was never tired with rubbing them down and currying them; the coachman had scarcely any business but to sit on the box; all the operations of the stable were entrusted to Little Jack, nor was it ever known that he neglected a single particular. But what give him more pleasure than all the rest, was sometimes to accompany his mistress upon a little horse, which he managed with great dexterity.

Jack discovered too a great disposition for all the useful and mechanic arts. He had served an apprenticeship already to the manufacture of iron, and of this he was almost as vain as of being a soldier. As he began to extend his knowledge of the world, he saw that nothing could be done without iron. “How would you plough the ground,” said Jack; “how would you dig your garden; how would you even light a fire, dress a dinner, shoe a horse, or do the least thing in the world, if we workman at the forge did not take the trouble of preparing it for you?” Thus Jack would sometimes talk upon the dignity and importance of his own profession, to the great admiration of all the other servants.

These ideas naturally give Jack a great esteem for the profession of a blacksmith, and in his occasional visits to the forge with the horses, he learnt to make and fix a shoe as neatly as any artist in the country.

Nor were Jack’s talents confined to the manufacture of iron; his love of horses, and his interest in every thing that related to them, was so great, that it was not long before he acquired a very competent knowledge in the art of sadlery.

Jack would also sometimes observe the carpenters when they were met at work, and sometimes by stealth attempt the management of their tools; in which he succeeded as well as in every thing else; so that he was looked upon by every body as a very active, ingenious boy.

There was in the family where he now lived, a young gentleman, the nephew of his mistress, who had lost his parents, and was therefore brought up by his aunt. As Master Willets was something younger than Jack, and a very good-natured boy, he soon began to take notice of him, and be much diverted with his company. Jack, indeed, was not undeserving this attention; for although he could not boast any great advantages of education, his conduct was entirely free from all the vices to which some of the lower class of people are subject. Jack was never heard to swear, or express himself with any indecency. He was civil and respectful in his manners to all his superiors, and uniformly good-natured to his equals. In respect to the animals entrusted to his care, he not only refrained from using them ill, but was never tired with doing them good offices. Added to this, he was sober, temperate, hardy, active, and ingenious, and despised a lie as much as any of his betters. Master Willets now began to be much pleased with playing at cricket and trap-ball with Jack, who excelled at both these games. Master Willets had a little horse which Jack looked after; and, not contented with looking after him in the best manner, he used to ride him at his leisure hours with so much care and address, that in a short time he made him the most gentle and docile little animal in the country. Jack had acquired this knowledge, partly from his own experience, and partly from paying particular attention to a traveling riding-master that had lately exhibited various feats in that neighbourhood. Jack attended him so closely, and made so good an use of his time, that he learned to imitate almost every thing he saw, and used to divert the servants and his young master, with acting the taylor’s riding to Brentford.

The young gentleman had a master who used to come three times a week to teach him accounts, and writing, and geography. Jack used to be sometimes in the room while the lessons were given, and listened according to custom with so much attention to all that passed, that he received very considerable advantage for his own improvement. He had now a little money, and he laid some of it out to purchase pens, and paper, and a slate, with which at night he used to imitate every thing he had heard and seen in the day; and his little master, who began to love him very sincerely, when he saw him so desirous of improvement, contrived, under one pretence or another, to have him generally in the room while he was receiving instruction himself.

In this manner, Jack went on for some years, leading a life very agreeable to himself, and discharging his duty very much to the satisfaction of his mistress. An unlucky accident at length happened to interrupt his tranquillity. A young gentleman came down to visit Master Willets, who, having been educated in France, and among genteel people in London, had a very great taste for finery, and a supreme contempt for all the vulgar. His dress too was a little particular, as well as his manners, for he spent half his time in adjusting his head; he wore a high, well stiffened cravat, which kept his head and neck in one position, as if he were in the pillory. His pantaloons were of the cossack fashion, wide enough to admit his body, and puckered from top to bottom; while his hessian boots were in the highest style, and polished in the most accurate manner. He usually carried several snuff-boxes; some of which might indeed be called snuff-chests, for they were too large to enter any but his coat pockets; and he ornamented many of his fingers with ponderous gold rings. Thus affectedly dressed out, he would sometimes strut about before a looking-glass for an hour together. This young man had a supreme contempt for all the vulgar, which he did not attempt to conceal; and when he had heard the story of Jack’s birth and education, he could scarcely bear to be in the same room with him. Jack soon perceived the aversion which the stranger entertained for him, and at first endeavoured to remove it, by every civility in his power; but when he found that he gained nothing by all his humility, his temper, naturally haughty, took fire, and as far as he dared, he plainly showed the resentment which he felt.

It happened one day, after Jack had received some very mortifying usage from this young gentleman, that as he was walking along the road, he met with a show-man, who was returning from a neighbouring fair with some wild beasts in a cart. Among the rest was a middle-sized monkey, who was not under cover like the rest, and played so many antic tricks, and made so many grimaces, as engaged all Jack’s attention, and delighted him very much, for he always had a propensity for every species of drollery. After a variety of questions and conversation, the show-man, who probably wanted to get rid of his monkey, proposed to Jack to purchase him for half-a-crown. Jack could not resist the temptation of being master of such a droll diverting animal, and therefore agreed to the bargain. But when he was left alone with his purchase, which he led along by a chain, he soon began to repent his haste, and knew not how to dispose of him. As there was, however, no remedy, Jack brought him carefully home, and confined him safe in an out-house, which was not applied to any use. In this situation he kept him several days, without accident, and frequently visited him at his leisure hours, with apples, nuts, and such other presents as he could procure. Among the other tricks which the monkey had been taught to perform, he would rise upon his hind legs at the word of command, and bow with the greatest politeness to the company. Jack, who had found out these accomplishments in his friend, could not resist the impulse of making