THE HIGHLAND COTTAGE.

COLLECTION *

LIBRARY OFTHE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

FRONTISPIECE.

Now

itchancedthatthe

man

had takenhis

departureattherisingof thesun.

HIGHLAND

COTTAGE,

A PLEASING

TALE

FOR YOUTH.

TO WHICH IS ADD1D,

BENEVOLENCE,

A

FRAGMENT.

LONDON

:

PRINTED

AND

SOLD BY

R.

_HARFJLD,

20,

GREAT EASTCHEAP.

Hto-hZancl

_^

Cottage.

-^

TOW

there dwelt in a little

valley, amidst the

mountains

of the north, a

husbandman

who

was

_just and _upright in his

deal-ings,and

he was

abreederofsheep;

6

and

the

Lord had

blessed _him,

and

his flock _{multiplied exceedingly,}

andfed

_upon

athousandhills.

The man

was

not a native of the hill

cotintrj;

he

came

from

the

country of the plain ; buthiswife

was

one of the _{daughters of} the

land,

even

adaughterofthe

moun-tains ;

and

her

name

was Maini

:

and

_{they had been married a} fc\r

years,but

had

no

children.

And

a catneto_pass thata stran-ger,

who

was

a pilgrim,

came down

intothe

valley, seeking shade

and

refreshment; and

he

alighted

from

his horse,

and

came

unto their

dwelling,

which

was

low

and

build-building in those parts,

and

lie istooped, and passed the threshold.

Now

it

chanced

that the

man

had

taken his _departure at the

rising of the sun,

and was

absent

on

a_journey ; but Maini,his \vife_,

was

in the house:

and

when

she

saw

the_stranger she

bade

him

chamber, which

was

cle:m _thoug' hoineiv.

The woman

also

was

neat in

her _attire,

and

fair _spoken; her

voice

was

soft and _gentle,

and

it

sounded

_pleasing in the ear of the stranger.

Then

_{she brought}forthmilk

and

butter, even sweet butter, in

pure

vessels; and shehasted to

bake

a

barley cake onthe_embers,

and

set

itbefore

him and

hedid cat.

And

she_{spake cheerfully}tohim,

but with all

_modesty

and

sweet-ness,

and

said,

"

Now,

of a surety,

this wild_country,

and

the

manners

thereof,

must seem

strange unto

thee."

And

he _said,

"

The

_very wild-ness of the _country is _{pleasing to}

me,

and

forthe

manners

thereof,

thiskindness tothe travellermust,

indeed,

seem

strange to those

who

come

from

afar; forthe peoplein

other _parts arenot used to

be

so

10

And

she_said,

"

Dost

tliou

come

from

afar?

These

_mountains,

and

the

_{rough ways}

_therein, are

weari-some

to the traveller

; thou needs

rpust

want

_repose."

And

the

man

_pauseda little,

and

replied,

"

I

come

from

thefarthest parts of the south; I

am

apilgrim,

and

the _days of

_my

_pilgrimage

have

been

_{many, and now,}

indeed, at last, I

am

weary, and

my

beastis

weary

also: let

me,

I entreat_thee,

tarry a

few

days

under

the

sha-dow

of thyroof, so shall I

have

rest, and

_my

beast shall

have

rest likewise."

And

she

seemed

to

wonder

at his_request; and she

answered

dis-creetly,

and

said,

"

Alas for

me

!

thatit is notin

_my

_power

to en-tertainthee; I

have

heard of the

country

from which

thou comest,

thatitisarich and _plentiful

coun-try,and thepeople thereof live in

fair_dwellings, and eat ofthefat of the land

; hutthiscountry,asthou

seest, is _{poor and barren,}

and

the

manners

thereof arerudeand

igno-rant; thou canst not, surely,

be

pleased withsuchthings:

my

house

also and householdstuff are

mean

and _scanty.

We

intend soon, if the

Lord

shall_{bless us, to}

make

it

12

shouldst chance to _pass this

_way

hereafter, it will be in

_my

_power

to receivetheeas I could wish."

But

he

answered

"

_Nay,

_speak

not thus to _thy servant: if I shall not straiten thee in _{thy dwelling,} this little

chamber

will suffice for

my

lodging, and the fare

which

serveth thee willcontent

me

well;

but if I should be

burdensome

to

thee, speak the word,

and

I will depart."

And

she said

"

_Assuredly

thou

shalt not _depart, if thou canstbe

pleased to tarry under this

poor

roof.

_Thy

_{stay will} not

be

_long,

butI will

do

what

little I

can

to

make

itlessirksometo_thee,"

And

he thanked her for her

courtesy,and said

"

_Trouble

_not

thyself

much

to providefor

me

; a littlewillsuffice.

And

he

was

_glad

to

tarry, for rest

was

needful to

him

;

and

he

was

pleased with the

understanding

and

naturalcourtesj

of the

woman.

Moreover, he

was

curious toseethe_simple

manners

and

household customs of those

parts.

Then

_{they ungirded} his beasts,

and

housed

_them,

and

_gave

them

provender.

And

Maini carriedthe

stranger forth

her _dwelling, to

shew

him

the pleasantness thereof:

and

lo ! it

was

alittle _valley of green_pasture,

smooth

andlevel,andaswiftstream divided it in themidst; and there

were

trees for shade;

and where

the

valley

opened

to the south it

was

_{bounded by}

a narrow

arm

of

thesea,and on everyothersidethe

mountains stood round it like a

mighty

wall; aid there

was

the

sound

of

_many

_waters, wh!c'i

foamed

astbevfellfrom the rocks

above, but

where

they gathered

into a pool beneath were pure

and

clear as_crystal.

And

_behold, as _they

walked

in thefield,therechancedtopass that

way

a_shepherdboy, one of those

who

_kepttheir flocks

on

the hills;

and she called

him

nntoher,

and

spake gentlyto the lad, and said,

"

_Go

fetch a

lamb and

a kid

from

the mountain, and see thou choose

aright, stranger

may

of the best of ourflock ; andtake thy

dog

with thee,thatthou mayest beable to catch that

which

thou

markest,fortfeou

knowest

_{they are}

wild

on

the hills,

and

difficult to fee _taken."

And

_{the stranger}said,

"

Let

me

BOW

_speaka_word, Ibeseechthee.

Send

not for both at _{once; send}

either for the

lamb

or for_{the kid,}

as seemeth best unto thee: will

not one suffice?"

And

slie _said,

"

_Nay,

but the

lad shall _bring

down

both,

and

we

willfirsteat of thelamb, andIwill feed the kid with milk

from

the

cow, soshall it be_fat,andfitto set before thee

when

thou hast eaten

ofthelamb."

She

said, moreover,

"

I will

make

forthee

_whe}

r_{ofthe milk of}

the

goat, ifthouwiltdrinkthereof:

18

it is a _pleasant

and

wholesome

drink."

And

he said,

<c

1 see thou art

kind andcareful.

Thou

shall

have

, the

blessing of the stranger:

do

hen

according₃ to the kindness of

thy word."

Then

she_{spake again} totlielad,

lad ran,

and

hasted to the

moun-tain, andhis

dog went

with him.

But

the

man

stood still in the field,and pondered, and said

with-in _himself,

_"Surely

this is the ancient world, and the

manners

of the times of old : did not

Sarah or

Rebekah

do

after this

this fashimi,

When

shereceived the strangerintheabsenceof

Abraham

or _Isaac,her lord?"

And

as he continued _musing,

she _said, "

What

_{musest thou}

up-on

?

"

fully

on

the

woman

(for he had

not

much

_regarded her

counte-nance

_before),

and

he

saw

thatshe

was

lovely tolook upon, a;id that

thefavourofher countenancewas

full _{of simplicity}

and

_mildness,and

loving kindness.

eyes

the place

seemed

to

him

as_a por-tion of

Eden

; and the sun

was

bright in the heavens,

and

shone

upon

benevolence

and

innocenc^

and

he

was

_transported with t|$e

sight,

and

his heart

glowed

within

him,

and he

could notrefrain

from

speaking to heras

one

_surprised;

but he spakein alowvoice,

hum-bly

and

reverently,

and

said,

"

_Behold

_i

_am

_a

stranger in the land,

and

theface ofthelanditself is

strange,

and what

I see

around

me

looks like

enchantment

; tell

me

_now,

I _pray thee, is it usual to

meet

with _angels

_among

these

mountains?"

And

she_said, Inever heardof

any

in these_parts; and she

blush-ed

_lightly, evenas the blossom of the wild _sweet-briar,

_{which grew}

beside her on the bank of that pleasant brook,

and

smiled,

and

held her

peace.

And

_theywalked

and

communed

together, and were as familiar friends; and

when

he

commended

the _{plea>antnesjs} of the _place,

Maini seemed

to

mock

thereat,

and

said,

"

To

us, indeed, it seemeth

a sweet

and

_{pleasant place}; but

And

hesaid,

"

Doth

not novelty

heighten

many

pleasures:

there-fore, perhaps, these wild scenes are

more

_pleasing to

me

than to

thee

who

areaccustomedtothem."

And

the

man

_sojourned there

more

than_{twenty days}: _moreover,

when

he_{departed thence,}he

way

through

mountains,

and

vacancy

and

silence

were around

_{on every} side.

And

as he

_journeyed

on _through the

land

he

rememhered

Maiui, for hospitality

was

within her gates,

and

her little _dwelling

was

a

BENEVOLEKCE.

A FUAU.M ENT.

"

_WHY

lay

_you

here have

you

lost

_your

_way,

_my

lad?" Said

J, to apoor sailor _boy,as

he

look-ed_wistfully in

_my

face as I raised

him

from the _ground.

"

Have

26

you

lost

_your

_way,

_my

ladr" sale! I, in a stillsoftertone of expres-sion.

<c

Yes,

your

honour,"

answered

he.

"

_{But, indeed, (as} if

recol-lecting himself,)

"

Ihave

no

_way

to _{chuse; every place} is a

home

to

_me,

for

_nobody

_pities the _poor sailor

boy. I have sailed

two

voyages toJamaica,

your

honour,

continued_he,

"

_and,

on

_my

return

i

George

Trueman

; but he

disown-d

me

; said I

was no

child of his,

and

turned

me

adrift. I returned

tothe

ship,but

my

placewasearly supplied;

and

here I

am, your

ho-nour,on

my

way

to

_London,

toseek out a birth for the _poor sailor

boy."

As

he finished, he

was

turning

away,

about to leave

_me,

when

I Jaid

_my

hand

on

his_arm,to detain

him.

Whether

itwasthathecould

notread _"charity" in

_my

counte*

28

nance whether he did not think

himself rutiiled to

my

_compassion

or from

what

or other cause it

was

he turned _u\vay I

know

_not,

but.ofthis I

am

_certain, if

_my

face

d.id not

wear

the kindest look of pity,itbelied

_my

heart.

"

_God

help thcc!" said I: _thy

years," for he had hardly seen

twelve _winters,

"

_theyare unfit to

buffet with the _{wind of Fortune,}

and

the tide _{of Adversity.} For-tuns is

more

fickle than all the

winds, anaAdversity

mute

irresist-ible than all t!;e

waves

tliou hast

ever

met

with in the Atlantic

Ocean

!" _[I

_{owed Humanity}

a

debt, and here I _paid

it.]

"Arid

if ever thru seest

me

in

want

of

sixpence,

thou

shall_repay it with

30

interest," said I, as he

dropped

a

tear on the _pieceI had given him.

I _acceptedthis tribute ofhis heari

instead of athousand _{thanks, and,}

buttoning

my

coat,

walked

away.

Tell

_me,

_ye

_{philosophers,}

what

it isthat_{gives a}

man

such calmnes*

and

_tranquillity of _mind, thatsets

him

so at_{peace with himself,} after

doinga

good

action?

For

Ithink

if

Doctor

Lenitive himself hadlaid his

have

told

him

of theleast

irregula-rityinthepulsation ofit.

Envy

me my

feelings,

ye

who

have

never felt

"

_{the luxury} of

doing

good

;"

who

have

never shed

atear overthe miseries of others;

and

learn notto _{suppress the} incli-nationsof_doinga

_good

action; for

too trueitisthat

we

feel

them

hut

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