93 [N° 13. The TATLE R. From my own Apartment, May 8. Uch Hurry and Business had to Day per Med my into a Mood too thoughtful for going into Company; for which Reason, in Itead of the Tavern, I went into Lincoln's InnWalks; and having taken a Round or Two, I fate down, according to the allowed Familiarity of thefe Places, on a Bench; at the other End of which fate a venerable Gentleman, who fpeaking with a very affable Air, Mr. Bickerftaff, faid he, I take it for a very great Piece of good Fortune that you have found me out. Sir, faid I, I had never, that I know of, the Honour of leeing you before. That, replied he, is what I have often lamented; but I affure you, I have for many Tears done you good Offices, without being obferved by you; or else, when you bad any little! Glimpse of my being concerned in an Affair, you have fled from me, and shunned me like an Enemy; but however, the Part I am to act in the World is fuch, that I am to go on in doing Good, though I meet with never Jo many Repulles, erven from thofe I oblige. This, thought 1, fhows a great good Nature, but little Judgment in the Perfons upon whom he confers his Favours. He immediately took Notice to me, That he obferved by my Countenance I thought him indifcreetin his Beneficence, and proceeded to tell me his Quality in the following Manner: I know thee, Ifaac, to be fo well vers'd in the Occult Sciences, that I need not much Preface, or make long Preparations to gain your Faith that there are Airy Beings, who are employed in the Care and Atten dance dance of Men, as Nurses are to Infants, till they come to an Age in which they can act of themselves. Thefe Beings are ufually called among ft Men, Guardian Angels; and, Mr. Bickerstaff, I am to acquaint you, that I am to be yours for fome Time to come; it being our Orders to vary our Stations, and fometimes to have one Patient under our Protection, and fometimes another, with a Power of affuming what Shape we please, to ensnare our Wards into their own Good. I have of late been upon fuch hard Duty, and know you have so much Work for me, that I think fit to appear to you Face to Face, to defire you would give me as little Occafion for Vigilance as you can. Sir, faid I, it will be a great Inftruction to me in my Behaviour, if you please to give me fome Account of your late Employments, and what Hardships or Satisfactions you have had in them, that I may govern my self accordingly. He answered: To give you an Example of the Drudgery we go through, I will entertain you only with my Three laft Stations : I was on the First of April laft put to mortifie a great Beauty, with whom I was a Week; from her I went to a common Swearer, and have been laft with a Gamefter. When I first came to my Lady, I found my great Work was to guard well her Eyes and Ears, but her Flatterers were fo numerous, and the House, after the modern Way, fo full of Looking glaffes, that I feldom had her fate but in her Sleep. Whenever we went Abroad, we were furrounded by an Army of Enemies: When a well-made Man appeared, he was fure to have a Side-glance of Obfervation: If a difagreeable Fellow, he had a full Face, out of meer Inclination to Conquefts. But at the Clofe of the Evening, on the Sixth of the last Month, my Ward was fitting on a Couch, reading Ovid's Epiftles; and as the came to this Line of Helen to Paris, She ད་ She half confents who filently denies enter'd Philander, who is the most skilful of all Men in an Addrefs to Women. He is arrived at the Perfection of that Art which gains them, which is, To talk like a very miserable 34 Man, but look like a very happy One. I faw 5 Diftinna blush at his Entrance, which gave me the Alarm; but he immediately faid fomething fo agreeable on her being at Study, and the Novelty of finding a Lady employed in fo grave a Manner, that he on a fudden became very famiHarly a Man of no Confequence; and in an Inftant laid all her Sufpicions of his Skill afleep, as he almost had done mine, till I obferved him7 very dangerously turn his Difcourfe upon the Elegance of her Drefs, and her Judgment in the Choice of that very pretty Mourning. Having had Women before under my Care, I trembled at the Apprehenfion of a Man of Senfe who could talk upon Trifles, and refolved to fick to my Poft with all the Circumfpetion imaginable. In short, I prepoffeffed her against all he could fay to the Advantage of her Drefs and Perfon; but he turned again the Difcourfe, where I found I had no Power over her, on the abufing her Friends and Acquaintance. He allowed in- 12 deed, That Flora had a little Beauty, and a great deal of Wit; but then he was fo ungainly in her Behaviour, and fuch a laughing Hovden Paftorella had with him the Allowance of being Blamelels: But what was that towards being Praife-worthy? To be only Innocent, is not to be Virtuous. He afterwards fpoke fo much against Mrs.Dipple's Forehead, Mrs. Prim's Mouth, Mrs.Dentifrice's Teeth, and Mrs. Fidget's Cheeks, that he grew downright in Love with him: For it is always to be understood, That a Lady takes all you detract from the rest of her Sex to be 9 be a Gift to her. In a Word, Things went fo far, that I was difmiffed, and fhe will rememVber that Evening Nine Months, from the Sixth of April, by a very remarkable Token. The next, as I faid, I went to was a common Swearer: Never was a Creature fo puzzled as my felf when I came first to view his Brain; half of it was worn out, and filled up with meer Expletives, that had nothing to do with any other Parts of the Texture; therefore, when he calAled for his Clothes in a Morning, he would cry, John? John does not anfwer. What a Plague! No Body there? What the Devil, and rot me! John, for a lazy Dog as you are. I knew no Way to cure him, but by writing down all he faid one Morning as he was dreffing, and laying it before him on the Toilet when he came to pick his Teeth. The laft Recital I gave him of what he faid for half an Hour before, was, What, a Pox rot me! Where is the Washball? Call the Chairmen: Damn 'em, I warrant they are at the Alehoufe already! Zounds, and Confound 'em. When he came to the Glass, he takes up my Note Ha! This Fellow is worse than me: What, Does he swear with Pen and Ink? But reading on, he found them to be his own Words. The Stratagem had fo good an Effect upon him, that he grew immediately a new Man, and is learning to fpeak without an Oath, which makes him extremely fhort in his Phrases; for, as I obferved before, a Common Swearer has a Brain without any Idea on the Swearing Side; therefore my Ward has yet mighty little to fay, and is forced to fubftitute fome other. Vehicle of Nonfence to fupply the Defect of his ufual Expletives. When I left him, he made Use of, Odsbodikins! Oh me! and Never ftir alive! and fo forth; which gave me the Hopes of his Recovery. So I went to the next I told you of, the 45 97 the Gamester. When we first take our Place about a Man, the Receptacles of the Pericranium are immediately fearched. In his, I found no one ordinary Trace of Thinking; but strong Paffion, violent Defires, and a continued Series of different Changes, had torn it to Pieces. There appeared no middle Condition; the Triumph of a Prince, or the Mifery of a Beggar, were his alternate States. I was with him no longer than one Day, which was Yesterday. In the Morning at Twelve, we were worth Four Thoufand Pounds; at Three, we were arrived at Six Thousand; half an Hour after, we were reduced to One Thousand; at Four of the Clock we were down to Two Hundred; at Five, to Fifty; at Six, to Five; at Seven, to One Guinea; the next Bet, to Nothing. This Morning, he borrowed Half a Crown of the Maid who 7 cleans his Shoes; and is now gaming in Lincolns-Inn-Fields among the Boys for Farthings and Oranges, till he has made up Three Pieces, and then he returns to White's into the bet Company in Town. This ended our first Dif courfe ; and it is hoped, you will forgive me that I have picked fo little out of my Companion at our first Interview. In the next, 'tis poffible he may tell me more pleafing Incidents; for though he is a Familiar, he is not an Evil 12 Spirit. St. James's Coffee-house, May 9. We hear from the Hague of the 14th Inftant, N.S. | 3 That Monfieur de Torcy hath had frequent Con- 17 ferences with the Grand Pentioner, and the other Minifters who were heretofore commif fioned to treat with Monfieur Rouille. The Pre. liminaries of a Peace are almolt fettled, and the l Proceedings wait only for the Arrival of the Duke of Marlborough; after whofe Approbation of the Articles propofed, it is not doubted bar |