་ ferving men. The heads of the land judge for "reward, and the people thereof judge for hire, and "the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they "lean upon the Lord and fay, Is not the Lord among "us? Were the firft minister to appoint a preach.66 er before the house of commons, would not he "be wife to make choice of these words? Give, " and it shall be given unto ye. Or before the lords, Giving no offence, that the ministry be not blamed, 2 Cor. vi. 3. Or praifing the warm zeal of an "administration, Who maketh his minifters a flaming fire, Pial civ. 4." We omit many others of his texts as too tedious. [From this period the ftile of the book rifes extremely. Before the next chapter was pafted the effigies of Dr. Sacheverel, and I found the oppofite page all on a foam with politics.] We are now, fays he, arrived at that celebrated year, in which the church of England was tried in the perfon of Dr. Sacheverel. I had ever the intereft of our high-church at heart, neither would I at any feafon, mingle myself in the focieties of fanatics, whom I, from my infancy, abhorred more than the Heathen or Gentile, It was in thefe days I bethought myself, that much profit might accrue · unto our parish, and even unto the nation, could there be affembled together a number of chosen men of the right fpirit, who might argue, refine, and define, upon high and great matters. this purpose, I did institute a weekly affembly of divers worthy men at the rofe and crown ale house, over whom myself, though unworthy, did prefide. Yea, I did read to them the poft-boy of Mr Roper, and the written letter of Mr Dyer, upon which we communed afterwards among ourselves. Unto Our fociety was compofed of the following perfons: Robert Jenkins, farrier; Amos Turner, collar-maker; George Pilcocks, late excife-man; ThoVOL. VI. mas mas White, wheel-wright; and myself. First, of the firft, Robert Jenkins. He was a man of bright parts and fhrewd conceit, for he never shoed an horse of a whig or a fanatic, · but be lamed forely, Amos Turner, a worthy perfon, rightly esteemed among us for his fufferings, in that he had been honoured in the stocks for wearing an oaken bough. George Pilcocks, a fufferer alfo ; of zealous and Jaudable freedom of fpeech, infomuch that his occupation had been taken from him. Thomas White, of good repute likewife, for that his uncle by the mother's fide had formerly been fervitor at Maudlin-college, where the glorious Sacheverel was educated. Now were the eyes of all the parish upon these our weekly councils. In a hort space the minister came among us; he fpake concerning us and our councils to a multitude of other minifters at the vifitation, and they fpake thereof unto other ministers at London, fo that even the bishops heard and mar、 velled thereat. Moreover, Sir Thomas, member of parliament fpoke of the fame unto other members of parliament, who spoke thereof unto the peers of the realm. Lo! thus did our counfels enter into the hearts of our generals and our lawgivers ; and from henceforth, even as we devised, thus did they. [After this, the book is turned on a fudden from his own life, to a history of all the public tranfactions of Europe, compiled from the news papers of thofe times. I could not comprehend the meaning of this, till I perceived at laft, to my no fmall aftonishment, that all the measures of the four last years of the Queen, together with the peace of Utrecht, which have been usually attributed to the Earl of Oxford, Duke of Ormond, Lords Harcourt and Bolingbroke, and other great men, do here moft plainly appear to have been wholly owing to Ro bert bert Jenkins, Amos Turner, George Pilcock, Tho-mas White, but above all, P. P. The reader may be fure I was very inquifitive after this extraordinary writer, whofe work I have here abstracted. I took a journey into the country on purpose; but could not find the leaft trace of him: till by accident I met an old clergyman, who faid he could not be pofitive, but thought it might be one Paul Philips, who had been dead about twelve years. And upon enquiry, all we could learn of that perfon from the neighbourhood, was, that he had been taken notice of for fwallowing loaches, and remembered by fome people by a black and white cur with one car, that conftantly followed him. In the church-yard I read his epitaph, faid to be written by himself. O reader, if that thou canst read, Do all we can, death is a man THOUGHTS THOUGHTS on VARIOUS SUBJECTS. I. PARTY is the madnafs of many for the gain of a few. II. There never was any party, faction, fect, or cabal whatfoever, in which the most ignorant were not the most virulent; for a bee is not a bufier animal than a blockhead. However, fuch inftruments are neceffary to politicians and perhaps it may be with ftates as with clocks, which must have some dead weight hanging at them, to help and regulate the motion of the finer and more useful parts. III. To endeavour to work upon the vulgar with fine fenfe, is like attempting to hew blocks with a ra zor. IV. Fine fenfe and exalted fenfe are not half fo uteful as common fenfe: There are forty men of wit for one man of sense; and he that will carry nothing about him but gold, will be every day at a lofs for want of readier change. V. Learning is like mercury, one of the most powerful and excellent things in the world in skilful hands; in unfkilful, the most mischievous. VI. The niceft conftitutions of government are often like the finest pieces of clock-work; which dependng on fo many motions, are therefore more fubt to be out of order. VII. Every VII. Every man has just as much vanity, as he wants understanding. VIII. Modefty, if it were to be recommended for nothing elfe, this were enough, that the pretending. to little leaves a man at eafe, whereas boafting requires a perpetual labour to appear what he is not. If we have fenfe, modefty beft proves it to others; if we have none, it beft hides our want of it. For as blufhing will fometimes make a whore pafs for a virtuous woman, fo modefty may make a fool feem a man of fenfe. IX. It is not fo much the being exempt from faults, as the having overcome them, that is an advantage to us; it being with the follies of the mind as with the weeds of a field, which, if deftroyed and con-fumed upon the place of their birth, enrich and improve it more than if none had ever fprung there. X. To pardon thofe abfurdities in ourselves which we cannot fuffer in others, is neither better nor worle than to be more willing to be fools ourselves, than to have others fo. XI. A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong which is but faying, in other words, that he is wifer to day than he was yefter-day. XII. Our paffions are like convulfion-fits, which, tho' they make us ftronger for the time, leave us weaker for ever after. XIII. To be angry, is to revenge the fault of others upon ourselves. XIV. A brave man thinks no one his fuperior who does |