BLACK GILES T H E P O A C H E R : trira 1CKVS ACCOUNT OF A Family ;c/io had rather live hi; their JTt'U than their IVvrk. ,IN T TWO PARTS. . Sold by HOW A RD and F VANS t Country. 'Wmcu, an,l Hawfeer... in Town a..,d _ PRICE TWO PKNC;.:. " BLACK GILES, &c. PART I. 1' ^OACHING GILES lives on the borders of : one of those great Moors in Somersetshire. Giles, to be sure, has been a sad fellow in his time* and it is nooe of his Fault if his whole family do not end either at the gallows or at Botany bay He lives at that Mud Cottage with the broken windows stuffed with dirty rags, just beyond the gate which divides the upper from the lower Moor. You may know the house at a good distance by the ragged tiles on the roof, and the loose stones which are ready to drop out from the chimney, though a short ladder and a hod of mortar, and half an hour of leisure time, would have prevented all this, and made the little house tight enough. But as Giles had never learnt any thing that was good so he did not know the value of such useful sayings as, that " a tile in time saves nine." Besides this, Giles fell into that common mis- take, that a beggarly looking cottage, and filthy rag- ged children raised most compassion, and of course drew most charity. But as cunning as he was in ■ il l lip 1 1 \i' ill. other things, he was out in his reckoning here; f or it is neatness, housewifery, and decent appearance which draws the kindness of the rich and chanta. hie, while they turn awav disgusted from filth and laziness! not out of pride, but because they see that it is next to impossible to mend tne condiUon of those who degrade themselves by dirt and sloth. The common on which Giles's hovel stands, « quite a deep marsh in a wet winter, bat m summer it looks green and pretty enough. To be sure il would be rather convenient when one passes that way in a carriage, if one of the children woi run out and open the gate, as it would save 1 1 post, bov from getting off, which 1S not very safe for the'people within the chaise-but instead . any one of these children running out as soons they hear the wheels, which would be quite tuij enough, what does Giles do, but set all his ragged brats, with dirty laces, matted locks and n« feet and legs, to lie all day upon a by the gate, waiting for the slender chance ofJ may be picked up from travellers. A the s* of a Carriage, a whole covey of these little crows start up, rush to the gate, alalia thrust out their hats and aprons; and To 1 ear J together with the noise ot their c lamoio u|j ffaL should not sufficiently frighten the 1 . th^v are very apt to let the gate slap lull ag S before vou are half way through in t you, oew c y h the hal , j. cec scuffle to snatcii trom which vou may have thrown ^P ^m. two ladies who were one day veiy near beu% by these abominable tricks. . : : Thus five or six little idle creatures, who might be earning a trifle by knitting at home; who might Be useful td the public by working in the field, and Who might assist their families by learning to get "jheir bread twenty honest ways, are suffered to lie about all day, in hope of a few chance halfpence, which after all they are by no means sure of get- trhg. Indeed, wheii the neighbouring gentlefolks fbimd out that opening the gate was the family, trade, they soon left off giving any thing. And I, riiyself, though I used to take out a penny, ready to give, had there been only one to receive it, when I see a whole family established in so beggarly t*. trade, quietly put it back again ip 4 to'niy : pockety and give nottrng at all. And so few travellers pass that way, that sometime^ after the whole family have lost a day, their gains do not amount to two pence.. ; As Giles had afar greater taste for living by his wits than his work, he was at one time in hopes tBat his children might have got a pretty penny by tumbling for the diversion of travellers, and he set about training them in that indecent practice — but unluckily the moors being level, the carriages tra^ Veiled faster than the children tumbled. He en- vied those parents who lived on the Lopdori road,, over the Wiltshire Downs, which, being very, hilly r tokeep pace with the traveller, till he sometimes extorts from the light and the unthinking a reward, instead of a reproof. I beg leave, however, to put all gentlemen and, ladies in mm that such tricks are a kind of apprenticeship to the trades of begging and thieving. ' 1 piles, to be sure, as his children grew elder Mgan to train them to such other employments as ill'! 6 the idle habits they had learned at the gate very: pr^,)erly qualified them tor. The ri^ht ofxfom'tt^ Wh h some of the poor cottagers have in that part of the country, and which is doubtless a consider- able advantage to many, was convened by Giles in<> the means of corrupting his whoh family, for his children, as soon as they grew too big for the' traue of begging at the gate, were promoted to the dignity of thieving on the Moor. Here he keptj two or three asses, miserable beings, which, if they had the good fortune to escape an untimely death by starving, did not fail to meet with it by S beating. Some of the biggest boys were sent out with these lean and galled animals to carry sand or coals about the neighboring towns. Both sand and| coals were often stolen before they got them to sell, or if put, they always took care to cheat in selling them. By long practice in this art, they grew so dextrous, that they could give a pretty good gum how large a coal they could crib out ot every bag before the buyer would be likely to miss it. ? All their odd time was taken up under the pre- tence of watching these asses on the Moor, or run ning after five or six naif starved geese j but* truth is, these boys were only washing for an op ~ portunity to steal an odd goose of their neighbor's, They used alse to pluck the quills, or the dovu from these poor live creatures, or half-milk a cod before the farmer's maid came with her pail, m all knew how to calculate to a minute what m to be down in a morning to let out their lank hPJj C rv beasts, which they had turned over night ^ the farmer's field to steal a little good pasture.- They contrived to get there just time enough escape being caught in replacing the stakes they had pulled out for the cattle to get over. For Giles was a prudent long headed fellow, and wherever he stole food for his colts, took care never to steal stakes from the hedges at the same time. He had sense enough to know that the gain did not make ub for the danger; he knew that a loose faggot pulled from a neighbor's pile of wood after the fa- mily were gone to bed, answered the end better, and was not half the trouble. Among the many trades which Giles professed, lye sometimes practised that of rat-catcher, but he was addicted to so many tricks, that he never fol- lowed the same trade long. Whenever he was sent for to a farm-house, his custom was to kill a few of the old rats, always taking care to leave a little stock of young ones alive sufficient to keep up the breed ; " for," said he, " if I were to be such a fool as to clear a house, or a barn at once, how would my trade be carried on ?" And where any barn was overstocked, he used to borrow a few from thence Just to people a neighboring granary which had none ; and he might have gone on till now, had he not unluckily been caught one evening emptying his cage of young rats under parson Wilson's barn door. This worthy minister, Mr. Wilson,, used to pity the neglected children of Giles as much as he blam- ed the wicked parents. He one day picked up Dick, who was far the hest of Giles's bad boys. Dick was loitering about in afield behind the parson's garden in search of a hen's nest, his mother having ordered *nm to bring home a few eggs that night by hook or oy crook, as Giles was resolved to have some pan- cakes for supper, though he kn w that eggs w penny a piece. Mr. Wilson had long been desir^ of snatching some of this vagrant family from ruin, and his chief hopes were bent on Dick, as the leas; hackneyed in knavery. He had once given hiihu new pair of shoes, on his promising to go to school next Sunday — but no sooner had Rachel, the bo\\ mother, got the shoes into her clurches, than sfe pawned them for a bottle of gin, and ordered the boy to keep out of the parson's sigh*, and to be sure tp play his marbles on Sundays for the futur&| t he other end of the pansh, and not near the ehurd yard. Mr. Wilson, however, picked up the ty once more, for it was not his way to despair of am body. Dick was just going to talv"* to his heds: usual for tear the old story of the shoes shouidl): brought forward, but finding he could not get of what does he do but run into a little puddle of mud- dy water winch lay between him and the parsofl that ; he sight of his naked feet might not bring or: the dreadful subject. Now it happened that Mr Wilson was planting a little field of beans, thought this a good opportunity to employ he told him he had got some pretty easy work k him. Dick did as he was bid \ he willingly wetitt work, and readily began co plant his beans w dispatch and regulanty, according to the direction given him. While the boy was busily at work by trm Giles happened to come by, having been sktoW round the back way to look over the parson s ? 1 ' den wail to see if there was anything worth cm inp- over for on the ensuing night. He spied W and begad to rate him for working for the stingy 9 rson, for Giles had a natural antipathy to what- ever belonged to the church, ff What has he pro- pised thee a day, (said he) little enough, i > dare say ." — ' He is not to pay me by the day, (said Dick but says he will give me. so much when t have planted this peak, and so much for tfhe next" —" OK )h! that alters the case, (said Giles) — one may. indeed, get a trifle by this sort of work — come give m a handful of the beans. I will teach thee how to plant when rhou art paid for planting by the jjfx-k. Ail we have to do in that case is to dispatch the work as fast as we can, and get rid of the beans with all speed; and as to the seed coming up or not that is no business of ours; we are paU for planting, not for growing. At the rate thou goest on, thou would'st not get sixpence to night. Come along, bury away." So saying, he to®k his hatful of the seed, and where Dick had been ordered to set one bean, Giles buried a dozen. So the beans were soon out. But though the peck was emptied, the ground was unplanted. But cunning Giles knew this could not be found out till the time when the beans might be expected to come up, "and then Dick, (said he > the snails and the mice may zq shares in the blame, or we can lay the fault on the rooks or the blackbirds." So say ing, he sent the boy into the parsonage to receive his pay, taking care to secure about a quarter of the peck of beans* for his own colt; he put both bag and beans into K own pocket to cany home, bidding Dick tell Mr Wilson that he had planted the beans and lostThe » h th e ™ean time Giles's other boys were bu^v *n emptying the ponds and trout-st^ms in % V 10 neighboring manor. They would steal away the carp and tench when they were no bigger thai) gudgeons— by this untimely depredation they pl Lln> dersd the owner of his property, without enrichinj themselves. But the pleasure of mischief was r e . ward enough. These, and a hundred other little thieveries, they committed with such dexterity, that old Tim. Crib, whose son was transported last as- sizes for sheep stealing, used to be often reproach, ing his boys, that Giles's sons were worth a hun- dred of such blockheads as he had ; for scarcea night passed but Giles had. some little comfortable thing for supper which his boys had pilfered in the day," while his undutiful dogs never stole any thing worth having. Giles, in the mean time, was busy in bis way, but as busy as he was in laying nets, starting coveys, and training dogs, he always took care that his depredations should not be con, fined merely to game. Giles's boys had never seen the inside of a churi since they were christened, and the father thought he knew his own interest better than to force them to it, for church time was the season of their bar vest. Then the hen's nests were searched, a stray duck was clapped under the smock-frock, the tools which might have been left by chance in a farm- yard, were picked up, and all the neighboring pi' geon houses were thinned, so that Giles used boast to his wife, that Sunday was to them 9 most profitable day in the week. With her it j . ei tainly the most laborious day, as she always* her washing and ironing on the Sunday ttortingd being, as she said, the only leisure day she had, m the other days she went about the country tm 11 •tunes, and selling dream books, and wicked otigs. Neither her husband's nor her children's cloaths were ever mended, and if Sunday, her idle day, had not come about once in every week, it is likely they would never have been washed nei- ther. You might, however, see her as you were gping to church, smoothing her own rags on her b$5t red cloak, which she always used for her iron- ing cloth on Sundays, for her cloak when she tra- velled, and for her blanket at night ; such a wretched manager was Rachel ! Among her other articles of trade, one was to make and stli pepper* piint, and other distilled waters. These she had the cheap art of nrking wirhoar. trouble, and with- out expence, for she made them without herbs and without a sail. Ii was her way to fill so many quan bodies with plain water, putting a spoonful of mint water in ine mouth of each ; these she corked down with rosin, carrying to each customer a phial of real distilled water to taste, by way of sample. This was so good, that her bottles were commonly bought up without being opened; but if any suspicion arose, and she was forced to un- cork a bottle, by the few drops of distilled water lying at top, she even then escaped detection, and took care to get out of reach before the bottle was opened a second time. She was too prudent ever to go twice to the same house. There is hardly any petty mischief that is not connected with the life of a 'poacher. Mr. Wilson was aware of t his, he was not only a pious clergy- man but an upright justice. He used to say that people who were truly conscientious, must be so in small things as well as in great ones, or they It would destroy the effect of their own precepts, ar . their example would not be of general use. % this reason he never would accept of a hare or partridge from any unqualified person in his pajtf He did not content himself with shuffling the thi>v off by asking no questions, and pretending to take it for granted, in a general way that the garner fairly come at; but he used to say, that by receiv. ing the booty, heconnived at a crime, madehim$e| a sharer in it, and if he gave a present to the M who brought it, he even tempted him to repeat (g fault. h One day poor Jack Weston, an honest fellow it the neighbourhood, whom Mr Wilson had kindly,! visited and relieved in a long sickness, from vvfef he was but just recovered, was brought before him' as he was sitting on the justice's bench; Jack wi accused of having knocked down a hare, and 1 all the birds in the air, who should the in former Ik but Black Giles the Poacher? Mr Wilson m grieved alt the charge, he had a great- regard k Jack, but he had a still greater regard for the la The poor fellow pleaded'guilty. He did notdenj the fact, but said he did not consider it a crime, I did not think game was private proper? y, and be owned he had; a strong temptation for doing win: he had done, which he hoped would plead in II excuse. The justice desired to know w Hat; til temptation was. "Sir, (said the peer fellow) JOS know I was given over (Hi* spring in a bad feve: J had no -friend in the world hut you, Sir. VtM Gnd you saved my life by your charitable rolie 1 and I trust also, ydu may have helped to save mj. soul by your prayers and your good advi:- 13 kapvv I can never make you a meads -for all your goodness, but I thought it would be some comfort to my full heart, if I cpuld but once give you some lktle token of my gratitude. So I had trained a pair of nice turtle doves for Madam Wilson, but they were stolen from .me, Sir, and 1 do suspecc I§.ack Giles stole them. Yesterday morning, Sir, as I was crawling out to my work, for 1 am still bijt very weak, a fine hare ran across my path. I did not stay to consider whether it was wrong to fc^l a hare, but I felt it was right to shew my gra- titude—so, Sir, without a moment's thought, I did knock down the hare which I was going to carry to your Worship, because I kne^v Madam, was fond of hare. I am -truly sorry for my fault, .and will submit to whatever punishment your Worship your Worship may please to infract." • jN'fr. Wilson was much moved with this honest confession, a.nd .tyauched; with ^he/poor ifellow.'s gr*K titude. What added- to. the.eM^ci of the sjtory, was the- weak -condition . and pale sickly looks, of the of- fender. But this worthy j astice never su ffered his feelings to bias his integrity— he knew that he did nats/tonthat Mench to indulge pity, -.but to qdmiU n^ter justice. An4 wh-Ue he was sorry foi;. the ofi ityfavi he v \f^ujcl v\qt justify the offence. " Joftn, he ) . I aoi surprised .that you could , for a mo- mem forget that I never accept any gift which qj*uses the giver to, break a Jaw. On' Suniuv I Veach you from the pulpit the laws of God, whose 1 am.. At .present I Mll'the chair of the m^g^trate, to enforce , a fid execute the laws of ike land. Between those and the ethers there is tnore .Qfancxim than yoa are aware. I thank you John, 14 for your affection to me, and I admire your m tude, but I must not allow either affection br'aU titude to be brought as a plea for a wrong actr It is not your business nor mine, John, to sett! whether the game laws are good or bad. Till the* are repealed, we must obey them. Many, I d i not, break these laws through ignorance, and many I am certain, who would not dare to steal a goose J a turkey, make no scruple of knocking down a hare or a partridge. You will hereafter think yourself happy that this your first attempt has proved unsu c . cessful, as I trust you are too honest a fellow ever' to intend to turn poacher. With poaching mud moral evil is connected; a habit of nightly depre- dation ; a custom of prowling in the dark for prey, produces in time a disrelish for honest labor, lie whose first offence was committed without mucfl thought or evil intention, if he happen to succeed a few times in carrying off his booty undiscovered, grows bolder and bolder— and when he fancies there - is no shame attending it, he very soon gets to per- suade himself, that there is also no sin. While some people pretend to scruple about stealings sheep, they partly live by plundering of warrens, But remember that the warrener gays a high rent, and that therefore his rabbits are as much n is pro- perty as his sheep. Do not the;) deceive yourselves with these false distinctions. All property is sa- cred, and as the laws of the land are intended to fence in that property, he who brings up his chil- dren to break down an v of these ences, brings them ' up to certain sin and ruin He who begins with rob- bing orchards, rabbit wairens, and fish ponds, wil probably end with horse stealing, or highway rob". 15 gjLy Poaching is a regular apprenticeship to bolder crimes. He whom I may commit as a boy fo sit in the stocks for killing a partridge, may be likely to end at the gallows for killing a man. « Observe, you who now hear me, the strictness and impartiality of justice. I know Giles to bea worthless fellow, yet it is my duty to take his #- formation ; 1 know Jack Weston to be an honest youth, yet I must be obliged to make him pay the penalty. Giles is a bad man, but he can prove this fact ; Jack is a worthy lad, but he has com- mitted this fault. I am sorry for you Jack, but do not let it grieve you that Giles has played worse tricks a hundred times, and yet got off while you were detected in the very first offence, for that would be grieving because you are not so great a rogue as Giles. At this moment you think your good luck is very unequal, but all this will one day turn out in your favor. Giles is not the more a favorite of heaven because he has hitherto escaped Botany Bay ot the Hulks, nor is it any mark of God's displeasure against you, John, that you were found out in your very first attempt. " Here the good justice left off speaking, and no one could contradict the truth of what he had said. Weston humbly submitted to his sentence, but he was very poor, and knew not where to raise the money to pay his fine. His character had al ways been so fair, that several farmers present, kindly agreed to advance a trifle each to prevent his being sent to prison, and he thankfully promised to work out the debt. The justice himself, though he could not soften the law, yet shewed Weston so much kindness, that he was enabled, before the 16 year was out to get out of this difficulty. He 1 gan to think more seriously than he had even done, and grew to abhor poaching, not merely f rc fear, but from principle. We shall soon see whether Poaching Giles; Ways g n v)ff so successfully. Here we have sei that prosperity is no sure sign of goodness, ai in the Second Parr, we may, perhaps, see that tl " triumphing of.fche wicked is short." PART II. THE HISTORY OF WIDOW BROJVN's APPLE TREE. T f HINK my readers got so well acquainted in lie Firsc lit, with Black Giles the Poacher that they will not expect fa? tftgW great good either of Giles himself, his wife Rachel, or any of their family. 1 am sorry to expose their tricks, but it is their fault, not mine. It I WW* to speak about people at all, I must tell the trutn. I am sure if folks would but turn about and mend, it would be a thousand times pleasanter to me to write their histories, for it is no comfort to tell of anybody's faults. If the world would but grow good, I should be glad enough to tell of it, but till it really becomes so, I must go on describing it as it is, otherwise, I should only mislead my readers, instead of instructing them. As to Giles and his boys, I am sure old Widow Brown had good reason to remember iheir dexteri- ty. Poor woman ! she had a fine little bed of onions, in her neat and well-kept garden ; she was very fond of her onions, and manv a rheumatism has she caught by kneeling down to weed them in a damp day* notwithstanding the little flannel cloak and the B 18 bit of an old mat which Madam Wilson gavet^ because the old woman would needs weeding weather. Her onions she always carefully trea sured up for her winter's store, for an onion mak a little broth very relishing, and is indeed the onl savory thing poor people are used to get. She 3 also a small orchard, containing about a dozen a pie trees, with which in a good year she has beet known to make a couple of barrels of cyder, why she sold to her landlord towards paying her ren besides having a little keg which she was ablet keep back for her own drinking. Well! would jo believe it, Giles and his boys mark'd both onio and apples for their own ; indeed a man who stol so many rabbits from the warren, was likely enouj to steal onions for sauce. One day when the i dow was abroad on a little business, Giles and kl; boys made a clear riddance of the onion bed, an when they had pulled up every single onion, te then turned a couple of pigs into the garden, wk allured by the smell, tore up the bed in such s m, tier, that the w idow when she came home, had n the least doubt but the pigs had been the thitv To confirm this opinion, they took care to leavet little hatch half open at one end of the garden, to bi eak down a bit of a fence at the other end. I wonder how any body can find in his heart to pity and respect poor old widows! There something so foi lorn and helpless in their conditi that methuiks it is a call on everv body, men, * men, and childien, to do them all the kind servi that fall in their way. Surely their huvingnofl" to take their part, is an additional reason tor W hearted people not to hurt and oppress them. \ it was this very reason tlutt. led Gtitss to do W 19 it happened unluckily for this poor widow, that ther cottage stood quite alone. On several morn- ings together (for roguery gets up much earlier [limn industry : Giles and his boys stole regularly into her orchard, followed by their jack asses. She Las so deaf that she could not hear the asses if they had braved ever so loud, and to this Giles trusted ; for 1 was very cautious in his rogueries, since hs louhl not otberwuys have contrived to keep out of 'pr.^m; for though ne was almost always suspected, be had seldom been taken up, and never convicted* The boys used to fill their bags, load their asses* 3pd then march- off;' and if in their way to the town where the apples were to be sold, they chanced to pass by one or their neighbors, who might be likely to suspect them, they then all at once began to scream out, " buy my coal — buy my sand, O!" K-Besides the trees in her orchard, poor widow B$own had in her small garden one apple-tree par- ticularly fine; it was a redstreak, so tempting and lovely that Giles's family had watched it with long- ing eyes, till at last they resolved on a plan for car- rying off all i his fine fruit in their bags. But it was aj,nice point to manage. The tree stood directly u#fler her chamber window, so that there was some dpger that she. might spy them at work. They therefore determined to wait till the next Sunday ^ornmg, when they knew she would not fail to be at church. Sunday came, and during service Giles attended. It was a lqne house, as I said before, and ine rest of the parish were safe at church. In a jnee, the tree was cleared, the bags were filled, masses were whipt, the thieves were off, the coast ill - b 2 ~ m *K - '^-0% ra- i 20 was clear, and all was safe and quiet by the time the sermon was over. Unluckily, however, it happened, that this tree was so beautiful, and the fruit so tine, that thepeo. pie, as they used to pass to and from church, were very apt to stop and admire Widow Brown's red- streaks — and some of the farmers rather enviedher that in that scarce season, when they hardly ex- pected to make a pie out of a large orchard, she was likely to make cyder from a single tree. Iain afraid, indeed, if I must speak out, she herself ther set her heart too much upon this tree, and h felt as much pride as gratitude to a good Provi. dence for it, but this failing of her's was no excm for Giles. The covetousness of this thief had for once got the better of his caution ; the tree was too completely stripped, though the youngest boy Dick did beg hard that his father would leave the poor old woman enough for a few dumplings, and when Giles ordered Dick in his turn to shake the tree, the boy did it so gently that hardly any apples fd for which he got a good shake of the stick -m which the old man was beating down the apples. The neighbours on their return from churt stopped as usual, but it was— not, alas! to admifl the apples, for apples there were none left, but» lament the robbery, and console the widow: time the red-treaks were safely lodged in Gile> hovel under a few bundles of hay which heW connived to pull from the farmer's mow the ni^ before, for the use of his jack asses. Such as < however, begaa to be made about the ^i dovvS fcj pie tree, th it Giles, who knew how much his \C racter bid him open to suspicion, as soon W saw the people safe in chuich again in the ^ 21 noon, ordered his boys to carry each a hatful of the apples and thrust them in at a little casement win- dow, which happened to be open in the house of Samuel Price, a very honest carpenter in that pa- rish, who was at church with his whole family. — Giles's plan, by this contrivance, was to lay the theft on Price's sons, in case the thing should come to be further enquired into. Here Dick put in a word, and begged and prayed his father not to force them to carry the apples to Price's. But all that lie got by his begging was such a knock, as nearly laid him on the earth. " What you cowardly rae- cal," said Giles, "you will go and peach, I suppose, and get your father sent to gaol." ' Poor Widow Brown, though her trouble had made her still weaker than she was, went to church again in the afternoon ; indeed she rightly thought, that trouble was a new reason why she ought to eo During the service she tried with all her mieht not to think of her redstreaks, and whenever thev • would come into her head, she took up her prayer book directly, and so she forgot them a little and indeed she found herself rJch easier en The came ^ut of the church, than when she wen "n -! Z of iST°f ° ddl ye™&> that on tha Sun- to rest a ttle^arT "iV'™' She Sh °" 1:i ca » * the ! laU Se 3 tSv'o? ^"^ ^ *H Wer w th him how he t hfef m L a K PP K S ' a "u d tQ CO,lsuIt But, O reader ! . 1 T g tbe brou g ht to justice. cannot tell you Thll y °u C ™> for 1 am ™«> I going inS 1 CW?Pri^&« Whe '\°" own redstreaks ly ing ^ fig* * T^™ f — of a sort too reraarka51e for ^ Jg£ and size to be mistaken. There was not such an ther tree in the parish. Widow Brown immedi ately screamed oat, " lass a day ! as sure as can bi here arc my redstreaks; I could swear to themii any court." Samuel Price, who believed his m to be as honest as himself, was shocked and trouble at the sight. He knew he had no redstreaks of his own — he knew there were no apples in [he window when he went to church — and did verily believe them to be the widow's; and how they came there he could not possibly guess. He called forlorn the only one of his sons who now lived at home Tom was at the Sunday School, which he had ne ver once missed since Mr. Wilson the miniski had set up one in the parish. Was such a boj likely to do such a deed ? A crowd was by this time got about Price's door among which was Giles and his boys, who had at ready taken care to spread the news that Torr Price was the thief. Most peopie*we:eunwi]lingl( believe it. His character was very good, bii appearances were strongly against him. Mr. Wil son, -1^£, had staid to christen a chdd, now came in- H^j&tas much concerned that Tom Price Ih best boy in his school, should stand accused of sucl a crime. Accordingly he sent for the boy, exam ined, and cross examined him. No marks of guil appeared. Put still though he pleaded not guilty there lay the redstreaks in his father's window. Aj the idle fellows in the place, who were Hkel) ti have committed such a theft themselves, fell wilt great vengeance on poor Tom 1 he wicked sfl dom give any quarter. " This is one of your sane tified ones!" cried they. " This was ah the goot that Sunday Schools did I For their parts they ne c 23 set saw any good come by religion. Sunday was the only day tor a little pastime, and if poor boys must be shut up with their godly books when they ought to be out taking a little pleasure, it was no wonder they made themselves amends by such tricks/' — Another said he should like to see Parson Wilson's righteous one well whipped. A third hoped he would be clapped in the stocks for a young hypo* crite as he was, while old Giles, who thought to avoid suspicion by being more violent than the rest, declared "that he hoped the young dog would be transported for life." Mr. Wilson was too wise and too just to proceed against Tom without full proof. He declared the crime was a very heavy one, and he feared that heavy must be the punishment. Tom, who knew his own innocence, earnestly prayed to God that he might be made to appear as clear as the noon- clay, and very fervent were his secret devotions on tnat night. ma B nnJr ^u" P asse i his « a very different E£ 'and M *" °f ** SO °" 33 '* WaS dark with Hoods A tbe ! r - ]aCk ' asSes laden with their stolen he 2 id ,it !rr ( ry Was raised abc)Ut the apples, home h Sate to kee P th e<" longer at town » rCSOlVed t0 S° and se 1 them at the next hT^ n r V,n ? WKh0Ut ,eaVe ' a &™ colt out of GUes J5 T St n C3rr y in ^ off his b ooty. way in (hin- in T SS*,? 18 J** ^ S P * a « ^ Profit of^ t Su^Tim the ped round the K l , ' , Pnce - vould be whip, yond se" llTtut *' ?Uu * * ,61St ' if not sen < be- naturally a tel i y °? ge u r b ° y ' Dick > had long fami iari y e w S ar in ^ hanlened ^ 21 transported for a crime which he himself had help to commit. He had had no compunction abouttl robbery, for he had not been instructed in the m principles of truth and justice. Nor would h ( therefore, perhaps, have had much remorse abo accusing an innocent boy. But though utterly | void of principle, he had some remains of natur a feeling and of gratitude, Tom Price had ofe given him a bit of his own bread and cheese, an once, when Dick was liKe to he drowned, Tom In jumped into the pond wi'h his clothes on, and save his life when he was just sinking— the rem,,:, brance of all this made his heart heavy. H nothing, as he trotted bare-foot after;.. the assesl heard his father and brothers laugh at having ou witted the godly ones; and he grieved to thinkhf poor Tom would suffer for his wickedness, yecfe kept him silent; they called him sulky 'dog, a 1 lashed the asses till they bled. In the mean time, Tom Price kept up his spir; as well as he could. He worked hard all day, 2 prayed heartily night and morning. " it is trpe, said he to himself, " I am not guilty of this.il but let this accusation set me on examining i| self and truly repenting of all my other sins, I 1 find enough to repent of, though I thank Goi did not steal those apples. " At length Sunday came. Tom went to 6CW as usual. As soon as he walked in there was a# of whispering and laughing among the worst the boys, and he overheard them say, " Who w have thought it? This is master's favorite 1 1 is Parsorj Wilson's sober Tommy ! We shan't hf Tommy thrown in our teeth again if we go to' a bird's nest, or gather a few nuts of a Sunday. 25 4'Your demure odes are always hypocrites," says another. " The still sow sucks all the milk," says ■ third. Giles's family had always kept clear of the qfchool. Dick indeed had sometimes wished to go, not that he had much sense of sin, or desire after goodness, but he thought if he could once read, he might rise in the world, and not be forced to drive asses all his life. Through this whole Sa- turday night he could not sleep. He longed to Jcnow what would be done to Tom : he began to wish to go to school, but he had not courage ; sin is very cowardly, so that on Sunday morning he went and sat himself down under the church wall Mr. Wilson passed by. It was not his way to reject the most wicked, till he had tried every means to brinir them over, and even then, he pitied and ppyed for them:— -he had indeed long left off talk- ing to Giles's son-, bun seeing Dick sitting by him- self, he once more spo^e to him, desired him to leave off his vagabond life, and go with h;m into the school. The boy hung down his head, but made no answer :— h< did not however either rise up and rim away, or look sulky as he used to da — |he minister desired him once more. " Shy'said the hoy, " I can t go : I am so big, I am ashamed." — the bigger you are, the less time you have to lose.-—- But, Sir, I can't read."—- Then it is h»gh time you should earn/ — « I should be ashamed to >oeg in to learn my letters."— « The shame is not in beginning to learn them, but in be- ing conrented never to know them."—- Mi Sir J am so rao much the worse. 1 remember who 26 gave you both," (here Dick coloured,) u It is bad to want shoes and stockings, but stiLl if you can drive your asses a dozen miles without them, j 0l] may certainly walk to school without them/*-* *' But, Sir, the good boys will hate me, and wont speak to me." — V Good boys hate nobody, and as to not speaking to you, to be sure they will not keep your company while you go on in your pre- sent evil courses; but as soon as they see you wish to reform, they will help you, and pity you, and teach you, and so come along." Here Mr. Wilson took this dirty boy by the hand, and gently pulled Iiim forward, kindly talking to him all the way, How the whole school stare t to see Dick Giles come in ! No one, however, dared to say what he thought. The business went on, and Dick slunk into a corner, partly to hide his rags and partly to hide his sin, for last Sunday's transaction sat heavy «K his heart, not because he had stolen the apples, but because Tom Price had been accused. 1 his, I say, made him slink behind. Poor boy! he little thought there was one saw him who sees all things, and from whose eve no hole or corner can hide the sinner. It was the custom in that school for the master, who was a good and wise man, to mark down in His pocket book, all the events of the week, that he might turn them to some account in his Sunday evening instructions, such as any useful story in the newspaper, any account of boys being drowned as they were out in a pleasure boat on Sundays; any sudden death in the parish, or any other remark- able visitation of Providence, insomuch, that man} young people in the place, who did not belong t0 the school, and many parents also, used to drop 27 in for an hour on a Sunday evening, when they 9e sure to hear something profitable. The mi- nistei greatly approved this practice, and often called in himself, which was a great support to the master and encouragement to the people. The master had taken a deep concern in the story of Widow Brown's apple-tree. He could not believe Tom Price was guilty, nor dared he pro- nounce him innocent, but he resolved to turn the instructions of the present evening to this subject. He' began thus — "My dear boys, however light sorne of you may make of robbing an orchard, yet I have often told you there is no such thing as a little sin, ifit be wilful or habitual. I wish now to explain to you also, that there is hardly such a thing as a single solitary sin. You kno.v I teach you not merely to repeat the commandment as an exercise for your memory, but as a rule for your conduct, if you were to come here only to learn to read and spell on a Sunday, 1 should think that was not employing God's day for God's work —but I teach you to read that you may by this means come so to understand the Bible and the Catechism, as to make every text in the one, and every que, u)!) , n d answer in the other, to be so W V u V/ earts ' th xt ihe y may bring forth the iru?|6 of good living." MasU How many commandments are th*re ? Hoy en. ymZ^ r p p n 4f that h °y break wh0 stoIe m- Thou shalt not steal. 28 Master. And you are very sure that this the only one he broke ? Now suppose I could pro, to you that he probably broke not less thapsixj of those ten commandments, which the great Lc of heaven himself stooped down from his eterr glory to deliver to men; would you not t.hentti it a terrible thing to steal, whether apples orj neas ? Boy. Yes, Master. Master. I will put the case* Some wicked \ has robbed Widow Brown's orchard. (Herej eyes of every one were turned on poor TomPri: except those of Dick Giles, who fixed his on t ground. ) I accuse no one, continued the masts Tom Price is a good boy, and was not raissi at the time of. the robbery, these are two reasons i I presume he is innocent; but whoever it i you allow that by stealing these apples he bm the eighth commandment. Boy. Yes, Master. Master. On what day were these apples stolen Boy. On Sunday. Master. What is the fourth commandment? Boy. Thou shait keep holy the Sabbath day. Master. Does that person keep holy the Sabh day who loiters in an orchard on Sunday, whe| should be at church, and steals apples when; ought to be saying his prayers? Boy. "No, Master. Master. What command does he break? Boy. The fourth. Master. Suppose this boy had parents wh ° n 113 knees ' and burst out a cry- it wk f,n " 18 as g° od a b °V as ever lived: 'it hcr a:ml stoIe the apples!^ tt would have done your heart good to have s ( the joy of the master, the modest blushes of T Price, and the satisfaction of every honest boy the school. All shook hands with Tom, and ej Dick got some portion of pity I wish I had roc to give my readers the moving exhortation wfe the master gave. But while Mr. Wilson left tj guilty boy to the manage ient of the master, ■ thought it became him as a minister and a bagij trate, to go to the extern of the law in punishing tatner. Early on Monday morning he Rent I apprehend Giles; in the mean time Mr. Wife was sent for to the gardener's house two miles dis tant to attend a man who was dying. This was duty to which all others gave way in his mind H set out directly, but what was his surprise on if arrival to see, on a little bed on the floor, PoacMij Giles ly ing in all the agonies of deat : ton, the same poor young man against whom Gil had informed for killing a hare, was kneeling! him offering him some hroth, and talk m,; to him] the kindest manner Mr Wilson begged to knq «... o the meaning of all this, and Jack Weston spoke follows : * At four this morning, as I was going oiit-f mow, passing unde r the high wallet this garden] heard a most dismal moaning 1 he nearer Icanti the more dismal it grew. Ai last wh should I » but poor Giles, groaning and suu r ling under! quant ity of brick and stones, bin not able to stir* The day before he had marked a tine large net| this old wall, and resolved to steal ir, he thougM might do as well to catch partridges as to prese^ cherries; so, Sir, standing on the very top oi wall, and tugging with all his might to loosen net from the hooks which fastened it A down c^ 1 31 Biles, net, wall and all, for the wall was gone to decay. It was very high indeed, and poor Giles not only broke his thigh, but has got a terrible blow on his brain, and is bruised all over like a mummy. On seeing me, Sir, poor Giles cried out, ' Oh Jack! I did try to ruin thee by lodging that information, and now thou wilt be revenged by letting me lie here and parish ' — 'God forbid, Giles/ cried I, 'thou shalt see what sort of revenge a Christian takes/ So, Sir, I sent off' the gardner's boy to fetch a sur- geon, while I scampered home and brought on my back this bit of a hammock, which is indeed my own bed, arid put Giles upon it, we then lifted him up, bed and all, as tenderly as if he had been a gen- tleman, and brought him in here. My wife ha^ just brought him a drop of broth, and now, Sir, as I have done what I could for his poor perishing body* it was I w ho took the liberty to send to you to come to try to help his poor soul, for the doctor says be can t live.' -,.c Ml i" V;ilson couId not help saying to himself, "Such an action as this is worth a whole volume of comments on that precept of our blessed Mas- ter, - Do good to (hem that hate you," Giles's jying groans confirmed the sad account Westoe m just given. The poor wretch could {neither pray Himself, nor a( tend to the minister. Me could 7 cy y ou - " Oh, Sir, what will become of me? child! ' !T ! oW t0 lv P ent Oh my poor wicked fetihr / 1 hiiVe brcd them a11 U P ifl Sin ™& to£i u ;ir # . i -V /e merc y on them, Sir, let me not goinr ' 7? r P bce & torment to which I am Wm> i ingui-hed a few days, and died in great 32 Except the minister and Jack Weston, no one came to see poor Giles, besides Tommy Price, who had been so sadly wronged by him. Tom of. ten brought him his own rice milk or apple dump, ling, and Giles, ignorant and depraved as he was, often cried out, that he thought now there must be some truth in religion, since it taught even a boy to deny himself, and to forgive an injury. Mr. Wilson the next Sunday made a moving discourse on the dangers of what are called "petty offences. " This, together with the awful death of Giles, produced such an effect, that no Poacher has been able to shew his head in ..that parish ever since* Howard & Evans, printers, 42, Long-lane, West-smithfield, London.