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come over and live at Sandover, to take care of his gardens and little farming concerns? You might render them a deal of service, and I am sure they would be very kind to you.

Tho. Ah, madam! that I am sure he would; but then there is my dear old master, and my mistress.Sometimes I hope the Lord will change her heart, for she is wonderfully different from what she was. And then there is Master Henry and Miss Nancy, and it is to admiration how kind they all behave to me and Betty: and then there is our dear minister. Why, madam, never can think of leaving Brookfield parish, while he preaches in the church.

Wor. Oh! no, Thomas we have no inclination to part with you, though my son-in-law might be all the better for it; besides, I hope we shall have some church preferment for you by and by. It is much more likely that you should be clerk of the parish, than that Mr. Lovegood should be archbishop of Canterbury.* I believe we must soon put off poor old Andrew Snuffle with a pension. He makes sad blunders, and you know he frequently puts our minister out shockingly; at times he cries Amen in the middle of a prayer; and when my daughter was married, he mistook the business, and began answering to the office of the churching of women.

Tho. Ah, poor Andrew! his hearing is very bad; and his eyes are got very dim: but how shall such a poor creature as I am, stand up in such a place? Though to be sure it would be a rare help to Betty and our children.

[Servant enters.]

Serv. Sir, Mr. and Miss Considerate are come to wait upon you.

* See Dialogue VI.

[They enter, and Thomas retires, after returning many thanks for having received two half-crowns, the one from Mr. and the other from Mrs. Worthy, and an order to be well fed in the kitchen.]

Consid. Sir, I am come with my daughter to wait upon you with our hearty congratulations, on the happy marriage which has taken place in your family.

Mr. and Mrs. Wor. We heartily thank you, Sir; pray. be seated. Is Mrs. Considerate well?

Consid. Very well, I thank you, Sir: but if I may be allowed to tell a family secret, in our little way, it unfortunately happens to be washing week: and this is a season of great importance in little families. She supposes therefore, that as my daughter came with me, that her superintendence will be needed at home; otherwise she would have walked with us. She means, however, very soon to pay her respects to you on this happy.

event.

Wor. Mrs. Considerate has at all times been a notable Martha.

Consid. Yes, Sir, and since she has become a truly spiritual Mary, she has continued not less a notable Martha. She is always frugal and industrious, though never mean: while she is prudent and saving, she is just, generous, and kind.

Wor. Sir, it is your mercy to have such a wife.

Consid. Sir, a wife is either the best or the worst piece of furniture a man can possibly possess.

Wor. We have frequently heard, that her character is that of a most liberal economist; by all accounts, I do not know what her poor neighbours would do without her. It is said, that she can make the richest caudle, and cook the best broth, and patch up the greatest quantity of old clothes, at the cheapest rate, of any person in the parish, for the good of her poor neighbours. Consid. Indeed, Sir, she can: though by her notable

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23

MR. CONSIDERATE'S TWO CHILDREN

DROWNED.

"I never saw her melancholy but once, and that was enough to make us both melancholy, when we lost our two dear sons by the same event, when they were both drowned in the river. My eldest son, seeing his younger brother had got out of his depth, and was crying for help, unfortunately plunged in after him with all his clothes on, and was carried down the stream with him, when they both sunk together in a deep hole, under some willows that overhung the bank."

Dial. xxvii. 53.

C. Whittingham, College House, Chiswick.

ness she coaxes many a shilling out of my pocket; but while she is such a conscientious, yet generous economist, I lose nothing by all she gives; and whatever she does, is done with cheerfulness. I never saw her melancholy but once, and that was enough to make us both melancholy, when we lost our two sons by being both drowned in the river, at the same time.

Mrs. Wor. Ah, dear Sir! though we were not acquainted with each other in those days, yet we sincerely sympathized with you.

Consid. O madam! It was enough to break our hearts; two more promising children never lived; and surely never were two brothers known to be more affectionately fond of each other. Indeed this was the cause of the catastrophe; for my eldest son, seeing that his brother had got out of his depth, and was crying for help, unfortunately plunged in after him with all his clothes on, and was carried down the stream with him, when they both sunk together in a deep hole, under some willows that overhung the bank. To see two such lovely, alert children, that had left my house but an hour before, full of all that vivacity and life which belong to youth, brought home breathless, and stretched on the same board-O Sir!——[Mr. Considerate weeps.]

Wor. But it seems, Sir, it was that calamity which first brought Mrs. Considerate to seek after the consolation of the Gospel.

Consid. Yes, Sir, I trust this heavy judgment has been overruled in much mercy to us both; for while we still continued very much dejected by our loss, our kind neighbours did all they could, in their way, to revive our spirits, by inviting us to their tea-tables and cardparties; but alas! in vain. We did not then know, under the loss of both our beloved Isaacs, as we had no

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