2G0 
THE COTTAGE GARDEN Ell. 
July G. 
subsistence in displaying bis ingenuity in manufacturing I 
glass horses, birds, dogs, &c.; and I have heard him men¬ 
tion, with considerable pride, a visit that was paid to him in 
Brighton by the revered monarch George the Third and the 
royal family; so that his celebrity must have attained some 
heighth at this period of his life, to have obtained for him the 
honour of a visit from a crowned head. The daughter of 
the person with whom his insane mother was placed, and in 
whoso house she died, became his wife; and a more thrifty, 
cleanly woman could not be imagined. She is, indeed, a 
“helpmeet" for him; and has tenderly ministered to his 
w'ants, during a long illness, with devoted affection. One 
son alone is left to them, and he has a large family to 
support, therefore is only able to assist them sparingly out 
of his slender means. Knowing their extreme poverty, 1 
was indeed unprepared to find the comfort and delicate 
cleanliness which pervaded the sick room. The snowy 
whiteness of the linen, and the bright polish of a few glass 
trinkets that stood as ornaments on the small bedside table, 
might indeed have shamed many a housekeeper of higher 
pretensions to domestic management. The windows of the 
room opened upon a bright green field, and, as I seated 
myself by the bedside of the invalid, I thought I had never 
witnessed so cheerful a sick-room, or one in which I could 
breathe out my soul into the hands of my Creator. It was, 
indeed, an affecting sight to see the attenuated form of the 
dying Frenchman stretched upon his bed, with clasped 
hands and uplifted eyes as he poured out his gratitude to 
God for all His ‘many and great mercies.’ ‘Who,’ he 
said, ‘ am I, that I should have such comforts in my last 
hours ; that friends should be found to visit me, and minis¬ 
ter to my wants?’ He expressed his great readiness, or 
rather his anxiety, to die, if it should please God to call him 
quickly, relying, as he said he did, entirely on the merits of 
his Redeemer. But when he referred to his wife; ‘the dear 
old creature, who has been such a friend to me for more than 
forty years ’—he could no longer restrain his feelings, and 
the pent-up tears rushed down his cheeks in streams, as he 
called dowji blessings upon her head, and expressed anxiety 
for her welfare after his decease. 
“Two lessons may, indeed, be learnt from this visit to a 
dying chamber. The one teaches us how idle is the excuse 
that filth is a necessary consequence of poverty; and the 
other, that gratitude to God for all His mercies is but little 
evidenced by the creatures He has made. Here was a poor 
man, to my certain knowledge, with only three shillings a 
week to help himself and wife, lying in a room which, for 
cleanliness, the Queen herself would not have scrupled to 
enter, with a soul overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness 
to his Creator for His many mercies ! A little time longer, 
and it is to be hoped poor Hu Pre will be in a better and 
purer region, where ‘ tears will be wiped from all eyes,’ 
and where sin and sorrow shall never enter; hut the remem¬ 
brance of his heartfelt gratitude to God; his humble and 
simple reliance upon the merits of his Redeemer; and the 
scrupulous cleanliness of that room of death, will not 
readily be effaced from my memory.” 
The dying Frenchman may cause shame to many a living 
Briton. Let his bright example of holy gratitude sink into 
all our hearts, and lead us to be thankful too, not only for 
what we have, but what we have not. The blessing of God 
is the “cruse of oil” to the body and the soul: if we can 
say we possess it, we may open our mouth as wide as we 
will, and it will be filled. Hu Pre’s three shillings would 
have done little, had he been ignorant and indifferent; but 
he knew in whom he trusted, and was helped. 
There is an affecting warning, too, for us in the history of 
his parents. They seemed to have mistrusted the “ God of 
the friendless and the faint;” for one died, oppressed with 
poverty and anxiety ; and the other lost her reason ! Is not 
man’s extremity God's opportunity ? “ Why are ye fearful, 
O ye of little faith ?" 
Hear readers! it is we who distrust and disbelieve; not 
| God who forsakes and refuses! If we only look steadily at 
| God’s promises, and His doings for the children of men, we 
shall meet every danger and every difficulty as Elisha 
1 did; we should say, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah ?” 
i Where is the Lord God of our forefathers, of all who have 
trusted and waited for Him ? We should smite the waters 
with the prayer of faith; they would “ part hither and 
thither," and we should pass safely over. Such has been the 
experience of many—may such be the experience of vs all. 
Let us remember Hu Pre, the dying Frenchman and living 
Christian; and let us “rejoice in the God of our salvation” 
like him. 
TAUNTON POULTRY SHOW. 
One of the most interesting Shows of Poultry that has 
taken place this season was held at Taunton Beane, 
Somersetshire, on the 21st and 22nd of June. The arrange¬ 
ments were exceedingly creditable to the committee, and 
the competition in the various classes more than generally 
severe; very few indifferent specimens presented them¬ 
selves, and the care taken in the matching and general 
selection of the pens, shows that exhibitors themselves are 
at length conscious of the all-importance of care in this 
respect. 
In the Spanish class, the first prize pen contained a cock j 
originally from the stock of Mrs. Lj'dia Stowe. This was j 
one of the most strikingly-beautiful birds we have seen for 
some time; purely white-faced, and shown in the highest 
possible condition, as were also the hens. The two hens in 
the second pri^e pen were most excellent, and of unusual 
size. The commended fowls were exhibited in bad con¬ 
dition ; they were really excellent birds, but appeared 
drooping and to great disadvantage, which tended, no doubt, 
considerably to their defeat. In the forkings, the first prize 
were coloured, and very fine, superior birds, as were also 
the white Barkings that claimed the second prize, but it is 
very un advisable to allow the. two different varieties of 
Horkings to come for one and the same, prize. The Par¬ 
tridge-coloured Cochins were superior to those usually shown. 
The Rev. G. F. Hodson, of Banwell, claimed all the honours 
in this class, as did Mr. W. L. Channing, of Heavitree, 
those in the Puffs. The White Cochins were very indifferent, 
and the second prize was withheld ; but certainly, the Cochin 
classes (with this one exception) were far better thau at the 
aggregate of shows lately held. The Malays were excellent, 
Mr. Charles Ballance, of Taunton, taking every prize ; but 
they were all sadly injured in appearance, from eating the 
feathers from each other, and, therefore, except to amateurs, 
were decidedly unattractive. In the Game classes, J. R. 
Rodbard, Esq., of Aldwick Court, Bristol, received both the 
first prizes, and their well-known repute was again fully 
maintained, their health and plumage being of the highest 
possible character. In the Golden-pencilled Ilamburghs, the 
first prize were very bright, clearly-marked fowls, the 
“ gilding” in the tail of the cock being unusually good. In 
this class, Ben 08 was “disqualified,” from four fowls 
(instead of three) being sent. The loss to exhibitors in not 
noticing the general rules is notorious, and we trust will be 
more cared for in future; as disappointment (even with 
good birds) is always inevitable from its neglect. The 
most perfect pen of Silver-spanglial Ilamburghs we have 
seen for a long time were the winners, belonging to 1 )r. 
Rogers, of Iloniton; they were well shown, and deservedly 
the admired by all. The Black Polands were very indifferent. 
In the Silver Polands were some first-rate fowls, but shown 
in sad feather; the second prize birds being unusually 
damaged in plumage. In the class for any other pure breed, 
the White Spanish were deservedly conspicuous ; the Anda¬ 
lusian taking the second prize, and an extra second being 
given to a very good pen of early Brahma chickens. All the 
Bantams were well represented. The Turkeys were excellent 
(the American breed). The Aylesbury Ducks good, and the 
Rouens very inferior. The competition in the Pigeons was 
very remarkable; indeed, it has seldom been equalled. In 
the extra stock, a pair of Black Spanish chickens, Pen 185, 
were most promising, as were also a coop of seven or eight 
young Geese (not entered in the catalogue), by Mr. T. H. 
Stephens, of Trull Green, Taunton, and these were de¬ 
servedly commended for their great size and early maturity. 
The decisions of the judge, E. Hewitt, Esq., of Spark- 
brook, Birmingham, were satisfactory, and the committee 
paid an attention to the poultry committed to their care 
that will tend to influence the success of their future ex¬ 
hibitions ; and we may add, all the birds were dispatched 
homewards the same evening the exhibition closed, a 
practice highly tending to popularity. 
