"Never do you mind that, ----," was the reply; "go home, and tell your
wife you are out of debt; you are an independent man. I only hope the
creditors have felt something of the satisfaction in forgiving you
one-half your debt to them, that we know God feels in forgiving our
debts to him for Christ's sake: I have said that much to all of them."

'But the puzzling question had not yet been answered, and again it was
put: "But, master, where's the money come from?"

"Well, well, I told you a FRIEND had given it to me for you. _You_
know that Friend as well as I do. There now, you may leave your work
for to-day: go home to your wife, and thank that Friend together for
making you an independent man. But stay, ----, I had almost forgotten
one thing. I called to see Mr P---- as I drove through Stoke's Croft;
I told him the errand that had carried me away from home all day, and
he gave me a sovereign for you to begin the world with."

'The poor fellow was too much affected to say anything more. The next
morning, however, he appeared again, but after a most complete failure
in a valorous attempt he made to express his thanks, he was obliged to
leave the counting-house, stammering out that "both he and his wife
felt their hearts to be as light as a feather."'

Mr Budgett was, by family connection, a Wesleyan, and at all periods
of his life under a strong sense of religion. He had even acted as a
lay-preacher. It was his custom to have all the people of his
establishment assembled for religious exercises every morning before
proceeding to business. He was active as a Sunday-school teacher, and
assisted with his purse and his own active exertions in every effort
to Christianise the rude people of Kingswood. When he became a