King William, (which may be the more acceptable, as coming from one who was in a contrary intereft). And, indeed, I have fo good an opinion of that Prince, as to believe he would have acted much better than he did, with regard to the civil and ecclefiaftical conftitution in Scotland, if he had been permitted to govern by his own opi

nions.

But now to come to the conclufion of my ftory. The Hollantide, after I arrived in Ireland, my wife and two daughters followed me; and we fettled in the county of Tyrone with my father, (who died two years afterwards) on a fmall freehold; where I have made an hard fhift to maintain them with industry, and even manual labour, for about twelve years, till my wife died, and my daughters were married, which happened not very long after I became a widower.

I am at prefent in the 83d year of my age, ftill hated by thofe people, who affirm the old covenanters to have been unjustly dealt with; and therefore believe a great number of improbable stories concerning me; as that I was a common murderer of them and their preachers, with many other false and improbable stories. But the reader, I hope, from whom I have not concealed any one transaction or adventure that happened to me among those rebellious people, or mifreprefented the leaft circumftance, as far as my memory could ferve me; will judge whether he hath reafon to believe me to have been fuch a perfon as they reprefented me, and to hate me as they do upon that account. And my comfort is, that I can appeal from their unjust tribunal to the mercy of God; before whom, by the course of nature, I must soon appear, who knows the integrity of my heart, and that my actions (condemned by them) were, as far as my understanding could

The feaft of All-Saints,

direct me, meant for the good of the church, and the fervice of my King and country.

And, although fuch people hate me because they give credit to the falfe reports raised concerning me, another comfort left me in my old age is, that I have conftantly preserved (and still do fo) the love and efteem of all honeft and good men, to whom I have had the happiness at any time to be known.

JOHN GREICHTON.

HINTS

HINTS

TOWARDS

AN ESSAY

ON

CONVERSATION.

I HAVE obferved few obvious fubjects to have been fo feldom, or at leaft fo flightly handled as this; and, indeed, I know few fo difficult to be treated as it ought, nor yet upon which there feemeth fo much to be faid.

Moft things purfued by men for the happiness of public or private life, our wit or folly have fo refined, that they seldom fubfift but in idea; a true friend, a good marriage, a perfect form of government, with fome others, require fo many ingredients, fo good in their several kinds, and fo much nicenefs in mixing them, that for fome thousands of years men have defpaired of reducing their fchemes to perfection: But, in converfation, it is or might be otherwife; for here we are only to avoid a multitude of errors, which, although a matter of some difficulty, may be in every man's power,

for

for want of which it remaineth as mere an idea as the other. Therefore it feemeth to me, that the trueft way to understand converfation, is to know the faults and errors to which it is fubject, and from thence every man to form maxims to himself whereby it may be regulated; because it requireth few talents to which most men are not born, or at leaft may not acquire without any great genius or ftudy. For nature hath left every man a capacity of being agreeable, though not of fhining in company; and there are an hundred men fufficiently qualified for both, who, by a very few faults that they might correct in half an hour, are not fo much as tolerable.

I was prompted to write my thoughts upon thisfubject by mere indignation, to reflect that fo ufeful and innocent a pleasure, fo fitted for every period and condition of life, and fo much in all men's power, fhould be fo much neglected and abufed.

And in this difcourfe it will be neceffary to note thofe errors that are obvious, as well as others which are feldomer obferved, fince there are few fo obvious or acknowledged, into which moft men,. fome time or other, are not apt to run.

For inftance: Nothing is more generally exploded than the folly of talking too much; yet I rarely remember to have feen five people together, where fome one among them hath not been predominant in that kind, to the great constraint and disgust of all the reft. But among fuch as deal in multitudes of words, none are comparable to the fober deliberate talker, who proceedeth with much thought and caution, maketh his preface, branch-. eth out into several digreffions, findeth a hint that putteth him in mind of another story, which he promifeth to tell you when this is done; cometh back regularly to his fubject, cannot readily call to mind fome perfon's name, holdeth his head, com plaineth

plaineth of his memory; the whole company all this while in fufpence; at length, fays he, it is no matter, and fo goes on. And, to crown the bufinefs, it perhaps proveth at laft a ftory the company hath heard fifty times before; or, at best, fome infipid adventure of the relater.

Another general fault in converfation is, that of those who affect to talk of themfelves: Some, without any ceremony, will run over the history of their lives; will relate the annals of their diseases, with the feveral fymptoms and circumftances of them; will enumerate the hardships and injuftice they have fuffered in court, in parliament, in love, or in law. Others are more dexterous, and with great art will ly on the watch to hook in their own praife They will call a witness to remember they always foretold what would happen in fuch a cafe, but none would believe them; they advifed fuch a man from the beginning, and told him the confequences just as they happened; but he would have his own way. Others make a vanity of telling their faults: They are the ftrangeft men in the world; they cannot diffemble; they own it is a folly; they have loft abundance of advantages by it; but, if you would give them the world, they cannot help it; there is fomething in their nature that abhors infincerity and conftraint; with many other unfufferable topics of the fame altitude.

Of fuch mighty importance every man is to himfelf, and ready to think he is fo to others; with. out once making this eafy and obvious reflexion, that his affairs can have no more weight with other men, than their's have with him; and how little that is, he is fenfible enough.

Where company hath met, I often have obferved two perfons difcover by fome accident, that they were bred together at the fame fchool or univerfity, after which the reft are condemned to filence, and to liften while these two are refreshing each o

ther's