nly
laugh at me."

"Not so, Susannah; I never laugh when I know people are sincere."

"It appears to me, then, to be a vanity fair."

"That there is more vanity in London than in any other city, I grant,"
replied I; "but recollect, that there are more people and more wealth.
I do not think that there is more in proportion than in other towns in
England, and if there is more vanity, Susannah, recollect also that
there is more industry, more talent, and I should hope a greater
proportion of good and honest people among its multitudes; there is also,
unfortunately, more misery and more crime."

"I believe you are right, Japhet. Are you aware that Mr Cophagus has put
off his plain attire?"

"If it grieves you, Susannah, it grieves me also; but I presume he finds
it necessary not to be so remarkable."

"For him, I could find some excuse; but what will you say, Japhet, when
I tell you that my own sister, born and bred up to our tenets, hath also
deviated much from the dress of the females of our sect?"

"In what hath she made an alteration?"

"She has a bonnet of plaited straw with ribbons."

"Of what colour are the ribbons?"

"Nay, of the same as her dress--of grey."

"Your bonnet, Susannah, is of grey silk; I do not see that there is
vanity in descending to straw, which is a more homely commodity. But
what reason has she given?"

"That her husband wills it, as he does not like to walk out with her
in her Quaker's dress."

"Is it not her duty to obey her husband, even as I obey my father,
Susannah?--but I am not ashamed to walk out with you in your dress; so
if you have no objection, let me show you a part of this great city."

Susannah consented; we had often walked together in the town of Reading:
she was evidently pleased at what I said. I soon escorted her to Oxford
Street, from thence down Bond Street, and through all the most frequented
parts of the metropolis. The dress naturally drew upon her the casual
glance of the passengers, but her extreme beauty turned the glance to an
ardent gaze, and long before we had finished our intended walk, Susannah
requested that I would go home. She was not only annoyed but almost
alarmed at the constant and reiterated scrutiny which she underwent,
ascribing it to her dress, and not to her lovely person. As soon as we
returned I sat down with her.

"So I understand that Mr Cophagus intends to reside altogether in London."

"I have not heard so; I understood that it