A ND oh, what tongue can tell what bliss o’er flowed 
The mother’s tender heart while round her hung 
The offspring of her love, and lisped her name;— 
And who hath not been ravished, as she passed 
With all her playful band of little ones, 
Like Luna with her daughters of the sky, 
Walking in matron majesty and grace ? 
So beautiful, so full of life, they seemed. 
Pollok. 
E had now come in full view of the old family mansion, 
partly thrown in deep shadow, and partly lit up by 
the cool moonshine. As we approached the house 
we heard the sound of music, and now and then 
a burst of laughter, from one end of the building. 
This, Bracebridge said, must proceed from the 
servants’-hall, where a great deal of revelry was permitted, and even 
encouraged, by the squire, throughout the twelve days of Christmas, 
provided everything was done conformably to ancient usage. So intent 
were the servants upon their sports, that we had to ring repeatedly 
before we could make ourselves heard. On our arrival being announced, 
the squire came out to receive us, accompanied by his two other sons ; 
one a young officer in the army, home on leave of absence, the other 
an Oxonian just from the University. The squire was a fine, healthy- 
looking old gentleman, with silver hair, curling lightly round an 
open florid countenance, in which the physiognomist, with the ad¬ 
vantage, like myself, of a previous hint or two, might discover a 
singular mixture of whim and benevolence. The family meeting was 
warm and affectionate; as the evening was far advanced, the squire 
would not permit us to change our travelling dresses, but ushered us at 
once to the company, which was assembled in a large, old-fashioned 
hall. It was composed of different branches of a numerous family con¬ 
nexion, where there were the usual proportion of old uncles and aunts, 
