MY uncle _Toby_’s head at that time was full of other matters, so that
it was not till the demolition of _Dunkirk_, when all the other
civilities of _Europe_ were settled, that he found leisure to return
this.
This made an armistice (that is, speaking with regard to my uncle
_Toby_—but with respect to Mrs. _Wadman_, a vacancy)—of almost eleven
years. But in all cases of this nature, as it is the second blow,
happen at what distance of time it will, which makes the fray——I chuse
for that reason to call these the amours of my uncle _Toby_ with Mrs.
_Wadman_, rather than the amours of Mrs. _Wadman_ with my uncle _Toby._
This is not a distinction without a difference.
It is not like the affair of _an old hat cock’d——and a cock’d old hat_,
about which your reverences have so often been at odds with one
another——but there is a difference here in the nature of things——
And let me tell you, gentry, a wide one too.