Isaac Bickerstaff, Physician and AstrologerSteele, Richard, Sir
General
Isaac Bickerstaff, Physician and Astrologer
Steele, Richard, Sir
English wit and humor; Fictitious characters -- Autobiography
The next who appeared was a hale old fellow of sixty. He was brought
in by his relations, who desired leave to bury him. Upon requiring a
distinct account of the prisoner, a credible witness deposed, "that he
always rose at ten of the clock, played with his cat till twelve, smoked
tobacco till one, was at dinner till two, then took another pipe, played
at backgammon till six, talked of one Madame Frances, an old mistress of
his, till eight, repeated the same account at the tavern till ten, then
returned home, took the other pipe, and then to bed." I asked him,
"what he had to say for himself?"--"As to what," said he, "they mention
concerning Madame Frances--"
I did not care for hearing a Canterbury tale, and, therefore, thought
myself seasonably interrupted by a young gentleman, who appeared in the
behalf of the old man, and prayed an arrest of judgment; "for that he,
the said young man, held certain lands by his the said old man's life."
Upon this, the solicitor of the Upholders took an occasion to demand
him also, and thereupon produced several evidences that witnessed to his
life and conversation. It appeared that each of them divided their
hours in matters of equal moment and importance to themselves and to the
public. They rose at the same hour: while the old man was playing with
his cat, the young one was looking out of his window; while the old man
was smoking his pipe, the young man was rubbing his teeth; while one
was at dinner, the other was dressing; while one was at backgammon, the
other was at dinner; while the old fellow was talking of Madame Frances,
the young one was either at play, or toasting women whom he never
conversed with. The only difference was, that the young man had never
been good for anything; the old man a man of worth before he know Madame
Frances. Upon the whole, I ordered them to be both interred together,
with inscriptions proper to their characters, signifying, that the old
man died in the year 1689, and was buried in the year 1709; and over the
young one it was said, that he departed this world in the twenty-fifth
year of his death.
The next class of criminals were authors in prose and verse. Those of
them who had produced any stillborn work were immediately dismissed
to their burial, and were followed by others, who notwithstanding some
sprightly issue in their lifetime, had given proofs of their death,
by some posthumous children, that bore no resemblance to their elder
brethren. As for those who were the fathers of a mixed progeny, provided
always they could prove the last to be a live child, they escaped with
life, but not without loss of limbs; for, in this case, I was satisfied
with amputation of the parts which were mortified.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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