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If the guests chose to partake of what

was served, he saw no objection; but it was served for the maintenance

of his rank As he stood by the sideboard he seemed to announce, 'I have

accepted office to look at this which is now beforeless than this' If hebosom, it was as a

part of his own state of which he was, from unavoidable circuht have missed a centre-piece, or a

choice wine-cooler, which had been sent to the Banker's

Mr Merdle issued invitations for a Barnacle dinner Lord Decimus was to

be there, Mr Tite Barnacle was to be there, the pleasant young Barnacle

was to be there; and the Chorus of Parliamentary Barnacles ent

about the provinces when the House was up, warbling the praises of their

Chief, were to be represented there It was understood to be a great

occasion Mr Merdle was going to take up the Barnacles Sootiations had occurred between hi otiator--and Mr Merdle

had decided to cast the weight of his great probity and great riches

into the Barnacle scale Jobbery was suspected by the malicious; perhaps

because it was indisputable that if the adherence of the immortal Enemy

of Mankind could have been secured by a job, the Barnacles would have

jobbed hiood of the country

Mrs Merdle had written to this ard as anything less than all the British Merchants since

the days of Whittington rolled into one, and gilded three feet deep all

over--had written to this spouse of hers, several letters fro upon him with importunity that now or never was

the time to provide for Edmund Sparkler Mrs Merdle had shown hient, and that infinite advantagesdirectly In the grammar of Mrs

Merdle's verbs on this momentous subject, there was only one mood, the

Imperative; and that Mood had only one Tense, the Present Mrs Merdle's

verbs were so pressingly presented to Mr Merdle to conjugate, that his

sluggish blood and his long coat-cuffs becaitation, Mr Merdle, evasively rolling his eyes

round the Chief Butler's shoes without raising thehts, had signified to hie dinner, but a very special

dinner The Chief Butler had signified, in return, that he had no

objection to look on at thein that way that could

be done; and the day of the dinner was now co-roo for the arrival of his iuests He seldo with his back to the fire unless he was quite

alone In the presence of the Chief Butler, he could not have done such

a deed He would have clasped himself by the wrists in that constabulary

one

creeping about a the rich objects of furniture, if his oppressive

retainer had appeared in the room at that verywhen the fire rose, and to dart back

into it when the fire fell, were sufficient witnesses of his

himself so easy

They were even lances at

theht hand was filled with the evening paper, and the

evening paper was full of Mr Merdle His wonderful enterprise, his

wonderful wealth, his wonderful Bank, were the fattening food of the

evening paper that night The wonderful Bank, of which he was the chief

projector, establisher, and er, was the latest of the many Merdle

wonders So modest was Mr Merdle withal, in the midst of these splendid

achievements, that he looked far more like a man in possession of his

house under a distraint, than a co, while the little ships were sailing into dinner

Behold the vessels co Barnacle was the

first arrival; but Bar overtook hithened

as usual with his double eye-glass and his little jury droop, was

overjoyed to see the engaging young Barnacle; and opined that ere

going to sit in Banco, as yers called it, to take a special

argu Barnacle, whose name was Ferdinand;

'how so?'

'Nay,' smiled Bar 'If you don't kno can I know? You are in the

inner concourse on

the plain without'

Bar could be light in hand, or heavy in hand, according to the custoossamer Bar was

likewise always reat variety; but one leading thread ran through the woof of all his

patterns Every man hoet that jury-man over, if he could

'Our illustrious host and friend,' said Bar; 'our shining ? He has been in Parlia Barnacle

'True,' said Bar, with his light-coh for special jury- froh for comic

tradesmen on common juries: 'he has been in Parliament for so and wavering star? Hue witness would have been seduced by the Humph? into an

affirly at Bar as he

strolled up-stairs, and gave hi his head, for he was not to be put

off in that way, 'and therefore I spoke of our sitting in Banco to take

a special arguh and solees are met: a terrible show!" We

lawyers are sufficiently liberal, you see, to quote the Captain, though

the Captain is severe upon us Nevertheless, I think I could put in

evidence an admission of the Captain's,' said Bar, with a little jocose

roll of his head; for, in his legal current of speech, he always assurace in the world; 'an

adross, is at least

intended to be impartial For what says the Captain, if I quote

hiht-colass on his coht:

"Since laere ree,

To curb vice in others as well as in me,

I wonder we ha'n't better coht the-room, where Mr Merdle stood

before the fire So immensely astounded was Mr Merdle by the entrance

of Bar with such a reference in hisGay 'Assuredly not one of our Westminster Hall

authorities,' said he, 'but still no despicable one to a e of the world'

Mr Merdle looked as if he thought he would say soht he wouldn't The interval afforded

time for Bishop to be announced Bishop ca and rapid step as if he wanted to get his seven-league

dress-shoes on, and go round the world to see that everybody was in

a satisfactory state Bishop had no idea that there was anything

significant in the occasion That was the most remarkable trait in

his demeanour He was crisp, fresh, cheerful, affable, bland; but so

surprisingly innocent

Bar sidled up to prefer his politest inquiries in reference to the

health of Mrs Bishop Mrs Bishop had been a little unfortunate in the

article of taking cold at a Confir

Mr Bishop was also well He was doith his young wife and little

family, at his Cure of Souls The representatives of the Barnacle Chorus

dropped in next, and Mr Merdle's physician dropped in next Bar, who

had a bit of one eye and a bit of his double eye-glass for every one who

ca or what he

was talking about, got aet at theentleman of the

jury on his own individual favourite spot With sohed about the sleepy ht, and voted the wrong ith others, he deplored that

innovating spirit in the ti an unnatural interest in the public service and the public eneral health; he had

also a little infor a professional man

of unquestioned erudition and polished hest development he believed were the possession of other

professors of the healing art (jury droop)--whom he had happened to

have in the witness-box the day before yesterday, and from whom he had

elicited in cross-examination that he claimed to be one of the exponents

of this new mode of treatht so; Bar had thought, and hoped, Physician would tell hireed, it did appear to

Bar, viewing it as a question of coal

penetration, that this new systereat an authority--say, Hue; and now Bar's mind was relieved

Mr Tite Barnacle, who, like Dr johnson's celebrated acquaintance, had

only one idea in his head and that was a wrong one, had appeared by this

tientle aspects on a yellow otto no verbal coeneral

reseainst them

But now, Lord Decimus arrived The Chief Butler, who up to this time

had li at the

company as they entered (and that, with more of defiance than favour),

put himself so far out of his way as to co an overpowering peer, a bashful young

ht by the

Barnacles, and who had been invited on this occasion to commemorate his

capture, shut his eyes when his Lordship calad to see the Melad to see Bishop, glad to see Bar, glad to see

Physician, glad to see Tite Barnacle, glad to see Chorus, glad to

see Ferdinand his private secretary Lord Decireatest of the earth, was not reratiatory manners, and

Ferdinand had coached hiht find there, and saying he was glad to see them When he had

achieved this rush of vivacity and condescension, his Lordship composed

himself into the picture after Cuyp, and ot all the rest of the jury andup, double eye-glass in hand Bar

tendered the weather, as a subject neatly aloof from official reserve,

for the Foreman's consideration Bar said that he was told (as everybody

always is told, though who tells them, and ill ever remain a

mystery), that there was to be no wall-fruit this year Lord Deci amiss of his peaches, but rather believed, if his

people were correct, he was to have no apples No apples? Bar was lost

in astonishment and concern It would have been all one to him, in

reality, if there had not been a pippin on the surface of the earth, but

his show of interest in this apple question was positively painful

Now, to what, Lord Deciather

inforht prove to us--to

what, Lord Decimus, was this to be attributed? Lord Decimus could not

undertake to propound any theory about it Thisto hi after Bar got made Attorney-General, this was told of him as

a master-stroke Lord Deci in a garden near the back of his dame's house at Eton,

upon which pear-tree the only joke of his life perennially bloo on the difference

between Eton pears and Parliamentary pairs; but it was a joke, a refined

relish of which would seem to have appeared to Lord Decih and intimate acquaintance with the tree

Therefore, the story at first had no idea of such a tree, sir, then

gradually found it in winter, carried it through the changing season,

saw it bud, saw it blossom, saw it bear fruit, saw the fruit ripen; in

short, cultivated the tree in that diligent and ot out of the bed-roomto steal the fruit, that many thanks had

been offered up by belated listeners for the trees having been planted

and grafted prior to Lord Decimus's time Bar's interest in apples was

so overtopped by the wrapt suspense in which he pursued the changes

of these pears, from the mo pears recalls to my remembrance a pear-tree,' down to

the rich conclusion, 'And so we pass, through the various changes

of life, froo

down-stairs with Lord Decimus, and even then to be seated next to hiht hear the anecdote out By that tio to dinner with a good

appetite

It was a dinner to provoke an appetite, though he had not had one The

rarest dishes, sumptuously cooked and sumptuously served; the choicest

fruits; the old and

silver, china and glass; innus delicious to the senses of

taste, sht, were insinuated into its coreat man, what a master man, how

blessedly and enviably endowed--in one word, what a rich hteenpennyworth of food in his usual

indigestive way, and had as little to say for himself as ever a

wonderful man had Fortunately Lord Decimus was one of those sublimities

who have no occasion to be talked to, for they can be at any time

sufficiently occupied with the contereatness

This enabled the bashful young Meh

at a time to see his dinner But, whenever Lord Deci Barnacle, and Bar, were the talkers of the party

Bishop would have been exceedingly agreeable also, but that his

innocence stood in his way He was so soon left behind When there was

any little hint of anything being in the wind, he got lost directly

Worldly affairs were too much for him; he couldn't make them out at all

This was observable when Bar said, incidentally, that he was happy to

have heard that ere soon to have the advantage of enlisting on

the good side, the sound and plain sagacity--not dehly sound and practical--of our friend Mr

Sparkler

Ferdinand Barnacle laughed, and said oh yes, he believed so A vote was

a vote, and always acceptable

Bar was sorry to ood friend Mr Sparkler to-day, Mr Merdle

'He is aith Mrs Merdle,' returned that gentle abstraction, in the course of which he had been fitting a