250 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
ledge—human skill—human strength avail nothing when 
“ the air thunders ” and the “ arrows ” of God go abroad. 
Who can turn aside the bolt that darts from the electric 
cloud when the Lord’s hand hath winged it ? 
i A few nights ago, after several days of unusual heat, a 
storm swept with fearful wings over some parts of the 
country ; upon the immediate spot where I am now passing 
a short time it fell,—by the mercy of God very slightly ! yet 
within a few short miles on every side it was an alarming 
visitation; dark lurid clouds gathered during the day and 
hung heavily around the hills, and a peculiar atmospheric 
weight and solemn silence in the air warned us that a storm 
was near. 
The cooling, delicious rain, for which nature seemed 
thirsty, fell during the night, and the thunder was distant; 
still, the sheets of blue lightning flashed vividly, and illu¬ 
mined, with awful brightness, every corner of the room. A 
midnight storm is peculiarly solemn, and seems more closely 
to address our hearts; the deep darkness—broken by the 
sudden flash which lights up every hill, and tree, and shrub— 
every room, and every object in them—warns us that the 
secrets of all hearts, hidden from every human eye, shall 
soon be made known to all the world, displayed by a light 
more terrible still than that of a passing storm. The 
thunder too, in the stillness of night, utters its voice with 
increased sublimity, because the earth is silent; it seems as 
if nothing interposed between us and “ the glorious God 
who maketh the thunder,” and wdiose voice sounds so im¬ 
pressively in every peal, as if we were then, more than ever, 
standing in trembling helplessness before the throne of God. 
Yet let us ever remember “ the messenger of the covenant," 
the “ daysman betwixt us,” who layeth “ his hand upon us 
both; ” and let us, amid storm and tempest, trust simply 
and fearlessly on Him. 
I hope that a very remarkable instance of the Lord's loud 
and compassionate warning to the children of men which 
took place during the late storm will attract the attention of 
my cottage readers in particular, and be a means of con¬ 
veying deep spiritual instruction to their hearts ; I copy, 
verbatim, the letter of a lady residing near the spot, for I 
cannot in my own words convey her ideas so well:— 
“ The refreshing rain you speak of was most woful in its 
accompaniments here. Wednesday was a most overpower¬ 
ing day of heat, and about six in the evening there were 
great indications of an approaching storm : vivid flashes of 
■ lightning, succeeded by heavy rolling thunder, warned us of 
coming evil. This continued, with occasional heavy rain, 
until about 12 o’clock at night, when the tempest became 
fearful, with both forked and sheet lightning, and thunder 
that made the houses crack and the hearts of the timid 
quail, and even the strong and bold felt that the Lord is 
1 jord of all. About one o’clock there was one flash—such a 
' flash !—and at the same moment a thunderbolt fell—not 
| into water! not into earth ! but through the roof of a large 
! cottage, where one of the most drunken and dissipated 
families .we have reside! The house was shattered all 
through, and immense beams shivered to atoms, yet has the 
Lord spared the inhabitants ! Surely this wonderful preser¬ 
vation is for some wise cause, and if it does not awaken the 
hearts of those persons I hope at least we may all ‘ con¬ 
sider,’ and feeling truly that ‘ the Lord He is the God,’ vve 
1 may watch and examine ourselves carefully, lest He come 
; and summon us at an hour when vve are unprepared.” 
This short extract needs no comment, yet I cannot help 
reminding my humbler readers that then' lowly state cannot 
hide them from the piercing eye of God, and that His law, 
first delivered from Mount Sinai amid thunderings and 
lightnings, is still binding upon ns all, and if broken will as 
surely bring down judgments upon our heads. Let eveiy 
storm, then, that bursts over us lead our minds away to 
spiritual tilings, and teach us to cherish less fondly the 
things “ that are ready to die.” We mourn over one of our 
beautiful trees scathed by the storm; vve stand confounded 
j amid the ruins of our house, built by the hand of man, and 
' vve gladly turn to those who will help and comfort us ; hut 
i vve madly disregard the ruin that sin has caused, and vve 
turn as madly from Him who would deliver us from it. 
We might have been struck down like a cedar, and shivered 
, t0 atoms like the poor man’s home, yet are we spared to 
[July 25. 
receive this solemn warning. Let us “ hear and under¬ 
stand," lest it should he our last. 
PRESERVING. 
The fruit season having commenced, I think a few re¬ 
marks on preserving may not he unacceptable to some of 
my readers. Jellies and preserves are easily made, though 
they sound rather formidable to the inexperienced house¬ 
keeper ; and eveiy cottager who owns a currant or raspberry 
bush should abstain from eating them raw in order to keep 
them for winter use; in illness a little jam or jelly is most 
refreshing, besides, fruit eaten raw is soon gone, and does 
no good, whereas if boiled and converted into jam it goes 
much further, and often “ comes in ” handy when butter is 
scarce. 
Great cleanliness should he observed with every article that 
is used for the preserves. The saucepan, or the preserving 
pan, should be brightly clean; the pots in which it is to he 
kept well dried. Attention also should he paid to the tyiny 
down; a piece of writing-paper, dipped in brandy, cut the 
size of the pot, and laid on the jam is the best plan to 
prevent mould from appearing; a double piece of paper 
should then be tied over it all, and there is then very little 
chance of its not keeping well. Black currant jelly is the 
most useful preserve that can be made ; in the winter, when 
coughs and colds are prevalent, it will he found of great 
service. 
The art of making good preserves is to boil the fruit well 
before the sui/ar is added, in order to allow the watery parti¬ 
cles to evaporate. The fruit for preserving should alwaj's 
he picked in dry weather, or else it will soon require boiling 
up again. 
I will begin my receipts with the one most suited to the 
humble home, which is 
Currant Jelly.—P ick the currants when quite ripe, put 
them into a jar with the stalks (as it will waste time picking 
them off), tie it down and put it into a saucepan of boiling 
water, let it remain over the fire for three-quarters of an 
hour, bruise the currants and strain the juice through a 
sieve, pour it into a preserving pan or saucepan, and when 
it has boiled add one pound of sugar to every pint of juice. 
Boil it together for ten minutes, and pom' it whilst hot into 
the pots in which it is to he kept. A pint of juice will make 
a very good store for winter coughs, and as a pound of 
sugar does not cost above sixpence, I strongly recommend 
any one who possesses a currant-tree to avail themselves of 
the opportunity of having so nice a medicine at so small a 
cost. A teaspoonful of ibis jelly mixed with a little water is 
a most refreshing draught in a fever. The currants from 
which the juice has been extracted should not be thrown 
away, for if mixed with a little treacle they make a very nice 
pudding. 
Gooseberry Jam is another useful and cheap preserve; 
cheap because coarse sugar may be used, or even treacle, 
though of course it is not so palatable, nor will it keep so 
long as when made with white sugar. The red gooseberries 
are the best, but they must he picked when quite ripe and 
dry; when you have taken off the tops and stalks weigh 
them, and to every dozen pounds of fruit add one pint of 
currant juice. But it into a preserving pan, boil them 
quickly, and when soft mash them with a fork, and add to 
each pound of fruit three-quarters of a pound of sugar'. Boil 
together for three-parts of an hour, pour it whilst hot into 
jars, but do not tie it down till it is quite cold. Examine 
the jam a few days after it is made, aud if the fruit appears 
separated from the syrup boil it again. 
Blackberry Jam is an economical and wholesome pre¬ 
serve, hut it must be boiled for half an hour before the sugar 
is added, and then to every pound of fruit put half a pound 
of sugar. 
Raspberry Jam is very much improved by having a little 
red currant juice mixed with it, in the proportion of half a 
pint to a pound of fruit. This fruit also requires to be boiled 
for half an lioiu - before the sugar is added. Raspberries 
should be used as soon as possible after they are picked, or 
else their flavour is very quickly gone. 
Raspberry Vinegar is easily made, and is found very 
refresliing in case of illness. To mako two quarts of the 
