She is, as it were, the big heart of the breathing world, animating through the peopled avenues of society the industry, the knowledge, and the piety of the uttermost parts of the earth.

I like, now and then, to visit a Christian friend, walking abroad betimes, and breakfasting with him in his quiet and retired habitation in the suburbs of the city. The early hour, and the walk, and the fresh air, give me an appetite, and the broiled ham or bacon that forms a part of the hospitable meal, relishes all the better for the free and cheerful converse that prevails. I like to hear him, with a soft, musical voice, read the Holy Scriptures, explain, illustrate, and apply with faithfulness, knowledge, and simplicity, the word of the Most High, and engage in supplication and thanksgivings to the Giver of all our mercies. I like to walk abroad with him in the fields or retired lanes, discoursing freely, as the case may be, of the heavens, the earth, and the varied objects of creation, indulging in literary projects, and fixing, perhaps, on a subject for the next paper of Old Humphrey.

I like to pass along Newgate-Street, or elsewhere, when a throng of poor women, girls, and boys, stand with their jugs and cups, their basins and platters, opposite to an eating-house, waiting with their two-pences to receive the broken victuals of the establishment. It would do you good, if you have never seen this daily exhibition, to gaze upon it; and if you have a kind heart, and two-pence in your pocket, I feel quite sure, that in such a case, some poor widow, or pale-faced girl, with her crockery in her hand, will soon have your money. What a comfortable thing it is, that one can buy such a substantial gratification, as that of lighting

up the eye, and gladdening the heart of the poor, at the low price of two-pence!

I like to stand among the gathered group of mer chants and foreigners on 'Change, just long enough for the rolling din of mingled voices and varied languages to make me estimate more highly quietude and peace. I like, now and then, to peep at the Parks, and Kensington Gardens, commenting, not ill-naturedly, on the gay equipages and well-dressed people assembled. I like to lean over London Bridge, gazing on the steamboats as they come and go, and on the forest of masts that rises from the bed of the river. And I like to pause in Smithfield, ere I go by the spot where the martyr has "played the man in the fire." May I never pass the place without more than common thankfulness to the Father of mercies in sparing me the torment that better men have endured!

I like to visit the Cemeteries around the city, and bend over the resting places of the dead: there may the living learn lessons of humility. I like to wander through the Zoological Gardens, and to fancy the different birds, beasts, and reptiles at liberty in the places they frequented before they were caught and caged: the white bear on his icebergs; the wolf amid the northern snow; the lion in the desert sand; the tiger in the jungle; the orang-outang in the woods; the pelican in the wilderness; the rattle-snake in the thick tangled brushwood; and the crocodile basking on the sedgy banks of the Nile. How infinitely varied are the works of God! How wonderful are the creatures formed by the hand of the Almighty!

i

I like to examine the new and useful inventions at the Royal Adelaide Gallery, and the Polytechnic

Institution; to hear the lectures; to gaze on the re vealed wonders of the microscope; to look at the liferafts and fire-escapes among the models; to receive a shock from the electrical eel; and to go down in the diving-bell with a friend who is too fearful to descend alone. I like to roam amid the gathered stores of the British Museum, from the gilt idol to the Elgin marbles, and from the mummies to the manuscripts; to sit in the reading-room with an interesting volume before me, now and then stealing a glance at the authors, ar⚫tists, and reading world around. I like to visit the India House, and muse on its oriental stores, from the ivory-carved hanging gardens, to the skull of the Batta chief from the hieroglyphic brick of Babylon to the manuscript dreams of Tippoo Saib, though written in language that I cannot understand.

I like to visit the Abbey of Westminster, and to give way to the solemn thoughts the place inspires. The question of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of erecting in a temple of Christian worship such gorgeous commemorations of the departed dead, I leave others to decide; for I am no splitter of hairs, no decider of disputed points, no authority in doubtful doctrines, but a simple-minded old man, well content to keep to what is plain and practical, and to leave to those who are wiser than myself all things which are too hard for me. I like to muse over the dust of good men, and to ponder, though with diminished interest, over the ashes of the merely great; and if the shrill voices of the youthful choir, and the thrilling swell of the harmonious organ, reverberate from the sculptu ed roof and monumental walls, I am carried in my spirit to a heavenly temple,

where angels join in the hallelujahs of pardoned sin ners, setting forth the praises of the Redeemer.

I like to steal into a public meeting called for a Christian or benevolent purpose, ensconcing myself where from my hiding place I can see and hear all that passes. I like to look right and left on the beaming faces of the assembled multitude-to hear the remarks, the wisdom, and experience of age, and to drink in the impassioned appeals and stormy eloquence of more youthful hearts. I like, on such occasions, to feel my bosom beating, and my pulse playing, and to indulge in an ejaculation to the Father of mercies that every foot present may be quickened, every hand strengthened, and every heart enlarged, in promoting the glory of God, and the welfare of mankind.

I like to sip my coffee in a quiet coffee-house, to glance over the newspapers of the day, and the periodicals of the month, to admire the talents of the gifted, to add to my slender stock of information, and to muse, in a kindly spirit, on men and things.

I like to hear the sound of the "church-going bell" on the sabbath morn; to walk in peace to the sanctuary, noticing as I pass along my fellow pilgrims bound on the same errand to render thanks to God "for the great benefits received at his hands, to hear his most holy word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary as well for the body as the soul." I like to listen to the faithful exhortation of an enlightened, zealous, and humble-minded minister of the gospel. These things I like, as well as to join in the triumphant chorus of a thousand tongues.

"Ye know the Lord our God is good;

His mercy is for ever sure:

"His praise at all times firmly stood,

And shall from age to age endure."

Thus might I proceed till I had exhausted your patience, and still leave untold many things that afford me satisfaction. Whatever may be our several tastes and feelings, if our hearts are under a right influence, we shall try to profit by all things, as the bee gathers honey from every flower. A fit season it is, after we have mused on the varied objects of pleasure which God's providence has scattered in our pathway, to ponder on his goodness and grace as made known in his holy word. Well will it be for us all to accustom ourselves to associate in our inmost thoughts, life with death, time with eternity, and earth with heaven.

THE TOWER OF LONDON.

THOUGH I have tramped three or four miles without halting a tolerable breathing bout for an old manyet do I feel as fresh as when I first started. Surely if any human being beneath the stars has reason to sing of mercy it is Old Humphrey.

I am standing for a moment at the entrance of the Tower, before I pass over the bridge, looking at the broad moat that surrounds the place, and regarding the huge superannuated pile that never smiled, and that now frowns as darkly as ever. Famous as a fortress, a palace, and a prison, it cannot be regarded without interest. Time has been when such a scene would have called up all the romance and chivalrous feelings of my