BOOK IV.
CONTAINING THE CHRONICLES OF THE REIGN OF
WILLIAM THE TESTY.
CHAPTER I.
Showing the nature of history in general; containing
furthermore the universal acquirements of
William the Testy, and how a man may learn so
much as to render himself good for nothing.
When the lofty Thucydides is about
to enter upon his description of the plague
that desolated Athens, one of his modern
commentators assures the reader, that
the history is now going to be exceedingly
solemn, serious, and pathetic; and
hints, with that air of chuckling gratulation,
with which a good dame draws
forth a choice morsel from a cupboard
to regale a favourite, that this plague
will give his history a most agreeable
variety.
In like manner did my heart leap
within me, when I came to the dolorous
dilemma of Fort Good Hope, which I at
once perceived to be the forerunner of a
series of great events and entertaining
disasters. Such are the true subjects for
the historic pen; for what is history, in
fact, but a kind of Newgate Calendar, a
