Mr. Mansfield. He said he was sorry to hear of his distress; and would be glad to relieve him, if it were in his power. “But,” he added, “what can I do? It is not proper to maintain a strong, hearty man, like Maddox, in idleness. He learned so little when he was young, that I know he can hardly read or write; therefore, I cannot make him my steward. If I hire him as a labourer, he will not do a day’s work in the year; and I am sure, for the pains he would take, my deer might all be lost, or stolen, if I made him deer-keeper.” Soon after this conversation, however, Mr. Ashley inclosed a part of his park, for keeping pheasants, and then he resolved to intrust the care of them to Harry Maddox, and ordered that he should take little Peggy to live with him; for the poor girl just before had had the misfortune to lose both her parents.
Charles. Oh, you promised just now to tell us something about Peggy.
Mr. Mansfield. I have only to say, that her character is the very reverse of her grandfather’s. She is a notable, active girl, and does a wonderful deal for her age. As Mr. Maddox still continues the same, the birds would be sadly neglected, if it were not for her care. Mr. Ashley puts her to school, where she learns to work: and I believe she keeps both her own and the old man’s clothes in very tolerable order. The cottage, too, is neat and clean, though there is no one to do any thing but herself.
“I thought she was a nice girl,” said Charles. “She was at work, you know, Arthur, yesterday afternoon, when we went there.”
“Yes,” replied Arthur, “and the old man was fast asleep. What a contrast between them!”
“You see,” rejoined Mr. Mansfield, “though she is but a child, in how respectable a light her industry makes her appear. She acquires the esteem of all who know her, and she has the satisfaction of feeling that she does not live in vain. As for poor old Maddox, I don’t know from what source his satisfactions can arise. The review of his past life can afford him no comfort; and if he looks forward to the close of his present existence, he must be shocked at the account to which he will then be called, for duties neglected, talents misemployed, and a family ruined, through his want of care.”
Arthur. Well, I have often been told that I ought to be a good boy, and mind my lessons; but I did not know before, that idleness could lead to so much mischief. I always thought that, when I was a man, I should attend to my business as a matter of course.
Mr. Mansfield. Ah, my dear child, you are much mistaken, if you suppose that you will be able to get the better of your faults, only by growing older. Now is the time for you to acquire good habits of all sorts; and if you neglect to do so, depend upon it, that when you become a man, you will find the task only rendered a great deal more difficult, from having been so long delayed.
“Very true, my dear,” said Mrs. Mansfield. “Besides, little folks should consider, that it is not their future advantage alone which should lead them to take pains with their studies—it is one of the absolute duties of their infant state. God Almighty did not mean that any of us should be idle at any time; and a child who is idle when he ought to be at his book, as much transgresses the will of God, as a man who neglects his trade, or a woman who takes no care of her family.”