ights. The Mercer was carried in Custody to a Tavern, in
order to go before a Magistrate, cursing and reviling all the Surgeons
as he went along; saying, _if those were their Tricks, it was time to
give over Trade_; and what still vex'd him more, to have his poor
innocent Wife call'd pocky B--ch, and himself all the debauch'd
Villains into the Bargain. The Surgeon, on the other hand, cries out,
_A new piece of Villany, a Fellow brings a Whore, and a Bill of
Parcels, to rob my House, and has withal the Impudence to boast of a
Conversation he has truly had with my Wife in a Hackney-Coach_. The
Surgeon's Wife had been found over a Dish of Tea at a Relation's House
in _Crutched-Fryars_, where she had dined, and had hurried home in
such a manner, that the Horses stood in a dropping Sweat at the Door.
Soon after comes the Mercer's Wife, almost frighted to death,
accompanied with half her Relations, and finds a Mob of a thousand
People about the House where her Husband was kept Prisoner. An Hour
more past before the Fraud was discover'd by either Party, and the
Affair set in a true light; when, upon enquiring, the _Fair Cheat_ it
seems had, so soon as the Mercer was invited out of the Room he was
placed in, given the Servant half a Crown, and went off with the
Silks, and it has not been known who she was to this day.

While the State-Lottery was Drawing at the _Guild-hall_ in _London_,
an _Irishman_ stood amongst the Croud, meditating upon Ways and Means
to procure a Meal's Meat; his Belly, it seems, having been a Bankrupt
for many Days before. At length, hearing a Prize of 1000_l._
proclaimed, he fell into an Exstacy, crying out, the Ticket was his,
which drew the Eyes of all the People present upon him: he ran up to
the _Hustings_ among the Managers, and for better Satisfaction,
desired to be inform'd of the principal Clerks whether the Number he
had heard in the _Hall_ was entitled to the 1000_l._ Prize. They
assured him it was, and gave him Joy on his Success. He told the
Clerks and Proclaimers, that when the Wheels were clos'd, and the
Day's Drawing concluded, he should be glad of their Company to eat a
bit of something or other with him at a neighbouring Tavern. When the
Lottery-Men had done their Business, they accordingly came, like so
many Millers, powdering every one that brush'd against them to the
Tavern, where the Spits, Boilers and Stew-pans were all a going
Tantivy; the Master of the House sent privately to the