applause and shadowy glory, which are derived from sublunary beings, moves on in the paths of rectitude and goodness, with silent dignity; satisfied with his own inward feelings, and the consciousness of the favour of that Being, who has unerring wisdom to discern worth, and has in the highest degree a will, and a capacity to reward it! This is indeed, the truly great man, who adorns, and ennobles human nature!

Em. By the force of religious truth you have now convinced me, Camillus, that the love of fame is mean, in comparison with the contempt of it.

A LETTER

TO A FRIEND.

You and I, my Caroline, have often mentioned with pity, those giddy unthinking creatures, who, having no taste for moral and intellectual enjoyments, and destitute of every finer relish, are perpetually endeavouring to lose themselves in the tumultuous scenes of modern dissipation. Their case, my friend, is indeed truly pitiable, since, unmindful of the noble ends of their creation, they treat time, that inestimable jewel,like an insignificant bauble, foolishly throwing it away upon every idle amusement or frivolous pursuit, and incapacitate themselves from fulfilling either the religious or social duties. How can they contemplate on their divine Creator, or pay him the proper tribute of praise and adoration, when solitude is regarded as their greatest

enemy,

enemy, while an unbounded fondness for pleasure, ab sorbs all the faculties and affections of their souls? How can they practise any acts of benevolence, relieve the indigent, succour the friendless, comfort the afflicted, when both their time and fortunes are squandered upon dress, cards, and every light expensive entertainment? What strangers are your followers of dissipation to all the sweet heart-felt pleasures of domestic life, and the rational delights which flow from sincere regard. Friendship is not a plant that flourishes in the fashionable world: it rather blooms in the tranquil shades of retirement, remote from that destructive region of polite insincerity. Your modish people, my Caroline, may be truly said to be

e'en desolate in crowds," For, with all the promiscuous numbers with which they are surrounded, there can be nothing but odious dissimulation and restraint; there can be no agreeable mixture of minds, no free communication of the heart, and without these, what is society, but the worst species of solitude? Besides, what a contemptible figure in general, do the votaries of fashion and pleasure make in the decline of life! What a joyless exist

ence is then their portion! In the gay, brilliant season of youth, when the imagination is warm, and the spirits lively, things wear a very different aspect from what they must do, in the gloomy, dispassioned days of age. In the latter period, when worldly amusements charm no more, when all the sources of mortal pleasure are exhausted, what can diffuse any comfort or satisfaction through the mind, but the calm consciousness of a life well spent? Happy then, thrice happy, they, who early live up to the dignity of their nature, who tread the silent paths of wisdom, piety and benevolence, and make the refined delights of genuine friendship their own! By this means they taste the God-like satisfaction of doing good, and enjoy the delightful consciousness of the divine approbation. They meet with real love and deference from their fellow creatures, and treasure up for themselves a fund of joy and consolation to gild the evening of life. If they reach the vale of years, they enjoy the noblest retrospective views, and the necessary consequence of them, the animating prospect of a happy immortality: Thus they glide gently into the grave, sincerely lamented by numbers to whose welfare and happiness their useful lives had contributed, and their memories are reverenced by the good and worthy.

Whilst

Whilst on the contrary, those Auttering insects who bask for a short time in the sunshine of pleasure, die unla

"From toy to toy, from vanity to vice,

"Till blown away by death, oblivion comes

"Behind, and strikes them from the book of life."

THOMSON.

That this may never be our case, my dear friend, is my hearty prayer, and I am sure you concur with me in it. I am, my ever amiable Caroline,

Your's, with the tenderest affection,

E. MILNES.

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