I have seen him as much afraid of
that overbearing Hector, as ever schoolboy was of his pedagogue;
and yet this Hector, I shrewdly suspect, is no more than a craven
at bottom -- Besides this defect, C-- has another, which he is at
too little pains to hide -- There's no faith to be given to his
assertions, and no trust to be put in his promises -- However, to
give the devil his due, he's very good-natured; and even
friendly, when close urged in the way of solicitation -- As for
principle, that's out of the question -- In a word, he is a wit and
an orator, extremely entertaining, and he shines very often at
the expence even of those ministers to whom he is a retainer. This
is a mark of great imprudence, by which he has made them all his
enemies, whatever face they may put upon the matter; and sooner
or later he'll have cause to wish he had been able to keep his
own counsel. I have several times cautioned him on this subject;
but 'tis all preaching to the desert -- His vanity runs away with
his discretion' -- I could not help thinking the captain himself
might have been the better for some hints of the same nature -- His
panegyric, excluding principle and veracity, puts me in mind of a
contest I once overheard, in the way of altercation, betwixt two
apple-women in Spring-garden -- One of those viragos having hinted
something to the prejudice of the other's moral character, her
antagonist, setting her hands in her sides, replied -- 'Speak out,
hussy -- I scorn your malice -- I own I'm both a whore and a thief;
and what more have you to say? -- Damn you, what more have you to
say? baiting that, which all the world knows, I challenge you to
say black is the white of my eye' -- We did not wait for Mr T--'s
coming forth; but after captain C-- had characterised all the
originals in waiting, we adjourned to a coffeehouse, where we had
buttered muffins and tea to breakfast, the said captain still
favouring us with his company -- Nay, my uncle was so diverted with
his anecdotes, that he asked him to dinner, and treated him with
a fine turbot, to which he did ample justice -- That same evening I
spent at the tavern with some friends, one of whom let me into C--'s
character, which Mr Bramble no sooner understood, than he
expressed some concern for the connexion he had made, and
resolved to disengage himself from it without ceremony.
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