Your Reverence's goods, with
a view of turning them to my own profit. They shall all be carefully
stored, and not a trencher touched till you come back again. I only wish
you safe with the King; for I am sure if he had such honest men always
with him, things would never have been brought to this pass. I hope you
will tell His Majesty to choose only good men for his ministers, and to
hear nothing but truth, and not to suffer landlords to oppress poor
farmers, and to have no worldly-minded bishops and clergy, but to make
every body charitable and do their duty like you and Madam Mellicent."

The good dame's harangue was interrupted by discovering that, during her
absence from home, her maid Susan had neglected her dairy to indulge in
a flirtation with the plough-boy, and had been detected in the fact of
conveying to him a stolen can of ale. The difficulty of conducting a
small household according to the unerring rule of right, diverted Dame
Humphreys from proceeding in her plan of reforming state-abuses; and her
complaints of the tricks and evasions of servants, furnished Dr.
Beaumont with a good opportunity of hinting how impossible it was for
Kings to find ability and integrity in all the agents they were
compelled to employ.

Early the ensuing morning, Dr. Beaumont and his sister prepared to
depart. The former, with his staff in his hand and Bible under his arm,
looked like another Hooker setting out on his painful pilgrimage; but
the care of Dame Humphreys had secured for him his own calash, and
stored it with the most portable and valuable of his goods. The farmer
himself fastened to it the sure-footed old horse, which had been for
years the faithful companion of their journeys. "They gave him to me
yesterday," said Humphreys, "instead of my cart-horse, which they took
away. But Jowler was worth twice as much; yet that's neither here nor
there. Your Reverence has a right to old Dobbin, and nobody else shall
have him. And as to your rents, as you never was a bad landlord in the
main, I'll try if I can't now and then send you a trifle; for I don't
see that these new people have any right to what they take."

"Hush, hush," said Dame Humphreys, "His Reverence yesterday bade us
behave well, and do our duty to every body."

"So I will," returned Humphreys; "but I hate your new laws, and your
taxing men, and your arrays and assessments, which take your horses out
of your team, and your money out of your pocket, and nobod