the kettle was placed; the water flew plentifully upon Susan, but luckily it was not hot enough to scald her. It however put out all the fire, threw the mother into a passion and the house into an uproar; so that I was glad to make my escape

27. The noise was heard at an huckster's shop, at some distance, where Mr. Sloth had gone, as his custom was, to get his morning dram, and from whence he was making his way home, when he met me in my flight.

28. Concluding that I had been the cause of the disturbance, at his house, he began to abuse me in the street; but fortunately for me, he had drank so freely, that I soon perceived, I had little to fear from him; so I passed on and he went staggering home.

29. As I was returning, I could not help reflecting upon the many evils, which are brought upon mankind, by drunkenness and sloth. What sorrow and woe, what contention and strife, poverty and shame, misery and destruction, do not these vices bring upon families, which might otherwise have enjoyed all the comforts of life.

30. In the family of Sloth, we may behold the melancholy truth, that the sins of parents are often visited upon children for Richard and Susan naturally imbibed all the evil habits both of their father and mother.

:

31. The son, when but fourteen years of age, was frequently seen at the same dram shop with his father; and the practice of drinking I have since been told, increased with his years, till at last he was obliged to enlist as a soldier, as the only means of support.

32. In the army he soon found companions as depraved as himself. These he occasionally in vited to visit his parents, who then lived near the camp; and one of them becoming acquainted with his sister, persuaded her to follow the army, where she was soon ruined and died a beg gar.

33. As for Richard, being too idle and vicious to submit to the duties of a soldier, and the discipline of an army, he several times deserted, and was as often apprehended and severely punished. At length he was put on board of a man of war to spend the remainder of his days.

34. And now let my young readers pause and reflect upon the unhappy end of poor Richard and Susan, and resolve to shun the vices which proved so destructive to the whole family of Sloth.

35. And let all those who would live and die respected and happy, resolve to follow the example of industry. Let them be virtuous, temperate, prudent and persevering; so shall they not fall into want, nor feel the stings of guilt or

remorse..

DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS.

1. The Babylonian empire was one of the most extensive and powerful in the ancient world Nebuchadnezzar, one of its kings, having con quered Judea, had carried away Daniel along with many other captives to Babylon; and he

afterwards raised him, on account of his great wisdom, to the highest post in the govern

ment.

2. In this station Daniel continued during the long term of sixty-five years, till at length Babylon was taken, and Belshazzar, who was at that time its king, was slain by Darius, king of the Medes and Persians. An account of this may be seen in the fifth chapter of Daniel, in which is contained the remarkable description of the hand writing upon the wall.

3. Darius, having thus become king over an immense territory, began to take proper measures to secure his government. He divided the kingdom, therefore, into one hundred and twenty parts, over each of which he appointed a governor, and over these he placed three presidents, who were to superintend the whole affairs of the kingdom. At the head of these presidents we find the name of Daniel.

4. This is remarkable, whether we consider the nation to which he belonged, the religion which he professed, or the employment he formerly held. His nation was that of the Jews, which was then in the highest disrepute ; his religion, though it was the true one, was accounted the grossest superstition; and his employment, as has been already observed, had been that of prime minister to the monarch, whom Darius had fought against, and at length dethroned.

5. Nay, it was probably owing to the counsels of Daniel, that Babylon had been able to resist, as it did, for near twenty years, the victorious

arms of the Persian king. What a testimony was it to the great worth of Daniel, that his conqueror could find no person more proper, with whom to entrust the chief concerns of his em pire.

6. Daniel, as the scripture observes, was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him. The excellence of his wisdom appears from this, that when he was but twenty-two years old, he was esteemed above all the wise men of the east.

7. His wisdom even became proverbial; and therefore, while he was still a young man, the prophet Ezekiel reproved the vanity and presumption of the king of Tyre, who said in his heart that he was even wiser than Daniel.

8. And such also was the excellence of his piety, that he was ranked, whilst living, with Noah and Job, those men of the highest eminence; and it is declared of Jerusalem, in order to indicate the greatness of her guilt, that God would not spare her, even though Noah, Job and Daniel were in her.

9. Surely no other person, in the whole compass of life, ever had such honourable attestations to the excellence of the spirit which was in him,

10. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion or fault, forasmuch as he was faithful; neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

11. No virtue is so great, no station so high, as to be free from envy. And we know little of human nature, if we suppose, that those high spirited captains and princes would bear to see a captive and a Jew preferred before them.

12. Daniel also was appointed to inspect their conduct, and to him they were to account that the king might have no damage. No wonder, then, that they sought occasion against him.

13. But here is a fresh testimony to the worth of this illustrious man; that even they, when their anger and envy were so keen, could yet find no fault in him. What! when he had been prime minister of the largest empire in the world for sixty-five years, and his conduct was scrutinized with a jealous eye, could no instance of treachery or dishonesty be found in him?

14. No. He was faithful in every thing which was committed to him. Yet there was, it seems, one part of his character, which gave his enemies some hope of finding occasion against him.

15. His attachment to his religion had been long observed; and they concluded, that if they could bring him into a situation, in which his adherence to his religion might be considered as a crime against the state, they should then be able to bring on his condemnation.

16. How does the character of Daniel rise still higher and higher, the more we contemplate it! His enemies (and if Daniel had enemies, let no one flatter himself with the hope, that greatness and piety will secure him from them) his enemies could find nothing upon

M