THE SKETCH-BOOK

VOL. II.

THE SKETCH-BOOK

IT

CHRISTMAS EVE.

Saint Francis and Saint Benedight
Blesse this house from wicked wight.
From the night-mare and the goblin,
That is hight good fellow Robin;
Keep it from all evil spirits,

Fairies, weezels, rats, and ferrets.
From curfew time

To the next prime.

CARTWRIGHT.

T was a brilliant moonlight night, but extremely cold; our chaise whirled rapidly over the frozen ground; the post-boy smacked his whip incessantly, and a part of the time his horses were on a gallop. "He knows where he is going," said my companion, laughing, "and is eager to arrive in time for some of the merriment and good cheer of the servants' hall. My father, you must know, is a bigoted devotee of the old school, and prides himself upon keeping up something of old English hospitality. He is a tolerable specimen of what you will rarely meet with nowadays in its purity, the old