farm."

"As for the hounds," replied the parson, "hounds necessitate horses; and
I think more mischief comes to a young man of spirit from the stables
than from any other place in the world. They ought to be exposed from
the pulpit, those stables!" added Mr. Dale, thoughtfully; "see what they
entailed upon Nimrod! But Agriculture is a healthful and noble pursuit,
honoured by sacred nations, and cherished by the greatest men in
classical times. For instance, the Athenians were--"

"Bother the Athenians!" cried the squire, irreverently; "you need not go
so far back for an example. It is enough for a Hazeldean that his father
and his grandfather and his great-grandfather all farmed before him; and
a devilish deal better, I take it, than any of those musty old Athenians,
no offence to them. But I'll tell you one thing, Parson, a man to farm
well, and live in the country, should have a wife; it is half the
battle."

"As to a battle, a man who is married is pretty sure of half, though not
always the better half, of it," answered the parson, who seemed
peculiarly facetious that day. "Ah, Squire, I wish I could think Mrs.
Hazeldean right in her conjecture!--you would have the prettiest
daughter-in-law in the three kingdoms. And I do believe that, if I could
have a good talk with the young lady apart from her father, we could
remove the only objection I know to the marriage. Those Popish errors--"

"Ah, very true!" cried the squire; "that Pope sticks hard in my gizzard.
I could excuse her being a foreigner, and not having, I suppose, a
shilling in her pocket--bless her handsome face!--but to be worshipping
images in her room instead of going to the parish church, that will never