I have often thought, if the Letters written by Men of Goodnature to their Wives, were to be compared with those written by Men of Gallantry to their Mistresses, the former, notwithstanding any Inequality of Style, would appear to have the Advantage. Friendship, Tenderness and Constancy, drest in a Simplicity of Expression, recommend themselves by a more native Elegance, than pa.s.sionate Raptures, extravagant Encomiums, and slavish Adoration. If we were admitted to search the Cabinet of the beautiful _Narcissa_, among Heaps of Epistles from several Admirers, which are there preserv"d with equal Care, how few should we find but would make any one Sick in the Reading, except her who is flattered by them? But in how different a Style must the wise _Benevolus_, who converses with that good Sense and good Humour among all his Friends, write to a Wife who is the worthy Object of his utmost Affection?
_Benevolus_, both in Publick and Private, on all Occasions of Life, appears to have every good Quality and desirable Ornament. Abroad he is reverenced and esteemed; at home beloved and happy. The Satisfaction he enjoys there, settles into an habitual Complacency, which shines in his Countenance, enlivens his Wit, and seasons his Conversation: Even those of his Acquaintance, who have never seen him in his Retirement, are Sharers in the Happiness of it; and it is very much owing to his being the best and best beloved of Husbands, that he is the most stedfast of Friends, and the most agreeable of Companions.
There is a sensible Pleasure in contemplating such beautiful Instances of Domestick Life. The Happiness of the Conjugal State appears heighten"d to the highest degree it is capable of, when we see two Persons of accomplished Minds, not only united in the same Interests and Affections, but in their Taste of the same Improvements, Pleasures and Diversions. _Pliny_, one of the finest Gentlemen, and politest Writers of the Age in which he lived, has left us, in his Letter to _Hispulla_, his Wife"s Aunt, one of the most agreeable Family-Pieces of this Kind I have ever met with. I shall end this Discourse with a Translation of it; and I believe the Reader will be of my opinion, that _Conjugal Love_ is drawn in it with a Delicacy which makes it appear to be, as I have represented it, an Ornament as well as a Virtue.
PLINY _to_ HISPULLA. [2]
"As I remember the great Affection which was between you and your excellent Brother, and know you love his Daughter as your own, so as not only to express the Tenderness of the best of Aunts, but even to supply that of the best of Fathers; I am sure it will be a pleasure to you to hear that she proves worthy of her Father, worthy of you, and of your Ancestors. Her Ingenuity is admirable; her Frugality extraordinary. She loves me, the surest Pledge of her Virtue; and adds to this a wonderful Disposition to Learning, which she has acquir"d from her Affection to me. She reads my Writings, studies them, and even gets them by heart. You"d smile to see the Concern she is in when I have a Cause to plead, and the Joy she shews when it is over. She finds means to have the first News brought her of the Success I meet with in Court, how I am heard, and what Decree is made. If I recite any thing in publick, she cannot refrain from placing her self privately in some Corner to hear, where with the utmost delight she feasts upon my Applauses. Sometimes she sings my Verses, and accompanies them with the Lute, without any Master, except Love, the best of Instructors. From these Instances I take the most certain Omens of our perpetual and encreasing Happiness; since our Affection is not founded on my Youth and Person, which must gradually decay, but she is in love with the immortal Part of me, my Glory and Reputation.
Nor indeed could less be expected from one who had the Happiness to receive her Education from you, who in your House was accustomed to every thing that was virtuous and decent, and even began to love me by your Recommendation. For, as you had always the greatest Respect for my Mother, you were pleased from my Infancy to form me, to commend me, and kindly to presage I should be one day what my Wife fancies I am.
Accept therefore our united Thanks; mine, that you have bestowed her on me, and hers, that you have given me to her, as a mutual Grant of Joy and Felicity."
[Footnote 1: [scandalous]]
[Footnote 2: Bk iv. ep. 19.]
No. 526. Monday, November 3, 1712. Steele.
"--Fortius utere Loris."
Ovid.
I am very loth to come to Extremities with the young Gentlemen mention"d in the following Letter, and do not care to chastise them with my own Hand, till I am forc"d by Provocations too great to be suffer"d without the absolute Destruction of my Spectatorial Dignity. The Crimes of these Offenders are placed under the Observation of one of my chief Officers, who is posted just at the entrance of the Pa.s.s between _London_ and _Westminster_. As I have great Confidence in the Capacity, Resolution and Integrity of the Person deputed by me to give an Account of Enormities, I doubt not but I shall soon have before me all proper Notices which are requisite for the Amendment of Manners in Publick, and the Instruction of each Individual of the Human Species in what is due from him, in respect to the whole Body of Mankind. The present Paper shall consist only of the above-mentioned Letter, and the Copy of a Deputation which I have given to my trusty Friend Mr. _John Sly_; wherein he is charged to notify to me all that is necessary for my Animadversion upon the Delinquents mentioned by my Correspondent, as well as all others described in the said Deputation.
_To the_ SPECTATOR-GENERAL _of_ Great Britain.
"I grant it does look a little familiar, but I must call you
_Dear Dumb_,
"Being got again to the farther End of the _Widow"s_ Coffeehouse, I shall from hence give you some account of the Behaviour of our Hackney-Coachmen since my last. These indefatigable Gentlemen, without the least Design, I dare say, of Self-Interest or Advantage to themselves, do still ply as Volunteers Day and Night for the Good of their Country. I will not trouble you with enumerating many Particulars, but I must by no means omit to inform you of an Infant about six foot high, and between twenty and thirty Years of Age, who was seen in the Arms of a Hackney Coach-man driving by _Will"s_ Coffee-house in _Covent-Garden_, between the Hours of four and five in the Afternoon of that very Day, wherein you publish"d a Memorial against them. This impudent young Cur, tho" he could not sit in a Coach-box without holding, yet would he venture his Neck to bid defiance to your Spectatorial Authority, or to any thing that you countenanced. Who he was I know not, but I heard this Relation this Morning from a Gentleman who was an Eye-Witness of this his Impudence; and I was willing to take the first opportunity to inform you of him, as holding it extremely requisite that you should nip him in the Bud.
But I am my self most concerned for my Fellow-Templers, Fellow-Students, and Fellow-Labourers in the Law, I mean such of them as are dignified and distinguish"d under the Denomination of Hackney-Coachmen. Such aspiring Minds have these ambitious young Men, that they cannot enjoy themselves out of a Coach-Box. It is however an unspeakable Comfort to me, that I can now tell you, that some of them are grown so bashful as to study only in the Nighttime, or in the Country. The other Night I spied one of our young Gentlemen very diligent at his Lucubrations in _Fleet-Street_; and by the way, I should be under some concern, lest this hard Student should one time or other crack his Brain with studying, but that I am in hopes Nature has taken care to fortify him in proportion to the great Undertakings he was design"d for. Another of my Fellow-Templers, on _Thursday_ last, was getting up into his Study at the Bottom of _Grays-Inn-Lane_, in order, I suppose, to contemplate in the fresh Air. Now, Sir, my Request is, that the great Modesty of these two Gentlemen may be recorded as a Pattern to the rest; and if you would but give them two or three Touches with your own Pen, tho" you might not perhaps prevail with them to desist entirely from their Meditations, yet I doubt not but you would at least preserve them from being publick Spectacles of Folly in our Streets. I say, two or three Touches with your own Pen; for I have really observed, Mr. SPEC, that those _Spectators_ which are so prettily laced down the sides with little c"s, how instructive soever they may be, do not carry with them that Authority as the others. I do again therefore desire, that for the sake of their dear Necks, you will bestow one Penful of your own Ink upon them. I know you are loth to expose them; and it is, I must confess, a thousand Pities that any young Gentleman, who is come of honest Parents, should be brought to publick Shame: And indeed I should be glad to have them handled a little tenderly at the first; but if fair means will not prevail, there is then no other Way to reclaim them, but by making use of some wholesome Severities; and I think it is better that a Dozen or two of such good-for-nothing Fellows should be made Examples of, than that the Reputation of some Hundreds of as hopeful young Gentlemen as my self should suffer thro" their Folly. It is not, however, for me to direct you what to do; but, in short, if our Coachmen will drive on this Trade, the very first of them that I do find meditating in the Street, I shall make Bold to take the Number of his Chambers, together with a Note of his Name, and dispatch them to you, that you may chastise him at your own Discretion.
I am, Dear SPEC.
For ever Yours, Moses Greenbag, Esq., if you please.
P. S. "_Tom Hammercloth_, one of our Coachmen, is now pleading at the Bar at the other end of the Room, but has a little too much Vehemence, and throws out his Arms too much to take his Audience with a good Grace.
_To my Loving and Well-beloved_ John Sly, _Haberdasher of Hats and Tobacconist, between the Cities of_ London _and _Westminster.
Whereas frequent Disorders, Affronts, Indignities, Omissions, and Trespa.s.ses, for which there are no Remedies by any Form of Law, but which apparently disturb and disquiet the Minds of Men, happen near the Place of your Residence; and that you are, as well by your commodious Situation as the good Parts with which you are endowed, properly qualified for the Observation of the said Offences; I do hereby authorize and depute you from the hours of Nine in the Morning, till Four in the Afternoon, to keep a strict Eye upon all Persons and Things that are convey"d in Coaches, carried in Carts, or walk on Foot from the City of _London_ to the City of _Westminster_, or from the City of _Westminster_ to the City of _London_, within the said Hours. You are therefore not to depart from your Observatory at the end of _Devereux-Court_ during the said s.p.a.ce of each Day; but to observe the Behaviour of all Persons who are suddenly transported from stamping on Pebbles to sit at ease in Chariots, what Notice they take of their Foot-Acquaintance, and send me the speediest Advice, when they are guilty of overlooking, turning from, or appearing grave and distant to their old Friends. When Man and Wife are in the same Coach, you are to see whether they appear pleased or tired with each other, and whether they carry the due Mein in the Eye of the World between Fondness and Coldness. You are carefully to behold all such as shall have Addition of Honour or Riches, and Report whether they preserve the Countenance they had before such Addition. As to Persons on Foot, you are to be attentive whether they are pleased with their Condition, and are dress"d suitable to it; but especially to distinguish such as appear discreet, by a low-heel Shoe, with the decent Ornament of a Leather-Garter: To write down the Name of such Country Gentlemen as, upon the Approach of Peace, have left the Hunting for the Military c.o.c.k of the Hat: Of all who strut, make a Noise, and swear at the Drivers of Coaches to make haste, when they see it impossible they should pa.s.s: Of all young Gentlemen in Coach-boxes, who labour at a Perfection in what they are sure to be excelled by the meanest of the People. You are to do all that in you lies that Coaches and Pa.s.sengers give way according to the Course of Business, all the Morning in Term-Time towards _Westminster_, the rest of the Year towards the _Exchange_. Upon these Directions, together with other secret Articles herein inclosed, you are to govern your self, and give Advertis.e.m.e.nt thereof to me at all convenient and spectatorial Hours, when Men of Business are to be seen. Hereof you are not to fail.
Given under my Seal of Office.
_The_ SPECTATOR.
T.
No. 527. Tuesday, November 4, 1712.
"Facile invenies, et pejorem, et pejus moratam, Meliorem neque tu reperes, neque sol videt."
Plautus in Sticho.
I am so tender of my Women-Readers, that I cannot defer the Publication of any thing which concerns their Happiness or Quiet. The Repose of a married Woman is consulted in the first of the following Letters, and the Felicity of a Maiden Lady in the second. I call it a Felicity to have the Addresses of an agreeable Man: and I think I have not any where seen a prettier Application of a Poetical Story than that of his, in making the Tale of _Cephalus_ and _Procris_ the History-Picture of a Fan in so gallant a manner as he addresses it. [1] But see the Letters.
_Mr_. SPECTATOR,
"Tis now almost three months since I was in Town about some Business; and the Hurry of it being over, took Coach one Afternoon, and drove to see a Relation, who married about six Years ago a wealthy Citizen. I found her at home, but her Husband gone to the _Exchange_, and expected back within an Hour at the farthest. After the usual Salutations of Kindness, and a hundred Questions about Friends in the Country, we sat down to Piquet, played two or three Games, and drank Tea. I should have told you that this was my second time of seeing her since Marriage, but before she lived at the same Town where I went to School; so that the Plea of a Relation, added to the Innocence of my Youth, prevailed upon her good Humour to indulge me in a Freedom of Conversation as often, and oftner, than the strict Discipline of the School would allow of. You may easily imagine after such an Acquaintance we might be exceeding merry without any Offence, as in calling to mind how many Inventions I had been put to in deluding the Master, how many Hands forged for Excuses, how many times been sick in perfect Health; for I was then never sick but at School, and only then because out of her Company. We had whiled away three Hours after this manner, when I found it past Five; and not expecting her Husband would return till late, rose up, told her I should go early next Morning for the Country: She kindly answered she was afraid it would be long before she saw me again; so I took my leave and parted. Now, Sir, I had not been got home a Fortnight, when I received a Letter from a Neighbour of theirs, that ever since that fatal Afternoon the Lady had been most inhumanly treated, and the Husband publickly stormed that he was made a Member of too numerous a Society. He had, it seems, listened most of the time my Cousin and I were together. As jealous Ears always hear double, so he heard enough to make him mad; and as jealous Eyes always see thro" Magnifying Gla.s.ses, so he was certain it could not be I whom he had seen, a beardless Stripling, but fancied he saw a gay Gentleman of the _Temple_, ten Years older than my self; and for that reason, I presume, durst not come in, nor take any Notice when I went out. He is perpetually asking his Wife if she does not think the time long (as she said she should) till she see her Cousin again. Pray, Sir, what can be done in this Case? I have writ to him to a.s.sure him I was at his House all that afternoon expecting to see him: His Answer is, "tis only a Trick of hers, and that he neither can nor will believe me. The parting Kiss I find mightily nettles him, and confirms him in all his Errors. _Ben. Johnson_, as I remember, makes a Foreigner in one of his Comedies, _admire the desperate Valour of the bold_ English, _who let out their Wives to all Encounters_. The general Custom of Salutation should Excuse the Favour done me, or you should lay down Rules when such Distinctions are to be given or omitted. You cannot imagine, Sir, how troubled I am for this unhappy Lady"s Misfortune; and beg you would insert this Letter, that the Husband may reflect upon this Accident coolly. It is no small Matter, the Ease of a virtuous Woman for her whole Life: I know she will conform to any Regularities (tho" more strict than the common Rules of our Country require) to which his particular Temper shall incline him to oblige her. This Accident puts me in mind how generously _Pisistratus_ the _Athenian_ Tyrant behaved himself on a like Occasion, when he was instigated by his Wife to put to death a young Gentleman, because being pa.s.sionately fond of his Daughter, he kissed her in publick as he met her in the Street; _What_ (says he) _shall we do to those who are our Enemies, if we do thus to those who are our Friends_? I will not trouble you much longer, but am exceedingly concern"d lest this Accident may cause a virtuous Lady to lead a miserable Life with a Husband, who has no Grounds for his Jealousy but what I have faithfully related, and ought to be reckon"d none. "Tis to be fear"d too, if at last he sees his Mistake, yet People will be as slow and unwilling in disbelieving Scandal as they are quick and forward in believing it. I shall endeavour to enliven this plain honest Letter, with _Ovid"s_ Relation about _Cybele"s_ Image. The Ship wherein it was aboard was stranded at the mouth of the _Tyber_, and the Men were unable to move it, till _Claudia_, a Virgin, but suspected of Unchast.i.ty, by a slight Pull hawled it in. The Story is told in the fourth Book of the _Fasti_.
"Parent of G.o.ds, began the weeping Fair, Reward or punish, but oh! hear my Pray"r.
If Lewdness e"er defil"d my Virgin Bloom, From Heav"n with Justice I receive my Doom; But if my Honour yet has known no Stain, Thou, G.o.ddess, thou my Innocence maintain; Thou, whom the nicest Rules of Goodness sway"d, Vouchsafe to follow an unblemish"d Maid.
She spoke, and touch"d the Cord with glad Surprize, (The truth was witness"d by ten thousand Eyes) The pitying G.o.ddess easily comply"d, Follow"d in triumph, and adorn"d her Guide; While_ Claudia, _blushing still far past Disgrace, March"d silent on with a slow solemn Pace: Nor yet from some was all Distrust remov"d, Tho" Heav"n such Virtue by such Wonders prov"d."
I am, Sir, Your very humble Servant, _Philagnotes_.