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taken upon them to provide ample entertainment for all his majesty's Christian subjects who are in

clined to be tuneful.

The passage in the original language stands thus;

Κακοπαθεί τις ἐν ὑμῖν; πδοσευχέσθω : εὐθυμεῖ τις ;
Epist. Jac. c. 5. v. 13.

ψαλλέτω.

This probably is not the expression which would have been made use of, had the apostle intended to characterize sacred music, as there are other words more peculiarly adapted to such a meaning; and this is by the Greek authors promiscuously used for any sort of song; and among them by Anacreon, whose lyre was seldom tuned to psalmody, but in honour of deities whose worship did not admit of the serious or sublime. It is probable, therefore, that this expression refers only to the effect which harmony is known to produce, in softening the extravagance of joy, as well as the pangs of affliction; and that this may be ranked among those many errata, which in some measure pervert the original intention of these inimitable writings; undoubtedly. calculated to unite a simplicity adapted to the meanest capacities, with an elegance capable of pleasing the most refined.-C.

N° 29. MONDAY, JUNE 4, 1787.

Vir bonus est quis?

The good man is a quiz.

TO GREGORY GRIFFIN, Esq.

'MR. GREGORY GRIFFIN,

'I FIND, most unfortunately for myself, that I come under the denomination of a quiz. As it is your

peculiar province to apply the lash to the little world out of the library, it will be totally unnecessary to offer an apology for this letter, which it is my most earnest request, may be circulated, especially through the lower school, with all possible expedition.

But before I proceed, it may be thought necessary to give some description of a figure which my own conscience but too frequently informs me is not, at first sight, by any means agreeable.

I am now forty-nine years of age, and measure four feet eight inches in height. My usual dress is a dark wig without powder, a round gold laced hat, a light blue coat and waistcoat, a pair of black everlasting breeches, and a large muslin neckcloth, which, indeed, has lately been adopted by, and seems the constant ornament of, the macaronies of the age.

"In my childhood the nurse who took care, or rather who did not take care of me, let master Jacob (for that is my Christian name) fall upon the fender, which circumstance she, of course, concealed from my parents. Some time elapsed before the discovery was made, and all medical assistance was then ineffectual. The family surgeon looked very grave, and emphatically pronounced that the bones were distorted, and, although I was not yet an adult, it was by no means a recent injury; and there would be a gibbosity, a preternatural incurvation of the spina dorsi, for the remainder of my existence.

Notwithstanding, to please my mother, he gave me a steel machine, made to press principally upon the gibbous part, and afterward tried a cross and strengthening plaster of oxycroceum and opedeldock, but without effect.

'The boys in the village soon began to call me humpy, and in a very short time, I was dignified, by general consent, with the title of my Lord. My

father, judging perhaps that my companions at school might banter and make game of my personal defects, procured a clergyman to live in the house in the capacity of tutor; but being himself an excellent classic, he gave up much of his time to superintend the education of his only son. Notwithstanding his paternal fondness and good intentions, I have but too frequently since felt the disadvantage of not having early enjoyed a public introduction into the word. Had my ear been a little more accustomed to the word quiz, I should have no occasion now to intrude myself upon your notice. But for the sake of perspicuity, it will be necessary to finish the description of my person, before I enter into a detail of the grievances it has caused. It has been already prefaced, that I was doomed to have a hump-back; at the age of twenty-four a scrofulous humour disfigured a face not naturally resembling that of Adonis. A little time before I reached my twenty-fifth year, two fore-teeth were knocked out by a chamber-maid in Yorkshire, whom I, after having drank too much, attempted to kiss; and what made this circumstance much more painful, she had a little before, patiently, I might say willingly, submitted her lips to be saluted by a young officer, who was quartered at that time in the town. My nose soon after began to increase to an enormous size, and is now perfectly unnatural. You may see in it the colours of the rainbow; but red and purple are particularly conspicuous, and, like rivals, are plainly seen to contend for the superiority. In short, Sterne's trumpeter, when he entered Strasburgh, had a snub to mine in point of size, and an aquiline in point of beauty, for I exceed Bardolph, the knight of the burning lamp. 'Riding through Eton about a week ago, with my nose before me,

Nescio quid meditans, nugarum, et totus in illis.

'Meditating, indeed, on I know not what, I was awakened from my reverie by several provincial words, the meaning of which were to me at that time, almost unintelligible; although by the gestures which accompanied them, it was no difficult matter to discover that they were not intended by way of compliment, "There's a quiz! there's a good one! my God! what a Gig! what a tough one! Smoke his nose!"

'Notwithstanding I perceived that these expressions proceeded from several young Etonians, not one of whom had arrived at the age of thirteen, my indignation was foolishly roused. I longed for the trumpeter's sword, and in the first ebullitions of rage, idly made use of some very hasty expressions. It was lucky for both parties, but more especially for myself, that I had nothing in my hand but a small flexible switch. However, my anger was momentary; I soon collected all my lost philosophy, repeating those lines of Horace, to which theorists often have

recourse:

animum rege! qui nisi paret

Imperat: hunc frœnis, hunc tu compesce catena.

But it was too late, I had provoked the boys to resentment. Several now ran to the head of my beast.

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Nex Saxa, nec ullum

Telorum interea cessat genus.

Many pieces of mud and some stones were thrown, notwithstanding I advanced safe under cover of my nose, still quizzed and still pelted, till my quadruped arrived opposite the school-gate. I looked round for a master in vain : no black gown was to be seen. At length an arch boy, with dark brown hair, which hung in ringlets down his back, took up a thistle, which unfortunately lay in the road, and put it under my horse's tail. Can I with temper describe the fatal

catastrophe which ensued?-My long-tailed white steed, which is called Surrey, nervous and mettlesome to a degree, immediately began to plunge, putting his head between his legs, neighing, and doing I know not what besides. I strove strenuously to keep my seat-but

Who can control his fate?

Oh! vain boast,

'To be brief, my length was measured upon the ground, and I cut a place in the back part of my head, an inch and a half in length; my brown wig was full of blood, and my light blue coat was so stained, that I have never been able to cover my hump with it again. However, my ludicrous appearance was soon forgotten, and I was carried into a neighbouring shop. Many of the scholars crowded about, offering their services, which I knew not how to decline, though at first I feared to trust them; but the unfeigned humanity and attention that were now conspicious, soon convinced me their conduct was void of duplicity. Some of the larger boys, and one in particular, lifted up his hand to chastise the young criminal who had applied the thistle, but, upon my intercession, politely desisted. White Surrey, after being eased of his burden, had gallopped up Slough-road; however, he was brought safe back in a few minutes, my head was bound up, I remounted, and proceeded towards London.

'A sight of one of your periodical papers, induced me to address a letter to you, hoping, partly upon a public, and partly upon a private motive, that it may be perused within the walls of the college.

I am confident that you, Mr. Gregory Griffin, was not one of the spectators who beheld my downfal, or it would not have escaped immediate censure from so able a pen not that I would be thought one of those starch unconscionable gentlemen who expect to see

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