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such acts of Christian benevolence as his means would allow. The little property left by his wife, and a small bequest of a deceased relative, placed him in the enjoyment of an income of some 400l. a year. He was connected with a very distin

"I am for Windmere," said the boy. "Oh, then, hold on said the wagoner, "I go through there, and can put you down at your journey's end." They pulled up at the Saracen's Head, the horses were baited, the lad obtained a refreshing draught of water, and sitting down upon the road-guished family, and had every hope of side, he ate with much relish a coarse biscuit, and afterwards gathered some wild flowers from the way-side.

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patronage and emolument held out to him. But the blow had been struck-he had lost the dear object of his affections, upon whom his hopes of earthly happiness had been chiefly centred; and therefore he no longer found charms in the circles of fashion. The comforts of religion, the peace of contemplative retirement, the love of learning, and his devotion to an only child, were all required to appease the sufferings of his heart, and compensate for the loss of a wife who parted from him suddenly, and when most needed to make the happiness of his home complete.

Day by day, as his daughter grew in stature and in face more like her lost mother, Mr. Lyndhurst's devotion to his child increased, and his sorrows were lessened. He looked upon his daughter as a peacemaker here, and to heaven for peace hereafter."

THE village of Windmere was one of those sweet spots upon which Nature seems to have lavished her charms. It was situated in the midst of wooded uplands, and through its very centre there ran a broad stream, in which a numerous republic of ducks enjoyed the very acme of freedom. Their liberties were seldom encroached upon, except when some frisky little cur ran barking by the margin of the water, and amused the spectators by sundry indications of a questionable determination to plunge in after the cackling water-fowls, as they swam away with an air of conscious security. There was scarcely a cottage in It was a balmy summer evening. The the village which was not completely over-western sky was just assuming the glorious run with ivy, nor a doorway which was not tints that mark the setting of the sun. made sweet by the odour of roses, honey- Mr. Lyndhurst was sitting upon a rustic suckles, or jasmine. Of the village and its chair in the garden at the back of the inhabitants we shall have occasion to speak cottage, and Ellen, resting upon a little more fully hereafter. We must now pass stool, and placing her arm upon her on to say, that in one of the prettiest of father's lap, was reading to him from the ivied, cottages, around whose trellised "Vasari's Lives of the Painters."*** doorway roses and honeysuckles seemed to rival each other in their efforts to shed beauty and perfume, there lived an elderly gentleman named Lyndhurst, and with him an only daughter, Ellen.

Mr. Lyndhurst had been educated for the Church of England, but some circumstances of a domestic character prevented his entering into holy orders, as was his first intention. His wife, for whom he cherished a most ardent attachment, died soon after giving birth to their first child, This was so great a blow to Mr. Lyndhurst's happiness, that he suddenly retired from the world, at least from the more fashionable and active portion of it, and settled down in the village of Windmere, resolved to pass the remainder of his days in the education of his daughter, and in

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"There is a picture," said Mr. Lyndhurst, "which no painter's art can approach. How magnificent! Yet how little do mankind prize the supreme beauties that deck creation. It can scarcely be supposed that the admirer of a picture is not also an admirer of nature for after all the picture is a mere copy, and a poor one, too, of a sublime original. But if a man gives 5,000l. for a painting of a landscape, he ought to be a most devout admirer of such a scene as this. He should not be a worshipper of the sun, blazing down upon us with all that glorious light, gilding the clouds and the mountains, and giving to every object on earth the varied tints that contribute to their beauty; but he should, indeed, be a profound admirer and a devout worshipper of that great God

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Such was the reverie of thought into which the devout mind of Mr. Lyndhurst had fallen, and his daughter Ellen par. ticipated with him in all the fulness of his imaginative feeling, when they were aroused by a knock at the door.

How often has a similar occurrence called us back from heaven to earth! What a sad disturber of poets' dreams, of politician's schemes, of worshippers' prayers, is that unsightly and unmusical instrument-the knocker! Whether it comes with the single and sullen knock of the beggar, the official and confident rap-tap of the postman, or the studied and rapid rat-a-tat-tat of the fashionable visitor, it is a sore plague in the midst of mental meditations. It always offers a little enigma for solution: Who's there? What face or form is to be beheld upon rolling back the door on its hinges? What's wanted?-scouring-brick, matches, laces, tracts, old clothes, a debt, or a contribution to a charity! Then the servant, perhaps, is not very prompt, and you have to ring the bell and remind her that some one is waiting. You set down your book, look about, keep your ears open; and even though finally, when the enigma is solved, you find that there has been a mistake, and that somebody has asked for Mr. Brown, your next-door neighbour, instead of yourself, you are equally thrown out of the vein of your musings, and find it some time before you can again reach a satisfactory state of studious oblivion !

Mr. Lyndhurst had closed his book, and Ellen had risen from her seat, when the servant came to them announcing that a young man, by the name of Beresford,

wished to see them.

"Beresford!" exclaimed Mr. Lyndhurst,

why he has taken us by surprise," and Ellen ran to meet him, saying, Why cousin, you have quite startled us!" "Have you not received mother's letter?" inquired Alfred.

"Not a line," said Mr. Lyndhurst; "and have wondered at her silence. "But I am glad to see you, nevertheless!" w "What is the matter with your foot ? you walk lamely," observed Ellena,

"I had a slight accident on the way," said Alfred, "and but for a kind old wagoner, I should scarcely have reached you to night. I will tell you all about it somer other time. I am concerned about mother's missing letter."

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Oh, never mind, cousin, now you are here. Set down your bundle, and let me take you out and brush the dust off your clothes, for you seem weary, Why did you walk so far ?rd

The boy seemed confused, but he replied, "Mother wished me to ride; but the coach-fare was very high, so I thought that I might get here in a day by the use of my own legs, and not impoverish her scanty store."

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"A thought quite worthy of you," said Mr. Lyndhurst.

"I must not forget that I have a letter for you now," said Alfred. "IIere it is!" While Ellen took her cousin to relieve himself of dust and the other incidentals of a long pedestrian journey, Mr. Lyndhurst read:

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interest yourself on behalf of my dear My dear Brother-Your kind offer to Alfred, and my anxious desire to prevent his falling into habits of idleness now he him to you without any delay. I could not has left school, have induced me to send and feeling boy, he knew that every shilpersuade him to ride, because, like a good ling is of use to me, and he determined to save the fare. I will send a box of clothes by the carrier to-morrow.

"Since his father's death, he has expressed a very earnest desire to obtain some remunerative occupation. I look with anxiety for your opinion of his capabilities. And I cannot too warmly thank you for your goodness to me, and your generous interest in his favour.

"With kind

regards to your dear daughter, believe me, ever affectionately,

"ELIZABETH BERESFORD."

Mr. Lyndhurst had scarcely finished the perusal of this letter when there was a double-rap at the door. Upon opening it, James Spriggs, the postman, was heard

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She was distinguished throughout her life for a love of truth. and would meet ridicule and danger, rather than swerve from integrity. Her benevolence was an equally active principle. The poor whom she knew, need not seek to her personally

to apologise in a most ample and voci-her than to be compelled to doubt the ferous manner, for having detained the merit of those who had possessed her letter three days beyond its proper time. good opinion. She was affable to those of He explained, that it had slipped inside inferior rank, tender to the errors of her the lining of his large pocket, and he servants, and treated with particular kindconfirmed the assertion by stepping into ness those who proved themselves worthy the hall, and showing the exact locality of her regard. in the, fustian where the packet had secreted itself. He begged ten thousand pardons, though he only wanted one; and this was supplied by Mr. Lyndhurst stepping out, and taking the letter, requesting Spriggs to be more careful. Irregularities of this kind were not uncommon in Wind-for aid. She sent to their habitations mere, and Spriggs had always already excuse to offer in extenuation. But for this delay, Mr. Lyndhurst and Ellen had not been taken so as by surprise; and probably the liberality of Mr. Lyndhurst would have saved Alfred Beresford the long walk, and the severe kick, which he received at the turnpike-gate.

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THE Countess of Suffolk, the second daughter of the Earl of Holland, was born in 1627, and married when very young to Theophilus, Earl of Suffolk. She early evinced strong intellectual powers. Memory especially was so active, that when almost a child she was able to commit to writing on Monday, the substance of the sermon which she had heard on the preceding Sunday, preserving, in the more striking passages, the precise words of the preacher.

Piety was an element of her character, and guided her conduct. She was remarkable for self-control, and it was ob served by her intimate friends that she was unskilful in expressing displeasure at common offences and provocations; but a profane or indelicate phrase would move her immediately to reprove the person who used it, if an acquaintance, and it a stranger to withdraw from his company, In her relative duties she was faithful and exemplary. To this her parents, hus band, kindred, and servants, bore the fullest testimony. She was ready to make any sacrifice of her own wishes to pross mote the comfort of those whom she loved In friendship, she was frank and confiding, and few things were more distressing to

clothing, food, fuel, and medicine, and sometimes provided houses for those who had none. To acquaint herself more correctly with their wants, she frequently visited them, and if any requested her charity when she was from home, and not sufficiently prepared, she would borrow from those of whom she was sanguest to supply obtheir necessities. She viewed them astmessengers from that Saviour, who said, The poor ye have always with you, but one, yeshave not always.

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Her charity did not limit itself to the relief of temporal necessities. She endeavoured to instruct the ignorance of the poor, admonishing the careless, counselling those who were in doubt, and remembering them in her prayers at the throne of their common Father. She imparted her bounty without ostentation, and it was touching to see how her loss was bemoaned by multitudes to whom her benefactions had been almost maternal.

She practised also another form of charity, that of forgiving injuries. Whether they arose from mistake or malice, she was ever ready to pardon. Her memory, which on other subjects was so vivid, here laid aside its tenacity. Favours and benefits she treasured with gratitude, but unkindness, though keenly felt by her susceptible spirit, was returned by no similar deed or word ni

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In the sorrows which were appointed her, the faith and humility of the Christian were strikingly visible. She had an only son who was inexpressibly dear. In his sickness she hung over him night and day on When, at length, hope, vanished, and the agonies of death were upon him, she sank down almost bexhausted, having poured forth many prayers and tears. At

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the sound of the last deep groan, she gave a momentary vent to a mother's anguish, and then took the Book of her heavenly Father and searched bits pages for the consolation he has promised. Ere long she was observed to commence in a low sweet voice the singing of psalms, until all violence ofo emotion had subsided and her soul was brought into tranquil submission to the Divine will pognal bus shoibit Though surrounded by the temptations of wealth, she never allowed her mind to be enervated by indolence She remembered who had given her talents, and who would require stricts account ofthem. Everyoday was beguándo closed by the solemit exercises of devotion. She awoke early, and immediately went into her closet, where, after her prayers, she read the psalms appointed for the day, wandesix chapters in the Bible, thus completing the entire perusal of the Sadred Volume twice inwal year? This method she adopted of her own accord, at the age of fifteen, and continued regularly until her leath; and if sickness or any other circumstance obliged her to shorten bor omits her usual portion, she proportionably increased the number of chapters at her next reading, that the system might remain unbroken, In this daily course she allowed a portion of time to examine difficult passages, by notes and commentaries. Othero volumes of piety also shared her serious attention, and administered to her instruction.

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-spective characters and needs, begging theme to give diligence to meet her in a happier world. With such affectionate zeal did she warn and advise then, ahd so earnestly did she assure them that the passing away from this state of trial was to her but an entrance to celestial rest, that the circumstances of that impressive scene could never be effaced from their remembrance.w A stranger who should have beheld the mournful group, "over whelmed with tears and lamentations, and she, with al seraphic calmness soothing them with blessings, might have supposed that they were to die, and that her office wastutb inspire them with courage and consolation. Such was her confidence in God, and such her spiritual comfort, that the anticipation of death seemed as a forel taste of glory. Bol bovse ved bluow

For her two dear children, she enjoined their father to regard above allbearthly advantages, the welfare of their inmortal souls, and to train them up strictly in the ways of religions for "this," said she, "I find the best heritage when I come to die; therefore, I recommend it to those whom I most fondly love to ridgeh

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Yet, after this near approach to the realni of death, it was the pleasure of ther Heavenly Father, to continue her in life, beyond all human expectation, for a period of six months. This providence, so unlooked for, was fraught with great mercy to others; as peculiars work was She delighted sincerely dnb the duties of prepared for her to perform. Her beloved the Sabbath; and in the exercise of self father, the Earl of Holland, was arraigned examination, preparatory to partaking of by the Parliament in the same year that the communion, was thorough and solemn. Charles I. was executed, and condemiled This ordinance she found a great assistance to death. In the prospect of a sudden to her spiritual progress, and desired to and violent disruption of all earthly ties, participate in itsas frequently as possible, he turned, as the principal instrument to Indeed, her whole life might be considered prepares him for this change, to his picas as a preparation for a happy entrance to a daughter, who seemed for his sake to have better.distinged dynodt easmbuizas been brought back from the brink of the Onde, during a severe illness, she engrave. She spent much time with him in joined upon her friends not to conceal her prison, and frequently watched all nighty real condition from her and when they in an apartment adjoining his, to be readye confessed there was scarcely at hope of if he should call, and to be near at his recovery, she manifested eithers terror first awaking in the morning!q Soseárus nor reluctance, but sending for here nearnestly did she tabour for his spiritual relatives with avocountenances at once welfare, sob judiciously urge him toe ekut solemansand serene, took an affectionate amine the foundation of This hope, TOS farewelloq Tother husband, children, and tenderly lead him to penitenbe and faith servants, she uttered benedictions, obusels, to the law and to the Gospel, that being l and prayers, tenderly adapted to their req at length greatly comforted, he exclaimedļo

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"happy am I to receive from my own child, such blessed consolations."To a divine who visited him, he said, "Thank God, I have a daughter who is able to be my counsellor in all my doubts and

sorrows."

Though her affection for her father had been peculiarly tender and absorbing, she bore the trying dispensation of his death upon the scaffold with Christian submission. So raised were her thoughts above the common views of things, that she acknowledged in this affliction the visible wisdom of God, to bestow saving mercy -on a soul, which had it been still conversant only with scenes of temptation and the pride of prosperity, might never so humbly and successfully have sought his face."Were it lawful," said she, "I would not wish him alive again, I dare not desire for him so bad an exchange, as to quit heaven for earth."

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She told a confidential friend that now, God willing, she would retire to her residence in the country, having so arranged her business and family as to have nothing to do but to die. Those who had the best opportunity to know, observed that during the interval of six months between her dangerous illness and her final removal, not a night passed in which she rose from her knees, after her devotions in the closet, without an overflowing of tears.

Death, who had been enforced for a time to reprieve her, now approached to eclaim his victim. When she was suddenly seized with her last illness, she poured out a most fervent and comprehensive prayer, pleading before the Father of her spirit, his attributes, the mediation of his Son, and those exceeding great and precious promises which she drew from every part of his Holy Word.

After her strength was exhausted, she continued to recognise her friends, as they came to her couch and to join in their devotions. Then quietly, as if in slumber, she yielded up her breath on the 10th of May, 1649, at the age of twentytwo, being early fitted for heaven, and admitted, we doubt not, to its unspeakable joys.

MAN perishes in pursuit of wealth, as birds meet destruction in search of food.

OLD MAIDS.

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WE might say "maiden ladies !"'—but wish to redeem two plain monosyllables from a certain undefinable stigma that they have borne too long. Old implies years, and years imply wisdom; should we despise the one and not the other? Why unless it be that the word old, when coupled with maid, is held up as a bugbear to frighten girls into hasty and injudicious marriages; or is perverted into another term for a shrivelled, vinegar-faced spinster, in whose nature the milk of human kindness has been soured by disappointment, and turned to acid every sweet that it comes in contact with. Words being but signs of ideas, if such is the apparition conjured to the mind of any by the phrase old maid, we not wonder that it seems formidably odious. To us, very different associations are connected with it: the stigmatised name seems almost sacred, conveying to the mind, as it does, the image of a pure, patient, doing, and enduring spirit, well nigh divested of the selfishness that, innate, controls the infant, the child, the belle, and even the wife and mother-that ideal of perfected woman!—in short, the embodiment of disinterestedness.

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And who that will take off the glasses of prejudice, look around, and call up recollections of domestic life either at home, or in other homes, can fail to discover some female form and face-possibly attenuated and wrinkled by time and care

moving about the house from morning till night, ever bent on some errand of good to its inmates: now nursing the sick; now contriving some delicacy for the table, or to gratify the juvenile appetite; now bravely leading on to the fight a soap and water regiment, at that semi-annual internal revolution called house-cleaning, herself in the thickest of the fray; now arranging wardrobes for the Spring and Autumn comfort of all the household-save herself; now remaining through the heat and noxious atmosphere of a summer in the city, to keep the house in safety, while its proprietor, children, and even servants, are enjoying cool breezes, drinking at fountains of health, or roving in the free air of the country; now out watching the moon, with weary

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