Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Tale.
you then lost a brother ? ( replied Maria , starting with a surprize that intimated a tender degree of sympathy ); 1 hope not , Maria , alive or dead God bless him ! perhaps he yet lives to bless a mother ' s arms before she dies—but go on with your story . " " The man is mad ( said the collier ) while poor George was lost in the embraces of his asswhich followed himof its own accord , into
, , his well-known cot , where his children were climbing up for joy , as if on their father ' s ' knees the envied kiss to share , * and crying out , I told you , daddy , God would send poor Job back again safe . By the interference of his wife , claiming their affectionate animal , it was agreed , that the ass should be let loose in the middle of the market place , aud , if he went to Cracky ' s house , should be g iven
up to him , as the owner . The ass was accordingly let loose , and instantly went , as if by instinct , where he had so often been before , to Cracky ' s humble shed . If ever there was a heartfelt joy , * unalloyed for the moment , ' twas then—poor George fancied himself in Heaven - , but his joy was only the fleeting shadow of a moment—it was soon to be turned into sorrow . The avaricious collier , with a surly look , again forced away the ass , and not content with rapine and oppression , sought the means of injustice . A warrant is actually obtained against this
poor helpless wretch , for decoying the collier ' s ass with an intent to defraud him of his property . Good God ( "exclaimed I ) is it possible ? is this the spirit of the law of England ? No , replied Maria , don ' t let the warmth of your feelings betray your judgement ; ' tis only bad men are for a moment suffered to pervert the letter of the law , to be openly condemned by the spirit . The warrant was issuedand the servile wretch of a bailiff , who was Cracky ' s enemy
, , was seeking this poor object of distress , who was then happily in a place of security , to cany him to prison . And where was the generous retreat ? In the lawn of Charity ( replied Maria ) where I happened to he when this fellow demanded of me the person of George , to take him to gaol for stealing an ass . He shall not go , said ] , hastily , and from I know not what sudden impulse , snatched
the fatal paper out of his hand : " By Pleavens he sha 1 not go—it is his own ass—why must he go ? Pie has no money , answered the bailiff . Then I'll be poor , before George shall go to prison—there ' s -f- your fees—get along about your business—he sha ' n ' t go , " ( Cracky is ri ght , said I to myself , Maria shall have her reward in Heaven ) and so by the help of the good lady of the lawn , we saved poor George from the horrors of a gaol , and the oppression of this tyrannical collier . But the ass was irretrievably lost , though we endeavoured to comfort poor George as well as we could , but all in vain $
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Tale.
you then lost a brother ? ( replied Maria , starting with a surprize that intimated a tender degree of sympathy ); 1 hope not , Maria , alive or dead God bless him ! perhaps he yet lives to bless a mother ' s arms before she dies—but go on with your story . " " The man is mad ( said the collier ) while poor George was lost in the embraces of his asswhich followed himof its own accord , into
, , his well-known cot , where his children were climbing up for joy , as if on their father ' s ' knees the envied kiss to share , * and crying out , I told you , daddy , God would send poor Job back again safe . By the interference of his wife , claiming their affectionate animal , it was agreed , that the ass should be let loose in the middle of the market place , aud , if he went to Cracky ' s house , should be g iven
up to him , as the owner . The ass was accordingly let loose , and instantly went , as if by instinct , where he had so often been before , to Cracky ' s humble shed . If ever there was a heartfelt joy , * unalloyed for the moment , ' twas then—poor George fancied himself in Heaven - , but his joy was only the fleeting shadow of a moment—it was soon to be turned into sorrow . The avaricious collier , with a surly look , again forced away the ass , and not content with rapine and oppression , sought the means of injustice . A warrant is actually obtained against this
poor helpless wretch , for decoying the collier ' s ass with an intent to defraud him of his property . Good God ( "exclaimed I ) is it possible ? is this the spirit of the law of England ? No , replied Maria , don ' t let the warmth of your feelings betray your judgement ; ' tis only bad men are for a moment suffered to pervert the letter of the law , to be openly condemned by the spirit . The warrant was issuedand the servile wretch of a bailiff , who was Cracky ' s enemy
, , was seeking this poor object of distress , who was then happily in a place of security , to cany him to prison . And where was the generous retreat ? In the lawn of Charity ( replied Maria ) where I happened to he when this fellow demanded of me the person of George , to take him to gaol for stealing an ass . He shall not go , said ] , hastily , and from I know not what sudden impulse , snatched
the fatal paper out of his hand : " By Pleavens he sha 1 not go—it is his own ass—why must he go ? Pie has no money , answered the bailiff . Then I'll be poor , before George shall go to prison—there ' s -f- your fees—get along about your business—he sha ' n ' t go , " ( Cracky is ri ght , said I to myself , Maria shall have her reward in Heaven ) and so by the help of the good lady of the lawn , we saved poor George from the horrors of a gaol , and the oppression of this tyrannical collier . But the ass was irretrievably lost , though we endeavoured to comfort poor George as well as we could , but all in vain $