He was a dear, good, kind, generous master, and so I shall always think of him. And the men tion of his name brings a pain to my heart, so that I can scarcely trust myself to speak, and— you'll excuse me, sir — tears to my eyes, so that I can't hardly see."

Mr Simkinson's grief, if less demonstra tive was not less genuine than worthy Mrs Brocklebank's ; he deeply mourned the decease of his partner. "He was a credit to the city of Lon don, sir," Simkinson would say, "to the Vintners' Company, and to the wine trade. His loss is a blow to the firm, such as it must always feel. But even more than that, sir, is to be considered the affliction of His private and personal friends. Among these, sir, I have the honour to claim a foremost place. A more honourable man than my late part ner never stepped, sir ; nor, I may add, one more intelligent, punctual, ( active, and business-like in all hi* dealings. T shall never cease to regret his loss ; and I may say the same on behalf of Mrs Sim kinson. As partner, friend, and man, he was alike exemplary and admirable : and I en never expect or pr» Bime to hope that I shall lcok upon his like again." It was long before Mr Simkinson could be induced to speak of the closing events of his friend's career ; he feared lest he should be found considering Mr Sfcrang ways in a critical, and therefore, .is he held, in an irreverent spirit. One day, however, he permitted himself some re marks, confidentially delivered, bearing •upon this subject. These I have thought worth preserving. " It has sometimes occurred to me," he observed, "that my lamented friend was in some sort a martyr to his own opinions, to his anxiety to maintain his consistency. He had upheld sentiments on certain subjects which, in the end, he found to be erroneous. I had myself sup ported and shared his views ; but I found them untenable : I take no credit to my self for that. Fortune kindly brought me in the way of the inestimable lady who did me the honour subsequently to become Mrs Simkinson. I claim no merit for h living yielded to a destiny that has proved simply delightful. 