or Commanders, they appear to us stripped of those out-side Ornaments that dazzled their Contemporaries; and we regard their Persons as great or little, in Proportion to the Eminence of their Virtues or Vices.  The wise Sayings, generous Sentiments, or disinterested Conduct of a Philosopher under mean Circumstances of Life, set him higher in our Esteem than the mighty Potentates of the Earth, when we view them both through the long Prospect of many Ages.  Were the Memoirs of an obscure Man, who lived up to the Dignity of his Nature, and according to the Rules of Virtue, to be laid before us, we should find nothing in such a Character which might not set him on a Level with Men of the highest Stations.  The following Extract out of the private Papers of an honest Country-Gentleman will set this Matter in a clear Light.  Your Reader will perhaps conceive a greater Idea of him from these Actions done in Secret, and without a Witness, than of those which have drawn upon them the Admiration of Multitudes.

    MEMOIRS.

“In my 22d Year I found a violent Affection for my Cousin Charles’s Wife growing upon me, wherein I was in danger of succeeding, if I had not upon that Account begun my Travels into foreign Countries.

    “A little after my Return into England, at a private Meeting with
    my Uncle Francis, I refused the Offer of his Estate, and prevailed
    upon him not to disinherit his Son Ned.

    “Mem.  Never to tell this to Ned,, lest he should think hardly of
    his deceased Father; though he continues to speak ill of me for this
    very Reason.

    “Prevented a scandalous Law-suit betwixt my Nephew Harry and his
    Mother, by allowing her under-hand, out of my own Pocket, so much
    Money yearly as the Dispute was about.

    “Procured a Benefice for a young Divine, who is Sister’s Son to the
    good Man who was my Tutor, and hath been dead Twenty Years.

    “Gave Ten Pounds to poor Mrs.—­, my Friend H—­’s Widow.

    “Mem.  To retrench one Dish at my Table, till I have fetched it up
    again.

    “Mem.  To repair my House and finish my Gardens in order to employ
    poor People after Harvest time.

    “Ordered John to let out Goodman D—­’s Sheep that were pounded, by
    Night:  but not to let his Fellow-Servants know it.

    “Prevailed upon M.  T. Esq., not to take the Law of the Farmer’s
    Son for shooting a Partridge, and to give him his Gun again.

    “Paid the Apothecary for curing an old Woman that confessed her self
    a Witch.

    “Gave away my favourite Dog for biting a Beggar.

    “Made the Minister of the Parish and a Whig Justice of one Mind,
    by putting them upon explaining their Notions to one another.