every shop in every street.

to divide with great impartiality the favour of her custom, visiting in rotation It is in imitation of this sensible habit that I am about to present you with a brief announcement of my arrival in this place, although I am not sure that after perusing it you will have any inclination to divert my future correspondence from its accustomed channel. It is by no means an uncommon figure of speech to say that a writer is in the dark, but that condition is one of comparative happiness when compared to mine at the present moment, straining my eyes through the twilight of two muttons to scrawl this epistle. Let us have another candle, my dear,' observed an American judge to his economical wife, that we may see where the other is.' I might make a similar request. You will see by the direction that my tent is not pitched in Temple Street; indeed, my letter was never delivered, nor has ever been received at the Post Office. Having been welcomed with the greatest respect by my former hostess, who offered me tea and its accompaniments, I walked out to explore the neighbourhood, and at last discovered in an adjoining street a mansion well adapted to my taste and my purse. But what is perfect? The mistress of the house has a little urchin now developing the full force of Mr. King's philosophical remark upon teeth. He is at present introducing these necessary instruments into his gums, and, having as yet no idea of philosophy, does not always keep their progress to himself, but communicates the intelligence to the whole household. However, as Mrs. Papps would say, 'it's all for the best.'

"The Queen, as you know, is to arrive on the 4th. Lamps, arches, and decorations of all kinds are in great request. Galleries are erecting for the ladies, and altogether the scene will present a very attractive display for the gay world.

"I should really have written you a longer letter, but the muttons are inexorable, and I submit, determined to renew my eloquence by a more reasonable light; but I think I have inflicted sufficient dulness upon you for the present, and have only to request you to give my kindest love to my mother (to whom I shall write in a few days) and sisters, and believe me, with anxious wishes for your complete recovery, my dear father, very affectionately yours,

"R. A. WILLMOTT."

And again, in the following year, he says:-

"MY DEAR FATHER,

"I take the liberty of enclosing a sketch of a very odd fellow, who was seen walking on the Chain Pier this morning, and whom the artist, there abiding, prevailed upon to sit for his portrait. He is truly a charming fellow, though probably you will not recollect. having seen him before. I have had several

long drives. Yesterday I went to the Dyke, about seven miles; it commands a splendid view, but my bones still ache with the jolting.

"As I hope to be with you soon, Mr. Pen' must not trouble himself very much with the business of 'Mr. Tongue;' but his black and obliging aid may be

feel this much.

The church is next door to the house, and is very nicely arranged within. Some part of the tower is five hundred years old. I am writing this in one of the pleasantest libraries any poor scholar could desire, with a very nice modest striking timepiece at my back,-indeed the house abounds with them. I am told that the hedge that runs along the garden is a favourite resort of nightingales; if so, I shall enjoy their music without trouble. Give my kindest love to

all, and believe me ever yours,

"R. A. WILLMOTT."

It was during this sojourn in Oxfordshire, or shortly after his return home, that a new church, not quite completed, in the neighbourhood of Hurst, in Berkshire, was mentioned to Mr. Willmott as being available to a clergyman, no one having been yet appointed. This information induced him to write to Mr. Walter, of Bear Wood, at whose expense the building had been erected. He at once desired an interview; and the meeting proving satisfactory to both parties, an early visit to Bear Wood and introduction to the family were the result. Several months elapsed before all the arrangements previous to the consecration were concluded. The future incumbent laboured diligently to bring them to a close, and received the most sincere praise and gratitude for the assistance he had rendered. Some allusion to the church occurs in a note dated March 14th, 1846:

"MY DEAR MOTHER,

"The box came safely last night, and a considerable portion of the contents are now deposited in the Gar

den-house,' from which this note proceeds. On my arrival at Twyford the other day I was surprised to see Mr. Walter and party alight, as they say, from another carriage in the same train, having been our neighbours during the journey. Mr. J. Walter's carriage was waiting, and I returned from his house yesterday, Mr. Walter wishing me to come over and dine; and it not being worth while to go back again for a day, I was received with great kindness.

"The church looks extremely pretty, and the furniture is excellent. The drapery for the communiontable is extremely rich velvet, and the glory and cross in front, being made of pure gold, cost twelve pounds; the chairs are also very handsome.

"The necessary papers are being completed. I will write soon, and am ever yours,

"R. A. WILLMOTT."

The consecration of St. Catherine's Church took place on the 23rd of April, 1846. "Everything," he says in a note, “went off yesterday to the satisfaction and edification of all. I have no doubt you will see a full account in the 'Times' of Monday, copied from the Berkshire papers."

Frequent proofs were now given of the kindness and good will of each member of Mr. Walter's family towards the new incumbent, and various tokens of the regard they bore him cemented the friendship that had been awakened, and which continued to subsist with unbroken tranquillity for nearly seventeen years.

It was in this green retreat, amongst the music of

birds, and the still shade of woodland scenes, so congenial to his retiring spirit, that his "Biography of Jeremy Taylor" was completed. Racy and idiomatic in its style, it possesses fewer of those modulations, musically speaking, that generally characterize his writings. From the numerous testimonials to its merits, now lying before us, we select the following:

"Burghersh Chantry House, Lincoln, "REV. SIR, Nov. 27th, 1857. "A friend of mine has shown me great kindness in presenting to me your charming publication, entitled 'Bishop Taylor, his Predecessors and Contemporaries,' &c. I am now nearly seventy-eight years of age, and yet, if possible, entertain as great an admiration for his learning, piety, and eloquence, as that which I felt when I attempted to write his life forty-two years ago.

"At that time I found the memory of Taylor, as it were, bound up in thick-ribbed ice,' and I tried to break it. Heber (my correspondent) brought his sunbeams to thaw it, and you have caused lilies to spread their leaves and their blossoms on the surface of the stream of the Bishop's life.

"I have long been a workman in the old quarries, and find in them more precious and enduring materials than those of more modern excavation. They were the gold-fields of former days.

"The benefit and gratification which I have received from the perusal of your work has urged me to take the liberty of addressing you on the subject, and to express