"IT would be no difficult matter to provide you with an afylum in the country (replied my uncle); but a life of indolence and obfcurity would not fuit with your active and enterprising difpofition-I would therefore advise you to try your fortune in the East IndiesI will give you a letter to a friend in London, who will recommend you to the direction, for a commiffion in the company's fervice; and if that cannot be obtained, you will at least be received as a volunteer-in which cafe, you may pay for your paffage, and I fhall under.. take to procure you fuch credentials, that you will not be long without a commiflion."

MARTIN embraced the propofal with great eagernefs; it was therefore resolved, that he should fell his horse, and take a paffage by sea for London, to execute the project without delay-In the mean time, he accompanied us to Durham, where we took up our quarters for the night. Here, being furnished with letters from my uncle, he took his leave of us, with strong symptoms of gratitude and attachment, and fet out for Sunderland, in order to embark in the firft collier bound for the river Thames. He had not been gone half an hour, when we were joined by another character, which promised fomething extraordinary.-A tall meagre figure, anfwering, with his horfe, the defcription of Don Quixote mounted on Rozinante, appeared in the twilight at the inn-door, while my aunt and Liddy stood at a window in the dining-room-He wore a coat, the cloth of which had once been scarlet, trimmed with Brandenburgs, now totally deprived of their metal, and he had holfter-caps and houfing of the fame ftuff and fame antiquity. Perceiving ladies at the window above, he endeavoured to difmount with the moft graceful air he could affume; but the oftler neglecting to hold the ftirrup, when he wheeled off his right foot, and stood with his whole weight on the other, the girth unfortunately gave way, the faddle turned, down came the cavalier to the ground, and his hat and periwig falling off, difplayed a head-piece of various colours, patched and plastered in a woeful condition-The ladies, at the window above, fhrieked with affright, on the fuppofition that the stranger had received fome notable damage in

his fall; but the greatest injury he had fuftained, arofe from the difhonour of his defcent, aggravated by the difgrace of expofing the condition of his cranium; for certain plebeians that were about the door, laughed aloud, in the belief that the captain had got either a fcald head, or a broken head, both equally oppro

brious.

HE forthwith leaped up in a fury, and fnatching one of his piftols, threatened to put the oftler to death, when another fquall from the women checked his refentment. He then bowed to the window, while he kiffed the but end of his piftol, which he replaced, adjufted his wig in great confufion, and led his horfe into the ftable-By this time I had come to the door, and could not help gazing at the ftrange figure that prefented itself to my view He would have measured above fix feet in height, had he stood upright; but he stooped very much, was very narrow in the shoulders, and very thick in the calves of the legs, which were cafed in black fpatterdafhes-As for his thighs, they were long and flender, like those of a grashopper; his face was at least half a yard in length, brown and fhrivelled, with projecting cheek bones, little grey eyes on the greenish hue, a large hook nofe, a pointed chin, a mouth from ear to ear, very ill furnished with teeth, and a high narrow forehead, well furrowed with wrinkles. His horfe was exactly in the ftile of its rider; a refurrection of dry bones, which (as we afterwards learned) he valued exceedingly, as the only prefent he had ever received in his life.

HAVING feen this favourite steed properly accommodated in the ftable, he fent up his compliments to the ladies, begging permiflion to thank them in perfon for the marks of concern they had fhewn at his difafter in the court-yard-As the fquire faid they could not decently decline his vifit, he was fhewn up stairs, and paid his refpects in the Scotch dialogue, with much formality Laddies (faid he), perhaps you may be fcandaleezed at the appearance my head made when it was uncovered by accident; but I can affure you, the condition you faw it in, is neither the effects of difeafe, nor of drunkennefs; but an honest fear received in the fer

vice of my country." He then gave us to understand, that, having been wounded at Ticonderago in America, a party of Indians rifled him, fcalped him, broke his fcull with the blow of a tomahawk, and left him for dead on the field of battle; but that, being afterwards found with figns of life, he had been cured in the French hofpital, though the lofs of fubftance could not be repaired; fo that the fcull was left naked in feveral places, and these he covered with patches.

THERE is no hold by which an Englishman is fooner taken than that of compaffion-We were immediately interested in behalf of this veteran-Even Tabby's heart was melted; but our pity was warmed with indignation, when we learned, that, in the courfe of two fanguinary wars, he had been wounded, maimed, mutilated, taken, and enflaved, without ever having attained a higher rank than that of lieutenant-My uncle's eyes gleamed, and his nether lip quivered, while he exclaimed, "I vow to God, Sir, your cafe is a reproach to the fervice-The injuftice you have met with is fo flagrant"-" I muft crave your pardon, Sir (cried the other, interrupting him), I complain of no injustice-I purchased an enfigncy thirty years ago; and, in the courfe of fervice, rofe to be a lieutenant, according to my feniority" "But in fuch a length of time (refumed the fquire), you must have feen a great many young officers put over your head-" Nevertheless (faid he), I have no caufe to murmur-They bought their preferment with their money-I had no money to carry to market-that was my misfortune; but nobody was to blame--" "What! no friend to advance a fum of money? (faid Mr Bramble.)" 66 Perhaps I might have borrowed money for the purchafe of a company (anfwered the other); but that loan muft have been refunded; and I did not chufe to incumber myself with a debt of a thousand pounds, to be paid from an income of ten fhillings a-day." "So you have spent the best part of your life (cried Mr Bramble), your youth, your blood, and your conftitution, amidst the dangers, the difficulties, the horrors, and hardships of war, for the confideration of three or four fhillings a-day-a confideration" "Sir (replied the Scot, with great warmth),

you are the man that does me injuftice, if you fay or think I have been actuated by any fuch paltry confideration-I am a gentleman; and entered the fervice as other gentlemen do, with fuch hopes and fentiments as honourable ambition infpires-If I have not been lucky in the lottery of life, fo neither do I think myself unfortunate-I owe no man a farthing; I can always command a clean fhirt, a mutton chop, and a truss of ftraw; and, when I die, I fhall leave effects fufficient to defray the expence of my burial."

My uncle affured him, he had no intention to give him the least offence, by the obfervations he had made; but, on the contrary, fpoke from a fentiment of friendly regard to his intereft-The lieutenant thanked him with a ftiffness of civility, which nettled our old gentleman, who perceived that his moderation was all affected; for whatsoever his tongue might declare, his whole appearance denoted diffatisfaction-In fhort, without pretending to judge of his military merit, I think I may affirm, that this Caledonian is a felf-conceited pedant, aukward, rude, and difputacious-He has had the benefit of a fchool education, feems to have read a good number of books, his memory is tenacious, and he pretends to speak several different languages; but he is fo addicted to wrangling, that he will cavil at the clearest truths, and, in the pride of argumentation, attempt to reconcile contradictions-Whether his addrefs and qualifications are really of that stamp which is agreeable to the tafte of our aunt Mrs Tabitha, or that indefatigable maiden is determined to fhoot at every fort of game, certain it is, fhe has begun to practise upon the heart of the lieutenant, who favoured us with his company to fupper.

I HAVE many other things to fay of this man of war, which I fhall communicate in a post or two. Meanwhile, it is but reafonable that you should be indulged ⚫ with fome refpite from thofe weary lucubrations of Yours

Newcastle upon Tyne, July 10.

J. MELFORD,

To Sir WATKIN PHILLIPS, Bart. of Jefus College,

Oxon:

IN

DEAR PHILLIPS,

"N my laft, I treated you with a high-flavoured dish, in the character of the Scotch lieutenant, and I must present him once more for your entertainment. It was our fortune to feed upon him the best part of three days; and I do not doubt that he will start again in our way before we fhall have finished our northern excurfion. The day after our meeting with him at Durham proved fo tempeftuous, that we did not chuse to proceed on our journey; and my uncle perfuaded him to stay till the weather fhould clear up, giving him, at the fame time, a general invitation to our mefs. The man has certainly gathered a whole budget of fhrewd obfervations, but he brings them forth in such an ungracious manner as would be extremely disgusting, if it was not marked by that characteristic oddity which never fails to attract the attention-He and Mr Bramble difcourfed, and even difputed, on different fubjects in war, policy, the belles lettres, law, and metaphyfics; and fometimes they were warmed into fuch altercation as feemed to threaten an abrupt diffolution of their fociety; but Mr Bramble fet a guard over his own irafcibility, the more vigilantly as the officer was his gueft; and when, in fpite of all his efforts, he began to wax warm, the other prudently cooled in the fame proportion.

MRS TABITHA chancing to accoft her brother by the familiar diminutive of Matt, "Pray, Sir (faid the lieutenant), is your name Matthias?" You must know, it is one of our uncle's foibles to be ashamed of his name Matthew, because it is puritanical; and this question chagrined him so much, that he answered, "No, by G-d!" in a very abrupt tone of displeasure.-The Scot took umbrage at the manner of his reply, and bristling up," If I had known (faid he) that you did not care to tell your name, I fhould not have asked the