'Tommy Linn, and his wife, and his wife's mother,
They all fell into the fire together;
They that lay undermost got a hot skin,--

"We are not enough!" said Tommy Linn.'"

"You see the prophecy: it is applicable both to gentlemen rogues and
to moderate Whigs; for both are undermost in the world, and both are
perpetually bawling out, 'We are not enough!'

"I shall begin my own history by saying, I went to a North Country
school, where I was noted for my aptness in learning; and my skill at
'prisoner's base,'--upon my word I purposed no pun! I was intended for
the Church. Wishing, betimes, to instruct myself in its ceremonies, I
persuaded my schoolmaster's maidservant to assist me towards promoting
a christening. My father did not like this premature love for the
sacred rites. He took me home; and wishing to give my clerical ardour a
different turn, prepared me for writing sermons by reading me a dozen a
day. I grew tired of this, strange as it may seem to you. 'Father,'
said I, one morning, 'it is no use talking; I will not go into the
Church,--that's positive. Give me your blessing and a hundred pounds,
and I'll go up to London and get a living instead of a curacy.' My
father stormed; but I got the better at last. I talked of becoming a
private tutor; swore I had heard nothing was so easy,--the only things
wanted were pupils; and the only way to get them was to go to London
and let my learning be known. My poor father,--well, he's gone, and I am
glad of it now!" The speaker's voice faltered. "I got the better, I say,
and I came to town, where I had a relation a bookseller. Through his
interest, I wrote a book of Travels in Ethiopia for an earl's son, who
wanted to become a lion; and a Treatise on the Greek Particle, dedicated
to the prime minister, for a dean, who wanted to become a bishop,--Greek
being, next to interest, the best road to the mitre. These two
achievements were liberally paid; so I took a lodging in a first floor,
and resolved to make a bold stroke for a wife. What do you think I
did?--nay, never guess; it would be hopeless. First, I went to the best
tailor, and had my clothes sewn on my back; secondly, I got the peerage
and its genealogies by heart; thirdly, I marched one night, with the
coolest deliberation possible, into the house of a duchess, who was
giving an immense rout! The newspapers had inspired me with this idea. I
had read of the vast crowds whi