ind by degrees they lost sight of land. Now was the critical moment! His associates wished to return; he disributed some liquors among them, and made a feint to tack about; but the wind being pretty high and blowing off the shore, this could not be effected. He veered on another tack with no better success, as he wished to be believed. At length no person, except himself, knew the direction of the shore they had left.

Night coming on, he steered by the compass, and kept his companions in good humour, by telling them there was no doubt of their landing next morning. In the meanwhile, he made the best of the wind and the time; and as no one could presume to direct the course of the vessel but himself, all were fearful of interfering-and on the third day he providentially landed near Cape Comorin.

From thence our hero undertook a long journey to Fort St. George, where he was soon replaced in his rank; and sent with a detachment against one of the country powers who had just revolted. CAPT. RESTLESS, as we should now call him, behaved with abundant resolution; success crowned the endeavours of his country; and he was rapidly rising in his new profession, when he once more became dissatisfied and disgusted with it, because he was confined to a garrison; while the range of the whole peninsula of India would scarcely have gratified his roving ambition.

As he had behaved with bravery, and evinced a fertility of resources on every emergency, he was allowed to sell out, though with concern for his loss; and the very next day, he entered on board a ship bound to China, with no other view than to ascertain whether the Chinese women have smaller feet than the Europeans, from nature or from art; and to drink tea, as he termed it, at the fountain head. He had no sooner arrived in China, than he wished to the country; but he had nearly forfeited his life by

survey

KK 3.

the

the attempt. A country not to be seen, had no charms for CAPT. RESTLESS, and he returned in an India ship which was sailing for Europe, as wise as he went; but with a very unfavourable opinion of Chinese hospitality, though he ought to have done justice to its policy. On reaching the Cape of Good Hope, he determined to proceed no farther, till he had visited the Hottentots; and ascertained some facts in their formation and natural history.

It would be endless to enumerate all his adventures in this quarter of the globe. Sometimes he was reduced to the greatest distress and danger; but his ingenuity always brought him off. At last he landed in England-found his father was no more and, in consequence, took possession of his patrimony.

It might have been supposed his adventures would now have terminated, and that he would have been happy in the enjoyment of that quiet, which fortune allowed him to pos sess.. No such thing he had never made the tour of Europe; and he was determined not to sit down as a country gentleman, till he had visited the continent. He soon reached Paris-here he began to display his usual activity; he could neither be idle, nor usefully employed, He began with uttering some speculative opinions, by the adoption of which, he conceived that the French government might be vastly improved, and the country made one of the most desirable in the world. For these, he was speedily rewarded with a lodging in the Bastile, After a close confinement of five years, he was liberated—but the hardships he had undergone ruined his health and he died at Paris, in a few weeks after he had recovered his liberty, and just before the demolition of his prison.

REFLECTION.

The heedless career of TOM RESTLESS will, I hope, instruct the young, never to give way to a roving and unsettled turn

of

of mind. He might have been happy, he might have been honoured in any situation, had he stuck to it; but he rendered himself miserable by a romantic search, after he did not know what.

Never, on slight grounds, relinquish the station in which you are first placed. If you once deviate from the track intended for you, it is no easy matter to recover it. It is therefore wise to oppose the first irregular sallies of the mind. The road of life will be easy, when once you have obtained a mastery over yourself.

Laws and Punishments.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

A HUMANE and sensible child, about twelve years of age, had accidentally seen a miserable wretch undergo the punishment of whipping at a cart's tail. He burst into tears; and in that state came running to his father, and asked him who had a right to use the poor man so ? ·

"My dear," said the father, "I admire your sensibility even crimes should not render us unfeeling for those who suffer. But you must know," continued he, "that in every civilized country, there are Laws; and the original intention of those, was to guard the weak from the aggres sions of the strong-to protect the property of individuals -to support the interests of the community, for the sake of each of its component members, and to make justice not only a principle of the heart, but a tie which even the abandoned must not hope to violate with impunity.

"In some countries, it is true, Laws are perverted front the original institution-they indeed punish the poor, but cannot reach the great. In this happy island, however, in which it was your good fortune to be born, impartial justice and equal rights are your native inheritance.

No one,

without

without incurring danger, can unjustly defraud you of what property is your's. All ranks are held together by a social chain, the lowest links of which are of as strong, though not of so costly metal as the highest; and the real value of each is justly appreciated by its utility.

"But perhaps you do not immediately comprehend the precise meaning of all this. As you advance in years it shall be my care (if Providence allows me the opportunity) to inspire you with a veneration for the form of government and for the laws under which you live.

your

"The wretched being whose punishment excited pity, from a depravity of heart-perhaps from some temptation he could not at the moment resist for God only knows the real motives of actions, and we ought to judge charitably! has offended against the laws of his countrywas proved guilty-and has received a milder sentence than rigorous justice might have demanded. He indeed

suffers; but the public is benefited.

"Were there no restraints on the passions, the vices, and the perverse conduct of mankind, no one could be safe in person or property. The Laws impose those restraints; they leave us, in this kingdom at least, to enjoy ourselves, our possessions, and every pleasure which trenches not on the privileges, possessions, and pleasures of others; but to the ill-disposed they hold out the dread of punishment; and thus make even negative virtue productive of publie good. I do not mean to say, that when people are only good from necessity or fear, they possess equal merit with those who act from principle; but yet the community is preserved in safety and security, as long as either law or the stronger sense of duty, operates on human conduct.

"Be it your study, then, to regard the Laws not as capable of hurting you, but of doing you good. Venerate them, because they are founded in wisdom, sanctioned by

the

the experience of ages, and productive of public good; and think not, even if they could be eluded or violated witls impunity, that you could either be safe or happy.

"But above all, learn to act on higher principles than those of restraint, and to respect yourself. No vigilance of magistrates, no salutary provision of human laws, can at all times and on all occasions guard against the evasions of the artful, or the force of the abandoned. The bonds which the most perfect human institutions impose, to be at all times effectual, must be strengthened by the sense of duty. If this be felt, conscience supplies the defects of legal provisoes; and men who listen to its sacred dictates, and act according to its unperverted suggestions, are virtuous because they are wise, and become happy, because they deserve to be so."

Natural Appearances in September.

Now soften'd ɛuns a mellow lustre shed,
The laden orchards glow with tempting red;
On hazel-boughs the clusters hang embrown'd,
And with the sportman's war the new-shorn fields resound!

THIS is in general a very agreeable month, the distinguishing softness and serenity of autumn with its deep blue skies prevailing through great part of it. The days are now very sensibly shortened: and the mornings and evenings are chill and damp, though the warmth is still considerable in the middle of the day. This variation of temperature is. one cause why autumn is an unhealthy time, especially in the warmer climates and in moist situations.

The labours of the husbandman have but a very short intermission ; for, no sooner is the harvest gathered in, than the fields are again ploughed up and prepared for the winter

corn,