"Perhaps you would prefer eating less," said my friend slyly, "which, I have been told by a medical man, is generally a certain cure if persevered in."
"Oh, ah, yes. But, Sir, my constitution would never stand that. I think for once I will try the effect of your first prescription; but, remember, it is only medicinally."
The next moment the glass was returned to the table empty, and the good man took his leave.
"Now, Mr. ---, was it not too bad of you to make that man break his pledge?" observed a person at table.
"My dear Sir, that man requires very little temptation to do that. The total abstinence of a glutton is entirely for the public."
The houses built by the Dutch settlers have very little privacy, as one bed-chamber invariably opens into another. In some cases, the sleeping apartments all open into a common sitting-room occupied by the family. To English people, this is both an uncomfortable and very unpleasant arrangement.
I slept for two nights at Mr. ---'s house, with my husband, and our dormitory had no egress but through another bed-chamber; and as that happened to be occupied on the first night by a clergyman, I had to wait for an hour, after my husband was up and down stairs rejoicing in the fresh air of a lovely summer morning, before I could escape from my chamber,--my neighbour; who was young and very comely, taking a long time for his prayers, and the business of the toilet.
My husband laughed very heartily at my imprisonment, as he termed it; but the next day I had the laugh against him, for our sleeping neighbours happened to be a middle-aged Quaker, with a very sickly delicate wife. I, of course, was forced to go to bed when she did, or be obliged to pass through her chamber after brother Jonathan had retired for the night. This being by no means desirable, I left a very interesting argument, in which my husband, the Quaker, and the poet were fighting an animated battle on reform principles, against the clergyman and my very much respected Tory host. How they got on I don't know, for the debate was at its height when I was obliged to beat my retreat to bed.
After an hour or so I heard Jonathan tumble upstairs to bed, and while undressing he made the following very innocent remark to his wife,--"Truly, Hannah, I fear that I have used too many words tonight. My uncle is a man of many words, and one is apt to forget the rules of prudence when arguing with him."
If the use of many words was looked upon as a serious transgression by honest Jonathan, my husband, my friend, and the poet, must have been very guilty men, for they continued their argument until the "sma' hours ayont the twal."