dvancing towards me, said he was glad to meet me
among his relations the De Coverleys, and hoped I liked the
conversation[63] of so much good company, who were as silent as myself. I
knew he alluded to the pictures, and as he is a gentleman who does not a
little value himself upon his ancient descent, I expected he would give
me some account of them. We were now arrived at the upper end of the
gallery, when the Knight faced towards one of the pictures, and, as we
stood before it, he entered into the matter, after his blunt way of
saying things, as they occur to his imagination, without regular
introduction, or care to preserve the appearance of chain of thought.

"It is," said he, "worth while to consider the force of dress; and how
the persons of one age differ from those of another, merely by that only.
One may observe also, that the general fashion of one age has been
followed by one particular set of people in another, and by them
preserved from one generation to another. Thus the vast jetting[64] coat
and small bonnet, which was the habit in Harry the Seventh's time, is
kept on in the yeomen of the guard; not without a good and politic view,
because they look a foot taller, and a foot and an half broader: besides
that the cap leaves the face expanded, and consequently more terrible,
and fitter to stand at the entrances of palaces.

"This predecessor of ours, you see, is dressed after this manner, and his
cheeks would be no larger than mine, were he in a hat as I am. He was the
last man that won a prize in the tilt-yard (which is now a common street
before Whitehall). You see the broken lance that lies there by his right
foot; he shivered that lance of his adversary all to pieces; and bearing
himself, look you, sir, in this manner, at the same time he came within
the target[65] of the gentleman who rode against him, and taking him with
incredible force before him on the pommel of his saddle, he in that
manner rid the tournament[66] over, with an air that showed he did it
rather to perform the rule of the lists, than expose his enemy; however,
it appeared he knew how to make use of a victory, and with a gentle trot
he marched up to a gallery where their mistress sat (for they were
rivals) and let him down with laudable courtesy and pardonable
insolence[67]. I don't know but it might be exactly where the
coffee-house is now.

"You are to know this my ancestor was not only of a military genius, but
fit also for the a