The same diffidence of his own abilities will be seen in the following letter, which exhibits much candour, modesty, and correc: thinking. "MY DEAR SIR, 66 "St. Austell, Jan. 10, 1810. "I am happy to find that my letter reached you at a moment when you were in a good humour. I should have learned this fact from the vivacity of your epistle, if you had not informed me; and I hope this will not meet your eye in a less auspicious hour. 66 "I thought, when you hinted that my philosophy had not subdued my prejudices, that you intended to rally me on some branches of my creed; hut, on perusing further, I soon found that your pleasing lenitives far outweighed the corrosives which I expected. I thank you for your hints, and really admire your masterly apology for my views of eternal things. Believe me, my dear sir, I have embraced the sentiments which I briefly stated, from a conviction of their propriety, though arising from a combination of causes which it would be difficult to define, and of which it would be almost impossible to mark the discriminating influence. Suffice it to say, that the effect was produced, and the result still continues, however incompetent I may find myself to trace the various branches to their respective sources. "I sincerely thank you for the few observations which you made on Mr. Professor Scott and Mr. D. Stewart. I had nothing in view but private gratification, when I inquired after them. Perhaps it is natural to the human mind to feel some solicitude about those of whom we have heard, especially when they have distinguished themselves in those departments of literature which are congenial with the bias of our thoughts. By first writing to me, a perfect stranger, half-buried in obscure life, you did me an honour which I can acknowledge but not requite. "As you have seen the memoirs of my life which I prefixed to my Essay on the Resurrection,' I need not tell you my personal history, nor descant upon the difficulties through which I have passed, to enter the field of literature. It was my lot to have no education; but whether I may reckon this among the misfortunes or advantages of my life, it is hard to say. The mind, without doubt, receives its polish from the refinements which education imparts, and becomes expanded in proportion to the objects which are presented to its views. If this advantage had been mine, I should have been considered as a competitor with men whom I could not rival, and should have sunk into insignificance by falling short of my mark. - My learning would have broken the optic of compassion, and have exposed me to a naked inspection which I could not have withstood. From these dangers I am now happily shielded; so that, on the whole, I have no reason to complain. Under present circumstances, I have obtained a reputation, through friendship, which I could not have acquired from rigid justice, if knowledge had unrolled her ample stores with a more liberal hand. Reputation, however, is only a remote consideration; and when first I commenced author, I had no more expectation of obtaining fame than I had of procuring wealth. "I trust, amidst the events and incidents of life, that God will give me grace so to pass through time, that I may, through the merits of Jesus Christ, obtain at last an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.' "That this may be our joint portion in eternity, though we may never behold each other's faces in time, is the sincere desire of Reverend and dear sir, "Your's, most sincerely, "Rev. Professor James Kidd, Aberdeen.” In a former part of our narrative we have noticed, at some length, Mr. Drew's INTEGRITY and HUMANITY in early life. Of these qualities a few illustrations of more recent date may be acceptable. A day or two before his removal from London, though his mind was then unhinged, he enumerated, very particularly, the different charitable and other institutions to which he was a contributor, and placed in his daughter's hands a year's subscription for each, that all obligations of that kind might be fully discharged. During a season of dearth, he bargained with a farmer for a bushel* of wheat monthly, throughout the year, at a fixed rate. A few weeks afterwards the price of corn fell nearly one third. The terms of the bargain did not bind him to purchase under such circumstances; but he regarded the spirit rather than the letter of the agreement, and, contrary to the farmer's expectation, continued to buy during the twelve months at the stipulated price. The farmer appreciated Mr. D.'s honourable conduct, and brought him a thirteenth bushel gratis. By most of the inhabitants of Cornwall it will be recollected, that, about the period when the West Briton newspaper was commenced, much acrimonious feeling, either real or pretended, was shewn towards its editor, by the proprietor and editor of the Cornwall Gazette, then recently become an ultra tory journal. These gentlemen had been previously on terms of peculiar intimacy; and Mr. Drew was the friend and The Cornish is equal to three Imperial bushels. acquaintance of both. Before the appearance of the West Briton, and while the Cornish advocates of Parliamentary Reform were, by the exclusion of their communications from the other paper, compelled to publish their sentiments in pamphlets, Mr. D. received the following letter: "DEAR SIR, "You have doubtless seen Mr. Budd's reply to which, you will admit, there is a necessity for a rejoinder in that rejoinder I shall, with the view of shewing his unfitness to write upon Parliamentary Reform,' instance, among other matters, his avowed hostility to the Church, as displayed in his debate with you, the evening you and I spent with him at his house: and I do expect, from your honour and conscience, that you will not blink the truth, when called upon. I merely give you this, as a notice of my intended use of your name. If you have any thing to say in the mean time, I shall be glad to hear from you by post.' "Mr. Samuel Drew, St. Austell.” This letter was followed by another the next day, apologizing for having inadvertently sent the first without date or name. There is a severity of reproof, and a spirit of manly integrity, in Mr. Drew's reply. The former part of it was written before the receipt of the second letter. "DEAR SIR, "St. Austell, May 21, 1810. "I this morning received a letter, without a date and without a name, which I have reason to believe came from you, as no other person could have been acquainted with the subject to which it alludes. It is rather singular that both name and date should be omitted through mere accident. It has all the appearance of suspicious caution or secret design. "I am extremely sorry to find that you intend so far to violate the laws of hospitality, as to publish to the world a private conversation which took place about two years since; and that you intend to draw from it an inference injurious to the man at whose house both you and I were entertained. I hope your political principles will not influence your memory. "It is with peculiar reluctance that I shall attempt, at the bar of the public, to decide between two men whose merits I highly esteem; but, when summoned before the tribunal, you need not fear that I shall blink the truth.' I have no right to forbid you to publish what you heard; and neither interest nor weakness will induce me to request you to suppress my name. I hope, however, in future, to be cautious how I take either side of an abstract argument in your presence. "I remain, dear sir, "Your's, most respectfully, "Mr. Thomas Flindell, Truro." May 22d.-The former part of this letter was written, folded up, and directed, before I received your's this morning. I intended to send it by post last evening, but was too late. Your letter of to-day of course nullifies all of my first paragraph. With respect to the second, I can only repeat my regret that you should meanly stoop to an action which you would despise in another. In the name of friendship, I beg you to desist from a deed that hereafter you will blush to own. Let public questions stand on public ground. For my part, I am no politician, as you well know, and do not care two straws about the present contest. But I feel sorrow when I see the bonds of friendship broken, the laws of hospitality violated, confidence betrayed, and public questions degenerating into low personalities, I remain, dear |