Page:Father's memoirs of his child.djvu/105

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nitor, and the careful steward of the future is forgotten in the rigid controller of all present indulgences.

The acquisitions of this child have hitherto been the theme of these memoirs. But they, pleasing as the topic may be, must be kept down in a due subserviency to a higher object. Short indeed was the time that glided by, without unfolding some new beauty of his character and disposition. The narrative would be enlivened, if more story were to be thrown into it: but he had contracted so constant a habit of committing his thoughts to paper, that it seemed sufficient at the moment to preserve what he had written, without recording what he said. I shall therefore, without reference to times or seasons, select such of his letters and other compositions, as mark either the peculiar bent of his mind or versatility of his talents. They will be accompanied with such occasional explanations, as may be necessary to render them intelligible, and then left to find their own level. It is hoped