success of their speculation. They undertook two more editions successively; and it appeared that the English market was even yet not overstocked. The clergy were astounded at the wide dissemination of a book which they so much dreaded. Tonstall appears to have thought that Packington had only furnished him with a portion of the copies on hand. He therefore sent for that merchant, and required him to explain how it happened that, in spite of his purchase, England was deluged with New Testaments. The trader's answer was: My lord, the types yet remain ; your lordship had better buy them up.' But the bishop had been somewhat enlightened by the event of his proceeding at Antwerp. He smiled; and after merely saying,Well, Packington, well,' his visitor was dismissed."

It is impossible to read this interesting detail without gratitude to God for his unmerited goodness, in thus making the devices of man of none effect. Vain indeed must be the efforts of those who strive against Omnipotence, or seek to impede the course of the healing streams of the water of life; and amidst innumerable discouragements which may present themselves from various quarters, the Christian philanthropist may engage in every good work for the promotion of the spiritual and eternal welfare of his fellow-men, under the well-grounded conviction, that the word of the Lord shall have free course and be glorified. In consequence of the first edition being thus nearly destroyed, copies of the work are extremely rare. There is one copy in a beautiful state of preservation in the library of the Baptist Institution at Bristol, which was the property of Harley, Earl of Oxford, who, being a great collector of rare works, employed one John Murray, a person of the same taste, to procure what was scarce and valuable in literature, and he, by accident, finding this, received as a reward an annuity of twenty pounds from his lordship, which was paid regularly until his death in 1748. In this edition the capital letters are illuminated, as in the finest old manuscripts, and the marginal notes not printed, but written with a pen.

AN ADDRESS

are

To Congregations of the Church of England on the Devotional Use of the Church Service.*

Ir appears to be a fault in the character of the religion of our day, that too exclusive importance is attached to preaching, to the neglect of the other part of the DIVINE SERVICE. Yet, needful as it is that we should hear of Jesus Christ and his salvation from the pulpit, this is certainly not more needful than that we should have "communion with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ," in prayer and in the holy eucharist. The congregational use of our highly-prized Liturgy could not fail very much to promote such communion. Every one must feel the great difference of the Church service when it is merely read over by the minister and the clerk in the hearing of the congregation, and when it is used in behalf of and with the con

The above address has been printed in a cheap form, for distribution by clergymen in the pews of churches and chapels, and has already been extensively used for that purpose.

responses.

If such were our practice, the service of our Church would no longer be regarded as cold and formal, and the best answer would be furnished to those who may bring this accusation against it.

It is therefore earnestly to be desired that each worshipper would charge it upon himself, or herself, as an imperative duty, to promote as far as possible the devotional character of our service;

First, by taking care to be in church before the service begins.

Secondly, by diligently attending to the directions of the RUBRIC, kneeling or standing, &c., as there ordered.

Thirdly, by repeating ALL THE RESPONSES, not omitting the "AMEN" at the end of each prayer, in an audible voice.

Fourthly, by joining in the SINGING, with the best endeavour to produce devotional harmony.

Let every one feel that this is not a trivial matter, but one which is worthy of the effort; that we may with one heart and with one mouth glorify God our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Biography.

THE LIFE OF REYNOLD PECOCK, BISHOP OF
CHICHESTER.*

IT must not be supposed that there were wanting men even before the full light of the Reformation broke forth, to perceive in some degree the errors of the Romish Church, and, according to the knowledge they possessed, to testify against them. Indeed, the candle of divine truth, though dimly seen, was never entirely extinguished; nor did God at any time leave himself altogether without witnesses, though it might be they had to prophesy in sackcloth. The readers of this Magazine have already had laid before them the history of one eminent individual (Lord Cobham), who suffered in the troublous time betwixt Wickliffe and Cranmer: I purpose supplying, in the present paper, a brief account of another distinguished person who lived in the same period, and whose persecutions ought to be better known than they are to the generality of readers.

Reynold Pecock was a man of distinguished ability and learning. He was patronised and advanced by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, brother to King Henry V., and during the minority of Henry VI., protector of the kingdom. By the favour of this prince, Pecock became bishop successively of St. Asaph and of Chichester, and published, without fear, his opinions in several books and treatises: but after the duke's fall and death, "this good man (to use Fox's expressive words), lacking his back-stay, was open to his enemies, and matter soon found against him."

Bishop Pecock by no means agreed with all the doctrines which were at that time generally held by

* Vide Fox, vol. i.; and Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i.

the Lollards. For instance, they maintained that nothing was lawful which was not expressly appointed by the Scriptures. Wickliffe had never held this opinion; but had affirmed, that human ordinances, if grounded on good reason, and for the common profit of Christian people, ought to be accepted. And Pecock argued, that it was not the intention of God in revelation to teach things which might be discovered without it. He also,- and his judgment here will be admitted to be erroneous, he also asserted that, though images had been abused, it was not necessary entirely to destroy them. Pilgrimages he did not wholly condemn, because he thought that God may choose to dispense his favours rather in one place than in another; but he advised those who desired spiritual improvement, to seek it more in hearing and reading God's word, than by “haunting, as it were, alway the exercise in such visible signs." He strongly censured the preaching of the superstitious friars (pulpit bawlers, he called them), whose discourses, stuffed with foolish legends, were mainly intended to enforce the duty of employing their order to say masses for the relief of souls in purgatory: yet he thought that much advantage might, and did, on the whole, result from the labours of such itinerants; and he maintained, on several grounds, the great utility of monasteries. Charges had been brought against the bishops for not preaching, and not residing in their dioceses: and these he stoutly met, by insisting that the special office of a bishop was not to preach to the common people, but to have knowledge of what the inferior clergy might preach, and direct them in it as to residence, he contended that they were not obliged to be in their dioceses when they could be better employed elsewhere.

These opinions, it might be thought, must have recommended Bishop Pecock to his ecclesiastical superiors; but what he maintained, he maintained in no persecuting spirit. He was not anxious to hunt out the Lollards, and press them with inquisitorial questions on points in which he disagreed with them. He conversed with them mildly, he listened to them with patience, he won their confidence, he discussed with them familiarly matters, "which (says one of the historians) it had been death to touch upon before a persecutor." And further, he would by no means assent to the favourite tenets of the Romanists, the infallibility of their Church. This doctrine was, he perceived, in the highest degree injurious. It was at once opposed to the plainest evidence of facts, and an insuperable barrier to every thing like reformation. It perpetuated abuses, it stamped with the seal of sanctity every error which ignorance had inadvertently, or interest had selfishly, been the means of introducing. His feelings were remarkably expressed concerning it in the following prayer: "O thou Lord Jesus, God and man, head of thy Christian Church, and teacher of Christian belief, I beseech thy mercy, thy pity; and thy charity: far be this said peril from the Christian Church, and from each person therein contained; and shield thou that this venom be never brought into thy Church and if thou suffer it to be any while brought in, I beseech thee that it be soon again outspit. But suffer thou, ordain, and do, that the law and the faith which thy Church at any time keepeth, be received, and admitted to fall under this examination, whether it be the same very faith which thou and thine apostles taught or no, and whether it hath sufficient evidences for it to be very faith or no."

A storm now gathered against the Bishop of Chichester; and a singular citation was, in the year 1457, issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Bourchier, commanding all men to appear who had any thing to allege against him. "Thomas, by the permission of God (this document ran), archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and legate of the

apostolic see, to all and singular, parsons, vicars, chaplains, curates, and not curates, clerks, and learned men, whatsoever they be, constitute and ordained in any place throughout our province of Canterbury, health, grace, and benediction. We have received a grievous complaint of our reverend fellow-brother, Reynold Pecock, bishop of Chichester, containing in it, that albeit our said reverend fellow-brother the bishop delivered unto us certain books written by him in the English tongue, by us and our authority to be examined, collected, reformed, and allowed: notwithstanding, many (the examination and reformation of the said books depending and remaining before us undiscussed) have openly preached and taught at Paul's Cross in London, and in divers other places of our province of Canterbury, that our said fellow-brother the bishop hath propounded, made, and written, or caused to be written, in the said books, certain conclusions repugnant to the true faith, and that he doth obstinately hold and defend the same. By the pretence of which preaching and teaching, the state and good name and fame of the Lord Reynold the bishop are grievously offended and hurt, and he and his opinion marvellously burdened. Wherefore we charge you, firmly enjoining you, that openly.... you do warn.... all such persons, which will object any thing... against the conclusions of our said reverend fellow-brother the bishop... contained in his books or writings, that the twentieth day after such... warning had, they do freely of their own accord appear before us and our commissioners in this behalf appointed, wheresoever we shall then be in our city, diocese, or province of Canterbury, to speak... and affirm fully and sufficiently in writing, whatsoever heretical or erroneous matter they will speak... or object against the said conclusions contained in his said books; and both to satisfy and receive whatsoever shall seem meet and right in this behalf by the holy institution and ordinances." The citation went on to provide, that until his books were fully examined, no man should be permitted to say any thing to the prejudice or offence of the Bishop of Chichester.

On a day appointed, Bishop Pecock appeared at Lambeth before the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of Rochester and Lincoln. The Duke of Buckingham, and certain doctors and lawyers, were also present. The articles specially alleged against him were the following:-He had held, that we are not bound by the necessity of faith to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ after his death descended into hell— that it is not necessary to salvation to believe in the holy Catholic Church, or the communion of saints, or to affirm the body material in the sacrament—that the universal Church may err in matters which pertain unto faith-that it is not necessary unto salvation to believe that what every general council doth universally ordain, approve, or determine, should necessarily, for the help of our faith, and the salvation of souls, be approved and holden of all faithful Christians. Other accusations seem also to have been added, for the purpose of exciting popular indignation against him, and of bringing him into disfavour with the government. He had asserted, it is said, that the Pope, having a right to all benefices, might, as sovereign lord, reserve to himself any part of the revenues; and also that the goods of churchmen are as much their own property as the temporal estates of those who have them by inheritance. In what way, however, these charges were urged, and whether he really maintained these opinions, historians are not agreed; his great crimes certainly were, his insisting that man's reason is not to be preferred before the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, and that the very first and proper sense of Scripture is to be taken; his giving little estimation, in some points, to the authority of the old doctors; and his unsound (as they were called) opinions respecting the holy eucharist.

Before the archbishop and his court Pecock at first most stoutly and learnedly defended himself. But, alas! before such a tribunal neither truth nor learning was likely to have weight. His adversaries used in turn the weapons of menace and flattering persuasion. His opinions were condemned, and he had to choose betwixt recantation and martyrdom. Let no man reproach his memory because he chose the former. It is easy while death is at a distance, to dare his approach; but when he is come near, he stands clothed in terrors which will ever make the flesh of man to shrink. We must also recollect, that Bishop Pecock, though he maintained that the Romish Church had erred, never professed to withdraw himself from her communion: with the light he had, his object was, not to attack her as an enemy, but to reform her as a friend: and great allowance must be made for the ignorance and uncertainty, which, in those miserable times, disquieted and dulled the clearest judgment.

Sad was the humiliation to which this unfortunate man was doomed. He was brought in his episcopal robes to St. Paul's Cross, in the presence of twenty thousand people, and there made to stand at the Archbishop of Canterbury's feet. Fourteen of his books were presented to the bishops his judges, and these he was ordered, with his own hands, to deliver to be thrown into the fire then ready for that purpose. Then standing at the cross he read his recantation in English, to the following effect:-"In the name of God. Amen. Before you, the most reverend father in Christ, and Lord, the Lord Thomas, by the grace of God archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and legate of the apostolic see, I, Reynold Pecock, unworthy bishop of Chichester, do purely, willingly, simply, and absolutely confess and acknowledge, that I, in times past, that is to say, by the space of these twenty years last past and more, have otherwise conceived, holden, taught, and written, as touching the sacraments, and the articles of the faith, than the holy Church of Rome and universal Church; and also that I have made, written, published, and set forth many and divers pernicious doctrines, books, works, writings, heresies, contrary and against the true catholic and apostolic faith, containing in them errors contrary to the catholic faith." He then specified the errors particularly charged against him, and proceeded" Wherefore I, Reynold Pecock, wretched sinner, which have long walked in darkness, and now by the merciful disposition and ordinance of God, am reduced and brought again into the light and way of truth, and restored unto the unity of our holy mother the Church, renounce and forsake all errors and heresies aforesaid." He further required all persons, as they tendered their souls and his, to deliver in all writings of his which they might have in their keeping, that the same might be openly burnt, as an example to others. Many copies were then brought forward and cast into the flames.

This scene was doubtless intended to strike terror into the minds of the people. If a man of such distinction, a bishop too, and wearing the robes of his order, was to be seen compelled to such a humiliating punishment, even after he had submitted himself to the will of the Church; what was to be expected by laymen who dared to hold out against her authority? It was shewn by fearful proof, that no man, whatever his office or station, could be permitted to think for himself; but that every conscience must be subjected to one unbending law.

But this was not enough. The tender mercies of the Romish prelates were cruel. Bishop Pecock had indeed escaped the pain and ignominy of a public execution, but he was condemned to what must have been even worse than death. He was to be detained in perpetual imprisonment in Thorney Abbey, in a secret closed chamber, out of which he was not to be permitted to go. No human being (except by the

abbot's special leave and in his presence,) was to speak to him, but the attendant who made his bed and his fire. Neither pen, ink, nor paper, was to be allowed him, nor any books, except a mass-book, a psalter, a legendary, and a Bible. For the first quarter his fare was to be the common rations of the convent; but afterwards he might have the allowance of a sick or aged brother, with such further indulgence as his health required. Such was the melancholy fate of one who had sat among the mitred princes of the land. Whether or no he repented of his recantation, we have no certain intelligence. The strictness of his imprisonment might seem to argue that this was the case, and that through fear of its being known, his persecutors determined that Pecock should never look again upon the face of man. In his dungeon he died. Surely we have abundant reason to bless God for the light and liberty which we enjoy. "The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places: yea, we have a goodly heritage." Let us use our privileges, as prccious talents, to the glory of the God who gives them.

S.

CONVERSION OF MR. JOHN FRENCH.

THE following interesting narrative was contained in a letter from Mr. Rogers, vicar of Warminster, Wilts, to the Bishop of Salisbury. It is printed in the correspondence between Mr. Burke and Dr. French Lawrence.

Upon my first being placed in this large and populous parish by Bishop Sherlock, it was not only my duty, but, at the same time, my pleasure to get acquainted with, and be informed of, the characters, dispositions, and opinions of those whom I was sent to instruct. Among them, I soon found a gentleman, much respected for his sense and understanding (Mr. John French, the grandfather, by the mother's side, of Dr. French Lawrence), and looked upon as an oracle within the circle of his acquaintance. He was tolerably well skilled in the mathematics, and read the classics with ease. It was very rare, and somewhat extraordinary must have happened, if ever he neglected attending Church on Sundays. He always brought with him his Greek Testament, in which he read with the minister the several portions of Scripture as they were appointed. But I soon learned that all his friends held him to be a rank deist; and quickly discovered that at Church the one supreme God was the sole object of his faith and worship; for, whenever the Gloria Patri' was said or sung, I could not but observe his inattention, by his wiping his spectacles, shutting his book, gazing about him, or the like. The same was observable at the repeating of either of the creeds. He was, however, always decent; and whatever were his particular notions, he never troubled the world with them. I lived with him in strict harmony and friendship many years, almost eighteen. He had many moral excellencies; and was, in particular, very charitable, and much beloved by the poor. He would never enter upon any religious points; and if at any time they happened to be started, was generally silent, or, at the most, said but little. We styled him the 'philosopher;' a character he much affected both in his garb and carriage, being altogether careless in the one, and not a little unpolished in the other. About six months since, his health began to be impaired, and his decline seemed to be coming on apace. I watched every opportunity

to get at his religious notions, and instil others. Unhappily for him he was too reserved (as he afterwards confessed); nor could he venture to open his mind to me, when he could not but know that his end was drawing near. The Monday before he died (which was on the Friday following), I went to see him, purposely to lay hold of any favourable opportunity that might offer for inculcating the necessity and importance of faith. But I left him as I found him, fully convinced, in my own mind, that he was resolved to leave the world in the faith of those principles he had embraced, whatever they were, without communicating them to me, or any one else. I did not, however, think his time so very near as it afterwards proved, for he walked out, and dined abroad the next day; and Better!' was his reply to all who kindly asked how he was. On the Thursday following, in the afternoon, as I was visiting another sick person, three messengers came after me, on the heels of each other, to hasten me to him. They all urged he was impatient to see me immediately. I soon went, and found him sitting by his fire, in his chair, as usual. He thanked me for coming, hoped it was not inconvenient, and then calmly desired me to do my office by him. I asked him what part? His answer was, to administer to him the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This gave me the opportunity I had long wished for: I immediately put the following questions to him, namely; whether he renounced those principles he must know himself to be charged with, of which, too, he could not suppose me to be ignorant: and whether he embraced the faith of a crucified Saviour, Jesus, through whom alone he could be saved? With a becoming warmth, he replied, 'I do.' And, with indignation, he added, that he renounced and abhorred those principles that had, all his days, misled him; withal reflecting on the folly and unhappiness of those who build their hopes of security on the moral fitness of things. In proof of my sincerity, sir,' says he, pointing to the fire, 'you see the ashes of two books not quite consumed; they are the remains of two that have helped to mislead me (Woolaston against the Miracles, and a volume of Deistical Tracts). I intended to have burnt them before you, as a mark of my sincerity, but was impatient with resentment against their contents; and will, if it please God I ever get to my closet again, where are more of the same stamp, burn the remainder.' Thus, upon the fall of deism, an opening was given to me to implant the saving truths of the Gospel. To inculcate its truths, indeed, was needless; he had read, heard, and fully remembered them: and to enforce them in their spiritual sense, here the grace of God prevented me; for I had no sooner attempted it, than he freely acknowledged that he had found and felt the power of the Gospel of Christ unto salvation. He found, he said, all other schemes ineffectual, and the Gospel alone efficacious to his comfort and support. He then witnessed as to place and posture, wherein it pleased God to illuminate his understanding to embrace those saving truths he had long rejected, and he rejoiced in the light thereof. Here, again, he repeated his desire of being made partaker of the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament; joining issue with me in one great truth, which he remembered at times to have heard me inculcate

from the pulpit, that no true sincere Christian could ever abstain from that ordinance, and which he promised never to neglect again (as he hoped, in sincerity), if it were God's will to give him life, which he did not expect. More passed, much to the same purpose. In fine, my answer was (not apprehending his end to be so very near), that the morning was the best time for such an act of faith, when, if he persevered in the same pious and devout frame of mind, I would attend him early. So I left him for that night, after having commended him in prayer to God. Friday morning, at nine o'clock, I accordingly attended him, not a little surprised to find him so weak as to be unable to rise out of his bed. I found him, however, quite composed, much rejoiced to see me, and full of the same good thoughts I had left him in the night before, still earnestly desirous of receiving what he had all his days rejected. I then administered to him the sacrament of the Lord's supper, which he received with all the outward marks of faith and devotion, and, as he was pleased to tell me, with the highest satisfaction and comfort. Being engaged to visit, and to do the same office by another sick person the same morning, I soon left him to God and his own thoughts, with a promise to call upon him morning and evening as long as he lived. But I saw him no more; for, about three o'clock in the afternoon, after having said to those about him, he thought he should not live to see me fulfil the kind promise I had made to him, he expired without a groan. Such was the conversion of Mr. John French; justly, I think, so called, beyond many modern ones the world has of late been made acquainted with-a marvellous work of God, as it must be acknowledged to have been. To Him be the glory given; and may a like degree of light break in upon the hearts of all others who are as yet in unbelief, that they may all be brought to the acknowledgment of the truth as it is in Jesus." Oct. 1760.

Such instances of the patience and long-suffering of God are peculiarly interesting. They should stimulate all true Christians, lay and clerical, to be instant in prayer for those who are opposed to the word of truth. They teach us never to despair. While there is life there is hope. Pardon may be found even at the waning moments of the eleventh hour. This consideration must not lead to presumption; but it should induce believers to be active and diligent in their attempts to be instrumental in furthering the salvation of those who deny the Lord that bought them. Perhaps some of our clerical readers could narrate instances of conversion no less remarkable than the above:-let past experience lead to future diligence in their Master's work.

LOVE TO THE BRETHREN A TEST OF PIETY:
A Sermon,

BY THE REV. JOHN BUXTON MARSDEN, M.A.
Rector of Tooting, Surrey.

1 JOHN, iii. 14. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."

THE first and great anxiety of a mind in earnest on religion must ever be to discover its own condition in the sight of God. It

will seek to know whether the sentence of condemnation still hangs over it; or whether it has passed from death unto life, from a state of darkness and alienation to a state of adoption and acceptance with God. Until this great question is resolved, the penitent remains a stranger to all peace of mind; while in proportion to the clearness with which it is established is the consolation of the true believer.

The Scriptures, and especially the New Testament, abound with information upon this important subject. They present various tests by which every man may ascertain the state of his own soul; and they invite us, by an application of these, to "prove our ownselves." Thus one evidence of our acceptance is love to God: "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." Another is obedience: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not;""Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." A third evidence of our adoption is, the inward testimony of the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: "Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us.”

But in the verse which forms our text, St. John proposes another kind of evidence, -peculiar in its nature, and distinct from those already mentioned, by which we are to ascertain our spiritual condition. "Hereby," says he," we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." Love to the people of God is not merely an evidence of our own adoption into the household of faith, but it is an evidence of the highest kind. It is not merely an argument which may be thrown in to turn the scale, when other and more cogent reasons have been adduced already; it is an independent evidence, complete within itself, and wanting no external succours to confirm it. "Hereby we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The worth of this evidence (evidence to the fact of our having a personal interest in Christ, and in all his promises) is but little understood; and yet (as I hope I shall be able to shew), it is at once so simple and so conclusive, that every Christian should be brought to feel the comfort, and every man who is not a Christian, the condemnation,-of the test which it affords.

Love to the brethren, i. e. to the Church of Christ, is then a sure evidence of piety, a proof that we are in a state of grace, and have passed from death unto life. In treating on this subject, I must, in the first place, describe the character of that "love," of

which the apostle speaks. In the second, I shall attempt to shew how it becomes a convincing proof of our own acceptance.

I. 1. The love to which St. John refers is, then, love to Christians for the sake of their Christianity; or, love to the Church for the sake of Christ, the head of the Church. He calls them brethren; i. e. he speaks of them in their character as Christians, and, of course, refers to them only in that point of view. We may love a man who is a servant of Jesus Christ, without knowing that he sustains that high distinction. Something amiable, or generous, or wise in his conduct, may have attracted us, and, for the sake of this, we render to him the tribute of our affection. Or we may love one, who is a follower of Christ, in every character he sustains, except that one character. We may admire his talent; we may respect his virtues; we may eulogise his general conduct; and yet we may be ashamed of his religion, and of him, too, so far as his religion is concerned. We may think it a weakness in a mind otherwise sound; or a meanness in a character otherwise noble. Now, it is evident in such a case, that although it might be said of us, with much truth, that we loved several persons who chanced to be men of piety, it could not be said with any degree of truth, that we "loved the brethren." It was not their piety which first threw us to their circle, nor is that the bond which now retains our friendship. Perhaps, indeed, it is the only circumstance which chills our affection or diminishes our love.

2. It is no less evident that St. John does not speak of any partial affection we may entertain for individuals, or even classes of men, within the Church of Christ. They may be sincere Christians, and we may love them on account of their piety; but this is not enough. A Christian is at liberty to choose his intimate associates: he will necessarily select them from the bosom of the Church of God, for he will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful; but his companions will be men of kindred minds, and therefore of similar principles with himself. But this is not necessarily to love the brethren; and many a Christian fails here, and so dims that evidence of his own acceptance to which St. John refers. He loves, it may be, in the highest, closest bonds, none but those who are believers; but this is not enough. Does he love all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity? Are his affections expansive? Is it enough that you are a true Christian, to commend you to his heart? Or does he select some few congenial minds from the great family who bear the impress of