so forth?" At this assertion, the youthful group broke up in great
confusion and disgust, on reflecting how many meals they had eaten out of
dishes which, by Old Mortality's account, were only fit to be used at a
banquet of witches or of ghoules. They carried the tidings home, when
many a dinner was spoiled by the loathing which the intelligence
imparted; for the account of the materials was supposed to explain the
reddish tinge which, even in the days of the Cooper's fame, had seemed
somewhat suspicious. The ware of Cooper Climent was rejected in horror,
much to the benefit of his rivals the muggers, who dealt in earthenware.
The man of cutty-spoon and ladle saw his trade interrupted, and learned
the reason, by his quondam customers coming upon him in wrath to return
the goods which were composed of such unhallowed materials, and demand
repayment of their money. In this disagreeable predicament, the forlorn
artist cited Old Mortality into a court of justice, where he proved that
the wood he used in his trade was that of the staves of old wine-pipes
bought from smugglers, with whom the country then abounded, a
circumstance which fully accounted for their imparting a colour to their
contents. Old Mortality himself made the fullest declaration, that he had
no other purpose in making the assertion, than to check the petulance of
the children. But it is easier to take away a good name than to restore
it. Cooper Climent's business continued to languish, and he died in a
state of poverty.


[Illustration: Frontispiece]




VOLUME I.