270 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[February 14. 
Lord ? I appeal to my cottage readers—have one of 
you ever been tried “ above that ye are able to bear ? ” 
When a night of sorrow has set in, has not help ap¬ 
peared with the morning’s dawn? I am sure there 
is not one of you that, on looking back, cannot re¬ 
count many speedy and great deliverances. 
In the course of two hours from the time this dis¬ 
tressing news was received, on approaching the win¬ 
dow, I beheld the weather-cock pointing quietly to 
the south ! The snow that had been lazily falling at 
intervals, had turned into a chilly rain; and the heavy 
splashing drops that fell from the roof, announced a 
decided thaw. The following morning not a vestige 
of snow remained; the beautiful earth appeared iu 
all her natural apparel, and bright gleams of sun¬ 
shine shot across the valley, lighting it up with a 
radiance that looked quite like spring. Nothing 
could be more complete—more like magic—than the 
change; and nothing could be more cheering to the 
heart, or more delightful to the feelings. When we 
threw open the windows, we felt such a soft breeze ! 
and heard that lofty rushing of the wind which is so 
peculiar to the gales of spring and autumn. I am 
sure that morning, every heart and lip must have 
uttered—“ Thank God,” for the sake of the poor 
labourer. 
Spring is not yet come, and we shall have many 
vicissitudes before it opens fully upon us; but this 
seemed a kind of earnest—an herald of its approach, 
and spoke to us strongly of the power, the mercy 
of our God. Though he “ casteth forth his ice like 
morsels, who is able to abide his cold?” Yet in one 
moment His Word goetli forth, melting the sternest 
severity of winter, softening “ the clods of the valley,” 
and renewing the verdure with which the summer 
fields are clad! What a mighty appeal to the heart 
of man! Who is there that has not some grief, some 
trial or adversity, pressing them sorely ? Who has not, 
at least, some anxiety, that disturbs the peace of an 
otherwise prosperous course ? Cannot the same Hand 
whose touch ha3 wrought such wonders in the natural 
world, work in the same resistless manner among 
the affairs of men ? Is there anything too hard for 
God ? Has he not thus, before our eyes, stood up to 
maintain “ the cause of the poor,” and need we fear 
to commit ourselves and all our ways into His graci¬ 
ous Hands for time, as well as for eternity ? Clouds 
conceal the sun from our dim sight, yet he is shining 
as brightly as ever, above those lowering vapours. 
How much more bright, how much more glorious, is 
the Sun that never sets, who carries “ healing in ” the 
rapid “ wings ” with which he flies, to comfort and 
shield his people ! 
The very morning of the day on which the thaw 
took place, I heard the first twitter of the starling 
that built in some hiding-place upon the roof of 
the house. It was a cheering sound; and my own 
little pet canary, whose advancing years have long 
silenced his once vociferous song, uttered a low, soft 
note or two, as he sat peacefully within his prison. 
The instinct with which God has endued the dumb 
creation, no doubt revealed to these little creatures 
what man in his vaunted intellect could not perceive, 
and taught them to utter their simple gladness at the 
return of spring. Our reasoning powers are misap¬ 
plied, if they do not lead us to praise and magnify 
God’s Holy Name, for all His wondrous works. 
A frost, for a couple of nights, followed the thaw; 
but it has again given way. There will, of course, be 
fluctuations; but the depth of the winter is over, and 
the spring labour will soon begin once more. We 
may now watch hopefully for the first snow-drop; 
and how delightful it is to see the little snowy blossoms 
depending from the slight stalks among the bunches 
of green leaves! The rosemary has—or ought to have 
been—blooming already in the cottage gardens: it is 
quite a winter flower, and should find a place in gar¬ 
dens of high degree, not only because of its early 
habits, but also for its salutary properties, which were 
well known to the Arabs and Romans, although it 
is much less esteemed now. It is excellent in all 
nervous disorders, taken as tea—relieving head-aches, 
trembling of the limbs, giddiness, swimmings, &c., 
when arising from that cause. The tea should be 
made of the young tops when in flower, fresh gathered. 
The weak infusion is a pleasant and wholesome sub¬ 
stitute for tea; but when taken as a medicine, it may 
be made stronger, and persevei'ed in for some time. 
A conserve of rosemary tops may be used medicinally 
instead of tea; it is made by beating up the young 
tops with three times their weight of sugar. An old 
quaint writer says, of the conserve of rosemary, that 
it is “ singular good to comfort the heart;” and of the 
decoction taken in wine, that “ it is very comfortable 
to the stomach, in all the cold griefs thereof, helping 
both retention of meat and digestion.” He also says, 
“ it lielpeth the cold distillation of rheums into tire 
eyes, and all other diseases of the head and brain, as 
the giddiness and swimming therein, drowsiness, and 
dulness of the mind and senses, like a stupidness.” 
Strong rosemary tea is a most excellent wash for the 
hair; it strengthens and beautifies it, and has none 
of the deleterious properties of some oils and poma¬ 
tums. 
The poor are extremely fond of tea; they will pro¬ 
cure it often, in defiance of its cost and its bad qua¬ 
lity. I have often seen them drinking what I thought 
was tea, but which proved to be only an infusion of 
burnt crusts, to look like the favourite beverage. It 
seems to me, that where tea cannot be procured, or 
only at such a price as the poor ought not to pay, herb 
teas would be useful, and not unpleasant to the taste. 
The little strip of garden might contain a store of 
simples for this purpose; and, in the course of a little 
time, the taste would be accustomed to the flavour, 
and the stomach benefited by their use—especially 
of rosemary. The poor are not generally a thrifty 
class—at least, not in our southern counties. As we 
travel towards the northern districts, their character, 
in this particular, improves. It is difficult to intro¬ 
duce new customs; they will often rather go on with 
the discomforts they are used to, than try what is 
new and strange; but I think, in the matter of tea, 
they might profit, without much inconvenience, by a 
hint. They cannot buy tea, at small village shops, 
under 3d per ounce at least; they thus drink it at a 
higher price than some of the higher classes, and 
have a much worse article. The weekly threepence, 
when it can be found, would be usefully spent in 
firing, or even laid by for winter, when additional 
clothing is so much needed, and wages sometimes 
fail. Now, rosemary or sage might be pleasantly 
substituted. The dried leaves of the latter plant are 
so much valued by the Chinese as a substitute for 
tea, that they have long been in the habit of ex¬ 
changing their own fragrant production, with the 
Dutch, for the dried leaves of sage. They will give 
four jmunds of tea for one of dried sage ! Is not this 
a reproof to the English cottager? Will not this fact 
induce him to try and like an herb so highly prized 
by those among whom the tea-tree flourishes, that 
they have expressed surprise at the European taste 
for that which is so distant and inferior? The rose¬ 
mary, now putting forth its fragrant flowers, is still 
