“‘When my parents sent me a basket of fruit, I indulged in it freely; but I did not care for it unless the carriage was paid, which was not always the case. Thus 1_s._ 9_d._ for my food and 1_s._ 6_d._ for my lodging, and 9½_d._ for my fuel and light, left me 5s. 11½_d._ for other purposes. At the end of the eight weeks I have specified, I was in possession of above £2. It took me nearly this sum to purchase a straw paillasse, blankets, sheets, and pillows second-hand. I persevered for another year on this diet, and found myself in possession of about £12. As I had some respectable acquaintance in the town, I resolved on spending this sum in furniture, in order that I might have a decent room into which to ask my visitors. Taking a lesson from the poet Goldsmith, I had ‘a bed by night—a chest of drawers by day,’ so that my apartment, alternately sitting-room and bedroom, was suitable for lady visitors. I often invited the lady you see sitting opposite to you, to take tea on Sunday with me and then go to church. She was my own age exactly, and was the prey of a cruel stepmother; she was, in fact, a sort of Cinderella in a large family. Her stepmother aimed at marrying her to a widower of forty-five, with seven children; but this my young girl of eighteen objected to. Her father at first sanctioned our engagement; but when a suitor in a good position came forward for his daughter, he forbade me the house, and made her walk daily with the gentleman whom we nick-named ‘number forty-five.’ I resolved to marry her as soon as I could furnish two more rooms and had laid in a good stock of clothes. “‘My young lady studied my vegetarian books, and determined not to eat any meat at home. All the family laughed at her, but she was sufficiently resolute to withstand ridicule. “‘She told her father that, he having once sanctioned her engagement to me, she must be bound to me, and could not accept anyone else. Her father remonstrated with her, but it was of no use. At the end of the two years, when I had just passed my twentieth birthday, I called on her father and said, ‘I have now three rooms well furnished, and am able to keep your daughter; I want you to fix a day for my marrying her.’ He pressed my hand warmly, and said, ‘Well, I will, and give you my blessing into the bargain.’ He was a good-hearted man at bottom, but too much ruled by his wife. He gave my wife a good large outfit and a purse of £10, and her stepmother even gave her £2, and her brothers and sisters bought her a family Bible, and one of them wrote in it, ‘At the end of ten days their countenances did appear fairer and fatter of flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat—Daniel i. 15.’