The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1871-01-03 00:00:00

the culinary department mire the giesteet entilliaetiee DINNER TO THE AGED POOR.' 1
These having been heartily enjoyed, an &banditti suPPIY I Mr. W. Pge, hon. seareltary of the Weycnoath
' Working Men's Club, has been very sumeedul In his
11. efforts to got up the comfortable dinner for the poor,
oel(deemgia4dysw, iliwnsao7.ln4dMinPeda. ibttalwidra.PPPige4nAthahadm'gewarinnedtnsiterfuoirtoy ithhoisfe efibei which he lira annually given them since 1866. No lees
members, thiu'iking Mr. Edwards for his present of E 5, than 163 tickets wore distributed,the only qualification
ant Mr. Hombre for his present of £2, towards the necessary being that the parties should be at least 60
dinner to the aged poor, and intimating that this genre of age. The oldish of the men WIW Kr. Atkies,
supper was about to come off, mid the members would ..„.„1 88; and them igey. also „Alum_ 88, .._,_, ao,
be delighted to see them if in the neighbourhood of 31T, Lovell, 84; D. Giddy; 83; the .11;0 wognegie'"emwmoko
Weymouth. To this Mr. Edwards replied :-
63, BerheleY Sneerer W.Yrs. Smith and Mrs. Hardy, 85 ceob, Garland. 82, E.
"
"Dear Sir,-' Knowing, so you do, the interest I take le old people, one bate:does bill including 151 b. suet, and
the Workman'. Club, you an UnderWlind WIII regret "sal at legit, hew; besides this there were three large joints
being unable to be present at the social gatlawinin, amtwoh ofo., of mutton. Mr. Dodson gave two bushels of potatoes,
endeentle emme'nre Yee aill as wall, ~„,ta„haar,,,.„ eitindin .---- the dlub and S owt. of parsnips, Mr. Tigwell about 7 quartems
--- -' • ' " ' ' - '-''' "- to
• I hope you of bread, and ffs. Devenish 12 ollons of beer. The
will own number 100, for It Is gratifYlng, to am to know to mei,.
provers, and that you now number 70 members ,
know
iko
,Club Is aloProclaied, and If there 1,1 anYtru„nr. i.a",_ a ....„ nags, evergreens an mottoes, mob as "A Happy New
old people cantekarls,and found the room decorated with
at more condonable and attractive, I Sean Mir mWO ~..ppy Tear," „Be !der,. and 'coo," "Look well Beyond..
to do it. i enclose • couple of guineas towards the entowtaui- I‘oksome 1k.,„. •,t. o
in meat and vegetables were brought
in smoking hot, and when all ware ,ready G. E. Eliot,
accident of the Club, said gram, and then pro-
" linear Ziarmen" FA+, r— . _
mpleint ~t.
eF::eidaohy4r,,-anidmaia, wishing yn,
yoo,landuitatinall they. sosslown, a vtul
seeded to carve, sainsted by Captain Montgomery,
As the solnltenr had Won iiekele for the supper, Messrs. J. E. Robertson, G. H. Crickmay, Burt,
Mr. Page expended Mr. Elwerds's generous gill in
obtaining • supply of wine.
of being consumed. The old folks did not
"Billdetuit,e(l.rozokoedeiro,ntr
jaonl,inuTwervereer,raGoodldlyen,cutautillp,Thanodrnien,
heartily received, On proposing the "health of
; but proved themselves good at a trenoher-
Prince and Princess of Walse." be expressed • hope appetite" and
process
gthe common remark that "old people have no
The loyal toasts were given by the Chairman,that His Royal Highness might long remain
Prinoe tables, could so quickly disappear; but
of firht. It emoted astonishing that such a mass of meat,
the toast now because of an event about to hart: . . _
boiled
. .
brought in seven splendid i Christmas puddings,
Wales.
(Voice:
8)"Y
" There was
peculiar
"'kcal'
in
ird'ere wander sooner: little left but fitte bones. Then wore
w ' that bad eon- averaging 20Ib, each, and four baked ones, about Illb.
generation had witnessed royal marriages
which would be interesting to all Englishmen. hi
were-liticalmarriage' In
whilorPrinese e
the in time demolished. Allowing for the small portions
and Prinwellas - engaged ie
be
married
be
latelyy left, including the bones of the meat, it will be seen
duzseedi.toit
°taboo b hyafpopir
pones* of the Royal family, for the
eleashb;esrteaming,
these
whereot asattacbefkoare.,adA,
by
rplefuvileragnlusce, or •0
knew what marriage meant. Our Queen bed
adding had b partakes of by each, so that our
to be married to • British subject and a commoner. p .
had
p shown her good sense in allowing
of old fronds certainly not quite het their appetites
He believed that by and by there would be plenty
one of her daughters that between 211 b. and 31b. of meat, vegetables and
They evidently had much enjoyed the
dom-(hear, and laughter), but English members 0
Royal Family had generally looked on the Continent had been returned,
great pleasure
lagmidinheawpularedrarestateitofwmmiani after thanks
princes and princesses without going outside the king'
tagthtye-
itesahziorog:h:duagnoTbe
for partners, and the stock there had been a o
' tams time, and they ought to be especially grate-
away-(bear, bear). so
tierhs,meonee,ybautteheeseenutithtlade fwolloveiviguties had been swept Chris wad each other so quickly to be allowed to meet together once more, at another
(iii this Christmas-now it is cold nd
wok,
and
•
dmolate-looking out of doors-to find • nice comfort'
able room warm and pleasant, and plenty of good
Tflohnege,
BMAri.eSermialithth:e." lgfemeettanhed,Chan.
headthone.f"
the
Army,
Navy, and Volunteers." If the Army and Navy were always brings to us, young or old, some sort of happi-
unable to do their duty when England's day of reckon' victoria' to eat inside-(applacised Christmas time
nese and p . If we are old we may not have
ing comes (and God knows how soon it may come) we mac& of this world's goods, not many (needs or rein-
stall cut • very poor figure, for we see by the example
,„. Mons around us to make us happy ; but there is always
of Frame' to what a state a arak4saa nation may ''' happiness for the old in looking beck upon the past,
reduced if its forms me not up to the mark. Ile stalled
and all ot them can look back on some Christmas Days,
upon onset the mainstays of the Weymouth volunteers, well remembered, some years of happiness. Those
Mr. W. R. I'. Jeffery, to return thanks, who are younger, and whom health rod margins are
Mr. W. Jritgar excused himself on the ground of all fresh, they also nave their joys, and in the present.
his superior °Meer (Sergeant C. Jeffery) being present But with all the pleasured that Christoms-time brings
I -(lasighter). to young and old there ought to be solemn thoughts,
as good and those solemn thoughts more than this our annual
sailors,
, wilhaltinhateL Labdiarevedrewtuoruniedd
bethfosouts for
dßritish and he did not know anything that brought home to us
(tyro:ha:ill:4r forward to the future and backward to the pot. in thaw times when they were first tried- dinner. Our thoughts are isolemnised by looking
felt his insignificance in the presence of their worthy rd°ol,nne:
so kk
will' havebe
main
ninny taps
1 Mr. C. iltgriltr was loudly called upon; but said be Twelvemonths ago many of us were &trembled in this
ere
d since then u d from amongst
chairman and president, Captain Eliot, who was hie
"%mot us at the twelvemonth's sod. These ought
superior officer-llaughter). Ile hoped that, whenever
not to
fibeeds&dden tin
thatthough ha,
never come, the volunteers would be found at their hoped, 1 where one ought . .
the time of trial came. though God grant that it might
we shall hays none of this world's sorrows, this world's
an inc of men, for they would be of no use. They
post; but It would be of no use at that time to &Or for bacad:
bed 7weebasybsoootudr
nave no sorrow tu the thought that we are going where
long life, they could look forward without sorrow or
availedbase e '
againstw little
the
e di.. thei plin undisciplinedtrv,,, torfooppro.lef F.radnoiet cores. Old people as they were, near the end of a
dependency, by the expectation of • blissful eternity
Englishmen wish their country to be este they must
put their shoulder to the wheel, and drill well. It did through that One Person who alone oan sore us when
death is ne.r. If we gaze out into the country, with
not hurt them; be himself had beat s volunteer for
ten rears, and it never hart him. The Government its roads and fields foam hard, it is at present • rather
thought a short time ago they were going to cripple cheerless sight, and if we could think that we should
the eobteeeere by making the sergeants pass a severe never have anything else to look at butlthis =OW cover'
lug our lend, if there were to be no flowers, no herbs,
examination before they could earn more capitation
no tillage, this life would be indeed a miserable pros-
money for the corm but three of the sergeants and all
the superior officers had passed it-(applause). He pact Hut what makes the winter come with loins.
should much like to see • large montane of the volunteer what of joyousness to us all? It is because we know
that it only lasts for a time, and that the beauteous
corps in Weymouth, and there were many young men
about who ought to join. But they did not want them Wing, glorious summer, and rich autumn, are meninx
to join to-day and leave when the season is over, for by and bye. That is just the sort of feeling we should
that would be only to muse trouble and expense-they have whim the years of our life are near their Christ-
ina' time, when our limbs have lost their energy, and
wanted men who would persevere with their drill till
they turned out good soldiers-(applause). are, as it were, frost-bound-it is that we should be
Song, Mr. C. Crocker: "Auld bang gym."
able to look forward to the time when our winter is
past, and the glorious suinmer is at hand. And this
The Crutinghs said that although the roast joists, Christmas of the year 1870 should bring us sad
plum pudding, and wine, weirenn importantiput of the tagingbta, for at the very time when we are sitting
evening's occupation 706 they were not the principal down to a good dinner, we know that within a very
part. He gave the toast of the evening, "Sitcoms to few miles of us there are poor creatures who are en fur-
the Working Men's Club. He need not remind them tag such sufferings as we English people, thank God,
from what a small beginning they originated, that little know nothing about. In the nation of whose people
poky room in High-street, and as their friends in. we see so mech, and who are eocth good hionds to es;
Greened, they grew to their present size, and the present and with whom we have such frequent communise-
rooms had been fitted up at no ooet to the cilnb. In all %ions, there are poor famishing creatures, who we hear
important points the club had gone on increasing in are giving such prices as half-a-crown for • moue, or
prosperity, not that there was nothing to be done, ss. for a half-starved rat. (Sensation.) lot us pray
while they had three book shelves empty, and they the God of battle*, the God of perm that 110 will soon
lied
to
once more sand pease on the earth, that we Mar ones
$
hoilif_fettiorAmuAlwa uht never to rest while they i
ofber mine
tic was '' IK' :none have pews at Christmas time, and no more have
ect f b.. t''..•' • " Arta harrowed up by account., of such sorrow and
that the ultimate obj o the
Independent. So long as they had I. Velleitigi . - 'us, too, thank God that we are in a land
ho did not think they should be independent. • him been known for hundreds of year),
until they bad more members than at preseet. ' ' s ' 'eh privilege that we are -ri fee
wished to suggest that they should start Cimuldiog , ..,, - 7 Lear.) He (the speaker) was in
fund amongst themselves, they might begin in • very ! ... - • , ~.i.ourn. et I though it was nothing like
would accumulate a good slim. It could be done either
small way, and have no prospect of building their room - ' ,''' m. is uow, end ti....rgh he was miles away from
for • very ;long time ; but daring those years they
alukebo;;L:u•s:::g..,,a; ief:k.ol"saviwinmen oaring nothing
by taking shares or by
_small subscriptions every year.
slain" o:".::::idi'ofkr7l... away from their ploughs ad
everything, to be
There are very serious obstacles in the way, they had tWeir berm's' sad ' 'eh' • How thankful we ought
their present premises on • long lease, and of course
us to be forced to unde‘*rgo
we have an ;Es
ti.: channel I.yiagThbeeiotwweeerne
could not throw it up without some perruniaryloompeuea- eeto hnee that ''..,_ L.li is almost impossible for
tion ; but be thought that could be arranged. They ought -- --d the enemy' m '.°lese sufferings which have
to get such a building as would be a metre of Working
Man's Institutions, and the Oddfellows, Foresters, and been poured upon the poor French natl. call their at.
other friendly moieties of the town might make it their some of the thoughts which he wished th,t. in 'et
head quarters -(hear). He also thought it would be tention to, and in conclusion he would hop j)), the
very beneficial to establish dames for instruotion and of them might meet in that room again, and iby
he hoped the Government would soon come forward kindness and hospitality of those friends who to
liberally and enable working men to form such Glass,s. their liberality enabled them to enjoy thenisel
iyin.g y t. be
F. feast
Rx sof 1
o t„ h
aje day
kindly co the he
e. mhsorrrtediago th oef the
or
poor
He coupled with the toast the name of Mr. Criekmay day-(ePPinure.)
who had always shown the greatest Interest in the Captain Morroonur gave an earnest &illicit',
besig.club-(ianpgplwausebe). .
Captain
me one of the established install- King's son in the parable and urging those present to
Mr. G. 11. CRIMMAY said the club from a small accept of the 0o p 1 feast,
'
hone of the town. Working men could read papers people,
here they could not afford to buy, and thus keep .eee
with the advance of the times, for the man who Mr' ELI" gave the meeting's thanks to these friends
not read must be left behind now. Their education who had helped at the meeting, and especially their
good friend, Mr. Pace-(applause.) If it had not been was the cause of the Germans having such great
successes as they had, and our Government are about for Kr. Page's good nature and energy, these Christmas
to compel, which unfortunately they are obliged to do dinners would never have been originated and kept up.
with Englishmen, every child to be educated. When He also expressed their thanks to the good friends
this is done, working men's clubs will be more neces. whose strength of arms and good carving had help,'
eery than ever, that young men may came here and them to enjoy this dinner-(applause,)
improve their minds. As they get up in life they will Mr. PAO. acknowledged the sompliment,and onpreesed
find themselves Ohs to fill the improved situations his gratitude to those who had liberally contributed,
open to them, exactly in proportion as they have used He bad intended that last year should be the last time
the advantages of Working Men's Clubs. Kr. Crickmay he took this affair in hand, as the trouble was s grout;
did notice why there should not be • 'antral institution
St. John's and the men of Weymouth but the soliettstions of many friends had indueoed him
for working men-why the men should not come from
'To die
mouth go to some natialaction-(applause) In conclusion he urged them
to continue, and he hoped he had carried it out to their
central part and establish a thoroughly good dub, to snood to one of the mottoes, " Look well beyond,"
they
youwnoooduld btehata.btlheet4souttyp
instead of dividing their efforts. Thea they would be urged them to adopt the motto 'To me to live is
abwhleichtowgeoutidg°m°duchmassisutmr: tmheanm In tthheeir bb4ilusidnienisgs.tradise Christ," and
annlnTd than
ng
meld learn geometry, meanuration, and other things is gein."
agreed with the suggestion that the friendly societies committee intend to o
should meet at the club house, for the members of thos four days • Pen
a P
sou kitchen for the poor,
week, commencing on Thursday neat,
societies which met at publichoues of teu spent more
in enjoyment than on the contributions to the club • The party then separated, the old people each reedy.
ink 6d. at the door.
itself. No doubt public-houses are very good thing' in -
their way; but it was not desirable friendly societies
should meet therm He hoped that, before long, they
would get • central institution of the kind Mr. Eliot
had mentioned.
Song, by Mr. Golden, who accompanied himself on
the concertina: "Mother kiss me in my dreams."
Mr. CRICILICAT then gays the health of the President
Yr. G. Eliot," and asked them to drink it in a mother.
It is well known in Weymouth that wb y good
matter is to be helped forward, it is on!mention 7 In
the name of Eliot, and either chairman' father, his
brother, himself, or some member of his family, is sure
to be reedy to help forward the good work-(applatuar)
Mr, Ellot's howl had also been with them, and daring
the prat year he had taken pmt in the Working Men's
Exhibition; unfortunately in London things had not
...ally gone rightly'
, but the Weymouth part was
worked very sumesday ineeed. (Ifusimal honours;
musical hips, and "one mom for Mr. Eliot.")
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks, and gave "The
Strangers." He wished to be particularly civil to the
strangers, because he hoped they woad allure a great
many to booome members. The club numbered about
60 at the outside, and they ought to be considerable
inereased. If every one present were now to
resolve to bring in one stranger, and were to do
so, a very good evening's work would have been done
-(hear.)

'l.

SSW OD 6001thl
have grast pleasure in becoming a member and bringing
se many more as possible —(great cheering.)
_

Songs :—Mr. W. Ferry, " The - 'Fisherman's
Daughter"; Mr. Hawke', "Peter Piper"; Mr. Charism
Haunton, "Bear It like • mac,"
The CHAILIIAN said there was one toast which the
members ought never to separate without drinking.
If any man had done mere than others for the club,
it was their worthy hon. secretary, Mr. Page—
(cheer.) If any man had given time, energy, and
Industry for the stmoess of the club, be was sure
they would agree with him, it was Mr. Page—(renewed
cheers.) Ho therefore gave his health, and tint of
the friend' who had given theta trouble and labour,
and made this forties' such • sucoess.

StrITH returned thanks for the Domelike.
Mr. PAos also responded. and acknowledged the very
cordial and harmonious manner in which every one bad
worked with him. The committee wished, not to have
things in oonnection with the Club done in a gloomy,
morose spirit; but to be cheerful and yet nse • great
de•l of wisdom. They had at one time some troublesome
members erboss they could not well keep in order; but
they had taken themselves off, and now everydbing went
on pleasantly. The eommittee had attended every
night when they were needed and worked very har-
moniously with him. and to them he returned thanks.
In reference to the building proposed, he said there is
now an eligible site offered, which might not be obtain-
able if they waited much longer, as buildings
are so increasing in Weymouth, and he sag-
that a balding fund might be
Cled raised by taking shares. The members might take
a share of Si each, and they would have • year to
pay it ; and If they did this, they would be able with
better grace t 3 go to the liberal, and ask them to sexist
perhaps by taking five or ten shares liaoll. He also
urged that they should try to increase the number of
members, and if they had 100, that would place their
rent in security. If they were disposed to strive and
help the slab in these ways asides appeal were made to
the generosity of those who could afford to give, he
was sure the appeal would not be made in vain, Hie
had been in severalitowns, and bad never met a more
ready response to snob appeals than It Weemoutb, end
he was thankful to say there is a spirit of large heerted
liberal giving In Weysionth--(epplatue). Yr. Page
want on to aaknowledge the generosity of Yr. Kd,azds
/LP., who had sent £2 2e. towards the expenses of
the entertainment, and expressed his willingness to do
anything be weld to promote the interests of the slab
—(applause).

Boone other woo weee sea& sod the way piety
seposiasi goat 11 °Wolk.

\

011RIDMIXti Ocoooosug.
bAx. D
rt
vas

two:ow: °,41
till:
is. k . 410 p; it
...„,4
CIILPTUI L —HOW I r.or fl.
son
ta
was tho mooday before clai.trou lag, I woe
I ma aware, is not in the mat ernteeratic quarttrarl
annual income of one hundred poems. '
long time since last I saw you, where hiss
gtPierge bt:Twl ardand.ht4nalliet.lea(.rvn7to:nhe:::::whorielt
anti
ine
Ibewaullald ine7svoiiiingeeendehasu4eLtforth, " ret;ll2:4. my
you been all these years?"
I turned half round, and beside me stood a rather
ooniinuod—•• Well, I'm blamed, don't you remember
the old farmhouse, and the lane, and the church vita
wtalliafelnlootwr,eouwitirtistei,eobunuttribted.tingannemr,y
conhued
lock,
the crooked steeple, and"--...
.. . .

,
" And bow are you Joe?" I broke in. " What
nuuiskull I must b, not to rem-mbar uiy old eejle,4
mate, Joe Twining! How is the ad place getting eve
" Getting on he echoed; "nay, it het not got og
five inches these twelve years that you've been ent
Get on? It has not the power for any such exertion.
it mast sticks there's it had been 'founded upon &Neal
and a confoundedly barren rock into the bargain.' --'
As he was going in the direction of Goorgo-struet ips
joined company, and he t Id me all the village
arriving at the corner of George-street, I *topped, ;4'
held out my hand.

"Wont you come and him° a gl:1,11.1 with m
si e, junto,
old acquaintanoo ker mid he. My! It is c 0.4: a
It teas oold, and so thinking that both Annie
tea could wait a few minutes, I ibooopted the Invit44.
"Coine along," he reeumeil and we went to a rate.,
dingy hostelry, bearing the name, "The Golden
and hlying a frontispiece of white paint, (limbed at nw
dom on • black ground; the white bletchet 1,4 a
sovosed to represent either snow Make. or
menliewliterilduladleyng, hiomaopkpiareng.natilyah:yjituu,t.fiuriihedkotty.::,,
ing a portion of the kitchen floor, CUM, hrward ma*
us, and, extending her wet hand to Joe, gre,ted ha
heartily, and nodded • welcome to me.
I followed Joe into the bar pirlour. E,4hi
laze Ire; they weloomed Joe u an old soptaintaak
and.wo had ayint ale each.

entered:h.e.roootm.hat tionriTew:ine:
a head. vil4
as said, addressing Joe, "we're going to have rag,
fof
tohrToahr°oogolsna:;a,""ireinitim"egiabers at a shilling
you try your chanoe.or will your fricad have a sldliag's
worth
Joa declined—said that he vu not • marrild tata •
but I had not yet bought my Christmas dinner, ani
knew that I should have to provide one. Moreover, d I won the goose, it would certainly he °hap; whiled
I lost, • shilliug is nothing to cry about, to I pril tap
shilling, and inquirol at what hour the mil, was
to take place. '• Nine o'elock, aril its aka eight
now," said mine hoitess ; "yl'll better stay till it's
over."
" Very well, bring mo some more ifs' I replied.
Joe and I DOW began t 3 talk of school days and our
juvenile combats which ofioi, hid boon the moans of
givn each of U 4 a swolleo uose or pair of black eyes,
not to mention the 50u,,1 tiiroojog that, ham oar
respective fathers, invariably followed our encoanter•
Soon, one of Joe's friends pr mused Clot we it,0111,1 joie
him at a hand of " 01l f Airs," and acceptio, his odor
just to pass away the time ti I nine o'clock. we orderal
some more ale, and sat down t, aria. The impn.s.iso
left noon my mind by that game of cards is, that joi
and his friend were always atonic;, whilo I, on the
other hand, waa always losing; but the two praised toy
playing so highly, and said with such earipataeo too
I should ruin them, that I Gould not but btlooe thtir
atstement that I had won nearly every pont w
twice we wore almost quarrciling ov,r suoil Kni of
the game, but we recovered our teinpors, and 911
of these sligh t interruptions became the more thor,:ghly
jovial and affectionate. . .

At last the °look struck nine, and when our bee.
made her appearance, bearing • large ba.in, ..I.lt ont
cards, and the whole party gathered remit hie so
many hens about to be fed. It would he nftikss to te•
count in detail the dicing—for two ivory cabas
the appointed judges upon whose deci.:on ths fete of
the goose depended—suffice it that I chiuced to tun
double since.

" And a fin° oheap bird it ii; plenty of people will
have to spend • vett deal more than that's °eat yea,
for their Christmais dinners," said one of the loser,.

"Anil not everyone who has spent a shilling Whig
the fortune to get a goose for it, said another.
As I handlod the noble bird—and it was very plaiap
and fat—l became thoroughly happy, Here indeed,
wog a present ouch as any wife ought to be glad to to
*sive just before Christmas Day. How Annie would
stare when I should gravely inform her that it hod only
coat a shilling ! In my delight, I bugged Joe, and tried
to do the souse to the landlady; being foiled in this, I
'turned ta the party, asked them to order something to
drinl:, premising to pay the more, and persisted in
shaking Monde with each person in tho room. , Up to
that moment, I fancy that they bad drunk nothing
more cipmaive than beer; but, at nay invitation,
brandy become in full requisition, and I was by all
stat,il to be a jolly good fellow, and one who deserved
SICCOi4 in life.
After some time spent in doing something—l don't
know what—l said something to someb.idy—liere again •
memory fails to record either the subject or the person
! --cud somebody knocked me down, giving me a black
. . . . .

-----
eye, after which I became friends with everybody, and
said it was getting tea time and I must go house. I
have same *erg of recollection et trying to premeds the
goose to tame home with toe, and, on its refusal, of
calling it an old fool, and threstening to carry it, if it
wouldn't walk. It did not seem disposed to comply
with my wish, so I cairlc4 it. The goose was, heavy;
I hal grasped it by the head, it. neck being on my
shoulder, and its body swinging against my batik. I
could hardly bold it, it made me halt at every step,
and the motion of its wings caused me to walk from
one side of the road to tho other in • very peculiar
manner, until at length, quite exhausted, I fell at full
length on my own &metro. Of what followed I haws
kn vkdtc, but when I awoke next morning,' fonad
. (in bed, and Annie in one of her worst tempe-s.
my n I attempted to appeals her a tr by te!.
and w chap cease, she called it a .
ter of th is trite that the bird was
thie---an I • •w, I had got a dreadful c
someh...

•-tw WI C 306

CHAPTER

If a thing he worth the Joing, It as north Joi

The week before Christinu was rapidly ,
Saturday had beeome " to-day," and I
that the week wee so nearly over. I had

--
pardon, and it hal been given ine—not th
any action that. required briircuass7no I

been drank or in any way near it—/ In

,
all Monday night had pasted without my
It intoxicated. Certainly, r mat haw( I
morn money than wo could well alf..ard.
knowledge. was of no avail; Annie had a.

mind that l_had been drank', and. In 001111 .1

wrr irr a bad humour, and sae. rued vary un

order to bring about our 01,1 state of b
quiet comf,rt, for tho sin of drunkenness I hail
and bad obtained pardon.

During the week I had been "counting cost, and
found that my estimate of the price paid for my gooee
had been considersbly below the reality, for on reckon.
ing my cash I digcovered that Monday evening had
usu..' in it a diminution to the extent of a guinea,
whereas had Annie sad I gone to the market, an outlay
of from four to six 'ladling' would have procured a
goose, in every way eiseal to the one that now hung
the cellar. Therefore. I could not but consider thel
the goo,o had cost fourteen shillings more thin
value, and in addition to this, Monday bat been tb.s
CA1.11.3 of many unpleasantness.; and I had then ought
cull, of whioh I had some &dignity in riddled
myself.
It was Saturday evening—Christmas Eve—the dew
—" my goose" Annie would persist in calling
roasting in the tin before the fire; this was the bat
item of our Christmas dinner, and, of coarse, it tumid
be tho chief; all the others bad been looked and laid
aside, so that on the morrow we could go to church
without any fear of finding burnt pies or sooty Jl,l
awaiting us on our retain.
Everyone knows that there are a thousand and one
neverfoiling remedies for • cold; and that morning hal
made me acquainted with one to which I had hitherto
been a stranger. A friend, seeing my condition, tied
prescribed two winegithaes fall of raw brandy boiled,
and I had decided upon taking alike his advice and the
brandy.
Annie and I were seated, one on each side of the fire
—she watching the goose—l, the brandy, which was is
a email .aaacepan on the fire. The goose hissed in I
pleasant, if not a melodious manner, whilst the eat os
the boiler purred a monotone socompaaiment, keep*
time with bet tail.

"Just • quarter of an hour, and your goose will be
beautifully done," said thu wife.

But she was not quite oarrech for the goose WU done
in loss time thee she had imagined. Hardly ere
minutes had elapsed, when c 111.MIJO stole along by the
wainsoot board; pussy made a spring forward, knocked
against the saimpau handle--over went the saucepan
Into the goose-tin, some of the brandy caught fire by
owning in contact with the hot bare, the fire wet owo.
munioated to the fat from the goose, and bet ore we
fully comprehended what was taking place, our Christ-
maa goose was hisaing derisively at us trona heated a
buckler of dame.

Annie sereamed-1 looked amazed, and I farrY
I used bad language. Happily, there was omeSfutt"
laminable dose by the goose-tin ; but before We c"''
extinguish the ire, our goose—" my Suo""—lrm
cooked—to a cinder !