hey were above the ordinary run of people; yet, noble as they looked,
none but the base and evil-disposed were afraid of them. It was a
pleasure to see the smiling faces and the affectionate looks with which
they were received as they walked about the village, where they and
their ancestors for several generations had lived before them. Often
and often they might be seen simply, and, if the weather was bad,
roughly, dressed; going from cottage to cottage, with a basket of
medicines, or provisions and clothing, for those poor neighbours who
were, they well knew, utterly unable to obtain them for themselves.
Their daughters followed their example. No more sweet, amiable, and yet
refined, girls were to be found in the country. Their brothers declared
that no such girls existed in the world; and yet, though they could do
all sorts of things, and ride, and fish, and even play cricket with them
on a pinch, they were not in the slightest degree proud or conceited.
They could sing and play, and when they went to balls, which was not
very often, no young ladies appeared to greater advantage, or were more
lively or graceful. They were admired, and yet fully respected, by all
who knew them.

I have described what Ernest was. His brothers were his equals in most
respects. His eldest brother was a very fine young man, and had taken
high honours at Cambridge. He was an excellent specimen of an English
gentleman of the nineteenth century. Free from all affectation and
pedantry, still his whole nature seemed to revolt from anything slangish
or low. No oaths, nor anything which would be considered one, nor any
cant expressions, ever escaped his lips. Yet he was full of life and
spirits, the soul of every society in which he moved. He had numerous
friends, and so mild and quiet was his disposition that he seldom or
never made enemies; or rather, I may say, if he made an enemy, he
quickly got rid of his enmity. All his brothers looked up to him, and
loved him heartily.

"My brother John says so and so," or "My brother John did so and so,"
was a constant phrase of theirs, and it was always something good he had
said or done. He was at home, and so were indeed all Ernest's brothers.
One was in the navy--Frank. What a light-hearted and merry fellow he
was. He had seen some hard service, had been highly spoken of in a
dispatch, and had a medal on his breast. He was a gallant, true-hearted
sailor, and was as much liked by his