“‘My friends,’ said I, ‘I am a stranger here, and in distress myself—misfortunes have reduced me as well as you—and the whole sum that I am at present possessed of, will scarcely do more than pay for the funeral of the infant whom you see dying.—I will give you a part of it;—if you take it all by force, I cannot resist you. All I can do is to advise you not to enter on this lawless life—why do you not apply to the clergyman of the parish?—try every honest means before you attempt to live by violence—but if once you stain your character, nothing can restore it.—Return to your homes—I promise never to betray you, unless you renew such conduct—take this money—and perhaps to-morrow may bring you employment or assistance.’—‘And here,’ said my little girl, ‘here, take this bread to your little children, it was my supper—but I can do without it.’
“The man was touched by this action of the child,—his voice faultered as he thanked me for the small sum I had put into his hand, and with his companion went away quietly. They followed my advice, and applied next day to the village pastor, who had but lately returned from an absence occasioned by ill health; and who as yet had known nothing about me. He soon found his way to our cottage—sympathized with equal delicacy and kindness in our affliction, and requested as a favour, the permission of sometimes visiting us. The friendship of Mr. Benson, who is an example of the virtues and graces of piety and benevolence blended together, has been our greatest source of pleasure ever since the sad occasion of his visit; and I may say, that I owed it to the gratitude of the poor mistaken men whom I had rescued from guilt. I found that they were Irishmen; and that they had been driven as vagrants from parish to parish. I soon had it in my power to procure them work, and their warm hearts do, I believe, feel endless gratitude.
“As my eldest boy was a very promising child in disposition and intellect, my good friend Mr. Benson made it a point, that he should be allowed to assist in his education; he has completely prepared him for the university, and through some interest which he possesses, he was so kind as to place him there a few months since, at a very trifling expense to me. Through him, also, another happy circumstance occurred to me two or three years ago;—a connection of Mr. Benson’s, who had lately come into possession of an estate in this neighbourhood, having met me at the parsonage, requested me to be his agent; giving me full powers to plant, improve, and superintend the management of the whole property. This to me is a most interesting employment; and as I give full time and attention to it, I consider my salary to be fairly and honourably earned.
“Amidst all her laborious vocations, my wife continued to educate our daughters. Her main object has been to give them religious principles, and that solid kind of knowledge, which a well-taught female should possess. She has made them, as I hope you will find, gentlewomen in their manners, but industrious and independent; and she has, I think, inspired them with her own neatness and love of order, which never ceased, even when our distress might have been some excuse for negligence. We had, as I mentioned, preserved our books, and with these, and the aid of her own admirable talents, she has formed their minds, and I may say, their hearts; for she has taught them to love being useful, and never to turn from a poor applicant under the selfish plea of their own poverty, or the specious one of public duty.
“We have gradually made our cottage larger: clean, neat, and cheerful, it always was; but now it is really comfortable. Here I wish always to remain—it has been the scene of happiness, springing from active exertion, and humble religious trust.”
10th.—My uncle had a visit to-day from a Mr. H——, who is just returned from Stockholm, where he has been for some months. He told us a great deal of the manners and customs of that city; and it is curious to observe, how exactly its present state agrees with the account given by Dr. Clarke, who says, “that if a razor was to be put in order, or an instrument repaired, they were sent to London; and that such was the scarcity of vegetables, that there was a constant importation of them from other countries.” When he was at Stockholm, there were thirty-six wig-makers, and only one cutler—forty-seven vintners, and not a single chimney sweeper—nineteen coffee-roasters, though coffee had been prohibited—one hundred and thirteen keepers of ordinaries, and only one tool grinder; iron and tar were to be had in plenty, but there was nothing good manufactured in the country, excepting Scania gloves, which are the best in the world. Almost every thing imported from England was contraband, and, therefore, clandestinely sold, at an immense price. The inferiority of Swedish workmanship, and often the total want of the article itself, is very striking—a whole day may be lost in searching for common necessaries.
When Clarke was at Christiana, in Norway, a rich merchant told him, that all the linen of his family was annually sent to London to be washed. “We cannot go,” said he, “to market, or to shops, as you do in an English town: here, those who would live handsomely, must collect into their own warehouses from all parts of the world, whatsoever they may want for a whole year’s consumption.” Mr. H. says, “there are few hands in Sweden expert enough to repair machinery; and the clumsy machines used in the mines, is a proof of the small progress they have made. As to gardens, scarcely any body thinks of cultivating vegetables enough for themselves, much less of having them for sale; and England still largely supplies that article of food to Stockholm.”
In speaking of this, after Mr. H. had gone, my aunt reminded us of the facts we had lately read in Ker Porter’s Persia, respecting the manner in which some customs continue unchanged for ages; but she thought this far more extraordinary in Sweden, which is in constant communication with the rest of Europe.
“It is partly caused,” said my uncle, “by the nature of the government, which tends rather to repress, than to excite speculation. Some improvement, however, does take place: a friend of mine, Mr. B., thirty years ago, saw in a gentleman’s garden at Stockholm, a little bed of potatoes, which the owner shewed him as a great curiosity. ‘They tell me, sir,’ said the gentleman, ‘that in some countries, the roots of this plant are eaten as common food by the people.’ Yet now,” continued my uncle, “this potatoe, which was then such a wonder, is generally cultivated throughout all Sweden, and is liked by all classes.”
11th. Sunday.—Wentworth asked my uncle to-day, what is meant by—thy kingdom come—in the Lord’s prayer? “What do we exactly pray for when we repeat those words?”