no invitation for him which might interfere with the service he had accepted, viz. the service of the best of masters; and so saying, he turned to descend the stairs, motioning to me to follow him; but as I was slipping by the housekeeper, being near her upon the stairs, she caught the lappet of my coat, and though in such a way as I might have extricated with the smallest effort, one should have thought, she brought me to a stand, and said in an under tone, 'Remember, young sir, where you will be welcome;' which, whisper threw me into such confusion, that I had not another word to say, but this 'I must needs ask my uncle, madam:' whereupon she smiled, and laid her finger on her lips, as much as to say, say no more at this time, and I was escaping as fast as I could, when I was almost driven to desire to sink into the floor with shame, to hear bursts of laughter over my head, mingled with tones of contemptuous pity, and expressions to this effect'Well, we know who will be the loser,' and then again another burst of merriment, though smothered as it were; for instead of following my uncle, I had stood still on the lower part of the stairs, to look to where the voices had come from, and had discerned in the gallery above, the daughters of the housekeeper all standing in a row against the ballustrades, amusing themselves with me; and truly, I thought I had never seen a more comely group of damsels, nor any more set

off with the fashion of their attire, or the choice of their colours. But to describe how I was cut and confounded with the ridicule they were passing upon me, would be very difficult; any one might have knocked me down with a feather just then. I have often since thought how like a fool I must have looked, standing there, gaping and staring up at the maidens; neither can I tell how long I might have stood, had not the mother tapped me on the shoulder, saying good humouredly, as I then thought,' Hear you not your uncle call, young sir? make haste and follow him, and another time let us see how you can return raillery for raillery, and how you can overcome those young girls with their own weapons. Truly, I hope we shall have many pleasant hours together, when you are thought old enough to slip the collar.' So I recollected myself at last, and running down what remained of the steps, I was up with my uncle, who had turned down a long arched cloister where the light was scarcely that of twilight, the door of which was directly opposite to the stairs.

Young man,' said he, as I came up to him, 'wherefore did you linger behind? Let me tell you, that if you give ear to that woman, you will lay up for yourself such a rod, as you will find it no easy matter to bear; for I tell you

1

"Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.”— Prov. v. 5.

she has been the ruin of many a one, that is, so far as their present peace is concerned; for our master will not leave any of his own in her power.1 Have I not cautioned you respecting her, and told you that she can flatter with her lips, and drop honey from her tongue?'

I made no reply to these words of my uncle, not that my heart did not suggest many things, but that I did not dare to give utterance to them, for I was in fear of my uncle, and more than that, I loved him, and I was moreover more than half assured that he was right, and that his master is the only one in whose service there is peace and safety-I could not then have added, and joy, for my natural corruptions would have led me to have sought enjoyment elsewhere, viz. in the housekeeper's room, and in the company of the daughters, and in the good things which she held under the keys hanging at her side; nevertheless, I did not speak, and as I walked silently after the old gentleman, the tumult of my mind began to subside, and presently, my thoughts were drawn away from the scene upon the stairs, to other matters; for there is a lightness in young minds, which leads them from dwelling long upon one set of ideas.

The cloisters were long, and as I before said, very dark, the passage being defiled by bats and other

"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."— 1 Thess. v. 24.

unclean birds, who inhabit the crannies and nooks of the old walls, and the air was dark and misty. And whereas in the chapel above described, there wanted but the removal of the tablets, set there to please Madame le Monde, to admit the pure brightness of the open heavens, in this part of the house it seemed that the light had been altogether excluded from the beginning. Not that there were not some few slits in the wall, formed as it were for the emitting arrows in case of attack (for this part of the building was evidently prepared both for offensive and defensive war) but as it happened, these slits were of no use to those within, being choked up with rubbish and the litter of the obscene birds which

haunted the place. But being entered into these dark passages, I said, 'What place is this? it seems wholly deserted and forsaken of inhabitants.'

"These are the haunts of Father Peter and his followers, and you judge hastily in supposing that they are forsaken; for fallen as the authority of the Father is, yet were he to count numbers with the doctor, I verily believe that there would be found three to one of the household who hold to the former rather than the latter, though there are some who take little heed to either of them, and these are an increasing party. 1

1 "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." 2 Peter iii. 3.

But come on,' continued the old gentleman, 'you will presently see that this part of the mansion is not so far forsaken as you imagine; and as we go quietly forward, I shall explain to you who this Father Peter is, and whence arose his authority in the house. Now it appears that when our Lord took his departure to go into that far country, from whence we are daily looking for his return, he left unto his servants who had been with him when he was present in this place, this commission,—that they should speak of him to all their brethren throughout the world, promising at the same time that he would speedily send the interpreter to them, who should instruct and direct them in what they should teach: and so saying he departed.' Now it seems that the worthy doctor and some other amongst us, took what our Lord said in simplicity, setting aside certain comparatively

"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel: which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts i. 6-11.