-- He
not only superintended my oeconomy, but also presided over my
pastimes -- He taught me to brew beer, to make cyder, perry, mead,
usquebaugh, and plague-water; to cook several outlandish
delicacies, such as ollas, pepper-pots, pillaws, corys, chabobs,
and stufatas. -- He understands all manner of games from chess down
to chuck-farthing, sings a good song, plays upon the violin, and
dances a hornpipe with surprising agility. -- He and I walked, and
rode, and hunted, and fished together, without minding the
vicissitudes of the weather; and I am persuaded, that in a raw,
moist climate, like this of England, continual exercise is as
necessary as food to the preservation of the individual. -- In the
course of two and twenty years, there has not been one hour's
interruption or abatement in the friendship subsisting between
Wilson's family and mine; and, what is a rare instance of good
fortune, that friendship is continued to our children. -- His son
and mine are nearly of the same age and the same disposition;
they have been bred up together at the same school and college,
and love each other with the warmest affection.
'By Wilson's means, I likewise formed an acquaintance with a
sensible physician, who lives in the next market-town; and his
sister, an agreeable old maiden, passed the Christmas holidays at
our house.
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