--He calls for a Glass of Water;
'tis his Turn to throw; he has the Box in one Hand and the Glass in
the other; and being extremely dry, and unwilling to lose Time, he
swallows down both the Dice and almost the Box, and at the same
Time throws the Glass of Water into the Tables.--If this is not
to overstrain the Bow, to carry Things to an unnatural Excess and
Extravagance, and to make no Distinction between Absence of Mind and
Insensibility, or downright Folly, I confess, I know not what is. _Mr.
de la Bruyere_ should have consider'd, that a Man, who has lost his
Feeling, is not, in that Respect, a proper Subject for Ridicule,
and that 'tis no Jest to take away a Man's Senses. Extravagances of
this Nature are no Beauties in any Kind of Writing, much less in
Characteristics. In Performances of this Kind there must be Spirit and
Strength, but especially there must be Justice. The real Images of
Life must be represented, or the Probabilities of Nature must strictly
be observ'd.
[M] _Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo
Doctum imitatorem, & vivas hinc ducere voces._
These are the likeliest Copies, which are drawn
By the Original of human Life.
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