As this turn frequently made him overrun the
hours of absence, on his return he was found out, and flogged the next
morning; but this abated not his zeal in the cause of gallantry, as he
held it to be, like _Ovid_, whom he was always reading, suffering in a
fair cause.
Fawkener, Everard, minor, with the same turn for pleasure as his
brother, but more open and ingenuous in his manner, more unreserved in
his behaviour, then manifested, what he has since been, the bon vivant
of every society, and was then as since, the admired companion in every
party.
Prideaux was remarkable for being the gravest boy of his time, and for
having the longest chin. Had he followed the ancient "_Sapientem pascere
Barbam_," there would in fact have been no end of it. With this turn,
however, his time was not quite thrown away, nor his gravity. In
conjunction with Dampier, Langley, and Serjeant, who were styled the
learned Cons, he composed a very long English poem, in the same metre as
the Bath Guide, and of which it was then held a favour to get a copy. He
had so much of advanced life about him, that the masters always looked
upon him as a man; and this serious manner followed him through his
pastimes. He was fond of billiards; but he was so long in making
his stroke, that no boy could bear to play with him: when the game,
therefore, went against him, like Fabius-_Cunctando restituit rem_; and
they gave it up rather than beat him.
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