surprising kind to us; we need not, if we
thought proper ourselves, eat a dinner in our own lodgings; but it would
ill become me, at my time of life, and with the character for sobriety
that I have maintained, to show an example in my latter days of riotous
living; therefore, Mrs. Pringle, and her daughter, and me, have made a
point of going nowhere three times in the week; but as for Andrew
Pringle, my son, he has forgathered with some acquaintance, and I fancy
we will be obliged to let him take the length of his tether for a while.
But not altogether without a curb neither, for the agent's son, young Mr.
Argent, had almost persuaded him to become a member of Parliament, which
he said he could get him made, for more than a thousand pounds less than
the common price--the state of the new king's health having lowered the
commodity of seats. But this I would by no means hear of; he is not yet
come to years of discretion enough to sit in council; and, moreover, he
has not been tried; and no man, till he has out of doors shown something
of what he is, should be entitled to power and honour within. Mrs.
Pringle, however, thought he might do as well as young Dunure; but Andrew
Pringle, my son, has not the solidity of head that Mr. K---dy has, and is
over free and outspoken, and cannot take such pains to make his little go
a great way, like that well-behaved young gentleman. But you will be
grieved to hear that Mr. K---dy is in opposition to the government; and
truly I am at a loss to understand how a man of Whig principles can be an
adversary to the House of Hanover. But I never meddled much in politick
affairs, except at this time, when I prohibited Andrew Pringle, my son,
from offering to be a member of Parliament, notwithstanding the great
bargain that he would have had of the place.

And since we are on public concerns, I should tell you, that I was minded
to send you a newspaper at the second-hand, every day when we were done
with it. But when we came to inquire, we found that we could get the
newspaper for a shilling a week every morning but Sunday, to our
breakfast, which was so much cheaper than buying a whole paper, that Mrs.
Pringle thought it would be a great extravagance; and, indeed, when I
came to think of the loss of time a newspaper every day would occasion to
my people, I considered it would be very wrong of me to send you any at
all. For I do think that honest folks in a far-off country parish should
no