modest, that she discovered little more than her nose. These were the times, Mr. Rigmarole; when every 'lady that had a good nose might set up for a beauty; 6 when every woman that could tell stories might be 'cried up for a wit.'-' I am as much displeased at those dresses which conceal too much, as at those which 'discover too much I am equally an enemy to a female 'dunce or a female pedant.'

'You may be sure that Miss chose a husband with 'qualifications resembling her own; she pitched upon ' a courtier, equally remarkable for hunting and drinking, 'who had given several proofs of his great virility among 'the daughters of his tenants and domestics. They fell ' in love at first sight (for such was the gallantry of the 'times), were married, came to court, and Madam ' appeared with superior qualifications. The king was ' struck with her beauty. All property was at the king's 'command; the husband was obliged to resign all pretensions in his wife to the sovereign whom God had anointed, to commit adultery where he thought proper. 'The king loved her for some time; but at length, repenting of his misdeeds, and instigated by his father'confessor, from a principle of conscience, removed her from his levee to the bar of this tavern, and took a new mistress in her stead. Let it not surprise you to 'behold the mistress of a king degraded to so humble an 'office. As the ladies had no mental accomplishments, 'a good face was enough to raise them to the royal 'couch; and she who was this day a royal mistress, 'might the next, when her beauty palled upon enjoy'ment, be doomed to infamy and want.

Under the care of this lady, the tavern grew into great reputation; the courtiers had not yet learned to game, but they paid it off by drinking: drunkenness is 'ever the vice of a barbarous, and gaming of a luxurious,

age. They had not such frequent entertainments as 'the moderns have, but were more expensive and more 'luxurious in those they had. All their fooleries were 'more elaborate, and more admired by the great and 'the vulgar than now. A courtier has been known to spend his whole fortune at a single feast, a king to 'mortgage his dominions to furnish out the frippery of a tournament. There were certain days appointed for ' riot and debauchery, and to be sober at such times was reputed a crime. Kings themselves set the example; and I have seen monarchs in this room drunk before the entertainment was half concluded. These were the times, sir, when kings kept mistresses, and got drunk in 'public; they were too plain and simple in those happy times to hide their vices, and act the hypocrite, as now.' -Lord! Mrs. Quickly,' interrupting her, I expected 'to have heard a story, and here you are going to tell me I know not what of times and vices; prithee let

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me entreat thee once more to waive reflections, and give thy history without deviation.'

'No lady upon earth,' continued my visionary correspondent, knew how to put off her damaged wine or women with more art than she. When these grew 'flat, or those paltry, it was but changing the names; 'the wine became excellent, and the girls agreeable. She was also possessed of the engaging leer, the chuck under the chin, winked at a double entendre, could nick the opportunity of calling for something comfort'able, and perfectly understood the discreet moments 'when to withdraw. The gallants of those times pretty much resembled the bloods of ours; they were fond of pleasure, but quite ignorant of the art of refining upon it: thus a court-bawd of those times resembled the common low-lived harridan of a modern bagnio. Witness, ye powers of debauchery, how often I have

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'been present at the various appearances of drunkenness, 'riot, guilt, and brutality! A tavern is a true picture of 'human infirmity; in history we find only one side of the 'age exhibited to our view; but in the accounts of a tavern 'we see every age equally absurd and equally vicious.' 'Upon this lady's decease the tavern was successively occupied by adventurers, bullies, pimps, and gamesters. Towards the conclusion of the reign of Henry VII gaming was more universally practised in England than even now. Kings themselves have been known to play off, ' at Primero, not only all the money and jewels they 'could part with, but the very images in churches. The 'last Henry played away, in this very room, not only the four great bells of St. Paul's Cathedral, but the fine image of St. Paul, which stood upon the top of the spire, to Sir Miles Partridge, who took them down the next day, and sold them by auction. Have you then any cause to regret being born in the times you now 'live? or do you still believe that human nature continues 'to run on declining every age? If we observe the 'actions of the busy part of mankind, your ancestors 'will be found infinitely more gross, servile, and even dishonest, than you. If, forsaking history, we only trace them in their hours of amusement and dissipation, 'we shall find them more sensual, more entirely 'devoted to pleasure, and infinitely more selfish.

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'The last hostess of note I find upon record, was 'Jane Rouse. She was born among the lower ranks of the people; and, by frugality and extreme complaisance, contrived to acquire a moderate fortune: 'this she might have enjoyed for many years, had she not unfortunately quarrelled with one of her neighbours,

a woman who was in high repute for sanctity through 'the whole parish. In the times of which I speak, two 'women seldom quarrelled, that one did not accuse the

'other of witchcraft, and she who first contrived to vomit crooked pins was sure to come off victorious. 'The scandal of a modern tea-table differs widely from the scandal of former times: the fascination of a lady's eyes, at present, is regarded as a compliment; but if ' a lady, formerly, should be accused of having witchcraft 6 in her eyes, it were much better, both for her soul and 'body, that she had no eyes at all.

In short, Jane Rouse was accused of witchcraft; and, ' though she made the best defence she could, it was all 'to no purpose; she was taken from her own bar to 'the bar of the Old Bailey, condemned, and executed accordingly. These were times, indeed! when even women could not scold in safety.

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Since her time the tavern underwent several revolutions, according to the spirit of the times, or the disposition of the reigning monarch. It was this day ' a brothel, and the next a conventicle for enthusiasts. 'It was one year noted for harbouring Whigs, and the 'next infamous for a retreat to Tories. Some years ago 'it was in high vogue, but at present it seems declining. 'This only may be remarked in general, that whenever 'taverns flourish most, the times are then most ex'travagant and luxurious.'—' Lord! Mrs. Quickly,' interrupted I, 'you have really deceived me; I expected a romance, and here you have been this half-hour 'giving me only a description of the spirit of the times : if you have nothing but tedious remarks to communicate, seek some other hearer; I am determined to hearken only to stories.'

I had scarce concluded, when my eyes and ears seemed opened to my landlord, who had been all this while giving me an account of the repairs he had made in the house, and was now got into the story of the cracked glass in the dining-room.

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ESSAY XX

ON QUACK DOCTORS

[Altered from Letters XXIV and LXVIII of The Citizen of the World]

WHATEVER may be the merits of the English in other sciences, they seem peculiarly excellent in the art of healing. There is scarcely a disorder incident to humanity, against which our advertising doctors are not possessed with a most infallible antidote. The professors of other arts confess the inevitable intricacy of things; talk with doubt, and decide with hesitation; but doubting is entirely unknown in medicine; the advertising professors here delight in cases of difficulty: be the disorder never so desperate or radical, you will find numbers in every street, who, by levelling a pill at the part affected, promise a certain cure, without loss of time, knowledge of a bedfellow, or hindrance of business.

When I consider the assiduity of this profession, their benevolence amazes me.. They not only, in general, give their medicines for half value, but use the most persuasive remonstrances to induce the sick to come and be cured. Sure there must be something strangely obstinate in an English patient, who refuses so much health upon such easy terms! Does he take a pride in being bloated with a dropsy? Does he find pleasure in the alternations of an intermittent fever? or feel as much satisfaction in nursing up his gout, as he found pleasure in acquiring it? He must, otherwise he would. never reject such repeated assurances of instant relief. What can be more convincing than the manner in which the sick are invited to be well? The doctor first begs the most earnest attention of the public to what he is going to propose; he solemnly affirms the pill was