noses; and if the device had been a triple crown, it would not have been unexpressive.

The gentlemen of the army have sometimes taken it into their heads to ring every body about them; and we have had instances how able they have been by the help of these RINGS, to lead both houses of parliament by the nose. The device engraved on those nose-jewels was, The Protector. At present, indeed, it is thought that the gentlemen of the law have a great superiority over the gentlemen of the army, and that they are preparing RINGS for all the noses in these kingdoms, under the well-conceived device of Liberty and Property. It has been a maxim of long standing among statesmen, never to employ any person whatsoever who will not bear being rung; and as this very much depends on the shape of the nose, which ought to be of such a disposition as not to be refractory to a perforation, I would in a particular manner recommend it to all leaders of parties, to make the knowledge of the human nose a principal object of their study; since it is manifest that of them have found themselves grievously disappointed, when they have presumed to count noses, without a sufficient investigation of this useful science.

many

As I have for many years taken much pains in the study of physiognomy, I shall, for the good of my country, communicate through the channel of your paper some of those many observations, which I have made on that remarkable feature, called the nose: for as this is the most prominent part of the face, it seems to be erected as a sign, on which was to be represented the particular kind of ware that was to be disposed of within doors. Hence it was, that amongst the old Romans, very little regard was paid to a man without a nose;

not only as there was no judgment to be made of the sentiments of such a person, but as in their public assemblies, when they came to reckon noses, he must of consequence he always omitted out of

the account.

Among these ancient Romans the great offices of state were all elective, which obliged them to be very observant of the shape of the noses of those persons to whom they were to apply for votes. Horace tells us that the sharp nose was looked upon as an indication of satyrical wit and humour: for when speaking of his friend Virgil, though he says, At est bonus, ut melior non alius quisquam, yet he allows that he was no joker, and not a fit match at the sneer for those of his companions who had sharper noses than his own. Minus aptus (says he) acutis NARIBUS horum hominum. They also looked upon the short nose, with a little inflection at the end tending upwards, as a mark of the owner's being addicted to jibing: for the same author, talking of Mecaenas, says, that though he was born of an ancient family, yet he was not apt to turn persons of low birth into ridicule, which he expresses by saying that he had not a turn-up nose. Nec NASO suspendis adunco. Martial, in one of his epigrams, calls this kind of nose the rhinocerotic nose, and says that every one in his time affected this kind of snout, as an indication of his being master of the talent of humour. But a good statesman will hardly think it worth his while to spend nose-jewels upon such persons, unless it be to serve them as you do swine, when you ring them only to keep them from rooting.

The Greeks had a very bad opinion of the flat nose. The remarkable story of Socrates and the physiognomist is too well known to be particularly repeated: but I cannot help observing, that the

most particular feature in the face of Socrates was his nose, which being very flat, with a little inflection upwards towards the end, caused the physiognomist to pronounce him a drunken, impudent and lustful person; which the philosopher acknowledged to be a true character of him in his natural state.

The Hebrews looked upon this kind of nose to be so great a blemish in a man's character, that though of the lineage of Aaron, his having a flat nose was by the express command of Moses an absolute exclusion from the sacerdotal office. On the other hand, they held long noses in the highest esteem, as the certain indication of a meek and patient mind. Hence it is, that in the book of Proverbs the original words, which literally signify he that has a long nose, are in our English translation, and by all interpreters, rendered, he that is slow to wrath: and the words which signify he that has a short nose, are always translated, he that is soon angry, or hasty of spirit. I shall only remark upon this, that the Welch, who are by no means the slowest to anger, have generally short noses.

The elephant is of all animals the most docible and servile; and every body knows how remarkable that creature is for the length of his snout. Though sometimes it happens that he is not altogether so patient of injuries as might be wished. Hamilton, in his travels to the East-Indies, tells us of an elephant of Surat, that was passing with his keeper to his watering place through the streets of that city, who seeing the window open of a taylor's shop, and thrusting in his trunk in search of provision, received an affront from the needle of the taylor, as he was sitting at his work. The story adds, that the elephant went soberly on to water, and after drinking his usual draught, drew up a great quan

VOL. III.

F

tity of mud into his trunk, and returning by the window of the taylor, discharged an inundation of it on his work-board. This was, I own, an unlucky trick; but we ought not to have a worse opinion of long noses in general for the sake of one such story, the like of which may not probably happen again in a whole century.

I have many more curious observations to make on the various kinds of noses, which, for fear of exceeding the bounds of your paper, I shall reserve to another opportunity, when I intend to descant at large on the method of ringing them: for some men are of such untoward and restiff dispositions, that they are like the Leviathan mentioned by Job, into whose nose there is no putting a hook, as our translators render it, but the original word signifies

a RING.

I am, Sir,

Your most humble servant.

No. 151. THURSDAY, NOV. 20, 1755.

I WAS lately subpoenaed by a card, to a general assembly at lady Townly's, where I went so aukwardly early, that I found nobody but the five or six people who had dined there, and who for want of hands enough to play, were reduced to the cruel necessity of conversing, till something better should offer. Lady Townly observed with concern and impatience, that people of fashion now came intolerably late, and in a glut at once, which laid the lady of the house under great difficulties to make the parties properly. That, no doubt, said Manly,

is to be lamented; and the more so, as it seems to give your ladyship some concern: but in the mean time, for want of something better to do, I should be glad to know the true meaning of a term that you have just made use of, people of fashion: I confess I have never yet had a precise and clear idea of it; and I am sure I cannot apply more properly for information, than to this company, which is most unquestionably composed of people of fashion, whatever people of fashion may be. I therefore beg to know the meaning of that term: what are they, who are they, and what constitutes, I had almost said, anoints them, people of fashion? These questions, instead of receiving immediate answers, occasioned a general silence of above a minute, which perhaps was the result of the whole company's having discovered for the first time, that they had long and often made use of a term which they had never understood: for a little reflection frequently produces those discoveries. Belinda first broke this silence, by saying, one knows well enough who are meant by people of fashion, though one does not just know how to describe them: they are those that one generally lives with; they are people of a certain sort- They certainly are so, interrupted Manly; but the point is, of what sort? If you mean by people of a certain sort, yourself, which is commonly the meaning of those who make use of that expression, you are indisputably in the right, as you have all the qualifications that can, or, at least, ought to constitute and adorn a woman of fashion. But pray, must all women of fashion have all your accomplishments? If so, the myriads of them which I had imagined from what I heard every day, and every where, will dwindle into a handful. Without having those accomplishments which you so partially allow me, answered Belinda, I still pre