Methodism is said to be on the wane--we can
hear no better proof that true religion and good sense are coming into
fashion. The sketch of Mrs. Vehicle, by the same hand, is said to have
been a true copy of a well-known female gambler; it is like a portrait
of Sir Joshua Reynolds, a picture worthy of preservation from its
intrinsic merits, long after the original has ceased to exist: how
readily might it be applied to half a score card-table devotees of the
present day! "Observe that _ton_ of beauty, Mrs. Vehicle, who is sailing
up the passage, supported like a nobleman's coat of arms by her amiable
sisters, the virtuous widow on one side, and the angelic Miss Speakplain
on the other. By my soul! the same roses play upon her cheeks now that
bloomed there winters ago, the natural tint of that identical patent
rouge which she has enamelled her face with for these last twenty years;
her gait and presence, too, are still the same--_Vera incessa patuit
Dea_; she yet boasts the enchanting waddle of a Dutch Venus, and the
modest brow of a Tower-hill Diana. Ah, Jack, would you but take a few
lessons from my old friend ~310~~at the science of shuffle and cut, you
would not rise so frequently from the board of green cloth, as you
now do, with pockets in which the devil might dance a saraband without
injuring his shins against their contents.
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