formerly; the declaration of a party, with a pecuniary penalty in case of falsehood, being substituted: but he adds that, for obvious reasons, the penalty ought not to be quite the same as that of perjury. With regard to Sunday newspapers, he reminds Mr. Bowdler of the fate of Lord Grosvenor's bill, and confesses that the apprehension of a similar contest had deterred him from meddling with them. The taking of the tolls into the hands of government, which had been often suggested, would be likely to end in a much greater expense of repairs and management, and in neglecting the greater part of the roads, in order to beautify a few great communications. The lottery he reserves to the last, as requiring more consideration, and enters into the subject at greater length.

"You," says he, "in common with many other excellent men, view it as malum in se, an evil at all events to be suppressed, and not to be tolerated under any regulations. Whether this be the true view of the case or not, it is certainly not that in which our ancestors saw it. You will recollect, perhaps, as a proof of this, a paper in the Tatler, written expressly to recommend a lottery adventure on patriotic grounds; and I have no doubt that even now some purchasers of tickets reconcile themselves to a losing chance by recollecting that the greatest part of their loss is a gain to the public service. As, however, I fear so philosophical a mode of considering the subject is very rare, it is more material to consider the practical effect produced by the lottery. I am ready to admit that it was formerly extremely mischievous, and I am inclined to think that

you

as well as other gentlemen have retained impressions from what may have come to your knowledge long ago, which are not strictly warranted by any thing now existing.

"The mischiefs so much and so justly complained of, did not arise from the regular sale of tickets and shares, which, I believe, has rarely enticed the imagination of any person to a very dangerous degree, but, first, from the extreme subdivision of chances in the lottery; secondly, from the sale of chances dependant on the drawing of tickets, but not connected with the actual sale of them, by which means the amount of the lottery was sometimes sold three or four times over; and, thirdly, and above all, by the ruinous gambling, called insurance.

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Vigorous measures were taken early in Mr. Pitt's administration to suppress the first two of these evils; and, I believe, they have never been revived to any extent; the schemes called little-goes, which still exist, being so far from connected with the state lottery that they are in direct opposition to it; and it is apprehended would very much increase if that were wholly removed.

"The evil of insurance, however, continued; and in 1802 Lord Sidmouth determined, in opposition to the advice of almost every person concerned in the management of the lottery, to make a great effort for its suppression. The plan he adopted was to lessen the number of days of drawing the lottery, so as almost to preclude the possibility of forming a tempting scheme of insurance. At that time the English lottery drew for six weeks; and the Irish lottery (which, from the looser manners of the people, was much more mischievous) for about the same period. There were, therefore, about eighty drawing days in the year. Lord Sidmouth suppressed the Irish lottery entirely, giving an equivalent for its produce to the Irish government, and

divided the English lottery into three, each to be drawn in eight days. The chance, therefore, against a particular ticket coming up the first day was reduced from above forty to one, to seven to one. Mr. Perceval carried the improvement still further, by reducing the drawing days in each lottery to four, or, at least, five; and under this limitation I cannot conceive how this sort of gambling can exist.

"To say that the lottery is now absolutely innocent would be much beyond my meaning: but the question is not so simple. It is whether a greater proportion of moral evil attends it than would be produced by raising an equal sum of money in another manner. There are very few of our present duties which could be increased without augmenting the temptation, not merely to concealment and evasion, but to those violations of the law which lead to the most dreadful depravity of manners.

"I do not, therefore, at present consider the continuance of the lottery as a matter of choice: but if we should be blest for a few years with the continuance of peace, I should hope that the situation and structure of our finances would be such as to enable one of my successors to acquire the title, which in your view of the subject you justly consider as so honourable, of the Abolisher of Lotteries."

This hope has since been realized, and the wishes of very many good men thereby highly gratified. Mr. Bowdler's last days were brightened with the tidings of the abolition of the lottery; he roused at the sound, exclaiming, "Oh it dies with me!"

It is now time to turn to scenes of a domestic nature, where we have to record some of those afflictions with which the faithful are often visited, who are taught, however, to see therein, not the displeasure of a harsh and angry master, but the care and discipline of a tender parent, who chastens those whom he loves, and tries them like pure gold. It is not for our feeble minds to discover the course of those mysterious dispensations, by which the flower of female beauty is so often crushed in its brightest bloom, and manly strength and wisdom in the height of their usefulness; by which the world is sometimes deprived of that which seems most calculated to instruct or adorn it, and heaven's best gift is withdrawn at the time when it fixes the eye of affection, and shows virtue in its loveliest form. But the eye of faith will often trace the hand of a wise and gracious Being, where scepticism will doubt both his wisdom and loving kindness; and the heart of the humble will acquiesce with pious resignation in those counsels which surpass their comprehension. It has pleased God to make pain and sickness his instruments in calming the temper, subduing the unruly passions, and bringing the soul to him. But there are diseases of a particular nature, which, while they frequently seize the fairest, the gentlest, and most engaging of either sex, display in their lingering progress every natural beauty and every moral grace, and, as it were, heighten every charm in the victim which is led

forth to sacrifice. A gentleness of disposition and a delicacy of sentiment will often be found united with that frame whose very loveliness excites anxiety; and the hectic flush upon the countenance is not a more beautiful, and scarcely a more treacherous symptom, than the calm submission, the sweet tranquillity, and pure devotion of the spirit which animates it. The parent and anxious friend will feel a soothing delight in contemplating the graces which are thus made perfect through suffering; and patiently, and even cheerfully resign into the hands of a faithful Creator and most merciful Saviour, that treasure whose value is best appreciated when it is taken away.

In the autumn of the year 1799, Mr. Bowdler's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was seized with a disorder which threatened very dangerous consequences. By the skilful and very kind attention of the late Dr. Reynolds, who was then at the head of his profession, and united the warmest affection to great medical knowledge, the alarming symptoms were relieved; and by slow degrees such a portion of health was restored as enabled her to mix in society, and take her part in some of the active duties of life. The strength of her constitution was, however, broken down; and after some years of mitigated suffering, and one or two of gradual decline, she was removed from a world for which a frame so weak, and a spirit so delicate were little adapted; and expired at Hastings on the 4th of December 1810. Her character has been intro