THE deplorable Condition of a very pretty Gentleman, who walks here at the Hours When Men of Quality first appear, is what is very much lamented. His History is, That on the 9th of September, 1705. being in his One and twentieth Year, he was washing his Teeth at a Tavern Window in Pall-Mall, when a fine Equipage pass'd by, and in it a young Lady who look'd up at him; away goes the Coach, and the young Gentleman pull'd off his Nightcap, and instead of rubbing his Gums, as he ought to do out of the Window till about Four a Clock, sits him down, and spoke not a Word till Twelve at Night; after which, he began to enquire, If any Body knew the Lady— The Company ask'd, What Lady ? But he said no more, 'till they broke up at Six In the Morning. All the ensuing Winter he went from Church to Church every Sunday, and from Playhouse to Playhouse every Night in the Week, but could never find the Original of the Picture which dwelt in his Bosom. In a Word, his Attention to any Thing but his Passion, was utterly gone. He has lost all the Money he ever played for, and been confuted in every Argument he has enter'd upon since the Moment he first saw her. He is of a Noble Family, has naturally a very good Air, and is of a frank, honest Temper: But this Passion has so extremely mauled him, that his Features are set and uninformed, and his whole Visage is deaden'd by a long Absence of Thought. He never appears in any Alacrity, but when raised by Wine; at which Time he is sure to come hither, and throw away a great deal of Wit on Fellows, who have no Sense farther than just to observe, That our poor Lover has most Understanding when he is drunk, and is least in his Senses when he is sober.
from The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff in The Tatler 1710
James B. Kenyon
in The Magazine of Poetry Vol. 1, No. 1, 1889
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