5. He was wrapped up in his milling operations, and eyed his bags of flour with the same avidity as a miser would those of his gold; he was that sort of selfish and self-sufficient person, that would not take any moderate boot between the prime minister and himself, and thought the machinery of the state of little importance compared with that of his own mill. He ordered the coachman to get forward, with some further menace, if he did not.

6. The young man after a little altercation, took his seat beside the guard, and the coachman drove off. It was still dark; the rain was intense, the voices ceased, and the invalid, if a gentle snore was any indication, had fallen asleep.

7. As the coach was passing through Fox and Geese Common, a barking cur assailed the horses, and was apparently responded to by a low growl from the interior of the vehicle. "Is there a dog in the coach," asked the miller, for it was yet pitch dark. Those who were awake said they could not tell : the invalid breathed hard and snored-in a few minutes the growl was heard again, advancing to a sharper snarl. "Have you got a dog in the coach ?" asked the miller-"it is contrary to all rule-the agent is at fault, and shall be fined-it shall be looked to when the coach stops."

8. A renewed snarl and a few chopping barks from the opposite seat where the invalid was placed, made the miller certain that the dog belonged to him, and lay behind his legs; not wishing, however, to put out his hand, or even his foot, to make the trial, he waited for daylight impatiently, and one or two succeeding growls from the same quarter, confirmed him in this surmise. At length a tedious dawn gave way to the slowly-increasing light of a gloomy morning; the miller had his eye fixed upon the spot, and as objects became less enveloped in shade, he chuckled at having ocular proof of the nuisance which he determined to complain and get rid of at the next stage.

9. There lay the dog, as he conceived, behind his master's legs; but what was his disappointment and chagrin, when through

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the breaking clouds, a strong gleam of light fell not uponthe dog of his imagination—but on a small portmanteau belonging to the invalid, who at the sudden burst of light which had surprised and disappointed the miller, opened his eyes, keen, sharp, and penetrating, but sunk deep in a pale and emaciated countenance.

10. "You have been asleep," said the miller "Have I?" was the reply. "Have you a dog in the coach ?" "No." "Did you not hear any growling or snarling in the coach?" "I did at setting off" "From what quarter did you hear it?" "From yourself, growling about strict rules." "You are satirical, but we have heard a dog in the coach, and it shall not remain-you were asleep." "So you say." "You snored in your sleep." "May be so." "Do you ever growl, or snarl, or bark in your sleep?" "It is not improbable-I have not been very well; but Doctor Middleton tells me I am cured."

11. "Do you say Middleton-that's the mad doctor." "He's a very good doctor, and I'll thank him the longest day I live." The miller in some little alarm, asked in a milder tone, "were you in the house?" "I was, for three months, and he performed a great cure for me." "May I ask," said the now subdued miller, "what was the nature of your malady?" Why, if you must know," replied the invalid, "it was neither more nor less than the bite of a mad dog."

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12. "Save us," said the miller, "and did the doctor effect a perfect cure?" "He did, and sent me out yesterday to return to my native air, saying that the trifling symptom of snarling like a dog, which, perhaps, may have annoyed you in my sleep, will gradually wear away, and does not signify, as I have done no mischief for the last month, and he was sure that going back to my family would quiet my mind and set all right."

The miller's countenance now exhibited a strong expression of terror; he looked wistfully out of the window, and lamented the teeming rain which prevented him from enjoying a seat outside. At this moment the invalid was affected by a

tremendous fit of snarling and barking, resembling so perfectly the canine expression of the most furious irritation, that the miller under the strongest expression of alarm was about to get out of the coach, when the invalid seizing him by his coat, grinned at him, and exhibited a set of deformed teeth, barking vehemently for some minutes, and then subsiding into a perfect calm, entreated the terrified miller not to be in the least alarmed, that it was all over, and that he might depend on there being no danger whatever.

14. By this time the coach had arrived at Black Church h; the rain was rather heavier and more perpendicular in its descent: during the change of horses the feverish miller called for a glass of spring water, which when presented to him at the carriage window, was instantly dashed to pieces by the suf ferer under hydrophobia, who recommenced the most terrific barkings and snarlings, accompanied by grinnings and gestures the most frightful, through all of which he roared to the miller to be under no alarm, that it would not signify, that Doctor Middleton had told him so, that he had bitten no one for six weeks, and that he would be quiet again in a few minutes.

15. But the trembling miller determined not to trust him, Dr. Middleton, or the nature of his disorder, jumped out of the coach, called for a chaise, and posted on alone. As he drove off, the invalid putting his head out of the window, invited his brother into the vacant seat, which (leaving his wet cloak with the guard) he enjoyed for the remainder of a drenching day, to the infinite mirth of the passengers, (previously made acquainted with the trick,) and to the still further annoyance of the miller, whom they passed on the road, and who was saluted by both brothers with a familiar nod of humorous sarcasm, and an exclamation from both: you should observe strict rules."

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MORAL.

16. In every rank of life let a disobliging temper be avoided. Be accommodating in every way that religion and duty will

sanction-"Do as you would be done by:" recollecting that it is a divine maxim, and that, so blended are the wants and dependencies of the human race in all its gradations, you cannot tell the moment that a kind action done, may not be recompensed tenfold, or that a sulky, surly, unaccommodating temper may not meet, as in the miller's case, if not a more galling return, at least that of ridicule, contempt, and disappointment.

BOB FLETCHER.-TOWNSEND HAINES.

1. I once knew a plowman, Bob Fletcher his name,
Who was old, and was ugly, and so was his dame;
Yet they lived quite contented, and free from all strife,-
Bob Fletcher, the plowman, and Judy, his wife.

2. As the morn streaked the east, and the night fled away,
They would rise up for labor, refreshed for the day;
And the song of the lark, as it rose on the gale,
Found Bob at the plow, and his wife at the pail.

3. A neat little cottage in front of a grove,

Where in youth they first gave their young hearts up to love, Was the solace of age, and to them doubly dear,

As it called up the past with a smile or a tear.

4. Each tree had its thought, and the vow could impart,
That mingled in youth the warm wish of the heart;
The thorn was still there, and the blossoms it bore,
And the song from its top seemed the same as before.

5. When the curtain of night over nature was spread,
And Bob had returned from the plow to his shed,
Like the dove on her nest, he reposed from all care,
If his wife and his youngsters contented were there.

6. I have passed by his door, when the evening was gray, And the hill and the landscape were fading away,

And have heard from the cottage, with grateful surprise, The voice of thanksgiving, like incense, arise.

7. And I thought on the proud, who would look down with scorn, On the neat little cottage, the grove and the thorn, And felt that the riches and tinsels of life

Were dross, to contentment, with Bob and his wife.

IMAGINARY EVIL.-OLIVER GOLDSMITH.

CROAKER, MRS. CROAKER, and HONEYWOOD.

Enter CROAKER.

Cro. Death and destruction! Are all the horrors of air, fire, and water, to be leveled only at me? Am I only to be singled out for gunpowder-plots, combustibles, and conflagragration? Here it is-an incendiary letter dropped at my door. "To Muster Croaker, these with speed." Ay, ay, plain enough the direction: all in the genuine incendiary spelling. "With speed." O, confound your speed. But let me read it once more. (Reads) "Muster Croaker, as sone as yow see this, leve twenty gunnes at the bar of the Talboot tell called for, or yowe and yower experetion will be all blown up." Ah, but too plain. Blood and gunpowder in every line of it. Blown up! murderous dog! all blown up! Heavens! what have I and my poor family done, to be all blown up? (Reads) "Our pockets are low, and money we must have." Ay, there's the reason; they'll blow us up, because they have got low pockets. (Reads) “It is but a short time you have to consider; for if this takes wind, the house will quickly be all of a flame." Inhuman monsters! blow us up, and then burn us! The earthquake at Lisbon was but a bonfire to it