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 Lentered, 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 Accented, buffet'. common notion, that women are no better than playthings, designed rather for the amusement of their lords and masters, than for the more serious purposes of life. But no man ever married a fool without severely repenting it; for though the pretty trifler may have served well enough for the hour of gayety, yet when folly assumes the reins of domestic, and especially of parental control, she will give a perpetual heartache to a considerate partner. On the other hand, there are to be met with instances of considerable powers of the understanding, combined with waywardness of temper, sufficient to destroy all the comfort of life. Malignity is sometimes joined with wit, haughtiness and caprice with talents, sourness and suspicion with sagacity, and cold reserve with judgment. But all these being in themselves unamiable qualities, it is less necessary to guard against the possessors of them. They generally render even beauty unattractive; and no charm, but that of fortune, is able to overcome the repugnance they excite. How much more fatal than even folly they are to all domestic felicity, you have probably already seen enough of the matrimonial state to judge. Many of the qualities which fit a woman for a companion, also adapt her for the office of a helper; but many additional ones are requisite. The original purpose for which this sex was created, is said, you know, to have been, providing man with a help-mate; yet it is, perhaps, that notion of a wife, which least occupies the imagination in the season of courtship. Be assured, however, that, as an office for life, its importance stands extremely high to one whose situation does not place him above the want of such aid; and fitness for it should make a leading consideration in his choice. Romantic ideas of domestic felicity will infallibly, in time, give way to that true state of things, which will show that a large part of it must arise from well-ordered affairs, and an accumulation of petty comforts and conveniences. A clean and quiet fireside, regular and agreeable meals, decent apparel, a house managed with order and economy, ready for the recéption of a friend or the accommodation of a stranger, a skilful as well as affectionate nurse in time of sickness, all these things compose a very considerable part of what the nuptial state was intended to afford us; and, without them, no charms of person or understanding will long continue to bestow delight. The arts of housewifery should be regarded as professional to the woman who intends to be trenchers, which each one manfully maintained, were perfectly clean and comfortable. Farmer Larkin and his wife, not deeming it a point of etiquette to separate as far as the limits of the table would permit, shared together the post of honour by the dish of mea At the left hand of the father, sat his youngest son, and at the right hand of the mother, her youngest daughter. Thus the male line, beginning at Jehu, and touching every one, according to his age, passed over the heads of Timothy and Jehoiakim, ending in Amariah, the nephew. On the other hand, the female line, from the mother, who held in her lap the chubbed Tryphosa, passed with geometrical precision through the spaces allotted to Tryphena, Keziah, Roxey, and Reuey, terminating with buxom Molly. She was indeed a damsel of formidable size, but of just proportions, and employed her brawny arm, in cutting slices from a large loaf of brown bread, which she distributed with great exactness by each trencher, as soon as her father had stocked it with meat, and her mother garnished it with vegetables. There was something pleasing in the sight of so many healthy and cheerful faces, and in the domestic order which evidently prevailed. THOU hast no mountain peering to the cloud, Thou art a Spartan mother, and thy sons Some goodly task proportioning to all, * Pronounced, here, for metrical accent, glussyay, in the French mode, that clear, treble-note of the universe, into the heart of man, and the ear of Jehovah. In sincere humility do I acknowledge that if I am less guilty than some of my human brothers, it is mainly because I have been beloved. Kind emotions and impulses have not been sent back to me, like dreary echoes, through empty rooms. All around me, at this moment, are tokens of .a friendly heart-warmth. A sheaf of dried grasses brings near the gentle image of one who gathered them for love; a varied group of the graceful lady-fern tells me of summer rambles in the woods, by one who mingled thoughts of me with all her glimpses of nature's beauty. A rose-bush, from a poor Irish woman, speaks to me of her blessings. A bird of paradise, sent by friendship, to warm the wintry hours with thoughts of sunny Eastern climes, cheers me with its floating beauty, like a fairy fancy. Flower-tokens from the best of neighbours, have come, all summer long, to bid me a blithe good morning, and tell me news of sunshine and fresh air. A piece of sponge, graceful as if it grew on the arms of the wave, reminds me of Grecian seas, and of Hylas borne away by water-nymphs. It was given me for its uncommon beauty; and who will not try harder to be good, for being deemed a fit recipient of the beautiful? A root, which promises to bloom into fragrance, is sent by an old Quaker lady, whom I know not, but who says, "I would fain minister to thy love of flowers." Affection sends childhood to peep lovingly at me from engravings, or stand in classic grace, imbodied in the little plaster cast. The far-off and the near, the past and the future, are with me in my humble apartment. True, the mementoes cost little of the world's wealth; for they are of the simplest kind; but they express the universe, — because they are thoughts of love, clothed in forms of beauty. Why do I mention these things? From vanity? Nay, verily; for it often humbles me to tears, to think how much I am loved more than I deserve; while thousands, far nearer to God, pass on their thorny path, comparatively uncheered by love and blessing. But it came into my heart to tell you how much these things helped me to be good; how they were like roses dropped by unseen hands, guiding me through a wilderness-path unto our Father's mansion. And the ove that helps me to be good, I would have you bestow upon all, that all may become good. To love others, is greater happiness than to be beloved by them; to do good is more blessed 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, if the agony of the lady's feelings had not over |