 before I mentioned a Word of the Matter.«
    »By what I can see, Partridge,« cries Jones, »hanging is a Matter non longe
alienum a Scævolæ studiis.« »You should say alienus,« says Partridge. - »I
remember the Passage; it is an Example under Communis, Alienus, immunis, variis
casibus serviunt.« »If you do remember it,« cries Jones, »I find you don't
understand it; but I tell thee, Friend, in plain English, that he who finds
another's Property, and wilfully detains it from the known Owner, deserves in
Foro Conscientiæ, to be hanged no less than if he had stolen it. And as for this
very identical Bill, which is the Property of my Angel, and was once in her dear
Possession, I will not deliver it into any Hands but her own, upon any
Consideration whatever; No, tho' I was as hungry as thou art, and had no other
Means to satisfy my craving Appetite; this I hope to do before I sleep; but if
it should happen otherwise, I charge thee, if thou wouldst not incur my
Displeasure for ever, not to shock me any more by the bare Mention of such
detestable Baseness.«
    »I should not have mentioned it now,« cries Partridge, »if it had appeared
so to me; for I'm sure I scorn any Wickedness as much as another; but perhaps
you know better; and yet I might have imagined that I should not have lived so
many Years, and have taught School so long, without being able to distinguish
between Fas et Nefas; but it seems we are to live and learn. I remember my old
Schoolmaster, who was a prodigious great Scholar, used often to say, Polly
Matete cry Town is my Daskalon. The English of which, he told us, was, That a
Child may sometimes teach his Grandmother to suck Eggs. I have lived to a fine
Purpose truly, if I am to be taught my Grammar at this Time of Day. Perhaps,
young Gentleman, you may change your Opinion if you live to my Years: For I
remember I thought myself as wise when I was a Stripling of one or two and
twenty as I am now. I am sure I always taught alienus, and my Master read it so
before me.«
    There were not many Instances in which Partridge could provoke Jones, nor
were there many in which Partridge himself could have been hurried out of his
Respect. Unluckily however they had both hit on one of
