no interest; and if shewn to one whom they please, they are taken from you, either by the force or the legerdemain of friendship. "Mr. M. has given us a very flattering account of your domestic procedure. He seems to think that neither you, nor Samuel and rib, have thus far forfeited a fair title to the flitch of bacon,' Should either of you win it, the event must be added to the only two circumstances on record in which it was actually elaimed and carried off. In one instance, a sea captain and his wife succeeded, he being compelled to go to sea the day after marriage, and not returning until its anniversary arrived; the other was, where the lady was, I believe, both deaf and dumb, and the gentleman remarkably good humoured. In too many instances, domestic feuds arise from trifles. Anna will recollect the tale I have frequently told, of the man and his wife quarrelling about the flock of birds which flew over their house, whether they were crows or rooks. The knotty point led to blows three years following, and they at last left the affair undecided. "Be kind, affectionate, and tender-hearted towards each other; not putting on sullen countenances, or laying the foundation of sighs. My dear Anna will remember, that some months since I told her, no female ought to be married until she had learnt a piece entitled, Pin the Basket;' and she has frequently heard me repeat these lines, — 'Ill fares that luckless family which shews Whenever contentions for mastery creep into a house, genuine affection abates in its fervour, and domestic peace retires. I trust that, both in temporal engagements and spiritual concerns, you will mutually help each other on, and, by sharing its weight, diminish the load which life will compel you to bear. Remember, that, in the affairs of this life, we are justified by works, and not by faith; so that industry, frugality, and economy, are all necessary, to render even trade successful. "I would advise you to keep as little company as possible,―at least all such company as would lead to expensive entertainments. The festivity of one day will supply a moderate family for a week. If you open the door to an enlargement of company, it may lead to unseasonable hours, generate habits of dissipation, and sometimes furnish occasions of regret. I would not inculcate an unsociable disposition, but guard against any thing that looks like avoidable expense. Two horses travelling side by side mutually stimulate each other, so that both go faster than either would if travelling alone. A similar propensity may be found in human nature. The entertainment made by A must be rivalled by B, exceeded by C, and surpassed by D; and thus, in a spiral line, we mount on the steps of ambitious display, till at length we get so high that we grow giddy, fall down, and are ruined. 66 Sublunary bliss, however, is, at the best, a sickly plant, and no care or culture can give it permanence, or preserve it from the effect of storms. That only is durable which blooms in the regions of immortality, where it will flourish in perennial verdure. Let us, then, my dear children, look for it there, and lay up for ourselves treasures, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break not through nor steal.' "Before this letter reaches you, we shall, if spared, have entered on a new portion of existence. 1824 will have given in its account at the great tribunal, and have sunk into the ocean of eternity. Let us endeavour so to live through 1825, that, if permitted to see its close, we may look back with less regret than we must now on its predecessor. With best wishes for your happiness, I remain, dear children, "Your affectionate father, "Mrs. John Read, Helston." "SAMUEL DREW." "MY DEAR MARY, "38, Newgate-Street, London, "You desired me to write you a very wise letter, but not about such things as how impulse begets motion.' You have thus set me an arduous task, that contains nothing specific, and only given a prohibition from which I am directed to stand aloof. "You are now, my dear child, fast verging towards maturity; let it, therefore, be your constant care, that your mental and moral improvement keep pace with your bodily powers. Human nature is so constituted, in its present state, that our passions and understandings move onward from infancy to maturity in progressive order. It is, however, painful to observe, that, in the majority of human beings, the passions outgrow the judgment; and, when this is the case, the man is sunk in the animal, and the intellectual garden produces a crop of weeds, if not of poisonous vegetation. To prevent this, care, diligence, and unremitting perseverance are necessary, to make the moral and intellectual culture keep pace with the animal propensities. Where this is neglected, we reach maturity in a state of mental deformity, and are compelled, finally, to take our stand among the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, who form the drudges of the community. "I have frequently told you, that, for intellectual improvement, the most valuable period of human life lies between the age of fourteen and twenty-four. The former you have passed, and, whether you seize the opportunity or neglect it, the latter is hastening towards you. Do not waste your time in reading trash that you must abandon, although style and subject may be fascinating; but rather turn to such things as you will hail with joy in mature years, and reflect on with satisfaction. You have now an opportunity of taking time by the forelock. Do not let him get the start; for, once passed by, he is gone for ever. "But, above all, do not forget that all your exertions after intellectual attainments require the sanctifying influence of divine grace, to be rendered truly valuable. Let this, therefore, be the object of your daily pursuit, by unfeigned prayer. He who lives under the dominion of his passions is an animal; he who rises no higher than the cultivation of intellect is, in the sight of thoughtless mortals, a rational philosopher; but he who looks beyond this state of existence, and cultivates an acquaintance with God, as an heir of immortality, becomes a Christian, and enjoys the felicities of this life without forfeiting his interest in another. Hence, A Christian is the highest style of man.' "In a former letter, you asked me to propose some questions for you to answer. This I will now endeavour to do. In ornamenting your head, to which have you paid most attention, the inside or the outside? Are you industrious? Do you strive to make yourself useful to your friends? Do you pay attention to your drawing? Do you keep company with such as are calculated to improve you, both by precept and example? Do you read books designed to teach the young idea how to shoot?' Are you attentive to the duties of religion? I need not say that I am deeply interested in your welfare; and, therefore, a favourable answer to these questions will, in some measure, cheer the solitude of "Your affectionate father, "Miss Drew, Helston, Cornwall.” "SAMUEL DREW." SECTION XXX. Mr. Drew's character as a Christian and a teacher of religion -Peculiarities of his preaching. OF Mr. Drew's feelings as a Christian, little information can be given beyond that which his writings, his public ministrations, and his letters supply. No memoranda have been discovered explanatory of his progressive advances in personal piety. But in his ordinary deportment a diary is found as satisfactory, in our judgment, as whole volumes of religious experience could furnish. His conversion to God-the circumstances which preceded it—and the influence of Christianity upon his general conduct, are already known to the reader. When the light of Heaven beamed upon his benighted understanding, he entered upon a new era of existence. He then felt that he had a soul; and, as he describes the sensations of his infancy when under his mother's instruction, his heart again 'glowed with unutterable delight.' There was now an aim and a purpose in his being. It was one of his favourite positions, that Christianity, when properly influential, changes the spring of human action. Being redeemed from selfishness by divine grace, he began to live for the good of others. Yet, though active and zealous in recommending |