was a sentiment of which they never allowed themselves to lose sight. Amid the preparations making for his own enjoyment, and the comforts by which he set at defiance the austerities of the season, the old English gentleman did not forget the affecting truths so beautifully embodied in words by Mary Howitt:-- "In rich men's halls, the fire is piled, And ermine robes keep out the weather; In poor men's huts, the fire is low, Through broken panes the keen winds blow, And old and young are cold together. "Oh! poverty is disconsolate! Its pains are many, its foes are strong! The rich man, in his jovial cheer, Wishes 'twas winter through the year; The poor man, 'mid his wants profound, With all his little children round, Prays God that winter be not long!" Immediately after the services of the day, the country gentleman stood of old, at his own gate (as we have represented him at page 109), and superintended the distribution of alms to the aged and the destitute. The hall, prepared for the festival of himself and his friends, was previously opened to his tenants and retainers; and the good things of the season were freely dispensed to all. "There was once," says the writer of "Round about our Coal Fire," "hospitality in the land. An English gentleman at the opening of the great day had all his tenants and neighbors enter his hall by daybreak; the strong beer was broached, and the black-jacks went plentifully about, with toast, sugar, nutmeg, and good Cheshire cheese. . . . The servants were then running here and there with merry hearts and jolly countenances. Every one was busy in welcoming of guests, and looked as snug as new-licked puppies. The lasses were as blithe and buxom as the maids in good Queen Bess's days, when they ate sirloins of roast-beef for breakfast. Peg would scuttle about to make a toast for John, while Tom run _harum-scarum_ to draw a jug of ale for Margery." [Illustration: COUNTRY CHURCH, CHRISTMAS MORNING.--_Page 290._]