Page:Unparalleled sufferings and surprising adventures of Philip Quarle.pdf/22

 his grievance: a companion, far exceeding any he ever had, waits his return; which was a beautiful monkey of the finest, kind, and the most complete of the sort, as though made to manifest the unparalleled skill of nature, is sent him by Providence to dissipate his melancholy.

Being come to his lodge, and beholding that wonderful creature, and in his own possession, at the farthest end of it, and him at the entrance thereof to oppose its flight, if offered, he is at once filled with joy and admiration: long, said he, I endeavoured in vain to get one, and would have been glad of any, though of the worst kind, and even the meanest of the sort: and here kind Providence has sent me one of unparalleled beauty.

Having a considerable time admired the beast, which all the while stood unconcerned, now and then eating of the roots that lay before him, he shuts the door, and goes in, with a resolution of staying within all day, in order to tame it, which he hoped would be no difficult matter, his disposition being already pretty familiar, little thinking Providence, who sent him thither, had already qualified him for the commission he bore; which having found out by the creature’s surprising docility, he returns his benefactor his most hearty thanks for that miraculous gift.

This most wonderful animal having, by its surprising tractability and good nature, joined to its matchless handsomeness, gained his master’s love, beyond what is usual to place on any sort of beasts, he thought himself doubly recompensed for all his former losses, especially for that of his late ungrateful companion, who, notwithstanding all the obligations he held from him, basely left him at a time he might be most helpful: and, as he