THE VILLAGE HOME. Part E. "Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be, Christian Year. "His compassions fail not; they are new every morning."-Lament. iii, 22, 23. FANNY AIKEN was just twelve years old, and she lived with her mother and a little brother, in a very pretty, very small cottage, situated at the edge of a clean cheerful village in Devonshire, which is a long way off from where we are now. They had lived in this house ever since Fanny was born, her father died immediately after her little brother's birth, when she was just three years old,—an age too young for her to understand what a loss she had sustained; but she was old enough to feel very sorry when she saw her mother crying, and she would go and kiss the tears off her cheeks, and tell her not to cry, for that father was in Heaven, and much happier than he was before; the poor little thing of course only repeated what she heard said by the kind neighbours, in their attempts to cheer and comfort her mother; but hearing these words so unconsciously spoken in her imperfect language by her little childwords which she humbly trusted were true— did indeed comfort the poor widow's heart. Well, this cottage always seemed to Fanny to be the very prettiest place in the world. I will tell you what it was like: it had a nice thatched roof, which kept it warm and snug in the winter, and under this thatch close to the windows did two swallows come every year and build their nest, and rear their young. They never failed to return there every spring, and the good woman would not have them touched or disturbed for the world, and the birds knew they would be protected, for they were quite tame, and would feed their young ones while Fanny and Willie stood by watching them: the children were very fond of their pets, and always in a great fright if they saw a cat wandering that way, for fear she should discover their little family. There was a luxuriant honeysuckle, and a china rose, all covered with flowers in the summer, and the perfume of which reached you, as you sat in the kitchen, through the open window; the two together quite covered the front of the house; a nice shady lane went just in front of the door, with pleasant green banks on each side of it, and straggling hedge-rows on the top of the banks of bramble and wild rose, and hawthorn, and here and there a fine large tree, oak, or beech, or elm just facing her cottage there was a stile which led to a path across fields, and that took you to the neighbouring town, about three miles off: it was a pleasant spot as any one could see, and the inside of the cottage was a pattern of tidiness and order, with its bright red floor nicely sanded every morning, just to prevent people's wet shoes making dirty marks near the door; the walls were whitewashed, and never seemed to have a speck upon them, and on each side of the chimneypiece, in a nice black frame, were the Ten Commandments, and the Belief and Lord's Prayer, printed in a good large print. The children always looked at these with great reverence, and loved nothing so well as when, on a Sunday evening, their mother would make them repeat the Commandments after her, and then in a simple manner, suited to their child-like capacity, would explain some part of them, till they got to be able to say them by themselves, and tell her over again what she had taught them. The poor widow was a most sincere Christian, trusting in her Heavenly Father with a firm unwavering faith, in sorrow as well as in joy, always feeling that He knew what was best for her, and that with trials He always sent strength to bear them, to those who truly trusted in Him, and strove humbly to serve and please Him in every act of their life. But to go on with our account of the cottage: the little grate was always made as black and as bright as possible; there was the little oven on one side, and a bright little kettle on the hob; opposite the fire was a long wooden dresser with a few shelves over it, on which were the few plates, dishes, and cups and saucers, that Mrs. Aiken possessed. On one side of the fire was her low rush-bottomed chair, and by it a little round table with her basket of work, for she took in plain work, and was so reasonable in her charges, and so neat a workwoman, she had always plenty to do. Over against her chair, on the other side, was a little wooden shelf, hung to the wall by a nail, and on it, in a tidy green baize cover, was her Bible and Prayer Book, with one or two religious tracts, that had been given to her by the clergyman, and in the long casement window there was a narrow ledge just wide enough to hold a row of flower pots, which were Fanny's particular care: they had no garden, and, as the widow said, flowers always made a place look cheerful, and cost nothing but a little time and trouble, for the plants were given her by a kind old gardener who lived hard by, and was very |