holy lessons so strongly upon your mind that you never can forget them. Let me tell you, my daughter, that you have reason to bless God for having given you such parents."

Two gentle tears dropped from her eyes as I spoke : and at the same moment my conscience reproved me for having bidden a child to thank God for having given her parents who were heretics! and then again such doubts arose in my mind respecting my own principles, and their foundation in truth, that I walked on a considerable way in silence.

CHAPTER V.

WE had left the village and the chateau behind us, and were entering on the borders of the forest, before I extricated myself from the perplexing thoughts in which I was involved. At length, as we passed under the shade of the trees which skirted the wood, I recollected myself, and said, "Aimée, where are you leading me? How far are we to go?"

"Are you tired, father?" she said. "If you wish it, I will go no farther; I can make a wreath of any flower I see in the hedges."

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Tired, my dear child," I said, "tired in your company! No, little sweet one, I could take you by the hand and travel the world over with you! but you have raised some anxious thoughts in my mind. I have been considering what place I occupy in that garden of which we have been speaking." She made no answer. know not what she thought, but she took my hand, and kissed it with a courtesy and tenderness which in one so young were peculiarly beautiful. I think she had a religious dread of flattering me on a subject so important, yet was anxious to show her gratitude and affection.

We passed on, and for the space of a quarter of a mile, pursued a beautiful path which leads through the centre of the wood. At length, coming to a spot where the shade was exceedingly thick, she pointed to a very narrow pathway which put itself into the road, and asked me if I should object to follow her. I knew the path,

it led to a small but deep valley, at the bottom of which ran a pure cold stream; but I was surprised at its being so well known to the child, and asked her how she came to be so well acquainted with the windings of the forest.

"Last summer," she replied, "I was sent after an illness, for change of air, to a cottage in these woods, and then I learned to know where beautiful flowers grow, and sweet birds sing; and I have not forgotten these places," she added, smiling, and tripping lightly before me.

But my little guide in her glee had forgotten that where she could pass with ease, I, being taller and larger, would find a thousand obstacles. Accordingly, when she told me that she had but a very little way to go for the accomplishment of her object, I bade her hasten forward, while I followed at my leisure, and in consequence I soon lost sight of her; but still pursuing the same wild and tangled path into which she had led me, I presently arrived at a more open part of the forest, from whence I looked down upon a dingle, in the bottom of which was a pool, and on the side of the pool a sward, which, from its smooth deep green, intimated the moisture of the place. A ruined cottage, of which the gable-end and doorway alone remained entire, peeped out from amid the trees and underwood. The rays of the morning sun shot slantingly over the forest, and shed a flickering, trembling light on the whole scene, presenting the most beautiful varieties of light and shadow. This also was a place for the sweet singing of birds, and for balmy zephyrs, which, as they passed, produced that agitation of the leaves which, together with the rushing of a waterfall, heard but not seen, filled my senses with a degree of delight I had not often experienced. At the moment when I had reached the brow of the dell, my little guide appeared near the bottom, springing, like the gazelle, from one rude steep to another, and anon I beheld her stooping down to gather certain flowers which grew here and there on the greensward. The rude trunk of a tree near which I stood formed a convenient seat; I placed myself upon it, and quietly awaited the return of the little fair one. A quarter of an hour had hardly elapsed, when I saw her re-ascending the rocky side of the glen, and presently she stood before me, glowing with delight. At my feet she set her basket, which was filled with that lovely flower

we call the muguet, better known by its more appropriate name the "lily of the valley."

"There, my father," she said, "there are the flowers which are to compose my garland; and those are the flowers I would choose for my device. The rose,” added the little girl in high glee," is the emblem of beauty, the laurel of glory, the heart's-ease of content, and the jasmine of innocence-but what are all these without my lily of the valley? Tell me, dear father, what is any good quality without humility?"

"Aimée," I said, in amazement and admiration, not only of the sentiments of this charming child, but of the elegant manner in which she expressed them," Aimée, my little one, who taught you all this?"

She looked innocently upon me, and said, "Papa and mamma used to instruct me in these things; it was poor papa who taught me that the lily of the valley was the type of humility, and sometimes when I pleased him he called me his lily. Ah, sir, I wish I were really like the lily; for the lily loves the cool valley and shadowy places by the streams of living waters."

"Sweet child," I answered," you are indeed a lily of the valley. Would to God," and I crossed myself as I spoke, "would to God I were a lily too!"

“ No, sir, no,” she replied, "you shall not be a lily, but you shall be a noble tree, planted by the water-side, and I will dwell under your shade."

I was affected-I could not help it; the tear trembled in my eye; which the little girl observing, she stooped down and kissed my hand, at the same time taking up her basket. Having obtained what we wanted, we turned our steps towards our home, and as we went along we remarked other flowers growing in the forest; among these the wood anemone and the party-coloured vetch particularly attracted our attention, and we wondered that things so beautiful should have been formed in places where none saw and none admired; and this led me to speak of the infinite goodness of God, and of his bounty towards the children of men.

At length we reached our village, and parting at the garden gate, I retired to my study to examine the Holy Bible respecting those passages to which my little companion had alluded. And in that long quiet day, a day never to be forgotten by me, such convictions flashed upon my mind respecting the errors of my church, that

before the evening hour I was almost, if not entirely, as much what my people would have called a heretic as I now am, although I had not yet made up my mind to acknowledge my belief, and give all up for the truth.

In

Scarcely had the ardent heat of the day subsided, when, according to appointment, I repaired to the chateau; where, having passed the avenue of linden-trees, which then extended from the gate of the domain to the lawn in front of the mansion, I entered upon a scene which chased away, for a time, the perplexing thoughts by which I had been agitated during the greater part of the morning. Figure to yourselves, my gentle readers, an ancient many-windowed stone mansion, whose fashion spoke of at least two centuries past, in the almost perpendicular roof of which were three tiers of windows, peeping out from the moss-covered tiles, closed with wooden shutters instead of casements. the front of this ancient and in some respects dilapidated mansion extended the lawn, in the centre of which was a square marble basin, where a huge Triton spouted water from a cone to the height of many feet, affording rather the idea than the reality of freshness. On each side of the lawn, yet answering exactly to each other, a statue, an arbour, and an archway of trellis-work opening into certain gardens beyond, alternated with each other, according to the formal taste then prevalent in my country. The lawn was set forth with several long tables, covered with fruit, cakes, cream, and other refreshments; while on an elevated scaffolding near the centre of the open space was a band of musicians, who from time to time gave us a national air, while waiting the commencement of the dancing, which was to take place towards the end of the evening.

The company for whom this fete was prepared were, without exception, every inhabitant of the village who was able either to walk or be carried to the chateau, together with some superior persons from the neighbourhood, who had come by special invitation.-These, the superiors of the party, were, with the Baronne, grouped at the upper end of the lawn, sitting, standing, or moving about, as it suited them; the inferior persons being at the lower end, or in the centre, according to their stations in society, but all seemed equally gay and happy; I saw not a solemn countenance as I made my progress round the circle. I had almost omitted to describe a very im

portant part of the show, whereat I much wonder, considering that it is the feast of the flowers to which I am endeavouring to bring my readers in imagination, and this was a statue on a pedestal which stood exactly in a line with the front of the house, at the bottom of the lawn. This statue was a female one, and therefore suited very well to serve as a representation of the goddess Flora; she was richly decorated with garlands and wreaths, and on her head was placed the crown of myrtle, through which was twisted an azure riband, on which a motto was wrought in threads of gold. The crown on the statue was pointed out to me by the persons who stood near it, and I attempted to decipher the motto, if such there might be, but I was not able, for the riband was so curiously and artificially twisted that I could only make out part of a word here and there, and was therefore obliged to rest in my ignorance.

The party were all assembled when I arrived on the lawn, with the exception of the family of Madame Bulé, but while I was paying my compliments to the Baronne on the arrangement of the scene, the excellent instructress and her numerous train appeared at the end of the

avenue.

"There come our queens of the May," said the Baronne ; and she ordered a beautiful and lively air to be struck up, while she advanced with the ladies and gentlemen of the party to meet the elegant procession. And elegant indeed it was; elegant, and gay, and various, and fragrant. First came Susette and Fanchon, the rival queens, all attired in white, and decorated, the one with rose-buds, the other with the azure creeper before mentioned; ribands of rose colour and of blue were mingled with the several garlands; the next pair were the acanthus and the laurel, with scarfs of green and purple; then came the fragrant hyacinth, and the auricula, the woodbine and the columbine adorned another smiling pair; and as each lovely couple passed by the group of ladies and gentlemen, they greeted and were greeted by smiles and courtesies, as gracefully bestowed and received as if the lawn had been a royal presencechamber, and the Baronne a crowned head. As each lovely pair passed the Baronne the parties separated, and formed a variety of blooming and lovely groups around the company, meriting and receiving that admiration which was due to their smiling and charming