I knew one that, when he wrote a Letter, he would put that which was most Materiall in the Post-script, as if it had been a By-matter.
I knew another that, when he came to have Speech, he would passe over that that he intended most, and goe forth, and come backe againe and speake of it as of a Thing that he had almost forgot.
Some procure themselves to be surprized at such times as it is like[1] the party that they work upon will suddenly come upon them; And to be found with a Letter in their hand, or doing somewhat which they are not accustomed; To the end they may be apposed of[2] those things, which of themselves they are desirous to utter.
It is a point of Cunning, to let fall those Words, in a Man's owne Name, which he would have another Man learne and use, and thereupon take Advantage. I knew two that were Competitors for the Secretarie's Place, in Queene Elizabeth's time, and yet kept good Quarter betweene themselves,[3] And would conferre, one with another, upon the Businesse; And the one of them said, That to be a Secretary, in the Declination[4] of a Monarchy, was a Ticklish Thing, and that he did not affect[5] it: The other straight[6] caught up those Words, and discoursed with divers[7] of his Friends, that he had no reason to desire to be Secretary, in the Declination of a Monarchy. The first Man tooke hold of it, and found Meanes it was told the Queene; Who, hearing of a Declination of a Monarchy, tooke it so ill as[8] she would never after heare of the other's Suit.
There is a Cunning, which we in England call The Turning of the Cat in the Pan;[9] which is, when that which a Man sayes to another, he laies it as if Another[10] had said it to him. And to say Truth, it is not easie, when such a Matter passed between two, to make it appeare from which of them it first moved and began.
