previously for them to creep up to the barrel's brink outside; and strew some oatmeal on it. You must not let the water be too deep, but set a brick endways in it; and the first rat that is caught will make a noise, which will entice more; so that they will fight for the possession of the brick, and the noise will draw others. Thus, in one night, a great many rats may be caught. Mice and other vermin may be caught in a similar way.

THE MISCELLANY.

Invention of Newspapers.-Newspapers were first printed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; the intense interest in public events excited in every class by the threatened invasion of Spain, gave rise to their introduction. Before this period, all articles of intelligence had been circulated in manuscript; and all political remarks had issued from the press in the shape of pamphlets. But the peculiar convenience, at such a juncture, of uniting these two objects in a periodical publication becoming obvious, there appeared, some time in the month of April, 1588, the first number of the English Mercury, a paper resembling the present London Gazette; which must have come out almost daily, since No 50, the earliest specimen of the work now extant, is dated July 23, of the same year. This interesting relic is preserved in the British Museum.

Trial by Jury.-The following important recommendation appears in the third Report of the English Law Commissioners, which has just been printed:-Jury not to be kept in deliberation more than twelve hours, unless at the end of that period they unanimously apply for further time. At the end of that time, the concurrence of nine to be a verdict; at the end of that time, and nine not concurring, the cause to be a remanet !

When Lord Erskine made his debut at the bar, his agitation almost, overcame him, and he was just going to sit down. "At that moment," said he, "I thought I felt my little children tugging at my gown, and the idea roused me to an exertion of which I did not think myself capable."

Cheap Justice in America." There they have done away with nearly all the technicalities of the law:-there are no stamps-no special pleadings-and scarcely any one is so poor that he cannot go to law. The consequence is, a scene of litigation from morning to night. Lawyers abound every where; no village, containing above two or three hundred inhabitants, is without one or more. No person, be his situation or con

duct what it may, is free from the never-ending pest of lawsuits. Servants, labourers, every one in short, on the first occasion, hies off to the neighbouring lawyer or justice of peace, to commence an action. No compromise or accommodation is ever dreamt of. The law must decide every thing! The lives of persons in easy circumstances are thus rendered miserable; and the poor man, led on by the hopes of gain-by an infectious spirit of litigation—or by revenge, is prevented employing his time usefully to himself and to the community, and generally ends by being a loser. The lawyer's fees are fixed at a low rate, but the passion for litigating a point increases with indulgence to such a degree, that these victims of cheap justice, or rather cheap law, seldom stop while they have a dollar left."-From Captain Hall's Travels in the United States of America.

Savings Banks-T. Tidd Pratt, the barister-at-law, appointed by government to certify the rules of Savings' Banks, has just published a list of all the Savings' Banks in England, Wales, and Ireland, which contains some highly useful information relative to these societies, which have produced so much good among the more humble classes. At the end of the year 1830 there were 412,217 depositors; being an increase in that year of 12,682, the average of whose deposits amounted to £32 each. The total quantity of investments, on Nov. 30, 1830, amounted to no less a sum than £14,366,967.

Musquitoes.-The Esquimaux Indians of North America consider these insects as personifications of the evil principle, and always speak of them as the winged ministers of hell, being ignorant that they rank among the bountiful gifts of Heaven, and are, in fact, one of those wise provisions of nature which have been admirably calculated for the wants of the countries where they are found. Linnæus, to whose discerning eye this truth was first disclosed, terms them, in his expressive language, "Laponum calamitas felicissima"-the most fortunate calamity of Lapland; since the legions of larva which fill the lakes of Lapland form a delicious repast to innumerable multitudes of aquatic birds, and thereby providentially contribute to the support of the very nations which they so strangely infest.-Clarke's Travels.

Thursday, Sep. 29, was interred in the cemetery of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, Mr. Archer, aged 104 years. His wife, aged 99 years, attended his funeral; and it is remarkable that both were residents in the same parish all their lives, a proof of the salubrity of the London atmosphere.

THE

FAMILY MONITOR.

No. XII.

DECEMBER, 1831.

VOL. I.

FEASTS AND FASTS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND EXPLAINED.

St. Thomas's Day.

Dec. 21.-St. Thomas, surnamed Didymus, both of which signify a twin, was a Jew, and supposed to be a Galilean. He was born of humble parents, and brought up in the trade of fishing, but, at the same time, became very eminent for his hearty love for his great Lord and Master, accompanying him through the greatest dangers and difficulties, and thinking nothing too much to suffer in the cause of Christ. But, as even the best of men have their failings, he would not believe in the resurrection of our Saviour, unless he had a sensible demonstration of it; for when the Apostles, to whom our blessed Lord appeared after he was risen from the dead, attested the reality of the resurrection, Thomas refused to credit the report, unless, as he said, he saw in his hands the print of the nails, and thrust his hand into his side. But the Holy Jesus having compassion on his infirmities, on the next Lord's day re-appeared to the Apostles, when Thomas was present. Then he mercifully cast his eyes upon the incredulous Apostle, and bid him reach out his hand, and put it into his side, and his finger into the print of the nails, and satisfy himself by the utmost evidence of sense. Whereupon Thomas being convinced, cried out, and our Saviour replied, "because thou hast seen me thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." The Apostle, however, afterwards became invincible in his faith, and preached the gospel in Parthia, and many other countries, with an undaunted courage. But it happened, coming to Malabar,

VOL. I.

3 z

the Brahmans, or Indian priests, fearing the downfal of their rites and religion, one day, as the Apostle was employed in divine worship, fell upon him with stones and darts, until one of them, at last, ran him through with a lance.

Christmas Day.

Dec. 25.-This festival is one of the greatest of all Christian solemnities, and consequently ought to be solemnized with the greatest joy and exultation; for as on this day the eternal Son of God, and second person in the most glorious Trinity, was born of a woman, whereby he exactly fulfilled all those types and prophecies which were made concerning him, about two thousand years before, and by this means freed us from eternal death; it is therefore the indispensable duty of every Christian, to praise and magnify the great love of God towards mankind, for sending his only-begotten Son into the world, in order to our salvation. This was such a glorious instance of his unparalleled mercy, that it ought to be admired and celebrated by angels, and acknowledged and adored by men, with the deepest gratitude. All that are partakers of this inestimable benefit, ought to join with the heavenly host, and the poor amazed shepherds, in hymns of joy and thanksgiving, saying, Glory be to God on high, and on earth, peace, good-will towards men!

St. Stephen's Day.

Dec. 26.—This day is set apart as a memorial of that illustrious hero of Christianity, St. Stephen. He was the first martyr of the Christian faith; a man of admirable zeal and piety, replenished with the most divine gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, which peculiarly qualified him for that place of great honour and usefulness whereunto he was advanced. He was made one of the seven deacons, whose office it was to superintend the necessities of the poor, and to make daily provision for their public tables.

St. Stephen is described as a man "full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost;" a person enriched with many miraculous gifts and powers, who preached and pleaded the cause of Christianity with a firm and unshaken mind. This gave great disgust to the unbelieving Jews, so much so that they eagerly pursued him with

loud clamours, bitter invectives, and false accusations; and at last they seized him, and brought him before the council, where he appeared with the beauty and splendour of an angel, and delivered to them such undeniable truths, that they were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake. So being in a great rage, they cast him out of the city, and stoned him, whilst he was meekly interceding for the pardon of his murderers.

St. John's Day.

Dec. 27.-St. John the Evangelist was a Galilean, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother to St. James the Great, with whom he was brought up in the trade of fishing. He was not above thirty years of age when he was called to the apostleship, being a person of extraordinary piety, and particularly styled the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was one of the three whom our blessed Saviour selected to accompany him in his most private retirements, and to bear witness to the most remarkable passages of his life and death; and he was even pleased to give him the charge of his own mother, at his crucifixion. After the death of the blessed Virgin, which happened several years after that of Christ, our Apostle preached in Asia Minor, and established several eminent churches, Ephesus, Smyrna, &c. From Ephesus he was carried prisoner to Rome, and there he was cast into a cauldron of scalding oil, but was miraculously delivered by the hand of divine Providence. Afterwards he was banished into a melancholy island, called Patmos, where he wrote his Revelations, and spent his time in contemplating the joys of heaven. This blessed saint, about the beginning of Trajan's reign, departed this life in the 98th or 99th year of his age. He wrote his Gospel to supply the omissions of the other evangelists. He wrote also three Epistles and the Apocalypse, all of which are received into the sacred canon, and universally admired; and as piety and charity were his constant practice, so it is the great vein that runs through all his writings.

Innocents' Day.

Dec. 28.-This day is set apart by the church, in commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Innocent Infants. For it hap