After having dispatched all our country matters, Sir Roger made several inquiries concerning the club, and particularly of his old antagonist Sir Andrew Freeport. He asked me with a kind of a smile, whether Sir Andrew had not taken the advantage of his absence, to vent among them some of his republican doctrines; but soon after gathering up his countenance into a more than ordinary seriousness, "Tell me truly," says he, "do not you think Sir Andrew had a hand in the Pope's procession[161]?"--but without giving me time to answer him, "Well, well," says he, "I know you are a wary man, and do not care to talk of public matters." The Knight then asked me if I had seen Prince Eugenio, and made me promise to get him a stand in some convenient place, where he might have a full sight of that extraordinary man, whose presence does so much honour to the British nation. He dwelt very long on the praises of this great general, and I found that, since I was with him in the country, he had drawn many just observations together out of his reading in Baker's _Chronicle_[162], and other authors, who always lie in his hall window, which very much redound to the honour of this prince. Having passed away the greatest part of the morning in hearing the Knight's reflections, which were partly private, and partly political, he asked me if I would smoke a pipe with him over a dish of coffee at Squire's. As I love the old man, I take delight in complying with everything that is agreeable to him, and accordingly waited on[163] him to the coffee-house, where his venerable figure drew upon us the eyes of the whole room. He had no sooner seated himself at the upper end of the high table, but he called for a clean pipe, a paper of tobacco, a dish of coffee, a wax-candle, and the _Supplement_, with such an air of cheerfulness and good humour, that all the boys[164] in the coffee-room (who seemed to take pleasure in serving him) were at once employed on his several errands, insomuch that nobody else could come at a dish of tea, until the Knight had got all his conveniences about him. L. FOOTNOTES: [152] _Turn._ Stroll. [153] _Prince Eugene._ Prince of Savoy (1663-1736), who aided Marlborough at Blenheim and elsewhere, and was at this time on a visit to London. [154] _Scanderbeg._ George Castriota, a famous Albanian leader against the Turks (1403-68). [155] _Hemming._ Clearing his throat. [156] _Merks._ A merk is 13s. 4d., but only as a measure of value, not an actual coin. Compare our present use of a guinea. [157] _Fob._ Small pocket. [158] _Smutting one another._ Blacking one another's faces in sport. [159] _Act of Parliament._ Act of Occasional Uniformity, 1710. [160] _Rigid dissenter ... plum porridge._ Many Puritans refused to observe Christmas Day, regarding it as smacking of Popery. [161] _Pope's procession._ An annual Whig demonstration. [162] _Baker's Chronicle._ _Chronicle of the Kings of England_ (1643), by Sir Richard Baker.