on the contrary, this rebuff seemed to add
fresh vigour to his operations. He now thought it high time to bring
over Madam la Mer to his interest; and, to facilitate her conversion,
took an opportunity of bribing her with some inconsiderable presents,
after having amused her with a plausible tale of his passion for Monimia,
with whom she undertook the office of his mediatrix, on the supposition
that his intentions were honourable, and highly advantageous to her
lodger.

She was, first of all, invested with the office of obtaining pardon for
the offence he had given; and, in this negotiation she succeeded so well,
as to become an advocate for his suit; accordingly, she took all
occasions of magnifying his praise. His agreeable person was often the
subject of her discourse to the fair mourner. Her admiration dwelt upon
his politeness, good sense, and winning deportment; and she every day
retailed little stories of his benevolence and greatness of soul. The
defect in his birth she represented as a circumstance altogether foreign
from the consideration of his merit; especially in a nation where such
distinctions are as little respected as they will be in a future state.
She mentioned several persons of note, who basked in the sunshine of
power and fortune, without having enjoyed the least hereditary assistance
from their forefathers. One, she said, sprung from the loins of an
obscure attorney; another was the grandson of a valet-de-chambre; a third
was the issue of an accountant; and a fourth the offspring of a
woollen draper. All these were the children of their own good works, and
had raised themselves upon their personal virtues and address; a
foundation certainly more solid and honourable than a vague inheritance
derived from ancestors, in whose deserts they could not be supposed to
have borne the least share.

Monimia listened to all these arguments with great patience and
affability, though she at once dived into the source from which all such
insinuations flowed. She joined in the commendations of Fathom, and
owned herself a particular instance of that benevolence which the old
lady had so justly extolled; but, once for all, to prevent the
supplication which Madam la Mer was about to make, she solemnly protested
that her heart was altogether shut against any other earthly engagement,
and that her thoughts were altogether employed upon her eternal
salvation.

The assiduous landlady, perceiving the steadiness