london he meditated at first on the probable consequences of his own advice and the and of his father s it he dismissed the subject from his mind however with the reflection that time alone would show and this is the reflection we would impress upon the reader vol n papers of chapter a good christmas chapter containing an account of a wedding and some other sports beside which although in their even as good customs as marriage itself not quite so kept up in these times as brisk as bees if not altogether as light as did the four on the morning of the twenty second day of december in the year of grace in which these their faithfully recorded adventures were undertaken and accomplished christmas was close at hand in all his bluff and hearty honesty it was the season of hospitality merriment and open the old year was preparing like an ancient philosopher to call his friends around him and amidst the sound of and to pass gently and calmly away gay � and merry was the time and right gay and merry were at least four of the numerous hearts that were by its coming and numerous indeed are the hearts to which christmas brings a brief season of happiness and enjoyment how many families whose members have been dispersed and scattered far and wide in the restless struggles of life then and meet once again in that the club happy state of and mutual good will which is a source of such pure and delight and one so with the cares and sorrows of the world that the religious belief of the most civilized nations and the rude traditions of the savages alike number it among the first joys of a future condition of existence provided for the � and happy how many old recollections and how many sympathies does christmas time awaken we write these words now many miles distant from the spot at which year after year we met on that day a merry and joyous circle many of the hearts that so then have ceased to beat many of the looks that shone so brightly then have ceased to glow the hands we grasped have grown cold the eyes we sought have hid their lustre in the grave and yet the old house the room the merry voices and smiling faces the jest the laugh the most minute and trivial circumstances connected with those happy meetings crowd upon our mind at each of the season as if the last assemblage had been but yesterday happy happy christmas that can win us back to the of our childish days that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth and transport the sailor and the traveller thousands of miles away back to his own fireside and his quiet home but we are so taken up and occupied with the good qualities of this saint christmas that we are keeping mr and his friends waiting in the cold on the outside of the coach which they have just well wrapped up in great coats and the and carpet bags have been away and mr and the guard are endeavor papers of ing to into the fore boot a huge several sizes too large for it which is packed up in a long brown basket with a of straw over the top and which has been to the last in order that he may repose in safety on the half dozen barrels of real native all the property of mr which have been arranged in regular order at the bottom of the the interest displayed in mr s countenance is most intense as mr and the guard try to squeeze the into the boot first head first and then tail first and then top upwards and then bottom upwards and then sideways and then long ways all of which the until the guard accidentally him in the very middle of the basket whereupon he suddenly into the boot and with him the head and shoulders of the guard himself who not calculating upon so sudden a of the passive resistance of the experiences a very unexpected shock to the delight of all the and by upon this mr smiles with great and drawing a shilling from his waistcoat pocket the guard as he himself out of the boot to drink his health in a glass of hot brandy and water at which the guard smiles too and messrs and all smile in company the guard and mr disappear for five minutes most probably to get the hot brandy and water for they smell very strongly of it when they return the coachman to the box mr up behind the pull their coats round their legs and their over their noses the the horse ofi the coachman shouts out a cheery all right and away they go the club they have through the streets and the stones and at length reach the wide and open country the wheels over the hard and frosty ground and the horses bursting into a at a smart crack of the whip step along the road as if the load behind them coach passengers barrels and all were but a feather at their heels they have descended a slope and enter upon a level as compact and dry as a solid block of two miles long another crack of the whip and on they speed at a smart gallop the horses tossing their heads and rattling the harness as if in at the rapidity of the motion while the coachman holding whip and reins in one hand takes off his hat with the other and resting it on his knees out his handkerchief and his forehead partly because he has a habit of doing it and partly because it s as well to show the passengers how cool he is and what an easy thing it is to drive 