who loved display, and
had no desire to see Dr. Leeswor, his particular rival, or even
Dr. Fitzlane, better appointed than himself, felt strongly inclined
towards the new carriage, and thought it would certainly be pleasanter
to save than to insure, and resolved to begin immediately _after_ the
purchase of his new equipage.

When persons are very prosperous, a few ten or twenty pounds do not
much signify, but the principle of careless expenditure is hard to
curb.

Various things occurred to put off the doctor's plan of laying by.
Mrs. Adams had an illness, that rendered a residence abroad necessary
for a winter or two. The eldest boy must go to Eton. As their mamma
was not at home, the little girls were sent to school. Bad as Mrs.
Adams's management was, it was better than no management at all. If
the doctor had given up his entertainments, his "friends" would have
said he was going down in the world, and his patients would have
imagined him less skilful; besides, notwithstanding his increased
expenditure, he found he had ample means, not to lay by, but to spend
on without debt or difficulty. Sometimes his promise to his brother
would cross his mind, but it was soon dispelled by what he had led
himself to believe was the impossibility of attending to it then. When
Mrs. Adams returned, she complained that the children were too much
for her nerves and strength, and her husband's tenderness induced him
to yield his favourite plan of bringing up his girls under his own
roof. In process of time two little ones were added to the four, and
still his means kept pace with his expenses; in short, for ten years
he was a favourite with the class of persons who render favouritism
fortune. It is impossible, within the compass of a tale, to trace the
minutiae of the brothers' history; the children of both were handsome,
intelligent, and in the world's opinion, well educated; John's eldest
daughter was one amongst a thousand for beauty of mind and person;
hers was no glaring display of figure or information. She was gentle,
tender, and affectionate; of a disposition sensitive and attuned to
all those rare virtues in her sphere, which form at once the treasures
of domestic life and the ornaments of society. She it was who soothed
the nervous irritability of her mother's sick chamber and perpetual
peevishness, and graced her father's drawing-room by a presence
that was attractive to both old and young, from its sweetness and
unpretend