, 1843-07-08

characters. Raven locks had now
become grizzIe--two or three heads
had not as many locks together rs
nav he reckoned in a walk of half a
mile along the Regents Canal-one
was actually covered with a brown
wig,-the crows feet were visabIe in
the corne Of the eye,--good old port
and warm madeira carried it against
hook, %claret, red burgundy, and cham
pagne,--stews. hashes and ragouts.
grew in favor-crusts were rarely
CAM. :t,r to relish the cheese after
dinner,-conversation was less bols-
ferrous. and i, turned chiefly on poll
tics and the state of the funds, or
the value oflanded propertv,--aPoIo.
gies we're made for coming IN thick
shoes and warm stockings, the doors
and the windows were more careful
" provided with list and sand-bags,
the fire more in request.-and n our
Ell game of Whist filed up the
hours that were wont TO lie devoted
to drinking, singing, and riotous mer-
.riment. Two rubbers. 4 cup OF cot
fee. and at home by eleven O'Clock.
was the usual cry, when the filth or
sixth glass had gone round alter the
removal Of the cloth. At parting. too,
there was now Il lonT ceremoney IN
the ball. bultonIDg up great-coats, ~
ing on wooilcn comfortcrs, fixing silk
handkerchiefs over the mouth and up
TO the ears. and grasping sturdy walk
ing-canes. to support unsteady feet.
The fiIicih anniversary came
and death had indeed been busy
+ One had been killed by tie over
turning OF the mail. in which lie had
ken his place in order to be present
=, ,ts c,,. ar. having purchased an es
tale in AIonmou,n.H;'c , and retired
.thirher with his family. h"''aeF had
undergone tie terrific operation =
the stone. and expired beneath the
kn:fe--a third had yielded up a bro
ken spirit. two years after the loss OF
an only surviving and beloved daugh-
; ,er-a fourth was carried Of in & few
DAYS after by 4 choteT0 n'ord"s-a
filth had brcathed his last the very
morning he had Obtained a Judgment
in his favor by the Lord Chancellor,
which bad cost lis last shilling nearly
to get. and which. after i litigation of
eighteen wears. declared him the
riehtful passcssor of ten thousand Il
vear-lcn minutes afterwards he was
no more. \ sixth had persisted by
the hand of = midnight assassin, who
broke INTO his house for plumber. and
sacrificed the owner Of 1t. as'hc grasp
cd convulsivcIv a bundle OF exche-
quer bliss. which the rob5er was
drawing from beneath lis pillow.
where he knew they were every
night placed for better security.
Four lillle old men, Of uiihcrCi
appearance and decrepid walk, with
cracked voices, and dun, rayless eyes.
sal down. by the mercy of Heaven,
las they themselves TREMENDOUSLY de-
clared.) to celebrate, for the iittIeth
time, the first day of the year; 10 OBJ
serve the frolic compact. which. half
n century before. they had entered in
10 a, the Star and Garter at Rich
moond, Eight were in their graves.
Yet they chirpcd checrlly over their
glass. though they could scarcely car
nv it 10 their lips. If more than half
full; and cracked their jokes. though
they articulated their words with
difficulty. and heard each other with
still greater difficulty. They mum
bled, they chartered, they laughed (f
a sort of strangied wheeling might
be called Il laugh;) and when the
wines sent their icy blood in warmer
pulse through their %viens, they talked
of the past as it were but yesterday
tina, had passed by them-and their
future, a. if it were Il busy century
that lay before them.
They were just the number for a
quiet rubber OF whist; and for three
successive years they sat down TO
ono. The fourth came, and then their
rubber was played with an open dun
N.Y.; a fifth, and whist was no longer
practicable tuo could play at crib
bage, and crib5agc was the game
But it was little more than the mocke-
ry Of play. Their palsied hands
could hardly hold or their fading sight
distinguish The cards. while their tor
Did faculties made them doze between
each deal.
AT length came the last dinner;
and the survivor of the twelve, up
on whose head fourscoIe and Ten WIN
tiers had showercd their snow, sat al
his solitary meal. 1t SO CHANGED that
il was in his house; and at his table
they celebrated the first. In his Gel