THE

YOUTHS' MAGAZINE;

OR,

EVANGELICAL MISCELLANY.

MAY, 1847.

WINDSOR CASTLE

We believe it would be quite impossible to select a subject of more general interest, to an Englishman, than that which we present this month to our young readers. For though the castle of Windsor be the august abode of royalty itself, it is a royalty of heart that identifies the ruler and the ruled, and gives to all our countrymen and countrywomen a common interest in this princely domain. Under certain regulations, moreover, the castle, not excepting the state apartments, and the magnificent park surrounding it, are thrown open to the public three days in the week, without fee, gratuity, or payment of any kind whatever-a privilege for which all may well be grateful, and which we sincerely trust will never be abused by any recklessness or misconduct on the part of the visitors.

"There is no necessity," says Mr. Jesse, in his 'Summer's day at Windsor,' (an interesting guide book for the public,) "for attempting to describe the feeilngs with which a stranger, and especially an Englishman, first gazes upon Windsor Castle. Strikingly beautiful as is its situation, and intimately connected with some of the proudest events of our history, we approach it with mingled feelings of reverence and pleasure." "It is a place," says a modern

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writer, "full of storied and poetical associations. The very external aspect of the proud old pile is enough to inspire high thought. It rears its irregular walls and massive towers like a mural crown, round the brow of a lofty ridge, waves its royal banner in the clouds, and looks down with a lordly air upon the surrounding world.”

"Windsor Castle has been the principal seat of British royalty for nearly eight centuries. Long, indeed, previous to the Conquest, the Saxon kings possessed a palace at Old Windsor; from the winding of the river at which place, or rather the shore, Camden and others have conjectured that it received its name, being styled by some old writers, Windleshora. The site of this palace cannot now be ascertained."

We have not space to follow Mr. Jesse through his interesting details of the subsequent history of Windsor, but those seeking further information on the subject, will do well to consult the work referred to.

one,

THE NINE BEST FRUITS.

CHAP. V.-"CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG AND IS KIND." IT so chanced (if we may call anything a chance) that I was present on an occasion when a youth, who had just obtained his commission in Her Majesty service, was holding forth, I trust only in a boastful thoughtless manner, on the fine spirit, as he was pleased to term it, of many of Her Majesty's loyal officers, whose master-accomplishment appeared to be the hyper-brutish of drinking to excess. I shall never forget the tone of voice, or the impressive manner, in which an officer then present answered him, reproving him withal so gently, so paternally, and yet so decidedly, that the youth blushed, hung down his head, and seemed unable for some time to recover his self-possession. "Pardon me, my boy," said the officer, holding out his hand to him, "if I spoke harshly; and that this pardon may more readily given, I entreat you to listen to me awhile, and hear how painfully, and through what bitter but deserved suffering, I was taught the lesson I wish you to learn under happier and more promising circumstances.

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"As you just now, so did I once glory in that strength of body

which permitted me to indulge at the table with my brother officers in large potions of wine, and I grieve to add, that not a day passed in which I did not leave the mess confused, to say the least of it, in my head, and not fully aware of what was passing round me. In this state of mind I was providentially spared the misery of quarrelling, and perhaps terminating the life of a companion, by being, when in this state, less inclined to excitement than to stupidity. Though fully aware of my intemperance, which I am ashamed to own was considered by myself rather as a merit than a demerit, I did not hesitate, during an occasional absence from my regiment, to take to myself a partner for life— a partner of whom I was every way unworthy.

"I knew not that it was the holy modesty of my Margaret, the humble consciousness that she of herself was nothing, but that her Heavenly Father was sufficient for her wants, that first attracted my attention to her; but as I became acquainted with her, my heart told me, though perhaps I scarcely owned it, even to myself, that if I would win her I must at least put on the semblance of religion. I loved her well enough to do so; I deceived her, and her friends, and we were married.

"It would take some months for a very young woman, suddenly removed from the maternal eye, reared perhaps in the seclusion of a country village, to comprehend the real state of a man such as I was, to whom she has vowed honor and obedience; and Margaret's eyes were not decidedly opened to my besetting sin till we had become the parents of a promising boy. It was not, however, long after this period, when my old habits became developed in all their hideousness. And now began the troubles of my poor Margaret. At first she appeared frightened and stunned when I returned home to her in the evening, to all appearance sober as usual, but, in reality, no longer master of myself. I would quarrel with the servants, and with herself, if she interfered. I would not suffer the child in my sight; I would listen to no reason, and would occasionally hold forth as if I were the most ill-used of husbands and masters. Then would come the hours of sleep, after which I was myself again, and my wife's influence over me and my love for her were the same as in the first year of our marriage, and none, present in the mornings of that time of our domestic life, could imagine how wretched

were our evenings and how gloomy were the clouds that hung over our future.

"It cannot be supposed that my wife could remain long ignorant of the cause of my change of manner; and when once the sad truth flashed upon her mind, it was not without many prayers and tears she took courage enough to speak to me of my sin, and to implore me not to give way to its increasing evil, but to apply for help where only it could be found. My dear William,' she said, 'this temptation is one that, perhaps, is too powerful for you to withstand whilst living the life we now lead. If so, let us leave the army, let us go into a situation where you will not have companions who lead you on, sometimes I believe and trust against your own desires. Let us welcome retirement, poverty, and any privations; but let us not do that which is displeasing in the eyes of our Heavenly Father, and which may lead on to crimes of even darker dye.'

"My dear Margaret,' I replied, 'you talk like a very young woman, and a very thoughtless one too. What! leave the army -leave all prospects in life, because I now and then, as you choose to say, take a glass or two more than is good for me? Nonsense, my dear, this is going too far-I am never decidedly intoxicated; I always bear myself as a gentleman, and you cannot say that any one has accused me of acting otherwise. I should only be glad to know who has ventured to come to you with any tale respecting me?'

"She interrupted me by saying, 'No one has interfered between us, William, but I cannot be so blind to what I witness so often-nay, almost daily.' And then she endeavored with the utmost gentleness to argue from the sure word of Holy Writ on the abominable sin of drunkenness.

"Oh! if you are going to talk to me in that way,' I replied roughly, 'I am off;' and I seized my hat, and left the house, nor did I return to it till I was in that state in which I usually returned home in the evening, and probably worse than usual, as my conscience secretly told me that my Margaret was right in all she said.

"From that day my wife seldom mentioned the subject to me again in words, but I could tell that it was a heavy grief upon her mind, since she spared no opportunity of laying such truths