s God, that,
on account of his having been so long a housekeeper, he was entitled
to that provision. In short, his talents were not naturally active, and
there was a sort of inconsistency in his character; for, with all the
desire of amassing which any citizen could possibly entertain, he was
encumbered by a certain indolence and sluggishness that prevailed over
every interested consideration, and even hindered him from profiting by
that singleness of apprehension, and moderation of appetites, which have
so frequently conduced to the acquisition of immense fortunes;
qualities which he possessed in a very remarkable degree. Nature, in all
probability, had mixed little or nothing inflammable in his composition;
or, whatever seeds of excess she might have sown within him, were
effectually stifled and destroyed by the austerity of his education.

The sallies of his youth, far from being inordinate or criminal, never
exceeded the bounds of that decent jollity which an extraordinary pot,
on extraordinary occasions, may be supposed to have produced in a club
of sedate book-keepers, whose imaginations were neither very warm nor
luxuriant. Little subject to refined sensations, he was scarce ever
disturbed with violent emotions of any kind. The passion of love never
interrupted his tranquility; and if, as Mr. Creech says, after Horace,

Not to admire is all the art I know;
To make men happy, and to keep them so;

Mr. Pickle was undoubtedly possessed of that invaluable secret; at
least, he was never known to betray the faintest symptom of transport,
except one evening at the club, where he observed, with some
demonstrations of vivacity, that he had dined upon a delicate loin of
veal.

Notwithstanding this appearance of phlegm, he could not help feeling his
disappointments in trade; and upon the failure of a certain underwriter,
by which he lost five hundred pounds, declared his design of
relinquishing business, and retiring to the country. In this resolution
he was comforted and encouraged by his only sister, Mrs. Grizzle, who
had managed his family since the death of his father, and was now in
the thirtieth year of her maidenhood, with a fortune of five thousand
pounds, and a large stock of economy and devotion.

These qualifications, one would think, might have been the means of
abridging the term of her celibacy, as she never expressed any aversion
to wedlock; but, it seems, she was too delicate in her choice, to f