All this attention he repaid with a profusion of
compliments and benedictions, which were not the less agreeable
for being delivered in the Scottish dialect. As for Mrs Tabitha,
his respects were particularly addressed to her, and he did not
fail to mingle them with religious reflections, touching free
grace, knowing her bias to methodism, which he also professed
upon a calvinistical model.
For my part, I could not help thinking this lawyer was not such
an invalid as he pretended to be. I observed he ate very heartily
three times a day; and though his bottle was marked stomachic
tincture, he had recourse to it so often, and seemed to swallow
it with such peculiar relish, that I suspected it was not
compounded in the apothecary's shop, or the chemist's laboratory.
One day, while he was earnest in discourse with Mrs Tabitha, and
his servant had gone out on some occasion or other, I dexterously
exchanged the labels, and situation of his bottle and mine; and
having tasted his tincture, found it was excellent claret. I
forthwith handed it about me to some of my neighbours, and it was
quite emptied before Mr Micklewhimmen had occasion to repeat his
draught.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319