A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume IV, Issue 93, 15 July 1852, Page 3

A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.

(From the Churchmans' Penny Magazine, 1849.) My Mother had six children, three of whom died in infancy. A very affecting circumstance accompanied the death of one of them, and was a severe trial (o her maternal feelings. Hit then youngest son, a sweet lilllc hoy only two years old, through the carelessness of the nurse It'll from a hedI'oiini window nnon the pavemenl heneath. I was at that lime six years of age, and happened (o he walking uiion the very spot where (he distressing event oecured. I was therefore the lirsl to lake him up. I delivered into our agonized mothers arms the poor little sulferer. 'Hie head was fractured, and lie survived the fall only ahout thirty hours. I still rcnieinuiT a very lively and distinct remembrance of the struggle between the natural feelings of the mother, and the spiritual resignation of the Christian. She passetl the interval of suspense in almost continual prayer, and found God a present help in lime of trouble, frequently during thai day did she retire with me; anil as I knell Inside her she uttered the desires of her heart to God. I remember her saying "If I cease prayer for live minutes 1 am ready lo sink under this ltiilooked for distress; but when I pray God comforts and upholds me; his will," nut mine be done." Once she said, "help me to pray my child; t'.hrisl suiters little children to come unto him and forbids tlieiu not. Say something." " What shall I say Mamma ! Shall I i'elch a book !" " Not now" she replied, "speak from the heart, and ask God that wo may lie reconciled to His will and bear this trial with patience.— lice. Leiyli Iticlnnoml.

A SiiAnK Fight.—As llie water conlimiod to nioiiiu above my knees, lie seemed to grow more huugrynud i':iii)ilinr. At l:\sl lie made a desperate dash, and approaching within iiii inch of my legs, turned upon his hack, and opened his huge jaws lor an attack. AVith desperate strength, I thrust llie end of my rod violently at his mouth; and the brass head, ringing against his Icelh, threw him hack in!" the deep current, ami I lost sight of him entirely. This, however, was hut a momentary repulse; Cor in the next minute he was close behind my back, and pulling al the skirl of my fustian coal, which hung dipping into the water. 1 leaned forward hastily, and endeavoured to extricate myself from the dangerous grasp; bill the monster's teeth were 100 firmly set, and his immense strength nearly drew me over. So, down Hew my rod, and oil' went my jacket, devoted peace-offerings lo my voracious visitor. In an instant, the. waves all around mo were lashed into froth and foam. No sooner was my poor old sporting friend drawn under the surface?, than it was fought for by at least a do/eu enormous combatants? The bailie raged upon every side. High black litis rushed now here, now there, and long, strong tails scattered sleet and froth, and the brine was thrown up in jets, and eddied ami curled, and fell, and swelled, like a whirlpool in llell-gate. Of no long duration, however, was Ibis lishy tourney. It seemed soon to he discovered (hat the prize contended lor contained nothing edible but cheese ami crackers, and no llesh ; and as its mutilated fragments rose' lo the surface, the waves subsided into their former smooth condition. Not till then did I experience the real terrors of my situation. As I looked around me lo sec what had heroine of the robbers, I counted one, two, three, yes, up lo twelve, successively, of the. largest sharks I ever saw, floating in a circle around me, like divergent rays, all mathematically equidistant from the rock, and from each other; each perfectly motionless, and with bis gloating, fiery eye, fixed full and fierce! upon me. Ilasilisks and rattlesnakes! how the lire of their steady eyes entered into my heart! I was the. centre of a circle, whose radii were sharks! I was the unsprung, or rather uuclieweil game, al which a pack of hunting sea-dogs were making a dead point! There was one old fellow that kept within the circiiiufei-fiice of llie circle. ' Desperately, and without a delinile object, I struck my knife al one of his eyes, and, by some singular lortiuie, cut it out clean from the socket. Tin- shark darted back, and halted. In an instant, hope and reason came lo my relief; and it occurred lome, that if I could only blind the monster, I might yet escape. Accordingly, I' stood

; ready for the next attack. The loss of an • eye «!iil not seem lo afiect liim much, lor , ailer shaking his head once or twice, lie ! came ii[) lo ii><" ni^;»ij», and whrn hi; was about hull' an im h oil', turned ii|iou his : back. This was the critical moment. V.'ilh 1 a most unaccountable ptv.ci:«- of mind, I ' laid hold of his nti'e will) in;. 101 l hand, and : Willi my right scooped out" his remaining organ oi'virion. lie opened his big moiilli, , and champed his lout; teeth nl me. in ile- ' spnir, 15nt il was all over with him. I raised my right loot and gave him a hard • shore, and ho elided oil' into deep wafer, ; and went to the boiloui. faiA.vsi: i.v tiii: (loi.oiit or rui: Ilvm.— Tin; changrs which are produced hy disturbances of the heart upon the cutaneous rapillaries an; illustrated in a itiikul.jtldc manner in persons where the hair of the head has suddenly heroine white IVoin a disturbance in the heart caused hy violent mental excitement. A lady who was deeply grieved on receiving the intelligence ol' a great change in her worldly condition, and who had a very remarkable quantity of dark hair found on "the following morning the whole of her hnirliccoiueofasilvor while. Somoslriking instances of this kind are narrated hy historians. " I was struck," stirs Madame Campnu, " with the astonishing change misfortune had wrought upon Marie Antoinette's features; her whole head of hair had turned almost white during her transit from Varen- ' lies to Paris." The Duchess of Luxembourg, when caught making her escape during the terrors of the French Revolutions, and put in prison, the next morning it was observed that her hair had become while. A Spanish ofllcer distinguished for his bravery, was in •he Duke of Alva's camp and an experiment was made, by one of the authorities lo test his courage. At midnight the provostmarshal, accompanied by his guard and a confessor, awoke him from his sleep, informing him Hint, hy order of the viceroy, hi; was to be immediately executed, and had only a quartet' of an hour lo make his peace, with kcaven. After ho had confessed, lie said he was prepared for death, but declared his innocence. The provost marshal at this moment burst into a fit of laughter, and told him thai they merely wanted to try his courage. Placing his hand upon his heart and with a ghastly paleness, he ordered the provost out of his tent, observing that ho bad "donchini an evil ofllre.;" and the next 'morning to the wonder of the whole army the hair of bis head, from having been a deep blark colour, had become perfectly white.— Dr. Wanlrop on Discuses of the Heart.

Tin: Mission ok Life. —There is nothing created but what is destined lo perform some pari in lite great work of creation ; no man nor woman was ever liorii lo do nothing; no (lower that lilooms, nor star tliat decks the heavens was simply made; to he or no utility, or lo hideaway themselves from the fare of nature, hut rather destined to perforin some particular work. The gival end of life, is happiness, for all nature converges to this point—happiness hased upon the moral and intellectual powers of man, and not the mere sellish pleasure of life. Life hath something more for its ohjeei than the mere heaping together of gedd. We live—hul it should he to promote the well-being of our fellow-man, to enrich his mind with knowledge, to lead his wudering footsteps to the shrine of wisdom, and there to fraternise with his fellow-man in searching after the elixir of life —true happiness. We live, hut it is not for selfishness, it is notlo persecute; and to wrong, Iml lo shield and to protect; it is not to spread misery and lo foster vice, lint lo cherish virtue, and lo stein the impetuous lorrenl of human degradation; and il is not for sowing the seeds or discord, and nourishing the germs of chicanery, hul lo;- iiiiiiy of anion, and succouring honesty ami truth; il is hy these means, ami these aiom\ that we can arrive at perfection. Teach every man thai he has a great duly lo perform, :iml life has some charm for him; it is no longer the wearisome, dull, and monotonous tiling that ihe inane would make in helicve il is: then, a hrighter world opens before him, replete with loveliness. Mow great is Ihe pleasure; lo those whoso life is a purpose lo spread happiness and truth amongst mankind. Camm: Ki.vi:ni:i:.—About ten days ago Mr. .1. Cooper, a veiling farmer in Ihe neighbourhood, by some means oflendeil his elog; and, on his iMitering his bed-room in tin; evening, he was miller surprised lo see- the ilog there, where he had never seen him before. ■ Me will up lo him in a friendly manlier ami patted him, bill n-ci'ivi'd ne> friendly acknowledgment in return. Me thought liltleof it, however ; hut, on turning his hack, the brute sprang on him with fury,

seizing him liy the Ihigh. Mr. Cooper found it impossible lo cllcd sin exit, and was 1 obliged lo come to close combat. Having j no weapon, liis only mode of defence was lo alloinpl lo sufl'ocale his opponent by Cowing | his hands down his throat. Ilv this means ! he eventually sueeeedeil in gaining the nuts- ! tcry, Iml at the expense of both hands being iiiiieh injured, the 101 l one parlicutnrly. 'l'he savage brule has paid the penally of his . lil'e, and Mr. Cooper is doing well, although it must be sonic lime before he can regain the use of his hands.— Jlircliin Paper. i W.ui. —inhere beany thing more terrific, ' more disgusting, than war and its conserpicnees, it is that perversion of all liiiinan intellect, that deprivation of all human feelings, thai contempt or misconception of every Christian precept, which has permitted the great, and the good, and llie tenderhearted, to admire war as a splendid game a part of llie poetry of life, and lo defend il as a glorious evil, which the very nature, and passions of man have ever rendered,and will ever render, necessary and inevitable. Kr.r.l' Moving O.wvawis.—Cohhctlsaid lie despised a man who was contented with his condition. Wc do not like this bold expression, but wo hold licit a man should always be seeking to make good belter, and belter best. This is our maxim. We go, therefore, in all eases, for the vovy largest product, and advise no farmer lo besatislied, while in a fair race, his neighbour is as much as the length of bis nose before him. We advise every farmer, in the religious sense of the term, lo be content with his condition, and thankful for all the blessings which God gives him; but we advise no man to be satisfied when lie can honestly mend his condition, until that condition is amended. In llie competitions of life never cross your neighbour's path so as lo lake the road from him; never throw him down ; never vun him over if he falls down; have the magnanimity to help him up; but never try lo lift yourself up by pulling him down, oi' try to stand upon his shoulders ; give him fair play and cheer him if be comes out lirst, bill determine lo lack no cfforls, if you are hcalen, lo come out (irsl next lime. Jlon'l mind the lazy dogs who arc always croaking and crying out, "You'll fall, you'll fall." Those fellows do not get their eyes open in nine days; indeed, Ihey never gel their eyes open ; iiut arc always lying in the way of other people. If you gel 00 bushels of corn this year per acre, resolve that next year you will gel SO. l'nr.sKNCK or Alixn.—lt is recorded of the late Earl of llerkcley, lhal he was suddenly awakened at night in his carriage by a highwayman, who ramming a pistol through the window, and presenting it close lo his breast, demanded his money, claiming al llie same tiiue dial he had heard lhal his lordship bad boasled lhal In; never would be robbed by a single-highwayman, but lhal he should now be taught the contrary. His lordship putting his hand in his pocket replied, " neither would I now bo robbed, if it was not for that fellow who is looking over your shoulder." The highwayman turned round his bead, when his lordship, who had drawn a pistol from his pocket instead of a purse, shot him on the spot.— Parlour Magazine. Va.mtv op Woiti.iti.v (iRAXDF.fn.- —Lady Cohjiihoiiu' relates, on the. authority of her father, Sir John Sinclair, that on one occasion ho was invited by Lord Melville, then high in ollice, lo spend new year's day wilh him. Sir John arrived the day before, and in (he morning repaired to the chamber of his host lo wish him a happy new year. "It had need be happier than llie last," re-j plied Lord M., "for I cannot remember a! single happy day in it." And this, observes , Lady ('.., was the man who was llie envy of; many, being considered al the bight o, worldly prosperity! j