ESSAY SECOND, ON FEAR. "It is the purpose that makes strong the vow; PERHAPS many of my readers, may, after a perusal of this Essay, venture to criticise its title, and imagine that " Biographical Sketches of a strange character," would have been more appropriate; but I must adhere to the justice of its present name; because in this paper will be found a notable instance of foolish fear, in the person of a church-officer, which was productive of very lamentable consequences to himself and family. During my abode in the city mentioned in last Essay, a circumstance occurred, which attracted no small notice.. my In a lofty garret, situated in an obscure street of the said city, dwelt a man of the name of Pivett, whose life and manners had long been the subject of discussion in a certain circle; nor was he thus dragged from his native obscurity, into the broad light of public cognizance, without some degree of justice, and his foibles brought before the impertinent stare of grim-visaged slander, without some cause for censure. On what peculiar spot of earth this singular character first appeared from Nature's vast womb, I know not; neither am I acquainted with the condition of the immediate agents of his birth. Report has affirmed that many years of his life were spent, in what is termed, the service of his country, that is, the prime of his days were passed away in the condition of a foot-soldier; and, moreover, some has asserted, on behalf of his honour and glory, that he obtained the signal approbation of his commanders, during the celebrated rebellions of 1715, and 1745, in both of which terrible events be bore an active part. It is now seven or eight years since I saw him. He was then upwards of ninety years of age; was, by profession a carver and gilder, and from minute enquiry, the following par ticulars may be relied upon as correct, When he was about sixty years of age, by an unlucky accident, his house was burnt during the night, by means of some flames catching the clothes of the very bed in which he was buried in profound slumbers; and so imminent was the danger of his life, that it was with the utmost hazard of breaking his neck, he was under the necessity of descending from his chamber-window, at a considerable height, into the street, as the only remaining means of an escape, Such an effect had this conflagration upon his mind, together with the loss of his property, that he made a solemn vow, while pros. trate upon his knees, before God, that he never more would enter a bed, even should his years be long extended, and the infirmities of age, or sickness should press heavy upon him. Pivett was of the Romish church, and he kept this ridiculous vow, inviolate, to the latest hour of his being; and, for the last thirty years, at a period of life when most men require every indulgence that can be procured, or bestowed, this strange being passed without once entering a bed. My readers may have some idea of the mode in which he passed the night, from the relation of the following anecdote. " It was towards the close of Pivett's eventful life, that he was returning, about midnight, from one of those solitary walks in the "dead vast and middle of the night," which he was in the habit of taking, when he accidentally. met with a trooper, who, by some unlucky means had been shut out from his quarters. The night being very far advanced, the poor soldier was under no small trepidation, lest he should be obliged to pass the hours of darkness, without the shelter of an habitation, when in a propitious moment, he had espied Pivett, on his way to his own lodging. The soldier having immediately made up to him, begged to know where he might gain a bed, being very cold from the keen air which blew sharp from the east. Pivett replied, come along with me, my boy, I'll find you a good wholesome lodging." The trooper, as might be expected, was much delighted, and thanked Pivett, in very warm terms, for his complaisance. 66 Pivett led the way through a number of bye and narrow streets, until turning up a passage he stopped, and desired the trooper to follow close behind him, for it was very dark. They, at length arrived in a small court, and Pivett, with some difficulty, hauled a long ladder from one corner, and placing it against one of the walls bade the soldier follow him, which summons was obeyed with the utmost punctuality. They soon entered a chamber, which the trooper conceived to be a hay loft, but an impervious darkness pervading the whole place, prevented any of those necessary investigations, which, otherwise, might have been made, to the greater satisfaction of the party concerned. From the first moment of their entrance the trooper missed Pivett, and therefore supposed he was advanced to some other apartment, until hearing very articulate sounds of vehement snoring, at no great distance from his person, he very naturally concluded that his kind host had got into bed, and had fallen into a sound sleep. He accordingly conceived it to be his duty to search for his bed, more especially as he had received a warm invitation to that effect, |