en they read it would lay the book aside, and
say, "It looks so uncomfortable; I don't like anything of that sort."
And yet my father was neither a horse slaughterer nor an executioner;
on the contrary, his office placed him at the head of the most
respectable gentry of the town; and he held his place by right, for it
was his right place. He had to go first before the bishop even, and
before the princes of the blood. He always went first--for he was the
driver of the hearse!

There, now it's out! And I will confess that when people saw my father
sitting perched up on the omnibus of death, dressed in his long, wide,
black cloak, with his black-bordered three-cornered hat on his
head--and then his face, exactly as the sun is drawn, round and
jocund--it was difficult for them to think of the grave and of sorrow.
The face said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter; it will be
better than one thinks."

You see, I have inherited my good humour from him, and also the habit
of going often to the churchyard, which is a good thing to do if it be
done in the right spirit; and then I take in the _Intelligencer_, just
as he used to do.

I am not quite young. I have neither wife, nor children, nor a
library; but, as aforesaid, I take in the _Intelligencer_, and that's
my favourite newspaper, as it was also my father's. It is very useful,
and contains everything that a man needs to know--such as who preaches
in the church and in the new books. And then what a lot of charity,
and what a number of innocent, harmless verses are found in it!
Advertisements for husbands and wives, and requests for
interviews--all quite simple and natural. Certainly, one may live
merrily and be contentedly buried if one takes in the _Intelligencer_.
And, as a concluding advantage, by the end of his life a man will have
such a capital store of paper, that he may use it as a soft bed,
unless he prefers to rest upon wood-shavings.

The newspaper and my walk to the churchyard were always my most
exciting occupations--they were like bathing-places for my good
humour.

The newspaper every one can read for himself. But please come with me
to the churchyard; let us wander there where the sun shines and the
trees grow green. Each of the narrow houses is like a closed book,
with the back placed uppermost, so that one can only read the title
and judge what the book contains, but can tell nothing about it; but I
know something of them. I heard it from my father