it is for the promotion and advancement of this happy state that I am now labouring and have laboured for many months, and as Mr. Librarian said but yesterday, not without my reward; for see we not already the dawn of a better spirit in the house, of a spirit of love, of union, and of concord, the result of which, when perfected, will be the establishment of peace and the promotion of all those beautiful feelings of charity, tenderness, and kindness, by which the inevitable evils of life are soothed and smoothed down, and that state of blessedness restored of which we read in the earlier communications of the Master."

"And my uncle," I replied, " will, you fear, prevent all this good, by his pertinacity in his own opinions. I am very sure, sir, that he will have nothing whatever to do with the librarian or Father Peter, beyond the common interchanges of civility and neighbourly kindness. I have heard him say that they are neither of them stanch to the Master; and that is a point in the character of any one, which is a sine qua non with my uncle."

"And you think that he is right in displaying a stiffness which may keep a wanderer out of the fold, when he might be tempted to return, young man ?" asked the doctor.

I am not defending him; I am only stating a fact, sir," I replied.

"And you do not agree with your uncle in all his peculiar opinions?" he asked.

"I believe," I replied, "that there is but one legal and lawful Lord and Master of this house, and that this Master is he who called me to his service, and that all who set up another master are liars and deceivers."

"Heaven forbid," replied the doctor, "that I should have a disloyal thought respecting our Lord and our Redeemer," and the poor man looked about him like one scared at the bare suggestion that it was possible for him to have uttered a word of disrespect, as it regarded the Master, "He that knows my heart, knows that I love my Master, and look with hope to meeting him again; and have a delight in his service; and am anxious to advance his kingdom: but, as I said before, I cannot go hand in hand in all your uncle's opinions, and I must say that I least like that harsh and illiberal spirit which he betrays when he would rather spend his last breath in labours to

which he is not equal, than accept the assistance of one whose opinions do not entirely acquiesce with his own. But come," he added "enough of this; I am departing from my own principles in speaking thus harshly of an uncle to a nephew. After all, I believe the secretary to be a truly upright man."

So saying, he rose to go away, yet not till he had invited me to return his visit at any hour which might suit me best. Now when the chaplain was gone, I was left alone, musing on many things, and as it were, considering who was right and who was wrong in the points so forcibly contended between the doctor and my uncle, or rather so violently and angrily upheld on the part of the doctor. And behold, as I sat musing, my eye being upon a sheet of paper on which I had begun to write a portion of the Master's letters, I thought that some one read aloud in my ears, and with a force and emphasis which I had scarcely ever heard used before, a certain passage which I had just written, and the passage was to this effect-" Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching." I have no doubt, as I have since thought, that this was the interpreter who spoke these words in my ears; though when I turned round to see if any one was near me I saw no one; but had I obeyed the voice, come from whence it might, it would have been well for me: nevertheless I was not inclined so to do; my uncle was out, and I was not disposed to work, and I had wasted the first hours of the morning in sloth, and this was but a poor preparation for an active day. So I endeavoured to think that I had been mistaken in supposing I had heard a voice; and taking up a flute which I had brought with me from that far country in which I had formerly dwelt, I began to amuse myself with some idle measure, such as I had learned in my former services: and having pressed a few notes was about to change my strain, when I heard, or thought I heard, a musical instrument at some distance carrying on the same air. I soon put down my flute, and listened, and felt assured that I was not mistaken; so what must I do but spring up from the desk where I was seated, and run out at the door into the passage, where I heard the music so distinctly, that it seemed but a step before me. Nevertheless, as the passage turned and winded among the offices, I could not see the person who was playing upon the instrument; so, without waiting to

consider what I was going to do, I hastened to follow the musician, who still passing on, though unseen, led me quite away from my own place, into that part of the house occupied by the housekeeper. There, coming into a sort of centre place into which many of the offices opened, I was standing as it were at fault, knowing not which way to turn, when the housekeeper opened the door of her room; and seeing me, she affected a sort of wonder, which I verily believe she did not feel, and addressing me as if I were the dearest friend she had had on earth, nothing would satisfy her but I must step into her apartments and give her some of my good company. I felt, as she took me by the arm to draw me towards her, like a silly bird caught in a net; and yet I know not how it was, I had no more power to resist her persuasions than if I had had only the sense and strength of an infant: hence, from my own experience, I would advise every young man who values his peace to avoid the very sight of these smooth-tongued and honey-lipped personages; for many have fallen down and been ruined by such. However, as the saying is, I was in for it, fairly or foully I know not which to say; and the next minute I found myself seated on a sort of sofa at the side of this woman. There was no other person in the room but Father Peter, who was dressed as I had seen him before, and looking as if in a state of perfect contentment, being ensconced in a downy chair and talking at his ease. He knew me immediately, and addressed me courteously, asking after my uncle, calling him a worthy man, and falling immediately upon ordinary topics.

The housekeeper seemed to be pleased to see us on such good terms, and paid some handsome compliments to each of us, the tendency of which was to recommend us, as both being worthy, to each other's friendship; after which she added, "But, Mr. Nicodemus, this being your first visit, you must not refuse to taste of what I

"My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.""That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words."-"Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend unto the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she has cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." Prov. vii. 1, 5, 24–27.

shall set before you." So saying, she arose without heeding my protestations that I wanted nothing, and selecting a key from the large bunch which always hung at her girdle, she went to one of those many repositories of good things with which her apartment is lined, and taking from thence a silver cup, she filled it with some sort of wine, which was very sweet to the senses, but which had, as I afterward found, a strange effect on the head.* And when she had set it before me, with certain spiced biscuits of a very agreeable flavour, she proceeded to lead me on to enjoy myself by the sprightly turn which she gave to her discourse; for I promise you that she has a most wonderful command of the tongue, for while she appears to abandon herself to the most unreserved and free discussion on every subject which is brought forward either by herself or another, she measures and weighs every word so seriously, that there is not a monosyllable that proceeds from her lips that does not fall on the side she would have it. Nay, when she wishes it, she can make her very words of praise fall into the scale of condemnation, and her expressions of disparagement into that of justification; so that her enemies have as much reason, or perhaps more, to dread her praises than her censures : and then there is a sort of magic as it were in her tongue, and in her manner, which makes her auditor to forget her age, which is certainly on the decline, although her dress is very artificially arranged, so as to conceal those defects of her person, which she would not desire to be noticed. Some say indeed that she was never handsome when seen in broad daylight; but her apartments are to the north, and the windows so constructed that the full glare of day never glances upon them. So when I had taken one sip by her persuasion, I found myself more inclined to take another and another; and when I had well drank until my head became confused, why then she opened an inner door of her apartment, and taking me by the hand, led me into the room where her daughters were sitting, saying, that as other avoca

"With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Rev. xvii. 2.

"The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy mer. chants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold." Ezek. xxvii. 22.

tions demanded her attention, she would turn me over to her young ones, for, added she, "We claim you for our own this day. The worthy man,* your uncle, is from home, and if he has left you a task to perform, you must rise the earlier and work the harder to-morrow." Now to-morrow is a great word, I afterward found, with the housekeper, when the Master's business is to be done, as to-day is the word she selects when her own affairs are to be attended to. So saying, she shut the door upon me, and I found myself in the apartment of the young ladies,† to wit, the housekeeper's daughters.

And I promise you that I thought it a delicious place, for the multitude of delights that were gathered together, such as hangings of silk, sofas of down and velvet, fragrant odours, pictures and statues, and all sorts of musical instruments. But to speak of the three damsels; the eldest was remarkable for her gracious and winning manners, for she came forward and took me by the hand, and led me to the best seat, assuring me of my welcome, and giving me to understand that it was she who had enticed me from my hermit's cell, as she was pleased to call my uncle's room, by the sweet tones of her lyre. The second was no less remarkable for her beauty and the richness of her dress; and the third, for her commanding and majestic figure, although at the first sight she did not take with me as did the other two. After a while, however, she won much upon me, I must acknowledge, to my reproach; for before I had heard her talk for half an hour, she made me quite ashamed of

"So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey. He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks. Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life." Prov. vii. 13-23.

+"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John ii. xvi.