CHAPTER XIII.

{ SUCH a letter, from a friend so truly beloved, it will readily be believed, made a strong impression on the susceptible mind of Lefevre. He sat silent for some time, ruminating on its contents, and then springing from his chair, he exclaimed→→→ "Yes, I am wrong-I am wrong! and Douglas is right, and Mr. Russell.is right! -I'll alter-and I'll alter now. And immediately resuming his seat, he began to write some determinations for the government of his conduct.

It was well to resolve on an alteration; better still to do it immediately; and the resolutions themselves were excellent.Yet it must be acknowledged, that excellent as the determinations were in their own nature, there was something in the spirit of forming them rather too hasty;

rather too self-confiding. They seemed to shew a mind more disposed to resist temptation than to flee from it; a mind still unwilling to credit its own weakness.

There was likewise an undue expectation of sudden success on the adoption of these resolutions; they were to operate instantly, and by way of charm. He did not consider that they were of the nature of an alterative; and that, like all alteratives, they depended, for their efficacy," not on violent and occasional, but on moderate and persevering administration. He was not, therefore, prepared to wait for. the effect of his own determinations; but was exposed to err with the child, which, on throwing some seeds in the earth, anxiously watches for their growth a few days, and, because they do not then ap pear, deserts them as fruitless and dead.

In such a state of mind, much was not to be expected even from the best resolutions. Lefevre, like many other patients, used his own prescription most carefully for a short time; but perseverance, an ingredient necessary to the sa

lutary use of all good medicines, was not at his command; and it was soon neglected, though not wholly abandoned.

Once more he sank into that state of feeling which those persons experience, who have strength enough to form good intentions, but not firmness enough to éxecute them; a state of miserable dissatisfaction and self-reproach. And yet, at this time, there was nothing in his conduct but what the moralist would approve; nothing that the Christian could exactly condemn. His best and most vigilant friends would, perhaps, have merely complained of a worldly temper. Like many other persons, he had too little religion to be happy out of the world, and too much to be happy in it.

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It must, however, be allowed, that the circumstances of Lefevre offered some slight apology for his unsteadiness to his own purposes. His former compliances made it very difficult, if not impossible, to put himself wholly out of the power of temptation. His engagements with the office, to which a reference has been made,'

were so compounded of business and pleasure, that it required an unusual effort to separate them; and to say the truth, Lefevre was not willing to retrace his steps, as it might provoke the remarks and jests of those whose good opinion he was now too anxious to conciliate. He commenced, therefore, with a design of complying only so far as compliance might appear necessary; and, after no great length of time, he became, as was to be expected, too well reconciled to his former habits.

Meanwhile, the undertaking on which Lefevre's heart was set, promised a successful issue; and afforded him all the satisfaction of which it was capable. He had lost indeed the gratulation of his own conscience; but he found a substitute, as far as a substitute can be found, in the applause and flattery of his companions. He felt that he was lowering himself in the esteem of his dearest friend; but then he was rising into the notice of others. His memorial and petitions were so well drawn up, as not merely to excite respect with the heads of the house; but to pro

cure for him the admiration of some of his superiors. They invited him to their tables; approved his motives; complimented his talents; and intimated, in language that might be made to mean something or nothing -that he ought-and must-and shouldif at all possible-be raised to higher duties in the office.

At length, the agitations of fear and hope gave place to certain enjoyment. The petitioners received a reply announcing, that an advance of salary was decreed in favor of the largest and more necessitous department in the office.-A momentary disappointment was felt that the grant was not universal; and, especially, that Lefevre did not share the benefit; but this quickly yielded to the gladness of heart, which the relief of so many inspired. In the first hurry of the passions, they instinc tively surrounded Lefevre, and clamoured forth the feelings of the soul. "Lefevre was their best friend-he had laid them! under inexpressible obligations-he knew not how many happy families he had made -their wives should thank him-their chil