semble 'mountains of green-tinged froth or syllabub.'"* This preparation has been found to be of sovereign efficacy as a preservative from scurvy during long voyages. It was for many years used in the navy for this purpose, until displaced by lemon-juice, which is equally a specific, while it is not so bulky an article for store.

A variety of brassica, under the name of cow-cabbage, has been recently introduced into England, from La Vendée, by the Comte de Puysage. The proximity of this department to the ancient province of Anjou, and the description of the plant, leave no doubt of its identity with the Anjou cabbage, a very large variety described by Mill. In 1827, thirty-six seeds were, according to the Gardeners' Magazine, divided among six agriculturists, for the purpose of raising this useful vegetable in England. The perfect success resulting from some of these seeds, which have produced plants of luxuriant growth, is already known; and very recently the speculation of a spirited individual has rapidly diffused it over the kingdom, so that there is every reason to hope, that the cow-cabbage will immediately come into extensive cultivation in Great Britain. It is said that sixty plants afford provender sufficient for one cow, during three or four years, without fresh planting. A square of sixty feet will contain 256 plants, four feet apart, which are sixteen plants more than four cows require for a year's provender, without the aid of other food. Were we to give way to the anticipations, which this and similar facts might excite, of the powers inherent in esculent vegetables that yet remain to be developed by the skill and industry of man, views might be unfolded of the future population of the globe, almost too magnificent for the imagination to follow. There are, however, too many counteracting circumstances in the present state of society, to permit a man of judgement, chastened by experience, to indulge these views without abatement.

One important reflection, indeed, which I have not elsewhere overlooked, again presses itself on our notice.

* Vegetable Substances, p. 263.

+ Mill's Husbandry, vol. iii.

Such facts only form a branch of a great department of natural phenomena, which prove that energies are impressed on creation, lying, as it were, in abeyance and reserve, till the ingenuity of man shall call them into action. Thus, in the present and similar instances, the inconveniences arising from the superabundant power of animal reproduction are in continual course of mitigation, by the interference of man in stimulating the superabundant power of vegetable reproduction; and as human society advances in knowledge and civilization, the number of mankind, and that of living beings destined for their use, is increased, and their welfare provided for; while, by the enlarged resources so acquired, the human faculties find room to expand, and those ulterior intentions of the universal Parent are urged forward, of which revealed religion has opened so glorious a prospect.

THIRD WEEK-SUNDAY.

SPIRITUAL LIGHT.

THE analogy between the light of the sun, and that moral illumination which is shed on the soul by Him who is emphatically called "the Light of the World," is very frequently alluded to in Scripture; and the splendor which now shines around us naturally raises our thoughts to this animating subject.

There are various interesting views in which this analogy presents itself. Sometimes it is employed to illustrate the progressive nature of religion in the soul, as when it is said, “The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. This comparison is at once apt and beautiful. First, on the dark bosom of night the daystar appears; then breaks forth the lovely dawn, shedding over the face of heaven and earth a faint, but grateful and increasing light. At

length opens the bright eye of day, and the broad and deep shadows of morning mingle and are contrasted with the lustre of the new-born rays. Higher and higher the sun takes his course in the heavens, till hill and valley, wood and stream, glow as he shines; till the shadows soften and are diminished, and till all Nature rejoices in the universal blaze.

And so it is with the Christian. In the morning of his spiritual day, how faint is the light of his graces, how broad and deep the shades of his remaining ignorance and sin! But as the day advances, his illumination and fervor increase; the dark shadows of his character become less conspicuous; they are contracted in their dimensions, and mitigated in their intensity, till one by one they disappear; or, by the contrast, only show his virtues and graces more bright. It is thus that he approaches his noon; but, alas! he attains it not in this sublunary state. Clouds intervene and storms lower, and before all that is dark in his character is removed, he suffers the eclipse of the grave; only, however, to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of his Father.

As the progress of the day may be applied to illustrate the advancement of an individual in Christian truth and religious practice, so the progress of the year may be taken as shadowing forth the gradual, but constantly progressive state of the Christian community. This movement is not always in unison with the advancement of society in the arts and sciences; but, on the contrary, as history and experience abundantly prove, frequently takes an opposite direction. The light of reason and the light of revelation, although they are derived from the same source, and when combined, shed an intenser glory over both the world of nature and the world of grace, are yet, by the perverseness of man, sometimes practically contrasted, and caused to obscure each other. Human wisdom is essentially worldly; and, unless sanctified by the wisdom which cometh from above, it shines with its own meteor light, and is the rival, not the auxiliary, of the Sun of Righteousness. Yet in its own sphere, even then, its powers are wonderful. Within the two last centuries,

it may be said to have advanced from spring to summer, and in our own day has produced fruits which have astonished the world. The inventions to which it has given rise, are rapidly changing the face of society and the common relations of life, and seem destined not to stop till they shall have effected a complete revolution in the character and condition of the human race. Under the operation of this principle, knowledge is pouring in on the ignorant, learning becomes more learned, skill more skilful, and ingenuity more ingenious. Industry finds new paths to wealth; luxury new means of gratification; philosophy new departments of study; commerce new and more ample resources. By unheard-of means, human intercourse becomes daily more easy and rapid; and mankind, brought closer together, are united by new ties. To the genius, the talent, and the enterprise of man, who will venture to fix limits?

The

But look more attentively, and you will find that all these productions of human talent and industry, when unblest by the enlightening and vivifying power of religion, carry in themselves the seeds of their own destruction, and must end in the blight and desolation of winter. spirit by which the present generation is actuated is selfish, restless, and worldly. In the bustle of life, individual struggles against individual, class against class, interest against interest; while all are fearfully affected by an increasing relaxation of moral and social ties. If the crisis be not averted, who dare say that science, with its boasted light, shall not be extinguished, and the darkness of ignorance and barbarism again brood over these Christian lands?

But there is one remedy, there is only one. That remedy does not consist in arresting the progress of knowledge; which would be altogether undesirable if it were possible, and impossible if it were desirable. It consists in enlightening that knowledge, by bringing it under the influence and illumination of Him, whose advent was announced as that of "a light to lighten the Gentiles."

In looking to the future destiny of the human race, it is an unspeakable satisfaction to be assured, by that Ora

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cle which cannot lie, that the time will come, and is now progress, when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord; and when the Sun of Righteousness shall shed the glories of His rays over the whole world. I shall not pretend to fix the period of this blessed era, or dare to pry into "the times and seasons which God has put in his own power." But one thing is certain, whenever that blessed period arrives, the lights of reason and revelation will unite their rays, and it shall be made manifest, that even worldly ingenuity (though it meant not so) has been preparing its discoveries, and elaborating its inventions, to add to the comfort and happiness of the children of the Redeemer. Then science will bestow its knowledge to elevate the devotion of saints, and commerce will give its ships and its engines to facilitate their intercourse; and all the necessaries and conveniences which civilization shall have accumulated, will be employed to fill their hearts with gratitude to the Giver of all good. Then education will open its schools to teach the wonderful things of God; and learning will yield its libraries, and art its stores, to feed the soul with knowledge, and enlarge its powers. Then all things will be sanctified by being employed to promote the glory of God and the good of men; and it will be felt and acknowledged that genius has not labored, nor science advanced, in vain. Thus shall Providence be vindicated in his dealings with the human race, and all shall be well.

THIRD WEEK-MONDAY.

HORTICULTURE.-VARIOUS GARDEN VEGETABLES.

It would not be consistent with the object of this work, to enter much further into a description of the individual plants, which form the produce of the kitchen-garden. The specimens already given, serve to show, in two different species, the provision which the Creator has made for the supply of wholesome varieties of food, that may be