"It was a lovely evening; for not only was the green leaf on the tree, and the birds singing in the bush, but the pleasant breeze was abroad, and the snowy clouds in the blue sky, as well as the churchyard, the fields, and the distant hills, were lit up with sunshine. Some say that man, on his pilgrimage to a better world, has no time to muse on the natural creation; but let them say what they will, where a holy influence has led the eye and heart to regard earth and skies as the handiwork of the Holy One, a deeper reverence will be felt, and a warmer glow of thankfulness will be enjoyed. That old man, in the quiet musings of his mind, sitting, as it were, in the garden of death, seemed to enjoy the beauty and calmness of the summer scene. There was no despondency on his brow, but hope and peace were there visibly portrayed. True are the words of the prophet, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.'

"For more than fourscore summers, and as many winters, had that aged man lived in the village, rarely roaming a dozen miles from the place. He had whistled in the fields as a ploughboy in his childhood, guided the share through the soil in his youth, and ploughed, and sowed, reaped and mowed, with a lusty arm, in his manhood, the broad acres which had been tilled by his fathers before him. From his discourse I soon gathered that he had been one among the better class of cottagers, looked up to by those below him, and respected by those above him, and that then, in the latter end of his days, his trust being in Him, whom to know is eternal life, he was looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.'

"While we sat together in the porch, my grey-headed companion ran over the names of the several pastors who, in his time, had guided the village flock. Some of these

ministers had removed to better benefices, and some had 'fallen asleep.' He had seen in his day the church once new-roofed, and the spire twice new-shingled. There were but three men in the neighbourhood who were older than he, and not one among them, like him, could walk about in the sunshine and inhale the pleasant breeze. 'There were,' said he, Gaffers and Gammers in my younger days, but such names are now seldom or never heard of.'

"He spoke of the monuments in the chancel of the church; some had been erected in the life-time of his grandfather, and that of the knight in chain armour, lying on his back with his two-handed sword beside him, was much older. He spoke also of the broad flat grey stones inlaid with brass, that were so much worn away by the foot, across which the shepherd and part of his flock frequently walked, and over which the little lambs of the Sunday-schools were continually passing.

Marble shall moulder and decay,
And solid brass shall wear away;
While God's eternal word, secure
Mid rolling ages, shall endure.

Many were the green hillocks and graven stones of the village churchyard, and not a few of those who slept beneath them had been known to the aged cottager, who seemed to take a pleasure in relating what he knew about them, and in looking back on days which had long gone by. He told me of the old squire who lived at the hall, and of Madam Bloxham, who once inhabited the large house called the Rookery. She had considered the poor, and the Lord had delivered her in the time of trouble, strengthening her upon the bed of languishing, and making all her bed in her sickness. The squire was lying in the vault with the marble tomb over it, at the north end of the church; and the dust of

Madam Bloxham reposed beneath the plain monument near the belfry door, surrounded by the iron palisades.

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As the old cottager sat talking, his eyes were often turned to the group of graves clustered together as though they belonged to the same family. One of these, as I said before, had neither brier nor green turf upon it. 'Tell me,' said I, 'who are lying there?' There was that in the manner of my aged companion, as he entered on his account, which led me to suppose he had more than a common interest in his narrative; I remained silent while he gave me the following story:—

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Those who lie there, sir,' said he, 6 as you seem to suppose, all sprang from the same stock, and I humbly and heartily trust that their names are all "written in the book of life." Abel Haycroft was an upright hard-working man, fearing God and acting a kind part to his neighbours. Such a man ought not to have had an enemy in the world; but he had one, and a bitter one too, who wronged him, forced him to go to law, and ruined him. When I say ruined him, I mean that he took from him his earthly property; for Abel had a heavenly inheritance that no one could take away. It seemed a hard thing that he, who had owned land as a master, should be compelled to till it as a servant; but so it was, and Abel left the house on the farm to live in a cottage. Where the fear of God is, no one can be altogether unhappy. Abel repined not at the loss of his lands. "The Lord gave," said he, " and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Abel, after all, was a richer man than he who had oppressed him; for "better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right."

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'Abel Haycroft had three sons, Ambrose, Gideon, and Gregory. "The lads must work, as I have done,” said he ;

"but that will not hurt them, for the sleep of a labouring man is sweet. They have learned to read God's holy word, and I hope some of it is in their hearts." Abel lies under the third hillock yonder; for the first, with the head-stone, is the resting-place of his father, and the second that of his uncle. He died as he had lived, a humble disciple of the Redeemer, and I can fancy, though I was but a lad when he left the world, that I now hear the minister giving out the text for his funeral sermon,-"The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

"Ambrose, Gideon, and Gregory, loved as brothers should love one another. "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" While they were together they felt strong-for "a threefold cord is not quickly broken;" but a time came when they were to part.

"A man visited the village who had been at sea, and he talked so glibly about gallant ships and studding-sails, and the white foam and the green ocean, and ivory and golddust, and sunny islands, and macaws, and cocoa-nuts, that the head of poor Ambrose was fairly turned, so that nothing would do but he must go to sea. To sea he went, and however it might be with the other matters, right little of the ivory and gold-dust came to his share. Of the sun, poor fellow, he had enough; for he came back, after living in India twenty years, with neither health nor wealth. It was well that his brother Gregory had stuck to the plough, and got a little beforehand, for it enabled him to give Ambrose a home in the cottage of his father.

"Before Ambrose came home Gideon went abroad, for he had heard that in the West, land was to be had for little or nothing a labouring man was sure to prosper there, for food was cheap and they had no taxes. Childhood is the proper time to blow bubbles, but some people are