A WORD IN SEASON TO THE LADIES OF OUR LAND.

MY DEAR FELLOW-COUNTRY WOMEN,

Here is winter coming on apace, and a cry heard in our public places of 'the stern, inevitable deficiency of the most necessary products of nature.' What can we do, not to avert, but to alleviate the sad sufferings in prospect? All can do something, however little; and the amount of many little things is a great deal. We can do something by precept and by example; much by prayer; much by that readiness of adaptation and cleverness in domestic management which a great many of you possess. It was the shame of Sodom that "pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, were in her daughters." Oh! let it not be our reproach! Let none of us be too proud to care for the sufferings of the poor; let none of us grudge a measure of our abundance to their necessities; nor think it scorn to employ a portion of our leisure in devising and carrying out measures for their benefit. A season of great scarcity threatens not only our own country, but Europe, and perhaps the world. We do not feel it yet; but we shall a few months hence. God has long favoured us with those two inestimable blessings so often named together,-PEACE, AND PLENTY ;—and now, he is going to try us; to test, as it were, the reality of our selfdenial, our liberality, and our faith. He is going to give us an opportunity, of which every one of us may

among wolves." Whose disciples were these, so systematically and ferociously enacting the part of wolves among lambs?

The march proceeded; castle after castle, and village after village was swept down and overwhelmed by this terrible flood. The latter, of course, like the insulated cottages of those bright vallies and fertile plains, fell at once beneath the murderous blow; the fortified places were surrendered with the usual sanguinary consequences, unless their inmates found means of privately escaping during the enemy's approach. Spring had returned, and earth would fain have put forth her wonted beauties; but all was forlorn; the song of the husbandman had ceased, and the vine-dresser's hand was mouldering on the soil that once he loved to deck, or borne in imperceptible ashes on the breeze that should fan his cheek. Spring passed, and summer arrived, only to make more plain the fearful change that had passed over the land; while, fired by the fame of his deeds, and doubly assured of his final success, a vast body of reinforcements, principally from Germany, arrived to increase the terrors of the desolating army; and de Montfort resolved on seizing the grandest prize that he had yet attempted, even the magnificent capital of the country, the powerful, wealthy, and to all appearance impregnable city of Toulouse.

Here, it will be remembered, the turbulent bishop, Fouquet, had enrolled five thousand men for de Montfort's service, during the siege of Lavaur. They had not yet returned, but were summoned by him to do so; and in the meanwhile he augmented this white company,' as he called it, to a very formidable body; for the great bulk of citizens in Toulouse still professed allegiance to Rome, and willingly listened to the vehe

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ment asseverations of their bishop, that all the calamities which had fallen on their country, and which now menaced themselves, were the righteous visitations of the Most High, in punishment for their sinful connivance at the abode of notorious heretics among them, and the indifference with which they regarded the daring rebellion of these reprobates against the sovereign authority of the Church. To this he failed not to add that the prince whom they served was himself lying under the ban of that Church; and thus he represented to them the necessity of purging out from among them the transgressors, and of bringing all things once more into subjection to the pontiff. By such means he organized a very considerable band of influential men, who having bound themselves by oath to pursue all heretics to death, set up a tribunal, independent of lawful authority, where they acted both as accusers and judges, the principal charges on which they arraigned their victims being those of heresy and usury. From judgment they proceeded to execution; and not venturing so far as formally to take the lives of their fellow-citizens, they made the levying of fines, or recovery of pretended damages, an excuse for forcibly entering their houses, and committing whatsoever acts of violence and robbery they found opportunity for. No man was safe : all who were pointed out as being defective in allegiance to the Church; all who were supposed to favour them; all who, by liberality in lending to others had laid themselves open to the false accusation of making excessive profit by it, (and these, no doubt, were such as the malicious bishop suspected of what he called heresy, but was unable to prove against them) all were alike exposed to the invasion of a fierce mob, composed of their own neighbours, and of course containing many

avail ourselves, of showing that we love our neighbour as ourselves; that we can control our appetites in little indulgences that others may not want necessaries; that we can see the evil afar off, provide for it, pray against it, and support it meekly when it comes. "Who knoweth if He will turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him ?" Read the book of Joel, dear friends, with thoughtful application to the present time; especially where he describes "the seed rotting under the clods, and the garners lying desolate ;" and observe how he bids not only the clergy, but even the bridegroom and the bride to lay these things to heart. Then remark how Amos denounces evil on those that sit at ease in Zion, and are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. And lastly, observe what liberal contributions the early Christians of Macedonia made towards the wants of their poorer brethren at Jerusalem, previous to a predicted season of scarcity. “Whoso is wise will consider these things" and act upon them; and it may be that the Lord's judgments will descend in blessings on our heads, either individually or collectively. For, national repentance and prayer have never failed of success: and even should the country at large refuse to be awakened, and should it “be sifted, like as corn is sifted through a sieve," God's promise remains the same, that "not a grain shall fall to the ground:" i. e. only the chaff-the good shall not be confounded in a single instance, with the worthless.

Now, what must we do?

"Rend your

1st. Be increasingly earnest in prayer. hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."

2ndly. Practise that fasting enjoined by our Lord, when he says, "anoint thine head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret:" that is, avoid all outward ostentatious signs of self-restriction, and limit your habitual indulgences for the sake of adding to the comforts of others. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen, saith the Lord ? to unloose the heavy burthens, to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke, that thou deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house; when

thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" Yes! the poor are indeed, as the Almighty thus affectingly reminds us, of the same flesh and blood with ourselves: and, in sustaining them we are emphatically sustaining our own flesh.

3rdly. Call over the little list of your regular pensioners-add to them if you can-(the city missionaries will gladly tell you of deserving persons) and appoint stated seasons for their receiving your bounty in the shape of well-made soup, fresh dripping, broken meat and vegetables, dispensed by yourselves-not your servants; on the understanding that, upon the days on which they receive such assistance, they shall dress no potatoes thereby diminishing the demand for that vegetable which will soon be so scarce.

Are any of you, dear ladies, ignorant that two quarts of good pea-soup may be made for three- pence halfpenny ? If so, the next time a sirloin of beef has made its last appearance at table, let the bare bones be put into a digester with three quarts of water, an onion peeled and quartered, half a carrot, a little pepper and salt, and a pint of split peas. Let it boil several hours,