fend that nothing; or whether, on the contrary, it will not be better to reign over men, against whom,

"Unless corruption first deject the pride
And guardian vigour of the freeborn soul,
All rude attempts of violence are vain ;
For firm within, and while at heart untouch'd,
Ne'er yet by force was Freedom overcome.
But soon as independence stoops the head,
To vice enslav'd, and vice-created wants,
Then to some foul corrupting hand, whose waste
Their craving lusts with fatal bounty feeds,
They fall a willing undefended prize.

From man to man th' infectious softness runs,
Till the whole state unnerv'd, in slavery sinks."

THOMSON.

CHAPTER XV.

RUINS! RUINS! RUINS! THE SQUIRE CUCKOLDS A TAILOR, AND IS KNOCKED DOWN BY HIS GOOSE.— DEFINITION OF THE WORD HONOUR.-HERCULES

TURNS A

SPINSTER.-A VERY PROPER REMONSTRANCE TO BRING A VERY GREAT MAN TO HIS PROPER SENSES.CONCLUSION.

WHEN we see an ancient, venerable building falling to decay, our sympathy carries us back to the æra, when the now mouldering and silent walls, resounded with the mirth and jollity of those human beings who have long since fallen to dust; we admire the perseverance and ingenuity of the architects of former times, and we respect the tottering remains of their labours; we deprecate the barbarous hand that hastens their fall, and removes every trace of them, to make way for modern improvements. In like manner did every one, in those days of which we are now speaking, look on the venerable

mansion-house of Freeland Manor,-venerable even in its state of dilapidation, and of threatening ruins. The tenants perceived with keen regret and swelling indignation, that, in order to make way for (what were absurdly styled) modern improvements, the whole of that majestic fabric had been much injured by removing the sub. stantial buttresses which would have defied the shocks of ages, and substituting in their place, light, airy, and feeble props. It was evident that these modern dabblers in brick and mortar were no more to be compared with the original founders, than a Satyr with Hyperion; no more worthy of replacing a stone of their laying, than a miserable sign-dauber of the present day would be to re-touch the paintings of Apelles or Zeuxis.

The tenants were but too well aware that they were so over-burthened, that they could not promise to play the Atlas much longer, without some very great change of measures, and that if they should sink under their monstrous load, and suffer the pile to fall to the ground, they would never be able to rebuild so as to bear the slightest resemblance to what it had once been.

The Squire, indeed, gave some symptoms of a

change of measures; but the new ones were of a worse complexion than the old ones. His taste began to veer about from antique and ell-wide beauty, to that which was youthful and moderate-sized; but he was most unhappy in his choice, or we should have rather said happy, if he had received a lesson that, whatever other privations a Freelander might submit to for the good of his country, or even for the support of the profligate extravagance of a debauchee, he would part with his life before he would suffer himself to be deprived of his honour. The fact was, that

دو

-Some treach'rous cupid led
His sportive footsteps to a Tailor's bed."

-In hapless hour for the poor Squire! for the husband was not only impolite enough to interrupt his sport; but with all the vengeance of insulted honour and manhood, he flung his goose with so much wrath and violence at the shameless usurper of his conjugal rights, that, had his sudden rage permitted him to have taken a cooler aim, the Rising Sun had set,-never to rise again! As it was, the goose made him stagger,

and brought him to the ground with a severe wound, and it was hoped, a salutary admonition against trampling upon the honour of free and independent men.

It was a brave Tailor! he deserved a higher rank among the demi-gods than either Mars, Hercules, or Theseus, and his goose was more worthy of a place among the constellations, than Berenice's wig. It carried a weighty proof with it that the whole manor was not so debased, degraded, and sunk, but that it was dangerous to touch their honour, however they might submit to have their pockets turned inside out.

Commit a breach of hospitality! violate the wife of your entertainer!-Hospitality is a sacred law, a public interest, as every man must, some. time or other, have stood in need of it, and be aware of its advantages. Was it from such a source as a violator of the laws of hospitality that the Freelanders were afterwards to look for all the streams of honour, rank, and dignity, which were to flow through their estates?--Was it from such a source they were to expect the support and maintenance of justice, equity, and mora lity? It was likely to prove a very muddy