Mr. Winter was, however, not a farmer of the old school, neither could he justly be termed a farmer of the new school. He had succeeded to a long lease of his present land, comprising some three hundred acres, which he held under Squire Passmore, at an easy rental, on the death of his father, who had been one of the most upright tenants and hard working men on the estate-by such conduct he had contrived to leave his son not only the lease which was immediately renewed, but also about fifty acres of freehold land at no great distance from Lindford, together with five hundred pounds in ready money. At the period to which I allude, the large farm of which he now claimed the ownership, had been in the possession of the family, from father to son, about three score years, and to do Mr. Winter justice, he was an honourable tenant and an amiable man, none paid their rent more punctually, and few did more actual justice to the land, but he did nothing more; his lease was held on such easy

terms, that it paid itself, and considerably more. And he was not the man to expend a pound on speculative agricultural improvements, such as drilling or draining, though by such means his gains might have been doubled. The loss of a wife to whom he had been much attached, and who possessed more common sense than all the family, left him with little energy and no mind to the sole guidance of his two sisters, whose knowledge of the fifty-acre freehold and the five hundred consols, had caused them to imagine they were no longer simple farmer's daughters, but henceforth in a position to move in the same circles with the aristocracy of the county. In personal appearance, farmer Winter was what might fairly be termed an honest-looking yeoman, the greatest compliment I can pay him, robust, strong, healthy, and florid, and of middle age, his dress, when attending to his farm duties, was such as it ought to have been; when in company with the Miss Winters he was compelled to appear in

a half sporting, half-flash costume. The elder of these young women was named Susan, after her mother, the younger Evangelica, and neither Susy or Gelica, as he called them, could remain in the same room, with vulgar thick shoes and bespattered gaiters, therefore, when in doors, his dress prevented strangers from doing full justice to his honourable calling, and at the same time left on the minds of those capable of some insight into human nature, an idea that he was ashamed of his enviable position, and desired to be thought that to which he could never aspire, not so much from want of means, but from his utter ignorance of all things tending to elevate man. True, he could read and write and keep his farm accounts, but nothing more, If he looked into a newspaper it was solely for the purpose of ascertaining the state of the markets; and as for a book, it was a rare event indeed, did his hand divide the leaves of one. Such was the brother of Susan and Evangelica, girls just verging from child

hood into womanhood, with minds filled with all the extravagant follies taught at such illdirected places of education as unfortunately now abound for young girls. I beg their pardon-young ladies. God save their pretty faces 'tis a term more readily applied than understood. Mr. Winter occasionally followed the hounds, not that he was a sporting man or a sportsman, but he was fond of gay companionship, and being a good natured, frank-hearted man, was popular among those who attended the meets. He was not a hard rider or even a second rate rider to hounds. Yet the strange weakness, that in a measure we can pardon, in which he held the opinions of his two fair sisters, induced him on all occasions, save those wherein agriculture was concerned, to be guided by them.

Thus, he appeared generally mounted on a horse totally unable to carry his weight, a barg tailed, thorough-bred pulling chesnut, or a switch tailed grey-at such times he was

invariably ridiculed by the gentlemen of the hunt, who, otherwise, respected him; but his foible, as regarded these matters as the tastes of his young sisters, was well known, as were his means of being well mounted.

"Well, Winter," said the kind-hearted Duke of -, master of the hounds, "what brings such a heavy fellow as you are out on such a thorough-bred rip as that?-she is scarcely fit to carry my second whip; do let me see you riding something fit to carry such a fine fellow as you through two ploughed fields; you will never see the stern of a hound again to-day after we find."

Why, your grace," was the reply, "I'm just getting the nag steady for my sister, Gelica, when she comes home for the holidays, in order that she may attend your grace's hunts. I calls her Jenny Lind, your grace, she is a sweet mare, I can assure you, and worth a hundred."

"Well, my good fellow, you know best;