"Very true, indeed," answered Tommy; "you seem to be a very honest sensible man, though a negro; and since I have given myself up to the improvement of my mind, I entertain the same opinions. But let us hear how this brave man succeeded in his next attempt."

"When the champion perceived this second enemy approach, he waited for him with the same intrepidity he had discovered before, and avoided his formidable shock by making his horse wheel nimbly round the bull. When he had thus baffled his fury, and put his enemy to flight, he chased him some time, as he had done the former, till he drove him near to the middle of the enclosed space, where a strong post had been firmly fixed into the ground. As soon as he approached the spot he threw the unerring noose, and, catching the bull by the horns, entangled him as he had done before, and dragged him with some difficulty to the stake. To this he bound him down so closely, that it became impossible for the creature either to resist or stir. Leaping then from his horse, who remained immovable as before, he took a saddle, which had been left there on purpose, and girded it firmly on the back of the bull; through his nostrils he thrust an iron ring, to which was fixed a cord, which he brought over his neck as a bridle; and then arming his hand with a short spike, he nimbly vaulted upon the back of this new and terrible courser.

"The creature all this time did not cease to bellow with every expression of rage, which had not the least effect upon the mind of this valiant man; on the contrary, coolly taking a knife, he cut the cord which bound him to the stake, and restored him to perfect liberty. The creature, thus disengaged, exerted every effort of strength and fury to throw his rider, who kept his seat undaunted in spite of all his violent agitation. The gates of the torillo were then thrown open, and two other furious bulls rushed out, and seemed ready to attack the man; but at the instant they perceived the manner in which he was mounted, their rage gave way to terror, and they fled precipitately away. The other bull followed his companions, and bore his rider several times round the amphitheatre in this extraordinary chase. This spectacle had already lasted some time, to the admiration of all present, when the governor ordered the man to complete the business by putting all the bulls to death. He, instantly drawing his knife, plunged it behind the horns of the bull on which he rode, who immediately dropped down dead; while the conqueror, disengaging himself as he fell, stood upright by the slaughtered animal. He then mounted his horse again, who had been placed in safety at some little distance; and, pursuing the chase as before, with his fatal noose, despatched both the surviving animals without the least difficulty."

Tommy expressed the greatest admiration at this recital; and now, as the evening began to advance, Mr Barlow invited him to return. But Tommy, instead of complying, took him by the hand, thanked him for all his kindness and attention, but declared his resolution of staying some time with his friend Harry. "The more I consider my own behaviour," said he "the more I feel myself ashamed of my folly and ingratitude; but you have taught me, my dear sir, that all I have in my power is to acknowledge them, which I most willingly do before all this good family, and entreat Harry to think that the impressions I now feel are such as I shall never forget." Harry embraced his friend, and assured him once more of his being perfectly reconciled; and all the family stood mute with admiration at the condescension of the young gentleman, who was not ashamed of acknowledging his faults even to his inferiors.

Mr Barlow approved of Tommy's design, and took upon him to answer for the consent of Mr Merton to his staying some time with Harry; then, taking his leave of all the company, he departed.

But Tommy began now to enter upon a course of life which was very little consistent with his former habits. He supped with great cheerfulness, and even found himself happy with the rustic fare which was set before him, accompanied, as it was, with unaffected civility and a hearty welcome. He went to bed early, and slept very soundly all night; however, when Harry came to call him the next morning at five, as he had made him promise to do, he found a considerable difficulty in rousing himself at the summons. Conscious pride, however, and the newly-acquired dignity of his character, supported him; he recollected that he should disgrace himself in the eyes of his father, of Mr Barlow, and of all the family with which he now was, if he appeared incapable of acting up to his own declarations; he therefore made a noble effort, leaped out of bed, dressed himself, and followed Harry. Not contented with this, he accompanied him in all his rustic employments; and as no kind of country exercise was entirely new to him since his residence with Mr Barlow, he acquitted himself with a degree of dexterity that gained him new commendations.

Thus did he pass the first day of his visit, with some little difficulty indeed, but without deviating from his resolution; the second, he found his change of life infinitely more tolerable, and in a very little space of time he was almost reconciled to his new situation. The additional exercise he used improved his health and strength, and added so considerably to his appetite that he began to think the table of farmer Sandford exceeded all that he had ever tried before.

By thus practising the common useful occupations of life, he began to feel a more tender interest in the common concerns of his fellow-creatures. He now found, from his own experience, that Mr Barlow had not deceived him in the various representations he had made of the utility of the lower classes, and consequently of the humanity which is due to them when they discharge their duty. Nor did that gentleman abandon his little friend in this important trial; he visited him frequently, pointed out everything that was curious or interesting about the farm, and encouraged him to persevere by his praises.

"You are now," said Mr Barlow, one day, "beginning to practise those virtues which have rendered the great men of other times so justly famous. It is not by sloth, nor finery, nor the mean indulgence of our appetites, that greatness of character, or even reputation, is to be acquired. He that would excel others in virtue or knowledge, must first excel them in temperance and application. You cannot imagine that men, fit to command an army, or to give laws to a state, were ever formed by an idle and effeminate education. When the Roman people, oppressed by their enemies, were looking out for a leader able to defend them, and change the fortune of the war, where did they seek for this extraordinary man? It was neither at banquets, nor in splendid palaces, nor amid the gay, the elegant, or the dissipated; they turned their steps towards a poor and solitary cottage, such as the meanest of your late companions would consider with contempt; there they found Cincinnatus (whose virtues and abilities were allowed to excel all the rest of his citizens) turning up the soil with a pair of oxen, and holding the plough himself. This great man had been inured to arms and the management of public affairs even from his infancy; he had repeatedly led the Roman legions to victory, yet, in the hour of peace, or when his country did not require his services, he deemed no employment more honourable than to labour for his own subsistence.

"What would all your late friends have said, to see the greatest men in England, and the bravest officers of the army, crowding round the house of one of those obscure farmers you have been accustomed to despise, and entreating him in the most respectful language to leave his fields and accept of the highest dignity in the government or army? Yet this was actually the state of things at Rome; and it was characters like these, with all the train of severe and rugged virtues, which elevated that people above all the other nations of the world. And tell me, my little friend, since chance, not merit, too frequently allots the situation in which men are to act, had you rather, in a high station, appear to all mankind unworthy of the advantages you enjoy, or, in a low one, seem equal to the most exalted employments by your virtues and abilities?"

Such were the conversations which Mr Barlow frequently held with Tommy, and which never failed to inspire him with new resolution to persevere. Nor could he help being frequently affected by the comparison of Harry's behaviour with his own. No cloud seemed ever to shade the features of his friend, or alter the uniform sweetness of his temper; even the repeated provocations he had received were either totally obliterated or had made no disagreeable impressions. After discharging the necessary duties of the day, he gave up the rest of his time to the amusement of Tommy with so much zeal and affection that he could not help loving him a thousand times better than before.

During the evening, too, Tommy frequently conversed with the honest negro concerning the most remarkable circumstances of the country where he was born. One night that he seemed peculiarly inquisitive, the Black gave him the following account of himself:—

"I was born," said he, "in the neighbourhood of the river Gambia in Africa. In this country people are astonished at my colour, and start at the sight of a black man, as if he did not belong to their species; but there everybody resembles me, and when the first white men landed upon our coast, we were as much surprised with their appearance as you can be with ours. In some parts of the world I have seen men of a yellow hue, in others of a copper colour; and all have the foolish vanity to despise their fellow-creatures as infinitely inferior to themselves. There, indeed, they entertain these conceits from ignorance, but in this country, where the natives pretend to superior reason, I have often wondered they could be influenced by such a prejudice. Is a black horse thought to be inferior to a white one in speed, in strength, or courage? Is a white cow thought to give more milk, or a white dog to have a more acute scent in pursuing the game? On the contrary, I have generally found, in almost every country, that a pale colour in animals is considered as a mark of weakness and inferiority. Why then should a certain race of men imagine themselves superior to the rest, for the very circumstance they despise in other animals?

"But, in the country where I was born, it is not only man that differs from what we see here, but every other circumstance. Here, for a considerable part of the year you are chilled by frosts and snows, and scarcely behold the presence of the sun, during that gloomy season which is called the winter. With us, the sun is always present, pouring out light and heat, and scorching us with his fiercest beams. In my country we know no difference between the length of nights and days; all are of equal length throughout the year, and present not that continual variety which you see here; we have neither ice, nor frost, nor snow; the trees never lose their leaves, and we have fruits in every season of the year. During several months, indeed, we are scorched by unremitting heats, which parch the ground, dry up the rivers, and afflict both men and animals with intolerable thirst. In that season you may behold lions, tigers, elephants, and a variety of other ferocious animals, driven from their dark abodes in the midst of impenetrable forests, down to the lower grounds and the sides of rivers; every night we hear their savage yells, their cries of rage, and think ourselves scarcely safe in our cottages. In this country you have reduced all other animals to subjection, and have nothing to fear, except from each other. You even shelter yourselves from the injuries of the weather, in mansions that seem calculated to last for ever, in impenetrable houses of brick and stone, that would have scarcely anything to fear from the whole animal creation; but, with us, a few reeds twisted together, and perhaps daubed over with slime or mud, compose the whole of our dwelling. Yet the innocent negro would sleep as happy and contented as you do in your palaces, provided you do not drag him by fraud and violence away, and force him to endure all the excesses of your cruelty.

"It was in one of these cottages that I first remembered anything of myself. A few stakes set in the ground, and interwoven with dry leaves, covered at top with the spreading leaves of the palm, composed our dwelling. Our furniture consisted of three or four earthen pipkins, in which our food was dressed; a few mats woven with a silky kind of grass to serve as beds; the instruments with which my mother turned the ground, and the javelin, arrows, and lines which my father used in fishing or the chase. In this country, and many others where I have been, I observe that nobody thinks himself happy till he has got together a thousand things which he does not want, and can never use; you live in houses so big that they are fit to contain an army; you cover yourselves with superfluous clothes that restrain all the motions of your bodies; when you want to eat, you must have meat enough served up to nourish a whole village; yet I have seen poor famished wretches starving at your gate, while the master had before him at least a hundred times as much as he could consume. We negroes, whom you treat as savages, have different manners and different opinions. The first thing that I can remember of myself, was the running naked about such a cottage as I have described, with four of my little brothers and sisters. I have observed your children here with astonishment; as soon as they are born, it seems to be the business of all about them to render them weak, helpless, and unable to use any of their limbs; the little negro, on the contrary is scarcely born before he learns to crawl about upon the ground. Unrestrained by bandages or ligatures, he comes as soon and as easily to the perfect use of all his organs as any of the beasts which surround him; before your children here are taught to venture themselves upon their feet, he has the perfect use of his, and can follow his mother in her daily labours.

"This, I remember, was my own case. Sometimes I used to go with my mother to the field, where all the women of the village were assembled to plant rice for their subsistence. The joyful songs which they used to sing, amid their toils, delighted my infant ear, and when their daily task was done, they danced together under the shade of spreading palms. In this manner did they raise the simple food which was sufficient for themselves and their children; yams, a root resembling your potato, Indian corn, and, above all, rice: to this were added the fruits which nature spontaneously produced in our woods, and the produce of the chase and fishing. Yet with this we are as much contented as you are with all your splendid tables, and enjoy a greater share of health and strength. As soon as the fiery heat of the sun declined, you might behold the master of every cottage reposing before his own door, and feasting upon his mess of roots or fruits, with all his family around him. If a traveller or stranger happened to come from a distant country, he was welcome to enter into every house, and share the provisions of the family; no door was barred against his entrance, no surly servant insulted him for his poverty; he entered wherever he pleased, set himself down with the family, and then pursued his journey, or reposed himself in quiet till the next morning. In each of our towns there is generally a large building, where the elder part of the society are accustomed to meet in the shade of the evening, and converse upon a variety of subjects. The young and vigorous divert themselves with dances and other pastimes, and the children of different ages amuse themselves with a thousand sports and gambols adapted to their age; some aim their little arrows at marks, or dart their light and blunted javelins at each other, to form themselves for the exercises of war and the chase; others wrestle naked upon the sand, or run in sportive races with a degree of activity which I have never seen among the Europeans, who pretend to be our masters.

"I have described to you the building of our houses; simple as they are, they answer every purpose of human life, and every man is his own architect. A hundred or two of these edifices compose our towns, which are generally surrounded by lofty hedges of thorns, to secure us from the midnight attacks of wild beasts, with only a single entrance, which is carefully closed at night"——

"You talk," said Tommy, "of wild beasts; pray, have you many in your country?"

"Yes, master," said the Black, "we have them of many sorts, equally dreadful and ferocious. First, we have the lion, which I daresay you have heard of, and perhaps seen. He is bigger than the largest mastiff, and infinitely stronger and more fierce; his paws alone are such that, with a single blow, he is able to knock down a man, and almost every other animal; but these paws are armed with claws so sharp and dreadful that nothing can resist their violence. When he roars, every beast of the forest betakes himself to flight, and even the boldest hunter can scarcely hear it without dismay. Sometimes the most valiant of our youth assemble in bands, arm themselves with arrows and javelins, and go to the chase of these destructive animals. When they have found his retreat, they generally make a circle round, uttering shouts and cries, and clashing their arms, to rouse him to resistance. The lion, meanwhile, looks round upon his assailants with indifference or contempt; neither their number, nor their horrid shouts, nor the glitter of their radiant arms, can daunt him for an instant. At length he begins to lash his sides with his long and nervous tail—a certain sign of rising rage—his eyes sparkle with destructive fires; and if the number of the hunters is very great, he perhaps moves slowly on. But this he is not permitted to do; a javelin thrown at him from behind wounds him in the flank, and compels him to turn. Then you behold him roused to fury and desperation: neither wounds, nor streaming blood, nor a triple row of barbed spears, can prevent him from springing upon the daring Black who has wounded him. Should he reach him in the attack, it is certain death; but generally the hunter, who is at once contending for glory and his own life, and is inured to danger, avoids him by a nimble leap; and all his companions hasten to his assistance. Thus is the lion pressed and wounded on every side; his rage is ineffectual, and only exhausts his strength the faster; a hundred wounds are pouring out his blood at once; and at length he bites the ground in the agonies of death, and yields the victory, though unconquered. When he is dead, he is carried back in triumph by the hunters, as a trophy of their courage. All the village rushes out at once; the young, the old, women and children, uttering joyful shouts, and praising the valour of their champions. The elders admire his prodigious size, his mighty limbs, his dreadful fangs, and perhaps repeat tales of their own exploits; the women seem to tremble at their fierce enemy, even in his death, while the men compel their children to approach the monster and tinge their little weapons in his blood. All utter joyful exclamations, and feasts are made in every house, to which the victors are invited as the principal guests. These are intended at once to reward those who have performed so gallant an achievement, and to encourage a spirit of enterprise in the rest of the nation."

"What a dreadful kind of hunting must this be!" said Tommy; "but I suppose if any one meets a lion alone, it is impossible to resist him."

"Not always," answered the Black: "I will tell you what I once was witness to myself. My father was reckoned not only the most skilful hunter, but one of the bravest of our tribe; innumerable are the wild beasts which have fallen beneath his arm. One evening, when the inhabitants of the whole village were assembled at their sports and dances, a monstrous lion, allured, I suppose, by the smell of human flesh, burst unexpectedly upon them, without warning them of his approach by roaring, as he commonly does. As they were unarmed, and unprepared for defence, all but my father instantly fled, trembling, to their huts; but he, who had never yet turned his back upon any beast of the forest, drew from his side a kind of knife or dagger, which he constantly wore, and, placing one knee and one hand upon the ground, waited the approach of his terrible foe. The lion instantly rushed upon him with a fury not to be described; but my father received him upon the point of his weapon with so steady and so composed an aim, that he buried it several inches in his belly. The beast attacked him a second time, and a second time received a dreadful wound, not, however without laying bare one of my father's sides with a sudden stroke of his claws. The rest of the village then rushed in, and had soon despatched the lion with innumerable wounds.

"This exploit appeared so extraordinary that it spread my father's fame throughout the whole country, and gave him the name of the undaunted hunter, as an honourable distinction from the neighbourhood. Under such a parent it was not long before I was taught every species of the chase. At first my father only suffered me to pursue stags and other feeble animals, or took me in his canoe to fish. Soon, however, I was intrusted with a bow and arrows, and placed with many other children and young men to defend our rice-fields from the depredations of the river-horse. Rice (it is necessary to observe) is a plant that requires great moisture in the soil; all our plantations, therefore, are made by the side of rivers, in the soft fertile soil which is overflowed in the rainy season. But when the grain is almost ripe, we are forced to defend it from a variety of hurtful animals, that would otherwise deprive us of the fruits of our labours; among these one of the principal is the animal I have mentioned. His size and bulk are immense, being twice the bigness of the largest ox which I have seen in this country: he has four legs, which are short and thick; a head of a monstrous magnitude, and jaws that are armed with teeth of a prodigious size and strength; besides two prominent tusks, which threaten destruction to all assailants.

"But this animal, though so large and strong, is chiefly an inhabitant of the river, where he lives upon fish and water-roots. It is sometimes a curious but a dreadful sight, when a boat is gliding over a smooth part of the stream of unusual depth and clearness, to look down and behold this monstrous creature travelling along the bottom several yards below the surface. Whenever this happens, the boatman instantly paddles another way; for such is the strength of the creature, that he is able to overset a bark of moderate size by rising under it, or to tear out a plank with his fangs, and expose those who are in it to the dangers of an unexpected shipwreck. All the day he chiefly hides himself in the water, and preys upon fish; but during the gloom of night he issues from the river, and invades the fields of standing corn, which he would soon lay desolate, were he not driven back by the shouts and cries of those who are stationed to defend them.

"At this work I had assisted several successive nights, till we were almost wearied with watching. At length one of the most enterprising of our young men proposed that we should no longer content ourselves with driving back the enemy, but boldly attack him, and punish him for his temerity. With this purpose we concealed ourselves in a convenient spot, till we had seen one of the river-horses issue from the water, and advance a considerable way into our plantations; then we rushed from our hiding-place with furious shouts and cries, and endeavoured to intercept his return; but the beast, confiding in his superior strength, advanced slowly on, snarling horribly, and gnashing his dreadful tusks; and in this manner he opened his way through the thickest of our battalions. In vain we poured upon him on every side our darts and arrows, and every missive weapon; so well defended was he in an impenetrable hide, that every weapon either rebounded as from a wall, or glanced aside without in the least annoying. At length one of the boldest of our youth advanced unguardedly upon him, and endeavoured to wound him from a shorter distance; but the furious beast rushed upon him with an unexpected degree of swiftness, ripped up his body with a single stroke of his enormous tusk, and then, seizing him in his furious jaws, lifted up his mangled body as if in triumph, and crushed him into a bleeding and promiscuous mass.

"Fear instantly seized upon our company; all involuntarily retreated, and seemed inclined to quit the unequal combat; all but myself, who, inflamed with grief and rage for the loss of my companion, determined either to revenge his death or perish in the attempt. Seeing, therefore, that it was in vain to attack the animal in the usual manner, I chose the sharpest arrow, and fitted it to the bowstring; then, with a cool unterrified aim, observing him moving nimbly into the river, I discharged it full at his broad and glaring eye-ball with such success, that the barbed point penetrated even to his brain, and the monster fell expiring to the ground.



"This action, magnified beyond its deserts, gained me universal applause throughout the hamlet; I was from that time looked upon as one of the most valiant and fortunate of our youth. The immense body of the monster which I had slain was cut to pieces, and borne in triumph to the village. All the young women received me with songs of joy and congratulations; the young men adopted me as their leader in every hazardous expedition; and the elders applauded me with such expressions of esteem as filled my ignorant heart with vanity and exultation.

"But what was more agreeable to me than all the rest, my father received me with transport, and, pressing me to his bosom with tears of joy, told me that now he could die with pleasure, since I had exceeded his most sanguine expectations. 'I,' said he, 'have not lived inactive or inglorious; I have transfixed the tiger with my shafts; I have, though alone, attacked the lion in his rage, the terror of the woods, the fiercest of animals; even the elephant has been compelled to turn his back and fly before my javelin; but never, in the pride of my youth and strength, did I achieve such an exploit as this.' He then went into his cabin and brought forth the bow and fatal arrows which he was accustomed to use in the chase. 'Take them, take them,' said he, 'my son, and rescue my weaker arm from a burthen which it is no longer destined to sustain. Age is now creeping on; my blood begins to cool, my sinews slacken, and I am no longer equal to the task of supporting the glories of our race. That care shall now be thine; and with a firmer hand shalt thou henceforth use these weapons against the beasts of the forest and the enemies of our country.'"

Such was the account which the negro gave to Tommy, in different conversations, of his birth and education. His curiosity was gratified with the recital, and his heart expanded in the same proportion that his knowledge improved. He reflected, with shame and contempt, upon the ridiculous prejudices he had once entertained; he learned to consider all men as his brethren and equals; and the foolish distinctions which pride had formerly suggested were gradually obliterated from his mind. Such a change in his sentiments rendered him more mild, more obliging, more engaging than ever; he became the delight of all the family; and Harry, although he had always loved him, now knew no limits to his affection.

One day Tommy was surprised by an unexpected visit from his father, who met him with open arms, and told him that he was now come to take him back to his own house. "I have heard," said he, "such an account of your present behaviour, that the past is entirely forgotten; and I begin to glory in owning you for a son." He then embraced him with the transports of an affectionate father, who indulges the strongest sentiments of his heart, but sentiments he had long been forced to restrain.

Tommy returned his father's caresses with genuine warmth, but with a degree of respect and humility he had once been little accustomed to use. "I will accompany you home, sir," said he, "with the greatest readiness; for I wish to see my mother, and hope to give her some satisfaction by my future behaviour. You have both had too much to complain of in the past, and I am unworthy of such affectionate parents." He then turned his face aside and shed a tear of real virtue and gratitude, which he instantly wiped away, as unworthy the composure and fortitude of his new character.

"But, sir," added he, "I hope you will not object to my detaining you a little longer, while I return my acknowledgments to all the family, and take my leave of Harry." "Surely," said Mr Merton, "you can entertain no doubt on that subject; and to give you every opportunity of discharging all your duties to a family to which you owe so much, I intend to take a dinner with Mr Sandford, whom I now see coming home, and then to return with you in the evening."

At this instant, farmer Sandford approached, and very respectfully saluting Mr Merton, invited him to walk in. But Mr Merton, after returning his civility, drew him aside, as if he had some private business to communicate. When they were alone, he made him every acknowledgment that gratitude could suggest, "but words," added Mr Merton, "are very insufficient to return the favours I have received, for it is to your excellent family, together with the virtuous Mr Barlow, that I owe the preservation of my son. Let me therefore entreat you to accept of what this pocket-book contains, as a slight proof of my sentiments, and lay it out in whatever manner you please for the advantage of your family."

Mr Sandford, who was a man both of sense and humour, took the book, and examining the inside, found that it contained bank-notes to the amount of some hundred pounds. He then carefully shut it up again, and, returning it to Mr Merton, told him that he was infinitely obliged to him for the generosity which prompted him to such a princely act; but, as to the present itself, he must not be offended if he declined it. Mr Merton, still more astonished at such disinterestedness, pressed him with every argument he could think of; he desired him to consider the state of his family; his daughters unprovided for, his son himself, with dispositions that might adorn a throne, brought up to labour, and his own advancing age, which demanded ease and respite, and an increase of the conveniences of life.

"And what," replied the honest farmer, "is it but these conveniences of life that are the ruin of all the nation? When I was a young man, Master Merton (and that is near forty years ago), people in my condition thought of nothing but doing their duty to God and man, and labouring hard; this brought down a blessing upon their heads, and made them thrive in all their worldly concerns. When I was a boy, farmers did not lie droning in bed, as they do now, till six or seven; my father, I believe, was as good a judge of business as any in the neighbourhood, and turned as straight a furrow as any ploughman in the county of Devon; that silver cup which I intend to have the honour of drinking your health out of to-day at dinner—that very cup was won by him at the great ploughing-match near Axminster. Well, my father used to say that a farmer was not worth a farthing that was not in the field by four; and my poor dear mother, too, the best-tempered woman in the world, she always began milking exactly at five; and if a single soul was to be found in bed after four in the summer, you might have heard her from one end of the farm to the other. I would not disparage anybody, or anything, my good sir; but those were times indeed; the women then knew something about the management of a house; it really was quite a pleasure to hear my poor mother lecture the servants; and the men were men indeed. Pray, did you ever hear the story of father's being at Truro, and throwing the famous Cornish wrestler, squinting Dick the miner?"

Mr Merton began to be convinced that, whatever other qualities good Mr Sandford might have, he did not excel in brevity, and therefore endeavoured in still stronger terms to overcome the delicacy of the farmer, and prevail upon him to accept his present.

But the good farmer pursued his point thus: "Thank you, thank you, my dear sir, a thousand times for your goodwill; but, as to the money, I must beg your pardon if I persist in refusing it. Formerly, sir, as I was saying, we were all happy and healthy, and our affairs prospered, because we never thought about the conveniences of life; now, I hear of nothing else. One neighbour (for I will not mention names) brings his son up to go a-shooting with gentlemen; another sends his to market upon a blood-horse with a plated bridle; and then the girls—the girls; there is fine work indeed!—they must have their hats and feathers and riding habits; their heads as big as bushels, and even their hind-quarters stuck out with cork or pasteboard; but scarcely one of them can milk a cow, or churn, or bake, or do any one thing that is necessary in a family; so that, unless the government will send them all to this new settlement, which I have heard so much of, and bring us a cargo of plain, honest housewives, who have never been at boarding-schools, I cannot conceive how we farmers are to get wives."

Mr Merton laughed very heartily at this sally, and told him that he would venture to assert it was not so at his house. "Not quite so bad indeed," said the farmer; "my wife was bred up under a notable mother, and though she must have her tea every afternoon, is, in the main, a very good sort of woman. She has brought her daughters up a little better than usual, but I can assure you she and I have had many a good argument on the subject. Not but she approves their milking, spinning, and making themselves useful, but she would fain have them genteel, Master Merton; all women now are mad after gentility; and, when once gentility begins, there is an end of industry. Now, were they to hear of such a sum as you have generously offered, there would be no peace in the house. My wenches instead of Deb and Kate, would be Miss Deborah and Miss Catherine; in a little time they must be sent to boarding-school to learn French and music, and wriggling about the room; and when they come back, who must boil the pot, or make the pudding, or sweep the house, or serve the pigs? Did you ever hear of Miss Juliana, or Miss Harriet, or Miss Carolina, doing such vulgar things?"

Mr Merton was very much struck with the honest farmer's method of expressing himself, and could not help internally allowing the truth of his representations; yet he still pressed him to accept his present, and reminded him of the improvement of his farm.

"Thank you, again and again," replied the farmer; "but the whole generation of the Sandfords have been brought up to labour with their own hands for these hundred years; and during all that time there has not been a dishonest person, a gentleman, or a madman amongst us. And shall I be the first to break the customs of the family, and perhaps bring down a curse on all our heads? What could I have more if I were a lord or a macaroni, as I think you call them? I have plenty of victuals and work, good firing, clothes, warm house, a little for the poor, and, between you and I, something perhaps in a corner to set my children off with if they behave well. Ah! neighbour, neighbour, if you did but know the pleasure of holding plough after a good team of horses, and then going tired to bed, perhaps you'd wish to have been brought up a farmer too. But, in one word, as well as a thousand, I shall never forget the extraordinary kindness of your offer; but if you would not ruin a whole family of innocent people that love you, e'en consent to leave us as we are."

Mr Merton then seeing the fixed determination of the farmer, and feeling the justice of his coarse but strong morality, was obliged, however reluctantly, to desist; and Mrs Sandford coming to invite them to dinner, he entered the house, and paid his respects to the family.

After the cloth was removed, and Mr Sandford had twice or thrice replenished his silver mug, the only piece of finery in his house, little Harry came running in, with so much alacrity and heedlessness that he tore Miss Deborah's best apron, and he had nearly precipitated Miss Catherine's new cap into the fire, for which the young ladies and his mother rebuked him with some acrimony. But Harry, after begging pardon with his usual good-humour, cried, "Father, father, here is the prettiest team of horses, all matched, and of a colour, with new harness, the most complete I ever saw in my life; and they have stopped at our back-door, and the man says they are brought for you!" Farmer Sandford was just then in the middle of his history of the ploughing-match at Axminster; but the relation of his son had such an involuntary effect upon him, that he started up, overset the liquor and the table, and making a hasty apology to Mr Merton, ran out to see these wonderful horses.

Presently he returned, in equal admiration, with his son. "Master Merton," said he, "I did not think you had been so good a judge of a horse. I suppose they are a new purchase, which you want to have my opinion upon; and I can assure you they are the true Suffolk sorrels—the first breed of working-horses in the kingdom; and these are some of the best of their kind." "Such as they are," answered Mr Merton, "they are yours; and I cannot think, after the obligations I am under to your family, that you will do me so great a displeasure as to refuse."

Mr Sandford stood for some time in mute astonishment; but at length he was beginning the civilest speech he could think of, to refuse so great a present, when Tommy, coming up, took him by the hand, and begged him not to deny to his father and himself the first favour they had ever asked. "Besides," said he, "this present is less to yourself than to little Harry; and surely, after having lived so long in your family, you will not turn me out with disgrace, as if I had misbehaved." Here Harry himself interposed, and, considering less the value of the present than the feelings and intentions of the giver, he took his father by the hand, and besought him to oblige Master Merton and his father. "Were it any one else, I would not say a word," added he; "but I know the generosity of Mr Merton and the goodness of Master Tommy so well, that they will receive more pleasure from giving, than you from taking the horses, though I must confess they are such as would do credit to anybody; and they beat farmer Knowles all to nothing, which have long been reckoned the best team in all the country."

This last reflection, joined with all that had preceded, overcame the delicacy of Mr Sandford; and he at length consented to order the horses to be led into his stable.

And now Mr Merton, having made the most affectionate acknowledgments to all this worthy and happy family, among whom he did not forget the honest Black, whom he promised to provide for, summoned his son to accompany him home. Tommy arose, and with the sincerest gratitude bade adieu to Harry and all the rest. "I shall not be long without you," said he to Harry; "to your example I owe most of the little good that I can boast: you have taught me how much better it is to be useful than rich or fine; how much more amiable to be good than to be great. Should I ever be tempted to relapse, even for an instant, into any of my former habits, I will return hither for instruction, and I hope you will again receive me." Saying this, he shook his friend Harry affectionately by the hand, and, with watery eyes, accompanied his father home.

THE END.



TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Illustrations were interleaved between pages in the original text. In this version, they have been moved close to the relevant section of the text.

Inconsistent hyphenation for bare-footed" / "barefooted", "fire-side" / "fireside", and "good-will" / "goodwill" has been retained. Page numbers are documented in the source of the associated HTML version.

Here is a list of the minor typographical corrections made:

- "off" changed to "of" on Page 7 - "the the" changed to "the" on Page 17 - Period added after "fury" on Page 22 - Single quote added after "returns" on Page 30 - "thefore" changed to "therefore" on Page 35 - "several their" changed to "several of their" on Page 36 - Quote added before "and" on Page 59 - Single quote removed after "me." on Page 60 - Quote removed before "this" on Page 70 - Comma and closing quote added after "But" on Page 72 - Single quote removed after "labour;" on Page 76 - "happend" changed to "happened" on Page 92 - Period added after "Harry" on Page 96 - End quote added after "leg." on Page 99 - Quote added after "up?" on Page 105 - "bcause" changed to "because" on Page 112 - Single quote added after "appearance." on Page 127 - "fondness" changed to "Fondness" on Page 128 - Single quote moved to after the dash on Page 131 - Period added after "slavery" on Page 131 - Period changed to comma after "inconvenience" on Page 135 - "elasped" changed to "elapsed" on Page 135 - Quote added after "cider?" on Page 143 - "suprised" changed to "surprised" on Page 147 - Quote added after "distress." on Page 149 - "aminal" changed to "animal" on Page 162 - "and and" changed to "and" on Page 170 - Period added after "fellow" on Page 172 - Closing quote added after "songs." on Page 175 - "prepetual" changed to "perpetual" on Page 176 - "aminals" changed to "animals" on Page 177 - "suprise" changed to "surprise" on Page 178 - "are are" replaced with "are" on Page 179 - Single quote added after "pieces." on Page 184 - Comma changed to period after "scrofula" on Page 186 - "docter" changed to "doctor" on Page 192 - "possesssion" changed to "possession" on Page 198 - "warmeth" changed to "warmth" on Page 200 - New paragraph started at "The Man." on Page 204 - Quote added after "contented." on Page 204 - Comma changed to a period after "plainly" on Page 209 - Hyphen added between "the" and "lantern" on Page 216 - "sweatmeats" changed to "sweetmeats" on Page 222 - Capitalized "because" on Page 227 - Quote added after "consequence." on Page 228 - Quote added after "himself." on Page 232 - Quote added after "be?" on Page 236 - "appeard" changed to "appeared" on Page 245 - "imagaine" changed to "imagine" on Page 246 - "ncessaries" changed to "necessaries" on Page 247 - "determinded" changed to "determined" on Page 250 - "prosposal" changed to "proposal" on Page 251 - Quotation mark added before "that" on Page 256 - "accidently" changed to "accidentally" on Page 272 - "connot" changed to "cannot" on Page 275 - Question mark changed to a period after "houses" on Page 280 - Quote added after "this," on Page 283 - "Syracse" changed to "Syracuse" on Page 287 - Quotation mark added after "madam," on Page 291 - Period added after "Barlow" on Page 297 - "formely" changed to "formerly" on Page 299 - "harpsicord" changed to "harpsichord" on Page 300 - "artifical" changed to "artificial" on Page 303 - "to to" changed to "to" on Page 304 - "digusted" changed to "disgusted" on Page 322 - Changed "admist" to "amidst" on Page 330 - "huried" changed to "hurried" on Page 348 - "accidently" changed to "accidentally" on Page 355 - "While" rendered in smallcaps as first word in a chapter on Page 355 - Quotation mark moved to after the dash on Page 358 - "inbibed" changed to "imbibed" on Page 387 - Single quote removed after "hospitality." on Page 393 - Single quote removed after "children" on Page 394 - Single quote removed after "natives" on Page 396 - Single quote removed after "tribute." on Page 396 - Additional single quote added after "Arabians.'" on Page 399 - "contenance" changed to "countenance" on Page 399 - Double quote followed by a single quote reversed after "yoke" on Page 399 - Single quote changed to a double quote after "question?" on Page 399 - Quote added after "rich." on Page 401 - Quote added after "with." on Page 410 - Single quote added after "this," on Page 417 - Comma moved to within the single quote after "resolution" on Page 434 - "continned" changed to "continued" on Page 435 - "and and" changed to "and" on Page 446 - "harships" changed to "hardships" on Page 449 - Quote added before "The" on Page 467 - Quote removed before "'I" on Page 467 - "he" changed to "she" on Page 473 - Comma changed to a period after "power" on Page 476 - Single quote added after "mouse," on Page 480 - "exorting" changed to "exhorting" on Page 497 - "quanity" changed to "quantity" on Page 499 - "protend" changed to "portend" on Page 501 - "Tom my" changed to "Tommy" on Page 513 - "suprised" changed to "surprised" on Page 525 - Quote added after "miner?" on Page 528 - Comma changed to a period after "industry" on Page 529 - Quote added after "things?" on Page 529

THE END