rided himself, that he should show his neighbors so
sensible a man as his dear friend Mr. Worthy.

Worthy arrived at his friend's house on the Saturday, time enough to
see the house, and garden, and grounds of Mr. Bragwell by daylight.
He saw with pleasure (for he had a warm and generous heart) those
evident signs of his friend's prosperity; but as he was a man of
sober mind, and was a most exact dealer in truth, he never allowed
his tongue the license of immodest commendation, which he used to
say either savored of flattery or envy. Indeed he never rated mere
worldly things so highly as to bestow upon them undue praise. His
calm approbation somewhat disappointed the vanity of Mr. Bragwell,
who could not help secretly suspecting that his friend, as good a
man as he was, was not quite free from envy. He felt, however, very
much inclined to forgive this jealousy, which he feared the sight of
his ample property, and handsome habitation must naturally awaken in
the mind of a man whose own possessions were so inferior. He
practiced the usual trick of ordinary and vulgar minds, that of
pretending himself to find some fault with those things which were
particularly deserving praise, when he found Worthy disposed to pass
them over in silence.

When they came in to supper, he affected to talk of the comforts of
Mr. Worthy's _little_ parlor, by way of calling his attention to his
own large one. He repeated the word _snug_, as applied to every
thing at Mr. Worthy's, with the plain design to make comparisons
favorable to his own more ample domains. He contrived, as he passed
by his chair, by a seeming accident, to push open the door of a
large beaufet in the parlor, in which all the finery was most
ostentatiously set out to view. He protested with a look of
satisfaction which belied his words, that for his part he did not
care a farthing for all this trumpery; and then smiling and rubbing
his hands, added, with an air of no small importance, what a good
thing it is though, for people of substance, that the tax on plate
is taken off. "You are a happy man, Mr. Worthy; you do not feel
these things; tax or no tax, it is all the same to you." He took
care during this speech, by a cast of his eye, to direct Mr.
Worthy's attention to a great profusion of the brightest cups,
salvers, and tankards, and other shining ornaments, which crowded
the beaufet. Mr. Worthy gravely answered Mr. Bragwell, "It was
indeed a tax which could not affect