humility itself; in all which cafes, felf-love, like a falfé friend, instead of checking, most treacherously feeds this humour, points out fome excellence in every foul to make him vain, and think more highly of himself than he ought to think; that, upon the whole, there is 1 weakness into which the heart of man is more easily be trayed; or which requires greater helps of good fenfeand good principles to guard against.

'BO one

2. Thou art well born; then truft me, it will not pollute one drop of thy blood to be humble. Humility calls ne man down from his rank; divests not princes of theirtitles; it is in life what the clear obfcure is in painting. It makes the hero ftep forth in the canvas, and detaches his figure from the group in which he would ftand confound. eu for ever.

3. If thou art rich, then how the greatness of thy for. tune, or what is better, the greatnefs of thy soul, in the meekness of thy converfation; condefcend to men of low eftate; support the diftreffed, and patronife the neglected. Be great; but let it be in confidering riches as they are,. as talents commited to an earthen vessel; thou art but the receiver, and that to be obliged and to be vain too, is but the old folecifm of pride and beggary, which, though they. often meet, yet ever make an abfurd fociety.

4. If thou art powerful in intereft, and flandest deified by a fervile tribe of dependants, why shouldst thou be: proud, because they are hungry? Scourge me fuch fyco-. phants; they have turned the heads of thousands as well. as thine. But it is thy own dexterity and strength which have gained thee this eminence; allow it; but art thou proud that thou standeft in a place where thou art the mark of one man's envy another man's malice, or a third man's revenge; where good men may be ready to suspect: thee, and whence bad men will be ready to pull thee down? I would be proud of nothing that is uncertain;; Haman was fo, because he was admitted alone to. Queen Efther's banquet; and the diftinction, raised him, but it was fifty cubits higher than he ever dreamed, or thought of.

5. If thou haft pretensions to a little learning, thou wilt be proud of it in courfe; if thou haft much, and good: fenfe along with it, there will be no reason to difpute

against the paffion. A beggardly parade of remnants is but a forry object of pride at the beft; but more fo, when we can cry out upon it, as the poor man did of the hatchetAlas! mafter, for it was borrowed. (1):

1

CHAPTER XLIX.

DISHONESTY PUNISHED.

IL N ufurer, having loft an hundred pounds in a bag, promised a reward of ten pounds to the perfon who fhould restore it. A man having brought it to him, demanded the reward. The urfurer, loth to give the reward, now that he had gott. n the big, alleged, after the bag was opened, that there was an hundred and ten pounds in it, when he loft it..

2. The ufurer, being called before the judge, unwarily acknowledged that the feal was broken open in his presence, and that there were no more at that time, but an hundred pounds in the bag. "You fay," fays the judge, "that the bag you loft, had an hundred and ten pounds in it." "Yes, my lord."" Then," replied the judge, “this cannot be your bag, as it contained but an hundred pounds; therefore, the plantiff must keep it till the true owner appears; and you must look for your bag where you can

find it."

CHAPTER L.

PROVIDENCE; OR, THE SHIPWRECK..

T was a dreadful ftorm. The wind blowing full on the fea fhore, rolled tremendous waves on the beach, while the half funk rocks at the entrance of the bay were enveloped in a mist of white foam A fhip appeared in the offing, driving impetuously under her bare poles to land; now tilting aloft on the furging waves, now plung, ing into the intervening hollows.

(1), 2 Kings, vi. 5.

2. Prefently the rufhed among the rocks and there fuck, the billows beating over her deck and rolling up her fhattered rigging. "Mercy! mercy!" exclaimed an ancient Solitary, as be viewed from a cliff the dismal scene. It was in vain. The ship fell on her fide, and was feen

no more.

3. Soon, however, a small dark object appeared coming from the rocks towards the shore; at first dimly defcried through the foam, then quite plain as it rode on the fum. mit of a wave, then for a time totally loft. It approached, and showed itself to be a boat with men in it rowing for their lives. The Solitary haftened down to the beach, and in all the agonizing viciffitudes of hope and fear watched its advance. At length, after the most imminent hazards, the boat was violently thrown on the fhore, and the drip. ping, half dead mariners, crawled out to the dry land.

4 "Heaven be praised !" cried the folitary; "what a providential efcape!" And he led the poor men to his cell, where, kindling a good fire, and bringing out his lit. tle store of provifion, he reftored them to health and fpir its." And are you fix men the only ones faved?'' faid he,

We are," anfwered one of them: Threefcore and fifteen men, women and children, were in the fhip when she ftruck. You may think what a clamour and confufion there was; women clinging to their husband's necks, and children hanging about their clothes, all fhrieking, crying, and praying!

5. "There was no time to be loft. We got out the fmall boat in a twinkling; jumped in without ftaying for our captain, who was fool enough to be minding the paffengers; cut the rope, and pushed away just time enough to be clear of the fhip as he went down; and here we are, all alive and merry An oath concluded his fpeech. The Solitary was shocked, and could not help fecretly wishing that it had pleafed Providence to have faved fome of the innocent paffengers, rather than these reprobates.

6. The failors having gotten what they could, departed, fcarcely thanking their benefactor, and marched to the country. Night came on. They defcried a light at fome distance, and made up to it. It proceeded from the win dow of a poor looking house, furrounded with a farmyard and garden. They knocked at the door, and in a

fupplicating tone made known their diftrefs, and begged relief. They were admitted, and treated with compaf fron and hofpitality. In the house were the mistress, her children, and women-fervants, an old man, and a boy. The mafter was abroad.

7 The failors fitting round the kitchen fire, whispered to each other that here was an opportunity of making a booty that would amply compenfate for the lofs of clothes and wages. They settled their plan; and on the old man's coming with wood to the fire, one of them broke his skull with the poker and laid him dead. Another took up a knife which had been brought with the loaf and cheese, and runaing after the boy, who was making his efcape out of the houfe, ftabbed him to the heart! The reft locked the doors, and after tying all the women and children, began to ran fack the house One of the children continuing to make loud exclamations, a fellow went and frangled it!

8 They had nearly finished packing up fuch of the valuable things as they could carry off, when the mafter of the house came home. He was a fmuggler as well as a farmer, and had just returned from an expedition, leaving his goods and companions at a neighbouring public houfe. Surprised at finding the doors locked, and at feeing lights moving about in the chambers, he fufpected fomewhat amifs; and upon listening, he heard ftrange voices, and faw fome of the failors through the windows.

9 The fmuggler haftened back to his companions, and brought them with him juft as the robbers opened the door and were coming out with their pillage, having first fet fire to the house in order to conceal what they had done. The Smuggler and friends let fly their blunderbuffes in the midst of them, and then rushing forward, feized the furvivors and fecured them Perceiving flames in the house, they ran and extinguished them. The vil lians were next day led to prifon amidst the reproaches of the neighbourhood.

10. The good Solitary, on hearing the event, at first exclaimed, "What a wonderful interference of Providence tɔ punish guilt and protect innocence !?? Pauling, a while, he added, "yet had Providence thought fit to have drowned these failors in their paffage from the fhip, where they left fo many better people to perifh, the lives of three

innocent perfons would have been faved, and these wretch es would have died without fuch accumulated guilt and ignominy. On the other hand, had the mafter of the houfe been at home, inftead of following a lawless and defperate trade, he would perhaps have perished with all his family, and the villains have efcaped with their booty. What am I to think of all this?" Thus penfive and perplexed, he laid himself down to reft, and, after fome time spent in gloomy reflections, fell asleep.

I.

I'

CHAPTER LI.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

N his dream the Solitary fancied himself feated on the top of a high mountain, where he was ac cofted by a venerable figure in white long garments, who asked him the caufe of the melancholy expreffed on his countenance "It is," said he, " because I am unable to reconcile the decrees of Providence with my ideas of wif dom and justice." "That," replied the ftranger," is probably becaufe thy notions of Providence are narrow and erroneous. Thou feekeft it in particular events, and doft not raife thy furvey to the great whole.

2. "Every occurence in the univerfe is providential, because it is the confequence of thofe laws which divine wisdom has establifhed as moft productive of the general good. But to felect individual facts as more directed by the hand of Providence than others, because we think we fee a particular good purpose anfwered by them, is an infallible inlet to error and fuperftition. Follow me to the edge of this cliff.

3. "Now look down," faid the ftranger," and tell what thou feeft." "I fee," replied the Solitary, "a hawk darting amidst a flock of fmall birds, one of which he has caught, while the others efcape." "And can't thou think," rejoined the ftranger, "that the fingle bird, of which the hawk made a prey, lies under any particular doom of Providence, or that thofe which fly away are more the objects of divine favour than it ?

4 "Hawks by nature were made to feed upon living prey, and were endowed with strength and swiftnefs to en