better than the
nature of the government he lives under, or the economy and welfare of
himself and family." Lastly, a _man of mode_. "Him the beaus and the
ladies may consult in the affairs of love, dress, and equipage."

There is a great deal of good answering to tolerably rational questions,
mixed with some attempts at humour, and other eccentricities, and
occasionally a freedom, both of question and answer, by which we might,
were it advisable, confirm the fact, that the decorums of 1736 and of
1850 are two different things.{194}

First, as an instance of a question and answer, which might do as well
(if the record be correct) for the present publication.

"Q. We read in our public papers of the Pope's Bull and the
Pope's Brief; pray, Gentlemen, what is the difference between
them?

"A. They differ much in the same manner as the Great Seal and
Privy Seal do here in England. The Bull being of the highest
authority where the papal power extends; the Brief is of less
authority. The Bull has a leaden seal upon silk affixed to the
foot of the instrument, as the wax under the Great Seal is to
our letters patent. The Brief has _sub annulo piscatoris_ upon
the side."

Query. Is this answer complete and correct?

Now for another specimen:

"Q. Wise Oracle show,
A good reason why,
When from tavern we _go_,
You're wel_come_ they cry.

"A. The reason is plain,
'Cause doubtful to know,
Till seeing their gain,
If you _came well_ or no."

The following is an example of unanswerable refutation. To show why a
man has not one rib less than a woman, it is stated that imperfections
are not hereditary; as in the case of

"One Mr. L----, an honest sailor not far from Stepney, who has
but one arm, and who cannot walk himself without the assistance
of a wooden leg, and yet has a son, born some years after the
amputation of is own limbs, whom he has bred both a fiddler and
a dancing master."

One more, not for the wretched play upon words, but because it may make
a new Query,--What does it all mean?

"Q. Gentlemen, in the preamble to the late Earl of Oxford's
patent, I observed, 'And whom they have congratulated upon his
escape from the rage of a flagitious parricide.' I desire to
know by whom, at what time, and in what manner, the said
parricide was to have been committed.

"A. Was to have