indeed very delicious; but I assure you, from what I have myself experienced, that the pleasures of piety are infinitely more exquisite than those of fashion and of sensual pursuits. It is true, they are not so violent, or so intoxicating, (for they consist in one even tenor of mind, a lightness of heart, and sober cheerfulness, which none but those who have experienced can conceive ;) but they leave no sting behind them; they give pleasure on reflection, and will sooth the mind in the distant prospect. And who can say this of the world or its enjoyments ?

Even those who seem to enter with the most spirit into the riotous aud gaudy diversions of the world, are often known to confess that there is no real satisfaction in them; that their gaiety is often forced, when their hearts are heavy; and that they envy those who have chosen the more humble but pleasant paths of religion and virtue.

I am not at all particular as to the place of worship you may attend, so as it be under a serious preacher, and so as you attend regularly. I should think it a very good exercise for you, if you were to get a blank paper book, and were to write down in it any thing which may strike you in the sermons you hear on a Sunday; this would improve your style of writing, and teach you to think on what you hear. Pray endeavour to carry this plan into execution; I am sure you will find it worth the trouble. You attend the church now and then, I con

clude, and if you do, I should wish to direct your attention to our admirable liturgy, and avoid, if possible, remarking what may seem absurd in the manner it is repeated.

I must not conceal from you that I am very sorry you do not attend some eminent minister in the church, such as Mr Cecil, or Mr Pratt, or Mr Crowther, in preference to the meeting; since I am convinced a man runs less danger of being misled, or of building on false foundations, in the establishment, than out, and this too for plain reasons:-Dissenters are apt to think they are religious, because they are dissenters" for," argue they, "if we had not a regard for religion, why should we leave the establishment at all? The very act of leaving it shows we have a regard for religion, because we manifest an aversion to its abuses." Besides this, at the meeting-house you are not likely to hear plain and unwelcome truths so honestly told as in the church, where the minister is not so dependent on his flock, and the prayers are so properly selected, that you will meet with petitions calculated for all your wants, bodily and spiritual, without being left at the mercy of the minister to pray for what and in what manner he likes. Remember these are not offered as reasons why you should always attend the church, but to put you in mind that there are advantages there which you should avail yourself of, instead of making invidious comparisons between the two institutions.

TO MR B. MADDOCK.

Winteringham, Jan, 31st, 1805.

DEAR BEN,

I HAVE long been convinced of the truth of what you say, respecting the effects of close reading on a man's mind, in a religious point of view, and I am more and more convinced that literature is very rarely the source of satisfaction of mind to a Christian. I would wish you to steer clear of too abstracted and subtle a mode of thinking and reasoning, and you will so be happier than your friend. A relish for books will be a sweet source of amusement, and a salutary relaxation to you throughout life; but let it not be more than a relish, if you value your own peace. I think, however, that you ought to strengthen your mind a little with logic, and for this purpose I would advise you to go through Euclid with sedulous and serious attention, and likewise to read Duncan through. You are too desultory a reader, and regard amusement too much: if you wish your reading in good earnest to amuse you when you are old, as well as now in your youth, you will take care to form a taste for substantial and sound authors, and will not be the less eager to study a work because it requires a little labour to understand it.

After you have read Euclid, and amused yourself with Locke's sublime speculations, you will derive much plea

sure from Butler's Analogy, without exception the most unanswerable demonstration of the folly of infidelity that the world ever saw.

Books like these will give you more strength of mind, and consistent firmness, than either you or I now possess ; while, on the other hand, the effeminate Panada of Magazines, Tales, and the tribe of penny-catching pamphlets, of which desultory readers are so fond, only tend to enervate the mind, and incapacitate it for every species of manly exertion.

I continue to be in better health, although the weather is a great obstacle to my taking a proper proportion of exercise. I have had a trip to Hull of late, and saw the famous painter R there, with whom I had a good deal of talk. He is a pious man, and a great astronomer; but in manners and appearance, a complete artist. I rather think he is inclined to Hutchinsonian principles, and entertains no great reverence for Sir Isaac Newton.

TO MR B. MADDOCK.

MY DEAR BEN,

Winteringham, 1st March, 1805.

I HOPE and trust that you have at length arrived at that happy temperament of disposition, that, although you have much cause of sadness within, you are yet willing to be amused with the variegated scenes around you, and to join, when occasions present themselves, in innocent mirth. Thus, in the course of your peregrinations, occurrences must continually arise, which, to a mind willing to make the best of every thing, will afford amusement of the chastest kind. Men and manners are a never-failing source of wonder and surprise, as they present themselves in their various phases. We may very innocently laugh at the brogue of a Somerset peasant-and I should think that person both cynical and surly, who could pass by a groupe of laughing children, without participating in their delight, and joining in their laugh. It is a truth most undeniable, and most melancholy, that there is too much in human life which extorts tears and groans, rather than smiles. This, however, is equally certain, that our giving way to unremitting sadness on these accounts, so far from ameliorating the condition of mortality, only adds to the aggregate of human misery, and throws a