The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

THE EXPEDITION OF HUMPHRY CLINKER 173
as yet no specific, and that is old age, of which this tedious un-
connected epistle is an infallible symptom:—what, therefore, can-
not be cured, must be endured, by you, as well as by
Yours,
Harrigate, June 26. MATT. BRAMBLE
To Sir WATKIN PHILLIPS, Bart. of Jesus college, Oxon.
DEAR KNIGHT,
THE manner of living at Harrigate was so agreeable to my dis-
position, that I left the place with some regret—Our aunt Tabby
would have probably made some objection to our departing so
soon, had not an accident embroiled her with Mr. Micklewhimmen,
the Scotch advocate, on whose heart she had been practising, from
the second day after our arrival—That original, though seemingly
precluded from the use of his limbs, had turned his genius to good
account—In short, by dint of groaning, and whining, he had
excited the compassion of the company so effectually, that an old
lady, who occupied the very best apartment in the house, gave it
up for his ease and convenience. When his man led him into the
Long Room, all the females were immediately in commotion—
One set an elbow-chair; another shook up the cushion; a third
brought a stool; and a fourth a pillow, for the accommodation of
his feet—Two ladies (of whom Tabby was always one) supported
him into the dining-room, and placed him properly at the table;
and his taste was indulged with a succession of delicacies, culled
by their fair hands. All this attention he repaid with a profusion of
compliments and benedictions, which were not the less agreeable
for being delivered in the Scottish dialect. As for Mrs. Tabitha,
his respects were particularly addressed to her, and he did not fail
to mingle them with religious reflections, touching free grace,
knowing her bias to methodism, which he also professed upon a
calvinistical model.
For my part, I could not help thinking this lawyer was not such
an invalid as he pretended to be. I observed he ate very heartily
three times a-day; and though his bottle was marked stomachic
tincture, he had recourse to it so often, and seemed to swallow it
with such peculiar relish, that I suspected it was not compounded