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was no more fitted than he was to sit in judgment in Westminster Hall, or be the leader of those rabid partizans who met in the Commons' House of Parliament.

Nature in her beneficence had endowed him with the attributes of well-developed muscles and rude health; but Nature is seldom lavish in her bounties, and she had not bestowed on him much cerebral power; to cultivate the earth, or pursue the beasts of the field, to be a skilful gunner, for such he was well fitted; but to teach the ignorant, explore the mysterious, to stand out as an intellectual guide—a moral beacon, and to "allure to brighter worlds and lead the way" for such he had no qualifications—no aspirations-no virtues. Had he been the kind of individual suited to the position he occupied -had he been a conscientious and an exemplary man, he might, in the midst of his little community, have been like Melchisedec -priest and king! He would then have been hailed with hearty welcome whenever, even under the humblest portal, he bent his anointed head!

Truth whispers the fact, that a mighty spirit of improvement has gone forth, and these days are days of enlightenment, and shadow out the gigantic forms of human advancement; men and manners, which in the tolerant spirit of the time, were passed over half a century ago, would now be scouted and cried down in shame. There may, in remote districts, be antiquated semblances of the original described, but they are rare and rapidly vanishing. In another generation it would be as vain to seek for a rector of Elleringay, as a pterodactyl clinging to the cathedral roof of Fingal's Cave, or to hunt for a Dodo on the plains of the Mauritius.

CHAPTER II.

"Join the dull mass, increase the trodden soil,
And sleep till earth herself shall be no more."
YOUNG'S "NIGHT THOUGHTS."

"How sleep the brave, who sinks to rest,

By all their country's wishes blest!

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There Honour comes, a pilgrim grey,

To bless the turf that wraps their clay."

COLLINS.

"There rest, my son

the dream is fled.

*

Where deep forgetfulness succeeds the roar

Of life, and fretting passions waste the heart no more!"

BOWLES.

HAD his reverence not interrupted us, we were pursuing the smooth current of our

narrative at the hall, and had just put Godfrey to bed after a terrible fright from an apparition; we will, then, with the reader's permission, retrograde over the last few pages.

When the news of the great victory reached the rector, he very patriotically sent for Mr. Shears, and desired that gentleman instanter to get himself, and as many coadjutors as he chose, in readiness for a hearty, uninterrupted, ringing day. He also told Mr. Shears that the ringers would be regaled with as much old October and roast beef as they chose, he having issued emphatic orders that the kitchen should, for at least that day, be made an open house. Shears now felt his loyalty tingling to his finger-ends, and he quickly enlisted helpers in addition to the regular church-ringing staff. The bells commenced in very desperation, the only fear was, that they would be cracked to atoms; long years had passed away since such merry pealing had resounded from that belfry, and when the beef and ale began to take effect, the ringing enthusiasm, and the

patriotism, increased in multiple ratio. The music of the merry bells borne on the tranquil bosom of the summer air, was wafted far and wide; the ploughman stayed his team, the woodman ceased his resounding strokes, and the shepherd leaned upon his staff, to listen to the chiming peals, and wonder at the cause! The village housewife, the coy maiden, and querulous old age, hurried to the threshold of each humble dwelling, as it was not the king's birthday, nor fifth of November, and no banns had been published of many months, therefore it could not be a wedding!

Napoleon was beaten, and the English had conquered the French! Why, the news sped like wildfire, every cottage hearth rang with noisy joy, witch-like old women, who had recently declared the world was about to end, talked of wars and rumours of wars, and the more profound politicians amongst them, gave it out, as a matter of course, that King George would henceforth also sit on the throne of France; venerable denizens thanked God that they had lived to see the day when

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