he should not feel the Weight of it; he improved this
Thought into an Affectation of Closeness and Covetousness.
Upon this one Principle he resolved to govern his
future Life; and in the thirty sixth Year of his Age
he repaired to Long-lane, and looked upon several
Dresses which hung there deserted by their first Masters,
and exposed to the Purchase of the best Bidder.
At this Place he exchanged his gay Shabbiness of Cloaths
fit for a much younger Man, to warm ones that would
be decent for a much older one. Irus came out
thoroughly equipped from Head to Foot, with a little
oaken Cane in the Form of a substantial Man that did
not mind his Dress, turned of fifty. He had at
this time fifty Pounds in ready Money; and in this
Habit, with this Fortune, he took his present Lodging
in St. John Street, at the Mansion-House of
a Taylor’s Widow, who washes and can clear-starch
his Bands. From that Time to this, he has kept
the main Stock, without Alteration under or over to
the value of five Pounds. He left off all his
old Acquaintance to a Man, and all his Arts of Life,
except the Play of Backgammon, upon which he has more
than bore his Charges. Irus has, ever since
he came into this Neighbourhood, given all the Intimations,
he skilfully could, of being a close Hunks worth Money:
No body comes to visit him, he receives no Letters,
and tells his Money Morning and Evening. He has,
from the publick Papers, a Knowledge of what generally
passes, shuns all Discourses of Money, but shrugs his
Shoulder when you talk of Securities; he denies his
being rich with the Air, which all do who are vain
of being so: He is the Oracle of a Neighbouring
Justice of Peace, who meets him at the Coffeehouse;
the Hopes that what he has must come to Somebody,
and that he has no Heirs, have that Effect where ever
he is known, that he every Day has three or four Invitations
to dine at different Places, which he generally takes
care to choose in such a manner, as not to seem inclined
to the richer Man. All the young Men respect
him, and say he is just the same Man he was when they
were Boys. He uses no Artifice in the World,
but makes use of Mens Designs upon him to get a Maintenance
out of them. This he carries on by a certain
Peevishness, (which he acts very well) that no one
would believe could possibly enter into the Head of
a poor Fellow. His Mein, his Dress, his Carriage,
and his Language are such, that you would be at a loss
to guess whether in the Active Part of his Life he
had been a sensible Citizen, or Scholar that knew
the World. These are the great Circumstances
in the Life of Irus, and thus does he pass away
his Days a Stranger to Mankind; and at his Death,
the worst that will be said of him will be, that he
got by every Man who had Expectations from him, more
than he had to leave him.