and those of my former proprietor, of which I have already spoken. On the whole, it was quite evident that if my present owner listened to such teachers and advisers, and felt pleasure in their society, I should have but little hope of obtaining even a hearing.

And so, indeed, it proved. Through the day, we were all alike deserted; but at evening, when our master rejoined us, there were so many candidates for his favour, that I remained altogether disregarded.

I cannot indiscriminately condemn all these companions of mine, who, to my neglect, were favoured with my owner's regards. The most of them truly did little else besides pampering his imagination with unreal and distorted pictures of the world around him. Others, however, were more faithful in this particular, and taught him some useful lessons, which, to tell the truth, had been borrowed from my stores of wisdom and experience, and which I appeal to those who know me best-I could have conveyed to his mind with greater point and in fewer words. And here I must be permitted to say, in passing, that if among those of my species who affect to despise my character and claims, and to dispute my high pretensions, there is any good thing to be found, such as a maxim of true wisdom or prudence in the management of worldly affairs, it is invariably discovered, by those who will take the trouble to search and inquire, that this good thing

may

has been borrowed from me, and appropriated, often without any acknowledgment of its original source. So much is this the case, that I have been assured, by competent judges, that there is no sentiment of honour, or virtue, or loyalty extant, however it be disguised or conveyed to the mind, which did not originally spring from my spirit, and receive its first utterance from my tongue; that, in fact, "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report," to be found in the communications of others, must be traced to the spiritual influence which pervades my entire being. But this is a digression.

To return to my history: I soon discovered that many of my companions were exceedingly lax in their morals; and, among other vile habits, were greatly addicted to profane language, and to the irreverent use of the awful name of my great Master. I did not perceive that my owner was in the least shocked or concerned at this. On the contrary, I am certain that I sometimes detected a sparkle of approbation in his eyes, and a smile on his lips, when some expression more than usually daring was uttered. And I could not be deceived in the fact that the companions who beguiled him longest from his pillow-keeping him engaged, indeed, often until past midnight-were those who were most prone to filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting."

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At this time, I never heard the voice of my owner in "prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving," to Him in whom, as I could have reminded him, he "lived, and moved, and had his being." My readers may gather, indeed, from the nature of his private studies, and the pleasure he enjoyed in that society of unprofitable books, that he had no inclination to hold converse with the HOLY ONE. I cannot, in short, sum up the character of my possessor better than by saying that "God was not in all his thoughts;" he being, indeed, one of those of whom I am obliged to record, that they are "without God in the world."

I had been some months a disregarded monitor, in the possession of my owner, when I was made aware that some important change was in contemplation; and one evening, instead of sitting down, as usual, in conference with either of my companions, the young man was employed in removing us from our resting-place, and placing us in close confinement in a chest provided for that purpose. My past experience of these matters convinced me that this proceeding was preparatory to a removal to some distance; and, as the same preparations were being made with our owner's wardrobe, it was plain that he himself was contemplating a change of scene and occupation.

Shall I not say that I felt sad I had not been consulted respecting this important movement?