England to be engaged in wars with distant foes: but how much worse for neighbour to be fighting against neighbour ; and for all the cruelties and horrors of war to be going forward around our own dwellings! Think, my young reader, what would be your feelings, if you could not lie down in your bed, without the fear of being roused in the dead of the night by a party of lawless and plundering soldiers ! What would be your feelings, on seeing your fathers and your grown-up brothers drawn forth to the field of battle--the produce of your gardens laid waste your houses stript of all their goods--and all around you confusion and uproar! How would your litthe hearts have throbbed within you under the fears which such proceedings must excite! There were times when there were frequent disputes between England and Scotland. Each country used to raise its armies, and dreadful wars ensued. The place where I live often reminds me of those times. I do not live upon what are called the borders, and where are still standing many old castles and other relics of defence; but the vallies and country around me were famous in the history of the civil wars, and chiefly the battle of Flodden Field, which was fought in the year 1613 between the Earl of Surrey, in the absence of King Henry VIII, and the Scotch under their King James IV, who was slain on the field of battle. About four miles off, is Hornby Castle; which is famous as the residence of Lord Mon. teagle, who discovered the Gunpowder Plot. In this Castle too lived Sir Edward Stanley, who was one of the bravest and most noted soldiers in the battle of Flodden Field. Before he left home, he vowed that if God restored him in safety, he would do something to his glory; and being preserved in the battle, he performed his vow on his return, and built the handsome octagon tower of Hornby Church, which is now standing. He died before the body of the Church was completed.Then in my own parish, stands Thurland Castle; which is famous as the residence of Sir Bryan Tunstal, who was killed in the battle of Flodden Field. He is supposed to have been buried in the church ; in the chancel of which there is now a full length figure of him carved in stone. A curious old poem is extant, which describes the battle of Flodden Field. Speaking of the numbers slain in the battle, it goes on to say Yet never a nobleman of fame, But Bryan Tunstal bold, alas! Whose corpse home to his burial came, With worship great, as worthy was

It is said that Sir Bryan was as famous
for his virtues, as his bravery. The
poem speaking of him says,
He eke did cause that trusty Knight,

Undefil'd Tunstal to be nam'd.
And again,
Then said the Stanley where he stood,

Would that he now would take his part; His clear and undefiled blood

Good speed doth promise at my heart. His death is thus curiously described : Down fell this valiant active Knight!

His body great on ground did lie; But up to heaven with angels bright

His golden ghost did flickering fly.

The foilowing is part of the curious dem cription of the soldiers assembling under their respective leaders :

Dlost lively lads in Lonsdale bred

With weapons of unwieldy weight; All such as Tatham-Fells had fed,

Went under Stanley's streamer bright.

Prom Bolland billmen bold were boun,

With such as Botton Banks did hide; From Quermore up to Whittington

And all to Wenning water-side.

But these days of civil war are gone by, and we trust for ever. We can

now sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, none making us afraid. We are hastening we trust to the universal reign of peace: to the tirne when men shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks: when nation shall not lift up sword against nation; or learn war any more. Oh! happy days, when Christ, the God of peace, shall reign in every heart, and diffuse the spirit of love into the whole world. What may not some of my young readers live to see! Days perhaps as much brighter than the present, as the present are brighter than the dark and gloomy periods of which we have been speaking. Be thankful then for your present mercies, and live in hope,

Peaceful times, quiet homes, happy families, are amongst the many blessings, for which you should render praise. And oh! what a happy world will that be, where strife can never enter! That world is heaven. The God of that world is love ; and all his children are a family of love. May the grace of the Lord Jesus prepare both writer and readers for that blessed world! May it implant that temper and disposition of mind, which is required in heaven! May the earnest and sincere prayer of the Child. ren's Friend be heard and answered for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen. siekiant pas

ERMON

1 John i. 4. EVA "And these things write we unto you, that

your joy may be full.”

When John wrote this Epistle to the good people for whom he meant it, he wrote about Jesus; and if you read the three verses before the text, you will see what he says of him. John calls the Lord Jesus “The word of Life." He 'says, “ He was from the beginning;”-that he had seen this same Jesus, and heard him; and he wished them to know as much of him as he did ; that they might love him as well. You may perhaps think it was easy enough for Johạ to