may even deal with him in buying a horse; and if he fhould tell you of circumftances to enhance the value and to tempt you, they will not be what I could tell where they have been, to the gain from the confidence, (who would not hate himfelf for not giving to a friend or acquaintance?) made out for the occafion.* In fhort, and to fay all in one uncommon word, with this man you may even-drink in the dark.

If

*I am tempted to a note here, though with true regret in the confideration of the delay it ftill gives to my fo ardently defired conclufion and release from chaos in this prefs-correcting business. Those who know me beft, know (little as they may know what it is) how far it is or is not appropriated to, the fort of genius God Almighty has been pleased to beftow upon me; but this note means to go to what I have enough fhewn how prone I am to, I mean fome certain diftinctions I wish here to make.

I will ask then, what is the line to be drawn between my being fharp and fhrewd in my dealings in the world, whether it be in my bargainings of any fort, or my engagements of whatever fort or kind in play That honour has its line of feparation no one will deny. Yet, are not the two diftin&t things, on each fide of the line, fometimes confounded even by what we call very good fort of people of the world. If I lofe a great deal of money from the introduction of loaded dice, or cards cut, as formerly at White's, and all among men of fashion never fufpected, furely I am not a dupe, though I as certainly am one, if I play at a game of skill with a man greatly my fuperior at it. Billiards, for instance, with him who is two better than me, or rather one only, for that is enough, and brings it near enough perhaps to make it still more to allowance for my adversary. But in the affair of felling my horfe, I certainly may puff, put the beft fide forward, and get what I can. Between this and what is faid above, is not the line feen? Well, this I have my reafons for wishing to fay; but in another instance I have more my reafons for wishing it. Some years back I had an eftate to fell in a distant county; the estate was formerly, I believe, under 400l. a year; my fteward there, a man of very good character, had to renew the leafes, which he did after anfwering my repeated enquiries as to value, that thofe rents were perfectly juft, and fent me the leafes to fign; I ftill did not like to do it without more certainty; and a noted land-furveyor being then doing some business for me, I determined on poftponing at least my fignature 'till I had his opinion, and accordingly went myself with him to the fpot, and be affuring me they would bear fairly 50l. a year net more, got him to make the bargains at that, which he did; and fo far methinks I was no dupe. Many years after, and not a great many past, I had applications from purchasers; and willing to difpofe of it, a gentleman, a friend of mine, of the county, offered me his steward, a fhrewd knowing man, to say no more, and he faid it was an improveable eftate, and he could get me a good price. He fent an offer, inferior to what had been refused. Some time after this my own steward, a man I say of very good character, sent to me a gentleman from the neighbourhood, with a letter of recommendation, and an offer which he affured me was a very ample price, and repeatedly told me he would advise me to accept it. And it was confiderably above either of the two offers above-named. I, all things confidered, particularly as having myfelf made a fort of forced advance of 50l. net on the land, had little doubt (would you have had more?) but I had even a good purchafer; the price, I think, was 12,000l. and was fo paid. Extremely foon

I

after

If I have prolonged with the above account, will any one regret it? No: catch then the generofity; even as the countryman might his fmall-pox on fallying forth from his village and meeting with the contagion. Am I more irregular and defultory than Montaigne, or lefs? I was at one time going to look, in order to see how far I might hope to be fupported from the precedent; but my second thought was, No, I will not, for that very reason; I shall see what will imprefs my mind in fuch or fuch a manner, and tempt it, no, make it, whether I will or no, follow him, fomething like copy him, perhaps; now it fo happens, that even the writer himself of the fentence could not more repugnate his old O Imitatores! than I do. My deviations then, if disapproved, must e'en lye at my own account; and now then, in hardy pursuit of them, I ask permission, or rather endulgence, for a thought that arose in my mind only yesterday for the first time, entirely unconnected, even by a far distant nk, with what is or has been fome time before us; it is this, and I preface it even thus enigmatically, by faying that it is a thought, (and it is one that is connected with thofe far back, hazarded by good-will and ignorance on the writer's part toward the good of the nation) yes, that it is a thought given as, at once, the most easy, and impoffible, in practice, as well as most salutary, that could be conceived for the univerfal good of the state; that is, if there are not intrinfic objections behind I know nothing of. And what is this my ftrange riddle? you will laugh; fome of my old remaining friends I

after this, I heard nothing but of my dupery, and was and am, to be sure, ftill the laughing-stock of these people's clubs; and if not yet tired, the wit, in junction with the clouds of tobacco, of the conviviality is supplied by poor me, and the effence strong enough to bear spreading over a great county and city. What do you think the estate produced immediately after my bargain above? on laying out 3000l. only, 900l. a year net. I am now, by the gentleman who lent me his steward, (most certainly with the best of intentions) esteemed the best taken-in gentleman you can well meet with, and the fame with fifty others, as far as I. know. It may be, nay certainly is, pure eccentric to introduce this here: But I don't care, let this then add to the rest of the jumble; and here it is for that gentleman, his steward, my honeft one, or any other. How shared or not shared amongst them all I know not. I faid gool. net, but I am not sure it is not a great many hundreds more; how effected God Almighty knows, for to me, and after my own valuation, it is one of the greatest mysteries ever met with; and there then I have, however contrived, my coeur net as to this business. To add to this, that people should not credit and communicate stories to the disadvantage of others, without having the whole of them themselves, would, if addressed to certain characters and geniuses, be idle and useless indeed, not to say abfurd.

even now fee in the act; and now then to make you all do the fame,—I would create a dictator: and what fhould he do? I mean what would he do, fince he would have to do as he pleased? why, in the first place, possibly, take your money from you and give it me; no, but most seriously he should and would, else I retract my dictator, effect indeed what I remember I flung out as a charming and a saving thing to the English world, if practicable, viz. forming the riches of England into one mafs, lump, or heap, and then parcelling it all out as utility and difcretion fhould jointly direct. In truth, this, while a dream, as I well know it to be, no not in nature and reality, but in the nature of man at least, with the prefent civilization, manners, and modes of thinking in the modern world; yes, this dream, if not a dream, in its realization would make every one, through England, happy, and no one, confequently, unhappy. What if I am worth 2 or 300,000l., and you take away from me 250, and leave me 50, (be this more or less) am I made unhappy? Then, I do not deserve to be otherwise, and so much the better. I wear perhaps a bob-wig, keep a miferable two-horfe, or one-horse chaife; and was made by God Almighty to live on 500l. a year, and (here is the thing) to be most happy with it: or I am a young nobleman born to 10, 15, 20,000l. a year; I thence, have too, a palace in town, and another in the country; both full of charming pictures; not one of which I ever looked at in my life, and I am married to a monster with an additional 100,000l., myfelf not already knowing the least in the world what to do with what I have; while there were Venus's too all around, at my call; or, in my metaphor, Minerva and Venus perfonally united, at my call; (if indeed one of the latter could be fuppofed to have taken me) and I and my monster have Mr. Brown, who, we are told, can lay out our grounds; and Wyat, who can erect elegant buildings for us; and we have also a maitre d' hotel, groom of the chambers, porter, laced liveries, and every etcetera befide; being told we must fo have them all. In the midst of this, we ourselves are exactly like Ninon a la Cour, or Nell when Lady Loverule, and the Duke and no Duke. And we let every thing go to ruin we can; and are

confcious

confcious of not a fingle one of these gifts, of, whether Providence, or fortune. And tell me, is there no room for the query of

"How many a lord, as tradefman fhews,

"And tradefman would become his clothes?"

To you, perhaps, in all the fplendor of youth, of birth, of qualifications, of excellence, (but no riches) of nature, aye, (I mean after the partition) Dii tibi formam,

"Dii tibi, divitias dederint, artemque fruendi."

What then would refult from this occurrence and exchange of fortune and condition? need I fay? yes, I will fay; this would refult; (for human nature ftill loves, ftill gives its wishes to greatness and goodness;) hundreds would rejoice on seeing the exchange; and would my dictator, then, be a pernicious agent here? the reft follows; nor need I add to it. As to other operations of dictatorship, a wifer head than mine, in the elected man, would know it enough. And enough of this my fling; which call whimsical, wild, eccentric, what you pleafe; fo it diverts any how, what matter how? No harm or offence at least can result from it, any how, to any one. And after all, may I not seriously, and really and truly, urge, that even this very thing was done at Rome, if I mistake not, in the Agrarian law?

Enough: and we are at laft, thank Heaven, really and truly, within a few pages of conclufion; what will be the reception, Heaven knows; I fometimes think one thing, fometimes another; I say, however, to myself, furely here is nothing to difgrace me, and then I don't care; and then, more fanguin, I fay, The devil is in it if those who have liked the Maxims will condemn this; and they, I understand, have gone through four if not five editions, and out of print. And then too, (yes, and this is still a better puff, in my puffing fyftem, than any,) that I have had letters of compliment about them, in my time,

from

1

from three or four men I never faw in my life. In fhort, le vin eft tiré il faut le boir. But it comes acrofs me, why not even bring my ownfelf in fpectacle, the fame as I fo lately have done it in another place by another? more efpecially, if it be in an estimated act of meannefs, and which I indeed most completely know even fo to be, both in theory and practice, and in fo many quarters, that none need neceffarily take to themselves, whether the right or the wrong of it. But another, and a better motive, perhaps, may be, that to fuch as may think it not illaudable, but even laudable, it may not be fo unwarrantable to fhew, if I can, that I do not preach up (like the crowds of theorists and moralifts of the paft or prefent world; and may I not, without too much prophefying, join in the future?) what I cannot practife myself. In fhort, to leave my preamble, take the following anecdote, whether ye approvers or difapprovers.

Very many years ago indeed, fince even before entrance into the bleed ftate, I was of a party with three more, (two of them well known, alas! both dead) from a gentleman's houfe in the country to a neighbouring one, where there were ladies too, to pass the day, in a charming company, and at a charming place: we dined and fupped, and before, and after, had a little fociety Faro-Bank, where the gentleman dealt. Without any violent drinking, though perhaps rather more than common, the mafter was fairly in liquor, and knew not very perfectly the punting cards, and made mistakes. I, like a fool as I was, faid to one of my friends near me, Pray mind, this is a King, an Ace, what you please; and this I faid feveral times; at laft the dealer noticed it, and faid, though quite gently and politely, I hope, Sir, you don't think I fhall do wrong by your cards;' I know not what followed, there were ladies too at the table, and our words were at best not pleasant between us; but fo.far from taking affront, that the gentleman himself, and one of the politeft and agreeable I have ever known, was fo right-headed as to foften it off as much as he could, and we drank a