in others.

There is another circumstance in which my countrymen have dealt very
perversely with me; and that is, in searching not only into my own life,
but also into the lives of my ancestors. If there has been a blot in my
family for these ten generations, it has been discovered by some or
other of my correspondents. In short, I find the ancient family of the
Bickerstaffs has suffered very much through the malice and prejudice of
my enemies. Some of them twit me in the teeth with the conduct of my
Aunt Margery:[236] nay, there are some who have been so disingenuous, as
to throw Maud the Milkmaid[237] into my dish, notwithstanding I myself
was the first who discovered that alliance. I reap however many
benefits from the malice of these my enemies, as they let me see my own
faults, and give me a view of myself in the worst light; as they hinder
me from being blown up by flattery and self-conceit; as they make me
keep a watchful eye over my own actions, and at the same time make me
cautious how I talk of others, and particularly of my friends and
relations, or value myself upon the antiquity of my family.

But the most formidable part of my correspondents are those whose
letters are filled with threats and menaces. I have been treated so
often after this manner, that not thinking it sufficient to fence well,
in which I am now arrived at the utmost perfection,[238] and carry
pistols about me, which I have always tucked within my girdle; I several
months since made my will, settled my estate, and took leave of my
friends, looking upon myself as no better than a dead man. Nay, I went
so far as to write a long letter to the most intimate acquaintance I
have in the world, under the character of a departed person, giving him
an account of what brought me to that untimely end, and of the fortitude
with which I met it. This letter being too long for the present paper, I
intend to print it by itself very suddenly; and at the same time I must
confess, I took my hint of it from the behaviour of an old soldier in
the Civil Wars, who was corporal of a company in a regiment of foot,
about the same time that I myself was a cadet in the King's army.

This gentleman was taken by the enemy; and the two parties were upon
such terms at that time, that we did not treat each other as prisoners
of war, but as traitors and rebels. The poor corporal being condemned to
die, wrote a letter to his wife when under sentence of execution. He
writ