appreciated by the mining interest. The efforts of late engineers have been directed chiefly and successfully to economy, apart from which many of the most productive would long since have been abandoned. These great improvements have principally originated in Cornwall, where ingenuity has been stimulated by the high price of coal. COMMON SAYINGS. No. VIII. LUCK-CHANCE-FORTUNE. My grandfather used to say that some of the common sayings about luck, fate, chance, fortune, etc., were abominably heathenish; and that others had a very bad moral tendency, as leading people to put off the blame of their own actions to something which they could not help; according to the good and true saying, "Every one puts his faults on the times." There are very few people who do not excuse their faults to others, and perhaps blind their own consciences, by pleading that their circumstances rendered their conduct unavoidable, and that in other circumstances they should have acted much better. "It could not be helped," is one of the sayings that are made to gloss over many wilful sins. "I was sorry to say what was not true," observed a tradesman, when relating the answer he gave to a question when it was not convenient to give the applicant the information desired, nor yet expedient to hazard offending by a direct refusal to reply to his inquiry; "I very much dislike telling a lie; but it could not be helped." "Ah," said my grandfather, "the old story over again. That's just the spirit of the excuse made by our first parents. They would fain have made out that they could not help sinning, just because they had an opportunity of sinning, and were invited to sin, and thought it would be to their gratification and their interest to sin. You know how their excuse was received; and don't flatter yourself that yours will speed any better. No person can possibly be placed in circumstances that oblige him to sin; and the readiness with which we plead the force of even a slight temptation, instead of extenuating our guilt, ilt, only only shows how little sincerity and steadiness there is in our professed dislike to and resistance of evil." "Leave that basin alone, there's a good boy," said Mrs. Richards to her little boy, as he laid hold of a basin containing some beautiful flowers stuck in wet sand. My aunt evidently trembled for her favourite china basin, and her nicely arranged sand-nosegay. But in spite of his mother's gratuitous plaudit, master Richards was not so good as to practise obedience. "Do you hear what I say, sir?" said the mother, elevating her voice above the natural pitch; "put that basin down this moment; you'll break it as sure as fate. There did not I say so? You naughty boy. What will Miss Griffiths say to you?" My aunt advanced to gather up the fragments, and to speculate on the possibility of reuniting them; but little master seemed to apprehend that she was coming to execute vengeance on him. He set up a fearful screaming, and stamped on the floor in an agony of rage and terror. His foolish mother then began to soothe him. "There, don't cry any more. I'm sure Miss Griffiths will forgive you. You did not mean to do it, did you? I'm sure you could not help it. It was 'more his misfortune than his fault,' was it not Mr. Griffiths? But I suppose you won't admit that; for you always say I am too easy with children. Dear me, I do think I know where I can match the basin. There, never mind my boy; it will all be set right again, won't it, Mr. Griffiths?" "Why, Mrs. Richards, if you mean me to speak as I think, I must say, No. The basin may, or may not, be matched; but if it should, there is something else of much more importance, which will not be set to rights. I mean your little boy's disobedience." "He should not have meddled with it, to be sure; but, poor fellow, he did not know it was so heavy." "That might be admitted as an excuse for his letting the basin fall, if he had been desired to take it up; but it is not the breaking of the basin, but the disobedience of the child, at which I am concerned, and at which you ought to be seriously concerned too. That, you know, is not at all affected by the circumstance of the basin being either light or heavy; or of his either knowing or not knowing that it was so; or of its being either broken or uninjured by his meddling with it. He was told to leave it alone, and he did not choose to obey. first act is a fault, the mischief that results from it ought not to be called a misfortune. But this is a matter in which many people deceive themselves, and If the quiet their consciences by imagining | Father's permission. Hence we ought themselves objects of pity rather than of to realize and acknowledge his agency or worm is seen, I know that it is better to do certain things a few days earlier than that period, or defer them till a few days later. This is experience; and those who take experience and common sense for their guides, have seldom much to say about good or bad luck. The proverb says, 'Diligence and forecast are the parents of good luck.' I should rather say that success, which worldly people term good luck, is the ordinary blessing of Providence on the exercise of forecast and diligence." blame. I am afraid it is so with you, when you complain of your fatigues and vexations with your children. Your suffering them to disobey you in trifles now, is like the child touching the basin; and if they should grow up to embitter your declining years, or, perhaps, break your heart by their unkindness and rebellion, you will have no more just reason to say then of your troubles than you have now of the broken basin, that they are 'misfortunes!'” This foolish mother lived bitterly to realize the truth of my grand father's observations. I have alluded to my sister Lydia in her school days having been tainted with vulgar superstition; and as I can speak confidently of her having been entirely cured, I need not hesitate again to refer to her in the days of her folly. She not unfrequently sheltered some instance of neglect or carelessness with, "Well, it could not be helped: it is not my fault. I am quite out of luck's way to-day." On the other hand, if she had accomplished any thing in a satisfactory manner, and was commended for her performance, she would often say, "It was more by luck than by wit, as the cripple chanced to catch the hare," or "as the blind man shot the crow." "My dear girl," said my grandpapa, "I wish you would break yourself of that foolish habit of ascribing things to luck or chance. Tell me exactly what you mean by the words, will you?" "Things that happen, you know, grandpapa-I mean, things that we cannot exactly help. Do you not know what I mean?" "Not very distinctly, Lydia; and it is because I suspect there is some indistinctness in your own views, that I press upon you to ascertain your own meaning, and that it is just and correct: or, if otherwise, that you would abandon the use of the phrases. If I were to try to help you out a little, I should say that the terms luck, chance, fate, fortune, and destiny, are commonly used to express human events not under human control; but they are almost always improperly used, either as implying a disregard of Divine Providence, or as shifting off human responsibility. Nothing befals us by chance. We are expressly taught that the very hairs of our head are all numbered, and that not a sparrow falls to the ground without our in all events. The smallest are not beneath his notice; nor are they incapable of leading to important results. A Christian, therefore, has nothing to do with chance. And then, as to our own actions and their results, whatever it is our duty to do at all, it is our duty to attend and apply to, and do as well as we can. If we take pains, and succeed, success is not good luck, but the reward of well-directed endeavour. If we take pains, and ye do not succeed, let us not indolently talk about ill luck, but endeavour to find out the real cause of our failure; recall to mind every circumstance and step of the process, and inquire whether some one of these might not have been better arranged, and so the whole conducted to a prosperous issue." "I know," said my aunt, "this is how I learned to make a plum cake. I never used to succeed, let me put in what ingredients I would; and when cake after cake proved heavy, I was ready to say, as Lydia does, 'Well, it seems as if I am to have no luck. But after trying various experiments of my own without success, I happened to see a neighbour making a cake, and I observed that she reserved the eggs till all the other ingredients were well mixed, and added them last of all. I tried this plan myself, and found it succeed; and now I may appeal to both Lydia and Charles, whether or not I can make a good plum cake.". "And it is thus," added my grandfather, "that I have learned to cultivate my farm; by observing circumstances, sometimes very minute circumstances, which yet I have proved by experience to have an important influence on my crops. I don't mean that any observations or precautions of mine can control seasons; but though I cannot regulate the weather, I can regulate my movements according to it. And though I cannot prevent noxious insects from entering my fields, I can do something to oppose their ravages, by carefully observing the time of their appearance, and having my seed or my crops in such a state as to be least susceptible of injury. There is a sufficient degree of regularity in the appearances of nature to form a pretty safe guide to the husbandman in his operations; and by observing and noting, for a series of years, the exact time at which any particular kind of grub "But, grandpapa, there is another proverb which says, 'An inch of good luck is worth a fathom of forecast.' What do you make of that, grandpapa?" individual, despite of his good fortune, as it is called, is far worse off than his diligent, prudent neighbour, who has had as many difficulties and discouragements to contend with, as the other has had advantages and opportunities showered down upon him. A favourable gale will do more for the diligent mariner than much laborious toiling and rowing; but it will be lost upon him who has been idling on shore when he ought to have been loading his vessel, or slumbering on board when he ought to have been hoisting his sails." "But, grandpapa, do you think every body that deserves success has it? Do you not think that there is something in people's being in 'luck's way,' and that this does not always happen to the best people?" I recollected a common saying which seemed to take Lydia's view of the subject, "It is better to be born lucky than rich;" and another, "Some people are born with a wooden spoon in their mouths, and others with a silver ladle." "Why nothing at all, Lydia. It is not true. It is among the dreams of idle and improvident people, that one stroke of good fortune, as they call it, would set them above all their difficulties, and place them in the very circumstances they desire, without the labour and application they abhor. But suppose the unlikely, though desired, station obtained; even that would not be better than, nor half so good an attainment as, the qualities with which it is set in competition. Give an idle and improvident person what you will, you cannot make him rich. He will not take care of his property, or make a good use of it while he has it. He will soon squander it away, and become poor again; and then, if his character remain the same, he has no resources within himself to provide for the future. On the other hand, a person who is diligent and thrifty, though he may meet with many adverse circumstances, and experience repeated disappointments, possesses within himself the means of making the best of things as they are, and of improving any favourable turn that may occur. I admit that a favourable conjunction of circumstances, beyond human control or foresight, sometimes occurs most opportunely, and effects at once what years of care and toil have failed to accomplish; but, then, diligence and forecast put a man in a position to improve the advantage which idleness and inconsideration would have thrown | By no means. The ordering of events is away. In the course of my life, I have seen several instances in which persons have had every advantage of circumstances that could possibly have been desired, and which, if success could be secured apart from conduct, seemed to insure it; but which have been squandered away; and in a few years, perhaps in a few months, the idle, thriftless "These sayings," replied my grandfather, "are often applied to persons of whose history only the general outline is known-not the particular instances of conduct which, in reality, led to the events that are improperly denominated fortunate or unfortunate. If a person is by nature endowed with a sound understanding, and animated with activity, and is by education inspired with just sentiments and correct principles, it is likely that he will act both uprightly and prudently; and it is probable also, that success will attend his endeavours; and those who witness his prosperity will, perhaps, make one of two remarks upon it-neither of them strictly correct. The idle, not choosing to imitate his conduct, will envy his 'good luck.' The diligent worldlings, thinking they see in his prosperity a model of their own deserts, will say, 'Every man is the artificer of his own fortune.' But of both classes it may be said, 'God is not in all their thoughts.' You ask me, Lydia, if merit and success always go together. neither regulated by human actions, nor left to blind chance; but depends on the wise arrangements of Providence, the designs of which are various sometimes to encourage diligence, prudence, and obedience sometimes to exercise the graces of faith, patience, and resignation - sometimes to win the rebellious to gratitude and love-sometimes to show the vanity of the world, and to wean men from ❘ is cast for us. Then, if we are conscious seeking a portion in it and sometimes to leave those inexcusable who remain hardened under various dispensations. In general, it may be said, in reference to the conduct of men, that 'whatever is right, is wise and politic;' and 'whatever be a man's circumstances, they must necessarily be better if he be upright and industrious and prudent, and worse if he be idle, vicious, and careless.' But it would be a great mistake to suppose that a good man must needs be prosperous; or to conclude that a prosperous man must be a good man. 'The righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God,' Eccles. ix. 1. They are under his special protection and guidance. All their affairs are managed by him for their good; and those thi things which seem to be most against them, will turn out to be for them. But it is not by outward things that we can judge of 'love and hatred.' By attempting to do so, we should become 'envious at the prosperity of the wicked,' and discouraged at the afflictions of the righteous, Psa. lxxiii. 3. We may look around us in our day, as Solomon did in his, and see that 'the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill, Eccles. ix. 11. Success does not always correspond with reasonable expectations. There are favourable and unfavourable times into which men are cast; the former often procure success to inferior talents and exertions; under the latter, no abilities or efforts can prevent disappointment. There are also various events which cannot be foreseen, which determine a man's success in any enterprise, and have a decisive effect upon his lot in life. Those who do not regard God, call these things 'chance' or 'fortune;' and rail at the blindness, caprice, and partiality of an imaginary being. But the Christian is taught to refer all to the overruling power and providence of God. The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord,' Prov. xvi. 33. From him come our prosperity and success; and he it is that breaks our measures and blasts our hopes, to teach us that 'the way of man is not in himself,' but subject to the Divine will. We must take measures, but not trust to them: if we succeed, we must give God the praise: if we are crossed, we must acquiesce in his will, and take the lot that of love and submission to God, we may indulge the confidence that we are loved of God, and that all these trials are sent in love. This is enough to make us happy, however the world may frown upon us; while the frown of God can make a wicked man miserable, however the world may smile upon him." C. CAUSES OF REJOICING AT THE APPROACH OF DEATH. It is not the cessation from pain that can make Christians view the approach of death with satisfaction. For believe me, they have not one pain too many. Not that they love pain, or are not glad to be freed from it when the Lord pleases; but they know that every one of their sufferings is necessary and good for them, and that they come from the hand of a kind and tender Father. They are willing to bear as much pain as his love sees fit to inflict. Their pains are very sweet to them, as they come from him; and could you know how he "strengthens them upon the bed of languishing," and how he "makes all their bed in their sickness," you would almost envy them even their pains, sweetened as they are by "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding!" Wherein do they rejoice? In the hope of being "for ever with the Lord!" of seeing Him, "whom having not seen, they love; in whom, though now they see him not, yet believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," 1 Pet. i. 8. Oh! to behold this "King in his beauty!" and beholding, to be transformed into his glorious likeness! and then to cease from sin! this, this is the blessed sensation after which real Christians pant. To love their holy and reconciled God without any coldness or unfaithfulness; to offend him no more by one unholy, or rebellious, or selfish, or unbelieving thought; to be pure as he is pure; to be "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;" and then to praise him, to give him glory, to cast our blood-bought crowns at his feet, through the countless ages of eternity! Pray, that in the hour of death you may be so filled with these causes of joy, that the mere escape from a few bodily pains may seem not worthy to be mentioned in the comparison. The Bible tells you, that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," John iii. 3; and that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed | mighty mass was then furnished with away; behold, all things are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17. Examine, I beseech you, whether you have undergone that mighty change in all your views, tempers, and sentiments, which these expressions imply.-M. J. Graham. THE GREAT BELL. How clamorously the bells are ringing, and with what a full, solemn, and majestic voice the big bell joins the arresting chorus! It thrills through my very heart: the belfry shakes, and the spire is rocking with the deep-mouthed music. Fifty years have passed since the great bell was hung where it is. It cries aloud to the old and the young, the sad and the joyous; but it cries louder to me than to all, for I was at the founding of it, with many more who are now asleep under the green hillocks of the graveyard. I am the last man alive who was present at the founding of the great bell. It was enough to scare any one to gaze on the fiery furnace that panting, and raging, and glowing, and glaring, reminded me of that fire prepared for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated. It was a fearful sight, and an undefined sense of danger thrilled through my frame as I looked upon it, such as he feels who is near some latent enemy that may suddenly spring upon him in his fury. The roaring blast that urged on the fire was terrible, and the tormented volcano writhed with vehement wrath. But if the furnace was fearful when its rage was pent up within it, how much more terrible was it, when, bursting from the massy iron doors, the red molten flood poured forth in a torrent of fire, burning its way till it had filled up every crevice of the mighty mould prepared to receive it, mantling the brim as a huge cup of ruddy wine sparkling, and moving itself aright. Some said the burning stream resembled a fiery serpent, coiling itself round in its rage. Not soon did the great bell lose its fiery intensity, and cool down to an approachable temperament; nor was it then a light undertaking to dig it from its bed of earth, to liberate it from the clayey manacles that bound it, and make manifest its fair proportions; but it was done, and I lifted up my hands at its beauty. It was a masterpiece of workmanship, and excited universal admiration. The a clapper; and thus a tongue was put into its giant mouth, that might alarm a host, or rouse, with a voice of thunder, the population of a parish. were It was borne to the church in state, as a conqueror in a triumphant car. The old looked on with astonishment, and the young clapped their hands. The horses that drew it had to put forth their strength, striking fire with their ironshod hoofs against the straggling stones beneath them; and the wheels crushed by the weight of their load deep in the yielding ground. A crowd was gathered at the churchyard gate, and the churchyard wall was peopled. How few of that gathered throng could now be mustered! Life is "even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away," Jas. iv. 14. Hardly did I think that human power could have hoisted the bell up into its elevated dwelling place; but the levers used were many, the chains strong, and the ropes tough and pliable. The crank and the pulley did their duty, the scaffolding stood firm, and the great bell, huge and mighty as it was, hung at ease by the side of its attendant wheel in the belfry. Never before had the tower of St. Michael's such a noble tenant, and never was the dark winding staircase so thronged with visitors. Rumour ran babbling with her hundred tongues, and the question was in every one's mouth- "Have you seen the great bell?" Not long was the great bell quiet, for many were eager to hear its early music -to catch its first melodious clang, that they might know if it were equal to the hopes it had awakened. And well did it endure the trial, winning its way to all hearts; for its voice, full as the organ, and clear and sonorous as the brazen trumpet, was felt as well as heard from afar, amid the voices of the mighty choristers of the belfry, while delighted ears drank in the wondrous diapason. The great bell was loudly applauded, and the fame of the founder widely spread abroad. son I never knew the weight of the great bell, nor its exact dimensions, but I know that many bells, huge as it is, are much more bulky. The Great Tom of Lincoln weighs five tons; Peter of Exeter still more; and Mighty Tom, of Christ Church, Oxford, weighs more than seven tons. What a ponderous mass! Once in my young and thought |