acter of Sterne, as seen in his life and writings, no favorable impression can be formed.

5. In making a selection from Tristram Shandy, we shall introduce it with an extract from what that kind and genial author, Leigh Hunt, says of Sterne's creation of that delightful character, "Uncle Toby."

6. "But what shall I say to thee, thou quintessence of the milk of human kindness, thou reconciler of war, (so far as it was once necessary to reconcile it,)-thou returner to childhood during peace, thou master of the best of corporals, thou high and only final Christian gentleman, thou pitier of the devil himself, divine Uncle Toby! Why, this I will say, made bold by thy example, and caring nothing for what anybody may think of it who does not, in some measure, partake of thy nature,-that he who created thee was the wisest man since the days of Shakspeare; and that Shakspeare himself, mighty reflector of things as they were, never arrived at a character like thine."-The English literary critic, Hazlitt, says, "My Uncle Toby is one of the finest compliments ever paid to human nature.”

The Story of Le Fevre.

1. In the celebrated story of Le Fevre we have an account of a sick lieutenant, travelling with his little son, and taken ill at an inn in the village near which Uncle Toby and his servant, Corporal Trim, were staying. The sympathetic Uncle Toby, having heard of the affliction that had befallen a brother soldier, though a stranger to him, immediately sent his servant to inquire into the sick man's condition. In the report made by the corporal, the latter spoke of a curate whom he met at the inn, and who, on hearing some allusion made to the lieutenant's saying his prayers, remarked, as Corporal Trim tells it,

2. "I thought," said the curate, "that you gentlemen of the army, Mr. Trim, never said your prayers at all.”—“I

heard the poor gentleman say his prayers last night very devoutly," said the landlady, "and with my own ears, or I could not have believed it." "Are you sure of it?"

asked the curate.

3. "A soldier, an't please your reverence," said I, "prays as often of his own accord as a parson; and when he is fighting for his king, and for his own life, and for his honor too, he has the most reason to pray to God of any one in the whole world." ""Twas well said of thee, Trim," said my uncle Toby.

4. "But when a soldier," said I to the curate, “an't please your reverence, has been standing for twelve hours together in the trenches up to his knees in cold water, or engaged," said I, " for months together, in long and dangerous marches; harassed, perhaps, in the rear to-day; harassing others to-morrow; detached here; countermanded there; resting this night out upon his arms; benumbed in his joints; perhaps without straw in his tent to kneel on; he must say his prayers how and when he can.

5. "I believe," said I-" for I was piqued for the reputation of the army-"I believe, an't please your reverence," said I, "that when a soldier gets time to pray, he prays as heartily as a parson, though not with all the fuss and hypocrisy of some of them."

6. "Thou shouldst not have said that, Trim," said my uncle Toby; "for God only knows who is a hypocrite and who is not. At the great and general review of us all, corporal, at the day of judgment, and not till then, it will be seen who have done their duty in this world, and who have not; and we shall be advanced, Trim, accordingly." "I hope we shall," said Trim.

7. " It is in the Scripture," said my uncle Toby, "and I will show it thee to morrow. In the mean time we may depend upon it, Trim, for our comfort," said my uncle Toby, "that the Almighty is so good and just a governor of the world, that, if we have but done our duties in it, it

will never be inquired into whether we have done them in a red coat or a black one." "I hope not," said the corporal. "But go on, Trim, with thy story," said my uncle Toby.

8. When the corporal had finished the account of his visit to the sick lieutenant, Uncle Toby remarks, "Thou hast left this matter short, and I will tell thee in what, Trim. In the first place, when thou mad'st an offer of my services to Le Fevre-as sickness and travelling are both expensive, and thou knowest he was but a poor lieutenant, with a son to subsist, as well as himself, out of his pay-that thou didst not make an offer to him of my purse; because, had he stood in need, thou knowest, Trim, he had been as welcome to it as myself." "Your honor knows," said the corporal, "I had no orders." "True," quoth my uncle Toby. "Thou didst very right, Trim, as a soldier, but certainly very wrong as a man."

9. "In the second place, for which, indeed, thou hast the same excuse," continued my uncle Toby, "when thou offeredst him whatever was in my house, thou shouldst have offered him my house, too. A sick brother officer should have the best quarters, Trim; and, if we had him with us, we could tend and look to him. Thou art an excellent nurse, thyself, Trim; and what with thy care of him, and the old woman's, and his boy's, and mine together, we might recruit him again at once, and set him upon his legs. In a fortnight or three weeks," added my uncle Toby, smiling, "he might march."

10. "He will never march, an't please your honor, in this world," said the corporal. "He will march," said my uncle Toby, rising up from the side of the bed with one shoe off. "An't please your honor," said the corporal, "he will never march, but to his grave." "He shall march," cried my uncle Toby, marching the foot which had a shoe on, though without advancing an inch—“ he shall march to his regiment."

corporal.

"He shall

"He'll drop at last," become of his boy?"

11. "He cannot stand it," said the be supported," said my uncle Toby. said the corporal; "and what will "He shall not drop," said my uncle Toby firmly. “Ah, well-a-day, do what we can for him," said Trim, maintaining his point, "the poor soul will die." “ He shall not die,” cried my uncle Toby, with an oath."-The Accusing Spirit, which flew up to heaven's chancery with the oath, blushed as he gave it in; and the Recording Angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word, and blotted it out forever.

12. My uncle Toby went to his bureau, put his purse into his pocket, and, having ordered the corporal to go early in the morning for a physician, he went to bed and fell asleep.

13. The sun looked bright, the morning after, to every eye in the village but Le Fevre's and his afflicted son's. The hand of death pressed heavy upon his eyelids, and hardly could the wheel at the cistern turn round its circle, when my uncle Toby, who had got up an hour before his wonted time, entered the lieutenant's room, and, without preface or apology, sat himself down upon the chair by the bedside, and, independently of all modes and customs, opened the curtain in the manner an old friend and brother-officer would have done it, and asked him how he did-how he had rested in the night-what was his complaint-where was his pain-and what he could do to help.

him.

14. Without giving him time to answer one of the inquiries, he went on and told him of the little plan which he had been concerting for him, with the corporal, the night

a But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.-Matt. v. 34-37.

before. "You shall go home directly, Le Fevre," said my uncle Toby, "to my house; and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter; and we'll have an apothecary, and the corporal shall be your nurse, and I'll be your servant, Le Fevre.”

15. There was a frankness in my uncle Toby—not the effect of familiarity, but the cause of it-which let you at once into his soul, and showed you the goodness of his nature. To this there was something in his looks, and voice, and manner, superadded, which ever beckoned to the unfortunate to come and take shelter under him; so that, before my uncle Toby had half finished the kind offers he was making to the father, the son had insensibly pressed up close to his knees, had taken hold of the breast of his coat, and was pulling it toward him.

16. The blood and spirit of Le Fevre, which were waxing cold and slow within him, and were retreating to their last citadel, the heart, rallied back; the film forsook his eyes for a moment; he looked up wistfully in my uncle Toby's face, then cast a look upon his boy. Nature instantly ebbed again; the film returned to its place; the pulse fluttered-stopped - went on throbbed - stopped again— moved-stopped.-Shall I go on? No.

III.-Leigh Hunt, and His Writings, 1784-1859.

1. LEIGH HUNT was a popular English poet and essayist of the lively and descriptive school. While a mere lad he wrote verses; at an early age he began to contribute to periodicals; and at twenty-one he had already acquired distinction as a genial dramatic critic.

2. In 1808 he and his brother started the "Examiner," a liberal political journal that became noted for the freedom of its political discussions; and as at that period in English history any strictures upon the ruling powers rendered