the briers,
and to hear a fine romping girl now and then squeak from among the
bushes. The elder folks would gather round the cheesemonger and the
apothecary to hear them talk politics; for they generally brought out a
newspaper in their pockets, to pass away time in the country. They
would now and then, to be sure, get a little warm in argument; but
their disputes were always adjusted by reference to a worthy old
umbrella-maker, in a double chin, who, never exactly comprehending the
subject, managed somehow or other to decide in favor of both parties.

All empires, however, says some philosopher or historian, are doomed to
changes and revolutions. Luxury and innovation creep in; factions arise;
and families now and then spring up, whose ambition and intrigues
throw the whole system into confusion. Thus in latter days has the
tranquillity of Little Britain been grievously disturbed, and its golden
simplicity of manners threatened with total subversion by the aspiring
family of a retired butcher.

The family of the Lambs had long been among the most thriving and
popular in the neighborhood; the Miss Lambs were the belles of Little
Britain, and everybody was pleased when Old Lamb had made money enough
to shut up shop, and put his name on a brass plate on his door. In an
evil hour, however, one of the Miss Lambs had the honor of being a lady
in attendance on the Lady Mayoress, at her grand annual ball, on which
occasion she wore three towering ostrich feathers on her head. The
family never got over it; they were immediately smitten with a passion
for high life; set up a one-horse carriage, put a bit of gold lace round
the errand boy's hat, and have been the talk and detestation of the
whole neighborhood ever since. They could no longer be induced to
play at Pope-Joan or blindman's-buff; they could endure no dances but
quadrilles, which nobody had ever heard of in Little Britain; and they
took to reading novels, talking bad French, and playing upon the piano.
Their brother, too, who had been articled to an attorney, set up for a
dandy and a critic, characters hitherto unknown in these parts; and
he confounded the worthy folks exceedingly by talking about Kean, the
opera, and the "Edinburgh Review."

What was still worse, the Lambs gave a grand ball, to which they
neglected to invite any of their old neighbors; but they had a great
deal of genteel company from Theobald's Road, Red-Lion Square, and other
parts towards the