ays that for a Petticoat I have abandoned a
Profession which he himself looks upon to be so contemptible._ If Sir
_W. T._ has not dishonoured Monsieur _de Cros_, why all this Fury,
this Heat and Indignation? All that the Author of the Memoirs said was
very harmless. As an Historian he was obliged to give a short Account
of those persons, whose Actions he there recounts. Mr. _de Cros_
happening to be a Man very remarkable towards the conclusion of the
Treaty of _Nimeguen_, Sir _W. T._ acquaints the World with part of his
History, and in particular says he had been formerly a Monk. Nor does
Monsieur _de Cros_ deny it, and yet for all that fansies himself
abominably injured. What! because he reported him to have been of that
Profession of Life which has bred so many learned Men, furnished the
Almanack with so many Saints, Thrones with so many Kings; nay, and the
Pontifical Chair with one third of her Popes?----But some people I see
are never well, full nor fasting.

Mr. _Dryden_, I remember, amongst several other judicious Remarks that
so frequently occur in his _Essay upon Dramatick Poetry_, has this of
the famous _Johnson_, which in my Opinion (and I think I have not lost
all my Taste in my Old Age) is admirable. _Ben_, says he, never
introduces any Person upon the Stage, but first of all informs his
Reader of his Character, and by that means bespeaks his attention. As
for instance if a _La fool_ is to be brought in, he makes a Foot-boy
till _True wit_, that one Monsieur _La-fool_ is coming to pay him a
Visit; and before he makes his appearance, _True-wit_ lets his Friends
know, and consequently, by them, the Audience, what sort of a
Gentleman _La-fool_ is, and what are his best Qualities. By this
ingenious Piece of Conduct the Poet takes care to please his
Spectators, who it may be are at first as uneasie to see a strange
Face upon the Stage, as in Company at the Tavern, till they are better
acquainted with his Dispositions; and then his Conversation is always
more edifying. The same management has been used by several Historians
(and not to descend into a _detail_ of the rest) by _Sallust_ himself,
a Writer of the first Rank and Quality: And why Sir _W. T._ should not
practise it, is certainly a Mystery. If then the Matter of Fact be
true (nor dares _de Cros_ deny it) where's the Imposture? If the Truth
that is told does no ways reflect upon the Reputation of the Party
concerned (as he himself owns it) where's the Inju