veneration which they entertained for the mistletoe, and for the solemn rites with which they gathered it about that period of the year when the sun approached the winter solstice. The Druids were particularly famed for the distinguished regard they paid to the mistletoe of the oak; they attributed to it numerous virtues. At certain seasons of the year, especially at yule-tide, or Christmas, they were accustomed to gather it with great solemnity, and to sacrifice two milk-white bullocks, that had never been yoked (not till then) having their horns bound up. It was cut from the tree with a golden bill, or pruning knife, by a priest habited in a white vestment, and was received in a white woollen cloth; many orations were then made over it, and the ceremony being deemed complete, the sacred plant was preserved for use with religious care.

The Druids had an extraordinary veneration for the number Three: "on this principle," says Vallances, in his Grammar of the Irish Language, "it was that the mistletoe was held so sacred by them, since not only its berries, but its leaves also, grew in clustres of three united in one stock." The in

habitants of Elgin, and the Shire of Moray, in Scotland, according to the account written by the Rev. Mr. Shaw, are accustomed, at the full moon in March, to cut withes of the mistletoe, or ivy, end making circles of them, to keep them all the year, pretending therewith to "cure hectics, and other troubles."

As the ivy is dedicated to Bacchus, so should the mistletoe be to Love; not, however, to the chaste Eros, but to the sportive Cupid. The sacred regard given to it in Pagan and Druidical rites, has long been terminated; but it is still beheld with emotions of pleasurable interest when hung up in our kitchens at Christmas: it gives licence to seize the "soft kiss" from the ruby lips of whatever female can be enticed or caught beneath. So custom authorises: and it enjoins also, that one of the berries of the mistletoe be plucked off after every salute. Though coy in appearance, the "chariest maid" at this season of festivity, is seldom loth to submit to the established usage, especially when the swain who tempts her, is one whom she approves.

CORONATION SERMON.

We cannot but express our admiration of a faithful and appropriate Sermon delivered by the Archbishop of York, on the coronation of his Majesty. The beautiful passage upon which he founded his observations, was taken from the Second Book of Samuel, the 23d Chapter, and the 3d and 4th Verses.-" He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." The Rev. Prelate enforces the admonition in the text in a very dignified and impressive manner, drawing from it the maxims of good government, and enforcing the necessity of attention to them, inasmuch as they are the "words of Him who cannot be mistaken."

He thus proceeds :

"The common pride of our nature has a tendency to excite, in the bulk of mankind, an impatience of inferiority and controul; whilst, on the other hand, there is danger, lest he who is exalted above the rest of his fellow-creatures on earth, should forget his own dependence upon God-should forget also that he has a Master in Heaven, with whom "there is no respect of persons." Thus will be produced disloyalty on the part of the Subject, and oppression on the part of the Sovereign, and both be rendered incapable of enjoying those reciprocal blessings which flow from the mutual attachment and confidence of the Prince and the People.

"The history of the world affords ample proofs in support of this assertion; the records of every nation exhibit the alternate predominance of tyranny and faction. The spirit of innovation has burst the ties of allegiance under the mildest governments, has proceeded to redress imaginary grievances with bloodshed, and has not stopped in its frantic career till it has subverted the foundations of society, and thrown down the

fences by which innocence is protected, and property secured:-and tyranny, if it has not spread such wide-wasting desolation, has made more frequent inroads on the happiness of men, and practised on their patience every mode of exaction which rapacity could devise, and every species of persecution which cruelty could inflict.

"Nor are these domestic crimes the only calamities which the injustice of Rulers has brought upon mankind. How much innocent blood cries aloud from every corner of the earth against the destructive ambition of Princes; how large a proportion of those wars, which have ravaged the world, is to be imputed to the vain-glorious wickedness of individuals exalted in power, abusing their sacred trust.

"The great general principle of good government is, universal justice; justice between Nation and Nation; justice between Man and Man: justice between the Sovereign and his People.

"The laws of political justice which should regulate the intercourse of Nations, have been so little regarded by those who have directed the councils of powerful kingdoms, that a reader of history might almost imagine that there was one code of morality for nations, and another for individuals. In the transactions of States with each other, the most crooked arts of circumvention have been practised under the name of policy, and the most enormous violence of usurpation, when confirmed by conquest, has been dignified with the character of patriotism.

"But a just Ruler will remember, that the principles of equity are exactly the same in public, as in private concerns. Between those acts of injustice which affect individuals, and those which are often committed against communities, what difference is there, except in the extent of the injury, and, consequently, the magnitude of the guilt?"

After making a few observations on the duty of a Sovereign to place able and conscientious men in stations of trust

He adds

"No nation can ever be happy at home, or respected abroad, unless its councils and laws are administered by the prudent and the honest, by the moral and the religious; and though

virtue and piety have higher rewards than it is in the power of man to bestow, yet it is the most essential service which a Sovereign can render to a state, to encourage morality and religion by a marked and uniform preference in the distribution of dignity and power. If, indeed, those who surround the throne, and ought to reflect its lustre-if those, whose station makes them at once objects of envy and imitation-ifsuch men are worthless or wicked, the influence of their example will extend itself in every direction, and profligacy, originating in this source, will be rapidly diffused through all the gradations of society.

"The Ruler then who would be just to his people, whilst he approves himself the faithful and zealous guardian oftheir civil rights, will preserve their morals from the contagion of vice and irreligion, by "ruling in the fear of God;" by withholding his favour from the base and licentious; by exalting the wise and good to distinction and honour; and by exhibiting in his own deportment an example of those virtues which it is his duty to cherish in others: remembering, that his responsibility bears a portion to the height of his station; and that he who sits on a Throne, is under peculiar obligations to holiness, as having to answer, at the great Tribunal of Judgment, not only for his own personal conduct, but for the influence of his manners and actions on the present and future happiness of millions."

He then illustrates the above observations by the character of our late King, and the effect of his example upon the nation, and concludes by praying the blessing of the Almighty upon the Sovereign," that he may hold the sceptre of righteousness in the abundance of peace and glory."

"About forty miles from Madras, the route to Bellary brings you to the foot of the eastern Ghauts, at the small town of Naggery. Our camp was in a fine verdant spot, with many old shady tamarind-trees, and a broad stream of clear running water close to us. Before us the Ghauts abruptly rose. The mountains are broken into many forms, here rounded and woody, there pointed and of bare rock; on the sides of them are masses of confused strata intermingled with shrubs and plants.and here and there, as the soil may have found a more secure lodgement, grow a few trees of larger size. The whole producing a noble effect: for although the Ghauts rise no where to a greater height than three thousand feet, still, as you come upon

them after marching over the plains of the Carnatic, they arrest and please the sight. While breakfast was getting ready, I amused myself with looking at a baggage-elephant and a few camels, which some servants, returning with a general's tents from the Deccan, while in the act of loading. The intelligent obedience of the elephant is well known; but to look upon this huge and powerful monster kneeling down at the mere bidding of the human voice, and, when he has risen again, to see him protrude his trunk for the foot of his mahout, or attendant, to help him into his seat; or, bending the joint of his hind leg, make a step for him to climb up behind, and, then, if any loose cloths or cords fall off with a dog-like docility pick them up with his proboscis and put them up again, will delight and surprise long after it ceases to be novel. When loaded, this creature broke off a large branch from the lofty tree near which he stood, and quietly fanned and fly-flapped himself, with all the nonchalance of an indolent woman of fashion, till the camels were ready. These animals also kneel to be laden. When in motion, they have a very awkward gait, and seem to travel at a much slower pace than they really

do. Their tall out-stretched necks, long sinewy limbs, and broad spongy feet; their head furniture, neck-bells, and the rings in their nostrils, with their lofty loads, and a driver generally on the top of the leading one, have a strange appearance and if you meet them in the sandy bed of a river, or on a barren and burning plain, from ideas you associate with them, are very picturesque objects." (pp. 43-45.)

Our limits will not allow us to travel with the author through any considerable part of his Sketches; we shall, therefore, content ourselves with giving one or two small extracts, containing the opinion of the writer, as to their religious state:

"To say that, of the vast population of India, any considerable body are simple deists, is an assertion hardly worth one scratch of the pen to disprove. Among the countless multitudes of Brahma's votaries, I do not believe there are one hundred so spiritual in their perceptions, nor one tenth of that number so honest in their avowal and their teaching. No! they are blind idolaters, blinded by that common curse which fell upon the whole family of the human race, and are sitting in the shadow of that darkness which the Sun of Righteousness can alone dissipate; and will, in the appointed time.' p. 61.

He however anticipates happy results from the establishment of innumerable native Schools, and adds

"The adamantine chain of cast is that obstacle to the spread of gospel truth, on which many sincere and devout men whose hearts overflow with Christian love to mankind, look with a sort of hopeless despondency as impassable, as never to be broken down by human efforts: now, it is to burst open this barrier, that I would see human means courageously applied; nor are they, under the Divine blessing, inadequate to the task."

He then proceeds with several very interesting narratives of the success of Christian Missionaries in various parts, and expresses the delight he experienced in having heard the Liturgy of the Church of England read as at home.

Varieties.

Discoveries in Africa. We understand, that Researches in Africa, of a very interesting nature, are about to be published by Mr. Waldech, a German, who has recently arrived in England from India, having previously travelled through Africa, from Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope. It appears, that at the foot of the Mountains of the Moon, he found an inscribed pillar, erected by a Roman consul, about the period of the reign of Vespasian. He found a level on the top' of those mountains nearly 400 miles broad, on which he discovered a temple of the highest antiquity, and in fine preservation, and still used for religious purposes by the inhabitants. South of the level, he passed a descent of fifty-two days journey, and, when advanced about nine days, he found the skeleton of a man, with a telescope slung on his shoulder, marked with the name of Harris; and also a chronometer, made by Marchand. There were also two other skeletons; and it was supposed the owners perished for want of water. Out of four European companions who accompanied Mr. Waldech only one of them survived the hardship's of the journey.

Letter from a Highwayman, in the Glasgow Chronicle.-The following is a copy of a letter sent by Wilkinson, one of the men lately executed at Morpeth, to a friend. It will show how the fear of death operated upon his mind :"Morpeth Jail, 27th Sept. 1821. "Dear T I am afraid it is all over with us, for Bill and me are both condemned: if old Bailey had tried us, we should only be lugged, for he hangs nobody; but they say is a devil,

and as badat hanging folks as that cockeyed fellow that sometimes passes for a judge. But perhaps we may get off after all, and be sent to the Bay, but

they want to fighten us to get all they can out of us. If it had not been for that damned Newcastle trap, we might still have been upon the hop with you and the rest of them, That M

has done our business, but it will be his turn next, for I know who is upon the watch for him, and he is a damned sniveller at bottom: I always told him so, and was afraid of his snicking from the first. Bill is very bad about it, and so am I, when I come to think: to be hanged, O God! I cannot bear the thought; we have been looking for a reprieve constantly, but the time is coming very near now. I know you will laugh at me for canting so, but things are very different now with me, and if I had all the world I would give it, that I had never used any of them ill that we robbed, and would give every thing back if I could. We did not mind the parson at first, for if we were only going to the Bay we did not want him; but he has talked a deal about penitence and trust in God, and has seemed so serious and anxious about us for these last two days, that we begin to fear the worst. Sleep is no rest to me, for I dream I have ten thousand devils hanging about me; and when I give way to thought, is is misery past expressing. more from your unfortunate friend and companion, and Bill desires to join. "JOHN WILKINSON."

So no

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Price 3 d.]

WHEN we observe education and

refinement stepping onward with so fleet a step as they do, we naturally anticipate their final defeat over grossness of manners, and barbarism in customs. That we shall not be disappointed in our wish, or rather that our descendants will enjoy in reality what we are now striving to procure, is a hope which I, in conjunction with many others, devoutly wish. But if we look abroad into the condition of our lower classes, and mark their conduct through life, we shall meet with much to damp our expectations, and to sicken our hopes. Drunkenness is a frightful indulgence: yet we are fated to observe it in its most disgusting forms; playing too often its direful pranks upon the reason and virtue of those on whom Fortune has not been lavish, and towards whom, perhaps, tearful wives and helpless children are looking for those earnings which they are doomed to witness squandered away in the public-house.

There are daily exhibited before our eyes scenes which shock humanity, and turn thought into horror. To witness such depravity as stalks the world, is, to the virtuous mind, a source of embitterment and regret. Nature has implanted in the breast of our species such faculties as would render happiness universal, provided they were cultivated with a judicious hand, and only exercised upon objects of virtue, and in the provinces of rectitude; but such is man, that sin has crept into his veins, and wickedness is ever whispering him to deeds that disgrace him, and entail misery upon others. From the soft

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[No. 9. Vol. I.

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cradle-slumbers of his infancy, and through the various stages of youth, up to maturity and age, we behold him gathering daily more shades of crime upon his head, until they darken into blackness. It is surprising, how from our earliest years, we feel prone to the commitment of error, rather than to do the works of excellence and worth. It therefore shews an imperious duty which attaches to those in whom rest the responsibility of rearing up a child to the purposes of virtue. Vice is ever open before us, and steps with such a fascinating gait, as to ensnare the credulous by its blandishments and deceits. Of this vice, there are of various kinds :some, which may be denominated refined, and which wears, to outward appearance, a very palpable aspect; and others, which only exhibit grossness and brutality. Whichever of the two species it be that becomes the pursuit and prac tise of man, the end of both is equally destructive. To the eye of some, the one may be excused, because it does not bear so much seeming vice upon its face, but is pursued under the garb of decency, and with a portion of respect being paid to the feelings of others. And the other sort of wickedness will please those whose manners are uncouth, and ideas unpolished: however disgraceful it may be, there is always a portion of persons who are abandoned enough, as to feast upon its exhibitions with rapture. Notwithstanding therefore, the great line of distinction which exists between the various bearings of iniquity, still, I repeat, their end and punishinent will be the same. Forasmuch as they