//་་་་་་ Accidents on Land and Sea. RAILWAY. COLLISION ON THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY.-A collision of a somewhat alarming nature occurred on this line of railway or Saturday evening between a goods train from Boston to Peterborough, and the up express from York to London, and, although no life has been sacrificed, the passengers and the officials in charge of the train had a very narrow escape. It appears that a goods train, leaving Boston for Peterborough on the evening in question, had been delayed for a considerable time, and was just leaving the Lincolnshire loop line to get on the junction at Peterborough, when the up express, which was then due, came up and dashed into the goods train with great violence just as the goods train was crossing the line. The shock was extremely violent, and the passengers in the train were thrown violently from their seats, and some of them bruised, but we are not aware of any having received more than superficial injuries. Two commercial gentlemen, in a secondclass carriage, were more injured than the rest, one receiving a contused wound on the head and the other on the knee. The guard of the goods train perceived the express coming, and jumped off his break, and thus avoided worse consequences, his break van in a minute afterwards being smashed to pieces by the engine of the express train. Three trucks, laden with various kinds of merchandise, were smashed to pieces, and several barrels of oil were broken and knocked off the waggons, the contents having run to waste on the line. Information was speedily sent to Peterborough, and effective assistance was brought to the spot. The debris was removed as quickly as possible, and the passengers were enabled to proceed to their respective destinations the same evening. The cause of the accident remains enveloped in mystery, the only reason yet assigned being that the foggy state of the atmosphere on Saturday evening prevented the engine-driver of the express from seeing the goods train. The damage done is considerable. PERSONAL. FOG AT MANCHESTER.-During the fog at Manchester, on Tuesday evening, three persons lost their lives by falling into the canal; viz., Mary Cheadle, Elizabeth Whitle, and Samuel Lindley. of a rat.' which, it is so be regretted, has been attended with great loss of pro- render no assistance. SEA. LOSSES AT SEA.-A destructive casualty, it is feared,, has occurred by the running ashore of the Sir Edward Hamilton, belonging to Mr. T. Ward, of Hull. It seems that this vessel was on a return voyage from Petersburg to Hull, with a large and valuable cargo of Russian produce. About six o'clock on Thursday evening last, during a dense fog, she went ashore on the rocks near Flamborough lighthouse. Immediately after striking she lost her rudder, and so violent was the force with which she had grounded that she speedily filled with water. Her position was very critical, and the crew began at once to dismantle her. Intelligence of the casualty was at once forwarded to Hull, and the owners despatched a steam-tug to render whatever assistance was practicable. On Friday, such was the position of the ship that the deck-load was hove overboard, and every one of her three masts cut away. Some of the small stores and a trifling part of the cargo were landed. During the week further attempts have been made to secure the cargo, but we believe the probabilities of saving the ship are small. Eastern Counties Herald. DEATH FROM THE BITE OF A RAT.-An inquest was held on Thursday, at Bristol, on the body of John Thomas Barry, an infant, aged six months. It appeared from the evidence that a fortnight ago the mother was awoke by the cries of the infant, and, on lighting a candle, she found that the child had been bitten by a rat under the right FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE CITY OF BOULOGNE STEAMeye. There were marks remaining of the rat's claws and teeth, and also VESSEL-On Friday morning, between seven and eight o'clock, an a great quantity of blood. After some consideration the jury returned accident occurred to a man of the name of George Crooks, engineer, on a verdict, "That the deceased died from injuries occasioned by the bite board the City of Boulogne, belonging to the Commercial Steam Company, wheh, it is feared, will terminate fatally, under the following FATAL GAS EXPLOSION.-On Friday night about half-past 9 o'clock, circumstances:It appears the unfortunate man was oiling the a dreadful explosion occurred at the gas works recently erected near the machinery previously to starting, when by some means the beam of the St. Mary's Barracks, Chatham, for supplying the out-parish of Gilling-piston came into action and crushed his arms nearly off. He was con- . ham with gas. In filling the new gasometer it was found that the gas veyed to Isaac Ward, St. Thomas's Hospital, where Mr. Simon, surgeon, was escaping, and the engineer (John Ormsby Culyer), with a workman was in immediate attendance, when amputation was obliged to be renamed William Hall, proceeded to the top to see from what part the sorted to, as the only means of saving life. leakage came. The men incautiously took with them a lighted candle, and the result was that the gasometer instantly blew up with a loud report. Culyer, the engineer, was hurled a great distance on the adjacent marshes, and when discovered was frightfully mangled, and, of course, quite dead. She body of Hall was found in the gasometer. It will be a considerable time before the works are in a fit state for the manufacture of gas, owing to this untoward accident. At an inquest on the bodies, the jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death." FIRES. SIX FIRES IN ONE NIGHT.-The firemen of the Brigade and West of England offices were engaged the whole of Thursday night and Friday morning, there being during that period no fewer than six fires in various parts of the metropolis. One of them, occasioned by some unknown cause, broke out on the premises of Messrs. Medworth and Harris, carvers, Little Howland-street, Tottenham-court-road. The second fire took place on the premises of Messrs. Chapman and Co., linen drapers, Nos. 91 and 92, Union-street, Borough. The next fire happened in the premises of Mr. A. Levy, looking-glass manufacturer, No. 47, Crispin-street, Spitalfields. About the same time another fire broke out in the extensive range of premises belonging to Mr. H. M. Brown, sugar refiner, in the Back-road, Shadwell. The next fire took place in the premises of the National Provident Institution, No. 48, Gracechurch-street, City. Another outbreak took place in the premises of Mr. Coleman, schoolmaster, 8, Wood-street, Spitalfields. On Friday night a fire broke out in the extensive premises of Mr. Field, the printer's-ink manufacturer and lamp-black maker, Belle-isle, Battlebridge, but it was subdued before much damage was done. DREADFUL FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE.-Yesterday (Saturday) morning, between the hours of 8 and 9, the inhabitants of Grafton-street, Fitzroy-square, were painfully excited in consequence of the sudden outbreak of a fire in the premises belonging to Mr. Mustard, bread and biseuit baker, situated at No 24, in the above-named thoroughfare, THE RECENT FOGS.-FOURTEEN VESSELS WRECKED, AND GREAT LosS OF LIFE.-The dense fogs that have recently prevailed in London appear not only to have extended over the entire length and breadth of the country, but to the whole of the Continental countries, and to a great distance at sea, where it occasioned many serious and fatal shipwrecks. Among the many that have been reported at Lloyd's are following:-The barque, Norfolk, Captain Buckham. from Shields, for London, with 550 tons of coals, got on the rocks, at Flamborough Head, on Tuesday night last, where, in the course of the following morning, she slided off, and went down broadside into deep water. Ă dense fog prevailed the whole night; and, though a tar barrel was burned on the deck to attract attention, it was unobserved. The crew took to the boats, and thus saved their lives. The loss of the ship and cargo is estimated at upwards of £6,000. On the same night, a collision happened off the same coast, the Dudgeon Light, bearing S.S., distant about 15 miles, between the brig, Lily, Mr. Torode, master, bound to Guernsey, from Newcastle, and the schooner, Industry, from Southampton. The accident was of that violent character as to sink the latter-named vessel, the crew having just time to save themselves. Off Keiss, near Wick, in the same night, the brig, Sisters, Mr. Cowie, of Portgordon, got ashore, and became to total wreck. Another vessel is supposed to have been lost-the schooner Primrose, of Lossiemouth, from London, in ballast. She was bound for the Baltic; and the owners are apprehensive that she foundered, and that every soul on board met with a watery grave. Between Southwold and Sunderland, no fewer than twelve coasting vessels-colliers belonging to the Tyne, Stockton, and Hartlepool-were wrecked; the whole of them were attributed to the fog. In the course of yesterday other losses were posted at Lloyd's. The British ship Lady Bulwer, Captain Thomas Tobin, bound to Quebec, 1,100 tons burthen, with 200 emigrants, foundered in 60 fathoms of water, off Moosepecca Island, on the 9th of last month; all on board were saved by the boats. She belonged to the Black Ball Liverpool line of packets, and was insured for £10,000, WRECK OF THE HYPERION.-EIGHT LIVES LOST.-Information has been just received of the total and extremely sudden loss of the barque Hyperion, bound from New York to Kingston (Jamaica), which melancholy event involved the loss of eight lives, and exposed four survivors to the fury and inclemency of a North Atlantic winter, having neither food nor shelter for fifty-seven hours, during which time the sea washing over them in a continuous stream, reduced them to a most pitiable and exhausted condition. The Hyperion, on the 30th of October, when in lat. 35.39 N., long. 73.30 W., encountered a most terrific gale, and about 1 p.m., she sprang a leak, which gained so rapidly, notwithstanding every effort of Captain Perkins and the crew to decrease it, that she sank before the boats could be lowered, and eight of the crew met with watery graves. Captain Perkins, the chief and second mates, and one seaman, providentially escaped by getting on the top of the cook-house, which floated after the vessel went down. On this frail raft they were exposed to a furious gale at N.E., with a heavy sea washing continually over them, and neither food nor water. Fortunately the American ship Edward Everett, Grundy, master, from Baltimore for London, hove in sight, and observing the ill-fated mariners, bore down to their assistance, and rescued them from their perilous situation. A FATAL WAVE.-The following is the statement of Capt. Hartshorne, giving the particulars of the unfortunate disaster which forced the E. Z. to put back to Liverpool on Tuesday :-"We sailed from Liverpool on the 13th of November, for New York, with a general cargo and fourteen deck passengers. Experienced very light weather till the 18th, when it commenced blowing furiously from W. to S.W., and continued to the 30th. On the 29th, at 10.30 a.m. while lying-to under a close-reefed topsail, a tremendous sea struck the ship on the larboard side, from the cathead to the main rigging, carrying away the deck-house, main hatch-house, caboose, breaking stancheons, bulwarks, washing away the monkey rails on both sides, one boat, binnacle compass, and everything appertaining thereto, broke the wheel to pieces, lifted the cabin skylight, forecastle bulkheads, water-closets, washed away the forecastle, and one main hatch off, split the covering-board 14 inch open for 15 feet, and carried everything overboard, breaking the pumps, stancheons and spars, washed thirteen or fourteen passengers, seven seamen, the carpenter and cook, overboard, and seriously injured five other seamen, and breaking the arms of the second mate. Succeeded in saving five seamen by throwing them ropes. Six of the crew, including the carpenter and cook, and thirteen passengers, were lost, and five disabled. The captain, mate, steward and helmsman, were the only persons not injured. Lay-to thirty hours, and then bore up for Liverpool, with only six seamen able to do duty." NENTHEAD, ALSTON CIRCUIT.-The Primitive Methodists, at Nenthead, opened their beautiful new chapel on Friday, December 23rd. The Rev. J. A. Bastow, of Westgate, preached in the afternoon, at two o'clock. After the sermon a tea meeting was held in the Town School Room; the public meeting commenced at seven o'clock, when the Rev. W. Sanderson, of Scotter, delivered an address on "The Nature and Claims of Christianity." Mr. Bastow followed with a lecture on "The Composition, Inspiration, and Preservation of the Holy Scriptures." The lectures, the subjects of which had been announced on the bill, were, as was expected of the men, quite up to the mark, every way adapted to the times, and were listened to with intense interest. On Sunday, the 25th, Mr. Sanderson preached in the afternoon and evening. The commodious chapel was crowded during all the services, and an hallowed influence rested upon the assemblies. The subscriptions and collections were very liberal, so that the trustees now stand in very easy circumstances. ADVERTISEMENTS. The " PRIMITIVE STANDARD" now circulates in every principal town of Great Britain; and hence, is a suitable medium for advertising books, business, situations, and other subjects designed to attract the attention of ministers and employers, as well as other numerous readers belonging to the agricultural and manufacturing interests. Our reduced price is FOURPENCE PER LINE of ten words. We trust our readers will avail themselves of the advantages offered by the advertising department of this Journal, and recommend it to their commercial acquaintances.-EDITOR. The “Primitive Standard.' LONDON, JANUARY, 2, 1854. "Human happiness has no perfect security but freedom; freedom, none but virtue; virtue, none but knowledge; and neither freedom, nor virtue, nor knowledge, has any vigour or immortal hope, except in the principles of Christian faith, and in the sanctions of the Christian religion."-QUINCY. * **NEW ARRANGEMENTS. To BOOKSELLERS AND OTHERS.-We respectfully announce to the "Trade," in town and country, that Messrs. WARD & Co., 27, Pater noster-row, London, will, in future, sell the "unstamped" edition of the Primitive Standard; and receive books for "Review" by the Editor. The Stamped edition will be published as usual at our office, 41, GRESHAM ST., LONDON; where all advertisements and communications for the Editor may be sent. For other arrangements see "Our Correspondent's Post Office." A few unstamped copies of Nos. 1 and 2 may be had of WARD & CO. Stamped copies of No. 1 may be had at our office. ADDRESS TO OUR READERS. To all our numerous readers, we wish, in the best and holiest sense of the compliment, "A happy new year!" We have been privileged with the acquaintance of many readers, a few months only, but trust our rapid prosperity during that period will strengthen our friendship, and multiply our friends during the new year, 1854. Appearance adds much to the pleasure of many things in life, and we humbly hope the improved dress in which we now stand as journalists before our readers, will greatly extend the circle of our acquaintance. We beg to repeat our promise made at the beginning, viz.,-that we engage to issue the "Primitive Standard," THREE TIMES its original size, or TWICE its present quantity, at 2d., unstamped, and 3d. if stamped, when the circulation shall attain 10,000! As the word "thrice" was a misprint on our placards, we shall abide by the latter clause of our engagement, and double the quantity contained in our present copy, without any increase of price. As the type of our first number was larger than that now used, it will be evident to every business man that we could not safely promise a trebled-paper of the present size, with a limited circulation? We gratefully acknowledge every act of sympathy shown us in our undertaking, since its commencement; and now beg an extension of endeavour to support our enterprise, while we use every available talent to deserve it. It is impossible for the Christian Church to be faithful to its duties, and yet leave this powerful agency unemployed. Charged by its Founder with the mission of bringing mankind to a knowledge of Divine truth, and freed from none of the additional claims of patriotism and philanthropy,-if such an instrumentality remains unwielded, if so vast an appliance for good or evil is surrendered up to mere expediency, its obligations will evidently remain undischarged. Surely every consideration of love and duty should prompt the followers of Christ to utter from this broad platform the language of frank and earnest counsel to the multitudes of thoughtful men who look to it for guidance. A SEASONABLE THOUGHT FOR 1854. TEMPUS FUGIT-"time flies." A truth which the new year proclaims, and which may be placed in a mathematical light. The sun is stationary in the heavens; the earth moves around it at the amazing rate of about 50,000 miles an hour; travelling a circle of millions of miles a year. Now that is literally the flight of time; the speed of human life: for it is the revolutions of the earth that measure our time. "The days of our years," says the Psalmist," are three score years and ten:" not that we can calculate on so many, but as few attain to that age, and still fewer go beyond it, he took that as the maximum term of human life. Now suppose you were to be placed in a vehicle, and to be assured that you should live only till it had moved round a certain space so many times; you would at once feel that in that case the length of your life depended, not so much on the space which the vehicle had to go over, as on the rapidity with which it moved-the faster it went over the allotted ground the sooner your life would end. And oh! if you loved life, if dreaded death, how much would you grudge every inch of ground you passed over! You would deem its slowest pace too fast. you Now this is substantially the predicament in which you do stand. The earth on which you live is the vehicle; and you are assured that when it has carried you round the sun a certain number of times, your life shall end. Do you not feel anxious, then, to know the rate at which you are moving on this journey of life? and when you are told that you are accomplishing it at the rate of so many thousand miles an hour, may you not well exclaim with the patriarch, "my days are swifter than a courier, they flee away!" You can actually calculate how much ground you have gone over. Multiply the rate at which the earth travels annually by the number of years have lived, and you will see how far you have already trayou velled. You will find that whether you have been sleeping or waking, thoughtful or inconsiderate, you have been always rushing towards the goal of life, drawing nearer to it by thousands of miles every hour, so that however fast the space you had to travel over at first, it is daily, hourly diminishing, at a rate which will soon bring you to your journey's end. Vita brevis-" life is short." Hippocrates, who was probably the author of this apophthegm, extends it further, adding et ars longa, intimating that the longest life is only sufficient to enable us to acquire a moderate acquaintance with any art or science. The christian knows, however, that it is long enough to acquire the art of living well-the science of happiness; and he who has acquired that, bids fair to add an inch to his span-long life.-M. The Guangelist. TO LOCAL PREACHERS.-As this Paper circulates largely among local preachers, we now publish the first of a series of short Sermons and Outlines for their benefit.-EDITOR. NO. I. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. -Daniel v. 5. 6. SUBJECT:-The awakening hour of conscience. This chapter develops two solemn facts, deserving the most earnest attention of every human being:-First, That neither the revolutions of time nor the opposition of man can hinder the fulfilment of the divine word. Upwards of one hundred and sixty years before the catastrophe recorded in this chapter had taken place, the overthrow of Babylon had been predicted, with all the minute details of the sad event. Up to the very hour probabilities seemed against such an occurrence. Babylon, with its high and massive walls, its lofty towers, and broad ditches, on the last morning seemed well defended, and truly impregnable; but now, even when the king and his court appeared the less apprehensive of danger, Cyrus and his army were turning off the Euphrates, and making their way into the heart of the empire, which heaven had foredoomed. In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain. Thus his word will ever be realized. Ages may transpire, but the ETERNAL forgets it not; mountain obstacles may oppose, but the ALMIGHTY will level them with the dust. Secondly, That at the period when men fancy themselves the most secure the peril is frequently the most imminent. Probably, in the midst of the revellings of the night, many a contemptuous joke was passed as to the futilities of all invading projects. Thus it was with the Deluge, Sodom, Jerusalem; and thus, we are told, it will be with the Judgment. But the words before us direct our attention to the awakening hour of conscience, and we infer from them,-First, THAT IT IS AN HOUR THAT MUST DAWN ON THE MOST OBDURATE NATURES. There are two classes of dormant consciences; those that have never been aroused-infants and savages; and those that have been partially quickened, but deadened again-seared. There is an hour for the awakening of each, even the most lethargic. It was so now with Belshazzar. Other consciences of the same class have had their awakening hour-Cain, Herod, Judas, Felix, &c. Indeed such an hour must always precede the dawn of true religion in the soul. But here, as with Judas, it was the harbinger of retribution. "In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain." for ever from his pleasures, his friends, and his empire; "that night" What a night. Ah! what a night was that! "That night" separated him terminated for ever his opportunities of spiritual improvement, and quenched every ray of hope within his breast; that night every star in the firmanent of his being went down to rise no more, and left the whole of the immortal expanse overhung with clouds surcharged with the elements of inconceivable storms. Sinner, the day of grace is waning fast; the hour of awakening steals on. That hour shall either issue in the dawn of a new and happy life, or the chaos of moral anguish and despair. H. LIFE AT THE DIGGINGS. The following is an extract from the letter of a digger established at Eagle Hawk Gully, September 3rd. :: I "Times have improved very much since you left us in one way, but they have fallen off very much in another. Food is cheaper; and, true to the old rule, when food is plentiful labour is cheap.' Gold is more scarce. think the diggers would do better if they would only stick to one spot, and explore it thoroughly before giving it up, instead of, as many do, sink two or three holes in a gully, getting only moderate finds, then give it up in place of exploring further, and try elsewhere, running up expense on expense, losing their time, and doing no good: and why? Because it takes a long time to get into the run of the gold, and every time they shift they have, as it were, to go through a fresh apprenticeship to a fresh gully. "You remember Dead Horse Gully,' the scene of our sporting adventures. Well, I lately sank a hole there in the deep sinking. Mine ran about seventeen feet, and, as it turned out pretty good, I drove in about forty feet towards the side of the hill. One day I had been more than usually lucky, so next morning betimes I was stirring, made fast my rope to a tree, and down I went by it hand under hand, lit my slush lamp, and proceeded along the drive on my hands and knees, eager to begin work, and thinking of the big nuggets. You remember I was always celebrated for making small drives. Shading the light with my hand, I crawled in. Near the far end I stopped to avoid crawling through a small pool of water. Casting the light before me to see how the land lay-horror of horrors !—on the other side of the pool I perceived a pair of small glittering grey eyes intently fixed on me—the cold, malignant expression of which forced the warm blood back to my heart with a bound which nearly suffocated me. I knew at once that it was a snake, and a deadly one, too. Arching its neck with a hissing noise, it collected itself for the fatal spring; starting back, my head came in contact with the roof of the tunnel, and I fell back stunned and senseless. How long I lay in this state I know not, but when I came to consciousness I at first thought that I was at home in the ' 'big smoke;' but gradually the truth forced itself upon me. Where was the snake? Was I bitten? To the last mental query I cheerfully answered No!' for most of these snakes are very deadly, and the bitten part swells up immediately. On consideration, I remembered that the snake had reared for the spring, so it was clear I had fallen in the nick of time, and the reptile had passed over me; but where was it now? A cold shudder passed over me when I considered that the snake must still be in the hole, perhaps even within a few feet, watching me with its glassy eyes, or preparing for another spring. I am not easily frightened, as you well know, but for all the gold in Bendigo I would not be in that situation again. How was I to proceed? My only weapon was a driving pick; grasping it, and creeping cautiously along, I heard a noise in front. Was it the snake? I held my breath in fearful suspense, with the sweat of agony moistening my brow. No, it was only some loose stones falling from the roof. I breathed again, and with a forced courage crept stealthily along. Arrived near the mouth of the tunnel, I was again startled at seeing a large carpet-snake (my Third, THAT IT IS AN HOUR ASSOCIATED WITH GREAT MENTAL DISlate tormentor) circling round the bottom of the hole and gliding half his Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts length up its slippery sides, darting in and out his forked tongue, and slowly troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees moving his head as if searching for an opening to hide itself. Being consmote one against another. Two things are observable here:-1st, cealed in the dark tunnel, I had ample time for deliberation. Evidently I The influence of an awakened conscience upon the thoughts. Our should be able to strike the first blow if I could succeed in reaching the thoughts are governed by different principles. Sometimes intellect con- mouth without making a noise. I made up my mind at once, perhaps trols them, and we are ever in the region of investigation; sometimes rashly; I might have done better if I had waited until it was asleep. imagination has the command, and then we sport in the realms of beauty; Muttering a prayer, I crept cautiously forward; but the head of my pick sometimes avarice, and then the market is our home, and good bargains caught against a loose projecting stone, and down came a lot of earth. the joy of our heart; sometimes fleshly lusts, and then the whole nature Cursing my bad luck, I looked to see what effect it would have on the snake. is brutalized. But here the guilty conscience controls them, and this is It was evidently aroused, twisting and contorting its body into all sorts of hell. A guilty conscience always throws the thought upon three sub-knots and circles, at the same time keeping its piercing glance fixed on the jects-the wrong of the past, the guilt of the present, and the mouth of the tunnel. Darting quickly from my concealment, I nailed the retribution of the future. 2nd, The other thing observable is the snake to the ground through the neck with my pick. With a hiss of pain, influence of "troubled thoughts" upon the physical system. it suddenly threw its folds round my leg, and partly drew it towards its "The joints head; recovering, I planted my leg firmly, pulled out my bowie-knife with of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.' David felt thus when he said, "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old my left hand, and cut the snake in two about a foot from his head; still the slimy body was contracted round my leg, and still the forked tongue through my roaring all the day long." The Roman ruffians felt thus when, was playing in and out, notwithstanding the body was severed in two. I in the garden of Gethsemane, they fell as dead men at the moral majesty clambered up the side of the hole, with the snake's body still clinging to my of the mysterious Sufferer. leg; when I got to the grass I again cut the snake in two and unwound it, thanking God for my narrow escape. The snakes measured eight feet six inches. I went home to my tent and made out the day 'fossicking.' Bill and Tom send their remembrances; and, wishing you luck, I remain yours &c." : Second, THAT IT IS AN HOUR INTRODUCED BY A DIVINE MANIFESTATION. There came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick, upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 'It was very quiet; no lightning flashed, no thunder pealed, but the gentle movements of a mystic hand. It was very unexpected; it was in the midst of the gladness, when the tide of festive joy ran high. It was very palpable; there was no way of unnoticing it. It moved against the light of the candlestick. It is in this quiet, unexpected, and palpable manner, that God frequently brings that idea of Himself into the soul, which ever rouses the conscience. TRESS. Fourth, IT IS AN HOUR WHICH IS SOMETIMES THE HARBINGER OF ETERNAL RETRIBUTION. Sometimes the hour of moral awakening ushers in the light and propitious morning of conversion. It was so in the case of Zacchæus, the sinners on the day of Pentecost, the Phillipian jailor, and others. IF the world suspect your well-intentioned designs, be not uneasy. It only shows that mankind are themselves false and artful, which is the cause of their being suspicious. A CHRISTIAN should never plead spirituality for being a sloven. If he be a shoe-cleaner, he should be the best in the parish. HE that will not permit his wealth to do any good to others while he is alive, prevents it from doing any good to himself after he is dead; and by egotism, which is suicidal, not only cuts himself off from the truest pleasure here, but from the highest happiness hereafter. PREACHING.-When Dr. S. once preached at St. James's, a bystander observed, “He did better last year.". "He did not preach at all last year," replied another. The very thing I meant," answered he. "Ir is good to feel humble, and to be humbled sometimes," as the donkey said when he undertook a race with a stage horse. 66 ONE watch set right, will do to try many by; and, on the other hand, one that goes wrong, may be the means of misleading a whole neighbourhood. NEVER ALONE.-A pious cottager residing in the centre of a long and dreary heath, being asked by a visitor, "Are you not sometimes afraid in your lonely situation, especially in the winter?" replied: "Oh no; for Faith shuts the door at night, and Mercy opens it in the morning." THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.-"The christian ministry," says John Newton, "is the worst of all trades, but the best of all professions." THE DARK SIDE OF MATRIMONY.-Lat.ly, a slave in the West Indies, who had been married to another slave by one of the missionaries, at the end of three weeks brought his wife back to the clergyman and desired him to take her again. The clergyman asked what was the matter with her. "Why, massa, she no good. The book says, she obey me. She no wash my clothes. She no do what I want her to do." The minister: But the book says, you were to take her for better or for worse." "Yes, massa, but she all worse, and no better. She hab too much worse, and no good at all." 46 THE cure of an evil tongue must be done at the heart. The weights and wheels are there, and the clock strikes according to their motion. A guileful heart makes a guileful tongue and lips. It is the workhouse where is the forge of deceits and slanders; and the tongue is only the outer shop where they are vended, and the door of it. Such ware as is made within, such, and no other, can come out. 66 WELL ANSWERED-A person who suspected that a minister of his acquaintance was not truly a Calvinist, went to him, and said, "Sir, I am told you are against the perseverance of the saints." Not I, indeed," answered he; "it's the perseverance of the sinners that I oppose." 'But that is not a satisfactory answer, sir. Do you think that a child of God cannot fall very low, and yet be restored?" He replied, "I think it will be very dangerous to try the experiment!" FAMILY WORSHIP.-It was a saying of the late Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, that a house without family worship, had neither a foundation nor a covering. GOD'S EXISTENCE.-Galileo, the most profound philosopher of his age, when interrogated by the Inquisition as to his belief of a supreme Being, replied, pointing to a straw on the floor of his dungeon, that from the structure of that object alone, he would infer with certainty the existence of an intelligent Creator. "I MARK ONLY THE HOURS THAT SHINE."-Aye, that is the secret of a cheerful and grateful heart-" to mark the hours that shine." He who does this will ordinarily find more hours that shine than that are clouded-more good than ill in his lot; and he shall never be able to I have no occasion for thanksgiving. say, MASTERLY INACTIVITY.-Two or three years ago, some writers were tracing the origin of the idea used by Mr. Calhoun, in the words, "masterly inactivity," ascribing it to Sir James McIntosh, and Edmund Burke. Perhaps it found expression in the seventh verse of the thirtieth chapter of Isaiah: For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still." INDIA IN THREE WEEKS.-Within a twelvemonth of the present date, a railway will be completed from Ostend to Trieste, a distance of 1,530 miles, in which there are even now only two considerable breaks. Letters, passengers, and parcels, will then occupy little more than two days from the shores of the Channel to those of the Adriatic; four days more will take them to Egypt, and, by the aid of the railway from Alexandria to Cairo, now rapidly advancing, they may within thirty-six hours be afloat on the Red Sea, and in twelve days thereafter be safe in Bombay, or within three weeks of their leaving London. Australian News. THE GEELONG GOLD FIELDS.-Intelligence, doubly corroborated, warrants us in drawing attention to the cheering prospect of a prolific and increasing yield from Ballarat. It comes like a gleam of sunshine piercing a thunder cloud. Whilst uncertainty reigned, and gloomy anticipations were indulged, we alight upon a fresh discovery, an earnest of forthcoming prosperity, opening up fresh discoveries of wealth. The anniversary of the finding of gold (the 9th of August) proclaims fresh yield, and unprecedented gains. Two years have elapsed. Ballarat has sunk, risen, but has not yet attained its miridian. The first gold field, it is now the most prosperous, lasting, and bids fair to eclipse all others. The Eureka vein has been once more struck in a line towards the gravel pits, and is yielding enormously. The Buninyong range workings are paying handsomely. One lump has been found weighing seven pounds; and another, two pounds three ounces; a third, two pounds three pennyweights; and eighteen other nuggets, varying from one pound to six ounces. Forty-two ounces have been procured from one bucket-full of earth, and £17 sterling offered for a double handful. Our informant showed the nuggets referred to, and four hundred ounces of gold dust besides, brought down privately. Collating the information with that previously received, we feel justified in laying these statements before the public. As the first earnest of improvement, we may state, that upwards of 6,000 ounces, to our own knowledge, reached Geelong in one day. From Yuille's station to the base of the Buninyong Mount is one continuous chain of auriferous working, diverging northward to Greenbill, of which space alone, independent of Eureka and the Brownbill, calcu lated at a minimum of seven miles in length by three miles in width, unmistakably demonstrated to be gold bearing, not one twentieth part has been worked. Intersecting this line by another from the Brownhills to Winter's Flat, estimated at eight miles, gives the confine of the Ballarat gold field, real, and Creswick's Creek as an outport; pushing forward some seven Kangaroo miles to connect Ballarat with Spring Hill, and thence onward to the Loddon, comprising Daisy Hill, Korong, Sandy and Jones's Creek, within the Western gold fields. We may look forward calmly to the future. It will take years to exhaust the gold field comprised within the present sphere of operations in the Western District. The Pyrenees have then to be worked. The Wardy Yallock is yet in reserve, and untouched. Geelong is happily situate. She can look on the present with complacency, and to the future with well founded hope, with a prospect of a good coal mine into the bargain.-Australian and New Zealand Gazette. Narrative Department. "HARLEY BECKFORD." (With occasional references to the Primitive Methodists.) CHAPTER 1.-THE ALE-HOUSE. "This sign hangs well, and hinders none; Refresh and pay, and travel on." The pithy and plain-speaking couplet we have quoted was inscribed, in gilt characters, somewhat tarnished with exposure to the weather, at the foot of a sign, on the upper part of which was more largely written, "THE PILGRIM'S REST." To make this sentence clear to the humblest understanding, the village Van Daub had adorned the sign with a goodly painting, showing the sort of pilgrim, and the nature of the rest typified therein; for in a comfortable chair, two-armed and wide-shouldered, sat a very portly personage, with a huge walking stick reared up beside him ; and before him, on a sturdy table, stood a large stone jug and a capacious glass, foaming with ale, a small dish of tobacco, and a clean pipe. Whatever ideas romantic people may have of pilgrims, the painter had his own notions of what they should be; rightly comprehending the interests of his employer, and the sort of guests he wished to see. The tokens of refreshment, thus liberally exhibited, had their effect on the passing traveller, and were attractive enough to bring many a straggling thirsty soul to the "Pilgrim's Rest." It is true that the traditions of the house told a different tale to the latter half of the first line; for many a solitary pilgrim had been hindered for hours in pursuing his journey, when duty and interest equally urged him on, by the allurements of that potent pot of ale, and that clean pipe, which quenched the fever of travel and calmed the troubled spirit of the traveller. Yet, for all this, it was certain that the worthy landlord looked well after the character of his house, and the character of his customers at the same time. Of payment, it is reported he always took good care; and in addition to the precept on the sign, he had with his own hand chalked up, in large Roman capitals, right over the chimney piece, the most conspicuous place in the house, these emphatic words, "No TICK," which, however inexplicable to the unlearned, were well understood by those for whose edification they were written. Men not over friendly to the host, would now and then insinuate, that that portion of this motto which spoke of travelling on was seldom adverted to while the pilgrim had wherewithal to meet his demands; but no sooner had he discovered, by some profound intuition, known only to himself, that that singularly interesting nook in a man's apparel, commonly, and therefore vulgarly, called the breeches pocket, was becoming empty, than he peremptorily referred to his sign, and insisted that the pilgrim should not only "pay,' but "travel on." Be this as it may, we can testify of our own knowledge, that the pilgrim who would well and duly discharge the moderate tax, levied by JABEZ THRIFT and his good lady, might make himself quite at home at the "Pilgrim's Rest." The house so designated stood on the side of one of the great highways of England, which traversed the midland counties in an easterly direction, a little apart from a populous village, which, from the thriving state of the manufactures carried on therein, was fast rising to the magnitude of a town. It was one of those old fashioned houses which show that, if our ancestors knew little of exterior elegance, they understood the art of making their habitations both strong and comfortable. Four ample windows were in front, where the fragile glass was supported by heavy partitions of stone, intersected with iron bars, which defied the intrusion of unwelcome visitors, and admitted only what were wanted-light and air. The entrance to the house was a projecting porch of stone, lined with benches of the same material, so roomy as to afford a resting place for a dozen pilgrims, or more, in a warm summer evening, to quaff their nut-brown ale, and burn their Virginian weed. Over this porch was a stone tablet, which bore an inscription, marking the puritanical time of its erection, and much at variance with the habits of the pilgrims of these latter days, and ran as follows: "BE SOBER BE VIGILANT FOR YOUR ADVERSARY TE DEVIL GOETH ABOUT LIKE A ROARING LION SEEKNG WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR TOM STEVENSON." Passing through the porch, a heavy oaken door, well studded with iron knobs, admitted the guests into the house-place; an apartment of large size, having a floor of slabs of Yorkshire stone, and furnished with substantial benches of oak, black with age. The mantle-piece, as it was called, stretched all across the room, and was of oak also, rudely carved into the faces of cherubs whose swelled cheeks seemed plumped out with good living, and whose cheerful countenances seemed to answer the merriment about them with dimpled smiles. An iron grate projected from the wall, of such ample dimensions that a whole sheep might have been roasted before it with ease; but, for economy's sake, this space was contracted by an upright slab of stone, so placed as to be moveable at pleasure, and make room for a large fire when a little one was of no use. Over the grate was an iron bar, which, turning on a swivel, would either lie flat against the wall, when not wanted, or when it was, would stand out stoutly, and hold the hooks from whence were suspended spits, pans, kettles, and whatever else was required for culinary purposes. Both iron bar and hooks were extremely bright; for MRS. THRIFT held the honour of the house as especially identified with the polish of her pothooks; and, adopting as her maxim for every day, a proverb of her own, "A dirty pothook shows a dirty cook," would have no such disgraceful inference drawn from the condition of her implements of housewifery. Along the walls and from the sturdy rafters were suspended those striking portions of the picture of old English comforts,—— flitches of home-cured bacon, hams, and dried tongues, numerous enough to sustain a garrison during a long siege. The room was likewise furnished with strong high-backed chairs, and huge clumsy tables to correspond, all made of oak, and all, more or less, carved with quaint devices of chubby cherubs and long tailed dragons of great antiquity, and of such stout stuff that they defied the dislocations and fractures to which such articles are commonly exposed. On one side of this room was a dresser, from whence arose shelf after shelf up to the very ceiling, on which were ranged, in comely rows, many pewter platters and dishes. And woe to the unlucky wight who dared profanely to touch these sacred objects of her care, never used but on high days and holidays-such as the anniversary of her wedding; on which great day they did many a good yeoman service; for, with a liberality uncommon to landlords, old Thrift kept open house to all comers who had the proper pilgrim's garb on, and could show the cockle shell of old acquaintance. And in this liberality was he seconded by his good hearted wife, who was no niggard when need was for hospitality. Nor did JABEZ THRIFT lose sight of the every-other-day prosperity; in this one day of prodigality, on the contrary, he contrived to make it productive of profit in the increase of staple and stable customers, thus drawn in for a day's entertainment. In a passage out of this place, a door opened into a small well-furnished apartment, the sanctum sanctorum of landlords and landladies, in common parlance called the bar, where our gracious hostess was wont to distribute her delicious draughts, and view her enchantments. There, as if indigenous to the spot, was a small leaden recess, in which shone a highly burnished copper flagon, foaming at the top with mighty home-brewed ale. Round about on hooks, sacred to such purposes, hung sundry pewter tankards, and measures of large and small capacity, made expressly for the contentation of old England's ancient and brave barley wine. Over these goodly vessels, at due distances, stood several portly-bellied bottles, with silver labels round their necks, bearing the agreeable inscriptions of Rum, Brandy, Hollands, Shrub, Sherry, &c.; and flanking these were all sorts of jugs, mugs, and glasses, to carry the fragrant contents of the aforesaid bottles to whoever called for them. The position of the bar was admirably adapted to answer all the Purposes of a good landlady. A window on one side enabled her to overlook the room already described, where her guests met and mustered; while another window opened to the kitchen, which gave her eyes, ever on the look round, constant command over the goings on of her servants. At the end of the passage before mentioned, there was yet another room, an inscription on whose door informed you that this was the parlour, or place sacred from the common vulgar. It was in width and breadth somewhat less than the house-place; but everything appertaining to it had an air of neatness and comfort, which made such as entered therein not much in a hurry to emerge therefrom. There was a good warm carpet on the floor, some choice old paintings, and a head of Lord Nelson, after Hoffner, on the walls, an old fashioned pier glass over the fireplace, a well stored buffet, and some highly polished chairs and tables, all evidences to the comfort a man might hope to enjoy, while a parlour guest under the roof-tree of honest Master Jabez Thrift. As to the rest of the house, nothing more need to be said at present, than that the beds were soft and well aired, and models of cleanliness. (To be continued.) The Gditor's Bor. MR. EDITOR,-Since the first issue of the Standard, it has been my motto to use it as a test of feeling in this circuit among the varied office for its future success. They are much pleased with the tone it assumes; bearers, and almost invariably there has been manifested an earnest desire that, while it claims an indisputable right, to independence of thought and action, it does not court a collision of the general interest; but intends to maintain that interest without respect to person, or compromise of principle; opening a path hitherto closed in Primitive Methodist literature, and presenting a novelty in the periodical world generally. With this conviction of the facts of the case, and the purity of motive which has led to its establishment, no doubt but that you may have support from this part of the connexion; and, as one among the rest, allow me for the present to become a subscriber for twenty copies. |