been telling you about his childhood; and you may also remember that when he came to die, full of age and honours, this is what he said to his son, as he stood by his bedside :- 'My dear, be a good man ; be virtuous, be religious-be a good man! Nothing clse will give you any real comfort when you come to lie here.

THE OUTLAW.

I. ALLEN-A-DALE has no fagot for burning,
Allen-a-Dale has no furrow for turning,
Allen-a-Dale has no fleece for the spinning,
Yet Allen-a-Dale has red gold for the winning.
Come, read me my riddle! come, hearken my
tale!

And tell me the craft of bold Allen-a-Dale.

2

2. The Baron of Ravensworth' prances in pride, And he views his domains upon Arkindale side, The mere for his net, and the land for his game, The chase for the wild, and the park for the tame;

Yet the fish of the lake, and the deer of the vale,
Are less free to Lord Dacre than Allen-a-Dale!

The ruins of Ravensworth Castle stand in the North Riding of Yorkshire, about three miles from the town of Richmond, and adjoining to the waste called the Forest of Arkingarth. It belonged originally to the powerful family of Fitz-Hugh, from whom it passed to the Lords Dacre of the south.

2 Mere, lake.

' Chase, forest.

02

3. Allen-a-Dale to his wooing is come;

The mother, she ask'd of his household and home:

Though the castle of Richmond stands fair on the hill,

My hall,' quoth bold Allen, 'shows gallanter still;

'Tis the blue vault of heaven, with its crescent so pale,

And with all its bright spangles!' said Allen-as Dale.

4. The father was steel, and the mother was stone; They lifted the latch, and they bade him be

gone;

But loud, on the morrow, their wail and their

cry:

He had laugh'd on the lass with his bonny

black eye,

And she fled to the forest to hear a love tale, And the youth it was told by was Allen-a-Dale!

5. Allen-a-Dale was ne'er belted a knight, Though his spur be as sharp, and his blade be as bright;

Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord,

Yet twenty tall yeomen will draw at his word; And the best of our nobles his bonnet will vail,1 Who at Rere-cross on Stanmore meets Allen-a

Dale.

1

Vail, let fall, take off

SCOTT.

HOW MY UNCLE WAS TAUGHT

CIVILITY.

PART I

1. My uncle is a respectable fishmonger in London. We all think he has made his fortune, and must be near seventy. Old Stilton, our neighbour, who was not very wise in his youth, they say, often wonders how he can attend to his business at such an age; but, having led a temperate life, my uncle is still a robust, active man, and likes to keep the old shop.

2. It is not, however, for the love of gain that he does so. My uncle's trust has long been set in the wealth that cannot waste, or flee away; but forty years of honest and successful trade have made both place and habit fàmiliar; besides, it enables him to bestow more on needy friends, missionary funds, and charitable institutions.1 have heard my uncle say as much, by way of explanation, to old Stilton, but he wonders on, and no doubt will continue to do so.

I

3. I do not remember that any one in our family ever wondered in this way concerning my uncle.

1 Charitable institutions, places such as hospitals and orphan homes, where the poor and the sick are taken in and cared for.

He had helped my mother when she was suddenly left a widow, he had apprenticed my three brothers at good houses, and he took me into the shop; but none of us could ever make out why a man so old and rich should serve the most shabby-looking stranger who bought a sole or a mackerel, with the same respectful civility he showed his best customers.

4. This problem puzzled me in particular, because it caught my attention most frequently in the shop; and once when I had in a manner gained my uncle's confidence we had some talk on the subject, which he finished with the following story :

5. When I was a boy-more than fifty years ago -nobody had a greater notion of good manners than I; my ambition was to be quite genteel and polite; but unhappily this good behaviour was never extended beyond my superiors, and they were known to me only by fine clothes or a grand equipage. It is to be feared that in the great and wealthy London there is still a strong inclination to such estimates; and, though a worthier man in weightier matters, it was among the weak points of Mr. Sampson Huggins, with whom I served my apprenticeship in Covent Garden.

6. Mr. Sampson Huggins was the very model of a fishmonger. He knew to an hour how long a cod had been in pickle, or a salmon out of the water as for crabs and eels, no man understood them better; and in ice packing I never saw his equal. Moreover, Mr. Sampson was proud