[Footnote 1: Will Wimble has been identified with Mr. Thomas Morecraft,
younger son of a Yorkshire baronet. Mr. Morecraft in his early life
became known to Steele, by whom he was introduced to Addison. He
received help from Addison, and, after his death, went to Dublin, where
he died in 1741 at the house of his friend, the Bishop of Kildare. There
is no ground for this or any other attempt to find living persons in the
creations of the 'Spectator', although, because lifelike, they were, in
the usual way, attributed by readers to this or that individual, and so
gave occasion for the statement of Pudgell in the Preface to his
'Theophrastus' that
'most of the characters in the Spectator were conspicuously known.'
The only original of Will Wimble, as Mr. Wills has pointed out, is Mr.
Thomas Gules of No. 256 in the 'Tatler'.]
[Footnote 2: begun]
* * * * *
No. 109. Thursday, July 5, 1711. Steele.
'Abnormis sapiens ...'
Hor.
I was this Morning walking in the Gallery, when Sir ROGER entered at the
End opposite to me, and advancing towards me, said, he was glad to meet
me among his Relations the DE COVERLEYS, and hoped I liked the
Conversation of so much good Company, who were as silent as myself. I
knew he alluded to the Pictures, and as he is a Gentleman who does not a
little value himself upon his ancient Descent, I expected he would give
me some Account of them. We were now arrived at the upper End of the
Gallery, when the Knight faced towards one of the Pictures, and as we
stood before it, he entered into the Matter, after his blunt way of
saying Things, as they occur to his Imagination, without regular
Introduction, or Care to preserve the Appearance of Chain of Thought.
'It is, said he, worth while to consider the Force of Dress; and how
the Persons of one Age differ from those of another, merely by that
only. One may observe also, that the general Fashion of one Age has
been followed by one particular Set of People in another, and by them
preserved from one Generation to another. Thus the vast jetting Coat
and small Bonnet, which was the Habit in _Harry_ the Seventh's Time,
is kept on in the Yeomen of the Guard; not without a good and politick
View, because they look a Foot taller, and a Foot and an half broader:
Besides that the Cap leaves the Face expanded, and consequently more
terrible, and fitter to stand at the Entrance of Palaces.
This Predecessor of ours, you see, is dressed after this manner, and
his Cheeks would be no larger than mine, were he in a Hat as I am. He
was the last Man that won a Prize in the Tilt-Yard (which is now a
Common Street before _Whitehall_. [1]) You see the broken Lance that
lies there by his right Foot; He shivered that Lance of his Adversary
all to Pieces; and bearing himself, look you, Sir, in this manner, at
the same time he came within the Target of the Gentleman who rode
against him, and taking him with incredible Force before him on the
Pommel of his Saddle, he in that manner rid the Turnament over, with
an Air that shewed he did it rather to perform the Rule of the Lists,
than expose his Enemy; however, it appeared he knew how to make use of
a Victory, and with a gentle Trot he marched up to a Gallery where
their Mistress sat (for they were Rivals) and let him down with
laudable Courtesy and pardonable Insolence. I don't know but it might
be exactly where the Coffee-house is now.
You are to know this my Ancestor was not only of a military Genius,
but fit also for the Arts of Peace, for he played on the Base-Viol as
well as any Gentlemen at Court; you see where his Viol hangs by his
Basket-hilt Sword. The Action at the Tilt-yard you may be sure won the
fair Lady, who was a Maid of Honour, and the greatest Beauty of her
Time; here she stands, the next Picture. You see, Sir, my Great Great
Great Grandmother has on the new-fashioned Petticoat, except that the
Modern is gather'd at the Waste; my Grandmother appears as if she
stood in a large Drum, whereas the Ladies now walk as if they were in
a Go-Cart. For all this Lady was bred at Court, she became an
Excellent Country-Wife, she brought ten Children, and when I shew you
the Library, you shall see in her own Hand (allowing for the
Difference of the Language) the best Receipt now in _England_ both for
an Hasty-pudding and a White-pot.[2]
If you please to fall back a little, because 'tis necessary to look at
the three next Pictures at one View; these are three Sisters. She on
the right Hand, who is so very beautiful, died a Maid; the next to
her, still handsomer, had the same Fate, against her Will; this homely
thing in the middle had both their Portions added to her own, and was
stolen by a neighbouring Gentleman, a Man of Stratagem and Resolution,
for he poisoned three Mastiffs to come at her, and knocked down two
Deer-stealers in carrying her off. Misfortunes happen in all Families:
The Theft of this Romp and so much Mony, was no great matter to our
Estate. But the next Heir that possessed it was this soft Gentleman,
whom you see there: Observe the small Buttons, the little Boots, the
Laces, the Slashes about his Cloaths, and above all the Posture he is
drawn in, (which to be sure was his own choosing;) you see he sits
with one Hand on a Desk writing, and looking as it were another way,
like an easy Writer, or a Sonneteer: He was one of those that had too
much Wit to know how to live in the World; he was a Man of no Justice,
but great good Manners; he ruined every Body that had any thing to do
with him, but never said a rude thing in his Life; the most indolent
Person in the World, he would sign a Deed that passed away half his
Estate with his Gloves on, but would not put on his Hat before a Lady
if it were to save his Country. He is said to be the first that made
Love by squeezing the Hand. He left the Estate with ten thousand
Pounds Debt upon it, but however by all Hands I have been informed
that he was every way the finest Gentleman in the World. That Debt lay
heavy on our House for one Generation, but it was retrieved by a Gift
from that honest Man you see there, a Citizen of our Name, but nothing
at all a-kin to us. I know Sir ANDREW FREEPORT has said behind my
Back, that this Man was descended from one of the ten Children of the
Maid of Honour I shewed you above; but it was never made out. We
winked at the thing indeed, because Mony was wanting at that time.'
Here I saw my Friend a little embarrassed, and turned my Face to the
next Portraiture.
Sir ROGER went on with his Account of the Gallery in the following
Manner.
'This Man (pointing to him I looked at) I take to be the Honour of our
House. Sir HUMPHREY DE COVERLEY; he was in his Dealings as punctual as
a Tradesman, and as generous as a Gentleman. He would have thought
himself as much undone by breaking his Word, as if it were to be
followed by Bankruptcy. He served his Country as Knight of this Shire
to his dying Day. He found it no easy matter to maintain an Integrity
in his Words and Actions, even in things that regarded the Offices
which were incumbent upon him, in the Care of his own Affairs and
Relations of Life, and therefore dreaded (tho' he had great Talents)
to go into Employments of State, where he must be exposed to the
Snares of Ambition. Innocence of Life and great Ability were the
distinguishing Parts of his Character; the latter, he had often
observed, had led to the Destruction of the former, and used
frequently to lament that Great and Good had not the same
Signification. He was an excellent Husbandman, but had resolved not to
exceed such a Degree of Wealth; all above it he bestowed in secret
Bounties many Years after the Sum he aimed at for his own Use was
attained. Yet he did not slacken his Industry, but to a decent old Age
spent the Life and Fortune which was superfluous to himself, in the
Service of his Friends and Neighbours.'
Here we were called to Dinner, and Sir ROGER ended the Discourse of this
Gentleman, by telling me, as we followed the Servant, that this his
Ancestor was a brave Man, and narrowly escaped being killed in the Civil
Wars;
'For,' said he, 'he was sent out of the Field upon a private Message,
the Day before the Battel of _Worcester_.'
The Whim of narrowly escaping by having been within a Day of Danger,
with other Matters above-mentioned, mixed with good Sense, left me at a
Loss whether I was more delighted with my Friend's Wisdom or Simplicity.