6

great humanity had visited her husband in his long illness, which had originated in falling asleep upon damp grass after having overheated himself at work. The doctor knew the lady, who soon recollected her former domestic, and re solved to assist her. She was an honest, active, good tempered girl,' said the lady, and quitted my service for the best of motives, filial tenderness. I shall, as soon as possible, see what can be done for her.' 'In that act of charity,' replied the physician, 'you will not only gratify your own feelings, but afford an impressive lesson to servants in general, that good conduct will not only make them respectable and happy in their menial situations, but may procure them the highest benefits at a remote period.' The lady sent the poor woman some immediate relief. Her father had been a shoemaker, and she had learnt in her youth to stitch and bind shoes. The lady became surety for her honesty to the manager of a shoe-warehouse, and he permitted her to work at home. She punctually returned at night the shoes intrusted to her in the morning. Her son was employed in errands, as soon as his age could justify that confidence, and he never disappointed his employers. He might be about twelve years old when George's master first observed him in a field a little way out of town, teaching his two little brothers to read on a Sunday evening; he inquired his name and the condition of his parents. The boy answered every question with a modest but manly precision; and when asked if he could write, replied, that he had learnt by going over and over old copies, which some good ladies gave his mother after their own children had filled them up; his mother knew how to hold the pen though she could write very little; and that she had sent him one quarter to school to learn arithmetic. But said he, I go on at home when I have time, and a young gentleman is so good as look at what I do, and set me right. Minute inquiry served still more to prepossess George's master in favour of the lad. He was taken into the shop; but being much inferior to Ned R. in ability, he often seoffed at his awkwardness in handling the tools. Practice and persevering attention overcame that difficulty, and there is not a better workman among the apprentices in all common performances. He wants ingenuity, but that is

a

a natural defect, and his good conduct and industry fully compensate for it."?

1

"His good conduct and industry," said George, “have made him respectable, though he has risen from indigence. and poor Ned R.'s folly has degraded him, notwithstanding the advantages of his birth, and the patronage my master shewed him."

"I am glad to hear you talk of your master," said Lewis. "Some foolish lads would disdain to acknowledge they had a master, and would say Mr. such, and such-aone."

"He that must be an apprentice," said Hammel, “should not be unwilling to own he has a master-and both George and I have met so much kindness, that our masters are almost as parents to us. Mine gave me a commission to you, sir; and if I presume too far, you will, I hope, forgive me, as it is in obedience to my master, I beg you to give in writing your thoughts on education, and, par ticularly, all that can tend to reform ill-managed youth."

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Except some extracts from books, or a few letters, I have never penned six pages since my return to Scotland," said Lewis," and how can I presume to write my thoughts on education? I never had actual experience, except in my brother's family; and what pleasure can your master find in reading the treatment given to boys and girls in humble life."

"I took the liberty of saying to him," replied Hammel, "that I had no hope of prevailing with you to publish your sentiments, though I relied on your goodness to indulge me in giving them as a private communication. To this my master answered: I will not publish your uncle's communication without full leave; but tell him from me, to ask himself, whether it is more laudable to give way to his own delicacy, or to become instrumental in saving many children from perversion, and to reclaim others who have acquired bad habits? Shew him this account of the education of hares, by the very amiable penman of John Gilpin. Mr. CowPER wrote it for the Gentleman's Magazine, and the Editor inserted it."

FF 3.

"And

"And well might he insert any production from the pen of Mr. CowPER," said Lewis. "If I had but an eman ation of his brilliant powers, I would not for a moment hesitate to write."

"But, my dear uncle," replied Hammel, "the education of hares is a mere bagatelle—a matter of trivial curiosity. The education of human beings, I have frequently heard you say, is the most important of all sublunary concerns."

"You are irresistible," said Lewis, smiling, "and I be lieve a plain statement of facts and opinions may be more generally useful than a highly embellished performance. Our quarterly assemblage of relations happens to-morrow. George and you shall be our amanuensises, and you may write down all that shall be said on the subject of educa tion. It will greatly assist me in my attempt to comply with your master's request; and if I do prescribe as a mental physician, I would conscientiously avoid the most distant approach to quackery, and recommend the most sure specifics in every case. But how came your master to think of applying to me?"

"You will gain more express information from me than from Hammel, sir," said George. "You dislike egotism, therefore I shall tell you how the education of two such obscure lads as your nephews excited attention. You know we went to town about the end of May; and when our duty in the workshop was finished for the day, my brother and I, and some other youths, took a walk, and spent the rest of the evening in reading. Our companions at first had no liking for books, but we told them our promise to you, that we should devote at least half an hour in the four and twenty, for the acquisition of youthful knowledge. By degrees the lads found out that pleasure and profit went hand in hand in reading good books. As the evenings lengthened, and we could not walk, Hammel proposed that we should all give a shilling weekly to take in a Newspaper and a Magazine, and to support a subscription to the CIRCULATING LIBRARY; and some young men, who formerly were led to pass their spare hours card playing, for want of some better engagements, joined our society. They became great admirers of literature,

and

and acknowledged, that in every view a book was preferable to a pack of cards, being an amusement that not only excites pleasurable feelings during its operation, but is always a source of agreeable recollections. Hammel's master is very anxious to ascertain how his apprentices spend their leisure time; and lately, whilst one of us was reading in his turn, and the rest listening with fixed attention to Scotland's Skaith, we perceived our master among us. He opened the door softly, and no one had observed him for some minutes. William Gray, the widow's son, was the first who looked up. Our master expressed the most lively approbation, and addressing William, said: This is your doing, and I give you great credit for it.' William replied, that the credit should be given to Hammel; and, in short, our master was so pleased, that he took particular notice of us both ever after. He took us with him on a walk to the country, and asked how we came to form such a taste for books, with a variety of other interrogatories, that gave us a fair occasion for telling him the particulars of our education; which could not be explained without acknowledging our obligations to a generous and indulgent uncle."

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"You have overpaid me in the satisfaction I feel at this moment," said Lewis. All my anxieties on your account are dispelled, and I have only to rejoice in your good conduct; and let me assure you, I receive more exquisite pleasure in a full reliance on your worth and circumspection, than if I had the certainty of your acquiring large fortunes. Money alone cannot confer happiness. Some rich people are made very miserable by their own passions and follies, but A WELL REGULATED MIND ALWAYS MAKES ITS OWN HAPPINESS IN EVERY CONDITION. During the time you are in the workshop, there is ample security for your being exempted from fatal temptations; and by giving yourselves a taste for innocent recreation, a recreation that must, in some measure, elevate your sentiments, and confirm your principles, you preserve yourselves from the snares that encompass young men who seek amusement in the streets, in places of public resort, or in cards, or jollity. If you divert yourselves gadding from one walk to another, it

gives

gives the mind a giddy dissipated propensity; public places are too expensive; and cards and taverns, besides incur ring all these evils, have a direct tendency to the worst vices; but a party of friends reading together, and next day talking over what they have read, in a walk to preserve health, must in sure progression make some valuable improvement."

"I lately read in a periodical paper, a sentence which has become a sort of axiom among us," said Hammel: "A TASTE FOR LITERATURE IS NEARLY EQUIVALENT TO ANOTHER SENSE."

"It is a just and lively remark," said Lewis; "and blessed be God, it is a pleasure accessible to the meanest of our fellow-beings, who have learnt to read. The poor est apprentice may obtain books from a Circulating Lib. rary at less cost than the lowest priced public entertainment, or the most moderate stake at cards, or a reckoning at the alehouse. In the course of his reading he will probably gather some hints of real utility in his own occupa tion. At least, his morals will be established; and an honest, candid, industrious disposition, essentially promotes the success of any business. If he rises in the world, his knowledge will qualify him for associating with persons who were originally his superiors; and, in the lowest sphere, it will make him a companion for himself; and that, my dear lads, let me assure you, is no inconsiderable means for happiness. The caresses of the world are bestowed only in the season of prosperity; and every man on his entrance in active scenes, should set about making himself independant of these caresses, with all expedition and intensity. He should labour by diligence and decent economy to secure competency in his pecuniary circumstances, and by augmenting his intellectual resources to be independant of others for amusement in those hours when prudence forbids him to indulge in society. For my own part, I think, every parent who can afford to have his son taught to read, ought also to cultivate in him a taste for reading. It may preserve him from more expensive, and certainly from more dangerous pursuits. THE POOREST HAS SOME LEISURE HOURS-AND HOW THESE