fell a reading the _Practice of Piety_, by which means he got
a little persuading of God's love to his soul:--"Well, my time being out, I
set up for myselfe; and seeking out for a wife, which, with long waiting
and difficulty, much expence and charge, at last I got. Four children God
gave me by her; but he hath taken them and her all again too, who was a
woman of a thousand." Mr. B. then naturally indulges in a panegyric upon
this pattern of wives, and reproaches himself for his former insensibility
to her surpassing merits: relating with great _naivete_ some domestic
passages, with examples of her piety and trials, in one of which latter the
_enemy_ would tempt her to suicide:--"There lie your garters," said he;
"but she threw them aside, and so escaped this will of the Devil."

In conclusion, let me inquire if your Highgate correspondents are cognisant
of any existing institution raised upon the foundation of William Blake's
Charity School at Dorchester House?

J. O.

[Our correspondent's interesting communication suggests a Query: Is
there any biographical notice of William Blake; and was he the author
of the following piece, preserved among the Kings' pamphlets in the
British Museum? "The Condemned Man's Reprieve, or God's Love-Tokens,
flowing in upon the heart of William Blake, a penitent sinner, giving
him assurance of the pardon of his sins, and the enjoyment of eternal
happiness through the merits of Christ his Saviour. Recommended by him
(being a condemned prisoner for manslaughter within the statute) unto
his sister, and bequeathed unto her as a legacy." It is dated from
"Exon Jayle," June 25, 1653, and was published July 14, 1653."--ED.]

[Footnote 1: "Mr. Henry Cornish, merchant," was a coadjutor of Blake's in
this charitable undertaking; and as that Alderman was not executed until
1635, this publication may be assigned to about that date.]

[Footnote 2: [It appears, from the following advertisement at the end of
_Silver Drops_, that the plates of Time and Charity were used as
receipts:--"It is humbly desired, that what you or any of you, most noble
Ladies, Gentlewomen, or others, are pleased to bestow or give towards this
good or great design, that you would be pleased to take a receipt on the
backside of Time or Charity, sealed with three seales, namely, the
Treasurer's, Housekeeper's, and Register's; and it shall be fairly
recorded, and hung up in the school-hous