What banished superstition from our ground?
Law and Religion small support could yield,
If dry that source by which they keep the field.
E'en Lords and Commons, from their bright
degree,

Would sink in nothing once deprived of thee!
Thou art the rock for whom the virtues stand,
The Press the guardian of our native land."

NO. VII.

Never Give Up.

"I'm tired of life!-I'm disheartened! so many things seem to go wrong," said John Downcast to himself, as he returned home one evening; he blamed the world, and pulled a long face, because Providence frowned on him! John forgot God,-forgot that He who had made the world so beautiful had appointed the lot of all, and knew what was best for him, and had appointed his portion; that whether prosperity shone upon him, or adversity frowned. upon him, all would work for his good. The world is full of John Downcasts,-people who are always sending a telegraphic message into the future, asking what the next trouble will be, and blaming every one but themselves.

They forget that God expects man to do his duty, and leave the results to Him,-they forget that

"This world is as full of beauty

As other worlds above,

And if we did our duty,

It would be full of love."

An excellent writer has given the following valuable advice to those who are overtaken by adversity:

"Be cheerful, no matter what obstructs your pathway. Ask yourself what is to be gained by looking or feeling sad when troubles throng around you, or how your condition is to be alleviated by abandoning yourself to despondency. If you are a young man, nature designed you to 'be of good cheer;' and should you find your road to fortune, fame, or respectability, or any other boon to which your young heart aspires, a little thorny, consider it

all for the best, and that these impediments are only thrown in your way to induce greater efforts and more patient endurance on your part. Far better spend a whole life in diligent, ay, cheerful and unremitting toil, though you never attain the pinnacle of your ambitious desires, than to turn back at the first appearance of misfortune, and allow despair to unnerve your energies, or sour your naturally sweet and cheerful disposition. If you are of the softer, fairer portion of humanity, be cheerful, though we know full well that most afflictions are sweet to you when compared with disappointment and neglect; yet let hope banish despair and ill-forebodings. Be cheerful; do not brood over fond hopes unrealised, until a chain, link after link, is fastened on each thought, and wound around the heart. Nature intended you to be the fountain spring of cheerfulness and social life, and not the travelling representative of despair and melancholy."

"There's not a star the heavens can show,
There's not a cottage hearth below,
But feeds with solace kind the willing soul;
Men love us, or they need our love;

Freely they own, or heedless prove,

The curse of heedless hearts, the joy of selfcontrol.

Then rouse thee from desponding sleep, Nor by the wayside lingering weep, Nor fear to seek Him farther in the wild, Whose love can turn earth's worst and least Into a conqueror's royal feast;

Thou wilt not be untrue, thou shalt not be beguiled."

Over anxiety brings its own punishment. An old lady was once stepping from a steamboat to the pier; it rained a little, and she was so anxious that her new bonnet should not be soiled, that she put her dress up over it; but in so doing she missed her footing and fell into