dreariness of my situation. How sincerely did I then wish to be replaced in my old quiet corner; which appeared cheerfulness itself, compared with my present forlorn condition. So little are we capable of judging what circumstances will eventually prove most conducive to our happiness! At last, after many, to me, unintelligible movements, I found to my great joy that my prison was being unbarred. The cheerful light once again shone upon me; and a person, whom I afterwards found to be my new master's apprentice, (and with whom I soon became well acquainted,) lifted me carefully out. No sooner had he cleared away from my face the straw and paper with which I had been well nigh suffocated, than, as I observed, he gave me a very significant look; which, to confess the truth, I took, at the time, for a compliment to myself:-but I have since learnt to interpret such compliments more truly. Striking, indeed, was the contrast between my late mode of life and that to which I was now introduced. My new situation was in the shop-window, with my face to the street: which was one of the most public in London. Here my attention was at first quite distracted by the constant succession of objects that passed before me. But it was not long before I began to remark the considerable degree of attention I myself excited; and how much I was distinguished, in this respect, from the other articles, my neighbours, in the shop-window. I observed that passengers, who appeared to be posting away upon urgent business, would often just turn and give me a friendly glance as they passed. But I was particularly gratified to observe, that while the old, the shabby, and the wretched, seldom took any notice of me, the young, the gay, and the handsome, generally paid me this compliment; and that these goodlooking people always seemed the best pleased with me ; which I attributed to their superior discernment. I well remember one young lady, who used to pass my master's

shop regularly every morning in her way to school, and who never omitted to turn her head to look at me as she went by; so that, at last, we became well acquainted with each other. I must confess, that at this period of my life, I was in great danger of becoming insufferably vain, from the attentions that were then paid me; and, perhaps, I am not the only individual, to whom a sudden removal from retirement to a more public mode of life, has proved a hazardous and trying event to the character nor the only one who has formed mistaken notions as to the attentions they receive in society.

My vanity, however, received a considerable check from one circumstance; nearly all the goods by which I was surrounded in the shop-window (though many of them much more homely in their structure, and humble in their destinations) were disposed of sooner than myself. I had the mortification of seeing one after another bargained for and sent away, while I remained, month after month, without a purchaser. At last, however, a gentleman and lady from the country, (who had been standing some time in the street, inspecting, and as I perceived, conversing about me,) walked into the shop; and after some altercation with my master, agreed to purchase me upon which, I was once more packed up, and sent off on a longer journey than before. I was far less disconcerted, this time, by my unpleasant circumstances, than during my first journey, concluding they would terminate, as before, in a change for the better. Another proof of our incompetence to judge of the real tendency of passing events. I was very curious, you may suppose, upon arriving at my new quarters, to see what kind of life I was likely to lead. I remained, however, some time unmolested in my packing case, and very flat I felt there. Upon being, at last, unpacked, I found myself in the stone hall of a large, lone house in the country. My master and mistress, I soon learned,

were new-married people, just setting up house-keeping; and I was intended to decorate their best parlour, to which I was presently conveyed; and after some little discussion between them in fixing my longitude and latitude, I was hung up opposite the fire-place, in an angle of ten degrees from the wall, according to the fashion of those times. I felt, at first, very well pleased with my situation; and looked with complacency upon the various objects before me, which, like myself, were then new and handsome but perhaps I should have experienced some dismay, if I could have known that I was destined to spend fifty years in that spot, without undergoing any change myself, or witnessing any in the things that surrounded me, except, indeed, that imperceptibly produced by time.

Yes, there I hung, year after year, almost in perpetual solitude. My master and mistress were sober, regular, old fashioned people; they saw no company except at fair time and Christmas day; on which occasions only, they occupied the best parlour. My countenance used to brighten up, when I saw the annual fire kindled in that ample grate; and when a cheerful circle of country cousins assembled round it. At those times, I always got a little notice from the young folks: but those festivities over, and I was condemned to another half year of complete loneliness. How familiar to my recollection at this hour, is that large, old fashioned parlour! I can remember, as well as if I had seen them but yesterday, the noble flowers on the crimson-damask chair-covers and window-curtains; and those curiously carved tables and chairs. I could describe every one of the stories on the Dutch tiles that surrounded the grate; the rich china ornaments on the wide mantle-piece; and the pattern of the paper-hangings, which consisted alternately of a parrot, a poppy, and a shepherdess,―a parrot, a poppy, and a shepherdess. The room being so little used, the

window-shutters were rarely opened; but there were three holes cut in each, in the shape of a heart, through which, day after day, and year after year, I used to watch the long, dim, dusty sun-beams, streaming across the dark parlour. I should mention, however, that I seldom missed a short visit from my master and mistress on a Sunday morning, when they came down stairs, ready dressed for church. I can remember how my mistress used to trot in upon her high-heeled shoes, unfold a leaf of one of the shutters, then come and stand straight before me; then turn half round to the right and left; never failing to see if the corner of her well-starched handkerchief was pinned exactly in the middle. I think I can see her now, in her favourite dove-coloured lustring, (which she wore every Sunday in every summer for seven years at the least,) and her long full ruffles, and worked apron. Then followed my good master; who, though his visit was somewhat shorter, never failed to come and settle his Sunday wig before me.

At

Time rolled away and my master and mistress, with all that appertained to them, insensibly suffered from its influence. When I first knew them, they were a young, blooming couple as you would wish to see; but I gradually perceived an alteration. My mistress began to stoop a little; and my master got a cough, which troubled him, more or less, to the end of his days. first, and for many years, my mistress' foot upon the stairs was light and nimble; and she would come in as blythe and as brisk as a lark: but at last, it was a slow, heavy step; and even my master's began to totter. And, in these respects, every thing else kept pace with them the crimson damask that I remembered so fresh and bright, was now faded and worn; the dark polished mahogany was, in some places, worm eaten ; the parrot's gay plumage on the walls grew dull; and I myself, though long unconscious of it, partook of the universal

decay. The dissipated taste I acquired, upon my first introduction to society, had long since subsided; and the quiet, sombre life I led, gave me a grave, meditative turn. The change which I witnessed in all things around me, caused me to reflect much on their vanity; and when, upon the occasions before-mentioned, I used to see the gay, blooming faces of the young, saluting me with so much complacency, I would fain have admonished them of the alteration they must soon undergo; and have told them how certainly their bloom, also, must fade away as a flower. But, alas! you know, sir, looking-glasses can only reflect.

After I had remained in this condition, to the best of my knowledge, above five and forty years, I suddenly missed my poor old master: he came to visit me no more; and by the change in my mistress' apparel, I guessed what had happened. Five years more passed away; and then I saw no more of her! In a short time after this, several rude strangers entered my room: the long, rusty screw, which had held me up so many years, was drawn out; and I, together with all the goods and chattles in the house, were put up to auction, in that very apartment which I had so long peaceably occupied. I felt a good deal hurt, at the very contemptuous terms in which I was spoken of by some of the bidders; for, as I said, I was not aware that I had become as old fashioned as my poor old master and mistress. At last I was knocked down for a trifling sum, and sent away to a very different destination.

And

Before going home to my new residence, I was sent to a workman to be refitted in a new gilt frame; which, although it completely modernized my appearance, I must confess, at first, set very uneasily upon me. now, although it was not till my old age, I for the first time became acquainted with my natural use, capacity, and importance. My new station was no other than