there seemed, as I went along, so scanty
a population, and so few poor cottages, that I
wondered what Mr. Alley could possibly want
a curate for. That, however, was not my business,
and the place seemed exactly to suit
a young divine who had everything to learn.
Conversing with the driver of the gig I had
hired, upon general local topics, he presently
observed with a grin, which, I am sure, my
familiarity had not been sufficient to provoke,—

"Cummin to be parson here, sir, under
Mr. Lacey Alley?"

"There is," I observed quietly, " a
probability of my becoming his curate."

"Noa, ye won't, sir, take my word for it,"
he rejoined.

"Indeed! Is the vacancy already filled up?"

"Not as I knows on," he replied; "but
there has been a matter of a dozen young
gents arter it lately, and they all goes back
by the next train, they does. I have lived
within three mile of Credita all my life, and
I never knowed one stay much more nor a
year there—when he did stay."

I felt that it would not be delicate to
converse with this man upon such a subject
further; so I kept silence till we drove
through the rectory gates.

It was a very snug little place, and in
beautiful order. A honeysuckle was trained
over the porch, diffusing a luxurious perfume;
and there were grapes all over the house
front. The entrance hall had a beautiful
model in ivory of the neighbouring cathedral.
In the study, wherein I awaited Mr. Alley's
coming, was arranged a great mass of
theological learning, and the Bishop of the
Diocese (very faithfully your's) hung over the
mantelpiece. Upon a luxurious chair
beside the window, there lay a heap of
reports of different religious societies. The
whole room was pervaded, too, with an
agreeable incense, which perhaps (for I was
not of course then qualified to judge) may
have been the odour of sanctity; but which,
had I detected it in college rooms, I should
have pronounced to be the scent of
Havannah cigars. Presently the rector entered
with a very sweet smile: a stout, good-
humoured gentleman in spectacles and short
black gaiters.

Was I come with an idea of becoming his
fellow-labourer?  It was his fervent hope
that I should be so. Did I admire the village,
and surrounding country? It was most kind
of me to say that much. I would stay to
dine with him surely; and, in the meantime,
would I take a stroll with him in the
extremely limited grounds?

We went into an old-fashioned garden,
with cut yews around a bowling-green, a
large arbour and a magnificent mulberry-
tree; looked over a hedge of sweetbriar, and
admired the points of a sleek cob in the field
adjoining; discussed divers clerical matters,
and returned at the sound of a little silver
bell to dine.

Mr. Lacey Alley was, as I have said,
a pleasant-looking, bald old gentleman at all
times; but, after dinner, benevolence seemed
positively to beam from him in all directions,
like light from the sun. When he had
got the port back again from my side of the
table to his, nursing his right leg upon his
left, and sliding down in the comfortable
arm-chair to an angle of about one hundred
and seventy-five degrees, he might have sat
for an allegory of Content, or an incarnation
of Plenty.

"The work is very light, you see, Mr.
Andrews," he said, after showing a little
sketch of my future duties at Credita; "and,
with the furnished cottage and your title, I
think if we say fifty pounds a-year, it will
be about the mark."

"Well, sir," I replied, "I have but a very
small private property,—scarcely anything,
indeed, independent of my personal exertions;
but, as it is my first essay, and you give, as
you say, a title, I accept your offer with
pleasure."

"Yes," pursued Mr. Lacey Alley, dreamily,
and sipping at his glass in an abstracted
manner, "I think fifty pounds per annum is
not too much: paid quarterly, either at the
Rectory House, or at Bagstock, Mammon and
Bagstock, Cornhill, to my private account. I
have had seventy–five pounds for a title before
this; but we will say fifty."

"What," I said, "my good sir, do I understand
that I am to be your debtor?—to pay
you fifty pounds a–year for being your
curate?"

"Precisely so." And the reverend gentleman
gave me a nod of condescension and
kindness, as if to preclude any expression
of gratitude, and to acquit me of all
obligation. I thanked him for his
hospitality, and took my leave almost at once,
carpet-bag in hand; for, with the intention
of sleeping in the village, I had foolishly
dismissed my vehicle, and had now to walk
to the station. At the corner of the rectory
wall, however, I found gig and driver waiting.
"All right," he said, "I know'd you'd
be back again for the next train; there ain't
one in twenty as stops." Selling titles,
indeed, was just as much a source of professional
emolument to Lacey Alley as the tithes
of Credita Regis; and there were but few who
could afford to buy them at his valuation.

I applied to a good many more ecclesiastical
advertisers, both personally and by
letter, before I got a title to orders. The
majority of them gave nothing whatever to
their curates besides their characters; few
gave more than thirty pounds—unless there
was no furnished dwelling-place; and none
more than sixty pounds. An offer of this last
sum I at last accepted.

The vicarage of Multum in Parvo, was
upon the summit of a range of downland,
very wild and bleak. It was the only respectable-
looking house in the hamlet; and, from