marched by King William, in Hyde Park, in November, 1699, and a great show of the nobility, besides twenty thousand people, and above a thousand coaches. "The Guards had just got their new clothes," the "London Post" said: "they are extraordinary grand and thought to be the finest body of horse in the world." But Steele could hardly have seen any actual service. He who wrote about himself, his mother, his wife, his loves, his debts, his friends, and the wine he drank, would have told us of his battles if he had seen any. His old patron, Ormond, probably got him his cornetcy in the Guards, from which he was promoted to be a captain in Lucas's Fusiliers, getting his company through the patronage of Lord Cutts, whose secretary he was, and to whom he dedicated his work called the "Christian Hero." As for Dick, whilst writing this ardent devotional work, he was deep in debt, in drink, and in all the follies of the town; it is related that all the officers of Lucas's, and the gentlemen of the Guards, laughed at Dick.[1] And in truth a theologian in liquor
- ↑ The gaiety of his dramatic tone may be seen in this little scene between two brilliant sisters, from his comedy, The Funeral, or Grief à la Mode. Dick wrote this, he said, from "a necessity of enlivening his character," which it seemed, the "Christian Hero" had a tendency to make too decorous, grave, and respectable, in the eyes of readers of that pious piece.
["Scene draws, and discovers Lady Charlotte, reading at a table,—Lady Harriet, playing at a glass, to and fro, and viewing herself.]
"L. Ha.—Nay, good sister, you may as well talk to me, [looking at
