thof I know pretty well what kind of lives are led by gemmen of your Inns
of Court.--I myself once belonged to Serjeants' Inn, and was perhaps as
good a wit and a critic as any Templar of them all. Nay, as for that
matter, thof I despise vanity, I can aver with a safe conscience, that I
had once the honour to belong to the society called the Town. We were
all of us attorney's clerks, gemmen, and had our meetings at an ale-house
in Butcher Row, where we regulated the diversions of the theatre.

"But to return from this digression. Sir Everhard Greaves did not seem
to be very well pleased with the conduct of his son at London. He got
notice of some irregularities and scrapes into which he had fallen; and
the squire seldom wrote to his father, except to draw upon him for money;
which he did so fast, that in eighteen months the old gentleman lost all
patience.

"At this period Squire Darnel chanced to die, leaving an only daughter, a
minor, heiress of three thousand a year under the guardianship of her
uncle Anthony, whose brutal character all the world knows. The breath
was no sooner out of his brother's body, than he resolved, if possible,
to succeed him in parliament as representative for the borough of
Ashenton. Now you must know, that this borough had been for many years a
bone of contention between the families of Greaves and Darnel; and at
length the difference was compromised by the interposition of friends, on
condition that Sir Everhard and Squire Darnel should alternately
represent the place in parliament. They agreed to this compromise for
their mutual convenience; but they were never heartily reconciled. Their
political principles did not tally; and their wives looked upon each
other as rivals in fortune and magnificence. So that there was no
intercourse between them, thof they lived in the same neighbourhood. On
the contrary, in all disputes, they constantly headed the opposite