VII
When I reflect, brother Toby, upon man; and take a view of that dark side of him which represents his life as open to so many causes of troubleвБ†вАФwhen I consider, brother Toby, how oft we eat the bread of affliction, and that we are born to it, as to the portion of our inheritanceвБ†вЄїI was born to nothing, quoth my uncle Toby, interrupting my fatherвБ†вАФbut my commission. Zooks! said my father, did not my uncle leave you a hundred and twenty pounds a year?вБ†вЄїWhat could I have done without it? replied my uncle TobyвБ†вЄїThatвАЩs another concern, said my father testilyвБ†вАФBut I say, Toby, when one runs over the catalogue of all the cross-reckonings and sorrowful Items with which the heart of man is overcharged, вАЩtis wonderful by what hidden resources the mind is enabled to stand out, and bear itself up, as it does, against the impositions laid upon our nature.вБ†вЄївАЩTis by the assistance of Almighty God, cried my uncle Toby, looking up, and pressing the palms of his hands close togetherвБ†вЄЇвАЩtis not from our own strength, brother ShandyвБ†вЄЇвБ†a sentinel in a wooden centry-box might as well pretend to stand it out against a detachment of fifty men.вБ†вЄЇвБ†We are upheld by the grace and the assistance of the best of Beings.
вЄЇвБ†That is cutting the knot, said my father, instead of untying it.вБ†вЄЇвБ†But give me leave to lead you, brother Toby, a little deeper into the mystery.
With all my heart, replied my uncle Toby.
My father instantly exchanged the attitude he was in, for that in which Socrates is so finely painted by Raffael in his school of Athens; which your connoisseurship knows is so exquisitely imagined, that even the particular manner of the reasoning of Socrates is expressed by itвБ†вАФfor he holds the forefinger of his left hand between the forefinger and the thumb of his right, and seems as if he was saying to the libertine he is reclaimingвБ†вЄївАЬYou grant me thisвБ†вЄЇвБ†and this: and this, and this, I donвАЩt ask of youвБ†вАФthey follow of themselves in course.вАЭ
So stood my father, holding fast his forefinger betwixt his finger and his thumb, and reasoning with my uncle Toby as he sat in his old fringed chair, valanced around with particoloured worsted bobsвБ†вЄЇвБ†O Garrick!вБ†вАФwhat a rich scene of this would thy exquisite powers make! and how gladly would I write such another to avail myself of thy immortality, and secure my own behind it.