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IMaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hend corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams Illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte A des taux de rMuction diff^rents. Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, 11 est fiim6 A partir de i'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de heut en has, en prenant ie nombre d'images nAcessalre. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent ia mAthode. 1 2 3 : t 2 i 3 4 5 6 ^' % ^ n 'S M I' CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. \ ; t t LONDON : WTHAW AWD SONS, PHINTBES, QBBAT QCBEN STBEKT. LINCOLN'S-INN FIBLSS, W. C. #, ••« \ \ Papa r'viws the law of Hi'stitutioii. — P. ■>('). •^ Cliristmas Holidays ; ' OB, *AY OF SPEXDING TITEM. w .**»«;«m'- \ N'D. .If' IfitBtHHt. ^wnnwwPBPTTB^ »*'*ii|H»MiiBnwiii'»rTiciB»' Christmas Holidays, 17 CHAPTEE II. The Plan put in Practice. — The Komans in Britain.— Early- Introduction of Christianity : to whom imputed. — The Foundation of the Saxon Church. — Roman Triumphs. — Temperance of Julius Ccesar. — Edward's great Fault. — His Desultory Reading. — His Dilemma. — Constance allowed to give him a Reference. — The Example of Csesar proves a useful Lesson to our young Epicure. — His Name at School. The heavy rain liad been followed by frost, whicli [was succeeded by several days of snow — snow jwithout intermission. Our boys and Bertha were Ivery malcontent, but as grumbUng cannot charm way bad weather, they were compelled to stay dthin, and even began to find the plans sug- gested by their parents for their moral and lental improvement a resource against weari- iness. Bertha was given some plain needlework to do from mammals poor-box — baby linen of a strong useful kind; and, much as the Httle girl disliked sewing, her charitable feelings inchned her to take more pains, and use more expedition, this business than she would have done in mything for herself. Constance and Ellen, con- iced by their sensible mother that plain work 9H i8 Christmas IloCidays* ought to form a part of feminine education, had undertaken to make papa a set of fine shirts, which they were to cut out for the first time themselves. They were surprised at seeing in the midst of their contrivances for getting wristbands and other parts, how often papa could assist them where they were at a loss themselves ; but mathematicians can find almost at a glance what can be got out of certain squares and angles, without turning the cloth round, as our young sempstresses were obliged to do. Constance and Ellen did not confine themselves wholly to useful work: they were learning to illuminate in the ancient style — a captivating amusement, which permitted them to Hsten to Lingard's History of England, which their brothers were reading in tm'ns to their father. In the "Pictorial History of England'^ our young artists found some charming specimens of orna- mental letters and figures ; though, not knowing the colours, they painted them from fancy. Of course they were never dull, not even when the dark days compelled them to give up illumi- nating for employments that required less light ; but of the dull void of unoccupied time they knew nothing. Christmas Holidays, 19 Mr. Beverly permitted his sons to ask any questions or to make any remarks they pleased upon the portion of history they were reading j for he wished them to take an interest in the annals of their own country ; and ho made them also compare the events recorded by tho learned historian with tho progress of civilization so ably narrated in the '^ Pictorial History of England/^ His own extensive reading enabled him to give some additional information on many subjects. ^^ How I hate those Eomans/' suddenly re- marked Bertha. " What business had they in England ?'' " They had a mission to perform, my dear child, in which they were the unconscious agents. lean almost forgive their ambition for the sake of the good they did us, — good which still continues."** " What good, papa,^^ asked Bertha, '^ did those invading robbers do to Britain ?^^ " They gave us better laws, useful arts, and cleanly habits ; they taught us to build towns, encouraged commerce, and finally brought us the Gospel. Pomponia Grascina, a noble Roman lady, the wife of the pro- consul Plautius, is sup- posed to have conferred that inestimable benefit upon Britain. Her friend Claudia, celebrated by Martial the poet for her beautiful, fair com- c 2 20 Clmstmas Holidays. plexion, was a native of Britain, and the barba- rian wife of Pudens is mentioned in conjunction with her husband, at the conch-fjion of St. Paul's Epistle to the Eomans, in the iist of those to whom he sent greetinpjs. Claudia was not only beautiful, but remarkable for feminine modesty : indeed, the merits of the British lady must have been very great to have induced a Eoman senator to overlook her foreign extraction/' " But, papa, I thought a French princess gave Christianity to Britain ?'' remarked Ellen. '^ The marriage of Bertha to Ethelbert, the Saxon king of Kent, brought about the mission already planned by Pope Gregory for the con- version of the A.nglo- Saxons, as the bride of the pagan king of Kent brought St. Augustin and his brother missionaries in her train to Britain. For- tunately, the heathen spouse of Bertha was so fond of his Christian wife, that he gave up the structure in Canterbury, now known as the ancient British church of St. Martin, which he used for his stable, for the celebration of Christian worship. After a time. Bertha prevailed upon the king to listen to the preaching of St. Augustin, and, ' as faith comes by hearing,' the conversion of Ethelbert soon followed his attention to the doctrines taught by the Christian missionary. Christmas Holidays, 21 gave Civilization and wiser laws were the fruits of Christianity in Kent, and from thence over- spread the island. ^^ It is a remarkable fact that the rise of the Roman power conduced to the promulgation of the Gospel, as its destruction afterwards led to the conversion of those heathen nations that subverted it. Kingdoms decay and conquerors perish, while the sublime truths of rehgion can never be destroyed, but must remain for ever." These digressions were useful to our young people, especially as Mr. Beverly noted down some authors in which full and interesting accounts of the early history of the British and Anglo-Saxon churches were to be found, which he wished his children to read for their own amusement and improvement. ^'We have forgotten the Romans all this time," said Constance ; '^ you must know I like them better than the Saxons, for I have heard that we owe our beautiful forest trees chiefly to them." " So Loudon, in his ' Arboretum Britannicum,^ tells us," replied mamma ; " and, indeed, he reduces our native trees to a very slender cata- logue : oaks, hazels, the low-spreading indige- nous fir, and a few others, are all he enumerates. 22 Christmas Holidays, Althougli Britain was overrun with tangled woods^ yet these could not have resembled our beautiful forest lands^ adorned with that infinite variety of foliage which so delights our 'eyes at this time. We are also indebted to these civi- lizing conquerors for most of our choice fruit : the cherry was brought by them from Pontus^ as well as the apple and pear; the apricot from Media ; the peach from Persia, or Parthia, as it was then called ; grapes and figs grew in their own sunny land. Indeed, a Roman triumph exhibited the complete natural history of the countries conquered. Fruit-trees, flowers, raie perfumes ; in fact, every production of nature or art was there displayed: the captives in their rative costume, from the prince to the slave, appeared in a living panorama before the eyes of the Roman people. The worst feature in it was the cruel tragedy at the conclusion; for when the chariot of the victor was turned towards the Capitol, the captives were generally put to death.^' ^'I hope, indeed, dear mamma, that there were some exceptions ?'' said Constance. " Some there were indeed, my dear ; for Pompey, greater in this than in any other action of his life, would not sufier his captives to be put 1 1 Christmas Holidays, 23 to deatli, in whicli lie certainly outslione Cassar, and better deserved the praise of clemency/^ '^I suppose," remarked Edward, '^that tlie conqueror was tlie happiest man in Rome on the day of his triumph ?" ' ^^ Caesar was not, owing to the ribald custom that permitted the soldiers to invent anything they pleased to the disparagement of their general, if the donative, or gift, he assigned them did not satisfy their avaricious expecta- tions. His army were not pleased with his large donative, and assailed his ears with bitter sar- casms and indelicate songs; so that he after- wards assured his private friends that the day of his great triumph was the most miserable of his life." ^^Well, but that was merely one instance," rejoined Edward. "Paulus Emilius, the conqueror of Persius, controlled with diflBculty the intense grief he felt for the son he had just lost, and his anxiety for that beloved one he had left dying at home ; and you remember, I dare say, that Persius and his captive family preceded the chariot of the victor, and were not put to death ; and that the innocent children excited the pity of the popu- lace. After the pageant was over, Paulas i H Christmas Holidays. Emilius compared his hidden sorrow with that of the conquered Macedonian monarch, and considered the vanquished who still d his children, was happier than the victor wuo had been bereaved of his ; and declared ^ that in this life something must always be wanting to perfect felicity/ " In territorial acquisition, she thought there was, and always must be, room for regret, even in the triumphal entry ; but there was one in which feelings of the purest patriotism must have swelled the bosom of that consul who rode by the side of his colleague, without an army or laurel crown, or even the official dress denoting his high rank. She thought some of her young people would re- member the incident to which she alluded. Ed- ward, as he was interested in the Romans, and in their triumphs in particular, would relate the anecdote. Edward blushed and was mute. Constance looked up from her work, and replied, but in a modest unassuming way, ^' I think, mamma, you mean the consul Nero, during the contest between the Romans and Hannibal, who, when apprised of the march of Asdrubal, to effect a junction with his brother Hannibal, did not wait for orders from the senate, but chose a select body of troops Christmas Holidays, »5 jn and quitted his province, notwithstanding the penalty he incurred by so doing,* to save his country. He was so rapid in his march, that but for the double flourish of trumpets that denoted the presence of both consuls in the Koman camp, Asdrubal would have been ignorant of the arrival of Nero and his army, which had been received during the night by his colleague Livius Salinator/^ '^ The battle of Metaurus decided the fate of Eome,^^ remarked Mr. Beverly ; ^' the defeat and death of Asdrubal deprived Hannibal of the means of continuing the contest with any chaxice of success. The senate of Carthage, always opposed to the Italian campaigns of their greatest son, had refused him the succour he demanded, and when the head of his able and devoted brother, which, by the command of Nero, had been thrown within his lines, was brought to him, he sighed and uttered these prophetic words, — ' It is like the fortune of Carthage.' '^ " It was late in the autumn,'' continued Con- stance, "when the triumph took place, but )S * It was not lawful for the consul to quit the province assigned him by the senate without permission, and Nero had not time to obtain it I TT 26 Christmas Holidays, Livius Salinator alone occupied the triumplial chariot ; for no consul was permitted this privi- lege unless his army was with him, and Nero was obliged to leave his for the protection of his province. He was allowed to visit Eome in this sort of incognito, but every eye was fixed upon the man whose patriotic promptitude had ensured the safety of his country/^ '^ Oh, mamma, you are right : his feelings must have been enviable at that proud moment." '^ I wish," said the gentle Ellen, " that he had not thrown AsdrubaFs head into Hannibal^s » camp ^' My dear child," replied mamma, ^^ Nero was a heathen, and acted Hke one, and that is the only excuse we can make for his barbarous policy." ^'And I wish, Ellen, he had not played the fool in his censorship by reviving his old quarrels with Livius SaHnator; for these war-* riors, who had forgotten their old hatred to unite for the good of their country, as soon as the peril that threatened Eome was over, made their censorship a time of disgraceful feuds and low squabbles, and covered them- selves while in office with ridicule and con- tempt. Nothing, my dear children, is more Christmas Holidays, 27 foolish than the follies of the wise/' remarked Mr. Beverly. " I admire Julius Caesar/' cried Edward ; " he is my hero.'' ** I wish you would imitate him in his temper- ance in regard to eating/' remarked his father ; ^^as you profess to admire him, I shall require you to relate an anecdote illustrative of this quality in your hero." Now Edward was fond of reading in a desultory way, for he never read any book through if he could help it, but dipped into it here and there. This way of reading had filled his head with an odd jumble of facts and fables. He had read a good deal about the great Roman, but to find among his miscellaneous sources of information something he was to imitate him for — a censure, too, upon his plan of getting the best of every- thing for himself — was not only puzzling, but positively disheartening. " May Con help me, papa ; for I am sure I shall never find it out by myself? " '' I think," said Constance, '^ papa means his behaviour at a dinner-party, to which he was iu- vited with his oflBcers." '^ Yes I do ; and as I have every work in which Julius Caesar is mentioned, in English transla- 28 Christmas Holidays, tions or in French, it will not be difficult for Edward to find the story out, which between this and New Year's-day he may easily do/' We will not vc^lr > all the yawns, sighs, and murmurs of Julius Caesar's admirer, during his long search for this anecdote. At last, Con- stance was permitted to advise him to read Plutarch's life of h.o h^-yi^^^ vGTy attentively, when he found that Caesar Lad 'aiit<^n asparagus served with bad oil, at the r ^IJ^ or -^ch but miserly host, without the smalleso t-jiiiyc li. of disgust, though his officers rejected the dish with con- temptuous gestures and impertinent remarks. I am afraid Edward sometimes wished his hero had been less polite, for if the young epicure was disposed to find fault with any dish he did not like, or to choose the best apple or orange, or pick for the largest piece of cake, the arch looks of Constance and Ellen, or the whispered name of Julius Caesar from Bertha and John, obliged him to refrain from fastidiousness of appe- tite or greediness. The story went back with him to school, where it obtained for him the appellations rendered so illustrious by the mighty Roman. However, Edward was wholly cured of his odious fault. Christmas Holidays, 29 CHAPTER III. Alice Maiden. — Her domestic Employments. — Christmas in the olden Time. — Derived from the Saturnalia. — Nero, the first Persecutor of the Church. — His Saturnalia. Christmas was rapidly drawing near : the snow lay thick upon the ground ; but our young ladies, provided by careful mamma with warm snow- boots, could take outdoor exercise and visit with her the cottages of the working classes, to dis- pense tickets for coals and blankets provided by the general charity of those inhabitants of Sel- wood who were willing and able to help their poorer neighbours. Alice Maiden, the mother- less daughter of the good rector, was often their companion on these expeditions; she, being nearly twenty, frequently took charge of her younger friends, who derived great advantage from the intercourse with one whose experience in life was untinctured with formality. The necessity of supplying the place of her mother, as the head of the fa,mily, at the early age of sixteen, had given solidity to her character, which Christian piety had tempered with the spirit of love. Her deep grief for the loss of her beloved mother hadnot 30 Christmas Holidays, prevented her from endeavouring to perform her new duties^ though her studious turn of mind had rather disposed her to scholastic than domestic employments. But the internal comfort of the house depended upon female arrangement : the rector was not rich, and had had several sons by a former wife to set forward in life, and being, like most of our Anglican Church, charitable to all who needed it, the prudent economy of his young daughter enabled him to do much without great self-sacrifice. As Constance and Ellen wore very fond of Alice, they were often with her, and sometimes even aided her in sundry domestic offices. If they found her with a basket of stockings to mend, in her little private sanctum, they were only too happy to assist her. Sometimes they found her in the store-room iriaking pastry, cakes, or bread, and the sisters with looking on were soon able to help her, till at last they were inspired with the laudable ambition of learning the art of confectionary themselves. Now, some of my young lady readers may think that the daughters of gentle- of fortune need not concern themselves men about such matters as these, particularly when a hired housekeeper in their own houses arranges and prepares everything of the kind that may be Ohristmas Holidays. Si needed. Plain needlework, too, can be done cheaply in schools, and even by sewing machines. This, in one sense, may be true, and agrees with the natural division of labour, if no change of circumstances could come ; but the course of this world is not always smooth : '^ riches,^^ we are told, ^' make to themselves wings and fly away ; ^' while the knowledge of any useful art, however humble it may be, is not lost though its exercise may be left off when not actually necessary. Constance and Ellen, who never had a thought their mother might not share, con- sulted her upon the propriety of learning Alice's domestic accomplishments, and received her approbation of the plan in this manner. Open- ing the Bible, she read from the tenth verse of the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs to the end, the description given by King Lemuel's mother of the virtuous woman, whose price is beyond rubies. " There, my dear children, we have a com- plete enumeration of domestic employments practised by a rich woman, whose piety and charity gave a stimulus to her industry. I never find Alice performing so cheerfully her homely household duties without thinking of this passage in Proverbs. Accomplished and mm 3« Christmas Holidays, well informed as she is in social intercourse, there is to me something infinitely more interest- ing in her while employed for the general good of her family. She is what a clergyman^s daughter ought to be^ — a young woman adorning the Christian profession. A blessing indeed seems to rest on all she does, for if poor she makes many rich.'^ Under Alice^s teaching her young friends learned the art of making mincemeat, that indi- gestible Saxon dainty found in Richard the Second^ s cookery-book, and derived from the piratical Saxon rovers, who had ventured up the Archipelago in their long chiules* to plunder the East and improve their festal days with the fruits and spices of fairer lands. Alice amused them by relating the old custom of bringing as many small mince-pies in one dish on the Christ- mas table as the master and mistress of the house had been married years, and that in the Memoirs of a Puritan clergyman of the name of Walker, by his wife,t she mentions that fifty- six mince-pies were set upon the table, according to the years of their wedded life. " It is a pretty book, too,'^ said Alice, '^ one that did me * Chiule, the long ship of the Saxon pirate was so called. t In Charles the Second's time. Christmas Holidays, 33 a lo good in many ways ; but I ought to have told you, that what remained uneaten of these Christ- mas pies was given to the poor the following day. Many old customs as well as this,'^ she said, " had passed away. Some, indeed, ' were more honoured in the breach than the observ- ance,^ such as the burlesques upon the Church, permitted to the people before the Reformation, when riotous games and quaint masquerades both preceded and followed Christmas; when folly, under an elected abbot of misrule, sub- verted for a time Christian decency and order ; servants no longer reverenced their masters, but turned them into ridicule before their faces, so that from the palace of the king to the hall of the noble, or the monastery of the monk, these revels prevailed, when the low-born thrall for a time seemed to have changed his place in the household. These customs,'^ she was happy to say, '^were not Christian, they were essentially heathen, derived from the feast of the Saturnaha, held on the 21st of December and some days after, when the slaves were allowed the privilege of shaking off the yoke of servitude and electing masters from among themselves. But, even while adopting to please her converts these absurdities, the Church had opened the gates of HPtm »■«[ 34 Christmas Holidays, hospitality to all. Every larder was open to relieve the wants of the hungry^ and the house- less poor found a shelter in the proud baronial hall, and this redeeming feature alone divided it from its heathen parentage. It had been the pohey of the Church to replace by Chnstian festivals the old heathen ones to which custom had attached her converts; but this laudable motive had not always been productive of good eflPect, and was besides in direct opposition to the rules laid down by St. Paul, in many of his epistles .^^ But AHce had something still to say, ^'respecting the SaturnaHa originally founded by Sextius Tullus, Eome's best and wisest king, to soften the woes of slavery which he had him- self felt. To Christians its name would ever recal the era of the first persecution of the Church, when Nero gave to the cross, or arrayed in the flaming tunic, the innocent and faithful followers of Christ, against whom he had for some time hoarded his revenge. Accused of having tet Eome on fire himself, without any proof but the badness of his own character, he suborned persons to swear that the Christians were the true authors of the mighty confla- gration, that, after raging six days, left him without a metropohs and the Eomans without a home." Christmas Holidays, 35 " But how came he to lav the burning of Eome upon the Christians?'^ asked Bertha. " Because the preaching of St. Paul had won from the paths of sin his favourite mistress and his cupbearer ; at least, so the ancient traditions of the Church declare. They quitted their evil ways and were baptized; but the revenge of Nero sought not only their destruction, but that of the Christians with whom they had taken refuge. He hoped, by exhibiting them during the Saturnalia in the flaming tunic of he incen- diary, to clear himself from the imputation of a crime he had never committed. But even the prejudiced heathen could not be c avinccd of the emperor's innocence or the Christians' guilt. They were acquitted by the voice of the pubHc ; ' For humanity itself,' remarks Tacitus, ^ relented in favour of the Christians.' " It was during this short but dreadful persecu- tion that St. Peter was crucified in the Circus Maximus, and St. Paul was beheaded in the Ostian Way. A small church, dedicated to St. Peter, afterwards was erected by the Emperor Constantino on the spot where this zealous and affectionate disciple suffered. This has been replaced by the most magnificent Christian temple in the world. D 2 3<5 Christmas Holidays. (( The churcli of St. Paul also marks the spot of the martyrdom of the apostle of the Gentiles, and there can be no historic doubt that the remains of these holy men rest within the temples that bear their names. St. Paul's Eoman citizenship preserved him from the cruel cross, but not from the lictor's axe. Thus Christmas should be doubly hallowed to us, not only as the nativity of ' that blest babe who did redeem our loss/ but also as that period in which the two great apostles and their converts fought under the banner of their crucified Lord, won the victory, and gained their martyr crowns in the stronghold of Satan — the great metro- polis of the Gentile world/' Ch/ristmaa Holidays, 37 CHAPTER IV. The Frost. — Sliding and Skating. — ^Bertha's Disobedience. — Consequences of a Practical Joke. — Ellen's Danger. — Constance refuses to violate the Truth. — The Contest hurtful to Ellen. — Alice Maiden's Helpfulness. — Con- stance's Appeal. — The Right Thing in a Right Time. — The Rector conveys Ellen to the Parsonage. — His Conversation with Bertha. — Refuses to palliate her Faults. — Children responsible Agents. — The Rector's Advice taken by Bertha. Christmas, witb its feasting and its Cbristmas trees, its games, its ebarities, and decorated win- dows and mantelpieces, was gliding fast into the new year. The frost had come at last ; the snow was frozen; every path and brook was firm as a floor of adamant. The beautiful rime glistened like diamonds from every tree and shrub on which the refracted beams of the sun played gloriously without destroying the won- drous pageantry. Sliding and skating, now, were all the rage at Selwood Hall. Edward and John had besought a few days for outdoor plays as some compensation for their long confinement indoors. The request seemed reasonable and was immediately granted, papa promising to put 38 Christmas Holidays. on Ms skates^ and show tliem wliat he could do in cutting spread-eagles, figures of eight, and performing other feats of skill and dexterity on the ice. But he added that as he had a little business in the village, he could name no precise time. Their sisters would walk to meet him, and then they could all enjoy the fun together. This plan did not please Bertha, who wanted to slide with her brothers, and who suspected, not without reason, that the family walk with papa was designed to keep her from venturing on the ice, mamma not approving of sliding or skating for young ladies. She looked very sulky, and though she took papa's arm, she hung back in a very ungraceful and uncourteous manner. Mr. Beverly easily comprehended the motive of her ill-behaviour, and exchanged a comical look with his elder girls, who were trying to hide the mirthfulness that was dimpling round their rosy lips. Our boys rather regretted the loss of Bertha's company, but consoled themselves by pelting the groom with snowballs while he was employ- ing himself for their benefit by sweeping the large pond clear for their coveted amusement. Then they enjoyed their slide, and after a time put on their skates and got no falls, but being \ Christmas Holidays, 39 II tired and hot, wished for papa and Ms figures, hoped the frost would last the whole winter, and wondered why the party were so long in coming. At last, a gentleman with bonneted and muffled ladies came in sight, and the party was duly received with a long hurra, which Bertha ventured to answer in kind, while Con- stance and Ellen contented themselves with waving their handkerchiefs. Papa was as good as his word, and astonished his sons with his dexterity and skill ; but having had a walk, and not being so active at fifty as at fifteen, he gave over betimes, but left his girls behind him to see the last slide for that day. Bertha he hoped would not disobey him by venturing on the ice ; Constance and Ellen he knew required no caution. He was scarcely out of sight when Bertha, regardless alike of the prohibition or her sisters' entreaties, was on the ice, sporting about with fearless dexterity, her cheeks glowing with the warmth of the forbidden exercise, sometimes approaching the bank to make funny faces, or use some arts of persuasion to induce her sisters to join her. "You naughty creature, you will break your neck,'' said Ellen, reproachfully. '' Not I, indeed ; oh, it is capital fun. Come 40 Christmas Holidays, on^ Nelly, we will teacli you to slide. Come, Constance." '' Pray come off the ice. Bertha," cried both the sisters, entreatingly. Bertha drew near enough to reach EUen^s outstretched hand, but instead of taking it to aid herself in ascending the steep bank, pulled Ellen upon the ice, and gave her a smart push that sent her off to the opposite bank. Ellen knew nothing of the art of keeping her balance ; soft and feminine in all her actions, and timid by nature, the velocity of the motion took away her breath, and even her terror; then she tottered, and in another moment was lying on the ice, in a state of utter unconsciousness. Constance stood wringing her hands, while Edward, John, and Bertha were carrying the insensible form of Ellen to the bank. " She is dead. Bertha, quite dead,^' whispered the boys, on whose faces the flush of exercise had yielded to a chilling paleness. Bertha gave way to a passionate fit of tears. Constance sat down and placed her sister's languid head on her lap, and presently exclaimed, " She is not dead, for her heart still beats."*' She then directed her brothers to chafe Ellen's hands, while she kept her in a reclining posi- Christmas Holidays, 41 tion. Ellen opened her eyes, but it was some minutes before she seemed to comprehend where she was, and what had happened to her. " She is coming to. I can see the pink coming back to the pale cheek/^ said Edward ; '^ look. Bertha, at Ellen, and leave off crying/^ But Bertha could not check her tears, nor leave off crying; she was too much frightened for that, and Ellen's arms were round her neck before she could recover anything like self- possession. Her first thoughts had been for Ellen, her second were for herself. The dread of censure and punishment made her selfish when her anxiety for her sister's life was lessened. " Pray, don't tell papa or mamma, good, kind Ellen," cried Bertha, aided by her brothers in full chorus. Ellen promised, and half-raised herself to kiss the culprit, but fell back into the arms of the frightened Constance, with a shriek of pain, putting her hand to her head, and continuing to moan, after a strong mental effort had made her repress a second cry. " Mamma must know it," said Constance ; ^^ blows on the head are dangerous, and poor Ellen is in great pain.^ a 42 Christmas Holidays. '^She has promised not to tell/^ rejoined Bertha doggedly, '^ and you have no right — )t <( I have not jpromised/' quietly remarked Con- stance ; ^^ and my dear, dear sister may lose her intellect, or even her life, for want of medical care/^ ^^ El-natured creature ! You want me to be punished. I hate tell-tales,^' repKed Bertha, with a sneer. ^^And so do we,'' rejoined the boys, with whom their youngest sister was a great favourite. " You had better not, dear Constance," whis- pered Ellen. ^^ Indeed, I shall be better soon." " You will be worse if the hurt is not attended to," said Constance, ^^and that it must be, and by the doctor too. Much as I hate teUing tales, or being called a tell-tale, I will not suffer my sister's life to be sacrificed to a weak compliance to save a naughty girl from the consequences of her disobedience and folly. If you felt for Ellen instead of feeling for yourself, you would not wish to hide your fault at her expense." Bertha was about to make some sharp retort to Constance, when she saw, to her horror, that poor Ellen had sunk into a second swoon. Her screams brought another person to the spot, one well skilled to give aid, full of pity for suffering Christmas Holidays, 43 in every shape ; and, thougli young, possessed of that presence of mind that becomes calm and helpful in times of need and danger. This was Alice, the rector's daughter, whose truthful eyes seemed to ask for truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. '^ Oh, Alice, dear Alice ! I have killed Ellen, and have behaved shamefully to poor Constance. Oh, what shall I do ?'' said Bertha. " Eepent, and do better another time. Run, Bertha, to the parsonage ; papa is at home, and he will carry her to our house. Thank God, no bones are broken.^' Alice set down her little basket of comforts for the poor, and from a phial of wine moistened first the lips, and then gradually put a small quantity into the sufferer's mouth. Ellen soon revived, for the dispute between Constance and Bertha had, in her weak state, over- powered her. ^^ You heard it all ? " whispered Constance to her friend. ^' Yes, I did, and thought you right in your determination, but unwise to flurry your poor Ellen in her weak state. Quiet is everything, in all cases of accident or sick- ness. Why did you answer Bertha at all? 44 Christmas Holidays, Sometimes, dear love, we must content ourselvea with being in the right without upholding it/' Constance blushed; she had been betrayed into warmth by the provocation she had received. Alice was just the wise elder sister friend she wanted. By this time the rector and his man-servant came up, followed by Bertha, panting from fast running. Ellen was carried to the parsonage, undressed by Alice and Constance, and the family surgeon sent for ; after which the rector proceeded with Bertha to the Hall to break as well as he could, without disguising the truth, Ellen's alarming accident to her parents. Bertha was bewildering her little head in framing some plausible excuses for her conduct; but being uneasy in conscience, she asked her old friend ^' Whether there would be any harm in making the best of the matter ; for mamma would be so grieved, and papa would be very angry with her, she knew, for going on the ice herself, and, still more, for pulling Ellen upon it, and setting her off. Perhaps he would tell it for her.'' " So I will, if you wish it. Bertha ; only I should relate it as truthfully as possible. I can find nothing to extenuate in the first step, of which the second was only a consequence. You Christmas Holidays, 45 pulled your sister on the ice to make a good excuse for yourself, and prevent her telling of you." Bertha hung down her head ; some such cal- culation, besides her love of rude fun, like a hidden undercurrent, had influenced her con- duct. But how came the rector to know it? She was a little artful, for we all have our besetting sins, and her pastor had found out this point in her character. " What would you have me do? for indeed, sir, what you say is true." " I would have you do what the Prodigal did in the 15th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel. I would make no excuses, but would say that I had been a very naughty child, and had dis- obeyed my parents, and broken God's command- ments, who had bidden me honour them. That I had tried to make my sisters disobedient, and had endangered Ellen's life by compelling her to be disobedient against her will." Bertha shook her head. ^' I never can say it, sir; but if you would tell them it would make me keep the truth. 1 could not help making some excuse for myself." " Well, my dear child, I will take that upon myself; for, if you empower me to speak the 46 Christmas Holidays, truth, for you^ that will be nearly the same thing/^ " Andj perhaps, dear Mr. Maiden, you would say something about my being very young — quite a little girl" Bertha pressed his arm coaxiLgly, and with bright, hopeful eyes, looked into her old friend^s face. '' My dear Bertha, you know right from wrong as well as I do myself,^' said the rector, gravely. '^ If you were fifty years old, you could not know it better. Now I am afraid you are not really so sorry for your disobedience as you ought to ' be. You are very sorry for EUen, because you love her ; but it is not only the consequence of our sins, but the sins themselves, for which we should grieve. You have offended God ; go and seek His pardon, through His Son, as the pro- digal did, and in the same words, if you can find no others in which to ask His forgiveness.^^ Bertha wept so piteously while her friend was talking to her, and yet more while he was relating the history of Ellen's accident, of which she had been the cause, to her parents, that it was considered she had already received sufficient punishment for her faults. She was soon forgiven, much sooner *1 Oh/ristmas Holidays, 47 than she could forgive herself; for, with all her faults, she possessed those qualities that, with proper culture, would form a fine character. Her parents had sent her to school, that they might not be too indulgent to errors which were com- bined with some virtues and many winnino- ways. ** 4'J 48 Christmas Holidays. CHAPTER Y. Behaviour in a Sick Eoom. — Alice nurses Ellen. — Hei Recovery. — Bertha's Sedateness not lasting. — Her Pertness.— Misconduct of Edward and John. — Wanton Mischief. — Widow Taylor and her Sow. — The Game on the Ice not so pleasant to the Sow as to the Boys. — A Passenger's Reproof. — ^Bad Consequences of their Frolic. — The Petition. — The Discovery. — Papa revives the Law of Restitution in Widow Taylor's favour. — Self-inflicted Poverty. — Bertha's Fun with the Lion Cubs. — Mortification of our Heroes. Ellen was bled^ and kept in a darkened room for a week ; nor was Constance suflered to read or amuse her for fear of exciting the brain, which had been shaken by the fall. Only a few words of prayer were uttered, and a short section of Scrip- ture was read or repeated by mamma or AHce at intervals. Constance kept papa company at home, coming in but once a day to see her darling Ellen ; and Bertha ^as not permitted to visit her suffering sister at all. Alice was head nurse, — so quiet, cheerful, and sympathizing, — antici- pating, as it were, every want and wish of the poor patient. Indeed, she was used to witness Buffering in every shape ; for, young as she was ■1 Christmas Holidays, 49 it in years, she was old in experience. There was no whispering or gossiping in sick-rooms ma- naged by Alice ; but there was tenderness and firmness too. If naughty children or obstinate old men would not take their physic, Alice was usually sent for, and somehow always succeeded, either by persuasion or command, in inducing obedience. Ellen was soon restored to her own home in renovated health; and very pleasant was the sunshine, the blaze of the fire, or light of the candle, to eyes from which they had been hidden for some days. Bertha was not only penitent, but very sedate. The anxiety and grief of her parents, and their tender reproofs, had made a lasting impression upon her; nor had she for- gotten the rector^s lecture. Edward and John were coming on very well in their holiday work with papa. They had advanced in the knowledge of their own country, h solved various questions in arithmetic, and i. 1 acquired a little experience in the use of Ci-penter's tools. Mr. Beverly knew very well that the art of driving in or knocking out a nail was usof ^ at times to every man, for personal security lay depend upon such knowledge. Then L msisted they should learn to saddle B T 58 Christmas Holidays. and bridle a horse, as well as to put him into a gigj for a man's life depends often upon the carefulness of his groom. They could both of them ride and drive well ; for he wished them to be manly, and capable of doing everything for themselves. Upon the whole, the boys were enjoying themselves with the very quiet hoh- days which Ellen's recent danger and the hard weather obliged them to keep. When they got tired of their own pond, they resolved to venture upon a much larger piece of water lying by the side of an unfrequented road, about two miles from their father's grounds. He was going out for the day with Constance and Ellen, and they easily coaxed mamma out of a whole holiday. They wanted Bertha's company, but she had taken cold, and was not allowed to go into the frosty air. Bertha, till her indisposition oc- curred, had conducted herself with singular discretion, for Ellen's accident had tamed her very much; but she felt herself quite well enough to go abroad, and could not consider that Mr, Lancet had any right to keep her in- doors. So she had been saucy enough to give him a broken chair, and to ask him to mend the fractured elbow, expressing herself astonished that he could not. I Christmas Holidays. 51 The surgeon, a very formal personage, thought her very rude and pert, though he said nothing. Mamma apologized for her little girPs ill-breed- ing, and hoped Mr. Lancet would regard it as proceeding rather from thoughtlessness than as an intended affront to himself. Mr. Lancet, however, was affronted, and considered Miss Bertha a very intractable and troublesome patient indeed. We must now return to our boys, who had marched off to the forbidden pond ; for mamma had stipulated that they should not leave the grounds. Unfortunately for themselves, they did not think so much of maternal as of paternal government, and both, I am sorry to say, marched off with the wise intention of being their own masters^ for that day at least. Mamma they thought was only afraid of their being drowned, but they would take good care of them- selves ; as indeed they always did. On their way they stopped to look at a pigsty, in which they saw nestled warmly in the straw a sow with a litter of ten tiny pigs. Now, these little crea- tures, being clean, looked very pretty with their soft silky-looking coats and pink skins. Our boys admired them very much, and thought they could not be more than two days e2 5^ Christmas Holidays, old^ and tliat it was very cold for them. After a time^ Edward peeped into tlie cottage window ; . no one was tliere^ and then — ^I know not how such an idea could come into his head, but selfish, mischievous boys seldom consider the consequences of unlawful actions to themselves or others — he told John that they might have some fine fun with the sow, if they could get her upon the pond.* Unfortunately, a sheet was hanging out to dry on the hedge, which, not being yet frozen, could be used as a sort of net till they had secured and mastered the poor beast, and attached a strong piece of whipcord to one of her hind legs. The sow made a great outcry, and so did the little ones she was compelled to leave to cold and hunger; but there were none to hear them but their tormentors. The boys then drove her forward, and shouting with laughter succeeded in launching her upon the piece of water. The sow, unused to gymnastics on the ice, slid about awkwardly enough, tried to bite, and squeaked and grunted at every turn she was compelled to make. This was fine sport to them ; why should •it not be so to her ? And they had been pursuing this gentlemanly amusement for several hours, * Fact. IL Christmas Holidays. 53 a 'S, when they heard themselves addressed in no measured tones of indignation by a farmer on his way to market^ who ordered them to release the poor beast^ or they would worry her to death. ^^ You call yourselves gentlemen, perhaps ; but to take a widow^s sow from her litter and use her so, when the poor beast has pigged so lately, is the lowest action I ever saw in my life, and if my mare were not so gay, I would horsewhip you both/' Not a word could John or Edward say in excuse. They were not hard-hearted, and the mention of a poor widow awakened the better feelings of their natures. Silently they unfastened the string that confined their victim, who seemed much the worse for her slide. They began to be alarmed at the consequences that were not unlikely to follow their cruel frolic, as the poor beast did not appear capable of getting on by herself ; so they were compelled to help her off the ice, and by supporting her on each side, to get her into her sty, to rejoin her crying and hungry progeny. She lay down, seemingly unconscious of their wants and her maternal feelings towards them. Our sliders could not mistake this insensibility; they saw that what the farmer had said was true, — they had worried the animal to death. The door of the lonely ■ 54 Christma^s Holidays, cottage was, however, still locked ; no one was in sight. They did not know the farmer, who evidently was unacquainted with them, so they sneaked off and left the poor beast to her fate, resolving to keep close to their own grounds for some days at least. As a troubled conscience is the worst of bosom friends, our culprits could not be easy till they had told Bertha their misadventure ; but she had a tender heart, and wondered how they could take the mother from her little ones in such cold weather : indeed, her feminine sympathies were entirely with the tormented, not with the tormentors, though she hoped the sow would get over her sufferings, and offered to walk with them to see how the poor beast was, which offer, however, they thought it prudent to dechne. All uncertainty was soon over respecting the result of their day^s sport on the ice, as they heard the housemaid telling their mamma of the misfortune that had befallen poor Widow Taylor in the loss of her sow and pigs. Mamma had laid it upon the sevore weather, and expressed her intention of sending some relief when she heard that the widow had lost, with the sow and her litter, her whole maintenance. The boys felt very miserable; they had not ^ 7<5 Christmas Holidays, a bulwark against the miglity ocean itself. The stones and sand accumulate owing to the ob- struction it creates ; the dust lodges, and green meadows are formed between the sea and the beach ; thus the coast is defended by means so simple and yet so wonderful as the growth of the sand-reed. Whole districts along the flat coast of Norfolk are preserved by its means alone. But, Constance, you do not yet know the dignity of my plant. It is really defended by Act of Parliament, and its destruction is punishable by law.'* " Yet, Miss Alice, you have pulled up a piece with some labour,'* remarked Bertha, laughing, " and have got such a pair of red cheeks ; and I seldom have seen you with a colour before.'* '^ I have only gathered a single stem to show my father, who will be pleased to hear that it has njade its appearance on this part of the coast; for, humble as it looks to us, we must remember that the great power of God can bring good to man from things as insignificant as this. His works are indeed marvellous, and pass our finding out." Alice spoke from her very heart ; to her this world was no barren waste, for she always found in every plant, or stone, or creature, something Christmas Holidays. 77 LOW Lt it tlie lUSt fing is. lour this md to admire. Not in vain did she repeat the words, " Let every creature praise the Lord/' John and Edward, less interested in marine treasures than their sisters and their friend, were watching the beach-fishing for whitings and codlings, carried on by boys of their own age, or by old men. They were too expert in the art of throwing out the line attached to the reel to fear catching the hooks in their clothes or flesh, so they soon bargained for the use of the fishing apparatus, papa having agreed to pay the hire for his chance of half the fish. They took their station on each side of old Jonas Hanway, for the pleasure of hearing his yarns, or sea adventures, as well as to benefit by his advice. Jonas had been their instructor in beach-fishing, and he had a long story to tell them about a poor young gentleman who had caught a whole set of hooks that morning in his shoulder, and had had them cut out by the surgeon, and all for want of attention to the directions of old experienced fishermen like himself. Our boys were very sympathising, far more so than old Jonas ; for when learners, but for papa's restrictions, and the advice of this experienced hand, no doubt the same accident would have befallen themselves. Those who have never 78 Ghristmaa Holidays. seen beadi-fishing, but are export with the fishing-rod, may perhaps imagine it is performed in the same manner. Such, however, is not the case. A long length of line wound on a wooden reel, which is fastened securely to the beach by means of a pole, comprises the tackle. The string hooks, for there are many attached to the line, are baited with shrimps and pieces of raw cod. The line itself is thrown out with both hands to the length required into the sea; but when it is necessary to take it in, the reel comes into use to wind it up. Edward's and John's first bites proved nothing better than dog-fish ; but, though much mortified at merely catching these ferocious creatures, they would not blind them, as old Jonas recommended — a cruel practice only too common among this class. Their next bites proved more fortunate, and a nice dish of whitings was the result of their sport. Mr. Beverly bought some of Jonas, which he sent home for his own late dinner. Our party had not yet had enough of the beach, so they walked along the sands till they came to a hut erected for the accommoda- tion of the coast-guard, which, being provided with benches and a round table, afibrded them the means of taking their sandwiches and wine- and- water with comfort. They were sufficiently Christmas. Holidays, 79 hungry to enjoy their luncheon, and tired enough to raise a joyful cry of surprise upon seeing the game-cart and pair of horses that mamma had considerately sent to convey them all home. They were to dine together to-day, as Miss Alice was their guest, and Edward and John did ample justice at seven o'clock to their own fish, as well as to the good things mamma had provided for their entertainment. Edward had profited, I am happy to say, by the lesson his favourite hero had afforded him ; for he no longer behaved like a selfish epicure by trying to get the best of every- thing for himself, but practised that self-denial which is so essential for a young gentleman to acquire in his own home before entering into society. 8o Christmas Holidays, CHAPTBE VIII. Sea-anemones in Flower. — Kemarks on Zoophytes. — Remarkable ones in Barbadoes. — ^Alcyonites in their Fossil and Gem-like form. — How to make a Marine HerbaL — Corals and Corallines. — Formation of the Islands of the Pacific. — Beautiful lines by an American lady. Tired with their ramble, the young people did not till the folloTving morning re-examine their marine treasures. The elder girls had played duets, and sang with AHce, while Bertha and hur brothers had played chess alternately. Mamma had not seen their collection yet, but she had promised to come into the playroom to look at it as soon as it was arranged in due order. A cry of dehght from Bertha, and then the sight of her merry face and entreaty to come at once to see something so pretty and wonderful, induced both her parents to hasten to the room where the exhi- bition was to take place. The sea-anemones, no longer looking like dull masses of red and blue, had put forth their tentaculaB, or feelers, in search of food — ^minute animalculae, invisible to eyeless zoophytes like themselves, and only perceptible Christmas Holidays, 8i bes. — their flarine )f the lerican e did tlieir )layed idhur imma 3 Had z at it A. cry f her o see both exhi- s, no blue, earch eless tibia to man by the aid of science and the microscope. These feelers, when the creatm-es of which they formed a part rose to the surface of the sea- water in which they had been immersed, took the form of rays, not unlike the multitudinous tiny petals into which the anthers of the anemone have been transformed by cultivation, and which constitute its beauty as a double flower. These glorious living rays of a cerulean blue in one specimen, and rose-colour in the other, filled the whole party with admiration and wonder. Mr. Beverly quickly efiected a change in their appearance by hghtly touching a ray of each with his silver pencil-case, when they all contracted, and the creatures in- stantly resumed their former appearance. "Ah, what a pity that such pretty things should make themselves ugly as soon as they are touched. Why do they make themselves into flowers ? Is it because they Hke to look beautiful sometimes ? " asked Bertha, bending anxiously over the glass that contained her treasures. " I really beheve, my dear Bertha, that your zoophytes are incapable of personal vanity. When they throw out their beautiful rays, they are merely getting their living. They have no eyes, but they have a stomach, and of course as appetite, which the use of these feelers enables o 82 Oh/ristmas Holidays, tliem to satisfy — each terminating in a sort of hook which grasps the prey it catches, and bends a strong muscle towards the oval orifice;, which serves the double purpose of a mouth and stomach, and is ready to receive the food. These feelers could not supply the animal without being possessed of intense sensibility, as they must choose the proper aliment, and reject what would be deleterious to it. Even the beautiful form this zoophyte assumes may be one of its means of attracting its living prey. As even zoophytes cannot be always eating, you will see your anemones withdraw their tentaculae, or feelers, as soon as they have satisfied the^r hunger.'^ Bertha watched them for some time, and beheld each ray contract separately, till only a little prominence denoted the place they had occupied. Mr. Beverly told her of other zoophytes, such as the Mantes, or creeping leaf of South America, and the Barbadoes flower, of which she would find an account in the '^ Ency- clopaedia Britannica,'^ under the article " Animal Flower." Constance found it out readily, like a young lady who acted frequently the part of Hbrarian to her papa, who then proceeded to read to the assembled group the following section : — Christmas Holidays, 83 and mly a had )tlier leaf r, of " In Hughes's ' Natural History of Barbadoes ' there is an account of a remarkable species of animal flower found in a basin in a cave^ of whirls he gives the following description : — *' ' In the middle of the basin there is a rocky stone which is firmly fixed in the water ; round its sides, at different depths, but seldom exceeding eighteen inches, are seen, at all times of the year, issuing out of Httle holes certain substances that have the appearance of fine radiated flowers of a pale yellow or bright straw colour, slightly tinged with green, having a circular border of thick-set petals about the size of and much resembling the single garden marigold, except that this seeming flower is narrower at the discus, or setting on of the flower, than any flower of the kind. I have attempted to pluck one of these from the rock to which they are always attached, but never could effect it ; for as soon as my fingers came within two or three inches of it, the flower would immediately con- tract close to its yellow border, and shrink back into the hole in the rock. If left undisturbed for five minutes, it would come gradually into sight, expanding, though very cautiously, its seeming petals till it came gradually into bloom. It would, however, recoil with surprising quickness o 2 84 Christmas Holidays, if touched with my cane. Though I could not pluck one of these seeming flowers, I contrived, by holding a knife cautiously, to cut two out of the mouth of one of the holes where they appeared; these, though they retained their form and colour out of water, soon shrivelled and decayed, being Composed of a membrane-like substance surprisingly thin/ " The Barbadoes flower, according to the writer, possessed a wonderful reproductive power, shared also with sea-anemones and other polypi, for if they are broken or divided each part becomes an individual of the same species. " Then I can make some more sea-anemones — as many indeed as I like ? '' remarked Bertha, eagerly. *' No, my dear, I do not wish you to be either cruel or unfeminine ; and, though the amount of pain experienced by zoophytes may be small, I doubt whether we should be justified in inflicting it. I will, however, show you these creatures under their fossil form.'' Mr. Beverly quitted the room, and quickly returned with two specimens in his hand : one was a black flint, cut open and finely polished^ containing an alcyonite, though of a buffish colour^ showing the interior of the crea- not Lved, it of they their L and !-like riter, aared for if 5onies les — rtha, dther nt of all, I ting lUres Christmas Holidays, 85 irea- ture transformed into a hard substance like alabaster, only infinitely finer grained. But if this was curious and wonderful, Bertha screamed with delight when she discovered in the brilliant transparent gem-like substance her father un- rolled from some unspun cotton, a real alcyonite of a palish pinky-red ; not indeed so large or lumpy as her own, but sufiiciently marked to be recog- nized as of the same species. How many ages had passed away before the alcyonites had assumed this fossil and gem-like form, none but the Framer of these wonders could know. ^' I wonder, papa, you did not have it set in a brooch for mamma,^' said Ellen, who, notwith- standing her constitutionally quiet temper, was fond of ornament. " Your mamma likes to see it in its present form — che has more admiration for nature than for gewgaws ; and to please her I have had ohq side of this beautiful alcyonite left in its rough state. She has a cultivated mind, capable of appreciating the wonderful works of God, and that faculty has made her company always agree- able as well as instructive to me.'' Constance now exhibited her corallines and confervas — ^lovely specimens she had gathered up for her father's marine herbal. For though tho S6 Ohriatmas Holidays* corallines had once been living zoophytes, before the stormy winds had torn them from their native rocks, and therefore could not be plants, they made a pretty variety in the book. If my young friends in visiting the sea-side wish to have a pretty memorial of time spent in the pursuit of rational pleasure or health, they cannot do better than bring back with them a ''marine herbal/' The specimens do not lose their natural colours or shrivel like a ''flower herbal,^' although that is a nice useful thing. The materials needed for preserving the speci- mens are merely a quire of strong cartridge- paper and some gum arabic. Cut your sheets to the size you require, and split each sheet into two pages ; dissolve a little gum in a large basin of water ; wash each specimen carefully in water, to get rid of the salt and sand, then lay it in the basin that has the gum-water, and put the sheet of cartridge-paper cornerwise between the water and the specimen. Move the paper gently, till the specimen is spread out upon it in the place you wish it to occupy; if any part of the weed is doubled, make use of the agency of the water again, but if you cannot float it till it takes its natural form, a pin may be used. As soon as it is in nice order, lay it out to dry. When completely free from damp^ Christmas Holidays. «7 fore heir ■side it in they em a lose ower ipeci- idge- 3ts to into basin ater, the iheet ater the you \Ued, utif :m, a r,lay imp, place your sheet, with one to cover it, between two pieces of smooth deal board of the size you wish your book to be. You may keep adding to the herbal, but your boards will contain the amount till enough for a volume is got ready, when it may be bound in any way you please. As some of the algae are large, the volume should be of a folio size if you wish to include them in your herbal. Mr. Beverly had a beautiful book of this kind in hand, but divided according to botanical arrangement ; each plant being properly classed and named. The corallines were also arranged according to their species. In making a book of this kind, the young naturalist must either leave a blank for the names of the marine plants or corallines, or by patient study learn to class them himself, unless some scientific friend will kindly furnish him with the needful knowledge. '^Are these corallines the same species of creature as corals, papa?'^ asked Constance, while fixing a specimen of palmated coralline to a sheet of paper. '' There is a difierence between them, Con- stance ; for though both are zoophytes of the polypus kind, the cell of the coralline is of a horny nature, while that of the coral is of a stony 88 Christmas Holidays. 1^ substance. This articulated coralline, indeed, resembles so much the true coral in its calcareous structure, that it seems to form a link betweou the two divisions into which naturalists have separated them. Come into my study and ex- amine with me some beautiful specimens of corals, from several parts of the world, both in their natural and polished state /^ It was a great treat for our young people to be permitted to enter papa's sanctum, and see only one of his cabinets unlocked. The sight of white, red, and the rare pink NeapoHtan coral, and also the equally precious scarlet species from Japan, was dehghtful to them; but when he showed them a polished medalHon of pink coral, with a tiny poodle dog carved, curls and all, out of white coral, and fitted up with jet eyes, their admiration at this cameo was intense. — Could the materials of this gem belong to the animal kingdom ? Yes ; science had solved the problem long ago, but still the wonder was not lessened. " The coral polypus exudes from its own body the milky juice which forms its cell, and hardens into a substance resembling stone. Each of these holes in this piece of branched white coral formerly contained a living creature, the growth Christmas Holidays^ 89 )ody Idens of joral )Wtll of the plant-like branches being only the multi- plication of the colony which increases in that form. Coral is often found in a fossil state; more particularly in Suffolk, near Orford. But I have another species of stone to show you, formed somewhat in the same way. Here is a specimen of Madrepora pleiades '/' and Mr. Beverly displayed an oval mass, full of stars groined into the substance, resembling lace stars cut in stone by the hand of some expert carver. The difference between madrepora and coral is more in form than nature ; for madrepora never branches. It is common enough in South America to be used for building and paving purposes. '' '^But are not many islands formed by the growth of the coral insect, papa, in the Pacific,'' asked Ellen — '^ beautiful islands, and also dan- gerous reefs?'' " They are not the first agent in the forma- tion of either, my dear girl, for the rocks to which they attach themselves are of volcanic origin; but the lagoon of sweet, clear water with which every island, however small, is furnished, is supposed to be derived from them. Here is Dr. Lyell's account of the agency of the coral insect in his work : — ' The coral insect builds in a circular direction. 90 Christmas Holidays. so tliat a basin or hollow is left in tlie centre of tlie reef : this is the future lagoon, and it is supposed they have a property of depriving the sea-water of its saltness, as these reservoirs contain fresh water/ You may be sure, my dear children/' remarked Mr. Beverly, ^^that God, who designed the embryo island for the habi- tation of man, would supply it with an element so essential to life as pure water, and therefore He has given the coral insect this wonderful power. Well, the coral continues to increase on every side, growing — if it be proper to use that term — ^to an immense height, rising many fathoms in the water, tiU the increase of light disturbs its operations, and being exposed to storms and currents, it dies off and decays. The branches afford lodgment to weeds and shells ; the winds bring the seeds of plants ; birds find a resting-place thereon, and prepare the growing island for trees; the waves waft thither the cocoa-nut, and verdure clothes the new-formed land, which soon becomes fit for the habitation of man. The deep lagoon* is V * Supposed to be the crater of the extinct submarine volcano, round which the coral has first fixed its abode, but this only accounts for the depth of the lagoon. The sweet- nesss of the water must be referred to the polypi. Christmas Holidays, 91 kaxine i, but Iweetr never dry, and while the sea finds him in fish, the cocoa palm afibrds him bread, tackle, and a bed. Such is the history of the small islands of the Pacific, which I have simplified for your amusement and instruction/^ ^'But, papa, has any person really seen the formation of land in this wonderful manner ? '' inquired Ellen, earnestly. " Yes ; navigators have seen what I have just described, in various stages, from the living coral reef, distinctly visible at an immense depth in the clear water of the Pacific, to the point where it dies ofi*, and its branches detain weeds and collect dust, to form the embryo island, to the period when it becomes solid land, clad with the vegetation and trees which spring up so rapidly in tropical climates. In the voyages and maritime discoveries of Captains Flinders, Kotzebue, and others, you may read, Ellen, the testimony afibrded by intelHgent witnesses to this interesting fact.^^ Mamma remembered some charming Hues on the coral insect by Mrs. Sigourney, an accom- plished American lady. For though, strictly speaking, these creatures do not build, yet they originated the structures that formed the subject of her poem. 92 Christmas Holidays, THE CORAL INSECT. Toil on, toil on — toil on, ye ephemeral train, Who build in the tossing and treacherous main ; Toil on, for the wisdom of man ye mock "With your sand-based structures and domes of rock ; Your columns the fathomless fountains lave, And your arches spring up to the crested wave. Ye're a puny race thus boldly to rear A fabric so vast in a realm so drear. Ye bind the deep with your secret zone, The ocean is seal'd and the surge a stone ; Fresh wreaths from the coral pavement spring, Like the terraced pride of Assyria's king ; The tuif looks green where the breakers roll'd, O'er the whirlpool ripens the rind of gold ; The sea-snatch'd isle is the home of men, And the mountains exult where the wave has been. But why do ye plant, midst the billows dark, The wrecking reef for the foundering bark ? There are snares enough in the tented field, 'Mid the blossom'd sweets that the valleys yield ; There are serpents to coil ere the flowers are up, There's a poison-drop in man's purest cup, There are foes that watch for his cradle breath ; Then why need ye sow the floods with death ? With mouldering bones the deeps are white, From the ice-clad pole to the tropics bright ; The mermaid has twisted her fingers cold With the mesh of the sea-boy's curls of gold ; Christmas Holidays. 93 And the gods of ocean have frown'd to see The mariner's bed in their halls of glee. Hath earth no graves, that ye thus must spread The boundless sea for the thronging dead ? Ye build — ^ye build, but ye enter not in ; Like the tribes whom the desert devour'd in their sin, From the land of promise ye fade and die, Ere its verdure gleams forth on your weary eye : As the kings of the cloud-capp'd pyramid Their noteless bones i:i oblivion hid, Ye slumber unmark'd by the desolate main, While the wonder and pride of your works remain. Witli these exquisite lines, the morning lecture ended ; amber and jet, the only unnoticed produce of the sea-side ramble, being reserved for the evening's entertainment. 94 Christmas Holidays, CHAPTEE IX. The Birthday Gift. — Amber: its origin; its uses. — The wonderful Amber Brooch. — ^Electric properties of Amber : its medicinal uses ; how to cut and polish it. — Jet. — Coal of vegetable origin. '' You promised to tell us sometliing about amber and its properties, dear papa/' said Constance, as the party were enjoying their dessert after dinner. '^ I have not forgotten it, my dear," replied Mr. Beverly, '^ nor that to-day is your fifteenth birthday." He then took a small case from a side table and presented it to her, saying, '^ Do not open it, love, till we have discuFjSed amber and its pecuUar properties." Constance, though she did really long to see what papa had given her, was too obedient and well bred to infringe his commands. The boys and Bertha whispered that they could see and tell her, as no mention had been made about what they might do ; but Constance shook her head, while Ellen said " that would be just as bad as if Constance had opened it ; " and Christmas Holidays, 95 so the mystery remained unravelled till the proper time was come. Papa then took from a cabinet specimens of clear, clouded, and fat amber, and asked his attentive auditors to guess what they had been. Constance thought she had seen something very like the two first specimens upon an old cherry-tree. Fat amber, indeed, was not without its resemblance to a lump of resin. " Well, my dear girl, there is every reason to believe, with Pliny, the Eoman naturalist, that amber has been a resinous gum. It is now only found in a fossil state, in the earth, in Poland, Prussia, and some other places in Grermany; though it has been discovered in clay pits near London, and is not uncommon on the shores of the Baltic or our own coasts. Besides its strong resinous perfume when burned or rubbed, it often incloses flies, ants, light particles of straw, or twigs.'' ^' Flies and ants, papa ! " exclaimed Constance, in great surprise. " Open that case, my dear, and look at your birthday gift,'' replied Mr. Beverly, "and see with your own eyes." Constance obeyed with great alacrity, and held up, admiringly, a large amber brooch. 96 Christmas Holidays,- elegantly set in gold, and clear and brilliant as a topaz, having in the centre a perfect ant of the yellow kind,* as well defined as if it had been a creature of yesterday, instead of having been entombed in its beautiful sepulchre . for unknown ages. Four pairs of curious eyes and outstretched hands disputed with its lawful owner the possession and sight of this wonder. Papa, however, decided that each of these importunate persons should see it in the order of seniority, on condition they handled it with the care required by young ladies while showing their ornaments. Constance was delighted, you may be sure, for though amber brooches are always pretty, few can be found with an ant enclosed within the amber ; and, till the holidays were over, this curious ornament was always in requisition. '^ Pray, Con., wear your ant-brooch to-day,^^ was a diurnal den".and made by Edward, John, and Bertha, as weU as by other inquiring friends. After tranquillity had been restored, papa told his auditors that amber had a wonderful pro- perty of attracting light substances, when rubbed for a short time with the hand or a piece of cloth^ and that it had been given the name of * Fact. Christmas Holidays, 97 eleotrum by the ancients from tliis circumstance, whence our well-known words electric and elec- tricity were derived. Ambra, being the Arabic name for this beautiful fossil gum, had been slightly altered into amber. Of course, there was a trial instantly made of the attracting powers of amber by the young people ; nor were they less interested in the fine odour given out by the article when rubbed ; the fat amber, as we have already observed, if less beautiful to the eye, possesses more electric power and gives forth a finer perfume than the clear or clouded kinds. Papa told them that every sort was used for var- nishes and medicine, though fat amber was still reckoned the best for such purposes. He thought he need not say how beautiful the other kinds of amber were for ornaments, as ladies were good judges of beads, bracelets, hearts, and crosses ; he had shaped and polished some into hearts himself. Edward wished to know how this could be efiected ; and when he heard that emery was used to reduce the roughness of the specimen, and that it could be shaped with a knife and polished with a piece of glass, he determined to make the experiment himself. " I wish, papa, you would cut and poHsh these large pieces you have just •* 98 Christmas Holidays. shown us. You have enough to make snuff- boxes, brooches, and all sorts of pretty things." " But you forget that, to a naturalist, Edward, any specimen in its primitive state is more valu- able than when polished, although it may not be so beautiful/^ Constance, upon hearing this, offered her father the fine clear piece she had found on the boach the day before, and was much pleased by his acceptance of it. Ellen reminded papa that he had said amber was used medicinally, '' Yes, my dear, oil of amber is used in cases of intermittent and remittent fevers, and I have seen some cures effected by it when taken for the ague in the form of drops. Quinine, no doubt, has superseded this costly remedy ; but amber is an elegant bitter, and not so unpleasant to take. It has been said that amber, when well rubbed, becomes luminous in the dark, but I have never seen a specimen that will do so, though it is not impossible that some may possess this quality. Jet has several properties resembling amber, and, like it, may be of vegetable origin. Cannel coal is often mistaken for jet ; but, though black and snining, it is very brittle, while jet is hard, and closer grained. )9 ?* Christmas holidays. 99 " Is it ^Sfeible that any kind of coal can bo of vegetable origin, dear papa?'' asked Constance, in a tone of surprise. ^' Yes ; tlie fact cannot reasonably be doubted, since trees, partially converted into this useful substance, have been found in coal-mines ; but it is still a mystery in what way the conversion took place. ^God works,' as your favourite hymn says, ' in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.' We may recognize His hand in every- thing, and adore His wisdom, while acknowledg- ing, with deep humility, that His ways are past finding out." ICX> Christmas Holidays, CHAPTER X. Aunt Mary. — ^Bertha's former Misbehaviour — Her Penitence. — Bertha's Displeasure. — Recrimination reproved by Alice. — Alice a peace-maker. — The Visit to Aunt Mary's Sister. — The Walk over the Glebe Farm with the Rector. — ^ The Church and its Monuments. — The old Ruin. Towards the middle of January, a very welcome visitor arrived at Selwood Hall, who was known in the family by the familiar appellation of " Aunt Mary.^' Of course .ihe had a surname, as we all have, and I believe it was Mason ; but the young people, whoso recollections of her were as early as of their own mother, had adopted her for an aunt because they loved and esteemed her so much. Aunt Mary had been Mrs. Beverly's schoolfellow, though their positions in life were widely diflPerent ; for the latter was a young lady of independent fortune, while Mary Mason was a pupil-teacher. The amiable qualities of the under-teacher had gained the affections of the more fortunately circumstanced Maria, and so it happened that whenever she required a home she found one in that of her affluent friend. She had also assisted in the early education of that friend's 's Ohristmas Holidays, lOI children, and indeed loved them as much as if they had been her own. She was greeted with much affection by them all, and even Bertha, whose love had been somewhat shaken by Aunt Mary's persevering instructions to her ungrateful self in the useful art of darning stockings, seemed as glad to see her as the rest. Now, truth to say. Aunt Mary had endured uncom- plainingly a species of martyrdom while teaching Bertha to darn, since the refractory pupil, who hated needlework generally, and darning stock- ings in particular, had provided herself with an unreasonably long piece of cotton, by which means she managed to prick Aunt Mary's arm with the head of her needle every time she drew it out of the stocking. Mamma, who had seen this naughty trick, had punished her little girl. Bertha, who considered herself an injured person, was sullenly vindictive, and declared she never wanted to see Aunt Mary again. Better feelings had succeeded these bad ones. Bertha had remorsefully remembered that Aunt Mary, far from getting her into trouble about the injured arm, had not only been uncomplaining, but had tried to intercede for her with mamma. She was making a pretty netted bag for Aunt Mary, by way of a peace-offering, and as this 102 Christmas Holidays. ! cadeau was nearly finished, she was impatient to see her old friend again. John, who Hked to tease Bertha occasionally, continually reminded her of the eccentric method she had taken to vex Aunt Mary during her fit of the pouts. It happened once that when Bertha, Aunt Mary, and the cat were the sole occupants of the sitting-room, his favourite sister had suddenly remarked, ^' There are three persons in this room, and two I love and one I hate. I don^t hate you, poor pussy, and of course I donH hate myself.^^ To which by no means difl&cult enigma Aunt Mary had meekly repHed, " You mean me, I am afraid. Miss Bertha/^ ^^ You said it your- self. Miss Mason ; so you ought not to get me punished for fitting the cap on your own head.^' " No, my dear child, for I can easier forgive you than when you are in a better mind you will forgive yourself. However, I shall consider it in the light of rather a rude joke.'^ Now this was the truth, for though Bertha had at the time told the anecdote herself, she was now not only very sorry and ashamed of her sly naughty behaviour,but was anxious to show how much she loved her dear old friend. And this had made a girl who hated work employ her play-time in making a pretty bag for Aunt Mary. She could not t i 4 f Christmas Holidays, 103 stand Jolin^s jokes, and wept piteously, till by good luck Miss Alice came in, and asked so kindly about tbe cause of ber grief tbat Bertha could not keep it from ber. AHce dried tbe cbild^s streaming eyes, wbile sbe reproved ber tormentor. " Jobn, do you like to bave your faults brought to your mind when yoa are ashamed of them, and mean to amend them ? '' ^^And I have never once told bim about sliding with Widow Taylor^s sow,^^ said Bertha, reproachfully, raising herself from Alice's kind arms, and fiercely regarding her brother. '^ Hush, my darHng, you are doing it now. No recriminations are Christianlike. But why is the little nose turned up ? that is not the v^'ay to cure John of his fault.^^ '^It's all because I am not like you, dear Miss Alice — and I wish I was ; but I will try to leave off turning it up, — ^indeed, I will.'' " Well, Bertha, I am very sorry I vexed you so much. I only did it in fun, and you were very kind about Widow Taylor's sow, and would have given me and Edward all your money, only papa would not let us take it j so let us kiss and be friends again." Bertha embraced her brother, and Alice Maiden had the pleasure of seeing them on good terms with each other again. 104 Christmas Holidays, Aunt Mary arrived that evening, and was fondly welcomed by the whole family, as well as by Alice, who esteemed her as much as they did. She was delighted with Bertha's present ; for, somehow. Bertha was her favourite, in spite of her occasional fits of suUenness and perversity. It had been settled a long while ago that when Aunt Mary visited her sister, the wife of a neighbouring clergyman, who cultivated his own glebe, Alice should drive her and the three young ladies in her father's open carriage, attended by Mr. Beverly's groom on horseback, to the vicarage. As the holidays were nearly over, an early day was fixed, and a fine frosty one it proved to be. AKce was an excellent whip, though Bertha thought her too sparing in the use of it, and occasionally grumbled at the slowness of the steed, who kept his own sure and fast trot, instead of galloping as she wished him to do. Constance and Ellen enjoyed the prospect, and admired the effect of the rime frost, sometimes chatting with Aunt Mary and Alice, or with each other; while Berfcha was peevish, and kept grumbling at the long time they were on the road. The truth was, she had talked half the night about the visit, and was feverish and irri- t • *, Christmas Holidays, 105 table. However, the longest journey must come to an end, and the party arrived at the vicarage in proper time for luncheon. Everything was neat and nice, though in a different style from what the young people were accustomed to at home. Their hosts were primi- tive in manners and elderly in years, and, having no family, managed to live comfortably among their parishioners without show or much ex- penditure. No farmer's wife could manage her dairy better, or was prouder of it, than Mrs. Green. Nor was the vicar less proud of his well-stocked farm, and he was pleased to take his visitors over the glebe, and to show them his cattle and barns and stables. Ellen and Constance were amused at the sight of the barn-fan,* an implement very unlike its namesake of the drawing-room and ball-room. There is something very national in a real English farm, with its fields parted by beautiful hedgerows ; its well-cultured land and * The fan, now usually superseded by the use of the dressing machine, will hold between one and two bushels, is made of fine wicker closely woven, and formed in the shape of a cockleshell. The corn is thrown up in it after being thrashed, to separate the chaflF from the grain. No one can Bee it used without recalling the Scriptural allegory, " Whose fan is in his hand." io6 Christmas Holidays* neat outbuildings ; the cottages of tlie labourers with nicely kept gardens ; and the well-fed and snugly stabled horses. Constance and Ellen quite charmed the vicar by the interest they took in his farm, but their admiration of the village church delighted him still more ; for, though small, it was a fine specimen of pure Gothic archi- tecture, and the chancel screen still retained its exquisite tracery and rich colouring. Nor were the painted windows, with their gorgeous hues, less interesting. Stained glass and wood carving in the olden time had obtained for English art in these branches a high reputation, and, however quaint the designs may be, modem windows cannot at present compete with the ancient style as far as colour is concerned. Then the silken banners that hung over the altar, em- blazoned with the arms of the extinct family whose remains rested within the sacred edifice which the piety of its general ancestor had raised, seemed strange to their eyes within a church. Upon the renewal of these memorials depended the tenure of several annual gifts to the poor, for thus had human pride provided for post- humous honours under the mask of charitv. Nor were the monumental brasses less curious in their details, for thereon might be seen the t ^ / Christmas Mociaays, 107 Nor em- 'p the delineation of tlie deceased wrapped in the wind- ing sheet that was then used for the shroud, tied in a knot on the top of the head, and, after enveloping the form, again tied round the feet. Those in later times, when the custom of lying in state with great pomp was more generally observed, were in the costumes prevalent during the Tudor dynasty — the fardingale and pointed bodice then worn so nearly resembling the fashion of the present times. The later monu- ments only set forth in Latin the virtues of the deceased. One alone told a tale in English, more likely to touch human feelings ; for it com- memorated the deaths of the last members of the ancient line in the persons of a brother and sister, who had both died in the flower of their age. He was slain in a sea-fight, and she broke her heart upon the receipt of the news. Alice, Constance, and Ellen were much interested in the gentle Philippa; while Bertha, who was by no means of a romantic turn, was amusing her- self with looking at the quaintly carved ceiling, and had discovered in odd nooks some of those curious representations of the fratres 'predicanti, or preaching friars, in which that somewhat unor- thodox body are often caricatured by the archi- tects employed by the more orthodox party. T08 Christmas Holidays, I A curious old ruin on tlie neighbouring heath, known by the name of ^^ the old chapel/^ next attracted their attention, after leaving the quiet country churchyard. The vicar supposed it had been a Roman fort, as it bore no resemblance to an ecclesiastical building. It stood on an exten- sive heath, lonely and ivy-covered, a relic older than Christianity in the island, and founded by the heathen conqueror, not by the peaceful mis- sionary. After some pleasant talk about the ruin the vicar found it was time to proceed homewards, if they wished to dress for dinner, for which, by-the-by, their ramble with him had given them an excellent appetite. Christmas Holidays, 109 CHAPTEE XI. Pets and their Uses. — History of Billy the Pet-lamb. — Molly's fondness for him ; his Fracas with the old Cat and her Kitten. — How Billy managed to get his own Milk. — Behaviour of the Cockatoc — Bookwormishness of Con- stance and Ellen. — Moonlight Deception. — Bertha's noc- turnal Adventure. — Conversation with Alice. — Gentle- women. — Bertha wishes to be saucy. — Cannot be rude to Alice. — Influence of a Christian Character ; its good Effects. Our young party made such a hasty toilette that they had time to bestow some attention upon various objects of interest, which, though not uncommon, were new to them. Girls, we all know, have an extreme fondness for pets of all kinds; a harmless predilection, which under certain regulations may not only be safely indulged in, but will elicit many useful and valuable qualities. Tenderness, forecast, and an easy acquaintance with the natural history of rabbits, cats, dogs, squirrels, dormice, and birds, are the certain results of this tendency. To feed and provide for them ought of course to be inculcated as a duty, nor should the pets be suffered to be troublesome guests in the 110 Christmas Holidays, parlour^ or take up time appointed for other more important purposes. Constance, Ellen, and Bertha, all loved pets dearly, and the vicarage boasted a great many. There was a ^ beautiful lamb, white as snow, which had been washed the day before that he might be pre- sentable : a loving lamb too, well deserving of his Suffolk appellation of Cossett, who followed the dairymaid everywhere as if she had been his own dam. She certainly merited his affection, for the poor ewe had died in yeaning, and Molly had fed the lamb with warm milk through the spout of a teapot at first, and afterwards with the aid of her finger.* She had kept him near the fire, in a basket lined and covered with pieces of old carpet, and, moreover, had risen more than once in the cold winter nights to feed and cover him with an additional blanket. Billy was a late-fall lamb, an unusual period for these little creatures to come into the world, which had made the task of rearing him so troublesome to the kind dairymaid. Though lambs have been called stupid by people who »■'." * A curious method practised in Suffolk and elsewhere in rearing young animals by hand. The finger is put into the creature's mouth, and his head being lowered to the milk, he sucks the finger and the milk with it. ,.5 Christmas Holidays, III know little of their habits, it is certain that when domesticated as pets in a house they display much intelligence. Billy followed his nurse all over the ground floor, and would have ascended the staircase if she had permitted him ; then he knew that in a certain cupboard, leading to the sitting-room, biscuit was kept, and here Billy regularly made a stand, and would rap at the door in hopes of obtaining one. Then Molly kept a crust of bread in her pocket for him, and Billy did not hesitate to commit petty larceny, for he never failed to empty it of its eatable contents. Bertha and her sisters were much amused by the rehearsal of Billyhs accomplishments, who promised in time, under Molly's teaching, to arrive at the dignity of a learned lamb. Some milk was given him, it being his feeding time, when a scene was performed in the impromptu style between him and the cat that infinitely amused the whole party. Mrs. Pussy, with her pretty kitten, chose to dispute the possession of the milk with Master Billy, whose nose she scratched while appropriating to her own use his lawful property. Billy, who dared not attack her, intercepted and butted the kitten, whose cries brought to the 112 Christmas Holidays. rescue its feline mother, who licked and com- forted it as she was accustomed to do. During this short interval, the lamb was drinking his milk in double-quick time; the cat, however, presently renewed the contest, setting up her back till every hair stood on end, swearing, and spitting in an alarming manner. Cunning Billy again assailed the kitten, when a repetition of the scene took place, and he contrived at last to swallow his own milk.* The dairymaid, to whom Billy was dear as a son, would have driven away puss and her kitten, but Bertha was too much amused to permit it, though Molly did not like to see her own pet affronted and robbed, and his pretty face scratched. Molly was certainly right. It is supposed that cats, when they inflate their coats, possess electric powers which they exert for self-defence, since dogs and other animals much larger than themselves often retreat upon touching them, without having felt their talons. Our domestic cats, in receiving that species of home education which such animals acquire under man's roof, display an amount of intellect never shown by the same creature in a wild state. The brain is more developed, and the * Fact ' Christmas Holidays, "3 animal loses its fierceness and becomes attractive and companionable; and hard indeed must be the heart of that man or boy who can torment, hurt, or kill a creature possessed of so many- useful and agreeable qualities. By this time our young people had a good appetite for dinner, which was plain but hospi- table ; with the dessert came in an old pet of their hostess, in the shape of a fine lemon-crested cockatoo, who immediately went up to Alice, with whom he was personally acquainted, and asked her how she did, in a very amusing way. He placed himself at once upon Aunt Mary's shoulder, whom he evidently considered as a very old friend, permitting her to rub his head and part his crest with her fingers. Not being fond of strangers, he hopped on one leg, bending his head in a menacing manner, looking very fiercely at Constance and Ellen, who were warned not to touch him. He came readily to his mistress, to whom he uttered many praises of his own beauty, while she was choosing him a pear. He, however, preferred helping himself, and, as might be supposed, chose the best he could find, with which he made off. Now Bertha, who was very fearless, and much addicted to having her own way, would have had her 114 Christmas Holidays, fingers broken in the act of touching him, if the vicar had not immediately placed his own upon them, which, instead of the sharp stroke designed for hers, received a tender and lo'^ang caress from this discerning creature.* * Constance and Ellen, who were very bookish, had seen several works in the vicar^s library which they wanted to read; they were early risers, and in the winter always dressed by candle-light, so they hoped by rising early in the morning to gratify their taste for reading, if the vicar would allow them the use of his study before the family were stirring. He readily consented, and they were promised a good fire, and the maids were directed to call them at an early hour. Now both Alice and Aunt Mary had objected to this arrangement, as both inconvenient and savouring a little of pedantic display, but Con- stance and Ellen persevered : Crabbers ^^ Tales of the Hall " having captivated one, and Bloom- field's ^^ Farmer's Boy'' the other. Our girls were SuiSblk born, and had heard, but not yet read, those fine productions of their native county's poetical sons. However, young ladies I.J * Fact. Christmas llolidaijs. 1^5 of their age should not oppose the wishes of their friends in order to gratify their own, when they are taken to a strange house by the objectors, who are answerable in some measure for their behaviour and deportment. Constance and Ellen awoke in the middle of one of those cloudles:: moonlight nights which resemble daylight so much that nothing but reference to the clock can lead to a right con- clusion as to the true time. They supposed the housemaid had forgotten her promise, and began to dress themselves in some haste ; while Bertha, who occupied a crib in the same apartment, insisted upon doing the same. They did not want Bertha^s company at all. '^ She was,'' they said, '' both mischievous and noisy ; besides, she would be sure to awaken the house." Bertha persevered, and, pushing past her sisters on the staircase, got a fall, and broke into a loud roar, just as Constance and Ellen had discovered their error by seeing the full moon shining through the landing window. "Oh, Bertha, pray leave off crying or you will awaken the family, for it is not yet day. Indeed, Bertha, you need not cry so much,'' eaid Constance and Ellen. Now Bertha, though really more frightened I 2 ii6 Christmas Holidays, tlian hurt, was a cliild unaccustomed to the least self-command; she cried if she met with the smallest accident, as unruly and tomboyish girls invariably do. She felt, like most roarers, positive pleasure in roaring, and thought her- self in this present instance privileged to roar, and roar she did, only stopping her cries i for an instant to make this angry rejoinder to , her sisters* remonstrance, — '^I dare say you would leave off crying, if you were as much hurt as I am/* " Dear Bertha, now don't begin to roar again, as you are well enough to leave oil/' said Constance, in a tone of entreaty. But Bertha chose to scream again, like a tire- some naughty child as she was, and that in so vociferous a style that she fairly roused the sleepers in that part of fhe house, who issuing from their dormitories in hastily-made toilets, assembled on the spot to ascertain the cause. The good vicar and his wife, as soon as Aunt Mary had ascertained that Bertha had received no injury beyond a slight bruise, laughed hear- tily at this nocturnal adventure ; Constance and Ellen, much ashamed of the confusion their mistake had caused in the family, retired to their beds; while Bertha, still sobbing, was Christmas Holidays, "7 taken into that occupied by Alice and Aunt Mary. Bertba consoled herself by sulking a little, and giving Aunt Mary an occasional touch with her elbow, for she was too excited to sleep herself, and thus kept her old friend from taking any more rest that night. Alice, more fortunate, got some repose, and when she awoke expressed much pleasure upon finding Bertha quite out of pain. ^^You were frightened a great deal, my dear child, and you ought to be thankful that you were not seriously hurt, as I feared you were by your crying so much." "1 could not help crying, Miss Alice, and I was frightened too ; besides, it eased my pain.'* '' But still I do not think you needed to go on again when once you had left ofiP. I know that crying in the first instance does ease pain,* and you had done so quite long enough. We must not be selfish, and ease ourselves at the expense of the feelings of others. Have you forgotten your sister EUen^s behaviour when she met with that accident on the ice, and how she suppressed her cries to spare you as much as she could ? " * A medical fact ii8 ( '. Christmas Holidays* " I am sure tlien I roared for both," replied Bertha, pertly. Alice looked grave, and would not laugii. " No, Bertha, this subject is one that concerns all women too closely to be joked upon. Self- control is necessary in every stage of our lives. The common saying, 'A little help is worth a deal of pity,^ applies to those of our sex who , cry where they should give assistance. No doubt, those useless women were great roarers when they were children. Aunt Mary, I see, is asleep, so I will tell you what she did when she came into a cottage and found a good many women crying over a neighbour who had dropped on the ground in a swoon — ^the consequence of spasms in the heart. She persuaded them all but one to go away, and leave the door open, for fresh air — that air those foolish women were exhausting, and thereby adding to the danger of the patient ; then she raised her head a very little, unloosed her dress, rubbed her cold hands, and ordered a bottle of warm water to be put to her feet, and when the doctor came in the poor woman was sitting up quite restored, we may almost say, to life again. Aunt Mary never cried for small matters when a child, because her mother felt those cries, as I beheve all mothers Christmas Holidays, 119 do. Her self-command, you see, was the means of mucli good to the fainting female. Now, Bertha, I want you to try to acquire this habit. I am preaching you a little sermon, you see, — and if you cannot obtain it by your own efforts, pray to God to help you to gain it.^^ " Oh, Miss Alice, I always like your sermons. I never care how long they are."'^ " Then I will go on,^^ said Alice, with one of her arch smiles. ^^I think you ought not to have vexed your sisters by insisting upon going down with them ; and you would not have made the false step, that caused you both pain and fright, if you had not rudely pushed by them on the stairs : politeness is due to every one.^' "But to my sisters politeness would be so very formal,'^ rejoined Bertha. " You ought to be more polite to your own family than to other persons, or else familiarity soon degenerates into rudeness. The word gen- tlewoman means a person using gentle language and practising polite ways. Some persons of mean birth have it by nature, and I have heard such called gentlewomen of God's own making. Of course, they had refined minds and mild tempers.'* 120 Christmas Holidays, '' I am a gentlewoman born. Miss Alice ; you know I am.'' " It is not every one born of gentle blood that becomes a gentlewoman. You are when you behave like one.'' Bertha blushed, and looked another way, for the shot told as Alice intended it should. " Then you do sometimes think so ? " r> ; '' Yes, whenever the sound heart corrects the temper, and the will to please yourself is for- gotten for a time in the wish to please other people." '^ I suppose you think Constance and Ellen are gentlewomen ? " " Yes, they are ; I never remember them other- wise, nor ever saw them masculine or rude." " Is it wicked to be tomboyish, or masculine, as you call it ? " asked Bertha. * ^ " No ; to be so is, properly speaking, only to be in bad taste. If Edward and John were to be girlish in manners and habits, that would be in bad taste ; but not so annoyingly so as a mascu- line girl would be." ' ' "- " You love Constance and Ellen, Miss Alice, but you cannot like me ; yet they do not love you better than I do," said Bertha. I know you love me, and that is why I t( Christmas Holidays* 121 venture to tell you of your little faults. I lovo you quite as much as your sisters, when you are good.'' Miss Alice hero took Bertha into a pair of loving arms, and kissed and embraced her tenderly. '' Oh, what a way she has with her," thought Bertha ; " and somehow, though I want to and mean to be saucy to her, I never can, no never ; it would really be very wicked if I were, for she is so meek, clever, and good. Ah, I wonder if with trying all my life I could be at all like Miss Alice/' - i., . Alice Maiden, happily for this high-spirited and self-willed but generous child, had gained an ascendancy over her that Bertha Beverly could not shake off. Her influence was a Christian one, and was felt throughout her father's wide-spread parish, from the smallest urchin to that important personage the clerk, who always called her " our young lady '' when speaking of her to the parish- ioners, with the honest pride of a Selwood man holding an important sacerdotal office in the Church. 122 Christmas Holidays* ; ! CH ^ PTEE XII. V The Ford. — ^The Party in Danger. — ^Presence of Mind of the Groom. — The Visit prolonged. — Bertha's Fondness for Kittens. — Begs for the !r.,pless Feline Family. — Quarrels with Aunt Mary.-- i.iio .s itteiis' Expulsion from the Car- riage. — Bertha pockets oi.c. — His Misbehaviour on the Journey. — She names him Mi' »^ — His Accomplishments. — Her Letter in Meek\ Ltl ^If t* : Governess. — Eeply of Mrs. Manners. — Meek does not I ec ■ .w- ii Parlour-boarder. — His liking for Rabbits. — His Disappearance, Voyages, and Catastrophe. Visits, however pleasant, must terminate at last, tliougli several hours of rain had promised our young ladies a day longer. About six, the shower ceased ; and after tea, adieus had been spoken, and the party were on their homeward way to Selwood. As the moon would not rise till late, the lamps were hghted, and with the groom in attendance the occupiers of the phaeton travelled merrily on till they reached the ford with its railed foot-bridge. Alice, when she entered the little run, perceived that it was much deeper than usual ; but, as she had often been driven through it by her father, did not suppose there was danger till the water came into the Christmas Holidays, 123 . f phaeton and the strong horse began to swim. Bertha laughed, while Constance and Ellen thought it looked like the beginning of an ad- venture. Alice felt dreadfully anxious ; she would have stopped, but she found it was not in her power. The groom, however, who had dis- mounted, was on the bridge, and leaning over the rail, told Miss Maiden to give him the reins, which he firmly tied to the rails, and then lifted each lady from the carriage and set her safely on the bridge. This accomplished, he rode into the stream, loosed the carriage reins, and turned the horse towards the side by which he had entered it. His cool courage and skill saved the lives of all,* for the water-mill was at work, and in a few minutes more the party would have been dashed by the current against the wheel. Alice and Aunt Mary audibly blessed God, Constance and Ellen wept, but Bertha, with the recklessness of her character, could not realize the fact that she had been in danger. I believe she was glad of anything that brought her back to the society of the lamb and cockatoo. They had not proceeded half a quarter of a mile, on their return to the vicarage, when they * Fact. This occasionally dangerous ford has still but a foot-bridge, yet it is the only direct way to a populous village. i I 124 Christmas Holidays, met tlie vicar and several men in search of them, whom the knowledge of the fact of the mill being at work had brought to their assis- tance. The groom hastened back to Selwood by another road to inform Mr. Beverly that the state of the ford would not permit tlie return of his family that evening. A night of sound sleep made amends for past perils and dangers ; and who was merrier than Bertha, surrounded, as she soon was, with pets of all kinds? While caressing the lamb, she heard Molly telling Patty that mistresses own cat had brought into the house six carrotty kittens, but that they were all to be killed, as fifteen cats were too much for one house. ^' Six carrotty kittens ! " remarked Bertha. ^' Let me see the darlings. Kill six kittens that can race about and play ! How very cruel ! '' Molly did the honours of the introduction to the doomed feline family, who, being fresh from some mysterious corner in a barn or outhouse, set up their backs and hissed and swore, after wild kitten fashion. '' I wonder whether they know how to purr,^' said Bertha, snatching up the finest of the litter. The kitten bit, cufied, swore, and scratched, but Bertha persevered in her unwelcome attentions. Christmas Holidays, 121 ?cli of of the assis- Dodby e state of his r past r than h pets b, she wn cat :ittens, sn cats 5ertha. IS that • on to from mouse, after 3urr/^ litter, i, but tions. till at last, by rubbing him under the chin, and imitating the call-note of his mamma, he really did begin to purr in good earnest. "Only think of his singing to little miss," remarked the maids. " He fare right fond of her," — ^for the maids were Suffolk born, and used the peculiar dialect of the county. ^'I mean to have him, and call him Meek," said Bertha. " Indeed, I think I might as well ask for them all, for it is cruel to kill them now they are so full of fun." '^ Miss, you see the cat was so subtle that she hid them up ; and I am sure missus will give them to you rather than have them drowned. ^Tain't everybody that kind of fancy red kits." Bertha brought Constance and Ellen to see the kittens. Her sisters, though they thought them very ugly, were willing enough to unite in petitioning for their lives. Their hostess was happy to be rid of them in a merciful way; but Aunt Mary made strong objections to this arrangement, which she knew would be an in- convenient one to their parents. She reminded Constance and Ellen that they each had a cat with young kittens, and that Bertha had two cats called Pinch and Patch. Besides these four cats, there were several stable cats, so that m 126 CJiristmas Holidays, she must not increase the stock by adding even one to the number, as Mr. Beverly had ex- pressed himself very decidedly on that point on account of his game, cats being great poachers. Bertha looked daggers at Aunt Mary, and wondered why Alice did not interfere to save the unfortunate kittens. Alice, who had a weakness for cats, had more than she knew what to do with: besides, no more were to be added to the cat-establishment of Selwood Hall ; and, humane as she was, she would not countenance disobedience. Bertha, however, had made up her mind ; and the kittens were smuggled into the driving-box by the joint assistance of the maids and Robert the groom ; Constance and Ellen promising not to object to this augmentation to their travelHng party. The visitors departed at noon by a longer but safer route, but not without some regret. They had all been very happy with the good old couple, who had only to be known to be loved and esteemed. In the very commencement of their journey. Aunt Mary thought she heard a poor kitten crying in the hedge, whereupon she fancied she saw an ill-repressed smile dimphng round the lips of both Constance and Ellen, and she was Christmas HohcTays, la; even d ex- nt on cliers. , and ve the [ more es, no hment as, she Ij and ig-box Robert ig not velhng by a some' th the Dwn to urney, kitten ed she d the le was then sure the outcries came from the carriage itself, and soon discovered the hiding-place of Bertha's protdg^s. Alice was obliged to rise that the little creatures might be expelled; the whole five, however, made at once their way to the vicarage, with that singular home instinct that cats of all ages display whon removed from their birthplace ; and even Alice could not help laughing when she saw them set up their tails, and take the direct road to the house. Bertha, who had not exposed her own fierce pet to the risk of being turned out of the driving-box, had him safely enough in her dress- pocket, which, unluckily for Meek's comfort, was not a very capacious one, and he, not liking the straitness of his j)rison, vented his kittenish dis- pleasure in loud mews, growls, hisses, and struggles for his liberty with teeth and claws: vainly was a second search instituted, since, on these occasions Bertha put her hand over Meek's nose, half- smothering him in her efibrts to stifle his cries. As soon as they were comfortably reseated, and Bertha allowed her pet to breathe, his cries became more vivacious, to the infinite dehght of the girls, and even the amusement of Alice, who suspected that the little creature was secreted about Bertha. ^^ There was some 128 Christmas Holidays, n I I "' difference/' she whispered to Aunt Mary, '^ between the introduction of one little kitten more to the rather extensive cat- establishment of Selwood Hall, and the addition of five/' and she amused the young people with a cat adven- ture which had befallen her father and an elderly nobleman with whom he was traveUing. " Everybody knows/' said Alice, ^^ that some ) persons have an unconquerable aversion to cats. My father's patron had this antipathy ; and care was always taken to keep these harmless, domestic animals out of his way. Before com- mencing his journey from town to his own seat, his valet used to write to the inns where he would stop to refresh himself and his horses, to the effect that they should shut up the cats, and not allow even a kitten to appear in his sight. Of course, this precaution was usually attended to, though on one occasion it became the means of causing a greater amount of annoyance of this kind to his lordship than it was intended to remove. It happened that the landlord of the hotel at which his lordship was to dine, being very fond of cats, kept eight-and-twenty in his house — cats, indeed, of all sizes and ages. He had only lately taken this hotel; and, as Lord L was the first peer of the realm who had Christmas Holidays, 129 atten 3nt of ' and dven- d an ing. some ) cats. d care •mless, 3 com- a seat, are lie •ses, to ts, and sight, [tended means |of this ed to of the being in liis He Lord .0 had ordered a dinner in the house, he consented, though reliTctantly, to shut them up in a large .nfurnished room on the first landing on the staircase. Unfortunately, he left the door un- locked, after paying a visit of condolence to his beloved cats, while he hurried down to receive his guest. '^ My lord was a very absent old gentleman, deaf, and exceedingly irascible. He was fatigued by the long journey and the Oiiicious- ^ess of the landlord, and made at once to the 'al door, notwithstanding the warnings and attempts to oppose his entrance by ais unlucky host ; but the moment he entered the room the feline prisoners, who were on bad terms with one another, knocked him down in their precipitate escape, and the whole number passed over his prostrate person, scratching, swearing, and cuffing one another, to his lordship^s infinite disgust and terror.* My father assisted him to rise ; but it was some time before he could induce him to accept the poor landlord's apology, or beheve that the accident caused by his own mistake was not a premeditated insult, in the shape of a practical joke.^ * Fact. )i J Christmas Holidays, The young people could not help laughing at this odd catastrophe, and by this time kitten Meek was asleep; nor did he indulge in any more cat- vocabulary tiU Bertha, after taking him carefully from his prison — ^her pocket — introduced him to her mamma. She related his history with so much energetic feeling, that Meek was suffered to remain, upon condition that he was not to appear too often in the sitting room. Meek soon proved his name to be a misnomer. Never was a kitten more savage. Nobody dared touch him but Bertha; she, however, not only subdued his fierce nature, but taught him to jump, to shake hands, to catch like a squirrel, and to sit up and hold down his paws in a petitioning manner, that really made him look meekly. Still he would swear unless he was instantly rewarded, and woe to the hand of any one but Bertha's, that presumed to bestow a donation on her ungrateful pet. ■ • >; Bertha felt a very maternal anxiety for the welfare of her wayward kitten ; for the end of the vacation was at hand, and Meek, like the pensive SeHna in Gray^s Elegy, shared the fate of most favourites, only he had one friend. Mamma, to be sure, had promised to take care of him — still, mamma was not always in the Christmas Holidays, 131 dtten L any DT liim duced istory ik was le was room, aomer. r dared ot only bim to huirrel, s in a m look he was of any estow a for tlie end of ike the the fate friend. ke care in the way. The gamekeeper, that destroyer of unhappy stray pusses, had eyed Meek with a glance that said unutterable things, yet easily to be guessed by one as sharpsighted and deeply interested as Miss Bertha Beverly was in the fate of her kitten. She was, we know, a resolute young lady, and having determined to take Meek to school (Constance supposed) to learn good man- ners — of which, indeed, he was terribly in want, — she wrote the following letter to her governess : — '^ Dear Madam, — I am coming back to school in a few days, with my sisters, and though I have enjoyed my holidays, I shall be glad to see you again, because I love you very much. I mean to try and be a good girl ; for I know I must have been a great plague to you at first. I have been naughty at home sometimes; but mamma says I am an improviug character. I am to learn to draw, this half year, which I shall like better than music ; for I hate counting the time, which I think a bore. Just as if people said ^ one, two, three, four,' when playing to their friends ! Of course, if they did, every- body would laugh. I should delight in music, if it were not for that. I have been drawing with papa, and found it such a nice amusement ! K 2 IS'2 Christmas Holidays, and as I have got on pretty well with him, I mer.n to attend to my drawing lessons, that I may be able to take my pet kitten Meek^s picture. You must know all about him, because I want you to let me bring him with me to school. I saved the darling^s Hfe when I was on a visit, and brought him home in my pocket. Nobody likes poor Meek but me, for he spits and swears at every body else ; bat then he knows no better. He is very kind to me, and I have taught him to shake hands, to jump, to catch hke a squirrel, and to sit up and hold his paws like a kangaroo, and he is a very good mouser. Meek is very pretty — a red kitten with bright spots all over his glossy yellow coat. I love him so much that I do not know how to part with him, and if you would let him come to school as a parlour boarder, I would pay for his meat and milk out of my allowance. An early answer, dear madam, will oblige ^^ Your affectionate pupil, " Bertha Beveely. " Selwood Hall, / ^^ January 25." ^ "' Bertha received the following letter from Mrs Manners, by return of post : — Christmas Holidays, ^^3 im, I liat I ;ture. it you saved and likes ars at letter, it him iiirrel, ^aroo, J very 1 over h that and if arlour . milk dear 1, RLY. (i 1 Mrs My dear Miss Bertha, — Although I am not particularly impressed in kitten Meek^s favour, even from your partial account of him and his accomplishments, yet I shall be happy to receive him as a parlour boarder for the sake of his dear little mistress. I am glad you take so much delight in drawing, for which you have a considerable talent, and the master I have engaged for that accomplish- ment being remarkably clever, I think you will come on very well with him. I cannot agree with you about not counting the time, for there can be no good music without correct time, and so you will find when you understand it better. " With compliments to your papa and mamma, and love to yourself and your dear sisters, '^ I remain, dear Miss Bertha, " Your affectionate friend, ^^ Louisa Manners. "Bellevue House, " January 26." Bertha was overjoyed at the permission given by Mrs. Manners for Meek's coming to Bellevue House as a parlour boarder, and she purchased and lined a commodious cat-basket for the com- ^34 Christmas Holidays. fortable conveyance of lier ferocious pet, but her money and industry were both expended in vain, for Bertha took a bad cold, and was not able to go back to school that quarter. Meek, before she was able to return, had become such an intolerable plague to everybody that no one was sorry for his mysterious disappearance but his little mistress, who lamented him with many tears, and could not be comforted for his loss. Now, Meek was not dead, for while Bertha was bemoaning his untimely fate, he was delighting the crew of the brig Active by the display of those accomplishments he had acquired during his brief abode at Selwood Hall. His transfer to Captain ClinVs cabin had been effected during the darkness of a moonless Saturday night, in consequence of his having been detected in the morning by the gamekeeper with a leveret in his mouth twice as big as himself, who not only denounced him to his master, but also informed him that the captain of the brig Active being in want of a cat, a happy riddance could be made of Meek without killing him, and that Miss Bertha need not know it till after the vessel had sailed. Mr. Beverly thought it best to say nothing about Meek^s voyage to London, and Bertha did not know that her favourite was Christmas Holidays. ^35 living till many months had elapsed from his transfer to the Active. Meek sailed for ten years out of Selby harbour, had grown a fine animal, and was much prized by the captain and crew, with whom he went down in the brig in a terrible November gale on the homeward voyage,* having had upon the whole a much happier life than generally falls to the lot of his useful but persecuted species.f * Fact. t We have related Meek's eventful history and final catastrophe out of its proper chronology, to gratify the curiosity of those readers who may feel interested in hia fate. I: 136 Christmas Holidays, CHAPTEE XIII. Improvement of John and Edward. — Charitable Working Party. — Bertha and her Mamma's Maid. — Visit to Widow Taylor's Cottage. — Parish rounds with Alice. — Old Timothy and his Night-cap. — The Dying Girl and the Aged Couple. — Rules for profitable Cottage Visiting. Edward Beverly and his brother John, having devoted their pocket-money to repay their father for the loan he advanced for them, would still have remained considerably in his debt if he had not found employment for them in copying letters and keeping accounts for him. He paid them liberally for their work, and though they found these demands on their time and patience trying at first, they soon reaHzed the meaning of the scriptural aphorism, that '^ In all labour there is profit." Work made them enjoy play, wet days were no longer dull days, they had something to do : John no longer kicked his feet against tables and chairs in a clownish manner, nor was Edward so ill-bred as to yawn aloud as he had been accustomed formerly to do. Industry really leads to good manners ; idle people rarely learn the art of sitting still. Christmas Holidays, ^37 forking V'isit to Alice. — jirl and 'isiting. having • father Lid still he had letters 1 them found trying of the lere is t days ling to igainst or was le had really y learn Constance, Ellen, and Bertha were devoting their leisure hours for the benefit of their money- less brothers, by working for mamma in various ways, for which labour they were to be paid. They kept the household book, overlooked the housekeeper's accounts, marked the new table and bed linen, in order that the purses they had made should not be empty upon the buys' return to school. These generous intentions were to be kept secret ; for the purses with their contents were to be slipped into John and Edward's boxes while they were being packed up. But all their labour was not bestowed upon their brothers alone. Mamma had given poor Widow Taylor a new gown as she wanted one badly, and our young ladies wished to make it up for her, as she could not see to work on black stuff herself. Mrs. Beverly's maid out it out and fixed it, and each of our young sempstresses took a part. Now, united labour, especially when the labour is employed in works of charity, is a pleasant thing. Alice Maiden, who was knitting a warm shawl for the poor woman, brought her work and chatted so nicely while pursuing her mechanical employment, that the time glided on very quickly, as indeed well-spent time always does, and even Bertha forgot her pricked finger, and almost felt 138 Christmas Holidays, sorry when the task was fiaished. The maid who had taken in hand to inspect the work now examined the young ladies' stitching in the manner good workwomen always do, by giving plaits and gathers a little pull, to see that they were firm, but finally pronounced '^ that it would do.'' Constance and Ellen were rather mortified by this faint praise. They had taken infinite pains, and had pricked their fingers very much. Bertha was not so quiescent in the matter, but said, with a frowning brow, '^ So, Mrs. Carter, if that is all you have got to say to our work, I think you had better have held your tongue. I know the work is as good and strong as it well can be, and you ought to have said so. We have pricked our fingers till they bled — only look at mine.'' " Yes, Miss Bertha, I see ; and I am thinking that if the material had not been black it would have been spoiled. What would your mamma think of me if I were to mark the white satin dress I am making up for her in that awkward sort of way ? You need not look so cross, miss, for I said the work would do — meaning, of course, for a poor woman's stuff gown, where nothing but strong work was required — that was Christmas Holidays. J39 why I tested it. I find you want more praise than is your due as far as sewing is concerned ; but I do think it was very kind to spend your spare time in making this old widow's gown, particularly as you are not fond of your needle. But pricking your fingers was of no use to her, and therefore was no merit in you/' Carter was a blunt, honest woman, who never said more than she thought it right to say ; but sometimes said what she had better have left unsaid, besides there was no liking between her and Miss Bertha. Of course, she knew that the fixing and cutting out of the gown was the most valuable part of the workmanship ; but of that, seemingly, Miss Bertha thought little enough. In the contest, the young lady had got the worst of it, as young ladies always must do in a war of words with menials. AHce, ever a peacemaker, remarked upon the kindness with which Mrs. Carter had seconded the good intentions of the ladies, and asked Bertha, '^ If she had seen the neat cap and bon- net that she was making at her own cost of time and material for the widow ? " This was an efiectual way of bringing the bel- ligerent parties into a right feeling with each other. Bertha, who was generous herself, could 140 Christmas Holidays* !i estimate that quality in another^ and Mrs. Carter was not sorry to show the cap and bonnet upon which she had expended her leisure time^ money, and skill. '^ How neat, how very pretty, how very good of you, Carter,^^ was the general exclama- tion, in which Bertha heartily joined. '^Poor Widow Taylor has seen better days,'' replied Carter ; ^' and no one knows what priva- tions are endured by small housekeepers to keep a roof over their heads. I do not mind what I do for them ; but I leave the very poor to con- trive and sew for themselves.'' Why, Carter ? " asked Ellen, much surprised. Miss Ellen, they generally have children to sew for them ; I would relieve their wants as far as I could, but not with my time and skill, when less valuable labour would do for them as well as mine. Because I am a good hand at mantua- making and millinery, and dress a lady well, I get good wages ; and my doing things that a girl at a shilling a day could do I should think bad management." " But is that benevolent ? " asked Constance, doubtfully. '^I know you have a feeling heart, and so I venture to ask the question." '^ In my idea it is," replied Carter, quietly, '^ for most women can sew and cut and contrive (( <( Christmas Ilolulciys, 14J Carter 3t upon money, DW very tclama- }} days, b priva- bo keep what I to con- 'prised. Iren to 3 as far when IS well lantua- well, I }hat a should stance, heart, uietly, >ntrive for themselves ; if they cannot they ought to learn.'^ "What does Alice think?'' asked Ellen, whose own judgment was formed upon the warm unreflecting feelings of early youth. " I am obliged to confess myself of Mrs, Carter's opinion," replied the clergyman's daughter. " Once I thought as you do, and I dare say as she used to do ; but experience has taught us both that ' the best way of helping people is to teach them to help themselves.' Abbot's clever book, 'The Way to Do Good,' was a useful guide to me in this respect, and now I never sew for any but those who cannot work for themselves, and have nobody else to do it for them. I buy materials for the very poor, by the bounty of charitable friends, or apply to my father, or retrench my own personal expenses for that purpose, and then I sometimes assist in cutting out, or direct the cutters out. Mending is now taught in the school as a regular branch of female education, only of course we require the worn articles to be quite clean. Perhaps, Constance, you will smile when I tell you that some are pieced and others patched." "Is there any difference?" asked Constance. "A good deal," rephed Alice; '' piecing is 142 Christmas Holiday.' rather a nice operation ; for when the garment to be mended is pretty good, we cut a square out and replace it with a new piece just large enough to allow for the turnings neatly grafted in, while a patch is a piece laid over the cloth, and which is not cut away from under it. I think, my dear girls, you would like to know how I came to make mending a part of female education at our national school. My father was for a brief period a chaplain in a palace where apartments were assigned to many persons of position, and he was delighted and surprised, when paying a professional visit to a young lady of rank, to find her surrounded by a group of women to whom she was reading a pious book, while they were mending old clothes. He soon discovered that this sweet young creature had been fixing pieces for them with the assistance of her maid, and was actually teaching them this necessary branch of female economy. After several con- versations with her on the subject, they both agreed that it would have been better if these poor igntDrant women had learned this art in childhood, and that it ought to be regularly taught in all day-schools. He was delighted with one so young, high-born and beautiful, giving up time and talent which so many are lent to ire out 9nough , while I which ly dear ame to L at our ' period ;s were and he ,ying a ink, to men to ile they overed fixing maid, [cessary bl con- both these art in ^ularly ighted lutifiil, are Christmas Holidays, H3 prone to waste in idle dissipation. It pleased God to call her to himself in the morning of her days, but her example remains with the sur- vivors. ' She did what she could for His glory, and was found watching.' ''* " I pity her poor mother/' remarked Constance. ^ '^ Her mother was dead/' rejoined Alice, " but her poor father lost all that made life dear in losing his only child. Yet, dear Constance, the time will come when the precious memory of his daughter will lead his thoughts more and more upwards to that heaven where he knows she is, and where he also hopes and wishes to be." The friends having now finished their work, agreed to take a nice walk that afternoon to Widow Taylor's cottage ; and Alice, whose position as the rector's daughter gave her the entree into every house in the parish, promised to introduce Constance, Ellen, and Bertha to y ) she visited, as a sort of preparation to ill:: ct visiting, in which the two elder ladies were to take part as soon as they left school. Mrs. Beverly was pleased with any arrangement that would oreaso the influence of Alice Maiden, whose ac' a Christianity had nothing of that austerity t it often proves so alarming to young •"• Fact. 144 Christmas Holidays, people. Her piety was like the full deep stream, not tlie babbling brook, and was a faith working by love, and productive of good works. Widow Taylor was dehghted to see Alice and the dear young ladies ; nor was she less pleased when Carter opened the wicker-box and pro- duced the gown, the cap, the bonnet, and the knitted shawl — the finishing stitches of the last article having been set at Selwood Hall that very morning by Alice, during her visit. The poor widow, who had lately shed many tears on account of her dimmed eyesight and altered cir- cumstances, now wept for joy. A nice Sunday suit, complete, was an unlooked-for blessing, and though nothing but sickness could keep Anne Taylor from church, she had struggled to subdue the mortification that her rusty black gown gave her whenever she put it on; for even pious women like to be neat and nice on the Sunday. The raiment she then had on was patched and darned so much, that it was evidently fit for nothing but to wear on washing days or the Saturday's weekly house cleanings. The old Sunday gown would now supply its place. Alice gave her kind attention to all these matters^, and then, as she was wont to do, sat down to read that precious Gospel given by Him who had Christmas Holidays, 145 :ream, )rking 36 and ^leased d pro- ad the tie last at very le poor irs on red cir- Sunday ig, and Anne ubdue In gave pious lunday. led and fit for or the [le old Alice 'S,, and fo read lo had shared the wants of the poor, and which always cheered and consoled the heart of that sohtary, childless woman. The next cottage they visited was not thus overshadowed by the blessing of the Most High : it was inhabited by an ill-living old^ very old couple, who had followed the crooked paths of fraud and dishonesty all their lives, and were reaping the fruits of the misery they had sown. Sickness, however, and the workings of con- science had awakened the woman to the sense of the danger of sin. Not so the man ; he was wrapt up in selfishness, and dishking the turn his wife had taken, made a point of coughing down Mr. Maiden whenever he paid a pastoral visit to his wife. To Ahce he was more re- spectful, because she sent him broth and puddings, or perhaps he remembered lifting her out of the carriage which brought her, when a little child, with her parents to Selwood Eectory. Howpver this might be, Timothy was always on his best behaviour to Alice. Her arrival was considered at this moment remark- ably well-timed ; for old Tim (his general appel- lation in the parish) was suffering from a swelled face, and being impatient under affiction, "had just,'' the women said, " 'venged himself upon L 146 Christmas Holidays. his night-cap, which he had torn in two pieces, as if that could ease his pain/^ Bertha broke into a fit of laughter, as ill-timed and improper as the vengeance the impatient man had inflicted upon his night-cap. A reproving glance from Alice, and a. warning from the man's good daughter-in-law, who was stitching up the divided night-cap, made her check her risibility. " Miss, if you laugh he will strike you ; for he is very savage in his temper, and no respecter of persons. Besides, you should not laugh at poor folks who have no manners. '^ Alice, who pitied the pain that had caused this violence, gently condoled with the sufferer, and advised fomenting the swelled face with a flannel and warm water; and seeing that the women seemed afraid of old Tim, borrowed an apron and a towel, and proceeded to foment the swollen cheek till some ease was given ; and by the time the night-cap was sewn together and warmed, old Tim became tractable, and allowed it to be put on his head, when Alice and her companions took their leave. The next cottage exhibited a very different picture ; for an aged man was reading to a young woman in the last stage of consumption, and so intently were they engaged, that none but the Christmas Holidays, H7 neces, -timed it man roving man's up the ibility. for lie cter of it poor 3d this pr^ and flannel vomen apron woUen e time irmed, be put s took fferent young md so lit the wife, who was sewing, perceived that the latch had been lifted to admit visitors. Alice put her finger to her lip, and stood silently regarding the interesting pair. He at the extreme verge of life, and heavenward bent, was smoothing the path thitherward to that young, lovely girl, not yet nineteen, whose intense attention was only interrupted by the hollow cough hastening her to an early grave. But the beautiful and consoling Psalm was ended, and Alice and her friends were welcomed warmly, yet with due respect. It was pleasant to hear that dying girl speak of the kindness of these good old people, to whom till lately she had been a stranger, — ^for she was an orphan, who having fallen sick in service, was kindly cared for by a former mistress, who paid for her quarters* and provided for her wants. She spoke of the tender, loving care of these worthy old people towards her with deep gratitude, — care for which money could not pay, but which God, she trusted, would one day reward. ^^ It is more blessed to give than to receive'* were the words of our Lord quoted by St. Paul, and surely the gifts of this pious couple in tender care and pious teaching, filled them with that joy which the world can neither give nor take away. * A Suffolk term for lodgings. L 2 148 Christmas Holidays. Our young people were well-disposed to be- come cottage visitors. Bertha thought she must laugh sometimes^ only old Tim had looked as if he wanted to beat her. ^ "You, must be more guarded, Bertha, for in cottage visiting you must never laugh, never be familiar, never be angry, never listen to nor repeat gossip. You come on a Christian mission, and must maintain your position by propriety of conduct, otherwise you will do no good to your- self or those you visit.^' The delivery of this lecture brought Alice to the parsonage gate, where her young friends were to finish the day, which they did very plea- santly, for no one could perform the part of the hostess better than Alice Maiden. ,■ J Christmas Holidays, 149 CHAPTEE XIV. Bread. — Preference of a Russian General for that of his own Country. — Substitutes for Bread in various Countries. — Wheat not found wild in any Land. — Mummy Wheat. — Wheat and its many Coats. — Maritime Pea. — Waste a Sin. — Bertha's prudent Resolution put in practice. Bertha was assisting her father to arrange one of his cabinets, an employment both, she often found, profitable and lucrative — some odds and ends generally falling to her share. " You may have that, Bertha, to put into the cabinet Mason is making for you when it comes home,'' said Mr. Beverly, putting a brown hard substance into his daughter's hand. Bertha received the article somewhat ungra- ciously. ^' Is it a piece of wood, papa, that I am to put into a pretty new cabinet, as your gift?" *' How rude," remarked mamma, reprovingly, " I only wanted to know, dear mamma," replied Bertha, in an apologetic tone, " why papa wished me to keep it, — but of course if it were of no use he would not have laid it by : but I believe it is not wood after all." ^' It is Kiga bread — ship-bread I should have said. Try to eat a piece, Bertha.^ 3} 150 Christmas Holidays, '' It is as hard as stone, papa ; how can people eat such bread as this? ^^ *' You are not used to it ; those who are accus- tomed to eat it find no fault with it. A Selby mer- chant vessel, trading to Eussia, was blocked in the ice at Riga, and compelled by the early winter to remain till the spring ; when her crew's stock of biscuit was exhausted they tried the bread of the country, which they found even more unpala- table than this ship biscuit, for that was made of rye, fish-bones reduced to gelatine, and the bark of some tree. This biscuit they boiled in milk, after previously soaking it in water; but they came home thin, and by no means satisfied with their hard fare. I was given the biscuit you have in your hand, which has been twenty years in my possession without showing any change. It is neither mouldy, nor decayed, nor, although it has a sour smell, does its acidity seem at all increased by age. Certainly our English sailors did not thrive upon it; yet the natives of the shores of the Baltic are a strong hardy race, and they are well contented with it. They boil it in a kettle till it is reduced to a soft pulp, and make it into a palatable porridge with milk and aniseeds, in which state they prefer it to any other bread food." / Christmas HoCicCays, 151 people accus- y mer- 1 in the nter to tock of 1 of the unpala- ,s made md the oiled in er; but satisfied biscuit twenty ng any ed, nor, acidity ily our yet the strong with it. )0 a soft ge with irefer it ^'I thought, dear papa, that in the north of Europe the finest wheat in the world was grown,^^ remarked Constance. ^^ Poland belongs to Eussia, then why do not the Russians eat the Polish wheat ?^' 1 ^ ^' It is almost all sent to the English market. The better sort of people eat coarse rye* bread, the poorer the black loaves or biscuits I have described. ^^ The Polish wheat is laid up in the granaries of Dantzic for exportation, from which circumstance it takes its name. The Russian people are satis- fied with rye, but if they were not they would have no choice in it, as they are, or very lately were, in a state of semi-slavery which once pre- vailed here and all over Europe, called serfdom. In some cases, the peasant or serf was fed and clothed by his master, who took his labour for his food, clothing, and lodging. Along the shores of the Baltic the serf was worse off, as he had nothing found him but a hut and patch of land, and was compelled to work three days out of the week for his master^s benefit. In all these cases, though the lord could not put his serf to death, he could flog him severely with impunity. This dreadful state of things will not last long, the education of the higher classes alone must 152 Christmas Holiday s» induce progress, by making the master more merciful — the slave less brutal." ^'I think," said Bertha, '^that nobody can really like such food, though being serfs they are obliged to eat it." " There you are wrong, my dear, as you shall hear. A celebrated French author,* when tra- velHng in Russia, was invited to dinner by a Russian general. The table was covered with delicacies, of which his staff, but not the general, partook. The distinguished host was eating a plate of grey porridge, the appearance of which rather excited the curiosity of the French officer than stimulated his appetite. Apparently, no other person wished to partake of this odd- looking soup, as the contents of the silver tureen remained untouched before the general, who, observing that his guest was examining it atten- tively, gave him some, and was seemingly amused by the wry faces he was endeavouring to hide, for this porridge so reKshed by the great man was no other than what I have described to you. ^I was born a Finland peasant,^ said his host, ' and I am now a Russian general ; but my rise in the service has not deprived me of my old appetite for the coarse food of my * St. Pierre. - / Christmas Holidays. 153 moro y can ey are u shall sn tra- r by a i with eneral, ating a which officer fly, no odd- ureen who, atten- mingly ping to great 3cribed ' said neral ; red me of my native country, which I prefer to all the deli- cacies on my table/ Custom, my dear child, and a healthy appetite, make the food we have been used to agreeable to most of us. If you ask me what bread I like best and think the sweetest, I should reply that made of rye and wheat ground together without the bran being taken from it by the practice of sifting. I spent, you know, my early life in Yorkshire, where this sort of bread is in general use, and found it delicious. ^^ " I wish, papa, you would tell us something more about different kinds of bread in use in foreign countries,^^ said Ellen. " You have seen the oaten and barley bread of Scotland, and the havre bread of Lancashire ?'' "Yes, papa; I did not dislike the Scotch bread ; but I did not like the thin flat squares of oaten bread I saw at Ulverston in a great basket they called a swill, though it was the bread used by working people, who liked it if I did not ; Constance brought a piece with her to Selwood, and nobody would touch it but the pony, who took it out of her hand and looked as if he wanted more.^' " In Canada and the United States, though they grow fine white wheat, maize or Indian corn is generally preferred. John grew some in J 54 Christmas IloUdays. his garden last summer, and it ripened very well ; it is grown in Italy and many other European countries, and makes good bread. Millet is much used in Asia, while rice boiled is the general substitute for bread in India. The sago- palm {Gygas cirmialis, or Sarjo farinifcra) pro- vides the Indian islands with breud. ^'^his useful palm requires no cultivation, and grows spon- taneously in many parts of India. It vegetates slowly, and comes up covered with thorns, which fall oil' as soon as the stem is formed, when the tree gi-adually attains the height of thirty feet. Its ligneous bark of about an inch in thickness covers a multitude of long fibres, closely inter- woven together, which envelope a mass of gummy meal. As soon as the tree is ripe, a whitish dust transpires through the pores of the leaves and adheres to their extremities. The Malays, knowing by this sign that the trees are fit, cut them down near the root, and divide them into sections, which are split into quarters. They then scoop out the mass of mealy substance enveloped in the fibres, which they dilute with pure water and pass it through a straining- bag of fine cloth to separate it from the fibres. When this paste has lost by evaporation a part of its moisture, they put it into earthen vessels Christmas Holidays, ^55 ' woU ; opoaii Hot is s tho sago- ) pro- useful spon- ;ctates which en the r feet, ckness inter- iss of 'ipe, a of the The es are them They stance 3 with ining- bres. a part essels to dry and harden. It then becomes wholesome nourishing food, and will keep good for years. The Indians either eat it mixed with water, or baked, or boiled. The best is reserved for the. aged and infirm, from a principle of humanity that does them credit. The jelly made by boiling sago is well known to you all. ''The Sandwich islanders are supplied with bread by a fruit resembling in size and taste a new penny loaf, a wonderful production in countries where bread was unknown. It was planted with success in the "West India islands, to- which it has also proved a blessing. " The numerous groups of islands with which the Pacific Ocean is dotted, and whose wondrous formation we have already discussed, are sup- plied by the cocoa-nut with bread, and most other necessaries of life. This species of palm pro- vides them with a vegetable milk, with utensils, with cordage for their canoes, with mats to sleep upon; while the kernel is their substitute for bread. A plant, belonging to a class and order in which virulent poisons abound, provides for theNewZea- lander in its edible roots materials for a light and nutritious bread, in an arum, a wholesome member of the species. Arrowroot is also in use for the same purpose ; it derives its English name 15^ Christmas Holidays. from its being an antidote to tho poison used by the Indians to render the wounds given by their arrows mortal to man or beast. This poison, whatever it may be, does not prevent the flesh of the beasts taken in the chase from being eaten, as the hunters constantly make use of it; hence wo call the Maranta arrowroot. In Kamschatka, where no corn is grown, the root of a yellow lily serves the richer natives for bread, but it is too rare to form ' the staff of life.' But dried fish is much used there, and those natives who are nomadic live much on milk and the flesh of the animals they take- in the chase.'' " What is being nomadic, papa ? " asked Bertha. ^'You know the sort of life the patriarchs lived when they fed their flocks, and moved from place to place, 'having no abiding city here,' and seeking one not built with hands, eternal, in the heavens.' They were in the nomadic, or wandering shepherd state, as all nations have been before they learned to culti- vate land and build houses. Of course a people in this case are subject to famine if a murrain takes their cattle, or pasturage fails. When thus pressed by want, they fall upon the pastures Christmas Holidays, »57 of other tribes, till at length they reach culti- vated countries, and either seize upon the fruits of civilization, or become civilized them- selves." " Is corn ever found growing wild ?'^ asked Constance. '^ Barley and oats have been discovered in a wild state, wheat never ; for though Egypt claims the honour of being its parent soil, it has not been found indigenous there. We read of it in the Book of Genesis, and find it in the ancient Egyptian tombs. There is a coarse but abundantly prolific sort called mummy wheat, from having been found in the cases that enclosed mummies. It was sown by way of experiment and grew, although its age was perhaps not less than four thousand years : it was of the bearded kind. '^ How wonderful ! " exclaimed the young people. . "Wheat possesses a great number of coats which preserve it from the injuries of time. You know, I dare say, that corn of every kind is a species of grass — and it has even been supposed that difierent sorts of grasses have been cultivated into wheat, barley, oats, and millet, rye, &c.^' " I have seen^^' observed Constance, " grasses 158 Christmas Holidays, resembling them all ; but none like wheat, that seems to have no parallel in wild plants/^ ^'By a beautiful arrangement of Providence, we find almost every country in the world pro- vided with farinaceous food in some shape or other, whether in the forms of the seeds of grasses, Hke com; or roots, as in the potato, arrowroot, and arum ; or enclosed in trees, like sago j or in nuts, as the cocoa and chestnut ; or in fruit, like the bread-fruit : and we know not which to admire the most — the excellence, the variety, or the abundance of the food thus provided for man/^ Ellen reminded papa that he had forgotten pulse in his enumeration of farinaceous food, and she thought tares and the maritime pea would furnish flour. Mr. Beverly replied, he had seen on the eastern coast the Pisuw> maritimum growing on the beach, that it had a white blossom, and a pod resembling the common garden pea; but though it was probably the original plant from which our peas were derived, it was small and not so well flavoured. Ellen had read, that several centuries ago the poor on the east coast of Suffolk had gathere.^ enough of these maritime peas to support them }, that ience, i pro- ipe or sds of 3otato^ trees, jstnut ; I know jUence, id tlius 'gotten food, lo pea Christmas Holidays, 159 )n the Lng on and a but a from all and igo the bthere. It them in the time of a great famine ; but neither Con- stance nor herself could find the plant, though they had searched for it on the spot where it had been found during that period of dearth. She supposed not a single pea had escaped the search of the famished poor. Edward asked papa why some people seemed to think that if the world got very full of people, they must be starv^ed. ^^They are very short-sighted persons who say so, Edward; for God, who sends people into the world, will also provide for their wants ; that is. He gives the means, but the industry of man must be exerted to make them avail pble. ^ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,^ was the doom of every child of Adam since it was pronounced to the erring father of mankind by God Himself. Health, strength, and com- petence, the fruits of this necessity, have lurned it into a threefold blessing. There is, in the ways of j?rovidence a beautiful fitness and harmony, never to be found in those of man. The Divine economy provides for the wants of the creatures, so that there shall be a sufficiency, but no excess; whoever wastes or throws away food, or even takes a larger portion than tem- perance enjoins, is depriving some other person i6o Christmas Holidays, of his rightful share, and breaks a law of nature. . '^ We may receive practical lessons upon careful expenditure even from the air we breathe ; for what is no longer fit for animal respiration^ by our exhaustion of its purest portion, is imbibed by the vegetable kingdom, to which it gives life and vigour. Plants, in fact, if they absorb in the day the oxygen gas fitted for man's lungs, give it back during the night. We may indeed trace the Divine law of economy throughout nature. You know that your mother and myself are careful on the head of waste, and have en- deavoured to impress it upon our children and household. '^ '^Papa,'' said John, ^'I have never thrown away a piece of string since I read ^ Waste Not, Want Not.'' '^ Nor I," rejoined Edward, ^' and I know Con and Ellen take care of odds and ends, for when I want handsome streamers for my new boats, I ask them, and they are sure to find me some." *^ By which my dolls are great losers," re- marked Bertha ; '^ md I think I ought to have the firs'f. choice, as ipiecea of silk and ribbon are more in a girl's waj.^ >9 aw of careful le ; for Lon, by nbibed i gives sorb in ?s, give id trace nature, ielf are . ive en- ren and thrown ite Not, know ends, I for my Isure to fs/' re- 30 have )on are Christmas Holidays J i6i " You should save for yourself. Bertha, and not be dependent upon your sister's economy/' '' I really will, papa, for the future ; and will make two bags — one for pretty pieces, and one for worn scraps of linen and calico/' " Why, Bertha, do you mean to set up the trade of a rag-merchant?" asked Edward. A rag-merchant — no ; my rags are for (C dressing wounds. I shall give them to Miss Alice, who keeps a bag in her store-room for that purpose." And Bertha made the bags that very day. This cheap charity, being of great use to sufferers in every rank of life, deserves to be imitated. The material can be saved, but is not to be bought; and any feeling and careful child in a family can collect worn pieces of linen or calico. Linen keeps wounds cooler than cotton ; but cotton excludes the air better : but both are invaluable as dressings for wounds. The hems and seams should be carefully cut off, as they would cause irritation to the wound. Care should be taken to lock up the bag in the store-roc.n or some other safe place, as Alice's whole stock was once appropriated by her brothers for wadding for their guns, to her M i62 Christmas Holidays* groat mortification and tlio discomfort of some poor suiferors who missed this cheap but useful charity. You may be sure Alice kept her trea- sures of this kind in a secure place from that day forward. Chriatmaa IIolidaijH, 163 : somo useftQ T trea- lat day CHAPTER XV. Tho Broalving-np. — Wliiit luid boon Gained by each Scholar iu Holiday Tinio. — Mental and Moral Iniproveniont of Bertha. — ll(?r own Opinion as to its Cause. — iJeiielicial EITects from tho now way of spending Christnms Holidays. The Christmas holidays woro ovor. Trunks wcro packed, and parting gifts oxchangod; for our young party wore about to separate for their respective schools, all but Bertha, who liad taken cold, and was too unwell and feverish to travel in winter wcatlier. Bertha was too much pleased with tho arrangement to complain much of her indisposition ; but she was greatly im- proved in mind and manners, though " tlioro had becKi work and no romping.'^ Not that mammals prohibition extended to play o^ healthy exer- cise, only to noisy hoydenish ways and boyish sports, for which wo know Bertha had, unfor- tunatoly, somo predilection. She had, with her father's help, made several pretty drawings, and acquired a taste for natural history ; she had left off' rude practical jokes, and abjured sliding on the ice. She had worked a collar for mamma ; had M 2 >- •jF 1 64 Christmas Holidays. I P ij i!:i mended her stockings without annoying her neighbour; had left off turning up her little nose, in an offensive manner, at people she did not like, and had attended to Alice Malden^s sermons, and profited by them ; she was more affectionate to her sisters, and took pains to please them. Aunt Mary praised her very much ; but then we know she had rather a weakness for Bertha. In reciting our reclaimed tom- boy's improvements and acquirements, we have omitted the useful arts she had learned of Alice Maiden, of making apple- tarts and rice puddings, and how Carter had taught her the proper way of cutting out and making, in the newest f; don, dolls' frocks. Of various caps, formed f odds and ends of worsted, braided and sewn togethor, for the adornment of Pinch, Patch, and Meek, we need not say much, as the creatures did not seem to appre- ciate the time and skill she had employed for their benefit, and showed plainly enough by their resistance to the putting on, that if the caps pleased Miss Bertha they did not fit them. In the exercise of head work and finge work Bertha had been very happy. One dark spot, we know, had thrown a shadow over the early part of her hoUday timO; but Ellen had re- Christmas Holidays, 165 y her little he did ilden's ; more ins to much; akness L tom- ^e have ned of id rice ler the ng, in various [orsted, ■nment ot say appre- ed for ly their e caps them, work spot, early lad re- covered the effect of Bertha's rash folly, and Bertha had not forgotten its bitter experience. • Constance and Ellen had mingled the useful and ornamental in their daily life while at home. They had practised their accomplishments with mamma and made two fine shirts for papa. They had learned of their friend Alice to be useful ; had visited with her the cottages of the poor, and assisted her in teaching the Sunday- school. They had delighted in the conversa- tions in which papa had permitted them to take a part, and had spent their holidays much to their own satisfaction, without pining for the exciting amusements usually considered indispensable at this sociable season of the year, John and Edward had been partly cured of those unruly and selfish tricks that render the company of some schoolboys frequently so intolerable to their friends during the vacation. Their self-inflicted impoverishment had de- prived thom of the indulgences proc arable by a liberal allowance, while uneasy consciences had told them that they had injured a poor widow and destroyed valuable animals — living creatures who had felt and suffered — for the sake of gratifying an unwarrantable love of fun ; or rather wanton mischief disguised under that ^ i66 Christmas holidays. M name. The golden law of restitution so wisely enforced by their father had made good the poor widow's loss, and had been the means of hor becoming an out-door pensioner of the charitable lady of Selwood Hall ; but all parents are not so considerate as Mr. and Mrs. Beverly, and the false indulgence of some would have rendered these boys selfish and improvident for life. After this event, Edward and John had con ducted themselves well ; they had done something useful every day, with the laudable intention of repaying their father the large sum he had advanced for them. They had learned to saddle, bridle, and put a horse into harness; had acquired some dexterity in the use of carpenters' tools ; and had fitted up, with their father's assistance, their own fishing cabi- nets. John, too, had done some twine netting at odd times. Employment kept our boys out of harm's way, and their studies with papa they soon found to be pleasant recreations. They liked to talk about what they read to their sisters, who generally worked while they took their lessons. This was a sure way of remem- bering the stirring events of English history. Edward, after his classic researches to discover what Julius Caesar was remarkable for at table. Chrisimas Holidays, 107 m so made en the Lsioner Dut all d Mrs. would )videiit 1 John i done ludable large ey had 'se into in the p^ with or cabi- Qetting oys out a they They their |y took emem- )ry. Lscover table, had discarded the odious vice of gluttony, and could be safely trusted to divide any delicacy, without the danger of his appropriating the largest share to himself. His reformation had a good effect upon his younger brother, who had followed his example, as younger brothers often do. Partings are painful things at the best, and Bertha^s indisposition rendered the separation from her a sorrowful one to Constance and Ellen, by whom the warm-hearted child was much beloved ; then there was Aunt Mary and Alice, dear Alice, to leave; and above all the good parents whose watchful love had left them nothing to wish for. ^' Ah ! these have been such happy holidays,^^ said these sweet girls as they kissed their parents ; '' we never enjoyed them so much before."'^ ^^Next half, we hope, will be better still,^^ rejoined the boys ; '' for summer time is so pleasant, and we hope to bring back good characters with us to Selwood, and Bertha will be quite well, and we shall be so happy together again." Bertha was not able to go to school for a month longer, when she returned to Mrs. Manners much improved, but without Meek, whose mysterious disappearance and voyages and i68 ChristmaH Holidays, ip 4 travels have been already narrated, somewhat out of place. She was received with much affection by Mrs. Manners, to whom she was much attached. Her governess was surprised at her pupil's improvement, and told her so, whereupon Bertha assured her that it all came from mamma and papa having found out a new way for them all of spending the Christmas hohdays, which had been very happy ones, though they each had had something to do and think about. It is thus that instruction and amusement may be drawn from the things of everyday life, and the minds of young people be expanded without severe study or close application, during the vacations — seasons often devoted to hurtful dissi- pation or wasted in complete idleness. THE END. TTTMAN AKD SONS, PB1NTER9, GHRAT QCBBN STSBBT, LOIPDOlf, "^ C. at out ection much it her eupon amma ly for Lidays, I they about, it may ■e, and without ig the I dissi- , W 0. NEW GIFT BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, THE BRvOADWAY, LUDGATE. NORTH COAST, AND OTHER POEMS. By Robert BucTTANAN. 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