ions throwing the sparkling glass around their heads with loud applause, and flashes of ill-timed wit; falling from their chairs in the midst of their covenant-making. Still, all these are but for the moment; to-morrow brings a racking conscience, an aching head, hollow eyes, and often an empty purse. These are a few of Bacchus's attendants, which never fail sooner or latter, to plunge her most favourite voteries in an abyss of woe. Seek ye then the company of the wise and prudent. for Solomon says, He that walketh with the wise shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. One of the late lords Mayor of London, mentions a young man that he knew, who was taken from school to sit in the House of Commons, and who had little or no knowledge from books, and as little from the experience of age; yet, by associating himself with the wise, soon became the best speaker, and the wonder of the house. You would do well to be wary in the choice of a companion; for, if it be a bad one, although innocent yourself, by being found in the company of the guilty, you may share the fate of the poor stork who was found among the cranes. Therefore, never make a companion of a sabbath-breaker, a liar, a swearer, a drunkard, a gambler, a thief, nor in short, any that makes a mock at sin, or scoffs at religion; such as an athiest or deist. For he who denies his God, or his Saviour, is not fit to be trusted. He is worse than an infidel. The sin of ingratitude, I count no better than the sin against the Holy Ghost.-The one is ascribing to the power of the devil what is done by the power of the Holy Spirit.-The other is denying the existence of a God and of a Saviour altogether. Many theists, I am sorry to say,in their works do the same. He who can read the sorrowful life and sufferings, the privations and miseries,-the bloody sweats and dying agonies of a crucified Redeemer, without his heart burning within him for love and gratitude, is surely not a proper companion for you. He who can deny a Saviour who has willingly become the object of divine wrath,-suffered these things-shed his precious blood on mount Calvary-given his life a ransom-his body a sacrifice,and still intercedes for him, cannot expect a place in those mansions which he has gone to prepare for those that love him. Endeavour then to select such as you think are walking in the way that leadeth unto life eternal, that you may enjoy their company when time

shall be no more. Ingo, an ancient king of the Draves, who making a stately feast, appointed his nobles, at that time Pagans, to sit in the hall below, and commanded certain poor Christians to be brought up into his presence-chamber, to sit with him at his table, to eat and drink of his kingly cheer, at which many wondering,he said,he accounted Christians, though never so poor, a greater ornament to his table, and more worthy of his company, than the greatest peers unconverted to the Christian faith; for when these might be thrust down to hell, those might be his consorts and fellow princes in heaven.

Regarding your amusements, let them be harmless, and free from those evils which corrupt the morals of youth. Hunting is an amusement much practised among the fashionable beaux of this country; but, although I approve of the exercise got upon horseback, with the free and uncontaminated air of the ; country, to brace and strengthen weak nerves; still, these benefits may be derived without the wanton cruelty which attends hunting.

Amadeus, duke of Savoy, when asked by certain embassadørs that came to his court, What hounds he had, for they desired to see them? He shewed them the next day, a pack af poor ..people feeding at his table, and said, These are the hounds

wherewith I hunt after heaven. Macedonius the hermit retirIing into the wilderness, that he might with more freedom enjoy <God, and have his conversation in heaven. Upon a time there came a young gallant into the wilderness to hunt wild beasts, and seeing the hermit rode up to him, asking him, Why he came into that solitary place? He desired he might have leave to ask him the same question, Why he came thither? I came hither to hunt, saith the gentlemen; and so do 1, saith the hermit, I hunt after my God. And Lady Jane Gray, when asked by Mr. Roger Ascham, how she could lose such pastime, her father with the dutchess being a hunting in the park, smilingly answered, All sport in the park is but a shadow of that pleasure I find in this book, having a good book in her hand.

Never, then, my dear son, be at a loss for an amusement, nor a companion, while a good book can be had. For I may say of books what the nobleman said to Plato some days after he had dined with him, that his dinner was not only pleasant while it lasted,but had left with him such an agreeable sensation

that he would never forget it.-It being seasoned with the conversation of the Philosopher.

Books are often of inestimable value: they are silent monitors, and faithful friends that, though dead, yet speaketh. Cesar seems to have been of this opinion; for, when swimming thro' the waters to escape his enemies, he carried his books in his hand above the waters, but lost his royal robes.

'Tis books a lasting pleasure can supply,

Charm while we live, and teach us how to die.

For, in the volumes of the mighty dead,

We feast on joys to vulgar minds unknown.

As some profession or business, must engross the after part of your life, (for I do not mean you to be the finished coxcomb as I see so.ne,) I shall endeavour to give you a few orthodox advices on this head, and particularly, to point out to you, the most dangerous characters you should guard against. If you are in business, you will be subject to many impositions from pretended friends, as well as from open enemies, but watch over them with Argus's eyes; consider that the world is full of fraud and deceit, and few are to be trusted. Men, in general, are mercenary and' selfish. Take, then, the advice which Christ gave to his apostles when he commissioned them to preach the everlasting gospel, Math. x. 16, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Count then every man an honest man, but deal with him as if he were a rogue. These will often prevent the harpies from injuring you, and put at defiance the deep laid schemes of the cunning traitors. Still, although these advices are given you in a general sense, and cannot fail of being useful to you if rightly attended to: there are three classes of people more dangerous than any I have yet mentioned, as their evils are of greater magnitude, and you are more liable to them. Their insinuations are like the syren's song, and the serpent's charmer, they amuse but to deceive, and their deception is to destruction and death here, and hell hereafter. These three characters,-a Petty-fog ging Lawyer, a Quack Doctor, and a Heterodox Preacher, I shall endeavour to unmask, so as you may see them, not through a glass darkly, but face to face. The veil of hypocrisy is thin,

A

Yet

and may be easily seen through, or drawn aside by a very ca sual observer.

The first, a Petty-fogging Lawyer; if you listen to him, he will endeavour to get you ensnared, but make you believe your cause is good, while he is leading you step by step into destruction, in the mazy labyrinth of law; will drain you of your all, your last shilling not excepted; at last make your property the prey of the ravening wolves of his party, who will, under pretence of law, strip you as bare as the crow in the fable, then leave you unprotected to fight your own cause, to stand the fury of the storm, and all its raging elements. A petty-fogging lawyer is one of the most despicable and detestable wretches that I know. He frequents all public places, has his hand in every person's affairs, fills his own pockets from the ruins of many poor widow and fatherless child. The arbitrary manner in which he conducts himself; his ignorant pride and mean insignificance, when parading the streets with monky freaks, are too contemptible for your notice. They are generally crea tures of the most abject conduct, meanly born and bred, the sons of some poor mechanic, or petty farmer; but, in the course of a few years, it is no uncommon thing for some of these pettyfoggers to become farmers, shipowners, &c. &c. &c. at the expence of many an unfortunate debtor and creditor! It is a rare thing to find one of them who can write a letter of common sense, even upon the most trifling subject, without consulting their Gamalials in the south, for whom they cater, and are commonly called the jackall-lawyers: yet their pretensions are such, that no mere man can excel them in wisdom, &c. Not quite a century ago, in a small seaport town on the east coast of Scotland, I knew one of these pettyfoggers, who thought his vernacular tongue was too vulgar for him: so, to give him more the air of a fashionable gentleman of quality, (although the creature had come to the place in a state of beggary,) and that he might be the bon ton of the beaux esprits, and that he might observe a coup d'ail in his love amours; and be able to say in his public capacity, gibier de potence; he paid fifty pounds, (they no doubt came light to him,) to a strolling player who taught French the time I was there. Ignorant and silly people employ them, owing to the great pretensions they make, but few have ever great cause to boast of their winning. When

they get their finger into the pie of a bankrupt concern, (of which they are particularly fond,)they are generally well fledg ed before they fly away. But alas for the poor unfortunate debtor subject to the merciless fangsof a blood-thirsty vampire! A poor widow who had been deprived of the husband of her youth, the solace of her sickness, the stay and comfort of her family, has been known to have been dragged forth from the bosom of her weeping children, amidst the cries and tears of her assembled neighbours; sent to prison, stript of her all,her hard-earned savings, to pay the unjust demands of a lawless creditor, at the request of a petty-fogging lawyer, merely with a view to fill his own pocket, and keep up an appearance in society which he wished the world to think he was entitled. No wonder then, my dear boy, I should wish you to be parti cularly watchful over such a character. Christian charity, indeed, commands you to love your enemies, but not to follow their example. Should you, therefore, meet with such an one as I have here described, love him as an enemy, but guard against his wiles, and abhor with detestation, (who would not?) his principles and practices: for, you may as soon tame an untamable Hyena, as reform a petty-fogging-lawyer; but if you watch him properly, he cannot hurt you. Like the wild beasts in the Tower, he may show his teeth through the iron gratings, but cannot bite. For this reason, that you may be a check to such in your dealings, I wish you to study and make yourself acquainted with the laws of your country, not as a profession during your own pleasure, but as a most necessary acquirement to the man of business.

The second, a Quack Doctor, i. e. one who pretends to be skilled in surgery, physic, &c. but who is, in reality, an imposter and cheat. Such a character as this you must allow is a dangerous one, and therefore guard' also against his impositions; for he may not only entail misery on yourself during your life'time, but also on your children's children, (if you have any,) to many generations, as I shall endeavour to prove to you immediately. If you entrust unto him the care of your own health, or that of your family's, you do wrong. Health is one of the most precious blessings we enjoy under heaven; and he who robs you of this, robs you of your all, even all the pleasures the world can afford.-Your enjoyments, your usefulness in the