cause to thank Heaven for so fortunate an escape than to
repine at the loss he had sustained. The disappointed bridegroom and
his followers, being thus consoled and appeased, those of Basilius were
so likewise; and the rich Camacho, to show that his mind was free from
resentment, would have the diversions and entertainments go on as if
they had been really married. The happy pair, however, not choosing to
share in them, retired to their own dwelling, accompanied by their
joyful adherents; for, if the rich man can draw after him attendants and
flatterers, the poor man who is virtuous and deserving is followed by
friends who honor and support him.

Don Quixote joined the party of Basilius, having been invited by them as
a person of worth and bravery; while Sancho, finding it impossible to
remain and share the relishing delights of Camacho's festival, which
continued till night, with a heavy heart accompanied his master, leaving
behind the flesh-pots of Egypt, the skimmings of which, though now
almost consumed, still reminded him of the glorious abundance he had
lost.

"If love only were to be considered," said Don Quixote, "parents would
no longer have the privilege of judiciously matching their children.
Were daughters left to choose for themselves, there are those who would
prefer their father's serving-man, or throw themselves away on some
fellow they might chance to see in the street, mistaking, perhaps, an
impostor and swaggering poltroon for a gentleman, since passion too
easily blinds the understanding, so indispensably necessary in deciding
on that most important point, matrimony, which is peculiarly exposed to
the danger of a mistake, and therefore needs all the caution that human
prudence can supply, aided by the particular favor of Heaven. A person
who proposes to take a long journey, if he is prudent, before he sets
forward will look out for some safe and agreeable companion; and should
not he who undertakes a journey for life use the same precaution,
especially as his fellow-traveller is to be his companion at bed and
board and in all other situations? The wife is not a commodity which,
when once bought, you can exchange or return; the marriage bargain, once
struck, is irrevocable. It is a noose which, once thrown about the neck,
turns to a Gordian knot, and cannot be unloosed till cut asunder by the
scythe of death."

By the streets of "by-and-by" one arrives at the house of
"never."

God who gi