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Cuffee alighting, removed the bars, which formed, or rather obstructed, the rustic entrance to the demesne; and then addressed a few soothing words to his horse, who advanced his head, and bent down his quivering ear, as if the sounds of the human voice were either comprehended or beloved.

As Madam L- entered, she heard, in the clattering of knives and forks, the reason, why she was not as usual welcomed at the door. Unwilling to interrupt the refection of the family, she took a seat, unobserved. She found herself in the best room in the mansion; but to this the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages would assign, neither the name of "parlour, hall, nor drawing-room;" avoiding the example of their city acquaintance, as the ancient reformers did the abominations of the church of Rome. Adhering to their habits of precision as tenaciously as to their ideas of simplicity, they gave to this most honourable room, an appellation derived from its bearing upon the cardinal points. The one under present consideration, being visited by the latest beams of the setting sun, and the first breathing of the summer breeze, was denominated the "south-west room." As the furniture of this best apartment of Farmer Larkin, may serve as a sample of the interior of most of the "best rooms " of the better sort of agriculturists, at that early period, it may be well to add a brief description.

The bed, an indispensable appendage, was without either curtains or high posts, and decorated with a new woollen coverlet, where the colour of red gorgeously predominated over the white and green, with which it was intermingled. So small a space did it occupy, that if, like Og, king of Bashan, whose gigantic height was predicated from his bedstead of nine cubits, the size of our farmers should have been estimated by the dimensions of their places of repose, posterity would do them immense injustice.

A* buffet, or corner-cupboard, was a conspicuous article, in which were arranged a set of bright pewter plates, some red and white cups and saucers, not much larger than what now belong to a doll's equipage, and a pyramidal block-tin tea-pot. The lower compartment of this repository, which was protected by a door, furnished a receptacle for the Sabbath-day hats and bonnets of the children; each occupying its own place upon the shelves. In the vicinity was what was denominated a chist o' draws," namely, a capacious vault of stained pine, which, opening like a chest, contained

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the better part of the wardrobe of the master and mistress of the family; while, beneath, space was left for two or three "draws," devoted to the accommodation of the elder children.

But the masterpiece of finery was a tea-table, which, elevating its round disk perpendicularly, evinced that it was more for show than use. Its surface displayed a commendable lustre, protected by a penal statute from the fingers of the children. But an unruly kitten used to take delight in viewing, on the lower extremity of that polished orb, a reflection of her own round face, and formidable whiskers. Unhappily mistaking the appearance of these for an adversary, she imprinted thereon the marks of her claws, too deeply for all the efforts of the good housewife to efface, and soon after expiated her crime upon the scaffold.

A looking-glass, much smaller than the broad expansion of the farmer's face, hung against the roughly-plastered, yet unsullied wall. A few high straight-backed chairs, and a pair of small andirons, nicely blacked, whose heads bore a rude resemblance to the "human face divine," completed the inventory of goods and chattels. Over the low, wide fireplace, hung, in a black frame, without the superfluity of a glass, the family record, legibly penned, with a space very considerately left for future additions.

The apartment had an air of neatness, beyond what was then generally observed in the houses of those who made the dairy, and spinning-wheel, the prime objects of attention. The white floor was carefully sanded; and, at each door, a broad mat, made of the husks of the Indian corn, claimed tribute from the feet of those who entered.

Where Madam L was seated, she had a full view of the family, surrounding their peaceful board, and so cordially engaged in doing justice to its viands, that not a glance wandered to the spot which she occupied. The table, covered with a coarse white cloth, bore at the head a large supply of boiled beef and pork, served up in a huge dish of glazed ware, of a form between platter and bowl, though it probably would rank with the latter genus. A mass of very fine cabbage appeared in the same reservoir, like a broad, emerald islet, flanked with parsnips and turnips, the favourite "long and short saace "of the day. At the bottom of the board, was an enormous pudding of Indian meal, supported by its legitimate concomitants, a plate of butter, and a jug of molasses. Four brown mugs of cider, divided into equal compartments the quadrangle of the board; and the wooden

Fair wert thou, with the light

On thy blue hills and sleepy waters cast,
From purple skies ne'er deepening into night,
Yet soft, as if each moment were their last
Of glory, fading fast

Along the mountains! but thy golden day
Was not as those that warn us of decay.

And ever, through thy shades,
A swell of deep Eolian sound went by,
From fountain-voices in their secret glades,
And low reed-whispers, making sweet reply
To summer's breezy sigh!

And young leaves trembling to the wind's light breath,
Which ne'er had touched them with a hue of death!

And thy transparent sky

Rang as a dome, all thrilling to the strain
Of harps that 'midst the woods, made harmony
Solemn and sweet; yet troubling not the brain
With dreams and yearnings vain,

And dim remembrances, that still draw birth
From the bewildering music of the earth.

But who, with silent tread,

Moved o'er the plains of waving asphodel?
Who, called and severed from the countless dead,
Amidst the shadowy amaranth-bowers might dwell,
And listen to the swell

Of those majestic hymn-notes, and inhale
The spirit wandering in the immortal gale?

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With the bright wine at nations' feasts, went round!
They of the lyre, whose unforgotten lays

On the morn's wing had sent their mighty sound,
And in all regions found

Their echoes 'midst the mountains! - and become
In man's deep heart, as voices of his home!

They of the daring thought!

Daring and powerful, yet to dust allied;

Whose flight through stars, and seas, and depths had sought

The soul's far birthplace, but without a guide!

Sages and seers, who died,

And left the world their high mysterious dreams,
Born 'midst the olive-woods, by Grecian streams.

But they, of whose abode

'Midst her green valleys earth retained no trace,
Save a flower springing from their burial-sod,
A shade of sadness on some kindred face,

A void and silent place

In some sweet home;

thou hadst no wreaths for these, Thou sunny land! with all thy deathless trees.

The peasant, at his door

Might sink to die, when vintage-feasts were spread,
And songs on every wind! - From thy bright shore
No lovelier vision floated round his head;

Thou wert for nobler dead!

He heard the bounding steps which round him fell,
And sighed to bid the festal sun farewell!

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Were a forbidden luxury, and whose breast
Shut up the woes and burning thoughts of years,
As in the ashes of an urn compressed, -
He might not be thy guest!

No gentle breathings from thy distant sky
Came o'er his path and whispered "Liberty!"

Calm, on its leaf-strewn bier,

Unlike a gift of nature to decay,

Too rose-like still, too beautiful, too dear,
The child at rest before its mother lay;

Even so to pass away,

With its bright smile! - Elysium! what wert thou
To her, who wept o'er that young slumberer's brow!

Thou hadst no home, green land!

For the fair creature from her bosom gone,
With life's first flowers just opening in her hand,
And all the lovely thoughts and dreams unknown,
Which in its clear eye shone

Like the spring's waking!—But that light was past-
Where went the dew-drop, swept before the blast?

I had often received very pressing invitations to visit an old schoolfellow, who is settled in a snug parsonage, about fifty miles from town; but something or other was continually occurring to prevent me from availing myself of them.

But on the 17th of June, 1826, (I shall never forget it, if I live to the age of old Parr,) having a few spare weeks at my disposal, I set out for my chum's residence. He received me with his wonted cordiality; but I fancied that he looked a little more care-worn than a man of thirty might be expected to look, married as he is to the woman of his choice, and in the possession of an easy fortune.

Poor fellow! I did not know that his wife was a precisian. The first hint I received of the fact, was from M.. ., who, removing my hat from the first peg in the hall to the fourth, observed, "My wife is a little particular in these matters; the first peg is for my hat, the second, for William's, the third for Tom's, and you can reserve the fourth, if you please, for your own ladies, you know, do not like to have their arrangements interfered with."

I promised to do my best to recollect the order of precedence with respect to the hats, and walked up stairs, impressed with an awful veneration for a lady who had contrived to impose so rigid a discipline on a man formerly the most disorderly of mortals; mentally resolving to obtain her favour by the most studious observance of her wishes.

I might as well have determined to be emperor of China! Before the week was at an end, I was a lost man. I always reckon myself tolerably tidy; never leaving more than half my clothes on the floor of my dressing-room, nor more than a dozen books about any apartment I may happen to occupy for an hour. I do not lose more than a dozen handkerchiefs in a month; nor have more than a quarter of an hour's hunt for my hat or gloves, whenever I am going out in a hurry. I found all this was but as dust in the balance. The first time I sat down to dinner, I made a horrible blunder; for, in my haste to help my friend to some asparagus, I pulled a dish a little out of its place, thereby deranging the exact hexagonal order in which the said dishes were arranged. I discovered my mishap on hearing Mr. S. sharply rebuked for a similar offence.

Secondly, I sat, the whole evening, with the cushion a full finger's length beyond the cane-work of my chair; and what is worse, I do not know that I should have been aware of my delinquency, 'f the agony of the lady's feelings had not over

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