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 m 
 
 51^ K? 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 ■ OF 
 
 Miss Maria Wilki 
 
 
 ADOKNED WITH CUTS. 
 
 
 -MsiP 
 
 i^if » 
 
 B I R M I It G H A M 
 
 Feinted by T. Brauda 
 
 Price One Penvi/, 
 
THE HISTORY 
 OF 
 
 mih'S Maria Wilkin$, 
 
 Miss Maria Wilkins was 
 the on)y chil^ of Mr. and Mrs 
 WilkioB who thought thera- 
 seivei super or to their neigh- 
 bours, bv whom th'^v were 
 yrciconed the proudest people 
 in the town they iivedjn-Miss 
 Maria was brought up indul- 
 ged in all sorts of pride : nay 
 even her papa bought some 
 lambB and had a dog to amuse 
 hen 
 
 Her mam^ma would n©i suf- 
 fer her to speak to a poor 
 child on any accout, nor even 
 to any of the misses she went 
 to school with* unless they 
 
"were dressed well ; aud if 
 Miss Maria told her maaiHia 
 such a mis? had a new slip 
 on, she would go immediately 
 and buy Miss Maria a new silk 
 one, that she might be above 
 the other miss wit!^ her 1\nen 
 one. As she always was her- 
 self ihe head of the company, 
 she would have her daughter 
 be so too. 
 Miss Maria wa*s despised by 
 
ali the scholrirs, nnd ns ^he 
 would ir^t speik to those she 
 tiioiight beneath her, so the 
 others woeld not speak to her. 
 This was a great iiiortiricatioa 
 to Miss Mari^; trml she begged 
 of iier mamma no to let her 
 go to schooi any more, for says 
 she, I h<id rallier be co^lled a 
 dunce than to go there. 
 
 Well savs her mamma, hb 
 voo do oot hke it von shad 
 Bot Fo. ^^o MiSs Riaria ^venh 
 BO more^ though she could 
 hanliv tell her letiersor dirsad 
 her rieedie; 
 
 MisS' Maria had nothing- ^o 
 do but to plav with her doll, 
 and look o^er her trinkets; 
 hhe^ would soriietiiiies sit hour^ 
 toceiher at her piaoimas toilet 
 
nnd powder her l]air,paint her 
 face and stick patches ou it; 
 lier mamma never corrected 
 her for it, but told her th?t she 
 looked verv handsoine. Vvdfich 
 made her so proud that no- 
 body liked lier. 
 
 (Ine day as die was standing 
 at the door a poor blind Fid- 
 ler led by his dog, came up to 
 her begging; her to ^^ive him 
 some broken bread; for dear 
 Miss said he, for I am hungry' 
 
8 
 
 With that she shuts the door, 
 and went into the parlour to 
 her mamma. Oh, madam! says 
 she, there is a nasty old man 
 has been asking me for some 
 bread ; he has made me ill to 
 look at him— Why don't he <yo 
 to the workhouse ? For my 
 part, I would not go near him 
 to give him a bit if he was to 
 drop down for the want of it. 
 
 Here was pride to excess. 
 
 Bat a yaung woman who 
 waited en Miss Maria was 
 dressing herself up-^stairs.saw 
 the poor men going -dlmg with 
 tears running down his cheeks 
 crept softly down, and went 
 after him unperceived, slipt 
 sixpence into his hand and 
 run in again ; for if she had 
 
9 
 
 been seen,she would have lost 
 her place. 
 
 Mrs Wilkins always made 
 Miss Maria wear a steel shape 
 so make her genteel ; but in- 
 stead of that, not having room 
 she grew crooked ; and when 
 she* was twelve years old, she 
 had a great hump on her 
 shoulder. Notwithstanding 
 Miss was so proud,yet she was 
 
10 
 
 mean enough to listen to what 
 the servants talked about. 
 
 One dav hb she was standing 
 on the kitchen stairs.she htard 
 the cook sa} to the honsemaid 
 how proud Miss Maria i^s, and 
 yet she is very ugly and vastly 
 crooked; for my part, 1 had 
 lather be as 1 am, a poor 
 servant, and be straight and 
 proper, than be such a lump 
 of niij^rry wiih all her pride 
 and fortune. Very true, 
 
 ansv^^ered the other, I cannot 
 help h'lughing whenever 1 see 
 her, she fosses her head with 
 such an a^^ of scorn, and turns 
 up her nose at nie. I can- 
 ^lotabine her. it is a very true 
 sayins', Lisieners never hear 
 any good of ihemselvts. As 
 
11 
 
 soon as they bad done Miking 
 she ran to her mansraaand told 
 her all that they bad said. 
 
 Mrs Wilkins instantly rang 
 the bell in a great rage, and 
 gave orders forevery one of 
 them to go away» which they 
 
 did. 
 
 Betty went home to her 
 mother till she could get a 
 p'ace, but she had no occasion 
 to go to service any more ; for 
 an uncle, who had Ijved in 
 Jauiaica a great many years, 
 vv^as just arrived in t ngland. 
 
 On his arrival he took a 
 handsome house, and had all 
 bis wealth brought- home to it. 
 He then enquired after his sis- 
 ter, who was Betty's -mother, 
 and found them together at 
 
tQ 
 
 work. He took them home to 
 his house, bought them rich 
 clothes^and gave them money, 
 '^hen he set up a coach, kept 
 a number of servants, for he 
 was very rich. 
 
 Betty was a pretty genteel 
 girl, and when dressed, looked 
 charmingly. Besides this, she 
 was of a sweet temper. 
 
 Her uncle was very fond of 
 her ; and one day she begged 
 the favor of him to let her go 
 and invite a young lady to 
 come and see her ; he con- 
 sented directly, and desired 
 her to go in the coach, and 
 bring her with her. But who 
 do you think this lady was ? 
 Why Miss Maria Wilkius. 
 
 Miss Betsey though she had 
 
13 
 
 notthe4east vanity, yet she 
 waited Mrs.Wiikins and M\s^ 
 Maria to see the alteration in 
 her -circura stances, for being 
 turned out of her house for 
 nothing; so she dressed her- 
 self as grand as possible, and 
 getting into the coach,onlered 
 the servant to drive to Mrs. 
 Wilkins's. 
 
 The coach stopped at the 
 door, and Miss Betsev sent in 
 her name, and after some time 
 waiting, Mrs. Wilkins' servant 
 returned with this answer, 
 that the ladies were engaged, 
 and desired she would not 
 trouble herself to come any 
 more* 
 
 Miss Betsey returned home 
 arid told ker uncle wheFe she 
 
K^^^iM 
 
 14 
 
 had been, and the reception 
 she met with- 1 hope you will 
 never go there any more, my 
 dear, said he; and if 1 had 
 known, you should not have 
 gone at all. No, sir, said Miss 
 Betsy, I don't ui tend it. 
 
 When Mistress and Miss 
 Wilkinssaw through thev/in- 
 dowwho it was in the coach, 
 before she sent in her name ; 
 they were greatly astonished; 
 but though she was drest well,, 
 and rode in her coach, Mrs. 
 Wiikins said, yet she ha.l been 
 her servant, and you shall ne- 
 ver keep company with such 
 a mean slut as she^MissMaria. 
 No madam, says she, I have 
 too much pride in me, and 
 would sooner die. 
 
15 
 
 In the midst of their con- 
 versation, Mr. Wilkins came 
 home with a dejeoted counte- 
 nance, tohl his wife he was 
 ruined; and that their hii^h' 
 manner of living had been the 
 cause of their destruction 1 
 
 Accordingly next day every 
 thing was seized on, and they 
 turned out of doors. 
 
 They had nobody to relieve 
 them, so i\Jr.and Mrs. Wilkins 
 were forced to go to the work- 
 house, and Maria was hum- 
 bled enough to go to Miss 
 Betsey, and beg of her to take 
 her as a servant Betsey pi- 
 tied her and admitted her,but 
 rather as companion than ser- 
 vant.