y the Chinese inscription, but he cannot tell
the hour of the day by the clock within his house; he can get on, he
thinks, very well without being able to do so; therefore, from this one
omission, it is easy to come to a conclusion as to what a sluggard's part
the man would have played in life but for the dispensation of Providence;
nothing but extreme agony could have induced such a man to do anything
useful. He still continues, with all he has acquired, with all his
usefulness, and with all his innocence of character, without any proper
sense of religion, though he has attained a rather advanced age. If it
be observed that this want of religion is a great defect in the story,
the author begs leave to observe that he cannot help it. Lavengro
relates the lives of people so far as they were placed before him, but no
further. It was certainly a great defect in so good a man to be without
religion; it was likewise a great defect in so learned a man not to be
able to tell what was o'clock. It is probable that God, in His loving
kindness, will not permit that man to go out of the world without
religion--who knows but some powerful minister of the Church, full of
zeal for the glory of God, will illumine that man's dark mind--perhaps
some clergyman will come to the parish who will visit him and teach him
his duty to his God. Yes, it is very probable that such a man, before he
dies, will have been made to love his God; whether he will ever learn to
know what's o'clock is another matter. It is probable that he will go
out of the world without knowing what's o'clock. It is not so necessary
to be able to tell the time of day by the clock as to know one's God
through His inspired word; a man cannot get to heaven without religion,
but a man can get there very comfortably without knowing what's o'clock.

But, above all, the care and providence of God are manifested in the case
of Lavengro himself by the manner in which he is enabled to make his way
in the world up to a certain period without falling a prey either to vice
or poverty. In his history there is a wonderful illustration of part of
the text, quoted by his mother: 'I have been young, and now am old, yet
never saw I the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread.' He is the
son of good and honourable parents, but at the critical period of life,
that of entering into the world, he finds himself without any earthly
friend to help him, yet he manages to make his way.