Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. I remember a _wash-ball_ that had a quality truly wonderful--it gave an _exquisite edge to the razor_. And there are now to be sold, _for ready money only_, some _duvets for bed-coverings, of down, beyond comparison superior to what is called otter-down_, and indeed such, that its _many excellencies cannot be here set forth_. With one excellence we are made acquainted--_it is warmer than four or five blankets, and lighter than one._ There are some, however, that know the prejudice of mankind in favour of modest sincerity. The vender of the _beautifying fluid_ sells a lotion that repels pimples, washes away freckles, smooths the skin, and plumps the flesh; and yet, with a generous abhorrence of ostentation, confesses, that it will not _restore the bloom of fifteen to a lady of fifty_. The true pathos of advertisements must have sunk deep into the heart of every man that remembers the zeal shown by the seller of the _anodyne necklace_, for the ease and safety of _poor teething infants_, and the affection with which he warned every mother, that _she would never forgive herself_, if her infant should perish without a necklace. I cannot but remark to the celebrated author who gave, in his notifications of the camel and dromedary, so many specimens of the genuine sublime, that there is now arrived another subject yet more worthy of his pen. _A famous Mohawk Indian warrior, who took_ Dieskaw _the French general prisoner, dressed in the same manner with the native Indians when they go to war, with his face and body painted, with his scalping-knife, tom-axe, and all other implements of war! a sight worthy the curiosity of every true Briton!_ This is a very powerful description; but a critick of great refinement would say, that it conveys rather _horrour_ than _terrour_. An Indian, dressed as he goes to war, may bring company together; but if he carries the scalping-knife and tom-axe, there are many true Britons that will never be persuaded to see him but through a grate. It has been remarked by the severer judges, that the salutary sorrow of tragick scenes is too soon effaced by the merriment of the epilogue; the same inconvenience arises from the improper disposition of advertisements. The noblest objects may be so associated as to be made ridiculous. The camel and dromedary themselves might have lost much of their dignity between _the true flower of mustard_ and the _original Daffy's elixir_; and I could not but feel some indignation when I found this illustrious Indian warrior immediately succeeded by _a fresh parcel of Dublin butter_.