This
quarrel which was at one time upon the point of being made up, by
the interposition and mediation of friends, had been lately inflamed
beyond a possibility of reconciliation by the respective wives of
the opponents, who, chancing to meet at a christening, disagreed
about precedence, proceeded from invectives to blows, and were
with great difficulty, by the gossips, prevented from converting
the occasion of joy into a scene of lamentation.
The difference between these rivals was in the height of rancour,
when I received the message of Crab, who received me as civilly
as I could have expected from one of his disposition; and, after
desiring me to sit, inquired into the particulars of my leaving the
house of Potion; which when I had related, he said, with a malicious
grin, "There's a sneaking dog! I always thought him a fellow without
a soul, d--n me, a canting scoundrel, who has crept into business
by his hypocrisy, and kissing the a--e of every body."--"Ay, ay,"
says another, "one might see with half an eye that the rascal has
no honesty in him, by his going so regularly to church."
This sentence was confirmed by a third, who assured his companions
that Potion was never known to be disguised in liquor but once, at
a meeting of the godly, where he had distinguished himself by an
extempore prayer an hour long.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76