leisure hours an attention to business will allow, in literary pursuits, several articles in your Magazine have lately supplied me with recreation.

For the last few days, the Rev. Richard Warner's Tours have formed my literary dessert. I must give the Rev. Gentleman credit for having furnished me with much pleasing amusement; but at the same time must confess, that the pleasure has been much diminished, in perusing paragraphs such as the following:

hot and cold with the same breath. But, the preserving of the poor wretches from destruction, is only to be done, by "exclusive establishment privileges," and even this "rational Christianity" is unable to protect the poor mortal from perdition, without the aid of the civil magistrate !!!

TO PURIFY FOUL WATER.

TAKE a piece of alum, of the size of a nutmeg, dissolve it in a little hot water, and pour it in a pail of the impure water; and in a few hours the filth will be precipitated to the bottom, and the water at the top will be perfectly pure, and free from all taste arising from alum.

is only ours as it is passing-If we make no use of it then, we cannot lay it by for future occasions, neither can we bestow it on others. An hour mispent or misimproved, can never be recalled. It is mingled into chaos, or lost in the unfathomable ocean of eternity.

Time is a talent of inestimable value, intrusted to our care by the omnipotent Jehovah, that it may be improved. The attributes of Deity seem to associate with it, for it is big with consequences, which eternity only can unfold. These, if steadily kept in view, would so overwhelm the thinking powers with their vast importance, that, amidst the din of national commotions, and the wild uproar

REFLECTIONS ON TIME AND ETERNITY. which conflicting passions, and jar

BY GULIELMUS.

Two of the most important words in the English Vocabulary, are, “Time" and “ Eternity;" and perhaps there are no two words so often alluded to, of which the importance of their relative and intrinsic meaning is so little felt and understood.

ring interests occasion, the soul would remain unmoved, absorbed in the grand consideration of rendering up her account with joy.

are already summoned to appear.
This evidence, registered in the courts
of heaven, must very shortly pass in
review before us; and in that eventful
moment, our Judge will pronounce a
sentence, the consequences of which
we must abide for ever.
thrice happy they, who, through the
Happy,
Saviour's merit, are prepared for this
final audit!

its flight from our world, and it is now The departed year has just taken united with the mysterious abyss of eternity. But its days and hours have given in their evidence before that Whether we possess wealth, or pow-awful tribunal, at the bar of which we er, or talent, or any other object which is frequently, though erroneously, supposed to constitute the happiness of man, they are all included in the word Time; without it, they could not impart even a momentary joy; nay, they could not even exist. In fact, Time is the most valuable of all our possessions; the loss of it, therefore, must be irreparable. It is not the loss of property, or even of every species of worldly grandeur, for these may, by an occurrence of unforeseen events, or what is frequently termed chance, be regained; and yet, with what little reluctance are days and months, nay years, thrown absolutely away, in the pursuits of sin, vanity, and folly, while the loss of worldly honours have been bewailed in the most pathetic, heart-rending, and agonizing terms.

The mere light of nature, shining through the misty casements of heathen philosophy, has emblematically depicted Time, as being a bald old man, with the exception of one lock of hair on his forehead; thereby intimating, he might be caught, if he were met in front, but if once allowed to pass, there would be no possibility of seizing him; we must seize him as he flies, or he is gone for ever. Time No. 36.-Vol. IV.

But time, though thus important, is but a small speck in the horizon, a mere point on the broad surface of the universe, when compared with eternity, that "bouudless sea without a shore." Well-improved time is only a prelude to a happy eternity; yet, with what shadowy lightness of thought is this word treated, by those who have been allured into the giddy whirlpool of dissipated pleasures. When we reflect on its endless duration, thought expatiates in a boundless ocean, and is lost in the contemplation. But it is only by connecting with it the idea of endless misery, or of everlasting happiness, that all its importance can be perceived.

Another portion of time is now committed to our care, but before the year expires on which we have just entered, many of our destinies will, in all

F

probability, be fixed in eternity. This is a solemn thought, in the issues of which, all mankind are deeply interested. But God, in compassion to human weakness, has provided means through which his banished ones shall not be for ever expelled from him. The Saviour waits with open arms to receive returning sinners, who, notwithstanding their past transgressions, by relying on his merits, improving their remaining moments, and abounding in the work of the Lord, may still connect endless felicity with eternal duration.

If, amidst the murky darkness of heathenism, men were taught to value time, while they had no higher object than the transient voice of fame, to stimulate their industry, how ought we to esteem it, who are blessed with the resplendent beams of the Sun of righteousness, and who dwell in "the land of Bibles," and of Gospel light!

ON SUPERFICIAL READING.

as they lose all relish for solidity and use.

As we know the provinces must always be supplied from the capital, as servants after their master, we may judge what share of taste and literature is put on one side, and transferred over for the separate benefit and maintenance of our provincial towns. It comes to us thrice filtered through the strainers of collegiate and metropolitan education, and cannot, certainly, hurt us by its strength. We do, indeed, receive the efforts and results of the intellectual energies of both: but we are here speaking of the information and learning which individuals, societies, and towns, possess, in themselves,-not that which they read and hear about in others. It is the spirit and originality, which we seek for, in the persons and places that we visit,-not the little acquisitions they may have made. And were we asked what constituted the literary character of a society or people, we should not pretend to estimate it by a few solitary instances of worth or wisdom; or, by the number of extraneous publications it received, but by its aggregate and inherent wealth -its power, and the expression of its social and peculiar mind, resembling that of national genius and character. Even provincial towns, as well as capitals and nations, are each distinguished by the features of individual

conversation, literature, and the arts, formed by the circumstances of climate, situation, accidents, and the spirit of the age in which they live. From such causes Manchester is devoted to manufactures, and Liverpool to commerce, the former embraces high church principles and Toryism, the latter low church and more Whiggism; the one patronizes coaches, the other steam-boats; this is fonder of music, and that of dancing; the first of a bale of cotton, the last of a hogshead of sugar; this again of a large turtle, and that of a sirloin at a feast.

Liverpool Literature, Institutions, &c. THOUGH We think literary information is much more widely diffused than formerly, we question whether it has not been obtained by the many, at the expense of the erudition and sound taste of the few. We have more read-ity-the tone and temper of society, ers, and far more writers, to be surebut where are the fine scholars and linguists of the last century? The Germans seem to have taken our place; and the spirits of Johnson, Warburton, and Sir William Jones, to have animated the heavy intellects of the Brudär Schlegels, the Sismondis, and the Russian Adelungs. But if a deficiency of sound philological and bibliographical skill is experienced in our Universities, which we think few will dispute, what must be the state of our metropolitan learning, which only comes in for those second-rate wits, who fail in achieving the honours of a professor, or fellowship? It is of course proportionally diluted to a degree of washiness, scarcely strong enough to give nutriment to our worst Magazines, which are indeed supplied from the dregs of Alma Mater, and vie with one another in feebleness and flippancy, in proportion

But not to trifle, which we seriously did not intend, we shall now come nearer to the question intended to be clucidated by the foregoing remarks. We have a high opinion of the literary character of our native place, we wish well to it, and to our many noble institutions. The spirit and object of

are to believe that he carried that sweetness of disposition and heavenly mindedness which dictated every word he uttered, into action, of which we cannot doubt, then we must allow as a beautiful reproach to his disciples,

them, like the architecture, is, upon | Much less should we inflict it under the whole, conceived in good taste, these circumstances, upon children, but the form is better than the mate- which, though insisted upon so strerials of which they are composed.nuously by Solomon, nowhere reThey are like good houses badly occu-ceives the higher sanction and authopied, or treasures foolishly husband-rity of Christ. On the contrary, if we ed, and really unpossessed. In fact, in regard to literature and taste, we have to do that which persons or societies have so seldom to do, to bring ourselves to a level or equality with the greatness and utility of the institutions we possess, and not, like poor Italy and France, to ask in vain for social edifices, suitable to the vigour and intelligence of their spirit. We are misers, and walk abroad starved and raggedly, surrounded by the riches of art and science, which we put any where but into our heads. In this sense, to be sure, we may say with Petrarch,

« Nuda e neglelta và filosofia.”

Now our business is really to give our literary character “a local habitation and a name," by transferring it from our book stalls, libraries, and public buildings, in as much as in us lies, into the spirit and object of our pursuits. We might then merit that high reputation in the eyes of strangers and of foreigners, which is now only granted to the liberality of our Institutions.

and he never did more than reproach man on earth-when in their mistaken respect they were about to chide them from his presence, this saying, "Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Can we believe, that, under any provocation, this personage would have flogged a child? that our great Master would have treated his disciples,however young, with this indignity, with power, an equal disgrace to him who this paltry and base exercise of brute receives as to him who inflicts it. We think not: it was neither in his doctrine, nor in his heart; the law is only to be found in the schoolmaster's note book, or Latin Grammar. But our Saviour was both too wise and too humane, to indulge such a thought. We shall no farther insist upon this childish question, which every man of like the slave-trade, in favour of the sense must see will finally be settled little slaves-than just to observe, that it is a proof, among others, of our want of spirit, to avail ourselves of those advantages we boast of, and to act up to the spirit and laws of our Institutions.

to forego their rights upon the next, and to them we address ourselves, and to such as are capable of reasoning for themselves.

We should not then see our private or public libraries deserted, while our billiard and news rooms are perpetually full. We should not always perceive our dapper clerks and apprentices mounted upon some stumbling jade, and apeing their masters with a couple of mongrel curs at their heels- The honour of doing this, however, instead of sometimes seeking the quiet is, we hope, reserved for the rising and pleasant banks of the Mersey, to generation; if those who are now indulge a moment's reflection, or en-flogged, will have sufficient generosity joy friendship, or the muse. We should neither worry cats, fight cocks and dogs, torture animals, and, with a merry rullianism, duel with and insult one another. No, nor should we then retrograde, instead of advancing, in the scale of society, of arts, of literature, and of towns. We should not make good laws only to repeal them, nor put on a face of liberality and kindness to the world that we did not mean to preserve. We should not adopt moral methods to prevent crime, and then resort to physical force again, without trying them, for this is to be more barbarous than our ancestors.

young men are necessarily occupied
In a town like Liverpool, whose
the greatest part of their time in the
low details of commerce, and the pur-
suit of gain, it is of the highest impor-
tance that the little leisure they are
possessed of should be turned to the
best account.
merely wish to be agreeable members
It is desirable, if they
of society, that they should at least
be acquainted with the general litera-
ture of the age. It is a current coin