that noble serenity of mind, unembittered by reproach that pure and unalterable felicity— which crowned the evening of his days, and repayed the toils of an useful and well-spent life.

His piety was entirely distinct from all mechanical devotion or superstitious servility. His sentiments of religion were pure and simple. He considered it as an homage due to the Supreme Being; and as long as his health permitted him, he was a constant frequenter of public worship.

At no time, indeed, was he ever neglectful of the duty of prayer; nor did a day pass without his having acquitted himself of it in the silence of his closet, excluded from the observation of the whole world. His prayers were not limited to any fixed periods; he consecrated to that duty his occasional moments of solitude, his watchings, his sleepless hours.

EVERY quality too, which is enjoined by christianity as a virtue, says a modern author, is recommended by politeness as an accomplish. ment. Gentleness, humility, deference, affability, and a readiness to assist and serve on all occasions, are as necessary in the composition of a true christian, as in that of a well-bred man

Passion, moroseness, peevishness, and supercilious self-sufficiency, are equally repugnant to the characters of both; who differ in this onlythat the true christian really is, what the wellbred man pretends to be, and would still be better if he was.

LETTER XIX.

ON TRUE AND FALSE GLORY.

THERE is a species of false glory, which though both dangerous and ridiculous, is common among military men; I mean, the wish to be distinguished in the corps for expence and parade. The man of rank thinks himself degraded, if he does not make a more considerable figure than those of his comrades whom he deems inferior to him. He that has money, and whom therefore our present degeneracy of manners places nearly upon a level with the nobility of the kingdom, fancies that he cannot maintain the newly-acquired consequence of his family, but in making a brilliant display of his wealth. The other officers, too, readily perceive that the public almost always proportions its respect and esteem to the greater or less extent of this display; and every day hear it said, that such a one makes a great figure, and lives in style, without reflecting how little these lofty expressions contain. They would do well

to remember, however, that this object of admiration is commonly the man, beyond all others, the least qualified for the army; that he who makes what is called a figure, is no other than a spendthrift, who ruins both his health and his fortune; and that he who lives, as it is termed, in style, has frequently recourse to means the most dishonourable to support this appearance, and is perpetually on the rack to conceal from his comrades the disgrace which he dreads, and which his creditors are justly preparing for him. A young officer, without wisdom or experience, thinks he shall be despised by his corps, if he does not pursue the same course as his comrades; and this ridiculous apprehension plunges him into debauchery and misery. Despise this false glory, my son: this is not the passion of those officers whom I wish you to take for your model. Luxury, extreme attention to dress, unnecessary display of equipage and the delicacies of the table, are evidences only of vanity, and can confer consequence in the eyes of none of those whose good opinion is worth acquiring. What folly can be compared to that of ruining ourselves for the sake of appearing great? This is to purchase, at a desperate rate, the contempt

of the army. After an ostentation, as short as it is ridiculous, and transient as it was false, these unhappy victims of their own misconduct must be content to languish in wretchedness, without any consoling recollections under their misfortunes.

WE see, indeed, too many instances of young men who, with the best natural dispositions and characters, yield to the seductive influence of example. They do that at first from weakness and good-tempered compliance, which their better feelings disapprove; and unhappily are often brought to the habitual excesses, which so much distinguish and disgrace the lives of those whom they make their models. A young officer, on first entering his corps, cannot exercise too much caution in guarding against those snares, which are the more dangerous, from being represented to him as customs that can no way be dispensed with. Xenophon was accused of timidity, because he would not venture his money at play. "I confess," he acknowledged, * I am very timid; for I dare not commit a bad action." If you do not possess this firmness, I can have little to hope, either from your natural disposition, your education, or even your rectitude. How many young men have joined the