me heartily by the hand; and expressing | pimps. D-n me, if I don't honour you great joy at meeting me, proposed our im- for it; for, as I hope for salvation, I would mediately drinking a bottle together. I have made no manner of scruple of doing first declined the proposal, and pretended the same thing.' "This declaration a little relieved my abashment; and, as wine had now somewhat opened my heart, I very freely acknowledged the robbery, but acquainted him that he had been misinformed as to the sum taken, which was little more than a fifth part of what he had mentioned. business; but as he was very earnest and pressing, hunger at last overcame my pride, and I fairly confessed to him I had no money in my pocket; yet not without framing a lie for an excuse, and imputing it to my having changed my breeches that morning. Mr. Watson answered, 'I thought, Jack, you and I had been too old acquaintance for you to mention such a matter.' He then took me by the arm, and was pulling me along: but I gave him very little trouble, for my own inclinations pulled me much stronger than he could do. "We then went into the Friars, which you know is the scene of all mirth and jollity. Here when we arrived at the tavern, Mr. Watson applied himself to the drawer only, without taking the least notice of the cook; for he had no suspicion but that I had dined long since. However, as the case was really otherwise, I forged another falsehood, and told my companion I had been at the further end of the city on busi-a cant phrase for the gallows; for as ness of consequence, and had snapped up a mutton-chop in haste; so that I was again hungry, and wished he would add a beef-steak to his bottle." -'Some people,' cries Partridge, 'ought to have good memories; or did you find just money enough in your breeches to pay for the muttonchop? "Your observation is right," answered the stranger, "and I believe such blunders are inseparable from all dealing in untruth. "I am sorry for it with all my heart,' quoth he, 'and I wish thee better success another time. Though, if you will take my advice, you shall have no occasion to run any such risk. Here," said he, taking some dice out of his pocket, "here's the stuff. Here are the implements: here are the little doctors which cure the distempers of the purse. Follow but my counsel, and I will show you a way to empty the pocket of a queer cull, without any danger of the nubbing cheat. " 'Nubbing cheat!' cries Partridge; 'Pray, sir, what is that?? "Why that, sir," says the stranger, "is gamesters differ little from highwaymen in their morals, so do they very much resemble them in their language. "We had now each drank our bottle, when Mr. Watson said, the board was sitting, and that he must attend, earnestly pressing me, at the same time, to go with him, and try my fortune. I answered, he knew that was at present out of my power, as I had informed him of the emptiness of my pocket. To say the truth, I doubted But to proceed-I began now to feel my-not, from his many strong expressions of self extremely happy. The meat and wine friendship, but that he would offer to lend soon revived my spirits to a high pitch, and I enjoyed much pleasure in the conversation of my old acquaintance, the rather as I thought him entirely ignorant of what had happened at the university since his leaving it. "But he did not suffer me to remain long in this agreeable delusion; for taking a bumper in one hand, and holding me by the other, Here, my boy,' cries he, 'here's wishing you joy of your being so honourably acquitted of that affair laid to your charge. I was thunderstruck with confusion at those words, which Watson observing, proceeded thus: 'Nay, never be ashamed, man; thou hast been acquitted, and no one now dares call thee guilty; but prithee do tell me, who am thy friendI hope thou didst really rob him; for rat me if it was not a meritorious action to strip such a sneaking pitiful rascal; and instead of the two hundred guineas, I wish you had taken as many thousands. Come, come, my boy, don't be shy of confessing to me: you are not now brought before one of the | me a small sum for that purpose; but he answered, 'Never mind that, man, e'en boldly run a levant,' [Partridge was going to inquire the meaning of that word, but Jones stopped his mouth;) 'but be circumspect as to the man. I will tip you the proper person, which may be necessary, as you do not know the town, nor can distinguish a rum cull from a queer one.' "The bill was now brought, when Watson paid his share, and was departing. I reminded him, not without blushing, of my having no money. He answered, That signifies nothing; score it behind the door, or make a bold brush, and take no notice. Or-stay,' says he; 'I will go down stairs first, and then do you take up my money, and score the whole reckoning at the bar, and I will wait for you at the corner.' I expressed some dislike at this, and hinted my expectations that he would have deposited the whole; but he swore he had not another sixpence in his pocket. "He then went down, and I was prevailed on to take up the money and follow | wards found, came not to the tavern to drink, but in the way of business; for the true gamesters pretended to be ill, and refused their glass, while they plied heartily two young fellows, who were to be after him, which I did close enough to hear him tell the drawer the reckoning was upon the table. The drawer passed by me up stairs; but I made such haste into the street, that I heard nothing of his disap-wards pillaged, as indeed they were without pointment, nor did I mention a syllable at the bar, according to my instructions. "We now went directly to the gamingtable, where Mr. Watson, to my surprise, pulled out a large sum of money, and placed it before him, as did many others; all of them, no doubt, considering their own heaps as so many decoy-birds, which were to entice and draw over the heaps of their neighbours. mercy. Of this plunder I had the good fortune to be a sharer, though I was not yet let into the secret. "There was one remarkable accident attended this tavern play; for the money by degrees totally disappeared; so that though at the beginning the table was half covered with gold, yet, before the play ended, which it did not till the next day, being Sunday, at noon, there was scarce a single guinea to be seen on the table; and this was the stranger, as every person present, except myself, declared he had lost; and what was become of the money, unless the devil himself carried it away, is difficult "Here it would be tedious to relate all the freaks which Fortune, or rather the dice, played in this her temple. Mountains of gold were, in a few moments, reduced to nothing at one part of the table, and rose as suddenly in another. The to determine." rich grew in a moment poor, and the poor as suddenly became rich; so that it seemed a philosopher could no where have so well instructed his pupils in the contempt of riches; at least he could no where have better inculcated the uncertainty of their duration. "For my own part, after having considerably improved my small estate, I at last entirely demolished it. Mr. Watson, too, after much variety of luck, rose from the table in some heat, and declared he had lost a cool hundred, and would play no longer. Then coming up to me, he asked me to return with him to the tavern; but I positively refused, saying, I would not bring myself a second time into such a dilemma, and especially as he had lost all his money, and was now in my own condition. Pooh,' says he, 'I have just borrowed a couple of guineas of a friend, and one of them is at your service.' He immediately put one of them into my hand, and I no longer resisted his inclination. "I was at first a little shocked at returning to the same house whence we had departed in so unhandsome a manner; but when the drawer, with very civil address, told us, 'he believed we had forgot to pay our reckoning, I became perfectly easy, and very readily gave him a guinea, bid him pay himself, and acquiesced in the unjust charge which had been laid on my memory. "Mr. Watson now bespoke the most extravagant supper he could well think of; and though he had contented himself with simple claret before, nothing now but the most precious Burgundy would serve his purpose. "Our company was soon increased by the addition of several gentlemen from the gaming-table; most of whom, as I after Most certainly he did,' says Partridge, 'for evil spirits can carry away any thing without being seen, though there were never so many folk in the room; and I should not have been surprised if he had carried away all the company of a set of wicked wretches, who were at play in sermon-time. And I could tell you a true story, if I would, where the devil took a man out of bed from another man's wife, and carried him away through the key-hole of the door. I have seen the very house where it was done, and nobody hath lived in it these thirty years.' Though Jones was a little offended by the impertinence of Partridge, he could not, however, avoid smiling at his simplicity. The stranger did the same, and then proceeded with his story, as will be seen in the next chapter. CHAPTER XIII. In which the foregoing story is farther continued. "My fellow-collegiate had now entered me in a new scene of life. I soon became acquainted with the whole fraternity of sharpers, and was let into their secrets; I mean, into the knowledge of those gross cheats which are proper to impose upon the raw and unexperienced; for there are some tricks of a finer kind, which are known only to a few of the gang, who are at the head of their profession; -a degree of honour heyond my expectati for drink, to which was immoderately addicted, and the natural warmth of my passions, prevented me from arriving at any great success in an art which requires as much coolness as the most austere school of philosophy. "Mr. Watson, with whom I now lived in the closest amity, had unluckily the for mer failing to a very great excess; so that, and was sergeant-surgeon to the king. He instead of making a fortune by his profes- had, moreover, many good qualities, and sion, as some others did, he was alternately was a very generous, good-natured man, rich and poor, and was often obliged to and ready to do any service to his felsurrender to his cooler friends, over a bottle low-creatures. He offered his patient which they never tasted, that plunder that he had taken from culls at the public table. "However, we both made a shift to pick up an uncomfortable livelihood; and, for two years, I continued of the calling; during which time I tasted all the varieties of fortune, sometimes flourishing in affluence, and at others being obliged to struggle with almost incredible difficulties. To-day wallowing in luxury, and to-morrow reduced to the coarsest and most homely fare. My fine clothes being often on my back in the evening, and at the pawn-shop the next morning. the use of his chariot to carry him to his inn, and, at the same time, whispered in his ear, 'That, if he wanted any money, he would furnish him.' "The poor man was not now capable of returning thanks for this generous offer; for having had his eyes for some time steadfastly on me, he threw himself back in his chair, crying, 'Oh, my son! my son!" and then fainted away. "Many of the people present imagined this accident had happened through his loss of blood; but I, who at the same time began to recollect the features of my father, was now confirmed in my suspicion, and satisfied that it was he himself who appeared before me. I presently ran to him, raised him in my arms, and kissed his cold lips with the utmost eagerness. Here I must draw a curtain over a scene which I cannot describe; for though I did not lose my being, as my father for a while did, my senses, were, however, so overpowered with affright and surprise, that I am a stranger to what passed during some minutes, and, indeed, till my father had again recovered from his swoon, and I found myself in his arms, both tenderly embracing each other, while the tears triekied apace down the cheeks of each "One night, as I was returning pennyless from the gaming-table, I observed a very great disturbance, and a large mob gathered together in the street. As I was in no danger from pickpockets, I ventured into the crowd, where, upon inquiry, I found that a man had been robbed, and very ill used, by some ruffians. The wounded man appeared very bloody, and seemed scarce able to support himself on his legs. As I had not, therefore, been deprived of my humanity by my present life and conversation, though they had left me very little of either honesty or shame, I immediately offered my assistance to the unhappy person, who thankfully accepted it, and, putting himself under my conduct, begged me to convey him to some tavern, "Most of those present seemed affected where he might send for a surgeon, being, by this scene, which we, who might be as he said, faint with loss of blood. He seemed, indeed, highly pleased with finding one who appeared in the dress of a gentleman; for as to all the rest of the company present, their outside was such that he could not wisely place any confidence in them. "I took the poor man by the arm, and led him to the tavern where we kept our rendezvous, as it happened to be the nearest at hand. A surgeon happening luckily to be in the house, immediately attended, and applied himself to dressing his wounds, which I had the pleasure to hear were not likely to be mortal. "The surgeon, having very expeditiously and dexterously finished his business, began to inquire in what part of the town the wounded man lodged; who answered, 'That he was come to town that very morning; that his horse was at an inn in Piccadilly, and that he had no other lodging, and very little or no acquaintance in town.' "This surgeon, whose name I have forgot, though I remember it began with an R, had the first character in his profession, of us. considered as the actors in it, were desirous At to my humanity, with which he professed | wisest heathens is little better than a dream, himself to be more delighted, than he and is indeed as full of vanity as the silliest should have been with my filial piety, if I had known that the object of all my care was my own father. "Vice had not so depraved my heart as to excite in it an insensibility of so much paternal affection, though so unworthily bestowed. I presently promised to obey his commands in my return home with him, as soon as he was able to travel, which indeed he was in a very few days, by the assistance of that excellent surgeon who had undertaken his cure. a "The day preceding my father's journey, (before which time I scarce ever left him,) I went to take my leave of some of my most intimate acquaintance, particularly of Mr. Watson, who dissuaded me from burying myself, as he called it, out of simple compliance with the fond desires of a foolish old fellow. Such solicitations, however, had no effect, and I once more saw my own home. My father now greatly solicited me to think of marriage; but my inclinations were utterly averse to any such thoughts. I had tasted of love already, and perhaps you know the extravagant excesses of that most tender and most violent passion." Here the old gentleman paused, and looked earnestly at Jones; whose counbuy a tenance, within a minute's space, displayed the extremities of both red and white. Upon which the old man, without making any observations, renewed his narrative. "Being now provided with all the necessaries of life, I betook myself once again to study, and that with a more inordinate application than I had ever done formerly. The books which now employed my time jester ever pleased to represent it. This is that divine wisdom which is alone to be found in the holy scriptures; for they impart to us the knowledge and assurance of things much more worthy our attention than all which this world can offer to our acceptance; of things which Heaven itself hath condescended to reveal to us; and to the smallest knowledge of which the highest human wit, unassisted, could never ascend. I began now to think all the time I had spent with the best heathen writers, was little more than labour lost; for, however pleasant and delightful their lessons may be, or however adequate to the right regulation of our conduct with respect to this world only; yet, when compared with the glory revealed in scripture, their highest documents will appear as trifling, and of as little consequence, as the rules by which children regulate their childish little games and pastime. True it is, that philosophy makes us wiser, but christianity makes us better men. Philosophy elevates and steels the mind; christianity softens and sweetens it. The former makes us the objects of human admiration, the latter of divine love. That insures us a temporal, but this an eternal happiness. But I am afraid I tire you with my rhapsody." 'Not at all,' cries Partridge; Lud forbid we should be tired with good things!' "I had spent," continued the stranger, "about four years in the most delightful manner to myself, totally given up to contemplation, and entirely unembarrassed with the affairs of the world, when I lost the best of fathers, and one whom I so entirely loved, that my grief at his loss exceeds all solely, were those, as well ancient as mo- description. I now abandoned my books, dern, which treat of true philosophy; -a and gave myself up for a whole month to word which is, by many, thought to be the the effects of melancholy and despair. subject only of farce and ridicule. I now Time, however, the best physician of the read over the works of Aristotle and Plato, with the rest of those inestimable treasures which ancient Greece had bequeathed to the world. "These authors, though they instructed me in no science by which men may promise to themselves to acquire the least riches or worldly power, taught me, however, the art of despising the highest acquisitions of both. They elevate the mind, and steel and harden it against the capricious invasions of fortune. They not only instruct in the knowledge of wisdom, but confirm men in her habits, and demonstrate plainly, that this must be our guide, if we propose ever to arrive at the greatest worldly happiness, or to defend ourselves, with any tolerable security, against the misery which every where surrounds and invests us. "To this I added another study, compared to which, all the philosophy taught by the mind, at length brought me relief."- Ay, Fortis, et in seipso totus teres atque rotundus, * Firm in himself, who on himself relies, Here Jones smiled at some conceit | afterwards to move both its hands and its which intruded itself into his imagination, legs. but the stranger, I believe, perceived it not, and proceeded thus: "An apothecary, who happened to be present among others, advised that the body, which seemed now to have pretty well emptied itself of water, and which began to have many convulsive motions, should be directly taken up, and carried into a warm bed. This was accordingly performed, the apothecary and myself attending. "As we were going towards an inn, for we knew not the man's lodgings, luckily a woman met us, who, after some violent screaming, told us, that the gentleman lodged at her house. "My circumstances were now greatly altered by the death of that best of men; for my brother, who was now become master of the house, differed so widely from me in his inclinations, and our pursuits in life had been so very various, that we were the worst of company to each other: but what made our living together still more disagreeable, was the little harmony which could subsist between the few who resorted to me, and the numerous train of sportsmen who often attended my brother from the field to the table; for such fellows, besides the noise and nonsense with which they persecute the ears of sober men, endeavour always to attack them with affront and contempt. This "I then went to visit him, intending to "When I had seen the man safely deposited there, I left him to the care of the apothecary; who, I suppose, used all the right methods with him; for the next morning I heard he had perfectly recovered his senses. was so much the case, that neither I my- search out, as well I could, the cause of his self, nor my friends, could ever sit down to having attempted so desperate an act, and a meal with them without being treated to prevent, as far as I was able, his pursuing with derision, because we were unacquaint- such wicked intentions for the future. I was ed with the phrases of sportsmen. For no sooner admitted into his chamber, than men of true learning, and almost universal knowledge, always compassionate the ignorance of others; but fellows who excel in some little, low, contemptible art, are always certain to despise those who are unacquainted with that art. we both instantly knew each other; for who should this person be, but my good friend Mr. Watson! Here I will not trouble you with what passed at our interview; for I would avoid prolixity as much as possible." -'Pray, let us hear all,' cries Partridge; 'I want mightily to know what brought him to Bath.' "You shall hear every thing material," answered the stranger; and then proceeded "In short, we soon separated, and I went, by the advice of a physician, to drink the Bath waters; for my violent affliction, added to a sedentary life, had thrown me into a kind of paralytic disor- to relate what we shall proceed to write, der, for which those waters are accounted after we have given a short breathing time an almost certain cure. The second day to both ourselves and the reader. after my arrival, as I was walking by the a river, the sun shone so intensely hot, (though it was early in the year,) that I retired to the shelter of some willows, and sat down by the river-side. Here I had not been seated long before I heard a person on the other side the willows sighing and bemoaning himself bitterly. On sudden, having uttered a most impious oath, he cried, 'I am resolved to bear it no longer,' and directly threw himself into the water. I immediately started, and ran towards the place, calling at the same time as loudly as I could for assistance. An angler happened luckily to be a fishing a little below me, though some very high sedge had hid him from my sight. He immediately came up, and both of us together, not without some hazard of our lives, drew the body to the shore. At first we perceived no sign of life remaining; but having held the body up by the heels, (for we soon had assistance enough,) it discharged a vast quantity of water at the mouth, and at length began to discover some symptoms of breathing, and a little CHAPTER XIV. In which the Man of the Hill concludes his history. "MR. Watson," continued the stranger, "very freely acquainted me, that the unhappy situation of his circumstances, occasioned by tide of ill luck, had in a manner forced him to a resolution of destroying himself. a "I now began to argue very seriously with him, in opposition to this heathenish, or indeed diabolical, principle of the lawfulness of self-murder; and said every thing which occurred to me on the subject; but to my great concern, it seemed to have very little effect on him. He seemed not at all to repent of what he had done, and gave me reason to fear he would soon make a second attempt of the like horrible kind. "When I had finished my discourse, instead of endeavouring to answer my arguments, he looked me steadfastly in the face, and with a smile, said, 'You are strangely altered, my good friend, since I remember |