t upon thy father. So forth I sallied with my fair Quakeress.

If the house at Mount Sharon be merely a plain and convenient dwelling,
of moderate size and small pretensions, the gardens and offices, though
not extensive, might rival an earl's in point of care and expense.
Rachel carried me first to her own favourite resort, a poultry-yard,
stocked with a variety of domestic fowls, of the more rare as well as
the most ordinary kinds, furnished with every accommodation which may
suit their various habits. A rivulet which spread into a pond for the
convenience of the aquatic birds, trickled over gravel as it passed
through the yards dedicated to the land poultry, which were thus amply
supplied with the means they use for digestion.

All these creatures seemed to recognize the presence of their mistress,
and some especial favourites hastened to her feet, and continued to
follow her as far as their limits permitted. She pointed out their
peculiarities and qualities, with the discrimination of one who had made
natural history her study; and I own I never looked on barn-door
fowls with so much interest before--at least until they were boiled
or roasted. I could not help asking the trying question, how she could
order the execution of any of the creatures of which she seemed so
careful.

'It was painful,' she said, 'but it was according to the law of their
being. They must die; but they knew not when death was approaching; and
in making them comfortable while they lived, we contributed to their
happiness as much as the conditions of their existence permitted to us.'

I am not quite of her mind, Alan. I do not believe either pigs or
poultry would admit that the chief end of their being was to be killed
and eaten. However, I did not press the argument, from which my Quaker
seemed rather desirous to escape; for, conducting me to the greenhouse,
which was extensive, and filled with the choicest plants, she pointed
out an aviary which occupied the farther end, where, she said, she
employed herself with attending the inhabitants, without being disturbed
with any painful recollections concerning their future destination.

I will not trouble you with any account of the various hot-houses
and gardens, and their contents. No small sum of money must have been
expended in erecting and maintaining them in the exquisite degree
of good order which they exhibited. The family, I understood, were
connected with that of the celebrated Millar