tegrity or fenfe, but the quantities of his beef and brandy.

And yet I could forgive this people their plentiful meals on this occafion, as it is extremely natural for every man to eat a great deal when he gets it for nothing; but what amazes me is, that all this good living no way contributes to improve their good humour. On the contrary, they feem to lofe their temper as they lofe their appetites every morfel they fwallow, and every glafs they pour down ferves to increase their animofity. Many an honeft man, before as harmless as a tame rabbit, when loaded with a fingle election dinner, has become more dangerous than a charged culverin. Upon one of these occafions, I have actually seen a bloody-minded man-millener fally forth at the head of a mob, determined to face a defperate paftry-cook, who was general of the oppofite party.

But you must not fuppofe they are without a pretext for thus beating each other. On the contrary, no man here is fo uncivilized as to beat his neighbour without producing very fufficient reafons. One candidate, for inftance, treats with gin, a fpirit of their own manufacture; another always drinks brandy imported from abroad. Brandy is a wholesome liquor; gin a liquor wholly their own. This then furnishes an obvious caufe of quarrel, whether it be most reasonable to get drunk with gin, or get drunk with brandy? The mob meet upon the debate; fight themselves fober; and then draw off to get drunk again, and charge for another encounter. So that the English may now properly be faid to be engaged in war; fince while they are fubduing their enemies abroad, they are breaking each other's heads at home.

I lately made an excurfion to a neighbouring vil lage,

lage, in order to be a fpectator of the ceremonies practifed upon this occafion. I left town in company with three fidlers, nine dozen of hams, and a corporation poet, which were defigned as reinforcements to the gin-drinking party. We entered the town with a very good face; the fidlers, no way intimidated by the enemy, kept handling their arms up the principal street. By this prudent manœuvre they took peaceable poffeffion of their head quarters, amidft the fhouts of multitudes, who feemed perfectly rejoiced at hearing their mufic, but above all at feeing their bacon.

I muft own I could not avoid being pleased to fee all ranks of people on this occafion, levelled into an equality, and the poor, in fome measure, enjoy the primitive privileges of Nature. If there was any diftinction fhewn, the loweft of the people feemed to receive it from the rich. I could perceive a cobler with a levee at his door, and an haberdafher giving audience from behind his counter. But my reflections were foon interrupted by a mob, who demanded whether I was for the diftillery, or the brewery? As these were terms with which I was totally unacquainted, I chofe at firft to be filent; however, I know not what might have been the confequence of my referve, had not the attention of the mob been called off to a fkirmish between a brandy-drinker's cow, and a gin-drinker's maftiff, which turned out greatly to the fatisfaction of the mob in favour of the maftiff.

The fpectacle, which afforded high entertainment, was at laft ended by the appearance of one. of the candidates; who came to harangue the mob; he made a very pathetic fpeech upon the late exceffive importation of foreign drams, and the downfall of the diftillery: I could fee fome of the audidience fhed tears. He was accompanied in his pro

ceffion

ceffion by Mrs Deputy and Mrs. Mayorefs. Mrs. Deputy was not in the leaft in liquor; and for Mrs. Mayorefs, one of the fpectators affured me in my ear that, She was a very fine woman before she had the fmall-pox.

Mixing with the crowd, I was now conducted to the hall where the magiftrates are chofen; but what tongue can defcribe this fcene of confufion; the whole crowd feemed equally infpired with anger, jealoufy, politics, patriotifm, and punch: I remarked one figure that was carried up by two men upon this occafion. I at firft began to pity his infirmities as natural, but foon found the fellow fo drunk that he could not ftand; another made his appearance to give his vote, but though he could ftand, he actually loft the use of his tongue, and remained filent; a third, who though exceffively drunk could both ftand and fpeak, being afked the candidate's name for whom he voted, could be prevailed upon to make no other anfwer, but tobacco and brandy. In short, an election-hall feems to be a theatre where every paffion is feen without dif guife; a fchool where fools may readily become worfe, and where philofophers may gather wifdom. Adieu.

LETTER CXII.

FROM THE SAME.

THE difputes among the learned here are now carried on in a much more compendious manner than formerly. There was a time when folio was brought VOL. III.

FF

to

to oppofe folio, and a champion was often lifted for life under the banners of a fingle forites. At prefent the controverfy is decided in a fummary way; an epigram or an acroftic finishes the debate, and the combatant, like the incurfive Tartar, advances, and retires with a fingle blow.

An important literary debate at prefent engroffes the attention of the town. It is carried on with sharpness, and a proper fhare of this epigrammatical fury. An author, it feems, has taken an averfion to the faces of several players, and has written verfes to prove his dislike; the players fall upon the author, and affure the town he must be dull, and their faces muft be good, because he wants a dinner; a critic comes to the poet's affiftance, afferting that the verfes were perfectly original, and fo fmart that he could never have written them without the affistance of friends; the friends upon this arraign the critic, and plainly prove the verfes to be all the author's own. So at it they are all four together by the ears, the friends at the critic, the critic at the players, the players at the author, and the author at the players again. It is impoffible to determine how this many-fided conteft will end, or which party to adhere to. The town, without fiding with any, views the combat in fufpenfe, like the fabled hero of antiquity, who beheld the earth-born brothers give and receive mutual wounds, and fall by indifcriminate deftruction.

This is in fome measure a state of the prefent difpute; but the combatants here differ in one refpect from the champions of the fable. Every new wound only gives vigour for another blow; though they appear to ftrike, they are in fact mutually fwelling themselves into confideration, and thus advertising each other away into fame. To-day, fays one, my name fhall be in the Gazette, the next day my

rival's;

people

people will naturally enquire about us; thus we shall at least make a noife in the streets, though we have got nothing to fell. I have read of a difpute of a fimilar nature, which was managed here about twenty years ago. Hildebrand Jacob, as I think he was called, and Charles Johnson were poets, both at that time poffeffed of great reputation, for Johnson had written eleven plays acted with great fuccefs, and Jacob, though he had written but five, had ' five times thanked the town for their unmerited applaufe. They foon became mutually enamoured of each other's talents; they wrote, they felt, they challenged the town for each other. Johnfon affured the publick that no poet alive had the eafy fimplicity of Jacob, and Jacob exhibited Johnson as a master-piece in the pathetic. Their mutual praise was not without effect, the town faw their plays, were in raptures, read, and without cenfuring them, forgot them. So formidable an union, however, was foon oppofed by Tibbald. Tibbald afferted that the tragedies of one had faults, and the comedies of the other fubftituted wit for vivacity; the combined champions flew at him like tigers, arraigned the cenfurer's judgment, and impeached his fincerity. It was a long time a difpute among the learned, which was in fact the greatest man, Jacob, Johnfon, or Tibbald; they had all written for the ftage with great fuccefs, their names were seen in almost every paper, and their works in every coffee-house. However, in the hotteft of the difpute, a fourth combatant made his appearance, and fwept away the three combatants, tragedy, comedy and all into undiftinguifhed ruin.

From this time they feemed configned into the hands of criticism, fcarcely a day paffed in which they were not arraigned as detefted writers. The critics, thefe enemies of Dryden and Pope, were