, and
Messrs. Houlditch were my parents.

"No four-wheeled carriage could possibly have entered upon life with
brighter prospects; it is, alas! my hard lot to detail the vicissitudes
that rendered me what I am.

"I was ordered by an earl, who was on the point of marriage with an
heiress, and I was fitted up in the most expensive style. My complexion
was pale yellow; on my sides I had coronets and supporters; my inside
was soft and comfortable; my rumble behind was satisfactory; and my
dicky was perfection, and provided with a hammercloth. My boots were
capacious, my pockets were ample, and my leathers in good condition.

"When I stood at the earl's door on the morning of his marriage, it was
admitted by all who beheld me, that a neater _turn-out_ had never
left Long Acre. Lightly did my noble possessor press my cushions, as I
wafted him to St. George's Church, Hanover Square; and when the ceremony
was over, and the happy pair sat side by side within me, the earl kissed
the lips of his countess, and I felt proud, not of the rank and wealth
of my contents, but because they were contented and happy.

"Oh, how merrily my wheels whirled in those days! I bore my possessors
to their country-seat; I flew about the county returning wedding visits;
I went to races, with sandwiches and champagne in my pockets; and I
spent many a long night in the inn-yard, while my lord and lady were
presiding at county assemblies.

"Mine was a life of sunshine and smiles. But ladies are capricious: the
countess suddenly discovered that I was heavy. Now, if she wished me to
be light-headed, why did she order a landaulet? She declared, too, that
I was unfit for town service; gave new orders to Houlditch; took
possession of a chariot fashioned eight months later than myself; sent
me to Long Acre to be disposed of, and I became a secondhand article!

"My humiliation happened at an unlucky moment, for continual racketing
in the country had quite unhinged me; I required bracing, and had quite
lost my colour. My paternal relation, however, (Houlditch), undertook my
repair, and I was very soon exhibited painted green, and ticketed, 'For
sale secondhand.'

"It was now the month of May, when all persons of the smallest
fashionable pretensions shun their country abodes and come to London,
that they may escape the first fragrance of the flowers, the first song
of the birds, the budding beauty of the forests and the fresh verdure of
the fields. I ther