The Vicar of Wakefield. yi
family followed, with a card for mv daugh-
ters, importing, that the two ladies had re-
ceived sitch pleahng accounts fiom Mr. Thorn-
hill of us ail, that, after a few previous en-
quiries, they hoped to be perfecfly sinished.
,, Ay," cried my wife, „I now see it is no
„ easy matter to get into the families of the
,, great: but when one once gets in, then,
„ as Moses says, one may go sleep." To
this piece of humour, for she intendeed it for
wit, my daughters aslented with a loud laugh
of pleasure. In shurt, such was hersatisfac-
tion at this mellage, that she aciually put her
hand in her pocket, and gave the messenger
seven pence halspenny.
This was to be our visiting-day. The
next that came was Mr. Burchell, who had
been at the fair. He brought my little ones a
pennyworth of gingerbread each, wbicb my
wife undertook to keep for them, and give
them by letters at a time. He brought my
daughters also a couple of boxes, in which
they might keep wavers, snufF, patches, or
even money, when they got it. My wife was
usually fond of a wtesel skin purse, as being
the mosf lucky ; but this by the bye. We
had sfill a regard for Mr. Burchell, though
his late rude behaviour was in some measure
displeasing; nor could we trow avoid commu-
nicating our happiness to him , and asking
his advice: although we seldom followed ad-
vice , we were all ready enough to ask it.
When he read the note from the two ladies,
he shook his head, and observed, that an at-
E 4 fait