the honours of the room, told me at once that she was Mrs. Snaggs; that she was Mrs. Sedley's mother, and that she was sorry Mr. and Mrs. Sedley were not at home, for they had gone out to take a hairing in their little chay.'

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"I bowed my thanks for the information, to which she immediately added, 'All these here children are my daughter's, for she has one every year, and this baby (dancing it till she grew very hot) is the youngest.' She then added, but these two tall girls be my own."

"She then made many excuses for the door being opened, as she said, 'by one of the low maids of the house, not even by the lady's maid, which would have been better, but that both she and the butler and footman had been sent out on some business, and as for the boy, who was under the footman, he was never to be found, as indeed was always the case with them boys.'

"I again bowed my compliments for all this intelligence, but, in truth, could say little in commendation of what I saw, whether of my friend's, or her own progeny, from the specimen exhibited by their manners or appearance; nor was I profoundly struck by Mrs. Snaggs herself. I was rather, therefore, relieved when she said to the children, Come, dears, it is your dinner-time, and the gentleman will excuse us ;' then, asking me if I would not have a bit of summut for lunch, which I declined, she left me, very little offended at her want of ceremony, as she called it, in leaving me by myself.

6

My astonishment at all this may be imagined, as

Sedley, I recollected, in announcing his marriage, had told me his wife amply made up for being only in what he called a middling condition of life, by great softness of manners, excellent understanding, and elegance of person. She could not at least, I supposed, resemble her family in any of these respects. This was to be decided hereafter, and to amuse myself till my friend should return from his hairing, I wandered out of doors.

"What I saw there did not give me much notion of his taste for elegant gardening, about which I knew he had formerly been enthusiastic; forming himself upon Walpole and De Lisle. I expected, therefore, when I sought and found the garden, to see, at least, well-kept beds of flowers, and well-pruned trees. The flowers and the trees were there, but any thing but well kept. Moreover, my progress in the principal walks was impeded by lines, which crossed one another in various angles, on which were hung to dry whole regiments of the family linen. This entirely put to flight all notion of the elegance which I expected to find.

"This is wonderful,' said I to myself; some metamorphosis must have taken place in friend Sedley, since he used to talk so feelingly on the beauties of a garden.' Further research was, however, put an end to by hearing his voice calling me by name, for the clothes-lines interrupted the sight.

"Though heartily glad to see me, he was shocked and abashed in the midst of his gladness. He reddened, and seemed even mortified-was certainly much disconcerted.

"This is really too bad,' said he, after shaking hands. 'You owe this to my good mother-in-law; really, a respectable woman in her way, but who will suffer nobody to have a will of their own in any thing resembling the economy of a ménage, and particularly of a great wash. I had strictly forbidden this appropriation of my garden to a drying-ground, yet she has taken advantage of my absence for only two hours to order this nuisance to be committed. I hope you will excuse it.'

"He seemed so discomfited with what had happened, that he could hardly reply to my inquiries after himself and wife, and seeing two maids coming down the walk with fresh clothes, absolutely stormed at them. In vain they pleaded that the hanging out was by Mrs. Snaggs's orders. I have repeatedly told you,' cried he (perhaps, forgetting me for the moment), 'not to obey Mrs. Snaggs, particularly in this, and if it happens again I will discharge you.'

"He said this so angrily, that it surprised me, for he was a man of great natural suavity. He himself seemed sorry, or rather ashamed of his own warmth before a visitor, though that visitor was an old friend, and began to make apologies, saying, how vexatious it was to be so thwarted. However,' added he, as Mrs. Sedley's mother, she seems to have a sort of right to manage these little matters for her, and, indeed, saves her a great deal of trouble by her attention to the children, in nursing and instructing them.'

"The word instructing did not pass unnoticed in my

own mind, from the specimen she had given me of her qualifications that way; but I did not think it right to make any remark, and hastened to be introduced to Mrs. Sedley, of whom, from his accounts, and his having been induced from her merit so to elevate her from mediocrity, I had formed the most brilliant expectations.

"Nor, as to her looks, or at least her face, was I altogether disappointed. It was of the very finest white and red, teint de lis et de roses, with dove-like eyes, but little animation; which, considering his love for it, surprised me. Her features were all regular, but none of them spoke; her cheek seemed silky soft, but no dimple; her lips absolute coral, but no smile. So much for her face, which, if it shewed tranquillity, it was the tranquillity of apathy. Then, as to her person, which Sedley had so praised for its elegance, -if that had ever existed, it was gone; perhaps, for a reason which her mother's account of her annual fecundity might supply. Certain it is, that being a nurse, and, as such, wisely discarding all restraint from dress, though not two-and-twenty, she was any thing but a nymph.

"I expected to be made amends by something like softness and grace of manner. But, though in this respect it was the reverse of the commanding boldness of Lady Cherubina, and there was no affectation, a dead and languid expression of the usual phrases of welcome was all I could obtain. She had none of the coarse loudness of her mother; but I thought I could have excused a little even of that, could it have dimin

ished the Mrs. Shandy qualities which seemed to belong to her. Upon the whole, I did not think the inconvenience of having such companions as I had already made acquaintance with was compensated to my friend by the charms of his wife. But this en passant, for as yet it was early to judge, and besides, it was his affair, not mine.

"I perceived that my friend was earnestly, perhaps anxiously, watching to see if he could discover in my countenance the impression made upon me by a wife whom he had so praised, and for whom I afterwards found he had almost renounced the world, certainly the higher circles of it. For he was now, as I soon perceived, surrounded and absorbed by that wife's relations, who by no means neglected the privileges given them by the connection. The two tall girls, his sisters-in-law, whom I had first seen, now returned with their red-faced mother, their cheeks not yet quite delivered from the mouthfuls of pigeon-pie which they had been cramming: I may use the word, for their large limbs and puffed-out figures denoted its usual effects. They were, at least, desirous that their sister should share her own good things, for they pressed her to do as they had been doing; saying, in the broadest Yorkshire, that the poy was pure good.'

"Mrs. Sedley had good taste enough to feel this, and I saw was disconcerted, but her husband seemed distress itself at the ebullition. He blushed up to the ears, turned to the window, whose broken panes did not console him, and, as a diversion, began seriously to scold Mrs. Snaggs for allowing the children to play