C H A P. IX. GREAT wits jump : for the mo- ment Dr. Slop cast his eyes upon his bag (which he had not done till the dispute with my uncle Toby about mid- wifery put him in mind of it) -- the very same thought occurred. -- 'Tis God's mercy, quoth he, (to himself) that Mrs. Shandy has had so bad a time of it, -- else she might have been brought to bed se- ven times told, before one half of these knots could have got untied. ---- But                           here, [ 28 ] here, you must distinguish ---- the thought floated only in Dr. Slop's mind, without sail or ballast to it, as a simple proposition ; millions of which, as your worship knows, are every day swiming quietly in the middle of the thin juice of a man's understanding, without being carried backwards or forwards, till some little gusts of passion or interest drive them to one side.   A sudden trampling in the room above, near my mother's bed, did the proposition the very service I am speaking of. By all that's unfortunate, quoth Dr. Slop, un- less I make haste, the thing will actually befall me as it is.                           C H A P.