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Like Socrates before the judges, he appeared more like their master than their suppliant. He concludes with a spirit worthy of him who wrote on the Sublime and Beautiful; worthy of a polished ancient in the best of ages. "And now, gentlemen," he concludes, on this serious day, when I come, as it were, to make up my account with you; let me take to myself some degree of honest pride on the nature of the charges brought against me. I do not here stand accused of venality or neglect of duty. It is not said that, in the long period of my service, I have, in a single instance, sacrificed the slightest of your interests to my ambition or to my fortune. It is not alleged that, to gratify any anger or revenge of my own, or of my party, I have had a share in wronging or oppressing any one man in any description. No; the charges against me are all of one kind, that I have pushed the general principles of general justice and benevolence too far; further than a cautious policy would warrant, and further than the opinions of many would go with me. In every accident which may happen through life, in pain, in sorrow, in depression, and distress, I will think of this accusation and be comforted."

There are not indeed many of the members who favour the public with their harangues, so that we have not an opportunity of judging of all so well as of Mr. Burke's. We must, however, acknowledge our great obligations to the ingenious Mr. Woodfall, the editor of the Morning Chronicle, whose memory seems equal to the instances of which we read, but which do not often occur in our intercourse with society.

No. CLIII.

A Life of Letters usually a Life of comparative
Innocence.

IT is not the least among the happy effects of a studious life, that it withdraws the student from the turbulent scenes and pursuits, in which it is scarcely less difficult to preserve innocence than tranquillity. Successful study requires so much attention, and engrosses so much of the heart, that he who is deeply engaged in it, though he may indeed be liable to temporary lapses, will seldom contract an inveterate habit of immorality. There is in all books of character a reverence for virtue, and a tendency to inspire a laudable emulation. He who is early, long, and successfully conversant with them will find his bosom filled with the love of truth, and finely affected with a delicate sense of honour. By constantly exercising his reason, his passions are gradually reduced to subjection, and his head and heart keep pace with each other in improvement. But when I assert that such are the consequences of literary pursuits, it is necessary to distinguish between the real and pretended student; for there are many desultory readers and volatile men of parts who affect eccentricity, whose lives, if one may so express it, are uniformly irregular, and who consequently exhibit remarkable instances of misery and misfortune.

Folly and imprudence will produce moral and natural evil, their genuine offspring, in all situations and modes of life. The knowledge of arts and sciences cannot prevent the vices and the woes which must arise from the want of knowing how to regulate our private and social conduct. But where prudence

and virtue are not deficient, I believe few walks of life are pleasanter and safer than those which lead through the regions of literature.

Many among mankind are involved in perpetual tumult, so that if they felt an inclination to consider their duty, their nature, their truest happiness, they really would not be able to find an opportunity, But he, whom Providence has blessed with an enlightened mind, and the command of his own time, is enabled to form his heart, and direct his choice according to the dictates of the most improved intellects, and the examples of the most accomplished characters. He is, indeed, a creature far superior to the common herd of men; and being acquainted with pure and exalted pleasures, is not under the necessity of seeking delight in the grosser gratifications. He considers not property as the chief good; he is therefore free from temptations to violate his integrity. Disappointment in matters of interest will never render him uneasy or discontented,

own bosom.

for his books have discovered to him a treasure more valuable, in his estimation, than the riches of Peru. Through all the vicissitudes of life, he has a source of consolation in the retirement of his library, and in the principles and reflections of his From his reading he will collect a just estimate of the world and of all around him; and, as he will cherish no unreasonable expectations, he will be exempted from severe disappointment.

to

The conversation of many abounds with slander and detraction, not originally and entirely derived from a malignity of nature, but also from ignorance, from a vacancy of intellect, and from an inability expatiate on general and generous topics. But whatever be the motive of them, it is certain that few crimes are more injurious to private happiness, and opposite to the spirit of our amiable religion, than slander and detraction. The man of reading

is under no temptation to calumniate his neighbour from the defect of ideas, or a want of taste for liberal and refined conversation. He interests himself in his neighbour's happiness; but does not pry into the affairs, nor sit in judgment on the domestic arrangements of another's family. Most of the topics of scandal are too little and too low for him. He will not stoop from his elevation low enough to pick the dirty trifles from the ground. His thoughts are engaged in elegant and speculative subjects, far removed from all which tend to excite envy, jealousy, or malevolence.

The want of employment is one of the frequent causes of vice; but he who loves a book will never want employment. The pursuits of learning are boundless, and they present to the mind a delightful variety which cannot be exhausted. No life is long enough to see all the beautiful pictures which the arts and sciences, or which history, poetry, and eloquence are able to display. The man of letters possesses the power of calling up a succession of scenes to his view infinitely numerous and diversified. He is therefore secured from that unhappy state which urges many to vice and dissipation, merely to fill a painful vacuity. Even though his pursuits should be trifling, and his discoveries unimportant, yet they are harmless to others, and useful to himself, as preservatives of his innocence. Let him not be ridiculed or condemned, even though he should spend bis time in collecting and describing moths, mosses, shells, birds, weeds, or coins; for he who loves these things seldom sets his affections on pelf, or any of those objects which corrupt and divide human society. He who finds his pleasures in a museum or a library, will not often be seen in the tavern, in the brothel, or at the gaming table. He is pleased if he possesses a nondescript fossil, and

envies not the wretched enjoyments of the intemperate, nor the illgotten wealth of the oppressor

or extortioner.

But his pursuits have usually a title to much greater praise than that of being inoffensive. Suppose him in any of the liberal professions. If a clergyman, for instance, he devotes his time and abilities to the preparation of dissuasives from vice, from folly, from misconduct, from infidelity, from all that contributes to aggravate the wretchedness of wretched human nature. Here the pleasures naturally resulting from literary occupation are improved by the sublime sensations of active benevolence, the comfortable consciousness of advancing the truest happiness of those among our poor fellowcreatures who have not enjoyed the advantages of education. In the performance of the godlike office of a true parish priest, there is a necessity of setting an example, and of preserving decorum of character; a necessity which conduces much to the security of innocence. It is often a great happiness to be placed in a rank where, to the restraints of conscience and morality, are added the fear of peculiar shame, loss, and disgrace, necessarily consequent on ill behaviour. Human nature wants every support to keep it from lapsing into depravity. Even interest and a solicitude for reputation, when, in some thoughtless interval, the pillars of virtue begin to totter, may stop the fall. The possession of a valuable character which may be lost, and of a dignity which must be supported, are often very useful auxiliaries in defending the citadel against the temporary assaults of passion and temptation.

Since, then, the pursuit of letters is attended with many circumstances peculiarly favourable to innocence, and consequently to enjoyment of the purest. and most permanent species, they who have been.