your roof. The pleasures of that intimacy which we formed when at school, have been agreeably renewed; and the various scenes which we have since witnessed, and the different spheres of action in which we have moved, have failed to obliterate that early enthusiasm which so often animates the mind of the boy, but ceases to exert its dominion over the reason of the man. The professions which are made of future faithfulness, as they arise from the contracted views of present interest, are generally forgotten with the particular circumstances from which they spring and I cannot help looking upon those occasional instances which are to be met with, of the early attachment of youth surmounting the obstacles which are opposed to them, with sentiments of peculiar satisfaction. And I am sure you will believe me when I tell you, that whilst my late visit to your hospitable mansion at Fairleigh received an addition to its enjoyments by recollections of the past, its agreeable engagements will afford me a subject for remembrance in future.

Attached as I am to those pleasures which society affords, and having so little of the recluse in my disposition, or of the anchorite in my habits, nothing is so calculated to suit my taste, as the participation in the little incidents of a domestic circle. And if any thing were wanting to complete the gratification which I derived from your individual society, and from the beautiful scenery of nature with which I was surrounded, it was amply supplied in the company of the amiable members of your family. When I want a living representation of unaffected manners and cordial hospitality, connected with that softening sweetness which maternal tenderness throws over the character, I shall immediately revert to Mrs. G.: and though I am not prone to any thing like extravagance in expression, yet I do not remember in any instance to have found a young female in whom I was more interested than in Charlotte, or a young man to whom I felt more attached. than to Charles; whilst the junior branches of the family served to call into exercise

those feelings of tenderness which are so benignant in their nature, and so beneficial in their operation. Much of the comfort of every family depends upon its internal regulation and correct government; and the enjoyment of an occasional visitor is materially increased or diminished, in proportion as these are observed or neglected.

But do not think, my dear William, that I am forgetting my own principles, and endeavouring to make up for any neglect of an earlier acknowledgment of your kindness, by paying in flattery what I owe in gratitude. The expression of friendship that falls from the lips, is only valuable as it proceeds from the heart; and the professions of regard which so readily flow from the pen, are only to be considered sincere, in proportion as they evidence themselves by the conduct of the life. Of all the detestable instances of treachery, none was so base as that which betrayed with a kiss; and if my own feelings and inclination did not prompt me to the sincerity which I am about to manifest, your repeated request

that I would faithfully point out to you any deficiencies which I could perceive in your family arrangements, or any errors that I had detected in your individual conduct, would at once preclude that faithless shame, which so frequently disguises its odious qualities, by assuming the specious appellation of a proper delicacy.

ear,

Under any other feelings than those by which I have professed myself to be actuated, I should have been led to adopt a very different line of conduct from that which I now intend to pursue. What the world calls politeness might have whispered in my that finding fault was a rude return for a favour bestowed, and that it was a very questionable mode of expressing a sense of obligation, by interfering with the arrangements, and censuring the domestic economy of the family in which that obligation had been conferred. But sincerity, and (the only source from whence a genuine sincerity can flow,) that sense of duty which the doctrines of the christian religion produce, will teach a very different lesson; and

the recollection of the universal injunction of "doing unto others as we would be done unto," serves at once to remove every scruple from my mind, and to add greater zeal to my conscientious resolution.

Do not be alarmed, my dear friend, when I begin by telling you, that I not only perceived with equal surprise and regret what appeared to me a very considerable deficiency in your family arrangements, but that the error to which I allude, was connected with the commencement of every returning day; that it was not an occasional, but an habitually repeated, delinquency; and that I very much fear, it is likely that it will not only affix a stigma to the little social community of which you are the head, but that its evil effects will be extended down to the succeeding generation, on which you so often look with so paternal and anxious an interest. You will guess that I refer to the many, many hours consumed in bed, instead of being devoted to the numberless beneficial employments in which they might have been spent. And I