⚫ the fierce waves with "Peace, be still," how can we be sufficiently thankful that a way has been devised by which the tidings of these great things have been preserved from generation to generation, by which countless ages yet unborn may guide themselves to the home whence their first parents' sin exiled them.

11*

THE LAWSUIT.

BY EDWARD W. COX.

It was on the first market-day after I had commenced practice as a solicitor in a town in the west of England, that, as I was sitting in my office, poring over the learned Essay of Fearne on Contingent Remainders, and prepared to receive those who might honour me with their confidence, I heard a knock at the door, and a slow, heavy step upon the stairs. All who have felt the interest and anxiety with which a young professional man receives the announcement of business, will understand my emotions when the approach of a visiter diverted my thoughts from the abstruse doctrines of Fearne, though not my eyes from his closely printed page; for I deemed that a law-book before me would not at all diminish the confidence of my new client,-if, indeed, such the new comer should prove.

The door opened, and presented to me a farmer,-for such his dress declared him. With much suavity of tone, I entreated him to be seated, and then set myself to hear the case upon which I trusted he was about to consult me. He was a man evidently going down to the yale of life, for his hair was touched with the snows of time, and his face was sunken, and upon it care or years had chiselled many deep hard lines. His countenance betrayed an anxiety which excited in the spectator a feeling of painful interest. A dark eye indicated the strange compound of shrewdness and simplicity so remarkable in the English yeoman. His tall and muscular form was beginning to fade, for it was somewhat bent, and the rounded limbs of youth were yielding to the gauntness. of age. His dress was that of the better class of yeomen, only that it presented an appearance of greater neatness,

and more of the fashion of the day than is generally studied by the sturdy agriculturalist. It was evident that he, and those with whom he lived, were not ignorant of the comforts, nay, of the elegances, enjoyed by the middle classes of this country.

His business was soon declared. He had heard that I was intrusted with several sums of money to be advanced on good security. He wanted a few hundreds, and inquired the terms. My clients had resolved to lend only on land. I asked him if he could offer any. I perceived that his countenance fell as I put the question.

"Land!" he said. "Yes, sir; I have an estate, it was my father's before me; but, to be honest with you, the title is disputed. I am even now on the eve of trial."

Further inquiry satisfied me that I could not recom mend the loan. I kindly, but frankly told him so. He almost cried. He did not speak for some moments, but sat with his eyes fixed on the fire, and his body waving to and fro in a vain struggle to subdue his emotion. I know not what induced him to unbosom himself to me. Perhaps he gathered from my manner that I sympathized with him. Whatever was his motive, he related to me

all his troubles.

His ancestors, I learned, had filled the same station in life with himself. His father farmed his own estate, and transmitted it to him, as he had believed, altogether unincumbered. Shortly before the death of his parent put him in possession of this property, he married an amiable, and, for a farmer's wife, singularly accomplished girl, a governess at a neighbouring school. She had the good sense to accommodate herself to her situation, without altogether abandoning the studies and refinements of her youth. Under her auspices the farm-house assumed a new face there was a separate table for the parlour and the kitchen, and books and music, for the first time, graced the retired dwelling of Culvers Close. Eight children had blessed their union. Of these, one was in his grave; the others remained at home, educated by the industry and talent of their inestimable mother, who had infused into their young minds the seeds of goodness, trained them in the path of virtue, polished their manners,

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and improved their intellects. The eldest was a daughter, named after her mother, Julia; she was grown up to be a useful assistant to the failing energies of her parent; but I gathered that, of late, this favourite child had shown symptoms of disease, which had much alarmed her family. The second was a son, Robert, who aided his father in the management of the farm, and whose taste for study kept him ever at home by the fire-side, after the day's labour was done, gleaning knowledge for himself, or imparting his stores to the younger ones. other children descended by regular gradations to the little Ellen, who was a rude, romping, black-eyed tomboy, nine years old. Excepting only the loss of their infant, he said, their passage through life had been one of uninterrupted happiness,-happiness too great to be lasting. About twelve months since, he had endured a long and severe sickness, and before he was well enough to resume his daily work, he received notice of an adverse claim to his paternal estate, and, soon after, a declaration in ejectHis illness had somewhat embarrassed him; but from this he soon would have been released by care and frugality, had not the expenses of the lawsuit added to his burthens. It was to supply the means for trial at the next assizes, that he had asked the loan.

ment.

I really felt a great interest in his history, and this probably encouraged him to lay before me the points of law which he understood his case involved. His defence was already entrusted to another attorney, whom he named; he could not, therefore, as he would otherwise have done, place it in my hands; but he entreated me to give him the benefit of my assistance, as far as etiquette would permit, "for," he concluded, "if it be lost, nine of us will be ruined. I shall not have a bit of bread for my children to eat." I promised to give the papers my best attention, and to communicate with his attorney, who, fortunately, was a friend of my own, and, with more cheerfulness, he bade me a good morning, I having agreed to see him at his own house in the course of the ensuing weck.

I perused the documents with the greatest care,-I referred to the authorities,-I read all the cases that bore

upon the question, and, though I could find none precisely in point, the result of the inquiry was an impression that the adverse claim was valid. I wrote a long letter to my friend who was conducting the case, apologizing for the interference, but trusting that the deep interest I felt in the issue of the cause, would plead my excuse. I recapitulated to him my own views, and entreated his. By return of post, I received a very kind and considerate reply, assuring me that the writer was delighted to have the aid of another in a matter of so much responsibility. His opinion, which he gave at great length, was certainly more favourable to his client than my own had been, but by no means expressive of contidence in the result. As I had not very much to claim my care, my thoughts and studies were, for some days, devoted to this business.

I did not forget my promised visit. A gloriously bright afternoon invited the most slothful abroad, and I, who love Nature devotedly, could not refuse to pay my court to her on such a day. The farm was situated about four miles from the town, and thitherward I turned my steps, preferring the use of the limbs, which were not given for idleness, to the lazy motion of a carriage. It was the middle of July, and the weather hot and close. I selected a lane so little used, that the grass, long and rank, tufted it all over. A wilderness of flowers waved on the banks on either side of me, and the long branches of the eglan tine, intertwining over head, formed a shady and cool verandah for the greater portion of my journey. From this lane, I emerged abruptly upon an extensive prospect, bounded by the hills, and immediately on my right, perched upon a gentle swell of the earth, was the retreat I sought. The little hill, on whose summit it stood, was planted over with flowering shrubs and evergreens. neat row of poplars towered at its foot, and a few firs and larches gave to the whole an air of gentility seldom seen in the exterior adornments of the residence of the English yeoman. I entered this sweet plantation, and by a path that wound through it in a multitude of mazes, gained the house itself. It was a substantial stone building of an ancient date, and upon the trellis work with

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