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General O. is Brother in Blood and in Worth to one of the greatest and best Men of the Age and a brave Spirit is lodged in a large Perfon. The Man, who stood intrepid by his Majesty's Side in the glorious Day of Dettingen, and afterwards by that of his Royal Highness in the more unfortu nate one of Fontenoy, is now placed at the Head of a Troop of Horfe Grenadiers, to guard that Prince, whom he hath fo long and faithfully ferv ed. I have the Honour to be well known to him; and I once accidentally accompanied him to fee the Horses of his Troop. I never was more humbled, than when I walked with him among his tall Men, made ftill taller by their Caps. I seemed to myself a Worm and no Man; and could not but inwardly grieve, that when I had the fame Inclination to the Service of my Coun try and Prince, I wanted their Strength to perform it. As a Member of the Houfe of Com mons, I fometimes ufe the Precaution to place myself at some Distance from the General, though I am commonly of the fame Side of the House.

Lord D. is another brave Officer at the Head of one of his Majesty's Troops of Guards; one of the tallest of his Subjects; an ancient Peer; an able Senator; and (what is much to the Honour of any Peer) a useful Magistrate in the Country. I am always proud of meeting his Lordship at the Quarter Seffions; but I always take Care to have the Chairman at leaft between us on the Bench, that it may not be too visible to the Coun

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try, what a prodigious Disparity there is in every Refpe& between us,

But I will now divide my Text, in order to difcufs it more thoroughly; and will confider the natural Confequences of Bodily Deformity; first, how it affects the outward Circumstances; and laftly, what Turn it gives to the Mind.

ons.

It is certain, that the Human Frame, being warped and difproportioned, is leffened in Strength and Activity; and rendered less fit for its FunctiScarron had invented an Engine to take off his Hat; and I wish I could invent one to buckle my Shoe, or to take up a Thing from the Ground, which I can fcarce do without kneeling; for I can bend my Body no farther than it is bent by Nature. For this Reafon, when Ladies drop a Fan or Glove, I am not the first to take it up; and often restrain my Inclination to perform those little Services, rather than expofe my Spider-like Shape. And I hope it will not be conftrued as Pride, if I do not always rise from my Seat when I ought; for if it is low, I find some Trouble in it; and my Center of Gravity is fo ill placed, that I am often like to fall back. Things, hanging within the Reach of others, are out of mine. And what they can execute with Ease, I want Strength to perform. I am in Danger of being trampled upon, or stifled in a Crowd; where my Back is a convenient Lodgment for the Elbow of any tall Person that is near. I can fee nothing; and my whole Employment is to guard my Perfon. I have forborn to attend his Majesty in the House of

Peers

Peers, fince I was like to be fqueezed to death there against the Wall. I would willingly come thither when his Majefty commands, but he is too gracious to expect Impoffibilities. Befides, when I get in, I can never have the Pleasure of feeing, on the Throne, one of the beft Princes, who ever fat on it. These and many others are the Inconveniences continually attending a Figure like mine. They may appear grievous to Perfons not used to them; but they grow eafier by Habit; and though they may a little disturb, they are not fufficient to deftroy the Happiness of Life; of which, at an Average, I have enjoyed as great a Share as moft Men. And perhaps one Proof of it may be my writing this Effay; not intended as a Complaint against Providence for my Lot, but as an innocent Amusement to myself and others.

I cannot tell what Effect Deformity may have on the Health; but it is natural to imagine, that as the inward Parts of the Body muft, in fome measure, comply with the outward Mould; the Form of the latter being irregular, the first cannot be fo well placed and disposed to perform their Functions; and that generally deformed Perfons cannot be healthy or long-lived. "But this is a Question best determined by Facts; and in this Cafe the Inftances are too few, or unobferved, to draw a general Conclufion from them. And Health is, more than is commonly thought, in a Man's own Power; and the Reward of Temperance, more than the Effect of Conftitution; which makes it ftill more difficult to pafs a JudgE 3

ment

ment, fop could not be young when he died; and might have lived longer, if he had not been murdered at Delphi, The Prince of Orange fcarce paffed the Meridian of Life; and the Duke of Luxemburg died about the Age of fixty-seven. The Lord Treafurer Burleigh (the Honour of whofe Company I claim on the Authority of [n] Osborn) lived to feventy-eight; but his Son the Earl of Salifbury, who died about fifteen Years after him, could not reach near that Age. I have heard (but know not if it is true) that Mr. Pope's Father was deformed, and he lived to feventy-five; whereas the Son died in middle Age; if he may be faid to die, whofe Works are immortal, My Father was not deformed, but active, and my Mother a celebrated Beauty; and I that am fo unlike them, have lived to a greater Age; and daily fee my Ac quaintance, of a stronger Frame, quitting the Stage before me.

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But I leave it to better Naturalifts to deter mine, whether Deformity, abstractedly confidered, is prejudicial to Health; for in its Confequences, I believe, it is most commonly an Advantage. Deformed Perfons have a lefs Share of Strength than others, and therefore fhould naturally be more careful to preferve it; and as Temperance is the great prefervative of Health, it may incline them to be more temperate. I have Reafon, to think that my own weak Frame and Constitution have prolonged my Life to this prefent Date. But I fhould impofe upon my Rea

[n] See Hiftorical Memoirs of Q. Elizabeth, by Francis Ofborn, Esq.

der,

der, and affront Heaven, if I afcribed that to Virtue, which took its Rife from Neceffity. Being of a confumptive Difpofition, I was alarmed, when young, with frequent fpitting of Blood; this made me abftain from Wine, and all ftrong Liquors, which I have now done for near thirty Years. But

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By this I fell into another Misfortune; and the Stone was the Confequence of my drinking raw Water; but Care and Perfeverance with Abftinence, have so far fubdued that Distemper, that at present it is but little Interruption to my Eafe or Happiness. And weak as I am, I daily fee many dying before me, who were defigned by Nature for a much longer Life. And I cannot but lament, that the Generality of Mankind fo wantonly throw away Health (without which [o] Life is not Life) when it is fo much in their own Pow er to preferve it. If every Virtue in its Confequence is its own Reward, Temperance is eminently fo; and every one immediately feels its good Effect. And I am perfuaded that many might arrive at Cornaro's Age, if they did but follow his Example. On thinking upon this Subject, I have adopted many Maxims, which to the World will feem Paradoxes; as certain true Geographical Theorems do to thofe, who are unac

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[a] Non eft vivere, fed valere, vita. Mart. 1, vi Ep. 70.

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