The triflers - 1806 Author:Richard Graves Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE PUBLICK TRANQUILITY DISTURBED BV TRIFLING INDIVIDUALS. . And lodge luch daring souls in little men ?" Pope. WHEN the famous Dr. Bentley was Vice-chance... more »llor of Cambridge, and sitting in his Court, in his official capacity, one of the beadles came up to him, and said, he had brought the man who was accused of Atheism. " Oh ! very well, says the doctor, where is this " giant that would dethrone the Almighty ? — " Let me see him." " This is he," says the beadle, pointing to a little man; as thin as Simon Shadow the taylor, Falftaff's recruit — "What! this little diminutive animal," replied the doctor ; " Is this the scrap of entity? " I fhould have thought he had been as big as " Burrow of Caius College;" a fat beadle, then present in the court. The alarm excited in the nation about the year 1792, by the Corresponding Society, and .which continued 'till 1799, is frefli in the memory of moft people now living. The society was probably very numerous, but from the specimens which have appeared in the wefte-rn parts of the kingdom, (two or three of which I have seen) whatever danger might ( have been apprehended from such daring spirits. t we could have little to fear from their personal prowess: as a north-eaft wind muft have been a formidable enemy to them, and have put the vhole brigade to flight. In a late publication, one of their champions represents himself as rather corpulent. But then from his having sate so long cross- legged, I fhould imagine that nine such un- weildy animals would hardly make one effective military man. Yet these trifling demagogues in 'their obscure retreat, alarmed the publick, and even made the monarch tremble on his throne ; which probably will bring to the recollection of many people, the fable of . I thi...« less