influence in western New York, conveys an admirable lesson to young persons commencing life.

"When I was only eight years old," said Judge N-, "my father and my mother, being poor, with half a dozen children besides myself to take care of, I was sent to a farmer in a neighbouring town, who designed making a ploughboy of me, and keeping me in his service until I was of age.

"Well, I had not a very gay time in farmer Webb's service; for although he was a tolerably kind man in his family, he was an advocate for making boys work, and understood how to avoid spoiling them by indulgence. So I had plenty of work to do, and not many pleasant indulgences to enjoy. It was consequently a great treat for me to get the great sum of one or two pennies into my possession—a circumstance of such rare occurrence, that, at the age of eleven, I had learned to regard money as a blessing bestowed by Providence only on a favoured few.

"I had lived with farmer Webb three years before I knew the colour of any coin, except copper. By an accident I learned the colour of gold. That is the story I am going to tell you.

"One Saturday night, Mr. Webb sent me to the village shop, on some errand; and on returning home, just about dusk, my attention was attracted by a little brown package, lying on the road side. I picked

it up to examine its contents, without the least suspicion of the treasure within. It was light, and incased in a quantity of brown paper. I tore open the folds of the paper; and discerning nothing, I was on the point of throwing it into the ditch, when something dropped out of it, and fell with a ringing sound upon a stone.

It

"I looked at it with astonishment. was yellow, round, glittering, too bright and too small for a penny. I felt it, I squeezed it in my fingers, I spelled out the inscriptions; then something whispered me that it was a gold coin of great value, and that if I did not wish to lose it, I had better pocket it as soon as possible.

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Trembling with excitement, I put the coin in my pocket. But it did not rest there. Every two or three minutes I took it out to look at it. But, whenever I met anybody, I was careful to put it out of sight. Somehow, I felt a guilty dread of finding an owner to the coin. Provided I found none, I thought it was honestly mine, by right of discovery; and I comforted myself with the sophistry that it was not my business to go about the streets, crying 'Who's lost ?'

"I went home with the gold in my pocket. I would not have had the farmer folks know what I had found for the world. I was sorely troubled with the fear of losing my precious treasure. This was not all. It seemed to me that my face betrayed my

secret. I could not look at anybody with an honest eye.

vous.

"These troubles kept me awake half the night, and projects for securing my treasure by a safe investment the other half. On the following morning I was feverish and nerWhen farmer Webb, at the breakfast table, said, William!' I started and trembled, thinking the next word would beWhere is that piece of gold you have found and wickedly concealed, to keep it from the rightful owner?' But he only said, 'I want you to go to Job Baldwin's this morning, and ask if he can come and work for me to-day and to-morrow.'

·

"I felt quite relieved. Leaving the house, I got out of sight as soon as possible. Then once more I took the coin out of my pocket and gazed on its beauty. Yet I was unhappy. Consciousness of wrong troubled me, and I almost wished I had not found the piece of gold. Should I not be called a thief, if discovered? I asked myself. Was it not as wrong to conceal what I had found, as to take the same amount originally from the owner's pocket? Was not he defrauded the same?

"But then I said to myself-Why, if I do not know who the loser is, how can I give him his money? It is only because I am afraid farmer Webb will take it away from me that I conceal it; that's all. I would not steal gold; and if the loser should ask me for it, I would give it to him. I

apologized thus to myself all the way to Job Baldwin's house; but, after all, it would not do. The gold was like a heavy stone bound to my heart, It was a sort of unhappy charm, which gave an evil spirit power to torment me. And I could not help thinking that I was not half so well pleased with my great riches, as I had been with a piece of copper, which I had found some weeks before. Nobody claimed the penny, although I kept my good fortune no secret ; and I had been happy as a king—or, as a king is commonly supposed to be.

"Job Baldwin was not at home, and I returned to the farmer's house. I saw Mr. Wardley's horse standing at the gate, and I was terribly frightened. Mr. Wardley was a constable; and I knew he had come to take me to gaol. So I hid in the garden until he went away. By that time reason began to prevail over cowardice, and I made my appearance at the house. The farmer looked angrily at me.

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Now, thought I, feeling faint, he is going to accuse me of finding the gold But he only scolded me for being so long about my errand. I never received a reprimand so willingly. His severe words sounded sweet-I had expected something so much more terrible.

"I worked all day with the gold in my pocket. I wonder farmer Webb did not suspect something, for I stopped so often to see if the gold was really there-for, much

as the possession of it troubled me, the fear of losing it troubled me scarcely less. I was not happy. I wished a hundred times I had not found the gold. I felt that it would be a relief to lay it down on the roadside; again I wrapped it in brown paper, just as I had found it, but placed it once more in my pocket. I wondered if ill-got wealth made everybody so miserable.

"At night I was sent again to Job Bald win's, and, having found him, obtained his promise to work at farmer Webb's on the following day. It was dark when I went home, and I was afraid of robbers.

I never

felt so cowardly in my life. It seemed to me that anybody could rob me with a clear conscience, because my treasure was not mine. I got home, and went tremblingly to bed.

Job Baldwin came early to breakfast with us. I should tell you something about him. He was an honest, poor man, who supported a large family by hard work. Everybody liked him, he was so industrious and faithful; and besides making good wages for his labour, he often got presents of meal and flour from those who employed him.

“Well, at the breakfast table, after farmer Webb had asked the blessing, and given Baldwin a piece of pork, so that he might eat and get to work as soon as possible, something was said about the 'news.' 'I suppose you have heard about my misfor