Stephen ſtood up all the while as ſtupid and aukward as a Chineſe idol; he could do nothing but nod his head from time to time, when, on mentioning THE HIGH AND MIGHTY REPUBLIC OF VENICE, the prieſt reſpectfully took off his hat. When he was become a little more maſter of his thoughts, he eagerly embraced his faithful wife, and made her a ſecond declaration of love, not leſs warm than the firſt; and, though it now aroſe from very different motives, Jane received it with equal kindneſs. From this moment Stephen became the moſt pliant of huſbands, a tender father to his children, and withal a regular induſtrious houſekeeper, for idleneſs had never been his failing.
The honeſt prieſt exchanged the gold by degrees for ſterling money, and purchaſed a large farm, on which Stephen and Jane lived all their lives. The ſurplus he lent at intereſt, and managed the capital of his ghoſtly daughter as conſcientiouſly as if it had been the church-
