packs upon horses; and I well remember, that one of my earliest pleasures was to listen to the sound of the bells hung round the neck of their leader, followed with solemn step, by a long train of his compeers, as they passed stately along the shady lane by my father's garden; all of them seeming to enjoy, equally with myself, this simple music. If this noble animal could compose and write, what petitions and remonstrances should we not daily receive against the unfeeling speed of flying diligences, hackney post-chaises, and mail coaches!

The native inhabitants of this hilly country, were then as uncivilized as their mountains were rude and uncultivated. When my father first went there, (about the year 1729,) almost all the country was divided among a number of small freeholders, or lease-holders, holding grants of nine hundred or a thousand years, made over in feudal times by the great barons, in exchange for military service. The ground almost every where remained in its primitive state, wholly uninclosed; and notwithstanding every man knew his own, yet their property being so intermingled, various subjects for endless debate and litigation were continually arising among them; and being proud from independence, and obstinate from extreme ignorance, it was almost impossible to arbitrate or to compose their differences. This herculean labour, however, my father courageously attempted; and, that he might do it with greater success, he took upon himself the office of a justice of peace, which he exercised among them many years with the happiest effects.

In large open fields, consisting perhaps of several hundred acres, the ground was nominally divided into what were commonly called lands, which had each their appropriate name; and it was one of his first efforts to prevail upon the different proprietors, to exchange with each other distant for contiguous lands, a proportionate sum of money being paid in addition, where the value of a plat of ground might be less than that for which it was exchanged; and if the difference or value of the whole purchase was small, he drew the respective conveyances for them himself, to save them expence, and thus prepared the way for future enclosures and progressive improvement. I found a box not many years ago, containing a number of these agreements, for the exchange of small pieces of land, and for some entire purchases, in one of which, the sum amounted to no more than 27. 10s., and in no instance did they exceed the sum of 201.

My father rebuilt in a great measure, if not entirely, the Vicarage-House at Long Preston, which is pleasantly situated on a rising ground. It is a double house with five windows in front; opening upon a little lawn, divided by palisades from a field of glebe-land, which slopes gently down to a little rivulet that runs at the bottom, the ground gradually ascending the opposite side, until the prospect is finally closed by the view of Pendle-hill, one of the highest mountains in the neighbourhood, and which bounds the horizon at the distance of about ten miles.

This country would have been extremely beau

tiful, were it not that many parts of it were, and still continue, almost entirely destitute of wood; and that even after enclosures were introduced: the fields were separated from each other, not by quickwood hedges, but by stone walls, which still give a general appearance of barrenness and poverty. Near the vicarage, however, my father endeavoured to supply this defect, and in spring and summer, the various rows and clumps of trees which he planted, so rare in Craven valleys, became the general rendezvous of little groupes of singing birds, who rewarded him for their accommodation by their enlivening music. The value of the living did not exceed eighty or one hundred pounds per annum, and that of Skipton was, I believe, much smaller; provisions however were then very cheap. The family was supplied many years with excellent butter at twopence halfpenny per pound, (24 ounces,) the average price throughout the year, and other articles were in the same proportion: a neighbouring river (the Ribble) supplied excellent fish. My father, in common with all who acted in the commission of the peace, was plentifully supplied with venison twice a year, from the park of the noble proprietor of Skipton Castle; and having a small estate of his own, he was enabled to live in great plenty and hospitality himself, as well as to be useful and generous to others.

The income of the living arose principally from glebe-land; a much more eligible means of supporting a clergyman who wishes to be of use to his flock, and to cultivate their good affections,

than that of collecting tithes, which are always considered by the farmer as a vexation, and often supply the temptation to practise little frauds, which are at the same time most unfavourable to the moral character, and the prolific source of many cruel heart-burnings, destructive of all friendly intercourse.

My mother was the daughter of the younger son of a baronet of large property, and of great influence, Sir Rowland Winn, bart. of Nostel, and had been accustomed, from her family connexions, to associate with persons of rank and fortune, much superior to her own: but being of a very amiable disposition, good-tempered, actively benevolent and pious, neither this circumstance, nor that of her being extremely handsome, rendered her unfit for the wife of a country clergyman, or unhappy in the retirement consequent upon that situation. She was naturally very cheerful, a great adept at her needle, delighted in visiting the poor, and making up medicines for them; and having a very musical voice, could pleasantly accompany my father, who played a little upon the violin, which constituted their favourite amusement in a winter's evening, when the labours of the day were over. Never have I since heard any concert that sounded to my ear so delightful! My mother being asked if she did not find the winter evenings very long and dull, replied in her cheerful manner, "By no means; Mr. H. plays, I work and sing, and the children dance!"

At three years old, I had the confluent small

pox, and being treated according to the mistaken practice of that day, lost every little pretension to beauty, which might otherwise have fallen to my share. I was not only kept in bed ten nights and days, in a small close room, from which every breath of outward air, and even the day-light was carefully excluded; but an affectionate nurse submitted to share the same cruel penance, lest, by her leaving me, I might be more impatient of the confinement. At last the air in the room became so unfit for respiration, that for some days my father would not permit my mother to come into it, and when she did insist upon venturing, she was so affected by the sight of her child, and by the state of the room, that she instantly fainted.

An

It seems astonishing that experience such as this, did not sooner point out the wisdom and utility of a different mode of treatment. aunt of mine, many years before this period, not being so carefully attended, was much more fortunate. She was on a visit at Pontefract, where she was attacked by the small-pox, and was immediately put to bed as usual. But happening to be left one day by the nurse, with a little girl about her own age, and some soldiers coming by with drums and music, her young companion opened the window, and called to ask her, if she would not choose to see them? and upon her answering with great spirit, "To be sure I should;" they, with great difficulty, achieved her walking to the window ;-the oppression on her breast was instantly removed, by breathing the fresh air, and from that moment, she began to re