BETSY and Mary Higgins were two little girls. Betsy was six years old, and Mary a little more than four. In com­mon they were both very good, but sometimes Mary used to be a little heedless, and not mind when first she was spoken to; which was very silly, and made [Page 10]

people not love her so well as they otherwise would have done. One day her Mamma lent her a fan, that she might look at the pictures which [Page 11] were on it; with a caution to take care of, and not break it. But she did not mind what was said to her, and after she had done looking at it, began to sweep the room with it, calling it in play, A nice broom. Her Mamma called to Mary, Do not do so, Mary! do not do so! you will break it, and if you do I shall be very angry with you! But Mary did not mind, and went on sweeping the room till [Page 12] she tore the fan all to pieces, and it could be used no more.

So her Mamma was obliged to get up to her, shake her a great [Page 13] deal, and put her into the cor­ner for being so naughty as not to mind what was said to her. How silly it was! for if she had minded when her Mamma first bade her leave off sweep­ing the room, she would have been a good girl, and not have made her Mamma angry; and might have seen the fan an­other time, and all the pretty pictures which were upon it.

Now you shall hear about [Page 14]

Miss Betsy Higgins. She was a very good girl indeed, and al­ways did as she was desired, and held up her head so very well, [Page 15] and turned out her toes, and was so clever, and so agreeable, that every body was fond of her, and liked to have her come to see them, and play with their little boys and girls; for she never said any bad words, nor did any thing that was wrong; and when any body spoke to her, she used to answer so prettily, and speak so plain, and so civilly, that she never forgot to say Madam, if a [Page 16] lady spoke to her, and Sir, if a gentleman; so that people used to call her the good Miss Higgins. One day a lady who went to

[Page 17] see her Mamma, knowing what a good girl she was, carried her a new doll, and a little tea-chest, for which she made a very pretty courtesy, and said, I am much obliged to you, Madam. Then up stairs she ran to show it to her sister; for she always took great pains to please her, and let her play with her toys; and if she had any apples or buns, she gave her sister half of them.

TOMMY Piper was five years old, very tall, and a fine boy; but he was so fretful and naughty, that nobody liked to see him. If he wanted a piece of bread, instead of asking pret­tily, and saying, Pray be so good as to give me a bit of bread? he [Page 19] would say, Give me a bit! for I want it! and will have it! And

if it was not given to him di­rectly, he would cry and scream [Page 20] like a pig. One day as Mr. Makegood was going by Mr. Piper's house, he heard Tommy crying, and roaring, and mak­ing a sad noise; so he stopped at the door, to ask what was the matter? And when he was told that it was master Tommy cry­ing, because he would not be dressed; he said, Let me see him, and I will make him good. So Tommy was fetched to him, and came screaming down stairs, [Page 21]

and saying, I will not be washed! I will not be washed! That I will not! But I will be dirty! I will be naked! Will you? said Mr. [Page 22] Makegood, Do you talk in that way, Master Tommy? I shall try whether I can make you be good. Then he took him up in his arms, carried him into the garden, and threw him into a great tub of water to wash him. Now, said he, will you ever say you will not be wash­ed again? If you do, you shall always be thrown into the tub. And then he began to beat him whilst he was naked, and [Page 23] said, If you will not be dressed,

I shall beat you all the time you are without your clothes; for I do not like to see naked [Page 24] children. He had a great rod in his hand, which hurt him sadly, so that he was very glad to stand quietly to be dressed; and took care never to say an­other time, I will not be dressed, and I will be naked.

MISS Peggy Bright was but four years old, and she [Page 25] could spell very well indeed, and read such little books as this, which she was very fond of doing; for she liked to know all the pretty histories. As she was such a good girl, her Mam­ma was so kind as to take great pains with her to teach her, for which she was obliged to her: for if she had not, Peggy would always have been a dunce, and never have known how to read. Her Mamma [Page 26] taught her to work too, and that she was very fond of, and

could hem, and sew, and stitch too, very neatly indeed. She [Page 27] worked so well that she made her little brother a shirt all herself. And when she had finished it, her Mamma gave her a little pair of scissars and a nice flowered work-bag for her own, to keep herself. Lit­tle Peggy could sing a great many songs too; and one of her songs which she used to sing was this: [Page 28]

MASTER Trueman was only seven years old, but

[Page 31] the best boy you ever saw in your life. He could read like a man, and write very well: so that if he was absent from any of his friends, he could send letters to them, and read what they wrote to him. He always did as he was desired; and if he happened to be about any thing which he ought not to do, as soon as he was told, he left off directly; so that every body loved him, and [Page 32] tried to please him. He was good, and spoke so civilly, that all the gentlemen and la­dies who lived near his Papa's house, used to ask him to come and see their children, to teach them to behave like himself. And when he went out with­out his Papa or Mamma, he always was as good as if they had been with him: nor would he eat or drink any thing, or do what he thought they would [Page 33] not like, for he knew it was very naughty indeed to do what displeased them, because he was out of their sight. His Papa and Mamma did not choose that he should eat cakes or butter, because it was not good for him, and would make him sick, and they loved him too well to like that he should be sick. One day, when he went to see Master Puny, he found him eating cakes, and [Page 34] bread and butter. Master Puny asked him if he would not eat some? but George said, No, I thank you! I never eat cakes

[Page 35] or butter. I will have a bit of dry bread if you please. Mrs. Puny did not know that his Papa and Mamma did not choose that he should eat them, and so she too asked him to eat some; and said, Pray, Master George, eat a bit of cake, I got it on purpose for you; and I am sure a little will not hurt you: It is very good and nice, pray eat some. But George was too [Page 36] good a boy to do what he knew was wrong. And so he very civilly thanked her, and said, Indeed, Madam, I can­not eat any, for my Papa and Mamma desire I will not eat cakes; and I am sure I must do as they bid me; for they are very kind to me, and take a great deal of care of me, and let me have every thing that is proper for me; and would let me eat cakes if they [Page 37] thought they would not hurt me; but they say that cakes will make me sick, and I am sure Papa and Mamma know much better than I do. Well, said Mrs. Puny, you are a very good child indeed, and here is an apple and an orange for you; for I dare say you may eat them. George thanked her, and said, Yes, Madam, I may eat them, be­cause they are ripe fruit: and [Page 38] so he took them, and gave his play-fellow, Master Puny, some of each. When he went home, Mrs. Puny sent word how good he had been. So his Papa and Mamma kissed him, and told him they loved him dearly; and the next morning his Papa gave him a little horse to ride on, which George liked better than eat­ing cakes; for he knew they would soon be gone; and be­sides, [Page 39]

he must have been pun­ished too, for doing what he ought not. But now this lit­tle horse lived with him a [Page 40] great while, and his Papa and Mamma were much pleased with him.

MISS Mary Ann Selfish would have been a very good and agreeable little girl, if she had not been so sadly greedy of every thing, either to eat or to play with. She had two [Page 41] little sisters, who were very good girls, and she said, that she loved them dearly: But if you had seen her when she

[Page 42] was eating a bun or an apple, you would have thought she did not love them at all: for she did not like to give them a bit; but chose to eat all herself; and filled her mouth so frightfully full, you cannot think how ugly she looked. Her sisters were very good-humoured, and always liked to give her some of every thing they had: but Mary Ann was never contented, but after [Page 43] she had eaten a great deal of pudding, or a whole orange, or apple, she wanted some of

[Page 44] her sisters, and used to go and stand by one of them, and ask for more. Her Mamma and all her friends often told her not to do so; but she did not mind them, but still want­ed every thing that she saw any body else have, just like a little hog. So her Mamma one day took hold of her hand, and said, Mary Ann! if you will be so like a hog, you shall go and live with the pigs, [Page 45] and not with me and your sisters; for you will teach them to be as bad as yourself. Come, I will carry you to the pigs now, and then you may eat together as fast and as much as you please. Mary Ann began to cry! her Mam­ma did not mind that, but carried her out, and put her to the pig-sty with the hogs. What a sad thing that was for a little girl to live among the [Page 46]

hogs! But so all greedy child­ren must be treated; and so must you too if you behave like her; therefore pray re­member [Page 47] never to eat all your­self, or want to have your sister's victuals.

I AM going to tell you about the naughtiest girl you ever knew in your life; and I hope no other little girls or boys will be like her, for she used [Page 48] sometimes to tell stories, and not speak the truth. One day

she took some sugar that stood upon the table, and ate it; and [Page 49] when her Mamma asked her how she got it, she said, her aunt had given it to her. What a sad thing that was! for she knew that it was very naughty to say so, because her aunt had not given it to her. So she was obliged to be whipped a great deal indeed, and have her mouth tied up that she could not speak at all. For if people tell fibs, they had better have no tongues than make such use [Page 50] of them. Another time her Papa gave her a biscuit, and when she was asked who gave it to her? she said, that she found it in the garden; which was another naughty fib you know. So when her Mamma heard that she had told such a story about the cake that was given her, she took it all from her, and whipped her very hard indeed, and turned her out of the house; for she [Page 51] did not like to have such naughty girls in the room with

her; and she made her stay out in the cold all the day, [Page 52] without any body taking any notice of her, or giving her any victuals to eat, or any thing to drink. And so all little boys and girls must be served who tell fibs.

MASTER Henry Wise was a good-humoured, merry [Page 53] little boy of five years old, who never did any thing that was naughty, or what he ought not. He would let any body play with him, and jump him about as much as they pleased; and if they did any thing to him, which he did not like, he would say, Pray, Sir, do not do so; I shall be much obliged to you if you will let me stand down. And then they would put him down [Page 54]

directly when he spoke so prettily. He had a little cou­sin who lived at his Papa's, whose name was James Brown: [Page 55] but he was not near so good, therefore nobody loved him so well as Henry, nor had he half so many play-things; for Henry was so good that every body used to take pains to please him; and one person gave to him a horse, another a cart; and he had a pretty little windmill which was given to him by his Papa, because he took pains with his reading and spelling, and [Page 56]

likewise was a good boy, and never cried for any thing he wanted; and did not ask for things he saw other people [Page 57] have; and his uncle gave him a fine watch, with a seal and key to wind it up with, and a nice little hook to it, that he might hang it up.

MISS Polly Meekly was as good a girl as Master Wise was a boy, and always did as she was bidden the moment [Page 58] she was spoken to. If any body called her, she went di­rectly, and did not trouble them to ask her more than

[Page 59] once to go. And if any body said, How do you do, my dear? How does your Mamma do? She answered at once like a woman, and said, Very well, I thank you, Madam! so plain, that every body could hear her. Some little girls, when they are spoken to, answer so low that they cannot be un­derstood; and if you desire them to sing you a song, they only put up their shoulders, [Page 60] and hang down their heads, and look silly, Miss Polly be­haved much better indeed; and if she was at any time asked to sing, began directly, and said,

Miss Polly used to sing a great many more songs, but I have forgotten all the rest; though I never shall forget how clean she used to rub her shoes when she came in doors; and how she folded up her cloak and gloves, and put them away herself; for she never made a [Page 62] litter, and after she had been at play she always picked up

all her doll's play-things, and put them into a box to keep [Page 63] them all together; for her Mamma was so kind as to let her have a box to keep all her treasures in. And she took great pleasure in making dolls' clothes for her little sisters, who were not old enough to work for them­selves. She had a little dog that she was very fond of, and fed every day when she had her breakfast; and she took great care of it, and never [Page 64] hurt it; but stroaked and played with it very prettily.

The dog's name was Cato. It was a droll dog, and had a [Page 65] black face, and a white back, and black feet. Miss Polly took great pains to learn to read well; and she read bet­ter than any little girl I ever knew. She never fretted and cried; but was always good-humoured; and at dinner she never asked and teazed for any thing, but ate what was given to her without wanting any thing else; and never greased her fingers, but used [Page 66] her knife and fork like a lady. I hope all little boys and girls, who read this pretty book, will learn to behave like Master Henry Wise and Miss Polly Meekly, and not like those who were naughty.