conduct and concerns of others; and remember, "the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his own way." Your trade or calling is your proper province, for the improvement of which your mind and capacities should be employed; and neither God nor man will condemn you for inexperience in the business of others. Let the time of your apprenticeship be carefully improved to this end. Treasure up all the knowledge you can attain by observation and instruction, and never be ashamed to continue learning any honest skill; for no fortune or application will support a man who is remarkably defective in knowledge. Your success is likely to be that of a rich vessel guided by an unskilful pilot, in danger soon to be shipwrecked and lost. On the other hand, all masters should endeavor honestly and faithfully to instruct their apprentices in the lawful and gainful mysteries of their callings. This they are bound to do by their own agreement, and by all the rules of justice and honor

2. In the prudent choice of the several circumstances of trade.

For time. Choose that which is most suitable for your business; "for to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose."Aud among the rest," a time to buy, and a time to sell," which every wise tradesman will observe. The future contingencies of business, and the rise and fall of the value of commodities, often depend upon such uncertain or such unknown causes, that the deepest penetration is not able to fathom; but, to buy goods when they are cheap, and sell them when they are growing dear; and at all times to be cautious of overcharging yourselves with dear or changeable goods, are maxims of dence that never vary. Futurity is hid from us, but discretion is given to direct us, and those of the best discernment and sagacity are most likely to be successful.

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For place. Prudence will direct the tradesman to consider which is most suitable and proper for his calling, and fix there. The conveniences of his family must give way to the conveniences of his business, and his fancy be regulated by his judgment in this affair. That place may be exceeding proper and advantageous for one employment, which persons of a different one must starve in; and a fine house, or a pleasant situation, or even a small rent, will not make amends for the want of customers.

Great prudence is necessary in the choice of persons. First, whom to trust; for, it is not the metal that glitters most that is always the richest; men are often deceitful, and too many make it their business to deceive, and enrich themselves with the spoils of the unwary and credulous. It is better, therefore, to be at the pains of a diligent inquiry after their abilities for the trust which we repose in them, than endure the grief of sad experience, that we were mistaken in our apprehen⚫sions concerning them. Certain it is, that as there is prudence in trusting some, and charity in trusting others, so there are many whom it is neither prudent nor charitable to trust at all. Whom to deal with; to wit, with men of conscience, or at least of common honesty; for these may be relied upon with more security than others, and it is at all times more creditable to correspond with men of virtue than with knaves, and common fame will generally accquaint you who and what they are. Lastly, whom to be familiar with. For though we should be friendly to

all, yet familiar only with a few; and they should be such as we may either receive good from, or do good unto. And even of these not too many; for the tradesman's employment will not allow him time sufficient for performing the necessary offices of friendship to a great number.Let, therefore, the wise and prudent, the virtuous and good, be the persons of your intimacy and choice; for, nothing has a greater influence on our present and future happiness or misery, than our chosen Companions, as I have before observed. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."

3. This prudence should appear in using mature deliberation in affairs of importance. It is too visible that even men of ingenuity are often ruined by their own rashness. Not considering the circumstances that are necessary to direct them in proper conduct, nor viewing the the consequences that flow from them, they are carried on by a plausible appearance of things, or a hasty impetuosity of spirit, to the irretrievable ruin of themselves and families; fancy or passion, not reason and judgment, being the guides of their actions. Others lose their opportunities of advantage by an insettled, dilatory temper of mind, suspending their determinations till the proper season of acting is past.— Due deliberation is therefore recommended, according to the importance and difficulty of the affair, and the limits of time it will admit of. If the case will allow of it, take a night's time to think of it; for that which is weighed over night, and reviewed in the morning, will be in some degree ripe for a judicious resolution. Indeed, as to trifling concerns, it is childish and unnecessary to spend much time in determining concerning them; but of the two, a circumspect slowness in words and actions is preferable to too much speed, as being less dangerous and hurtful.

LETTER 162.

To a young Gentleman, on his entering into the World, with directions how to conduct himself.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

Your apprenticeship is near out, and you are soon to set up for yourself; that approaching moment is a critical one for you, and an anxious one for me. A tradesman, who would succeed in his way, must begin by establishing a character of integrity and good manners; without the former, nobody will go to his shop at all; without the latter, nobody will go there twice. This rule does not exclude the fair arts of trade. He may sell his goods at the best price he can, within certain bounds. He may avail himself of the humor, the whims, and the fantastical tastes of his customers; but what be warrants to be good must be really so; what he seriously asserts must be true, or his fraudulent practices will soon end in a bankruptcy. It is the same in higher life, and the great business of the world. A man who does not solidly establish, and really deserve, a character of truth, probity, good manners, and good morals, at his first setting out in the world, may impose, and shine like a meteor for a very short time, but will very soon vanish, and be extinguished with contempt. People easily pardon, in young men, the common irregularities of the senses; but they do not forgive the least vice

I fear worse, al

of the heart. The heart never grows better by age; ways harder. A young liar will be an old one; and a young knave will only be a greater knave as he grows older. But should a bad young heart, accompanied with a good head, which by the way very seldom he case, really reform in a more advanced age, from a consciousness of its folly as well as of its guilt; such a conversion would only be thought prudential and politic, but never sincere. I hope in God, and I verily believe that you want no moral virtue. Your character in the world must be built upon that solid foundation, or it will soon fall, and upon your own head. You cannot, therefore, be too careful, too nice, too crupulous, in establishing this character at first, upon which your whole depends. Let no conversation, no example, no fashion, no silly desire of seeming to be above what most knaves, and many fools, call prejudices, ever tempt you to avow, excuse, extenuate, or laugh at the least breach of morality; but show, upon all occasions, a detestation and abhorrence of it. There, though young, you ought to be strict; and there only, while young, it becomes you to be strict and severe. But there too, spare the persons while you lash the crimes. All this relates, as you easily judge, to the vices of the heart; such as lying, fraud, envy, malice, detraction, &c. and I do not extend it to the frailties of youth, flowing from high spirits and warm blood. It would ill become you, at your age, to declaim against them, and sententiously censure a gallantry, an accidental excess of the table, a frolic, an inadvertency; no, keep as free from them yourself as you can; but say nothing against them in others. They certainly mend by time, often by reason; and a man's worldly character is not affected by them, provided it be pure in all other respects.

To come to a point of much less, yet of very great consequence, at your first setting out. Be upon your guard against vanity, the common failing of inexperienced youth; but particularly against that kind of vanity, that dubs a man a coxcomb. It is not to be imagined by how many ways vanity defeats its own purposes.

One man decides peremptorily upon every subject, betrays his ignorance upon many, and shows a disgusting presumption upon the rest. Another desires to appear successful among women; he hints at the encouragement he has received from those of the most distinguished rank and beauty, and intimates a particular connection with some one. If it is true it is ungenerous; if false it is infamous; but in either case he destroys the reputation he wants to get. Some flatter their vanity by little extraneous objects, which have not the least relation to themselves, such as being descended from, related to, or acquainted with people of distinguished merit, and eminent characters. They talk perpetually of their grandfather such a one, their uncle such a one, and their intimate friend such a one, whom possibly they are hardly acquainted with. But admitting it all to be as they would have it. What then? Have they the more merit for those accidents ? Certainly not. On the contrary,

their taking them up adventitiously proves their want of intrinsic merit; a rich man never borrows. Take this rule for granted, as a never failing one, that you must never seem to affect the character in which you have a mind to shine. Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise. The affectation of courage will make even a brave man

pass only for a bully; as the affectation of wit will make a man of parts pass for a coxcomb. By this modesty I do not mean timidity or awkward bashfulness. On the contrary, be inwardly firm and steady, know your own value, whatever it may be, and act upon that principle; but take care to let nobody discover that you do know your own value. Whatever real merit you have other people will discover; and people always magnify their own discoveries as they lessen those of others.

For God's sake revolve all these things seriously in your thoughts before you launch out alone into the world. Recollect the observations which you have yourself made upon mankind, compare and connect them with my instructions, and then act systematically and consequentially from them. Lay your little plan now, which you will hereafter extend and improve by your own observations, and by the advice of those who can never mean to mislead you.

I am, your faithful and affectionate friend.

LETTER 163.

From a Lady to her Friend who had buried her Husband.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

Impute not my silence to any want, but the excess of kindness, which makes me too much a partner of your sorrow to find words at all suitable to the share I have with you in it. If, therefore, I am the last in condoling, I do most faithfully assure you, that it is not insensibility, but the highest degree of love and tenderness that occasioned it. The grief that is least is soonest expressed, and perhaps the more noise it makes the less mischief is sustained by it. Had I been unconcerned my thoughts and pen might have been more free, though I could not have said any thing sufficient to stem so violent a tide as your just lamentations. I might have offered some poor reasons against other women's afflicting themselves so much, which I should be ashamed to mention to you, having been a witness how far your husband's love and merits excelled the best of men I ever met with; and I am so sensible of your reciprocal affection, that I know the power of God only can support you under such a separation, which I believe was more terrible than death itself. But, my dear friend, your sorrov is not as one without hope. Use your utmost endeavors to submit to the hand of the Almighty, with as much resignation in this as you did in your own distemper, though that only assaulted your body while this pierces your heart. You must remember that it was the same merciful God that gave you him who has now taken him to himself; and in the midst of your afflictions, bless God for sparing you so long for the sake of your children. I hope you will consider that this parting is to his inexpressible advantage, and has removed him from a transitory and imperfect, to an everlasting happiness, whither, I doubt not, you are daily preparing to follow him; and since it has pleased God to deny you the further assistance of such an example and counsellor, he will abundantly recompense that loss, by a greater measure of his grace, to carry you through those trials and temptations to which you are daily exposed, unless you neglect to implore his help, by giving up yourself to such melancholy as must discompose your faculties, while it weakens your natural constitution. If the saints in

heaven are acquainted with what happens in this lower world, they must disapprove of such a conduct as leads them to contend with their greatest benefactor and best friend. Shall the thing formed say to its Maker, why hast thou done so? The time is fast approaching when you, being freed from all entanglements with this sublunary world, must visit those regions where you will again see your beloved spouse, in a state never to be interrupted, never to have an end, where you must be happy. This I have learned even from heathen sages, that all violent pains are short, and but of transitory duration. But we Christians are obliged to consider affliction in a quite different light, as the chastisement of our heavenly Father, whose benevolence is his darling attribute.

If the dissolution of the righteous is to exempt them from labor, though our temporal interest makes us eager to detain them longer with us, yet the sense of what they enjoy in heaven must be a great means of abating our grief. Some, indeed, have so little comfort in this world that they are ready to say with Job of old: "Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; which long for death and it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave."

Your most flattering hopes could not, in the course of nature, have been many years longer gratified with his company; therefore you must not spend the remainder of your days in mourning, but being fully convinced of the vanity of every thing mortal, let us submit to every alter ation as the servants of God, who has graciously promised to lay no more upon us than we can bear. That you may experience that mercy to assist you in this trial of your faith and patience, is the prayer of, dear madam, Your ever affectionate friend.

LETTER 164.

From a Gentleman to his Friend in distressed circumstances, who had endeavored to conceal his poverty.

DEAR SIR,

I am extremely concerned to find you have so ill an opinion of me as to hide your misfortunes, and let me hear of them from another hand. I know not how to interpret your conduct, as it makes me fear you neyer esteemned my friendship, if you could imagine that any alteration in your circumstances should ever be able to change my love. I had a different opinion of our mutual obligations to each other, and should have thought it an injury to your generous nature, had I concealed any thing concerning myself from you, though it might have lessened me in your esteem. I hoped, till now, you had put the same confidence in me, who had nothing to recommend me to your favor, but plain sincerity of soul; and whose sole design was to promote the happiness of my friend. I dare not quarrel with you now, lest you should consider me as taking the advantage of you in your present distress, and induce you to break off a correspondence as dear to me as ever; and this leads me to say something of real friendship in general. Real friendship is not confined to any station in life; it is common in the meanest cottage, and has even sometimes been found in the palace. Simplicity of manners, and integrity in all our actions, naturally lead us to expect sincer