to be seen in their assemblies unnecessarily, or to accommodate myself to their habits, which, as you must have observed, Mr. Nicodemus, are by no means what they should be; yet, as I was remarking before, in the present crisis, that is, the crisis to which with much labour and exertion (though it becomes me not to speak of what I have been able to do), I have brought the family, I am inclined to think, and no doubt you will agree with me, that upon the whole and under all circumstances," and he was going off again into a labyrinth of sentences within sentences,-which, by-the-by, is as uncontrovertible a proof of a hesitating and doubtful state of mind, as my question in answer could possibly have been,-when I cut him short by saying, “Then, upon the whole, you think that we ought to accept this invitation ?"

"I do," replied the chaplain," and I will give you my reasons-this house has been for years past torn by different parties and opinions, which have greatly retarded the progress of all that is right among us; yet during these scenes of perplexity, those who have truly loved the rightful Master, and I am thankful to say that there always have been many such in the house, have been consoled by certain promises in the Lord's letters, stating that a time is to come, in which all that is wrong shall be set right, and in which all the members of the family shall enjoy a perfect and unbroken peace.* These you will say, Mr. Nicodemus, are very encouraging promises, and exceedingly pleasing to such as hope to be made instruments in effecting and approximating such a state of things, and," added the poor man with a slight cough, and some hesitation of manner, " if I have been assisted in some small degree to advance this desirable order of affairs, in the first instance by an enlarged and liberal plan (in which I have been upheld by Mr. FitzAdam and the housekeeper) for the education and improvement of the children of the inferior servants, and

ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Romans xii. 1, 2.

"And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever." Isaiah xxxii. 17.

in the establishment of several other similar institutions in the family, of which it becomes not me to speak, and if I have, as to-day, been enabled to combine all our powers in one grand effort for the advancement of the only desirable knowledge, have I not reason to think myself most happy? And although your uncle, good man, differs totally from me in some of my views, and even goes so far as to say that I am blowing bubbles in the air, which may look gaudy in the sunbeam for an instant, and may float awhile above my head, but will all presently burst and be altogether as nothing; yet I appeal to your unsophisticated judgment, whether it is nothing to have brought the haughty Fitz-Adam, and that hitherto unbending and imperious character, the house, keeper, to give their sanction and approval to my endeavours? But," he added, "we must not spoil our work at the moment in which we have brought it in some degree to bear. I consider this invitation as a sort of crowning peace-offering, and I rejoice, Mr. Nicodemus, that you see it in the same light, and vote for this one further concession on our parts, for the good of the people."

I stammered out my acquiescence in all he had said, in that hesitating tone in which a man, to serve his own private purposes, gives his assent to that which he knows to be false; and in consequence, we immediately set ourselves to work, to write answers to the notes of invitation, which being done, the doctor took them to his own room, in order to seal them, and despatch them by the hands of his own servant. He had scarcely taken his leave, when Theophilus arrived, bringing with him all that rightfully belonged to him, and being dressed in a plain suit, divested of all badges and marks of his late servitude. There was a small antichamber or closet within our room which was unoccupied, and I directed him to put his bed there, at least till my uncle returned; and it was not long before I had reason to rejoice that such an inmate had been added to us; for this Theophi lus was a fine young man, being very intelligent, and so well acquainted with the elements of knowledge, that he was more than fit in these particulars to be my associate.

It seems that from childhood he had been in the service of Madame le Monde, and had been continually flattered with the prospect of advancement in that service;

but having from time to time been visited by the interpreter, though in a manner not understood by those who had the chief rule over him, he had, after various sinful hesitations (to use his own words), been assisted to make the resolution which led him to throw off all dependence on his unworthy mistress, and come to us.

But it was a thorn piercing my heart, to witness the simple and straight-forward manner in which this young man set himself to obey the suggestions of the interpreter, at the very time that I was hesitating between the right and the wrong, resolving to gratify my own evil passions at all risks. And it should be here observed as a warning to others, that the mistaken conduct of the doctor was that which above all other things confirmed me in my evil conduct.*

So Theophilus, having arranged his goods and chattles, and made his bed in the obscure corner which 1 had pointed out to him, came forth into the room where I was sitting, with a countenance all gay and radiant, as it were, from the effects of inward peace of mind.

It may be believed that I took good care not to speak to him of the invitation which we had just received, yet when the dinner was served up for I had resolved to use my uncle's privilege, and to dine in my own room, I made him sit down and eat with me, and I found him to be not only an agreeable companion, but one to whom I could not help looking up as being already delivered from that bondage of this world, in which I found my self still stricken, in spite as it were of myself. So after dinner we sat down and wrote, though I found myself very unfit for the work, and my pen accordingly went heavily; however, Theophilus having undertaken to help me, I was ashamed to give up till near sunset, at which time we went out to walk. We first took the turn towards the fields, in by-paths where we met no one, though we heard a shepherd-boy playing on a flute; and while we stood listening, for the sound was very sweet, the lad laid aside his flute, and began to sing, and these were the words of his song:

The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care,
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye.

"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Matt

"That little boy is of the right sort," said Theophilus ; "he knows his own master,* and that is more than some of the wisest of us do, and what I for one should never have discovered, had I not been assisted so to do." So when we had listened a while to the boy, we passed on, and having made a turn about, found that our nearest way back to the castle was along the street of the village, and so up through the stables and back courts.

But when we came to the village, we were surprised to find all the street up in arms, as it were, with such a noise and hubbub among the men, who were gathered in fours and fives at the doors, and such an uproar among the women, as quite filled us with astonishment; so that we said one to the other, what is all this? However, we went on, and just before the door of the inn, where the street is widest, we saw a sort of flag set up, and on the flag a motto, and this was the word written, "Laodicea," which word, however, neither Theophilus nor I had learning enough to interpret; and before the inn, and in the yard, were crowds of men, the one-half of whom were menial servants from the mansion, but in the midst of the crowd, and among the busiest of them all was mine host, and near him the man I had seen sitting at the head of the bench in the inn yard the day I first came to the place. So the host called to Theophilus, and invited him to join the company, while the man whom I shall call the Elder of the Bench, not knowing his other name, extended the invitation to me. But although the housekeeper had found a bait wherewith to catch me, and had me even then at the end of her line, playing fast and loose with me at her pleasure, I was not yet so far fallen as to be caught by such people as these. And as to Theophilus, he pulled me forward, saying, "Give them no answer, nor have any thing to do with them." So we walked on without seeming

"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." Isaiah i. 3.

"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Matt. xi. 25.

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then be cause thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Rev. iii. 14-16.

even to have heard them, whereupon they set up a sort of yell, and gathered round us, hemming us in, and crying out, "These are some of them, down with them, down with them," till at length we were forced to come to a stand, I, for my part, being all in a tremble, but Theophilus firm as a rock.

Now the rabble by which we were surrounded were, as I plainly saw, all in their cups; and when Theophilus asked them what ailed them that they could not let quiet persons walk through the streets without their troubling them? my old acquaintance of the bench took upon himself to answer him, though in that confused way which persons use who are valiant from the ale-cup, saying, "The time was come in which the impositions of those who choose to call themselves great were to be at an end, and in which those who had governed in the name of a supposed Master were to be put down; for," added he, "who is that Master in whose name you rule? and who has given you, or any man, authority to appropriate to yourselves more than another? Who has power to say that this man shall be up, and another down? Who has authority to violate the rights of his fellow-men? Down with them, down with them all-we will have equality and liberty. We will hear no more of the pretended Master, and the delegated authorities of old laws, and ancient regulations confusion to them all-away with them all; we will be governed be our own wills, we will be oppressed and deceived no more:" and then he shouted “Liberty! liberty! away with the name of the lord of this land; we will all be masters!" And with that, the cries and shouts became such as almost deafened us; however, we made a push, and running for it, gained the gates of the avenue; nevertheless, we heard voices and shouts behind us, but we made haste and got into our own room, where we shut the door, and sat down to take breath.

"But," said I to Theophilus, "what does all this mean? what is all this confusion ?"

""Tis but what we may expect," replied Theophilus, "from the principles which have been disseminated on the estate for months past, by the librarian and others." "I do not understand you," I replied.

"Well then," he answered, "I will tell you what I know, which is no great deal, but I have had eyes and ears, and what I have seen and heard has tended not a