human
Subscription! said he,
gpt
human
Farmer, said Mrs. Jones,
gpt
God has blessed you with abundant prosperity, and he expects you should be liberal in proportion to your great ability.
human
I do not know what you mean by blessing, said he:
gpt
I have been up early and late, lived hard while I had little, and now when I thought I had got forward in the world, what with tithes taxes, and subscriptions, it all goes, I think.
human
Mr. Hoskins, said Mrs. Jones,
gpt
human
You are again at your blessings, said the farmer;
gpt
human
O farmer! cried Mrs. Jones,
gpt
Well, madam, what is the subscription now? Flannel or French? or weavers, or Swiss, or a new church, or large bread, or cheap rice? or what other new whim-wham for getting the money out of one's pocket?
human
I am going to establish a Sunday School, farmer; and I come to you as one of the principal inhabitants of the parish, hoping your example will spur on the rest to give.
gpt
Why, then, said the farmer,
human
gpt
And I, farmer, think that to teach good principles to the lower classes, is the most likely way to save the country. Now, in order to this, we must teach them to read.
human
Not with my consent, nor my money, said the farmer;
gpt
human
So it may, said Mrs. Jones,
gpt
Then taking up a penny-book which had a very loose title, she went on:
human
I do not wonder, if you, who read such books as these, think it safer that people should not read at all. The farmer grinned, and said,
gpt
It is hard if a man of my substance may not divert himself; when a bit of fun costs only a penny, and a man can spare that penny, there is no harm done. When it is very hot, or very wet, and I come in to rest, and have drunk my mug of cider, I like to take up a bit of a jest-book, or a comical story, to make me laugh.