that he had not been quite civil to me, he turned round with the intention, as I hoped, of making some sort of promise of amendment; but my hope was groundless, for he came back and said in rather a low voice, "I hope, Sir, nothing I have said will prevent you taking your butter of us as usual; and as to the boys, I promise you they shall be well punished every Sunday morning, and then, Sir, if they do behave ill, you know it will not be my fault, or my wife's."
I made no answer, but as I walked back to the house, I was led sadly to reflect on the tendency of a worldly and selfish spirit to deaden not merely all serious sense of Religion, but even the natural affection of a parent for his children.
Some few evenings afterwards, as I was returning homewards from a distant part of the parish. Nelson overtook me, when I told him of the conversation I had with my neighbour Yawn, adding that I had little hope his boys would ever come to any good, especially as their father seemed determined to keep to his bad habit merely because it was his habit, without giving any sort of reason or excuse for it.
"O Sir," replied Nelson, "he fancies he has a very fair reason, only he did not like to mention it to you. He thinks or at least pretends to think, (for I do not imagine he puts his mind much to any thing,) that the Church Service altogether is too long and tedious. And he and some others have of late been much encouraged in this their notion by a travelling man, (whether he comes from Hull or Preston I am not sure,) who quarters at Plush's occasionally, sometimes for a fortnight at a time, and is so kind as to offer to enlighten us in this dark corner of the world."
"I have heard of him," I said; "it seems then he dabbles in religion as well as in politics."
"Yes, Sir," replied Richard, "that he certainly does, for I had the whole account of him from a man who was working with me the week before last; you know him, Sir, I dare say, William Burnet."
"O yes, I know him," I said, "very well; any thing like the prospect of a change in religion or politics William dearly
