Wesleyan Methodism, delivered in Wolverhampton by Mr. H. H. Fowler, (Hamilton, Adams, and Co.; Mason,)-full of information, warm with loyal attachment to the church-system reviewed, and most creditable to the son of one of our highly esteemed Ministers.-Also, Methodism and the Masses, by the Wife of a Minister, (Mason,)— earnest, faithful, seasonable. Of the following, space admits but the transcribing of the titles :Household Economy: A Manual intended for Female Training Colleges, and the Senior Classes of Girls' Schools. By Margaret Maria Brewster. Edinburgh: Constable and Co.-My Recollections of the last four Popes, and of Rome in their Times. An Answer to Dr. Wiseman. By Alessandro Gavazzi. Partridge and Co.-An Introduction to Grammar on its true Basis, with relation to Logic and Rhetoric. By B. H. Smart. Longmans.-How not to preach. Translated from the French of Napoleon Roussel. Ward and Co.-A Memoir of Mrs. M. Ferrier. Including Sketches of a Brother-in-law, and Sister. By a Member of the Family. Mason.The Religion of Childhood; its Practice and its Pattern. By Dr. Gunton. Being a Memorial of his beloved Son, Arnold Augustus. Heylin. VARIETIES. THE BUTTERFLY'S NEST. Some kinds of butterflies may be said to build a positive nest for their eggs, precisely similar to that constructed by birds, except that it is not used for the purpose of incubation, the eggs being abandoned SO soon as properly protected in the manner which instinct has suggested to the parent. The interior of this nest is formed by several layers of soft down, which the female plucks from her own body, and upon this delicate couch the eggs are deposited, and then protected by an elegant covering of the same material, often arranged with very curious intricacy. In some cases this covering is disposed in such a manner that each silken hair remains erect, the nest thus enclosed having the appearance of a small patch of the softest and most downy fur. Some times, when the eggs are laid spirally round a branch, this kind of covering naturally follows their course, and it then produces a very beautiful appearance, which it would sorely puzzle a tyro in entomology to account for, as it often assumes the appearance of a minute bottle-brush, and at other times that of a miniature fox's tail. By the time this final protection to the eggs is completed, the body of the devoted parent, as may be imagined, is almost entirely denuded of its beautiful silky clothing; but she has fortunately no further occasion for it, as, having thus completed the last act of her brief existence, she almost immediately expires.-The Butterfly Vivarium. COCHINEAL CULTURE.-Proceeding inland from this point, we entered some cactus-gardens, cultivated for the growth of cochineal, where may be seen young and old specimens of this succulent plant, opuntia tuna; in some of its varieties approaching the euphorbia form, instead of opaque; juice exuding the instant a leaf is pricked. The white blotches on it are the fibrous covering of the precious insect, cochineal, now the chief support and mainstay of the island. The circumstances of the introduction of this new industrial resource bear quite a providential aspect. Who would have thought, in 1835, that the years of the grape-vines of Teneriffe were numbered? Had it not been a vine-producing country for three hundred years, and what was to prevent it going on for ever? said naturalists of non-secular progress. So, when a native gentleman introduced the insect, and its appropriate cactus, from Honduras, in that year, his friends thought him a simpleton, and the country-people destroyed his plantations at night, because they were an innovation not to be tolerated in a land of grapes. The Government, however, happily supported the spirited improver; and, though at the expense of an agrarian disturbance now and then, some cochineal and cactus were preserved in out-of-the-way parts of the island. Time passed, and the vinedisease fell on the land. The fruit withered, the plants died, starvation stared everyone in the face. Orotava, so frequently visited before by Americans, anxious to exchange deals and lumber for wine, was soon entirely deserted by that calculating people. Then came the experiment, "cochineal" growing in the abandoned vineyards. It succeeded to admiration. The insect rapidly, and its embryos spread from propagates hand to hand. A furor in its favour soon took the people, and has not yet subsided. Spare land, gardens, and fields were all turned into cactus-plantations. Within six months after setting out the leaves harvesting may begin. Such a profitable investment of the land was never made before. An acre of the driest ground planted with cactus was found, we are told, to yield three kintel, that is, three hundred pounds of cochineal; under favourable circumstances, five hundred pounds, worth £75 to the grower. wonder, therefore, that such enthusiasm Νο prevailed; the men cultivating crops on a large scale in the field, while the woman-kind, each with some little plot or corner near the house, were accumulating pin-money from the smallest patches. The Then, adventurous persons, exploring ravines and mountain-slopes, wherever they found any old cactusplant, that might have long braved the Isun and the breeze in some undisturbed nook,-pinned on it with its own thorns the mark of this little cochineal beast, namely, the rag carrying its young insects. These, very minute, are produced by the parent in great numbers. few males amongst them take the form of a gnat, live a short life and die, leaving the female to perform its useful and laborious mission of secreting so much purple fluid. When fairly charged with this, they are taken off the plants, placed on a board, and baked to death in an oven, to constitute the dried preparation of the markets. Cochineal thrives best in the south of Teneriffe, where the growers have two crops in the year. the north they have only one, and are obliged to buy fresh insects every season from the south, as they cannot survive the severity of a northern winter. one time the natives from the south used to come and beg alms of their northern brethren; for, though they planted vines, In At 1037 the fruit seldom came to maturity in such the richer district; all owing to the arid soil. Now the south has become cochineal, and its power of elaborating a brilliant red dye out of the otherwise useless cactus; a plant, too, we must say flourishing on far drier ground than the that for it, capable of growing and even vine. Mischances will occasionally take place, as that a heavy shower of rain may wash the insects off the smooth-surfaced cactus-leaves; then great part of the stock is lost. Again, though liking a high temperature and rather dry air, the creatures are excessively tender to radiation. Hence, long before we made our black-bulb observations on Guajara, the power of the sun increases so rapidly natives had ascertained that the direct with height that the poor insect, when taken from the sea-coast to a level of side, is killed by the fervid rays.three thousand feet up the mountainment." Teneriffe, an Astronomer's Experi 66 BEDOUIN COURTESIES.-Taking our way along this valley, we met some Bedouins of the same tribe as our escort, and the gentle courtesies of civilized life brethren as between the most polished of pass as duly between our Arabs and their our own age and country. They kiss hands and touch their hearts and foreheads that most graceful form of Eastern salutation. Thus exchanging compliments, they pass on. The special rule in these salutations is always observed. If an inferior salutes a superior, he takes his superior's hand, and kissing it, puts it to his forehead; but the superior, unless he is rough and rude, snatches away his hand as soon as the inferior has touched it, and then the latter puts his his forehead. own fingers to his lips, and afterwards to It superior, in turn, to put his hands to his POETRY. KEEPING THE HEART. "Keep thy heart above all keeping [marg.]: for out of it are the issues of life." KEEP thy heart above all keeping, For the springs of life are there; Fervent yearnings, upward leaping, Fill that fountain strange and rare; Beating still, and tiring never, Each pulsation's earnest throe Stirs the will, desire, endeavour, Whence the streams of action flow. Keep thy heart above all keeping, For the foe may enter there; Never on thy watch-tower sleeping, Bar thy gates with instant prayer; Parley not with strong temptation, Guard the ear, and guard the eye; Let thy thought and conversation Rise, like incense, to the sky. MONODY, AT THE SLEEP on, and take thy rest; Thy very grave is bless'd : Days, months, and years Keep thy heart above all keeping,— Mar thy soul's plantation fair: Let thy soul, a water'd garden, Bud and blossom as the rose. Keep thy heart above all keeping,— Fruits of life or death are there : As thy sowing, so thy reaping; Scatter then thy seed with care: Choosing good, and evil spurning, Guarding from the fowl and thorn, Great shall be thy joy, returning With full sheaves, at harvest-morn. VIGIL VILLAGE-GRAVE OF A FRIEND. Pass over thee with ceaseless wing, Though with the rustic dead Here, far around, Bright fields diffuse a genial charm, More honour'd is thy tomb Or gorgeous shrine; Where, blazon'd with escutcheon'd fame, Imperial dust still seems to claim The "right Divine." Hedge-rows, and cottage-bowers, Shedding, o'er thy still home of death, Save when autumnal storms Bestrew thy bed; Or when stern winter's louder gale Would seem, with more impassion'd wail, To dirge the dead. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. RAILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES. The New-York and New-Haven Railroad Company, forming a part of the great mail-route from Boston to NewOrleans, "send out a single train (with the mail) at six o'clock P. M., on Sunday, with a passenger-car attached, and take only those persons who must go, on account of sickness or death, or any urgent matter. "The whole number of passengers who rode in that train in January last was seventy-four, though there were five Sundays in the month;" "and the month previous but sixty-five -averaging, say, fifteen passengers per Sunday." The average number of passengers each Sunday in 1856 was thirteen, and in 1857 it was seventeen; making the general average for two years fifteen. The train leaving Boston on Sunday night at eight o'clock does not reach the New-Haven road until early on Monday morning. The number of passengers by that train is about the same as from New-York. This experience on one of the most frequented of our great thoroughfares is of great value, as furnishing an impartial test of the proportion of public travel rendered necessary by the various emergencies of" sickness or death, or any urgent matter that compels" the use of sacred hours. The usual daily average of passengers conveyed on this road exceeds three thousand, (3,292,) or 1,030,396 per annum. The average on Sunday is fifteen, or less than the onehalf of one per cent. of the ordinary daily communication. Do not these facts demonstrate that only the merest fraction of Sunday-travel is necessary, and therefore right? The Hudson-River Railroad Company, after an experiment of the opposite policy, which their best friends deprecated and deemed disastrous, have discontinued both their passenger and freight trains; "employ no men, receive no money, and transact no business, on Sunday.' The only qualification to this gratifying statement is in the arrangement by which a freight-train arrives about six o'clock on Sunday morning. With this exception, it is represented that their fifteen hundred employés have their weekly season of repose: not a wheel moves, not a whistle screeches, to break in upon the Sabbath stillness. Their four thousand daily patrons have occasion to rejoice in the increasing pros perity and safety of the road; and its bond and stock holders will be more than content with the simultaneous increase of receipts and diminution of expenditures under a Sabbath-keeping régime. The Long-Island Railroad Company run no Sunday-trains, with the exception of one for the transportation of milk, which reaches and stops at Bedford about nine o'clock A. M. Erie Railroad. The whole number of persons in the employ of the Company in all capacities averages about four thousand: of these about fifteen hundred are employed as conductors, engineers, &c., in running the trains. The number of men employed on Sunday is just as much less than on other days, as the number of trains run is less. No freight being received or delivered at any of the stations on Sunday, the labourers, clerks, &c., are not employed on that day. Our Board of Directors have recently adopted a resolution that all Sundaylabour on the docks in New-York and at Piermont be discontinued, except such as may be necessary for the preservation of property. The New-York Central Railroad Company start no passenger-trains on Sunday; but trains which leave either end of the road on Saturday evening go through. "Freight-trains are run as little as possible on Sunday; but when there is a press on the road, they are often run from the actual necessity of getting them out of the way.' Such is the statement of the respected officer of the road in reply to our inquiries; who adds, "I have uniformly opposed Sunday-trains on our line. The men require the repose of Sunday, and are fairly entitled to a day of rest. They work the better for it during the week. In addition to this, the great body of the passengers who would go on Sunday, if the trains were running, go on Saturday or Monday, if the road is closed on Sunday. Company is the gainer by this. I have always urged these reasons, independent of the higher law which might be appealed to when discussing this subject......The proper observance of the Sabbath is of great importance to this country. The perpetuity of our institutions depends upon the moral character of the people; and that cannot be fully developed and maintained without the aid of the Sabbath." The The Camden and Amboy Railroad Company run two passenger-trains daily, and two freight-trains with passengercars attached. No trains for passengers or freight are run on Sunday, and no men are employed on that day. But the trains leaving New-York and Philadelphia at five o'clock on Saturday evening arrive at each end of the line early on Sunday morning. It would seem to be feasible to start those trains earlier on Saturday, to avoid even this partial encroachment on the hours of the Sabbath. The New-Jersey Central Railroad Company run eight daily passengertrains, and an equal number of freighttrains, on the secular days of the week, employing 431 men, and with daily receipts of about 2,000 dollars; but all business is suspended on the Sabbath. The men enjoy their weekly rest, and the villages along the route are undisturbed in their Sabbath quiet. The Morris and Essex Railroad Company run no Sabbath-trains.-NewYork Sabbath-Observance Committee. CANALS IN THE UNITED STATES. -The canals in the State of New-York have an aggregate length of about 900 miles. The number of persons employed on these works as collectors, forwarders, boatmen, drivers, &c., is estimated at 25,000; the number of boats 5,685, and the number of horses 12,000. It has been stated that of the whole number of persons thus employed, some 6,000 are minors, many of whom are orphan-boys. So far as is known, the business of the State-canals is carried forward on the Sabbath without intermission, as on other days. The locks are all open on that day as usual, and a population equal to one-fourth of the entire group of the Sandwich Islands pursues its demoralizing traffic through the heart of a populous Christian State, under cover of the laws of that State ! We are happy in being able to present, in contrast with this legalized profanation of the Sabbath, the voluntary provisions of a private corporation, whose Directors have had the wisdom and the firmness to close their locks on the Lord's day, and to suspend all business on their line during consecrated hours. The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company employ 1,125 boats in the transportation of coal, and 100 in freighting miscellaneous articles, merchandise, &c. They are all prohibited from running on the Sabbath. An aggregate of about four thousand persons are engaged on the canal during the boating season. The opportunities for moral improvement are such as are found in the schools and churches of the different towns and villages through which the canal passes, and in the labours of a Missionary employed and paid by the Company. His labours consist in the distribution of tracts and Bibles, personal intercourse and conversation with boatmen, and preaching to them on the Sabbath. The Directors believe that the closing of the locks has had a very beneficial influence on the morals and deportment of the boatmen, and on the population along the line of the canal. The esteemed President adds to this important testimony:-"You will perceive that we cannot give very satisfactory answers as to the effect of Sabbath-labour on man or beast, because we have had so little experience. We believe it, however, to be highly pernicious to both. When we closed our locks, (say twentythree years ago,) objections were made to it, and some feeling of dissatisfaction was manifested, both by boatmen and the population along the line of the canal. But I have no doubt the feeling would now be much stronger against a proposi tion to open the locks on the Sabbath." The Delaware and Raritan Canal Company close their locks and bridges every Saturday night at twelve o'clock, and open them again directly after twelve o'clock on Sunday night. Between nine hundred and a thousand boats navigate the canal; and from five to six thousand boatmen, raftmen, drivers, and others are immediately connected with the business of the canal. All work ceases on the Sabbath. From the interesting letter of the cashier of the Company we learn that "the influence of Sabbath-observance has been good on the boatmen, and on the inhabitants in the vicinity of the canal. The most intelligent of the Captains-all of them, indeed, with a single exception -state that the stoppage of labour on the Sabbath has worked well, and is highly beneficial in a physical point of view to all the force-Captains, men, drivers, and horses. In some instances, more trips have been made during the year and I have heard of none making less-than when work was carried on during the Sabbath." After stating the history of the efforts for securing the law by which the canals in New-Jersey are closed on the Lord's day, and of the efforts for the spiritual good of the boatmen, the cashier adds the following:-"The receipts of the Company at their office, (Princeton,) where almost the entire toll is paid, for the years 1852 and 1853, compared with |