Alter rixatus de lana fæpe caprinat 540p T has happened to be for fome Days the Deliberati on at the learned'ft Board in this Houfe, whence Honour and Title had its firft Original, Timoleon, who is very particular in his Opinions, but is thought particular for no other Caufe but that he acts against depiav ed Custom, by the Rules of Nature and Reason, ina very handfome Difcourfe gave the Company to underftand, that in thofe Ages which fitff degenerated from Simplicity of Life, and natural Juftice, the Wife a-mong them, thought it neceffary to infpire Men with the Love of Virtue, by giving them who adhered to the Interets of Innocence and Truth, fome distin-guifhing Name to raife them above the common Level of Mankind. This way of fixing Appellations of Credit upon eminent Merit, was what gave Being to Titles and Terms of Honour. Such a Name, continued he, without the Qualities which should give a Man Pretence to be exalted above others, does but turn him to Jest and Ridicule. Should one fee another cudgelled, or fcurvily treated, do you think a Man fo ufed would take it kindly to be called Hetfor or Alexander? Every thing muft bear a Proportion with the outward Value that is fet upon it; or inftead of being long had in Venera tion, that very Term of Efteem will become a Word of Reproach. When Timoleon had done fpeaking, Urbanus purfued the fame Purpofe, by giving an Account of the Manner in which the Indian Kings, who were lately in Great Britain, did Honour to the Perfon where they lodged. They were placed, faid he, in an handfome handfome Apartment, at an Upholsterer's in King freet, Covent Garden. The Man of the Houfe, it feems, had been very obfervant of them, and ready in their Service,Thefe juft and generous Princes, who ad according to the Dictates of natural Juftice, thought it proper to confer fome Dignity upon their Landlord before they left his Houfe. One of them had been fick during his Refidence there, and having never before been in a Bed, had a very great Venerati on for him who made that Engine of Repofe, fo utetuk and fo neceflary in his Distress, it was confuited among the four Princes by what Name to dignifie his great Me ritands Services The Emperor of the Mohocks, and the other three Kings, ftood up, and in that Posture recounted the Civilities they had received, and particu larly repeated the Care, which was taken of their fick Brother. This, in their Imagination, who are used to know the Injuries of Weather, and the Viciffitudes of Cold and Heats gave them very great Impreffions of a skillful Upholsterer, whofe Furniture was fo well.cons trived for their Protection on fuch Occafions. It is with thefe lefs inftructed. (I will not faylefs knowing) People, the Manner of doing Honour, to impofe fome Name fignificant of the Qualities of the Perfon they diftinguith, and the good Offices received from him. It was therefore refolved to call their Landlord Cadorow que, which is the Name of the ftrongest Fort in their Part of the World When they had agreed upon the Name, they feat for their Landlord, and as he entered into their Prefence, the Emperor of the Mohocks taking him by the Hand, called him Cadoroque. After which the other three Princes repeated the fame Word and Ceremony. TIMOLEON appeared much fatisfied with this Account, and having a philofophick Turn, began to argue against the Modes and Manners of thofe Nations which we efteem polite, and exprefs himself with Dif dain at our unusual Method of calling fuch as are Stran gers to our Innovations, barbarous, I have, fays he, fo great a Deference for the Distinction given by these Princes, that Cadoroque fhall be my Upholsterer He was going on, but the intended Difcourfe was inter rupted rupted by Minucio who fat near him, a fmall Philofopher, who is alfo fomewhat of a Politician; one of those who fet up for Knowledge by doubting, and has no other Way of making himfelt confiderable, but by contradicting all he hears faid. He has, befides much Doubt and Spirit of Contradiction, a conftant Sufpicion as to State-Affairs. This accomplish'd Gentleman, with a very awful Brow, and a Countenance full of Weight, told Timoleon, that it was a great Misfortune Men of Letters feldom looked into the Bottom of Things. Willany Man, continued he, perfwade me, that this was not from the Beginning to the End a con'certed Affair? Who can convince the World, that four Kings fhall come over here, and lie at the two Crowns and Cushion, and one of them fall fick, and the Place be called King-freet, and all this by meer Accident? No, no: To a Man of very fmall Penetration, it ap pears, that Tee Yee Neen Ho Ga Row, Emperor of the Mohocks, was prepared for this Adventure beforehand, I do not care to contradict any Gentleman in his Dif courfe; but I muft fay, however, Sa Ga Yeath Rua Geth Ton and E Tow Oh Koam, might be furprised in this Matter; nevertheless, Ho Nec Yeth Taw No Row knew it before he fet Foot on the English Shore TIMOLEON look'd ftedfaftly at him for fome Time, then shaked his Head, paid for his Tea, and marched off. Several others who fat round him, were in their Turns attacked by this ready Difputant. A Gentleman who was at fome Diftance, happened in Difcourfe to fay it was four Milesto Hammersmith. I muft beg your Pardon, fays Minucio, when we fay at Place is fo far off, we do not mean exactly from the very Spot of Earth we are in, but from the Town where We are; fo that you must begin your Account from the End of Piccadilly, and if you do fo, I'll lay any Man ten to one, it is not above three good Miles off. Another, about Minucio's Level of Understanding, began to take him up in this important Argument, and main tained, that confidering the Way from Pimlico at the End of St. James's Park, and the croffing from Chelsea by Earl's Court, he would ftand to it, that it was full four Miles, But Minucio replied with great Vehemence, and and feemed fo much to have the better of the Difpute, that this Adverfary quitted the Field, as well as the other, I fat till I faw the Table almost all vanished, where, for want of Difcourfe, Minucio asked me, how I did? To which I answered, very well. That's very much, faid he; laffure you, you look paler than ordinary. Nay, thought I, if he won't allow me to know whether I am well or not, there's no ftaying for me neither. Upon which I took my Leave, pondering as I went Home at this ftrange Poverty of Imagination, which makes Men run into the Fault of giving Contradiction. They want in their Minds Entertainment for themfelves or their Company, and therefore build all they speak upon what is started by others; and fince they cannot improve that Foundation, they ftrive to deftroy it. The only Way of dealing with thefe People is to answer in Monofyllables, or by Way of Queftion. When one of them tells you a thing that he thinks extraordinary, I go no farther than, Say you fo, Sir? Indeed! Heyday! Or, is it come to that! These little Rules, which appear but filly in the Repetition, have brought me with great Tranquillity to this Age. And I have made it an Obferyation, that as Affent is more ageeeable than Flattery, fo Contradiction is more odious than Calumny. ADVERTISEMENT. Mr. Bickerstaff's Aereal Meffenger has brought him a Report of what passed at the Auction of Pictures which was in Somerset-Houfe Yard on Monday laft, and finds there were no Screens present, but all transacted with greas Juftice, N. B. All falfe Buyers at Auctions being employed only to hide others, are from this Day forward to be known in Mr. Bickerstaff's Writings by the Word Screens. இடிக் Quod quifque vites, nunquam homini fatis- N° 172!!***? Tuesday, May 16. 1710 to průvod spat 2. Hor - "From my own Apartment, May 15.7 W THEN a Man is in a ferious Mood, and ponders upon his own Make, with a Retrofpect to the Actions of his Life, and the many fatal Miscarriages in it, which he owes to ungoverned Paffions, he is then apt to fay to himfelf, that Experience has guarded him againit fuch Errors for the Future: But Nature often recurs in fpite of all his beft Refolutions, and it is to the very End of our Days a Struggle between our Reafon and our Temper, which fhall have the Empire over us. However, this is very much to be helped by Circumfpection, and a conftant Alarm against the firft Onfets of Paffion. As this is in general a neceffary Care to make a Man's Life eafy and agreeable to himfelf, fo it is more particularly the Duty of fuch as are engaged in Friendship, and more near Commerce with others. Thofe who have their Joys, have alfo their Griefs in Proportion, and none can extremely exalt or deprefs Friends. The harsh Things which come from the reft of the World, are received and repulfed with that Spirit which every honeft Man bears for his own Vindica tion; but Unkindnefs in Words or Actions among Friends, affects us at the first Inftant in the inmoft Receffes of our Souls. Indifferent People, if I may so fay, can wound us only in heterogeneous Parts, maim us in our Legs or Arms; but the Friend can make no Pafs but at the Heart itself, On the other Side, the moft impotent Affiftance, the meer Well-wishes of a Friend, gives a Man Conftancy and Courage against the 0 |