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‘
a : | & WITH SWEETEST FLOWERS ENRICH’D, FROM VARIOUS GARDENS CULL'D WITH CARE." eh hk
£
VOL. XII—NO. 22. 5
NEW-YORK, SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1800.»
WHOLE No. 594.) -
=
THE HOVEL ON THE HEATH.
‘(Continued from our laft.] +
THE old man refted: for a moment his languid
head on his right hand, to conceal the gufhing
tedrs. His auditorstoo,. availed themfelves of the
opportunity ; and he thus went on—'* Well may
J have hurried over’ a calamity, the recolleétion
of which—alas ! can it ever be forgotten ?—even
now opens every fecret {pring of fenfibility, and
overwhelms my very foul!. Yes, we loft our boy !
Not by the vilible dart of the cruel depredator
who robbed us of all our other little ones, whom
we followed weeping to their graves, and pioufly
~ configned to their’ maker, in the early ftages “of
“pilgrimage through a world of perils; no! that
‘shad been fuflainable, even though he was the laft :
but we loft him, as itwere, ina moment, and nev-
er afterwards could obtain the finallett tidings
refpecting his unhappy fate. - We had placed him,
~ at the age of fixteen, by the recommendation of
an old friend of my father, with a wholefale deal-
er in London. ~He went out one evening, foon
after his arrival in the. metropolis, and he never
returned!’ I will not pain. you with particulars ;
but the.expences in endeavoring to find him, and
- our total incapacity for bufinefs, foon obliged me
“to relinguith the farm.
My wife, by. degrees,
wholly loft her reafon; and, after languifhing
~ five years in mifery undefcribabte,. the was per-
mitted. to join our deceafed bibes in the.regtons
: of imperithable felicity. Still, though heaven on-
ly knows my fufferings! I contrived .toteach a
few clildren, and thus literally to earn my daily
bread. But a yonger man, unimpaired by for-
<". yow, availing himfelf of my diftrefs, had in this
"poor village opened a rival f{chool ; and, partly
for the fake of novelty, partly from my imputed,
and partly, itmuft be owned, ‘from my aétual in-
capacity todo complete juftice, my {cholars were
at length too much diminifhed to fupply their maf-
‘ter even with bread. .~
ten this dilemma, for [ had even then outlived
my. few friends,[ was nota little furprized, that
“San old fcholar, who kept a {mall inn, which was
» the poft-office at: the next. market-town, and
- whom I had frequently been obliged feverely to
panifh for a pilfering difpofition, called on me
with a {miling countenance; and, thanking. me
“for the pains which [had always taken to make
: him ‘an. hone(t_ man, prefented me witha ten
“ pounds bank note.
Much_as my neceilities wel-
comed this acceptable fupply, I can truly fay, it
wis rendered dearer to my_bofom, by.the reflec-
tion that it-was the price of the great ‘change
witch had been effefted in his heart through my
* fnicumentality, than from the timely relief which
jt 2fforded to my numerous wants. , With this
fur: he for five years annually prefented me} and
i frequently faid, that he would continue ‘to do fo
during life. «Thus enabled to fultain life, by the
3 affitance of a pupil originally the mof vicious [
ever had, while thole: of better. promife entirely
" neglected their old matter, I was tempted to think
more favorably of vice than is confttent with a
faithful attachment to virtue. My punifhment too
foon arived! If { bad fcourged out one evil pro-
penkty, he convinced me that he ftill retained a
\
difpofition of the cruelleftdiaboiifm. I had been
politely invited to pay hima vit; and, ommy
way, was feized by the fheriff’s officers, . at his
fuit, for what he had {worn was a‘ debt of fifty
pounds. I begged that I might be permitted to
remonitrate with this ‘mercilefs man; but, with
‘the precaution of thofe who are confcious of the
villany they. are refolved to: perfill in, he had jut
fet off on a long journey, and I was hurried away
fifteen miles, to the country goal.» What I faf-
fered during my imprifonment,’ in the rigor of.
the. many. winter feafons I- was doomed to’ pafs
there-efpecially, permit me to’ fpare the relation.
I honored the principles of our Jaws; but furely
I may be pardoned, after what I have feen, after
what I have felt, if I abhor much of the praétice.
In this horrible captivity I remained feven years,
till an aét of grace at length fet me free. ° My
wretched appearance at the feffions, before the
magiftrates who figned my enlargement, induced
fome of them to contribute a few. ihillings, and
to defire that I might be gratuitoufly conveyed to
my-parihh. I blefled their benevolence ; “for my
heart glowed with gratitude, to find that charity
was not quise’extinét on the earth. But, humb-
led as I was, my foul fickened at the idea of be-
coming a miferable pauper ina village work-
houfe’;; in the work-houfe ofa village, too, where
every object I’ fhould behold would. perpetually
recall to -my remembrance. the fcenes of former
‘days, and thus nourifa‘ceafele(s’ regrets.\\ Nor
will I-conceal, that my heare recciled from the
niggardly boon. ofa wretched fubfiftence; that
was thus ta be grudginyly beitowed by the inhab-
itants, moft of whom were themfelves ina flate
ot poverty... The money fubfcribed by~the hu-
mane magiftrates amounted to fifty five fhillings:
a little fortune to me! and, with~the blefliing of
heaven, I thoughtit might enable me to feck my
own fupport. Though confidérably, more than
ahundred: miles from London, it came into my
-mind that fome employ might be better obtained
in the metropolis than elfewhere. Accordingly,
I fet out on this long journey, and walked up-
wards of twenty miles every day for five days.
Like Efop, of old, my burthen being only bread,
with a very {mall addition of cheefe, it grew ev-
ery day lighter.” I deank’ of the‘ pure. ftream,
whenever I took my refrefhment;~ and I ufually
fiept, during my journey, under fome’ hedge or
‘trce alittle diftant from the road, to which | ear-
ly returned the next morning. It was Saturday”
evening when [ reached this heath; and I was fo
greatly exhaufted, that I could reach ‘no farther.
I fat down on the very ftons, which you, fir, I
fear, find at prefent but an uncomfortable feat;
but, to me, I affure you, it was at thattime, and
‘it has.fince frequently proved, a moft comfortable
accommodation. © All around was then bare, and
apparently. barren. I laid myfelf down; and,
with my bible, which I had. preferved amidft all
my calamities—and which, bleffed be the Holy
Spirit, by. whom it was infpired, ‘I fill preferve—
I made a pillow on the top, fofter far than that
of the patriarch Jacob, when he travelled from
Beer-fheba toward Haran, and made the ftones of
Luz hjs pillow. -This was. my refletion, as I clof-
ed my eyes in. gratitude to him wie knows, and
| amidit: the” myriads in the bright effulgence of
(and immediately marked out on the turf the. plan
brought him up, but who had alfo been dead | oN
who difpenfes, what is beft for man.“ TheGod-
of Abraham, of Ifaac, and of Jacob,” I fpontan> .
eoufly pronounced, *t is my God! he will keep’
me in the way that Igo, and will give me bread
to eat, and raiment to put on!" Tears of grat-
itude gufhed from my eyes, as I now clofed them
in the {weeteft fleep. . I’ was vifited with dreams.”
of the moft ineffable delight. iI thought that L
beheld. my: departed wife,.-with our dear little ©
‘ones, feated amidtt :myriads ‘of the bleffed, and.
finging ‘* praifes to God in the higheft!’. but my
lott boy was not there. Sinner that I am, I fhud-
dered, Iardently fighed for, but 1 durft not en-
quire, his fate... My thoughts were permitted to”
range ;..but the: faculties-of my prefumptuous
tongue were awefully repreffed.” «With an angelic
and expreflive fmile, the pure fpirit of my glori-
fied wife feemed kindly to approach me, gently
whifpered—«« Patience!” and,’ with’ our: fur
Tounding cherubs, was inftantly lo% to my fight.
beautitude. Of what followed, I retain no- fen-.
fible recollection, farther than the general idea of.
celeftial appearances, . vole fey ves de
+« When I awakened inthe morning, I felt my
elf irrefiftibly attached to this fpot. I atked my-
felf, whither [ was going, and’ what was the end’
of my purfuit; and found that I could not fatis-
fadtorily reply to this felf-{crutiny. The day paf-
fed in reflection.. Thought fucceeded thought, -
and queftion arofe on queftion, in my agitated. |
mind.. The confli@ was lafting ;. but it ended in
a pious refolution to pafs here, if poffible, the re~.
mainder of my days. .. Having fxetched, in my»
imaginatica, the outline of this humble plan, £
again pillowed my head as I had done the preced= =
ing evening. On the Monday morning, “after a:
fhort but profound fleep, I arofe with the fun,
of this humble dwelling. I worked not by. any. .
precife rule ;. but‘twenty feet {quare, I believe,
will include my furrounding garden. .The mud
collected by the road-fide gave me my bint for~
building, and I began to form the foundation of -
.a thick quadrangular wall. I had labored fome
hours; and, having wafhed my hands at the pond:
juit by, was ruminating on the flow proprefs Il was”
likely to make without at leaft a fpade or a fhovel,
as] finithed the remainder of my provifions, when __.
a baker’s'boy, paffing that way with his cart,”
flopped to look what I< was about: I afked him: -
if he could {pare me a loaf; and he replied, with. |
peculiar kindnefs—* Yes, and welcome!” He
‘then afxed me if I did not wantcheefe ;and, ad.
ding that he was going his rounds, and fhould be’
back in about two hours, faid he would bring me
fome with ‘pleafure.. I thanked. him, gave him.” -
‘the money,:and again went to my labor.” He res.
turned about the time he had mentioned; and not=-..-~.. >
only brought me the cheele,* but a wooden bottle... -
of beer, and an old fpade. He had, it feems, ob- “:. >
ferved me ata diitance {preading the mud with.
my hands, and watched me for fome time before -
he.drove up..° He now told me, that hewas a’
poor boy, /and had. juft been put apprentice by.’
the parith; that his father and mother died when.
he was an infant; and his grandfather, who -had =
eNe!
ay
>
