and which he accepted with thankfulness. Often has he expressed his regret that he had not been contented with his lot, for then he might have lived free from all anxiety and care. It appears, indeed, that Fred Sherbourne might have been an independent man, in the true sense of the word, had he been disposed to have lived on the means left him by his father. Ambition was his bane: he desired wealth, and he grasped poverty. Well had it been for him, if he would have adopted these sentiments of the poet:—

"My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such perfect joy therein I find,
As far exceeds all earthly bliss,

That God or Nature hath assign'd.

Though much I want that most would have,
Yet still my mind forbids to crave.

"Content I live; this is my stay;

I seek no more than may suffice:
I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies.
Lo! thus I triumph like a king,
Content with that my mind doth bring.

"I see how plenty surfeits oft,

And hasty climbers soonest fall;

I see that such as sit aloft

Mishap doth threaten most of all;
These get with toil, and keep with fear;
Such cares my mind could never bear.

СНАР. VIII.

THE

REFLECTING BOY: LINES FROM WORDSWORTH. FRED SHERBOURNE'S CONJECTURES. ALFRED ROWLAND. HIS CHARACTER VINDICATED BY MYSELF. A GAME OF CRICKET. ALFRED'S ARRIVAL ON THE CRICKET GROUND. HIS PLEA FOR HIS LATE APPEARANCE. - DISCOURSES ON THE WONDERS OF CREATION, FRED SHERBOURNE'S INTERRUPTION. ALFRED'S REJOINDER. ALFRED'S EXAMPLE FOLLOWED BY MYSELF. OUR SOLITARY RAMBLES. JOINED OCCASIONALLY BY OUR COMPANIONS.-FRED SHERBOURNE'S CONFESSION OF INFERIORITY. ALFRED'S REPUTATION.-LINES ON THE BEAUTIES OF THE MIND.— THE ATTAINMENT OF KNOWLEdge urgeD. THE HAPPY WARRIOR: LINES FROM WORDSWORTH.

-

"He had received

A precious gift; for as he grew in years,

With these impressions would he still compare

All his remembrances, thoughts, shapes, and forms;
And being still unsatisfied with aught

Of dimmer character, he thence attain'd

An active power to fasten images

Upon his brain; and on their pictured lines
Intensely brooded, ev'n till they acquired
The liveliness of dreams. Nor did he fail
While yet a child, with a child's eagerness
Incessantly to turn his ear and eye

On all things which the moving seasons brought
To feed such appetite-nor this alone
Appeased his yearning: in the after day
Of boyhood, many an hour in caves forlorn,
And mid the hollow depths of naked crags
He sate; and ev'n in their fixed lineaments,
Or from the power of a peculiar eye,
Or by creative feeling overborne,
Or by predominance of thought oppress'd,
Ev'n in their fixed and steady lineaments,
He traced an ebbing and a flowing mind,
Expression ever varying."

WORDSWORTH.

"Most likely he is gone to watch the setting of the sun," said Fred Sherbourne, as he twirled his gold-headed cane in the faces of his companions. "Most likely he is gone to watch the setting of the sun. Or it may be," he added, as

N

he gave his gold-headed cane another twirl, "that he is insect-hunting. He may even be standing over a frog leaping in the pathway before him, with his hands lifted up in admiration of its wonderful structure. He is a singular being. For my own part, I cannot say that I like solitude. It is all very well to take a walk in the fields, but when I do this I like to have a companion with me. I cannot think what pleasure he can find in leading such a hermit-like life. He cannot possibly discover any thing new every evening, and yet he is always wonder-seeking. I pity him; and rather than wait any longer for him, I think we had all better take our coats off, and begin our game. If we do not do so pretty quickly, we shall, like him, only have come out this fine evening to watch the setting of the sun."

It was thus that Fred Sherbourne addressed myself and his companions as we were resting each on our cricket-bats, waiting for Alfred Rowland. As he ceased, the general opinion was, that we should wait a little longer before we commenced our game. He had had a pressing invitation to join us in "the lea ;" and as he had not replied, it was most likely that he would

come.

"He may come, and he may be coming," replied Fred Sherbourne ; "but the question is, what time will he be here? It is a full mile from his house, and he will find so many wonders on his road, that I will venture to say he will, in pondering over them, forget our invitation; or, if he does not forget it, his cogitations will so

delay him that he will not reach the lea before it is time to draw our stumps. My opinion is, that if we want to have a game, we should forthwith commence, and let Alfred join in with us when he comes, if he comes in time.”

As he said this, Fred Sherbourne laid his gold-headed cane on the grass, and began to prepare for action. His companions, however, still rested on their bats leisurely, hoping every moment to see Alfred appear. While thus at our ease I took occasion to eulogise Alfred's character. "After all," I observed, "I am not certain but that Alfred Rowland is in the right, and that we are all in the wrong. Well do I recollect the lesson which my dear old schoolmaster, Mr. White, gave his pupils, on the importance of seeking knowledge in our early years. Now this is exactly what Alfred Rowland is doing; and, whoever lives to see it, depend upon it he will be our superior in manhood. I do not mean to insinuate that any of you altogether neglect to seek knowledge; but then I believe that not one of us seeks it so earnestly as Alfred Rowland, and therefore we are not so likely to obtain it to the extent he will. And that the possession of knowledge is a desirable thing not one of you will deny. And how can it be obtained without it is ardently sought after? The wise man persuades youth to become familiar with wisdom in these words :

'My son, keep my words,

And lay up my commandments with thee.
Keep my commandments, and live;
And my law as the apple of thine eye.

Bind them upon thy fingers,

Write them 'ipon the table of thine heart.
Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister;

And call Understanding thy kinswoman.'—Prov. vii. 1—4.

"Solomon also thus speaks of the desirableness of wisdom for the blessedness it bringeth:

But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:
All they that hate me love death.'

Prov. viii. 32-36.

I must say," I added, "that I half envy Alfred Rowland for his studious habits: depend upon it one day he will make a greater noise in the world than all of us put together. Fred Sherbourne in his carriage and four will be nothing to him."

A hearty laugh at this hit on Fred Sherbourne's vanity went the round of my companions, and as they ceased, Alfred Rowland not yet having appeared, each one instinctively prepared for our game of double wicket. We played with ardour till we could no longer see where the ball went, and then we drew our stumps. In our ardour we had fairly forgotten Alfred Rowland; but on approaching the gateway of "the lea" we perceived him coming towards us. "Did I not tell you," said Fred Sherbourne, as he gave his gold-headed cane a most triumphant twirl; "did I not tell you that he would not make his appearance before our game was finished?"