gentleman more intimately conversant with our ancient and
domestic manners than, perhaps, any single individual in the country.]

[Footnote 164: This term is used in Bancroft's "Two Books of Epigrams
and Epitaphs," 1639. I take it to have been an accepted one of that
day.]

[Footnote 165: "A delicate Diet for daintie mouthed Dronkardes, wherin
the fowle Abuse of common carowsing and quaffing with hartie Draughtes
is honestlie admonished." By George Gascoigne, Esquier. 1576.]

[Footnote 166: I shall preserve the story in the words of Whitelocke; it
was something ludicrous, as well as terrific.

"From Berkshire (in May, 1650) that five drunkards agreed to drink the
king's health in their blood, and that each of them should cut off a
piece of his buttock, and fry it upon the gridiron, which was done by
four of them, of whom one did bleed so exceedingly, that they were fain
to send for a chirurgeon, and so were discovered. The wife of one of
them hearing that her husband was amongst them, came to the room, and
taking up a pair of tongs laid about her, and so saved the cutting of
her husband's flesh."--_Whitelocke's Memorials_, p. 453, second
edition.]

[Footnote 167: Burnet's Life of Sir Matthew Hale.]

[Footnote 168: Calamities of Authors, vol. ii. p. 313.]

[Footnote 169: It first appeared in a review of his "Memoirs."]

[Footnote 170: The words are, "Une derriere la scene." I am not sure of
the-meaning, but an _Act behind the scenes_ would be perfectly in
character with this dramatic bard.]

[Footnote 171: The exact reasoning of Sir Fretful, in the _Critic_, when
Mrs. Dangle thought his piece "rather too long," while he proves his
play was "a remarkably short play."--"The first evening you can spare me
three hours and a half, I'll undertake to read you the whole, from
beginning to end, with the prologue and epilogue, and allow time for the
music between the acts. The watch here, you know, is the critic."]

[Footnote 172: Again, Sir Fretful; when Dangle "ventures to suggest that
the interest rather falls off in the fifth act;"--"Rises, I believe you
mean, sir."--No, I don't, upon my word."--"Yes, yes, you do, upon my
soul; it certainly don't fall off; no, no, it don't fall off."]

[Footnote 173: See _ante_. vol. i. p. 71.]

[Footnote 174: The plates of the original edition are in the quarto
form; they have been poorly reduced in the common editions in twelves.]

[Footnote 175: The establishment could origina