Such was the wise and considerate allotment which the landlords and the farmers had _here_ made for the labouring poor.

The wholesome vegetable, the medicinal herb, and the sweet-scented flower, intermingled as they grew around these little dwellings, and reminded me, as I looked upon them, how comfortable is the lot of the industrious poor, whose hearts have learned the lesson of gratitude in the school of heavenly wisdom.

For them as mercifully as for their richest neighbour, the sun shines, the rain descends, the earth brings forth her increase, the flower blossoms, the bird sings.

Their wants are few, and contentment makes them less.

How great the blessing of being poor in this world, but rich in faith and a chosen inheritance in a better! I knew that this was the character of some whose humble but neat and cleanly cottages I passed.