GOODY TWO-SHOES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21520, 17 June 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

GOODY TWO-SHOES

AN OLD-TIME STORY Everybody has heard of her, and many speak of her still, but few know anything about her. She came into being about .160 years ago. It is not certain who wrote her history. Some think it was Oliver Goldsmith, the author of " The Vicar of Wakefield " and of poems, which aro read in overy school. Others think it was Mr. Giles Jones. It was published in April, 1765, by John Newbury, of St Paul's Churchyard, London, and soon became a great favourite. JI any editions of it wore issued in England and America, and probably millions of children found amusement in it. Copies aro now very rare. Tho little books were thumbed to bits in many nurseries and their eager readers tossed them aside when they grew too big for such simple stories. The titlo page ran: THE HISTORY Of LITTLE GOODY TWO-SHOES Otherwise Called MRS. MARGERY TWO-SHOES The means !>y which she acquired her Learning and "Wisdom, and in consequence thereof, her Estate: set forth at large for the Benefit of those Who from a State of Rags and Care And having Shoes but half a Pair Their Fortune and thoir Fame would fis And gallop in a Coach and Six. See (he Original Manuscript in the Vatican nt Rome and the Cats by Michael Angelo. Illustrated with the Comments of our great Modern Critics. The little sixpenny book with this long title was dedicated to all young Gentlemen and Ladies who are good or intend to be good. The tale tells how Margery and her brother Tommy lost their parents when they were very young. They had no one to take caro of them and were very poor and ragged. A good clergyman gave Margery, who had only one shoe, a pair of shoes of which she was very proud, and as she showed them to all she met, she came to be called ' Old Goody Two-Shoes." Margery learned to read and taught others to do so. She went from door to door with blocks of letters and showed her little pupils how to put them into words and sentences. When they knew more she gave them such lessons as these: He that will thrive Must rise by Five, He that hath thriven May lie till Seven. Truth may be blam'd But cannot be sham'd. Tell me with whom you go, And I'll tell you what you do. wise head makes a close mouth. > Don't burn your lips with another man s words and hard arguments. Money catches more flies than vinegar. To forget a wrong is the best revenge. Fair words butter no parsnips. A contented mind is a continual leapt. One night Margery got locked in the church where she had fallen asleep and cured tho people of their dread of ghosts and fairies when she told them no ghost had disturbed her rest. _ . When she grew up she became principal of a country college and the story tells of the way in which she taught her scholars. She drew her lessons from birds and beasts. She taught her pupils to be kind to the poor and the sad. She settled many disputes, too, among the townspeople. She is 6aid to have given the best recipe for marrued couple to live in peace: " You must solemnly agree, that if one speaks an angry word, the other will not answer 'till he or she has distinctly called over all the letters of the alphabet, and the other not reply till he has told twenty. She invented, too, a "Considering Cap" which had three equal sides. On f one was written " I may be wrong," on the other "It is fifty to one but you are," and on the third, "I'll consider of it." This cap was a cure for wrongheadedness. Her fame for goodness became so great that Sir Charles Jones made her his wife and the very day they were married, her 'brother Tom, who hud made a large fortune overseas, returned and made her rich. So Margery, who began life in utter poverty with only, one shoe, ended it as a wealthy lady , with large means which flio used to benefit all around her. The unknown ' author who writes her history says: " She was a mother to the poor, a physician to tho sick, and a friend to all who were in distress. Her life was the greatest blessing and her death the greatest calamity that ever was felt in tho neighbourhood." If ever you can get the little book with its quaint woodcuts, you will find in it much wisdom set out in an entertaining manner. UNCLE HARRY