cumstances, was out of the question: for supper I bought another halfpenny worth of milk, ate the remainder of my loaf, and, for a lodging, again had recourse to the fields. The next morning I purchased another penny loaf, and resumed my labour. My employer soon found that I was a miserable tool; yet he treated me kindly; and his son took me beside him in the shop, and gave me instruction. I had now but one penny left; and this I wished to husband till my labour brought a supply so for dinner I tied my apron-string tighter, and went on with my work. My abstinence subjected me to the jeers of my shopmates; thus rendering the pangs of hunger doubly bitter. One of them, I remember, said to another, Where does our shopmate dine?' and the response was, 'Oh! he always dines at the sign of the mouth.' Half of the penny

loaf which I took with me in the morning I had allotted for my supper; but before night came, I had pinched it nearly all away in mouthfuls, through mere hunger. Very reluctantly I laid out my last penny, and, with no enviable feelings, sought my former lodging in the open air. With no other breakfast than the fragments of my last loaf, I again sat down to work. At dinner time, looking, no doubt, very much famished, my master kindly said, 'If you wish, I will let you have a little money, on account,'-an offer which I very joyfully accepted. This was, however, my last day's employment here. Discovering that I was a runaway apprentice, my new master dismissed me, with a recommendation to return to the old one; and while he was talking my brother came to the door, with a horse, to take me home."

Samuel's place of abode was ascertained by his friends through what would ordinarily be termed mere accident. As his father passed a toll-gate, on his return from Plymouth, the name "Drew," uttered by a person in conversation with the gate-keeper, caught his ear. He knew nothing then of his son's absence; but few persons in the neighbourhood being so called, he was led to make some inquiry of the speaker, who informed him that a young shoemaker named Drew was then working in Liskeard. When, on arriving home, he learned that Samuel was gone, he immediately identified him with the "young shoemaker," and despatched his eldest son Jabez in pursuit.

Upon receiving a positive assurance that he was not to go back to his former master, Samuel returned with his brother to his father's house at Polpea. Compensation being made his master, his indenture was cancelled, and he remained at Polpea

about four months, either working at his business or assisting his father and brother on the farm.

The guiding and overruling hand of Providence in the events of his early life Mr. Drew, in after-years, was accustomed to trace with feelings of grateful adoration. To his children, and those with whom he was in the habit of familiar intercourse, he would point out, as connected with the period we have been describing, and in his more mature years, occasions which future destiny quivered in the beam, and apparently trivial circumstances were the means of rescuing him from destruction, and opening before him a more honourable career. He would thus lead them to reflect on the moral government of God, and His watchful guardianship, as extending even to the "unjust" and "unthankful;" showing them, that however we may be permitted to follow the" devices and desires of our hearts," He does not cease, though by methods unperceived, to direct, to influence, or to restrain; and that

"There is a Providence that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them as we will."

May not this Divine direction be traced in the circumstances which mark his flight to Liskeard? If, instead of pausing there, he had followed up his intention of going to Plymouth, the state of his finances would, in all probability, have led him to enter the king's service before his friends could have interfered. It was then a time of war; and had he taken his intended step, it is not likely that he would have become a subject for the biographer. The hardships he endured taught him an important lesson. He found that the romance of life which his imagination had depicted was sorrowfully contrasted by its reality; that the evils over which he had brooded, while an apprentice, were inferior to those to which he had voluntarily exposed himself; and that the freedom for which he had sighed was more burdensome than his chains.

Under the protection of his father's roof the subject of this memoir may, for a season, remain, while the reader's attention is directed to his immediate relatives.

SECTION V.

His brother's character-Family anecdotes-His sister's strong affection for him-Her remarkable deliverance from danger.

In

POLPEA, the residence of Samuel's father, was at this time a spot of remarkable beauty. Its acres, though few, were fertile ; and the humble dwelling was half-hidden by a productive orchard. Situated in a sheltered recess, at the north-eastern extremity of a spacious bay, to which the parish of St. Austell (whose shores it chiefly washes) has given a name; commanding a view of the little fishing village of Parr, since fallen into decay, but again rising into importance as a harbour; few spots in Cornwall exceeded it for picturesque scenery and quiet loveliness. By unremitting industry and the good management of his wife, the father had freed himself from the difficulties with which, in early life, he had to struggle; and, though not exempt from the necessity of daily labour, he was now placed, by a kind Providence, above the pressure of want. the concerns of his farm he was assisted by his elder son Jabez, whose disposition presented a remarkable contrast to that of his brother. While Samuel, by his daring and adventurous spirit, was often running into danger, and causing his parent much anxiety, Jabez exhibited so much fondness for reading and study, that his father sometimes found it necessary to chide him for indulging in these employments, to the neglect of his ordinary occupations. Every leisure hour, and frequently hours which should have been allotted to repose, he devoted to such literary pursuits as his circumstances enabled him to follow. The Weekly Entertainer, which has already been mentioned as a means of stimulating persons in humble life to mental exercise, consisted partly of questions proposed, and replies given, on various subjects, by correspondents. Enigmas, mathematical queries, and metrical compositions also found place in the publication; and in each of these departments Jabez Drew was a regular and an acceptable contributor. He also wrote many poetical pieces, which never appeared in print. His sister says, "I remember having seen

in my eldest brother's room a great many books, of which I then knew not the use; and he was a frequent and welcome visiter at the house of a gentleman who kept a boarding-school not far from us; where he often remained till past midnight, indulging his thirst for knowledge." By many of the respectable inhabitants of that neighbourhood he was known, and highly esteemed, as a young man of attainments beyond his station. In a subsequent page, it will be seen that his death was a prime cause of his brother Samuel's conversion.

He

It has been already stated that the father's time was partly occupied in conveying the Sherborne newspapers, and other publications sent into Cornwall by that establishment. was also a contractor for carrying the mail between St. Austell and Bodmin. In this the eldest son was commonly employed, and Samuel, during his temporary residence with his father, occasionally rendered his assistance. Once, while he was an apprentice, his brother being ill, he was called on to perform the duty. His adventure, on that occasion, he thus related to a friend.

"At one time, in the depth of winter, I was borrowed to supply my brother's place in carrying the mail; and I had to travel in the darkness of night, through frost and snow, a dreary journey, out and home, of more than twenty miles. Being overpowered with fatigue, I fell asleep on the horse's neck, and when I awoke, discovered that I had lost my hat. The wind was keen and piercing, and I was bitterly cold. I stopped the horse, and endeavoured to find out where I was: but it was so dark that I could scarcely distinguish the hedges on each side of the road; and I had no means of ascertaining how long I had been asleep, or how far I had travelled. I then dismounted, and looked around for my hat; but seeing nothing of it, I turned back, leading the horse, determined to find it, if possible; for the loss of a hat was to me a matter of serious consequence; and my anxiety was increased by the consideration, that if it were not recovered, I should probably have to wait a long while for another. Shivering with cold, I pursued my solitary way, scrutinizing the road at every step, until I had walked about two miles, and was on the point of giving up the search, when I came to a receiving house, where I ought to have delivered a packet of letters, but had passed it when asleep. To this place the post usually came about one o'clock in the morning, and it was customary to leave a window unfastened, except by a large stone outside, that the family might ot be disturbed at so unseasonable an hour. I immediately

put my letter-bag through the window, and having replaced the stone, was turning round to my horse, when I perceived my hat lying close to my feet. I suppose that the horse, knowing the place, must have stopped at the window for me to deliver my charge; but having waited until his patience was exhausted, had pursued his way to the next place. My hat must have been shaken off by his impatient movements, or endeavours to awaken me; but how long he waited I cannot tell. Though blind, that horse had more sense, and needed less guidance, than any one I ever rode."

By all the family this sagacious and valuable animal was much prized; but Samuel's father felt for it an especial regard, and the attachment between the master and his faithful servant was to all appearance mutual. Many years before, the poor beast, in a wretched condition, from starvation and ill usage, was turned out on a common to die. The owner willingly sold it for little more than the value of the skin; and his new possessor, having, by care and kindness, restored it to strength, soon found that he had made a most advantageous bargain. For more than twenty years, he and his blind companion travelled the road together; and many were the proofs of its intelligence and attachment. After the horse was past

labour, it was kept in the orchard, and attended with almost parental care. Latterly it had become unable to bite the grass; and the old man regularly fed it with bread soaked in milk. "I remember," says the present survivor of the family, "that when the sagacious creature would, early in the morning, put his head over the orchard railing, towards his master's bedroom, and give its usual neigh, my father would jump out of bed, open the window, and call to the horse, saying, 'My poor old fellow, I will be with thee soon.' And when the animal died, he would not allow its skin or shoes to be taken off; but had the carcass buried entire."

The road by which the old Mr. Drew was accustomed to travel, to and from Plymouth, passed along a very dangerous place, known by the name of Battern Cliffs; where, for about half a mile, a few false steps might cause the traveller to be dashed in pieces on the rocks, or plunge him, from a dizzy height, into the surges of the foaming ocean. Here, on his return from Plymouth, he was once assaulted by two horsemen, who commanded him to deliver his money. His horse being heavily laden, escape was hopeless; yet he resisted. their demand. Upon this one of the men presented a pistol, threatening to shoot and throw him over the cliff; and both of