father is bringing cherries, and cakes, and good things of all sorts from Valorbe; and we are to have music and dancing.' And better than all,' vociferated a third, they are going to give him a gold watch, such a beautiful-'

Hush, hush!' cried Marie, the tallest and gravest, 'not a word of the watch; you know that is to be a secret. Oh! I hope the gentleman won't say any thing beforehand about the watch.'

I promised inviolable secrecy, and proceeded to make inquiries about this beloved pastor, whom all seemed so delighted to honour. More eloquently than ever did my new friends now launch forth in his praises. Oh! he is so good, so very good,' cried little Caton. Last winter, when I was ill with a fever, and mother thought I should have died, he would come twice a-day up the mountain through the snow, and bring me things to make me better, and tell mother not to cry, and talk to me about heaven, till I thought I should not be sorry to die, to go to such a happy place.'

'And he teaches us our catechism, and our prayers, and all the good things we know,' said Marie; and preaches us fine sermons, and explains the Bible so that even little Caton may understand it. And when people are sick, or too weak and old to go to church, he will go and read and pray by their bedsides for hours together. And mother says, this is not like the same place since he came amongst us; for that we used all to be such wild, naughty children, we could never be taught to say our prayers, or to learn the ten commandments, and now we are never so happy as when we go to the presbytère on Wednesday and Saturday evening, and between churches on Sunday.'

Has your good minister been here for many years?' asked I. No, sir, not a great many,' answered Marie; but oh! I hope he will stay with us for a very, very long time; but see! here comes father;' and away ran the whole party toward the cottage-door, which opened at the other end of the garden, from

which issued a sturdy-looking peasant, with a loaded pannier at his back, followed by his comely helpmate. They at first looked at me with some surprise; but soon discovering the sociable terms on which I seemed to have established myself with the young ones, they bade me heartily welcome, and invited me to stay and partake of the evening's festivities, which they said would commence at six o'clock. I thought, however, the presence of a stranger might be some interruption to the business of preparation; and remembering, more over, the portentous warnings of mine hostess at Le Pont, of the ills that would betide me if I were not punctual in returning to my dinner at three, I preferred taking my leave for the present, thankfully accepting the privilege offered me for the evening. Vain, alas! were my intentions of punctuality-the village clock struck four as I made my sortie from the garden, and I had more than a league to walk, ere I could hope to 'take mine ease in mine inn;' on finally reaching which, the presiding Amazon met me (to reverse the usual reading,) with a countenance more in anger than in sorrow,' and sternly ushered me into what she dignified with the title of the Salle-à-manger.

My ideas were too much occupied with the scene I had left, and was going to revisit, to allow me to pay great attention to her or her wrath. In conscious delinquency I silently swallowed the organic remains of a dish of trout, of whose premature decomposition I knew my truancy had been the cause; nor did I even venture to suggest, that the delay of one little hour could not have added much to the admirable antiquity of the doughty chanticleer which constituted the Rôti; or of the venerable parallelograms of aniseed-cake, with the accompanying modicum of cheese, full of holes and odours, that followed under the name of dessert; that 'eternal pair,' which, with all the pertinacity of' Di tanti palpiti' and the Hunter's Chorus,' pursue the way-worn traveller from one end of Switzerland to the other. Dinner will in due time be demolished, be it tough or tender; and a little before the hour appointed

by my friends of the morning, I was retracing my steps toward L'Abbaye.

It was a lovely July evening: the lake shone like a mirror--bright rays of sunlight streamed through the dark pines, and steeped in rich gold the mountain verdure.

As I wound along the water-side, my ears were greeted by sweet strains of music; and on drawing nearer to the village, I saw that the shore was crowded with gay groups of peasants, all in their holiday attire. A band of native musicians were playing the Ranz des Vaches,' and a joyous chorus of young voices swelled the strain of this old song, the precious music of the heart'

I soon found myself once more within the precincts of the garden, which was now so crowded, that I had some difficulty in making my way toward the arbour. The good pastor was seated beneath his arch of triumph, surrounded by twelve of his oldest parishioners; and the table before them was amply spread with all the luxuries my little friends had so much vaunted. I was quickly recognized, and duly presented to the hero of the feast, who received me with infinite courtesy, and insisted on my sharing the honours of his rural Dais. I pleaded my unworthiness in vain, and was finally constrained to accept of this unmerited distinction. Nothing could be more pleasing than the manners and appearance of the pastor. I had expected to find him old and venerable; but, for the sake of his little flock, I was rejoiced to see him a man still in the prime of life, whose healthy and happy countenance gave hopes that his useful labours might be pursued for a long course of years. With smiles of benevolence he received the warm greetings of his rustic friends, as from time to time they approached him; the old hobbling up to invoke blessings on his head; the young presenting their little offerings of fruits and flowers; sturdy fathers shaking him heartily, yet respectfully, by the hand; and happy mothers bringing their infants to look at the good minister who had already conse

crated them in their innocence, and would in time instruct them in their responsibility: all seemed, in short, to look upon him as the centre of every thing most sacred and dear to them-as the dispenser of their best comforts for the present, and their holiest hopes for the future.

The little Caton played a very busy part in this pleasing drama. Her offering, it appeared, had long ago been made and accepted; for Bully and his bowery cage hung up in triumph within the honoured precincts of the very arbour itself; and he occasionally contrived to make himself heard, through the pauses of the music on the shore, which now played lively tunes to groups of happy dancers, footing it blithely, if not lightly, on the smooth greensward that reached down to the water. When the gouter was finished, and just as Monsieur J. was proposing to me a stroll amongst these merry groups, the most aged man of the company came forward, and after a short address, homely, indeed, in expression, but replete with the true eloquence of the heart, presented to the pastor, in the name of his little community, a beautiful gold watch, in the construction of which, he assured him, that the father of every family in his parish had had some share. They had no better way, he added, of showing their gratitude to him, whose every hour was employed in their service.

The good Monsieur J., surprised and delighted, seemed almost at a loss how to acknowledge the precious gift. He was still more overcome, when the old man suddenly touched a spring, and the watch struck up the well-known air-- Où peut-on être mieux qu'au sein de sa famille ?"*

Tears stood in the eyes of the amiable pastor, at this

Where can one be happier than in the bosom of one's family? This beautiful air, which really was employed in the manner here recorded, is associated with another anecdote of a very different nature. It is said to have been the favourite of Napoleon; and in the midst of the horrors of the Russian tetreat, the soldiers had it continually played to him, as the only reproach in which they dared to indulge.

new proof of the devotion of his flock. Dear friends and dear children,' cried he, 'you have here enshrined the sentiment which has possessed my heart ever since I have dwelt amongst you, and which, from this day, will be cherished with redoubled fervour. Never will, I forsake you-never can I forget your affection. I pray God to continue his blessing on my humble labours, that, through his grace, I may walk amongst you whilst living, repose beside you when dead, and recognize the same dear family in heaven!'

Years have passed since this happy evening; long and far have been my wanderings, and no tidings have ever more reached me from the little valley of the Jura; yet my heart often turns to the interesting scene, and would fain hope, that happiness and peace are still presiding over that innocent flock, and the good pastor of the Lac de Joux.

SONNET.

TO KIRKSTALL ABBEY, YORKSHIRE.

I have seen the walls of Balclutha, but they were desolate. The thistle shook, there, its lonely head; the moss whistled to the wind.---Ossian.

MAJESTIC Monument of ancient days!

Reared by the monks; where, solemn and profound,
The roofs re-echoed to the dirge's sound-
Where yon dim taper lends its flitting rays,
The pious monk his adoration pays

To the rude image of his Saviour's death;
Or to the virgin chaunts his evening lays,
In the still night, unruffled by a breath.
But now these scenes of popery are fled,

These rocking walls proclaim their glory o'er ;
The abbots, monks, and friars now are dead,

And soon, like them, this place shall be no more. The abbey, struck by Time's scythed hand, decays, With it, this record of Papistic days.

Halifax.

GULIELMUS.