of Christmas cheer: it was not in the least like the mince-pie, that abomination of their stern old fathers. We hardly know whether to laugh or to cry, when we remember the fierce attacks made upon the roasted boar's-head, the mince-pies, and other good things of that kind, by the early Puritans; but when we recollect the reason of this enmity, we mourn over the evils that prejudice brings about in this world. Strange, indeed, that men, endowed with many Christian virtues, should have ever thought it a duty to oppose so bitterly the celebration of a festival in honor of the Nativity of Christ! Happily, Time, the great ally of Truth, has worked a change in this respect; Christmas is kept throughout the country, and mince-pies are eaten with a quiet conscience and very good appetite by everybody. And what is vastly to the credit of the community, while all have returned to the mince-pie, all are quite capable of doing justice to a good pumpkin-pie also, and by a very happy state of things, the rival pastries are found on the same tables, from Thanksgiving to Ash-Wednesday. Mince-pies are even more in favor in this country than in England; some people eat them all the year round; I have been offered a slice on the eve of the 4th of July. Those made by the farmers' wives about the country are, however, very coarse imitations of the real thing; their paste is made with lard, and always heavy; coarsely-hashed meat, and apples, and suet, with a little spice, are the chief ingredients, and a dish more favorable to dyspepsia could not easily be put together.
Monday, 18th.—A pair of the golden-winged woodpeckers, or clapes, as many persons call them, have been on the lawn all the afternoon. These large woodpeckers often come into the village, especially in the spring and autumn, and they are frequently seen
