part. Our daily bread is bestowed not without, but upon our labour; and is strictly a gift of Providence, although earned by man. Many of us are called upon to labour, not directly in raising the supplies necessary to sustain our earthly existence, but in fulfilling the duties of a sphere of life to which God has granted a free sufficiency. Let us remember that these duties are as fully incumbent upon us, as is the daily labour of the poor man for his daily wages.

Thirdly, Let us learn to be satisfied with little. Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content; yet how much more have we in fact to be thankful for! That which is absolutely requisite for us is very little. All that is good for us God will bestow; and though our daily portion of satisfaction or enjoyment be scanty; though the bitter herbs of earth be mingled with it; though our souls be inclined to loathe it as unsatisfying food, or to feel life dull and tedious, let us recal the example of our Lord. Let us think of St. Paul, content in whatsoever state he might be. Let us visit, or recal to mind the suffering poor; the destitute; the afflicted; and not only be content, but cherish a THANKFUL spirit for the many superfluities which we possess over and above actual necessaries. Many touching instances are found among the believing poor, of a spirit of thankfulness, strikingly contrasted with the deep poverty and apparent hopelessness of their condition. But God hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith; and thankfulness seems ever to thrive the most, where the riches and pleasures of the world are the least abundant.

Fourthly, The petition, "Give us this day our daily bread," should check an envious spirit. We pray as members of a family, for others, as well as for ourselves. When God answers our prayer, in giving to others a more rich or abundant share of daily bread than he sends to us, shall we indulge that sinful regret which often rises in the heart, though it be unfraternal and unfilial too, that we are less richly endowed than our brother? The "bread which is good for him might be poisonous to us; our daily bread is possibly as sweet, as his appears to be delicate or abundant. There may be a bitterness in it, which we know not of; or if not, shall we not rejoice that there is a spirit on earth that may be trusted with a more prosperous lot than ours; and pray that that lot may be blessed to our brother's spiritual profit, as well as ours to us? This we know, prosperity is dangerous, though not equally so to all; and as the Israelites-our type in the gathering of their daily mannagathered some more and some less; and as he who gathered little had

no lack, and he that gathered much had nothing over; in like manner has our Father so regulated the daily bread of each one of us, that we may each fulfil his will, and receive from his fulness, in our separate spheres, in exact proportion to our real necessities and our truest happiness.

E. B.

THE BIRDS OF ASCENSION ISLAND.*

BY THE REV. J. D. HULL.

In a beautiful isle of the Tropic seas,

Where deliciously breathes the cool ocean-breeze,
Birds of various tribes to their haunts repair,
And each has its separate region there.

Near the mountain's foot reign "the Wide-awakes ;"
Not distant," the Gannet" his dwelling makes;
Then neighbour to his, comes "the Booby's" cell;
And remote, loves "the Man of War" to dwell.

Now, were I to choose among which to abide
Of those different birds that that isle divide,
It would not with the noisy Gannet be,
Howe'er shelter'd his nest from the stormy sea.

Nor yet with the stupid Booby would

I select my abode in that solitude;
Nor could even the lovely "Crystal Bay,"
Induce with the bird of strife to stay.

No; let me still list to the " WIDE-AWAKE,”
E'er bid me be ready my flight to take,
To where tempests and warfare afflict no more;
E'en the hyaline bays of the heavenly shore.

Belmont Lodge, Cheltenham.

• Vide Englishwoman's Magazine for May, 1849.

TAVISTOCK ABBEY.

TAVISTOCK, a town situated on the banks of the river Tavy, and surrounded by scenery of a romantic character, derives much interest from the historical circumstances with which its name is associated. Here, dwelt the great Orgar, Earl of Devonshire, whose beauteous daughter, Elfrida, was surreptitiously wooed and won by Athelwold, who had been sent by King Edgar to view her charms, and if he found them such as fame reported them to be, to offer her the crown matrimonial. Elfrida, on the discovery and punishment of Athelwold's treachery, became the wife of the monarch. So at least says History: the Poet Mason, however, supplies us with a different catastrophe ; according to him,

"... Athelwold's sad widow swears

To rear a hallow'd convent o'er the place

Where stream'd his blood: there will she weep through life,

Immured with a chaste throng of virgins; there

Each day shall six times hear her full-voiced choir

Chant the slow requiem o'er her martyr'd lord.

There, too, when midnight lowers with awful gloom,
She'll rise observant of the stated call

Of waking Grief, bear the dim livid taper

Along the winding aisles, and at the altar

Kiss every pale shrine with her trembling lips,

Press the cold stone with her bent knee, and call

On sainted Athelwold."

Such is the tenor of the vow, with which, the Angels, in Mason's classical drama entitled Elfrida, are urged by the chorus,

"To wing their solemn flight

Up to the heaven of heavens, and there
Hang the conspicuous tablet high
'Mid the dread records of Eternity."

This same Orgar, Earl of Devonshire, was the original founder of the magnificent Abbey which, in past times, was the pride of Tavistock. The foundations of this vast monastery are said to have been laid in the year 961; Orgar, according to a tradition long handed down and believed, having been previously admonished in a dream, to found an