cially if the clients were widows and orphans. We must not, however, dwell too long on these particulars. We have said thus much about Mrs. Plummer, because our story has some reference to this out-flowing goodness of hers-a quality which really made her at times seem somewhat coarse, because she did not guard against appearances. It is a strange result of our half-civilization, that traits and doings on which the angels look down with sympathy and delight, should often be condemned by human fashions as vulgar.

Behold the company assembled-fluttering, whispering, tittering, flying out and in, stealing up for a final pin or comb; the young men congregating outside the front door; the old ladies making various excuses to peep into the mysterious receptacles in which were bestowed the festive materials. All was well but one thingthe thing! Susan did not come! The notion of supping at midnight had not, as we have hinted, ever dawned upon these remote regions. When much is to be done, it is a business-like maxim to set about it early, and these matter-of-fact people see no reason why feasting should not be conducted on principles which have been found sound in other affairs of moment. Everything at this welcome-party of Mrs. Plummer had been calculated for the moment of four o'clock; but somehow, reckoning upon Susan's knowledge of home-habits, the good lady had omitted to make any regular appointment with her daughter; while, at the same time, she had given her no inkling of an unusual effort on the occasion, though she had hinted that she thought of having a few of the neighbours together. She intended it for a kind of surprise like.'

This was only another proof of Mrs. Plummer's newness; for the keen world has long ago discovered that surprises are seldom

agreeable, and voted them vulgar accordingly. But the main point is, Susan and her party failed to arrive at the proper time. It was impossible to put back the oven more than half an hour, without utter destruction to the loads of good things which were steaming within it; and at half-past four the word was given to 'dish.' Soon after-at least as soon as could be expected-the company were ushered into the refreshment hall—a place not so cool or so quiet in its appointments as some 'marble halls' that young ladies dream of, but furnished with the essentials of the most elegant dining-room-a well-filled table and the requisite number of seats.

We half promised to give an idea of the feast, but might better refer the reader to sundry old Dutch and Flemish paintings, or to Mr. Beckford's accounts of the groaning tables of Alcobaca. We will not forget, however, that there was a roast pig in the middle; an immense wild turkey looming brownly from either extremity; a huge chicken-pie, much ornamented in the natural history line; grouse in abundance; redolent puddings and flaky pies; quivering custards and shining sweet-meats, not to mention cake, pickles (huge ones), cheese, hot biscuits, dough-nuts; but our breath fails. Tea and coffee were the only stimulants, and these were served assiduously by the lady of the house and her friend, Miss Polly Green, the numerous boys acting as waiters. There was a regular transportation line established between the table and old Mrs. Corning's chair in the corner; for both Mr. and Mrs. Plummer insisted upon sending her some of everything. Whether the old lady disposed of all, the boys know better than we. But she had a country appetite we do not doubt, or she would not have lived out her century. The pleasure of distributing had made Mrs. Plummer almost forget her disappointment. Her round face

glowed and radiated as she heaped one and another plate, and the board began to give good evidence of her hospitable assiduity, when the carriage from B- drove up, and, a minute after, Susan entered, followed by several of her village friends.

If there be a time unfavourable to the advent of new guests, it is when the neatness and order which gives a kind of delicacy to the appearance of large quantities of food, have disappeared before the 'sacred rage' of hunger; and when, in the enjoyment of the good the gods provide, the company have somewhat thrown off the company air, and allowed themselves to assume a feeding look, in place of that guarded indifference which the tact of all circles prescribes as the more graceful. At the first onset, Susan Plummer, in fine spirits, and followed by several companions as gay as herself, was evidently shocked and annoyed by the aspect of things; and shrinking back, she withdrew to the 'keeping room' with her companions, saying, that as the table was full they would wait awhile. But this was not to be thought of. Every body rose. A general clatter and shoving took place; dishes were removed-not without some spilling and other awkward accidents; and, at length, a space was secured, in which the new comers sat down, while some of the more industrious feasters took themselves off, declaring that they had finished. Occasions like this test good breeding. Of course there are tables where all would have been accomplished without a moment's chill on the flow of enjoyment; but among the simple and literal this could not be. The whole affair had a broken-up air. Talk either died away or went on in whispers ; while Susan felt bound to give her attention to her new friends, who were totally unacquainted with most of the company. Poor dear Mrs. Plummer!

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The supper table had to be cleared before the dancing could begin, and this was a work of time. Meanwhile Susan and her party were talking and laughing in a way that made some of the rustic guests feel a little uncomfortable. Susan was too right-minded to join heartily in disparaging or contemptuous remarks upon her worthy neighbours, but perhaps it would have been expecting too much of a gay young girl just from a village school, to look for a decided repression of such a disposition in her companions. The tone of their conversation was such, as while she could not approve it, she still sympathized in too much to refrain from partaking in some degree. In short, though difficult to describe without too much circumlocution, we all know that it is possible to ridicule people before their faces, and to make them sensible that we are doing so, without saying a single sentence which on being repeated would seem reprehensible. And it is an instinct with people of limited minds and narrow experience to prove their fancied superiority in this way. The dancing gave new scope to this inclination, being characterized rather by industry and earnestness than grace, and here Susan, exhilirated by her own share in the amusement, and carried away by the example of her gay companions, forgot her conscientious reserve and the duties of her position, so far as to make her own share in the rudeness of the would-be fashionables quite too conspicuous. Her mother found an opportunity to caution her once or twice, and her father cast at her and her friends some looks stern enough to have sobered them all at any other time. But without avail. The sport was too good. Perhaps some of our young readers may recollect circumstances somewhat similar. It is not uncommon to give in excuse for this sort of amusement, 'I could not possibly help it; yet the sport is always regulated by its apparent safety. We do not ridicule the powerful, or those from

whom we hope anything. The weakness of the aggrieved, their ignorance their unconsciousness-which ought to be their protection, is an encouragement. If there be any fear of retaliation, we are very careful to be able to conceal our sense of the ridiculous.

Susan's temptation in this case is easily conceived. Here were gay friends whose pseudo-refinement had much impressed her, contrasted as it was with the utter homeliness of those among whom she had always lived; and after having felt herself belonging to the polite for a while, she now found herself in the false and perplexing position of being claimed by two opposite parties, both of whom were present. To side with the highest and strongest was the instinct of youthful ambition, and the high spirits caused by getting among the old familiar faces and haunts again, gave her a sort of audacity foreign to her nature at other times.

The plain people at home, on the other hand, sensitive as all plain people are in the presence of those they suppose higher bred than themselves, were all alive to the conduct of the 'grandees' from B- -Really good-breeding would have satisfied them, and put them at their ease, for it is always considerate and kind, and finds nothing too low for its care. But the mere outside imitation of it which was all Susan's new friends possessed, fell wholly short of the occasion, and was only intent on vindicating its own doubtful claims, at any expense of other people's feelings; and poor Susan, too weak to stem the current, was led on to partake its hue far more than she ought. As to the material used on the occasion, it was of the same nature with that which serves for the same purpose in fashionable societies, though the topics were perhaps a little different. A damsel far over-dressed, in gay colours and flaunting streamers, went over the dance with a very awkward country youth in heavy boots