id of any man of figure, wit, and virtue in town. Name a man of worth,
and this creature tells you the worst passage of his life. Speak of a
beautiful woman, and this puppy will whisper the next man to him, though
he has nothing to say of her. He is a Fly that feeds on the sore part,
and would have nothing to live on, if the whole body were in health. You
may know him by the frequency of pronouncing the particle "but"; for
which reason I never hear him spoke of with common charity, without
using my "but" against him: for a friend of mine saying the other day,
Mrs. Distaff has wit, good humour, virtue, and friendship, this oaf
added, "'But' she is not handsome." Coxcomb! The gentleman was saying
what I was, not what I was not.

St. James's Coffee-house, July 6.

The approaches before Tournay have been carried on with great success;
and our advices from the camp before that place of the 11th instant say,
that they had already made a lodgment on the glacis. Two hundred boats
were come up the Scheldt with a heavy artillery and ammunition, which
would be employed in dismounting the enemy's defences, and raised on the
batteries the 15th. A great body of miners are summoned to the camp to
countermine the works of the enemy. We are convinced of the weakness of
the garrison, by a certain account, that they called a council of war,
to consult whether it was not advisable to march into the citadel, and
leave the town defenceless. We are assured, that when the Confederate
army was advancing towards the camp of Marshal Villars, that general
despatched a courier to his master with a letter, giving an account of
their approach, which concluded with the following words: "The day
begins to break, and your Majesty's army is already in order of battle.
Before noon, I hope to have the honour of congratulating your Majesty on
the success of a great action; and you shall be very well satisfied with
the Marshal Villars."

It is to be noted, that when any part of this paper appears dull, there
is a design in it.[382]

[Footnote 377: See note to No. 36.]

[Footnote 378: A coffee-house in Change Alley. See _Spectator_, No. 1,
and Mrs. Centlivre's "Bold Stroke for a Wife."]

[Footnote 379: See No. 7.]

[Footnote 380: Sir William Whitlocke, Knt., Member for Oxon, Bencher of
the Middle Temple. He is the learned knight mentioned in No. 43 (Percy).
This is confirmed by the MS. annotator mentioned in a note to No. 4.
Nichols explains tha