this, she is not at all aware of the incessant penalties she imposes on her friends. For my own part, I am especially careful to lay my finger on my lips when in her presence, lest unadvisedly I should get entangled with a multiplicity of unenviable undertakings. Let us imagine our fair friend in a party, when a gentleman remarks that he has just received a copy of the "Rugby Prize Poem." She immediately expresses her desire that he would oblige her by writing it out for her, being exceedingly fond of poetry. Of course this is assented to. Another gentlemen unwittingly states his intention to a young lady present, to drive her to see the India Overland Diorama. Our fair friend directly observes, it will be a great favour if she may be permitted to accompany them; that is, if he will not consider it too much trouble to drive round for her. The gentleman, with visible reluctance, stammers out something about his being happy to do so; and when a third gentleman alludes to his trip to Brighton on the following day, she inquires whether she might take the liberty of asking him to deliver a small packet to a friend of hers, who lives very little more than half a mile from the

terminus.

As the most circumspect are now and then off their guard, so the kindest are at times uninten

tionally cruel by their inconsiderate demands on the time of others. I hope, then, that my present friendly remonstrance will neither be considered unreasonable nor uncalled for. Hardly should I like to be outdone by any one in courtesy and kindheartedness; but if, as fellowpilgrims, we do not point out each other's failings, what probability is there of being corrected? How gladly, instead of censuring my fair friends, would I scatter roses in their earthly paths, and help them on their way to heaven!

Believing, as I do, that thoughtlessness, or inconsideration, is one of the commonest failings of humanity, and that it occasions at least one half of the troubles we bring on each other, I am anxious to impress on my own heart, and on the hearts of others, this self-evident but sadly neglected truth. There are other people in the world besides ourselves, and unless we consider their convenience, comfort, and pleasures, we cannot reasonably expect them to consider ours. If we do not act under this impression, we may go on unintentionally trespassing on those we respect, and afflicting those we love all the days of our lives.

I cannot but hope, that as these remarks are made in a friendly spirit, they will be received considerately and kindly. With heaven in pre

spect, and the word of God in our hands, we ought to have much of love and forbearance in our hearts, reproving, helping, and encouraging one another

ON GREAT WORKS

A WORD or two with my readers on the subject of great works. By great works I do not mean such things as poems, paintings, or statues, executed by great masters, but rather works of great magnitude in themselves, and which have required lofty genius, unwonted boldness, and unwearied perseverance to plan, prosecute, and complete them. Things exceedingly simple on a small scale, deeply impress the mind when on a large one. To bale water with the hand, to span with the fingers, and to weigh with a balance, are all common occurrences; but when we read in Holy Writ of the Almighty measuring "the waters in the hollow of his hand," meting out "heaven with the span," comprehending "the dust of the earth in a measure," and weighing "the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance," we are struck with awe and wonder. These things are so far beyond our conceptions that we are lost in admiration of the power of the Eternal.

common

The pyramids of Egypt, which have stood for

thousands of years, are great works, and well they may be, if what Herodotus tells us be true, that a hundred thousand men were employed for thirty years, without intermission, in preparing the materials and constructing the work. When Bonaparte was about to attack the Mamelukes, he told his soldiers that forty ages were looking down upon them from the summits of the Pyramids.

The Chinese Wall is a great work, bounding, as it does, the whole north of China, along the frontiers of three provinces, crossing rivers, descending valleys, and ascending the highest hills, one ridge being five thousand feet above the level of the sea. The thickness of the wall at the base is twenty-five feet, the height is twenty feet, and the height of the towers are thirtyseven feet.

St. Peter's, at Rome, is a great work, which occupied much more than a hundred years in its erection during the reigns of nineteen popes. Twelve successive architects were employed. Its great extent, its wondrous height, its grand colonnade, dome, chapels, pillars, porticoes, paintings, and statues excite the astonishment of the beholder. They tell me the great toe of the bronze statue of St. Peter is almost kissed away by the lips of those who have bowed down to it.