It may be thought necessary by some to give the history of Mr. Melford. We shall therefore do it as briefly as possible, as the veneration, in which we hold the character of Mr. Howard, makes us unwilling to dwell long on the bad propensities of any one claiming affinity with him; for though the virtues of the father, or head of a family, may influence the conduct of those who have the benefit of their example, yet it does not always/ extend its benign effects to every branch of the same stock.

This was the case with regard to Mr. Melford. He was the only son of a sister of Mr. Howard's, who married, when very young, a man of mean family, but large property, which had been acquired in one of the West India settlements. At an early age he had the misfortune to lose his mother, who was an amiable, accomplished woman. His father, who still applied assiduously to business, thought he performed his duty religiously, if he paid liberally for the education of his son at a reputable school, where he was treated with kindness, and taught the mere forms of good breeding, as well as the rudiments of learning. He did not wish his son, he said, to be a scholar; he had never known any good come of it. ‘Let him be able to write an intelligible letter, and cast accounts,’ said his father, ‘and I shall be satisfied: I never knew/ more myself, and am now one of the richest men upon 'change. But once make him a scholar, and away goes every desire to be a rich man.’

But though this lover of money and despiser of learning extolled the advantages of the one, and depreciated the possessors of the other, he did not recommend the practice of those virtues which have the power to exalt the heart, by softening it to the woes of others.