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do towards the south. The roots of plants are known to turn away, with a kind of abhorrence, from whatever they meet with, which is hurtful to them; and, deserting their ordinary direction, to tend, with a kind of natural and irresistible impulse, towards collections of water placed with in their reach. The plants called Heliotrope turn daily round with the sun, and, by constantly presenting their surfaces to that luminary, seem desirous of absorbing a nutriment from its rays. Surely all

these afford a lesson to man.

THE note of the cuckoo, though uniform, always gives pleasure, because it reminds us that summer is coming. But that pleasure is mixed with melancholy, because we reflect, that what is coming will soon be going again. This is the consideration which embitters every subfunary enjoyment!-Let the delight of my heart then be in thee, O Lord and Creator of all things, with whom alone is no variableness, neither shadow of changing!

Christian Courage.

THE gentleman of whom the following instance of true courage is recorded, has been long known as a distinguished statesman, and a leading member of our national legislature.

In the fall of the year 1817, General challenged Colonel to fight with him; and offered to resign his commission that he might be at liberty to evade the laws, and have the precious privilege of shedding the blood of a fellow-creature. What was the answer of the Colonel? Did he, with the same barbarous disposition, accede to the proposal, and hasten to select the weapons of slaughter by which an immortal soul might be sent, unprepared, to the tribunal of God? No-let it be known, and published through the land, to his honour, that, in defiance of public opinion, and the opprobrium of being called (as he was) coward and hypocrite, he had the courage, as well as the principle, to fear God rather than man. The following is an extract from his answer to the challenge:-"I proceed to tell that I am restrained from you, accepting the alternative which you propose, paramount to all human authority I respect the public opinion too highly, perhaps; but I have now

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FOR THE CHRISTIAN JOURNAL. THE following version of the 84th Psalm was written by a young man, about 17 years of age. Twelve months before he was engaged in learning a mechanical trade. His turn for study, and the mo desty and propriety of his deportment, have secured for him friends, under whose auspices, after a few months' preparation, he entered college very creditably, and is new gratifying his natural thirst for the acquisition of knowledge. We hope the divine blessing will be with him in accomplishing the design he has formed of devoting himself to the Christian ministry.

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Sæpe rosas, vidi, demissaque lilia culmos Ut noctu marcent languida, mane vigent: æpius et vidi solem, ut festinat amictu Imbrifero sese condere tectus aquis; rigit ille tamen roseum caput; ile nitentes Induitur radios, exhilaratque diem. Me pulsum patria, loca dum deserta pererro, Hostis agit, quoties itque reditque dies. Nec, nisi, cum primum sese intendentibus umbris,

Nox venit rabido desinit ore sequi: Ast eademque dies, cadom mihi noctis imago, Hæc renovat luctus semper et illa meos. Sic olim profugus mæsto quum tempore vates Mandavit querulæ tristia verba lyræ; Audierant colles: gemitus et saxa dedere, Flevit et ad tremulum mobilis aura modum : Audierat miseros late nox humida fletus, Et fudit lacrymas nox quoque roriferas.

Translation of the above.

How lovely, O Lord, are the shrines of thy sacred temple, to such as there offer sacrifices with joyful hands, when thy name is praised on the festal day, and many a victim falls before thine altar! But, alas! I wander far from thence. Shall I never return and be free from sadness?

Under the roof of the temple, and at thy very altars, doth the bird build its nest, and repay the privilege with a grateful song. Even the birds enjoy that pleasure of which I am deprived. Ah! cruel is my fate! Thou dost debar me from the sacred boundaries of my native country.Happy are they who go up to thy sanctu ary with sounding harps, and fill it with their grateful voices; they call to mind thy kindnesses, and their joyful songs never end. Happy is he for whom thou portionest out joy with unsparing hand, whilst he advanceth on his way with sure feet. Hope is his support, his strength is increased, and soon he endeth his troublesome journey.

The changeful years translate all thing's into a better state. After fierce winter cometh spring. The seeds committed to the earth repay an increase to the husbandmen, when autumn now displayeth his rich harvests. Often have I beheld roses and drooping lilies which pined away at eve, yet flourish again in the morning. Oft. ener have I beheld the sun bury himself beneath the waters, wrapped in a stormy cloud, and yet he repaired his rosy head, clothed himself with shining rays, and again brightened the day.

Me, driven from my country, and a wanderer through these desert places, an enemy each day pursueth, nor ceaseth from the bloody pursuit until the night hath arrived, with the lengthening shades. But to me, the day, and the darkness of night, are both the same, for each continually reneweth my grief.

When thus the exiled Prophet of old, in a time of grief, committed these sad words to his plaintive harp; the hills

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He hears the doom which trumpet tongues proclaim,

And his heart burns with the predestin'd flame.

Oh! might he quench Hell's furies, and again

Shrink back to slumber from the gulph of pain;

From the devouring worm within him fly, Once more be mortal, and for ever die!

The Curate.AN EXTRACT.'

MINE are a humble Curate's parish plans, I marry, christen, church, and publish banns:

To the sick couch the word of healing bear, And smooth the dying pillow by my

prayer:

For Sundays, mend my theologic pen, Read much, and rhyme a little now and then.

My home all smiles and welcome; 'tis in truth

The golden Paradise I fram'd in youth: The enchanted clime, where fancy loves to dwell,

Till age, and cold experience, break the spell.

Around the board my cherub babes are set, (I only have two olive-branches yet.) One with bright sparkling eye, and rosy cheek,

Already tries a thousand ways to speak: Runs to her mother's knee when strangers

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For not the less because our little span
Of life we measure, gently as we can;
Nor less within us burns the hope which
shows,

A more abiding city at its close.
Still may I feel, as each brief moment flies,
How high the Christian's calling, what his
prize!

Strive for the mastery till the goal be won, Yet plead my Saviour's blood when all is done!

And when the trumpet wakes me from my bier,

See round me all my heart has cherish'd here.

To the bright judgment seat of Grace

above,

Not as an hireling, lead my fold of Love; Before their Heav'nly Shepherd bend in pray'r,

"The lambs thy bounty gave me all are there."

How bless'd to find the flock which I resign, Confirm'd for everlasting ages mitre.

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Memoirs of the late Right Reverend THOMAS WILSON, D. D. Bishop of Sodor and Man.

DOCTOR THOMAS WILSON, the venerable and apostolic Bishop of Sodor and Man, was born at Burton, a village in the hundred of Wirral, in the county palatine of Chester, on the 20th of December, 1663; and, as he says himself in his Manuscript Diary, "of honest parents, fearing God." He was baptized the Monday following, or, to use his own words, he "had an early right to the covenant of grace.'

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The family from which he was descended had been inhabitants, time immemorial, of that part of the county of Chester. His father died in the year 1702; his mother, whose maiden name was Sherlock, and who was born at Oxton, in the same county, survived her husband a few years; so that both his parents lived to see him a Bishop.

In his Diary he always speaks of his parents in the most dutiful and affectionate terms; and it appears to have been his daily practice to offer up prayers for their temporal and eternal welfare.

Great care was taken of his education; and, at the proper age, he was placed under the tuition of Mr. Harper, a very eminent schoolmaster in the city of Chester, with whom he continued till he was sufficiently qualified for the University. He was then removed to Trinity College, in Dublin, whither most of the young gentlemen of Lancashire and Cheshire were at that time sent, with an allowance of twenty pounds a year; a sum which, however small it may now be thought, was, in those days, sufficient for a sober

VOL. III.

[VOL. III.

student in so cheap a country as Ireland.

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Upon Mr. Wilson's admission into the University, it was his intention to have studied physic; but he was persuaded by Archdeacon Hewetson to dedicate himself to the Church, for which he seemed by nature more particularly designed. He did not, however, entirely relinquish the pursuit of medical knowledge; a circumstance which was afterwards productive of much benefit to the people of his Diocess.

During his residence at Dublin, he conducted himself with the utmost regularity and decorum; and, by his diligent application, made a great proficiency in academical learning. He continued at College till the year 1686, when, on the 29th of June, he was, at the immediate instance and desire of his friend the Archdeacon, ordained a Deacon by Dr. Moreton, Bishop of Kildare. The ordination was held for him alone, on the day of the consecration of the Church of Kildare, in the presence of a very numerous congregation; and our pious divine ever after kept the anniversary of it holy, and poured forth his heart to God in a particular prayer on the occasion.

Mr. Wilson's good conduct, and his consequent preferment, gave very great pleasure to his friend the Archdeacon; who continued to correspond with him till the year 1704.

The exact time of Mr. Wilson's leaving Dublin is not known; but it is understood that he quitted the University sooner than he at first intended, on account of the political and religious disputes of those days; nor could it have been long after his ordination that he took his leave of Ire

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land; for on the tenth of December, in the same year, (1686) he was licensed by Thomas Lord Bishop of Chester, to be the curate of New Church, in the parish of Winwick, in Lancashire, of which Dr. Sherlock, his maternal uncle, was then Rector. His stipend was no more than thirty pounds a year; but being an excellent economist, and having the advantage of living with his uncle, this small income was not only sufficient to supply his own wants, but it enabled him to administer to the wants of others; and for this purpose he set apart one tenth of his income.

On the 20th of October, 1689, Mr. Wilson was ordained a Priest by Nicholas Lord Bishop of Chester.

It was not long before Mr. Wilson's religious deportment and amiable conduct in private life, recommended him to the notice of William, Earl of Derby; who, in the year 1692, appointed him his domestic chaplain, and preceptor to his son, James Lord Strange, with a salary of thirty pounds a year. He was soon after elected master of the alms-house at Latham, which brought him in twenty pounds a year more. He had now an income far beyond his expectations, far beyond his wishes, except as it increased his ability to do good. Blessed with a liberal heart, and thoroughly disposed to charity, he made use of the good gifts which God had bestowed, to such purposes only as he considered were for the glory of the great Author and Giver, and the benefit of his neighbours in distress. Accordingly, we find that he now set apart one fifth of his income for pious uses, and particularly for the poor.

In 1697, the Earl of Derby offered him the Bishopric of the Isle of Man, which had been vacant ever since the death of Dr. Baptiste Levinz, who died in the year 1693. This kind of fer, however, Mr. Wilson modestly declined, alledging, that he was unequal to, as well as unworthy of, so great a charge; and thus the matter ested till Dr. Sharp, archbishop of York, complained to King William that a Bishop was wanting in his province to fill the See of Man; acquaint

ing the King, at the same time, that the nomination was in the Lord of the Isle, the Earl of Derby, but that the approbation rested in his Majesty; and urging the necessity of such an appointment, as the See had now been vacant four years, a circumstance with which he apprehended his Majesty might be unacquainted. The King hereupon sent for the Earl of Derby, who was at that time master of the horse, and told him, that he expected an immediate nomination of a Bishop for the See of Man, and that if his Lordship delayed it any longer, he should take the liberty of filling up the vacancy himself. In consequence of this admonition, Lord Derby insisted on his chaplain's accepting the preferment; and accordingly Mr. Wilson was (to use his own expression) "forced into the Bishopric;" a promotion for which he was in all respects eminently qualified, and which he justly merited as a reward for his faithful services to the Earl of Derby and his son.

Mr. Wilson took great pains with his noble pupil. Want of consideration, and a precipitancy of temper, seem to have been the principal faults in this young nobleman's character; and his tutor exerted his best endeavours to correct his Lordship's disposition in these respects. The following extraordinary instance of his management, upon a particular occasion, is said to have produced its proper effect:-One day, as Lord Strange was going to set his name to a paper which he had not read, Mr. Wilson dropped some burning sealing-wax on his finger; the sudden pain made him very angry, but his tutor soon pacified him, by observing, that he did it in order to impress a lasting remembrance on his mind, never to sign or seal any paper he had not first read and attentively examined.

On the 15th of January, 1697-8, Mr. Wilson being first created Doctor of Laws by the Archbishop of Canterbury, was confirmed Bishop of Man, at Bow Church, by Dr. Oxenden, Dean of the Arches; and the next day he was consecrated at the Savoy Church, by Dr. Sharp, Arch

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