Two or three
persons with whom she was intimate, could trace
in her character that generous and disinterested
simplicity and affection, which were the groundwork
of her character. To the world at large her
habits seemed those of the ancient Roman matron,
which is recorded on her tomb in these four words,
Domum mansit---Lanam fecit.
[13. The Surgeon's Daughter Conclusion]
Mr Croftangry's Conclusion.
If you tell a good jest,
And please all the rest,
Comes Dingley, and asks you, ``What was it?''
And before she can know,
Away she will go
To seek an old rag in the closet.
Dean Swift.
While I was inditing the goodly matter which
my readers have just perused, I might be said to go
through a course of breaking-in to stand criticism,
like a shooting-pony to stand fire. By some of
those venial breaches of confidence, which always
take place on the like occasions, my private flirtations
with the Muse of Fiction became a matter
whispered in Miss Fairscribe's circle, some ornaments,
of which were, I suppose, highly interested
in the progress of the affair, while others ``really
thought Mr Chrystal Croftangry might have had
more wit at his time of day.
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