the "Lamentation of a Sinner." At twenty minutes after eight, the whole of them were tied up, and in a few seconds afterwards they were launched into eternity. At the moment the drop fell, one of them uttered a piercing shriek, but it was not ascertained which. Their sufferings were but instanta. neous. The crowd assembled was very great.—Morning Chronicle.

Dreadful Fire in November last.-This fire, in a street in London, called Drury-lane, was caused by some shavings catching fire in the yard of Mr. Glazier. The fire soon caught a pile of dry deals, and then burnt with such fury, that all attempts to stop it seemed of no avail. Many persons exerted themselves, and did all they could to assist the poor sufferers, and to save their property; whilst many wicked persons took advantage of the helpless state of these distressed people, and seized and plundered every thing they could lay hold of. The Bow-strect patrol, and parish officers, did their utmost to protect the property; but the thieves were too many in number to be wholly checked by them. A female, lodging in Mr. Glazier's house, had been put to bed only the night before, and received such a shock from the alarm, that she immediately fainted, and was carried, in that state, to the house of Mr. Lancaster, at the corner of Russel-street; her baby was afterwards saved from the flames. An old man, who has been for some years afflicted with the dropsy, had a narrow escape with his life; and a bedridden old female received a severe accident, which is likely to end in her death. The effects of this calamity are most painful to think of. It is said, that no less than twenty families have been reduced from comfortable circumstances to a state of beggary. The assistance of the foot-guards was of very great service. By keeping off the crowd, they enabled the fire-men to exert themselves; these useful persons having, before the soldiers arrived, been hindered in their work by the pressure of the crowd. The conduct of the soldiers, as well as of the fire-men, merits the warmest praise.

There are some persons who would read this account, and think no more about it. Whilst some of my readers will be making reflections of this kind. How careful we ought to be of fire! A single spark, falling on a few shavings, or straw, or linen, may set a house, or a street, or even a town on fire! How many poor children have been burnt to death, by being left in a room with a fire in it! How careful servants ought to be to see that the fires and candles are all safe before they go to bed! How dangerous it is to leave linen airing near the fire! Nine times out of ten no harm may come of it, but the tenth time the house is burnt down. What a very bad habit reading in bed is! Many a one has fallen asleep, and

left the candle burning, and so the curtains, or bed-clothes have taken fire. Many a barn and stable have been destroyed by carrying in a candle without a lantern. It is, however, a comfort to think that there are so many people ready to assist in putting out these dreadful fires: and that there are soldiers and fire-men who can be called upon for their useful services. And what good things those fire engines are! They are not only needful in great towns, but there should be one in almost every village. And they should be frequently examined and worked, that they may be always in order. There is something quite dreadful in being burnt out of house and home, and reduced, in a moment, to distress and want. I am sure we ought to do all we can to help those poor creatures who are in such sad distress. But what hard hearted people those must be, who, instead of helping their unhappy neighbours, chuse the moment of their misfortune to rob them of their property, and add to their afflictions. Surely if those poor wretches had known how to read their Bibles, and had been brought up in schools where the fear of God is taught, and carried to church when they were young, they would have learnt what is the beautiful spirit of the religion of Christ; how it teaches us to love one another, to wrong nobody, and to do all the good we can to every body. How many people lose their lives in these fires! And how awful it is to be cut off in this way without warning! How careful ought we to be to "watch and pray, for we know not when the time is!" We should frequently "examine ourselves whether we be in the faith;" whether our hopes are fixed on the foundation which the Gospel lays before us; whether we truly repent of our sins, and are striving to forsake them; whether we trust for pardon to the atoning merits of Christ; whether we seek the direction of his spirit, and desire to follow it; whether our hearts, our lives, our conduct, our conversation, be really such as the religion of the Gospel teaches us. "Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching."

DREADFUL ACCIDENT.-On Wednesday afternoon a great number of people assembled to witness the cruel diversion of baiting a bull, in the shallow of the river near the bridge at Rochdale, when the pressure upon the wall became so great that it gave way, and fell into the river. Six men, who were under the wall, were instantly crushed to death; and a great number of men and women were very seriously hurt, some of them dangerously. Since writing the above paragraph, we regret to have to add, that three of the wounded are since dead, and there are three others so dreadfully bruised that no hopes are entertained of their recovery. The following are the names of six of the unfortunate men, who perished in con

sequence of this most inhuman and unchristian diversion: B. Stott, Midgley, W. Butterworth, M. Hodkinem, Grimrod, W. Holt. The distress and alarm occasioned by the dreadful event are not to be described; and we trust it will operate towards putting an end to an amusement, which has long been a disgrace to our national character. We pray, at church, against sudden death; that is, against death when we are not prepared for it. In what state of preparation is a person cut off at such a time, and in such a scene?-Leeds Newspaper.

HUMANITY.-The following little incident, at the Drurylane fire, excited a very lively degree of interest amongst the spectators. In one of the houses which had taken fire was heard the shrill whistle of a bird, and it was immediately recollected that there was a bird in a cage in the first floor. How to save the little sufferer became the subject of consideration, and one of the constables humanely volunteered to make the trial. The people tried much to stop him: however, as the fire had not yet got into that room, he was allowed to enter the house, and he succeeded in delivering the poor little warbler from its dangerous situation. The little bird then ceased the whistle which had been the cause of preserving its life.-London Newspaper.

The following dreadful account is taken from the Morning Chronicle of Dec. 14, 1820. It shews what sad effects arise from drinking. Poor Michael White's death, you will see, arose from a quarrel at an alehouse. An alehouse has sometimes been called a rag-shop, because a man by going thither generally gets clothed in rags; but this is not the worst; it keeps the mind from every thing good, and leads it to every thing bad. What quarrels, what bloodshed, often arise from it! And yet such houses were intended for the accommodation of the public, and are very useful too, if under proper regulations. A traveller must have a place where he can get refreshment; or a person coming to market must have a place to put up at, and therefore we could not do without public-houses; but yet many of them are so shockingly managed, and are such resorts of wickedness and sin, that a Christian-minded man would rather go without meat and drink than sit down in such places. Michael White might have been alive now, if he had not gone into the alehouse. And it was on a Sunday too, that these unhappy men were at the alehouse, when their quarrel began. I leave my Reader to make his own reflections on this melancholy affair. FATAL BOXING.-Wednesday last a Coroner's Inquest was held at the Ship and Castle, Marsh-street, Bristol, on the body of Michael White, a labourer, who came by his death

under the following circumstances:-It appeared that the deceased was at the Ship and Castle on Sunday night, when a quarrel happening between some young men and an Irishman of the name of Dogherty, the deceased attempted to part them, on which Dogherty challenged the deceased to fight, and a battle accordingly took place on Tuesday. After fighting for one hour and ten minutes, in which they contested forty-five rounds, the deceased was so dreadfully bruised that he could not stand on his legs, and was obliged to be carried on the backs of two men to his home, where he died about six o'clock the same evening. The body was in a most dreadful state, one side of his face being quite black, and his side dreadfully bruised and the Jury returned a Verdict of Manslaughter against Dogherty.

The following distressing account is copied, word for word, out of one of the newspapers for December. No one can help pitying the poor father. Poor Wilks! we know not how he brought his children up, but we are quite sure that he is an object of deep compassion. The death of our children is a deep affliction, but it is far better to follow them to their graves in their infancy, than to see them live in disgrace and infamy, unfit for the society of good people, and, what is worse, wholly unfit, if they die, to enter into happiness in the world to come. The poor girl promises amendment; but, from the manner in which she expresses herself, she seems to have but little notion what Christian repentance means. The account is as follows:

MANSION HOUSE.-A girl, about 16 years of age, the daughter of a poor old man, named Wilks, who resides in North-street, Bethnal Green, was brought before the Lord Mayor upon the charge of having associated with a gang of young thieves, and been concerned in stealing some bottles of pickles.

The father of the girl appeared before his lordship. He is in his 68th year, and said that he had a wife and six daughters, whom he found it impossible to support without parish relief-his only way of earning a subsistence being by selling hearth-stones; an employment laborious enough, but very unprofitable. It was, he said, no small addition to his sufferings from indigence that his children were turning out badly. Two of them were living by prostitution, and spurned at all intreaties to return home and be industrious. The girl who appeared at the bar was treading in the footsteps of her sisters, and he feared that a worse disgrace than prostitution awaited her. The other three daughters were very young; but having such dreadful examples before them, and being without the care of a mother, he dreaded that their chance

of meeting with better fortune was but slight. It would be, he observed, some alleviation of his afflictions if his children owed the loss of their mother to the hand of death; but it was the sum of his misfortunes that the unhappy womans went distracted some time ago in consequence of the calamity that had befallen her eldest girls.

The Lord Mayor gave the unfortunate old man some silver for the relief of his immediate necessities, and desired him to go to the parish-officers, who, he had no doubt, would relieve distress, which appeared to be almost without parallel. The girl, who assured the Lord Mayor that she would reform her conduct and pay attention to her father, was sent away with him to the parish-officers.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We are sorry that we did not receive the communication of Y.E.S. in time to answer it in the way which he requested. We trust, by inserting his letter in our first number, we have given the best proof of our approval of it.

We are much obliged to our correspondent James B. for his useful hints. Some of them we see the propriety of adopting. Others will be attended with more difficulty than he is perhaps aware of.

We cannot but feel flattered and encouraged by the notice which our little work has already excited, merely from the appearance of our prospectus and advertisements. Several correspondents have already favoured us with useful commu-“ nications and serviceable advice. Some of our friends are not quite satisfied with the title of our book: several new ones were suggested to us, very judicionsly chosen; but, as we could not adopt them all, and knew not which to chuse, we remained contented with our own; especially as our present title simply conveys the plan of our work; and is, moreover, commended by a majority of our correspondents. If we furnish amusement or instruction to any who are not "Coltagers," we hope we shall be not the worse esteemed, because we do not so strictly profess to be " Visitors" to them.