cacy of the Establishment; and, having found among its ministers his first literary patrons, he was attached to it by the ties of gratitude. But there were some points in its articles to which he could not subscribe; he preferred the free constitution of Methodism to the restraints of episcopal government; and he believed that the intimate connexion suggested, though in a temporal point of view advantageous, would ill accord with his previous associations and habits, and would diminish his general usefulness. For the same reasons, he declined a similar offer, made some years afterwards, by a gentleman who also tendered him his services and patronage,

About the year 1800, as Mr. Drew was travelling through the eastern part of Cornwall, on a stage coach, he entered into conversation with a fellow traveller, who avowed himself a disbeliever in Revelation, and commenced an undisguised attack on the Bible. In Mr. D. he soon found a formidable antagonist. He wished to withdraw from the contest; but Mr. D. became in turn the assailant, and pressed him so closely with argument, as to compel him to ask quarter, and confess his ignorance of the writings of those deistical authors whose disciple he professed to be, and with the enumeration of whose names he thought to awe his companion into silence.

It

The substance of this conversation appeared in the Methodist Magazine, of 1807, under the title of " A Dialogue between a Deist and a Christian." found its way into the pages of that periodical through one of the preachers to whom Mr. Drew related it

In 1819, at the recom

soon after its occurrence. mendation of a friend who thought the Dialogue exceedingly well adapted to counteract the effect of those profane and deistical pamphlets which, by their lavish distribution, were unsettling the belief and demoralizing the conduct of the labouring population, Mr. Drew condensed it, and published it as a twcpenny tract. By his permission, an edition of ten thousand was also printed the following year by the Manchester Tract Society,

The conversation, which is highly valuable and very amusing, would, we doubt not, gratify those of our readers who have never perused it; but, since it has appeared in print, in various forms, we quote merely its conclusion,

MR. DREW. "What could induce you, sensible as you must have been of your own deficiency, to commence an attack upon me, as soon as we mounted the coach?"

TRAVELLER. "I thought you were a country farmer, and I wanted to have a little fun."

Mr. D. "Did you not suspect, when you began, that you were committing yourself?"

T. "I had my suspicions after a little while; but I had gone too far to retreat."

Mr. D. "It was a conviction of this fact which induced me to accept your challenge. But pray, how do you like the fun you have had?"

T.

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Just as you may expect. I would not have had any of my acquaintances in my acquaintances in company, for fifty guineas,"

Mr. D. "Well, sir, you have left me in possession of all my arguments; you have assented to the leading features of Christianity; and have not had one word to oppose to what I have delivered. I do not consider that all I have advanced is conclusive. I only spoke from the impulse of the occasion and the moment; but I am confident that the ground on which I have stood is perfectly tenable; and the event has proved, that what I have advanced has imposed silence on you. I claim no merit in conquering you; for this even a child might have done; my only merit consists in encountering you, when you held out such a terrific front."

T. "I beg you will drop the discourse; we are getting into town, and I fear the people will hear us. Mr. D. "Sir, I will say no more. I thank you for preserving your temper, and recommend to your notice that Bible which you have been taught to despise."

The vanquished Deist was a mercantile traveller. We are not prepared to say, that, like the gentleman with whom Mr. D. discussed the arguments in the

Age of Reason,' he abandoned his Deism, and embraced Christianity; but he so far respected his antagonist as to visit him, whenever, in the course of his journeys, he passed through St. Austell.

In 1806, through the steady friendship and kind offices of Mr. Clarke, Mr. Drew entered upon a department of literature which the following letters

fully explain; while they illustrate a few points of editorial management.

"DEAR SIR,

"To Mr. Samuel Drew.

"London, City-Road, July 8, 1806.

"Some literary gentlemen, who manage one of the Reviews, who have seen, and highly esteem, your Essay on the Immateriality of the Soul, have applied to me, to know whether I thought you would become a writer on that subject which you so well understand, and favour their Review with occasional contributions. They would wish to put the metaphysical department entirely into your hands, and upon terms the most honourable in this way. In plain English, if you will become a Reviewer in this department, or any other allied to it, I am authorised to say, that for every printed sheet of your critiques (which shall also include whatever extracts you think proper to make from the works you review) you shall receive- guineas. They will also send you the works they wish you to consider, free of expense; and besides the above remuneration, you may keep each work you review, at half price. If you agree, the work which they wish to put immediately into your hands is Professor Scott's Elements of Intellectual Philosophy' .You have nothing to fear in this undertaking. Your critiques will come through my hands; and if there be any thing in which I can help you, you may command it. Possibly, I may be able, in some cases, to improve the language a little; at least, you will have the satisfaction to know, that your work passed through the hands of a friend, before it met the eye of strangers.

"As I suppose you intend principally to live by your pen, I know of no way in which you may with more ease and safety earn a little money in an honour

able and honest way. It may be necessary to add, that you may give free scope to your religious feelings on all such occasions: and the oftener you take occasion to illustrate the perfections of God, and the great truths of the religion of Christ, the more acceptable your critiques will be. You may send a great deal of matter in a small compass. If you get large, thin paper, a sheet of which will weigh less than an ounce, it will be but single postage. Write as fair as you well can, and let the lines be as much apart as convenient, that there may be no cause of confusion. I am writing now as though you had accepted the proposal, which I must own I cannot help recommending. As I have promised to use dispatch in this business, I hope you will favour me with an answer, if possible, by return of post. If you wish for any further information, I shall feel a pleasure in giving it, as far as I can. As reviewers keep themselves secret, you will see the propriety of keeping this matter to yourself.

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May I ask you, what are you now engaged in? Is the piece on the Resurrection finished? Have you projected any new work? Is there any thing in

which I can assist or serve you?

"Think, purpose, speak, and act so, in all things, that you may ever carry about in your own conscience a plenary sense of the approbation of your God.

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I am, my dear sir,

"Your's, very affectionately,

"A. CLARKE."

I have just time to say, that the Editor of the Eclectic Review (that for which you are engaged) sends you Professor Scott's and Forsyth's works: the first you will be so kind as to examine with as much speed as possible. I shall also feel

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