more than he did. But I speak with reverence, without the loss of a moment's time, would for it was divine Providence overruled all that, make a pretty stock, a little golden treasury, as you know sir, and I do not presume to make one may say, from new-year's day to new-year's comparisons. Besides, sir, my employment has day; and if children were brought up to it, they been particularly honoured-Moses was a shep- would come to look for their text as naturally as herd in the plains of Midian. It was to "shep- they do for their breakfast. No labouring man, herds keeping their flocks by night," that the 'tis true, has so much leisure as a shepherd, for angels appeared in Bethlehem, to tell the best while the flock is feeding I am obliged to be news, the gladdest tidings, that ever were re-still, and at such times I can now and then tap vealed to poor sinful men; often and often has a shoe for my children or myself, which is a the thought warmed my poor heart in the cold- great saving to us, and while I am doing that I est night, and filled me with more joy and thank-repeat a chapter or a psalm, which makes the fulness than the best supper could have done.' Here the shepherd stopped, for he began to feel that he had made too free, and talked too long. But Mr. Johnson was so well pleased with what he said, and with the cheerful contented manner in which he said it, that he desired him to go on freely, for that it was a pleasure to him to meet with a plain man, who, without any kind of learning but what he had got from the Bible, was able to talk so well on a subject in which all men, high and low, rich and poor, are equally concerned.

Indeed I am afraid I make too bold, sir, for it better becomes me to listen to such a gentleman as you seem to be, than to talk in my poor way but as I was saying, sir, I wonder all working men do not derive as great joy and delight as I do from thinking how God has honoured poverty! Oh! sir, what great, or rich, or mighty men have had such honour put on them, or their condition, as shepherds, tentmakers, fishermen, and carpenters have had ? Besides, it seems as if God honoured industry also. The way of duty is not only the way of safety, but it is remarkable how many in the exercise of the common duties of their calling, humbly and rightly performed, as we may suppose, have found honours, preferment, and blessing while it does not occur to me that the whole sacred volume presents a single instance of a like blessing conferred on idleness. Rebekah, Rachel, and Jethro's daughters, were diligently employed in the lowest occupations of a country life, when Providence, by means of those very occupations, raised them up husbands so famous in history, as Isaac, Jacob, and the prophet Moses. The shepherds were neither playing nor sleeping, but "watching their flocks," when they received the news of a Saviour's birth and the woman of Samaria, by the laborious office of drawing water, was brought to the knowledge of Him who gave her to drink of "living water."

:

My honest friend,' said the gentleman, I perceive you are well acquainted with scripture.' Yes, sir, pretty well, blessed be God! through his mercy I learned to read when I was a little boy; though reading was not so common when I was a child, as I am told, through the goodness of Providence and the generosity of the rich, it is likely to become now-a-days. I believe there is no day for the last thirty years that I have not peeped at my Bible. If we can't find time to read a chapter, I defy any man to say he can't find time to read a verse: and a single text, sir, well followed, and put in practice every day, would make no bad figure at the year's end; three hundred and sixty-five texts,

time pass pleasantly in this wild solitary place. I can say the best part of the New Testament by heart; I believe I should not say the best part, for every part is good, but I mean the greatest part. I have led but a lonely life, and have often had but little to eat, but my Bible, has been meat, drink, and company to me, as I may say, and when want and trouble have come upon me, I don't know what I should have done indeed, sir, if I had not had the promises of this book for my stay and support.'

'You have had great difficulties then?' said Mr. Johnson. Why, as to that, sir, not more than neighbours' fare; I have but little cause to complain, and much to be thankful; but I have had some little struggles, as I will leave you to judge. I have a wife and eight children, whom I bred up in that little cottage which you see under the hill, about half a mile off.' What, that with the smoke coming out of the chimney?" said the gentleman. O no, sir,' replied the shepherd, siniling, we have seldom smoke in the evening, for we have little to cook, and firing is very dear in these parts. 'Tis that cottage which you see on the left hand of the church, near that little tuft of hawthorns.'-' What, that hovel with only one room above and below, with scarcely any chimney? how is it possible that you can live there with such a family?' O it is very possible, and very certain too,' cried the shepherd. How many better men have been worse lodged! how many good Christians have perished in prisons and dungeons, in comparison of which my cottage is a palace! The house is very well, sir; and if the rain did not sometimes beat down upon us through the thatch when we are a-bed, I should not desire a better; for I have health, peace, and liberty, and no man maketh me afraid.'

'Well, I will certainly call on you before it be long; but how can you contrive to lodge so many children?' 'We do the best we can, sir. My poor wife is a very sickly woman; or we should always have done tolerably well. There are no gentry in the parish, so that she has not met with any great assistance in her sickness. The good curate of the parish, who lives in that pretty parsonage in the valley, is very willing, but not very able to assist us on these trying occasions, for he has little enough for himself, and a large family into the bargain. Yet he does what he can, and more than many other men do, and more than he can well afford. Besides that, his prayers and good advice we are always sure of, and we are truly thankful for that, for a man must give, you know, sir, according to what he hath, and not according to what he hath not.'

sure.

indeed, sir, I am proud of my wife: she is not, of stuff, as I may say; while there is no sort of only the most tidy, notable woman on the plain, | comparison between the longest portion of time but she is the kindest wife and mother, and the and eternity. You know, sir, there is no way most contented, thankful Christian that I know. of measuring two things, one of which has Last year I thought I should have lost her in a length and breadth, which shows it must have violent fit of the rheumatism, caught by going an end somewhere, and another thing, which to work too soon after her lying-in, I fear; for being eternal, is without end and without mea'tis but a bleak coldish place, as you may see, sir, in winter, and sometimes the snow lies so 'But,' said Mr. Johnson, is not the fear of long under the hill, that I can hardly make my-death sometimes too strong for your faith?' self a path to get out and buy a few necessaries in the next village; and we are afraid to send out the children, for fear they should be lost when the snow is deep. So, as I was saying, the poor soul was very bad indeed, and for several weeks lost the use of all her limbs except her hands; a merciful Providence spared her the use of these, so that when she could not turn in her bed, she could contrive to patch a rag or two for her family. She was always saying, had it not been for the great goodness of God, she might have had her hands lame as well as her feet, or the palsy instead of the rheumatism, and then she could have done nothing-but, nobody had so many morcies as she had.

'I will not tell you what we suffered during that bitter weather, sir, but my wife's faith and patience during that trying time, were as good a lesson to me as any sermon I could hear, and yet Mr. Jenkins gave us very comfortable ones too, that helped to keep up my spirits.'

I fear, shepherd,' said Mr. Johnson, 'you have found this to be but a bad world."

Yes, sir,' replied the shepherd, but it is governed by a good God. And though my trials have now and then been sharp, why then, sir, as the saying is, if the pain be violent, it is seldom lasting, and if it be but moderate, why then we can bear it the longer, and when it is quite taken away, ease is the more precious, and gratitude is quickened by the remembrance; thus every way, and in every case, I can always find out a reason for vindicating Providence.'

'But,' said Mr. Johnson, 'how do you do to support yourself under the pressure of actual want. Is not hunger a great weakener of your faith?'

Blessed be God, sir,' replied the shepherd, the dark passage through the valley of the shadow of death, is made safe by the power of Him who conquered death. I know, indeed, we shall go as naked out of this world as we came into it, but an humble penitent will not be found naked in the other world, sir. My Bible tells me of garments of praise, and robes of righteousness. And is it not a support, sir, under any of the petty difficulties and distresses here, to be assured by the word of Him who cannot lie, that those who were in white robes came out of tribulation? But, sir, I beg your pardon for being so talkative. Indeed you great folks can hardly imagine how it raises and cheers a poor man's heart, when such as you condescend to talk familiarly to him on religious subjects. It seems to be a practical comment on that text which says, the rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all. And so far from creating disrespect, sir, and that nonsensical wicked notion about equality, it rather prevents it. But to turn to my wife. One Sunday afternoon when she was at the worst, as I was coming out of church, for I went one part of the day, and my eldest daughter the other, so my poor wife was never left alone; as I was coming out of church, I say, Mr. Jenkins, the minister, called out to me and asked me how my wife did, saying he had been kept from coming to see her by the deep fall of snow, and indeed from the parsonage-house to my hovel it was quite impassable. I gave him all the particulars he asked, and I am afraid a good many more, for my heart was quite full. He kindly gave me a shilling, and said he would certainly try to pick out his way and come and see her in a day or two.

'While he was talking to me a plain farmerlooking gentleman in boots, who stood by, listened to all I said, but seemed to take no notice. It was Mr. Jenkin's wife's father, who was come to pass the Christmas-holidays at the parsonage. house. I had always heard him spoken of as a plain frugal man, who lived close himself, but was remarked to give away more than any of his show-away neighbours.

'Sir,' replied the shepherd, I endeavour to live upon the promises. You who abound in the good things of this world are apt to set too high a value on them. Suppose, sir, the king, seeing me at hard work, were to say to me, that, if I would patiently work on till Christmas, a fine palace and a great estate should be the reward of my labours. Do you think, sir, that a little hunger, or a little wet, would make me 'Well! I went home with great spirits at flinch, when I was sure that a few months this seasonable and unexpected supply; for we would put me in possession! Should I not say had tapped our last sixpence, and there was to myself frequently-cheer up, shepherd, 'tis little work to be had on account of the weather. but till Christmas! now is there not much less I told my wife I had not come back emptydifference between this supposed day and Christ-handed. No, I dare say not,' says she, 'you mas, when I should take possession of the es- have been serving a master who filleth the tate and palace, than there is between time and hungry with good things, though he sendeth the eternity, when I am sure of entering on a king-rich empty away.' True; Mary, says I, we dom not made with hands? There is some com- seldom fail to get good spiritual food from Mr. parison between a moment and a thousand years, Jenkins, but to-day he has kindly supplied our because a thousand years are made up of mo- bodily wants. She was more thankful when 1 ments, all time being made up of the same sort showed her the shilling, than, I dare say, some

of your great people are when they get a hun- turn to Salisbury, with as much pleasure as I dred pounds.' am now going to the house of my friend.

Mr. Johnson's heart smote him when he heard such a value set upon a shilling; surely, said he to himself, I will never waste another; but he said nothing to the shepherd, who thus pursued his story:

If Mr. Johnson keeps his word in sending me an account of his visit to the shepherd's cottage, I shall be very glad to entertain my readers with it.

PART II.

I AM willing to hope that my readers will not be sorry to hear some farther particulars of their old acquaintance, the Shepherd of Salisbury Plain. They will call to mind that at the end of the first part, he was returning home full of gratitude for the favours he had received from Mr. Johnson, whom we left pursuing his journey, after having promised to make a visit to the shepherd's cottage.

Mr. Johnson, after having passed some time with his friend, set out on his return to Salisbury, and on the Saturday evening reached a very small inn, a mile or two distant from the shepherd's village; for he never travelled on a

'Next morning before I went out, I sent part of the money to buy a little ale and brown sugar to put into her water-gruel; which you know, sir, made it nice and nourishing. I went out to cleave wood in a farm-yard, for there was no standing out on the plain, after such snow as had fallen in the night. I went with a lighter heart than usual, because I had left my poor wife a little better, and comfortably supplied for this day, and I now resolved more than ever to trust God for the supplies of the next. When I came back at night, my wife fell a crying as soon as she saw me. This, I own, I thought but a bad return for the blessings she had so lately received, and so I told her.- Oh,' said she, it is too much, we are too rich; I am now frightened, not lest we should have no portion in this world, but for fear we should have our whole portion in it. Look here, John!' So say-Sunday without such a reason as he might be ing, she uncovered the bed whereon she lay, and showed me two warm, thick, new blankets. I could not believe my own eyes, sir, because when I went out in the morning, I had left her with no other covering than our little old, thin, blue rug. I was still more amazed when she put half a crown into my hand, telling me she had had a visit from Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Jones, the latter of whom had bestowed all these good things upon us. Thus, sir, have our lives been crowned with mercies. My wife got about again, and I do believe, under Providence, it was owing to these comforts; for the rheumatism, sir, without blankets by night, and flannel by day, is but a baddish job, especially to people who have little or no fire. She will always be a weakly body; but thank God her soul prospers and is in health. But I beg your pardon, sir, for talking on at this rate.'Not at all, not at all,' said Mr. Johnson; 'I am much pleased with your story, you shall certainly see me in a few days. Good night.' So saying, he slipped a crown into his hand and rode off. Surely, said the shepherd, goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, as he gave the money to his wife when he got home at night.

able to produce at the day of judgment. He went the next morning to the church nearest the house where he had passed the night; and after taking such refreshment as he could get at that house, he walked on to find out the shepherd's cottage. His reason for visiting him on a Sunday was chiefly because he supposed it to be the only day which the shepherd's employment allowed him to pass at home with his family; and as Mr. Johnson had been struck with his talk, he thought it would be neither unpleasant or unprofitable to observe how a man who carried such an appearance of piety spent his Sunday for though he was so low in the world, this gentleman was not above entering very closely into his character, of which he thought he should be able to form a better judgment, by seeing whether his practice at home kept pace with his professions abroad: for it is not so much by observing how people talk, as how they live, that we ought to judge of their characters.

After a pleasant walk, Mr. Johnson got within sight of the cottage, to which he was directed by the clump of hawthorns and the broken chimney. He wished to take the family by surprise; and walking gently up to the house As to Mr. Johnson, he found abundant, mat- he stood awhile to listen. The door being half ter for his thoughts during the rest of his jour-open he saw the shepherd who (looked so reney. On the whole, he was more disposed to spectable in his Sunday coat that he should hardenvy than to pity the shepherd. I have seldom ly have known him) his wife, and their nuseen, said he, so happy a man. It is a sort of merous young family, drawing round their little happiness which the world could not give, and table, which was covered with a clean, though which I plainly see, it has not been able to take very coarse cloth. There stood on it a large away. This must be the true spirit of religion. dish of potatoes, a brown pitcher, and a piece of I see more and more, that true goodness is not a coarse loaf. The wife and children stood in merely a thing of words and opinions, but a silent attention, while the shepherd, with upliving principle brought into every common ac-lifted hands and eyes, devoutly begged the bles tion of a man's life. What else could have sup- sing of heaven on their homely fare. ported this poor couple under every bitter trial Johnson could not help sighing to reflect, that of want and sickness? No, my honest shepherd, he had sometimes seen better dinners eaten with I do not pity, but I respect and even honour less appearance of thankfulness. thee; and I will visit thy poor hovel on my re

Mr.

The shepherd and his wife sat down with