I'll show
you how it is to live, my boy. But here, bring me some paper, my girl;
come, let us have one of your love-letters to air my boots." Upon
which the landlord presented him with a piece of an old
newspaper. "D--n you!" says the gent, "this is not half enough; have
you never a Bible or Common Prayer-book in the house? Half a dozen
chapters of Genesis, with a few prayers, make an excellent fire in a
pair of boots." "Oh! Lord forgive you!" says the landlord; "sure you
would not burn such books as those?" "No!" cries the spark; "where was
you born? Go into a shop of London and buy some butter or a quartern
of tea, and then you'll see what use is made of these books." "Ay!"
says the landlord, "we have a saying here in our country that 'tis as
sure as the devil is in London, and if he was not there they could not
be so wicked as they be." Here a country fellow who had been standing
up in one corner of the kitchen eating of cold bacon and beans, and
who, I observed, trembled at every oath this spark swore, took his
dish and pot, and marched out of the kitchen, fearing, as I afterwards
learnt, that the house would fall down about his ears, for he was
sure, he said, "That man in the gold-laced hat was the devil.
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