ion was
not naturally deficient in the social passions of the soul, which though
they were strangely warped, disguised, and overborne by the circumstance
of his boisterous life and education, did not fail to manifest
themselves occasionally through the whole course of his behaviour.

As all the hopes of propagating his own name had perished, and his
relations lay under the interdiction of his hate, it is no wonder that
through the familiarity and friendly intercourse subsisting between him
and Mr. Gamaliel, he contracted a liking for the boy, who by this time
entered the third year of his age, and was indeed a very handsome,
healthy, and promising child; and what seemed to ingratiate him still
more with his uncle, was a certain oddity of disposition, for which he
had been remarkable even from his cradle. It is reported of him, that
before the first year of his infancy was elapsed, he used very often,
immediately after being dressed, in the midst of the caresses which
were bestowed upon him by his mother, while she indulged herself in the
contemplation of her own happiness, all of a sudden to alarm her with
a fit of shrieks and cries, which continued with great violence till
he was stripped to the skin with the utmost expedition by order of
his affrighted parent, who thought his tender body was tortured by the
misapplication of some unlucky pill; and when he had given them all this
disturbance and unnecessary trouble, he would he sprawling and laughing
in their faces, as if he ridiculed the impertinence of their concern.
Nay, it is affirmed, that one day, when an old woman who attended in the
nursery had by stealth conveyed a bottle of cordial waters to her mouth,
he pulled his nurse by the sleeve, by a slight glance detected the
theft, and tipped her the wink with a particular slyness of countenance,
as if he had said, with a sneer, "Ay, ay, that is what you must all come
to." But these instances of reflection in a babe nine months old are
so incredible, that I look upon them as observations, founded upon
imaginary recollection, when he was in a more advanced age, and his
peculiarities of temper became much more remarkable; of a piece with
the ingenious discoveries of those sagacious observers, who can
discern something evidently characteristic in the features of any noted
personage whose character they have previously heard explained. Yet
without pretending to specify at what period of his childhood this
singularity fi