ngry belly
before harvest." This John felt by woeful experience. John's cause was a
good milch cow, and many a man subsisted his family out of it. However,
John began to think it high time to look about him. He had a cousin in
the country, one Sir Roger Bold, whose predecessors had been bred up
to the law, and knew as much of it as anybody; but having left off
the profession for some time, they took great pleasure in compounding
lawsuits among their neighbours, for which they were the aversion of the
gentlemen of the long robe, and at perpetual war with all the country
attorneys. John put his cause in Sir Roger's hands, desiring him to make
the best of it. The news had no sooner reached the ears of the lawyers,
but they were all in an uproar. They brought all the rest of the
tradesmen upon John.** Squire South swore he was betrayed, that he would
starve before he compounded; Frog said he was highly wronged; even
lying Ned the chimney-sweeper and Tom the dustman complained that their
interest was sacrificed; the lawyers, solicitors, Hocus and his clerks,
were all up in arms at the news of the composition: they abused him and
his wife most shamefully. "You silly, awkward, ill-bred country sow,"
quoth one, "have you no more manners than to rail at Hocus that has
saved that clod-pated numskulled ninny-hammer of yours from ruin, and
all his family? It is well known how he has rose early and sat up late
to make him easy, when he was sotting at every alehouse in town. I
knew his last wife: she was a woman of breeding, good humour, and
complaisance--knew how to live in the world. As for you, you look like a
puppet moved by clockwork; your clothes hang upon you as they were upon
tenter-hooks; and you come into a room as you were going to steal away
a pint pot. Get you gone in the country, to look after your mother's
poultry, to milk the cows, churn the butter, and dress up nosegays for a
holiday, and not meddle with matters which you know no more of than
the sign-post before your door. It is well known that Hocus has an
established reputation; he never swore an oath, nor told a lie, in all
his life; he is grateful to his benefactors, faithful to his friends,
liberal to his dependents, and dutiful to his superiors; he values not
your money more than the dust under his feet, but he hates to be abused.
Once for all, Mrs. Minx, leave off talking of Hocus, or I will pull out
these saucer-eyes of yours, and make that redstreak country f