Year: 1863

Ihat we are the creatures OF clrcum'
stance, moulded by passing events and
surrounding influences, becomes more
and more apparent as we approach the
grave and leave behind us tho beauti-
full past, just gilded with the sunset
tints of memory. We do not realize
it in youth, but as childhood grow,
dim through the thousand shifting
scenes of our more active hfe-as oul
ideals are replaced by the real-wher
we lose sight of all our "Castles in
SPAIN and enter upon that half of oui
life which is devoted to reflection, thcr
all the little incidents Of our short.
apron-hood come back to us fresh as q
May morning, and gild the sombrC
surroundings of our later years with
the freshness and glory of youth. -
To go back TO these scenes, kind reader
in your society, will be the sold aim OF
a few fugitive sketches we propose tc
publish. Possibly memory may re-
store to us the blue eyes and witchinp
smiles that played the very dickens
with our boyhood's dreams; or uI
through the printers ink may come
the semblance of the rosy cheeks that
so often spoiled our infantile appetite
Even the tears that gushed so freely
over our sad and sorrowful disappoint-
ments, may flow again ain pleasure
not in pain" But the rambles in tho
grand old forests, where every tree
was an orchestra, will be ours no more
The sleigh-rides, the spelling schools
the hand-sleds and skates, have eluded
our silvery hair and tottering step,
forever The days spent in blssful
dreams of future greatness and posi-.
bic pleasure, have left the present with
its Sodom apples upon our lips,-dust
and ashes There is this solace LEFT
us still: we can track back our live,
through their ever changing scenes
and here and there find landmark
that is pleasant and attractive to look
upon.


First among these fnger-boards, in
the full bloom Of early beauty, stands
our birthplace. Here our first hopes
and impressions took ground, and there
they go back to complete their reai-
zation Of what VIC are and have been,
and give us new vigor to 60 forward
towards what we are to be- Out OF
these same birth-places, whether plain
or palatial, whether gay or gloomy,
we receive an impress that time, with
its iron pen, day by day gravens
deeper upon the tablets of our history


Rirth- places may be classed in three
divisions the pleasant, the unpleas.
ant and the hateful. The former is
the sequent of warm, sympathetic
hearts, irrespective of landscape sur.
roundings and stately halls. The Sec
ond is most palpable when selfshness
distinguishes the actions Of the in
mates, and where neither beauty OF
scenery nor grandeur of life is able to
cure the sting Of neglect and remorse
The third is more frequently discov.
cred than we are willing to admit
Indifference to all its belongings is the
chief emotion of its luckless residents
crimes and ignorance, squallor and
poverty its chief furniture. From
some of these we have all taken uT
our way in life, and fresh in oui
memory are all their surroundings.


1t is still possible for our fancy to
realize the nibble Of the fish in the lit.
tie stream that meandered through
the broad green meadow that skirted
our playground; and we not unfro.
quently find ourselves listening to the
pleasant song of the "Bob O'link," a,
he used to chirrup out his reville upon
some long waving grass that swayod
in cadence to his music, His song
was the very ecstasy of harmony; bui