'the other at Tyburn? Hath the block any preference to 'the gallows, or the ax to the halter, but was given them 'by the ill-guided judgment of men? You will pardon me, therefore, if I am not so hastily inflamed with the 6 common outside of things, nor join the general opinion in preferring one state to another. A guinea is as valu'able in a leathern as in an embroidered purse; and a 'cod's head is a cod's head still, whether in a pewter or a 'silver dish.' The Count replied as follows: 'What you have now 'said doth not lessen my idea of your capacity; but con'firms my opinion of the ill effects of bad and low company. Can any one doubt whether it is better to be a เ great statesman or a common thief? I have often heard 'that the devil used to say, where, or to whom, I know เ not, that it was better to reign in Hell than to be a valet ' de chambre in Heaven, and perhaps he was in the right; 'but sure, if he had had the choice of reigning in either, 'he would have chosen better. The truth therefore is, that by low conversation we contract a greater awe for high things than they deserve. We decline great pur'suits not from contempt, but despair. The man who 'prefers the high road to a more reputable way of making 'his fortune doth it because he imagines the one easier 'than the other; but you yourself have asserted, and 'with undoubted truth, that the same abilities qualify you 'for undertaking, and the same means will bring you to your end in both journies; as in music, it is the same tune, whether you play it in a higher or a lower key. To instance in some particulars:-is it not the same 'qualifications which enables this man to hire himself as a servant, and to get into the confidence and secrets of 'his master, in order to rob him, and that to undertake 'trust of the highest nature with a design to break and 'betray them? Is it less difficult by false tokens to deceive เ เ เ a shopkeeper into the delivery of his goods, which you 'afterwards run away with, than to impose upon him by 'outward splendour, and the appearance of fortune, into 'a credit by which you gain, and he loses twenty times as 'much. Doth it not require more dexterity in the fingers 'to draw out a man's purse from his pocket, or to take a lady's watch from her side, without being perceived of any (an excellence in which, without flattery, I am perเ suaded you have no superior) than to cog a die, or to 'shuffle a pack of cards? Is not as much art, as many 'excellent qualities, required to make a pimping porter 'at a common bawdy-house, as would enable a man to 'prostitute his own or his friend's wife or child? Doth 'it not ask as good a memory, as nimble an invention, as steady a countenance, to forswear yourself in West'minster-hall, as would furnish out a complete fool of เ state, or perhaps a statesman himself? It is needless 'to particularize every instance; in all we shall find, 'that there is a nearer connexion between high and 'low life than is generally imagined, and that a highwayman is entitled to more favour with the great 'than he usually meets with. If therefore, as I think I 'have proved, the same parts which qualify a man for eminence in a low sphere, qualify him likewise for ' eminence in a higher, sure it can be no doubt in which 'he would choose to exert them. Ambition, without 'which no one can be a great man, will immediately in'struct him, in your own phrase, to prefer a hill in paradise to a dunghill; nay, even fear, a passion the เ most repugnant to greatness, will shew him how much more safely he may indulge himself in the full and free 'exertion of his mighty abilities in the higher, than in the 'lower rank since experience teaches him, that there is ' a crowd oftener in one year at Tyburn, than on Towerhill in a century.' Mr. Wild with much solemnity เ เ rejoined, 'That the same capacity which qualifies a Mill'ken* a Bridle-cullt, or a Buttock and File, to 'arrive at any degree of eminence in his profession, 'would likewise raise a man in what the world esteem a 'more honourable calling, I do not deny; nay, in many of your instances it is evident, that more ingenuity, more art is necessary to the lower, than the higher proficients. If therefore you had only contended, that every Prig might be a statesman if he pleased, I had readily agreed to it; but when you conclude, that it is his interest to be so, that ambition would bid him take that alternative, ' in a word, that a statesman is greater or happier than a Prig, I must deny my assent. But, in comparing these two together, we must carefully avoid being misled by 'the vulgar erroneous estimation of things: for mankind err in disquisitions of his nature, as physicians do, who, in considering the operations of a disease, have not a 'due regard to the age and complexion of the patient. 'The same degree of heat, which is common in this constitution, may be a fever in that; in the same manner that which may be riches or honour to me, may be poverty or disgrace to another: for all these things are 'to be estimated by relation to the person who possesses them. A booty of 107. looks as great in the eye of a Bridle-cull, and gives as much real happiness to his fancy, as that of as many thousands to the statesman; and doth not the former lay out his acquisition in 'whores and fiddles, with much greater joy and mirth, 'than the latter in palaces and pictures? What are the flattery, the false compliments of his gang, to the statesman, when he himself must condemn his own blunders, and is obliged against his will to give fortune the whole 'honour of his success? what is the pride, resulting from เ เ เ เ เ เ เ * A Housebreaker. A Highwayman. A Shoplifter. Terms used in the Cant Dictionary. เ เ such sham applause, compared to the secret satisfaction 'which a Prig enjoys in his mind in reflecting on a well'contrived and well-executed scheme? Perhaps indeed 'the greater danger is on the Prig's side; but then you must remember that the greater honour is so too. When 'I mention honour, I mean that which is paid him by his gang; for that weak part of the world, which is vulgarly 'called THE WISE, see both in a disadvantageous and disgraceful light: And as the Prig enjoys (and merits 'too) the greater degree of honour from his gang, so doth 'he suffer the less disgrace from the world, who think 'his misdeeds, as they call them, sufficiently at last punished with a halter, which at once puts an end to his pain and infamy; whereas the other is not only 'hated in power, but detested and contemned at the scaffold; and future ages vent their malice on his fame, 'while the other sleeps quiet and forgotten. Besides, let us a little consider the secret quiet of their consciences; 'how easy is the reflection of having taken a few shillings เ or pounds from a stranger, without any breach of con'fidence, or perhaps any great harm to the person who loses it, compared to that of having betrayed a public trust, and ruined the fortunes of thousands, perhaps of a great nation? How much braver is an attack on the 'highway, than at the gaming-table; and how much more 'innocent the character of a b-dy-house than c-t'pimp?' He was eagerly proceeding, when, casting his eyes on the Count, he perceived him to be fast asleep: wherefore, having first picked his pocket of three shillings, then gently jogged him in order to take his leave, and promised to return to him the next morning to breakfast, they separated: the Count retired to rest, and Master Wild to a night-cellar. เ เ CHAPTER VI. Further conferences between the Count and Master Wild, with other matters of the great kind. THE Count missed his money the next morning, and very well knew who had it; but, as he knew likewise how fruitless would be any complaint, he chose to pass it by without mentioning it. Indeed it may appear strange to some readers that these gentlemen, who knew each other to be thieves, should never once give the least hint of this knowledge in all their discourse together; but, on the contrary, should have the words honesty, honour, and friendship, as often in their mouths as any other men. This, I say, may appear strange to some; but those who have lived long in cities, courts, gaols, or such places, will perhaps be able to solve the seeming absurdity. When our two friends met the next morning, the Count (who, though he did not agree with the whole of his friend's doctrine, was, however, highly pleased with his argument), began to bewail the misfortune of his captivity, and the backwardness of friends to assist each other in their necessities; but what vexed him, he said, most, was the cruelty of the fair: for he entrusted Wild with the secret of his having had an intrigue with Miss Theodosia, the elder of the Miss Snaps, ever since his confinement, though he could not prevail with her to set him at liberty. Wild answered, with a smile: 'It was เ no wonder a woman should wish to confine her lover 'where she might be sure of having him entirely to her'self; but added, he believed he could tell him a method of certainly procuring his escape.' The Count eagerly besought him to acquaint him with it. Wild told him, bribery was the surest means, and advised him to apply to the maid. The Count thanked him, but returned, เ |