"
"What signifies sadness, sir? a man grows lean on't: but I was
brought to my idleness by degrees; first I could not work, and it
went against my stomach to work ever after. I was seized with a
jail fever at the time of the assizes being in the county where I
lived; for I was always curious to get acquainted with the felons,
because they are commonly fellows of much mirth and little thought,
qualities I had ever an esteem for. In the height of this fever,
Mr. Harley, the house where I lay took fire, and burnt to the
ground; I was carried out in that condition, and lay all the rest of
my illness in a barn. I got the better of my disease, however, but
I was so weak that I spit blood whenever I attempted to work. I had
no relation living that I knew of, and I never kept a friend above a
week, when I was able to joke; I seldom remained above six months in
a parish, so that I might have died before I had found a settlement
in any: thus I was forced to beg my bread, and a sorry trade I
found it, Mr. Harley. I told all my misfortunes truly, but they
were seldom believed; and the few who gave me a halfpenny as they
passed did it with a shake of the head, and an injunction not to
trouble them with a long story.
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