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ever he did before in his life; and what is better than all, finds time to read his Bible, thanking God heartily for his manifold mercies, and among them for the benefit and blessing of fresh air.

Neighbors, be advised; open your doors and your windows, get out of your houses, walk about, and take fresh air.

A hard-working cobbler, who was heard thumping away at his lapstone before his neighbors were up in the morning, and seen stitching away with his awl and wax-ends after they were gone to bed at night, found himself just in the same plight as the poor tailor-low and languishing, just dragging along as though he had no heart and soul in him.

5. His room was small enough of all conscience, if he had had it all to himself; but this was not the case; for, besides the space taken up by his working bench and bed, he had with him a wife and four children, a black terrier, and a jackdaw in a wicker cage. Neighbors, I cannot tell you one half of the wretchedness of that wretched room, when I stepped into it. Scraps of leather, old rags, bones, and filth were seen in all directions; the dog barked, the jackdaw chattered, the children cried, the wife scolded, and the poor, patient, halfworn-out cobbler could hardly pull his wax-end through the holes his awl had made.

6. To finish the picture, a gin bottle stood in a corner, a dozen pawn tickets were wrapped up in a piece of dirty flannel, in a little cupboard; the window was close shut, and the stench of the room was intolerable. Neighbors, you may think this was a hopeless case, but I thought otherwise, and went to work at once. No peace did I let the old cobbler have till I had fairly ransacked and routed everything out of his miserable dwelling, where for many a weary day and night he had gasped for breath, parboiled and smoke-dried by turns, till his flesh looked just the color of dirty dough. I took him to the tailor, who told him a story that made him lift up his eyes with surprise. The cobbler's bed was removed into an airy garret, his working room thoroughly swept and whitewashed,

the window set open, the black terrier and jackdaw sent away, the children put to day-school, the wife employed up stairs, the gin bottle used to contain vinegar, and the pawn-tickets exchanged for the articles written upon them.

6. Nor was this all; the cobbler was not allowed to sit down to his bench for a single morning, till he had walked to the finger-post on the common, a distance of a mile and a half across the fields. Neighbors, the cobbler is another man: he drinks no gin, he pawns no clothes, he keeps no terrier dog nor jackdaw, but breathes freely, works blithely, while he sings a hymn or a psalm, pays his rent like a man, reads his Bible every day of his life, and looks as fresh as a daisy.

7. Now, what has done all this for him? Nothing in the world but fresh air. This, with God's blessing, has been the making of him; and why should it not be the making of you? Rout out your cupboards and closets, sweep out your floors, whitewash your walls, and open your windows; but, above all, get into the fields and breathe the fresh air. Are you so fond of weakly frames and pale faces? Do you like to see pill-boxes, and phials, and gallipots? Is it pleasant to swallow salts, and rhubarb, and ipecacuanha, and to pay doctors' bills? If it is, heed not what I say; but if it is not, take my prescription-take fresh air.

8. Neighbors, I am no quack, but a plain-dealing man, gratefully enjoying the blessing of health, and anxious that all of you may enjoy it too. Fresh air will not only improve the health, but the temper also; so that a man will laugh at the little troubles that before made him fume and fret like a madman. The good that is done, and the evil that is prevented by fresh air, are beyond calculation. Doctors usually recommend fresh air, even when all their skill and all their medicines have failed, and this is a proof how highly they think of it.

9. Let this open your eyes, neighbors; doctors know what they are about, and you ought to know what you are about too. If you prefer to call in a doctor, and to pay him for ad

vising you to take fresh air, I can have no possible objection, neither will the doctor blame you for this course; but whether it will be wise in you to buy that which I give you for nothing, is a point worth a moment's consideration. Take my word for it, or rather do not take my word for it, but prove it-fresh air is the best medicine in the world. If I were called upon to write a prescription to cure three-fourths of this world's ails, it should be this-Plain food, temperance in eating and drinking, exercise, fresh air, a clean skin, a contented mind, and a clear conscience.

THE NIMMERS.-BYROM.

1. Two foot companions once in deep discourse,
"Tom," says the one- "let's go and steal a horse."
"Steal!" says the other, in a huge surprise,
"He that says I'm a thief—I say he lies."
"Well, well," replies his friend,-"no such affront,
I did not ask ye-if you won't-you won't."

2. So they jogged on-till, in another strain,
The querist moved to honest Tom again,
"Suppose," says he-" for supposition sake-
'Tis but a supposition that I make,—

Suppose that we should filch a horse, I say?"
"Filch! filch!" quoth Tom,-demurring by the way;
"That's not so bad as downright theft—I own—
But-yet-methinks-'twere better let alone:
It soundeth something pitiful and low;
Shall we go filch a horse, you say—why, no-
I'll filch no filching;—and I'll tell no lie:
Honesty's the best policy-say I."

3. Struck with such vast integrity quite dumb,

His comrade paused-at last, says he,-" Come, come;

Thou art an honest fellow-I agree-
Honest and poor;-alas! that should not be:
And dry into the bargain—and no drink!

Shall we go nim a horse, Tom,-what dost think?"

4. How clear things are when liquor's in the case!
How oily words give wickedness a grace!

"Nim? yes, yes, yes, let's nim with all my heart;
I see no harm in nimming, for my part;
Hard is the case, if I am any judge,
That honesty on foot should always trudge;
So many idle horses round about,

That honesty should wear its vitals out;

Besides-shall honesty be choked with thirst?
Were it my lord mayor's horse—I'd nim it first.

5. Not far from thence a noble charger stood,
Snug, in his master's stable, taking food;

Which beast they stole, or, as they called it, nimmed,
Just as the twilight all the landscape dimmed.
And now, good people, we should next relate
Of these adventurers the luckless fate:
What is most likely, is that both these elves
Were, in like manner, halter-nimmed themselves.

6. It matters not-the moral is the thing,

For which our purpose, neighbors, was to sing: 'Tis but a short one, it is true, but yet,

Has a long reach with it-videlicet,*

'Twixt right and wrong, how many gentle trimmers Will neither steal, nor filch, but will be plaguy nimmers!

* Videlicet, to wit; namely.

RICHES AND HAPPINESS.-DR. SAM. JOHNSON.

1. As Ortugrul of Bassa was one day wandering along the streets of Bagdad, musing on the varieties of merchandise which the shops offered to his view, and observing the different occupations of the multitudes on every side, he was awakened from his meditation by a crowd that obstructed his passage. He raised his eyes, and saw the chief Vizier returning from the divan to his palace.

2. Ortugrul mingled with the attendants, and being supposed to have some petition for the Vizier, was permitted to enter. He surveyed the spaciousness of the apartments, admired the walls hung with golden tapestry, and the floors covered with silken carpets, and despised the simple neatness of his own little habitation. .

3. "Surely," said he to himself, "this palace is the seat of happiness, where pleasure succeeds to pleasure, and discontent and sorrow have no admission. Whatever Nature has provided for the delight of sense, is here spread forth to be enjoyed. What can mortals hope or imagine which the master of this palace has not obtained? The dishes of Luxury cover his table, the voice of Harmony lulls him in his bowers; he breathes the fragrance of the groves of Java, and sleeps upon the down of the cygnets of Ganges. He speaks, and his mandate is obeyed; he wishes, and his wish is gratified; all whom he sees obey him, and all whom he hears flatter him.

4. "How different, Ortugrul, is thy condition, who art doomed to the perpetual torments of unsatisfied desire, and who hast no amusement in thy power, that can withhold thee from thy own reflections! They tell thee that thou art wise; but what does wisdom avail with poverty? None will flatter the poor, and the wise have very little power of flattering themselves. That man is surely the most wretched of the sons of wretchedness, who lives with his own faults and follies always before him, and who has none to reconcile him to

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