Deep goes the frost, till every root is found A rolling mass of ice upon the ground. No tender ewe can break her nightly fast, Nor heifer strong begin the cold repast, Till Giles with ponderous beetle foremost go,

And scattering splinters fly at every blow; When pressing round him, eager for the prize,

From their mix'd breath warm exhalations rise."-BLOOMFIELD.

While standing to observe these patient creatures, a granny wren, as the country people call her, sung cheerfully among the underwood, and her golden-crested relative, the most elegant of British birds, peeped suspiciously from the spreading branches of a silver fir, then flitted from spray to spray, and shook a shower of tinkling ice-drops on the withered leaves. Robin, too, who loves mankind, alive or dead, was ready with his song, and the cheerful voice of the woodlark resounded from a wild acclivity shaded with high trees. Pp. 1-5.

Her

Those who are much abroad in these cold nights, may see a little flitting object reflected on the dazzling surface of the snow. This is the common bat. congeners generally feed on the crepuscular moths; but as they are now scarce, she probably finds a quarry among different kinds of insects, and such gnats as frequent aged trees and walls, to which, in feeding, she adheres by the claw appended to her long leathern wing. Without this contrivance, she would be the most helpless of all animals. She could neither move rapidly on a plane surface, nor raise herself readily from the ground; but these inabilities are fully made up to her by the formation of her wing; and in placing a claw on that part, the Creator has deviated from the analogy observed in flying animals. A singular defect required a singular substitution; and hence appears that system, which gives to the different parts of the organ of locomotion corresponding uses.

He who lifts his eyes to the high heavens, who sees unnumbered constellations moving in silent majesty, and believes them to be the suns of other systems, may fear to be overlooked in the immensity of creation. But let him examine the particles of frost that sparkle beside his path, or turn his eyes to the little, dark flitting object that casts a shadow on the dazzling surface, and observe the expanded ear and nostril well adapted to catch the slightest impulses of sound; the

warm soft fur that defends his little body from the severity of the cold; the claw appended to his wing, the wonderful mechanism that diminishes his specific gravity. Let him consider all these, and then take notice how tender, and how intricate is the appropriate machinery that gives animation to the whole-"how constantly in action, how necessary to life." Ilis fears must vanish. He will of Him whom greatness cannot overgratefully acknowledge the parental care power, nor minuteness perplex.

And, how beautiful, when the fullorbed moon has risen over the snowy landscape, to watch the rapid motion of the clouds!

"To view the white-robed clouds in clusters driven,

And all the glorious pageantry of heaven. Low, on the utmost bound'ry of the sight, The rising vapours catch the silver light; Thence Fancy measures, as they parting fly,

Which first will throw its shadows on the eye,

Passing the source of light and thence away,

Succeeded quick by brighter still than they.

For yet above these wafted clouds are

seen

"The Most High giveth snow like woo!; he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes.

"He sendeth out his word, and melteth them; he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow."-Psalm cxlvii.

How delightful is that feeling which the lover of nature now experiences, when the snows are melted from the fields, and a soft spring-like breeze is felt, for the first time after cold east winds, and a tedious confinement to the house! The sun-beams, too, that break through the driving clouds, and brighten the landscape with a rapid radiance, are welcomed

perhaps with more delight than at any other season of the year; and even the mists that rest upon the hills, or, as the country people call them, the smoking of the woods, seem an earnest of much that is verdurous and joyful.-P. 23.

The author's account of the earthworms, the snow-drop and the common daisy; also of the songsters which enliven this month with their notes, are pleasing; but we can afford only one more extract from her closing description of February.

The days now perceptibly lengthen, and the temperature increases. The farmer repairs his hedges, drains wet lands, plants beside his brooks and streams the willow, alder, and all such trees as delight in moisture, ploughs up his fallows, and sows spring wheat and rye, beans and pease.

"Now mountain snows dissolve against

the sun,

And streams, yet new, from precipices

Reason and experience equally instruct the husbandman to direct his operations by the changes of the seasons; but who first taught him to plough all day, to sow, to open and break the clods?

"When

he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rye in their place?" "His God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him." (Isaiah xxviii. 25, 26.) How often has the thought of this kind warnning risen within me, while observing the labours of the husbandman! How consoling has it been to think that the high and lofty One, whose power is seen

in the fierce whirlwind, whose voice is heard in the loud thunder, should thus direct the simple occupations of rural life! That he should secretly incline the heart of man to devise such instruments and operations as diminish human lahour, or promote the growth of every herb bearing seed, and every fruitful tree; "that He should water the ridges of the field abundantly, settle the furrows thereof, and make them soft with showers, till the year is crowned with his goodness;" (Psalm lxv. 10, 11,) and all this perhaps for him, who, while he receives the gift, is yet unmindful of the giver, whose heart has never warmed with gratitude, whose lips have never offered one tribute of thanksgiving.-P. 41-43.

It is even so, the wonders of creation fail, of themselves, to lead man Without to a knowledge of God. the aid of Divine Revelation, the temporal mercies he enjoys will not impress him with gratitude to the Almighty and beneficent Being from whom he receives them; nor will he duly appreciate the all-important end of his creation--a preparation for a future and eternal state of existence with saints and angels. The deplorable ignorance that too often prevails amidst the loveliest scenes of nature is emphatically described by our author in the following passage, taken from her account of the month of May.

Poets may call up images of rural life, and associate with them much that is

soothing and delightful to the mind-they may picture the rural fête as replete with blameless enjoyment, but the reality is widely different; secluded scenes afford no security for the innocence of youth, nor can all that is verdurous and joyful restore fallen man to the image of his Maker. Our valleys present a succession of landscapes, which he who has once seen, can perhaps never forget; our cottages, too, are often in situations such as poetic fancy might delight to feign; and yet, amid the loveliest of the valleys, beneath the most beautiful of our greenwood shades, many have lived and died in total forgetfulness of Him who made them. Nor is it too much to assert, that a large proportion, though nominally Christian, were not less ignorant of the

the proprietor of an estate called North Hall, upon an elderly female slave, named Eleanor James, belonging to Mr. Wildman's estate.

"Your Lordship will perceive, by the documents annexed to Mr. Wildman's letter, that the circumstances stated are as follows:-Eleanor James states, that 'Butler, a negro man, belonging to Mr. M'Donald, bought a hog from her for his master; the payment having been delayed, she dunned the man, and he told her his master would not pay unless she applied to himself. She accordingly went to North Hall, in the evening of the 28th of November, accompanied by another negro woman named Joanna Williams, also belonging to Low Ground, and applied to Mr. M'Donald for pay ment of the hog. He instantly ordered her to be taken a short distance from his dwelling house, and there (he himself superintending) to be laid down and flogged. She was flogged by two drivers in succession,-the first used a whip, the second used switches; she was afterwards raised and washed with salt pickle. Mrs. M'Donald and her sister were in the dwelling-house, and heard the order given to flog her: the sister interceded. There was also a white young man present, who was walking in or near the piazza when the order was given. The morning after, M'Donald sent her two dollars, and ordered her to leave the property; she did so, and went immediately to Low Ground, and showed herself to Francis Smith, a free black man, who is permitted to reside on the estate.'

"Joanna Williams, a slave on the same plantation with Eleanor James, states that she went with Eleanor James to North Hall, and heard M'Donald order E. James to be flogged; she (Joanna Williams) instantly concealed herself among the bushes, and thus escaped being noticed. Saw Mrs. M'Donald, her sister, and a young man, whose name she thinks is M'Leay; heard Mrs. M'Donald's sister intercede. The flogging took place so near the house that those in it must have heard the screams. She kept a tally of the stripes, and counted 200; that is, she counted ten for each finger on both hands, and went over both hands twice. She saw the salt pickle applied to the wounds. The lash of the whip was dipped in water.' "The same person (Joanna Williams) states, in a deposition made on the 3d of April, 1830, that he, Mr. M'Donald,

observing that Butler did not flog her to his satisfaction, called a brown man, named Edward, who then flogged her. As Eleanor James was getting the flogging, she asked for water, when he (M'Donald) told her, the devil a drop of water he would give her: he did not care if she died on the spot; he did not care about her master, for if he was put in the jail-house he would have to maintain him, as he, her master (meaning Mr. Wildman), had plenty of money. After the flogging had ceased, he ordered her to be washed with a salt mixture, which being done, he ordered them to take her and throw her away at the negro houses.'

The above case was brought before a Council of Protection, assembled in Clarendon parish, at the instance of Mr. Taylor, attorney of Mr. Wildman's property, on the 19th of April, 1830. There were eight magistrates present (among whom were the Ilon. William Power French, and the Rev. Mr. Fearon) and six vestry men, who unanimously came to a resolution that " the complaint was not properly cognizable" by them. This decision of the Council of Protection was referred by Mr. Taylor to Hugh James, Esq. Attorney-General of Jamaica, who expressed "his inability to comprehend the principle upon which such a resolution was framed,” and adds, that it was thus "rendered a mere nominal institution, without the slightest benefit resulting to that class of our society to whom it is especially intended by the legislature that it should be, as its name purports, a Council of Protection.”Christian Advocate, June 27.

Establishment of an Auxiliary Peace

Society at Hull.

THE Rev. Jas. Hargreaves, Home Secretary of the Peace Society, whose zeal is too well known to require the addition of our testimony to his indefatigable exertions in the cause of peace, undertook, in a journey he was about to take, to advocate the Christian principle of the Peace Society, wherever public meetings on its behalf could be obtained, a proposal to which the Committee of that Society thankfully acceded. The route he has taken is northward. He had public meetings at Hull and Leeds, and advocated the cause at Bradford from the pulpit; the results of his labours at Hull will appear by the following documents. We also We also understand that provisional committees were appointed at Leeds and Bradford. From Yorkshire, Mr. Hargreaves proceeded to Lancashire, in which county he was when we last heard from him.

Account of the Public Meeting at Hull, held by the Rev. James Hargreaves, as published in the Hull and Rockingham Gazette.

1831, in the hall of the Mechanics' Institute, on the nature and utility of Peace Societies. On the evening of that day, at six o'clock, a respectable meeting of ladies and gentlemen was in waiting for the fulfilment of that promise. About a quarter of an hour after that time, Mr. Hargreaves entered the room, accompanied by Mr. Hipsley and other friends, several dissenting ministers, and other gen

tlemen of different denominations. Mr. Hipsley, on the motion of Mr. Lee, seconded by Mr. Henwood, having been called to the chair, Mr. Hargreaves was introduced by him to the company, with a remark or two on the purpose of his visit.

Mr. Hargreaves immediately commenced an address of great length and interest on the subject of his mission. It is out of our power to give even a summary of what he said; but we will briefly state, that he powerfully contrasted the effects of peace and war, both domestically and nationally, proving the latter to be the greatest curse of human society; that he proved from reason, as well as Scripture, the iniquity of war, and the consistency of peace with both, urging on the attention of his hearers the lovely character of Christ, and many of his most impressive instructions to his disciples and

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