THE

OBSERVER.

NUMBER CIII.

I Do not know a man in England better received in the circles of the great than Jack Gayless. Though he has no one quality for which he ought to be respected, and some points in his character for which he should be held in detestation, yet his manners are externally so agreeable, and his temper generally so social, that he makes a holiday in every family where he visits. He lives with the nobility upon the easiest footing, and in the great houses where he is in the habits of intimacy, he knows all the domestics by name, and has something to say to every one of them upon his arrival: he has a joke with the butler at the side-board during dinner, and sets the footman a tittering behind his chair, and is so comical and so familiar-he has the best receipt book in England, and recommends himself to the cook by a new sauce, for he is in the secrets of the king's kitchen at Versailles: he has the finest breed of spaniels in Europe, and is never without a puppy at the command of a friend: he knows the theory of hunting from top to bottom, is always in with the hounds, can develope every hit in a check, and was never known to cheer a wrong dog in a cover, when he gives his tongue : if odd horse want an you to match your set, Jack is your man: and for a neat

travelling carriage, there is not an item that he will not superintend, if you are desirous to employ him; he will be at your door with it, when the builder brings it home, to see that nothing is wanting, he is so ready and so obliging: no man canvasses a county or borough like Jack Gayless; he is so pleasant with the freeholders, and has so many songs and such facetious toasts, and such a way with him amongst their wives and daughters, that flesh and blood cannot hold out against him: in short, he is the best leader of a mob, and of course the honestest fellow in England.'

A merchant's daughter of great fortune married him for love; he ran away with her from a boarding-school, but her father after a time was reconciled to his son-in-law, and Jack, during the life of the good man, passed his time in a small country-house on Clapham Common, superintending the concerns of about six acres of ground; being very expert however in the gardens and grape-house, and a very sociable fellow over a bottle with the citizen and his friends on a Satuday and Sunday, he became a mighty favourite: all this while he lived upon the best terms with his wife; kept her a neat little palfrey, and regularly took his airing on the common by her side in the most uxorious manner: she was in fact a most excellent creature, of the sweetest temper and mildest manners, so that there seemed no interruption to their happiness, but what arose from her health, which was of a delicate nature. After a few years the citizen died, and Jack, whose conviviality had given him a helping hand out of the world, found himself in possession of a very handsome sum of money upon casting up his affairs at his decease.

Jack Gayless having no further purpose to serve, saw no occasion to consult appearances any longer,

and began to form connexions, in which he did not think it necessary for his wife to have a share. He now set out upon the pursuit of what the world calls pleasure, and soon found himself in the company of those whom the world calls the great. He had the address to recommend himself to his new acquaintance, and used great despatchin getting rid of his old ones; his wife was probably his greatest incumbrance on this occasion; but Jack possessed one art in perfection, which stood him in great stead; he had the civillest way of insulting that could be imagined; and as the feelings of his wife were those of the fondest susceptibility, operating upon a weak and delicate constitution, he succeeded to admiration in tormenting her by neglect, at the same time that he never gave her a harsh expression, and in particular, when any body else was present, behaved himself towards her in so obliging a manner, that all his acquaintance set him down as the best tempered fellow living, and her as a lady, by his report, rather captious and querulential. When he had thus got the world on his side, he detached himself more and more from her society, and became less studious to disguise the insults he put upon her she declined fast in her health, and certain symptoms began to appear, which convinced Jack that a perseverance in his system would in a short time lay her in the grave, and leave him without any further molestation. Her habit was consumptive, for where is the human frame that can long resist the agony of the heart? in this extremity she requested the assistance of a certain physician, very eminent in these cases: this little gentleman has a way of hitting off the complaints of his patients, which is not always so convenient to those expectant parties, who have made up their minds and reconciled themselves to the call of nature. As

Jack had one object, and the doctor another, they did not entirely agree in their process, and she was sent down by her husband into a distant county for the benefit of the air, in a low situation and a damp house. Jack and the physician had now a scene of altercation, in which it was evident that the least man of the two had the greatest spirit and the largest heart, and Jack certainly put up with some expressions, which could only be passed over by perfect innocence or absolute cowardice: the little doctor, who had no objection to send Jack out of the world, and a very longing desire to keep his lady in it, spoke like a man who had long been in the practice of holding death at defiance; but what Jack lost in argument he made up in address, and after professing his acquiescence in the measures of his antagonist, he silently determined to pursue his own, and the doctor's departure was very soon followed by that of his patient. The dying wife made a feeble stand for a while, but what can a broken heart do against a hardened one?

After Jack had taken such zealous pains to overrule the doctor's advice, it is not to be supposed but he would have accompanied his wife to the place of her destination, if it had only been for the satisfaction of contemplating the effects of his own greater sagacity in her case: and he protested to her, in the kindest manner, that nothing should have robbed him of the pleasure of attending her on the journey, but the most indispensable and unexpected business: he had just then received letters from two friends, which would be attended with the greatest breach of honour, if neglected; and she knew his nicety of principle in those affairs; he would not read them to her, as she was in too weak a condition, he observed, to attend to business, but she might rest assured, he would, if possible, overtake her on the

way, or be with her in a few hours after her arrival; for he should be impatient to be a witness of her recovery, wnich he persuaded himself would soon take place, when she had made experiment of the place he had chosen for her. When he had finished his apology, his wife raised her eyes from the ground, where she had fixed them whilst he was speaking, and with a look of such mild languor, and such dying softness, as would almost have melted marble into pity, mournfully replied-farewel! and resigning herself to the support of her maid and a nurse, was lifted into her carriage, and left her husband to pursue his business without reproach.

Jack Gayless now lost no further time in fulfilling the promise he had made to his wife, and immediately began to apply himself to the letters which had so indispensably prevented him from paying her those kind offices, which her situation was in so much need of. These letters I shall now insert, as some of my readers may probably think he wants a justification on this occasion. The first was from a great lady of unblemished reputation, who has a character for public charity and domestic virtues, which even malice has not dared to impeach. Her ladyship was now at her country seat, where she presided at a table of the most splendid hospitality, and regulated a princely establishment with consummate judgment and decorum: in this great family Jack had long been a welcome visitor, and as he had received a thousand kindnesses at her hands, gratitude would dispose him to consider her requests as commands the most pressing. The important contents were as follow, viz.

'DEAR JACK,

'I am sorry your wife's so sick: but methinks you do well to change the scene, and come