berty, by that most delightful young man, as he walked from the prison to the inn, and the attention of Mr. Lovely, in first ordering him such a meal as he had not tasted for many a long day before; and then sending to a ready-made clothes shop, that his prison garments might be changed for a decent suit. O Sir! how he looked; how he wept; how he rejoiced; how he talked, during all these unexpected instances of humanity and generosity on his behalf!

Mer. Blessed God! what a delightful scene was this! But it seems you made quick work of the business, if according to promise, the poor man was with his wife and family by sun-set.

Loveg. Sir, you know the days are yet long, and all matters were settled for our return in about two hours and a half; and then we drove off with this rich booty of humanity, so well calculated to feast the mind of this admirable youth. Mr. and Mrs. Lovely took me with them in their chaise, and Mr. Justice and the poor man followed in the other.

Wor. [To Mrs. Worthy.] My dear, what makes you weep?

Mrs. Wor. As a mother and parent myself, how it strikes me; what must Careful's wife have felt, under such an interposition of Divine Providence: Oh! how delightfully surprised she must have been, on his unexpected arrival; was it not too much for her?

Loveg. Why, madam, that matter was left to me to soften as well as I could; but still the consequences were attended with very powerful effects.

Wor. [To Mrs. Worthy] Come, my dear, wipe your eyes! Let us see if we cannot attend to them.-How did you break matters to the family?

Loveg. I first went to their house, which is near a mile from Grediton, made an excuse for taking the liberty to rest myself, as the day had been very hot; then I began

talking to them about the death of old lawyer Greedy. At once the woman began, in the severest language, execrating his horrid memory, and especially his cruelty against them. I endeavoured to correct her vehemence, and then asked her, if she had heard of young Mr. Lovely, who had succeeded to all his wealth. She immediately cried, Yes, she had heard he was a very good sort of a young gentleman, and that she was advised to present a petition to him, on the behalf of herself and family, if she could get any one to draw it up, that her poor husband might be released from gaol. I told her she need not do that, as he was released already. She said, "Surely you joke." I answered, "It is no joke ; but if you will promise me to be mild and calm, as all earthly blessings are uncertain, I can tell you the particulars of that joyful event." And when I came to relate that part of the story, how Mr. Lovely himself had even gone to bring her husband that day out of gaol, and that he was now at Grediton, at the sign of the Three Misers, the principal inn in that town, and that he would be with her in about an hour, the transport of her joy was ex

cessive.

Miss Wor. How could the poor woman support herself, under such happy and unexpected news?

Loveg. O madam! she was all ecstasy: at one time she was upon her knees; then her hands were lifted up with surprise then she ran hither and thither about the house, like one distracted. She immediately begged, above all things, that she might go directly to see her husband, aud bring him home; and I found her raptures were so great, that it was impossible to keep her back, and two of the children were as eagerly determined to attend her.

Mer. What a meeting that must have been !

Loveg. A meeting indeed! much more affecting than the former. The woman ran into the room like one dis

tracted. As to conversation, it was all interrupted by the vehemence of excessive joy between them, and the two eldest children. For it seems the family, though in a poor way, lived very happily together, till old Greedy sent the poor man to gaol, because he did not choose to resign the property of his wife and children into his rapacious hands, which, after all, was very inadequate to their comfortable support, especially while the husband was shut up in a gaol.

Wor. But what had they to say to their kind deliverer? Loveg. Sir, the dear young man could not stand it any longer; he was so affected at these delightful consequences of his benevolence, that he ran out of the room almost directly; especially when they began personally to thank him for his immediate and great attention to their misery. He therefore called me out, and took a twenty pound bank-note from his old uncle's hoard, telling me to give it to them for their immediate necessities; and as the scene was too much for him, he begged that they would go home for the present, and that he should send to inquire after them on some future day.

Wor. I will engage for it, such a scene as that had not been exhibited in that inn for many a long day.

Loveg. O Sir! Mr. Hoarder himself, the landlord of the Three Misers, though one of the real natives of the town, for once felt so much of the tender emotions of humanity, that he could not help dropping a tear with others; and what was still more astonishing, could even call the family into the kitchen, and give them a good dinner without any charge, though Mr. Lovely had before ordered them a dinner on his own account.

Wor. That wretch has a hard heart, whose eye never started the tear of compassion over human woe!

Loveg. True, Sir; but there are many such wretches in the world, especially at Grediton.

Miss Wor. O me! what a delightful sight this must

have been, and yet how affecting! But you have not told us how he behaved towards Simon Grasper's nephew, who, as it was supposed, was flung out of three thousand pounds by a crafty alteration of the will.

Loveg. O madam, he means to restore every halfpenny of it but as he has it in his power; and as he hears the young man is not over prudent, and has a large family, he designs to settle it in such a manner, that all of them shall be the better for it. He has already informed them of it by letter, and the joy of the whole family, who were almost reduced to poverty, is inexpressible while they are exceedingly glad that it is in such excellent hands, that it is likely to be settled upon them for their future good.

Wor. [To his daughter:] My dear Eliza, may you and your dear intended, live to see many such delightful sights exhibited towards numbers of our fellow creatures. I shall be very glad to help you out on all such occasions, as far as my fortune will allow; and it is not wise to go beyond it, even in doing good.

Loveg. Ah, dear young Mr. Lovely! I wish he was here to take this wise hint, and not to go faster than he can hold on; for directly as he had opened the will, and found what he was worth, he cried-" And why should I have all, and my dear sisters have nothing, who are as near akin as myself I will send each of them a thousand pounds. My uncle's will was not a just one." I immediately added. "Probably not, dear Sir; but then it will be publicly known, that he has left you in possession of all his large hoard; and while you live, the public will expect from you, what is suitable to such a fortune; let me give you my advice-do not spend the capital, but be liberal with the product; and at all times be frugal at home, that you may be generous abroad. Thus, dear Sir, you will find it in your power to be liberal all the days of your life." I also urged, that all his

sisters were in decent circumstances, and that two of them, who were married, were even affluent, that if, by any reverse of fortune, his liberal designs should be found necessary, it would then become him to assist, with a generosity equal to his fortune.

Wor. Well, Sir, this was good advice; did he act upon it?

Loveg. He said he was determined to present them with a thousand pounds, to be divided between them as a compliment for mourning, and that he would take other matters into further consideration: though since then, I have found he sent each of them a thousand pounds; but oh! the heaps of applications he had from almost every quarter, after these few instances of his liberal spirit were known in the neighbourhood.

Wor. Alas! alas! as soon as a man of generosity is found, what wretched harpies he is sure to have after him! Directly when he has relieved the really necessitous, multitudes of the hypocritical, and worthless, will be sure to find him out, that they may partake of the bounty he preserves for others; and it is a thousand times better to submit to imposition, than relax in our generosity. But what did he do with those applicants ?

Loveg. Sir, I advised him to refer them all to his agent; and notwithstanding most of them were very futile, having nothing to complain of but hard bargains, yet he parted with not less than eight hundred pounds to satisfy their demands.

Wor. I fear this delightful young man will be sadly taken in, unless he is upon his guard.

Loveg. Why, soon after he had given away fifty pounds to one family, he found he was completely swindled out of it and I was scarcely sorry for it, as it may teach him a good lesson. He thinks all the world are as upright as himself.

Wor. I think with you, this might prove a good lesson