conclude, that a want of unanimity of sentiment, is not so much occasioned by weakness of intellect, as corruption of heart. The great system of morality is made up of unalterable positions, which are equally binding at all times and in all places. One of those which our great master has particularly enjoined, is to cherish meekness and brotherly love; and to show who is our brother, he has described a stranger, sick and distressed, in the parable of the good Samaritan.

"The advent of the same Divine lawgiver was announced, as bringing peace and good-will on earth. A desire to promote the accomplishment of the heavenly message ought to form the basis of our reasonings, and the rule of our actions. It is a first principle which we ought never to lose sight of. If then, by this criterion we judge of the political state of Europe, how legible are the characters in which its guilt is implicated! How great is the infamy attached to the inventors of the thousand diabolical machinations by which it is torn! Can the meed of applause be due to those, who in order to attain it, have forced their fellow-creatures from the innocent occupations of a rural life, to shed their blood in adjusting a vain and groundless quarrel; who have broken asunder the tender bands of connubial felicity in thousands of families, and half peopled the world with orphans? What are the triumphs of the conqueror but so many harbingers of desolation to mankind? But these mournful truths are forgotten by the deluded multitude. Brutality is termed courage; pride, honour, and lawless rapacity, a just and reasonable preservation of the rights of nations. The pompous eulogies pronounced over departed heroism, the specious monumental inscriptions,

with all the ensanguined trophies of martial valour, must vanish away before the steady and unerring lamp of religion. Those that ravage the earth with fire and sword may assert their attachment to that divine handmaid, and justify their most horrid actions under pretence of advancing her interests;-but believe them not: no casuistry can disprove, that religion is wholly inimical to hostile pursuits; its high and holy Founder exhibits in his own person the example, whilst be delivers the precept, that peace, harmony, and brotherly concord, should be the distinguishing characteristics of his humble followers.

To

"W. T."

"Penketh, 4th of 10th mo. 1813.

"Thy letter came to my hands in one of those desponding moments, in which intellectual animation seems to be suspended; when the little light that remains, only serves to increase the horror of the gloom, and to point out imaginary woes in the bosom of futurity. It was in this desolate state, that I sat down to peruse it; and if thou hast ever experienced the full tide of recollection of past mercies, and the full weight of gratitude to the instruments of those mercies, I need not describe the sensations which accompanied my relief. That God who has cared for my wants, and filled my cup with good things; has also given me a thankful heart. How often do I offer up my cries and tears for thy preservation! how often do I beseech the Almighty to 'shower down his blessings' upon thy head, and to guard thee in an especial manner, from the snares that may be strewed in thy path! I am

persuaded, that the spirit of true supplication can only come from on high; and when that holy and heart-searching flame is vouchsafed to kindle the sacrifice, I believe it will ever he accepted. At particular seasons, of late, I have been led to desire thy welfare, with an anxiousness, which I am confident does not proceed from any inherent disposition of my own. But it would indeed be strange, if a heart could be found so obdurate, as not to melt at the idea of a benevolence, which it would have been presumption to have hoped to meet with, in a being within the precincts of frail mortality.

“The account of thy fluctuating and unsettled state of health, gave me much concern, 1 commend thee to the giver of patience, to Him who can sustain the soul with hope, even in the valley of the shadow of death. Blessed fortress, religion! that affords security, alike from the storms of adversity, and the alluring baits presented in a state of prosperity and affluence. Here, we all stand on the same footing, however dissimilar in other respects, or however various our allotments in life; it is by the same free and unmerited redemption, that we are purchased from eternal death, and made participators of the Divine nature. In whatever part we may have suffered losses, the same Heavenly Physician can alone bind up our wounds. When viewed in this light, how do the petty distinctions which wealth has created vanish! We see mankind as one universal brotherhood, having one common Lord and Father, and individually destined, by the grand scheme of redemption, to exist in a state of unceasing felicity.

"When I meet with one who conceives himself entitled, by his ample possessions, to behave

with an air of insolence and self-importance towards his inferiors, surely, I exclaim, this person has never seen the conditions on which he holds the precarious tenure of life; he has never extended his ideas so far as to consider, that there is a Fountain of light which will dissipate the idle dreams of ambition; in the blaze of which, nothing but pure gold can remain untouched: it is virtue alone that confers superiority in the sight of the Almighty. We shall be weighed in the balance, not for the strength of our intellects, the extent of our attainments, or the conspicuous rank we have held amongst men the investigation will concern, whether we have rightly husbanded our time, whether we have put off a conformity to the world, and sought after that temper and spirit that were in Jesus, by becoming transformed into his divine image.

"How thankful I have reason to be for my state of retirement; on a spot where every literary help may be procured, and that enjoys every advantage of refinement; I stand as a quiet and impartial spectator of the world. Whilst through the medium of books, I view the present and ancient character of mankind, and contemplate the flux and reflux of morality and religion, I cheerfully contribute my mite towards leavening the great mass, by a strict attention to the morals of those committed to my care. Permit me again to congratulate thee, as the chief instrument that has been concerned in my accession to a state of so much importance in the scale of existence, a state that includes so many duties immediately connected with the well-being of my species.

I clearly perceive, that if due attention be not paid to the moral habits of children, learning is of no use. From the nature of the foundation laid in the minds of children at an early age, is often raised a superstructure, either of vicious and perverted dispositions, or of an honourable and virtuous integrity; if the latter qualities predominate, happy is their possessor, inasmuch as, by the enlightening aid of science, he is gifted with the means of doing good. But if the former, (as is too frequently the case,) of what use can learning be to such an individual? He who has resolved to be vicious, will find human lore, to be a deadly weapon turned against his own bo-, som. The wisdom of an angel is not worth desiring, if unaccompanied with the simplicity of a little child.' As most of my pupils are very young, I feel anxious to impress on their tender 1 minds, what I conceive to be the leading principle of religion, a knowledge of the Supreme Being: the first communication on this head, if rightly made, often leaves an impression on the memory, which time can never efface. I think the creatures are the best medium by which the minds of children can be led to a contemplation of the Creator; their ideas are simple and confined: they can be taught but few things by induction: but critical as the management of such a delicate and highly important point is, I am inclined to hope, that that parent or tutor who seriously engages in the work, will be helped, and will find a corresponding concern, generally to cover the minds of his pupils; or if it should seem to fail to the ground for the present, being cast in faith, on the waters, it will assuredly be found after many days.

"W. T."