ome to introduce the
foreigner. The alderman, a man of uncultivated mind and manners, and
whom the doctor had been accustomed to see in sordid attire, surrounded
with the incumbrances of his trade, was decked out for the occasion in a
full-dress suit, with a wig of majestic and voluminous structure. Clarke
was, as it appears, so much struck with the whimsical nature of this
unexpected metamorphosis, and the extraordinary solemnity of his
kinsman's demeanour, as to have felt impelled, almost immediately upon
entering the room, to snatch the wig from the alderman's head, and throw
it against the ceiling: after which this eminent person immediately
escaped, and retired to his own apartment. I was informed from the same
authority, that Clarke, after exhausting his intellectual faculties by
long and intense study, would not unfrequently quit his seat, leap upon
the table, and place himself cross-legged like a tailor, being prompted,
by these antagonist sallies, to relieve himself from the effect of the
too severe strain he had previously put upon his intellectual powers.

But the deviousness and aberration of our human faculties frequently
amount to something considerably more serious than this.

I will put a case.

I will suppose myself and another human being together, in some spot
secure from the intrusion of spectators. A musket is conveniently at
hand. It is already loaded. I say to my companion, "I will place myself
before you; I will stand motionless: take up that musket, and shoot me
through the heart." I want to know what passes in the mind of the man to
whom these words are addressed.

I say, that one of the thoughts that will occur to many of the persons
who should be so invited, will be, "Shall I take him at his word?"

There are two things that restrain us from acts of violence and crime.
The first is, the laws of morality. The second is, the construction that
will be put upon our actions by our fellow-creatures, and the treatment
we shall receive from them.--I put out of the question here any
particular value I may entertain for my challenger, or any degree of
friendship and attachment I may feel for him.

The laws of morality (setting aside the consideration of any documents
of religion or otherwise I may have imbibed from my parents and
instructors) are matured within us by experience. In proportion as I am
rendered familiar with my fellow-creatures, or with society at large, I
come to feel the ties whi