he ufurped a freedom with his betters, to which he was by no means intitled.

As the converfation of fellows of this kind, is of all others the most deteftable to men of any fenfe, the cloth was no fooner removed than Mr. Jones with. drew, and a little barbarously left poor Mrs. Whitefield to do a penance, which I have often heard Mr. Timothy Harris, and other publicans of good tafle, lament, as the fevereft lot annexed to their calling, namely, that of being obliged to keep company with their guests.

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Jones had no fooner quitted the room, than the petty-fogger in a whispering tone, afked Mrs. Whitefield, if she knew who that fine fpark was?' She anfwered, fhe had never feen the gentleman before.' The gentleman, indeed!' replied the petty-fogger; a pretty gentleman truly! Why, he's the baftard of fellow who was hanged for horfc-lealing. He 'was dropt at 'fquire Allworthy's door, where one of the fervants found him in a box fo full of rainwater, that he would certainly have been drowned, had he not been referved for another fate.' Ay, ay, you need not mention it, I proteft; we underftand what that fate is very well,' cries Dowling, with a moft facetious grin. Well,' continued the other, the 'fquire ordered him to be taken in: for 'he is a timbersome man every body knows, and was afraid of drawing himself into a fcrape; and 'there the baftard was bred up and fed and cloathified all to the world like any gentleman; and there ' he got one of the fervant maids with child, and perfuaded her to fwear it to the 'fquire himfelf; and ' afterwards he broke the arm of one Mr. Thwackum a clergyman, only because he reprimanded him for following whores; and afterwards he fnapt a piftol at Mr. Blifil behind his back; and once when 'fquire Allworthy was fick, he got a drum, and beat it all over the house, to prevent him from fleeping; and twenty other pranks he hath played; for all which,' about four or five days ago, juft before I left the country, the 'fquire ftripp'd him stark naked, and 'turned him out of doors.'

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And very juftly too, I proteft,' cries Dowling; I would turn my own fon out of doors, if he was guilty of half as much. And pray what is the name of this pretty gentleman?'

The name o'un!' anfwered the petty-fogger,

· why, he is called Thomas Jones.'

Jones' anfwered Dowling, a little eagerly, what, Mr. Jones that lived at Mr. Allworthy's! was that the gentleman that dined with us?' The

very fame,' faid the other, I have heard of the gentleman,' cries Dowling, often; but I never And I am fure,'

heard any ill character of him.'

fays Mrs. Whitefield, if half what this gentleman hath faid be true, Mr. Jones hath the most deceitful countenance I ever faw; for fure his looks pro• mise fomething very different; and I must say, for the little I have feen of him, he is as civil a wellbred man as you would with to converfe with.'

The petty-fogger calling to mind that he had not been fworn, as he ufually was, before he gave his evidence, now bound what he had declared with fo many oaths and imprecations, that the landlady's ears were fhocked, and fhe put a stop to his fwearing, by affuring him of her belief. Upon which he said, 'I hope, Madam, you imagine I would fcorn to tell fuch things of any man unless I knew them to be true. What interest have I in taking away the reputation of a man who never injured me? I promife you every fyllable of what I have faid is fact, and the whole country knows it.'

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As Mrs. Whitefield had no reason to suspect that the petty-fogger had any motive or temptation to abufe Jones, the reader cannot blame her for believ ing what he fo confidently affirmed with many oaths. She accordingly gave up her fkill in phyfiognomy, and hence forwards conceived fo ill an opinion of her guest, that the heartily wifhed him out of her houfe.

This diflike was now farther increafed by a report which Mr. Whitefield made from the kitchen, where Partridge had informed the company, That though he carried the knapfack, and contented himself with ftaying among fervants, while Tom Jones (as he cal

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led him) was regaling in the parlour, he was not his fervant, but only a friend and companion, and as good a gentleman as Mr. Jones himself."

Dowling fat all this while filent, biting his fingers, making faces, grinning, and looking wonderfully arch; at last he opened his lips, and protested that the gentleman looked like another fort of man. He then called for his bill with the utmost hafte, declared he must be at Hereford that evening, lamented his great hurry of bufinefs, and wifhed he could divide himself into twenty pieces, in order to be at once in twenty places.

The petty-fogger now likewife departed, and then Jones defired the favour of Mrs. Whitefield's company to drink tea with him; but she refufed, and with a manner fo different from that with which she had received him at dinner, that it a little furprized him. And now he foon perceived her behaviour totally changed; for instead of that natural affability which we have before celebrated, fhe wore a confrained feverity on her countenance, which was fo difagreeable to Mr. Jones, that he refolved however late to quit the houfe that evening.

He did indeed account fomewhat unfairly for this fudden change; for befides fome hard and unjuft furmifes concerning female ficklenefs and mutability, he began to fufpect that he owed this want of civility to his want of horfes; a fort of animals which, as they dirty no fheets, are thought, in inns, to pay better for their beds than their riders, and are therefore confidered as the more defirable company; but Mrs. Whitefield, to do her juftice, had a much more liberal way of thinking. She was perfectly well-bred, and could be very civil to a gentleman, though he walked on foot. In reality, he looked on our hero as a forry fcoundrel, and therefore treated him as fuch, for which not even Jones himself. had he known as much as the reader, could have blamed her; nay, on the contrary, he must have approved her conduct, and have efteemed her the more for the difrefpect fhewn towards himself. This is indeed a moft aggravating circumstance which attends depriving men unjustly VÓL. VIII.

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of their reputation; for a man who is confcious of having an ill character, cannot juftly be angry with thofe who neglect and flight him but ought rather to despise such as affect his converfation, unlefs where a perfect intimacy muft have convinced them that their friend's character hath been falfely and injurioufly afperfed.

This was not, however, the cafe of Jones; for as he was a perfect stranger to the truth, fo he was with good reafon offended at the treatment he received. He therefore paid his reckoning and departed, highly against the will of Mr. Partridge, who having remonfirated much against it to no purpose, at last condefcended to take up his knapsack, and to attend his friend.

CHA P. IX.

Containing feveral dialogues between Jones and Partridge, concerning love, cold, hunger, and other matters; with the lucky and narrow escape of Partridge, as he was on the very brink of making a fatal difcovery to his friend.

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HE fhadows began now to defcend larger from the high mountains: the feathered creation had betaken themselves to their rest. Now the highest order of mortals were fitting down to their dinners, and the loweft order to their fuppers. In a word, the clock ftruck five just as Mr. Jones took his leave of Gloucester; an hour at which (as it was now mid-winter) the dirty fingers of night would have drawn her fable curtain over the universe, had not the moon forbid her, who now, with a face as broad and as red as those of some jolly mortals, who, like her, turn night into day, began to rife from her bed, where she had flumbered away the day, in order to fit up all night, Jones had not travelled far before he paid his compliments to that beautiful planet, and turning to his companion, asked him, if he had ever beheld fo delicious an evening. Partridge making no ready anfwer to his queftion, he proceed

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ed to comment on the beauty of the moon, and repeated fome paffages from Milton, who hath certains ly excelled all other poets in his defcription of the heavenly luminaries. He then told Partridge the ftory from the Spectator, of two lovers who had agreed to entertain themfelves when they were at a great diftance from each other, by repairing, at a certain fixed hour, to look at the moon; thus pleafing themfelves with the thought that they were both employed in contemplating the fame object at the fame time. Thofe lovers,' added he, must have had fouls truly capable of feeling all the tendernefs of the fublimeft of all human paflions.' Very 'probably,' cries Partridge: but I envy them more, if they had bodies incapable of feeling, 'cold; for I am almoft frozen to death, and am very much afraid I fhall lofe a piece of my nofe 'before we get to another house of entertainment. Nay, truly, we may well expect fome judgment 'fhould happen to us for our folly in running away fo by night from one of the most excellent inns I ever fet my foot into. I am fure I never faw more good things in my life, and the greatest lord in the 'land cannot live better in his own houfe than he may ⚫ there. And to forfake fuch a houfe, and go a rambling about the country, the Lord knows whither, per devia rura viarum, I fay nothing for my part; but fome people might not have charity enough to 'conclude we were in our fober fenfes.' Fie up-.

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on it, Mr. Partridge,' fays Jones, have a better heart: confider you are going to face an enemy, and are you afraid of facing a little cold? I with,. ' indeed, we had a guide to advife which of thefe 'roads we fhould take.' May I be fo bold,' fays Partridge, to offer my advice: Interdum ftultus opportuna loquitur. Why, which of them,' cries Jones, 'would you recommend!' Truly neither of them,' anfwered Partridge. The only road we, can be certain of finding, is the road we came. A good hearty pace will bring us back to Gloucefter in an hour; but if we go forward, the Lord Harry knows when we fhall arrive at any place;.

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