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diff --git a/42024-0.txt b/42024-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1bfc98 --- /dev/null +++ b/42024-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2650 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42024 *** + + A + CUP OF SWEETS, + THAT CAN + _NEVER CLOY_: + OR, + DELIGHTFUL TALES + FOR + _GOOD CHILDREN_. + + BY THE AUTHOR OF GODMOTHER'S TALES, &c. &c. + + + FOURTH EDITION. + + + _LONDON._ + + PRINTED FOR J. HARRIS, SUCCESSOR TO E. NEWBERY, AT + THE ORIGINAL JUVENILE LIBRARY, THE CORNER OF + ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. + + 1810. + + _E. Hemsted, Printer, Great New-street, Gough-square._ + + + + +[Illustration: The Curious Girl. + +Away she threw the peg--up went the cover of the +Basket--and whizz--out flew a beautiful White Pigeon. + +_Published Nov. 1st. 1803, by J. Harris corner of St. Pauls Church +Yard._] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Page + + _Curiosity_ 1 + + _The Unsettled Boy_ 11 + + _Cecilia and Fanny_ 21 + + _Henry_ 33 + + _Maria; or, the Little Slattern_ 40 + + _Frederick's Holidays_ 51 + + _The Little Quarrellers_ 60 + + _The Vain Girl_ 68 + + _The Young Gardeners_ 78 + + _The Whimsical Child_ 85 + + _Edward and Charles_ 94 + + _The Truant_ 104 + + _Jealousy_ 115 + + _Edmond_ 121 + + _The Ghost and the Dominos_ 129 + + _Fido_ 143 + + _The Reward of Benevolence_ 150 + + _Jemima_ 162 + + _The Trifler_ 171 + + _The Cousins_ 177 + + _The Travellers_ 189 + + _The Strawberries_ 200 + + + + +A CUP OF SWEETS. + + + + +CURIOSITY. + + +Arabella fancied there could be no pleasure in the world equal to that +of listening to conversations in which she had no concern, peeping into +her mamma's drawers and boxes, and asking impertinent questions. If a +parcel was brought to the house, she had no rest till she had found out +what was in it; and if her papa rung the bell, she would never quit the +room till the servant came up, that she might hear what he wanted. + +She had been often desired to be less curious, and more attentive to her +lessons; to play with her doll and her baby-house, and not trouble +herself with other people's affairs: but she never minded what was said +to her, and when she was sitting by her mamma, with a book in her hand, +instead of reading it, and endeavouring to improve herself, she was +always looking round her, to observe what her brothers and sisters were +doing, and to watch every one who went out or came into the room. + +She desired extremely to have a writing-master, because she hoped, that, +after she had learnt a short time, she should be able to read writing, +and then she should have the pleasure of finding out who all the letters +were for, which the servant carried to the post-office; and might +sometimes peep over her papa's shoulder, and read those which he +received. One day perceiving her mamma whisper to her brother William, +and that they soon after left the room together, she immediately +concluded there must be something going forward, some _secret_ which was +to be hid from her, and which, perhaps, if she lost the present moment, +she never should be able to discover. Poor Arabella could sit still no +longer; she watched them from the window, and seeing that they went +towards a gate in the garden, which opened into the wood, she determined +to be there before them, and to hide herself in the bushes near the +path, that she might overhear their conversation as they passed by. +This she soon accomplished, by taking a shorter way; but it was not +very long before she had reason to wish she had not been so prying; for +the gardener passing through the wood with an ill-natured cur which +always followed him, seeing her move among the bushes, it began to bark +violently, and in an instant jumped into her lap. + +She was very much frightened, and, in trying to get away, without +intending it, gave him a great blow on the head; in return for which he +bit her finger, and it was so very much hurt, and was so long before it +was quite well again, that her friends hoped it would have cured her of +being so curious; but they were much mistaken. Arabella's finger was no +sooner well, than the pain she had suffered, her fright, and the +gardener's cur, were all forgotten; and whenever any thing happened, let +the circumstance be ever so trifling, if she did not perfectly +understand the whole matter, she could not rest or attend to any thing +she had to do, till she had discovered the mystery; for she imagined +_mysteries_ and _secrets_ in every thing she saw and heard, unless she +had been informed of what was going to be done. + +Some time after her adventure in the wood, she one morning missed her +brother William, and not finding him at work in his little garden, began +directly to imagine her mamma had sent him on some secret expedition; +she resolved, however, on visiting the whole house, in the hope of +finding him, before she made any inquiry, and accordingly hunted every +room and every closet, but to no purpose. From the house she went to the +poultry-yard, and from thence to the lawn, but William was no where to +be found. What should she do!--"I will hunt round the garden once more," +said she; "I must and will find him, and know where he has been all this +time; why he went without telling me, and why I might not have been +intrusted with the secret. I will not eat my dinner till I find him, +even if he does not return till night." + +Arabella returned once more to the garden, where at length, in a retired +corner which she had not thought of visiting, she found her brother +sleeping under a large tree. He had a little covered basket by his side, +and slept so soundly, that he did not move when she came near the +place, though she was talking to herself as she walked along, and not in +a very low voice. + +"Now," thought the curious girl, "I have caught him: he must have been a +long way, for he appears to be very warm and tired; and he has certainly +got something in that basket which I am not to see, and I suppose mamma +is to come here and take it from him, that I may know nothing of it. +Mamma and William have always secrets, but I will discover this, +however--I am determined I will." + +She then crept softly up to the basket, and stopped down to lift up the +cover, afraid almost to breathe, lest she should be caught; and looking +around to see if her mamma was coming, and then once more at her +brother, that she might be certain he was still asleep, gently she put +her hand upon the basket, and, without the least noise, drew out a +little wooden peg, which fastened down the cover. "Now," thought she, +"Master William, I shall see what you have got here." Away she threw the +peg, up went the cover of the basket, and whizz--out flew a beautiful +white pigeon. + +A violent scream from Arabella awoke William, who, seeing the basket +open, the pigeon mounted into the air, and his sister's consternation, +immediately guessed what had happened, and addressed her in the +following manner: + +"You see, my dear Arabella, the consequence of your curious and +suspicious temper: I wished to make you a present to-day, because it is +your birthday, but you will not allow your friends to procure you an +agreeable surprise; for nobody in the house can take a single step, or +do the least thing, without your watching and following them. I know you +have long wished to have a white pigeon, and I have walked two long +miles in all this heat, to get one for you. I sat down here, that I +might have time to contrive how I should get it into the house without +your seeing it, because I did not wish to give you my present till after +dinner, when papa and mamma will give you theirs; and whilst I was +endeavouring to think on some way to escape your prying eyes, I was so +over-powered with fatigue and heat, that I fell fast asleep; and I see +you have taken that time to peep into my basket, and save me any +farther trouble. You have let my present fly away: I am sorry for it, my +dear sister, but you have no one to blame but yourself; and I must +confess that I am not half so sorry for your loss, as I am for the fate +which attends two poor little young ones which are left in the basket, +and who, far from being able to take wing, and follow their mother, are +not old enough even to feed themselves, and must soon perish for want of +food." + +William's words were but too true; the poor things died the next +morning, and Arabella passed the whole day in unavailing tears, regret, +and sorrow. + + + + +THE UNSETTLED BOY. + + +"I do not think, at last, that I shall like to be a surgeon," said +Gustavus to his papa, as he trotted by his side on his little poney. +"Edward Somerville is to be a clergyman: and he has been telling me that +he is to go to Oxford, and then he is to have a living, and will have a +nice snug parsonage-house, and can keep a horse, and some dogs, and have +a pretty garden; whilst I shall be moped up in a town, curing wounds, +and mending broken bones--I shall not like it at all." + +"It was your own choice," answered his papa; "but if you think you +should like better to take orders, I am sure I have no objection." + +Three months after this conversation, Gustavus being invited to +accompany some friends to see a review, he returned home with his little +head so filled with military ideas, that he was certain, he said, +nothing could be so delightful and so happy as the life of an officer; +and that travelling about and seeing different places was better than +all the snug parsonage-houses in England. But, not many months from that +time, going with his papa to Portsmouth, to visit his elder brother, who +belonged to the navy, he was so struck with the novelty of the scene +(having never seen a man of war before), thought there was so much +bustle and gaiety in it, that it must be the pleasantest life in the +world, and earnestly requested that he might be allowed to go to sea. + +His papa now thought it time to represent to him the folly and +imprudence of being so unsettled. "My dear boy," said he, taking him +affectionately by the hand, "if you continue thus changing your mind +every three months, you will never be any thing but an idle fellow, and +your youth will be lost in preparations for different professions; or, +should you remain long enough fixed to have entered into any line of +life, you will not be long before you will desire to quit it for +another, of which you will probably be entirely ignorant, and by that +means ruin your fortune, and expose yourself to ridicule. + +"You make me recollect two boys I once knew, and whose story has often +been the subject of conversation, in a winter's evening, at the house of +an old clergyman, from whom I received the first principles of the +virtuous education my father had the goodness to bestow upon me. + +"Robin was the son of a farmer who lived in the village; his uncle kept +a grocer's shop in the next market town, and had a son named Richard. +They were very clever boys, both understood the business they had been +bred to extremely well, and, at the age of sixteen, were become very +useful to their parents; but about that time they took it into their +heads to grow tired of the employment they were engaged in, and to wish +to change places with each other; Robin fancying that he should like +extremely to be a grocer, and Richard, that nothing could possibly be so +pleasant and agreeable as working in the fields. + +"The two fathers, who wished for nothing so much as the happiness of +their children, were much grieved at this whim; for they very well knew, +that all they had been learning could be of no use to them, if they were +now to change their situations, and would be exactly so much time and +labour lost, and every thing was to begin again; but Robin and Richard +thought differently, and said they could not see that there was any +thing to learn. + +"Their fathers desired they might change places for one month, and +agreed that if in that time they saw no reason why they should not +remain, the one to learn the business of a farmer, and the other to +serve in a grocer's shop, they would willingly consent to indulge them +in their inclination; and accordingly, on the day on which Richard was +sent out to work in a large turnip field, Robin, decorated with a pair +of white sleeves, and an apron before him, was placed behind his uncle's +counter. + +"The first day he did nothing but grin and stare about him, dip his +fingers in the jars of honey, and fill his pockets with currants, +raisins, and figs, and he thought it pleasant enough; but the moment he +was set at work, he found himself so aukward, that, if he had not been +ashamed, he would have begged to return immediately to his plough and +his spade. Notwithstanding his earnest endeavours, he could not by any +means contrive to tie up a pound of rice, for when he had folded the +paper at one end, and, as he thought, secured it, he let it run out at +the other; and something of the same kind happening to every thing he +undertook, the shop was strewed from one end to the other with rice, +tea, and sugar; and his uncle told him he was only wasting his goods, +and doing mischief, without being of the smallest use. If he was sent +out with any parcels, he was sure to lose his way, and ramble about +whole hours together, till somebody was sent in search of him. No one +pitied him; he was the jest of the whole family; and, before half the +month was expired, he begged in the most earnest manner, that he might +return to the farm. + +"Richard, who had never been much exposed either to heat or cold, +desired his uncle would excuse his working till the cool of the evening; +but the farmer laughed at him, and asked him if he thought that would be +the way to get his work done. He was therefore obliged to go out and +attempt something, but his whole day's work might have been done in a +couple of hours by a country boy of twelve years of age, and would also +have been much better done, for poor Richard did not know what he was +about. + +"At five o'clock he said he must go and get his tea; but his uncle told +him they never drank any such slops, and promised him a good mess of +porridge for his supper, if he made haste to finish his work. + +"Richard _could not_ work; he had done nothing right, and the next day +he found it worse and worse; he did not know even how to handle a spade, +much less how to make use of it. He sauntered about, with his arms +across, the whole long summer's day, doing nothing, yet tired and +uncomfortable: he had nobody to speak to--he could not find one idle +person; even his aunt, when he went to seek her, was busy in her dairy, +and told him to go and mind his business, and not lounge about and +disturb those who were inclined to work. + +"Every creature he saw had some employment which they understood, and +appeared to take pleasure in, whilst he, unable to do the same, and +weary of wandering alone, from the garden to the field, and from the +field to the garden, wished a thousand times he had never quitted his +father's shop, where, being able to act his part as well as other +people, he felt himself of some consequence: now he was nobody, he was +in every one's way, and all were tired of him. + +"Robin and Richard were glad to return to their own homes, and re-assume +their former employments, in which they prospered so well, that they +never after felt the least inclination to quit them, and are at this +time living in ease and plenty, respected and esteemed by their friends +and neighbours." + + + + +CECILIA AND FANNY. + + +Cecilia went to spend a month with her aunt in the country. She was very +much pleased at being in a place where she could run in the garden and +in the fields as much as she liked, but she would have been much happier +if her sister had been with her; and Fanny, who fancied she should have +no pleasure in any thing without the company of her dear Cecilia, was +tired of her absence, and longed for her return, before she had been two +days gone. + +They could both write tolerably well, and Cecilia, the week after her +arrival at her aunt's, addressed the following letter to her sister: + + "MY DEAR FANNY, + + "I wish mamma could have parted with us both at the same time, that + we might have rambled about together in my aunt's beautiful + gardens, and in the fields and meadows which surround the house: + but I believe I am wrong in forming such a wish, for she would then + be left quite alone, and that I do not desire on any account; if I + did, I should appear very selfish, and as if I thought of nobody's + pleasure except my own, and that I should be extremely sorry for. + + "I am sure you will like to know that I am very happy at my + aunt's, and how good and kind she is to me. All the long border + behind the summer-house is to be called our garden, and it is now + putting in order for us; and when neither of us are here, my aunt + says the gardener shall take care of it: it is full of beautiful + rose-trees and flowering shrubs; and Thomas is planting many more, + and sowing mignonette, and other seeds, so that when you come here, + you will find it quite flourishing. + + "My aunt sends me very often with Biddy to walk by the sea-side, + and I have found a number of very pretty shells and sea-weeds, + which I shall bring you, and a great many curiosities which I have + picked up on the beach. I never saw such things before, and I am + sure you never did. We never see any thing where we live but + houses and pavement--here I have seen the mowers and the haymakers, + and I know how to make hay, and how butter is made, and many other + things. + + "Good night, my dear Fanny! Pray give my duty to dear mamma, and + believe me, + + "Your most affectionate sister, + + "CECILIA." + +Fanny was delighted at receiving this letter, and wrote the following +answer to her sister: + + "MY DEAR CECILIA, + + "How glad I am to hear that you are so happy in the country! I + should certainly like very much to be with you, but not to leave + mamma alone; and she is so good, that I am not half so lonely as I + thought I should be in your absence. Only think, my dear sister! + she has bought me the sweetest little goldfinch you ever saw, and + it is so tame, that the moment I come near the cage, it jumps down + from its perch to see what I have got for it. + + "But this is not all: she has taken me to a shop, and bought me a + great many pretty prints, which I am sure you will have great + pleasure in looking at when you come home. We have been twice at + M---- to spend the day; and indeed, my dear Cecilia, I have had a + great deal of pleasure, though perhaps not quite so much as you + have had in your fields and meadows, and among your haymakers; but + mamma says we may be happy in any place if we choose it, and will + determine to make ourselves contented, instead of spending our time + in wishing ourselves in other places than where we are: and I am + sure she is very right, for if I were to fret and vex myself + because I am not in the country, and you do the same because you + are not in town, my goldfinch and my prints, my pleasant walks in + the gardens at M----, and all mamma's kindness, would be lost upon + me, and you would have no pleasure in your little garden, or in + looking at the haymakers, your shells, your sea-weeds, or any of + the curiosities you meet with. + + "Pray, dear Cecilia, let me have one more letter from you before + you come home, and do not burn mine, for I shall like to see how + much better I write next year; and so will you, I dare say, so I + shall lock up your letters in my little work-trunk. + + "Mamma desires her best love to you. Give my duty to my aunt, and + believe me + + "Your affectionate sister, + + "FANNY." + +It was almost a fortnight before Fanny heard again from her sister, when +one morning a basket, covered very closely, and a small parcel, with a +letter tied upon it, were brought up stairs, and placed upon the table +before her. The letter was from her sister, and contained the following +words: + + "MY DEAR FANNY, + + "You would have heard from me much sooner, but I waited to write by + George, whom my aunt told me she should be obliged to send to town + on business. He brings you a basket of strawberries from her, with + her love to you: fourteen of them are from _our_ garden, and I + assure you I had a pleasure in picking them, which I cannot + describe: they are in a leaf by themselves, and I beg you will let + me know if they are ripe and sweet, for I did not taste them; I was + determined to send you all the first. I send you also a little + parcel of shells and sea-weeds, and when I am with you, I will + teach you how to make very pretty pictures of them, as my aunt has + had the goodness to teach me. + + "I have been very happy here, though I could not persuade myself to + believe it possible when I first came, because I could not have + mamma and you with me; but I shall remember her advice, and always + endeavour to be pleased, and find amusement where I am, and with + what I have, instead of fretting, like our cousin Emily, because + she had not a blue work-bag instead of a pink one, or because see + had an ivory toothpick-case given to her when she was wishing for a + tortoise-shell one. + + "My aunt says, that children who do so are so very tiresome, that + they make themselves disliked by every body, and that they are + never invited a second time to a house, because people are + generally tired of their company on the first visit. + + "I hope I shall see you and my dearest mamma next week; but you may + write to me by George, for I shall be very much disappointed if he + returns without a letter from you.--Adieu! dear Fanny. + + + "I am affectionately yours, + + "CECILIA." + +Fanny had only time to write a short note to her sister, which George +called for soon after dinner; and Cecilia's return the following week, +put an end to the correspondence for that time. The two sisters were +extremely happy to meet, though they had not made themselves +disagreeable, and teased people with their ill humour when they were +separated; and they were very well convinced, that if they had done so, +they should have suffered by it, and have been very uncomfortable. + +The following summer Fanny paid a visit to her aunt, and had the +pleasure of finding their little garden in such good order, and so many +strawberries in it, that she could send her sister a basket-full. She +could work very neatly; and her aunt having given her a large parcel of +silks, riband, twist, and gold cord, she made the prettiest pincushions +that ever were seen, to send to her mamma, her sister, and her cousins. + +Cecilia was extremely fond of drawing, and was so attentive to her +lessons during her sister's absence, that she had a portfolio full of +pretty things to shew her on her return. + +No little girls in the world could be happier than Cecilia and Fanny, +and the reason of it is very plain: they were always obedient to their +mamma's commands, kind to the servants, and obliging to every body; +always contented with what they had, and in whatever place they happened +to be; and never fretful and out of humour for want of something to do, +for they had endeavoured to learn every thing when they had an +opportunity of doing so, that they might never be at a loss for +employment and amusement. + + + + +HENRY. + + +Henry was the son of a merchant of Bristol: he was a very good-natured, +obliging boy, and loved his papa and mamma, and his brothers and +sisters, most affectionately; but he had one very disagreeable fault, +which was, that he did not like to be directed or advised, but always +appeared displeased when any body only hinted to him what he might, or +what he ought not to do; he fancied he knew right from wrong perfectly +well, and that he did not require any one to direct him. + +He was the most amiable boy in the world, if you would let him have his +own way: he never heard any body say they wished for a thing, that he +did not run to get it for them, if it was in his power; and no one could +be more ready to lend his toys to his brothers and sisters, whenever +they appeared to desire them: but the moment he was told not to stand so +near the fire, or not to jump down two or three stairs at a time, not to +climb upon the tables, or to take care he did not fall out of the +window, he grew directly angry, and asked if they thought he did not +know what he was about--said he was no longer a baby, and that he was +certainly big enough to take care of himself. + +His friends were extremely sorry to perceive this fault in his +disposition, for every body loved him, and wished to convince him, +that, though he was not a baby, he was but a child; and that if he would +avoid getting into mischief, he must, for some years, submit to be +directed by his papa and mamma, and, in their absence by some other +person who knew better than he did: but he never minded their advice, +till he had one day nearly lost his life by not attending to it. + +A lady, who visited his mamma, and who was extremely fond of him, met +him in the hall on new year's day, and gave him a seven shilling piece +to purchase something to amuse himself.--Henry was delighted at having +so much money; but instead of informing his parents of the present he +had received, and asking them to advise him how to spend it, he +determined to do as he liked with it, without consulting any body; and +having long had a great desire to amuse himself with some gunpowder, he +began to think (now he was so rich) whether it might not be possible to +contrive to get some. He had been often told of the dreadful accidents +which have happened by playing with this dangerous thing, but he fancied +_he_ could take care, _he_ was old enough to amuse himself with it, +without any risk of hurting himself; and meeting with a boy who was +employed about the house by the servants, he offered to give him a +shilling for his trouble, if he would get him what he desired; and as +the boy cared very little for the danger to which he exposed Henry, of +blowing himself up, so as he got but the shilling, he was soon in +possession of what he wished for. + +A dreadful noise was, some time afterwards, heard in the nursery. The +cries of children, and the screams of their maid, brought the whole +family up stairs: but oh! what a shocking sight was presented to their +view on opening the door! There lay Henry by the fireside, his face +black, and smeared with blood; his hair burnt, and his eyes closed: one +of his little sisters lay by him, nearly in the same deplorable +condition; the others, some hurt, but all frightened almost to death, +were got together in a corner, and the maid was fallen on the floor in a +fit. + +It was very long before either Henry or his sister could speak, and many +months before they were quite restored to health, and even then with +the loss of one of poor Henry's eyes. He had been many weeks confined to +his bed in a dark room, and it was during that time that he had +reflected upon his past conduct: he now saw that he had been a very +conceited, wrong-headed boy, and that children would avoid a great many +accidents which happen to themselves, and the mischiefs they frequently +lead others into, if they would listen to the advice of their elders, +and not fancy they are capable of conducting themselves without being +directed; and he was so sorry for what he had done, and particularly for +what he had made his dear little Emma suffer, that he never afterwards +did the least thing without consulting his friends; and whenever he was +told not to do a thing, though he had wished it ever so much, instead +of being angry, as he used to be, he immediately gave up all desire of +doing it, and never after that time got into any mischief. + + + + +MARIA; + +OR, + +THE LITTLE SLATTERN. + + +Little Maria B---- was so slatternly, and so careless of her clothes, +that she never was fit to appear before any body, without being first +sent to her maid to be new dressed. If she came to breakfast quite nice +and clean, before twelve o'clock you could scarcely perceive that her +frock had ever been white: her face and hands were always dirty, her +hair in disorder, and her shoes trodden down at the heels, because she +was continually kicking them off. + +At dinner no one liked to sit near her, for she was sure to throw her +meat into their laps, pull about their bread with her greasy fingers, +and never failed to overset her drink upon the table-cloth. + +One day her brother ran into the nursery in great haste, desiring she +would go down with him immediately into the parlour, and telling her, +that a gentleman had brought a large portfolio, full of beautiful prints +of all kinds of birds and animals, which he was going to shew to them, +if they were ready to come to him directly, for he could not stay with +them, he said, more than half an hour. + +Poor Maria was in no condition to shew herself; she had been washing +her doll's clothes (though her maid had desired her not to do it, and +had promised to wash them for her, if she would have patience till the +afternoon), and had thrown a large basin of water all over her; after +which, wet as she was, she had been rummaging in a dirty closet, where +she had no kind of business, and was, when her brother came into the +nursery, covered with dust and cobwebs. + +Susan was called in haste to new-dress her; but she was so extremely +careless of her clothes, and tore them so much every day, that one +person was scarcely sufficient to keep them in order for her. Not a +frock was to be found, which had not the tucks ripped, and the strings +broken, nor a pair of shoes fit to put on; her face and hands could not +be got clean without warm water, and that must be fetched from the +kitchen; then she had to look for a comb, Maria had poked hers into a +mouse-hole, and had been rubbing the grate with her brush: in short, by +the time all was ready, and she was dressed, a full hour had slipped +away without her perceiving it. + +Down stairs, however, she went, opened the parlour-door, and was just +going to make a fine courtesy to the gentleman and his portfolio, when +to her very great surprise and mortification, she perceived her mamma +sitting alone, at work by the fire. The gentleman had shewn his prints +to her brothers and sisters, made each of them a present of a very +pretty one, and had been gone some time. + +When her aunt came from Bath, she brought her a nice green silk bonnet, +and a cambric tippet, tied with green riband. Maria was very much +delighted with it, and fancied she looked so well in it, that she could +not be prevailed upon to pull it off; but she soon forgot that it was +new and very pretty, and ought to be taken care of; she thought of +nothing, when she could escape from her maid, but of getting into holes +and corners; and having rambled into an old back kitchen, and finding +herself too warm, she took off her pretty green bonnet, and threw it +down on the ground, but recollecting something she had now an +opportunity of doing, ran away in great haste, and left it there. + +When she was asked what she had done with her bonnet, she said she did +not know, and the servants lost their time in seeking for it; for who +would have thought of looking for a young lady's bonnet in a dirty back +kitchen? + +There, however, it was found, with a black cat and four kittens lying +asleep in it, and so entirely spoiled, that it could never be worn any +more; and she was obliged to wear her old bonnet a great many months +longer, for her mamma was extremely angry with her, and would not buy +her a new one; nor did she deserve to have one, till she could learn to +take more care of it, and not leave it about in such dirty places. + +It is not very usual to see young ladies wandering about by themselves +in stables and outhouses, but Maria had very great pleasure in it, and +never lost the opportunity when she could get away without being seen; +and she was so dirty, and had so often her clothes torn, that she was +frequently taken by strangers for some poor child sent on an errand to +the servants. + +One day, when she was passing through the gate to see who was coming +down the lane, a little boy upon an ass, who came up from the sea-side +every week with fish, seeing her there doing nothing, called out, "Here, +hark! you little girl, open the gate, I say--come, make haste, do not +stand there like a post. What! are you asleep?" + +Maria was so much ashamed, that she could not move, but hung down her +head, and the boy (who had a mind to make her save him the trouble of +getting off from his ass) continued to talk to her in the polite manner +in which he had begun: "Why, you little dirty thing! open the gate I +say--if you do not, I will tell the cook of you, and she will tell +Madam, and I shall get you turned out of the house." + +Thus was Maria B---- continually mortified by one person or another, and +losing every pleasure and amusement which her brothers and sisters were +indulged in, because she was never ready to join in them. They often +went to walk in the charming woods and meadows which surrounded the +house, and were sometimes sent with their maid to carry comfortable +things to their poor sick neighbours, from whom they received in return +a thousand thanks and prayers to God for their happiness; but Maria +could have no share in either, for she was never with them, and they +knew nothing of her. + +Once, when their grandpapa sent his coach to fetch them to dine with +him, Maria was not to be found; and, after seeking her all over the +house to no purpose, they at length caught her in the garden with a +watering pot, which she could hardly lift from the ground, her shoes wet +and covered with mould, her frock in the same condition, and her hands +and arms dirty quite up to the elbows. Her mamma positively declared +that the horses should not be kept a moment longer, the coachman was +desired to drive on, and Maria was left to spend the day in the nursery +from whence she was ordered not to stir. + +There she spent a melancholy day indeed, for she had no means of +amusing herself to make time pass lightly on: she had no pleasure in +reading, so that all the pretty books which had been bought for her were +of no use; she could not play with her doll, for it had no clothes, they +were all lost or burnt; and she had suffered a little puppy to play with +her work-bag, till both that and the work which was in it, thread-case, +cotton, and every thing else were all torn to pieces. The only thing she +found to do, was to sit down by the window, look at the road and cry, +till her brothers and sisters returned, and then she had the +mortification of hearing them recount the pleasure they had enjoyed, +talk of the curiosities their grandpapa had shewn them in the great +closet at the end of the gallery, and of seeing all the pretty things +they had brought home with them, and of which she might have had her +share if she had been of their party. + + + + +FREDERICK'S HOLIDAYS. + + +"I wish," said Frederick to Mr. Peterson, "I could be with my aunt in +town to spend the holidays; I shall be so tired here in the country, I +shall not know what to do with myself. Two of my schoolfellows live in +the next street to my aunt, and they will be going with their papa to +the play, and to Astley's, and to walk in the Park, and will have so +much more pleasure than I shall have--why, I might as well be at +school, as here sauntering about the fields." + +"You are not very civil," answered Mr. Peterson. "When you came from +Barbadoes last year, and had no other acquaintance, you liked very well +to be with me in the holidays: however, if you desire it, my dear +Frederick, you shall go to your aunt's, that you may be near your little +friends, and I will write to their papa, to request that he will give +you leave to be with them as much as possible, that you may partake of +all their pleasures, for I do not think you will have a great deal in +your aunt's house; you know she is always ill, and cannot have it in her +power to procure you much amusement." + +Frederick was accordingly sent to town, and his first wish was to pay a +visit to his two friends in the next street. His aunt's servant was +ordered to conduct him to the house, and he was shewn immediately up +stairs; but, instead of meeting with those he expected, he found their +papa alone in the drawing-room, sitting at a table covered with papers, +and apparently very busy. + +On inquiring for his schoolfellows, he was very much surprised at being +informed that they were gone into the country: "for," said their papa, +"they would not have liked to be confined at home all their holidays, +and I should have had no time to run about with them; they might as well +have remained at school as have been here; but where they are gone they +will enjoy themselves; they will spend a week at their grandfather's, +and from thence go to my good friend, Mr. Peterson's, where they will +have all the pleasure and amusement they can possibly wish for." + +Frederick was so vexed and disappointed that he could not open his lips, +but made a low bow, and returned to his aunt, whom he found just risen +to breakfast. She was quite crippled with rheumatism, and had so great a +weakness in her eyes, that she could not bear the light, and would only +allow one of the windows to have a little bit of the shutter open. + +In this dismal room, without any thing to amuse himself with, was poor +Frederick condemned to spend his holidays: his aunt made him read to her +whenever she was awake, and it was only when she dropped asleep for half +an hour in her easy chair, that he could creep softly to the other end +of the room, and peep with one eye into the street, through the little +opening between the shutters. + +Poor Frederick now sincerely repented having been so rude and ungrateful +to Mr. Peterson, and wished a thousand times a day he had been contented +to stay at his house; he would have been very happy to have had it in +his power to return, but dared not propose it to his aunt, and would +also have been ashamed to appear before Mr. Peterson. + +After many melancholy days, and tedious evenings, spent in lonely +solitude, he at length saw the happy morning which was to end his +captivity. "What a foolish boy I have been!" thought he, as he was +putting his things together. "The day of my return to school is my +first holiday, and the preparations I am making for it the only pleasure +I have felt since I left it. In the country, where I might have enjoyed +the liberty of running in the fields in the open air, I was discontented +and restless; and I left it, to shut myself up in a sick room. I am now +going back to school, to have the pleasure of hearing how agreeably all +my schoolfellows have been spending their time, whilst I shall have +nothing to recount to them, but how many phials were ranged on my aunt's +chimney-piece, and how many hackney-coaches I could see with one eye +pass through the street." + +Frederick was very right; he found his two little friends just arrived, +and who, for a whole week, could speak of nothing but the pleasure they +had enjoyed at Mr. Peterson's. They told him of their having being +several times on the river on fishing-parties, of two nice little ponies +which had been procured for them, that they might ride about in the +shady lanes, and round the park, and of the beautiful houses and gardens +they had been taken to see in the neighbourhood. + +They had a great many very pretty presents, which they shewed to +Frederick, and which they had received from their friends, who had been +pleased with their behaviour, and had desired they might be allowed to +pay them a visit at the next vacation. + +Frederick could never forget how much he had lost by his folly; he knew +he had been wrong, and, as he was not a bad boy, he was not ashamed to +acknowledge it, but wrote a very pretty letter to Mr. Peterson, begging +him to forgive the rudeness he had been guilty of, and telling him how +much he had suffered by it; assuring him that he would never again +desire to quit his house to go to any other, and saying, that he never +should have done it, if he had not been a foolish restless boy; that he +had been severely punished for his fault, and hoped he would think it +enough, and grant him his pardon as soon as possible. + +Mr. Peterson readily complied with his request, and invited him, the +next time he left school, to accompany his two little friends to his +house, where they spent a month in the midst of pleasure and amusement; +sometimes riding the ponies to the top of a hill, from whence they +could see the hounds followed by the huntsman, and several gentlemen on +horseback; at other times assisting their good friend to entertain his +tenants with their wives and children round a Christmas fire in the +great hall: in short, Frederick was so happy, that he never once thought +of Astley, the Park, or the play, or had any desire to quit Mr. Peterson +in search of other amusements. + + + + +THE LITTLE QUARRELLERS. + + +Margaret and Frances lived with their papa and mamma in a pretty white +house on the side of a hill; they had a very large garden which led into +a meadow, at the bottom of which ran a beautiful river. + +Every body thought them the happiest children in the world, and +certainly they might have been so, if their dispositions had been more +amiable; for their papa and mamma were very fond of them, and indulged +them in every thing proper for their age, and their friends were +continually bringing them presents of toys and dolls, or some pretty +thing or other. + +They had each a little garden of their own, full of sweet flowers and +shrubs, currants, gooseberries, and strawberries. Margaret had a +squirrel, in which she took great delight, for it would jump joyfully +about its cage whenever she came near it, and would eat nuts and biscuit +out of her hand; and Frances had a beautiful canary-bird in a nice gilt +cage, which awoke her every morning with a song, and told her it was +time to rise. Margaret's nurse had brought her a white hen with eight +little chickens, and Frances had the prettiest bantams that ever were +seen. + +Their mamma sent them to walk with their maid every evening, either over +the hill where the sheep and cows were feeding, or along the side of the +clear river, to pick up pebbles, to hear the merry songs of the +fishermen, and see the boats pass with the market-people, going to the +town with their fruit and their vegetables. Sometimes their papa took +them in his pleasure-boat across the river, to eat strawberries and +cream at a farm-house; and sometimes they were permitted to accompany +their mamma when she went to dine with her friends in the neighbourhood. + +It is scarcely to be believed, that two children who might have lived +so happily, should have found their greatest pleasure in tormenting +each other; and though, before their parents and strangers, they +appeared to be all sweetness and good-humour, that they should have been +continually contriving how to vex and teaze each other. The moment they +were alone, they did nothing but fight and quarrel, and dispute about +trifles. + +Not contented with this, whenever they were displeased, they did not +care what mischief they did, but tried, by every means in their power, +to vex each other, by spoiling and destroying every thing which came in +their way. Margaret was quite delighted when she had been running over +all Frances's garden, and treading down every thing which was growing in +it; and Frances, to be revenged on her sister, never failed to go +directly and pull up all her flowers by the roots, throw stones at her +little chickens, and tear her doll's clothes to pieces. + +One day when they had had a great quarrel about some foolish thing not +worth mentioning, Margaret was so extremely angry, that she got her +mamma's ink-stand, and threw the ink all over her sister's work, and +then walked out of the room, leaving it on the table, Frances, who was +gone to ask her mamma for some thread, no sooner returned to the +parlour, and found her work in so sad a condition, but guessing +immediately how it came so, instead of seeking for her sister, and +telling her in a gentle manner how wrong she had acted, and begging that +all their quarrels might be ended, and that they might live together as +sisters should do, and endeavour to make each other happy, instead of +spending their time in vexing and teazing each other--instead of doing +this, the malicious girl thought of nothing but how she might be +revenged; and watching for a favourable opportunity, she seized on a +fine damask napkin which had been given to Margaret to hem and mark, +threw it down on the hearth, contriving to let one end of it lie over +the fender, and then began to poke the fire as violently as she could, +hoping some of the cinders would fall upon it, and burn a few holes in +it. Her wish was soon accomplished, and even beyond what she desired, +for the napkin was in an instant in a blaze, and the house in danger of +being burnt to the ground. Terrified almost to death, she began to +scream for help, and the whole family were immediately assembled in the +parlour; Margaret among the rest, with the bottom of her frock covered +with ink, though she had not perceived it, and which too plainly shewed +who had done the first mischievous exploit. + +They were now both strictly examined, and their tricks soon discovered: +their papa and mamma watched them very narrowly, and found that they +were quite different when alone, to what they appeared when in their +presence; and they no longer treated them with the kindness and +indulgence they had hitherto done. Their gardens were taken from them, +the squirrel and the canary-bird given away, and the white hen, with +her little brood of chickens, sent back to the nurse: they were deprived +of all their amusements, and they had lost the good opinion of their +parents and friends, for the servants had told their story to every body +they met with, and they were never mentioned without being called the +Sly Girls, or the Little Quarrellers. + + + + +THE VAIN GIRL. + + +Caroline was trifling away her time in the garden with a little +favourite spaniel, her constant companion, when she was sent for to her +music-master; and the servant had called her no less than three +different times before she thought proper to go into the house. + +When the lesson was finished, and the master gone, she turned to her +mamma, and asked her, in a fretful and impatient tone of voice, how +much longer she was to be plagued with masters--said she had had them a +very long time, and that she really thought she now knew quite enough of +every thing. + +"That you have had them a very long while," answered her mamma, "I +perfectly agree with you; but that you have profited so much by their +instruction, as you seem to imagine, I am not so certain. I must, +however, acquaint you, my dear Caroline, that you will not be _plagued_ +with them much longer, for your papa says he has expended such large +sums upon your education, that he is quite vexed and angry with himself +for having done so, because he finds it impossible to be at an equal +expense for your two little sisters; I would therefore advise you, +whilst he is so good as to allow you to continue your lessons, to make +the most of your time, that it may not be said you have been learning so +long to no purpose." + +Caroline appeared quite astonished at her mamma's manner of speaking, +assured her she knew every thing perfectly, and said, that if her papa +wished to save the expense of masters for her sisters, _she_ would +undertake to make them quite as accomplished as she herself was. + +Some time after this conversation, she accompanied her mamma on a visit +to a particular friend who resided in the country; and as there were +several gentlemen and ladies at the same time in the house, Caroline was +extremely happy in the opportunity she thought it would give her of +surprising so large a party by her drawing, music, &c; and she was not +very long before she gave them so many samples of her vanity and +self-conceit, as rendered her quite ridiculous and disgusting. + +She was never in the least ashamed to contradict those who were older +and better instructed than herself, and would sit down to the piano with +the utmost unconcern, and attempt to play a sonata which she had never +seen before, though at the same time she could not get through a little +simple song, which she had been three months learning, without +blundering half a dozen times. + +There lived, at about the distance of a mile from Mrs. Melvin's house, a +widow lady, with her daughter, a charming little girl of thirteen years +of age, on whose education (so very limited was her fortune) she had +never had it in her power to be at the smallest expense: indeed, her +income was so narrow, that, without the strictest economy in every +respect, she could not have made it suffice to procure them the +necessaries of life; and was obliged to content herself with the little +instruction she could give to her child, and with encouraging her as +much as possible to exert herself, and endeavour to supply, by attention +and perseverance, the want of a more able instructor, and to surmount +the obstacles she would have to meet with. + +When Caroline heard this talked of, she concluded immediately that Laura +must be a poor little ignorant thing, whom she should astonish by a +display of her accomplishments, and enjoyed in idea the wonder she +would shew, when she beheld her beautiful drawings, heard her touch the +keys of the piano, and speak French and Italian as well as her own +language; which she wished to persuade herself was the case, though she +knew no more of either than she did of all the other things of which she +was so vain and conceited. + +She told Mrs. Melvin that she really pitied extremely the situation of +the poor unfortunate Laura, and wished, whilst she was so near, she +could have an opportunity of seeing her frequently, as she might give +her some instruction which would be of service to her. Mrs. Melvin was +extremely disgusted with the vanity of her friend's daughter, and +wishing to give her a severe mortification, which she thought would be +of more use to her than any lesson she had ever received, told her she +should pay a visit the next morning. + +The weather was extremely fine, and the whole company set forward +immediately after breakfast, and were soon in sight of a very neat but +small house, which they were informed belonged to the mother of Laura. A +little white gate opened into a garden in the front of it, which was so +neat, and laid out with so much taste, that they all stopped to admire +it, for the flowers and shrubs were tied up with the utmost nicety, and +not a weed was to be seen in any part of it. + +"This is Laura's care," said Mrs. Melvin; "her mamma cannot afford to +pay a gardener, but hires a labourer now and then to turn up the +ground, and, with the help of their maid, she keeps this little flower +garden in the order in which you see it; for by having inquired of those +who understand it (instead of fancying herself perfect in all things), +she has gained so much information, that she has become a complete +florist." + +They were shewn into a very neat parlour, which was ornamented with a +number of drawings. "Here," says Mrs. Melvin, "you may again see the +fruits of Laura's industry and perseverance; she has had no instruction, +except the little her mamma could give her, but she was determined to +succeed, and has done so, as you may perceive; for these drawings are +executed with as much taste and judgment as could possibly be expected +of so young a person, even if she had had the advantage of having a +master to instruct her. The fringe on the window curtains is entirely of +her making, and the pretty border and landscape on that fire-screen is +of her cutting." + +Caroline began to fear she should not shine quite so much as she had +expected to do, and was extremely mortified when Laura came into the +room, and was desired to sit down to the piano, at hearing her play and +sing two or three pretty little songs, so well and so sweetly, that +every one present was delighted with her. + +She scarcely ever dared, after this visit, to boast of her knowledge; +and if she did, Mrs. Melvin, who was her real friend, and wished to cure +her of her vanity, never failed to remind her of the little she knew, +notwithstanding all the money which had been expended upon her +education, in comparison to Laura, who had never cost her mamma a single +shilling. + + + + +THE YOUNG GARDENERS. + + +Charles, William, and Henry, had a large piece of ground given to them +to make a garden of. Their papa gave them leave to apply to the gardener +for instruction as often as they pleased, but not to expect any +assistance from him or any other person: they were to put it in order, +and keep it so by their own labour. + +"I know," said Charles to William, "that we shall never agree with +Henry; he is such an odd boy, that I really believe when once the garden +is put in order, he will be contented to walk about and look at it, +without ever touching any thing, for he is always quarrelling with us +because we have no patience, as he calls it."--"Yes," replied William, +"it is very true. Do you remember how angry he was when his bantam hen +was hatching her chickens, and we helped to pull them out of the eggs! +Who would have thought we should have killed any of them! I am sure I +did not; but they were so long, I could not bear to sit there all day +waiting for them. I think, Charles, we had better give him his share of +the ground, and let him do as he will with it, and you and I will make a +pretty garden of the rest, and manage it as we think proper." + +This being settled, and the ground fairly divided, they all three went +to work with the utmost alacrity. They rose with the lark in the +morning, turning up the earth, and clearing it of stones and rubbish; +but Henry by himself had got his garden laid out in beds and borders, +ready for planting, before Charles and William together had half done +theirs: they could not determine how to do it; the borders were too +narrow, and must be made broader; this bed must be longer, and that +shorter; so that what they did in the morning, they undid in the +evening, and their piece of ground lay in confusion and disorder, long +after Henry had planted his borders with strawberries, and his beds +were sown with annuals, and filled with pretty flowers and bulbous +roots. + +Charles and William had at length got their garden laid out in tolerable +order, and, in other hands, it might soon have been in a very +flourishing state; for their papa had given them leave to remove several +pretty shrubs from his into their garden, and consequently it already +wore a pleasant appearance. Two days had, however, scarcely elapsed, +before these whimsical boys were tired of the manner in which their +tree, &c. were planted, and longed to remove them. + +"This little cherry-tree," said William, "will surely look better at the +corner of the wall." + +"That it will," answered Charles, "and will grow better there, I dare +say; and the rose-trees, do observe how ill they appear at the end of +that border--who would ever have thought of planting rose-trees in such +a place?" + +"Nobody," said Charles, "and we had better change them directly, or it +will be supposed we know nothing of gardening, and we shall be laughed +at for pretending to it." + +No sooner said than done; the plants and flowers were removed, and, in +about a week from that day, were all put back into their former places. + +When their seeds were just beginning to appear above the ground, they +fancied that bed would do better for something else, and in less than +five minutes the spade was brought, the bed turned up, and all the +little flowers, which were springing up so strong and promising, were +destroyed without pity. + +What a different appearance did the two gardens make in the month of +June! Charles and William saw, with sorrow and regret, that theirs was +nothing more than a piece of waste ground; they had removed their trees +and shrubs so often, that they had all perished; and not having patience +to let their seeds come up and grow into blossom, their beds had nothing +in them. + +Henry's garden was beautiful; there was not the smallest bit of it but +had some pretty flower or fruit-tree growing in it: every part was +blooming and sweet; and his two brothers discovered, when too late, that +without perseverance and steadiness, nothing can be accomplished, and +that unless they came to a determination to follow the good example +their brother Henry set before them on this occasion, as on all others, +their minds would, like their garden, be uncultivated and waste. + + + + +THE WHIMSICAL CHILD. + + +Mr. and Mrs. Clermont invited their little niece, Elizabeth Sinclair, to +spend a month with them in the country. Mr. Clermont was extremely fond +of children, but his partiality to their company never extended to any +who had been improperly and foolishly indulged, and were whimsical and +discontented; and had he known that his sister had suffered her little +girl to have those disagreeable qualities, he never would have asked her +to his house; but he had been two years abroad, and knew nothing of +her. + +The day on which she was expected, her uncle and aunt went to meet her, +and were very much pleased with her appearance, as well as the +affectionate manner in which she returned the caresses they bestowed +upon her. She was extremely pretty, had fine teeth, fine hair, and a +beautiful complexion; and Mr. Clermont said to his wife, "I shall be +delighted to have this sweet little creature with me, and to shew all my +friends what a charming niece I have." But he was not long in changing +his opinion, and very soon discovered that her beauty, much as he had +thought of it, did not prevent her being the most disagreeable girl he +had ever met with. + +She was no sooner in the house than she complained of being too warm, +then too cold, and a minute after, too warm again--too tired to sit up, +yet not choosing to go to bed--wishing for some tea, and then not liking +any thing but milk and water--now drinking it without sugar, then +desiring to have some, and, after saying she never supped, bursting into +tears because she was going to be sent to bed without supper. + +"I perceive I was mistaken," said Mr. Clermont; "this _sweet little +creature_ will be a pretty torment to us, if we permit her to have her +own way; but I shall put a stop to it immediately." + +Accordingly, the next day at dinner, he asked her if she would be helped +to some mutton, but she refused it, saying she never could eat any thing +roasted. "Then, my dear," replied Mr. Clermont, "here is a boiled +potatoe for you; eat that, for you will have nothing else." + +Elizabeth was extremely disconcerted, and thought, if she had been at +home, her mamma would have ordered half a dozen different things for +her, rather than suffer her to eat any thing she disliked, or to dine +upon potatoes. She made a very bad dinner, and was cross and out of +humour the whole evening. + +The next day at table Mr. Clermont offered to help her to some boiled +lamb; but Elizabeth, according to her usual custom of never liking what +was offered to her, said she could not eat lamb when it was boiled. "So +I expected," said Mr. Clermont, "and (taking off the cover from a small +dish which was placed next to him) here are some _roasted_ potatoes, +which I have provided on purpose, fearing you might not happen to like +the rest of the dinner." + +Elizabeth began to cry bitterly, but her uncle paid no kind of attention +to her tears, only saying that if she preferred a basin of water-gruel, +she should have some made in an instant. She was extremely hungry +(having quarrelled with her breakfast, and had nothing since), and +perceiving that her tears were not likely to produce any good effect, +was glad to dine very heartily on lamb and spinage, and to eat some +currant tart, which she had said she could not bear even the smell of. +She insisted, however, on returning to her mamma immediately, saying she +would not stay any longer in a house where she was in danger of being +starved, and was sure her mamma would be very angry if she knew how she +was treated. + +"I am sorry to inform you, my dear niece," said Mr. Clermont, "that you +must endeavour to put up with it at least a month or six weeks, for your +mamma is gone into Wales on business of consequence, and will not be at +home to receive you till that time is expired." + +This was sad news for Elizabeth; she was extremely unhappy, and wished a +thousand times she had never quitted her own home, where she was +indulged in all her whims, and where every one's time was employed in +trying to please and amuse her; "And now," thought she, "on the +contrary, I never have any thing I like, and my uncle appears to take +pleasure in teazing and vexing me from morning to night." Finding, +however, that she must either eat what was provided for her, or suffer +hunger, and conscious that she had no _real_ dislike to any thing in +particular, though she had a great pleasure in plaguing every body about +her, she thought it advisable to submit, and consequently dined +extremely well every day, whether the meat was roasted or boiled, stewed +or fried. + +One day, when she was going with her uncle and aunt to take a walk to +the next village, a poor miserable woman, with a child in her arms, and +followed by two others, met them at the gate, and begged, for God's +sake, they would take pity upon her and her helpless infants, who she +said had not tasted food since the foregoing day. + +Cold meat and bread being immediately brought out to them, both the +woman and her children seized upon it with so much eagerness, that they +might really be believed to be almost famished. + +Mr. Clermont desired Elizabeth would observe them attentively, and, +after making her take particular notice of the joy with which the poor +people were feasting on the scraps that came from their table, asked her +if she thought she ever again could, without being guilty of a dreadful +sin, despise, as she frequently had done, and refuse to eat of the +wholesome and plentiful food which, through the great goodness of God, +her friends were enabled to provide for her. + +Elizabeth was struck with her uncle's words, and with the sight before +her; she felt that she had, by her ingratitude and unthankfulness to +God, rendered herself very undeserving of the comforts he had bestowed +upon her, and of which the poor children she was then looking at stood +so much in need; and she never, from that day, was heard to find fault +with any thing, but prayed that she might in future deserve a +continuance of such blessings. + + + + +EDWARD AND CHARLES. + + +Mr. Spencer sent for his two sons, Edward and Charles, into his closet; +he took each of them by the hand, and drawing them affectionately +towards him, told them he was going to undertake a long journey, that he +hoped they would be very good boys during his absence, obedient and +dutiful to their mamma, and never vex or teaze her, but do every thing +she wished them to do; he also desired them to be kind to poor Ben, and +to recollect, that, though his face was black, he was a very good boy, +and that God would love him, whilst he continued to behave well, just as +much as if his skin were as white as theirs, and much more than he would +either of them, unless they were equally deserving of his love, as black +Ben had rendered himself by his good-natured and amiable disposition. + +Edward and Charles both promised their papa that they would do every +thing he desired, but they were not _both_ equally sincere: Edward could +with difficulty hide his joy, when his papa told him he was going from +home, for he was a very naughty boy, and had no inclination to obey any +body, but to be his own master, and do as he liked, to get into all +kinds of mischief, and kick and cuff poor Ben whenever he pleased. + +Thinking, however, it would be proper to appear sorry for what he was, +in reality, extremely glad of, and seeing poor Charles take out his +handkerchief to wipe away his tears, when he was taking leave of his +papa, he pulled out his also; but it was not to wipe his eyes, but to +hide his smiles, for he was so happy at the thought of all the tricks he +could play, without having any one to control him, that he was afraid +his joy would be perceived, and his hypocrisy detected. + +Mrs. Spencer's health was so indifferent, that she seldom quitted her +apartment, so that she knew very little of the behaviour of her sons. +Edward, as soon as he had breakfasted, usually took his hat, and went +out without telling any one where he was going, or when he should +return. + +One day, when he was gone away in this manner, and Charles was left +quite alone, he went up stairs to his mamma, and asked her leave to take +a walk in the fields; and away he went with his favourite dog, for he +had no other company, and he said, "Come along, Trimbush, let us take a +ramble together; my brother always quarrels and fights with me, but I +know you will not, my poor Trimbush: here, my poor old fellow, here is a +piece of bread which I saved from my breakfast on purpose for you." + +Charles had not walked very far, before he thought he heard Ben crying; +and thinking it very probable that his brother was beating him, he went +as fast as he possibly could towards the place whence the sound came. +There he found poor black Ben with a load of faggots upon his back, +almost enough to break it, and Edward whipping him because he cried, and +said they were too heavy. + +Charles began immediately to unload the poor boy; but Edward said, if he +attempted to do so, he would break every bone in his skin: he was, +however, not to be frightened from his good-natured and humane +intention, and therefore continued to take off the faggots, telling his +brother, that if he came near to prevent him, he would try which had +most strength; and as Edward was a great coward, and never attempted to +strike any body but the poor black boy, who dared not return the blow, +he thought it proper to walk away, and leave his brother to do as he +liked. When they met afterwards, and Charles offered to shake hands with +him, saying he was sorry for what he had said to him, and begged they +might be good friends, he appeared very willing to forget what had +passed, and assured him he forgave him with all his heart; but his whole +thoughts were employed in finding out some way to be revenged on his +brother, and he had soon an opportunity of doing what might have cost +him his life, though it is to be hoped he was not quite wicked enough +to desire it. + +Walking one morning by the side of the river, he begged Charles to get +into a little boat which lay close to the shore, to look for a sixpence +which he pretended to have left in it, and began to sob and cry, because +he was afraid he had lost his money. Charles, who was always glad to +oblige his brother, jumped into the boat with the utmost readiness, but +in an instant the wicked Edward, having cut the rope by which it was +fastened, away it went into the middle of the river, and no one can tell +whither it might have been driven, or what terrible accident might have +happened, if the wind had been high, and had not the good affectionate +Ben stripped off his clothes, and plunged into the river to go to +Charles's assistance. + +Ben could swim like a fish, and was soon within reach of the boat, +which, by getting hold of the end of the rope, he brought near enough +to the shore for Charles to jump out on a bank. + +Edward fancied, that, as his mamma knew nothing of his tricks, and as he +was certain Charles was too good-natured to tell tales, his papa would +never hear of them: but he was very much mistaken. Old Nicholls, the +butler, had observed his behaviour, and as soon as his master returned, +took the first opportunity of telling him of every thing which had +passed in his absence. + +Mr. Spencer now recollected that he had been much to blame in keeping +his sons at home, and determined to send them both to school +immediately: he observed, however, that they were not equally deserving +of kindness and indulgence, and that it would be proper and just to make +Edward feel how much he was displeased by the accounts he had received +of his conduct: he was therefore sent to a school at a considerable +distance from home, so far off, that he neither came home at Christmas +nor Whitsuntide, nor saw any of his friends from one year to the other; +he was not allowed to have any pocket money, for his papa said he would +only make an ill use of it; nor had he ever any presents sent him of any +kind. + +Charles was only twenty miles from his father's house, and was always at +home in the holidays: he had a great many things given to him on new +year's day, and his papa brought him a little poney that he might ride +about the park; and he always let poor Ben have a ride with him, for he +loved him very much; and Ben, who was a grateful, kind-hearted boy, did +not forget how many times Charles had saved him from his wicked brother, +and would have done any thing in the world to give him pleasure. + + + + +THE TRUANT. + + +"What will become of us to-morrow?" exclaimed a boy at M---- school, to +little George Clifton, as they were undressing to go to bed. "I am so +frightened, that I shall not be able to close my eyes." + +George, who was very sleepy, and had no inclination to be disturbed, +scarcely attended to what he was saying; but, on being asked how _he_ +thought to get off, and how _he_ should relish a good sound flogging, if +he could not excuse himself, he thought it time to inquire into his +meaning, and was informed that some of the boys had that evening been +robbing the master's garden, that they had taken away all the fruit, +both ripe and unripe, and had trodden down and destroyed every thing. + +George said he was very sorry for it, but he had no fears on his own +account, for he could prove that he had drank tea and spent the whole +evening at his aunt's, and was but just returned before their hour of +going to bed; but Robert assured him, that all he could say would avail +him nothing, and that he was very certain he would not be believed; and +moreover, that the master had declared, as he could not discover the +offenders he would punish the whole school: "And for my part," said +Robert, "I am determined not to stay here, to suffer for what I do not +deserve. I can easily slip out of this window into the yard, and at the +dawn of day I intend to set off; and shall be many miles from M----, +when you are begging in vain for forgiveness of your hard-hearted +master." + +George, who, though a good boy in other respects, had a very great +dislike to the trouble of learning any thing, and had been sent to +school much against his inclination, thought this an excellent +opportunity of leaving it, and had no doubt, but having such a +melancholy story to recount of the injustice of his master, added to the +many hardships he fancied he had already endured on different +occasions, he should be able to prevail upon his papa to keep him at +home; and imagined, that, when he grew up to be a man, he should, by +some means or other, have as much learning and knowledge as other +people, without plaguing himself with so many books and lessons. Robert +had therefore very little difficulty in persuading him to accompany him, +which he had no reason to wish for, but that he knew he had always a +good deal of pocket-money, which he hoped to get possession of, and +cared very little, if once he could carry that point, what became of +poor George. He knew him to be quite innocent, and also that the master +was well acquainted with the names of the boys who had done the +mischief, and consequently had no thought of punishing the whole +school; but he was a wicked boy, had been the chief promoter of the +robbery, long tired of confinement, and determined to run away. At four +o'clock in the morning they got out of the window into the yard, jumped +over a low wall, and were soon several miles from the school. + +Poor little George began, before it was long, to grow very tired; he was +hungry also, and had nothing to eat. Robert asked him if he had any +money, and said he would soon procure him something to eat, if he would +give him the means of paying for it; but the moment he had got his +little purse in his hand, he told him that he must now wish him a good +morning; that he was not such a fool as to go home to get a +horsewhipping for having run away from school, but should go immediately +to Portsmouth, where he should find ships enough ready to sail for +different parts of the world, and would go to sea, which was, he said, +the pleasantest life in the world; and making him a very low bow, he set +off immediately across the fields towards the high road, and was out of +sight in an instant. + +George began to cry bitterly; he now repented having listened to this +wicked boy's advice, and would have returned to school if he could; but +he did not know the way back again, and, if he had known it, would have +been afraid to see his master. He wandered on the whole long day, +without seeing any body who thought it worth their while to stop to +listen to his tale; and at length, towards the close of evening, quite +ill for want of eating, and so tired that he could no longer stand, he +seated himself by the side of a brook, and leaning his head upon his +hand, sobbed aloud. + +An old peasant returning from his labour, and passing that way, stopped +to look at him, and perceiving that he was in much distress, went up to +the place where he was sitting, and inquired kindly what ailed him. + +"I am a naughty boy," said George, "and do not deserve that you should +take notice of me."--"When naughty boys confess their faults, they are +more than half cured of them," replied the old peasant. "Whatever you +have done, I am sure you repent of it, and I will take care of you." + +He then took him by the hand, and led him to his cottage, which was very +near, and where he found an old woman spinning near the window, and a +young one sitting with two pretty little girls and a boy, whom she was +teaching to read: they had each a book in their hand, and were so +attentive to their lessons, that they scarcely looked up when the door +was opened. + +"There," said the old peasant, "sits my good wife, this is my daughter, +and these are her children: we are poor people, and cannot afford to +spend much money on their education, but they are very good, and +endeavour to learn what they can from their mother, and get their +lessons ready against the hour they go to school in the morning, that +they may make the most of their time, and not rob their parents by +being idle." + +"Rob their parents!" exclaimed George. "Yes, rob them," replied the old +man. "Would it not be robbing their father and mother, if they allowed +them to squander their money upon them in paying for their schooling to +no purpose?" + +George wiped the tears from his eyes, and said he was afraid he was a +very bad boy; but he was sorry for it, and would endeavour to mend, if +his papa could be prevailed on to pardon what was past. He then told the +old man all that had happened, and how the wicked Robert had enticed him +to run away from school; but he was so hungry, and so fatigued, that he +could hardly speak or hold up his head. The young woman gave him a +large bowl of milk and bread, and put him into a neat, clean bed, where +he slept soundly till eight o'clock the next morning, when, after a +comfortable breakfast, the good peasant accompanied him to his father's +house, and said so much in his favour, and of the sorrow he had shewn +for his ill behaviour, that he was immediately forgiven. + +He was, at his own desire, taken back to school, where he entreated his +master to pardon the little attention he had paid to his books, and the +instruction he had been so good as to give him; as also his elopement, a +fault he had, he said, repented of almost as soon as he had committed +it. + +The master readily forgave him upon his acknowledging his error, and +assured him, that, though he always punished those who deserved it, he +knew very well how to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and +that, whilst he behaved like a good boy, he would have no reason to fear +his anger. + + + + +JEALOUSY. + + +Rose was eight years of age when her sister Harriet was born: she was +extremely fond of the baby, watched its cradle whilst it slept, and was +never tired of looking at it, and admiring its little features; but she +could not, without pain, observe, that she was no longer, as she had +been accustomed to be, the _sole_ object of her mamma's care and +attention. + +Harriet must not be left a moment! Harriet must not be disturbed! And +even if her mamma had the head-ach, and Rose was not suffered to go into +her room, the little stranger was admitted. She concluded that she was +no longer loved by any body, for even the servants were, she fancied, +more occupied with her little sister than with her, or any thing which +concerned her; and before she was ten years of age, she was become so +very jealous and fretful, that she took no pleasure in any thing, nor +was it in the power of any one to please or amuse her. + +One day walking in the garden with her mamma, who carried the little +Harriet in her arms, and coming to a part of it where several tall and +far-spreading trees afforded them a pleasant shade from the heat of the +sun, they stopped to enjoy its coolness. The gardener was ordered to +bring them some cherries, and they sat down on the grass to await his +coming: the little one, however, had no inclination to be so long +still, and her mamma, to please and keep her quiet, lifted her up, and +seated her on the bough of a tree which spread above their heads. + +Rose immediately changed colour; her countenance, which a moment before +was tolerably cheerful, now became gloomy and sullen; she leaned her +cheek upon her hand, and her eyes followed them, expressing nothing but +discontent and jealousy. + +Her mamma was not long before she perceived the angry glances thrown +upon her, and asked her, in a tone of displeasure, what they signified? +"I cannot help fearing," said Rose, "that you no longer love me, now +that you have another little girl. I remember, when you played with me +all day; I was then continually on your knee, and every thing you had +was brought out to amuse me; the servants also thought of nothing but +how to give me pleasure; but now I go neglected about the house, and +nobody minds me: it is true, I have every thing I want, and my papa and +you are always buying me toys and pretty things of one kind or another; +and I have often some of my little friends, whom you allow me to invite +to drink tea, and spend the afternoon with me; but----" + +"But," interrupted her mamma, "I no longer take you upon my knee like a +baby, or carry you in my arms; nor have I strength sufficient to lift +you up, and place you upon the bough of a tree, to please and make you +quiet, as I have done by your little sister. You forget, I imagine, that +you are ten years old, and that if I were to treat you in the same +manner as I do a child of two, we should both be laughed at by every +creature who might happen to see us. Reflect, my dear Rose, and do not +suppose, that, because the helpless age of this little darling demands +more care and attention than is necessary to you--because, being her +nurse, I am obliged to have her often with me, when the company of +another would be troublesome and inconvenient to me--do not fancy, my +love, from these circumstances, that you are less beloved by either your +papa or myself; but that as you increase in years, we shall shew our +affection to you in a very different way to that in which we now do; as +at present we treat you much otherwise than we did when you were of the +age of your sister Harriet. + +"I have long observed, with much uneasiness and concern, the fretfulness +and discontent you have exhibited in your countenance at every mark of +tenderness and care shewn to your sister. If you suffer this humour to +grow upon you, it will be observed by every body, and you will then, in +reality, be disliked and shunned by all your acquaintance, though at +present it is only in your own fancy that you are so. Recollect yourself +in time, re-assume your cheerfulness, assist me in taking care of this +sweet child, instead of being angry at the attention I shew her; and be +assured that we feel an equal affection towards you both, though we do +not think it proper to treat you, my dear Rose, as we do a baby of two +years old." + + + + +EDMOND. + + +"What an unlucky boy I am!" said Edmond, running towards his papa, whom +he had been seeking over all the house and gardens. "My grandmamma has +changed her mind about going to my uncle's, and, instead of taking me +with her to spend a fortnight at his house, when I had set my heart upon +it, I must content myself at home, she says, and wait for another +opportunity. Every thing goes wrong with me--it was but last week that +the pigs got into my little garden, and destroyed every thing in it." + +"Stop! stop!" interrupted his papa, "and, before you complain of your +evil destiny, recollect, that if you had not heard the pigs in your +garden, and ran in haste to drive them out of it, you would not have +seen your little brother, whom you seized by the arm on the very edge of +the pond, and who, in another moment, would probably have fallen into +it, and would have been drowned before any of the family had missed him. +It is not impossible but that you may have cause to rejoice some time +hence at what now appears to you such a mighty disappointment." + +His papa's words were soon verified: for not more than ten days had +elapsed after this conversation, when they received a letter which +filled them with the severest affliction. A servant belonging to his +uncle had caught a dreadful putrid sore throat and fever, of which he +died almost immediately, and which had infected the whole family. Edmond +heard with the utmost grief, that one of his cousins was no more, and +that the other lay in so dangerous a state, that his life was despaired +of: and he did not fail to offer his unfeigned thanks to God for having +preserved him from the danger to which he would have been exposed, if +his grandmamma had not suddenly changed her intention of going to his +uncle's: he determined also, that he would never, in future, complain of +any trifling disappointments he might chance to meet with, or find +fault, as he had too often done, with the arrangements of Providence; +but conclude, that, however extraordinary many things might appear to +him, being ordered by Him who knows best what is fit for us, they must, +some way or other, sooner or later, turn to our advantage and happiness. + +Edmond, in the long walks he took with his papa, often met with things +which appeared to him very strange, and which (notwithstanding the +resolution he had made, and the rule he had laid down never to find +fault) made him thoughtful, and wish to know why they were permitted. + +An old man, who was universally esteemed in the village, had been +involved in perplexity and trouble, as it appeared to him, very +unjustly. He was tenant to a rich man, and had been long and +comfortably settled in a prosperous way in a little farm, which lay in a +fertile and beautiful valley belonging to his large estate. + +The rich man was hard-hearted and revengeful, and, taking a dislike to +poor old Davis on some very trifling occasion, had turned him out of the +farm at so short a notice, that he had had the utmost difficulty to find +a place to take shelter in. He had a great deal of trouble in removing +his cattle and his poultry, his corn and his hay-mows, and every thing +belonging to his farm; and said he was sure it would be a couple of +years before he should be able to recover the expense and loss of time; +and Edmond, who never went into the village without paying him a visit, +and loved to chat with him and his old dame, never heard them talk of +it without thinking is was, at least, _a pity_ that he had met with so +great a misfortune. + +The winter was very severe, the snow fell fast, it was deep, and lay +very long on the ground. Davis was obliged to take his cattle in from +the fields, and feed them entirely on hay; his poultry required the +utmost care and attention, and every thing in his garden was in danger +of perishing. "This is a sad winter for poor old Davis," said Edmond to +his papa; "I am afraid it will put him another year behind hand; I wish +he had not been driven from that flourishing farm in the valley." + +"I wish so too," replied his papa, "if it would have been more for his +good to have remained there--but God knows best!" + +The spring returned, the snow melted, torrents of water fell from the +hills--the brooks swelled, and overflowed the meadows--every thing was +inundated: the farm in the valley was entirely destroyed, and all the +cattle with which the rich man had stocked it were drowned. Davis, on +his hill, had felt the sharpness and biting frost of winter; he had +heard the wind roar, and the rain beat against his casement: but when +the snow melted, he felt no ill effects from it, but turned out his +cattle, which he had sheltered whilst it lay on the ground, to feast on +the fresh herbage which had been preserved under it. + +"I perceive now," said Edmond, "that I have been once more mistaken, and +that, instead of thinking Davis an object of pity, I should look upon +him as a fortunate man. If he had remained in the valley, his whole +property would have been destroyed, and he would have been a beggar: now +he has but to be doubly attentive to his labour, and he will soon +recover the expense of his removal: he will then be just as well as he +was, and he might this day have been without a morsel of bread, or a +shilling to purchase one." + + + + +THE GHOST AND THE DOMINOS. + + +Sophy Benson, when she was only eleven years old, could write, read, +draw, and play on the piano-forte, better than any little girl of her +age in the whole neighbourhood; she was obedient to her papa and mamma, +affectionate to her brothers and sisters, and would do any thing to +oblige her friends, except going up stairs after night, staying in the +garden alone a moment after the dusk of the evening, or going to bed +before her sister. On these points, though she really wished to shew a +readiness to do as she was desired, and had often attempted to do so, +she never had been able to find resolution sufficient to carry her +through with it; for she had heard of ghosts, giants, fairies, and +monsters of divers kinds, and was never an instant alone in the dark, +without expecting to see one or the other; concluding, it must be +imagined, that it was customary with those gentlemen and ladies to pay +their visits, each with a wax taper in their hands, to exhibit their +persons by. + +Sophy had a brother, a good-natured boy, one year younger than herself, +whom she always contrived to get to accompany her when she had any thing +to fetch from her chamber after night; but unfortunately, she had +repeated so many terrible stories to him (to shew that she was not +afraid without reason), that poor Harry soon became almost as great a +coward as his sister; and they found, that whenever they had occasion to +go out of the parlour after candlelight, it was necessary to procure a +third person to be of their party, for they no longer thought themselves +in safety together. + +It may be thought a fortunate circumstance, that the infection did not +spread, or the whole family would soon have been obliged to move in a +body; but there was little danger of any thing so ridiculous: it was, on +the contrary, much to be wondered at that a sensible girl, like Sophy +Benson, should have been capable of such a weakness, and that she never +gave herself time to reflect, that there could not be the smallest +foundation for the silly fears with which she had filled her head. + +Her mamma had taken a great deal of pains to endeavour to convince her +of the folly of indulging herself in such ridiculous fancies, but it was +to no purpose; her imagination was continually making her see strange +sights, and hear extraordinary noises; and though she exposed herself to +the ridicule and laughter of her elder brothers and sisters, when her +giant proved to be a tree, and her dismal groans to be occasioned by the +noise of a door or a window-shutter on a stormy night: still she went on +in the same way, and had made poor little Harry as foolish as herself. + +Whenever she was alone, either in the house or garden, a moment later +than she liked to be, her heart immediately began to beat, and she flew +like lightning to seek protection; her hands clasped, her elbows +squeezed close to her sides, and her head hung down--and in this way, +every object she glanced her eyes upon appeared to her fancy something +extraordinary: had she but summoned resolution to take a second look, +she must have laughed at her own folly. + +One evening she came screaming into the parlour, and assured her mamma +that she had had the greatest difficulty to escape from a hideous +creature, who, with outspread arms, was on the point of seizing her, and +begged the door might be locked immediately. Her mamma, and her +brothers and sisters, laughed immoderately at her strange story, which +mortified her extremely; but they could not prevail on her to _shew_ +them where she had seen the terrible creature: she could, however, tell +them the exact spot, though she endeavoured to dissuade them from +venturing to go to it; but she could not prevail on any of them to be +frightened, and they soon discovered the monster, with its outspread +arms, to be nothing more than the horse on which the servant had been +beating her papa's coat. + +One evening, when the moon shone bright and fine, and Sophy and Harry +had a very great desire to fetch a box of dominos which was in the +nursery, and which they well knew they should not have, unless they went +themselves to fetch it, after sitting half an hour, whispering and +endeavouring to assume sufficient courage for so great an undertaking, +they at length determined to go, for they were tired of having nothing +to amuse themselves with, and had still a long winter evening before +them. + +Quaking through fear, and holding as fast as they possibly could by each +other's hand, they ascended the stairs, got into the passage which led +to the nursery, and were just going to open the door, when Sophy +recollected, that if Harry was seen by her maid, she should be finely +laughed at, and asked if she dared not venture to take a step without +having him to protect her; she therefore begged he would wait at the +door whilst she went into the nursery to fetch the dominos; but Harry +would not hear of such a thing, and said he would not stay in the +passage alone on any account whatever. + +Sophy was so desirous of appearing courageous to her maid, that she +tried every means she could think of to engage Harry to wait for her; +told him she would not be a moment, that the moon shone as bright as +day--but all was to no purpose, till by promising to give him her little +box of colours, and her ivory cup and ball, she at length prevailed upon +him to consent. + +She walked into the nursery with an air of unconcern and boldness not at +all usual to her; but it was quite lost, for Mary was not there and she +knew not how to venture so far as a closet at the other end of it, to +take out the box of dominos, but was on the point of calling Harry to +come to her, when thinking the maid might be in the next room, she +wished, if possible, to save her credit. With trembling steps she +advanced towards the closet, reached it without any _terrible accident_, +and having opened the door, began to grope about for the box: it was +neither on the first shelf nor the second, and passing her hand along +the third, it fell upon something colder than stone. + +Afraid of being laughed at, she determined not to scream, but with the +utmost expedition quitted the nursery, without thinking of the dominos, +and went to join her brother; but she had no sooner reached the passage, +than she saw (too plainly she saw it to believe it to be the effect of +fear) a figure dressed in long white robes, having one arm extended +towards her, entirely covered with black, and in a low tremulous voice, +it called "Sophy, Sophy, Sophy." + +This was the most alarming and terrible adventure she had ever met with; +and if she had command enough over herself not to scream when she +touched the unaccountable cold thing in the closet, she now could shew +no such fortitude; but sinking on the floor, for her knees could no +longer support her weight, she screamed so loud, that the poor ghost, +who had been as much terrified as herself, throwing aside his white +robes, ran towards her for protection, crying, "Sophy, Sophy! my dear +Sophy! is it you?--Oh dear! I thought it was all over with me; I have +been almost smothered since you left me, and really thought I was going +to be buried alive." + +Mary, who heard the bustle, now made her appearance with a light, and, +perceiving what had happened, became extremely angry, asking them if +they imagined she had nothing to do but to wash their linen, to have it +pulled about the dirty passage. "And here is my black silk +handkerchief!" exclaimed she in a violent rage.--"Did I wash it so well +in small beer, to make it look nice and fresh, for you to twist it about +your arm, master Harry? Pray look what a condition you have made it in." + +Harry looked extremely foolish, when he discovered that the only danger +with which he had been menaced, was that of taking cold by having been +covered with wet linen. The truth was, that, when his sister left him, +he was so much afraid of being alone, that though he longed for the +colours, and the cup and ball, he thought he was paying much too high a +price for them, and almost repented of his promise. Willing, however, to +gain the two things he most wished for, he determined to bear the lonely +situation he was left in, but fancied if he could get away from the +door, and place his back against the wall, he should be much safer, and +more out of the way of danger. + +Endeavouring by these means to secure himself, and shutting his eyes, +that he might not see any thing disagreeable by the light of the moon, +whose beams reflected different objects along the wall, he unfortunately +stepped upon the end of a line, on which Mary had hung to dry the whole +labour of the day, and having entangled his feet in it, by some means or +other gave it such a jerk, that the nail sprung out, and in an instant +poor Harry was half smothered under the weight of a quantity of wet +linen, which he concluded (agreeably to the wonderful and surprising +histories his sister had recounted to him) could be nothing less than +some giant, who was going to bury him alive. + +When Mary visited the closet, her anger rose to a prodigious pitch; for +Sophy, in groping about for her box of dominos, had not only dirtied her +fingers and hands, but had left the marks of them on Mary's new-washed +caps and handkerchiefs, which she had put aside on a plate, till she +could find time to iron them. + +The whole story was repeated in the parlour, and the evening spent in +mirth at the expense of the cowards. + + + + +FIDO. + + +Paulina going to spend the afternoon with her little cousins, arrived at +their door at the very instant that they were dragging out a poor little +dog, once so great a favourite that it was fed with every kind of +nicety, and reposed, when it was inclined to sleep, on a beautiful silk +cushion. + +"What are you going to do with poor Fido?" inquired Paulina. + +"Oh, the nasty thing!" replied her cousin Emily. "Pray look how ugly it +is grown--I would not keep it in the house on any account--I am going to +give it to those boys you see at the gate: I do not care what they do +with it: my brother Charles has given me a most beautiful little +creature--come in, and I will shew it to you." + +"Stop, stop, for pity's sake!" exclaimed Paulina, "Pray do not give poor +Fido to those boys, to be worried and tormented to death; let me have +him; I will carry him home to my hospital, and will take care of him as +long as he lives." + +Fido had unfortunately strolled into the kitchen (where certainly +neither young ladies nor their dogs can have any business), when the +cook was very busy in getting ready for dinner, and (I hope without +intending such a piece of cruelty) she had thrown a quantity of boiling +water over the poor little creature's head and back, and scalded him in +so terrible a manner, that no one thought he could have lived through +the day. + +Emily was so angry with the cook, and shed so many tears when she beheld +the agony of her favourite, that one would have thought she had the best +heart in the world, and that she had a very great regard for it; but as +soon as it was recovered, and she saw it had lost one eye, and that all +the side of its head, and its whole back, was without hair, she could +not bear the sight of it: it was turned out of the parlour, and kicked +about by every body, glad to pick up any bone it could meet with, and +to sleep in a corner on straw, instead of the silk cushion it had been +accustomed to; and, at length, had not Paulina arrived in time to save +it, would have been given to half a dozen unfeeling boys, who would soon +have destroyed it. + +Paulina was very little pleased with her cousin Emily on this occasion, +for her own disposition was very different: she was so humane, so kind +to every body and every creature in distress, that she was beloved by +all who knew her; she had quite a little hospital of sick and lame +animals and birds: a dog, which had had its leg broken by being caught +in a gin; a cat with one ear, the other having been bitten off by a +large mastiff; and a blind squirrel; she had a little goldfinch in a +cage, which had had its wings torn off by a cat, and as it could no +longer fly down from its perch to drink, and return when it liked, she +had contrived a little ladder, on which it could hop up and down without +any difficulty; a blackbird, almost frozen to death, which she had +picked up in the snow, but which never recovered the use of one of its +legs, sung very merrily, however, in its cage, for it was well fed and +taken care of; and one or two blind cocks, which she had bought from +boys who had been fighting them, and were going to throw at them, by way +of _finishing the fun_ (as they called it); and several lame hens, +become so by some accident or other, lived comfortably in her little +poultry-yard, for she took care to feed all her pensioners herself, and +never trusted the care of them to any other person. + +Paulina had great pleasure in procuring every comfort she could for her +poor animals; and her papa and mamma, to encourage her kind and humane +disposition, increased her pocket-money, that she might be able to +purchase barley for her poultry, and seed for her birds: her brothers +also, who were at school, often sent her presents for that purpose. As +she grew up, her humanity was shewn to her fellow-creatures in distress, +as much as it had been in her childhood to the dumb creation; and as God +had given her the means of doing good, she freely indulged herself in +acts of kindness, for which she received a thousand thanks and blessings +wherever she appeared: she was beloved by all her neighbours, both +poor and rich, every thing prospered with her, and she was happy and +contented, as she deserved to be. + + + + +THE REWARD OF BENEVOLENCE. + + +Mrs. Clifford being particularly satisfied with the attention her three +children, Alfred, Robert, and Helen, had for some time past paid to +their lessons, and to the instruction of their masters, told them she +would treat them with a charming walk in the woods on the opposite side +of the river: and that, if they would carry some bread or biscuits with +them, she thought they should have no difficulty in finding a house +where they might procure some milk, and instead of returning home to +drink tea, she would spend the whole afternoon and evening in rambling +about with them. + +This was charming news for the young folks, who took care not to give +her the trouble of waiting for them, for they were all three ready at +least half an hour before the time she had appointed for their +departure, which they looked forward to with the utmost impatience; and +the moment Mrs. Clifford joined them in the hall, away they all went, +with joyful hearts and cheerful faces, through the field, and down the +long lane, which led to the ferry. + +"This is very pleasant, mamma," said Alfred; "I think I should never be +tired of walking in the fields and woods; yet I must own I do long for +winter, that we may purchase the magic lantern we are to have. I think, +with the guinea grandpapa has given each of us, and what we had before +in our little purses, we shall be able to have a very large one." + +"O dear!" exclaimed Helen, "how delightful it will be to be able to see +it as often as we please, and to show it to our friends; and, mamma, do +you know that Robert is to be the person who shews it, for he says he +can talk just like the man who came to our house last year." + +"So I can," answered Robert; "and I wish it was bought, that you might +hear what a long story I shall tell you about the sun and the moon, and +the King of Prussia and his hussars, and the cat and the cook! I would +rather have a magic lantern, than any thing in the whole world!" + +Chatting in this manner, and amusing themselves by looking at different +objects as they passed along, they found themselves at the ferry before +they expected it; and the boat being just ready to put off, they stepped +into it, and seated themselves with several others, who were going over +to the other side of the river. + +Their attention was very soon drawn to a poor woman, who with an infant +on her knee, and a little girl and boy by her side, whom she frequently +kissed and pressed to her bosom, wept as if her heart was breaking. As +soon as they were landed, Mrs. Clifford stopped the woman, kindly +inquired into the cause of her distress, and was immediately informed +by her, that she had lately lost her husband, who, having been long in +an ill state of health, and unable to work, had left her incumbered with +several debts, which she had not the means of paying; and that though +she laboured very hard, and had discharged some of the small ones, a +hard-hearted man, to whom she owed six guineas, declaring he would not +wait a day longer, had that morning seized upon her furniture, and all +her little property, determined, as he said, to have his money before +six o'clock, or to turn her and her children out to sleep in the high +road, or where they thought fit. + +She had been, she told Mrs. Clifford, to an uncle of her husband's, who +lived at the market-town, begging him to take pity upon her and her +innocent children: "but, Madam," added she, "he was deaf to my +entreaties, and turned me from his door, and I am now going home to see +all my things taken from me; and what will become of us this night, God +alone can tell!" + +Mrs. Clifford was extremely affected by this melancholy tale, and walked +with the poor unhappy woman to her cottage, where they really found two +ill-looking men taking down the bed, and packing up the furniture. The +poor creature began to wring her hands and cry bitterly, and the +children, though they did not understand what the men were going to do, +clung to their mother, and would not move from her side. + +Alfred, Robert and Helen were, however, old enough to understand +perfectly well the distress of the poor woman, and the misery and +wretchedness to which she and her helpless children were exposed; and, +fortunately for her, their tender and compassionate hearts immediately +prompted them to endeavour to relieve her. The pleasure they had +promised themselves in purchasing a magic lantern, and in being in +possession of such an amusement for the long evenings of the approaching +winter, appeared to them very trifling in comparison to the delight of +snatching this poor family out of the hands of the unfeeling wretches +they had to deal with; and leading their mamma into the little garden, +earnestly entreated her to take the three guineas their grandpapa had +given them, as well as the contents of their little purses, and employ +the whole to relieve the poor woman, and begged her in the most pressing +manner to make up the deficiency. + +Mrs. Clifford pressed them tenderly to her heart, expressing the +greatest satisfaction at the resolution they had taken, and assuring +them she would make up the sum with the greatest pleasure, and that the +proof they now gave of their feeling and humanity made them dearer to +her than ever; adding, that she was certain four-and-twenty hours would +not pass before they would be rewarded for their goodness. + +The men were immediately stopped, the debt discharged, and the furniture +replaced in proper order: the poor woman knew not how to express her +joy, and her gratitude; she scarcely knew what she was doing, but at +length recollecting herself, entreated Mrs. Clifford and her children to +be seated, and accept of such refreshment as she had to offer them. Her +little table was soon covered with a cloth as white as snow; and fresh +milk, eggs, butter, and a nice brown loaf were set before them, of which +they partook with great satisfaction. + +They did not quit this little family till a late hour, and could talk of +nothing on their way home but the pleasure they felt in the reflection +of having left them so happy; of how they had been delighted when they +saw the two hard-hearted men walk out of the cottage, and how +differently the poor woman and her children would pass the night, to +what they might have expected. Alfred said, the good action they had +done that afternoon would be the pleasantest they could have to talk of +in the winter evenings; and Robert was of opinion that a visit now and +then to the cottage (which their mamma had promised them) would afford +prettier stories for him to repeat, than any thing he could tell of the +King of Prussia or his hussars. As for Helen, she declared that her +heart was so light, and she felt herself so happy and joyful, that she +could almost jump over the moon. + +They retired to rest in this pleasant disposition, and told their mamma +the next morning, that they had never been so happy in their lives; that +they went to bed, thinking on the good they had done, and, after +thanking God, who had given them the means of doing it, they had +immediately fallen into a sweet sleep; that the moment they awoke, they +had found themselves in the same happy humour, pleased with themselves, +and with every body they saw; and were very well convinced that the +magic lantern could never have procured them one quarter of the pleasure +which they now felt, and which would be renewed every time they visited +the poor woman at the cottage, and whenever they recollected her story. + +"I told you, my children," said Mrs. Clifford, "that four-and-twenty +hours would not pass before you would be rewarded; and you must now, I +am certain, be well convinced, that the heart-felt pleasure arising from +the reflection of such an act of kindness and benevolence to a +fellow-creature in distress, is the greatest and most solid reward that +could possibly have been bestowed upon you, far superior to, and more +lasting than any satisfaction you could have procured by laying out your +money in any other way." + + + + +JEMIMA. + + +Mrs. Franklin, a widow lady of very considerable fortune, inhabited an +elegant house on Richmond Hill, kept a number of servants, and had the +most splendid equipage in the whole neighbourhood. She had an only +daughter, to whom she was fondly indulgent, and on whom she determined +to bestow the best education that could possibly be procured for her, +let the expense be what it would. + +Jemima was a very amiable child; and if she had been so fortunate as to +have been placed under the care of any one a little more disposed than +her mother was to combat her fancies and want of resolution, she would +not have had to regret the immense sums squandered upon her to no kind +of purpose, nor to wish she could recal (as she often vainly did) the +time she had trifled away in doing nothing. + +It must appear very extraordinary that this should have been the unhappy +fate of a little girl, who wished so much to profit by the instruction +procured for her, and had the greatest desire to be an accomplished +woman; but Jemima wished to be accomplished, without having the +_trouble_ of making herself so, and possessed neither the _resolution_ +nor _perseverance_ so absolutely necessary to the attainment of the +perfection she aimed at. + +She began every thing with eagerness and alacrity; but the most trifling +difficulty which came in her way put a total stop to her progress, and +she immediately persuaded herself that it was not possible she ever +should be able to surmount them. + +She had from her infancy been extremely fond of drawing, and desiring to +be instructed in that agreeable art, one of the first masters was +procured for her: she had in a very short time succeeded in copying, +with tolerable correctness, the first things he gave her to do; and the +greatest hopes were entertained of her making a great proficiency in +what she appeared to prefer to every other amusement. The master now +gave her some other drawings to copy, which required a little more +attention and study, and she began to find difficulties in her way, +which she had not foreseen: she tried them twice--they were pretty well, +but not perfect; a few faults still remained, which her master pointed +out to her. Jemima concluded she _never_ should do them better; and as +he insisted that she could not proceed till she had made herself +mistress of the trifles he objected to, she determined to give up all +thoughts of drawing figure, and apply herself entirely to landscape. + +She was delighted with this new employment; her master had the sweetest +drawings of trees, cottages, and rivers, that had ever been seen! She +should never be tired of copying such pretty things, and she was sure +she should not meet with half the difficulties which were to be found in +drawing figure. + +She made outlines of several trees, and had she but been possessed of +perseverance enough to have perfected herself in that part, before she +attempted to go farther, all would have been easy and pleasant; but +Jemima knew nothing of perseverance or patience, and insisted on having +a finished landscape to do directly; and the master, to shew her how +incapable she was of executing such a thing, indulged her in her fancy: +but when he endeavoured to explain to her the nature of perspective, +light and shadow, and several other rules necessary for her to +understand, Jemima dropped the pencil from her fingers. She had not +perfectly comprehended his meaning, and wanted resolution to question +him, and endeavour to make it clearer, and once more concluded she never +should be able to make any thing of it, and that it would be much more +prudent to turn to some other pursuit. + +Accordingly the drawing-master was dismissed; and all the money her +mamma had paid him for his attendance, for quantities of paper, pencils, +chalk, and (which was of much more consequence, and which no sum could +recal) the loss of her own precious time, were thrown away to no +purpose. But Jemima did not mean to stop here; she should do very well +without drawing, she said, and she would give all the time she had +intended to employ that way entirely to music, and had no doubt, but +that by the time she was sixteen she should be quite a proficient; was +very sorry she had so long neglected her piano forte, and requested of +her master that he would bring her some better music than the simple +easy lessons she had been playing, assuring him that she intended to +apply very seriously. But, alas! she had no better success in this than +in her drawing; difficulties obtruded themselves whatever she turned to, +and when she quitted the piano for the harp, and from the harp returned +to the piano, she found herself just in the same predicament. + +The music was given up for the French and Italian languages, geography, +and botany, all of which ended in the same way: nothing was to be learnt +without a sufficient stock of perseverance and resolution to surmount +the obstacles which lay in the way; and as the _smallest_ was quite +enough to stop Jemima's progress, it is not to be wondered at (as she +was allowed to have her own way in every thing) that at the age of +sixteen, though what would have been a comfortable independence to many, +had been spent upon her education, that she knew no one thing in the +world. + +At twenty she had but too much cause to repent of her folly: her mother, +by lawsuits, and other unforeseen events, lost the greater part of her +fortune, and was obliged to retire into a remote part of the country; +and in that lonely place what a comfort and amusement would she have +found in music or drawing, had she but endeavoured, when she had so good +an opportunity, to perfect herself in either! But she had nothing to +do, no means of employing herself agreeably, but spent her time in +loitering about from one window to another, tired of herself, and tiring +every body who saw her. + + + + +THE TRIFLER. + + +William was come home to spend the holidays; but he had scarcely time to +speak to his papa and mamma, before he ran out to visit his poultry, his +rabbits, and his little garden; and from thence to the village, to see +his nurse, and then to the cottage of old John, who had taught him how +to catch birds, make little fishing-nets, and how to take care of his +tame rabbits. + +He found the poor old man in the utmost grief and consternation; a +recruiting party had come into the village, and had enticed his son +away from him. He had enlisted: he was gone from his aged father, who +had no other comfort in the world: he depended upon him for his support, +for he was a strong, healthy, hard-working young man; and John was grown +old and infirm, and could no longer work to maintain himself. + +"My dear young master," said he, "I am almost broken-hearted; a trifle +of money would engage the sergeant to give him up, if I could get it +before they take him to the magistrate at the next town; and he, poor +boy! desires no better, for they had made him drink more than he is +accustomed to do, or he never would have thought of leaving me: the +moment he was sober he repented of it; but it is too late--I have no +money, and they will soon be gone. Wretched old man that I am! what will +become of me?" + +"Pray do not grieve so, old John," said William; "I will return to my +papa directly, and I am very sure he will not leave you in distress. I +will be back again in half an hour, so pray be comforted--your son shall +not be taken from you." And away he went, fully intending to do as he +had said he would; but unfortunately William was not to be depended +upon, for he continually deferred to another time what ought to be done +at the moment, and trifled away hours in which he had engaged to render +little services to people who depended upon his promises. + +It is scarcely to be credited, that, anxious as he appeared to relieve +the poor old man's distress, he should, before he got half way to his +papa's house, if not _forget_ the errand on which he was going with so +much seeming expedition, at least suffer a new object to draw off his +attention from the principal part of it; and that he should accept of an +invitation to dine, without once recollecting, that, unless the business +could be settled immediately, the recruiting party would have left the +village, and poor John would be abandoned to misery and distress. + +Meeting with two young gentlemen who lived in the neighbourhood, and +being invited by them to go and dine at their house, their servant was +dispatched, whilst they amused themselves in the wood; to ask his papa's +leave; and as it was readily granted, and he did not return till +evening, the recruiting party had left the village many hours before old +John had the means sent him of procuring his son's discharge. + +William was extremely grieved when he perceived the sad effects his +neglect had occasioned, the agony of the poor old man, and the anger of +his papa, who, after threatening to send him immediately back to school, +took this opportunity of making him recollect how many times he had +brought trouble and distress upon different persons by the unpardonable +fault he was continually committing, through his trifling, unsteady +disposition, and assured him, that if he suffered so bad a custom to +grow up with him, he would be pointed out as a man on whose word no one +could place the smallest confidence, and whose promises were of no +value--a frivolous, despicable character, with whom no worthy people +would associate. He then ordered his chaise to be got ready, and went +over to the market town; the magistrate was his particular friend, and +he had the pleasure (though not without some difficulty) of freeing the +young man, and of sending him home to comfort and support his aged and +afflicted father. + + + + +THE COUSINS. + + +Priscilla lost her mother when she was very young: her father was in the +East Indies, and she was taken home by his sister, Mrs. Hamilton, who +loved her for his sake, and shewed her the greatest kindness and +attention; but her daughters, Emily and Lucy, were not both equally kind +to their cousin. Lucy was very fond of her, but Emily was jealous and +envious, and could not bear the marks of tenderness bestowed upon her by +her mother. + +Priscilla had a most affectionate heart, and would cry for hours +together, when she thought she had done any thing to make her cousin +angry; which she imagined must certainly be the case (though she could +not recollect what it could possibly be), for it never entered into her +head that any one could be displeased with her, when she had done +nothing to offend them, and little suspected, that when she was praised +by her aunt for her even temper and constant good humour, for her +attention to her lessons, and the progress she made in every thing she +undertook to learn, her kind and gentle manner towards the servants, and +her charity and humanity to her fellow-creatures in distress: she had no +idea that those praises increased the dislike which the ill-natured +Emily had conceived to her the moment she came into the house, who, +instead of endeavouring to imitate her good qualities, took every method +in her power to cast a shade over them, and to fill every one's head +with tales to her disadvantage. + +As they grew older, Emily's dislike to her cousin increased every hour, +as did the amiable Priscilla's endeavours to soften it by every mean she +could employ, and by seeking every opportunity of obliging her. If Emily +had any work to do, of which she appeared tired, Priscilla was sure to +be ready to finish it for her: if she wished for a nosegay, Priscilla +would search over the whole village till she had procured the prettiest +and sweetest flowers to make one for her; but all was to no +purpose--she hated her the more for the trouble she took to please her. + +One day Mrs. Hamilton returned from the town, where she had been to +purchase different things to send to her sister in Scotland; and, +amongst the rest, a very beautiful netting-box, which she intended as a +present to her, was shewn to the young ladies, and greatly admired by +all three. It was extremely delicate, and, after they had sufficiently +examined its beauty, it was placed on a small table, with positive +orders from Mrs. Hamilton that it should not be touched; but returning +in the evening from the house of a friend in the neighbourhood, with +whom she had dined, and recollecting that curiosity might lead some of +the servants to open it, she took it up in the paper, as it lay on the +table, and locked it in a bookcase. + +The following day, being busily employed in packing up the things she +had purchased for her sister, and thinking to put some cotton into the +little netting-box, to preserve the winders and other things from +rubbing, how was she surprised at perceiving that the lining was green +instead of pale pink, and that several parts of it were totally +different from that which she had purchased the day before! + +Lucy said she was very sure it was not the same box her mamma had shewn +to them; Emily was of the same opinion: but Priscilla only blushed +without saying a word. + +"Somebody has broken my box, and replaced it with another not half so +pretty," said Mrs. Hamilton in an angry tone; "I had positively forbid +either of you to touch it, and I insist on knowing which of you has done +this mischief." + +"I am afraid," said Emily, pretending to feel extremely for her cousin's +confusion, "that poor Priscilla has had the misfortune to break it; and +indeed, mamma, if you will but observe how she blushes, and that she has +not a word to say in her own defence, you need not have any doubt of the +matter." + +Priscilla assured her aunt that she had never touched her box after she +had shewn it to her; Emily gave the same assurance with regard to +herself, and Lucy declared that she had not been in the room where it +was, from the time that her mamma went out, till she returned in the +evening. + +Mrs. Hamilton, determined to know the truth, asked the young ladies what +use they had made of the guinea they had each received on new year's +day, saying her box had cost that sum, and could not have been replaced +without an equal one. + +"Here is mine," eagerly exclaimed Emily, "in my little work-trunk." + +"Half of mine, my dear mamma," said Lucy, "you will recollect, I paid +for a box of colours, and some drawing paper; and here is the other half +in my purse." + +"And where is _your_ guinea, Priscilla?" demanded Mrs. Hamilton.--"And +what is the reason, that, instead of shewing the same readiness with +your cousins to clear yourself, you only blush and hang down your head, +without speaking a single word?" + +"I cannot produce my guinea," answered Priscilla; "but believe me, my +dear aunt, when I assure you that I never touched your box." + +Emily, who had her reasons for wishing the subject might be dropped, +though not from any motive of tenderness for her cousin, now earnestly +intreated her mamma not to inquire any farther into the matter, as it +only distressed the _poor thing_, and would make her utter a thousand +falsities. But old Martha, their maid, who had stood all the time +pinching the strings of her apron, clasping her hands together, and then +lifting them up to heaven, with many other gestures which marked her +impatience, now no longer able to contain her indignation, burst out +like thunder, and asked Emily how she could possibly stand there, +looking her mamma in the face, and presume to talk of _falsities_, when +she must be conscious she was at that moment guilty, not only of a most +terrible and wicked falsity, in accusing an innocent person of the fault +she had herself committed, but was also making the most ungrateful +return that any one could be capable of, for an action which certainly +deserved the greatest praise, and which she must be conscious she owed +to her cousin's generosity and kindness. She then proceeded to acquaint +her mistress, that walking with Priscilla round the garden, about half +an hour after she had left the house, and coming near the parlour +window, which happened to be open, they had perceived the netting-box +lying on the marble hearth, broken into a dozen pieces, and Emily with +her back towards them, picking them up; that Priscilla had, in a low +whisper, entreated her in the most earnest manner not to speak; and that +having stood a little aside, they had seen her go and throw all the +pieces into the pond in the front garden, and then run up stairs as fast +as possible. + +"The dear Miss Priscilla," continued old nurse, "then begged me, as the +greatest of all favours, to go immediately into the town, to the shop +where you had bought the netting-box, and with _her_ guinea to get one +exactly like it: and this I did to oblige her, and because it never was +in my power to refuse her any thing she asks, though I must say I +thought Miss Emily little deserved her kindness; for this is but one out +of a hundred stories she has told of her, and ill-natured tricks she has +played her, in return for her constantly doing every thing she could to +oblige her, and for the trouble she has taken so many times to hide her +faults. I thought the box I purchased so exactly like yours, Madam, that +I concluded you never would discover what had happened; and Miss +Priscilla was quite happy in thinking you would be spared the vexation +of knowing it had been broken, and her cousin the anger which she would +have incurred, by disobeying your orders. We were, however, +disappointed; but Miss Emily must have guessed, when her cousin could +not produce her guinea, what use she had made of it; and that was the +reason why she wished you to drop the subject, for she might well +suppose her falsity and ill nature must at length be made known to you." + +It is almost needless to add, that Emily entirely lost her mamma's good +opinion; Priscilla lived very happily from that time, affectionately +beloved by Mrs. Hamilton and her cousin Lucy, and doated on by old +Martha, who never forgot to entertain her friends and acquaintance with +the story of the broken netting-box, so disgraceful to Miss Emily, and +so much to the honour of her darling Priscilla. + + + + +THE TRAVELLERS. + + +At six o'clock on a fine morning in the beginning of September, Mrs. +Cecil, with her daughter Matilda, stepped into a post-chaise in order to +begin a journey towards London. + +The house she had for some time inhabited stood in a distant and +romantic part of Wales, many miles from the public road, so that they +could advance but slowly, and often walked up steep hills, and over +craggy mountains, either from regard to their own safety, or because +they were tired of the carriage. + +Matilda, after riding a whole day, wished she could perform the +remaining part of the journey on foot, and often urged her mamma (even +when the roughness of the road did not render it necessary) to get out +of the chaise, that she might run up a rising ground, look round her, +and pick up and examine a number of different things which caught her +eye and struck her fancy; and Mrs. Cecil, who walked but slowly, was +often left far behind, whilst her daughter made little excursions, and +amused herself by talking to the country people. + +The second day after their departure from home, she told her mamma she +had, in one of her rambles into a narrow lane, seen a poor boy in great +danger of being beaten by a woman who appeared to be mistress of a small +cottage adjoining to that at the door of which he stood, and who +threatened to lay a stick (which she held in her hand) over his +shoulders, if ever he dared to touch her pears again. "But," said +Matilda, "the boy insisted that they were not her pears, but his +father's, and that he was in his father's garden when he picked them +from a bough which hung down almost into his mouth." + +Mrs. Cecil observed, that it would indeed have been a hard case if the +boy had been punished by a neighbour for eating his father's pears; but +when Matilda farther informed her, that the woman said the tree grew in +_her_ garden, and that the bough with which he had made so free, +because it hung over the wall, was a part of it, she said that entirely +altered the case; and asked Matilda, whether, when her sister had lost +one of her gloves, and that it was found to have slid into _her_ drawer, +she thought that accident made it her property, or whether it still +belonged to her sister? or whether, if the little rose-tree, of which +she was so fond, should in another year extend its branches so much, as +to spread over a corner of her sister's garden, she imagined it would +give her a right to pluck all the roses which hung in her way, or +whether she should not look upon them as _her_ roses, as much as those +which were growing on the other parts of it? Matilda perceived she had +been wrong, and thanked her mamma for shewing her her error. + +The travellers arrived towards evening at the foot of a steep craggy +hill, and in compassion to the poor horses, they determined to walk to +the top of it. On gaining the summit, they saw an extensive common lying +before them; and Matilda, who was accustomed to make observations, and +to reflect on every thing she saw, and who never lost an opportunity of +gaining information, asked her mamma if she did not think it a great +pity, that any part of the world should remain so barren and +uncultivated, and, as it appeared to her, so intirely useless; wishing, +at the same time, she had the power to change the whole common in an +instant into flourishing corn-fields and beautiful gardens. + +Mrs. Cecil was just beginning to tell her daughter, that nothing was +made which could be said to be entirely useless, when the post-boy came +running up to inform her, that one of the wheels of the chaise was +broken to pieces, and he did not know what he should do to get it up the +hill. + +"This is a sad accident indeed!" said Mrs. Cecil, "and I know not what +any of us are to do, for I do not see a single habitation near us." + +"Bless you! my lady," answered the boy, "do but please to turn about, +and you will see plenty of habitations. I be no stranger here; and +though there be no gentlefolks live in the place, I will be answerable +for finding you a clean, neat cottage, with homely fare, but a hearty +welcome. The first you see, over there by the trees, belongs to my aunt: +do, Madam, please to walk up to it, whilst I go seek for two or three +men to help me up with the _chai_." + +During this speech, Mrs. Cecil had turned her head, and was very +agreeably surprised at seeing, very near the spot where she stood, a +little cluster of neat cottages among some trees, which, on ascending +the hill, she had not perceived, having been equally struck, as Matilda +was, with the extent of the plain before them. + +They proceeded, as the post-boy had desired them, to the first cottage, +where they found a woman busily employed in preparing her husband's +supper, whilst four pretty little children, with ruddy complexions and +smiling faces, were eating milk with wooden spoons out of a large bowl +which was placed in the midst of them. + +The good woman received them very kindly, and offered them every thing +her cottage afforded, such as milk, whey, brown bread, eggs, and some +common but ripe and relishing fruit. Matilda expressed much wonder, that +she found the means of procuring even the necessaries of life on a +bleak, wild common; and was extremely surprised when the woman assured +her that the common, which she seemed to think so little of, was what +furnished them with the greater part of the comforts they enjoyed: +telling her also, that if it were more fertile, and were to be inclosed +and cultivated, it would be quite lost to them, because they were too +poor to be able to rent even the smallest portion of it. "As it is," +added she, "all the cottagers on this little spot have a right to feed +their cattle, and to cut turf for their winter fire. Neither my cow nor +my goats cost me any thing; we have a little garden, which, between my +husband and myself, is kept in pretty good order, and produces as many +vegetables as we can make use of. I have plenty of poultry, which I +carry to market, and have milk to feed my pig; so that we have nothing +to wish for, but that God may preserve our health, and continue to us +the blessings we enjoy." + +Matilda was astonished at this account, and made many observations to +her mamma on the pleasure of finding people happier than she expected, +which gave her the greatest satisfaction, as they were convincing proofs +of the goodness of her disposition: and she did not fail to observe to +her, that the mixture of fertile vallies, barren mountains, hills, +woods, and plains, with which the earth is diversified, each in various +ways, and at different seasons of the year, are productive of good to +the industrious. + +Mrs. Cecil and Matilda were obliged to pass the night in the cottage: +the next morning the wheel of the chaise being repaired, and having +satisfied the good woman for the trouble they had given her, and made +some little presents to her children, they continued their journey; and +being but a short distance from a small village, through which lay the +high road to London, they arrived at that city without any accident, or +meeting with any thing farther, worthy of being related. + + + + +THE STRAWBERRIES. + + +Constance, Julia, and Dorothy had obtained their mamma's leave to spend +the afternoon with a young lady who lived at the distance of a mile and +a half from their house; and as soon as they had dined, their maid being +ordered to attend them, they set forward down a shady green lane, and +across the fields. + +Nothing could be more agreeable and pleasant than the weather, or more +beautiful than the way they had to go; the hedges were full of the +sweetest flowers, and the birds sung with more than usual harmony. +Susan, the maid, was quite delighted; she stopped every moment to look +around, and admire the beauties which presented themselves to her eyes +on every side. + +Not so her young ladies: they had each a reason why they could neither +enjoy the fragrance of the flowers, the music which echoed from every +bush, nor any of the beauties which surrounded them. + +Constance was so afraid of the smallest worm which happened to lie in +her path, was so terrified at every fly which passed her, that she could +enjoy nothing. She walked on, with her eyes bent on the ground, watching +each blade of grass, and stepping with the utmost precaution, expecting +every moment to be stung to death, or bit by some dangerous insect. + +Julia had passed the whole time of dinner in bewailing the loss of a +cold chicken on which she had set her heart; but her dear little pussy +having wandered into the pantry in search of a mouse, and being just as +fond of cold chicken as her young mistress, and thinking it preferable +to the finest mouse (perhaps because it was a greater rarity to her), +this ill-bred pussy had dragged it away into a corner, where, if she did +not eat it all at one meal, she had leave to finish it the next day. + +Julia had lost her dinner: disappointed of her cold chicken, she saw +nothing else on the table (though there were several dishes which the +rest of the family commended extremely) which she could possibly eat of. +She was too nice to eat any thing common, and had persuaded herself that +nothing but delicacies agreed with her: she could not taste either beef +or mutton, or ever dine without fish, lamb, or poultry; she hated the +winter because there were no vegetables to be had but potatoes, and was +delighted when the season came for her to dine on green peas, +cauliflower, and asparagus. + +The delicate Julia often rose hungry from table; and as this had been +the case on the day of their walk, she was sick and uncomfortable, +sauntered along, complaining at every step, and, had she not suddenly +recollected having a nice biscuit in her pocket, would probably have +been unable to proceed. + +Dorothy troubled herself as little as her sisters about the birds or the +flowers, the lowing of the cattle, or the fine prospect. Naturally +indolent, and hating to move from her place, she was much less inclined +to do so after dinner, than at any other time of the day; for she had no +objection to either beef, mutton, or potatoes, and would (if she had +been suffered to do so) eat of all three, and as many more different +things, as much as would have been sufficient, either of them, for the +dinner of any child of her age. + +"Come, Miss Dorothy," cried Susan, "do pray walk a little faster. Dear +me! how heavy do you trudge along, with your arms hanging down by your +sides! Why, you will not take the trouble to lift your feet from the +ground--pray look what a dust you raise at every step. Come, take me by +the arm--look, what a pretty wood this is we are got into, and--oh dear! +what a quantity of strawberries there are upon that bank. Do you see how +beautiful and red they appear among the brambles and dry sticks which +lie over them?" + +The very idea of something to eat was sure to rouse Dorothy. Constance +and Julia also advanced to look at the strawberries; they were very +tempting, and they each wished to taste them, but there were +difficulties in the way not likely to be conquered. + +Julia's desire for them soon vanished, for she recollected that she had +neither cream nor sugar, without which she did not think them eatable. + +Dorothy said they were very good without either, and she wished she had +a good basket-full, she would soon shew them how well she liked them; +but they could not be got at without removing the brambles and wood, +which appeared to have been purposely laid over them, to preserve them +till they were ripe; and Dorothy, after taking away three or four +sticks, and a bush or two, began to puff and blow, as if she had been +running a race, and declared she could do no more, much as she wished +for the strawberries, if it would save her life. + +"How can you be so extremely lazy?" exclaimed Constance, eager to get at +the tempting fruit. "You cannot bear to take the least trouble, +Dorothy--come, let me help you; I should be sorry to leave them. What a +beautiful scarlet they are, and how finely they smell!--Come, come, let +us remove these brambles." + +Dorothy had thrown herself upon the grass, declaring she could not stir; +and Susan, who was well acquainted with the dispositions of her three +young ladies, determined not to interfere. + +Constance began very briskly to take away the brambles; but she had +scarcely uncovered a few of the strawberries, when a small insect, which +she had disturbed, flew out of a bush directly against her, entangled +its little wings in her hair, and almost frightened her into fits. She +ran to Susan in the most terrible alarm, insisting that a hornet had +got into her hair, and that she should be stung to death in an instant. +She prevailed upon her sisters to leave the spot immediately, and nobody +could persuade her but that she had disturbed a hornet's nest, and had +had a most miraculous escape. + +They spent the afternoon with their young friend much in the usual +manner; each of them constantly meeting with something or other to +disturb them and spoil their pleasure. + +Returning in the evening through the wood, they saw a group of little +boys and girls sitting under the trees, and eating strawberries; some +had their hats full, some held them in their hands, and others in little +baskets of their own making. + +Susan asked them where they had gathered so many strawberries. "Why +there," answered one of the boys, "where you see the bushes and brambles +all in a heap. We covered them up above a week ago, to let them ripen; +but I wonder we did not lose them all, for somebody has been here, I am +sure, though I suppose they did not see the nice strawberries, or they +never would have been such fools as to leave them: but it was well for +us that they were so blind." + +"And whom did you get to take the trouble to remove all those things for +you?" inquired Dorothy, as she hung on Susan's arm with all her weight. + +"Lauk-a-day! Miss," said the boy, grinning in her face, "to be sure you +be joking. Do you call that trouble?" + +Constance said he was very right; that it certainly could be _no +trouble_; but she really wondered they had not been terrified from +attempting to get at the strawberries, when they saw what a number of +frightful and dangerous creatures were creeping and flying about them. +And now the whole party not only grinned, but laughed aloud; and Julia +told her sisters they had better not make such foolish observations, +which only served to make the children laugh at them: that it was +ridiculous to suppose they should think it a labour to remove a few +brambles, or that they should be so weak as to be afraid of harmless +flies and worms; but she must say, she was a little surprised that they +did not go home with their strawberries, and get some cream and sugar to +eat with them: no house in the country was without cream; there could +be no difficulty in getting a bit of sugar, and it would make them so +nice, that they would never afterwards relish them alone. + +"That would be very unfortunate," replied a girl some years older than +the others (who only noticed Julia's speech by redoubled peals of +laughter), "for we should lose many such a treat as we are now enjoying, +if we were to take such a foolish whim into our heads. Pray, Miss, do +you imagine that my mother keeps a cow, to give us the cream to eat with +strawberries? No! no! she sells her butter, and buys us clothes with the +money. I wish you could all three spend a month in our cottage, you +would learn to be glad enough of having one nicety, without wishing to +add another to it; and to know that those who choose to eat must learn +to work, and not call trouble that which is no more than play. You would +also perceive, after spending two or three days on your knees in weeding +the corn or the garden, that you are in no danger of being either stung +or bit by innocent flies or caterpillars, and that till you get rid of +all your foolish fancies, you will have no pleasure in any thing in the +world, but that all your happiness and comfort will be sacrificed to +whim, indolence, and weakness?" + + +THE END. + + +E. Hemsted, Printer, Great New-street, Gough-square. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A cup of sweets, that can never cloy:, by +Elizabeth Semple and Elizabeth Sandham + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42024 *** |