harm, because they get into the hands of the ignorant, who do not see through their weakness, and are read by the profligate, who there find an excuse for their crimes. There is, indeed, reason enough why all good men should endeavour to put a stop to these dangerous writings. They are calculated to make men miserable here and hereafter. But the very same wish to do good should lead all Christians to endeavour likewise to put a stop to the wickedness and misery which are caused by those nurseries of vice called pleasure-fairs. There is a regular set of thieves and vagabonds, whose business and livelihood depend upon these fairs; and their children are trained up to the very same employments as their parents; and, thus, a regular succession of wickedness is produced. If you talk of the Christian religion and a riotous pleasure fair, there appears something impossible in the connexion. But this is a Christian nation, and it ought to be, on the other hand, impossible that any thing should be allowed to exist which is directly contrary to the spirit of that religion, on whose promises we profess to depend, and by whose precepts we say that we are guided. In places farther distant from London, the evil of fairs is not so great, but it is bad enough every where. When these Fairs were first established there was a reason for them. Such was then the state of trade, that a Fair was of very great use for the transaction of business. Many of these annual festivals too were established as holy days, for the purposes of celebrating some religious festival of the Church. At present there are very few places where a Fair is wanted as a matter of business, and indeed very few where any business-but profligacy-is carried on: and, as a religious festival, although many of these fairs are celebrated on festival days, it is quite a mockery to talk of them in that view. A resolute attempt to put an end to these fairs will excite all the opposition of the pro -- fane and profligate,-all the applause of the pious and the good. When we speak against fairs, and feasts, and wakes, some foolish people are apt to say that we wish to destroy all cheerfulness, and to present our religion in a gloomy point of view.Quite the contrary:-we wish to see people cheerful and happy; but the true way to be happy is to be good; the way for Christians to be cheerful is to look to the real blessings which their religion offers them, and to live by those rules which are given to make them happy. It is vice which makes people miserable, which causes them to be indeed gloomy, and which produces the greater part of the horrors and wretchedness which we every day hear and read of. Let any one look at the daily newspapers, and read the dreadful accounts which they relate, and he will presently see that it is wickedness which is generally the cause of the misery; it is the seeking for pleasure, contrary to duty, and the end of it is misery, or death, or despair. V. VERSES ON GAIETY. Whom call we gay? That honour has been long Himself a songster, is as gay as he. song, But save me from the gaiety of those Whose head-achs nail them to a noon-day bed; COWPER. DANGER OF POINTING A GUN. THE following extract may be of some use in preventing the many dreadful accidents which arise from persons taking up guns, believing them not to be loaded. It is one among some very sensible remarks on the subject of rifle-guns, fowling-pieces, &c. by Mr. Baker. "One more observation I must be allowed to make, and it is to caution every person from presenting fire-arms towards others, whether in joke, or -for the avowed purpose of frightening them. Many fatal accidents have happened from this cause; and families have been involved in the extreme of wretchedness by the casual discharge of a piece, which has frequently been attempted to be discharged in vain; and which, from repeated trials, has consequently been supposed not to have been loaded." VACCINATION. DR. JENNER, the celebrated discoverer of Vaccination, died on the 26th of January, at Berkley, in Gloucestershire, in his 74th year. There are few men to whom the cause of humanity is more indebted than to Dr. Jenner. We believe that, under Providence, the discovery of Vaccination has saved the lives of thousands. We are not in the least disposed to deny that several cases have occurred where persons who have been vaccinated have afterwards taken the small-pox. But it must be remembered, that the very same thing also sometimes happens after small-pox itself. Sometimes small-pox rages in a place so violently, and is of so severe a sort, that nothing can resist it. This was the case not long since at Edinburgh, and, a few years ago at Norwich. Some people caught it, who had already had the cow-pox, and some who had had the small-pox. But a far greater number were pre served by previous small-pox, or cow-pox. Let the following consideration be attended to. Natural small- -pox is such a dreadful pestilence, that it may almost be called a plague. Inoculation makes the disorder milder, and prevents much of the danger; but then this keeps up the disease, by spreading the infection, and therefore there is no chance of putting an end to this dreadful scourge by means of inoculation. But vaccination gives a very mild disease, which is NOT catching; and there is every reason to hope that, if vaccination were constantly adopted when children are young, in a very few years we should hear no more of small-pox. deed, in many places, already, there has been no cases of small-pox for the last twenty years, where it used formerly to be every two or three years. And among the higher classes of society, where vaccination was the fashion from the first, we hardly ever hear of a case of the small-pox, or see a person pitted with it. V. In LETTER FROM A MANUFACTURER. SIR, You have at different times given your Cottage readers several hints which might serve to better their condition, and you have, in many places, shown, how the circumstances of many of them have been improved by prudence and good management. A labourer sometimes will say, that he earns so little, that it is not worth his while to think of managing it;-but it appears to me that this is the very reason why he has the more occasion to be thoughtful and careful, and to consider how a small income can be laid out to the best advantage. It is just this good management that makes all the difference between comfort and misery. With exactly the same weekly earnings, and the same family, one man will have every thing about him that his needs require, and another will be constantly tormented with poverty and want. Besides this, a sober industrious man will do more work than another, and he will do it better, and thus his income increases, and, by being well managed, his condition in life improves, so that, by degrees, he gets a step higher in the world, and he is then enabled still further to better his condition, till he becomes a possessor of real property himself. It is' indeed often, by such slow degrees, that men become flourishing and prosperous. I do not mean that people need be desirous of getting out of their own stations in the world,-because they might not be at all the happier for it; yet, still, if industry and pru dence do raise a man to a higher condition in life, he has a full right to every enjoyment which he can find from his improved circumstances. There are several instances of very humble persons having been thus raised to higher stations. Still I think that a contented Cottager will probably be quite as happy in his present situation as he would be in a higher one. I must confess too, that those who have thus risen in the world, have been more commonly workmen in Manufactories than labourers on farms. In our manufacturing county, we often see a prosperous tradesman who was once a common workman; and many of those below him will envy him and complain of his advancement. For my part, I would honour him for his industry, and would pay respect to the station which he has fairly earned, if he uses his means like a generous man and a Christian. There is, however, often great distress and misery prevailing in our manufacturing districts, so that whilst a few are prosperous, it is plain that the greater number of work |