I remain, &c.

I shall add to the foregoing Letter, another which came to me by the

same Penny-Post.

From my own Apartment near Charing-Cross.

Honoured Sir,

'Having heard that this Nation is a great Encourager of Ingenuity, I

have brought with me a Rope-dancer that was caught in one of the Woods

belonging to the Great _Mogul_. He is by Birth a Monkey; but swings

upon a Rope, takes a pipe of Tobacco, and drinks a Glass of Ale, like

any reasonable Creature. He gives great Satisfaction to the Quality;

and if they will make a Subscription for him, I will send for a

Brother of his out of _Holland_, that is a very good Tumbler, and also

for another of the same Family, whom I design for my Merry-Andrew, as

being an excellent mimick, and the greatest Drole in the Country where

he now is. I hope to have this Entertainment in a Readiness for the

next Winter; and doubt not but it will please more than the Opera or

Puppet-Show. I will not say that a Monkey is a better Man than some of

the Opera Heroes; but certainly he is a better Representative of a

Man, than the most artificial Composition of Wood and Wire. If you

will be pleased to give me a good Word in your paper, you shall be

every Night a Spectator at my Show for nothing.

The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays · 第 94 / 351 题