a Work; and you, my ſagacious Friend, might, with equal Profit and Pleaſure, travel through ſome Pages, which certain droll Authors have been facetiouſly pleaſed to call The Hiſtory of England.
Mr. Allworthy had been abſent a full Quarter of a Year in London, on ſome very particular Buſineſs, tho’ I know not what it was; but judge of its Importance, by its having detained him ſo long from home, whence he had not been abſent a Month at a Time during the Space of many Years. He came to his Houſe very late in the Evening, and after a ſhort Supper with his Siſter, retired much fatigued to his Chamber. Here, having ſpent ſome Minutes on his Knees, a Cuſtom which he never broke through on any Account, he was preparing to ſtep into Bed, when, upon opening the Cloaths, to his great Surprize, he beheld an Infant, wrapt up in ſome coarſe Linnen, in a ſweet and profound Sleep, between his Sheets. He ſtood ſome Time loſt in Aſtonishment at this Sight; but, as Good-nature was[errata 1] always the Aſcendant in his Mind, he ſoon began to be touched with Sentiments of Compaſſion for the little Wretch before him. He then rang his Bell, and ordered an elderly Woman Servant toriſe
