tice. He valued peace at home, and never allowed it to be disturbed by annoyances from without. This command and gentleness of temper in domestic life endeared him to his relatives and his servants, and it became the more remarkable when he was attacked by consumption, a disease which is known to cause a peculiar irritability of temper, but the course of which, in him, was marked by increasing placidity, patience, and consideration for those around him.

It was proposed to send Dr. Hope abroad, but as the advanced season made it unsafe to risk the exposure and fatigue of a long land journey, and as he could never bear a sea voyage, this plan was abandoned, or, at least, deferred. He, himself, entertained little hope of his recovery; he acknowledged that it was just possible, but far from probable. The great circumstance in his favour was, the excellent state of his general health: he ate, drank, and slept perfectly well, and had no ailment beyond his cough. After a month's confinement, he was allowed to go out for a couple of hours daily, and as the spring advanced, he was permitted to resume his practice. Dr. Chambers had recommended him to decline family practice as much as possible, and, as this had long been his own wish, he found no difficulty in confining himself almost entirely to consultations. He now felt the great advantage of a practice founded on professional reputation alone, for it enabled him to act independently of his patients, and to consult his own health and com

fort. He was invariably told that an absence on the continent for a year would not affect his practice, but that his patients would flock to him on his return: and he had every reason to believe this, for he found that he did not lose one patient by the frequent interruptions now caused by slight attacks of illness and absence from town. On the contrary, his income increased as rapidly during the last year of his life as at any other period, and, notwithstanding these interruptions, he received more fees in the course of that year than of any other. Consultation practice afforded him also the advantage of greatly diminished fatigue. He sat at home for two or three hours daily to see patients, and during that time, he could make eight or ten guineas without leaving his easy chair.

Hitherto it had been his custom not to take out his carriage on Sunday, but to pay his medical visits either on foot, or in one of the public conveyances. The state of his health now requiring him to avoid fatigue and exposure to cold, the use of his carriage became a matter of necessity, and, as such, he did not scruple to employ it. He continued, however, his practice of avoiding, as much as possible, engagements on Sunday. If patients called at his house on that day, he frequently declined seeing them until he had ascertained that the cases were urgent, or that, for some substantial reason, they could not come on another day.

Although attendance on the sick on Sunday is

sanctioned by the example of our Saviour, and may be regarded as a work of mercy by no means inconsistent with the sacred character of the Sabbath, some distinction ought, neverthless, to be made between cases requiring immediate attendance and those which are not affected by the delay of a day. Also, many cases are seen at intervals of a day or two, or on alternate days, and in these, arrangements may be made to prevent the visit from falling on Sunday. These were points to which Dr. Hope paid great attention. If he was obliged to see a patient on the Sabbath, he considered it in the light of a duty appointed to him by the Master whom he served, and he cheerfully obeyed the call; but he carefully avoided all unnecessary engagements, which must be regarded, not as works of mercy, but as the pursuit of personal and worldly gain.

He also made his appointments for hours which did not interfere with his attendance at church. He always attended divine service once, and by stopping at any church near which his engagements might lie, he generally contrived to go again in the afternoon. He happened once to hear much praise bestowed on a gentleman in considerable practice, and who does not profess to be religious, because he devoted every Sunday morning till one or two o'clock to seeing poor patients gratuitously. So far from joining in this commendation, Dr. Hope highly reprobated a practice which interfered with attendance on divine worship.

He said, that he should certainly praise the same individual for thus sacrificing the morning of a weekday, or indeed any other time which properly belonged to himself, and was a source of emolument to him. But that in giving that portion of time which, in general, could not be turned to pecuniary profit, and which belonged to the service of God, he was acting on the principle of him who robs his neighbour in order to give to the poor.

CHAPTER II.

AN incident in the spring of 1840, exhibited Dr. Hope's conscientiousness in the discharge of what are considered the minor duties of life, and the serious light in which he regarded a responsibility which multitudes are in the constant habit of taking lightly on themselves, and disregarding as lightly.

About nine years before, he had stood godfather to one of the children of Mr. William Heathcote, of Clapton. As the parents of this boy were alive, and qualified to give him Christian instruction suited to his years, Dr. Hope had not hitherto taken a part in his education, beyond occasional inquiries as to the schools to which he was sent. At this time, Mr. Heathcote proposed to emigrate to New South Wales, and as this removal would probably place Dr. Hope's godson for ever beyond the reach of his superin

tendence rendered it incumbent on him to take some steps for his instruction in the doctrines and practice of our Church. For this purpose he selected a number of works, not indeed suited to the intellect of a child of nine years of age, but such as would be proper to guide and instruct him when he should be capable of examining these subjects for himself. He also requested that the boy might be permitted to spend some time in his house, and when, a few months later, this visit was paid, he took the greatest pains in catechising him, in instructing him from the Scriptures, and in making him learn those articles of our Church which were suited to his understanding, and which dwelt on the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.

In sending the books which he had selected, he accompanied the gift with a letter, which would serve as an explanatory index to the works themselves, when the boy should be able to understand them. This letter we insert, because it expresses Dr. Hope's opinions more fully than any other which we have been able to procure. It is as follows:

"13, Lower Seymour Street, May 22, 1840.

"MY DEAR CHARLES,

"I am your godfather. It is the common custom of godfathers and godmothers to make presents to their godchildren of silver spoons, corals, rattles, and other baubles, and to imagine that they have then

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