affections, as a parent, were so artfully, so effectually brought forward, and his conduct was so specious, that Lucretia insensibly gave him a confidence, which as gradually subjected her to his will and pleasure as myself; and she observed, that nature had yet preserved one strong hold in Flamall’s bosom; for that he loved his child; and that would prove to her a source of future comfort; for that no man was more capable of the office of preceptor. Even I assented to this opinion, Miss Cowley, as it related to his talents; and I was still the dupe of that affection, which nature had interwoven with my frame for my _brother_. He became more serious and reserved from the hour of Philip’s birth, and in the regularity of his conduct, and the instances I had of his growing parsimony, I scrupled not to think that he was a changed man in many respects, although still unsubdued in his love of power. As Philip became of an age to receive his lessons, his visits at the hall might be called a residence; but you know already how little these visits were productive of comfort to me, and, I may likewise add, of comfort to Miss Flint; for my brother was a rigid disciplinarian; and had not the child’s temper been one of the most docile and sweet, he would have been miserable; for my brother, guided by his acquaintance with vice, understood not that the path to virtue is pleasant, and to unperverted feet, and a pure heart, has allurements far superior to any that his lectures and vigilance could furnish.