Antony and
Cleopatra, Act
iii. Sc. vii.
The Laird of
Norland, Vol. i.

200.

Ibid. Vol. ii. 12.

Hawes, Paftime of Pleafure.

&c. &c.

"Celerity is never more admired

Than by the negligent."

"A man," faid Jaacob, "can rarely be more enlightened than his neighbours without fuffering for it. A' this auld machinery of the world creaks like an auld bellows. There's nothing but delufions on every fide of ye. Ye canna be clear of a fingle thing that ye have na conquifted for yoorfel."

"They'll fay whatever ye like that's marvellous, if ye'll but listen to them. A man o'fenfe is an awful phenomenon in a place like this." "Was never man yet furely at debate With Sapience, but that he did repent: Who that is ruled by her high eftate, Of his after witte fhall never be fhent; She is to man right benevolent. With walles fure fhe doth him fortify, When it is nede to refift a contrary."

WO foreign letters lay on the Breakfaft Table. "And who are these from, I wonder?" faid the Old Vicar on his coming in

from his early walk-he was a dew-brusher, and loved to fee the pearls of dew upon the

grafs, as I have obferved before-"let me see,” he said, adjusting his spectacles—“ one from Auftralia, Port Philip, the other from Memel in the Baltic,-the latter hand-writing I know, it is Andrew Lawfon's, -an excellent boy he was, but fadly idle-loft many advantages!-Who the other can be from I can't think-but I often get letters of this fort, and on the whole they are pleafant ones, though they ufually contain regrets for time loft in our schools. How many may fay what Prince Henry faid, 'Well! thus we play fools with 2 Henry IV., the time; and the fpirits of the wife fit in the clouds, and mock us!' I often think of those words! But come, let's fee."

and, indeed,

When he had

"The hand

As the good man read them, I saw evident pleasure depicted on his face, something more than pleasure. gone through the two he faid, writing I did not know was from Edwin Jackfon, formerly a very bad fcribe,-but the neceffities of the times and the gold-diggings, in which he has had no part, have driven him to penmanship. I think, children, when I have eat my piece of dry toast and drank my tea, you would like to hear them, especially as Edwin Jackfon mentions all your names.

A&t ii. Sc. ii.

Antony and
Cleopatra, Act

i. Sc. v.

Pericles, Act iv.
Sc. iv.

There was always fomething very open and taking about that boy, though he was not a whit more induftrious at school than Andrew Lawfon. Perhaps too I might call them ' Pickles,' -but they were fharp intelligent lads, and took a fcolding well. Cleopatra speaks of

'My falad days

When I was green in judgment,'

and fuch were their school-days.

Thunder

fhall not fo awaken the beds of eels,' as fuch are awakened by the after experience of life to labour and toil, and not unusually fuccefs. I have observed through life that whilst furly incivility and rudeness never get on, 'Pickles,' who are always forry for any ill behaviour, generally do."

And the good man drank his tea with great satisfaction, (remarking only to his eldestborn, Edith, Not quite enough green!' for which fhe fcolded him,) and then read aloud the two following letters, which fhow as great an advance in Education, as thofe numerous letters from the foldiery which appeared afterwards in the Times during the unhappy Crimean war. We owe a great deal to the

Times for those letters!

"With this, my best respects and duty to my Old Vicar, and very kind Friend, to whom I oo's-" (very bad spelling, Andrew !)—“ all I know, and all I am likely to know, by the teaching of others. Think of my being under teaching now!

"Some ways we had a bad time of it, and fome ways not. We couldn't get up to

Cronstadt no ways. We put in at Copenhagen as our tackle was out of order,—the Naze is a nafty place to weather,-getting in by the Tic Krone battery, I think they called it. Will Cooper had been there before. But, as ill luck would have it the froft grew harder, and after waiting a while, we and two other veffels had to be cut out of the ice, as I've heard you fay you faw veffels cut out when you was in thofe quarters'.

"Well! we got out of the roads, and made way as well as we could, but it was of no ufe at all-we weren't to get to Cronstadt this time. It's a furprising choppy fea this Baltic,

1 This is quite a Suffex word, fo ufed. We retain it in the Bible, e. g. Exod. xiii. 7, "Neither fhall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters." Ps. cv. 31, "Lice in all their quarters."

This is evidently Tre-Krone Battry facing the

the well-known

Efplanade.

"Serum eft
cavendi tempus
in mediis
malis." Senec.
Thycft. v. 487.

But, as I

and was "under

and no falt in it, and no tide or next to none,-
but is very green in its waters and transparent,
and you can fee to a great depth.
was faying, we couldn't get on,
druv" -(for fhame, Andrew!)
Bornholm for fhelter. Well, we got away
from there, and at laft put into Dantzic,
where they have a likker called Dantzic-
water with gold floating in it,-very pretty
to look at, but give me fome good Suffex
beer instead, fay I, like old Mr. Barker's.—
Cap'n faid we musn't stop where we was, but
push on, and so we did, but when we got up
to Memel, where we had no business to be at
all, there was no getting any further,—and as
we were fhut up for the winter, I determined
to write to you,
and tell you all about it, but
you fee I have put it off till the winter is past.
"You always faid I should repent if I did
not work harder, at school,—and it's just true,
for I have repented ever fince. If I had
worked, I fhould have been a Mate by this.
But, Cap'n faid to me-(it's all through Mr.
Green that he has been fo kind to me,)
'Andrew, you're a useful chap, and do all I
tell you.
It's never too late to learn, and
these rough days and long nights, you may