e Good
he Wished;--so that, out of Regard to his Flock, more than the necessary
Care due to himself,--he was resolv'd not to lie at the Mercy of what
Resentment might vent, or Malice lend an Ear to.--Accordingly the whole
Matter was rehearsed from first to last by the Parson, in the Manner
I've told you, in the Hearing of John the Parish-Clerk, and in the
Presence of Trim.

Trim had little to say for himself, except "That the Parson had
absolutely promised to befriend him and his Wife in the Affair, to the
utmost of his Power: That the Watch-Coat was certainly in his Power, and
that he might give it him if he pleased."

To this, the Parson's Reply was short, but strong, "That nothing was in
his Power to do, but what he could do honestly:--That in giving the Coat
to him and his Wife, he should do a manifest Wrong to the next Sexton;
the great Watch-Coat being the most comfortable Part of the Place:--That
he should, moreover, injure the Right of his own Successor, who would be
just so much a worse Patron, as the Worth of the Coat amounted to;--and,
in a Word, he declared, that his whole intent in promising that Coat,
was Charity to Trim; but Wrong to no Man; that was a Reserve, he said,
made in all Cases of this Kind:--and he declared solemnly, in Verbo
Sacerdotis, That this was his Meaning, and was so understood by Trim
himself."

With the Weight of this Truth, and the great good Sense and strong
Reason which accompanied all the Parson said upon the Subject,--poor
Trim was driven to his last Shift,--and begg'd he might be suffered to
plead his Right and Title to the Watch-Coat, if not by Promise, at least
by Services.--It was well known how much he was entitled to it upon
these Scores: That he had black'd the Parson's Shoes without Count, and
greased his Boots above fifty Times:--That he had run for Eggs into the
Town upon all Occasions;--whetted the Knives at all Hours;--catched his
Horse and rubbed him down:--That for his Wife she had been ready upon
all Occasions to charr for them;--and neither he nor she, to the best of
his Remembrance, ever took a Farthing, or any thing beyond a Mug of
Ale.--To this Account of his Services he begg'd Leave to add those of
his Wishes, which, he said, had been equally great.--He affirmed, and
was ready, he said, to make it appear, by Numbers of Witnesses, "He had
drank his Reverence's Health a thousand Times, (by the bye, he did not
add out of the Parson's own Ale): That he not only