvements in religious prudence, still aspiring nearer unto perfection, to the end of their days.-DEAN STANHOPE. (Sent by M. F.)

CASTING ALL YOUR CARE ON HIM.

(1st Epistle of Peter v. 7.)

How sweetly did those accents fall,
How soothing to mine ear!
My soul, obey thy Saviour's call,
Thou canst have nought to fear:
Cast all thine earthly care on Him,
Nor doubt his willing hand;
Tho' misery's cup rise to the brim,
Trust Him and thou shalt stand.

Say not, how shall I live to-day,
Nor where to-night repose?
Trust not in human aid to stay

The torrent of thy woes:
For great and heavy is thy load
Of sin and sorrow here;
Rough and uneven is thy road,

Still thou hast nought to fear.

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »