50 TROLLING IN STAFFORDSHIRE. 



idle shrubs intruded themselves on this sacred 

 spot, but it seemed to be guarded by the majestic 

 beech trees around it. I was roused from this 

 reverie by the deep sound of a bell, and a servant 

 came to announce that prayers were about to begin 

 in the chapel. I followed him through three or 

 four rooms, the last of which was a library, from 

 which a communication was made with the gal- 

 lery of the chapel. I found numerous servants 

 assembled in the body of it, and the worthy 

 ladies seated in the gallery ready to begin the 

 evening service. I found that they assisted each 

 other in doing so, reading the psalms and lessons 

 alternately. Their articulation though clear, was 

 a little tremulous, and they had now and then some 

 difficulty in turning to the proper places. Upon 

 the whole, however, they acquitted themselves with 

 great propriety, and the service was listened to with 

 the utmost attention and decorum. 



I like these assemblages of private families, espe- 

 cially during the silence of the evening, while they 

 are engaged in offering up the incense of prayer 

 and praise. The folly and hurry of life ; vanity, 

 vexation and care, are banished for a season, and 

 the happy calm of devotion proves that the ways 

 of celestial wisdom are * ways of pleasantness, and 

 ' that all her paths are peace.' 



We adjourned from the chapel to a supper room, 

 where we had an opportunity of making ample 



