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Rh and mumming—the peasant gathering that May-day called out upon the green, drew together ranks whose distance, in our day, occasions forgetfulness on one side, and discontent on the other. The presence of superiors is at once a check and an encouragement. Look to the French for a proof that festivity and inebriety are not inseparable." "Alas! my dear Spenser, how much easier it is to plan than to perform! Here are we framing schemes of national improvement, at some hundred miles distant from our country. However, I lay 'the flattering unction to my soul' that my present will be my last absence from home." Lady Mandeville now entered the room from a drive; and flinging down her furred mantle, and drawing an arm-chair to the hearth, prepared to narrate the news of the morning. "As usual, Mde. de Cayleure is the gazette extraordinary of her acquaintance: she is a living instance of the doctrine of attraction—all species of news seem to go naturally to her as to their centre." "I do wonder, Ellen, what pleasure you can take in that woman's company. A conversation such as hers, always 'seasoned with personal