_Most Londoners are mistaken when they think that they have Wit enough
to impose upon Countrymen._
This Error chiefly proceeds from the outward Appearance of Countrymen, when
they arrive at the Metropolis. They are struck with the Grandeur of the
Place, and on that Account keep their Heads up in the Air, as if they were
contemplating some Phoenomenon in the Heavens. Then their Cloaths, being
calculated for Strength and Wear, are spun thick, which gives them a stiff,
awkward Gait, and this is not a little augmented by the robust Labour which
they daily undergo, and the great Burthens, of different Sorts, which they
are continually obliged to bear, through the Course of their Farming
Business. This Aukwardness, joined to an Absence, which the Contemplation
of any Thing fine is sure to beget, makes high Diversion for the Londoners,
and they are apt to put many Tricks upon them, as Clowns, which the
Countrymen (being Strangers to the Place) easily fall into; upon which
Account, those Urban Mobility, are apt to tax them with Want of Quickness
of Apprehension.
But, O _Cives!_ let us first examine into the real State of the Case, and
make a little Allowance for Robin's Parallax, before we are too hard upon
his Abilities. I tell thee, your right Clown is the sharpest Fellow in the
World; and if thou hadst any Dealings with him in his own Way, thou
wouldest soon find him so, to thy Cost. If he came from _Yerkshire_, thou
wouldest have no Chance with him, And we humbly conceive, that it is upon
this Account that Countrymen have the Name of Clowns given them: For we
take the Original Meaning of a Clown to be, one who is a quick, bright,
witty Fellow, who puts on the Appearance of Folly, while his Head is at
Work to deceive you. Such as these were Shakespeare's Clowns, who knew the
Meaning of the Word too well to make Fools of them. These were the Fellows
that he has employed, when there was any Business to dispatch, which
required more than ordinary Address and Secresy in the Management of it,
and who were to make Diversion to crowned Heads by the Sprightliness of
their Wit. So that we apprehend the Word Clown, in it's original Meaning,
does not signify an aukward Lout, but a bright, quick Fellow, who does more
by his natural Parts, than by the Help of Education. From hence it was that
Countrymen came to be called Clowns. They were found, upon Examination, to
be much brighter and sharper than they appeared to be at first Sight.
We have a true Specimen of one of these Kind of Geniuses, in _The Journey
to London_, in the Character of John Moody; who, though he was bewildered
in the Hurry and Bustle of London, and broke his Coach, and lost his
Monkey, yet we find John has Sense enough to make just Observations upon
his Master's Conduct, as well as his Mistress's; and, no Doubt, had John
been a real Character, instead of a fictitious one, he would have wished in
his Heart, that he had had the Offender, who broke his Coach, before his
Master as a Justice of the Peace, at his own Quarter Sessions in the
Borough of Guzzledown; for if he had once got him there, whether the
Accident which befel the Carriage, was occasioned by his own aukward
driving on the wrong Side of the Street, or whether the Fellow did it on
Purpose, would have been all one in the Borough of Guzzledown. The Breaking
his Worship's Coach, would have been sufficient to have had him sent to
Limbo.
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