as it respected the abominable mean way of his ins terment?

Loveg. Oh Sir, he ordered the oaken boards to be nailed together and made into a decent coffin, sent for and undertaker, told him that though only fifteen pounds were allowed for the funeral; yet that he should make him a present of fifteen more, if it was necessary, for his own trouble, provided he would see to a plain, decent, but not mean interment of his uncle; as he must directly go to his father's at Fairfield, and should not himself attend the funeral. Thus matters were understood, and settled between the undertaker and Mr. Lovely, and the old miser was decenly interred, if you can call it a decent business, when there was such an horrid uproar made, while the bearers carried him to the grve.

Mer. Astonishing! Did they insult the corpse of the old man while they carried it to the church-yard, and among a set of people so much like himself?

Loveg. Several insulting speeches were actually thrown out, as the funeral went along, even by the miserable inhabitants of that place. One cried "The Devil has been grinding him before now, for grinding the face of the poor." Another exclaimed, "The Devil had sent for his beloved son, old Greedy, and that he had got him at last :" and many more such speeches were made.

Mer. It must have been rather a painful circumstance to Mr. Lovely, to possess a fortune procured by such abominable means.

Loveg. Though I believe the old lawyer's plan was to get money by all means, whether fair or foul; yet what was obtained by oppression and wrong, was but an inconsiderable part, when compared to what he had accumulated by the mere art of hoarding. But directly as he had ran over the schedule of his uncle's affairs, he cried, "Blessed be God, I find I shall have quite enough to make a restitution where seeded, to assist the poor, to show some tokens of spect to my relations, and to enjoy all the comforts

and conveniences of life, that I can wish for my dearest Ann and myself: and O, may I spend the rest to the glory of God !"

Mer. Restitution it seems was the first thing he thought of.

Loveg. Yes; and the first thing he practised. Hẹ is a youth of a most admirable mind; for the first action was to restore the fifty pounds procured by the will of the poor man, fraudulently made by his uncle; and though he found the surviving family had risen since then, which was full twelve years ago, into very decent circumstances, yet nothing would content Mr. Lovely till he had made restitution, by sending them a hundred pounds, that principal and compound interest might be discharged: as he said he never could be happy to retain that sum in his possession, which he had no right to call his own.

Wor. This was a noble beginning!

Loveg. But the next action was more noble still, for he could not rest till he had found out the family of the Needys, which the uncle had so cruelly ruined, about four years before his death; and he found that they were removed from the parish of Grediton, into their own parish, by one of the overseers, whose name was Pinchpoor; lest they should become chargeable to them, after the vile old miser had stript them of their all. Mr. Lovely went, and inquired of Mr. Pinchpoor about them, and found that he had sent them into the neighbouring parish of Starvington. The family, consisted of the aged mother, her daughter, her husband, and five small children, harboured in a miserable cottage, though in as good a plight as could be expected, their great poverty being taken into consideration; almost all their subsistence arising from the earnings of her husband, who was now only a day-labourer, the spinning of the children, and the parish scantly allowance of eighteen pence a week, to the poor old widow.

Mer. Oh, this was charming! and I will warrant

he relieved them liberally. Did he take you with him on this errand?

I

Loveg. Sir, he would go no where without me. He is become astonishingly affectionate and it was, : think, one of the most impressive scenes I ever beheld. When he first came into the house and saw their poverty, he gave to three of the poor children, who were then at home, a half crown each ; and as he was entirely unknown to them, he asked the question, as though he was ignorant of it himself, how they came to be driven out of their little farm, after the husband's death; and a dreadful story it was: for it appeared, that while the mere loan of a few pounds, during the hours of their calamity, might have kept them up, the miser's hard hand of oppression, completely threw them down. After Mr. Lovely had heard their tale, he stifled his grief, called me out, and gave vent to the feelings of his mind; while he wept plentifully over the miseries of the famly, his uncle had brought to ruin. After he had consulted with me on the most eligible way of their relief, he returned. He then told them who he was, and that he was now possessed of all his great-uncle's property : that he was quite grieved at heart on account of what had past, and was now determined to wipe the tear from the widow's eye, while he should esteem it a call in providence, to superintend the good of the family, as a father and a friend and then a second time he began to weep. Immediately he took ten guineas out of his pocket for their present wants, and promised them twelve shillings a week, with an engagement to pay their rent, till he could provide better for them in some little farm, that might belong to him, as soon as there was a vacancy, provided they proved industrious, and worthy of his attention.

Mer. Sir, could you stand all this?

Loveg. Indeed Sir, I could not; being quite overcome by it, I was obliged to leave the house a second time; and while I was giving way to my feelings, in

came the honest man from his day-labour. He was not only much surprised to see me so affected at the door of the cottage; but when he came, in he had to behold his wife and children, surrounding Mr. Lovely as in an ecstasy, and the old woman in tears, and on her knees blessing God for such unexpected mercies. He wondered for awhile what could be the cause. At one time he thought that some cruel bailiff had entered the house, on account of a few trifling debts which had remained on account of his wife's father, but when he began to hear the true story, who Mr. Lovely was, and on what errand he came, with his eyes lifted up, and his hands clasped together, he stood quite motionless. Just then I returned into the house-I never saw such a scene in all my life.

Wor. This I call the luxury of doing good. It may easily be decided who felt the greatest happiness, the old miser in grasping after this money, or the nephew in giving it away.

Loveg. Ah Sir, but his most delightful conduct toward the man, his great-uncle sent to gaol, poor Isaac Careful, because he would not resign the property of his wife and children, was if possible, moré affecting and noble.

Miss. Wor. O dear Sir! do let us hear it.

Loveg. Why Miss, the anxiety of his mind on that occassion, was beyond all expression. The day after the funeral he ordered two post-chaises; he and Mrs. Lovely went in one chaise, 1 and Mr. Justice in the other, to the county gaol, ten miles from Grediton. Mr. Justice was directed to enter into conversation with him, while Mr. and Mrs. Lovely sat by as entire strangers. After he had heard but a part of the story, he cried-Oh Mr. Justice! let me hear no more: he must be discharged immediately. The man cried, What can all this mean? Why replied Mr. Justice it means that Mr. Lovely, who possesses the late Mr. Greedy's fortune, will have you discharged directly, that you may see your wife and family before sunset.

Mrs. Wor. Oh what delightful tidings to a poor prisoner, confined at a distance from his wife and family surely he must have been quite overcome by it.

Loveg. For a while it entirely overset him. For he immediately fixed his eyes on Mr. Lovely, and almost directly afterwards, quite fainted away with surprise, and joy, and it was some time before he recovered. Mr. Lovely next gave the keeper ten pounds, to be distributed among the most necessitous of the prisoners, begging, at the same time, that I might be permitted to drop among them a word of exhortation, for their general good. This office I performed with a considerable degree of difficulty, being so much affected at the scene which was before me; nor were most of my miser: ble hearers, less affected than ourselves, and while I was offering up a concluding prayer, especially for the poor man, who was the object of such providential mercy from the kind hand of Mr. Lovely; spiritualizing it at the same time, that every poor prisoner might seek for the gracious, and delivering mercy of our Lord Jesus unto eternal life; and it is amazing what a many tears were shed among them.

Wor. Nothing melts and conquers like love!

Loveg. That has been proved to us by the love of Christ. But oh! to see the countenance of the poor prisoner, just brought again to the enjoyment of his liberty, 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. Oh Sir! how he looked; how he wept; how he rejoiced ; how he talked, during all these more pleasing and generous circumstances, on his behalf!

Mer. Blesssed 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 sanset.