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was due to public decorum, and that an example of feverity was requifite in point of policy, that other foreign minifters might be affured of the fafety of their perfons and property. The ftrictest fearch was therefore made to difcover the individuals who were guilty of the perfonal infults and indignities to the Ambaffador and to the ladies, without effect; but the heads of 300 perfons, Janiffaries and others, concerned in the riot, were cut off, and information of this bloody execu tion was fent to the Ambaffador, with a request to know if it would fatisfy him; to which he replied, that fo far as refpected his own perfon and family he was content; but that having fent difpatches to Vienna upon the fubje&t, he could fay no more till the

anfwer arrived. The courier, impatiently expected on both fides, at leng arrived, and brought fuch an answer as might well be expected. It contained no complaints against the Porte, for there were none to make; but an or; deg of recall to the Minifter, couched in terms that ftruck him to the heart; for he inftantly fell fick and died by his own hands, or a natural death, in a few days. His wife and daughters foon after returned in a private manner to Vienna, where the story of the young ladies had arrived long before them, and reprefented in fuch a light to the Emprefs Dowager, who was ftill living, and absorbed in devout exercifes, that they were ordered to retire to a convent, as parlour boarders, for the remainder of their days.

Ned Drowfy. A Story-By Mr Cumberland.

"A life from cares and bufinefs free, "Is of all lives the life for me?

ED DROWSY came into poffeffion

a

at a

when the humours and habits contracted by education, or more properly by the want of it, become too much a part of the conflitution to be conquered but by fome extraordinary effort or event. Ned's father had too tender a concern for his health and morals to admit him of a public school, and the fame objections held against an univerfity: Not that Ned was without his pretenfions to fcholarfhip, for it is well known that he has been fometimes found afleep upon his couch with a book open in his hand, which warrants a prefumption that he could read, though I have not met any body yet, who has detected him in the act itself. The literature of the nursery he held in general contempt, and had no more paffion for the feats of Jack the Giant-killer, when he was a child, than he had for the labours of Hercules in his more adult years I can witnefs to the deteftation, in which he held the popular allegory of the Pilgrim's Progrefs, and when he has been told of the many editions that book has run through, he has never failed to reply, that there is no accounting for the bad tafte of the vulgar:

At the fame time, I fpeak it to his hon our, I have frequently known him ex prefs a tender fellow-feeling for the Sleep

partiality, than he was apt to be guilty of, to the edifying story of the Seven Dreamers, whom I verily believe he held in more refpect than the Seven Wonders of the World.

Rural fports were too boifterous for Ned's fpirits; neither hares nor partridges could lay their deaths at his door, fo that all his country neighbours gave him their good word, and poached his manors without mercy: There was a canal in the front of his house, where he would fometimes take up with the placid amufement of angling from an alcove by the fide of it, with a fervant in attendance for the purpose of baiting his hook, or calling upon him to pull, if by chance he was furprized with a bite; happily for his repofe this very rarely was the cafe, though a tradition runs in the family of his having once fnapped an officious perch of extraordinary fize.

There was a learned practitioner in the law, one Mr Driver, who had a house in his parish, and him Ned appointed manager of his eftate; this worthy gen tleman was fo confiderate as feldom if ever to give him any trouble about his PP 2

accounts

accounts, well knowing his averfion from items and particulars, and the little turn he had to the drudgery of arithmetic and calculations. By the kind offices of Mr Driver, Ned was relieved from an infinite deal of difagreeable bufinefs, and Mr Driver himself fuddenly became a man of confiderable property, and began to take a lead in the country. Ned to gether with his eftate had fucceeded to a Chancery fuit, which was pending at the death of the late poffefor: This fuit was for a time carried on fo profperoufly by Mr Driver, that nothing more feemed requnite to bring it to a favourable iffue, than for Ned to make his appearance in Court for fome purpofes I am not able to explain: This was an undertaking fo infurmountable, that he could never be prevailed upon to fet a bout it, and the fuit was deferted accordingly. This fuit and the circunftance of a copper mine on his eftate, which his agent never could engage him to work, were the only things that ever difturbed his tranquillity, and upon these topics he was rather fore, till Mr Driver found it convenient to give up both points, and Ned heard no more of his Chancery fuit or his copper mine.

Thefe few traits of my friend's character will fuffice to make my readers acquainted with him before I relate the particulars of a vifit I paid him about three mouths ago. It was in compliance with the following letter, which I was favoured with from Mr Driver,

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"SIR,

"THESE are to inform you, that "Mr Drowly defires the favour of your "company at Poppy-Hall, which he has ordered me to notify to you, not doubting but you will take it in good part, as you well know how his hu "mour flands towards writing. He "bids me fay that he has fomething of confequence to confult you upon, of which more when we meet: Wifh"ing you health and a fafe journey, I re"main in all reafonable fervice,

"Your's to command, "DANIEL DRIVER." In confequence of this fummons I fet off for Poppy-Hall, and arrived there early in the evening of the fecond day. I found my friend Drowfy in company with my correfpondent the attorney, the reverend Mr Beetle curate of the parish, and two gentlemen, ftrangers to me, who, as I understood from Mr Driver, were Mr Sparkle fenior, an eminent auc

tioneer in London, and Billy Sparkle his fon, a city beau. My friend was in his eafy chair turned towards the fire; the reft were fitting round the table at fome diftance, and engaged, as I foon difrovered, in a very interefting converfation upon beauty, which my entrance for a while put a stop to. This intermiffion however lafted no longer than whilft Mr Drowfy paid his compliments to me, which he performed in few words, zfking me however if I came on horfeback, which having answered in the affirma tive, he fententiously observed, that he never rode. And now the elder Mr Sparkle refumed the converfation in the following manner-What I was going to obferve to you, when this gentleman came in, upon the article of beauty is peremptorily and precisely this: Beauty, gentlemen, is in the eye, I aver it to be in the eye of the beholder, and not in the object itself; my beauty for inftance is not your beauty, your's is not mine; it depends upon fancy and tafte, fancy and tafte are nothing but caprice: Á collection of fine women is like a collection of fine pictures; put them up to auction, and bidders will be found for every lot. But all bidders, cries the attorney, are not bona fide buyers; I believe you find many an article in your fales fent back upon the owner's hands, and fo it is with beauty; all, that is bidden for, is not bought in-Here the curate interpofed, and turning to his lay-brother of the pulpit, reminded him that beauty was like a flower of the field; here today, and gone to-morrow; whereas vir fcythe of time; virtue was an ever-green, tue was a hardy plant, and defied the and would bloom in the winter of life: virtue would flourish, when beauty was no more. I believe it feldom makes any confiderable fhoots till that is the cafe, cried Billy Sparkle, and followed up his repartee with a laugh, in which he was himfelf the only performer.-It is high time now, fays the attorney, directing his difcourfe to me, to make you acquainted with the business we are upon, and how we came to fall upon this topic of beauty. Your friend Mr Drowfy does not like the trouble of talking, and therefore with his leave I fhall open the cafe to you, as I know he wishes to take your opinion upon it-Here the attorney feeming to paufe for his cue, Drowi nodded his head and bade him go on. We are in confultation, rejoined he, upon a matter of no lefs moment than the choice of a wife for the gentleman in

that

that eafy chair. And if he is eafy in it, demanded I, what need he wish for more?-Alackaday! he has no heir, and till that event takes place, he is only ten ant for life fubject to empeachment of watte; he cannot be called master of his own eftate; only think of that, Sir. That was for him to do, I replied; how does Mr Drowfy himself think of it? I don't think much about it, answered Ned. And how ftands your mind towards matrimony?No anfwer.-There's trouble in it, added I. There is fo, replied he with a figh; but Driver fays I want an heir. There's trouble in that too, quoth I; have you any particular lady in your eye? That is the very point we are now upon, cried Mr Sparkle fenior; there are three lots up for Mr Drowfy or his friends to chufe from, and I only wait his fignal for knocking down the lot that he likes beft. This I could not perfectly understand in the terms of art, which Mr Sparkle made ufe of, and therefore defired he would exprefs himfelf in plain language. My father means to fay, cries Billy, there are three girls want hufbands, and but one man that wishes to be married. Hold your tongue, puppy, faid old Sparkle, and proceeded. You fhall know, Sir, that to accommodate Mr Drowly in the article of a wife and fave him the trouble of looking out for himself, we fome time ago put an advertisement in the papers; I believe I have a copy of it about me: Aye, here it is!

"WANTE D,

"A young, healthy, unmarried wo"man, of a difcreet character, as wife ❝ to a gentleman of fortune, who loves "his eafe and does not care to take upon himself the trouble of courtship: the "must be of a placid domeftic turn, and "not one that likes to hear herself talk. Any qualified perfon, whom this may fuit, by applying to Mr Sparkle auctioneer, may be informed of particulars. A fhort trial will be expected. "N. B. Maids of honour need not "apply, as none fuch will be treated es with.'

I told Mr Sparkle I thought the ad vertisement a very good one, and properly guarded, and I wifhed to know the refult of it: he faid, that very many applicants had prefented themselves, but for want of full credentials he had difmiffed all but three, whom I will again defcribe, added he, not only for your information, but in hopes Mr Drowfy will give fome attention to the catalogue,

which I am forry to fay has not yet been the cafe,

He then drew a paper of minutes from his pocket-book, and read as follows:

Katherine Cumming, fointer, aged "twenty-five, lodges at Gravefend in "the house of Mr Duffer, a reputable "flap-feller of that place, can have an "undeniable character from two gen"tlemen of credit, now abfent, but foon "expected in the next arrivals from "China: her fortune, which fhe ingeni"oully owns is not capital, is for the "prefent invefted in certain commodi"ties, which fhe has put into the hands "of the gentlemen above-mentioned, "and for which the expects profitable "returns on their arrival. This young "lady appeared with a florid blooming "complexion, fine long ringlets of dark

hair in the fashionable dishevel, eyes "uncommonly fparkling, is tall of ita"ture, ftrait and in good cafe. She "wore a locket of plaited hair flung in "a gold chain round her neck, and was "remarkably neat and elegant about the "feet and ancles: is impatient for a "speedy anfwer, as the has thoughts of "going out in the next fhips to India."

Let her go! cried Ned, I'll have nɔthing to fay to Kitty Cumming.-IT! bet a wager he is one of us, exclaimed the city beau, for which his father gave him a look of rebuke, and proceeded to the next.

"Agnes de Crapeau, daughter of a "French proteftant clergyman in the "Ifle of Jerfey, a comely young woman, "but of a pentive air and downcaft look; "lived as a dependent upon a certain "rich trader's wife, with whom her fi"tuation was very unpleasant; flattered "herfelf fhe was well practifed in fub"miffion and obedience, fhould con"form to any humours which the ad "vertifer might have, and, fhould he "do her the honour to accept her as "his wife, fhe would do her poffible "to please him with all humble duty, "gratitude, and devotion."

Ned Drowfy now turned himself in his chair, and with a figh whispered me in the ear, Poor thing! I pity her, but fhe won't do go on to the laft.

The lady I am next to describe, said Sparkle, is one of whom I can only speak by report, for as yet I have not fet eyes on her perfon, nor is fhe acquainted with a fyllable of thefe proceedings, be ing reprefented to me as a young woman, whofe delicacy would not fubmit to be the candidate of an advertisement. The

account

account I have had of her is from a friend, who, though a man of a particular way of thinking, is a very honest honourable perion, and one whofe word will pafs for thoufands: he called at my office one day, when this advertisement was laying on my desk, and cafting his eye upon the paper, asked me, if that filly jeft was my invention; I affured him it was no jeft, but a ferious advertisement; that the party was a man of property and honour, a gentleman by birth and principle, and one every wayqualified to make the married ftate happy. Hath he loft his understanding, faid my friend, that he takes this method of convening all the prostitutes about the town, or doth he confult his eafe fo much, as not to trouble himself whether his wife be a modeft woman or not? Humph! cried Ned, what fignifies what he faid? go on with your ftory. To make short of it then, refumed Sparkle, my friend grew ferious upon the matter, and after a confiderable time addressed himself to me as follows: If I was fatisfied your principal is a man, as you defcribe him, qualified by temper and difpofition to make an amiable and virtuous girl happy, I would fay fomething to you on the fubject; but as he chufes to be concealed, and as I cannot think of blindly facri ficing my fair charge to any man, whom fhe does not know and approve, there is an end of the matter. And why fo? exclaimed Ned with more energy than I had ever obferved in him; I fhould be glad to fee the gentleman and lady both; I should be glad to fee them.

At this inftant a fervant entered the room and announced the arrival of a ftranger, who wished to fpeak with the elder Mr Sparkle.'

My friend Ned Drowfy is a man, who hath indeed neglected nature's gifts, but not abufed them; he is void of vice, as he is of industry, his temper is ferene, and his manners harmless and inoffenfive; he is avaricious of nothing but of his eafe, and certainly poffe fles benevolence, though too indolent to put it into action: he is as fparing of his teeth as of his tongue, and whether it be that he is naturaily temperate, or that eating and drink ing are too troublesome, fo it is that he is very abftemious in both particulars, and having received the bleffings of a good conftitution and a comely perfon from the hand of Providence, he has not fquandered his talent, though he has not put it out to use.

Accordingly when I perceived him in

terefled in the manner I have related upon Mr Sparkle's difcourfe, and heard him give orders to his fervant to fhew the gentleman into the room, which he did in a quicker and more spirited tone than is ufual with him, I began to think that nature was about to ftruggle for her privileges, and fufpecting that this ftranger might perhaps have fome connection with Sparkle's incognita, I grew impatient for his appearance.

After a while the fervant returned and introduced a little fwarthy old man with fhort grey hair and whimfically drefledi having on a dark brown coat with a tarnished gold edging, black figured vel vet waiftcoat, and breeches of fcarlet cloth with long gold knee-bands, dangling down a pair of black filk flockings, which cloathed two legs not exactly caft in the mould of the Belvedere Apollo. He made two or three low reverences as he advanced, so that before Mr Sparkle could announce him by name, I had fet him down for an Ifraelite, all the world to nothing; but as foon as I heard the words, Gentlemen, this is my eworthy friend Mr Abraham Abrahams! I recog nized the perfon of an old correfpon dent, whom I once before had a glipmfe of, as he walked past my bookseller's door in Cornhill, and was pointed out to me from the fhop.

Mr Abrahams, not being a perfon, to whom nature had affixed her paifport, faying, Let this man have free ingrefs and egrefs upon my authority, made his firft approaches with all those civil affiduities, which fame people are conftrained to practise, who must first turn prejudice out of company, before they can fit down in it. In the prefent cafe, I flatter myself he fared fomewhat better for the whifper I gave my friend Ned in his favour, and filence after a fhort time having taken place in fuch a manner as feemed to indicate an expec tation in the company, that he was the perfon who was now to break it, he be gan, not without fome hesitation, to deliver himself in these words:

Before I take the liberty of addreffing the gentleman of the house, I wish to know from my friend Mr Sparkle, whether he has opened any hint of what has paffed between him and me relative to a certain advertisement; and if he has, I fhould next be glad to know, whether I have permiffion of the party concerned to go into the business.

Yes, Sir, cried Ned, fomewhat eager ly, Mr Sparkle has told me all that pas *Obferver, No. LXIV,

fed,

fed, and you have not only my free leave, but my earneft defire to fay every thing you think fit before thefe friends. Then, Sir, faid Abrahams, I fhall tell you a plain tale without varying a fingle tittle from the truth.

from my obfervation of her countenance, which the light of the lamp under which we were ftanding, difcovered to be of a moft affecting, modeft, and even dignified character

Sir, I honour you for your benevolence, cried Ned; pray proceed with your ftory.

As I was coming home from my club pretty late in the evening about five months ago, in turning the corner of a She led me up two pair of ftairs into harrow alley, a young woman coming a back apartment, where a woman was haftily out of the door of a house, and, in bed, pleading for mercy to a furlyfeizing hold of my hand, eagerly be looking fellow, who was calling out to fought me for the love of God to follow her to get up and be gone out of his her. I was ftartled, and knew not what houfe. I have found a fellow creature, to think of fuch a greeting; I could dif- faid my conductrefs, whofe pity will recern that fhe was young and beautiful, deem us from the clutches of one who and I was no adventurer in affairs of has none; be comforted, my dear mother, gallantry; the feemed indeed to be ex- for this gentleman has fome Chriftian ceedingly agitated and almost beside her charity in his heart. I don't know what felf, but I knew the profligate of that charity may be in his heart, cried the fel fex can fometimes feign diftrefs for very low, but he has fo little of the Chriftian wicked purposes, and therefore defired in his countenance, that I'll bet ten to to be excufed from going into any houfe one he is a Jew. Be that as it may, faid with her; if he would however advance I, a Jew may have feeling, and therefore a few paces I would hear what she had fay what these poor women are indebted to fay, and fo it was nothing but my cha- to you, and I will pay down the money, rity the folicited, I was ready to relieve if my pocket can reach it; if not, I be her: we turned the corner of the alley lieve my name, though it be a Jew's together, and being now in one of the name, will be good for the fum, let it be principal ftreets of the city, I thought I what it will. May God reward you, might fafely ftop and hear the petition cried the mother, our debt is not great, the had to make. As we ftood together though it is more than we have prefent under the eaves of a shop, the night he means to pay; we owe hut fix-anding rainy, fhe told me that the reason twenty fhillings to our hardened creditor ; fhe befought me to go into the house I believe I am right, Conftantia, (turning with her was in hopes the fpectacle of to her daughter) but you know what it is diftrefs, which would there prefent it correctly. That is the amount of it, refelf to my fight, might, if there was any plied the lovely Conftantia, for fuch the pity in my heart, call it forth, and pre- now appeared to me, as he was in the vail with me to ftop a deed of cruelty, act of fupporting her mother on the bolwhich was then in execution, by faving after with her arm under her neck. Take wretched object from being thruft into the streets in a dying condition for a small debt to her landlord, whom no entreaties could pacify. Bleffed God! I exclaimed, can there be fuch human monfters? Who is the woman? My mother, replied she, and burst into an agony of tears; if I would be what I may have appeared to you, but what I never can be even to fave the life of my parent, I had not been driven to this extremity, for it is refentment, which, actuates the brutal wretch no less than cruelty. Tho' I confefs myfelf not infenfible to fear, being as you fee no athelic, I felt fuch indignation rife within me at thefe words, that I did not hesitate for another moment about accompanying this unhappy girl to her houfe, not doubting the truth of what he had been telling me, as well from the manner of her relating it, as

your money, man, quoth I, receive what is your own, and let these helpless creatures lodge in peace one night beneath your roof; to-morrow I will remove them, if this infirm woman shall be able to endure it. I hope my house is my own anfwered the favage, and I don't defire to be troubled with them one night longer, no, nor even one hour.

Is this poffible? exclaimed Ned; are there fuch diftreffes in the world? what then have I been doing all this while? having fo faid, he fprung nimbly out of his eafy chair, took a hafty ftride or two across the room, rubbing his forehead as he walked, threw himself into an empty chair, which flood next to that in which Mr Abrahams was fitting, and begged him once more to proceed with his narrative.

With the help of my apothecary, who

lived

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