A man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of
his own heart; his next, to escape the censures of the
world. If the last interferes with the former, it ought to
be entirely neglected; but otherwise there cannot be a (15)
greater satisfaction to an honest mind than to see those
approbations which it gives itself seconded by the applauses
of the public. A man is more sure of his conduct
when the verdict which he passes upon his own behaviour
is thus warranted and confirmed by the opinion of all (20)
that know him.
My worthy friend Sir Roger is one of those who is not
only at peace within himself, but beloved and esteemed
by all about him. He receives a suitable tribute for his
universal benevolence to mankind in the returns of affection
and good-will which are paid him by every one that (144: 5)
lives within his neighbourhood. I lately met with two or
three odd instances of that general respect which is shown
to the good old knight. He would needs carry Will
Wimble and myself with him to the county assizes. As
we were upon the road, Will Wimble joined a couple of (10)
plain men who rid before us, and conversed with them for
some time; during which my friend Sir Roger acquainted
me with their characters.
"The first of them," says he, "that has a spaniel by
his side, is a yeoman of about an hundred pounds a year, (15)
an honest man. He is just within the Game Act and
qualified to kill an hare or a pheasant. He knocks down
a dinner with his gun twice or thrice a week; and by that
means lives much cheaper than those who have not so
good an estate as himself. He would be a good neighbour (20)
if he did not destroy so many partridges; in short, he is
a very sensible man, shoots flying,[110] and has been several
times foreman of the petty jury.
[110] Shoots birds on the wing.
"The other that rides along with him is Tom Touchy,
a fellow famous for taking the law of everybody. There (25)
is not one in the town where he lives that he has not sued
at a quarter sessions. The rogue had once the impudence
to go to law with the widow. His head is full of costs,
damages, and ejectments; he plagued a couple of honest
gentlemen so long for a trespass in breaking one of his
hedges, till[111] he was forced to sell the ground it enclosed
to defray the charges of the prosecution. His father left
him fourscore pounds a year, but he has cast and been (145: 5)
cast[112] so often that he is not now worth thirty. I suppose
he is going upon the old business of the willow tree."
[111] Modern idiom demands "that."
[112] Won and lost his case.
As Sir Roger was giving me this account of Tom
Touchy, Will Wimble and his two companions stopped
short till we came up to them. After having paid their (10)
respects to Sir Roger, Will told him that Mr. Touchy and
he must appeal to him upon a dispute that arose between
them. Will, it seems, had been giving his fellow-traveller
an account of his angling one day in such a hole; when
Tom Touchy, instead of hearing out his story, told him (15)
that Mr. Such-an-one, if he pleased, might take the law
of him for fishing in that part of the river. My friend
Sir Roger heard them both, upon a round trot; and, after
having paused some time, told them, with the air of a man
who would not give his judgment rashly, that much might (20)
be said on both sides. They were neither of them dissatisfied
with the knight's determination, because neither of
them found himself in the wrong by it. Upon which we
made the best of our way to the assizes.
The court was sat before Sir Roger came; but notwithstanding (25)
all the justices had taken their places upon the
bench, they made room for the old knight at the head of
them; who, for his reputation in the country, took occasion
to whisper in the judge's ear that he was glad his
lordship had met with so much good weather in his circuit.
I was listening to the proceeding of the court with
much attention, and infinitely pleased with that great (146: 5)
appearance and solemnity which so properly accompanies
such a public administration of our laws, when, after about
an hour's sitting, I observed, to my great surprise, in the
midst of a trial, that my friend Sir Roger was getting up
to speak. I was in some pain for him, till I found he (10)
had acquitted himself of two or three sentences with a
look of much business and great intrepidity.
Upon his first rising, the court was hushed, and a general
whisper ran among the country people that Sir Roger
was up. The speech he made was so little to the purpose (15)
that I shall not trouble my readers with an account of it;
and I believe was not so much designed by the knight
himself to inform the court, as to give him a figure in my
eye, and keep up his credit in the country.
I was highly delighted, when the court rose, to see the (20)
gentlemen of the country gathering about my old friend,
and striving who should compliment him most; at the
same time that the ordinary people gazed upon him at a
distance, not a little admiring his courage, that was not
afraid to speak to the judge. (25)
In our return home we met with a very odd accident
which I cannot forbear relating, because it shows how
desirous all who know Sir Roger are of giving him marks
of their esteem. When we arrived upon the verge of his
estate, we stopped at a little inn to rest ourselves and our
horses. The man of the house had, it seems, been formerly
a servant in the knight's family; and, to do honour
to his old master, had some time since, unknown to Sir
Roger, put him up in a sign-post before the door; so that (147: 5)
the knight's head had hung out upon the road about a
week before he himself knew anything of the matter. As
soon as Sir Roger was acquainted with it, finding that
his servant's indiscretion proceeded wholly from affection
and good-will, he only told him that he had made him (10)
too high a compliment; and when the fellow seemed to
think that could hardly be, added with a more decisive
look, that it was too great an honour for any man under
a duke; but told him at the same time that it might be
altered with a very few touches, and that he himself (15)
would be at the charge of it. Accordingly they got a
painter, by the knight's directions, to add a pair of whiskers
to the face, and by a little aggravation of the features
to change it into the Saracen's Head. I should not have
known this story had not the innkeeper, upon Sir Roger's (20)
alighting, told him in my hearing that his honour's head
was brought back last night with the alterations that he
had ordered to be made in it. Upon this, my friend,
with his usual cheerfulness, related the particulars above
mentioned, and ordered the head to be brought into the (25)
room. I could not forbear discovering greater expressions
of mirth than ordinary upon the appearance of this
monstrous face, under which, notwithstanding it was made
to frown and stare in a most extraordinary manner, I
could still discover[113] a distant resemblance of my old friend.
Sir Roger, upon seeing me laugh, desired me to tell him
truly if I thought it possible for people to know him in
that disguise. I at first kept my usual silence; but upon
the knight's conjuring me to tell him whether it was not (148: 5)
still more like himself than a Saracen, I composed my
countenance in the best manner I could, and replied that
much might be said on both sides.
[113] Note the two different senses in which this word is used.
These several adventures, with the knight's behaviour
in them, gave me as pleasant a day as ever I met with in (10)
any of my travels. L.