laboured to counteract the moral contagion to which she saw her child thus unavoidably exposed; but on her death, its deteriorating effects received but little check. "It may be asked," observes Mr. Drew, in a short sketch of his early life which he dictated to one of his children just before his last illness, “as my father was a serious man, why did he not step forth, on my mother's death, to supply her place? The reason is obvious, though by no means satisfactory. Being employed as a local preacher. among the Methodists, every Sunday he was called upon to fulfil his appointments, while the moral and religious culture of his children was comparatively neglected. This system, of employing persons to preach on the sabbath, who have very little time to instruct their families during the week, I consider to be a serious evil, and one that needs especial correction. Such being my father's case, it may naturally be supposed, that any serious impressions resulting from my mother's instructions soon vanished. I had no one to take me by the hand; and with precept and example I was now, in a great measure, unacquainted." The moral injury which Mr. Drew thus sustained, he has more than once pointed out in the case of others. That Christians are to love their neighbours as themselves, and to promote their welfare, is unquestionable. Nor is it less certain, that he who possesses a thorough and an experimental acquaintance with the truths of religion, and the ability of communicating them to others, should embrace the opportunities afforded him of imparting this knowledge. But let him consider well what these oppor tunities are, and to what extent his duty to the public is to take precedence of that which he owes to his immediate connexions. Let him remember, that there are frequently conflicting duties, the relative claims of which it requires much thought, and much of the Divine guidance, satisfactorily to determine. Neither should he forget the apostolic declaration, "If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, (instruction as well as food and raiment) he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." The proper government and instruction of his family is a Christian parent's first duty, and can never be superseded. A conviction that this duty is imperative, and a recollection of the injury he sustained from his father's inattention to it, led Mr. Drew, when his own children were growing up, to refuse any appointment, as a preacher, that would not leave him every third sabbath at his entire disposal. The evil which has occasioned these remarks we do not charge on the Wesleyan system as a necessary consequence, or a common defect. Yet it is a false movement to which this part of the machinery of Methodism is liable, without the constant vigilance of those to whom its direction is confided, SECTION IV. Samuel's temper in boyhood — Apprenticed to a shoemaker - Harsh usage - Evil habits Anecdotes and incidents. Absconds from his master's service — Consequent hardships Returns to his father's house. THE happy art of securing the attachment of his children, and governing them by affection, Mr. Drew's father appears not to have possessed. He displayed more of paternal authority than parental love. To the latter, which was the most prominent feature in his mother's character, Samuel had always yielded; to the former he was not sufficiently disposed to submit. Though affectionate, tender-hearted, and generous, where a similar disposition was manifested towards him, he not unfrequently broke out into open rebellion against his father's government. "His mind," says his sister, "always seemed above control; for while my eldest brother and I trembled at our father's voice, he would deride our weakness; and more than once has said to us, You almost worship father, as if he were a little deity." To this fearless temper, was added a vein of sarcasm unusual in one so young. Grieved as his father often was, at his wayward conduct, the lively sallies of the child amused him; and he observed one day to his other children, “That boy, ungovernable as he is, has more sense than all of us." Not long after the death of his wife, Samuel's father had an elderly widow, named Bate, as his housekeeper; in which capacity she served him faithfully, and was very attentive to the children. In the second year of his widowhood he married her; and though, as a servant, the children and she were on the most friendly terms, yet into the station of mother and mistress they seemed to think her an intruder. Jabez, the elder, refused to address her by her new appellation; and Samuel, though she treated them all with the utmost kindness, contrived, in various ways, to shew his spleen. About the time of her marriage, some female acquaintances visiting her, Samuel provided himself with a syringe and vessel of water secretly, and having made a gimlet hole through the partition of the room, he discharged his artillery among the company at their tea. This was more than his mother-in-law could brook. Though kind, she was a woman of violent temper; and this, added to other annoyances which she had received from him, led shortly to his removal from his father's house. At the age of ten years and a half, Samuel Drew was apprenticed to a shoemaker named Baker, at Tregrehan mill, in the parish of St. Blazey, and about three miles from St. Austell town. His term of apprenticeship was nine years; but he did not remain till its expiration. The master's house was delightfully situated, in a fertile valley, adjoining the mansion and grounds of the wealthy family of the Carlyons. It was, however, too secluded a spot for business; and a boy of uncultivated mind has little taste for the beautiful or the picturesque. When he was first apprenticed, his father lived at Parr, in St. Blazey; but removing soon after, to the tenement of Polpea, in Tywardreath, the poor lad's intercourse with his relatives was suspended, and he felt all the loneliness of his situation. In the short narrative from which a quotation has already been made, Mr. Drew says, "My new abode at St. Blazey, and new engagements, were far from being pleasing. To any of the comforts and conveniences of life I was an entire stranger; and by every member of the family was viewed as an underling, come thither to subserve their wishes, or obey their mandates. To his trade of shoemaker my master added that of farmer. He had a few acres of ground under his care, and was a sober, industrious man: but, unfortunately for me, nearly one half of my time was taken up in agricultural pursuits. On this account, I made no proficiency in my business, and felt no solicitude to rise above the farmers' boys with whom I daily associated. While in this place, I suffered many hardships. When, after having been in the fields all day, I came home with cold feet, and damp and dirty stockings, if the oven had been heated during the day, I was permitted to throw my stockings into it, that they might dry against the following morning; but frequently have I had to put |