in a fair way of so doing in his present service; he therefore made up his mind to endure all insults short of a broken head. But poor Christopher had not the nonchalance of Monsieur Wietlesbach. He could not console himself, as the valet did, by grinning and shrugging up his shoulders; and, indeed, that which may be endured from a master, or common acquaintance, is very galling when proceeding from a parent, or a near connexion.

If we suppose that the major was not aware of the acute pain which he inflicted upon his son by the cold and satirical manner in which he constantly thought proper to address him, by making him the constant object of his raillery, yet, had he not been very remote from proper feeling, he must have sooner or later made this discovery, and would surely have refrained from treating his son in a manner which had the most injurious effect on his character. We cannot believe that the worst of fathers can desire the ruin of a son; but, where selfishness preponderates in any character, the individual is often induced to commit acts of cruelty which he would shudder to witness in another. But, to return to our story.

Mrs. Courtney had scarcely closed the door after her, before the major began to open his battery of dangerous wit against Christopher; at the same time directing his little daughter to take her place by him on the sofa.

He first attacked the cut of his son's coat, enquiring of him how long short backs and long lappets had been in fashion. He then proceeded to enquire of him what he had learned, and whether the old lady had taught him to sew samplers; and concluded by asking him if she made him stand up and say his Catechism every Sunday evening.

There is a certain time of life (and Christopher was precisely at that age) when young people are particularly jealous of being laughed at. We will not ask why or wherefore it is so, or enquire whether they feel in themselves, at that period, a peculiar awkwardness which they think may afford matter of merriment to others, being conscious that they are ceasing to be children, and yet that they are not arrived at the dignity of mature age. Be this as it may, this is the period when boys are most ready to quarrel, and young ladies to complain of neglects and insults; and this is the period when youth are most liable

to be injured by ill-timed merriment; and when they are most ready to renounce all that his good and precious rather than be laughed at. Some few, indeed, there are who can smile again when ridiculed, and who have prudence enough, or rather are divinely assisted, to acquire wisdom from the unkind remarks of a neighbour. But these persons are comparatively few, and poor Christopher was not one of the number. To all his father's curious questions he first gave short answers, and afterwards, growing sullen, he made no reply at all, but sat reddening and swelling, now and then giving a certain twitch to his head and shoulders, which was not half so agreeable as the shrug and grin of Monsieur Wietlesbach.

In the mean time, the major seemed either not to observe the uneasiness of his son, or not to regard it in the smallest degree. For, having amused himself a while with making his remarks, he suddenly turned to Emily, and praising her hair, her complexion, and her features, would soon have succeeded in filling her with conceit, had not the tender heart of this lovely child been provided with an antidote to his poison by her sympathy for her beloved brother, and her dread that he might say something to make their father angry. Accordingly, while her father was thus bestowing his caresses upon her, her gentle eye was now and then turned to her brother; and once she extended her hand to him, unobserved by their common parent, and with one touch of her velvet palm restored peace to his wounded bosom; while such were his feelings on the occasion, that it was with difficulty he could prevent himself from raising it to his lips.

How delightful are the silent expressions of affection which are suggested by a pious and feeling heart! What is there in nature so winning, so attractive, as these? and how entirely different are their effects from those which are the product of art or affectation! It is the peculiar province of females, by the use of these engaging and tender qualities, to soften the more violent passions of the other sex; and never does a woman depart so far from all that is amiable, as when she uses her influence with brothers, husbands, and fathers, to irritate and excite rather than to calm and soothe. But, to leave these reflections, and to proceed to other matters.

Having given my reader one specimen of the manner in which the major conducted himself towards his children and mother-in-law, I shall satisfy myself by merely stating, that he continued to treat Christopher in such a way that the young man could scarcely be restrained, either by his old friend, or his sister, from behaving in a manner wholly unbecoming. From time to time, the youth was, however, held back from open rebellion by the beseeching looks of Emily, and the earnest pleadings of Mrs, Courtney. Nevertheless, a kind of bitterness seized upon his mind, and he became impatient of being at home, and anxious that some plan for his future life might be decided upon, whereby he might be rendered independent of a father whose manner was so peculiarly unwelcome to his feelings.

Neither was the major more agreeable to Mrs. Courtney than to Christopher, though he undoubtedly shewed less of his hauteur and selfishness in her presence than in her absence; for she had a few thousands at her disposal, and he was far from being superior to the recollection of this cir

cumstance.

Ellen loved her father, notwithstanding the pain she felt in witnessing his conduct towards her brother. The affection, however, which she had for her parent, and the strong regard she had ever felt for her brother, induced her to soften matters on both sides; and, as her father had expressed his determination never more to separate himself from her, she tried to induce Mrs. Courtney to bear with him, dreading lest she should be separated from her beloved grandmother. Neither did Mrs. Courtney lack the same motive for forbearance; and such was the tenderness of this excellent old lady for the children whom she had reared, that she would rather have endured any privation than have seen them removed from under her maternal influence. Nevertheless, she used many arguments to persuade her son-in-law to fix upon some plan for the future life of Christopher. His education was by no means complete; and she lost no opportunity of representing to the major, that more instruction was necessary, if he was to be of a learned profession; and if not, that he should be permitted immediately to choose his line of life, and be conducted to it.

To these arguments the major commonly answered in

his usual satirical style; sometimes saying that he meant to bring up Christopher to be a bishop, or a judge, for he was sure nothing inferior would suit him; and at another time remarking that he meant to apprentice him to a shoemaker, if he could find any one who would take him. More than this he would never add, but seemed anxious to postpone all decision on the subject, either from the desire of keeping his money in his pocket, or from an indolence natural to all selfish characters.

This ill-assorted family continued to dwell together, in the manner I have described, for some months, during which period some of the individuals of whom it was composed were scarcely restrained from open warfare with the others, by motives of interest, affection, or religion; while Emily was the only one who was heartily cordial with all the

rest.

For some weeks the major displayed no other evil qualities but such as I have described, namely, an inordinate love of eating, and similar indulgences, with an entire contempt for the comforts of others. But, after a while, when grown more familiar with Mrs. Courtney, he scrupled not to let it appear that he was an absolute infidel, and capable of casting reflections upon the most sublime and awful truths. He had, during his early life, made himself acquainted with all the sophistries of the continental sceptics, and could, as it suited him best, mock and sneer at religion with much of the false wit indulged by the infidel of Ferney; endeavouring to bewilder the minds of his fellow-creatures by artful and deceptive reasonings.

Were not the matter too serious for jest, a stander-by might have been amused at the manner in which this false philosopher would sometimes argue with his good motherin-law, who (excellent woman as she was, and well grounded in the faith, as far as she herself was concerned) had not the smallest notion of stating the reason of the hope that was in her. She believed, and loved, and trusted her Saviour; her heart was full of holy peace; and she was enabled to rely, without a single doubt, upon the merits and promises of God incarnate; but how to state the ground of this confidence to an unbeliever, she had not the most remote idea; and, by reason of this, when her opponent used his impious skill, she became angry, and

more than usually confused, and said every thing which she had better have left unsaid, and did much to

"Make the worse appear the better cause."

These ill-conducted arguments might have been fatal (humanly speaking) to the principles of the young people, had not Emily at that time been too young to understand their purport, and Christopher in a state indisposing him to receive any thing favourably which proceeded from his father.

I might describe several of these arguments, but shall content myself with entering into the minutiae of one only.

The subject on which the major argued was, what he called the native perfection of the human character; asserting that the mind of man, in infancy, resembled a sheet of paper, perfectly pure and white, and that it would undoubtedly remain such if man could be preserved from the contagion of evil example. He was stimulated to proceed by Mrs. Courtney's symptoms of growing displeasure, betrayed by her raised eyebrows, and the flush in her cheeks, falsely asserting the evil effects of laws and religion on society; indulging in a high-flown description, in the style of St. Pierre, of the virtues of savages, of the innocence of cannibals, and the integrity of Hottentots. had proceeded for some time in this way, when Mrs. Courtney interrupted him with a deep sigh, or rather groan, exclaiming, "Why, major! it perfectly astonishes. and confounds me to hear you talk at this rate!—a man of your sense, and one who has been so much in the world, to talk of the heart of man being like a sheet of white paper, when you must have seen in your travels so much that is sinful among your fellow-creatures!"

He

"All the consequence, my good lady," replied the major calmly, "of evil example and false principles. It is evil company, my dear Madam, you may depend upon it;evil company, evil example, bad government, and superstition, make men what they are. Could you but visit the wilds of America, or of Africa, you would see man as he should be; simple, open, generous, hospitable; following the pure dictates of his natural feelings; full of sympathy, tenderness, affection; all that is amiable; all that is rational."