tone, but the ear of the stranger caught the sound, and he said

You think me mad. I know you do; but you are mistaken, Sir. I was mad once; but I am sane at last, and looking in upon my ow own soul, am desirous to purge out the stains that rest upon it." "This is very strange," said Mr. Montague,"very strange indeed."

Bear with me but a few moments," said the man," and you shall know all. I said," continued he, addressing Mr. Montague, "I said that I had injured most of

"Come in! come in!" said Mr. Beres-you. But you, Sir, at least owe me some ford,-"you need not be timid.”

The man entered, and gazed confusedly around the room, and at those who were sitting in it.

Sit down, Sir," said Mr. Beresford. Have you come to speak to me about your health?"

Yes, Sir," said the man; "but more of the health of the soul than of the body!" This strange and unexpected sentence startled the company, and at once excited a deep interest in the remarkable object before them.

"Then the case is more for your consideration than for mine," said Mr. Beresford, turning to Mr. Montague.

"What is the matter?" asked the latter, in a feeling tone,

"I did not expect," said the man, "to see so many faces, and especially such faces as are here."

"Would you speak privately?" asked Mr. Beresford.

an

66

No, Sir, no!" replied the man, with air of much sorrow, and with an earnest gaze into their faces. "There are none here to whom I am not indebted, and I have wronged most of you!"

h The ladies started in affright; for they concluded that the man was mad, he spoke so incoherently, and so strangely.

thing. The joy you have in the loving wife now by your side, was once the cup of nectar which I turned from my own wicked and perjured lips-it was reserved for you -the hand of God preserved it from me."

There was a new and painful surprise upon the utterance of these strange words, and glimpses of the truth took possession of the minds of all present.

I ain

"Do not fear me," said the man; “after a life of wickedness and dissipation, now tottering into the grave. I am dying, too, from poverty-I have not tasted food for two days." "Who are you," " said Mr. Beresford emphatically, "that speak to us thus mysteriously?"

66

"A villain, Sir, whom you unmasked. But oh, pardon me, I was not all a villain

and now that the fiery passions of my nature have died away, I find a spark of virtue shining amid the embers. It has lighted me to repentance in the latest hour. I am Charles Langford, sir, who years ago fled from his country in disgrace, overwhelmed by the weight of his wickedness. A criminal here, I became a greater one in a foreign land, and underwent transportation, from which I was released about four years ago. Before my punishment had ended, my heart had been somewhat purified, and I determined if God allowed me life, to try to trace out my uncle, to learn his fate, or, if God had preserved him until this time, to throw myself at his feet. t. I learned while in London that you were living here, and I have come to ask your forgiveness for the wrongs I have done to you, and to learn He is delirious," said Mr. Beresford, what has uncle." we had better remove him to another Har has become of my good old man died, several years room." He said this in a whispering ago," said Mr. Montague.

"Will you explain yourself," asked Mr. Montague," and state what is the cause of your trouble?"

More, Sir, than can be told in an hour, or in a day," replied the man. Mine is the history of a wretched life—a sinful existence. I have spurned God-and his brand is upon me."

EXPERIENCE
ENCE OF HUMAN
HUMAN CHARACTER.

66

Deus tears. Langford, bursting T Forgive me,' said he -“let, this prove my sincerity! I have never wept since I was a child, as I And is Mr. Lyndhurst dead weep now. asked Langford.

too

"He is living a blessed old age," said Mr. Montague.

Then he, at least, will know how bitterly I repent the wrong I did his child?" We have forgiven you long ago," said Ellen, and prayed for your repentance."

Then your angel prayers have been heard--repentance has come-God knows how truly!" said Langford; and he sunk upon his knees and looked devoutly up to heaven.

我 The eyes of all the company were filled with tears their hearts were so overcome with feeling, that it was deemed advise

to close the scene. Mr. Beresford and Mr. Montague took Langford apart, and did their best to comfort him. He was placed in a cottage, and allowed a respectable support. After enjoying a repose of two years during which he exhibited many signs of true piety, he died, with his last breath beseeching the forgiveness of Heaven.

In every life there are actions untold, in every history there are pages omitted, in every human work there are imperfections; so in this. Whatever incidents are wanting, to complete the story, may be added by the suppositions naturally suggested by the course of the events recorded. We have gained our chief object, if we have impressed upon the reader "that there is no TRIAL too great for a truthful confidence in GoD to TRIUMPH Over.

THE END.*

365

EXPERIENCE OF HUMAN CHA-
RACTER.

I now see more good and more evil in all men than heretofore I did. I see that good men are not so good as I once thought they were, but have more imperfections; and that nearer approach and fuller trial doth make the best appear more weak and faulty than their admirers at a distance think. And I find that few are so bad as either malicious enemies or censorious separating professors do imagine. In some, indeed, I find that human nature is corrupted into a greater likeness to devils than I once thought any on earth had been; but, even in the wicked, usually there is more for grace to take advantage of, and more to testify for God and holiness, than I once believed there had been. I less admire gifts of utterance, and bare profession of religion, than I once did; and have much more charity for many who, by the want of gifts, do make an obscurer profession than they. I once thought that almost all who could pray movingly and fluently, and talked well of religion, had been saints; but experience hath opened to me "what odious crimes may consist with high profession; and I have met with divers obscure persons, not noted for any extraordinary profession, or forwardness in relife, whom I have after found to have long ligion, but only to live a quiet blameless lived, as far as I could discern, a truly godly and sanctified life; only their prayers and duties were by accident kept secret from other men's observation. Yet he godly and the ungodly, may as well go about upon this pretence would confound the to lay heaven and hell together.-Baxter.

that

If

INFANCY. As the infant begins to discriminate between the objects around, it soons discovers one countenance that ever smiles upon it with peculiar benignity. EGYPTIAN SALUTARY LAWS.-Among When it wakes from its sleep, there is one other ancient salutary laws amongst the watchful form ever bent over its cradle." Egyptians, were these: Honour thy startled by some unhappy dream, a parents. Be virtuous. Wash thy body guardian angel seems ever ready to soothe twice each day, and twice each night. its fears. If cold, that ministering spirit Live upon little. Reveal no secrets. brings it warmth; if hungry, she feeds it; if happy, she caresses it. In joy or sorrow, in weal or woe, she is the first object of its thoughts.""

The next Tale, will be by the popular authoress,
MRS. BLAISE and will be rentfiled, THE MOTHER'S
MISTAKE."
.9wystaоM M bie

COLOURED GLASS FOR HORTI

CULTURISTS.

the

me) from these and other results, germination of seeds in spring, the flower ing of plants, in summer, and the ripening of fruits in autumn, are dependent upon the variations in the amount of

ORDINARY solar light consists of rays of three colours, red, yellow, and blue; of these three, the red has the most heat-actinism or chemical influence of light and ing effect, the yellow the most light-giving effect, and the blue the strongest chemical effect. When combined in the ordinary ratio, the sun's rays produce the regular or natural effects (whatever they may be) on vegetation; but if artificial means be adopted to change this ratio, special effects result. Mr. Robert Hunt employed coloured glass to determine these effects; for, in each kind, the glass transmits one portion of the solar rays more abundantly than the rest, and owes what is called its "colour" to this property.

Under yellow glass, he found that, generally speaking, the germination of seeds is prevented; and that even in cases where it has commenced, the plant speedily dies. On the other hand, in a later stage of development, these rays seem to contribute to the vigorous growth of the plant.

Under red glass, if the seeds are well watched and watered, germination takes place; but the plant shows a sickly constitution, and the leaves are partially blanched. It is curious that, according to Mr. Hunt's observations, those plants which naturally bend towards the white light of day, seem to shun red light by bending away from it; but that when they arrive at the flowering stage, the plants welcome the red rays more than the blue or yellow.

Under blue glass, the germination of seeds and the growth of young plants are accelerated in a remarkable manner; but if this kind of stimulus be continued beyond a certain time, the plant increases in bulk without a corresponding increase in strength.

Mr. Hunt, in others of his published works, has applied the term actinism to the peculiar principle and effects of the blue rays; and, in connection with those views, he expresses an opinion that these experiments on the effect of coloured glass on plants, "seem to point to a very great practical application, in enabling us in this climate to meet the necessities of plants, natives of the tropical regions. We have evidence (at least so it appears to

of heat, at those seasons, in the solar beam." These interesting facts, it is true, belong to the optical and organic sciences rather than to the glass manufacture; but it is impossible not to see how mutually bene ficial such discoveries must be to the two friendly powers-science and industrial art; and the new palm-house at Kewi affords at once a case in point. When a little manganese is present in glass, it corrects the colouring action of the iron which usually exists in the sand; but the whitened glass thus produced is found to admit the heat of the solar rays to a greater degree than ordinary glass; and the plants in a palm-house or hot-house so glazed are found to suffer a scorching effect injurious to them. Mr. Hunt, appreciating both the good and the bad aspects of this modification, has exercised his ingenuity in retaining the former and dispersing the latter; he recommended the use of a little oxide of copper instead of oxide of manganese; and the palm-house at Kew, glazed with glass so tinted, has been found to possess the advantages without the disadvantages of what we may term the manganese system.

す

FLOWERS.-How the universal heart of man blesses flowers! They are wreathed round the cradle, the marriage altar, and the tomb. The Persian in the far-east delights in their perfume, and writes his love in nosegays, while the Indian child of the far-west claps his hands with glee as he gathers the abundant blossoms,the illuminated Scriptures of the Prairies. The Cupid of the ancient Hindoos tipped his arrows with flowers; and orange-flowers are a bridal crown with us, a nation of yesterday. Flowers should deck the brow of the youthful bride, for they are in themselves a lovely type of marriage. They should twine round the tomb, for their perpetually renewed beauty is a symbol of the Resurrection. They should festoon the altar, for their fragrance and their beauty ascend in perpetual worship before the Most High.