st Clink--and old Cyder and
Plum-pudding galore! But his Family will have none of his company, and
set the poor old Shepherd apart, giving him but an extra lump of Bread
and Cheese to regale himself withal. 'Twas he who told the Story to my
Friend, from whom I heard it. What, think you, was his simple complaint,
his sole Protest against so much Cruelty and Injustice? He did not rush
into the Feasting Room and curse these Ingrates; he did not trample on
this Brood that he had nurtured, and that had turned out worse in their
Unthankfulness than Vipers; no, he just sat apart, wringing of his
Hands, and meekly wailing, "What, a weddin', and narrer a bit o'
puddin'--narrer a bit, a bit o' puddin'!" The poor soul had set his head
on a slice of dough with raisins in it, and even this crumb from their
Table was denied him by his Cubs. 'Tis a brave thing, is it not,
Neighbour, to be come to Threescore Years, and to have had Fruitful
Loins, and to be Mocked and Misused by those thou hast begotten? How
infinitely better do we deem ourselves than the Cat and Dog, and yet how
often do we imitate those Dumb Beasts in our own degree! fondling them
indeed when they are Kittens and Puppies, but fighting Tooth and Nail
with them when they be full grown. But there is as much to be said on
the one side as on the other; and for every poor old Lear wandering up
and down, pursued by the spite of Goneril and Regan, shall you find a
Cordelia whose heart is broken by her Sire's Cruelty.

We did not long abide in Ostend. Presently my master grew tired of the
Town, as he did of most Things, and longed for change. He had no better
words for the Innkeepers, Merchants, and others who attended him, than
to call them a parcel of Extortionate Thieves, and to vow that they were
all in a conspiracy for robbing and bringing him to the Poor House. He
often did us the honour to accuse us of being in the Plot; and many a
time I felt inclined to resent his Impertinence, and to cudgel the
abusive little man soundly; but I was wise, and held my Tongue and my
Hand as well. Following the Chaplain's advice, and humouring this little
Man-monkey in all his caprices, I found that he was not so bad a master
after all, and that when he was Drunk, which was almost always, he could
be generous enough. When he was sober and bewailed his excessive
Expenditure, our policy was to be Mum, or else to Flatter him; and so no
bones were broken, and I was well clad and fed, and alwa