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that I would be understood to mean no more of it, than a small circle described upon the circle of the great world, of four English miles diameter, or there- abouts, of which the cottage where the good old woman lived, is supposed to be the centre. ---- She had been left, it seems, a widow in great distress, with three or four small children, in her forty- seventh year ; and as she was at that time a person of decent carriage, -- grave de- portment, ---- a woman moreover of few words, and withall an object of compas- sion, whose distress and silence under it call'd out the louder for a friendly lift : the wife of the parson of the parish was touch'd with pity ; and having often la- mented an inconvenience, to which her husband's flock had for many years been exposed, inasmuch, as there was no such thing as a midwife, of any kind or de- gree |
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gree to be got at, let the case have been never so urgent, within less than six or seven long miles riding ; which said seven long miles in dark nights and dismal roads, the country thereabouts being no- thing but a deep clay, was almost equal to fourteen; and that in effect was sometimes next to having no midwife at all ; it came into her head, that it would be doing as seasonable a kindness to the whole parish, as to the poor creature herself, to get her a little instructed in some of the plain principles of the business, in order to set her up in it. As no woman thereabouts was better qualified to execute the plan she had formed than herself, the Gentle- woman very charitably undertook it ; and having great influence over the female part of the parish, she found no difficulty in effecting it to the utmost of her wishes. In truth, the parson join'd his interest B 3 with |
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with his wife's in the whole affair ; and in order to do things as they should be, and give the poor soul as good a title by law to practise, as his wife had given by institution, ---- he chearfully paid the fees for the ordinaries licence himself, amounting, in the whole, to the sum of eighteen shillings and fourpence ; so that, betwixt them both, the good woman was fully invested in the real and corpo- ral possession of her office, together with all its rights, members, and appurtenances whatsoever. These last words, you must know, were not according to the old form in which such licences, faculties, and powers usually ran, which in like cases had here- tofore been granted to the sisterhood. But it was according to a neat Formula of Didius his own devising, who having a |
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a particular turn for taking to pieces, and new framing over again, all kind of instruments in that way, not only hit upon this dainty amendment, but coax'd many of the old licensed matrons in the neighbourhood, to open their faculties afresh, in order to have this whim-wham of his inserted. I own I never could envy Didius in these kinds of fancies of his : -- But every man to his own taste. -- Did not Dr. Ku- nastrokius, that great man, at his leisure hours, take the greatest delight imagina- ble in combing of asses tails, and plucking the dead hairs out with his teeth, though he had tweezers always in his pocket ? Nay, if you come to that, Sir, have not the wisest of men in all ages, not except- ing Solomon himself, -- have they not had their HOBBY-HORSES ; -- their running B 4 horses, |
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horses, -- their coins and their cockle- shells, their drums and their trumpets, their fiddles, their pallets, ---- their mag- gots and their butterflies ? -- and so long as a man rides his HOBBY-HORSE peace- ably and quietly along the King's high- way, and neither compels you or me to get up behind him, ---- pray, Sir, what have either you or I to do with it ? -- De gustibus non est disputandum; -- that is, there is no disputing against HOBBY- HORSES ; and, for my part, I seldom do ; nor could I with any sort of grace, had I been an enemy to them at the bot- tom ; for happening, at certain intervals and changes of the Moon, to be both fiddler and painter, according as the fly stings : -- Be it known to you, that I keep |
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keep a couple of pads myself, upon which, in their turns, (nor do I care who knows it) I frequently ride out and take the air ; -- tho' sometimes, to my shame be it spoken, I take somewhat longer journies than what a wise man would think altogether right. ---- But the truth is, -- I am not a wise man ; ---- and be- sides am a mortal of so little consequence in the world, it is not much matter what I do ; so I seldom fret or fume at all about it : Nor does it much disturb my rest when I see such great Lords and tall Personages as hereafter follow ; -- such, for instance, as my Lord A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, and so on, all of a row, mounted upon their several horses ; -- some with large stirrups, getting on in a more grave and sober pace ; ---- others on the contrary, tuck'd up to their very chins, with whips across 4 their |
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their mouths, scouring and scampering it away like so many little party-colour'd devils astride a mortgage, ---- and as if some of them were resolved to break their necks. -- So much the better -- say I to myself ; -- for in case the worst should happen, the world will make a shift to do excellently well without them ; -- and for the rest, ---- why, ---- God speed them, ---- e'en let them ride on without any opposition from me ; for were their lord- ships unhorsed this very night, ---- 'tis ten to one but that many of them would be worse mounted by one half before to- morrow morning. Not one of these instances therefore can be said to break in upon my rest. -- But there is an instance, which I own puts me off my guard, and that is, when I see one born for great actions, and, what is still |
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still more for his honour, whose nature ever inclines him to good ones ; ---- when I behold such a one, my Lord, like yourself, whose principles and conduct are as generous and noble as his blood, and whom, for that reason, a corrupt world cannot spare one moment; -- when I see such a one, my Lord, mounted, though it is but for a minute beyond the time which my love to my country has prescribed to him, and my zeal for his glory wishes, -- then, my Lord, I cease to be a philosopher, and in the first transport of an honest impatience, I wish the HOBBY-HORSE, with all his frater- nity, at the Devil. ``My Lord, ``I Maintain this to be a dedication, `` notwithstanding its singularity in ``the three great essentials of matter, ``form, |
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``form, and place : I beg, therefore, you ``will accept it as such, and that you will ``permit me to lay it, with the most re- ``spectful humility, at your Lordship's ``feet, -- when you are upon them, -- ``which you can be when you please ; -- ``and that is, my Lord, when ever there ``is occasion for it, and I will add, to the ``best purposes too. I have the honour ``to be, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient, and most devoted, and most humble servant, TRISTRAM SHANDY.'' C H A P. |
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I SOLEMNLY declare to all mankind, that the above dedication was made for no one Prince, Prelate, Pope, or Poten- tate, -- Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, or Baron of this, or any other Realm in Christendom ; ---- nor has it yet been hawk'd about, or offered publickly or privately, directly or indirectly, to any one person or personage, great or small ; but is honestly a true Virgin-Dedication untried on, upon any soul living. I labour this point so particularly, merely to remove any offence or objec- tion which might arise against it, from the manner in which I propose to make the most of it ; -- which is the putting it |
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it up fairly to publick sale ; which I now do. ---- Every author has a way of his own, in bringing his points to bear ; -- for my own part, as I hate chaffering and higgling for a few guineas in a dark entry ; -- I resolved within myself, from the very beginning, to deal squarely and openly with your Great Folks in this af- fair, and try whether I should not come off the better by it. If therefore there is any one Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, or Baron, in these his Majesty's dominions, who stands in need of a tight, genteel dedication, and whom the above will suit, (for by the bye, unless it suits in some degree, I will not part with it) ---- it is much at his service for fifty guineas ; ---- which I |
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I am positive is twenty guineas less than it ought to be afforded for, by any man of genius. My Lord, if you examine it over again, it is far from being a gross piece of daubing, as some dedications are. The design, your Lordship sees, is good, the colouring transparent, -- the drawing not amiss ; -- or to speak more like a man of science, -- and measure my piece in the painter's scale, divided into 20, -- I be- lieve, my Lord, the out-lines will turn out as 12, -- the composition as 9, -- the colouring as 6, -- the expression 13 and a half, -- and the design, -- if I may be al- lowed, my Lord, to understand my own design, and supposing absolute perfection in designing, to be as 20, -- I think it cannot well fall short of 19. Besides all this, -- there is keeping in it, and the |
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the dark strokes in the HOBBY-HORSE, (which is a secondary figure, and a kind of back-ground to the whole) give great force to the principal lights in your own figure, and make it come off wonder- fully ; ---- and besides, there is an air of originality in the tout ensemble. Be pleased, my good Lord, to order the sum to be paid into the hands of Mr. Dodsley, for the benefit of the author ; and in the next edition care shall be ta- ken that this chapter be expunged, and your Lordship's titles, distinctions, arms and good actions, be placed at the front of the preceding chapter : All which, from the words, De gustibus non est dispu- tandum, and whatever else in this book relates to HOBBY-HORSES, but no more, shall stand dedicated to your Lordship. -- The rest I dedicate to the MOON, who, by the |
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the bye, of all the PATRONS or MATRONS I can think of, has most power to set my book a-going, and make the world run mad after it. Bright Goddess, If thou art not too busy with CANDID and Miss CUNEGUND's affairs, -- take Tri- stram Shandy's under thy protection also. WHATEVER degree of small merit, the act of benignity in favour of the midwife, might justly claim, or in whom that claim truly rested, -- at first sight seems not very material to this hi- story ; ---- certain however it was, that the gentlewoman, the parson's wife, did run away at that time with the whole of it: And yet, for my life, I cannot help thinking but that the parson himself, VOL I. C tho' |
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tho' he had not the good fortune to hit upon the design first, -- yet, as he heartily concurred in it the moment it was laid before him, and as heartily parted with his money to carry it into execution, had a claim to some share of it, -- if not to a full half of whatever honour was due to it. The world at that time was pleased to determine the matter otherwise. Lay down the book, and I will allow you half a day to give a probable guess at the grounds of this procedure. Be it known then, that, for about five years before the date of the midwife's licence, of which you have had so cir- cumstantial an account, -- the parson we have to do with, had made himself a country- |
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country-talk by a breach of all decorum, which he had committed against himself, his station, and his office ; ---- and that was, in never appearing better, or other- wise mounted, than upon a lean, sorry, jack-ass of a horse, value about one pound fifteen shillings ; who, to shorten all description of him, was full brother to Rosinante, as far as similitude congenial could make him ; for he answered his description to a hair-breadth in every thing, -- except that I do not remember 'tis any where said, that Rosinante was broken winded ; and that, moreover, Rosinante, as is the happiness of most Spanish horses, fat or lean, -- was un- doubtedly a horse at all points. I know very well that the HERO's horse was a horse of chaste deportment, which may have given grounds for a C 2 con- |
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contrary opinion : But it is as certain at the same time, that Rosinante's continen- cy (as may be demonstrated from the ad- venture of the Yanguesian carriers) pro- ceeded from no bodily defect or cause whatsoever, but from the temperance and orderly current of his blood. -- And let me tell you, Madam, there is a great deal of very good chastity in the world, in behalf of which you could not say more for your life. Let that be as it may, as my purpose is to do exact justice to every creature brought upon the stage of this dramatic work, -- I could not stifle this distinction in favour of Don Quixote's horse ; ---- in all other points the parson's horse, I say, was just such another, ---- for he was as lean, and as lank, and as sorry a jade, as HUMILITY herself could have bestrided. In |
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In the estimation of here and there a man of weak judgment, it was greatly in the parson's power to have helped the figure of this horse of his, -- for he was master of a very handsome demi-peak'd saddle, quilted on the seat with green plush, garnished with a double row of silver-headed studs, and a noble pair of shining brass stirrups, with a housing al- together suitable, of grey superfine cloth, with an edging of black lace, termina- ting in a deep, black, silk fringe, poudrè d'or, -- all which he had purchased in the pride and prime of his life, together with a grand embossed bridle, ornamented at all points as it should be. ---- But not caring to banter his beast, he had hung all these up behind his study door; -- and, in lieu of them, had seriously befitted him with just such a bridle and such C 3 a |
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a saddle, as the figure and value of such a steed might well and truly deserve. In the several sallies about his parish, and in the neighbouring visits to the gentry who lived around him, ---- you will easily comprehend, that the parson, so appointed, would both hear and see enough to keep his philosophy from rusting. To speak the truth, he never could enter a village, but he caught the attention of both old and young. ---- La- bour stood still as he pass'd, -- the bucket hung suspended in the middle of the well, ---- the spinning-wheel forgot its round, ------ even chuck-farthing and shuffle-cap themselves stood gaping till he had got out of sight ; and as his movement was not of the quickest, he had generally time enough upon his hands to make his observations, -- to hear the |
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the groans of the serious, ---- and the laughter of the light-hearted ; -- all which he bore with excellent tranquility. -- His character was, ---- he loved a jest in his heart -- and as he saw himself in the true point of ridicule, he would say, he could not be angry with others for seeing him in a light, in which he so strongly saw himself : So that to his friends, who knew his foible was not the love of mo- ney, and who therefore made the less scruple in bantering the extravagance of his humour, -- instead of giving the true cause, ---- he chose rather to join in the laugh against himself ; and as he never carried one single ounce of flesh upon his own bones, being altogether as spare a figure as his beast, -- he would sometimes insist upon it, that the horse was as good as the rider deserved ; -- that they were, centaur-like, -- both of a piece. At other C 4 times, |