piration of his time. But my father worked a year or two as a journeyman, and then difpleafed his father by marrying a woman without a fhilling, of a mean family, and who fupported herself by spinning of wool into yarn, fo that my mother was delivered of your friend and humble fervant, her firstborn, and hope of the family, in my grandmother Trott's poor cottage; and that good old woman carried me privately to church, unknown to my father who was (nominally) a Quaker, that being the religion of his ancestors.

About the year 1750, my father having three or four children, and my mother proving an excellent wife, my grandfather's refentment had nearly fubfided, so that he supplied him with money to open a shop for himself. But that which was intended to be of very great service to him and his family, eventually proved extremely unfortunate to himself and them; for as foon as he found he was more at ease in his circumstances, he contracted a fatal habit of drinking, and of

courfe

course his business was neglected; so that
after several
feveral fruitless attempts of my
grandfather to keep him in trade, he was,
partly by a very large family, but more by
his habitual drunkenness, reduced to his old
state of a journeyman fhoemaker: Yet fo
infatuated was he with the love of liquor,
that the endearing ties of husband and father
could not restrain him by which baneful
habit himself and family were involved in
the extremeft poverty.

"To mortal men great loads allotted be;
"But of all packs, no pack like poverty."

HERRICK.

So that neither myself, my Brothers, or Sifters are indebted to a Father fcarcely for any thing that can endear his memory, or cause us to reflect on him with pleasure.

Children, the blind effects of love and chance "Bear from their birth the impreffion of a Slave.

DRYDEN.

My father and mother might have said with Middleton,

"How adverfe runs the deftiny of fome creatures!

"Some only can get riches and no children,

"We only can get children and no riches;

"Then 'tis the prudent part to check our will,

"And, till our state rife, make our blood stand still.

But

But to our mother we are indebted for

every

thing. "She was a woman take her for all in all, I fhall not look upon her like again." Never did I know or hear of a woman who worked and lived fo hard as fhe did to fupport Eleven children: and were I to relate the particulars, it would not gain credit. I fhall only observe, that for many years together, fhe worked generally nineteen or twenty hours out of every twenty-four; even when very near her time, fometimes at one hour she was seen walking backwards and forwards by her Spinning-wheel, and her midwife fent for the next.

Out of love to her family fhe totally abftained from every kind of Liquor, water excepted, her food was chiefly broth, (little better than water and oatmeal) turnips, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, &c. her children fared fomething better, but not much, as you may well fuppofe. When I reflect on the astonishing hardships and fufferings of fo worthy a woman, and her helpless infants, I find myfelf ready to curfe the husband and father

that

that could thus involve them in fuch a de

plorable scene of mifery and diftrefs. It is dreadful to add, that his habitual drunkennefs fhortened his days nearly one half, and that about twenty years fince he died, unregretted by his own children; nay more, while nature shed tears over his grave, reason was thankful that the cause of their poverty and mifery was taken out of the way. this, ye inhuman parents, and fhudder! Was a law made to banish all fuch fathers, would it not be a juft, nay even a mild law?

Read

Here, fir, permit me to drop fo gloomy a fubject, and again subscribe myself

Yours, &c.

LETTER

LETTER III.

"Some venial frailties you may well forgive."

DEAR FRIEND,

FRANCIS'S Horace.

As I was the eldeft, and

my

father for the first few years a careful hard-working man, I fared fomething better than my brothers and fifters. I was put for two or three years to a day-school kept by an old woman; and well remember how proud I used to be to fee feveral ancient dames lift up their hands and eyes with aftonishment, while I repeated by memory feveral chapters out of the New Testament, concluding me from this fpecimen to be a prodigy of Science. But my career of learning was foon at an end, when my mother became fo poor that she could not afford the mighty fum of two-pence per week for my schooling. Befides I was obliged to fupply the place of a nurfe to feveral of my brothers and fifters. The confequence of which

was,