home the billows roar, and thousand miles intervene, thinks, as he treads the deck in the quiet stillness of the silent night, of his boyhood; of him who often pressed his darling boy to his bosom; and of her who blessed him, and called him "hers;" of all who wept his departure, and mourned his absence but chief amongst his thoughts is that last happy season he passed with them; imagination brings before him the scene; and as his heart throbs in its fondness for those from whom he is removed, he owns "the pleasures of memory"-the joys of former events hallowed by time -and thankfulness dwells upon his lips. A Merry Christmas! At the table a vacant, unoccupied seat shall remind all of him—a tear of regret shall fall" to remembrance due;" and a prayer shall rise in secret from each one for the welfare of the absent sailor boy.

A Merry Christmas! It releases the mind from the trammels of business, and throws aside the ponderous ledger; it banishes sorrow from the bosom of the poor, compelled to toil hardly for subsistence; it gives to the busy merchant a respite from weighty cares; it gladdens the lover with the sight of his "ladye love," and feasts him with the first kiss of proud and honest triumph, 'neath the holly branch and misletoe; it scatters in the lordly mansion its benison, and makes mirth within the poor man's home; it feeds the imagination, for anxiety intrudes not; it ameliorates the heart, for it disperses sadness; and it glads the countenance, for it engenders smiles and sunlight round the brow. A Merry Christmas! Often can it tell of friendships renewed and strengthened; of the harsh tongue of an enemy silenced, and his hand extended in honest, sincere, and friendly greeting; of intercourses commenced, only to be dissevered in death, that a stronger union may be formed in a fadeless and eternal home; it can tell of hearts at ease, and conscience, dormant, sharing in the gaiety and pleasure; of the old and young more closely knit to each other by an affection, increasing in durability as years pass on; of mirth, pervading the whole race of Man, penetrating every bosom, and instilling motives lovely and generous; aiming to benefit all at large, and pour at Heaven's gate prayers of grateful thankfulness for mercies undeserved.

A Merry Christmas! Ye rich and easy sons of luxury, ye whom wealth can pamper, and plenty make unthinking; reflect, and you will own these words may sound a hollow mockery to some; turn, I say, and look within yon solitary dwelling, rendered visible by the faint light glimmering through the half-closed window; there, on the bed of pain, the poor man's eldest child lies expiring: listen, for the silence is broken by the groans of the dying, and the wail of the sorrowing relatives; learn that you are highly favoured above your fellows, peculiarly blessed by Providence; and in your enjoyment of plenty and health, unloose your heart-strings, and sympathise with them: stretch out your hand and relieve their wants-check by your timely assistance their sorrow-drive away the storm,—and the proud satisfaction of doing a real kindness shall be yours. To such poor mourners, A Merry Christmas is mockery: to the starving children of want-to the half-paid sons of labour and daily toil-to the poor wanderer who lacks clothing for his emaciated

VOL. I.NO, IX.

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frame, food for his hungry stomach, and a shelter at night from the inclemency of the season to such, I repeat, the congratulation is a hollow mockery. To many it is the renewal of tears and sorrow-of disappointment and hopes frustrated. Knowing this, may we ever, when the chilly winds are booming around our dwelling, and the snows covering the earth with their thick mantle, think, as we pile the fuel on our own hearth, of the poor man's sufferings: may we ever lend a ready hand to bestow that, which in its application shall make wretched mortality glad, diffuse joy amid the afflicted, and relieve want: acting thus, the gratitude of worth relieved and benefited shall secure us a merry Christmas; and to those thus blessed the words shall not be a hollow mockery.

"Abundance was never my lot;

But out of the trifle that's given,
That no curse may alight on my cot,

I'll distribute the bounty of Heaven."-BLOOMField.

Proceed we now to consider, as divines express themselves, the second congratulation," A Happy New Year." Reader, does that greeting fall on your ears as joyously as "A Merry Christmas"? No. It whispers of things "big with fate," leading you to reflection and hope; it is full of a startling and powerful meaning: the mirth that it engenders and produces requires only to be pierced, and we discover anxious thought, withering care, deep surmises of the future, and frequently troubles and sorrows. A Happy New Year! It is in many an instance like the syren's captivating charms, attracting only to destruction; like the bright exhalations of the quagmire - the phosphorescent lights that conduct to danger only. It is certainly a welcome to a man, brightening his countenance for a minute, to be followed by the gloom of thoughtful meditation; it awakens in his mind every latent and slumbering faculty; he is aroused to a knowledge of his situation-the past recurs with unequalled vividness-his hopes, his fears, his joys rush back; and his losses, his gains, his expectations, present themselves. A Happy New Year! It can, with its superior enchantment, unlock the heart's storehouse, telling of heavier burdens to be endured, and weightier sorrows to darken the brow ;telling of disappointments and connexions broken, and to many lisping the sad tale of death. The last day of the poor old year is the steppingstone to the portals of the first day of the new. I have known those days the harbingers of tears and pains; the agonised and weeping wife has on that last dark day followed to his resting-place the body of a loved and loving husband; children have slowly in the solemn train borne their part, and seen with tearful gaze theg rave close o'er a parent. One fond heart I well remember-she the only daughter of that lifeless man-her sufferings and sad regret I never can forget. My heart from early years has been inured to sorrow, strong and enduring; and the recollection of my parent, laid on the old year's close "to sleep the sleep that knows no waking," made an impression in no way obliterated by the flight of time, but rather strengthened. A Happy New Year-we missed one face from amongst us-one seat was deserted; the glad tones of an

affectionate father were no more heard, his honest smiles no more seen; the pallid gloom of enduring grief was ours, and painfully were our ears annoyed by the address—“ A Happy New Year!" The meaning of these words varies greatly, according to the class of individuals to whom they are addressed. To the trader they tell of vessels freighted with rich and goodly merchandise, returning home to swell his funds; to the young aspirer for fame they tell of fields as yet unsearched; to the old and honoured they bring another warm and earnest salutation, adding to a reputation (pure as the unsullied snow) already obtained; to the doating lover, of happiness and bliss; to the gay reveller, of crowning cups and goblets flowing over; to the miser, of means tending to increase his hoards; and to the revengeful, of hours to come, whereby a satisfaction may be gained. A Happy New Year!-Monitory words; weighty is their influence on the heart of the Sage and Christian. They are words of advice and counsel to the thoughtless and giddy-to the voluptuous and depraved-to the careless and heedless: they remind the reflective man that his life is another year the nearer to its close; they stimulate him to a renewed and more vigorous discharge of his relationship to God and man; they warn him of the necessity of being fully prepared for the last great day; they show the speed with which time is travelling on to the final goal; and thus they admonish the man of pleasure and folly to amend his course-to grow wiser-to shun the blandishments surrounding him so thickly,-and, sinking into his mind, they bid him become " a sadder yet a better man."

A Happy New Year! Startling salutation! Man, throw off your apathetic unconcern, your indolent and sleepy thraldom; awake from your blindness to your dangerous condition; arise to perseverance, and give good heed to the pining and sorrowful voice of your young wife, and the wailful crying of her poor infant; see you not the future threatening you with hunger, poverty and deep distress overwhelming you in ruin, and throwing you pennyless upon the cold unwilling charity of a selfish world? No longer, I entreat you, seek the syren, Pleasure; attend to your business, your affairs, and your home; and you will find industry and perseverance reward your toil and exertions with a rich recompense; and the exquisite joys of a much-loved fireside, the confiding endearments of an attached wife, and the glad voices of your children, shall repay your care, and foster in your heart a joy so pure and lasting that nothing can equal it. Then what an exulting throb will yours be, as you find by experience each year is a happy one.

A Happy New Year! Are the words ever used as the language of formality as the language of hypocrisy-at the sacrifice, in some cases, of truth? Yes. I will illustrate this assertion: Your parlour door is thrown open, and Mr. Cashout is announced; he is a visiting creditor, a hard money-getting man, one whose soul is cased in gold; and can you not hear in the salutation he somewhat sneeringly utters-A Happy New Year-some tones allied to the jingling of money? A Happy New Year! -and he lays before you an account so terrible in its look, its sum total

in figures so dark and large, that you shudder as your eye rests on the amount; and you find how unsuited the qualifying adjunct-happy; how cold the usages of the world! Not unfrequently are the words the language of false and shallow friendship, of biting usury, of arbitrary oppression, and proud presumption.

A happy Year, endearing sound,

Loved by each honest heart,

May joys throughout thy course abound,
A blessing to impart.

May eyes erst wet, no more by tears

Be dim, nor cheeks be pale;

May innocence, exempt from fears,
Be screen'd from every gale.

A happy Year, may we so live,
So use the talents given,

That we to want some aid may give,
And point the way to Heaven.
A happy Year!-henceforth we'll rest
On God's superior power;

Trusting on that, we shall be blest,

E'en in the dying hour.

G. R. T.

Having proved, we trust, in a manner sufficiently satisfactory, the assertion made at the commencement of our paper, we can only hope, and that most ardently, that our time may not have been misapplied, and that it will be productive of good. The usages and customs of the world are not so "stale, flat, and unprofitable," but that we may gather therefrom some benefit; and well shall I deem myself rewarded, if my labour prove the means of rectifying error, of advancing good, and of conferring acts of kindness on any. With a heart warmly beating for my fellow-man, desirous of enriching his knowledge, and anxious to elevate him in society, I ever make it my aim to scatter useful seed, that once admitted into suitable ground shall spring up and repay with abundance. Ere I lay my pen down, and close this article, I cannot but express my concern that every reader of this periodical may have known Merry Christmas," and its attendant festivities; and I assure them, no phrase employed by the world is more capable of diffusing gladness, and expressing a desire for man's welfare, than the one we are now using in all truthful sincerity--A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE READERS OF TEGG'S MAGAZINE.

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