tton that _Samuel_
set down _Saul_; and what was good enough for a Prophet may well content
a Poet. I propose, that what we leave of ours To-day, should be given to
these poor People for their Sabbath's Dinner; and I, for one, shall eat
no Meat To-day."

In fact, none did but _Mary_ and Mother, who find fasting not good for
their Stomachs; soe _Anne_, who is the most fearlesse of us all, handed
the Joint over to them, with some broken Bread and Dripping, which was
most thankfully received. In Truth, I believe them harmless People, for
they are now a singing Psalms.

_Ellwood_ has turned up agayn, to the great Pleasure of Father, who
delights in his Company, and likes his Reading better than ours, though
he _will_ call Pater Payter. Consequence is, I have infinitely more
Leisure, and can ramble hither and thither, (always shunning Wayfarers),
and bring Home my Lap full of Flowers and Weeds, with rusticall Names,
such as _Ragged Robin, Sneezewort, Cream-and-Codlins, Jack-in-the-Hedge_,
or _Sauce-alone_. Many of these I knew not before; but I describe them
to Father, and he tells me what they are. He hath finished his Poem, and
given it _Ellwood_ to read, in the most careless Fashion imaginable,
saying, "You can take this Home, and run through it at your Leisure. I
should like to hear your Judgment on it some Time or other." Nor do I
believe he has ever since given himself an uneasy Thought of what that
Judgment may be, nor what the World at large may think of it. His
Pleasure is not in Praise but Production; the last makes him now and then
a little feverish; the other, or its want, never. Just at last, 'twas
hard Work to us both; he was like a Wheel running downhill, that must get
to the End before it stopped. Mother scolded him, and made him promise
he would leave off for a Week or so; at least, she says he did, and he
says he did not, and asks her whether, if the Grass had promised not to
grow she would believe it.

Poor _Ellwood's_ Love-bonds prove rather more irksome to him than those
of his Gaol; he hath renewed his Intercourse with our Friends at the
_Grange_, only to find a dangerous Rival stept into his Place, in the
Person of one _William Penn_--in fact, I suspect Mistress _Guli_ is
engaged to him already. _Ellwood_ hath been closetted with my Father
this Morning, pouring out his Woes--methinks he must have been to seek
for a Confidant! When he came forth, the poor young Man's Eyes were red.
I ca