which he lost his seat; and in the multitude of all these losses (which, by the bye, shew what little advantage there is in crossing) the unfortunate doctor lost his presence of mind. So that without waiting for Obadiah's onset, he left his poney to its destiny, tumbling off it diagonally, something in the style and manner of a pack of wool, and without any other consequence from the fall, save that of being left (as it would have been) with the broadest part of him sunk about twelve inches deep in the mire. Obadiah pull'd off his cap twice to Dr. Slop; -once as he was falling,-and then again when he saw him seated.--I'll-timed complaisance ;had not the fellow better have stopped his horse, and got off, and helped him?-Sir, he did all that his situation would allow ;-but the MOMENTUM of the coach-horse was so great, that Obadiah could not do it all at once; he rode in a circle three times round Dr. Slop, before he could fully accomplish it any how; and at last, when he did stop the beast, 'twas done with such an explosion of mud, that Obadiah had better have been a league off. In short, never was a Dr. Slop so beluted, and so transubstantiated, since that affair came into fashion. SHANDY. THE PARSON's Horse. Be it known then, that, for about five years before the date of the midwife's licence, of which you have had so circumstantial an account,-the parson we have to do with had made himself a countrytalk by a breach of all decorum, which he had committed against himself, his station, and his office; and that was in never appearing better, or otherwise mounted, than upon a lean, sorry, jackass of a horse, value about one pound fifteen shillings; who, to shorten all description of him, was full brother to Rosinante, as far as similitude congenial could make him; `for he answered his description to a hair-breadth in every thing,-except that I do not remember 'tis any where said, that Rosinante was broken-winded; and that, moreover, Rosinante, as is the happiness of most Spanish horses, fat or lean,-was undoubtedly a horse at all points. I know very well that the HERO's horse was a horse of chaste deportment, which may have given grounds for the contrary opinion: but it is as certain at the same time, that Rosinante's continency (as may be demonstrated from the adventure of the Yanguesian carriers) proceeded from no bodily defect or cause whatsoever, but from the temperance and orderly current of his blood. --And let me tell you, madam, there is a great deal of very good chastity in the world, in behalf of which you could not say more for your life. Let that be as it may, as my purpose is to do exact justice to every creature brought upon the stage of this dramatic work,-I could not stifle this distinction in favour of Don Quixote's horse; -in all other points, the parson's horse, I say, was just such another for he was as lean, and as lank, and as sorry a jade, as HUMILITY herself could have bestrode. In the estimation of here and there a man of weak judgment, it was greatly in the parson's power to have helped the figure of this horse of his-for he was master of a very handsome demipeak'd saddle, quilted on the seat with green plush, garnished with a double row of silverheaded studs, and noble pair of shining brass stirrups, with a housing altogether suitable, of grey superfine cloth, with an edging of black lace, terminating in a deep, black silk fringe, poudré d'orall which he had purchased in the pride and prime of his life; together with a grand embossed bridle, ornamented at all points as it should be.- -But not caring to banter his beast, he had hung all these up behind his study door :-and, in lieu of them, had seriously befitted him with just such a bridle and such a saddle, as the figure and value of such a steed might well and truly deserve. In the several sallies about his parish, and in the neighbouring visits to the gentry, who lived around him-you will easily comprehend, that the parson, so appointed, would both hear and see enough to keep his philosophy from rusting. To speak the truth, he never could enter a village, but he caught the attention of both old and young.- -Labour stood still as he passedthe bucket hung suspended in the middle of the well- -the spinning-wheel forgot its roundeven chuck-farthing and shuffle-cap themselves stoop gaping till he had got out of sight; and as his movement was not of the quickest, he had generally time enough upon his hands to make his observations-to hear the groans of the serious— and the laughter of the light-hearted;—all which ke bore with excellent tranquillity.-His character was he loved a jest in his heart-and as he saw himself in the true point of ridicule, he would say, he could not be angry with others for seeing him in a light, in which he so strongly saw himself. So that to his friends, who knew his foible was not the love of money, and who, therefore, made the less scruple in bantering the extravagance of his humour, instead of giving the true cause he chose rather to join in the laugh against himself; and as he never carried one single ounce of flesh upon his own bones, being altogether as spare a figure as his beast-he would sometimes insist upon it, that the horse was as good as the rider deserved;-that they were, centaur-like,— both of a piece. At other times, and in other moods, when his spirits were above the temptation of false wit-he would say, he found himself going off fast in a consumption; and, with great gravity, would pretend, he could not bear the sight of a fat horse, without dejection of heart, and a sensible alteration in his pulse; and that he had made choice of the lean one he rode upon, not only to keep himself in countenance, but in spirits. At different times he would give fifty humorous and apposite reasons for riding a meek-spirited jade of a broken-winded horse, preferably to one of mettle ;-for on such a one he could sit mechanically, and meditate as delightfully de vanitate mundi et fugâ sæculi, as with the advantage of a death's head before him ;-that, in all other exercitations, he could spend his time, as he rode slowly along to as much account as in his study;→ that he could draw up an argument in his sermon, or a hole in his breeches, as steadily on the one as in the other;-that brisk trotting and slow argumentation, like wit and judgment, were two incompatible movements.-But that upon his steed he could unite and reconcile every thing-he could compose his sermon he could compose his cough—and, in case nature gave a call that way, he could likewise compose himself to sleep.--In short, the parson, upon such encounters, would assign any cause but the true cause-and he withheld the true one, only out of a nicety of temper, because he thought it did honour to him. SHANDY. THE ABUSES OF CONSCIENCE. A SERMON. HEBREWS XII. 18. For we TRUST we have a good Conscience. "TRUST!-Trust we have a good conscience! He is, an't please your honour, replied Trim. Sir, quoth Dr. Slop, Trim is certainly in the right; for the writer (who I perceive is a Protestant by the snappish manner in which he takes |