help of a white witch was, therefore, often sought to counteract the evil influence of a " black" one. A Jesuit. James II. being a Roman Catholic, the Jesuits were active agents in the attempt to restore him to the throne, or to place his son upon it. The Whig justice would naturally associate with intrigue so strange a monster as a man who held his tongue, and many of the Tory squires, being Jacobites, would think Sir Roger was concerned in some plot. PAGE 90. Some discarded Whig. Addison was literally a discarded Whig. His party had been driven from office the year before, and he had himself lost a place worth 2,000l. a year. PAGE 91. Spec. is Will Honeycomb's flippant way of addressing the "Spectator." When the ancient beau goes down into the country and marries a farmer's daughter, he announces the event in a letter beginning "My worthy friend," and the "Spectator" says:-" I must confess that I suspected something more than ordinary when, upon opening the letter, I found that Will was fallen off from his former gaiety, having changed 'Dear Spec,' which was his usual salute at the beginning of the letter, into 'My worthy friend,' and subscribed himself in the latter end of it at full length, William Honeycomb. "--No. 530. · Stories of a cock and a bull, incredible tales. ... "I conjectured you were a fop since you began to change the style of your letters. I might expect this when you left off 'Honoured brother'... to begin with 'Rat me, knight!'... and then tell a familiar tale of a cock and a bull."-CONGREVE: The Way of the World, act iii. The phrase may, perhaps, be a corruption of a "concocted and bully story." The literature sold about the streets is known in hawkers' slang as "cocks." It is impossible to say definitely to what the irreverent Will Honeycomb was referring-perhaps to the Story of an Heir. Cock of the club, the conqueror, leader, governing man. This is the definition of Johnson, who quotes in illustration of it the sentence in the text and the following from Swift : : "My schoolmaster called me a dunce and a focl, But at cuffs I was always the cock of the school." PAGE 92. CHAPTER XX. This paper (written by Steele) was No. 132 of the "Spectator," and appeared on August 1, 1711. Chamberlain, a servant whose duty it was to look after the chambers. The question asked him was usual and natural. Ephraim was a name given to Quakers, because they would not fight. It originated from a verse in the Psalms:-"The children of Ephraim being armed and carrying bows turned back in the day of battle."-Ps.lxxviii., 9. PAGE 93. The captain's half-pike. The captain was the recruiting-officer. In Farquhar's "Recruiting Officer " two of the characters are Captain Plume (from whom the play gets its name) and Kite, his sergeant. When the former makes his first entry, he says, "By the Grenadier's March [which was being played] that should be my drum." The same speech furnishes an illustration of the rate of travelling: “Let me see-four o'clock. At ten yesterday I left London. An hundred and twenty miles in thirty hours is pretty smart riding.”—Act i., sc. 1. The pike (or lance) of the soldier had, in the days of the Spectator, been superseded by the socket-bayonet, but commissioned officers retained a half-pike, or short lance, while non-commissioned officers had a halbert. Make a wedding at the next town. Before the passing of the Marriage Act, in 1753," the canon law was in force in England, and, according to its provisions, the mere consent of the parties, followed by cohabitation, constituted for many purposes a valid marriage, and a marriage valid for all purposes could be celebrated by a priest in orders at any time or place without registration and without the consent of parents or guardians. Stamped licenses were, indeed, required by law, but not for the validity of the contract, and their omission was only punished as a fraud upon the revenue."-LECKY: England in the Eighteenth Century, vol. i., p. 490. PAGE 94. What's what. From two of the absurd questions asked in old systems of logic, "Quid est ?" ("What is it?") and "Quid est quid?" ("What is what?") we have the noun quiddity (essence) and the phrase "to know what's what." It is said of Hudibras that he knew "Where entity and quiddity, The ghosts of defunct bodies, fly; He knew what's what, and that's as high As metaphysic wit can fly."-Hudibras, pt. ii., canto 1. Fleer, to mock, gibe. "Never fleer and jest at me." SHAKESPEARE: Much Ado about Nothing, act. v., sc. 1. Hasped, shut in, as though with a hasp. A hasp is a clasp folded over a staple to be fastened with a padlock. PAGE 95. Smoky. Smoke was a cant verb very much in use, and (as is common with slang terms) it had more than one meaning. It meant (1) to jeer, to ridicule. "Captain Sentrey, seeing two or three wags lean with an attentive ear towards Sir Roger, and fearing lest they should smoke the knight . . ." (See p. 108.) Smoke meant (2) to detect a trick. "So Van ... Steals thence his plot and every joke, Not once suspecting Jove would smoke." SWIFT: Vanbrugh's House. "Upon that I began to smoke that they were a parcel of mummers.” ADDISON: Freeholder, No. 44. It is hard to say to which of the two meanings smoky in the text is allied. The right we had. "This rule of the road was occasioned by the bad condition of the public ways. On the best lines of communication ruts were so deep and obstructions so formidable, that it was only in fine weather that the whole breadth of the road was available; for on each side was often a quagmire of mud. Seldom could two vehicles pass each other unless one of them stopped. Which that should be caused endless disputes and not a few accidents."-Wills. PAGE 96. CHAPTER XXI. This paper (written by Addison) was No. 269 of the "Spectator," and appeared on January 8, 1712. 66 ... Gray's Inn Walks. 'Gray's Inn Gardens formed for a long time a fashionable promenade. . . In Sir Roger's day no place was better adapted for clearing his pipes in good air,' for scarcely a house intervened thence to Hampstead."— Wills. Gray's Inn derives its name from the noble family of Gray of Wilton, whose residence stood where the Inn now is. PAGE 97.. Prince Eugene. Francis Eugene, Prince of Savoy (1663-1736), second only to Marlborough in skill as a general, and second to none in modesty, humanity, and loyalty, was born in Paris, but upon the death of his father his mother was banished to the Low Countries. When Francis was old enough to become a soldier he offered his services to Lewis XIV., who refused them. The young man accordingly went to Vienna, where he was very courteously received by the Emperor, whose subject he became and whose army he joined. Eugene's bravery and skill were so conspicuous that his chief predicted he would one day "be the greatest captain of the age." After a time Lewis tried to induce him to quit the imperial service, but nothing could shake his fidelity. When Eugene was about thirty-three he was made commander-in-chief of the forces in Hungary, and he defeated the Turks at Zenta, near Peterwardein. The vanquished army lost 20,000 killed, 6,000 drowned, 6,000 prisoners, and treasure worth several millions. In the War of the Spanish Succession he was appointed to co-operate with Marlborough, and there grew up between the two men the most perfect confidence. When the Tories came into power in England they resolved to disgrace Marlborough and bring the war to an end, on terms that made absolute and reckless waste of the splendid victories which had been won, the blood which had been shed, and the gold which had been spent. It was to prevent the fall of his friend and the concluding of a disgraceful peace that Eugene visited England. He landed at Gravesend on January 5, 1712 and two days later Sir Roger had arrived in London for the purpose of seeing him. The good knight's eagerness was shared by the whole nation, for the prince's mission was no less popular than his person. 66 Eugenio. The Prince signed himself, as Sir Roger called him, 'Eugenio" (Eugenio von Savoye). Scanderbeg (whose proper name was George Castriot) was an Albanian hero, who fought bravely against the Turks. In childhood he had been given as a hostage to the Sultan Amurath II., who got him to enter the Mussulman army. He was entrusted with the command of a force sent against Hungary, but entered into secret correspondence with the opposing general, and enabled him to defeat the Turks with immense slaughter. Scanderbeg then hastened into his native Albania, where he was welcomed as king. It was in vain that Amurath and his successor strove against him; he was always victorious, and at last his independence was acknowledged. He took part in twenty-two battles, and killed two thousand Turks with his own hand. He died in 1467 at the age of sixty-three. The Sunday before. It was on Tuesday that the knight called on the Spectator. Dr. Barrow. See p. 134. Marks. The mark was thirteen shillings and fourpence. It was not a coin, but only a name, as guinea is now. PAGE 98. Tobacco-stopper, an instrument (generally of wood) for pressing down the tobacco into the pipe. It resembled in shape the spile of a beer-barrel. PAGE 99. Smutting one another. To smut one another's faces, or, by some trick, to get a man to smut his own, was a favourite diversion with the common people. Among the departed charms of Auburn, Goldsmith laments "The swain mistrustless of his smutted face While secret laughter tittered round the place." The late Act of Parliament. By the Test Act (passed in 1673) all persons holding offices under the Crown and in corporations were required to take the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England. Some Dissenters did not object to take the sacrament to qualify for office, but having once obtained the positions which they desired they did not go to church any more. This was very annoying to the Tories, and at the beginning of Queen Anne's reign the House of Commons (where they were in a majority) passed a bill imposing severe penalties on those who were guilty of "cccasional conformity." The House of Lords (where the Whig party was the stronger) rejected the measure. It was passed by the Commons again and again, and in 1711 (a compromise having been made between the Tories and certain Whig peers) it was accepted by the House of Lords. Sir Roger, being a good Tory, of course rejoiced at the passing of the "Act for Preserving the Protestant Religion by better securing the Church of England as by Law Established." Plum-porridge, a very popular broth, of which currants and plums formed a part. It was a standing dish at Christmas time. The Puritans were strongly opposed to the keeping of saints' days and holidays, and to all customs connected therewith. They fasted on Christmas Day, and in 1657 an ordinance was passed abolishing that and other holidays. Butler describes the Puritans as "A sect whose chief devotion lies In odd, perverse antipathies; Rather than fail they will defy Quarrel with minced pies and disparage ... Their best and dearest friend plum porridge." Hudibras, pt. i., canto 1. In Sir Roger's eyes therefore a Dissenter who ate very plentifully of M |