Men are local beings, and that which they find not within the circle of their locality, and to which they are therefore unused, affects them as wonderful, sublime, astonishing, beautiful, ludicrous, or contemptible, according to their pre-conceived notions, the proportion of light communicated to their minds by education, and the latitude of their natural abilities.

When Mr.Hearne was among the Copper Indians, they pronounced him to be a perfect human being, except in the colour of his hair and eyes; the former they said, was like the stained hair of a buffaloe's tail; and they thought that his eyes resembled those of a gull. They deemed the whiteness of his skin no ornament, but compared it to flesh sødden in water. However, he was esteemed a great curiosity, and treated with much respect. A Copper Indian, in England, would be nearly as much an object of curiosity as Mr. Hearne was among them; and probably the comparisons we should make would be as little to his honour as those they made with that traveller.

The philosophic and discriminating citizen of the world-he, the expansion of whose great mind is not contracted by the petty bounds of climate, of language, of manners, or of colour, but who considers the whole earth as his home, and the descendants not only of Japhet and Shem, but also the sable sons of Ham, as his friends and brethren,

and members of the same great family with himself-he, and perhaps he only it is, who can behold things through the glass of truth, and divested of the gloss which folly, custom, fashion, or ignorance has thrown over them. He it is who knows that an insect, a flower, or a tree, is a much more wonderful object than any of the most celebrated monuments of art; and when he contemplates the infinite variety in the forms, the speech, and the manners of the human race, and in all the creation, animate and inanimate, he also knows that this variety is accordant with the universal system of the "fitness of things," and essential to the wellbeing of the present state of the world.

I am, Sir, very respectfully,

Having a little leisure this Afternoon, I think I cannot employ it better than in writing to you, though my letter would probably be more apropos

B

were it deferred until I am acquainted with the result mention of me to the Committee on Monday

your

of last.

Whether I have obtained any thing further or not, you are equally entitled to my thanks, for I am satisfied that a failure in procuring that which you sought for me, if such a failure has taken place, did not originate in any want of exertions on your part: but I rather hope that you have succeeded in some way or other, and therefore it only remains for me to give you those thanks which are your due. I thank you Sir: yes, I thank you most sincerely; and these few words are all the return which I can make, for I possess not that

"rattling tongue

Of saucy and audacious eloquence,"

which would enable me to thank you in a multitude of words: yet, though I cannot do this, for "beggar that I am, I am poor even in thanks," believe me, Sir, that I do not feel the obligations I am under less strongly than those who can express their sense of an obligation with volubility; and to the latest period of my existence I shall always reckon among my pleasures of memory the recollection of those benevolent individuals, who, in the days of my adolescence and unprotected youth, may have honoured me with their friendship, their favours, or their love. As I look back on my past life I cannot help feeling an anxious, and perhaps improper, curiosity

as to my future destination; and often have I wished to discover that which lies hid in the womb of futurity. This wish once induced me to give too ready a credence to the errors of astrology, chiromancy, physiognomy, and natural magic; and I had acquired the rudiments of the former of these pretended sciences before I suspected its fallibility. When at length the veil of delusion feli from my eyes, it was with no inconsiderable degree of reluctance that I relinquished the hope of ascertaining my future fate.

How long shall I live, and in what manner? and how and when shall I expire? are questions which thousands, and I among them, have felt anxious to have resolved. But now I know that it is for wise purposes that the Supreme Being has debarred us from the knowledge of that, which, if known, would rather make us miserable than contribute to our felicity.

"Had some good Angel ope'd to me the book

Of Providence, and let me read my life,

My heart had broke when I beheld the sum
Of ills, which, one by one, I have endured."

This is pardonable in poetry, and from the mouth of Lady Douglass; but in reality the human heart is not of quite so brittle a texture: but though the certainty of future misfortune might not break a heart, it would most undoubtedly destroy all our earthly happiness. A state of prescience is not a

state of hope, and life without hope is miserable indeed! Hope is the balm of human life; and to the cup of overflowing anguish hope is the only allay. The poor man is not unhappy while he hopes for future prosperity; but take away that hope, and give him the certainty of continual poverty, you make him miserable. The rich man is not unhappy while he hopes for a continuance of prosperity; but if he knew that future indigence awaited him, he would be miserable, and incapable of enjoying his present happiness. The mother fondles her lovely child, and the father smiles on his infant heir; but could they be happy if they knew that death would soon crop the beauteous blossom, and consign the bud of promise to the grave? Once, when quite a child, I was happy; but, had I foreknown the misery I have since endured, my misery would have been dated from the very moment in which I attained that knowledge. What is to be my future lot God alone knows, and to his wisdom I submit myself to do with me what seemeth to him good; for I know that whatsoever he does, though apparently evil, is for the eventual benefit of his creatures, in a future state of being at least, if not in this.

I am, Sir, very respectfully,

Yours,

J. KITTO.