most pathetic appeal on our behalf. "Neighbour Williams," said he, " these gentlemen have walked a long way, and come unexpectedly to see the Abbey. It is a sad awkward time of the year, and late at night, too; but I have done all I can to make them comfortable, for I have seen something of life myself, and can feel for them. Now, neighbour Williams, we are at sad fault for a bed you have got one, I know, that is at liberty; and if you will spare it for these gentlemen, I shall take it as a favour done to myself; it will be but for one night, and I shall be very, very much obliged to you. We ought to do what we can for one another; and I hope you will not refuse me the bed for these gentlemen, for I am sorry for them from my heart." Mrs. Williams acted her part admirably, and after some natural remarks about the " very late hour," room to make tidy," "bed to air," "clean sheets," and a few other minor disadvantages and difficulties which a compliance with the request of Mr. Hollowblast would involve, gave in her acquiescence in the proposal made to her, and retired to prepare a dormitory for our accommodation.

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The next requirement made for us by Mr. Hollowblast was that Mary, the servant, should give up her bed; an arrangement to which no

objection was made on her part; so that, every impediment being removed, my companions stretched their weary limbs in the spare bed of Mrs. Williams, and I passed the night on the curtainless couch where Mary, the domestic, was wont to repose.

The morning came, and we assembled at the breakfast table of Mr. Hollowblast. The moans of the aged gentleman during the night, told me that he was labouring under some bodily affliction; but he made no complaint to us. The winds were abroad, and the snow lay thick upon the ground; and we had arranged, after an inspection of the old Abbey, to ascend the Black Mountains; a substantial breakfast was, therefore, a very necessary preliminary to our undertaking.

And now came the winding up of our account with our sympathizing host, in which he manifested a regard for his own interest-though perhaps not in an unusual degree-which flung a slight shade upon his hospitality. He said that he made no charge; he could make none; we were gentlemen, and he well knew that we should act like gentlemen. It was, to be sure, an awkward season of the year, and a late hour at night, at which we had come upon him; and he had no doubt that we should consider that it

had put him about a good deal; but he would leave the matter entirely to ourselves. He hoped that he had done his best to make us comfortable; there was nothing in his house which he had not offered to us, for he had seen a good deal of the world, and knew what it was to be at a distance from home, and to come in wet and tired after a journey.

With these, and other observations, and not forgetting to remind us that he should have rather liberally to recompense his neighbour, Mrs. Williams, he left the remuneration to ourselves; and thus secured, perhaps, about double the amount we should have paid at a regular inn.

When a new principle is implanted in man, he can practise self-denial and disinterestedness; till then, self is but too apparent in all his deeds. The Christian character is a lovely one, and rendered still more so by the strong contrast afforded by a worldly mind. It would be enough to make us yearn for heaven, if it were for nothing else than to be stripped of our selfishness. Not willingly would I, by severity, do injustice to our aged host. I remember his attentions with pleasure, nor do I think that he was more selfish than mankind in general.

When we parted with old Mr. Hollowblast,

he rose from his arm-chair to shake us all by the hand. The same cap which adorned his brows the preceding night, was on his head; and his legs were defended from the cold, by the same ample, blue, broad-ribbed worsted stockings as we had before seen. We left him under an impression that we should meet no more till the last trumpet should sound, and that impression was correct; for, soon after, we heard that he was "gathered to his fathers."

We visited the old abbey, and lingered amid its snow-capped, ruined walls. We climbed the Black Mountains, and stood on their highest eminence, admiring the goodly prospect of the country around; but neither the ruined abbey, nor the broad-breasted mountains, are so vivid in my remembrance as the grotesque figure of old Mr. Hollowblast.

THE FIRESIDE RAMBLE.

THIS is not only a dull, but a dark and drenching day; for the rain falls heavily, with no prospect of abatement. Well, well! it gives an additional value to the water-tight roof above me, the dry, soft carpet under my feet, the substantial furniture around me, and the cheerful fire, that wears the face of a friend.

There are times when we look around for amusement. The present moment is a season of this kind with me, and I have spread before me the map of Europe, with the intention of rambling, in my fancy, through some of the popular cities, and public places that have made a noise in the world. It is said that knowledge is now so liberally spread among mankind, that every body knows every thing; and though this saying goes far beyond the truth, yet, certain it is, that we have a much more general acquaintance with places over the seas than we used to possess. Let me, then, draw on the re