fact was seized upon by the refrigeratists; and repeated accounts of making artificial ice are extant, in which much stress is evidently laid upon the act of stirring the fluid to be frozen rapidly round with a stick. The experience of mankind also appears to have discovered that water, after it has been boiled, freezes more rapidly than otherwise. It is a custom among many nations of warm climates either to warm the water in the sun, or to boil it, previous to attempting to reduce its temperature. Dr Black of Edinburgh published some experiments undertaken to determine the question; and his results were, that boiled water does freeze a little more rapidly than unboiled. The act of boiling expels the air; and as in freezing a similar expulsion takes place, a step is gained in advance of the unboiled liquid. The means in present use for artificial refrigeration are very various, some of them very interesting. Among these, the employment of porous earthenware may receive an early place. The Moors introduced into Spain this article of luxury, in the shape of very elegant vases, wonderfully light and porous. Water kept in these became rapidly deliciously cool, and, from some peculiarity in the process of the manufacture of the vessels, it acquired, in addition, a very agreeable flavour. In Egypt, and in India, and in most sultry regions, this expedient is at the present time a very prevalent one. It has also for some time been extensively employed amongst ourselves-porous wine, butter, and water coolers, of many elegant designs, being now produced at our potteries. But porous ware keeps water coolest where the clime is hottest, the very increment of heat being made to react in the production of cold by rapid evaporation. The Moorish name for their earthen jugs was Alcarrazos, or Bucarros. The Arabs, burnt up with the eternal fire of their scorching country, make use of goat - skins for their water - vessels, which suffer a little water slowly to exude, and thus keep the remainder comparatively cool. A common method of cooling wines in India, is one which will almost appear a paradox: the bottle is wrapped in flannel wetted with water, and placed directly in the rays of the sun: violent evaporation ensues, and the wine actually becomes very cold. It is a common plan, too, for sailors, in warm latitudes, to cover their wine with cloths constantly wetted. Apartments are cooled on a similar principle, and an abundance of water is frequently dashed against the walls of the room with the most grateful effect. In India, also, the cold, so dangerous and penetrating on a clear night, is applied in a peculiar manner for the purpose of freezing water. Near Calcutta, in an open plain, there are large shallow excavations made in the ground, and filled with straw; upon this many rows of small, shallow, porous pans, filled with water, are placed at sunset. During the night ice forms in thin cakes upon the surface of these pans: it is carefully removed before sunrise, carried to a proper repository, and pounded into a mass there, and then covered over with blankets. This manufacture can only be pursued during the months of December, January, and February; and in the districts where the ice is formed in this manner, it is never produced naturally. This ingenious process must wholly disappear before the new import of Wenham Lake ice. What a revolution has commerce effected in India, when we remember that early travellers in that country were looked upon as liars and impostors for asserting the possibility of solidifying water into ice! Where saline substances are cheap, the more powerful mode of refrigeration has been the use of the frigorific mixture. Some of these mixtures are capable of producing the most intense cold known to philosophy.* Dissolving saltpetre in water creates a very useful degree of cold; and where the salt is plentiful, as in India, it has long been employed for this purpose. It was the *It will be noticed, that throughout this article the term cold is made use of for convenience' sake, as if it indicated a positive principle, and were not, as it is, a mere negation. peculiar duty of one domestic to cool beverages for the table by this means, who received the impregnated solution for his perquisite. Where, however, snow or ice is procurable, the intensity of the freezing mixture rises to its higher points. Snow and salt produce a mixture which was deemed by Fahrenheit to be of the greatest possible degree of cold. This was the temperature of his zero. Our confectioners are in the habit of using for their craft a mixture of pounded ice and salt. The substance known as chloride of calcium, mixed with snow, produces a most severe cold, sufficiently great to freeze mercury. Mr Walker, to whose interesting experiments upon this subject it stands much indebted, was on one occasion able, by successive coolings, to attain a depth of cold equal to 91 degrees below Fahrenheit's unhappy zero. In the laboratory of the chemist, great degrees of cold are procurable by the use of highly volatile liquids for evaporation. Every juvenile chemist's ears have tingled with the startling enunciation of the possibility of freezing a man to death in the height of summer, by wetting him constantly with ether -which is, however, a fact hitherto undemonstrated. The sulphuret of carbon, and, more recently, liquid sulphurous acid, both of them exceedingly volatile fluids, create intense cold by their evaporation. The almost magical experiments of M. Boutigny, in which water was frozen in a red-hot crucible, were effected by the assistance of sulphurous acid in the liquid form. The remarkable substance, liquid carbonic acid, takes the highest rank as a frigorific agent known. Mr Addams of Kensington actually manufactures this curious liquid as an article of commerce, and has occasionally as much as nine gallons of it in store. In drawing it from its powerful reservoirs, it evaporates so rapidly, as to freeze itself, and it is then a light porous mass, like snow. If a small quantity of this is drenched with ether, the degree of cold produced is even more intolerable to the touch than boiling water! a drop or two of the mixture producing blisters, just as if the skin had been burned. Mr Addams states, that in eight minutes he has frozen in this way a mass of mercury weighing ten pounds. There have been some mechanical contrivances for the manufacture of ice. Evaporation may be accelerated mechanically to a degree so great, as to produce ice in considerable quantities, and this is the principle of Sir John Leslie's celebrated freezing apparatus. In conducting some experiments upon the rarefaction of air, he was led to conceive the idea of manufacturing ice on the large scale from a little phenomenon observed in the receiver of his air-pump. Introducing a watch-glass full of water, and in contact with sulphuric acid, into the receiver of his air-pump, and on making a few strokes with the piston, the water was converted into a mass of solid ice! With a body of parched oatmeal instead of the acid as the absorbent of moisture, he froze a pound and a quarter of water into ice. Experiments on the large scale followed; powerful machines were constructed, and various improvements were adopted in the apparatus, all tending to facilitate its application to the wants or luxuries of mankind. Several of these machines have been exported into hot climates. Dr Ure suggested steam as the vacuising power; and the idea has been conceived, that wherever a steam-engine is employed, there an ice apparatus might be erected and sustained at a trifling cost, with great prospect of productiveness. The most recent ice-machine is 'Masters's Apparatus,' the principal feature of which is, that a metallic cylinder is made to undergo rapid rotation in a freezing mixture, the motion appearing in a singular manner to expedite and facilitate the process. Some account of the applications of artificial cold may perhaps suitably conclude our paper. For some time the ingenuity of men in this particular developed itself no further than in simply cooling wine and other beverages; but a more refined and even elegant mode of doing so was afterwards discovered. In Boyle's 'History of Cold,' it is stated that he was accustomed to make wine-cups of ice, by means of tin moulds, for use in hot weather: pleasant trifles, as he calls them, which imparted a delicious coolness to the wine poured into them. In an old romance, named the 'Argenis,' a dinner in summer is described, at which fresh apples half-incrusted with ice, and a basin of ice filled with wine, were among the curiosities upon the table. Then came the invention of water-ices by one Procope, an Italian, who had an immense sale for them in Paris. Cream ices, and the iced juice of fruits, were then made, and found a rapid consumption. More recently, the art of the confectioner has applied this process to imitate many kinds of fruit and peaches-apricots and nectarines of icecopying the originals with curious fidelity. FEMALE EDUCATION. THE POSITIVE-THE POSSIBLE. GREAT as are the improvements the last twenty years have seen in female education, and continually increasing as is the number of enlightened and faithful teachers who, having dedicated their lives to the work, carry it on with renewed success from day to day, it is still a melancholy fact that, in the majority of our schools, we find many of the old mistakes in full force, together with a general non-progressiveness of character which, to the thoughtful, becomes a subject for serious consideration. and that which we shall most commonly find-dislike. For it will not be asserted, that to bring tired children in from a long walk-where, if really desirous to improve, they are just beginning to arrange how to make the best of their time-and summoning them all around you, to read six consecutive chapters from the Bibleprophecy, history, genealogy, or doctrine, just as it may happen-are the means best calculated to give a love for the Scriptures. Or that, after prolonging lessons for an hour and a-half before breakfast, to keep them kneeling a quarter of an hour or more on a cold morning, whilst you are pouring forth prayers which, however true of your individual soul, are without meaning to youthful hearers, is the most hopeful way of leading their hearts to God. And yet these are the established usages of religious schools. One verse from the Bible, chosen with reference to time and place-one heartfelt aspiration, poured into the ear of a child whose heart was tuned to receive it-would do as much good as these well-meant but ill-judged attempts do harm. Nor are they the only customs that appear injudicious. The habit of learning from the Bible as a lesson, of being hurried to church twice in the heat of the summer day, and reproved for the consequent bodily weariness, as if it were a moral crime; the dulness and gloom of Sundays, the formal preachments made on the slightest occasions, and the unfortunate practice of meeting children at every turn with no lighter argument than the Day of Judgment-all these are mistakes more generally made, and more serious in their consequences, than any who are unacquainted with the subject practically can well imagine. So little knowledge of the child's nature is sometimes shown, that an Essay on Faith' has been required as a vacation lesson from a whole school, including at least two little girls under eleven. Now, if this had been imposed only on the advanced pupils, by whom the subject was understood and felt, and the younger ones suffered to write on some other subject within their comprehension, no fault could have been found. But imagine unfortunate little beings suddenly stopping in the midst of some game to which they have given their whole heart, and vainly striving to recollect some text, or fragment of a text, that may stand in place of original ideas, and fill a decent page in the theme book! Imagine the utter dislike they will feel to such subjects for years to come. Teachers seldom fail to see this dislike, but for the most part attribute it to natural perversion and innate depravity. God knows, there is enough of both in every heart, however comparatively innocent; but the question is-Is the right means taken for removing it? And to some of us the farther question arises-May not But before going farther, an attempt must be made the mistakes of the teacher help to confirm the wrong to guard, if possible, against misconstruction. It is feelings of the child? Again: in many schools deceit is the primary article of the writer's faith, that however effectually taught by the system of espionage maintained gifted or amiable an instructress may be, whatever her over letters. If children are told to say just what they native powers or acquired accomplishments, she is un- like, but know at the same time that every word they fitted for the charge of rational and immortal beings do say will be overlooked, they will, either consciously unless her heart, mind, and conscience be under the or unconsciously, be hypocrites in the writing. They influence of religion. In speaking, then, of religious cannot fail to say what is likely to give pleasure or gain schools,' it must be borne in mind that it is to such as favour; and going in time a step farther, when commuhave taken to themselves the name, not such as we nications of a contrary nature have to be made, a piece should be disposed to give it to, that reference is always of paper will be slily slipped in after supervision of the made. These are sometimes farther characterised as original letter. 'evangelical.' Now, in the use of this word, we are influenced only by a desire of indicating to those who are conversant with them the class of schools referred to, and it is employed with as little of an invidious meaning as the terms 'preparatory' or 'finishing' would be, if they suited our purpose. However designated, perhaps the great mistake of the schools in question consists in this, that religion, which they are undoubtedly right in making their first object, is so formally and unattractively presented, so restlessly obtruded at all times and seasons, and so connected with pain and discomfort, that unless a strong interest has been already gained for it in the more genial atmosphere of home, the best result we can hope for is-indifference, To such as call to mind the days of back-boards and samplers, and knowing only the really good schools of to-day, rejoicingly draw a contrast between past and present, the assertion just made will probably appear both uncalled for and unjust. But that, unhappily, it is neither the one nor the other, increasing acquaintance with facts will testify. So far from wishing to obtain credit for her statement through undue weight attached to the facts on which it is based, the sole desire of the writer is to induce a more careful inquiry into what schools are, and a more earnest consideration of what they should be. Still, such facts as she may adduce-not being selected to serve a purpose, but chosen from the general number as most characteristic and expressive, and being all matter, not of hearsay, but of personal knowledge-deserve that degree of consideration which should be accorded to every contribution, however humble, to the cause of truth. It may assist the better understanding of the subject, if we take a particular class of schools, in order to indicate the traces of old errors still to be found in them; and perhaps those in which it will be most easy to demonstrate our position are the religious. And yet, under these influences are brought up every year a large number of children, whose parents, thinking they have secured for them the inestimable benefit of a sound religious education, vainly hope to see springing up in their hearts that good seed which, for want of due preparation of the soil, has never taken root. Happy is it if they do not find in its place indifference, callousness, deceit. Now it seems impossible that intelligent parents, and honest but mistaken teachers, should meditate on these evils without feeling that they must be removed, at whatever cost or effort. It is to such I address myself in the following attempt to determine how many of the errors that belong to our present school system are essentially inter woven with it, and how many only make part of it by accidental association; in short, to set the positive in the light of the possible. In doing this, we require one principle given; namely, that schools are a substitute, and at best a poor one, for home training, which, when attainable with few or none of the inconveniences commonly attached to it, we hold to be the perfect mode of education, the normal state appointed by God; and which, therefore, we may not change without weighty and sufficient reasons. This principle granted, and the school admitted to be a substitute for the home, a good school is that in which the best features of the home are copied, and its highest advantages secured. By this practical test the merits of the system may be tried, and the causes of failure indicated, if failed it have. I. In the first place, if a school is to resemble a home, some proportion must exist between the numbers contained in both. And here I should observe, that I am speaking altogether and entirely of female education, and of education as apart from, and above, mere instruction. Large public schools for boys are, by common consent, one of the many necessary evils with which the world abounds. With these, therefore, we have no desire to meddle. But desirable as public spirit and hardihood may be for boys, they are not the objects we propose to ourselves in bringing up our daughters; neither for them do we make the attainment of intellectual excellence our first desire. On the contrary, the culture of the domestic affections, the formation of the character, the strengthening of that heroic, self-denying element which is the basis of a woman's nature, and which enables her to find in duty its own motive and ' reward, and to do right for the right's sake-these are the ends every thoughtful parent would seek to pursue in the education of his daughters. As much intellectual attainment, as many external accomplishments as may be consistent with these, he will desire, and no more. Now the home influences, where the moral atmosphere is pure, will be found precisely adapted to secure these ends. The parental affection in which children live, move, and have their being,' tends to develop the feeling of love in their young hearts; whilst the deep interest of the parent must quicken his comprehension of the individual character of the child, and teach him how to bring about that peculiar combination of qualities which he desires to see him possessed of. admitted, because the philosophy of it is rightly understood. II. The first point being established-that a school must resemble a family in extent-the second is naturally connected with it-that its mode of government shall be the same; namely, patriarchal. That all large schools are despotisms, is by no means asserted; but that they have a natural tendency to become so, can scarcely be denied. In legislating for numbers, recourse must be had to rules, regulations, formulæ, and other mechanical substitutes for personal direction; whilst every school not larger than a family might be governed, as all wisely-ordered families are, almost, if not altogether, by principles. Each member might feel herself the object of the watchful care and affectionate interest of the head, and might partake as largely of the infusion of her spirit. But this is only possible on the supposition that her heart is loving, her judgment sound, and her energy unfailing. III. In the third place, every head of a school who undertakes to supply the place of home education, must have deeper views of what is required from her, and be more far-sighted with regard to the future, than the majority of our teachers at present are. A school is too often a mere intellectual mill, employed in grinding out of unfortunate children a certain quantity of labour for present purposes. Lessons appear to be learned in order to be said, and said to be speedily forgotten. Candour, however, requires us to admit that the whole of this mistake is not to be charged to schoolmistresses; parents often, by their ill-judged desire to see their children advance rapidly, adding fuel to that flame by which the powers of young minds are wasted and destroyed. On both sides there is a want of that wise economy by which the immediate results of intellectual efforts are made a part, and but a small part, of the advantages to be derived; the chief gain being the moral discipline involved, and the power this gives for future years; or, to confine our attention to the intellect, the sharpening and strengthening of the faculties, rather than the immediate knowledge they are the means of procuring. Now, the great intellectual mistake in many schools is, that there is no working for the future. Young people are not shown practically that all their studies and pursuits are mainly valuable for the promise they hold out, and the facilities they afford, for future attainments. Could we These being some of the peculiar characteristics of show them in the present the germ of the future, and home education, it is at once evident that a large school make it clear to their minds how much their happiness can never supply its place; for the affection and interest here and hereafter depends on the faithful fulfilment of with which each child is regarded by the 'principal' those simple duties which they are accustomed to regard must be infinitesimal, even if, as too often happens, the as mere indifferent routine, how much more lifelike feeling of individuality is not lost sight of altogether. and earnest would be their daily employments! ComIf a school, then, be intended to supply the place of the mon situations, and unromantic circumstances, would home, it must be sufficiently limited in extent to admit then content them; for into the meanest they would of the same close study of individual character, and will see the possibility of carrying all those great deeds and differ chiefly from the natural home in bringing to-high thoughts which they have reverenced in others, gether companions nearer of an age than can possibly and perhaps sighed for in themselves. Their life would be found amongst brothers and sisters. In this respect, thus become a connected whole, instead of in its two and in this only, the school has necessarily the advan- periods offering the slavery of school, and the emancitage. Many children, studying single-handed, find a pation of leaving it, with nothing to show the oneness degree of dulness in their occupations which would be and reality of existence. There can be no doubt that, quickly removed by the presence of companions. Again: if judiciously attempted, it will be found possible, withunless two or three sisters are very nearly of an age, out making young persons prematurely thoughtful, to the consequence of teaching them together is, that the show them the close connection between those two elder is kept back, and grows idle; or, more probably, stages of education which they have been accustomed that the powers of the younger are overstrained. Now, to think so different-the school-teaching, and the lifeit is by no means asserted that many girls of twelve teaching. A wise teacher will do even more than this. are incapable of studying with sisters two or three years Foreseeing the end of all her efforts from the very beolder for age is by no means synonymous with power, ginning, and gradually approximating towards it by there being greater capability in some at ten than in slow degrees, in proportion as she finds the power of others at fifteen. Still, the rule of course is, that fellow-self-guidance developed, she will remove external motive students of the same age are preferable. Moreover, all wise teachers know that children often gain from each other, both mentally and morally, fully as much as it is in the instructor's power to bestow. Difficult as it is to make this clear to any who have not studied education practically, by those who have, it will be readily and stimulus, and so prepare the mind to depend on itself, that, when the period arrives for losing sight of authority altogether, the change shall be in many important particulars imperceptible. Neither is it necessary that young women should leave school, as they often do, with little preparation in the country; for health and happiness are both involved in making the most not only of the hour, or hour and a-half, devoted to a walk, but of the fragments of time which are constantly occurring between studies, and before and after meals. There is, moreover, an invigorating influence in constantly breathing pure air, the absence of which is poorly compensated by all that a large town has to offer in the shape of lectures or exhibitions. But the advantages of both may be partially united by a situation in the country, in the immediate neighbourhood of a town. And in cases where this is not attainable, which will form the majo for the active duties of life. No other law but the absurd one of fashion has laid down the cultivation of all kinds of useless and frivolous needlework, to the exclusion, in many cases, of that particular branch in which every woman should be well practised. The period of life passed at school is that on which future happiness and usefulness mainly depend, it being during the course of this that habits are, to a certain extent, unalterably formed. To accustom young people, therefore, exclusively to the use of Berlin wools and floss silks, is to preclude the hope of their being, in one important particular, useful mistresses of families. IV. Are schools and school-life necessarily and unavoid-rity, the loss of all town advantages is more than made ably the dull, formal, negative things we commonly find them? May not the cultivation of a loving spirit in the young people, together with constant cheerfulness, intelligent conversation, and an animated manner in the principal, help to make a school-life a happy and pleasant one-inferior to home only in the one great particular, of separation from relatives? In the present administration of schools, one of the principal mistakes arises from the fear of giving too free a course to that natural reaction, that exuberance of spirits, which is found to follow close attention to study. Now, as certainly as we must relax the bow before we can hope to see it firmly strung, so surely does earnest study require at intervals the most unbounded freedom, the most unrestrained enjoyment of every rational and harmless amusement. Children who do not play with all their heart, are seldom found to learn with all their might; whilst in those who do, the energy and vitality of the playground will accompany the mind to the study, unless some chilling influence meet it on the way. Of refreshing, inspiriting amusements, bodily as well as mental, children at school have too small a share. They are for the most part characterised by a grave dulness of character, a dignified nonchalance of manner, which, painful as we feel it in all, is absolutely hopeless in the young for it is one of the surest indications of that solemn listlessness which gives us the peculiar specimen of animated nature so puzzling to many of our philosophers-the young lady from school. Under a more lifelike and enterprising government, this negativeness of character would cease to exist. The peculiarities of individuals would be cherished and rejoiced in; and school girls would no longer be distinguished from their fellow-mortals by the habit, when dining in tolerably large numbers, of asking for the wing of a fowl all round the table. In all seriousness, we do desire to see a less generic character in the young, who have years enough before them, with no lack of influences, to wear them down to the customary degree of conventional commonplaceness. But this desirable change will not be effected so long as the formal walk for an hour in the day, and the dance in which the posture-master's frown is feared, are held relaxation sufficient for young minds and limbs. Not merely walking, running races, and every game that can be pursued out of doors, but gardening, botany, excursions, visits to manufactories, &c. will help to give a definite object to our exercise, and thereby preserve us from lassitude; a state, by the by, so unnatural to the young, that we never see it-except in the single case of illhealth-without mentally laying the blame on the seniors in charge. v. The chief points connected with the wellbeing of schools are, undoubtedly, the four we have been attempting to consider; namely, extent, government, purpose, spirit. Many practical points will, however, be found to have great influence on their success; such as choice of situation, arrangement of time, &c. With regard to the former, I feel no hesitation in saying that every school should be, if not quite in the country, still so near it, as to admit of much time being spent every day in the fields and lanes, and without the annoyance of passing through crowded streets in order to reach them. Indeed, unless insurmountable difficulties are in the way, every school should be not only near, but up to us by any picturesqueness the neighbourhood may afford. To teach a child to love nature, is far more important than to make her a connoisseur in works of art; though, unfortunately, it is less understood. It can only be effected by living in the midst of fair scenes, and keeping the heart always open to their influence. If this advantage be once given, little positive teaching will be found necessary; there being a secret affinity between the freshness of young hearts and the joyousness of nature, by which all our attempts at formal introductions are felt to be wholly gratuitous. It is because this is imperfectly, if at all, understood by many teachers, that young people are often charged with being idle, when they are in reality full of thought and feeling. A child lies down under a shady tree, and shuts his eyes to feel the sweet breath of summer; or looks up into the interwoven branches, and wonders why they seem to be in the sky, and why the sky looks like another sea, and wherein sky and sea differ from each other, until he loses himself altogether in reverie. The teacher finds him thus engaged, and because he is neither conjugating, nor calculating, nor poring over book or map, pronounces him idle. Now, it would be most absurd to dream of children's spending their time either entirely or principally in this desultory manner, when the advantages of regular employments are known to be invaluable. Still, it is both unjust and unwise to confound together two things so utterly distinct as the love of nature and the love of idleness. VI. With regard to the arrangement of time, a few practical hints will best explain what is meant. Work should be always close and earnest, but not too long-continued. Two hours are, perhaps, the longest time children should ever be allowed to study without some interval of rest longer or shorter. For very young children, even this is too much. They cannot give their best attention so long; or, if they can, that is the strongest of all reasons for never suffering them to do it on any pretext whatever. Intellectual studies should occupy the hours of the morning; music and drawing those of the afternoon; and the evening should be given to work, amusing reading, chess, and all games that afford either exercise to the limbs or relaxation to the mind. It is the time for establishing a cordial sympathy between all the members of a family, by leading each to employ his peculiar talent for the benefit of the rest. All attempts to make the day begin and end with work are, therefore, mistakes, and deserve to be as unsuccessful as we invariably find them. We are not sent into this world only to learn Greek, and Latin, and theologies;' but to comfort and be comforted, to bless and be blessed. The child whose last thoughts every night are of grammars and lexicons, will make but an ungenial companion in after-life. In female education more especially, where the moral and spiritual culture is all-important, this truth must be carefully borne in mind. One word in conclusion, to explain the earlier pages of this paper. Religious schools were selected for notice as being more numerous, more influential, and more generally believed in than any others. The follies of fashionable seminaries, and the sips of intellectual hothouses, have already been so fully exposed, that little faith can remain in them among the intelligent: whilst the existence in religious schools of the mis takes we have attempted to point out, is wholly unsuspected by the majority of parents, and can never have been duly considered by the teachers themselves. One morning, however, when Mrs Allen proceeded as usual to her place of merchandise, she was startled to perceive the space around her fruit-stall filled with And now, with a full conviction that the foregoing workmen conveying stones, mortar, and all the impleobservations, however crude in form, are true in sub-ments necessary for commencing a building. Some stance, the writer commits them to the earnest consideration of all concerned in education. She is conscious that many other particulars might have been brought forward, and many truths more clearly indicated. But this has happened intentionally, and not by accident. Her object is to suggest merely, to throw on the subject just as much light as will serve to guide those less practically conversant with it; and to point out to any who have been working without reflecting, the greatness of their responsibility for good or for evil. A STORY OF APSLEY HOUSE. ONE fine autumn day, in the year 1750, as his majesty George II. was taking a ride in Hyde Park, his eye was attracted by the figure of an old soldier, who was resting on a bench placed at the foot of an oak-tree. The king, whose memory of faces was remarkable, recognised him as a veteran who had fought bravely by his side in some of his continental battles; and kindly accosting him, the old man, who was lame, hobbled towards him. 'Well, my friend,' said the monarch, it is now some years since we heard the bullets whistle at the battle of Dettingen: tell me what has befallen you since.' 'I was wounded in the leg, please your majesty, and received my discharge, and a pension, on which my wife and I are living, and trying to bring up our only son.' 'Are you comfortable? Is there anything you particularly wish for?' 'Please your majesty, if I might make bold to speak, there is one thing that would make my wife, poor woman, as happy as a queen, if she could only get it. Our son is a clever boy, and as we are anxious to give him a good education, we try every means in our power to turn an honest penny; so my wife keeps an applestall outside the Park gate, and on fine days, when she is able to be out, she often sells a good deal. But sun and dust spoil the fruit, and rainy weather keeps her at home; so her profits are but little-not near enough to keep our boy at school. Now, please your majesty, if you would have the goodness to give her the bit of waste ground outside the Park gate, we could build a shed for her fruit-stall, and it would be, I may say, like an estate to us.' The good-natured monarch smiled, and said, 'You shall have it, my friend. I wish all my subjects were as moderate in their requests as you.' He then rode on, followed by the grateful blessings of his faithful veteran. In a few days a formal conveyance of the bit of ground to James Allen, his wife, and their heirs for ever, was forwarded to their humble dwelling. The desired shed was speedily erected, and the good woman's trade prospered beyond her expectations. Often, indeed, the king himself would stop at the Park gate to accost her, and taking an apple from her tempting store, deposit a golden token in its place. She was thus enabled to procure a good education for her son, who really possessed considerable talents. Years rolled on. George II. and the veteran were both gathered to their fathers; but Mrs Allen still carried on her trade, hoping to lay up some money for her son, who was become a fine young man, and had obtained a situation as head clerk in a large haberdashery establishment. He lived with his mother in a neat, though humble dwelling, a little way out of the city; and thither he hoped soon to bring a fair young bride, the daughter of a Mr Gray, a music teacher, who resided near them. 'Sweet Lucy Gray!' as her lover was wont to call her, had given her consent, and the happy day was already fixed. were standing round the shed, evidently preparing to demolish it. Come, old lady,' said one of the men, move your things out of this as fast as you can, for we can do nothing until the shed is down.' 'My shed!' she exclaimed; and who has given you authority to touch it?' 6 The Lord Chancellor,' was the reply; he has chosen this spot for a palace that he is going to build, and which is intended to be somewhat grander than your fruit-stall. So look sharp about moving your property, for the shed must come down.' Vain were the poor woman's tears and lamentations; her repeated assertions that the late king had given her the ground for her own, were treated with ridicule; and at length she returned home heart-sick and desponding. He Misfortunes, it is said, seldom come alone. That evening Edward Allen entered his mother's dwelling wearing a countenance as dejected as her own. threw himself on a chair, and sighed deeply. 'Oh, mother!' he said, I fear we are ruined: Mr Elliot has failed for an immense sum; there is an execution on his house and goods, and I and all his clerks are turned adrift. Every penny we possessed was lodged in his hands, and now we shall lose it all. Besides, there have been lately so many failures in the city, that numbers of young men are seeking employment, and I'm sure I don't know where to turn to look for it. I suppose,' he added, trying to smile, we shall have nothing to depend on but your little trade; and I must give up the hope of marrying sweet Lucy Gray. It will be hard enough to see you suffering from poverty without bringing her to share it.' 'Oh, Edward,' said his mother, 'what you tell me is bad enough; but, my poor boy, I have still worse news for you.' She then, with many tears, related the events of the morning, and concluded by asking him what they were to do. Edward paused. 'And so,' said he at length, the Lord Chancellor has taken a fancy to my mother's ground, and her poor fruit-stall must come down to make room for his stately palace. Well, we shall see. Thank God we live in free, happy England, where the highest has no power to oppress the lowest. Let his lordship build on: he cannot seize that which his sovereign bestowed on another. Let us rest quietly to-night, and I feel certain that all will yet be well.' The following day Edward presented himself at the dwelling of the Lord Chancellor. Can I see his lordship?' he inquired of the grave official who answered his summons. 'My lord is engaged just now, and cannot be seen except on urgent business.' My business is urgent,' replied the young man; but I will await his lordship's leisure.' And a long waiting he had. At length, after sitting in an anteroom for several hours, he was invited to enter the audience chamber. There, at a table covered with books and papers, sat Lord Apsley. He was a dignified-looking man, still in the prime of life, with a pleasant countenance and quick penetrating eye. 'Well, my friend,' he said, 'what can I do for you?' Your lordship can do much,' replied Edward; 'yet all I seek is justice. You have chosen, as the site for your new palace, a piece of ground which his majesty King George II. bestowed on my parents and their heirs for ever; and since my father's death, my mother has remained in undisturbed possession. If your lordship will please to read this paper, you will see that what I state is the fact.' Lord Apsley took the document, and perused it attentively. You are right, young man,' he said; 'the ground is indeed secured to your family by the act of our late gracious sovereign. I took possession of it, |