LETTER XXI.

_THE POOR OF THE BOROUGH._

ABEL KEENE.

[Coepisti] melius quam [desinis]: ultima primis Cedunt. Dissimiles: hic vir et ille puer.

_Ovid. Deïanira Herculi_ [Heroid. VIII. vv. 23-4].

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that, in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.

[I] _Epistle to Timothy_, [ch. IV. v. 1].

Abel, a poor Man, Teacher of a School of the lower Order; is placed in the Office of a Merchant; is alarmed by Discourses of the Clerks; unable to reply; becomes a Convert; dresses, drinks, and ridicules his former Conduct--The Remonstrance of his Sister, a devout Maiden--Its Effect--The Merchant dies--Abel returns to Poverty unpitied; but relieved--His abject Condition--His Melancholy--He wanders about: is found--His own Account of himself, and the Revolutions in his Mind.