of the usual conclusion to all conversation between the rich and the poor." But, my friend, this lot is appointed for you; it is your duty to be resigned," or, "You must endeavour, not to dwell on the hardships of your condition, but try to cultivate a contented spirit; I assure you, the rich, whom you think so happy, are not without their trials." She looked, as if halfexpecting such a speech to follow; I dare say she had heard it, or something like it, many hundreds of times; I am sure I have, from very kind and charitable lips. But she expected in vain, and, as I said before, she looked surprised, till his sudden question followed, and I shall never forget the weary expression of utter distaste which instantly overspread her features.

"Emigration," she repeated, "O! yes, I've heard enough of it one time or another. The gentlefolks want us to go over to the furrin parts, and then we shall be out of their way, and we may starve as soon as we like. But," she continued, her eyes sparkling with anger, "I know better than to heed their talk, for if they ever was worth going to, they must be thick of people by this time, for there's hundreds gone to 'em from Manchester and Liverpool, let alone London."

This strange speech shewed that she had at least thought on the subject.

"Matilda," said my grandfather, "give the baby to Miss T., and go and fetch the globe out of my study."

Matilda ran with alacrity, and presently returned with the globe, which my grandfather took upon his knee, and drawing his chair close in front of the three beggars, observed to the woman-" I suppose, when you said 'the gentlefolks wanted you to starve,' you did not mean to include me and mine."

"No," said the woman bluntly, "your people have been very good to us."

"Then, I suppose you will believe what I say. Look here; you know that this world-this earth that we live on, (tapping his foot on the ground) you know of course, that it is round?"

"I've heard talk on it," said the woman, who with her two daughters, was looking at the globe with apparent curiosity. "Well, now here's a little model of it," continued my grandfather, "I mean, that it's made the same shape, but of smaller size."

"I know," said the woman nodding, "just as a gooseberry is like a pumpkin."

"To be sure; well, upon this little globe, are marked all the countries on the great globe, and as many of the towns as we could find room for."

He turned it round slowly, and explained that the blue was sea: at last, one of the girls whispered to her mother to enquire which country was England.

"This is England," said my grandfather; and instantly a shade of distrust passed over all their faces.

"If that be England," said the woman, "why ain't it at the top, and in the middle ?”

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Why should it be, my good woman ?”

"Why not at top?" persisted the woman,-" why, sir, it stands to reason; can't we see that we're at top; we don't live at the sides."

"Well," said my grandfather, parrying this thrust, "you see, I can make any part of this globe come up to the top when I please, and also come into the middle. Now will you look at England, and see that it is quite full of the names of towns and cities-it is covered with them; and towns, as you know, are places full of people.”

"Well, sir?" observed the woman, looking at him with interest.

"Now, then; I'll turn another country up to the top;" proceeded my grandfather, "There, now, what's the difference between this country and England ?”

"It's more than ten times as large,” replied one of the girls, "and there are no names on it, except just round the edges." Very good; that's Australia."

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"Out-stralia!" exclaimed all three of them at once;

had no notion Out-stralia was so big as that!"

66 we

"So you see the people from Manchester and Liverpool, are never likely to fill a country so large as this;" observed my grandfather.

"Deary me!" exclaimed the woman, lifting up both her hands in continued surprise, at its dimensions.

"Well; now do you believe that there's plenty of room over there ?"

"Yes, sir."

"And don't you think, where there is a great deal of land, and very few laborers, that the farmers are likely to give good wages? Don't you think, if I had a ten-acre field of wheat ready to be cut, and there was but one man in the place that could reap, I would give him good wages?"

"Yes, sir."

"And don't you think, in a country where there is a vast many more men than women, and where every man can maintain a wife, and is thankful to get somebody to wash and mend, and bake for him,-don't you think in such a country as that, your daughters would be very likely to get good husbands ?" "Very like they might, sir.”

"Well, you "I could'nt go such a long way," interrupted the woman hastily; "miles and miles, and never stopping for weeks and months."

can't be worse off than you are; suppose you"

"My good woman; have you not, as it is, been wandering about the country for weeks and months, with no shelter worth the name, and not half enough to eat?"

"I don't know anybody over there"-she proceeded; "I don't know a soul; I haven't a single friend."

"Nor here, either;" exclaimed my grandfather, warming with his subject.

"And that's true enough, sir; but the poor seldom has friends; and them that was born to poverty, must e'en bear it as well as they can."

'My good woman, don't deceive yourself; there is a great deal of misery in the world, but the sort of misery you have been suffering under, you need not bear unless you choose. There's not a woman over there that cannot get work if she'll do it; nor a man that can't maintain a wife if he can find one. It is not patience-it is not resignation-that keeps you quiet under this poverty; it is that you cannot make up your mind to bestir yourself. If you were in work, and comfortable, it would be another thing, (though even then I, for my part, would not eat bread and potatoes here, when I might have bread and beef-steak there), but you know very well, and I know, that, go where you will, you cannot be worse off than you are."

"No," said the woman, in the mild listless tone of a practised beggar, "but it's the will of God: some is rich, and others is poor."

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My good woman, God gave reason and strength to mankind; and if they will not use their reason, their strength for work is of no use to them. Why will you waste your good strength in the search for work here, where there is so little, instead of letting your reason guide you to a place where strength is so precious? God has made the world large enough for all his creatures, but if they will crowd and congregate in one part, and eat to the last leaf and grain, while they leave the fruit and the corn to rot elsewhere, for want of a hand to gather it, then they have no right to talk about patience and resignation, and say it is the will of their Maker that they should starve."

"What you say is very fine, sir, I'm sure," said the woman sighing.

But you don't mean to act upon it-not even if I would take all the trouble off your hands, and leave you nothing to do, but to step on ship-board ?"

No; it was very evident, that she did not; and my grandfather was too thoroughly accustomed to this termination of all his lectures on emigration, to be either displeased or disappointed.

He sent the globe in again, and when my father had paid these poor creatures, and my mother had given them some old clothes, and a testament, they thanked us all gratefully, took up their tin saucepan-their only possession-and with many promises of amendment went their way.

The winter following these little events was extremely mild, so much so, that all the spring flowers were in bloom by the middle of February: but at that time, the weather suddenly changed; we had a hard frost, and a remarkably heavy fall of All over the hollow in which our house stood, it was more than five feet deep, and on the side against which the wind blew, the windows were blocked up as high as the top row of panes.

snow.

When this frost had lasted three weeks, there was a sudden thaw, and a heavy fall of rain, which riddled the snow full of

round holes. In a few days the warm sun was again shining upon the crocuses and snowdrops; the wet bunches of laurestinus flower began to raise themselves, and dry their shining leaves, and the aconites and hepaticas were as gay as ever.

Enormous lumps of wet snow, still glittered in every sheltered place, but the lanes were clear enough for us to walk in, and an indescribable treat our first walk was, after a more than three week's imprisonment.

Forth we sallied, full of joy; even the baby crowed with delight as Matilda carried her. We went up the road, which led to the highest and barest part of the common, and there it was quite dry, and we could run races to our heart's content.

There Matilda walked up and down till we had had enough exercise, and were thinking of turning homewards, when we saw at a distance, a beggar girl, slip-shod, and miserably ill clad. She was running quickly towards us, and as she drew near, we observed that her feet and legs were enveloped in old pieces of printed cotton, and her shoes tied on with packthread. They were saturated with water.

She was wrapped in a tattered grey cloak, and had a red handkerchief tied over her head, by which we instantly recognized her as the elder of the two girls who had slept in the root-house.

She ran up to Matilda. "Here," she said, "old Mrs. Grattan-you know her-she gave me a penny to bring you this letter."

Matilda seized the letter, and began to read it as we walked quietly towards home. The girl followed us, and began to talk. She told me her mother was dead; that she had been out all night in the beginning of the snow storm; and was taken very bad with her breathing. 'Every time she breathed,” said the girl, “it cut her like a knife; they took her into the Union, but the doctor could do her no good, and the third day she died."

I asked her how she and her sister had lived since, and a sort of shiver passed over her; the wet was running out of her shoes; she shook back her hair, and said fretfully, "It's not so bad of nights; we sleep the more sound, the more cold and hungry we be, but it's very bad of days; but," she continued