CHEAP REPOSItORT. 
 
 -> ■ j . 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 Mr. Brag we//; or, the fed Wealthy Farmers, 
 
 PART III. , 
 
 Sold by J. MARSHALL, 
 
 (PR I N t e r to the Cheap Reposi tor y for Moral and Rel i**!ous 
 Trafts) No. 17, Queen-Street, Cheapfide, and No # Alder. 
 mary Church-Yard, and R. WHITE, Piccadilly, London 
 
 By S. HAZARD, at Bath: and by all Boojcfeliei,, Newh 
 men, and Hawkers in Town and Country. 
 
 Great Allowance will be made ts Shopkeepers and Hawkert, 
 
 PRICE ONE PENNY. 
 Or 4S.-6d t pr 100. — 2s. 6d. For 50. — is. 6d. for 25. 
 £ Entered at Stationers HalL J 
 
( * ) 
 
 The BISTORT, &c. 
 
 MR. BRAG WELL 'when he returned home from 
 his vifit to Mr. Worthy, as recorded in the 
 Second Part of this Hiftory, found that he was not 
 quite fo happy as he had formerly been. The 
 difcourfes of Mr, Worthy had broken in not a 
 little on his comfort. And he began to fufpecl 
 that he was not fo completely in the right as his 
 vanity had led him to believe. He feemed alfo to 
 feel lefs fa'tisfaftion in the idle gentility of his own 
 daughter:-, fmce he had been witnefs to the fimpli- 
 city, modefty, and ufefulnefs to thole of Mr. Wor- 
 thy. And he could not help feeing that the vulgac 
 violence of his wife did not produce fo much 
 family happinefs at home, as the humble piety and 
 quiet diligence of Mrs. Worthy produced in the 
 houfe of his friend 
 
 Happy would it have been for Mr. Bragwell, if 
 he had followed up thofe new convictions of his 
 own mind, which would have led him to ftruggle 
 againft the power of evil principles in himfelf, and 
 lo have controlled the force of evil habits in his 
 family. JBut his convictions were j lift ftrong enough 
 to make him uneafy under his errors, without driv- 
 ing him to reform them. The flight impreffion 
 foon wore off, and he fell back into his old prac- 
 tices, i Still his cfteem for Mr. Worthy was not at all 
 abated by the plain dealing of that honeft friend. 
 It is true he dreaded his piercing eye. He felt that 
 his example held out a conftant reproof to himfelf. 
 Yet fuch is the force of early affection and rooted 
 reverence, that be longed to fee him at his houfe. 
 This defire 5 indeed, as is commonly the cafe 3 was 
 
siade up of mixed motives. He wifhed for the plea- 
 fure of his friend's company; he longed for that 
 favorite triumph of a vulgar mind, an opportunity 
 of mewing him his riches \ and he thought it would 
 raife his credit in the world, to have a man of 
 Mr. Worthy's character at his houfe. 
 
 Mr. Bragwell, it is true, {fill went on with the 
 fame eagernefs in gaining money, and the fame 
 orientation in fp ending it. But though he was as 
 covetous as ever, he was not quite fo fure that it 
 was right to be fo. At Chriilmas, indeed, while he 
 was aftually engaged abroad in tranfa&ions with 
 his dealers, he was not very fcrupulous about the 
 means by which he got his money ; and while he 
 was indulging in feftivity with his friends at home, 
 he was eafy enough as to the manner in which he 
 /pent it. But a man can neither be making bar- 
 gains, nor making fcafts always; there muft be 
 ibme intervals between thefe two great objects for 
 which worldly men may be faid to live; and in 
 fome of thefe intervals the mod worldly form, -per- 
 haps, fomc random plans of amendment. And 
 though many a one may fay in the fullnefs of enjoy* 
 ment, " tomorrow fhall be as this day, and more 
 abundant;" yet hardly any man perhaps allows 
 himfelf to fay, even in his mod fecret moments, 
 " Twill never retire from bufinefs — I will never re- 
 pent. — I will never think of death, Eternity fhall never 
 come into my thoughts." The molt that fuch an one 
 probably ventures to fay is, " I need not repent yet. 
 I will continue fuch a fin a little longer, it will be 
 time enough to think on the next world when I am 
 no longer fit for the bufinefs or the pleafures of this." 
 
 Such was the cafe with Bragwell. He fet up $ 
 ••• i A 2 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 his own mind a general diftant fort of refolufion, 
 that fome years hence, when he fhould be a few years 
 older, and ay^thoufands richer; when a few more of 
 his prefent Jch ernes fliould be compleated, he would 
 then think of altering his courfe of life. He would 
 then certainly fet about fpending a religious old 
 age ; he would reform fome practices in his deal- 
 ings, or perhaps quit bufinefs intirely ; he would 
 think about reading good books, and when he had 
 compleated fuch and fuch a purchafe, he would 
 even begin to give fomething to the poor, but at, 
 prefent he really had little to fpare for charity, 
 The very reafon why he mould have given more, 
 was juft the caufe he afligned for not giving at all, 
 namely, the hardnefs of the times. The true grand 
 fource of charity, felf-denial, never came into his 
 head. Spend lefs that you may fave more, he would 
 have thought a fhrewd maxim enough. But fpend 
 lefs that you may fpare more, never entered into his 
 laook of Proverbs. 
 
 At length the time came when Mr. Worthy had 
 profiled to return his vifit. It was indeed a little 
 hah^ied by notice that Mr. Bragwell would'have, 
 in the courfe of the week, a piece of land to fell 
 by auction; and though Mr. Worthy believed the 
 price was likely to be above his pocket, yet he 
 knew it was an occafion which would be likely to 
 bring the principal Farmers of that neighbourhood 
 together, fome of whom he wanted to meet. And 
 it was an this occafion that Mr. Bragwell prided 
 himfelf, that he mould fhew his neighbours fo fen- 
 fible a man as his dear friend Mr. Worthy. 
 
 Worthy arrived at his friend's houfe on the SalUr* 
 Jay, time enough to fee the houfe and garden and 
 grounds of Mr, Bragwell by day-light. He faw 
 
( 5 ) £ 
 
 wkh. pleafure, for he had a warm and generous 
 
 heart, thofe evident figns of his friend's profperity, 
 but as he was a man of a fober mind, and was a 
 molt exacl: dealer in truth, he never allowed his 
 tongue the licence of immodeft commendation, 
 which he ufed to fay either favoured of flattery or 
 envy. Indeed he never rated mere worldly things 
 fo highly as to beftow upon them undue praiie. 
 His calm approbation fomewhat difappointed the 
 vanity of Mr. Bragwell, who could aot help 
 fecretly fufpe&ing that his friend, as good a man 
 as he was, was not quite free from envy. He felt, 
 however, very much inclined to forgive this jea- 
 loufy, which he feared the fight of his ample pro- 
 perty, and handfome habitation, mull naturally 
 awaken in the mind of a man whofe own pofTefTions 
 were fo fuperior. He praclifed the ufual trick of 
 ordinary and vulgar minds, that of pretending 
 himfelf to find fome fault with thofe things which 
 were particularly deferving praife. when he found 
 Worthy difpofed to pafs them over in filence. 
 
 When they came in to fuppcr, he affecled to 
 talk of the comforts of Mr. Worthy's little parlour, 
 by way of calling his attention to his own large 
 one. He repeated the word fnug, as applied to 
 every thing at Mr. Worthy's, with the plain defign 
 to make comparifons favourable to his own more 
 ample domains. He contrived, as he pafled by to 
 his chair, by a feeming accident, to pufli open the 
 door of a large beaufet in the parlour in which all 
 the finery was mod oftentatioufly fet out to view. 
 He protefted, with a look of fatisfaQion which be- 
 lied his words, that for his part he did not care a 
 farthing for all this trumpery; and then fmiling 
 .and n bbing his hands., added with an air of no 
 
(mall importance, " what a good thing it is, though 
 for people of fubftance, that the tax on plate was. 
 taken off.. You are a happy man, Mr. Worthy, 
 you do not feel thefe things, tax or no tax it is all 
 the fame to you." He took care during this fpeech, 
 by a caft of his eve, to direcl Mr. Worthy's atten- 
 tion to a great profufion of the brighteft cups, ial- 
 vers, and tankards, and other mining ornaments 
 whick crowded the beaufet. Mr. Worthy gravely 
 a.iireied, 64 Mr. Bragwell, it was indeed a tax 
 wl ich could not affeft fo plain a man as myfelf, 
 but as i fell on a mere luxury and therefore could 
 not hurt the poor, I was always lorry that it could 
 not be made productive enough to be continued. 
 A man in my middling fituation, who is contented 
 with a good'glafs of beer, poured from a handfome 
 earthen mug, the glafs, the mug, and the beer, all 
 of Englifh manufacture, will be but little difturbed 
 at taxes on plate or on wine, but he will regret, as I 
 do, that many old taxes are fo much evaded, that 
 new ones are continually brought on to make up 
 the deficiencies of the former." 
 
 During (upper the young ladies fat in difdainfnl 
 filence, not deigning to beftow the fmalleit civility 
 on fo plain a man as Mr, Worthy. They left the 
 room with their. Mamma as foon as pofiible, being 
 impatient to get away to ridicule their father's 
 ^ *«nd.' - •- i 
 
 The Dance; or, the Chriftmas Merry-making. 
 
 AS foon as they were gone, Mr. Worthy afked 
 Jvagwell how his family comforts flood, and how 
 his daughters, who, he (aid, were really fine young 
 women, went on. " O, as to that," replied Rragwelt, 
 «.* pretty much like other mens handfome daughters* 
 
. ;. ( 7 ) . 
 
 I fuppofe, that is worfe and worfe. I really begm 
 to apprehend that their fantaftical notions have 
 gained fuch a head, that after all the money I have 
 fcraped together, I fliall never get them well mar- 
 ried. Betfey has juft loft as good an offer as any 
 girl could defire, young Wilfon, an honefl fubftan- 
 tial grazier as any in the county. He not only 
 knows every thing proper for his ftatioh, but is 
 pleafing in his behaviour, and a pretty fcholar into 
 the bargain; he reads hiftory- books and voyages of 
 a winter's evening to his infirm father, inftead of 
 going to the card affembly in our town; neither 
 likes drinking nor fporting, and is a fort of fa?J 
 vourite with our Parfon, becaufe he takes in the 
 weekly numbers of a fine Bible with Cuts, and 
 fubferibes to the Sunday School, and makes a fufs 
 about helping the poor, thefe dear times as they 
 call them, but I think they are good times for us 
 Mr. Worthy. Well, for all this, Betfey only.de- 
 fpifed him and laughed at him; but as he is both 
 handfome and rich, I thought (lie might come 
 round at laft. And fo I invited him to- come 
 and ft ay a day or' two at Chriftmas, when we have 
 always a little fort of merry-making here. Butit. would 
 not do. He fcorn^d to talk that palavering ft uff which 
 {he has been ufed to in the marble covered books I 
 told you of. He told her indeed, that it would 
 be the happinefs of his heart to live with her, which 
 I own I thought was as much as could be expecled 
 of any man. But Mifs had no notion of marrying 
 one who was only defirous of living with her.- 
 No no, forfooth, her lover muft declare himfeW 
 ready to die for her, which honeft Wilfon was noV 
 fuch a fool as to offer to do. In the afternoon',- 
 however, he got a little into her favour by maki&t* 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 out a Rebus or two in the Lady's Diary 2 and flic 
 condefcended to fay (he did not think Mr. Wiifon. 
 had been fo good a fcholar, hut he foon fpoilt all 
 again. We had a bit of a hop in the evening. The 
 young roan, though he had not much tafte for thofe 
 fort of gambols, yet thought he could foot it a lit- 
 tle in the old fafhioned way. So he afked Betfey 
 *;o be his partner. But when he afked what dance 
 they fhould call, Mifs drew up her head, and in a 
 ilrange gibherifh, faid fhe mould dance nothing 
 hut a Minuet de la Cour^ and ordered him to call 
 it; Wiifon flared, and honeflly told her fhe mull call 
 it herfelf, for he could neither fpell nor pronounce 
 fuch outlandifh words. I burfl out a laughing, and 
 told him, I fuppofed it was fomething like queflions 
 and commands, and if fo, that was much merrier 
 than dancing. Seeing her partner Handing flock 
 ilill, and not knowing how to get out of the fcrape, 
 the girl began by herfelf, and fell to fwimming, and 
 finking, and capering, and flourifhing, and poRur- 
 ingj for all the world. juft like the man on the flack 
 rope at our fair. But feeing Wiifon ftanding like 
 a ftuck pig, and we all laughing at her, fhe refolved 
 to wreak her malice upon him; fo with a look of 
 rage and difdain, fhe advifed him to go down 
 country bumkin, with the dairy maid, who would 
 make a much fitter partner, as well as wife, for hkn 
 than fhe could. " I am quite of your mind, Mifs, 5 ' 
 faid he, 44 with more fpirit than I thought was in 
 him; ft? you may make a good partner for a dance, 
 but you would make a fad one to go through life 
 with. I will take my leave of you, Mifs, with this 
 ij^ort flory. 1 had lately a pretty large concern in 
 hay- jobbing, which took me to London. I waited 
 a good while in the Hay-market for my dealer 5 and 
 
to pafs the time I ftepped int@ a fort of Tinging 
 play houfe there, where I was grieved to the heart 
 to fee young women painted and clizened out, and 
 capering away jufl as you have been doing, I 
 thought it bad enough, and wondered the quality 
 could be entertained with fuch indecent mummery. 
 But little did I think to meet with the fame paint, 
 finery, and tricks in a farm houfe. I will never 
 marry a woman who defpifes me, nor the ftation in 
 which I mould place her, and fo I take my leave." 
 Poor girl how me was provoked ! to be publicly 
 refufed and turned off, as it were, by a grazier! 
 But it was of ufe to fome of the other girls who 
 have not held up their heads quite fo high fince, 
 nor painted quite fo red, but have condefcend- 
 ed to fpeak to their equals. 
 
 " But how I run on ! I forget it is Saturday night, 
 and that I ought to be paying my workmen, who 
 are all waiting for me without.'* 
 
 Saturday Night; or, the Workmen's Wages. 
 
 AS foon as Mr. Bragwell had done paying his 
 men, Mr. Worthy faid to him, " I have made it 
 a habit, and I hope not an unprofitable one, of 
 trying to turn to fome moral ufe, not only all the 
 events of daily life, but all the emplovments of it 
 too. And though it occurs fo often, I hardly 
 know one that fets me a thinking more ferioufly 
 than the ordinary buftnefs you have been jufl dis- 
 charging. u Aye,"faidBragwell, "it fets me thinking 
 too, and ferioufly as you fay, when I obferve how 
 much the price of wages is increafed.'' " Yes, yes, 
 you are ready enough to think of that," faid Wor- 
 thy, 64 but you ay not a word of how much the 
 yalue of your land is increafed, and -that the more 
 
f io ) ! 
 
 you pay, the more you can afford to pay. Bat 
 the thoughts I (poke of are quite of another caft. 
 When I call in my labourers on a Saturday night 
 to pay them, it often brings to my mind the great 
 and general day of account, when I, and you, and 
 all of us, {hall be called to our grand and awful 
 reckoning, when we fhall go to receive our wages, 
 rnafter, and fervants, farmer and labourer. When I 
 lee that one of my men has failed of the wages he 
 fhouid have received, becaufe he has been idling 
 at a fair; another has loft a day by a drinking 
 bout, a third confefTes that though he had tafk- 
 work and might have earned ilill more, yet he has 
 been carelefs and has not his full pay to receive ; 
 this, I lav, fometimes lets me on thinking whether 
 I alfo have made the mod of my time. And when 
 1 came to pay even the more diligent who have 
 worked all the week; when I reflect that even 
 thefe have done no more than it was their duty to 
 do, I cannot help faying to myfelf, night is come, 
 Saturday night is come. No repentance or dili- 
 gence on the part of thefe poor men can now make 
 z bad week's work good. This week is gone into 
 eternity. To-morrow is the feafon of reft ; work- 
 ing time is over. My life alfo will foon be fwaii 
 lowed up in eternity; foon the fpace allotted me 
 for diligence, for labour^ will be over. Soon will 
 the grand queftion be afked, 6 what haft thou done? 
 Did ft thou ufe thy working days to the end for 
 which they were given ?' With fome fuch thoughts 
 I commonly go to-bed, and they help to quicken 
 me to a keener diligence for the next week. 
 
 Seme Account of a Sunday in Mr. BragwelVs Family. 
 
 Mr. WORTHY had been for fo many years 
 uled to the fober ways of his own well ordered 
 fojn'ily, that be. greatly difliked to pafs a Sunday in 
 
I H ) 
 
 any houfe of which Religion was not the governing 
 principle. Indeed he commonly ordered his af- 
 fairs, and regulated his journics with an eye to 
 this objecl. " To pafs a Sunday in an irreligious 
 family," faid he, M is always unpleafant, often un- 
 fdfe. I feldom find I can do them any good, and 
 they may perhaps do me fome harm. At leaft I 
 am giving a fanclion to their manner of pafiing it, 
 if I pafs it in the fame manner. If I reprove 
 them, I fubjecl myfclf to the charge of fingularitv, 
 and of being 6 righteous, over much;' if I do not 
 reprove them, I confirm and itrengthen them in 
 evil. And whether I reprove them or not, I cer- 
 tainly partake of their guilt if I fpend it as thev 
 
 do." - ' h'rn ' 
 
 He had, however, fo ftrong a defire to be life- 
 ful .to Mr. Bragwell, that he at length determined 
 to break through his practice, and pais the Sun- 
 day at his houfe. Mr. Worthy was furprifed to 
 find that though the Church bell was going, the 
 bicakfaft was not ready, and exprefled bis wonder 
 how this fhould be the cafe in fo indultrious a 
 family. fh'agwell made fome auk ward excufes. 
 He laid his wife worked her fervants fo hard all 
 the week, that even me, as notable as fhe was, a 
 little relaxed from the ftriclnefs of her demands 
 on Sunday mornings ■ and he owned that in a p-e- 
 neral way, no one was up early enough for Church. 
 He confefTecf that his wife commonly fpent the 
 morning in making puddings, pies, and cakes, to 
 la ft through the week, as Sunday was the only lei- 
 sure time flic and her maids had. Mr. Worthy 
 foon faw an uncommon buftle in the- houfe. All 
 hands were .bid v. It was nothing but baking and 
 boiling, and frying, and reading, and running, and 
 fcolding, and easing. The boy was fo?p§ %9V\ 
 
Church to clean the plate, the man to gather the 
 fruit, the miftrefs to make the cheefe-cakes, the 
 maids to drefs the dinner, and the young ladies to 
 drefs themfelves. 
 
 The truth was, Mrs. Bragwell, who had heard 
 much of the order and good management of Mr. 
 Worthy's family, but who looked down with difdain 
 upon them as far lefs rich thanherfelf, was refolved 
 to indulge her vanity on the prefent occafion. She 
 was determined to be even with Mrs. Worthy, in 
 
 iofe praifes Bragwell had been fo loud, and felt 
 no fmall pleafure in the hope of making her gueft 
 uneafy, when he mould be ftrutk with the dilplay 
 both of her (kill and her wealth. Mr. Worthy 
 was indeed {truck to behold as large a dinner as he 
 had been ufed to fee at a Juftice's meeting. He, whofe 
 frugal and pious wife had accuMomed him only to 
 i'uch a Sunday's dinner as could be dreffed without 
 keeping any one from church, when he furveyed 
 the loaded table of his friend, inftead of feeling 
 that envy which thefe grand preparations were meant 
 to raife, felt nothing but difguft at the vanity of 
 his friend's wife, mixed with much thankfulnefs for 
 the piety of his own. 
 
 After having made the dinner wait a long time, 
 the Mifs Bragwells marched in, dreffed as if they 
 were going to the Affize-Ball; they looked very 
 fcornful at having been fo hurried; though they had 
 been dreffing ever fince they got up, and their fond 
 father, when he faw them fo fine, forgave all their 
 impertinence, and call an eye of triumph on Mr. 
 Worthy, who fek he had never loved his own hum- 
 ble daughters fo well as at that moment. 
 
 In the afternoon, the whole party went to church. 
 To do them juftice, it was indeed their common 
 practice once a day, when the weather was goodj 
 
and the road neither dufty nor dirty, when the Mi* 
 nifter did not begin too early, when the young La- 
 dies had not been di (appointed of their new bon- 
 nets on the Saturday night, and when they had no 
 fmart company in the lioufe who rather wifhed to 
 ftay at home. When this laft was the cafe, which, 
 So fay the truth, happened pretty often, it was 
 thought a piece of good manners to conform to the 
 humour of the guefts. Mr. Bragweil had this day 
 forborne to afk any of his ufuai company, well 
 knowing that their vain and worldly converfation 
 would only ferve to draw on him fome new repri- 
 mand from his gueft. 
 
 Mrs. Bragweil and her daughters picked up as 
 ufual a good deal of acquaintance at church. Many 
 compliments pafTed, and much of the news of 
 the week was retailed before the fervice began. 
 They waited with impatience for the leffbns as 
 a licenfed feafon for whifpering, and the fubject 
 begun during the leffons was finifhed while they 
 were finging. The young Ladies made an appoint- 
 ment for the afternoon with a friend in the next pew, 
 while their Mamma took the opportunity of enquir- 
 ing the character of a Dairy Maid, which fhe oh- 
 ferved with a compliment to her own good manage- 
 ment, would fave time on a week-day. 
 
 Mr. Worthy, who found himfelf quite ria a new 
 world, returned home with his friend alone. In 
 the evening he ventured to afk Bragweil, if he did 
 not* on a Sunday night at leaft, make it a cuftom to 
 read and pray with his family. Bragweil told him, 
 he was forry to fay he had no family at home, 
 elfe he mould like to do it for the fake of ex- 
 ample. But as his fervants worked hard all the 
 week, his wife was of opinion that they fhould then 
 b.ave a litde holiday. Mr. Worthy pyelfed it home 
 
I f4 ; 
 
 upon him, if the niter neglect of his fervants' prin- 
 ciples was not likely to make a heavy article in his 
 fmal account: and afked him if he did not believe 
 that the. too general liberty of meeting together, 
 jaunting and diverting themfelves, on Sunday even- 
 ings, was not often found to produce the worft ef- 
 fects on the morals of fervants and the good order 
 of families ? " I put it to your conscience," faid he, 
 <4 Mr. Bragwell, whether Sunday, which was meant 
 as a blcfling and a benefit, is not, as it is commonly 
 kept, turned into the mofl mifchievous part of the 
 week, by the felfifh kindnefs of mailers, who, not 
 daring to fet their fervants about any public work, 
 allot them that day to follow their own devices, 
 that they themfelves may with more rigour refufe 
 them a little indulgence and a reafonable holiday 
 m the working part of the week, which a good fer- 
 ■Vant has now and then a fair right to expe6L" 
 Thofe mafters who will give them half or all the 
 Lord's Day, will not fpare them a fmgle hour of a 
 working day. Their work mujl be done; God's 
 work mav be let alone." 
 
 Mr. Bragwell owned that Sunday had produced 
 many mi {chiefs in his own family. That the young 
 men and maids, having no eye upon them, fre- 
 quently went to improper places with other fervants, 
 turned adrift like themfelves. That. in thefe parties 
 the poor girls were too frequently led aft ray, and 
 the men got to public houfes and fives-playing. 
 But it was none of his bufmefs to watch them. His 
 family only did as others do ; indeed it was his wife's 
 concern ; and as fhe was fo good a manager on other 
 days, that fhe would not fpare them an hour even- 
 to vifit a fick father or mother, it would be hard, 
 fhe faid, if they might not have Sunday afternoon 
 to themfelves, and fhe could not blame them for 
 
making the mod of it. Indeed, die was fo indul- 
 gent in this particular, that {he often excufed the 
 men from going to church that they might ferve the 
 beads, and the maids that they might get the milk- 
 ing done before the holiday part of the evening 
 came on. She would not indeed hear of any com- 
 petition between doing her work and taking their 
 pleafure; but wien the difference lay between their 
 going to church and taking their pleafure, he mud 
 fay that for his wife, me always inclined to the good- 
 natured fide of the quedion. She is drift enough 
 in keeping them fbber, becaufe drunkennefs is a 
 codly fin, and, to do her judice, fhe does not care 
 how little they fin at her expence. 
 
 6 ; W e 1 1 . " f a i d M r . \ V o r t h y , ' i I a 1 w a y s 1 i k e t o e x a m i n e 
 both fides fairly, and to fee the different effecls of 
 oppofite practices; now, which plan produces the 
 greated fhare of comfort to the mader and of pro- 
 fit to the fervants in the long run ? Your fervants,. 
 'tis likely, are very much attached to you ; and 
 very fond of living where they get their own way 
 in fo great a point." 
 
 " O, as to that," replied Bragwell, <; you are quite 
 out. My houfe is a lecne of difcord, mutiny, and 
 difcontent. And though there is not a better ma- 
 nager in England than my wife, yet fhe is always 
 changing her fervants, fo that every. Ouarter-day 
 is a fort of Gaol Delivery at my houfe; and when 
 they go off, as they often do, at a moment's warn* 
 ing, to own the truth, I often give them money 
 privately, that they may not carry my wife before 
 the Judice to get their wages. 
 
 44 I fee," f'aicl Mr,. Worthy* 64 that all your worldly 
 compliances do not procure you even worldly 
 happinefs. As to my own family, I take care to 
 let them fee that their pleafure is bound up with 
 
( »6 ) 
 
 their duty, and that what they may call my ftrift- 
 nefs, has nothing in view but their fafety and hap- 
 pinefs. By this means I commonly gain their love 
 as well as fecure their obedience. I know that with 
 all my care I am liabie to be difappointed, from 
 the corruption that is in the world through fin. But 
 whenever this happens, fo far from encouraging me 
 in remiflhefs, it only ferves to quicken my zeah 
 If, by God's bleffing, my fervant turns out a good 
 Chriftian, I have been an humble inftrumen in his 
 hand of faving a foul committed to my charge." 
 
 Mrs. Bragwell came home, but brought only one 
 of her daughters with her, the other, me faid, had 
 given them the flip, and was gone with a young 
 friend, and would not return for a day or two. 
 Mr. Bragwell was greatly difpleafed, as he knew 
 that young friend had but a flight character, and 
 kept bad acquaintances. Mrs. Bragwell came in, 
 all hurry and buftle, faying, , if her family did not 
 * c go to bed with the Lamb" on. Sundays, when they 
 had nothing to do, how could they " rife with the 
 Lark" on Mondays, when fo much was to be done. 
 
 Mr. Worthy had this night much matter for re- 
 flexion. w We need not," faid he 5 " go into the 
 great world to look for diffipation and vanity. We 
 can find both in a farm-houfe. As for me and my 
 houfe," continued he, " we will ferve the Lord every 
 day, but efpecially on Sundays. It is the day which 
 the Lord hath made: hath made for himfelf; we 
 will rejoice in it, and confider the religious ufe of 
 it not only as a duty but as a privilege." 
 
 The next morning Mr. Bragwell and his friend 
 fet out early for the Golden Lion. What paffed on 
 this little journey, my readers fhall hear next month. 
 
 (To be continued, J Z»