conduct was not consistent with my plan. In this manner I remained enjoying an uninterrupted state of felicity for some time. I obeyed your commands with alacrity, and even servitude became a pleasure. But this was too happy a state to last long without interruption. But I scarce know how to proceed. Whilst I am vindicating my own conduct to my most generous benefactress, I am obliged to impeach that of her dearest and most beloved relation.

When your son, Sir George, returned from the university, where he had been finishing his studies, I had no thoughts that he would ever have made any attempt on my virtue. But alas! I was deceived. He had only been a few days at home, when he laid hold of every opportunity of being in my company. At first I did not take any notice, as I had not the least suspicion of his intentions. But I was soon convinced of my error, when he offered me a handsome settlement on condition of my acceding to his wishes. This, madam, was a strong temptation, but blessed be God, "who preserved me innocent. You have often told me, that young women ought to flee from every appearance of sin; and if so, how great was my necessity of avoiding the evil! Had I laid snares to entrap your son for a husband, it would have destroyed your own peace of mind, and been considered as a dishonour to your family. Had I yielded, I should have forfeited every title to respect, and been guilty of a daring sin against God. 1 had no other course but to retire in as silent a manner as possible. I am now at the house of a distant relation in Millbank, who takes in plain work, where I hope your ladyship will be pleased to send my clothes. With respect to wages, you know I always left that to your own discretion, and your kindness exceeded my utmost expectations. I am, madam, with gratitude and respect, Your obedient servant.

LETTER LXXVIII.
The Lady's Answer.

Dear Betty,-Whilst I lament the conduct of my unhappy child, I am full of thankfulness to that gracious Being who has preserved you from ruin. You were left an orphan under my care; and when I first took you into my family, it was with a design to promote your interest. Blessed be God that the precepts which I endeavoured to instil into your tender mind, have so far operated on your conduct. Your behaviour in that unhappy affair ought to be laid down as a pattern for all young women to copy after, if they would either be respected in this world, or enjoy happiness in the next. I have just been reading your letter to my son, and he was filled with the utmost shame and confusion. The truth of your narrative forced his conscience to make a genuine confession of his guilt! and I trust that his penitence is sincere. I laid open to him the nature of his crime, and its aggravating circumstances, arising from the obligations which his elevated rank subjected him to, to be an example of virtue to those in a lower sphere of life. I told him, that however trifling such actions might appear in the eyes of his graceless companions, yet there was a God who beheld his inmost thoughts, and would reward or punish him according to his merits. He declares himself fully sensible of his folly, and says he is determined never to attempt any such thing for the future. The bearer will deliver your clothes, together with a bank bill for an hundred pounds. Be assured of my constant assistance: and may that God who has preserved you in such imminent dangers, be your continual comfort in time and in eternity!

I am your sincere well-wisher.

H

LETTER LXXIX.

From a young Gentleman, settled in one of the Inns of Court, to a Clergyman in the Country.

Reverend Sir, I promised to write to you as soon as I was settled in this place. I have now procured a good set of chambers, and am determined to prosecute my studies with the greatest assiduity. The pious care you always took in my education, whilst I remained in your family, will, I hope, never be forgotten, but continue to operate on the whole of my conduct in life. am sensible that my situation in London, subjects me to a great variety of temptations, and therefore I stand as much in need of your advice as ever. I am obliged, by the rules of the society, to dine in common with the other students during the term; and am sorry to say, that too many are not only ignorant of the principles of our holy religion, but also greatly corrupted in their morals. You have often told me, that it is the duty of every man to remain contented with his situation and circumstances in that station wherein Providence has placed him: and that the temptations with which we are surrounded, ought to be considered as so many motives to duty and watchfulness; that the

more vigilant we are in watching against temptations to vice, the greater will be our reward hereafter. For my own part, my present resolution is to apply myself with the greatest diligence to my studies, and associate myself with as few strangers as possible. But as I am well convinced of the

frailty of human nature, and the vanity of our most

virtuous resolutions, I must still beg to hear from you as often as is convenient. Your instructions were always as pleasing as useful when I was present with you, and will be much more so now that I am removed so far distant. I shall not trouble you with any more at this time, but subscribe myself,

Yours, in love, gratitude, and sincerity.

LETTER LXXX.

The Answer.

Dear Sir,-That tutor is certainly unworthy of being entrusted with the care of youth, who is not equally concerned for the purity of their morals, as he is for the proficiency they make in their studies. Your letter has encouraged me to believe that my anxious care has not been ill bestowed-that my care of your morals has not been rendered useless. Let it ever be your continual care to keep in mind those divine precepts of our holy religion, where God has declared that he will punish or reward, in proportion to the degree of knowledge whereof we are possessed. It is an awful consideration to read those words of our Lord, "To those to whom much is given, from them much will be required."

But, sir, you are now entered on the study of a profession, which, though honourable and useful, yet the generality of people have considered as a real mystery of iniquity; and that, as soon as a gentleman enters on the profession of the law, he shakes off all regard to moral obligations, and is equally anxious of being employed as an agent, whether the cause be good or bad. This may be sometimes, and perhaps too often true; but then it ought to be considered, that it is not the profession itself, but only the abuse of it, that occasions such complaints. There is not one profession in the world exempted from it; and ever since there was a Judas in Christ's family, there have been hypocrites in

his church. The law has had both its Hale and Jeffries. I am convinced that you may be as honest a man, and as pious a Christian, at the bar or on the bench, as if you were in the pulpit.

It was remarkable of the great Earl of Clarendon, that when he presided in the Court of Chancery, his decrees were so equitable, that no appeal was ever made from his decisions: and the following anecdote may, in some measure, elucidate the reasons for his integrity in such iniquitous times :

Whilst he was Solicitor-General, in the reign of Charles I., he went, during the long vacation, to visit his aged father in the country, and being walking together in the garden, the old gentleman addressed his son in the following manner : "Son, you are now advanced to the highest eminence at the bar, and may one time or other preside on the bench. I have been often told, that gentlemen of your profession are as ready to engage in a bad, as in a good cause: but be assured, that if ever, in order to aggrandize yourself, you should become an advocate for despotism, at the expense of the liberty of your country, you may, like Sampson of old, lay hold of the pillars and demolish the fabric, but you will perish under the ruins." No sooner had he uttered these words, than he dropped down in a fit of apoplexy, and expired immediately. This is said to have had such an effect on the son, that he was determined ever after to act consistently with the dictates of his conscience. Bishop Burnet tells us, that when his father was at the bar, he constantly observed the following rules:—

First, Never to undertake a cause that he knew to be bad.

Secondly, Never to deny to plead for those who were unable to pay him.-And,

Thirdly, Never to ask any fee from a clergyman, when he sued in the right of his benefice.