that the duties paid on spirits for the year ending Jan. 5, 1839, were as follows:

Reckoning the population of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in round numbers, at 24,000,000, then every man, woman, and child, of this large population, upon an average, paid 6s. 10d. last year to Government for duty on SPIRITS alone.

This is a state of things that cannot be suffered to go on, or in a few years we shall have large masses of the population in the depths of wretchedness, and covered with disease; the physical, moral, and intellectual energies of the people greatly deteriorated; besides hundreds and thousands hurried to a premature grave, unprepared for the presence of their Judge and the bliss of heaven. Deeply concerned about the intemperance of London, and not being able, as a mission, to commit ourselves to any other than the principles of the Bible, we purpose immediately to make a comprehensive effort, on the plan adopted last year in the circulation of the New Testament. The 433 districts visited last year will be visited by our missionaries, commencing early in September, and to every family in every one of the 121,000 visitable houses two tracts will be given, exposing the prodigal waste of property, especially among the poor, and the sufferings they are exposed to by the habit of drinking; and also a solemn appeal, placing before them their guilt in the sight of God, the necessity of repentance, and the way of mercy and redemption by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

It cannot be accurately stated the number of tracts on intemperance that will thus be put into circulation in London; but confining the work to the 121,000 visitable houses, the number cannot be below half a million. In the full conviction that nothing but truth will be put into the hands of the people, and that the God of truth will prosper every attempt made to advance his glory, and the recovery and happiness of men by Jesus Christ, we fervently pray, and ask the prayers of all who love the souls of men, that the Divine blessing may rest upon this work of faith, and that not a few may have to thank God (as in the case of the distribution of the New Testament) that they were visited and blessed by the labours of the mission.-City Mission Magazine.

NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN

SOCRATES, at an extreme old age, learned to play on musical instruments.

CATO, at eighty years of age, thought proper to learn the Greek language.

PLUTARCH, when between seventy and eighty, commenced the study of the Latin.

SIR HENRY SPELMAN neglected the sciences in his youth, but commenced the study of them when he was between fifty and sixty years of age. After this time, he became a most learned anti

quarian and lawyer.

COLBERT, the famous French minister, at sixty years of age, returned to his Latin and law studies.

DR. JOHNSON applied himself to the Dutch language a few years before his death.

LUDOVICO MONALDESCO, at the great age of one hundred and fifteen, wrote the memoirs of his own times.

OGILBY, the translator of Homer and Virgil, was unacquainted with Latin and Greek till he was past fifty.

FRANKLIN did not fully commence his philosophical pursuits till he had reached his fiftieth year.

ACCORSO, a great lawyer, being asked why he began the study of law so late, answered, that indeed he began it late, but he should therefore master it the sooner. This agrees with our theory, that healthy old age gives a man the power of accomplishing a difficult study in much less time than would be necessary to one of half his years.

DRYDEN, in his sixty-eighth year, commenced the translation of the Iliad; and his most pleasing productions were written in his old age.

NOBLE RESISTANCE TO TEMPTATION.

Thursday morning last, a boy who lives in Williamsburgh, found a pocket book containing £40. On shewing it to his master, he was told to take it to his mother, who, though a very poor woman, never for a moment thought of converting it to her own use; on the contrary, she immediately proclaimed it by the town crier. So poor was she, that she had not wherewithal to pay his fees, and deemed the money too sacred to touch; but such honesty could well be trusted, and the crier proclaimed on credit. The woman, troubled in mind with the care of such a treasure, delivered it to a gentleman in town, who, on examining the book, found, from marriage lines contained in it, that the owner was a Mr. Graham, a teacher in Glasgow, who had been married on the Monday before, and who was on the point of embarkation for Berbice. This afforded a clue, and on Friday, the gentleman set off for Glasgow, in quest of the owner. On arrival there, he found he had departed to Greenock; and after leaving a message for the factor whom Mr. Graham had appointed to wind up his affairs, he returned home. In the afternoon the factor came to Paisley, received the

money, left £5 to reward the poor woman who had found it-hired a gig, and set off for Greenock, in the hope of delivering to Mr. Graham his marriage lines and his money before the vessel left the harbour. On arrival at Greenock, the factor, Mr. Alexander Taylor, found that Mr. Graham had gone up to Glasgow in quest of his money, but he had the pleasure of putting the property into the hands of Mrs. Graham at eight o'clock on Friday night. Mr. Graham himself would have all his anxiety removed on reaching Glasgow. Mr. Taylor passed through Paisley on Saturday morning at one o'clock, on his way home, well pleased with the satisfactory working of the whole business.

ANECDOTE OF DR. JOHNSON.

This celebrated moralist when he was compiling his folio dictionary, rejected every authority for a word "that could only be gleaned from writers dangerous to religion or morality." "I would not, (said he,) send people to look in a book for words, that by such a casual seizure of the mind, might chance to mislead it for ever." Those only who know how many of the standard English works come under one or other of these characters, and the immense labour and research requisite for the collection of authorities, can fully estimate the uprightness and rigid conscientiousness, which could produce such self-denying conduct.

SCRAPS.

A new heart consists of an enlightened mind, a renewed will, a tender conscience, and sanctified affections.

An hypocrite is in the worst condition of any man upon earth; for he is hated of the world because of his profession, and hated of God because he has no more than a profession.

"The Christian's conflict may be sharp, but his victory is sure, his reward is great, and his crown is eternal." "By faith, we enjoy God; by love, we enjoy our neighbours; by patience, we enjoy ourselves."

THE RETROSPECT.

The bill of indictment! I ransack its charges,

As the faithful Remembrancer brings them to view:
On every item the conscience enlarges,

Recording its verdict "too painfully true."

The sins of my childhood are wet on its pages,

And the sins of my youth follow close in their train;
While those of my life, through its subsequent stages,
Protrude on the canvass, and quicken again.

The sight is abasing-the sight is confounding-
While it bitterly humbles my soul in the dust;
And yet, when I think of the "mercy abounding,”
I look to "the oath of the promise"-and trust.

That infinite love, which has cancell'd "the writing,"
Is more deeply enhanc'd by surveying my debt:
And, happy for me, when the Friend is alighting,
The sin and the sinner have previously met.

Oh! yes I would dwell, in the deepest confusion,
Upon all I have done against infinite love;
And bless Him who broke up the fearful delusion,
That, wedded to sin, I was "born from above.'

God grant that the term of existence remaining
May be destin'd to witness the love I profess;
And then, though this earth and its phantoms are waning,
I shall live upon Him who has power to bless.

THE EFFECTS OF NOURISHED SIN.

That cherish'd sin-'twill cost thee dear;
Each spring of comfort sealing:
Thy God in mercy will not hear,
Nor wilt thou find his presence near,
While there is double-dealing.
Reject the thought, that peace within
Can harmonize with Achan's sin.

That cherish'd sin will paralyze
Each effort grace is making;
The sickly plant of fervour dies,
If God withholds his rich supplies,
The wayward child forsaking.
In honesty approach the throne,
Or grapple with thy foes alone.

That cherish'd sin will cause a swell
On Jordan's angry billow:
Attendant on thy parting knell,
The sting of memory shall dwell
Beneath thy dying pillow.
Survey thy darling lust, and say,
Will such a sacrifice repay?

SCRUTATOR.

That cherish'd sin will close the gate
To realms of glory leading,
And leave thee to the hopeless fate
Of those who wake, alas! too late,
And die, on folly feeding.

Oh! pause in time-and count the cost,
Before thy precious soul is lost.

SCRUTATOR.

THE LABOURER'S NOON-DAY HYMN.

Up to the throne of God is borne
The voice of praise at early morn,
And he accepts the punctual hymn
Sung as the light of day grows dim:

Nor will he turn his ear aside
From holy offerings at noontide:
Then, now reposing! let us raise
A song of gratitude and praise.

What, though our burden be not light,
We need not toil from morn till night;
The respite of the mid-day hour
Is in the thankful creature's power.

Blest are the moments, doubly blest,
That, drawn from this one hour of rest,
Are with a ready heart bestow'd
Upon the service of our God!

Why should we crave a hallow'd spot?
An altar is in each man's cot;

A church in every grove that spreads
Its living roof above our heads.

Look up to heaven! the industrious sun
Already half his race hath run;
He cannot halt, nor go astray,
But our immortal spirits may.

Lord! since his rising in the east,
If we have faltered or transgress'd,
Guide, from thy love's abundant source,
What yet remains of this day's course:

Help with thy grace, through life's short day,
Our upward and our downward way;

And glorify for us the west,

When we shall sink to final rest.

WORDSWORTH.