tors; the Reformers, Zurich, Glarus, and Schaffhausen. Deputies from these six cantons were sent to Appenzell, and within a month after, the Catholics had taken peaceable possession of the interior districts called Inner Rhodes, their reforming brethren of those which lay nearer to the frontier, and each little republic had held its general assembly, in which the people not only gave their consent to the arrangement, but had even the forethought to introduce a clause, stating that the agreement should not necessarily be binding for ever on their posterity, but should continue only as long as it should be desired by both parties.

The calm rationality and wisdom of this proceeding, at a time when men's minds all over Europe were a prey to the transports of fanaticism, gives these little states, in my opinion, a claim to attention and respect not to be measured by their geographical extent. It may afford also a fact in reply to the often repeated assertion that a pure democracy is uniformly swayed by passion rather than by reason. It was in that same century when the shepherds of Switzerland gave this example of reason and moderation that the English nation had been blown repeatedly backwards and forwards between Catholicism and Protestantism, by the gusts of passion in the mind of a brutal despot. Rejoicing at the good fortune which had led me to Appenzell at the period of the general assembly of the people, the Landsgemeine as it is called, I left Herisau on a fine spring morning to take my way to the appointed place of meeting, the little town of Appenzell, in Inner Rhodes. Light clouds covered the sky, but a soft warm air was blowing, under whose influence all nature seemed bursting into bud and blossom. Far as the eye could reach, hill and valley, and even mountain, were covered with a robe of liveliest green, and, from the peculiar conformation of the country, every step presented the landscape in a new point of view. The hills sometimes flowing into each other, sometimes suddenly parting, created an incessant change of outline, mass, and surface, which kept the attention constantly occupied. To the south rose naked rocks of a greyish black colour, contrasting forcibly with the snowy horns of the Santis. To the east, through breaks in the mountains, occasional enchanting peeps could be obtained, across the bright mirror of the Lake of Constance to the distant fertile fields of Suabia, floating in an atmosphere of tender blue, and on all sides the view was framed in by the sharp bold outline of mountains of every variety of shape.

The road along which I was journeying could only be traversed by passengers on foot or on horseback, but showed on either side manifold traces of the cleanliness, order, industry, and prosperity of the people. From time to time, when I was stopping to admire a pretty wooden house, or a bright crystal spring that came dancing across a green slope, groups of men would pass with hasty steps, some of whom wore a most singular costume, the colour of the right half of every garment being white, and of the left black. The composed demeanour of these men seemed, however, to indicate that this strange attire was no masquerade habit, but had some peculiar significance, and on making enquiry, I learned that they were official personages belonging to Outer Rhodes, who were going to Appenzell to be present at the Inner Rhodes parliament. These are the state colours, the Appenzell arms being a black bear in a white field.

All at once the road, or rather path, made a steep descent into a

ravine, at the bottom of which flowed the clear rapid stream of the Urnasch, which rises in the mountains on the Toggenburg, and rushing along between very high banks, pours itself into the Sitter. Like most mountain streams, it sometimes swells to a torrent, and is continually wearing itself a deeper and deeper bed, which in this part was overhung, when I saw it, with broken masses of sand-stone, fringed with dark pines; and I could not help lingering for some time on the bridge thrown across the narrow valleys to gaze upon its picturesque beauty. On reaching the right bank, I came in sight of the village of Hundwyl, and, from the small number of whose houses, one could little imagine to be the largest parish of Outer Rhodes; but throughout the Swiss cantons, with very few exceptions, the villages are all small, from its being the custom for families of this pastoral people to live on their own property; and to have their house in the midst of their land, so that the inhabitants of a single parish are sometimes found scattered all over a circle of from ten to twenty miles.

After passing Hundwyl, the way led along the side of mountains, covered with forests, thickets, and meadows, and very soon, without being acquainted with the precise limit between Outer and Inner Rhodes, it was easy for me to perceive that I had passed it. The country, the people, and their occupations remained the same, yet it was impossible to overlook the difference between Protestant and Catholic Appenzell. The fields of the latter were not so neat, the crops were less abundant, the meadows no longer showed that fresh delicious green which enchanted me in the Outer Rhodes; the houses were smaller, poorer, and I missed every where those evidences of industry, order, and prosperity so beautifully conspicuous in the little twin republic, and I should sometimes almost have felt the way tedious but for the views which were continually opening to the east, where the mountains were sprinkled over with an incredible number of habitations, giving to the landscape a quite peculiar character.

As I came nearer to the capital of Inner Rhodes, I met a great number of the people going to the general assembly, and on all sides I could distinguish them coming down the slopes of the mountains towards the same point; here a man alone,-there, a father with his sons; from another point a whole troop of old and young, all hastening to Appenzell. Every one carried a sword, for, curiously enough, it is the law that the men shall come armed. Some carried the weapon in the right hand, grasping it by the middle like a stick, and not one made a single step to move out of the way of my horse, so that I had often to stop and wait till I could find room enough to ride by. I noticed this as a little trait, marking the difference of character between these mountaineers, and any country people I had ever seen, who were always ready to take off their hats and stand respectfully aside to make room for a carriage or a gentleman on horseback. In the entire deportment and bearing of these Appenzellers, in their firm step and free erect carriage, there was an expression of manly self-reliance. The road, as I approached the scene of action, was of course more and more thronged, and as I gazed with interest at the groups of athletic figures which surrounded me, I seemed to see revived their valiant forefathers, when they rose up and burst the chains that had been laid on them, and drove the oppressor from their land.

The open village of Appenzell was swarming with people, and everywhere was a movement, a thronging busy life, a hum like that

of a great fair; and one of the busiest parts of the whole scene was in the street opposite to the inn where I was to stop.

Old and young, men and women, boys and girls, were all evidently in their Sunday clothes; but the costume of the men was so peculiar, as to deserve a more exact description. They wore a short jacket and waistcoat, and trowsers reaching to the ankle, but so short above, that a large portion of their linen hung out, and indeed had it not been for their broad braces, there would have been imminent danger of their appearing as true sans culottes. Some people, I am told, consider this practice of allowing the shirt to hang out as a mere piece of dandyism, but I have seen it in men so old and steady, that this can hardly be the case. When I entered the public room of the inn, and saw, sitting with their backs to me, a whole row of figures, apparently in so strange a dishabille, I could hardly preserve my gravity. The room was full of women and girls, but of course no one but myself appeared to regard it as either peculiar or comic; nay, on the contrary, to my surprise and mortification, I found that the indecorum, or at all events the absurdity, was thought to be on my side. I had often noticed as I rode along that a head had been popped out of a window to look at me, and that immediately there had followed a burst of laughter. Here, as I sat in the apartment of the inn, I perceived several of the women and girls glancing at me and tittering, so that at last I was piqued to enquire the cause of their mirth, to which one of the damsels replied with great naïveté, that it was "because I looked so funny."

Fashion in Appenzell, it seems, commanded, that, instead of wearing one's indispensables tightly-buttoned above the hips, one should present one's self in a state that will really not bear to be too faithfully described.

This costume is perhaps the more striking from the bright showy colour displayed in its various parts. The waistcoat is generally scarlet, and decorated with many white metal buttons; the jacket of sonie other colour, both contrasting strongly with the snow-white shirt and yellow trousers. Many of the gentlemen wore no jacket, and had their shirt sleeves rolled up above their elbows, displaying to much advantage their fine development of muscle. Some of their stalwart arms hung down, looking like sledge hammers, and it seemed to me that those who were possessed of such advantages, had the same selfcomplacent consciousness of them, as our young men sometimes have of cravats and mustachios; and their manner of presenting themselves to the ladies, showed the same easy confidence of pleasing, that I have seen in gilded saloons, on the basis of stars and orders.

The fine snow-white shirt was evidently an article in which they took great pride; it was only worn, I was told, on high days and holidays, the ordinary one being made of checked linen; and the fine yellow tint of the trousers is often enhanced by being rubbed over with the yolks of eggs. Stockings are seldom worn in summer, and even shoes are by no means "de rigueur."

The women wore red petticoats and little closely fitting bodices of dark blue or red, and puffed out sleeves tied with ribbon bows. The majority of the people were fair, but there were some, whose hair and complexion, as well as their dark sparkling eyes spoke of a southern origin, and the whole expression of face and figure was of quickness, activity, and intelligence.

THE LUCKY GROCER.

BY ABRAHAM ELDER.

WITH ΑΝ

ILLUSTRATION

BY LEECH.

EVERY one who knows anything of London knows where Barbican is of course he does. At the end of Barbican is Long Lane, in which street there is a small grocer's shop, with its window well garnished with bunches of candles, red herrings, yellow soap, and tobacco. One evening, Mr. Sims, the proprietor, his wife, son, daughter, and their man Joe, were regaling themselves in their little back parlour upon their daily allowance of tea, when, through their glass window they espied the postman entering the shop.

"There's somebody wanting immediate payment for something," said Mr. Sims, shrugging his shoulders. They always come when the till is low. See what it is, Joe." Joe returned with a letter. "I'll just finish my cup, and take another slice of bread and butter, before I open it. Them kind of letters take away my appetite."

At length, with slow and unwilling hands, he took up the letter, looked at the direction, and then turned up the seal. "T and M. Yes, a shop seal,-I thought so."

With a long countenance he opened it and began to read. As his eye glanced down the page, his features brightened, and before he came to the bottom of the page, a pleasant smile revealed his inward satisfaction.

"Somebody has ordered a whole ham, and promises to pay ready money?" said his son Sam, offering a guess.

Mr. Sims took no notice of him, but sat thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "Tain't the first of April, is it? No; 'taint dated the first of April either." He then read the letter over again, and a broader grin adorned his countenance. When he had finished it, he then deliberately took his wig off his head, and threw it up to the cieling, catching it again as it fell.

"It's very easy," said Mrs. Sims, who was not of a very excitable temperament, "to throw your wig up to the cieling, as it is only seven foot high; but I really do not see the reason for it."

"Read that," said Mr. Sims, throwing her the letter.

Mrs. Sims read the letter, smiled, and only said "My high!" in a tone of astonishment.

"I know what it is," said her daughter Sally: "cousin Bess has got a baby."

"Fiddlestick!" said Mrs. Sims.

"Do you think it can possibly be true?" said Mr. Sims. "Read the letter, ma," said young Sam.

"Read the letter, ma," said Sally.

"Please to read the letter, ma'am," said Joe.

"Messrs. Tompkins and Muggins beg to inform Mr. Samuel Sims that their correspondent in Calcutta has remitted to them the sum of eighty thousand pounds, on account of Mr. Samuel Sims, grocer, No. 153, Long Lane, London, being the sum to which he is entitled by the will of Mr. Obediah Sims, lately deceased. Messrs. T. and M. would be obliged to Mr. Sims by his calling at their office at his earliest convenience."

"Eighty thousand pounds of what?" asked Sally.

Tallow, my dear, I dare say," said Sam. "Money! money! money!" cried Mr. Sims, rubbing his hands with glee, and then snapping his fingers till he made them crack again. "I don't believe a word of it," said Mrs. Sims, putting her feet upon the fender, and sulkily poking the fire. "I wonder they did not send you a draft for the amount upon the pump at Aldgate."

"Well, I don't know," said Mr. Sims, settling his wig straight upon his head, "perhaps I have been making a fool of myself; but how should any one about here know that I had a cousin called Obediah? If we had quite forgotten him, I suppose other people have too."

"Well, if you think you have got a prize," said Mrs. Sims, incredulously, "you had better go and look after it."

"It's worth looking after," said Mr. Sims; "and, though I may be laughed at, I won't lose it for want of asking for it."

Mr. Sims put on his hat, and went to the door of the shop, then stopped as if in doubt. He then returned, hung up his hat, and sat down again.

"No," said he, "I could not stand it. There will be four-andtwenty clerks at their desks all of a row; and when I ask for my money, they will all begin a-laughing, and say, 'Here's Sammy Sims, who sells red herrings, come to ask for eighty thousand pounds!'

"I wish I was in your shoes," said Joe; nobody should laugh at me. I would first show them the seal.-'Is that the seal of the firm, eh? If they said yes,' I would show them the direction. Is that the writing of any of the firm, eh?' If they said yes,' I would show them the signature. Is that signature correct, eh?? If they said, 'yes' again, I would say, Then I will trouble you for

the small amount.

Mr. Sims clapped Joe on the back, and said, "Joe, you are a trump! Come along with me."

They sallied forth together. The seal was correct, the hand-writing correct, the signature all right.

"I will give you a draft for the amount directly," said one of the partners. It will, however, be necessary that some one should identify you. It's rather a considerable sum."

"A considerable sum!" said Joe. "I should rather say it was." "I can identify him," said one of the clerks: "that's Jemmy Sims. I have often been in his shop, when I was at school. was a noted house for elicampane."

It

The partner took a small slip of paper, and wrote something on it, and gave it to Sims, and then turned to his other business, again adding up figures in a huge book.

Mr. Sims stood all astonishment for some time, with his paper in his hand; for he was not aware of the facility with which large sums change owners in the city. At length he said to Joe in a whisper, "It's a rum go."

"Werry rum," said Joe.

Presently one of the clerks, seeing their distress, explained to them that the paper was a draft upon their bankers, who, upon the presentation of the order, would hand them over the money.

"Hand us over the money!" repeated Mr. Sims, with a smile; at the same time he gave Joe a private dig in the ribs with his thumb nail.