I do not know of any manner of kindness I have done him this last year, nor did expect any thing.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

When, twenty-five years ago, "all in the merry month of May," John Lawton had married Letitia Bassett, there had not been wanting at the wedding-feast one or two of those distant relatives who generally [Pg 16] make such unwelcome guests; since not near enough to be known and loved, yet not distant enough to be ignored, they are very apt to amuse themselves by keeping tab on the bride's birthdays and the groom's debts, while with suspicious glances they closely search the wedding gifts for something plated.
— from A Pasteboard Crown: A Story of the New York Stage by Clara Morris