was the first time that Jones lent any attention to the fuperftitious doctrines of his companion.

They had not gone above two miles, when a violent ftorm of rain overtook them; and as they hap pened to be at the fame time in fight of an alehoufe, Partridge tridge with much earneft entreaty, prevailed with Jones to o enter and weather the ftorm. Hunger is an enemy (1 (if indeed it an may be called one) which partakes more of the English than of the French difpofition; for though you fubdue this ever fo often, it will always rally again in time; and fo it did with Partridge, who was no fooner arrived within the kitchen, than he began to afk the fame queftions which he had asked the night before. The confequence of this was an excellent cold chine being produced upon the table, upon which, not only Partridge, but Jones himfelf, made a very hearty breakfast, though the lat ter began to grow again uneafy, as the people of the houfe could give him no fresh information concerning Sophia.

Their meal being over, Jones was again preparing to fally, notwithstanding the violence of the ftorm ftill continued; but Partridge begged heartily for another mug; and laft cafting his eyes on a lad at the fire, who had entered into the kitchen, and who at that inftant was looking as earneftly at him, he turned fuddenly to Jones and cried, Mafter, give me your hand, a fingle mug fhan't ferve the turn this bout. Why re's more news of Madam Sophia come to town. The boy there ftanding by the fire is the very lad that rode before her. I can fwear to my own plafter on his face Heavens blefs you, Sir,' cries the boy, i it is your own plafter fure enough; I fhall have always reafon to remember your goodnefs; for it hath almoft cured me.

here's

At thefe words Jones ftarted from his chair, and bidding the boy follow him, immediately departed from the kitchen into a private apartment; for fo delicate was he with regard to Sophia, that he never willingly mentioned her name in the prefence of many people; and though he had as it were, from the overRowings of bis heart, given Sophia as a toast among

the

the officers, where he thought it was impoffible, fhe fhould be known; yet even there the reader member how difficultly he was prevailed upon to mention her furname.

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Hard therefore was it, and perhaps, in the opinion of many fagacious readers, very abfurd and monftrous, that he should principally owe his prefent misfortune to the fuppofed want of that delicacy with which he fo abounded; for, in reality, Sophia was much more offended at the freedoms which the thought (and not without good reafon) he had taken with her name and character, than at any freedoms, in which, under his prefent circumftances, he had indulged himself with the perfon of another woman; and to lay truth, I believe Honour could never have prevailed on her to leave Upton without her feeing Jones, had it not been for thofe ftrong inftances of a levity in his be haviour, fo void of refpect, and indeed fo highly inconfiftent with any degree of love and tendernefs in great and delicate minds.

two

But fo matters fell out, and fo I muft relate them; and if any reader is fhocked at their appearing unna. tural, I cannot help it. I muft remind fuch perfons, that I am not writing a fyftem, but a hiftory, and I am not obliged to reconcile every matter to the received notions concerning truth and nature. But if this was ever fo eafy to do, perhaps it might be more prudent in me to avoid it. For inftance, as the fact at present before us now ftands, without any comment of mine upon it, though it may at firft fight offended fome readers, yet upon more mature confideration, it it muft please all; for wife and good men may confider, what happened to Jones at Upton as a just punishment for his wickedness, with regard to women, of which it indeed the immediate confequence; and filly and bad perfons may comfort themfelves, in their vices, by flatBering their own hearts that the characters of men are rather owing to accident than to virtue. Now perhaps the reflections, which we should be here inclined to draw, would alike contradict both thefe conclufions, and would fhew that thefe incidents contribute only to confirm the great, afeful, and uncommon doctrine, which

which it is the purpofe of this whole work to inculcate, and which we must not fill up our pages by frequently repeating, as an ordinary parfon fills his fermon by repeating his text at the end of every paragraph.

We are contented that it must appear, however unhappily Sophia had erred in her opinion of Jones, the had fufficient reafon for her opinion; fince I believe, every other young lady would, in her fituation, have erred in the fame manner. Nay, had the followed her lover at this very time, and had entered this very alehoufe the moment he had departed from it, fhe would have found the landlord as well acquainted with her name and perfon as the wench at Upton had appeared to be. For while Jones was examining his boy in whifpers in an inner-room, Partridge, who had no fuch delicacy in his difpofition, was in the kitchen very openly catechifing the other guide who had attended Mrs. Fitzpatrick; by which means the landlord, whofe ears were open on all fuch occafions, became perfectly well acquainted with the tumble of Sophia from her horfe, &c. with the miftake concerning Jenny Cameron, with the many confequences of the punch, and, in fhort, with almost every thing which had happened at the inn, where we difpatched our ladies in a coach and fix, when we laft took our leaves of them.

J

CHAP. IX.

Containing little more than a few odd obfervations.

ONES had been abfent a full half hour when he returned into the kitchen in a hurry, defiring the landlord to let him know that inftant what was to pay. And now the concern which Partridge felt at being obliged to quit the warm chimney corner, and a cup of excellent liquor, was fomewhat compenfated by hearing that he was to proceed no farther on foot, for Jones, by golden arguments, had prevailed with the boy to attend him back to the inn, whither he had before conducted Sophia; but to this however the lad confented, VOL. II.

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upon

upon condition that the other guide would wait for him at the alehoufe; because, as the landlord at Upton was an intimate acquaintance of the landlord at Gloucefter, it might fome time or other come to the ears of the latter, that his horfes had been let to more than one perfon; and fo the boy might be brought to account for money which he wifely intended to put in his own pocket.

We were obliged to mention this circumftance, trifling as it may feem, fince it retarded Mr. Jones a confiderable time in his fetting out; for the honesty of this latter boy was fomewhat high-that is, fomewhat high priced, and would indeed have cost Jones very dear, had not Partridge, who, as we have faid, was a very cunning fellow, artfully thrown in half a crown to be spent at that very alehoufe, while the boy was waiting for his companion. This half crown the landlord no fooner got fcent of, than he opened after it with fuch vehement and perfuafive outcry, that the boy was foon overcome, and confented to take half a crown more for his stay. Here we cannot help obferving, that as there is fo much of policy in the lowest life, great men often over-value themfelves on thofe refinements in impofture, in which they are frequently excelled by fome of the loweft of the human fpe

cies.

The horfes being now produced, Jones directly leapt into the fide faddle, on which his dear Sophia had rid. The lad indeed very civilly offered him the ufe of his; but he chofe the fide-faddle, probably because it was fofter. Partridge, however, though full as effeminate as Jones, could not bear the thoughts of degrading his manhood; he therefore accepted the boy's offer; and now Jones, being mounted on the fide-faddle of his Sophia, the boy on that of Mrs. Honour, and Partridge beftriding the third horfe, they fet forwards on their journey, and within four hours arrived at the inn where the reader hath already spent fo much time. Partridge was in very high fpirits during the whole way, and often mentioned to Jones the many good omens of his future fuccefs, which had lately befriended him; and which the reader, without being the leaft

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leaft fuperftitious, muft allow to have been peculiarly fortunate. Partridge was moreover better pleased with the prefent purfuit of his companion, than he had been with his purfuit of glory; and from thefe very omens, which affured the pedagogue of fuccefs, he likewise firft acquired a clear idea of the amour between Jones and Sophia; to which he had before given very little attention, as he had originally taken a wrong fcent concerning the reafons of Jones's departure; and as to what happened at Upton, he was too much frightened juft before and after his leaving that place, to draw any other conclufions from thence, than that poor Jones was a downright madman: a conceit which was not at all difagreeable to the opinion he before had of his extraordinary wildnefs, of which he thought, his behaviour on their quitting Gloucefter fo well juftified all the accounts he had formerly received. He was now however pretty well fatisfied with his prefent expedition, and henceforth began to conceive much worthier fentiments of his friend's understanding.

The clock had juft ftruck three when they arrived, and Jones immediately bespoke poft-horfes; but unluckily there was not a horfe to be procured in the whole place; which the reader will not wonder at, when he confiders the hurry in which the whole nation, and efpecially this part of it, was at this time engaged, when expreffes were paffing and repaffing every hour of the day and night.

Jones endeavoured all he could to prevail with his former guide to escort him to Coventry; but he was inexorable. While he was arguing with the boy in the inn yard, a perfon came up to him, and faluting him by his name, enquired how all the good family did in Somerfetfhire; and now Jones, cafting his eyes upon this perfon, prefently difcovered him to be Mr. Dow ling the lawyer, with whom he had dined at Gloucester, and with much courtefy returned his falutation.

Dowling very earnestly preffed Mr. Jones to go not further that night; and backed his folicitations with many unanswerable arguments, fuch as that it was almoft dark, that the roads were very dirty, and that he would be able to travel much better by day-light, with