on our hero, he ran on in the same strain; and being properly supported by his companion, effectually excluded the discourse of every body else. Umphraville did not once again attempt to open his mouth; and, for my own part, as I had heard enough of the conversation, his countenance served as a sufficient fund of entertainment for me. A painter, who wished to express indignation, contempt, and pity, blended together, could not have found a finer study.

At length we withdrew; and we had no sooner got fairly out of the house, than Umphraville began to interrogate me with regard to the gentlemen who had dined with us. They are men of fashion,' said I. But who are they? of what families are they descended? As to that,' replied I, you ⚫ know I am not skilled in the science of genealogy; ' but, though I were, it would not enable me to answer your present inquiries; for I believe, were you to put the question to the gentlemen themselves, it • would puzzle either of them to tell you who his grandfather was.'- What then,' said he, in an elevated tone of voice, entitles them to be received ⚫ into company as men of fashion? Is it extent of • ability, superiority of genius, refinement of taste, elegant accomplishments, or polite conversation? I admit, that where these are to be found in an • eminent degree, they may make up for the want of ⚫ birth; but where a person can neither talk like a man of sense, nor behave like a gentleman, I must • own I cannot easily pardon our men of rank for allowing every barrier to be removed, and every frivolous, insignificant fellow, who can adopt the reigning vices of the age, to be received on an equal footing with themselves.-But after all,' continued he, in a calm tone, if such be the manners of our men of rank, it may be doubted whe

ther they, or their imitators, are the greatest objects of contempt.'

R

N° 46. SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1779.

SIR,

To the AUTHOR of the MIRROR.

I HAPPENED lately to dine in a large company where I was, in a great measure, unknowing and unknown. To enter into farther particulars, would be to tell you more than is necessary to my story.

The conversation, after dinner, turned on that common-place question, Whether a parent ought to chuse a profession for his child, or leave him to chuse for himself?"

Many remarks and examples were produced on both sides of the question; and the argument hung in equilibrio, as is often the case, when all the speakers are moderately well informed, and none of them are very eager to convince, or unwilling to be convinced.

At length an elderly gentleman began to give his opinion. He was a stranger to most of the company; had been silent, but not sullen; of a steady but not voracious appetite; and one rather civil than polite.

• In my younger days,' said he, nothing would serve me but I must needs make a campaign against the Turks in Hungary?'-At mention of the

Turks in Hungary, I perceived a general impatience to seize the company.

I rejoice exceedingly, Sir,' said a young physician, that fortune has placed me near one of your character, Sir, from whom I may be informed with precision, whether lavemens of ol. amygd. did indeed prove a specific in the Hungarian Dysenteria, which desolated the German army?'

Ipecacuanha, in small doses,' added another gentleman of the faculty, is an excellent recipe, and was generally prescribed at our hospitals at Westphalia, with great, although not infallible success: but that method was not known in the last wars between the Ottomans, vulgarly termed Turks, and the Imperialists, whom, through an error exceedingly common, my good friend has denominated Germans.'

6

You must pardon me, Doctor,' said a third, ipecacuanha, in small doses, was administered at the siege of Limerick, soon after the Revolution; and if you will be pleased to add seventy-nine, the years • of this century, to ten or eleven, which carries us back to the siege of Limerick in the last, you will find, if I mistake not, that this recipe has been ⚫ used for fourscore and nine, or for ninety years.' Twice the years of the longest prescription, Doctor,' cried a pert barrister from the other end of the table, even after making a reasonable allowance for minorities.'

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You mean if that were necessary,' said a thoughtful aged person who sat next him.

As I was saying,' continued the third physician, ipecacuanha was administered, in small doses, at the siege of Limerick; for it is a certain fact, that a surgeon in King William's army communicated the receipt of that preparation to a friend of his, and that friend communicated it to the father, or

surance.

rather, as I incline to believe, to the grandfather, of a friend of mine. I am peculiarly attentive to the exactitude of my facts; for, indeed, it is by facts alone that we can proceed to reason with asIt was the great Bacon's method.' A grave personage in black then spoke :- There is another circumstance respecting the last wars in Hungary, which, I must confess, does exceed ingly interest my curiosity; and that is, Whether General Doxat was justly condemned for yielding up a fortified city to the infidels; or whether, being an innocent man, and a Protestant, he was persecuted unto death by the intrigues of the Jesuits at the court of Vienna ?'

I know nothing of General Doxy,' said the stranger, who had hitherto listened attentively; but, if he was persecuted by the Jesuits, I should suppose him to have been a very honest gentleman; for I never heard any thing but ill of the people of that religion.'

You forget,' said the first physician, the Quin quina, that celebrated febrifuge, which was brought into Europe by a father of that order, or, as you are pleased to express it in a French idiom, of that religion.'

· a

That of the introduction of the Quinquina into Europe by the Jesuits is a vulgar error,' said the second physician: the truth is, that the secret was ⚫ communicated by the natives of South America to humane Spanish Governor whom they loved. He ⚫ told his chaplain of it; the chaplain, a German Jesuit, gave some of the bark to Dr. Helvetius, of Amsterdam, father of that Helvetius, who, having composed a book concerning matter, gave it the • title of spirit.'

What!' cried the third physician, 'was that Dr. • Helvetius who cured the Queen of France of an in

termittent, the father of Helvetius the renowned philosopher? The fact is exceedingly curious; and • I wonder whether it has come to the knowledge of my correspondent Dr. B' B

As the gentleman speaks of his campaigns,' said an officer of the army, he will probably be in a con'dition to inform us, whether Marshal Saxe is to be • credited when he tells us, in his Reveries, that the • Turkish horse, after having drawn out their fire, ⚫ mowed down the Imperial Infantry?'

Perhaps we shall have some account of Petronius found at Belgrade,' said another of the company; but I suspend my inquiries until the gentleman has finished his story.'

I have listened with great pleasure,' said the stranger, and, though I cannot say that I under⚫ stand all the ingenious things spoken, I can see the truth of what I have often been told, that the Scots, ⚫ with all their faults, are a learned nation.

In my younger days, it is true, that nothing would serve me but I must needs make a campaign against the Turks, or the Hotmen in Hungary; but · my father could not afford to breed me like a gen⚫tleman, which was my own wish, and so he bound me seven years to a ship-chandler in Wapping. Just time was out, my master died, and I married the widow. What by marriages, and what by purchasing damaged stores, I got together a pretty capital. I then dealt in sailors' tickets, and I pe⚫culated, as they call it, in divers things. I am now well known about 'Change, aye, and somewhere else too,' said he with a significant nod.

as my

Now, Gentlemen, you will judge whether my father did not chuse better for me than I should have done for myself. Had I gone to the wars, I ⚫ might have lost some of my precious limbs, or have had my tongue cut out by the Turks. But suppose