placed against one of the hind wheels, and poor Mrs. B. was in the act of ascending it, when the horses went forward, the ladder slipped, she fell with her head between the wheels on the left-hand side of the coach, the hind wheel passed over the lower part of her head, and instantly killed her. How uncertain. is human life! This excellent woman was, for her years, healthy and in good spirits one minute, and the next in eternity. Her coffin was made the same night, and she appeared in it the next morning. Mrs. Ball was a truly Christian woman, and was in mercy taken from the evil to come. Had she been spared a few hours longer, her poor heart would have been broken by the awful tidings of her son, who, that very morning, had been taken up dead, between Southam and Banbury, having been thrown out of a gig, and died on the spot. The mother and son were buried in one day, but about fifty miles asunder. Stokenchurch, Oxon, Nov. 2, 1846 The Fragment Basket. wait on Mr., to converse with him on the fama affecting his reputation, and summon him to their next meeting. He received them with a mournful expression on his countenance. When they had informed him of the occasion and design of their call, he replied to this effect: Your visit is kind, but late. Had you come sooner, while I had a struggle with myself, you might have aided my better resolutions. But now all is over; my character is lost; my self-command is gone; and I am a ruined man for ever and ever!' Shortly after he expired in a fit of drinking." THE DANGER OF DELAY IN NOTICING MISCONDUCT.-" One of the best elders I ever knew," (says Dr. King, in his excellent recent work on the Ruling Eldership,)" was very earnest in acting upon this principle, (i.e.promptly noticing what was wrong;) and he related to me an incident which had mainly impressed its importance on his mind. A highly respectable member of the congregation in which he was an office-bearer became suspected of exceeding in the use of ardent spirits. At first the suspicion was treated as a calumny, and the friends of the accused spoke of it with indignation. Nothing, therefore, was done in the matter-not AN ILLUSTRATION OF MATT. Xiii. 44. so much as to institute any inquiry to-As a party of gentlemen were reascertain the truth or untruth of the rumours. The suspected individual maintained, on the whole, his prior standing, and no one could be bold enough to confront him on the delicate subject. Suspicion went to rest, but from time to time revived, and always in alliance with new corroboratory indications. Still the respectable man could not be charged, however gently, with the supposition of inebriety. At length his excesses became more decided and apparent; he was seen drunk one day in the streets: the town rung with the sad news; and no more delicacy remained in subjecting him to discipline. The session took up the case, and the elder I have adverted to was appointed, along with another, to cently exploring the interior of New Holland, they observed something at a distance resembling accumulations of moss upon rocks; but upon a nearer approach they found it to be oxide, or rust of copper. Overjoyed with their discovery, they immediately proceeded to the Land-office of Adelaide, and at once purchased the sections of land containing the valuable treasure. By the latest accounts from South Australia, we learn that the fortunate purchasers are rapidly realising immense fortunes. In the perusal of the above, the Bible-student will, doubtless, be reminded of that brief but comprehensive parable of the Saviour, where he says, "Again; the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field," Matt. xiii. 44. MIRTH AND MELANCHOLY.-The Insufficiency of Worldly Amusements.-A French physician was once consulted by a person who was subject to most gloomy fits of melancholy. He advised his patient to mix in scenes of gaiety, and particularly to frequent the Italian theatre; and added, "If Carline do not expel your gloomy complaint, your case must be desperate indeed." The reply of the patient is worthy the attention of all those who frequent such places in search of happiness, as it shows the unfitness and insufficiency of these amusements: "Alas, sir, I am Carline! and while I divert all Paris with mirth, and make them almost die with laughter, I myself am dying with melancholy and chagrin." THE ZEALOUS MAID.-In a family in the north of Ireland a pious young woman was engaged as a servant. The poor girl was much ridiculed for her religion by the young ladies, but did not render evil for evil; on the contrary, she would allow them to laugh at her, and then mildly reason with them. She made it her study to be useful to them, took opportunities to speak to them about religion, and would offer to read the sacred Scriptures to them when they went to bed. They commonly fell asleep, and that in a little time, under the sound; but she was not discouraged. Having exemplified Christianity in her life, Providence sent a fever to remove her to a better state. The young ladies were not permitted to see her during her illness, but they heard of her behaviour, which did not lessen the impression her previous conduct had made upon them. Soon after the two elder ladies began to make a profession of real religion, the little leaven spread, and now all the young ladies appear truly pious. Other means were employed by God in producing this great change; but one of the two who first became serious informed me, that she chiefly ascribed it to the life and death of the servantmaid.-J. G. Pike. CHARITY.-Let your charity begin at home, but do not let it stop there. Do good to your family and connections, and, if you please, to your party; but after this look abroad. Look at the universal church, and, forgetting its divisions, be a catholic Christian. Look at your country, and be a patriot. Look at the nations of the earth, and be a philanthropist.-H. Martyn. THE SHOEMAKER AND WINE-MERCHANT.-A poor man, a shoemaker, took a shop in one of the boulevards of Paris. As he was industrious, expeditious, and punctual, and, withal, faithful and honest, his customers rapidly increased, and he began to gain property. About this time a wine-merchant opened a shop next door to the shoemaker, and the latter took occasion to step in for an occasional drink of wine. He soon perceived that a dangerous habit was beginning to be formed, and for some days discontinued his visits. The wine-merchant inquired the reason. "I have no money," replied Crispin. "O, no matter," said the other, "come in and take a drink." The shoemaker accepted the invitation, till at last so great a score had run up that his best suit of wearing apparel was pawned for payment. A festival drew nigh, and he of the awl asked him of the glass to lend him his suit of clothes but for that day. A refusal was the reply. Much chagrined, Crispin cast about him for his revenge. The wine-merchant had a hen with a very fine brood of chickens, and they used often to venture near the door of the shoemaker. He accordingly procured some bread, and, scattering it upon the floor, enticed the hen and her chickens to enter his shop; then catching them, he stripped them of their feathers, and turned them loose to go to their owner. Enraged at the enormous cruelty, he makes complaint and seeks redress. "Friend," says Crispin, "as I have done to your fowls, so you did to me. You enticed me into your shop, you stripped me of my clothes, and left me destitute. What I have done to your fowls you did to a fellowcreature. On the charge of cruelty we are equal, though the baits we offered were different." WHO WROTE THE BIBLE ?-Men were as morally unable to write such a book as the Bible as they were naturally unable to create the heavens and the earth.-Andrew Fuller. out in overpowering light when the busy pursuits of day and of the world are not able to turn the soul from wandering towards eternity!-Cheever on the Pilgrim's Progress. EIGHT POINTS OF PURSUIT.-Eight things should a Christian peculiarly labour after, namely, to be humble and thankful, watchful and cheerful; to be lively without being light; seri WHAT FAITH IS AND DOES.-Faith and heart-trouble are like a pair of balances; when one goes up, the other goes down: faith is the counterpoise of trouble of heart. Believe, then, in Jesus, act faith on him, and that will pre-ous without being sad; patient without vent or cure heart-trouble.-Bunyan. DREAMS.-Conscience is often busy in the night-time when the external business of the day has prevented her work and claims from being attended to. We go about the world in the daytime, we see pleasant companions, we are absorbed in earthly schemes; the things of sense are around us, the world is as bright as a rainbow, and it bears for us no marks, or predictions of the judgment, or of our sins; and it holds no conversation with us on those soul. subjects, and conscience is retired, as it were, within a far inner circle of the But when it comes night, and the streets are empty, and the lights are out, and the business and dancing and gaiety are over, and the peace of sleep is drawn over the senses, and reason and will are no longer on the watch, then conscience comes out solemnly, and walks about in the silent chambers of the soul, and makes her survey and her comments, and sometimes sits down and sternly reads the records of a life that the waking man would never look into, and the catalogue of crimes that are gathering for the judgment. Then, whatever sinful thoughts or passions, words or deeds, the conscience enumerates and dwells upon, the imagination, with prophetic truth, fills eternity with corresponding shapes of evil. Our dreams sometimes reveal our character, our sins, our destinies, far more clearly than our waking thoughts; for whereas by day the energies of our being are turned into artificial channels, by night our thoughts follow the bent that is most natural to them; and as man is both an immortal and a sinful being, the consequences both of his immortality and his sinfulness will sometimes be made to stand being insensible; and steady without His either case evil results. Truth and peace are between the extremes.-T. Binney. THE GOSPEL.-It is God in our nature standing on our behalf as our elder brother and representative, bearing the punishment which we had deserved, satisfying the law which we had broken, and, on the ground of this finished work, proclaiming sin forgiven, and inviting the chief and the most wretched of sinners to become a happy child of God for ever and ever. object is presented to our belief, not as a theme of polemical discussion, but that it may stamp on our souls its own image, the likeness of God.-Thomas Erskine. This CHRISTIAN ORNAMENTS.-In word true, in actions just, in temper chastened, in commerce honourable, in politics honest, in friendship stedfast; as masters considerate, as parents kind, as citizens peaceable; at home beloved, abroad respected.-Anon. PRIDE AND PIETY.-"Pride and piety cannot exist in the same heartthey are incompatible. If we foster pride, it will destroy our piety; and if we foster piety, it will destroy our pride." In whatever situation, state, or circumstance you may be placed, let the glory of God be your object, the word of God your rule, and the love of God your principle; you will thus have God as your guide, protector, and comforter.-John Elias, The Children's Gallery. THE MORNING OF LIFE. Address delivered by one of the Teachers of the Crescent Sabbath-school, Liverpool, (Rev. J. Kelly's,) to the assembled Bible Classes, at their Annual Meeting. I CONGRATULATE you, my young friends, on the entertainment of this evening. It is always pleasing to see enjoyment; but when that enjoyment is rationally conducted, and with a view to some worthy end, it is beheld with a heightened pleasure and unabated by any regret. You are this evening met with your teachers, and with the other teachers connected with the school, for the purpose of relaxation, and for the interchange of feelings of cordiality and good-will, that we may all pursue our labours, if I may so call them, with renewed zeal, activity, and perseverance. By your connection with the school it is supposed that you are not unacquainted with the letter of the Christian religion, and that you admit its binding nature upon every man. Many of you, I know, have submitted your affections to the blessed God who gave them, and you will no doubt reap a large enjoyment by vigorously progressing in the path to which that step has led you. Others there may be who have decided for the Lord, but who have not yet avowed that decision. It will be our pleasure at some future day to know that you were wise to learn of Him who was meek and lowly, but who was the wisdom of God; that you heartily entered into his service, taking upon you his yoke, which is easy, and his burden, which is light. Others there are, no doubt, who yet halt between two opinions-perhaps some are altogether careless: it is always matter of regret while there are any such. I would counsel you, my young friends, to give heed to the things of religion while they are being anxiously and prayerfully set before your eyes; for whether you are heedful, or whether you neglect them, you will ultimately prove them to have been the things which belonged to your peace. Do not say it is yet too soon for you: it is never too soon to share in a perfect good; it is never too early to come under the hallowing influence of religion. The oldest men, those who have walked before the Lord in the land of the living to a good old age, who have had much experience and have observed much, have invariably declared that they never had occasion to regret being too soon devoted entirely to the fear of the Lord. On the contrary, it has been the regret of very many that they were not saved, by a more early devotion to God, from many sins committed while they were children only, and which proved a source of deepest regret as long as they lived. Even with wicked men, the sin of despising early religious instruction has afterwards pierced their hearts, and, like a barbed shaft, could not easily be withdrawn. Be assured of this, my young friends, that on the right use of your present privileges and means of grace will, in a great measure, depend your happiness for life, and your peace and blessedness throughout an endless eternity. You are all at that time of life when it is natural for you to look forward with happy anticipations of the future, when hope is bright before you, when you are full of thoughts of what you would like to do, and what you would like to be. It is of the utmost importance that these thoughts and wishes should be rightly directed-that you should have purposes before you and objects to be sought after of a character truly worthy and noble, lest you should look after something which will only dazzle you with its brightness, or win you by its seeming worth, but which will soon fade away or crumble into dust in your hands, should you ever attain it. There are many such objects and purposes in the world men hurry after, and distress themselves in pursuit of them; but only a few attain them; while to some they come with less toil. The whole world is thus kept in a continual bustle and ferment. The possession of wealth to command the luxuries of life-to be of great influence, and to be of some im you a thousand times than all things else under heaven. He will sustain you in every service to which he may appoint you; he will be with you to triumph in the darkest hour; and he will be with you even to the end! Yours will not only be a present good; a rich reward will be laid up for you portance with men-to have command over others, that they may feel your power and do your will; or to be great in some walk of life, that you may admire and look with complacency towards yourself,-as to be a great soldier, or enterprising navigator of the seas, or a great philosopher, or statesman, or a man of letters, or an expert mecha--a treasure in the heavens, which he nician, all these, and such as these, have their peculiar glories to attract you; but they are not of a truly worthy character-they are not such as I should desire the most for those to whom I wished the best. Many of them are thoroughly base, and others ennobling only in vain. Your nature is fitted to take a higher vantage ground and a nobler post than any of these can give, to rise to a better purpose and to more durable renown; and they are rightly directed only when bent to that better purpose and engaged in a higher service. We are all by nature very dependent; it is a first principle in the consciousness of every one, that we must look out of ourselves for blessing and enjoyment. The great question with us, then, is, whither shall we look?where are these to be found? will award to you on that great day when it will be seen what was truly worthy or noble in the earth. Then while, perhaps, you are happily looking forward to the future, seeking "To body forth the forms of things unknown," see that you entertain no hopes or anticipations which do not rise first in Him who only is worthy of them, who is so condescending and interested in you, that he became man for the express purpose that he might engage you to every blessing which he has so richly in possession. This is our purpose in connection with the sabbath-school, to seek you for God and for Christ, to induce you to enter his service heartily and freely; and this you must do, if you are to enter it at all. Do not be deceived with the idea that your connection with us will secure for you the good which God gives his people: that good will mainly come direct from God himself; and it is only by your unequivocal and entire reconciliation with Him that you can be made partakers of his blessings now, or rejoice in Him hereafter. To this end, then, let us pursue our studies of his blessed word with the utmost diligence and perseverance, seeking You are sufficiently instructed to know that the great and ever-blessed God, who made all worlds, made this great ball on which we are placedthat he made and possesses all things therein, from man, his crowning work, to the humblest moss that creeps on the barren rock-that he sustains and marks the conduct of the one, as he tempers the other to the blast of heaven-that he only is perfectly master over man and every part of creation-humbly the enlightening influences of he only is perfectly independent of his gracious Spirit, and depending on every creature; and in him only is the his unbroken and immutable promise, source of abundant blessing and enjoy- that he will grant it freely to them who ment for all. ask it. TROLLEY. This great Almighty Master of heaven and earth and all things calls upon you to enter his service. Here, then, A BRIEF MEMOIR OF WILLIAM is honour, the very highest-why should you choose less? It will never tarnish, but increase in brightness. He invites you to the richest blessings and the brightest glories. For generous enterprise in this world he has fields unlimited and his favour will be more to WILLIAM TROLLEY, the subject of the present brief memoir, was born of poor parents. The greater part of his life was spent at Eynesbury, a village in Huntingdonshire, to which place his |