It was in the beginning of that season of the year which affords most food for an enquiring mind, that I had got all things in order to sally forth on my Invisible Progressions; – the king was lately return'd from visiting his German dominions; – the august representatives of the whole body of the people were just ready to assemble; – Hanover had given back our statesmen, and Paris our fine gentlemen; – the expounders of the law were hurrying to Westminster-hall, and those of the gospel to pay their compliments at St. James's; – the ships of war were mostly moor'd, and their gallant commanders had quitted the rough athletic toil for the soft charms of ease and luxury; – the land heroes, who having no employment for their swords had pass'd their days in rural sports, now hunted after a different sort of game at the theatres and masquerades; – frequent consultations were held at the toylets of the ladies, on ways and means to outshine each other in the circle; – former amours were now revived, and new ones every day commenced; – madam Intelligence, with her thousand and ten thousand emissaries, all loaded with reports, some true, some false, flew swiftly thro' each quarter of this great metropolis; and had every pore of every human body been an ear, they all might have been fully gratified.

But tho' I confess myself to have been born with the most insatiable curiosity of knowing all that can be known, yet I could never depend upon the credit of common fame for the truth of any thing I heard; – always remembering mr. Dryden's words:

How pleasing therefore must this Gift of Invisibility be to a person of my inquisitive, and at the same time incredulous disposition; – a gift which enabled me to penetrate into the most hidden secrets, and be convinced of their veracity by the testimony of my own eyes and ears.