tress will be pleased with me; and I have no doubt that the longer I serve them, faithfully and steadily, the kinder they will be to me, and the better opinion they I will have of me. Besides, I believe that by staying long in a place where I can do my duty; and by endeavouring to be humble, and satisfied with my lot; I shall please the great and good God: and it is He, whom I should, and I think I do, wish to please, more than any body in this world; and more than my own foolish fancies."

The good servant waits upon the friends and visiters of her master and mistress, very civilly, and shows them every attention in her power: nor does she expéct, or desire, to be paid for any little services to them. "My master," says she, "pays me for all my time and my labour: I am only doing part of my duty." But if any of them, who she knows can well afford, kindly offer her a little present, to show their good-will towards her, and to encourage her to go on behaving well, she accepts it willingly and thankfully: if it is money, she does not spend it; she puts it to her other savings, to be ready for the time of need.

She is kind to her fellow-servants: and does all she reasonably can, especially when they are sick, or in any distress, to oblige and assist them. If they are young, or unacquainted with their business, and willing to learn of her, she takes pleasure in instructing them. She wishes, and endeavours, to set them all a good example; and often, when she has an opportunity, gives them good advice. She never tells any idle tales of them. She overlooks their little faults, or makes allowance for them. If they abuse her, or want to quarrel with her, she is quite silent; unless she thinks that, by

some pleasant, prudent answer, she can turn away their wrath. But if she sees them defraud her master or mistress, or persist in any bad courses that will ruin their own souls, she resolves, however unpleasant to herself, to make a complaint of them: and she does it with a sad and heavy heart; for she always dreads to offend, or distress, any body.

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SECTION 8.

The good servant.continued.

THE good servant always look clean and tidy even when she is doing dirty work. She is never seen with holes in her stockings, or slipshod, or with a tattered gown, or blowzy hair. She makes, and mends, and puts on, her clothes, in a very neat manner. She wears a stuff gown, or a dark coloured cotton one, and a stuff petticoat. Her caps, and bonnets, are very neat and becoming but without any fancy work, or expensive ornaments. She does not curl her hair; but puts it, very neatly, under her cap. Her handkerchief, or gown, is always pinned close over her neck. Her dress, on Sundays, and when she goes out, is the same as at other times; except that she is then particularly neat and clean, and has always on clothes that she has not worn in common. She does not think much about her dress; or spend much time in putting it on. To be modestly and neatly dressed, and to have on sufficient clothing to keep her healthy and strong, and able to do her work, is always her desire. "If," says she, "I were to spend the whole of my wages, in buying fine clothes, I could not, after all, be dressed throughout,

and every day, like a lady: and I should scorn to put on very fine clothes one day, and be in rags and not fit to be seen the next day; or to put on a fine gown, or petticoat, to hide rags and filth underneath.-If I were to flaunt about in very gay, fine clothes, now, I am afraid I should come to shame and poverty; and die in a workhouse, or in some poor, forlorn, and miserable condition. And who, could I think, would pity me? or whom could I blame but myself?"

When she buys new clothes, she always considers, whether they are of a reasonable price, and likely to last long, and are proper for a person in her situation. "I am a servant," says she; "and I like to appear so. If I could make any body who sees me, fancy that I am not a servant, I would not do it. The Lord abhors deceitful persons. We are all his children. He appoints to all of us our proper places: and we ought to be satisfied, and pleased, with what he appoints, and say; 'Lord, it is good for us to be here.'I know that many servants, who have not better wages than I have, dress much more smartly; and I believe that some of them ridicule me for not doing as they do. But I think, for all that, I am better off than they are; and as the proverb says, 'They may laugh that win.' My mistress says, that she and my master, and almost all their friends, often commend me for being so plainly and neatly dressed. I have a good deal of money out at interest; and I have more than once been able to assist my dear friends at home, and to make them some useful little presents. When I first went to service, and my wages were very low, I resolved that I would not run into any debt, and that I would save something every year, if it were but a

few shillings; and I did so: and now that my wages are good, I lay by more than half.”

She never desires to go to races, or feasts, or fairs, or any merrymakings. "If I went to such places," says she, "I should, I think, spend my time and money very foolishly. I should get into bad company, and see sad doings; for I have heard that rioting, gaming, drunkenness, and almost all kinds of wickedness, are going on there: and very likely, I should not be able to settle to my work, nor love to stay quietly at home, as I do now; and in time should lose my character, and become very wicked.”

She does not spend any time, or money, on silly books or songs; or in running after fortunetellers. She never plays at cards: she does not want to get other people's money from them; and she does not want to lose her own. A walk in her master's garden, or in the fields, either by herself, or with sober company; a visit to her friends; or a good book to read; are the amusements she likes best. "These are cheap," says she; "and leave no sting behind them."

She never invites, or encourages, any company to come and see her at her master's house, not even her own near relations, without first asking leave; and she is not very forward in doing that, for fear she should be thought troublesome and encroaching: nor would she, on any account, give to any body, the least scrap of her master's victuals, unless she were told she might do it. "I think," says she, "it is very hard that a master's property, which perhaps he has had a great deal of trouble in getting, should be spent by his servants, he knows not how: I am sure if I were in his place, I

should not like it at all. My master's meat and drink are not mine: he may use them, or give them away, as he thinks proper; but I must not.-If he, or his children, should ever come to distress, how could I bear the thought, that I had helped to bring it on them, by my extravagance and dishonesty?"

She is no tattler, nor busybody, nor talebearer; gossiping from house to house, or in the street, or at the door, speaking things which she ought not. She does not want to find out other people's secrets; or to tell those of the family in which she lives. She would grieve very much if she thought that her master and mistress, or any of their family, looked upon her as a spy, or an enemy, glad to take every little opportunity to speak ill of them, or to do them any unkindness.

She prays to the great God, every morning, and every evening and daily reads some portion of the Holy Scriptures. "I lose no time from my work," says she, "by saying my prayers, and reading the Bible: : nay, I think I do more work. For when I have prayed to the Almighty, to bless me, to keep me from temptation, and every wickedness, and to make me his servant; and when I have read a little in his most holy Book; my heart feels lighter and better, and I am able and willing to go about my work, and to keep at it heartily and steadily." She delights to follow her master and mistress, and their children, to the house of God; and to assemble with them, at their family worship and instruction.

She treasures up in her memory the texts of Scripture, that teach a servant's duty. She often reflects upon them; and repeats them to herself; and considers, very attentively, whether she does her best to