"LUSTROUS EYES."

We have received a sharp rebuke from some unknown correspondent, for admitting into our pages the tale entitled 'A Workhouse Scene,' which is deemed exceedingly objectionable, inasmuch as it dwells greatly on the subject of female beauty, more especially on the 'lustrous eyes' of poor Anne. Our correspondent adds, that the pious and judicious mother of some growing daughters, has forbidden the future entrance of our poor little magazine into her family on this ground; and appears to think that the reprehension will be very general. We would insert the letter, but that we presume, from its tone, it was not intended for publication: we, therefore, state its purport, and proceed to say a few words on a subject often canvassed, and where we think that some excellent people greatly err.

Personal beauty is a gift from God: at the same time it is a gift especially liable to be perverted into an instrument of harm to its possessor, and of aggravated sin against the Giver. David's beauty is incidentally mentioned; that of his eldest brother, admonishingly. "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because the LORD hath rejected him; for man looketh upon the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart." Rachael's beauty is recorded, in connection with Jacob's deep and long-lived affection; Abigail's gave her increased favour in David's sight: that of Bathsheba steeped him in crime and sorrow. In

Israel was not a man so beautiful as Absalom, and this, feeding his vanity, helped on his career of dreadful wickedness, and finally was a means of his wretched death. Queen Vashti's beauty led to her disgrace; that of Esther to her own elevation and to the rescue of her people. To these we might add many more instances, as that of Sarah, and of Rebecca, and others; all tending to prove that personal beauty does, and will, and must attract admiration; and, at the same time, to illustrate the Divine word, that "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain ; but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised."

This being the case, such the plain language of Scripture, it really puzzles us to account for the horror and alarm with which some good people recoil from the mention of what they cannot help meeting with in every part of the Bible. If a girl is lovely, it is vain to conceal from her the fact her mirror will betray the secret, and many a whisper, rendered more mischievous by the caution that would silence it, will confirm the tale. To meet the danger, a very different procedure is required;-simple lessons, naturally expressed, and habitually enforced, of the evanescent character of such outward advantages, and the abiding beauty of holiness, not only before man, but before God ; and occasional reference to the peculiar snares that Satan is wont to weave for the feet of those who are proudly conscious of superior attraction.

The narrative which drew upon us the severe ani. madversion referred to, pleased us particularly, as bearing on the dangers to which fair young females in humble life are exposed. We hoped that many a mistress of a family or a school would read it to the thoughtless girls under their charge, whose too frequent specu

lation it is to set off their persons to the greatest advantage, with the view of captivating some of higher grade than themselves. Our dear sister, the writer of that memorial, has indeed dwelt much on the "lustrous eyes" of poor Anne; and very naturally so.. In the first place, a bright eye, fixed in earnest attention, will of all things the soonest arrest the notice of one who is labouring to impart instruction; and, in the next place, the light of death, sparkling in the dilated orb of a consumptive young person, is so affecting, so deeply overpoweringly touching, that it fastens itself on the memory, as being beyond all other things connected with and peculiar to the past scene. That the "lustrous eyes" of Anne, rivetted on the benevolent visitor, under the circumstances recorded, should have failed to become identified with the whole sad tale, would be strange to us, who have many such reminiscences treasured up that the lingering beauty of her faded face should be noticed, when penning a touching and a true story of the ruin to which that fatal beauty led, was not only natural, but, in fact, inevitable. In whatsoever point of view regarded, we are prepared most fully to justify our friend for writing, and ourselves for inserting the narrative; and if any be found rejecting our Magazine from their shelves for no better cause than that assigned by the correspondent above mentioned, we say boldly, but we hope not presumptuously, that the loss is theirs

rather than ours.

There are many things which we read in the Bible, and which we of the Establishment also hear read in the Church from its hallowed pages, but which we should never dream of either citing or imitating here: we receive them reverently, as from God himself, not presuming to cavil, neither concluding that because they

were there, it would be expedient to introduce them every where else. Still there is an excess of fastidiousness, called delicacy, which passes a perpetual, though oblique, reproach, on the word of the Most High, by denouncing even the recognition of many things against which the heedless require to be carefully warned, no less than guarded; and concerning which we are not only warranted, but expressly commanded by Scripture to admonish them. We are not quite sure, though we think so, that our correspondent's censure includes the intimation, most delicately has the narrator implied rather than expressed it, of the nature of Anne's first fatal step in leaving her home: if so, these remarks apply to the subject.

But, apart from all this, what is there in the mention of a bright or lustrous eye to cause offence? Few things in nature are so gladdening, few so eloquent of the Creator's workmanship, as the clear eye that speaks the language of an immortal soul within, as no other visible medium can do it. We could as soon, or sooner, spare the sweet flowers that adorn our path, as the bright eyes that shine upon it. Soon, alas! must the clearest, the most brilliant among them be dimmed with tears of sorrow, and closed in the dull darkness of the grave. But the law of the Lord, which enlighteneth the eyes, can brighten them also with a gladness neither to be dispelled by worldly sorrow, nor extinguished in bodily death; and may it be the lot of every parent who reads this page, to trace in the eyes of her children that calm, and beautiful, and holy lustre, which speaks a peace within, passing all understanding, a hope that maketh not ashamed, and a joy that will be full when the Redeemer appears in his glory!

MY CABINET.

No. XIII.

THE fifteenth on the list of minerals is Manganese, one which, from the appearance of some of its species, may be easily mistaken for iron. In fact the name sometimes given to its oxyde, (black hæmatite,) is calculated to mislead the student into the belief that it is only a variety of iron, like the red and brown hæmatite, of which we have formerly spoken.

Manganese is, however, a metal of a different nature from iron; it is much softer, and some specimens are so light and friable as to soil the fingers. I believe it is also incapable of being cast into a form. It is used in glass-making, and in various chemical operations. Its most common forms are the oxyde, carbonate, and silicate; never being found in the native state. Of the oxyde there are several varieties; the black hæmatite, or psilomelane, is never found crystallized, but in massive or bubbled forms; I have one specimen, like a little bunch of black grapes; and another from Franconia, which has its small bubbles disposed in a radiated form, and reflecting bright copper-coloured and green hues. The composition of this mineral is the red oxyde, with a little additional oxygen, baryta, and some water; iron and silica are sometimes found in it. It is chiefly found in our Devon and Cornish mines, and APRIL, 1845.

Y