that style of life in which their circumstances are likely to place them. A young man, who is left a small patrimony, ought not surely to be accustomed to habits of extravagance and dissipation, but ought to be early inured to economy, and be qualified for some business. Without this (though accident may sometimes conduct such young men to fortune or to eminence), there must be always great danger of their proving unfit for any valuable purpose in life, of their deserving no higher appellation than that of Mr. Joseph.

A

No. LXX. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8.

Ingentes Dominos, et clariae nomina famaç

Illustrique graves nobilitate domos

Devita.

SENECA.

IN an excursion I made some months ago to the county of..........., I paid a visit to Antonio, an old acquaintance of my father's, whom I had known from my infancy. He had been exceedingly attentive to me when a boy; and, as he was something of a sportsman, my guardians often permitted me to accompany him to the field, where, as indeed on every occasion, he treated me with the ease and freedom of a companion and an equal. This behaviour, so different from that to which boys are generally accustomed, while it flattered my selfimportance, gave me so much favour and affection for Antonio, that I never saw him afterwards, without feeling those agreeable sensations which accom

pany the recollection of that happy period of life, when we catch the pleasures of the moment, equally regardless of what is past or to come.

I had not heard of Antonio for many months. When I arrived at the village where he lived, I hastened to his house without any previous enquiry. The countenance of the servant made me suspect all was not well; and, when I entered his apartment, I found him in the last stage of a dropsy. The sensations that crowded on my mind at the squalid and death-like appearance of the good old man, so different from those in which I was prepared to indulge, had almost overcome me; but the growing emotion was checked by the countenance with which he beheld it. No sooner was I seated, than, taking my hand, "What a change," said he, with a look of melancholy composure, "is here since you last

saw me!....I was two years older than your father; "had he been alive, he would have been seventy"four next Christmas."

The particulars of the conversation, though they have made a lasting impression on my mind, would be uninteresting to many of my readers; but as the life of Antonio will afford an important lesson to the younger part of them, I give the following short account of it, as the subject of this and the subsequent paper.

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"The father of Antonio was one of the first men "of family in Scotland, who had been bred to the profession of a merchant; in which he was so successful, that about the beginning of this cen"tury he had acquired the sum of twenty thousand "pounds, which was, at that time, reckoned no "inconsiderable fortune. He had two children who

survived him; Antonio, and a daughter, Leonora, "who was several years younger than her brother. "As the Father had received a liberal education, "he was attentive to bestow the same benefit upon

"his son; but, being equally sensible of the advan66 tages of industry, he was, at the same time, deter"mined that he should be educated to some profes"sion or employment, though he did not restrain "him in his choice. Antonio, on his part, seconded "his father's views. His genius was inferior to "none of his contemporaries; allowing for some "little excesses, which the liveliness and compliancy "of his disposition engaged him in, he exceeded "them all in the assiduity of his application; and, "as his manners were at the same time mild and "spirited, he was both beloved and respected by his "companions.

"Being arrived at an age which made it necessary to regulate his studies by the profession he "was to follow, he made choice of that of physic, "which, including the different branches of science "usually connected with it, may be said to embrace "the whole study of nature: to these he applied "rather as a philosopher than as one who intended "to be a practitioner in the art; he was, neverthe"less, preparing to take his degree, when the death "of his father left him, at the age of twenty, pos"sessed of a handsome fortune.

"Antonio continued his studies for some time "with his usual assiduity; but, finding his income "more than sufficient for his wants, he gave up all "thoughts of engaging in practice. His house be"came the rendezvous of his former school compa"nions, many of them the sons of the first families

in the kingdom, who were now entering into life “(I speak of a period above fifty years ago), and "who found themselves flattered by those engaging "manners in the man, which had attached them to "the boy.

"In consequence of these connections, Antonio "found himself engaged in a line of life to which "he had been little accustomed; but, as he had

"mixed the study of polite literature with science, " and was master of the exercises of dancing, fen"cing, and riding; he soon acquired that ease in "his address and conversation, which mark the "gentleman, while they hide the man of learning "from a common observer. His good-nature and "benevolence, proceeding from an enlarged and "liberal mind, prevented him from viewing, with "too severe an eye, the occasional excesses of some "of his companions; and elegant taste, and a sound "understanding, prevented him from engaging in "them too deeply.

"Antonio's time was now mostly spent among "the great. He made long and frequent visits "at their seats in the country; he joined them " in excursions from time to time to the different "courts on the continent; and, when he was not "abroad, he resided almost constantly in London, "or the neighbourhood; so that he became, in "a great measure, a stranger in his own country.

"Among the companions of Antonio were two (6 sons of the Earl of W.........., who were particu"larly attached to him. Their father was not more "envied by the ambitious for the distinguished "rank he held in the councils of his sovereign, "than by the wise and moderate for being father "to two of the most promising young men of the

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age. They had been acquainted with Antonio "from their infancy. They had grown up at the "same schools, and studied under the same mas❝ters. After an absence of three years, they hap"pened to meet at Venice, where Antonio had the "good fortune to render them essential service, in "extricating them from difficulties in which the "impetuosity of the best conditioned young men "will sometimes involve them, especially in a "foreign country. They returned together to Bri

"tain. Their father, who knew their former con"nexion with Antonio, and had heard of their "recent obligation to him, expressed his sense of "it in very flattering terms, and earnestly wished "for an opportunity to reward it.

"I had seen few men who were proof against "the attention of ministers. Though it does not "always gratify, it seldom fails to excite three of the "most powerful passions, vanity, ambition, and ava"rice. Antonio, I am afraid, did not form an "exception to the rule. Though naturally an eco"nomist, his mode of life had considerably impaired "his fortune. He knew this; but he knew not "exactly to what extent. He received gentle re"monstrances on the subject from some of his "relations in Scotland, who remembered his virtues. "In the letters of his sister Leonora (who still re"tained that affection and attachment to her brother "which his attention to her, both before and after "her father's death, had impressed upon her mind), "he perceived an anxiety for which he could not "otherwise account than from her apprehensions "about the situation of his affairs. The patronage "of the Earl of W............. presented itself as a "remedy. To him, therefore, he determined to "apply. The intimacy in which he lived with his "sons, the friendly manner in which the earl him"self always behaved to him, made this appear "an easy matter to Antonio; but he was unaccus"tomed to ask favours even from the great. His "spirit rose at the consciousness of their having "become necessary; and he sunk in his own esteem "in being reduced to use the language of solicita❝tion for something like a pecuniary favour. After "several fruitless attempts, he could bring himself "no farther than to give a distant hint to his com"panions, the sons of the earl. It was sufficient to "them; and, at the next interview with their father,