COMFORT. "I have had very much vexation."-Thus "I had been was speaking a poor old soldier. long out of work, when poor Mary my wife, chanced to fall sick. I run a little in debt.Never since our grenadiers were repulsed from the intrenchments of Montmorency, did I feel a heavier heart." "No wonder," said Mrs. enough to drive you to despair." "It was "I never give way to despair ;"-replied the soldier ;"" for it is of no use, and so I always make it a rule to keep it off." "How do you contrive that?" "By always trusting to Providence, and sometimes taking a dram.” KINDNESS. A SERVANT after having fired a pistol at some robbers, who had introduced themselves in the house of his master, said: "and so please your honour, whether the villains have got any gold, I cannot tell, but I am certain they have carried off a little lead with them; and I heartily wish it were twice as much for their sakes.” ENGLISH BEAUTY, Is more remarkable in the country than in town; the peasantry of no country in Europe can stand a comparison, in point of looks, with those of England. That race of people, have the conveniencies of life in no other country in such perfection; they are no where so well fed, so well defended from the injuries of the seasons; and no where else do they keep themselves so perfectly clean and free from all the vilifying effects of dirt.. The English country-girls, taken collectively, are, unquestionably, the handsomest in the world. The female peasants of most other countries, are so hard-worked, so ill fed, so much tanned by the sun, that it is difficult to know whether they have any beauty or not. LEGACY. A NATIVE of the Highlands of Scotland, rented a small portion of land of a nobleman of that country. Being upon his death bed, he expresed a desire of seeing his master. The nobleman went directly to the hut of his tenant, and condoled with him on the melancholy state he seemed to be in. "I am greatly indebted to your Lordship," said the dying man, "for the condescension and kindness which you have always shewed to me. I am now dying, my lord, and would willingly leave to so good a master, what I have of the greatest value in this world." "I am happy, my good friend, to hear," said his lordship," that you have any thing of value to leave; whatever you have, I must insist on your leaving it all to your little son Duncan, here; and whatever his portion is, I am more disposed to add to it than diminish it." "Little Duncan, is all I have to leave," replied the poor man, "and the greatest uneasiness I have in dying, is the thought of the destitute condition of that boy. I intreat earnestly of your lordship, to accept of this poor orphan, as a pledge of my regard, and the only legacy I have to bestow." "I do accept him, with all my heart and soul," cried his Lordship, "and if he proves as honest a man as his father, nothing but death shall part him and me." "Praise be to the Almighty," cried the dying man, with uplifted eyes and arms. “Thanks to the gracious God of heaven and earth, for all his goodness to me and mine! Oh! my good lord," continued he, addressing the nobleman, you have made me a happy man.". 66 Here the sudden gush of joy overwhelmed the feeble heart of this poor man; he fell back on his heath pillow and expired. The nobleman led the boy home to his castle, and after placing him some years at school, took him to attend his own person. MILITARY DISCIPLINE. THE great end and object of every government ought to be the happiness of the governed. We conceive the diffusion of happiness to be the grand purpose even of creation. When the avowed object is the promotion of general happiness in every government and institution, individual happiness ought to have a proper weight. I question much if this is the case in the system of military discipline, particularly in Germany. The exhibition of a review is brilliant to the eye; but an investigation of the springs on which its movements depend is most afflicting to the heart. The number of blows to which a recruit in the German service is subjected, is not to be counted; and the various severities he must endure, before he can be brought to hold himself as erect as a pike, to wheel to the right and left with the agility of a harlequin, to bear restraint with the patience of a bramin, and to toss his firelock with the dexterity of a juggler, are inconceivable. DESCRIPTIONS, WHEN TEDIOUS. It is hardly possible for any mortal to contemplate the sublime objects of nature, or the beauties of variegated landscape, without admiration and delight. It is hardly possible not to receive much pleasure from reading masterly and elegant descriptions of picturesque countries; but when repeated too often in the same book, the frowning mountain, the terrific rock, the deep shade of the woods, the bright verdure of the meads, the headlong torrent, the meandering river, the blush of morn, glow of noon, and purple tint of evening, the bright stars, twinkling through luxuriant branches, the pale face of the moon, and all the glory of the great sun itself, become tire some. TRUE PHILOSOPHY, -I Do not know where I met with the following lines; they are natural and easy, expressive of true philosophy, as well as of the conduct and sentiments of the whole French nation. M'amuser n'importe comment, Je crois ne perdre aucun moment, |