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DOMESTIC MEMOIRS,

&c.

CHAPTER I.

It was at the close of one of those lovely autumnal days that so often brighten over the face of September, that Mr. and Mrs. Gracelove, with their youthful and beautiful daughter Laura, then ten years of age, their two sons, and a younger daughter, found themselves seated before a cheerful fire in their picturesque cottage on the delightful banks of Derwentwater. Nothing could exceed the splendid landscape by which they were surrounded. The transparent lake, studded with its verdant islets, whose luxuriant foliage dipped its green leaves in the rippling waves; the majestic forms of the mountains that elevated their lofty summits to the clouds, encircling this valley of bright waters, while reflected on their shining surface; the white cottages and rural villas, scattered in various directions along the base of the mountain range, with the foaming cascade rushing down the rugged heights-all combined to create a scene of grandeur and loveliness, that spoke to the heart as forcibly as it attracted and charmed the eye. It spoke of that great and glorious Being whose creative omnipotence originated all things; "who spake, and it was done; who com

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manded, and it stood fast;"* and whose beneficence in adorning this lower world with such varied and exquisite beauty, though the habitation of his rebellious creature man,— to cheer the penitent pilgrim on his way to the lost home of his happiness, is as transcendently exhibited as the power that called the world into existence.

Derwent Cottage-for such was the name given to the rural abode of Mr. and Mrs. Gracelove-was so judiciously situated as to command a full view of these beauties of nature. It was built on a gentle eminence overlooking the lake; with a flowergarden and shrubbery extending in front, and which opened on a terrace that sloped down to the water's edge, where a handsome boat belonging to the family was in constant readiness for a sailing or fishing excursion, when the weather was fine. The style of the cottage was an imitation of Swiss architecture, after the best design, and which harmonized most

But the principal charm

gracefully with the scenery around. that attracted the eye on viewing its exterior, in connection with the garden and ornamental grounds, was the extreme care and neatness with which everything was arranged. The fresh and delicate colouring of the paint; the tasteful training of the honeysuckles and climbing rose-trees along the sides of the house; the newly-gravelled walks, and the well-weeded parterres of flowers, denoted a refinement of mind and manners in the owners of the establishment, which a subsequent knowledge more than justified.

And, now, let us enter this picturesque dwelling, in which we have described the master and mistress, with their young family, seated around the domestic hearth. The room occupied by this interesting party was characterized by the elegant simplicity of its style and embellishment. There was nothing of vanity or pretension in its furniture or arrangement; nothing * Ps. xxxiii. 9.

of finery or gaudy attraction to catch the eye; but while the quality of each article was of the best description, the fashion of it was modest and unassuming. It presented, in short, the chaste appearance which an apartment in such a cottage, and on the shores of such a lake, should present-the simple art within according with the simplicity of nature without.

In addition to the usual assortment of chairs and tables, a pianoforte occupied a corner of the room; and on the opposite side was placed a well-stored book-case; while the few pictures that ornamented the walls represented, in well-executed oilpaintings and engravings, the prominent beauties of the adjacent lake.

But the clock now struck ten, and in conformity with the christian custom of this well-regulated household, they prepared to close the evening with family worship. While Laura, therefore, rose for the purpose of bringing the Bibles, Mr. and Mrs. Gracelove and their three other children seated themselves at a round mahogany table that stood in the centre of the room; and their daughter having placed a copy of the sacred volume before each of them, and having rung the bell, two neatly-attired and modest-looking female servants, with the footman, entered the apartment and took their seats near the table. They also brought their bibles with them, as they were required to join with the family in reading the portion of scripture that formed the evening's meditation, each taking a verse in succession. The chapter selected was the 22nd of Proverbs; containing, among many excellent texts, one which had deeply interested the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Gracelove from the birth of their first child; convinced, as they were, of the awful responsibility attaching to parents in the education of their offspring. It was the following-" Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."

The chapter being concluded, Mr. Gracelove made a few practical observations on the verse above cited; as it was his general practice to enforce and illustrate sometimes the whole of the portion read, at other times, only a single text. As being a man of fluent speech, guided by an excellent judgment and a pious mind, and well versed in the sacred Scriptures, he considered this familiar and popular mode better adapted to fix the attention of his auditors than reading an exposition from published notes and commentaries. It was impossible for the servants to fall asleep, as will often otherwise be the case, when the eyes of their master were constantly upon them; and it is very certain that in proportion as the senses are awake will the understanding be accessible, and the heart through the mind.

Mr. Gracelove commenced by remarking on the simplicity and beauty of the passage under consideration; and that its wisdom was still more conspicuous than its simple beauty, inasmuch as it respected the preparation of the heart for an immortal happiness in the world to come, "Every thing," he said, "that is required to be done in a course of education, ought to have a right and an early direction given to it. The training up a child by a father or mother in the way he should go,' is not accomplished by merely instructing him how to gain a subsistence, or to gratify the cravings of vanity and ambition. This, indeed, would be giving their son a stone when he asked for bread, and a serpent when he asked for a fish,* compared with the zealous endeavours of a fond and pious parent to obtain for a beloved child that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.' +

"But if," continued he, "the injunction of Solomon be not obeyed, while fostering the tendencies of a carnal education, neither is it more so, if the training but commence when the habits are formed; when vice and folly have taken root in the * Matt. vii. 9, 10. ↑ John vi. 27.

heart which it was intended altogether to prevent. Take for example," said Mr. Gracelove,-knowing the force of familiar illustration to the clearer comprehension of the mind,— “take for example the young sapling of a year's growth, and see with what perfect facility the hand can bend, or form, or incline it to any shape or position it pleases. But wait for ten or a dozen years, and the scion once so pliable and obedient, as if by instinct, to the merest touch of the finger, has now become rigid, and so immovably fixed in its position, as to resist all the applications of skill or strength to change its direction. You may indeed break it, but you cannot bend it. Let us now take another appropriate similitude, in reference to the sources of large rivers. If we commence our operations at the fountain-head of the subsequent stream, and trace out a channel, according to our own will and judgment, for the tiny sparkling jet of water that bubbles up from its hidden spring in the earth, we shall effect our object with ease and success. Should we delay, however, the training process until the jet has become a brook, then a stream, and finally a strong and rapid river, our opportunity will be lost for ever. Nature will then have triumphed over all the powers of art; the gigantic torrent will then urge on its own impetuous course, defying embankments and artificial boundaries, and occasionally bursting forth into new channels, carry ruin and devastation in its train.

“We have, among a variety of other instances, a celebrated example of this nature in the great Mississippi of North America. The resistless strength of this mighty and almost interminable river is such, when swollen by the melted snows of the mountains, as to bear down every barrier. It will then, not unfrequently, cut through and overwhelm its banks with impetuous fury,-tearing down the trees of the forest,—desolating the fruitful plains and harvests of the husbandman,-and

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