must have been more than forty when I first knew him, he wanted nothing but dimensions to render him the handsomest man I ever beheld. His features were perfectly regular and beautiful, his eyes were of a dark blue, and their expression was, on ordinary occasions, so peculiarly mild and innocent, that strangers seldom attributed to their owner that strength of intellect, and those other powers of mind, which he undoubtedly possessed in a degree beyond what commonly falls to the lot of man. His hair grew gracefully on his brow, and naturally formed those flowing lines wherein chiefly consists the beauty of that natural crown; his mouth was small, his teeth white and regular, and when he smiled, every feature seemed to be illuminated with a heavenly radiance. His eyebrows were finely arched, and he possessed, in a remarkable degree, that fine contour of the head and shoulders which seems to be so peculiarly appropriate to the embellishment of the royal or heroic figure.

I never entertained a doubt, from a cer

tain unstudied grandeur in his manner, that he was not only conscious of noble birth, but that he had associated with the first orders of his fellow-creatures; though what his motives could have been for withdrawing from his own family and from society, I never could conjecture, unless it had happened that he had met with a disappointment in some case in which his heart was engaged. This, however, was matter of mere speculation: for we had no certain grounds for any of our conjectures. I shall therefore leave it to his own papers to account for his appearance in our sweet village, and also to describe his manner of living. Suffice it to say, that Roxobel was blessed with his presence for more than twenty-five years, and that, at his funeral,, it might have been rationally supposed that each person present had lost the dearest friend he possessed on earth.

Ah! poor Roxobel! Sad, indeed, was the day when the friendly stranger was committed to the dust, amid thy bereaved and weeping children! What eye was

dry, on that melancholy day, through all thy habitations?

How is he missed in his usual haunts !

-on the down, on the heathy hill, on the sunny lawn, in the wood-side path, on the door-sill of the poor, near the cradle of the orphan, by the bed of the dying!

Where again shall we find a man so holy, so devoted, so generous, so active, so self-denying, as this our friend? Where shall we find a character so far purified from the corruptions of the natural man, as that which our departed friend was enabled to exhibit through the long course of twenty-five years, in which, as I said before, our village was blessed with his presence?

But, inasmuch as his character, in all its beauty, simplicity, and Christian perfection, will reveal itself in the narrative which I am about to present to the public, I shall conclude what I have now to say, in the beautiful lines of Goldsmith

"Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And e'en his failings lean'd to virtue's side."

CHAPTER II.

SNOWDON.

Being the first memorandum, in point of date, which was found among the papers of Henry Airley.

August 4th 1643.

My object, this morning, was to visit the heights of Snowdon, "whence," as the

Rivers, and woods, and towns, and verdant vales,
Misshapen mountains, deep embosom'd lakes,
And solemn seas, and dim discover'd shores ;"

but, arriving at a cottage, about midway up the mountain, we were compelled to take shelter from a heavy shower which continued some hours; and when it terminated, the day was too far spent to allow me to

effect my purpose. guide, of whom I enquired whether there might not be some place of entertainment at no great distance, where I might find shelter for the night. Such a place was described to me as being in another direction of the mountain-path; and, after about an hour's walk, we arrived at a thatched cabin, situate in a hollow of the hill, low, but of tolerably large dimensions, having a few cottages in its vicinity, and exhibiting on its front a sign which, though weatherbeaten, was a sufficient indication of the designation of the mansion.

I was alone with my

It was about five o'clock when we came to the door of this little inn, and were introduced into a kitchen where a turf fire was blazing under a wide chimney, a tolerably clean-looking woman, though without shoes or stockings, being busy about certain culinary preparations which already began to emit no unpleasing savour.

It was, however, with no hospitable eye that she looked upon us; and when my guide asked her if we could have a lodging and supper, she answered him in Welsh; of