l the hints of caution they
had thrown out, resolved to accept his invitation, and honoured his
nuptials with their presence accordingly.

CHAPTER IV.

The Behaviour of Mrs. Grizzle at the Wedding, with an Account of the
Guests.

I hope it will not be thought uncharitable, if I advance, by way of
conjecture, that Mrs. Grizzle, on this grand occasion, summoned her
whole exertion to play off the artillery of her charms on the single
gentlemen who were invited to the entertainment; sure I am, she
displayed to the best advantage all the engaging qualities she
possessed; her affability at dinner was altogether uncommon, her
attention to the guests was superfluously hospitable, her tongue was
sheathed with a most agreeable and infantine lisp, her address was
perfectly obliging, and though conscious of the extraordinary capacity
of her month, she would not venture to hazard a laugh, she modelled her
lips into an enchanting simper, which played on her countenance all
day long; nay, she even profited by that defect in her vision we have
already observed, and securely contemplated those features which were
most to her liking, while the rest of the company believed her regards
were disposed in a quite contrary direction. With what humility of
complaisance did she receive the compliments of those who could not help
praising the elegance of the banquet; and how piously did she seize that
opportunity of commemorating the honours of her sire, by observing that
it was no merit in her to understand something of entertainments, as she
had occasion to preside at so many, during the mayoralty of her papa!

Far from discovering the least symptom of pride and exultation when the
opulence of her family became the subject of conversation, she assumed
a severity of countenance; and, after having moralized on the vanity
of riches, declared that those who looked on her as a fortune were very
much mistaken; for her father had left her no more than a poor five
thousand pounds, which, with what little she had saved of the interest
since his death, was all she had to depend on: indeed, if she had placed
her chief felicity in wealth, she should not have been so forward in
destroying her own expectations, by advising and promoting the event
at which they were now so happily assembled; but she hoped she should
always have virtue enough to postpone any interested consideration, when
it should happen to clash with the happiness of her friend