ment. He laughed in himself
when he wrote the stanzas, and tries to make his readers laugh; though
they must feel indignant with themselves if they give way to the
impulse.

I conclude my letter with two sayings of Bishop Horne's. "He who
sacrifices religion to wit, like the people mentioned by AElian, worships
a fly, and offers up an ox to it." Again; "Sir Peter Lely made it a
rule, never to look at a bad picture, having found, by experience,
that, whenever he did so, his pencil took a tint from it. Apply this to
bad books and bad company."

However brilliant the talents of a writer may be, yet, if a book has a
tendency to produce a bad effect upon the moral habits of the mind, that
book is a _bad_ book.

"When I behold a genius bright and base,
Of tow'ring talents, and terrestrial aims;
Methinks I see, as thrown from her high sphere,
The glorious fragments of a soul immortal,
With rubbish mixt, and glitt'ring in the dust."

I remain,
My dear Nephew,
Your affectionate Uncle.

FOOTNOTES:

[147:1] Rev. Hugh James Rose.

[155:1] Childe Harold and the _four_ first tales (I am speaking only of
the larger works) are most free from objection, at the same time that
they are the most beautiful and interesting.

[159:1] The Loss of the Kent, and Narratives of the Shipwrecks of the
Lady Hobart packet, the Cabalva, &c. &c.

PRAYERS

_A Prayer before Study._

(FROM DR. JOHNSON.)

Almighty God, in whose hands are all the powers of man; who givest
understanding and takest it away; who, as it seemeth good unto thee,
enlightenest the thoughts of the simple, and darkenest the meditations
of the wise, be present with me in my studies and inquiries.

Grant, O Lord, that I may not lavish away the life which thou hast given
me on useless trifles, nor waste it in vain searches after things which
thou hast hidden from me.

Enable me, by thy Holy Spirit, so to shun sloth and negligence, that
every day may discharge part of the task which thou hast allotted me;
and so further with thy help that labour which, without thy help, must
be ineffectual, that I may obtain in all my undertakings such success as
will most promote thy glory, and the salvation of my own soul, for the
sake of Jesus Christ.

_Prayer after Time unprofitably spent._

(FROM DR. JOHNSON.)

O Lord, in whose hands are life and death; by whose power I am
sustained, and by whose mercy I am spared, look down upon me wit