frequent petitions, and are compelled to refuse the requests even of those whom they know to be in distress: it is therefore with a distant hope I ventured to solicit such favour; but you will forgive me, Sir, if you do not think proper to relieve." Whether Mr. Burke was 66 affected," in the ordinary sense of the word, by this letter, we have no means of knowing, but it certainly convinced his heart and his judgment that this was a case worthy of his attention. He stretched out his helping hand to the young man, and saved a great genius from (in all human probability) a speedy and most miserable extinction. It is not possible by any words of mine to do justice to the conduct of Mr. Burke in this matter so fully as by quoting the words of Mr. Crabbe's son and biographer:-" Mr. Burke was at this period (1781) engaged in the hottest turmoils of parliamentary opposition, and his own pecuniary circumstances were by no means very affluent; yet he gave instant attention to this letter, and the verses which it enclosed. He immediately appointed an hour for my father to call upon him at his house in London, and the short interview that ensued entirely, and for ever, changed the nature of his worldly fortunes. He was, in the common phrase, made man' from that hour. He went into Mr. Burke's room a poor young adventurer, spurned by the opulent, and rejected by the publishers; a his last shilling gone, and all but his last hope with it: he came out virtually secure of almost all the good fortune that, by successive steps, afterwards fell to his lot." How delightful it is to read this record of the private goodness of so great a man as Burke! What a pleasant thought it is to an humble affectionate Christian heart, that the same glorious mind which, by the outpouring of its brightness, showed to the British nation and to Europe the hideousness, and the sin of French revolutionary principles, was in the private concerns of life so active, benevolent, and kind; -that he, the great statesman, could condescend to cheer and encourage the lowly and the almost broken-hearted ;-could sympathise with truth and honesty in an humble condition, and pour balm upon a wounded spirit. Oh, that the great and the affluent would consider how beautiful is goodness, and how much more happiness and genuine honour are to be obtained by kindness than by grandeur! How many petitions are there carelessly, if not cruelly, rejected every day, not indeed from such men as Crabbe; for men of such genius, combined with such good character, are extremely rare, but still from men whom it would be a real kindness, and a service to the cause of virtue and humanity, to raise from the depths of misfortune in which they struggle. But the lesson which Crabbe's success with Mr. Burke affords, is not merely to those who can give, but to those also who seek assistance. Very justly and very wisely does Mr. Crabbe's son remark, that even had the poems which his father transmitted to Mr. Burke been evidently meritorious, it is not to be supposed that the author would have at once excited the strongest personal interest in Mr. Burke's mind, unless he had during this interview exhibited the traits of a pure and worthy character. Nay, had there appeared any offensive peculiarities of manner and address-either presumption or meanness-though the young poet might have received both kindness and patronage, can any one dream that Mr. Burke would have at once taken up his cause with the zeal of a friend, domesticated him under his own roof, and treated him like a son? Certainly not; and therefore let every one who has to seek assistance remember that the possession of peculiar genius, or remarkable powers in some particular line of talent, is not enough; but he must join with these a general sense and practice of propriety-he must take care to be, if possible, collected, distinct,'modest, and sincere. Especially let him take care to avoid presumption on the one hand, and meanness on the other. In dwelling, however momentarily, upon the early biography of Mr. Crabbe, it would be injustice to him not to mention his own practical benevolence as soon as that was within his power. Shortly after Mr. Burke had taken him by the hand, Lord Chancellor Thurlow, to whom he had previously sent a poem, but who had taken no notice of him, sent for him to breakfast, and, notwithstanding his Lordship's habitual gruffness, treated the young poet with great kindness. At going away he presented him with a sealed letter, which Crabbe expected to contain a present, but he was greatly surprised at its amount. Lord Thurlow had given him a hundred pounds. The poet was still in pecuniary difficulties, and this was a most grateful supply; but his son tells us that the first use he made of his good fortune was to seek out and relieve some objects of real indigence-poor scholars like himself, whom he had known when sharing their wretchedness in the city; and I must add, continues his biographer, that whenever he visited London in later years he made it his business to enquire after similar objects of charity, supposed to be of respectable personal character, and to do by them, as in his own hour of distress, he would have been done by. This practical thankfulness is religion done into action. It deserves always to be mentioned with honour and with praise, for they who escape out of the realms of difficulty and misfortune are but too apt to forget those they have left behind.. 63 * DRUNKENNESS. A SHORT time since the House of Commons debated a Metropolitan Police Bill, clause by clause. One of the clauses was to the cffect that any one found drunk and disorderly in any public thoroughfare might be punished, at the discretion of the magistrate, either by fine, or by imprisonment for not more than a week. This clause was opposed, and a division taken upon it, but it was carried; and if it become law, as most probably it will, I advise the "flash" young gentlemen to look to themselves. It may be a good joke in the opinion of some persons to get drunk, and have a spree in the streets, and pay five pounds penalty for the same next day at the police office under a feigned name; but to go to prison for a week. will be no joke at all, at least to those who go there. There is no doubt that the power thus given to magistrates may be occasionally abused, and needless tyranny be inflicted, but this is an evil almost inseparable from any corrective of outrage or excess which is entrusted to the hands of the minor magistracy. The probability is, that far less evil to society will result from this occasional abuse than does frequently result from "The drunken and swill'd insolence *It is now the law. |