lately received any letter from him, he told me that his matter was come up to get a fight of Prince Eugene, and that he defired I would immediately meet him.

I was not a little pleafed with the curiofity of the old knight, though I did not much wonder at it, having heard him fay more than once in private ditcourfe, that he looked upon Prince Eugenio, for fo the knight always calls him; to be a greater man than Scanderbeg.

I was no fooner come into Gray'sInn walks, but I heard my friend upon the terrace hemming twice or thrice to himfelf with great vigour, for he loves to clear his pipes in good air, to make ufe of his own phrafe, and is not a little pleafed with any one who takes notice of the ftrength which he still exerts in his morning hems.

I was touched with a fecret joy at the fight of the good old man, who before he faw me was engaged in converfation with a beggar-man that had asked an alms of him. I could hear my friend chide him for not finding out fome work; but at the fame time faw him put his hand in his pocket and give him fixpcnce.

Our falutations were very hearty on both fides, confifting of many kind fhakes of the hand, and feveral affectionate looks which we caft upon one another. After which the knight told me my good friend his chaplain was very well, and much at my fervice, and that the Sunday before he had made a moft incomparable fermon out of Dr. Barrow. I have left,' fays he, all my affairs in his hands, and being willing to lay an obligation upon him, have depofited with him thirty marks, to be diftributed among his poor parifhio'ners.'

He then proceeded to acquaint me with the welfare of Will Wimble. Upon which he put his hand in his fob and prefented me in his name with a tobaccotopper, telling me that Will had been bufy all the beginning of the winter in turning great quantites of them; and that he made a prefent of one to every gentleman in the country who has good principles, and fmokes. He added, that poor Will was at prefent under great tribulation, for that Tom Touchy had taken the law of him for cutting fome hazel fticks out of one of his hedges.

He afterwards fell into an account of the diverfions which had paffed in his houfe during the holidays; for Sir Roger, after the laudable custom of his ancestors, always keeps open house at Christmas. I learned from him that he had killed eight fat hogs for this feason, that he had dealt about his chines very liberally amongst his neighbours, and that in particular he had fent a ftring of hogs-puddings with a pack of cards to every poor family in the parish. I have

it

often thought,' fays Sir Roger, happens very well that Chriftmas 'fhould fall out in the middle of winter. It is the most dead uncomfortable time of the year, when the poor people would fuffer very much from their poverty and cold, if they had not good chear, warm fires, and Christmas gambols to fupport them. I love to rejoice their poor hearts at this feafon, and to fee the whole village merry in my great hall. I allow a double quantity of. malt to my small beer, and fet it a running for 'twelve days to every one that calls for it. I have always a piece of cold beef and a mince-pye upon the table, and am wonderfully pleafed to fee my tenants pass away a whole evening in playing their innocent tricks, and fmutting one another. Our friend ‹ Will Wimble is as merry as any of them, and fhews a thousand roguish tricks upon thefe occafions.'

I was very much delighted with the reflection of my old friend, which carried fo much goodness in it. He then launched out into the praife of the late act of parliament for fecuring the church of England; and told me with great fatisfaction, that he believed it already began to take effect, for that a rigid diffenter who chanced to dine at his houfe on Chriftmas-day, had been obferved to eat very plentifully of his plumb-porridge.

After having difpatched all our country matters, Sir Roger made several inquiries concerning the club, and particularly of his old antagonist Sir An

drew

drew Freeport. He asked me with a kind of smile, whether Sir Andrew had not taken the advantage of his abfence, to vent among them fome of his repub. lican doctrines; but foon after gathering up his countenance into a more than ordinary ferioufnefs- Tell me truly,' fays he, do not you think Sir Andrew had a hand in the Pope's proceffion?' but without giving me time to anfwer him, 'Well, well,' fays he, I know " you are a wary man, and do not care 'to talk of public matters."

The knight then asked me, if I had feen Prince Eugenio, and made me promife to get him a stand in fome convenient place where he might have a full fight of that extraordinary man, whofe prefence does fo much honour to the British nation. He dwelt very long on the praifes of this great general; and I found that, fince I was with him in the country, he had drawn many obfervations together out of his reading in Baker's Chronicle, and other authors, who always lie in his hall window,

which very much redound to the honour of this prince.

Having paffed away the greatest part of the morning in hearing the knight's reflections, which were partly private, and partly political, he asked me if I would fmoke a pipe with him over a difh of coffee at Squire's. As I love the old man, I take delight in complying with every thing that is agreeable to him, and accordingly waited on him to the coffee-house, where his venerable figure drew upon us the eyes of the whole room. He had no fooner feated himself at the upper end of the high table, but he called for a clean pipe, a paper of tobacco, a difh of coffee, a wax candle, and the fupplement, with fuch an air of chearfulness and good-humour, that all the boys in the coffee-room, who feemed to take pleasure in ferving him, were at once employed on his feveral errands, infomuch that nobody elfe could come at a dish of tea, until the knight had got all his conveniencies about him.

I Do not know that I have been in. greater delight for thefe many years, than in beholding the boxes at the play the last time the Scornful Lady was acted. So great an affembly of ladies placed in gradual rows in all the ornaments of jewels, filks, and colours, gave fo lively and gay an impreffion to the heart, that methought the feafon of the year was vanished; and I did not think it an ill expreffion of a young fellow who stood near me, that called the boxes thofe beds of tulips. It was a pretty variation of the profpect, when any one of thefe fine ladies rofe up and did honour to herfelf and friend at a diftance, by curtefying; and gave opportunity to that friend to fhew her charms to the fame advantage in returning the falutation. Here that action is as proper and graceful, as it is at church unbecoming and impertinent.

CREECH.

L

By the way, I must take the liberty to obferve, that I did not fee any one who is ufually fo full of civilities at church, offer at any fuch indecorum during any part of the action of the play. Such beautiful profpe&ts gladden our minds, and when confidered in general, give innocent and pleafing ideas. He that dwells upon any one object of beauty, may fix his imagination to his difquiet; but the contemplation of a whole aflembly together, is a defence against the incroachment of defire: at leaft to me, who have taken pains to look at beauty abftracted from the confideration of it's being the object of defire; at power, only as it fits upon another, without any hopes of partaking any fhare of it; at wisdom and capacity, without any pretenfions to rival or envy it's acquifitions: I fay to me, who am really free from forming any hopes by beholding the perfons of beautiful wo

men,

are to be overloooked, when they are committed out of warmth in the recommendation of what is praife-worthy; but a deliberate advancing of vice, with

all the wit in the world, is as ill an action as any that comes before the magiftrate, and ought to be received as fuch by the people.

Receive a double advantage from the letters of my correfpondents; firft, as they fhew me which of my papers are moft acceptable to them; and in the next place, as they furnish me with materials for new fpeculations. Sometimes, indeed, I do not make ufe of the letter itself, but form the hints of it into plans of my own invention; fometimes I take the liberty to change the language or thought into my own way of fpeaking and thinking; and always, if it can be done without prejudice to the fenfe, omit the many compliments and applaufes which are usually bestowed upon

me.

Befides the two advantages abovementioned which I receive from the letters that are fent me, they give me an opportunity of lengthening out my paper by the fkilful management of the fubfcribing part at the end of them, which perhaps does not a little conduce to the eafe, both of myfelf and reader.

Some will have it, that I often write to myself, and am the only punctual correfpondent I have. This objection would indeed be material, were the letters I communicate to the public ftuffed with my own commendations; and if, instead of endeavouring to divert or instruct my readers, I admired in them the beauty of my own performances. But I fall leave thefe wife conjecturers to their own imaginations, and produce the three following letters for the entertainment of the day.

SIR,

I Was laft Thursday in an affembly of ladies, where there were thirteen different coloured hoods. Your Spectator of that day lying upon the table, they ordered me to read it to them, which I did with a very clear voice, until I came to the Greek verfe at the end of it. I

DRYDEN.

T

must confess I was a little fartled at it's popping upon me fo unexpectedly. However, I covered my confufion as well as I could, and after having muttered two or three hard words to myfelf, laughed heartily, and cried- A very good jeft,

'faith.' The ladies defired me to explain it to them; but I begged their pardon for that, and told them, that if it had been proper for them to hear, they might be fure the author would not have wrapped it up in Greek. I then let drop feveral expreffions, as if there was fomething in it that was not fit to be spoken before a company of ladies. Upon which the matron of the affembly, who was dreffed in a cherry-coloured hood, commended the difcretion of the writer for having thrown his filthy thoughts into Greek, which was likely to corrupt but few of his readers. At the fame time the declared herself very well pleafed, that he had not given a decifive opinion upon the new fashioned hoods; Fer to tell you truly,' fays fhe, 'I was afraid he would have made us

afhamed to thew our heads.' Now, Sir, you must know, fince this unlucky accident happened to me in a company of ladies, among whom I paffed for a mof ingenious inan, I have confulted one who is well verfed in the Greek language, and he affures me upon his word, that your late quotation means no more than That manners and not drefs are the ornaments of a woman. If this comes to the knowledge of my female admirers, I fall be very hard put to it to bring myself off handsomely. In the mean while, I give you this account, that you may take care hereafter not to betray any of your well-wishers into the like inconveniencies. It is in the num ber of thefe that I beg leave to fubfcribe myself, TOM TRIPIT.