branches of the mantling ivy, clinging to the fostering tree beneath whose shade they grow, at last give support to the trunk in its decay, their accomplishments matured under his guidance were directed to whatever could invigorate the mind, or contribute to the bodily comfort of their father. The Elder possessed the power of throwing a charm into all her conversation; while the Younger, by the same kind of enchantment, infused a spell into all her actions; and thus, both wove a magic wreath, which, when bound about the brow, dispelled, by its inherent power, mental uneasiness, and bodily anguish. Their father, with a mind stored with the elegancies of literature, with a taste refined by the advantages of foreign travel, and an early introduction into polished life, joined to a fine and tempered sense of religion, shone with equal lustre in retirement as in society: and these amiable endowments were transmitted unimpaired to the minds and manners of his children. This was exemplified in the air and character of every thing around them: the pleasuregrounds and gardens, the walks and greenhouse, the mansion and its establishment, all manifested

the same unison of taste and feeling. Beauty, produced by elegance, without splendour; liberality without extravagance; and arrangement concealing its mechanism, were the impressions which obtruded themselves upon all who visited from the same this seat: and that all this sprang refinement which showed itself in the pursuits that engaged the uniform attention of its possessors, was equally conspicuous to the few that visited the family as friends. Indeed, so accordant were their sentiments, that they seemed to emanate only from one mind; an equal interest was excited in all, for the excellencies of each. In the choice of books, in the course of reading, in the selection of subjects for her pencil, Matilda was governed by the taste of her father. In her music, in the arrangement of the flowers, plants and shrubs, and the management of domestic concerns, Ellen was influenced by the desire to please the same director; whilst he, in displaying the natural beauties of the grounds, or in laying out the gardens, submitted his plans to the determination of those for whom he was dedicating his taste.

It was on a bright winter's evening, when the moon was rising in all her pensive beauty in the heavens, through the clear frosty atmosphere,

that Dr. Freeman walked out towards the mansion: he had stopped more than once in his way, to gaze upon the beauties which the elevated and massive fabric of his church presented to his view, at a time, and under a sky peculiarly suited to the contemplation of the magnificence. of Gothic structures. The shadows of the re

tiring parts of the building are then broad and deep, the soft tinge which the moon-beams cast upon the projections are so exquisitely and delicately silvered, and the whole so mellowed and subdued,

When buttress and buttress alternately
Seem framed of ebon and of ivory,

that the mind is awed by the sombre majesty of the scene: and this, associated with the reflection that there stands before the eye the venerable pile, in and around which there sleep in calm repose those who from successive generations have frequented the House of Prayer, and have offered up the pure incense of devout praise and adoration ;-these thoughts take possession of the heart, and lay it open to the reception of the best feelings of our nature. On the good Rector's mind, familiarized as he daily

and hourly was to the sight of this object, it did not fail to excite a glow of satisfaction in his heart that he possessed the guardianship of a temple, which, in its antiquity, purity of style, and dignified majesty of architecture, assimilated so well with the character of that religion which it was his duty and high gratification to advocate within its walls. But when he reflected upon the momentous charge which that guardianship devolved upon him, and contrasted the extent of the sacred pile with his own frail tenement of clay, he found himself shrink into insignificance, from which, however, he was elevated by a sense of that immortal essence which dwelt within him, and which assured him that he should live, when

"The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, and the great globe itself, were dissolved,

And like the baseless fabric of a vision,
Left not a track behind."-

From this object of admiration, and these interesting thoughts, he was driven by the keenness of the air; he, therefore, proceeded onward to the mansion, and was soon ushered into the drawing-room, where Mr. Montagu, reclining

upon a sofa near the fire, had vainly been wooing sleep.

My good friend," said the kind host, as the Doctor entered, though in an unusually subdued tone, "why did you not come and take your dinner with us to-day, if you had no better claim upon your time? I began to think the greenhouse had lost its charms, and my girls their attractions in your eyes, since we have seen so little of you lately: what has been the cause of your long absence?"

"The cause," replied the Doctor, "is one which has already excited the commiseration of this house. There has arisen, from the extreme dampness of the atmosphere, an epidemic disorder which daily carries off such numbers, both of children and up-grown persons, that my time has been incessantly occupied in attending the chambers of sickness and death. I have, however, seized the first opportunity which the interval from such employment has offered, to get the exercise of a walk hither, and to enjoy a little of your society; but I have also an additional motive for my visit this evening, in the desire to thank your young ladies for the benefaction which they sent me this