tice of his mind. We all respected him, and not a pupil left the school that did not feel delight in revisiting the spot endeared to him by early associations. In all he took the most lively interest, and heard of their prosperity with as much pleasure as if it had been his own. I must do homage to his memory. He sleeps now underneath the tomb which records the virtues of four generations, and is one of the most prominent ornaments of the village of Easton.

"Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit

Nulli flebilior quam mihi."

There is something very gratifying in thinking upon our school-boy days and connexions; it is like bringing back the spring of life; and here I must therefore be allowed the privilege of lingering. The thoughts which arise at this time in the mind, are like the carpeted mead which first saluted our eyes, and the collecting of them like tying together the primroses, hyacinths, and cowslips, that then so deliciously regaled our vigorous senses.

Though I respected my master, it was different with the usher, whom I shall beg leave to call Ordo. He was indeed to the Doctor a perfect specimen of passive obedience and non-resistance; but he made up for his subserviency by

playing the tyrant over the boys, and this was the occasion of several rebellions; he was, however, distantly related to the Doctor's lady; was well qualified to teach; and being at all times his humble servant, he managed, in spite of all, to retain his station amidst his rebellious subjects. Among these, I was one of the most forward; and had not the Doctor highly respected my father, and been strongly prepossessed in my favour, I should on several occasions have stood a fair chance of being expelled from the school. My father had given me a charge, “Never take an insult tamely, my boy!" and I always remembered it. One of my comrades, bigger than myself, one day gave me the lie direct. It was in the play-ground. I replied to it by a blow which endangered his life. The aids of the surgeon were called in; the parents were informed of the business; and it became so serious, that there was a chance of my being tried for manslaughter. Happily for me, however, the youth recovered, the parents relaxed in their indignation towards me, and the affair blew over. The usher one day called me a fool. This language no usher ought to have employed-it was too much before my school-mates; and recollecting my father's counsel, never to take an insult, I hurled the ink-stand at his head, which escaped

the trial of its hard qualities only by a dexterous movement, like that of an unfortunate shrovetide cock. The caprice of our usher one day stood in the way of our obtaining a holiday. We were all determined to be avenged, and I suggested the plan of capturing our victim, binding him hand and foot, and giving him a sound ducking under the pump. Out of thirty pupils there might have been a danger of the plot being developed. But the younger among them knew, from past experience, that if they had turned informers, the ducking-bout would have fallen to their share, and they did not love the usher enough to be his scape-goats. As for the elder, they all joined cordially in the plan, and I, though not near senior among them, delivered an heroic speech to urge them on, and demanded that we should all give pledge that we should not flinch from the exploit. Accordingly, the cords of our boxes were all collected, and where needful, spliced together, and at a given signal, we all rushed upon the unfortunate wight. I was voluntary commander-in-chief, and led and cheered on my companions. The victim was soon bound, and being placed under the pump, roaring out for aid loud enough to alarm the whole village, I seized its handle, and began to pump away the cold stream down the throat of

the open-mouthed man. He was black in the face-his cries ceased, and in a few minutes he must have died, but for the appearance of the Doctor. When he entered, we all fled and left the soused usher to tell his story. It is almost needless to add, that for this offence we were brought to trial, and a number of us sentenced to be flogged; but we resolved to behave like "heroes," and having persuaded ourselves that it was "the fortune of war," we submitted like Turks to the bow-string, few of us condescending even to cry or writhe under the smarting occasioned by the rod. Thus our spirits remained unsubdued and ready for another encounter.

Our usher, Ordo, did not forget the treatment he had received, and ever after watched us with a very cautious eye, availing himself of every advantage to pay off his debt. He might, by kindness, have insured the generous hearts of all in his own interest, and the law of love would have governed most of us far better than the ferula or the rod. But he had been educated in the old school, under masters descended from the Busby race, and he, in common with them, improved upon the maxim of Solomon, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." We, therefore, in our turn, were resolved to strike a balance with Ordo, and I was soon again the moving agent in

a plot to "blow the fellow up." Accordingly I projected a plan to place some gunpowder in a small box underneath his stool, and during the interval of school-hours a small train was laid from my form reaching to his, from which the train was to be fired by touchwood. My schoolmates were all equally involved in the guilt of this plot, as far as secrecy was concerned, but it was impossible to carry it into effect without my distinguishing myself. I tried the plan of dropping down the touchwood and rolling it with my feet to the train, but it required that the smothered fire should be blown into a spark. Resolved not to be defeated in my object, I therefore got under the desk and stooped down to accomplish my Guy Faux design. Ordo saw me out of my place, and supposing rightly, that I was about no good, he arose from his seat to inspect my works, when at the same instant up flew the stool, accompanied with a tremendous explosion. This escape was really providential for the usher, for it is most probable that, though he would have sustained no other injury in his body than being capsized, he would have suffered in his legs or feet, which, being usually placed upon the front rail of the stool, must have been dreadfully torn. My object did not go to such a malignant length-I thought only