THE COTTAGE GARDENEft. 
July 28. 
very, very soon, M-began to look dirty, and white in the 
face. He seldom entered his garden, hut his “ craky” voice 
was heard within, and a great deal of dirt and disorder 
appeared without. It was plain to be seen that all was not 
gold that glittered; and it was thought that things could not 
go on long in this way. 
In less than a twelvemonth from his first outset at the 
beer-house, M-, his bees, and his household goods dis¬ 
appeared ; the place was shut up, as if by magic, and dead 
silence settled upon the scene. No one knew where, or how 
he decamped ; but one morning he was not ; and there was 
nothing for his landlord to do but to look out for a new 
tenant without loss of time. 
The little freehold cottage was in the possession of some 
one else; M- had no home to return to; and he took 
refuge, no one knew where, until the storm had blown over. 
Within the last few months M-has appeared again 
in the neighbourhood, with a yellow face, a dejected air, and 
no smile on his countenance ; never was there a more 
altered person. He Hits about the scene of his former homo 
like a restless ghost. He has neither wife, nor child, nor 
hearth, to make him comfortable; and repentance is but a 
melancholy companion to a disappointed worldly man. 
Godly repentance has healing in its wings, but worldly 
repentance is bitter and unbearable; it has no one to bear 
its burden, or take it away, and every day increases its 
bitterness. 
M-- can see the trees waving over the snug cottage 
which is no longer his; he can see its chimney peeping 
through them; and the smoke of what was once his own 
hearth curling up towards the blue sky. Had his thoughts 
curled upwards too, in the days of prosperity, sorrow might 
never have fallen upon him, or, at least, it would have visited 
him in mercy, and not in judgment. But as it is, there is j 
nothing to make it sweet. He sees and remembers former 
days, only to grieve over his own folly. His honey-pots— 
his jars of plums—his rack full of bacon—and his shed full 
of potatoes—are all a melancholy dream. Without God, 
memory has no pleasures; without God, possession has no 
security; without God, the future has no promise. 
From M-’s example, we may see what it is to “ do evil 
that good may come.” He that tries to “ build his house 
by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong,” will 
inherit the “ woe,” that has been spoken against him. If 
we cannot live by honest labour, it is far better to go quietly 
and honourably into the Union, than strive, like a potsherd, 
against our Maker, doing evil, in the vain and wicked 
hope, that good may come. The Union may come to be 
the end of John M- after all, and then he will find it 
doubly cutting, and painful, and distasteful, because he will 
feel that his own fault, his own sin, hath found him out, and 
brought him to ruin. There is nothing so hard, so terrible 
to bear, as self-condemnation. John M- has no one 
to blame but himself, and the master he worked for. Had 
he laboured in the service of the Lord, he would not have 
been forsaken in time of need ; “bread should be given him, 
his water should be sure.” But we cannot work for a master 
we do not know; we cannot trust a master we do not know; 
and this is the reason why we do evil that good may come. 
Satan makes us large promises, at such a cheap and easy 
rate, that we love to go after him. We need not break off 
our sins, but continue in them, to please and serve him. 
He takes possession of us from our cradle, and his service 
is so pleasant to us, that we refuse the calls of Him, who 
“ stretcheth out His hands all the day long ” to us; we are 
“ a rebellious and gainsaying people.” 
John M-took not God for his master; and behold the 
end! My dear readers, learn a lesson. Whoever you are, 
and whatever is your path in life, serve and worship God; 
take Him for your master, and all will be well. Our duty is 
our happiness, our safety, and our prosperity. The wages 
of Satan are misery here and death hereafter; worse than 
death—everlasting destruction! Go to the Union with a 
peaceful conscience, and your sleep shall be sweet; but 
go to evil ways to get bread, and you shall “ lie down in 
sorrow.” 
Remember the history of John M-, and never be 
tempted to do evil that good may come. 
MEETING OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY AT GLOUCESTER. 
The Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, recently 
held at Gloucester, has proved one of the most important 
and valuable exhibitions, both of cattle and agricultural im¬ 
plements, ever held by the Society. The city of Gloucester 
is well situated for an exhibition of the kind, being con¬ 
tiguous to the fine grazing districts of the counties of Here¬ 
ford, Oxford, Berks, Wilts, Somerset, and Worcester. The 
railway, which connects the city of Gloucester with the Great 
Western main line, runs through a remarkably picturesque 
part of the county. The valley below the town of Stroud, 
down to Brimscombe, although very narrow, exhibits some 
fine scenery, and is intersected by a river of excellent water, 
upon the banks of which are erected numerous mills and 
factories for the making of cloth, for which the county is 
celebrated. The hill sides of this valley, are, in many parts, 
thickly studded with cottages, built of stone, for the accom¬ 
modation of the numerous people engaged in the cloth 
factories, and these, in contrast with the hill-tops covered 
with thriving woods, render the pi’ospect particularly attrac¬ 
tive. The numerous fine gorges, and wooded ravines, branch¬ 
ing out on either side of the valley, give this part of the 
county a delightful and beautiful aspect, which can scarcely 
be surpassed by the scenery of any district in England. 
As you approach nearer to Gloucester, the country is more 
open, but, for the most part, consisting of grazing land, 
even to the sides of the hills, which are exceedingly pic¬ 
turesque, and bear evidence of having been, at a remote 
period, the site of Roman encampments. To return, how¬ 
ever, to our subject; the exhibition of cattle might have 
been expected to be first-rate, and the Hereford breed being, 
as it were, at home, were decidedly in the ascendency ; the 
immense size, beautiful symmetry, and excellent quality, of 
all ages, of the prize animals of this breed, has, in my 
opinion, never been surpassed at any previous exhibition of 
this Society. The show of Devon cattle was also a good 
one, and I think many of the animals were somewhat larger 
than on former occasions, winch is very desirable; the Devon 
being rather a small beast, although very compact, and 
possessing a good constitution. The Short-liorn class did not 
exhibit many animals; but, though the numbers were limited, 
their quality and size was unexceptionable; and I consider 
the completest animal in the yard was shown in this class, 
viz., a two-years and five-months-old heifer, No. 54, ex¬ 
hibited by Mr. Richard Booth, of Warlaby, Yorkshire. It 
was easily to be discerned that the cattle were not so fat as 
upon some former occasions, and, no doubt, this arose from 
the fear of being disqualified; and public opinion is decidedly 
in favour of the new rule of the Society, by which, animals 
in a state too fat and helpless for breeding purposes may be 
disqualified by a jury of inspection, previous to the ex¬ 
amination and award of the judges. A few of the Welsh 
breed of cattle were shown, and appeared to be useful 
animals, and no doubt very hardy, and may answer very well 
for a bleak, mountainous district. Several animals of the 
old Lon<j-liorn breed of cattle were present, and were very 
good specimens of their race; but this breed will, in all 
probability, very soon give place to one or other of the im- | 
proved breeds. 
The show of Horses, upon the whole, was fair; the two- ; 
year-old animals were certainly very good. I was, however, j 
somewhat disappointed by the exhibition of nag horses, j 
they being, for the most part, inferior. The Ponies, from 
Wales, were very limited in number, and not calculated to i 
produce an impression in favour of the breed, 
j A very important and interesting exhibition of Sheep j 
- stock took place. The Long Wools and Leicesters mustered I 
in large numbers; and, although there were instances of dis- ( 
qualification, yet, altogether, the animals showed improve¬ 
ment in flesh and quality upon some past exhibitions; and j 
I must not pass, unnoticed, one animal in particular—a , 
twenty-eight-months-old Cotswold ram, bred by Mr. William 
Slatter, of Stratton, near Cirencester. It was a sheep of ! 
rare merit, being of an immense size, beautiful symmetry, 
and full of flesh, without fat. The Short Wools were also 
a good show, but I do not consider the South Downs ex¬ 
hibited any improvement upon former shows. The variety 
of Short-woolled sheep, called Shropshire Downs, were an 
