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GOODY TWO SHOES.
By Anonymous
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T will be readily understood by our young readers, that the real name ofthe little girl who is the heroine of this story was not Goody TwoShoes, but Margery Meanwell. Her father, Mr. Meanwell, was for manyyears a very respectable farmer in the parish of Mouldwell, whereMargery was born; but misfortunes, and the cruel persecutions of SirTimothy Gripe, his landlord, and the rich Farmer Graspall, ruined thisworthy man, and was the source of all poor Margery's troubles.
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Farmer Meanwell died soon after of a broken heart, and his poor wife,unable to struggle with misfortunes, only survived him a few days,leaving their unfortunate offspring, Margery and Tommy, friendlessorphans in an unpitying world.
The loss of their parents seemed to endear these orphans more to eachother, and they were continually seen strolling hand in hand about thevillage, as if they were afraid of being separated.
They had relations--but as they were rich, they took no notice ofthese poor children; being ashamed to own such a little ragged girl asMargery, and such a dirty curly-headed boy as Tommy.
Mr Smith, the clergyman of the parish where Margery and Tommy were born,was a very worthy man, and being at this time visited by a rich andcharitable friend, he told him the story of the poor orphans. Thestranger gave Mr. Smith money to buy some clothes for Margery, and saidthat he would make Tommy a little sailor. Tommy was happy to hear this,and next day the gentleman bought him a jacket and trowsers, of which hewas very proud. Margery could never give over admiring Tommy in his newdress; but her happiness met with a severe check, for the gentleman wasto return to London in a few days, and to take Tommy along with him.
The parting of these children was very affecting; poor Margery's eyeswere red with crying, and her cheeks pale with grief, while littleTommy, by way of consolation, said he would never forget his dearsister, and kissed her a hundred times over. As Tommy left his sister,he wiped her eyes with the corner of his jacket, and promised to return,and bring her fine things from abroad.
When Margery found that Tommy did not come back, she cried all dayuntil she went to bed, and next morning she went round every one inthe village, weeping and lamenting that her brother Tommy was gone.Fortunately, while she was in this distress, the shoemaker came witha pair of new shoes, which the gentleman had ordered for her, and itbeing so long since little Margery wore a pair of shoes, her attentionwas so engaged as to give a new turn to her thoughts. Nothing butthe pleasure of examining her two shoes could have put a stop to theviolence of her grief. She immediately put on the shoes, and then wentto let Mrs. Smith see them. It was with delight that little Margeryexhibited them to her benefactress, saying, "Two shoes, ma'am! see, twoshoes!" She then went through the whole village to show her new shoes,addressing them in the same way, until she got the name of "Little TwoShoes," but, being a very good child, they usually called her "LittleGoody Two Shoes," and she never entirely lost that name.
Poor Margery was destitute of friends; but, although very young,she contrived to meet the children as they returned from school, andprevailed on one of them to learn her the alphabet. She used to borrowtheir books, and sit down and read till they came from dinner. It was bythese means that she soon acquired more learning than her playmates atschool, and in a short time she formed a little plan for instructingchildren who had not yet learned to read.
She found that there were twenty-six letters in the alphabet, and everyword spelled with them; but as these letters might be either large orsmall, she cut, out of little pieces of wood, ten sets of the alphabetin small letters, and ten of the large, or capitals. With the assistanceof an old spelling-book, she made her companions arrange the words theywanted to spell out of her wooden alphabets, and then showed them howto make sentences. When they wished to play at this game, she placedthe children around her, and gave them a word to spell. If the word wasplum-pudding, the first brought the letter _p_, the second _i_, thethird _u_, the fourth _m_, and so on, till the whole was completed.
By this method, in a short time Margery gained such great credit amongthe parents of the children that they were all happy when she appearedwith the basket of letters in her hand, which proved a source ofamusement as well as instruction, and she at last had a regular set ofscholars.
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Margery usually left home at seven o clock in the morning, and the firsthouse she called at was Farmer Wilson's.
Mrs. Wilson always received her with pleasure, saying, "O Little Goody,I am glad to see you--Billy has learned his lesson." The little boy wasequally happy to see her; and after giving him his lesson, she went toFarmer Simpson's. A dog used to bark at her when she first went to thathouse, but he soon learned to know her, "Come in Margery," said MrsSimpson, "Sally wants you very much, for she has learned her lesson."Little Sally began her lesson by placing the syllables of two letters,which she did very correctly, and pronounced them as Goody Two Shoes hadtaught her.
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Some time after, as Little Goody was returning from her pupils ratherlater than usual, she was overtaken by a violent storm of thunder andlightning; but she took refuge in a farmer's barn, and lay down amongsome straw at the farther end. She had not remained long, before fourrobbers also sought shelter from the storm in the same place, and notobserving Little Goody, who was at some distance, they began to arrangetheir future plans of depredation.
Among other schemes of villany, they formed the resolution of breakinginto the houses of Sir William Dove and Sir Timothy Gripe on the nightfollowing, and to plunder them of all their money, plate, and jewels.
During their conversation, Little Goody listened with great attention;but the tempest being over, the robbers left the barn withoutdiscovering that they had been overheard, When she thought they werefairly gone, Goody made the best of her way home; and, rising early nextmorning, went to Sir William Dove, and told him all she had heard. Theknight asked her name, and then giving her some money, desired her tocall on him next day. Goody next proceeded to Sir Timothy Gripe's, andsent in her name by the servant; but, as he refused to see her, she,with some difficulty, got admittance to Lady Gripe, and related what shehad heard in the barn. This lady was a very sensible woman, and did notdespise the information; but secretly engaged people to guard the house;and when the robbers came in two parties to attack both houses, theywere all taken and sent to jail.
Sir William Dove, who was grateful for the service Little Goody had donehim, said she should no longer sleep in a barn, as he would try to getsome proper situation for her; but the wicked Sir Timothy was vexed thathis life had been saved by her means, and never rewarded or thanked her.
The most respectable school in that neighbourhood was conducted by aMrs. Williams, a very good lady; but old age induced her to resign thesituation, when Sir William Dove getting notice of, sent for her, andrecommended Little Goody as a person worthy to succeed her. As Mrs.Williams already knew that Margery had a good heart, she found onexamination, her head to be equally so; and being every way qualifiedfor the place, Margery was, at the old lady's request, appointed tosucceed her.
She was now no longer called _Margery_ or _Goody Two Shoes_, but onlyknown by the name of _Mrs. Margery._
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Margery had a very feeling heart, and could not endure to see even adumb animal used with cruelty, without trying to prevent it. As she wasone day walking through the village, her attention was drawn to someboys, who were tying a poor raven, which they had caught, to a post,on purpose to amuse themselves with the cruel diversion of shying, orthrowing a stick at it. Margery, to get the raven,
gave them a penny,and brought it home with her. She called the raven Ralph; taught him tospeak and spell; and as he was fond of playing with the capital letters,the children called them Ralph's alphabet.
Shortly after, when rambling in the fields, she saw two boys torturinga beautiful dove by allowing it to fly a little way, and then pullingit back again, with a string which was tied to its foot. Margery rescuedthis bird for a mere trifle, and carried it with her. She also learnedthe dove to spell with her letters, besides many other curious things;and being very useful in carrying letters, she called him Tom. It is acurious fact, that Tom showed as great a liking to the small lettersas Ralph had for the large, and the scholars used to give them theappellation of "Tom's alphabet."
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Another useful assistant of Mrs. Margery's was a fine skylark, whichsome of the neighbours made her a present of. As some children are veryfond of lying in bed too long in the morning, she sent this pretty bird,which sung sweetly at their window, and taught them when to rise.
A poor little lamb, which had lost its dam, was about to be killed bythe butcher, when Margery making a bargain with him for it, took it homeand called it Will. He taught the children when to go to bed, and beingvery gentle, was a great favourite; but he only carried home the satchelof those who behaved best and brought it again in the morning. She alsogot a present of a little dog, called Jumper, which was very sagacious,and might have been termed Porter of the School, for he never allowedany unknown person to enter.
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Shortly after, little Jumper gave a wonderful proof of his sagacity.The children had just finished their lessons, when the dog ran in, andseizing Margery's apron, tried to pull her out of the schoolroom.
She allowed the dog to drag her out to the garden, and he returnedand brought out one of the children in the same manner; upon which MrsMargery called them all into the garden. This saved all their lives, forin less than five minutes after, the roof of the house fell in.
This was a great loss to Mrs. Margery, who had no place to teach in; butSir William Dove caused another school to be built at his own expense,and she got the use of Farmer Grove's hall till it was ready, whichwas in the centre of the village. While there she learned the farmer'sservants and neighbours to read and write, and by degrees became soesteemed in the parish, that almost every one consulted her, and manyserious disputes where settled by her advice.
Mrs. Margery, who was always doing good, contrived an instrument to tellwhen the weather was to continue favourable or unfavourable; by whichmeans she told the farmers when to mow the arrass and gather in thehay with safety. Several persons, who suffered in their crops by notconsulting Margery, were so angry at their losses, that they accused herof being a witch and sent Gaffer Goosecap, a silly old meddling fool, toobtain evidence against her.
This old fellow entered the school as Margery was walking about, havingthe raven on one shoulder, the pigeon on the other, the lark on herhand, and the lamb and dog at her side, and he was so frightened, thathe cried. "A witch! a witch!"
Margery exclaimed, smiling, "A conjurer! a conjurer!" and he ran off;but soon after a warrant was issued against her, and she was carriedbefore a meeting of the justices, followed by all the neighbours.
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Although this accusation met with the contempt it deserved, yet one ofthe magistrates was silly enough to believe the slander, and asked,who could give her a character. Margery inquired if any one there couldspeak against it, and told them, that she had many friends both able andwilling to defend her; but she could not think of troubling them on sucha silly business, for if she was a witch, she would show them her charm.She then took out her weather-glass, and placed it upon the table.
Sir Charles Jones, who was present on this occasion, was so delightedwith her conduct, that he offered her a handsome annuity to superintendhis family and the education of his daughter. This she refused at first,but Sir Charles being seized with a severe illness, and again entreatingher, she at last consented. In this situation, she conducted herselfwith so much propriety, and behaved so tenderly to his daughter, thaton his recovery, when she proposed to leave him, he made her an offerof his hand. Margery knew the real value of the worthy baronet, andesteemed him as he deserved: therefore, after he had amply provided forhis daughter she consented to become Lady Jones.
When this circumstance was understood in the neighbourhood, it diffuseda general joy throughout the village, where Margery was greatly beloved,and brought crowds to witness the marriage. The clergyman was proceedingwith the ceremony, when a young gentleman, handsomely dressed, camerunning into the church, and requested that the ceremony, might, bestopped until he had a conversation with the bride. The whole assemblywere astonished at his request, particularly the bride and bridegroom,who stood motionless, without having power to return an answer to thestranger. However, the gentleman coming forward, discovered himself tobe Tommy, her brother, and she fainted away in his arms.
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Tommy Meanwell had just landed from abroad, where he had made a greatfortune, which he intended to share with his dear sister, when he heardof her intended marriage, and posted to be present on the occasion.After mutual congratulations, this happy pair were united, and livedhappily together many years, doing all the good in their power.
In the course of time, both Sir Timothy and Farmer Graspall were soreduced as to be supported by the charity of Lady Jones, who delightedin relieving the indigent, rewarding the industrious, and instructingthe children in the neighbourhood.
Having lived to an advanced age in the constant practice of virtue, andhaving made some liberal bequests in favour of her fellow-creatures, herspirit returned to God who gave it, leaving all who knew her to mournher departure.
THE END