The Parents Assistant | Page 8

which she
earned a great deal more than she could by spinning. At her leisure
hours she taught her sisters to read and write; and Edmund, with part of
the money which he earned by his work out of doors, paid a
schoolmaster for teaching him a little arithmetic. When the winter
nights came on, he used to light his rush candles for Mary to work by.
He had gathered and stripped a good provision of rushes in the month
of August, and a neighbour gave him grease to dip them in.
One evening, just as he had lighted his candles, a footman came in,
who was sent by Isabella with some plain work to Mary. This servant
was an Englishman, and he was but newly come over to Ireland. The
rush candles caught his attention; for he had never seen any of them
before, as he came from a part of England where they were not used.
Edmund, who was ready to oblige, and proud that his candles were
noticed showed the Englishman how they were made, and gave him a
bundle of rushes.*
[*"The proper species of rush," says White, in his 'Natural History of
Selborne,' "seems to be the Juncus effusus, or common soft rush, which
is to be found in moist pastures, by the sides of streams, and under
hedges. These rushes are in best condition in the height of summer, but
may be gathered so as to serve the purpose well quite on to autumn.
The largest and longest are the best. Decayed labourers, women, and
children make it their business to procure and prepare them. As soon as
they are cut, they must be flung into water, and kept there; for
otherwise they will dry and shrink, and the peel will not run. When
these junci are thus far prepared, they must lie out on the grass to be
bleached and take the dew for some nights, and afterwards be dried in
the sun. Some address is required in dipping these rushes in the

scalding fat or grease; but this knack is also to be attained by practice.
A pound of common grease may be procured for fourpence, and about
six pounds of grease will dip a pound of rushes and one pound of
rushes may be bought for one shilling; so that a pound of rushes,
medicated and ready for use, will cost three shillings."]
The servant was pleased with his good nature in this trifling instance,
and remembered it long after it was forgotten by Edmund. Whenever
his master wanted to send a messenger anywhere, Gilbert (for that was
the servant's name) always employed his little friend Edmund, whom,
upon further acquaintance, he liked better and better. He found that
Edmund was both quick and exact in executing commissions.
One day, after he had waited a great while at a gentleman's house for an
answer to a letter, he was so impatient to get home that he ran off
without it. When he was questioned by Gilbert why he did not bring an
answer, he did not attempt to make any excuse; he did not say, "There
was no answer, please your honour," or, "They bid me not to wait," etc.;
but he told exactly the truth; and though Gilbert scolded him for being
so impatient as not to wait, yet his telling the truth was more to the
boy's advantage than any excuse he could have made. After this he was
always believed when he said, "There was no answer," or, "They bid
me not wait"; for Gilbert knew that he would not tell a lie to save
himself from being scolded.
The orphans continued to assist one another in their work according to
their strength and abilities; and they went on in this manner for three
years. With what Mary got by her spinning and plain work, and
Edmund by leading of cart-horses, going on errands, etc., and with little
Peggy and Anne's earnings, the family contrived to live comfortably.
Isabella and Caroline often visited them, and sometimes gave them
clothes, and sometimes flax or cotton for their spinning and knitting;
and these children did not EXPECT, that because the ladies did
something for them, they should do everything. They did not grow idle
or wasteful.
When Edmund was about twelve years old, his friend Gilbert sent for
him one day, and told him that his master had given him leave to have a
boy in the house to assist him, and that his master told him he might
choose one in the neighbourhood. Several were anxious to get into such
a good place: but Gilbert said that he preferred Edmund before them all,

because he knew him to be an industrious, honest, good natured lad,
who always told the truth. So