you mean, and I have no doubt I could sell some of your drawings very readily among my friends. They would prize them highly because they are the work of so very young a person. But then, my dear, they would not bring a great deal, and you could not make others very fast, and the help they would give your father would not be material. I would rather have them kept together, in your own possession. Providence will yet do better for you than you expect. In a few days I hope to tell you more plainly what I mean."

Lewis returned home and put away his drawings, and then took his place, as usual, to read to his father. The books which he read were chiefly religious, and Mr. Smith selected such as he thought would be most useful to his little son. This evening the book was the Life of Mr. Bacon, the celebrated sculptor, written by the Rev. Mr. Cecil, of London. Mr. Smith chose this in order to let his son see that a man may follow the FINE ARTS, that is painting, sculpture and the like, and still be a good Christian.

"I suppose, my son," said Mr. Smith, “that if your life be spared you will become a painter. You have a quick turn for the art, and Providence seems to point this out as your calling. Now when you grow larger, and go among young artists,

you will find many of them to be irreligious and dissipated young men. I wish you to take special notice of this life of John Bacon. It is a favourite work of mine; I hope it will be so of yours. Now proceed."

Lewis read on without being particularly interested, till he came to the following paragraph, which filled him with surprise and delight: "In the year 1755, and at the age of fourteen, Mr. Bacon was bound apprentice to Mr. Crispe, of Bow Church Yard; where he was employed, among other things, in painting on porcelain. Mr. Crispe had a manufactory of china at Lambeth, to which Mr. Bacon occasionally went, and where he assisted. His then occupation, indeed, was but a feeble step toward his future acquirements, as he was chiefly employed in forming shepherds, shepherdesses, and such small ornamental pieces; yet for a self-taught artist to perform works like these with taste, and in less than two years, form (as he did) all the models for the manufactory, was to give an indication of no ordinary powers. But, as goodness of heart excels greatness of parts, a proof of his filial affection ought here to be recorded. At this early period he principally supported his parents by the produce of his labours, even to the abridging himself of the necessaries of life."

This trait in the character of young Bacon touched the heart of little Lewis. As he read it, his voice trembled with emotion, and his father, blindfold as he was, read, in this tone, the filial affection of the boy. He took care, when they came to that part of the life, to direct his son's notice to the inscription which Mr. Bacon, in his will, ordered to be placed near his grave. It was as follows:

"WHAT I WAS AS AN ARTIST SEEMED TO ME OF SOME IMPORTANCE WHILE I LIVED: BUT WHAT I REALLY WAS AS A BELIEVER IN CHRIST JESUS, IS THE ONLY THING OF IMPORTANCE TO ME NOW."

Notwithstanding the advice of good Mr. Watson, the mind of Lewis was much set upon doing something for his father by the sale of his drawings. This project doubled his pleasure while he sat over his work; and like most children he was sanguine in his hopes of success. He had already laid aside four or five of his best, in order to take them to a neighbouring print shop to sell. At length he did so; but was much disappointed when the woman of the shop offered him only two dollars for the whole set. The little fellow knew that if they were worth any thing, they were worth more than this; so he refused her offer, but left one of the drawings for her to show. The truth was the wo

man was no judge of the art, and considered as faults some little negligences which have a peculiar charm to the eye of taste. And it was not many days before Lewis was sent for, and requested to take his portfolio of drawings to the house of Mr. Belton, an English gentleman of wealth, who had seen his specimen, and was filled with astonishment when he learned that it was the work of a little boy.

When Mr. Belton became acquainted with Lewis, he not only purchased his pieces at a very liberal price, but at once made him an offer of support for several years under the instruction of the best masters. In all his life Lewis had never felt a purer pleasure, than when he stole round the elbow chair in which his father was sitting and slipped into his hand a purse of silver. I will not attempt to describe the tender scene which followed.

When Lewis next visited Mr. Watson, the old gentleman met him with a smile of peculiar joy, and said to him, "Do you remember, my boy, what I said to you on Friday?"?

"Yes sir, you said, 'Providence will yet do better for you than you expect:' and Providence has done better already." And so he told Mr. Watson of his success. The old gentleman took

the boy's hand in both his own, and said: "I have something even better than this to tell you. Our heavenly Father has heard our prayers, and raised up for you a valuable friend. I hoped something of this, when I spoke to you before, but I took care not to excite expectations that might be disappointed. But I am now happy to tell you the whole.

"When I found that your father's eyesight was failing, and knew that he could no longer support himself, I began to look around for some friend who might relieve him. I soon thought of an aunt of your dear mother's, an old lady named Mrs. Vere. She is very wealthy and lives entirely alone. In former days she was greatly attached to both your parents; but they did not then need her assistance. I was sure she would feel interested in you all, and I wrote her a long letter on the subject. It has had the effect I desired. She offers a home to your father and his children under her own roof, as long as he may need it, and to-morrow she will be here in her carriage to learn more particularly the condition of your affairs."

To make a long story short, let me add that Mrs. Vere came as she said, and did all that she promised, and that her house was the home of the