first thing requisite. This was a severe stroke to James, who found himself at once cut off from all the pleasures and indulgences to which he was so habituated, that he thought life of no value without them. He grew melancholy and dejected, hazarded all his little property in lottery tickets, and was quite beggared. Still unable to think of retrieving himself by industry and frugality, he accepted a commission in a new raised regiment ordered for the West Indies, where, soon after his arrival, he caught a fever and died.

Richard, in the mean time, whose comforts were little impaired by this change of circumstances, preserved his cheerfulness, and found no difficulty in accommodating himself to his fortune. He engaged himself as clerk in a house his father had been connected with, and lived as frugally as possible upon his salary. It furnished him with decent board, lodging, and clothing, which was all he required, and his hours of leisure were nearly as many as before. A book or a sober friend always sufficed to procure him an agreeable evening. He gradually rose in the confidence of his employers, who increased from time to time his salary and emoluments. Every increase was a source of gratification to him, because he was able to enjoy pleasures which however habit had not made necessary to his comfort. In process of time he was enabled to settle for himself, and passed through life in the enjoyment of that modest competence which best suited his disposition.

WISE MEN.

You may remember Arthur, (said Mr. C. to to his son) that some time ago, I endeavoured to give you a notion of what a great man was. Suppose we now talk a little about wise men ?

With all my heart, sir, (replied Arthur.) Mr. C. A wise man, then, is he who pursues the best ends by the properest means. But as this definition may be rather too abstract to give you a clear comprehension of the thing, I shall open it to you by examples. What do you think is the best end a man can pursue in life?

A. I suppose to make himself happy.

Mr. C. True. And as we are so constituted that we cannot be happy ourselves without making others happy, the best end of living is to produce as much general happiness as lies in our

power.

A. But that is goodness, is it not?

Mr. C. It is; and therefore wisdom includes goodness. The wise man always intends what is good, and employs skill or judgment in attaining it. If he were to pursue the best things weakly, he could not be wise; any more than if he were to pursue bad or indifferent things judiciously. One of the wisest men I know is our neighbour, Mr. Freeland.

A.. What! the justice?

Mr. C. Yes. Few men have succeeded more perfectly in securing their own happiness, and

Born to a

promoting that of those around them. competent estate, he early settled upon it, and began to improve it. He reduced all his expences within his income, and indulged no tastes that could lead him into excesses of any kind. At the same time he did not refuse any proper and innocent pleasures that came in his way; and his house has always been distinguished for decent cheerfulness and hospitality. He applied himself with diligence to mending the morals and improving the condition of his dependants. He studied attentively the laws of his country, and qualified himself for administering justice with skill and fidelity. No one sooner discovers where the right lies, or takes surer means to enforce it. He is the person to whom the neighbours of all degrees apply for counsel in their difficulties. His conduct is always consistent and uniform— never violent, never rash, never in extremes, but always deliberating before he acts, and then acting with firmness and vigour. The peace and good order of the whole neighbourhood materially depend upon him; and upon every emergency his opinion is the first thing inquired after. He enjoys the respect of the rich, the confidence of the poor, and the good will of both.

A. But I have heard some people reckon old Harpy as wise a man as he.

Mr. C. It is a great abuse of words to cali Harpy a wise man. He is of another species-a cunning man-who is to a wise man, what an ape is to a human creature—a bad and contemptible resemblance.

A. He is very clever, though; is he not?
Mr. C. Harpy has a good natural understand-

ing, a clear head, and a cool temper; but his only end in life has been to raise a fortune by base and dishonest means. Being thoroughly acquainted with all the tricks and artifices of the law, he employed his knowledge to take undue advantages of all who entrusted him with the management of their affairs; and under colour of assisting them, he contrived to get possession of all their property. Thus he has become extremely rich, lives in a great house with a number of servants, is even visited by persons of rank, yet is universally detested and despised, and has not a friend in the world. He is conscious of this, and is wretched. Suspicion and remorse continually prey upon his mind. Of all whom he has cheated, he has deceived himself the most; and has proved himself as much a fool in the end he has pursued as a knave in the means.

A. Are not men of great learning and knowledge wise men?

Mr. C. They are so, if that knowledge and learning are employed to make them happier and more useful. But it too often happens that their speculations are of a kind neither beneficial to themselves nor to others; and they often neglect to regulate their tempers while they improve their understandings. Some men of great learning have been the most arrogant and quarrelsome of mortals, and as foolish and absurd in their conduct, as the most untaught of their species.

A. But is not a philosopher and a wise man the same thing.

Mr. C. A philosopher is properly a lover of wisdom; and if he searches after it with a right disposition, he will probably find it oftener than

other men.

But he must practise, as well as

know, in order to be truly wise.

A. I have read of the seven wise men of Greece. What were they?

Mr. C. They were men distinguished for their knowledge and talents, and some of them for their virtue too. But a wiser than them all was Socrates, whose chief praise it was that he turned philosophy from vain and fruitless disputation to the regulation of life and manners, and that he was himself a great example of the wisdom he taught. A. Have we had any person lately very remarkable for wisdom?

Mr. C. In my opinion, few wiser men have ever existed than the late Dr. Franklin, the American. From the low station of a journeyman printer, to the elevated one of ambassador plenipotentiary from his country to the court of France, he always distinguished himself by sagacity in discovering, and good sense in practising, what was most beneficial to himself and others. He was a great natural philosopher, and made some very brilliant discoveries, but it was ever his favourite purpose to turn every thing to use, and to extract some practical advantage from his speculations.

He thoroughly understood common life, and all that conduces to its comfort; and he has left be.hind him treasures of domestic wisdom, superior, perhaps, to any of the boasted maxims of antiquity. He never let slip any opportunity of improving his knowledge, whether of great things or of small; and was equally ready to converse with a day labourer and a prime minister upon topics from which he might derive instruction. He rose to wealth, but obtained it by honourable means.