52 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



X. 



BY the force of circumstances I was 

 obliged to spend in the great city the day 

 dedicated to the memory of the Father of 

 his country, and having much writing to 

 do, I spent the greater part of the day at 

 the club. 



And what, of its kind, could be pleas- 

 anter ? I may take mine ease in mine inn, 

 but where, excepting by his own fireside, 

 can one so thoroughly take his ease, and 

 feel so completely how good life is, as he 

 can in the library of his club, provided his 

 club is our club ? Around him are ranged 

 tier above tier the goodly volumes to which 

 he may refer if necessity require ; upon the 

 desk before him are all the conveniences 

 for his labour ; the temperature is just right ; 

 the light falls over him broadly and softly ; 

 the admonition to &quot;silence&quot; faces all as 

 they enter the room ; the heavy carpet and 

 rugs deaden the footfalls ; and as the stu 

 dent from time to time raises his eyes, they 

 rest here and there upon the poet, the 



