evil, and only evil. He dreaded to visit either the metropolis, or the towns in the north with which he had formerly had connexions in the way of trade; for he knew that he should find there hundreds of families who used to be comfortably supported by the labour of their hands, thrown out of employ, and reduced to starvation. It made him melancholy when he read of the achievements of machinery.

Mr. Kennedy, notwithstanding my uncle's prohibition of quizzing, could not refrain from stimulating the old gentleman, by telling him of new discoveries, and predicting the further march of improvement in mechanical science, to a degree which seemed, at the time, most extravagant and improbable, though actually far exceeded in the present day. "You may depend upon it, sir, that in the course of a few years, good cotton cloth will be manufactured for sixpence a yard:" (it was then selling at little short of two shillings, and may now be purchased for fourpence.) "And as to hardware, they have almost brought to perfection a scheme for putting into a machine, invented for the purpose, rough pig iron at one end, which is to come out at the other, good polished steel knives, scissors, and snuffers; and every thing will be sold so cheap, that the humblest classes of society will be furnished with the conveniences and elegances of life. And glass, Mr. Dormer, if government would but take off the glass tax, it is astonishing to how many purposes glass would be immediately applied for instance, it would entirely supersede the use of iron and lead for underground pipes for the conveyance of water. There are many more improvements, my dear sir, that you and I shall

see before we die, hoping to live to a good old age.”

"Glass water pipes, sir!" exclaimed Mr. Dormer; "but indeed there is no saying to what pitch of madness the rage for modern improvements may be carried. Improvements! I cannot call them improvements. Civilization, carried to excess, will lead to luxury, degeneracy, and national downfal. Read, sir, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and see what these modern refinements are likely to do for Great Britain. You talk of machines producing good articles: no such thing, sir. There never was a good article produced since machinery was invented. It is impossible, at any price, to procure articles of equal goodness with what were bought and sold when I was a boy."

The old gentleman's indignation and ire kindled as he proceeded. My uncle observed, that if the use of machinery were to be wholly abolished, we must go back much further than to the days of Mr. Dormer's youth. It was by the use of machinery that mankind began to emerge from a state of savage barbarism; and if once the use of any implement, besides the human hand, was admitted, he did not see the point at which limits could be assigned to the progress of mechanical and scientific improvements.

The old gentleman placed his hands on his knees, and was drawing up for a reply to my uncle's remarks, when his favourite dog was heard at the door of the drawing-room, imploring admission. Mr. Dormer politely hastened to the door, to command the retreat of the animal; but my uncle-knowing the attachment of his friend to this faithful attendant-begged that he might be

permitted to come in. This little concession, on the part of my uncle and the rest of the company, smoothed the old gentleman's ruffled brow. Some of the ladies patted and admired the dog, and for a short time modern innovations were forgotten.

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But it was not long before a new controversy was begun, on the comparative merits of slated and thatched roofs. My uncle had recently built some cottages, and had adopted the former material. Mr. Dormer was so fully persuaded that the good old method of thatching was, in every respect, so far superior-for picturesque appearance, for warmth in winter, and for coolness in summer, that he had actually surmounted his utter abhorrence of having work-people about his premises, and had had the tiled roof of his own mansion removed, and replaced with one of thatch; and was causing the same return "to the good old customs of our forefathers to be effected on all the houses of his tenants where it had been abandoned. It was only in deference to my uncle's request that Mr. Kennedy had been restrained from having a laugh at his neighbour, on the most incongruous appearance of his dwelling; but now that the subject was broached by Mr. Dormer himself, he seemed to feel himself quite at liberty to let out upon him. Mr. Dormer rather angrily retorted-He was not surprised at such remarks from a gentleman who was celebrated for adopting every thing new, and who had even had all his fire-places conformed to the vagaries of Count Rumford; but he was surprised, that a gentleman of my uncle's good sense and taste should defend the adoption of new-fangled notions. He wished he could convince him of the decided

superiority of thatch above every other kind of roofing, and then he should hope, through his influence, extensively to revive the old plan; an object on which his mind was so much set, that he would willingly make the alteration at his own expense, on any cottage in his own parish, or the three adjoining to it. It would restore the appearance of an old English village, and furnish employment to many hands. Time was, when the skilful thatcher was a man of importance in the village, and gained an excellent livelihood; and would do so again, if he (Mr. Dormer) could but induce my uncle to join him in an effort to restore thatched roofing, as far as their influence could extend. My uncle smiled, and inquired how all the poor slaters and bricklayers were to be provided for, whom such a measure would throw out of employ. That was a difficulty which had not presented itself to the mind of the zealous advocate for antiquity and to him it was a difficulty; for, with all his whims, he had a benevolent heart, and was misled only by taking a one-sided view of things. He was so eager in enumerating the advantages to be derived, and the benefits to be conferred by the adoption of his schemes, that he overlooked the evils that would result, and the injuries that would be inflicted: and this is the case with all mere theorists, whether their projects be for the retention or restoration of old, or the introduction of new systems. In this respect, there was a striking resemblance, even between Mr. Dormer and Mr. Kennedy.

The conversation next turned upon education. Mr. Dormer had conducted the education of his own child on a very limited scale, not at all suit

able to her prospects in life. With a fortune to bestow upon her, almost equal to that of nobility, her means of information had been inferior to those of many a tradesman's daughter. This, like most other of the old gentleman's narrow-minded peculiarities, was a matter of principle, not of parsimony. He had sought with great solicitude, and remunerated with great liberality, a governess of the old school, whose instructions were chiefly devoted to fine needlework, embroidery, filigree, and other laborious trifles, with the very rudiments of English grammar and geography. Mr. Dormer himself instructed his daughter in the elements of the French language; but carefully guarded against her proceeding so far in it as to be inspired with a wish to read a French author. Her knowledge proceeded little further than the pronunciation of a few common-place phrases. An able master was engaged to teach the young lady the art of writing; and her neat hand, and exact arithmetical exercises gave great satisfaction to her father but the proposal of her preceptor to give her themes for the exercise of her intellectual powers, and for facilitating a habit of composition, was regarded with excessive jealousy; and the study of astronomy, a subject on which she discovered some curiosity, was absolutely prohibited, as far too exalted and mysterious to be fit for a young lady. On one occasion, Miss Dormer was allowed to spend a few days at my uncle's, to meet my sisters and my cousin. During their visit, my uncle engaged a lecturer on natural and experimental philosophy, to meet the young people in his library. A very entertaining and instructive evening we had. But old Mr. Dormer was perfectly