were few, we believe, of his neighbours who cherished against him hostile feelings. The only individual who was known to speak of him with rancour, in his last sickness sent for Mr. Drew to pray with him and instruct him in the verities of the Christian religion. That the request was complied with, those who knew Mr. D. need not be informed. An exemption from the strife of tongues,' he did not expect. Quoting, as a solace for others, a well-known aphorism, he used frequently to observe, "Censure is a tax which every man must pay for being eminent." At one time, several anonymous letters, not of the most laudatory description, were sent him from the neighbouring town of Mevagissey. The head and front of his offending,' according to the writer's allegations, was an unbecoming intimacy with clergymen, and a deficiency of true sectarian spirit! These communications, after their perusal, were generally consigned to destruction. One of them has, however, escaped the flames; and, with a few omissions, we insert it literally, as a curiosity. "To Mr. Samuel Drew, St. Austell." "It has long been the practice of writers, to complain of the infidelity of the age, without attempting to remove the cause! It is self-evident to every disinterested discerning person, that the great cause of infidelity in this land, as well as in France, is the unchristian profaneness and profligate lives of the Clergy, as they term themselfs; a name as unfit for them, as any set of profligates within the bounds of space!! "And it is most deplorable, that men of great ability who have sprang up amongst the Laity, (as the Clergy in the height of their arrogance call them! instead of exercising their powers, to overthrow the hydraheaded monster! who have been the cause of so much evil,- for the sake of a little wordly popularity, and patronage, have either shamefully deserted the cause of truth altogether, by joining its enemies and increasing the mist of error,-or contented themselfs with attacking its out-posts, while the citadel have stood secure and unattacked. Alas! alas! how will these men answer for the ten talents committed to their keeping!! What a noble contrast do the names of Milton, Lock, &c. &c. furnish, when compared with the above! "Now I consider the productions of your pen, of that class which have only attacked the out-posts of infidelity and so far have you been from meddling with the citadel, that you have, by your conduct, even upheld it (as far as lay in your power.) It is true, you have not built a buttress to support the totering fabric!! but by attending the lectures of card-playing, ball-attending, drunken parsons; you have given the weak an example, while the man of stronger penetration have another plea for his unbelief— or, to use the more appropriate language of an elegant writer, 'The weak, perhaps, are mov'd, but are not taught; Takes deeper root, confirm'd by what they see.' "Perhaps you may deny my hypothesis, and, consequently, my deductions. But I appeal to the writers of the past and present ages, against Christianity, as an evidence to the truth of my assertions. Have not their greatest plea and objection to the Christian faith, been the immoral conduct of many of its professors, and more especially the Priest's established by law!! But how can any person expect you to write against them? Was not the Rector of Ruan Lanyhorne your great patron, and recommender to the Monthly Reviewers ? nay!- did he not write that pompous Review' of the production of the untutored child of nature?" Have not you shaken hands with the Vicar of Manaccan-that great champion of truth!-who made a most scandalous, false, malicious, and diabolical attack on the Methodist's, and was silenced by you?-Has he then recanted his sentiments, and acknowledged his fault? No! but he have published a Literary History of Cornwall,' and what are truth, or methodism, when put in competition with having a name among the Literati of Cornwall? Such substantives dwindle into mere shadows when there is another step to be added to 'young ambition's ladder,' especially with a man who has not deigned to let the world know he is a Methodist !! But a concourse of ideas rush on my mind, which my present sheet forbids doing justice to; therefore, I end my general remarks, and proceed to answer your observations on my last. "You do not care,' it is said, 'how many letters you receive, if the postage is paid.' I answer, you need not concern yourself on this head; for I positively affirm, you shall not be put to any expense, by any letter from me. I intended to have enclosed a shilling under the seal of this, if you had not refused to take up any more letters unless they were post-paid; which obliged me to post-pay this, at whatever hazard of being detected. Under the seal of this you will find the postage of the former, with interest. "But you think it is much better I keep the money, and buy a spelling book. I beg leave to inform you that I have a sufficiency for that purpose, after paying the postage. At the same time it excites one's admiration, to hear you objecting to a letter, because there is a small error in the spelling, after the many elegant epistles you have received from a certain acquaintance of yours in this town, who cannot spell a word of only five or six letters correct; but Praise from the smutch'd artificer is oft too welcome, and may much disturb the bias of the purpose.' But though I do not pretend to be a perfect orthographer, or philologist; yet I can detect errors in doctrine, though surrounded by the sophistical glare of philosophic chicane. There is not any thing in these letters that I should be ashamed of; for Who noble ends by noble means obtains, Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed "AN OBSERVER." “Mevagissey, August 21st, 1810." A young preacher complaining one day that he had received an anonymous letter, censuring his pulpit oratory, -"Don't heed it," said Mr. Drew, "any further than to profit by its observations, if true. I have had scores of such letters since I became an author, and often with postage to pay. They never trouble me, and I generally put them into the fire. But these letters are sometimes of use. Our good qualities we may learn from our friends;- from our enemies we may chance to discover our defects." It was seldom that Mr. Drew's benevolent feelings overcame his judgment, or led him into an act of indiscretion; yet he was not infallible. It has been stated, that, in the commencement of his authorship, being too unguarded in his remarks, he was threatened with an action for libel. On a subsequent occasion, his inherent antipathy to arbitrary power led him into an unpleasant dilemma. A wealthy member of the Wesleyan society at St. Austell had been charged with oppressive conduct in some temporal transactions; and, at a meeting of inquiry, it was resolved, perhaps too precipitately, that he should no longer be considered a member. Instead of the usual oral communication in such cases, the resolutions of the meeting were committed to writing, signed by the individuals present, and sent to the accused. By this mode of procedure the signing parties subjected themselves to an action at law; and a legal process was commenced against each. Prompted by his feelings, Mr. Drew had taken a prominent part in the affair, and thus rendered himself particularly obnoxious to the gentleman whose character was impeached. As the only condition of suspending legal proceedings, it was required that the parties should pay the expenses already incurred sign a paper acknowledging their error, -and that this paper should be read by Mr. D. in the public congregation. With these conditions it was judged expedient to comply. - The gentleman's resentment was temporary. An explanation of his conduct was given, -the right hand of fellowship extended on either side, and from this inauspicious beginning commenced a greater degree of intimacy between him and Mr. Drew than had previously subsisted. |