of the Guard
were crying out for help, oppressed by the immense weight of the
coffin; the bishop read sadly and blundered in the prayers; the fine
chapter, _Man that is born of woman_, was chanted, not read; and the
anthem, besides being immeasurably tedious, would have served as well
for a nuptial. The real serious part was the figure of the Duke of
Cumberland, heightened by a thousand melancholy circumstances. He had
a dark brown adonis, and a cloak of black cloth, with a train of five
yards.

Attending the funeral of a father could not be pleasant; his leg
extremely bad, yet forced to stand upon it near two hours; his face
bloated and distorted with his late paralytic stroke, which has
affected, too, one of his eyes; and placed over the mouth of the vault
into which, in all probability, he must himself so soon descend; think
how unpleasant a situation! He bore it all with a firm and unaffected
countenance. This grave scene was fully contrasted by the burlesque
Duke {82} of Newcastle. He fell into a fit of crying the moment he
came into the chapel, and flung himself back in a stall, the archbishop
hovering over him with a smelling-bottle; but in two minutes his
curiosity got the better of his hypocrisy, and he ran about the chapel
with his glass to spy who was or was not there, spying with one hand,
and mopping his eyes with the other. Then returned the fear of
catching cold; and the Duke of Cumberland, who was sinking with heat,
felt himself weighed down, and turning round, found it was the Duke of
Newcastle standing upon his train, to avoid the chill of the marble.
It is very theatric to look down into the vault, where the coffin was,
attended by mourners with lights. Clavering, the groom of the
bed-chamber, refused to sit up with the body, and was dismissed by the
King's order.

I have nothing more to tell you, but a trifle, a very trifle. The King
of Prussia has totally defeated Marshal Daun. This, which would have
been prodigious news a month ago, is nothing to-day; it only takes its
turn among the questions, "Who is to be the groom of the bedchamber?
What is Sir T. Robinson to have?" I have been to Leicester Fields
to-day; the crowd was immoderate; I don't believe it will continue so.
Good night.

(_Letters_.)

{83}

OLIVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774

THE CREDULITY OF THE ENGLISH

It is the most usual method in every report, first to examine its
probability, and then act as the conjuncture m