The Country Parson, 143 



him that I would bury him and all his flock for nothing 

 when they were ready, and that shut him up. Half the 

 mischief is done by giving a dog a bad name. When a poor 

 fellow has got into a scrape, the best thing is to give him 

 work, like old Jemmy does, and let him get his character 

 back. Why, look at that splendid horse-artiller}'man, whom 

 you saw in church, and who paid me a visit afterwards. 

 That fellow was the greatest scamp in the place, always 

 •drinking, fighting, and poaching, and when he enlisted I 

 persuaded his old mother, who was a httle above the world, 

 and who would have sold everything to raise the money to 

 get him off, to let him have his own way ; and he told me 

 that the sergeant of his company, or battery, prophesied his 

 fate at once — that he would either be flogged or make a 

 good soldier ; and he said he found his master directly, and 

 was determined to 2,0 strai^jht — and so he did. Beinsr fond 

 of horses, he soon became a favourite, and he has never been 

 in trouble, and is now a corporal. Bullying and psalm- 

 singing would never have done for that fellow ; and, take 

 my word for it, that the kind word in season is a power of 

 strength with all Englishmen. Promote then.' good, and 

 above all things theii' amusements, and give up lecturing 

 them morning, noon, and night, as if we were wholly 

 immaculate and they were all wrong, and all will go well. 

 Look at the charity of the poor, and see how much they do 

 out of almost nothing, and don't let those who go to parties 

 and clubs in London be always throwing the public-house 

 in their faces, A poor man who gets an unexpected pot of 

 beer always hands it round to friend and stranger. Do we 

 •do the same ? " 



Now, all is from the life, and the moral is simple enough. 

 I suppose you have observed that the old-fashioned village 

 parson is very much supplanted often by cockneys of a 

 Jovver grade, very many of whom have not only not had any 



