And here, Mr. Editor, my long epistle ceases also-But before I bring it to a close, you must indulge me with one observation: It is, "Sir, that when Curiosity is sent upon a cruise after character on the ocean of Conjecture, the right of search ought not to be questioned; but it must be evident to you, that many innocent individuals engaged in lawful enterprise may be suspected, and suffer all the indignities of suspicious investigation. -I am not aware, Sir, that your Correspondent, whoever he may be, can argue justly for any claim to such a license; and should the gentleman to whom our Corate alludes prove to be the writer of the article in question, I shall take upon me to expostulate with him against the hazardous venture which he makes of committing his own interests, while he thos indiscriminately and rashly seizes upon the reputations of others. You may, therefore, expect to hear from ine gain in the course of next month: in the mean while, I remain, Your Well-wisher, SAMUEL SEARCH. Long Room, Custom house, third Year of the Great Fire. A CONVERSAZIONE. WB all were struck with the utmost horror at the perilous condition in which Mr.'s humane and fearles exertions had placed him. As Captain Otto was a tall man, it occurred to me, that he could render essential aid in mounting the ladder, as, by the length of his arms and legs, he might more easily stand upon it out of the reach of the smoke, and take the female or her child in his arms, and so leave Mr. at liberty to take better care of the other and himself. instantly suggested this to the Cap tain; who, with his hands lifted up in alarm and surprise, exclaimed, "What! I mount a ladder to be roasted alive! Pon honour, my good Sir, I must be excased from making so desperate a disposal of myself-besides, Sir, it is very evident that I can be of no service, and it's all over with them; the flames have entered the room, and I can't see how any one can prevent them from being lost"-With these words, he, with great coolness, twisted his Bandana, and ty ing it round his crane-like neck, turned round to the company, and appealing to the conviction of the affrighted party whether it was not morally impossible for any one to do the least good in so tremendous a case, took his leave of Miss G, who had just recovered from her swoon; he was hurrying out of the room, when I took the liberty of rushing past him, with somewhat less ceremony than he might have thought perfectly comme il faut; and telling him, "I would make the attempt, notwithstanding his very prudent consideration," proceeded instantly to the spot. I was just in time to take the infant out of Mr.'s arm, as he was calling for assistance-a fireman took it from me-and, by our united efforts, we at length had the happiness to rescue the mother, and get safe down ourselves, a few seconds before the roof fell in. We carried her into Miss G-'s house; which we found deserted by all her guests, except Lady S, Mrs. - the Poet, and Mr. M. So much, thought I, for the friendship of such summer flies of fashion. "Madam," said Mr. -, accosting Miss G, "I must request of you some immediate relief for this unhappy lady." 64 66 O, my good Sir," cried the Superintendant, "how could you bring her to my house, which, for aught I can tell, may be the next that takes fire: I am so dreadfully shocked myself, that I really am not in a condition to render her the least assistanceMrs., do pray go up into my dressing-room, you know where it is, and bring down out of the little closet a small bottle of drops, for I protest I am so overpowered I cannot stir a step." Mrs. — immediately ran out of the room, and returned with an eight-ounce phial-I instantly snatched it from her hand, and began to drop a small quantity into a wine-glass, when I found its contents did not require the cautious procedure-it was brandy. As I thought this might be as efficacious as any other drops, I said nothing, but gave half a glassfull to the lady, who appeared to be coming to herself-She swallowed a small part of it; and putting it on one side with her hand, Miss G seized it with great anxiety, and exclaiming, "Why this is brandy-Where did you find it, Mrs. "O, just where you told me in the little closet." "Indeed! I cannot think how it came there." "O, never mind," cried Lady S, "here it is, and I really think it won't do you and me any harm, Mrs., if we take a few of the drops ourselves." This proposition was readily accepted, and as promptly applied. "Won't you have a little, my dear G-," said Lady S, with a sarcastic tone of compassion. which is destroyed belongs to a winemerchant, who resides with his family at Clapham-I tenant the upper part of it; and from what I can make out of the cause of the fire, I have reason to think it originated in the warehouse, as the porter was very late at work, and was observed by my servants to be very much intoxicated. But a good Providence has saved my dear infant, and his preservation amply compensates for all my loss-forgive me, dear Madam, if I go to him in the next room." "I drink brandy! Would you have me suffocated?" exclaimed Miss G-, "I cou'dn't touch a drop of it if it was-She rose from her chair for this purto save my life." "Perhaps," said the Poet, "Mr. and his friend may venture upon a few drops without much risk of so fear ful a consequence, after their exertion." This we did not scruple to do, with as little hesitation as the two ladies had shewn. By this time the affrighted female had regained her senses-the first effort of recollection was expressed in anxious inquiries for her infant-" My child, Sir, where's my dear child, is he safe? is he hurt?" 66 Safe, Madam, and unhurt, in the next room." 66 "GOD be praised-I have not lost all -my sweet boy is left to mee-O, Sir, I bless your unexampled humanity-to you I owe my life, and, what I prize more than my own, my dear little Frederick's also- But tell me, Sir, what has befallen the servants of the house? Have they escaped ?" "Yes, Madam-while I was engaged in your rescue from the flames, I saw them descend the staircase, and heard their anxious questions for their mis tress's fate, as I proceeded to your room-I have little doubt of their safety." pose, but her strength failed her, and she sunk upon her chair exhausted. -At this moment a venerable old man, of most respectable appearance came into the room; and throwing his arms around the fainting female, wept aloud "O my child, do I see you safe? Heaven's mercy has saved my beloved daughter- but where is my dear little Frederick-O say, he is safe also." "He is, he is, dearest father-O help me to thank this gentleman as I ought, to whom both myself and my babe owe our lives." The agitated parent turned towards Mr. to express his thankful ac knowledgments of the essential service which had been effected by him at the imminent peril of his own life-" Sir, accept, I beseech you—— Heaven's! whom do I see. Mr. ? the guardian angel of my family! the very man who snatched my younger daughter from destruction athousand times worse than even that which threatened my eldest! O Sir, let me pour out the burstings of a heart overpowered with such events of an interposing Providence-The blessings of that Providence await your Christian, your Godlike acts-This, my daughter, this is that angel of preserva The lady then recollecting her situa- tion, who saved from utter misery of tion in a stranger's house, apologised body and soul our poor Mary,-when for her intrusion, and intreated Miss you were absent in Ireland, and when G-would allow her a few moments I wrote you the heart-rending tidings to recover herself, while she sent for one of her having been seduced from us of her servants, who would accompany by one whom I harboured in my bo her to her father's house in Fleet-street. som as our generous benefactor."-" I am unknown to you, Madam, The force of recollection acted too but I am sure you will forgive the powerfully upon his mind, to permit intrusion of which a dreadful neces- him to express himself farther by words sity has caused me to be guilty-I-he seized both the hands of Mr came but last Saturday to the lodgings from which I have been rescued by this gentleman's very seasonable exertions I am the wife of Lieutenant K-, of the Swift sloop of war, who is now upon the Irish station. The house and lifting up his eyes to Heaven, sunk upon his knees, and would have remained fixed in that posture, had not Mr. roused him from his entranced condition, by calling upon him to go into the next room to see his little grandson. At this invitation he started up, and exclaimed-"O yes, come with me! where is the dear child? -Sir, Sir, I am overwhelmed with joy -let me go to him!" Mr. led him out of the room; to which he instantly returned with the infant in his arms, and placing it in these of his daughter-" See! my beloved girl!-even the smell of fire has not passed upon him-We will take him to my house-Madam, I most gratefully thank you for the shelter you have afforded my children-but you, Sir, you! how shall ever prove my gratitude in all its fullness to you, who a second time have been their deliverer from anguish and death-1 entreat, dear Sir, you will let me have the opportunity of making a more collected acknowledgment of your incomparable goodness to-morrow. Come, Sir, and witness that happiness of an aged father, which you, under Divine Mercy, have secured to him." Mr.made the promise of seeing bim as he desired-and the servants having joined their mistress, they left Miss G's house to go to Fleetstreet, accompanied by the Poet and Mr. M, who kindly offered their assistance to conduct them through the crowd. No sooner had they left us, than Mrs. —, with a sarcastic turn of her eye towards Mr. ——, asked him, And pray, good Sir, who is this poor Maria, whom you have, with so much mcomparable goodness, delivered from destruction of body and soul-truly, your knight errantry takes a pretty extensive range-I presume I may be allowed to inquire, without trespassing upon that law of obedience which you have so logically argued!" Ah!" cried Lady S―, “as the poor woman has been burnt out of her lodging, so you, my worthy Sir, will be burnt out of your secret; but purity such as your's, I have little doubt, will bear to be tried three times in the fire." vulgar irruptions upon good manners that ever a man of common pretensions to a civilized mind was guilty of-I am, however, more disposed to give you credit than to condemn you for it." 66 "My dear Lady S," replied Mr. "I acknowledge your forbearance; and whether I be indebted to your vanity or your courtesy for my excuse, will be with me entirely a secondary consideration just at this moment-forgive me, if, in my present agitated state of nerve, I decline entering into the discussion-I am, I assure you, quite satisfied with my motives, and I beg just at this instant that you and Mrs. will admit this self-sufficiency of mine as an ample answer to the ill-timed remarks of both.” Miss G -, during this interchange of words, had been looking from the window at the progress of the fire; when she exclaimed, with much joy, that it was nearly got under -" for my part," said she, I shall sit up all night-for I cannot go to bed while any possibility of danger remains." She rang the bell, and desired her foolman to go and inquire of the firemen whether the fire was likely to spreadThe man went down stairs, and returned with the welcome information that all was safe. Mrs. 66 "In such a case, Madam," said Mr. "I will wish you good night, are you ready to go?" Certainly, Sir, I am at your command," was the Lady's answer --“ But permit me to say, that your folly, or your philanthropy as you would call it, have carried you somewhat too far in obtruding the rescued fair one upon the attention of Miss G, when you knew she was so discomposed herself -But I dare say your incomparable goodness' would have taken to your own house the whole of the party, bag and baggage, with whom you seem to be upon such good terms." 64 You have made a better guess than usual," replied Mr. — -; for I can assure you I had it in contemplation." Truly, Sir, had you so done, you must have sent for the poor Mary to have ministered unto you-for 1 certainly should not have joined you." "Well," observed Mr. —, happily you may be at rest upon this score; so, if you please, we will say no more about this point-Besides, my dear, I should be very unwilling to put you to` the test, or to be myself subjected to the same recompense as our friend C, when he took under his roof the whole family of the S-'s, after the conflagration of R: having rendered them every assistance, and treated them with the kindest attention, even to the inconvenient surrender of his personal and domestic comfort, they contrived to leave behind them a spark of discontent, which soon kindled into a flame of mischief, that, at length, consumed his family peace." 66 "I remember that affair," said Lady S-;" and a most monstrous instance of ingratitude it was: I understand the S 's attempt to palliate their baseness, of having produced the lamentable division in C- -'s family, by affecting great concern at his inflexibility, and an earnest regret at being so unjustly reproached by him, as they call it-I never hear that story but I think of the fable of the Snake and the Countryman, which is a tole. rably good specimen of mistaken hos pitality and malignant unthankfulness: and of all the vile reptiles that crawl the earth, defend me from those adders of society which make little other use of their tongues than as mediums of the poison of ingratitude." "I agree with you, Lady S, in every word you have uttered," observed Mr. —; “and I really think it would have been a happier event for poor C if he had allowed his charity to have begun at home for it's an old saying, but a very true one, that he who meddles with fire will burn his fingers."" By this time Mrs. had put on her shawl and bonnet; and after saluting Miss G and Lady S, wished them a good night, and departed with her husband. I made my congées to the Lady Superintendant and her friend; aud being anxious to know what belonged to the history of “ poor Mary,' I pursued Mr. and his gentle Rib, that I might make an appointment with him for next day. As the multitudes of people passing to and from the fire somewhat obstructed my pas sage, I did not overtake them until they had nearly reached their home. As I approached them in M-Court, I overheard Mrs. rating her bapless spouse rather vociferously, for having brought the Lieutenant's Wife to Miss G's apartments-" What in the name of propriety could have induced you to stumble upon such a step?-You know how horrible it is to her to have strangers introduced to her, especially persons who may become troublesome to her-for I dare say the Dulcinea of your knight errantry, or her peerless sister the poor Mary,' will take care to improve the acquaintance; as, no doubt, the former will have a petition drawn up, which, I presume, she will request you to write, and Miss Gwill be applied to, to certify in due form the piteous narrative of the fact.-Really, Mr. you might, I think, be much better occupied, and more to the advantage of your family, than in risking your life to rescue one woman from fire, and another from water; for I suppose this poor Mary had fallen into some peccadillo, and her tender conscience, poor timid creature, could not resist the temptation of getting rid of the thing altogether, by a float from one bridge to the other-But, Lord bless me! it is nothing but the hope of be ing called a philanthropist, or some such fine name, that leads you to affect all this concern for others: however, I' think that, in the mean while, you might as well shew something of that incom. parable goodness' which the father of your rescued damsel so lavishly ascribed to you, in your own family, and upon your own wife, by buying her a new bonnet and shawl, for I swear I was positively ashamed of putting them on at Miss G's, although she knows and cries open shame of the thing, that I have only another bonnet to wear, which is literally worn to pieces, and this I have on I bought full five weeks ago." 66 Very well," returned the Husband; "if I can spare the money five weeks hence you shall have another." "And another shawl," said the Lady, "I must have: indeed I cannot do without it." "That I readily admit," replied Mr. "while you dress so open about the shoulders." At this point of conjugal discussion I hailed him "6 My good Sir, shall I have the pleasure of seeing you tomorrow at breakfast?" "At what hour?" "Why, as it's rather late now, suppose we say nine o'clock." "Pray, Gentlemen," said Mrs.} is the poor Mary to be of your party?" "No. Madam, but she will be our subject, for I am anxious to hear her history." And that also of this Gentleman's 'incomparable goodness,' I presume," observed this amiable wife: " you may depend upon having a full account of both, for this worthy man takes special care that no one shall be ignorant of his good deeds." "You see, Sir," said Mr. -,"I have a very impartial reporter of them in my wife: I'll be with you at the hour you've fixed." By this time he had arrived at his house, and I passed on to my lodgings, -On my table lay a note, which I saw came from my clerical friend, the candidate for the lectureship the contents afforded me considerable pleasure; they were as follows : "MY DEAR SIR, violently against the arbitrary polity "J. S." I confess I felt highly gratified at this discovery; for I cannot but think it strictly just, that, in every established system, certain gradations should be insisted upon, and that those who are anxious to attach themselves to that "It is not without considerable gra- system should submit to the rules and tification that I have to inform you of restrictions which constitute the stanan event which I did not at all count dard of eligibility. And as to the good upon-It has arisen out of an inves- things of the Church, as they are called, tigation, on the part of a Gentleman I cannot see with what justice those can of my Committee, into the nature of claim a legal participation in the fruit the endowment which is attached to who have leaped over the wall to snatch this Lectureship. There is a clause it out of the hands of the regular lain the trust deed, which renders it iu- bourers, that have spent so much modispensable for the person who is elect- ney and so much time to qualify themed to be a graduate of one of the selves for an enrolment upon the list. Eglish Universities; and it appears, Besides, it has been invariably found, that the Reverend Doctor my oppo- that such irregular supernumeraries as Bent was ordained by the Bishop of the Doctor keep up the same character St. without having taken any of irregularity in doctrine; for as they degree whatever, and he became Doctor find their patrons only among the dis by virtue of a Scotch diploma-this, sentients from the established order of therefore, sets aside his pretensions at things, so they find their own interests once; and if I am not much mistaken but ill provided for by defending those in the man himself, he will hardly think of the Church and hence we not un it worth his while to stand for the frequently hear the claims of our Estanominal possession of the Lectureship, blishment, both in polity and precept, as this endowment constitutes the ma- vilified even from the National Pulpit jor part of the emolument-the Doc- itself; while the doctrines of its advertor's party too consists of that descrip- saries are openly inculcated, and the tion of persons whose pockets are the more conscientious and regular teachers least expansive part about them-they of its principles are denounced as blind will open their mouths wide enough leaders of the blind-as neither knowto trumpet his evangelical excellencies, ing nor preaching the Gospel. and their hearts may be sufficiently accessible to the usual underband ma- sentiments proceeding from the lips of œuvres of electioneering cunning, but an ordained clergyman, I have uniI am quite at ease as to any proba- fermly found myself right in my conbility of their making a purse for the jecture, that there was something wrong annual remuneration of the Doctor's in his training and I have always conlabours-and without this I have little sidered it an unjustifiable license, on the doubt of his retiring from the field. part of the Preacher, whenever he has I understand his supporters exclaim assumed to himself an authority to Whenever I have heard such adverse |