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Page 5
Jonathan married Elizabeth, daughter of Scragg Hollow, of Hockley-
in-the-Hole, esq.; and by her had Jonathan, who is the illustrious
subject of these memoirs.
CHAPTER THREE
THE BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EDUCATION OF MR. JONATHAN WILD THE
GREAT.
It is observable that Nature seldom produces any one who is
afterwards to act a notable part on the stage of life, but she
gives some warning of her intention; and, as the dramatic poet
generally prepares the entry of every considerable character with
a solemn narrative, or at least a great flourish of drums and
trumpets, so doth this our Alma Mater by some shrewd hints pre-
admonish us of her intention, giving us warning, as it were, and
crying--
--Venienti occurrite morbo.
Thus Astyages, who was the grandfather of Cyrus, dreamt that his
daughter was brought to bed of a vine, whose branches overspread
all Asia; and Hecuba, while big with Paris, dreamt that she was
delivered of a firebrand that set all Troy in flames; so did the
mother of our great man, while she was with child of him, dream
that she was enjoyed in the night by the gods Mercury and Priapus.
This dream puzzled all the learned astrologers of her time,
seeming to imply in it a contradiction; Mercury being the god of
ingenuity, and Priapus the terror of those who practised it. What
made this dream the more wonderful, and perhaps the true cause of
its being remembered, was a very extraordinary circumstance,
sufficiently denoting something preternatural in it; for though
she had never heard even the name of either of these gods, she
repeated these very words in the morning, with only a small
mistake of the quantity of the latter, which she chose to call
Priapus instead of Priapus; and her husband swore that, though he
might possibly have named Mercury to her (for he had heard of such
an heathen god), he never in his life could anywise have put her
in mind of that other deity, with whom he had no acquaintance.
Another remarkable incident was, that during her whole pregnancy
she constantly longed for everything she saw; nor could be
satisfied with her wish unless she enjoyed it clandestinely; and
as nature, by true and accurate observers, is remarked to give us
no appetites without furnishing us with the means of gratifying
them; so had she at this time a most marvellous glutinous quality
attending her fingers, to which, as to birdlime, everything
closely adhered that she handled.
To omit other stories, some of which may be perhaps the growth of
superstition, we proceed to the birth of our hero, who made his
first appearance on this great theatre the very day when the
plague first broke out in 1665. Some say his mother was delivered
of him in an house of an orbicular or round form in Covent-garden;
but of this we are not certain. He was some years afterwards
baptized by the famous Mr. Titus Oates.
Nothing very remarkable passed in his years of infancy, save that,
as the letters TH are the most difficult of pronunciation, and the
last which a child attains to the utterance of, so they were the
first that came with any readiness from young master Wild. Nor
must we omit the early indications which he gave of the sweetness
of his temper; for though he was by no means to be terrified into
compliance, yet might he, by a sugar-plum, be brought to your
purpose; indeed, to say the truth, he was to be bribed to
anything, which made many say he was certainly born to be a great
man.
He was scarce settled at school before he gave marks of his lofty
and aspiring temper; and was regarded by all his schoolfellows
with that deference which men generally pay to those superior
geniuses who will exact it of them. If an orchard was to be robbed
Wild was consulted, and, though he was himself seldom concerned in
the execution of the design, yet was he always concerter of it,
and treasurer of the booty, some little part of which he would now
and then, with wonderful generosity, bestow on those who took it.
He was generally very secret on these occasions; but if any
offered to plunder of his own head, without acquainting master
Wild, and making a deposit of the booty, he was sure to have an
information against him lodged with the schoolmaster, and to be
severely punished for his pains.
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