faid I, interrupting him and ought to be enough, for me So fupper coming in, and having a frifky English spaniel on one fide of my chair, and a French valet, with as much hilarity in his countenance as ever nature painted in one, on the other I was fatisfied to my heart's content with my empire; and if monarchs knew what they would be at, they might be as fatisfied as I was.

MONTRI UL.

As La Fleur went the whole tour of France and Italy with me, and will be often upon the stage, I muft intereft the reader a little further in his behalf, by saying, that I had never lefs reafon to repent of the impulfes which generally do determine me, than in regard to this fellow he was a faithful, affectionate, fimple foul as ever trudged after the heels of a philofopher; and notwithstanding his talents of drumbeating and fpatterdash - making, which, tho' very good in themfelyes, happen'd to be of no great fervice to me, yet was I hourly recompenfed by the feftivity of his temper it fupplied all defects had a conftant refource in his looks in all difficulties and diftreffes of my own I was going to have added, of his too; but La Fleur was out of the reach

I

of every thing; for whether 'twas hunger or thirst or cold or nakedness, or watchings, or whatever Atripes of ill luck La Fleur met with in our journeyings, there was no index in his phyfiognomy to point them out by he was eternally the fame; fo that if I am a piece of a philofopher, which Satan now and then puts it into my head I am it always mortifies the pride of the conceit, by reflecting how much I owe to the complexional philofophy of this poor fellow, for fhaming me into one of a better kind. With all this, La Fleur had a fmall caft of the coxcomb but he seemed at first fight to be more a coxcomb of nature than of art; and before I had been three days in Paris with him - he feemed to be no coxcomb at all,

MONTRI UL.

The next morning La Fleur entering upon his employment, I delivered to him the key of my portmanteau with an inventory of my half a dozen fhirts and filk pair of breeches; and bid him fasten all upon the chase get the horfes put to and defire the landlord to come in with his bill.

C'eft

C'est un garçon de bonne fortune, faid the landford, pointing through the window to half a dozen wenches who had got round about La Fleur, and were most kindly taking their leave of him, as the poftilion was leading out the horses, La Fleur kifsed all their hands round and round again, and thrice he wiped his eyes, and thrice he promised he would bring them all pardons from Rome.

The young fellow, faid the landlord, is beloved by all the town, and there is, fcarce a corner in Montriul where the want of him will not be felt: he has but one misfortune in the world, continued he, "He is always in love." I am heartily glad of it, faid

I

'twill fave me the trouble every night of putting my breeches under my head. In faying this, I was making not fo much La Fleur's eloge, as my own, having been in love with one princefs or another almost all my life, and I hope I fhall go on fo, till I die, being firmly perfuaded, that if ever I do a mean action, it must be in fome interval betwixt one paffion and another: whilst this interregnum lasts, I al ways perceive my heart locked up I can fcarce find in it, to give Mifery a fixpence; and therefore I always get out of it as faft as I can, and the moment I am rekindled, I am all generofity and good will again; and would do any thing in the world either for, or with any one, if they will but fatisfy me there is no fin in it..

D 3

-

But

The town of Abdera, notwithstanding Democritus lived there trying all the powers of irony and laughter to reclaim it, was the vileft and most profligate town in all Thrace. What for poifons,

fpiracies and affaffinations

con

libels, pafquinades and

tumults, there was no going there by day

warfe by night.

'twas

Now, when things were at the worst, it came to pass, that the Andromeda of Euripides being reprefented at Abdera, the whole orchestra was delighted with it: but of all the paffages which delighted them, nothing operated more upon their imaginations, than the tender ftrokes of nature which the poet had wrought up in that pathetic fpeech of Perfeus, O Cupid! prince of God and men, &c. Every man almost spoke pure iambics the next day, and talk'd of, nothing put Perfeus his pathetic address - "O Cupid! "prince of God and men"---- in every street of Abin every houfe "O Cupid! Cupid!" in

dera,
every mouth, like the natural notes of fome fweet

melody

melody which drops from it wether it will or nonothing but "Cupid! Cupid! prince of God and men" the fire caught and the whole city, like the heart

of one man, open'd itself to Love.

the

No pharmacopolift could fell one grain of helebore not a fingle armourer had a heart to forge one inftrument of death Friendship and Virtue met together, and kifs'd each other in the street golden age return'd, and hung over the town of Abdera every Abderite took his oaten pipe, and every Abderitish woman left her purple web, chaftly fat her down and liften'd to the fong.

and

of

'Twas only in the power, fays the Fragment, the God whofe empire extendeth from heaven to earth, and even to the depths of the fea, to have done this.