682 
. however he may pleafe the lovers of truth, 
is very unpopular with, a more numerous 
clafs, who are all impatience for news, 
and had rather get hold of a falfehood, 
than have nothing at all to talk about. 
It may be ae rom this, that the 
charaéter of the two brcthers,.as to the 
int of honour, is materially different, 
and fuch-is the cafe. Post ERIOR Values 
himfelf on never deceiving the public, 
when he does pofitively make an. aliertion, 
and glories i in the redection that no petfon 
can mnpeach ‘his veracity. But Prior 
cares fo little for delicate fentiments of 
this kind, that he had as lief contradict 
himfelf, as any body — and, in faé&, 
does this fo frequently, that if he were 
not in high favour with the epubhe for his 
readinefs to fay fomething, rather than 
keep filence, he would be nae ‘difbe- 
Heved. The truth is, and it is a lament- 
able truth, that in thefe two brothers we 
ave an example of the improper jud ige- 
ments which the public form of men’s 
characters. Every body admires the in- 
genuity and ready invention, the plauii- 
bie conjectures and dafhing affertions of 
Prior, while the judicious £ few only re- 
fpeét the cautious prudence, a rd fri 
_adherence to truth and real information, 
which diftineuifh his brother. 
Knowledge is fo highly valuable, that 
even pretences to it are received with all 
the honours due to the thing itielf. 
PRIOR, therefore, pafles with many as a 
well-informed man, as one who has the 
beft fources of intelligence, and, what is 
particularly valuable, as one who is zz 
tbe fecreé; while PosTeRIOR’s heltating 
way, and care not to be-too pofitive, or 
rifx contradi€tion, makes him pafs for a 
fellow who knows nothing, or, what is 
Hill worfe and abfolutely unpardonable, 
who knows nothing till every body elie 
knows the fame. Hence there is no cu- 
Fiofity that PrioR cannot pretty st no 
hopes fo fanguine as that he cannot fulAl 
thein ; no fekemes too vt for his imme- 
diate grafp. He is never converfant in 
what has happened, but in what may 
happen, and his talent at conjecture is as 
great as conjecture can go: while his rival 
trufts ncthimg to imagination, allows not 
the fmalleit feope to fancy; and, in a 
word, will aver nothing which is unae- 
companied with evident proofs. 
Notwithftending the faperior ingenuity 
of this Mr. PRIOR, it may be fuppofed 
that he now and then gets into {crapes 
which more guarded and cautious 
brother avoids; and this, indeed, ‘is fo 
= 
pHe 
Bise 
7 
his 
Sketch of T: wo Brothers. 
nicative difpofits tion; and confequently, 
-cutworks of Mantua or Gibraltar. 
‘deed, the latter reminds me of a pleafont 
[Oaober, 
frequently the Gate that were it not for 
the Breedinels of the pubiic, and their 
preference of quantity to quality, he would 
long ere now have been deftitute of bread 
to eat. He will fometimes bring a fleet 
vitorioufly into an inland town; while . 
he makes two se armies engage in 
the middle of theocean. It is no wncom- 
mon thing for him to miftake a mountain 
for a man.; and I remember. om a recent 
occation, while the enemy were retreating, 
-he purftied them with two villages whith 
he underftecd to be Aufrian Generals. 
He has often fent his readers to the map 
to look for a windmill; and {peaks ef the 
fortifications of a church with as much 
terrific accuracy as he would deferibe the 
In- 
letter he once publithed, as part of a prz- 
- wate corre/pondence trom one Gabriel Tar, 
“whom he reprefented as a petty officer of 
marines, but a man of yeracity* ! 
And this, by the way, leads me to 
another circumftance in which Mr. Prior 
has greatly- the advantage of his rival, in 
the article of correfpondence. ‘here is now 
part of the world, m Ms ch he has not a 
correfpondent; and although he omits 
fuch | triflme feumeanees 2S HAMES, 
dates, and places, every thing elie is given 
with a wonderful pr recifion. Nay, he 
fometimes offers to thew the origiaals, 
which I belicve he can do with a very fafe 
conictence. ° 0s 
From what I have faid of this ingentous 
and ompnifcient gentleman, it may eafily 
be comprehended why he is more a fa- 
vourite with the public than Mr. Posts- 
Rion. The latter, indeed, flatters no 
party, nor accommodates his communt- 
cations to the wifhes of his a a cit 
cumftance which, in thele days, mufi ren- 
der any man unpopular. 
am forry to fay, is not fe highly prized as 
it SURE to be. Some continue very in- 
geniouily to do without it, and others very 
{piritedly to go againft it, and this Mr. 
PRioR knows, and knows how to aé ac- 
cordingly, fo as to pleafe his cuftomers. 
I have only to add to the prefent fketch, 
that this lively gentleman is fuppofed to 
be in bigh favour on the Stock Exchange; 
and there are fome who do not feruple to 
fay that he is not fuch a hater of the exe- 
my, ashe is alever of the omaium; and 
that four thoufand &illed, four vowing 
cvoumded, and four thoufand taken, are 
merely fo many {uns he rifks in the threes, 
the fours, and the fives. But this isa 

* This actually occurred in the laft wav. 
my ery 
Truth itfelf; E- 
