There iS no doubt that the poorer classes in our country are much more charitably disposed than their superiors in wealth．And I fancy it must arise a great deal from the comparative indistinction of the easy and the not SO easy in these ranks．A workman or a peddler cannot shutter himself 0ff from his less comfogable neighbors．If he treats himself tO a luxury，he must do it in the face of a dozen who cannot．And what should more directly lead to charitable thoughts?Thus the poor man，camping out in life，sees it as it is，and knows that every mouthful he puts in his belly has been wrenched out of the fingers of the hungry． But at a certain stage of prosperity，as in a balloon ascent，thefortunate person passes through a zone of clouds，and sublunary mattersare thenceforward hidden from his view．He sees nothing but theheavenly bodies，all in admirable order and positively as good as new．Hefinds himself surrounded in the most touching manner by the attentionsof Providence，and compares himself involuntarily with the lilies andthe skylarks．He does not precisely sing，of course；but then he looks SOunassuming in his open Landau!If all the world dined at one table thisphilosophy would meet with some rude knocks．
PoNT—SUR—SAMBRE THE TRAVEUNG MERCHANT
Like the lackeys in Molire’s farce，when the true noblemanbroke in on their high life below stairs，we were destined to be confronted with a real peddler．To make the lesson still more poignant for fallen gentlemen like US，he was a peddler of infinitely more consideration thanthe sort of scurvy fellows we were taken for；like a lion among mice，or a ship of war bearing down upon two cockboats．Indeed，he did not deservethe name of peddler at all；he was a traveling merchant． I suppose it was about half-past eight when this worthy，Monsieur Hector Gilliard，of Maubeuge，turned up at the alehouse door in a tilt cart drawn by a donkey，and cried cheerily on the inhabitants．He was a lean，nervous flibbertigibbet of a man，with something the look of an actor and something the look of a horse jockey．He had evidently prospered without any of the favors of education，for he adhered with stern simplicity to the masculine gender，and in the course of the evening passed off some fancyfutures in a very florid style of architecture．With him came his wife，a comely young woman，with her hair tied in a yellow kerchief，and their son，a little fellow of four，in a blouse and military kpi．It was notable that the child was many degrees better dressed than either of the parents．We were informed he was already at a boarding school；but the holidays having just commenced，he was off to spend them with his parents on a cruise．An enchanting holiday occupation，was it no?To travel all day with father and mother in the tilt cart full of countless treasures；the green country rattling by on either side，and the children in all the villages contemplating him with envy and wonder．It is better fun，during the holidays，to be the son of a traveling mer