ger, if not destruction, to the incautious or unskilful invader.

With such tastes, and under such absorbing engagements, the cares of domestic economy devolved necessarily mainly upon Mrs. Hobart, and it was well that they did so, since he himself evidently possessed very little of the needful talent to the clergyman, of making small means go far. He had little time for such thoughts, and still less inclination. Few men knew so little, or cared so little, as he did about the means of accumulation. It is not enough to say he was above the love of money; in truth it seemed to offer to him no attractions. It was to him a means and nothing else, and therefore too little thought of to be always within his reach. In the use of money he was thoughtless and almost prodigal, not indeed for himself, but for any good he had in hand. His own habits, too, were rather to be termed simple than frugal, and against two sources of expense, even when at the poorest, his heart was never proof, the call of charity, and the love of books,-in the one case, the melting heart overpowered him ; in the other, the craving of the student; and to both his purse was more freely and frequently opened than his scanty means could well afford.

But however inconsistent such expenditure might have been with his purse, it was well

suited to his profession, and in his case, as we may trust in like circumstances it always will be, God's blessing more than returned what a selfish prudence would not have expended that which was cast upon the waters after many days came back to him, and a circle of kind and Christian friends became to their pastor a stronger barrier against worldly want than the most penurious economy could possibly have erected.

The rough draft of a note found among his papers illustrates this fact, and exhibits his feelings on one of those occasions most trying to the sensitive mind, and it is here inserted, even at some risk of censure, to show the truly Christian spirit which humbles its own feelings for the gratification of others. It is thus endorsed: 'Wednesday, January 26, 1803. In answer to a note which I accidentally discovered to be from and . . . . enclosing $100,' (a sum, the author would add, greater then than now.) The contents are as follows:

'From a circumstance which could not have been foreseen, Mr. Hobart is enabled (as he believes) to fix with certainty upon the friends to whom he is indebted for a valuable enclosure last evening. While on the one hand he almost regrets a discovery which deprives them of the gratification of doing good unknown; on the other he feels pleasure in being able to direct the

sentiment of gratitude to the proper object, and surely the favor itself, and the manner of conferring it, both call for the warmest acknowledgment. From some he would hesitate to accept so valuable a gift, to which he can lay no claim; but he should have to reproach himself with wanting the spirit of that divine Master in whose service he is engaged, if pride should prevent him receiving favors from Christian friends upon Christian principles. He will not wound the delicacy of his friends by giving vent to the feelings their unexpected kindness has excited; but they must permit him to say such feelings arise not only for the favor conferred, but from regarding it as an evidence of that disinterested Christian benevolence which has long distinguished them, and for which he trusts they will not be without their reward.'

One anecdote of his own well-timed bounty occurs to memory. One Sunday morning about the hour of service, a note was handed him in the vestry-room from a penniless young Frenchman, soliciting aid, in phrase whose meaning was clearer than its grammar. 'I shall not dig,' said the applicant, I must not beg-I am not able to starve.' But it was language which the heart understood. I inquired the answer. It was an enclosure of ten dollars, a sum as far beyond at that time the means of the giver, as it probably was beyond the expectations of the receiver; but the event proved that it went not beyond his merits. About a twelvemonth afterward it was returned to Mr. Hobart with a letter

of thanks, written in less dubious English, and stating that the loan he made had saved the writer from despair; had given him heart and means to offer himself as a teacher of drawing, the profits of which now enabled him to return the sum lent, with a thousand thanks and a hearty blessing.

Such a youth deserved success, and it is agreeable to think that he attained it. An honorable and successful course followed upon this right beginning, and he now looks back with gratitude to the memory of one, who, amid his own wants, could yet compassionate and trust a friendless and helpless stranger.

The following, among some chance notes preserved, though without date, and probably some years later, shows his own delicacy in receiving favors.

TO DR. J. C. OSBORN.

Dear Sir,

'July 23.

Your attentions to my family, marked not only by professional skill, but by tenderness and affection, have laid me under a debt of gratitude not to be cancelled by any pecuniary compensation. This, however, is an act of justice, and should the enclosed be less than your customary demands, I beg that you will lay me under additional obligations to you by informing me. Permit me to take this opportunity of expressing to you how much solicitude I feel for the preservation of a life so

valuable to your friends and to society, and at the same time to subscribe myself, not in the cold forms of civility, but with the utmost sincerity,

Your much obliged and affectionate friend,

J. H. HOBART.'

The affectionate prayer for a life so valuable to others, it is painful to learn, was without avail.

The physician and friend here addressed, himself soon fell under the hand of disease: he died at the island of St. Thomas, whither he had gone for the benefit of his health. In the pages of the 'Christian Journal' we find his death recorded, and his worth more publicly acknowledged, both probably from the same pen as the foregoing.

Among the fleeting recollections which bear upon his habits of ready kindness, the following, however trifling, may yet serve to mark his character.

On one occasion being interrupted while very busily engaged, by a petition for alms, he refused to be disturbed, and the petitioner was dismissed. On coming down to the parlor he was observed to walk up and down the room very hastily two or three times with his hands behind him, as his manner was, until at length hastily saying, 'I have done wrong - I have done wrong!' he seized his hat, followed the applicant, whose name and residence his quick