Year: 1875

! BY CHARLES LAMB.


| Children love to listen to stories about
their elders, when they were children; to
stretch their Imagination to the conception
oft tradiionary great uncle, or grandame,
whom they never saw. 1t was in this spirit
that my little ones crept about me the 9th
er evening to hear about their great-grand-
mother Field, who lived in great house in
Norfalk "a hundred times bigger than that
in which they and papa lived) which had
been the scene 80 at least it was generally
believed in that r art of the country Of the
tragic Incidents which they had lately be
come familiar with from the ballad cf the
Children in the Wood Certain it is that
the whole story of the children and their
cruel uncle was to be seen fairly carved out
IN wood upon the chimney-piece of TIE
great hail. the whole story down to the
Rokir Redhreast; till a foolish rich person
pulled it down to set mp marole one OF
modern invention in its stead, with no story
upon it. Here Alice put out one of her
dear mothers looks, too tender to be called
uphraiding. Then | went on to say, how
religious and how good their great grand
mother Field was, how beloved and respect
ed by everybody, though she was not indeed
the mistress of this great house, but had
orly the charge of it (and yet in scme re-
spects she might be said to be the mistress
of it too) committed to her by the owner,
who preferred living in newer and more
fashionable mansion which he had purchas-
ed somewhere in the adjoining county; but
still she lived in it ia manner as if it Lad
been her own and kept up the dignity oi
the great house in sort while she lived
which afterwards came to decay, and was
nearly pulled down, and all its old orna
ments stripped and carried away to the
owners other house, where they were So
up, and looked as awkward as if some ont
were to carry away the old tombs they hat
seen lately at the Abbey, and stick then
up in Lady C.'s tawdry gilt drawing-rcom
Here John smiled, as much as to say, "tha
would be foolish indeed. And then | toll
how, when she came to die, her funeral wa
attended by a concourse of all the poor
and some of tbs gentry too, of the neigh
borhood for mauy miles round, to shov
their respect for her memory, because sht
had been such good and religious woman
so good indeed that she knew all the Peal
terry by heart, ay, and a great part of tn
Testament besides. Here little Alic
spyesd her hands Then tol what tai
Upright, graceful person their great-grad
mother Field once was; and how in he
youth she was esteemed the best dancer
here Allce's little right foot played an in
voluntary movement, till, upou my lookin
grave, it desisted the best dancer, | wa
saying, in the county, till cruel disease
called a cancer came, and bowed her dow
with pain; but it could never bend her goo
spirits, or make them stop, but they wer
still upright, because she was SO good an





religious Then | told how she was use
to sleep by herself in lone chamber of tt
great lone house; and how she belieye
that an apparition of tSo infants was
be seen at midnight gliding up and dow
tie great staircase near where she slep
but she said "those innocents would do b


no harm;" and how frightened | used


be. though in those days | had my ma
} to sleep with me, because | was never ha
Z so good or religious as she,-apd yet ! ne
ar ~r saw the infants. Here John expand


his evesand tried to look eourag


Gus. Then | told how good she was to


her GRANDCHILDREN. having us to the gre
house in the holidays, where in particu
!. used to spend many hours by myself,


gazing upon the old busts of the TIVE


Casars. that had been Emper0rs Of Ron


till the old marble heads would seem


live again, or | to be turned into mar
Ire with them: how / never could be tired W
to roaming about that huge mansion, with
We vast empty rooms, with their worn
Is, hanging futtering tapestry, and carved o


IN nannels, with the gliding almost rub


out,-sometimes III the spacious old Ia


ioned gardens, which had almost to
20 self Unless yhsn now and then solit