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parenthetically remark, that, in spite of the rumours that had been circulated against him, and in spite of the efforts of a clique to injure his business, or, rather, to prevent him obtaining any, Johnson was gradually acquiring a fair share of custom. His mildness and civility, together with the perfect propriety of his conduct, were gradually overcoming prejudice and winning confidence. People said: As to the unfavourable reports of Mr Johnson's character, we must suspend judgment: we believed them at first, certainly, but now we have our doubts. Besides, his articles are, at least, as reasonable in price, and certainly much better in quality, than those of many dealers in town.'

In pursuance of the resolution I had formed, I called, a day or two after the ball, on Mr Johnson, and sat for nearly two hours with him-fascinated at once by his singularly pleasant and gentle manners, by his great intelligence, and by the extraordinary extent and variety of his information. There was, even in the tones of his voice, a charm that I found exercising a powerful influence

over me.

I frequently repeated my calls, and after each interview, became more and more satisfied that Johnson had been grievously wronged. Under this impression, I took every opportunity of expressing amongst my friends and acquaintances my strong doubts of the truth of the reports. To my great gratification, I found almost everybody, although they had no such opportunities of correcting their opinions, willing to believe that he had been unjustly dealt by.

By and by, Mr Johnson and I became so intimate, and I so assured of his innocence as regarded the special accusations which scandal had circulated against him, that I ventured one day to mention them to him. He said calmly: 'My dear sir, I knew from the very first of the circulation of these rumours; but, excepting one letter to Mr Manson, I have never made any attempt to meet them with a denial, being certain that my own conduct would be their only effectual refutation. Since you have adverted

to the subject as a friend, I will explain all to you. As is often the case, these reports are not altogether creatures of any one's imagination, but have a certain basis in fact, though not as applicable to me.' He then proceeded to shew-proving at the same time the truth of what he said by various documents-that the forgery of which he had been accused, instead of being committed by him, had been committed upon him; and this by a nephew of his own, whom he had forborne to prosecute, although his loss by the act had exceeded L.2000. As to the desertion

of wife and children, he also satisfied me, first, that he had never been married at all, nor ever had had any children; next, that the family alluded to was the widow and children of his brother, whom he was now supporting, and had supported for many years. He shewed me a number of letters from the widow, who resided in a distant part of England, and several from her elder children, whom he was educating; all of which were filled with expressions of the warmest love and gratitude.

A letter which he next produced, and which he had but a day or two before received from the rector of Combermeath, his native parish, was written in an affectionate strain, and bore, in an incidental way, the strongest testimony to his moral and religious character.

'Now,' said he, laughing,' we come to the last remaining charge-my fraudulent bankruptcy. Well, it is true, perfectly true, that I did stop payment about fifteen years since; chiefly in consequence of the forgery on me by my nephew, and partly in consequence of large losses otherwise. But success in business enabled me at a subsequent period to pay all my creditors in full, including interest. Of the satisfaction of my creditors with my conduct on the occasion of which I speak, I have evidence, inscribed, not indeed on a tablet of brass, but on a vessel or rather utensil of silver, which I will shew you.'

Having said this, he rose, went to a corner of the shop, and drew a bell-pull. His sister-there being an internal communication between the shop and the house which was above-answered the summons.

'Izzy, dear,' said Johnson, will you be so kind as bring down the salver which was presented to me by my good friends at Combermeath?'

Miss Johnson quickly appeared with a large, massive, and richly ornamented piece of plate, which her brother desired her to put into my hands; directing my attention at the same time to an inscription in the centre. This inscription I read, and found it to be a flattering testimonial, from Mr Johnson's creditors, to the excellence of his character, and expressing their deep sense of his rare integrity, as exemplified in the circumstance of his having paid in full, and with interest, the several sums he owed them, after he had been legally discharged of the same.

Dear reader, the man of whom I have been speaking— the man who was so slandered and traduced when he first came amongst us-who was called everything that was bad-who was shunned and despised-is now first magistrate of H———, and has long been esteemed, as he indeed is, one of the worthiest men in the county.

GENERAL INVITATIONS.

'PRAY do call in an easy way some evening, you and Mrs Balderstone: we are sure to be at home, and shall be most happy to see you.' Such an invitation one is apt to get from friends, who, equally resolved against the formality and the expense of a particular entertainment on your account, hope to avoid both evils by making your visit a matter of accident. If you be a man of some experience, you will know that all such attempts to make bread and cheese do that which is more properly the business of a pair of chickens, end in disappointment; and you will, therefore, take care to wait till the general invitation becomes a particular one. But there are inexperienced people in the world who think everything is as it seems, and are apt to be greatly deceived regarding this accidental mode

of visiting. For the sake of these last, I shall relate the following adventure:

I had been remarkably busy one summer, and, consequently, obliged to refuse all kinds of invitations, general and particular. The kind wishes of my friends had accumulated upon me somewhat after the manner of the tunes frozen up in Baron Munchausen's French-horn; and it seemed as if a whole month would have been necessary to thaw out and discharge the whole of these obligations. A beginning, however, is always something; and, accordingly, one rather splashy evening in November, I can't tell how it was, but a desire came simultaneously over myself and Mrs Balderstone-it seemed to be by sympathy —of stepping out to see Mr and Mrs Brown, a married pair, who had been considerably more pressing in their general invitations than any other of our friends. We both knew that there was a cold duck in the house, besides a segment of cheese, understood to be more than excellent. But so it was that we had taken a visiting humour, and forth we must go. Five minutes saw us leaving our comfortable home, my wife carrying a cap pinned under her cloak, while to my pocket was consigned her umbrageous comb. As we paced along, we speculated only on the pleasure which we should give to our kind friends by thus at last paying them a visit, when perhaps all hope of our ever doing so was dead within them. Nor was it possible altogether to omit reflecting, like the dog invited by his friend to sup, upon the entertainment which lay before us; for certainly, on such an occasion, the fatted calf could hardly expect to be spared.

Full of the satisfaction which we were to give and receive, we had nearly entered the house before we thought it necessary to inquire if anybody was at home. The servant-girl, surprised by the confidence of our entrée, evidently forgot her duty, and acknowledged, when she should have denied, the presence of her master and mistress in the house. We were shewn into a diningroom, clean, cold, and stately as an alabaster cave, and which had the appearance of being but rarely lighted by

the blaze of hospitality. My first impulse was to relieve my pocket, before sitting down, of the comb, which I thought was now about being put to its proper use; but the chill of the room stayed my hand. I observed, at the same time, that my wife, like the man under the influence of Eolus in the fable, manifested no symptom of parting with her cloak. Ere we could communicate our mutual sensations of incipient disappointment, Mrs Brown entered with a flurried, surprised air, and made a prodigious effort to give us welcome. But, alas! poor Mr Brown-he had been seized in the afternoon with a strange vertigo and sickness, and was now endeavouring, by the advice of Dr Boak, to get some repose. 'It will be such a disappointment to him, when he learns that you were here, for he would have been so happy to see you. We must just entertain the hope, however, to see you some other night.' Although the primary idea in our minds at this moment was the utter hopelessness of supper in this quarter-we betrayed, of course, no feeling but sympathy in the illness of our unfortunate friend, and a regret for having called at so inauspicious a moment. Had any unconcerned person witnessed our protestations, he could have formed no suspicion that we ever contemplated supper, or were now in the least disappointed. We felt anxious about nothing but to relieve Mrs Brown, as soon as possible, of the inconvenience of our visit, more especially as the chill of the room was now piercing us to the bone. We therefore retired, under a shower of mutual compliments, and condolences, and 'hopes,' and 'sorries,' and 'have the pleasures;' the door at last closing after us with a noise which seemed to say: How very glad I am to get quit of you!'

When we got to the street, we certainly did not feel quite so mortified as the dog already alluded to, seeing that we had not, like him, been tossed over the window. But still the reverse of prospect was so very bitter, that for some time we could hardly believe that the adventure was real. By this time, we had expected to be seated snug at supper, side by side with two friends, who, we anticipated, would almost expire with pleasure at seeing

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