C.-If you think of what I have said to you in the course of all my conversation, you will find, I believe, the dependence is on God. It appears to me you do not perfectly understand the will of God.

W. To tell you the truth, it does seem to me somewhat mysterious, that all blessings depend on man, and yet depend on God.

C.-Can you understand this? If I was to say to you, if you will call upon me every morning and ask me for a pound, I will positively give it to you; but unless you love me and obey me in that which I command, for your own good, you shall find out I will punish in a way you will dream not of; only obey me, and call daily upon me for that which I have promised, and in the end you shall possess the mansion which belongs to me.

W. That is very plain, certainly. I perceive now that I should have to possess a feeling of love towards you, which love alone would cause me to obey you, and a desire for the pound, coupled with thy command, would cause me to call upon you, so that in the end I should be rich indeed, and my love naturally would increase more and more; on the contrary, if I did not call

C.-You would go without that which I had promised. I was thinking that it is possible for a man if he had the desires given him, (what a blessing good desires are,) that he might attain to the knowledge of nearly all the trades on earth, and without being apprenticed either. If I had a desire to know how to lay bricks, I would find an opportunity of seeing it done, notice how line, plummet and square, were used, I should be anxious to practice, and so by study and use get perfect. Then I would watch the painter, the carpenter, the blacksmith, the shoemaker, in order that I might obtain a knowledge of each profession. I tell you that he who seeks shall find, and more especially when there is an eye to God, all these things are called knowledge, mysteries or learning; you remember the old fashioned truism,

"When house and land are gone and spent,
Then learning is most excellent."

W.—That is seeking and finding sure enough.

C.-That is not all, the blind man shall get a living if he seeks it, the deaf and lame also.

W. Very true, for I have known some such to live decently, and I have no doubt but a blessing always attends those who persevere, and a curse attends the idle and ungrateful man; we see poor and wretched families in the world who are

beggars all their days, and I expect the reason, as you say, why they continue to be so, is because they will not brook to ask God to relieve them of their distresses, and then, having experienced deliverance, seek honestly and diligently for a living; but sometimes we see very industrious men in business who fail and become poor, by losses, and otherwise.

C. I will always maintain that every effect has a cause. Losses are generally caused by idleness; for instance, a stranger asks credit of me, I inquire where he had credit before; he tells me, I apply to the reference, and they say he has always paid his debts, I trust, he fails, and I lose all I trusted.

W.-How would that be losing through idleness?

C.-Because, if by perseverance and industry I had found out that the man was getting out of his depth, that he was worth next to nothing, and was careless whom he trusted, or that he was a rogue at heart, which might be found out also, for the cloven foot is to be seen, if you watch narrowly; if I had taken pains to find out who and what he was, which invariably is to be done by industry, then I should not have been duped. If rich rogues were not trusted they would always pay ready money, if poor men were not trusted they would not get out of their depth, especially a careless poor man, the honest poor man will not get out of his depth, unless he is foolish, trust the honourable and wise man, let him be either poor or rich; but first look before you leap, first see you are right, then go ahead. Business, generally, among men, is made a toil and trouble of, when it ought to be our greatest pleasure.

W.-I know that I am often troubled in my business.

C. Then you have not system, and without that it is impossible to do it comfortably. You should give to every man a duty to perform, employment or work sufficient for him to do, so as to occupy eight or ten hours, and his pay should be regulated accordingly.

W. You say employment or work, they are both alike. C.-Not exactly. Work has something to show, some employment has not, talking and doing are two different things; for instance, if I only order men to move goods, and do no writing, I have nothing to show for it, I might say these words to a number of men, unload that barge, it will occupy the day, and then go home, and in the evening call upon my master for my pay.

do.

W. But that would not be doing your duty.

C.-Yes it would; if that was all my master gave me to

W.--You are right, the master must look out for that; but I suppose you consider writing to be work.

C.-1f you try it for seven or eight hours together I think you would call it work, and hard work too, it is not half so healthy as labouring either. Labour need not be made slavery where there is a good master, a master ought to set the example of industry, and make himself beloved by those who work for him, it adds to his happiness; the fact is, the great secret of worldly happiness consists in being beloved by all who know you. Ö, what happiness to be blessed by the people!

W. The envious man would not bless and rejoice to see another happy.

C.-Envy is worse than avarice, and produces more misery in the mind. Satan is all envy. An evious man is the devil in human shape, at least, he is a man in Satan's clutches; the man he envies he acknowledges to be superior to himself.

W. I know I am envied or hated; I have parties in my employment who are drunken and lazy fellows, and those things make me unhappy.

C.-Then it serves you right for keeping such men about

you.

W. Do you discharge all men who dislike you, and are not diligent and sober?

C.-I do; but you should never ask a person, when he gives you good advice, if he acts up to it himself, we are too apt to do so, and it does us no good; for instance, if a man who was about being hung or transported was to say, take my advice and don't steal; another dying through drinking was to say, do not habituate yourself to drinking and smoking, you should not reply, I shall not take your advice, you did it and so shall I. Don't look at men unless you see them set good examples, which all men ought to do who pretend to teach others; in many cases example is before precept. Now, it so happens, I have found out by experience, that only one badly disposed man will ruin twenty others, and I consider it is a sin, on that account, to keep any who are unworthy. I have invariably found the lazy and drunken man to be dishonest and discontented, and if none but the well-disposed were employed, the ill-disposed would learn a severe lesson, which it is very likely would do them good in time.

W.—I think it is pretty generally the case now everywhere, I mean that the man who is out of employment, is the man who got himself out by his own bad conduct.

C.-That is on general principles true; but my wife will say I have conducted myself very badly if I stop longer, and

as I do not wish to be discharged by her, I shall bid you good night, may you have a safe and pleasant journey, and come home improved, let the word IMPROVE be your motto for life.

W.-I wish you good bye, in case I should not see you again before I go, and may every happiness attend you and yours.

C.-Adieu!

DIALOGUE X.

"There is no want to them that fear him. They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."-Psalm xxxiv. 9, 10.

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."-1 Tim. vi. 6, 17.

"Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."-Psalm xxxvii. 3.

"With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."-Psalm xci. 16. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases."-Psalm ciii. 3. "Them that honour me I will honour."-2 Sam. ii. 30.

By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches and honour and life."-Prov. xxii. 4.

"Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee."-Job xxii. 28.

C.-Ah, my friend, I am glad to see you returned, and trust your mind and body are improved.

W. They are, thank God. How have you been all this while?

C.-Happy as the days are long. I can always find plenty to do to amuse and improve myself. I did expect a letter from you, but never mind, let me hear how you have fared, and in what way you have been amused?

W.-I arrived yesterday, and have longed to see you to relate all. Soon after I had reached the place of my visit, I met with an old soldier, and was favoured to hear him relate his tales of joy and woe, which I must make known to you. Although I have been very much amused, I must say there is no place like home. I now feel very happy, delighted, joyful, elated

C.-Not with wine, I hope?

W.-No,

W. No, indeed! I find more joy in the presence of my friends, without wine or anything else for my body, than I do in the company of strangers, where such things are abundant. I have not had a drop of anything but water, coffee, and tea to-day as yet; I, therefore, think it somewhat unkind that you have not asked me in to take a glass of wine with you.

C. My dear fellow, you must forgive me. The fact is, my mind was so full and bent upon finishing this job of transplanting, in which you found me engaged, that hospitality could find no room to enter; but better late than never, let us go at once.