if he knew why I was so changed, he would, if he had ever loved me, love me the better for the alteration; and at any rate he would pity me. Pity me! pity me! Pity the poor love-sick girl! Horrible! No-never, never may I live to see myself an object of such pity to him No-I can die, and die contented, so I believe myself still an object of his esteem and respect; and when he comes, I will behave with such resolution!"

But Douglas did not come, and Jane grew daily worse; nor did he talk of coming in the ensuing vacation, and Jane was again ordered to Bristol; but she declared herself too weak to undertake the journey, and the physician himself owned that he believed it would be unavailing.

A few days after he had said this, and had witnessed the extreme grief which this declaration had occasioned the kind protectors of the unhappy orphan, he begged them to attend him into another room, as he had something of great importance to say to them. They obeyed, and he told them he was perfectly convinced that Miss Vernon's disorder was caused by mental uneasiness. "She has something on her mind," said he; "and unless you can prevail on her to disclose what it is, believe me, it is not in the power of medicine to save her."

Mr. and Mrs. Hanbury's astonishment equalled their distress, and the physician proceeded to suggest the probability of her pining in secret and unrequited love.

"Impossible!" cried Mr. Hanbury, eagerly, "impossible!"

"Would I thought so too!" mournfully replied Mrs. Hanbury, whose long blindness was now painfully removed.

Mrs. Hanbury had very rigid ideas on the subject of female delicacy, and was not therefore able to bear for a moment the idea that any woman whom she esteemed could be guilty of such a violation of it as to entertain a passion for a man who had never by word, look, or action endeavoured to inspire her with it: but she now recollected a thousand instances of Jane's attachment to Doug.

"Yes! In the first place, you know she was much prejudiced against him before she saw him; and I see clearly, by the distance of her manner to him for some time past, that her old prejudices are returned. Then you see that I have never been able to prevail on her to sing to him, or show her drawings to him, though I have sometimes conquered her timidity on other occasions; but she always refuses to oblige him this way; and I assure you, that when I told her last Christmas that he was coming to see us, she burst into tears, and looked I don't know how."

"Say no more, say no more, Mr. Hanbury," cried his inore quick-sighted wife; "it is then, I see, too true!"

mournfully exclaimed, "I fear these lines are only too prophetic; and she will, she must die! for I know she will never own the truth, and such a load of unshared anguish must sink her to the grave."

In vain did Mr. Hanbury declare he did not believe that love and Douglas were the only causes of Jane's disorder; his wife and the physician were both against him; and it was at length resolved upon that the latter should inform Miss Vernon that he knew the cause of her complaint was seated in the heart, and that if she wished to give herself a chance of living, she must unburthen her mind to her kind and affectionate friends. He did so, and Jane heard him with a degree of fierce indignation wholly foreign to her character; for her extreme delicacy was wounded by his suspicions, and roused her to the most violent resentment. But the feeling was too strong, and too uncongenial to her nature, to last, and she sunk almost fainting on her pillow; and then her kind adviser attacked her feelings in another way. He represented to her the affection, even parental, which the Hanburys entertained for her; and told her that, however desirous she might be of dying, her life was no longer at her disposal, as it was due to the friends who had adopted her, and that she ought to struggle with her feelings, and endeavour to take every means of recovery, for their sakes, if not for her own. This was attacking the grateful affectionate heart of Jane on the right side; and after a long and dreadful struggle between delicacy and duty, Jane owned that the physician's suspicions were well founded, and promised solemnly to confide in her venerable friends.

At length, after many struggles, many fruitless efforts, and many expressions of the horror aud contempt excited in her by her own weakness, the poor self-condemned sufferer confessed to her afflicted friends, that she had imbibed a deep-rooted and hopeless passion for their unconscious ward; and she made

this avowal of a pure and virtuous attachment to one of the most amiable of men with great reluctance, timidity, and self-condemnation; nor did she do so till she had obtained from them both the strongest assurances that they would keep her secret with all possible fidelity.

Mr. Hanbury was surprised and afflicted too, nay perhaps mortified, at his want of discernment; but sorrow was the only feeling experienced by his wife; and after having spoken the kindest words of consolation to the wretched girl, she took the first opportunity of leaving her, that she might consult with her husband on what was best to be done.

While they were consulting together, Douglas, who was not to be of age till three-and-twenty, but was now within six weeks of his majority, wrote a few hasty lines to announce his intention of coming to them the next day for a week; and the distressed couple, convinced that they ought not to sacrifice Jane's life to their promise or her delicacy, took their resolution accordingly.

Douglas came in high spirits; but they were greatly damped on hearing the sad situation of the interesting orphan, for whom he felt a sort of brother's love.

But his feelings then were blissful to what he experienced, when, after many tears from Mrs. Hanbury, and many signs of strong emotion in his guardian, as they drew round the evening fire, Mr. Hanbury simply and shortly related the cause of Jane's malady; while in proportion as he dwelt on the length, truth, and ardour of Jane's affection, Mrs. Hanbury as fully expatiated on her extreme delicacy; on the difficulty which they had to get the secret from her; and on the eagerness with which she extorted a promise from them never to reveal it.

When they had done this, they ceased speaking, and did not make a single comment. Douglas listened to the tale motionless as a statue, and incapable of speaking a word, while his friends sat equally silent by his side; till Mr.

Hanbury, sliding a copy of the poor orphan's torn verses into his hand, explained what they were, how they had obtained them, and told him to read them when he was alone.

Immediately after Douglas started up to retire to his own room; but when he reached the door he turned round, and said, "Allow me this night for reflection."

He had need of it indeed. Humanity, pity, and gratitude, called upon him imperiously to offer the unhappy Jane his hand, and save her from the misery of dying of unrequited love. But then the sacrifice was a tremendous one. He felt for Jane, though she was beautiful, amiable, and intelligent, no sentiment resembling passion, and mar

riage itself was at that time inconvenient, nay, even hateful to him; as it would interfere with all those plans so long the darling objects of his wishes, plans calculated to repay him for the severity of his past studies, by opening to him new fields of improvement and delight.

It had for years been his intention to travel over Greece, and indeed over every part of Europe, and great part of Asia, as soon as he had taken his longexpected degree, and had possession of his fortune and he well knew that it was impossible for him to take a wife with him in some of the expeditions which he was most fond of projecting. But then he recollected, that if he did marry Jane, pleasure was all he gave up, and if he did not, he sacrificed her life.

RUTHIN.-A lecture was delivered (March 26), at the Free Church, Ruthin, by the Rev. T. Spencer Hill, entitled, "An Evening with the Worthy, Witty, and Wise," the object of which was to aid the Sunday-school Bank, to which the school is indebted for a measure of prosperity. It may be gratifying to know that the greater part of the Interest likely to be due on the children's deposits next Christmas has been thus early provided by the pecuniary results of this lecture.

The Rev. J. R. Kilsby Jones, so well known throughout the Principality, having recently visited Ruthin in order to preach in Welsh, an arrangement was made with him before his departure to preach an English sermon in the Free Church. The bellman announced the service to the inhabitants of the town. Mr. Jones delivered a beautiful and original sermon on "Man Worth," on the occasion.

On Sunday afternoon, April 7th, a

beautiful pocket Bible was presented by the pastor, in behalf of the Sundayschool teachers, to Thomas Henry Gilbert, one of the scholars, who has been long connected with the school, and has made himself useful to the Free Church. The immediate occasion of the presentation was his intended removal from Ruthin for the metropolis.

NORWICH. On Thursday evening, March the 14th, the Ladies' Working Committee for Sierra Leone, in connexion with Westbeech House, Norwich, and a few friends, partook of tea and supper at the house of Mrs. Walter H. Pigg, Secretary to the Committee, and daughter of the Rev. J. J. J. Kempster. The meeting had a tendency to encourage each other in their "work of faith, and labour of love," and to enlist the sympathies of such as were privileged, although not members, to share in the evening's entertainment.

It was a season of social enjoyment, and during the evening, the meeting was enlivened by the singing and playing on the pianoforte of several pieces of sacred music.

The ladies will shortly forward a box of articles which they have just completed for the mission.

SIERRA LEONE. Our correspondence with the Sierra Leone Churches is kept up month after month as usual; every mail brings tidings of the spread of the Gospel and the extension of the kingdom of Christ in the midst of our coloured fellow men in Africa. Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God.

The reported murder of Dr. Livingstone will make many sad hearts in Sierra Leone. It was my privilege to make his acquaintance there, where I heard from his own lips his views and feelings concerning the vast continent of Africa, to the exploration and elevation of which he consecrated his noble life. I shall not soon forget the enthusiasm of the people of the colony on his arrival. All the people, from his Excellency the Governor to the humblest person, sought to do him honour. The few days he spent in our midst were red-letter days in our African history, and when he left for the interior, many an earnest prayer was sent up to God by Sierra Leone Christians on his behalf. Since then his travels and explorations have contributed most largely to our geographical intelligence, and shed the brightest lustre on the page of African discoveries. Indeed he has made his life sublime by his extensive scientific knowledge, lion-hearted courage, self-sacrificing toil, invincible perseverance, lofty purpose, unassuming Christianity, and wonderful success. Most earnestly do I hope that the account of his death is fiction; but the very report of the death of such a brave man has already chilled the hearts of thousands, for his life seemed to be charmed, and we believed that he was predestinated by the Great

Arbiter of human destinies yet to accomplish the greatest good for Africa.

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In his last letter from the colony, the Rev. S. Priddy says: We are going on well, thank God. Our chapel in the city (Freetown) is well attended, and our Church is increasing in members. The villages and mission station are going on quietly and progressively. Mr. Priddy has recently visited Bompey, and was most kindly received by the king. His majesty expressed great gladness at the attention paid to him and his subjects by our Society. At present he and his people are a little unsettled. They have been involved in war with neighbouring tribes, which has disturbed the peace and order of his kingdom; but he hopes soon that everything will be amicably settled, and that the Gospel will then run and be glori fied in every part of his empire. He has invited Mr. Priddy to pay him another visit when the country is quiet, to make arrangements for the spread of the Gospel, and the establishment of schools, which he gladly accepted. It will be remembered that Mr. Priddy was our missionary in Bompey for several years, during the reign of the late chief; and it was not until he was driven away by intestine wars, and his own life was frequently in jeopardy, that he left his post of toil, and even then he left with the intention of returning as soon as there was an opening. That opening seems now at hand. God grant that it may be great and effectual!

I hope to be able to furnish our friends with a more ample report in the next Magazine. J. TROTTER.

Basingstoke, April 9.

OBITUARY.-Died, on the 15th March, at her father's residence, New Shoreham, near Brighton, Sussex, aged 25 years, Fanny Pickford, the second and dearlybeloved daughter of the Rev. Christopher Knowles, late of Bath, deeply and deservedly regretted by all who knew her.

MAY 19.

Fourth Sunday after Easter.

SUBJECT:-REGENERATION, AS TO ITS SOURCE, INSTRUMENTALITY, AND FRUITS.

JAMES i. 18.-"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

Regeneration is here set before us

I. AS TO THE SOURCE FROM WHICH IT COMES. "His own will."

II. AS TO THE MEANS BY WHICH IT IS EFFECTED. "The word of truth."

III. AS TO THE RESULTS WHICH SHOULD FOLLOW. "That we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.' "Wherefore lay aside all filthiness, &c." "If any

be a hearer of the word and not a doer, &c." MAY 26.

Fifth Sunday after Easter.

SUBJECT:-PRAYER-AS TO ITS OBJECT, MEDIUM,

SUBJECT:-THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. ACTS i. 9-11.-"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

The Ascension of Christ may be regarded as the closing scene of His First Coming into the world-the triumph of a conqueror. He led captivity captive and went up to His throne