and when they have it, they moſtly have ſome freak in their heads, and do not think of paying poor trades-people. At firſt we were afraid to aſk for payment leſt we ſhould loſe their cuſtom, and ſo it proved; when we did venture, forced by neceſſity, they ſent to other ſhops, without diſcharging our demand.
And, my dear Madam, this is not all my grief; my ſon, before his miſfortunes, was one of the most ſober, induſtrious young men in London; but now he is not like the ſame man. He had nothing to do in the jail, and to drive away care he learned to drink; he ſaid it was a comfort to forget himſelf, and he would add an oath—I never heard him ſwear till then. I took pains when he was a child to teach him his prayers, and he rewarded me by being a dutiful ſon. The caſe is quite altered now; he ſeems to have loſt all natural affection—he heeds not his mother's tears.—Her ſobs almoſt ſuffocated her, as ſhe ſtrove to go on—He will bring my grey hairs with ſorrow to the grave—and yet I pity my poor
