him, and the surface of the water be tolerably smooth; if the blessings of Providence be showered upon him, and no enemy intrude; if his exertions be not so great as to oppress his body or his mind, and yet enough to give it proper action, then he may spend the evening of his days pleasantly, but otherwise he may calculate only on unhappiness.

In the bustle of the world there are many disquietudes and many vices: the passions are excited, and the conduct becomes unreasonable and unjust; a person has need, therefore, to go into retirement occasionally for the purpose of checking these evils, for reviewing his conduct, and for laying down principles of future guidance. The immoral man dislikes solitude,- he fears the company of his own thoughts. Thomson exclaims, —

"Hail, mildly pleasing solitude,
Companion of the wise and good;
But from whose holy, piercing eye,
The herd of fools and villains fly."

The melancholy man should not indulge an inclination for seclusion: the society of man is the best check for his malady.

There is a great variety of rural sights and sounds in Goldsmith's Deserted Village: the following description of a summer evening in the country is exceedingly pleasing :

"Sweet was the sound, when, oft at evening's close,
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose;
There, as I passed with careless steps and slow,
The mingling notes came soften'd from below;
The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung ;
The sober herd that low'd to meet their young;

The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool;

The playful children just let loose from school;
The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind;
These all in sweet confusion sought the shade,
And fill'd each pause the nightingale had made."

The engagements of public life may generally be considered as our duty. Retirement is usually allowable only as a relaxation; but there are some important exceptions to this general rule. He that leaves the busy walks of life for the service of the Creator, or the culture of science, and the general benefit of mankind, is not to be condemned. He that enters the realms of solitude for the purpose of idleness, will find them the regions of dulness; he that does so for the purpose of labour, will find them productive of profit and enjoyment.

CHAP. XVI.

ON GRATITUDE AND INGRATITUDE.

GRATITUDE is a feeling of thankfulness on the receipt of a benefit, with a desire of imparting favours in return. Among human beings, there are the rich and the poor; the powerful and the weak; the learned and the ignorant; consequently, favours may be continually communicated from one to another. In many instances, a benefit may be met by an equivalent; and this occurs in the transactions of commerce: in other instances, the receiver cannot immediately give a compensation. When a man possesses more of any particular kind of worldly good than he requires for his own comfort, he is bound by the laws of philanthropy to impart of his abundance to the deserving and needy. Or, if he has only as much as may be necessary, and yet disposes of a part to his destitute fellowcreatures, he is worthy of esteem. And if he possesses information which may be valuable to mankind, he is bound by every principle of benevolence to communicate it, as far as may be possible. On the other hand, the receiver, when he cannot immediately give a compensation, is compelled in honour to make a return when he can. If the gift be money, he is not bound to repay it in the same way; or if it be important advice, he is

for he may not be

not obliged to give the same able; but he will cherish a feeling of esteem and regard for the person by whom he has been benefited; and if no opportunity should occur for making a return in actual favours, yet he would be ready to gratify that disposition if an occasion should offer.

The rich man should not exercise benevolence, because it may produce gratitude, but because it is his duty to God and his neighbour; and the poor should not evince gratitude in order to obtain additional favours, but they should cherish it as a noble feeling, which adorns the possessor, as much as it honours the person to whom it is directed. The man who confers a benefit ought not to consider the receiver as under weighty obligations; for if it were done in the expectation of a return, it was not a gift but a transaction of barter; and, consequently, except on any very important occasion, no allusion should be made to favours imparted. On the other hand, the receiver ought not to consider himself as having forfeited his independence by the acceptance of a benefit: he ought to deem himself at liberty to act agreeably with his conscience and reason; but he is bound, as a man of honour, to act in a friendly manner in return. a favour were imparted without an equivalent, let a favour be returned without an equivalent. And as it is a proof of baseness to reproach another, because he has accepted a gift; so it is an evidence of meanness, if an inadvertent hint be caught at, in order to raise a quarrel, and free one's self from any fancied entanglements of obligation, by the

If

common method of declaring, "Now that you have alluded to the favour, it is cancelled." These expressions and these feelings arise from a notion, that the conferring of benefits produces a burdensome debt; whereas, it only ought to be considered as a rivalry of honour and virtue - the one imparts favours, and the other endeavours, when he has an opportunity, to act with equal nobleness. But if the latter has no facility for gratifying a disposition of benevolence, through poverty or any other sufficient cause, he is not degraded. If God has not given to a person, the person cannot give. If a man possess great muscular power, and he have an opportunity of greatly benefiting a fellow-creature by the exercise of his strength, and yet he refuse, he will act inhumanly; but if a man be weak and paralysed, he cannot give assistance.

The truly liberal and benevolent person will endeavour to benefit his fellow-creatures from a feeling of generosity and pleasure, without looking for a return; and whether those who are affected by his bounty acknowledge it or not, he is not much distressed, except for the dishonourable conduct of the receivers. He endeavours to please his Maker; and his reward does not depend on his success in receiving praise from men.

We are, or ought to be, continually influenced by grateful feelings; for there is no man so rich and powerful as not to receive favours from his fellow-creatures; and there is none so low and despised, as not to be under obligations to others. All men are bound to be grateful to the Almighty for existence, because life has been a source of