THE HEIRS OF VILLEROY. CHAP. I. "Delightful task to rear the tender thought, "And pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind." POPE. MR. JEFFRIES, a respectable old gentleman, who had amassed a capital fortune, in the mercantile business, in London, had lately given up trade; and, with his good. old lady, were on the eve of retiring from VOL. I. B the the bustle of the metropolis, to enjoy the pure salubrious air of the country, in the peaceful reflection of their own hearts, mutually cemented by a thirty years happy union, in affection to each other, and a virtuous adherence to the laws, both of God and man. They never had any children, nor had Mr. Jeffries any relation to whom he could legally leave his property. His wife, indeed, had some connexions; but as the greater number did not want their assistance, those who did had not to wait till death, dissolving every worldly tie, gave them a chance of sharing a treasure they could not enjoy in the grave. To the necessities of those relatives they administered with a bounteous hand, even anticipating their wants, by giving ere it could be asked. Nor was it to those alone whom they conceived had a lawful claim on their means, that Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries were kind—every child of distress partook of their benevolence: they fed the hungry, cloathed the naked, sheltered the houseless, |