The traveller was obliged to her for the hint, and, conducted by Jem, he proceeded on his pedestrian pilgrimage to what was emphatically called "the Hall." On his way thither he was curious to extract from his conductor some information respecting Lord Arlington, and the light in which he was regarded in that neighbourhood. "Is Lord Arlington popular hereabouts?" he asked.
"Sir?" was the exclamation of the uncomprehending Jem, a short, bandy-legged, ostlerlike looking youth of about twenty.
"I mean," said the traveller, altering his phraseology , " is he liked in this neighbourhood? "
"Oh -- ay -- yes , he's liked very well, for he's a very good gentleman, and spends a sight of money here. There's lots of hands as he employs one way or tother , and nobody hereabouts needs be out of work as wants to have it ; only, you see, it would be better for the inn if he didn't live so quiet like, but had gentlefolks come and see him, just as other gentlefolks do; howsumever , that's partly his own consarn , for the inn is my Lord's, and master says he can't pay him hardly no rent if he don't do nothing for it. "
"People would be sorry, I suppose, if Lord Arlington were to go away from here?"
" Ay , surely. It has been a rare thing for the parish him coming and living down here."
"Is he charitable?" inquired the traveller; " does he give away much money ?"
"He gives some sometimes to them as can't work , but he generally gives work to them as can ."
"Is he often seen?"
"Oh -- ay -- you 'll see him most days riding or walking somewhere abouts, but he don't go much off his own ground -- but then that reaches a long way; why it is all my Lord's as far as you can see, and a mile or two afore you came to the village."
"Does he dislike being met or spoken to?"
"Eh! no -- not at all -- at least by them as live about here . He talks a deal to 'em , and knows them well nigh all, I reckon; there an't a gentleman in the land as is freer and pleasantspokener than my Lord, and he isn't stiff and high a bit, and not as they say lords is elsewhere."
"Do any gentlemen of the neighbourhood ever call upon his Lordship?"
"No, Sir, none as I knows of; but there is no gentleman very nigh ; Squire Grufferton is the nighest , and he is about twelve miles off."
"Then Lord Arlington lives quite alone, doesn't he?"
"No, Sir."
"No! and who lives with him?"
"Oh, there's Master Bennet the steward, and there's the butler, and -- "
"Ah! his establishment, his servants; but is there anybody else?"
"No, Sir, nobody as I knows of ."

[Writing] "I could not see your honour yesterday, being out the hole day on a bizness I doant like at all, and which perhaps your honour is concerned in, as I said before, if you are the lovier of that sweet young lady. I am at present going again upon the same arrand , and if your honour has time to spare to take a ride after breakfast to the Stag's Head, where you dined that day, you may hear it all from your hummel servant, Julius Caesar."

" Massa , Lord Sudley is one big devil, one big devil!" Aubrey's mind now required but little proof to establish Caesar's position. "Believe me, massa Aubrey," continued he, "he is one big devil: dat poor, dear young lady never did love him; and the world wicked for take up Lord Sudley's big lie to say so much 'gainst her."

" Me hear every thing from my lord himself," replied Caesar; "but 'top , make me tell you all from first --next Christmas make two, since Lord Sudley begin to meddle long wid Miss Melvil. He try all he can for make her love him widout marry ; but she nebber love him from first , and she tell him so too. Presently he think of new way to win lady's heart : he take away her character; he write love letters to himself from her, and show dem about-- I see him do it, massa Aubrey, and my blood boil ."-- "Precious scoundrel!" exclaimed Aubrey.-- "Ay, ay, thinks my lord ," continued Caesar, "when her reputation is gone, she'll not make such a fuss; she'll be ready to fly to me of herself. He mistake dho , massa ; for, after he succeed to make people talk ill of her, and forsake her, she despise him dhe more. My heart bleed for think on dhis young lady; so handsome, so good, so sweet-tempered."

"As for that there villain who affronted Fanny," said he, " noabody knows unny thing about 'un , where he went to, or where he come from . That there day was the first time she ever seed 'un in her whole life."

Mr. Gosling assured her, that the company regretted the loss, and the conversation then turned, among those who understood any thing of it, upon the sweetness of the Italian pronunciation, and those who did not understand it, were informed, that every word ended with a vowel.
"Then," said Mrs. Spicer, "the certainty of the pronunciation, so much superior in that respect to our tongue. By the way, Mr. Aubrey, I wonder to find you in the pulpit pronouncing the word know ledge, nollege . Why do you not adopt the clerical mode of speaking it? " --
"One reason, Madam," replied Aubrey, "is, because it is clerical. I know no right that the clergy have to depart from the established rules of pronunciation. It is an innovation of a few years standing, arising from an affected nicety of correction, and I am sorry that it is more general among the clergy than among any other body of men; for, not only the genius of the English language requires it to be simplified in its sound like other words of the same nature, but the clerical mode of pronouncing it is pedantic and coarse on the ear; nothing but the aptitude of running into imitation, could have led such numbers to follow an example in a sound so unmelodious. Accordingly, you find it adopted, only where a show of learning is aimed at; but, among the higher classes of extempore speakers, and among the lower classes of society who are led by their ear, the word takes its natural sound."--
" Nae , Maister Aubrey," said a Scotch gentleman, "I canna agree wi ye , for we awwaise caw it know ledge i' the North; and in gude troth , it daes na soond sae very unmusical to my ear."-- "I did not say, it was not Scotch," replied Aubrey, "but that it is not English; and habit, whose influence is universal, may render harsh founds pleasing."--
"But, Sir, hoo is't you can mak oot to change know into nol ?"--
"As we make out," said Aubrey, "to change fore into for , ho into hol , and many more. The Scotch say, fore head, and hol iday, as well as know ledge; but, as the clergy do not seem to have any inclination to adopt these sounds from the North, I hope they will gradually desist from that which they have adopted." - -
"You will allow," said Mrs. Spicer, "that it is grander to the ear." -- "No, indeed, Madam," replied he, "I cannot; unless it be that kind of grandeur which is out of nature." Here Mrs. Spicer exchanged emphatic looks with the dear Gosling.-- "Your calling this error clerical," proceeded Aubrey, "brings to my mind, that I not long since heard a man, and he was a teacher of languages too, talk of the London pronunciation , and Oxford pronunciation as contradistinguished, and he instanced it in the word nasal . 'Oxford,' said he, 'has it nasal , with the hissing found of s , whereas, London says nazal .' He was angry that I doubted of the error being general at Oxford, and from stating the fact, he patronized the fault, on which I contented myself with assuring him, that the Cantabs were better orthoepists."--
"Hoot," said the Scotch gentleman, "orthoepy is the very lowest of aw the sciences, and beneath the attention of men of learning aw together: it's a mere buznis of soons , a mere maiter of moonshine . What signifees what a shell is, guin the kairnal be good." -- "Indeed," replied Aubrey, "I am no such verbal stickler as to break squares with any man for his pronunciation: but, I certainly do not think it unworthy the attention of the most learned; and you cannot but know, Sir, that at all times the most learned have been solicitous to pronounce well, and to establish a standard for their language. The prosody of the Greeks and Romans, was invariably fixed on rules which have descended to us, and are in the hands of every school-boy; and though we are ignorant of their accent, we cannot doubt that it was regular and uniform. The Italians and French have shown their attention to the stability of their pronunciation and no polite nation feels itself above this care but the English: our words are constantly changing both their sound and sense. As for the word knowledge , I really believe it will recover itself, in spite of the Episcopal authorities, which at present maintain it in the pulpit I but I fear the word oblige *, will not be so easily retrieved. There is no such found in the English language as eige with the long i , and the sound of obleige **, is very grating to the ear. It is one of the companions in a class of words, where nature has directed our tongue to the preservation of the original accent, the ear being repugnant to a change, and till lately, it was always pronounced obleege by polite speakers--
Dreading e'en fools, by flatterers besieged , And so obliging that he ne'er oblig'd.
Nor would Pope, licentious as he was in rhyming, ever have thought of rhyming eige , with eege ."-- "But," said Mr Gosling, "what do you say to Lord Chesterfield, Mr. Aubrey? Was he not a polite speaker?" "Certainly," replied Aubrey, "and I have not a doubt that he always pronounced the word obleege ."-- "What will you lay of that?" retorting Gosling. "Who is to decide the bet?" said Aubrey, "he that is competent to decide the bet, can decide the question without the bet" -- "My Lord himself," replied Gosling.-- "I see, Sir," said Aubrey, "that you have embraced the mistake that has arisen on the form adopted by Lord Chesterfield, in his Advice to his Son, to avoid the vulgar manner of pronouncing this word amongst others; a mistake which is the more likely to prove fatal, as it has been adopted and confirmed by one of our latest and best ortheopists, a man of talents, erudition, and indefatigable industry, to whose labours the public are greatly indebted.*** But in spite of the enthusiasm produced by authority, I am not for erring with Plato; in my opinion, Lord Chesterfield, in the letter alluded to, meant to stamp vulgarity on the pronunciation of the i long. 'Even his pronunciation of 'proper words,' says his Lordship, speaking of a man deficient in good breeding, 'carries the mark of the beast along with it. He calls the earth, yearth ; he is obleiged , not obliged to you.' "The letters appear to me to mark the vulgar long i ; for no other diphthong so unequivocally expresses it. Lord Chesterfield was not writing with the precision of later orthoepists, and naturally took a diphthong which was susceptible of the sound, as in height , though its general sound be a , as in vein . Had he meant the reverse, would he have passed over ee , and ie to pitch upon ei ? impossible. But a still stronger argument is, that though the letters to his son were written at least twenty years before they were published, the alteration of the word did not begin to take place, till a considerable time after his Lordship's death: so that his Lordship's example, if he gave such an example, had no influence on polite language, though he was universally esteemed one of the most refined and most eloquent speakers of the age: and notwithstanding the concurrent authority of the best poet of that period, the alteration of the proper and original pronunciation of the word has been lately begun, on a supposed discovery, that to mark the found of long e , such a man as Lord Chesterfield would use the dipthong ei rather than ee or ie . As the best speakers in parliament, and the majority of accomplished persons in the first circles still persevere in the original sound, the word has perhaps some chance yet, notwithstanding the pronunciation against which Lord Chesterfield I am confident intended to protest, has been so widely diffused, and though it is even fostered on the stage."-- "There is muckle sense in what you noo say, Maister Aubrey," said the Scotch gentleman "for aw the warld maun say obleege , unless they go entire beside ilka rule of polite pronunciation-- to be sure , aw the warld maun say obleege ." This national support drew a smile from Aubrey, and created a general laugh, in the middle of which Colonel Spicer in his riding cloaths, made his appearance at the bottom of the room.
*Obleege.
** ei , that is, i long-- ai will not express i long without explanation, on account of the variety of the sounds of a .
*** Mr. Walker, author of a Critical Pronouncing Dictionary.

Ha! Grant!" cried Arthur, "I was coming to you. I suppose you thought me dead at least." -- "Well, fegs ! I didn't know what to make on't , not I, Master Rivers:" replied Grant, a decent looking countryman, who was now standing in the lane with the two friends: "I thought, for my part, as how you had given up all thoughts of the place-- it's a sweet pretty place, and I mought have let it again and again sin I seed you, for all it be so retired; and it wan't but last Saturday a gentleman comed ater it, who said he would come again some time this week to see nar if it were disposed of,"

"I really do not understand you," said Aubrey.-- "And that's surprising now," said McKnucle, " for I never spoke plainer in all my life, in a genteel way; for I would not go to tell you plump dash , in an open manner, that my uncle and me arrested your friend yesterday morning in his bed." -- "Oh ! I understand you now ," said Aubrey; "Mr. Elton is in jail then."-- "And indaid he is not," replied McKnucle; " so that whether I spake jonteelly , or candidly, it's all one with your understanding. I tell you once more that Mr. Eelton , your friend, is in Carey-street, at my uncle's: every body knows Mr. James McKnucle's.-- "A spunging-house, perhaps?" said Aubrey.-- " Fait ! " said McKnucle, grinning, "and that sure enough is the name given to my uncle's castle by some people: but that's an English-Irish bull; for , don't spungers go to an open house? When did you ever hear of spunging at a lock-up house?"

I overheard the following colloquy between two swarthy looking gentlemen, who had called for the purposes of refreshment. "Well, Monsieur Noyaux," said one of them, "I think you must acknowledge, that this is as good as any of Monsieur Verigo's potage." "Bon, bon !" was the reply of the other, who would not allow himself time to say more, till the soup had vanished from his sight; when he thus began: "It is not de first time I taste it.--When I came from West Indies to this country, I wish to see de novelty, de curiosity of de place. I learned de English language at Martinique--speak, as you hear, like de natif . In de first morning I go to de grand spectacle militaire: evolutions exact--General, I suppose, give de word of command. I ask, Who is dat Officier?--'Monsieur Poplar' they say.
" Ver well! Impatient to see more--peep in at de libraire --take up a pamphlet on political economy--read one, two, tree page .-- Ah, tres bien ! excellent!--Who is de author? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I stroll into de street--Ludgate hill--Cheapside--move on to de Poultry--then to Cornhill-- Ma foi! I stand still--hold my breath--sniff, sniff-- de smell delicieuse ! Stop at dis place--come in--taste de beer, excellent!--try de puff, superlatif ! Ah, le carosse ! de chariot drive furiously up to de door! Un gentilhomme step out--go up de stair. When I say, Who is dat ? They tell me, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well. I take de glass limonade --pay for my puff,--Pray, who is de master of dis shop? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! Lounge about some time--Look in at de Guilt-hall -- Von man in de scarlet robe and gold chain--give good advice to tree bad men that stand before him. Say I, " How you call that Justice on de bench? ' An Alderman. ' " Ah ! but how you call his name? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I go to my dinnere --after, I go to L'Assemblee Nationale , de House of Common .--Orator speaking much to de purpose all about avantage of de debt national. Ask again, "Who is that member on his leg? They say, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" Ver well! I stop von , two half-hour --I go away--drop in at de Teatre --too late for de Comedie --enquire, "What is de Farce?" The Adopted Child . Ah ! but who is its father?. Who is de writer?" They tell me, 'Monsieur Poplar.'
" O mon Dieu ! I could stand it no longer.--Here, and there, and every where--from morning till night--nothing but Monsieur Poplar! General--Economy--Soup--Shariot--Alderman--Justice--Member of Parliament--and Father of the Adopted Child ! Ha, ha, ha!--It was too much!

The object of Mr. Gizzard's bounty, on the receipt of it, hastened to the public-house that had been pointed out to her, and asked for some thing which the woman who presided at the bar could not comprehend.
" Toot , woman, I dinna seek ony thing without paying for it. Here's the bit siller ,"--and she held her money up to the light. " Gude guide us. What de I see? The gentleman has made mistak and gien me GOLD instead of a shelling .
"Well, mistress," said the landlady, "I think you are greatly in luck, I'll give you change for it, and then you may have what you want."
" Nae nae , I'll want it a'thegither; siller never do weel with those who dinna come cannily ."