My lord Chesterfield compares a statesman, who has
been celebrated for influence during the greatest part of the present
reign, to the ostrich. The brain of an ostrich, your lordship will
please to observe, though he be the largest of birds, may very easily be
included in the compass of a nut-shell. When pursued by the hunters, he
is said to bury his head in the sand, and having done this, to imagine
that he cannot be discovered by the keenest search. Do not you, my lord,
imitate the manners of the ostrich. Believe me, they are ungraceful;
and, if maturely considered, will perhaps appear to be a little silly.
There is a contrivance that has occurred to me, which, if it were not
accompanied with a circumstance somewhat out of date, appears to me in
the highest degree admirable. Suppose you were to treat the lords of the
bedchamber with a sight of St. Paul's cathedral? There is a certain part
of it of a circular form, commonly called the whispering gallery. You
have probably heard, that by the uncommon echo of this place, the
weakest sound that can possibly be articulated, is increased by that
time it has gone half round, into a sound, audible and strong. Your
lordship, with your flock of geese about you, would probably be frolic
and gamesome.
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