University of Virginia Library

2. CHAPTER II.
Some account of the worthy Abel Snipe.

The faithful Abel Snipe, it seems (his history
was told me by Jonathan), was a man whom Zachariah,
some years before, while playing the Howard
in a neighbouring sovereignty, had found plunged
in deep distress, and making shoes in the penitentiary.
To this condition he had been reduced
by sheer goodness; for, being an amateur in that
virtuous art of which Zachariah was a professor,
and having no means of his own to relieve the
woes of the wretched, he had borrowed from the
hoards of his employers (the president and directors
of a certain stock-company, in whose office he
had a petty appointment), and thus, perforce, made
charitable an institution that was chartered to be
uncharitable. He committed the fault, however,
of borrowing without the previous ceremony of
asking—either because he was of so innocent a
temper as to think such a proceeding unnecessary,
or because he knew beforehand that the request
would not be granted; and the consequence was,
that the president and directors, as aforesaid, did
very mercilessly hand him over to the prosecuting
attorney, the prosecuting attorney to a grand jury,
the grand jury to a petit jury, the petit jury to a

penitentiary, and the penitentiary to the devil—or
such, at least, would have been the ending of the
unfortunate amateur, had not the philanthropist,
who always ordered his shoes, for charity's sake,
at the prison, been struck with the uncommon excellence
of a pair constructed by Abel's hands.
He sought out the faithful maker (for sure a man
must be faithful to make a good pair of shoes in a
penitentiary), was melted by his tale of wo, even
as the wax through which Abel was then drawing a
bunch of ends was melted by the breath thereof;
and shedding tears to find the poor creature's virtue
so shabbily rewarded, ran to the prosecutors with
a petition, which he induced them to sign, transmitted
it to the governor, with a most eloquent essay
on the divine character of mercy, and, in less
than a week, walked Abel Snipe out of prison, a
pardoned man.

The charity of the professor did not end with
Abel's liberation. Enraptured with the fervour of
his gratitude, touched by the artlessness of his
character, and moved by the destitution to which a
pardon in the winter-time exposed him, he carried
him to his own land and house, fed, clothed, and
employed him upon a new pair of shoes; and, discovering
that he had talents for a nobler business,
advanced him in time to the rank of accountant,
or secretary, collector of rents, dispenser of secret
charities, and, in general, factotum and fiduciary
at large. Such a servant was needed by the humane
Zachariah; his philanthropy left him no

time to attend to his own affairs, and his nephew
Jonathan had fallen in love, and become incompetent
to their management.

Never was experiment more happy for subject
and object: Abel Snipe was made an honest and
useful man; and Zachariah Longstraw obtained a
friend and servant without price. The gratitude of
Abel was equal to his ability; humility, fidelity, and
religion, were the least of his virtues—he became a
philanthropist, like his master. He managed his
affairs with such skill, that Zachariah had always
pennies at hand for the unfortunate; which, it
seems, had not always happened before; and, what
was equally charming, the zealous Abel dived into
every lane, alley, and gutter, to discover new objects
of charity for his patron. To crown all, he
felt moved in the spirit to profess the faith so
greatly adorned by his protector; and, after due
preparation and probation, appeared in the garb of
peace and humility, and even went so far as to
hold forth once at meeting.

In a word, Abel Snipe was a jewel of the first
water, who supplied the place of the idle Jonathan
in all matters of business, and almost in the affections
of his kinsman. If not equally beloved, he
was more highly esteemed; and his shining worth
consoled the philanthropist for many of the derelictions
of his nephew. He became the confidant,
the coadjutor, and the adviser of Zachariah; and
Zachariah never found occasion to lament the be
nevolence that had redounded so much to his own
advantage.