thing, to build a church; and, as to me and my
fortune, he thought the best thing I could do, seeing, from my
deformities, that I was not very well adapted for undergoing the
fatigues of a professional life, was, when I should become a little
older, to turn country gentleman; and with this idea he was himself
so well pleased, that he began, thinking it best to take time by the
forelock, to look around for a suitable seat for me when I should come
of age and be ready to act on my own account; and he fortunately
succeeded in finding one that seemed a very eligible investment. It was
a very handsome country house, about the distance of three miles from
where we lived, and to which there was attached an estate of 1000 acres
of land, all in a high state of cultivation. The upset price of the
whole--for the property was at that moment on sale--was L20,000; a dead
bargain, as the lawyer who had the management of the property assured
us. It was worth at least double the money, he said; and in this Mr.
Longshanks, the land-measurer, whom my father also consulted on the
subject, perfectly agreed; but was good enough to give my father a quiet
hint to hold off a bit, and, as the proprietor was in great distress for
money, he might probably get the estate for L18,000, or something, at
any rate, considerably below the price named. Grateful for this hint, my
father invited Mr. Longshanks to dine with him, and gave him a bottle
of his best wine. Now, gentlemen, please to observe (said the little
hunch-backed gentleman in the bright yellow waistcoat) that while we
were thus treating about an estate worth L20,000, we had not a sixpence
wherewith to buy it; so that Mr. Longshanks' hint about holding off was
rather a superfluous one. But then our prospects were good--nay,
certain; there was, therefore, no harm--nay, it was proper and prudent
to anticipate matters a little in the way we did; so that we might at
once have the advantage of sufficient time to do things deliberately,
and be prepared to make a good use of our fortune the moment we got
possession of it.

That our prospects were excellent, I think you will all allow,
gentlemen, when you take into account what I have already told regarding
our worthy relative; but that they really were so, you will still more
readily admit, when I tell you that we received many letters from Mr.
Hairsplitter, after his arrival in Jamaica (for he now opened a regular
correspondence with us), in all