from his dream, and, according to Harris, started off towards Pennsylvania, not knowing to what point he should go. But the Lord directed him, and gained him favour in the eyes of just such a person as was described to him. He was married, and had returned. His first child had been born, and was now about six months old. But Joe had not been altogether obedient to the heavenly vision. After his marriage and return from Pennsylvania, he became so awfully impressed with the high destiny that awaited him, that he communicated the secret to his father and family. The money-digging propensity of the old man operated so powerfully, that he insisted upon it that they should go and dig and see if the chest was there-not with any view to remove it till the appointed time, but merely to satisfy themselves. Accordingly, they went forth in the stillness of night with their spades and mattocks to the spot where slumbered this sacred deposit. They had proceeded but a little while in the work of excavation, when the mysterious chest appeared; but lo! instantly it moved and glided along out of their sight. Directed, however, by the clairvoyance of Joe, they again penetrated to the spot where it stood, and succeeded in gaining a partial view of its dimensions. But while they were pressing forward to gaze at it, the thunders of the Almighty shook the spot, and made the earth to tremble; a sheet of vivid lightning swept along over the side of the hill, and burnt terribly around the spot where the excavation was going on, and again with a rumbling noise the chest moved off out of their sight. They were all terrified, and fled towards their home. Joe took his course silently along by himself. On his way homeward, being alone, and in the woods, the angel of the Lord met him clad in terror and wrath. He spoke in a voice of thunder, and forked lightning shot through the trees and ran along upon the ground. The terror of the Divine messenger's appearance instantly struck Smith to the earth, and he felt his whole frame convulsed with agony, as though he was stamped upon by the iron hoofs of death himself. In language most terrific did the angel upbraid him for his disobedience, and then disappeared. Smith went home trembling and full of terror. Soon, however, his mind became more composed. An

other Divine communication was made to him, authorizing him to go alone and bring the chest and deposit it secretly under the hearth of his dwelling, but by no means to attempt to look into it. The reason assigned by the angel for this removal, was, that some report in relation to the place where his sacred book was deposited had gone forth, and there was danger of its being disturbed. According to Harris, Smith now scrupulously followed the Divine directions. He was already in possession of the two transparent stones laid up with the golden Bible, by looking through which he was enabled to read the golden letters on the plates in the box. How he obtained these spectacles without opening the chest, Harris could not tell. But still he had them; and by means of them he could read all the book contained. The book itself was not to be disclosed until Smith's child had attained a certain age. Then it might be published to the world." In the interim, Smith was to prepare the way for the conversion of the world to a new system of faith, by transcribing the characters from the plates and giving translations of the same. This was the substance of Martin Harris's communication to me upon our first interview. He then carefully unfolded a slip of paper, which contained three or four lines of characters, as unlike letters or hieroglyphics of any sort, as well could be produced, were one to shut up his eyes and play off the most antic movements with his pen upon paper. The only thing that bore the slightest resemblance to the letter of any language that I had ever seen, was two upright marks joined by a horizontal line, that might have been taken for the Hebrew character . My ignorance of the characters in which this pretended ancient record was written, was to Martin Harris new proof that Smith's whole account of the Divine revelation made to him was entirely to be relied on.

The way that Smith made his transcripts and translations for Harris was the following:-Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith, concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which. when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris, who sat on the other side

of the suspended blanket. Harris was told that it would arouse the most terrible Divine displeasure, if he should attempt to draw near the sacred chest, or look at Smith while engaged in the work of deciphering the mysterious characters. This was Harris's own account of the matter to me. What other measures they afterwards took to transcribe or translate from these metallic plates, I cannot say, as I very soon after this removed to another field of labour where I heard no more of this matter till I learned the book of Mormon was about being published. It was not till after the discovery of the manuscript of Spaulding, of which I shall subsequently give some account, that the actors in this imposture thought of calling this pretended revelation the book of Mormon. This book, which professed to be a translation of the golden Bible brought to light by Joseph Smith, was published in 1830, to accomplish which Martin Harris actually mortgaged his farm.

We must return to the details of this gross and wicked superstition.

GENTLE REPROOFS.-No. II.
THE CRUEL BOYS.

Ir was about half an hour after midday, and the sabbath sun was brightly shining in the south, when on crossing the London Fields, near Hackney, I perceived a band of full-grown, thoughtless boys, indulging in a kind of cruelty that was altogether new to me. It consisted in throwing young birds into the air with a broad piece of paper round their necks. A hole had apparently been cut in each paper to put the head of a bird through it. When the feathered objects of this inhuman sport were thrown up, incommoded by the paper, and obstructed by the resistance of the air, they could not fly more than twenty or thirty yards without gradually coming to the ground; it was therefore impossible for them to escape from their cruel tormentors. While the birds were in the air, they were pelted with hats, turfs, sticks, and stones. When the lads saw that they had caught my attention, they removed to a distance; but, after some time, falling in with a policeman, I directed him to go to them, to speak firmly, but kindly to them, and to bring away the young birds. The policeman set off on his mission in a very proper spirit. "Sir," said he, "if we could always go to work gently, instead

of being ordered, as we too often are, to act with severity, we, should do much more good than we now do."

While the boys, who seemed of the very lowest order of loitering vagabonds, were at a distance, I observed a welldressed man with two children join them. At first, I thought it was to reprove them; but no, it was to share in their cruel entertainment. After waiting till I saw in which direction the man proceeded with his children, I threw myself in his way, and was indeed much surprised, when he came nearer, to find him so apparently respectable.

I asked him if the children he led by the hand were his own, when he replied they were. "And no doubt," continued I," you would be very angry if any one used them ill." He said he should. "How then is it," said I, "that you use them so ill yourself?" He did not appear to understand me. "What I mean is," continued I, "How can you use them so ill as to set them so bad an example in joining the thoughtless lads you have just left in their wanton and cruel sport ?" He coloured, and denied having thrown at the birds; but I intimated to him the difficulty of doubting that which our eyes have seen, and expressed my regret that he should think so lightly of departing from the truth. "You must allow me,' said I, "to speak to you; for I mean it not unkindly. No doubt you love your children, but you are likely to be a blessing to them, and they to you, just in the proportion in which you bring them up to fear God, and to act uprightly. Now, sir, you have no more real right to abuse God's creatures, than I have to abuse your children; and you have certainly no right as their parent to bring them up in habits of cruelty. The respectability of your appearance only makes me the more anxious to convince you that you have done wrong. I am an older man than you are, and you must not be angry with me, therefore make me no reply. I hope that you will be more careful for the future to set your children a better example, and that they will be a blessing to you all your days.'

He walked away with his two little ones without replying a word; but if he only feels as kindly towards me as I felt towards him and his children, he will not fail to be benefited by the medicine that a stranger endeavoured to administer to him, in a kindly spirit, and with a gentle hand.

SKETCHES OF THE LINNEAN SYSTEM

OF BOTANY.-No. II.
THIRD CLASS. TRIANDRIA.

Whatever department of nature is investigated, it will be found to be inscribed with the name of the Deity. While the Christian botanist regards the earth beautiful with thousands and tens of thousands of flowers, the Christian astronomer gazes on the heavens spangled with stars. The regular revolution of the stars, and the annual reproduction of plants and flowers alike declare the presence of God. His name, written on the earth, in the many-coloured petals of flowers, is inscribed in the heavens in revolving "worlds of fire:" thus the vast and the minute equally declare His praise.

Every month has its returning attractions; when January is past, February, if the season be mild, gives additional interest to the garden and the field. The snowdrop becomes more abundant; the yellow crocus expands its petals; the laurustinus blows; the coltsfoot is in flower; and the catkins of the alder attract the eye.

Nor are the sweet lays of the redbreasted bird to be heard alone; they are mingled with the louder strains of the missel thrush, and the brake-loving blackbird. The bickering rooks are seen wheeling round the tops of their accustomed high trees. The bullfinch, the chaffinch, the woodpecker, and the woodlark begin to show themselves, and to warble forth their varied music; the hedge sparrow gives life and cheerfulness to the hedge of the cottage garden, the flies and gnats increase under the sunny trees; the field cricket unbars the portals of his earthy habitation; and the burrowing mole throws up the fresh mould from his subterranean track. But we will now pass to our third class, Triandria.

The plants which are arranged in this class are furnished with "three stamens," as the term Triandria implies. The class is divided into three orders. 1. Monogynia, with one pistil, as valerian, saffron, gladiole, iris, hog rush, club rush, and cotton grass. 2. Digynia, with two pistils, as most of the grasses, wheat, barley, rye, and oats. 3. Trigynia, with three pistils, as water plinks.

By far the most common and best known plant, of the first order of this class, is the common saffron, or spring

crocus of the gardens, (Crocus vernus,) which, though not originally a native of this country, has become naturalized about Nottingham, in the fields and meadows. It is a native of the south of Europe, and blows from February, or earlier, till April, growing about six inches high, the flower purplish, with reddish veins, and a long tube, the upper part with six equal divisions. The stigma of this pistil is orange, and when this is dried, it becomes the saffron of the shops, esteemed for the beautiful colour it imparts to water, wine, and liqueurs. What is sold in the shops is extensively adulterated with the dried petals of the common marygold, and with a much less innocent article, the dried fibres of tough beef, which are dyed yellow for the purpose.

It would be foreign to our purpose to enter on the manifold deceits which are practised in society, save those connected with the subject on which we treat, otherwise a wide field would be opened for animadversion. Integrity and truth are costly things; but deception is at all times odious. The "bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel," Prov. xx. 17.

It may be remarked, that the numerous sorts of crocus, cultivated in gardens, are not merely varieties of this, but different species; and the meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale) does not even belong to the same genus.

The meadow foxtail grass, (Alopecurus pratenisis,) which ranks in the second order of this class, may be met with in every meadow, and sends up its bushy, or foxbrush looking spike in April and May, the husk, with two valves, containing a single plant, with two pistils and three stamens. This grass thrives well in a rich soil, neither very wet, nor very dry, and is, perhaps, upon the whole, as valuable a grass as any which we possess, having the three great requisites of quantity, quality, and earliness, in a degree superior to any other. After it has been mown, it shoots freely, and the after-math is much relished by all descriptions of farm stock.

A field of mowing grass is an extended forest to the myriads of creeping things and insects that seek nourishment, shelter, and enjoyment amid its countless flowery stems. Well has it been said, "What a garden has a grasshopper !”

In the second order of this class is | ranked the common sugar cane, (Saccharum officinarum,) one of the most interesting plants, from its furnishing an article which, from being a rare luxury, has become almost a necessary in civilized life. It is a native of Africa, lower Asia, the East Indies, and Arabia Felix. It has been long cultivated in tropical America and its islands, from which, indeed, the principal supply of sugar is now derived. Botanists are not agreed whether it is indigenous to America; but the probability is, that it has been introduced there from the old world. The cane grows to a considerable thickness, and bears a loose panicle, or spike of flowers, similar to our reed, (Arundo phragmites.) The sugar is prepared from the juice of the plant pressed out by means of an appropriate apparatus, and boiled with the addition of quicklime, or potass, to saturate and remove the superabundant acid in the juice, which would spoil the sugar. The boiling is repeated in vessels gradually smaller; and during the process, it is necessary to skim off the impurities, and employ more lime or potass. When the juice acquires a due consistence, it is suffered to cool in a proper vessel, and the sugar concretes into a crystallized mass. This, after being separated from the molasses, is sold under the name of brown, or moist sugar; which may be purified by boiling with lime and bullock's blood, and thus rendered white; when it is cast in conical moulds, and becomes the loaf sugar of the shops.

Medicinally, sugar is nutritive and wholesome, though, when for the purposes of experiment, Mr. Stark tried to live on it wholly, with the addition of a little bread, he soon became emaciated, and lost strength. When used in considerable quantities, with cream and the like, it is very fattening; and during the cane harvest in the West Indies, the negroes, who eat the green cane, become very stout and plump. It is undoubtedly a popular error, that sugar and sweet things in general injure and destroy the teeth, though, if the stomach be clogged or overloaded therewith, and the general health affected, the teeth will suffer in consequence, as will other members and organs of the body.

We can hardly quit the subject of the sugar cane without some passing allusion to the oppressed race of beings who have been mainly employed in its

cultivation. For ages, the slave trade rested as a blot on the forehead of England; and, though at last, ashamed of the reproach, twenty millions were given to cleanse away the foul pollution, yet still is the inhuman traffic carried on by other countries to an extent, it is to be feared, at least equal to that of former times. Not yet are the lines of the Christian poet become obsolete.

"Think ye nations, iron hearted,
Lolling at your jovial boards,
Think how many backs have smarted
For the sweets your cane affords!"

The paper grass of Egypt (Cyperus papyrus) is an interesting plant of this class, growing in the small streams and neglected shallow water courses of the depth of three feet or less, in the vicinity of the Nile. The stalk, eight or ten feet high, is long and naked, and the glumes are chaffy and tiled (imbricata) in two rows. It grows in similar places about the rivers Jordan and Euphrates. It would appear from Isaiah xix. 7, that paper was made from this plant before he wrote his prophecies, supposed to be about 700 years B.C.; though Pliny on the authority of Varro says, the invention was found out during the conquest of Alexander the Great, when he founded Alexandria. Soon after, according to the same Varro, in the rivalry between Ptolemy and Eumenes to establish their respective libraries, Ptolemy interdicted the sale of paper, about which time the use of parchment was found out at Pergamos, and rendered the interdiction nugatory.

The Egyptians appear to have made their paper from the inner bark or rind of the middle part of the stem, the lamina or layers being separated with an instrument made for that purpose. The strips were commonly about two inches and a half broad, were squared at the edges, so as to be like ribbons, and were cemented together by their edges, which were laid just over each other. Similar strips were then laid transversely to give the proper substance and strength, and when this was done, a weight was placed upon them while moist, and they were then left to dry in the sun.

The papyrus paper varied in quality and dimensions, according to the uses to which it was to be applied. It was principally manufactured at Alexandria, and was a considerable source of riches to the city, so that, in the time of Adrian, one Fermius boasted, that with his stock of paper, he could maintain an army.