Lib. iv. ep. 22.
an
its Place
Contents
|
Tuesday, September 23, 1712 |
Steele |
It is common with me to run from Book to Book to exercise my Mind with
many Objects, and qualify my self for my daily Labours. After an Hour
spent in this loitering Way of Reading, something will remain to be Food
to the Imagination. The Writings that please me most on such Occasions
are Stories, for the Truth of which there is good Authority. The Mind of
Man is naturally a Lover of Justice, and when we read a Story wherein a
Criminal is overtaken, in whom there is no Quality which is the Object
of Pity, the Soul enjoys a certain Revenge for the Offence done to its
Nature, in the wicked Actions committed in the preceding Part of the
History.
will be better understood by the Reader from the following
Narration
it self, than from any thing which I can say to introduce
it.
When
Charles
Duke of
Burgundy
, surnamed
The Bold
, reigned over
spacious Dominions now swallowed up by the Power of
France
, he heaped
many Favours and Honours upon
Claudius Rhynsault
, a
German
, who had
serv'd him in his Wars against the Insults of his Neighbours. A great
part of
Zealand
was at that time in Subjection to that Dukedom. The
Prince himself was a Person of singular Humanity and Justice.
Rhynsault
, with no other real Quality than Courage, had Dissimulation
enough to pass upon his generous and unsuspicious Master for a Person of
blunt Honesty and Fidelity, without any Vice that could bias him from
the Execution of Justice. His Highness prepossessed to his Advantage,
upon the Decease of the Governour of his chief Town of
Zealand
, gave
Rhynsault
that Command. He was not long seated in that Government,
before he cast his Eyes upon
Sapphira
, a Woman of Exquisite Beauty,
the Wife of
Paul Danvelt
, a wealthy Merchant of the City under his
Protection and Government.
Rhynsault
was a Man of a warm Constitution,
and violent Inclination to Women, and not unskilled in the soft Arts
which win their Favour. He knew what it was to enjoy the Satisfactions
which are reaped from the Possession of Beauty, but was an utter
Stranger to the Decencies, Honours and Delicacies that attend the
Passion towards them in elegant Minds. However he had so much of the
World, that he had a great share of the Language which usually prevails
upon the weaker Part of that Sex, and he could with his Tongue utter a
Passion with which his Heart was wholly untouch'd. He was one of those
brutal Minds which can be gratified with the Violation of Innocence and
Beauty, without the least Pity, Passion or Love to that with which they
are so much delighted. Ingratitude is a Vice inseparable to a lustful
Man; and the Possession of a Woman by him who has no thought but
allaying a Passion painful to himself, is necessarily followed by
Distaste and Aversion.
Rhynsault
being resolv'd to accomplish his Will
on the Wife of
Danvelt
, left no Arts untried to get into a Familiarity
at her House; but she knew his Character and Disposition too well, not
to shun all Occasions that might ensnare her into his Conversation. The
Governor despairing of Success by ordinary Means, apprehended and
Imprisoned her Husband, under pretence of an Information that he was
guilty of a Correspondence with the Enemies of the Duke, to betray the
Town into their Possession. This Design had its de
Sir
ed Effect; and the
Wife of the unfortunate
Danvelt
, the day before that which was
appointed for his Execution, presented herself in the Hall of the
Governor's House, and as he pass'd thro' the Apartment, threw her self
at his Feet, and holding his Knees, beseeched his Mercy.
Rhynsault
beheld her with a dissembled Satisfaction, and assuming an Air of
Thought and Authority, he bid her arise, and told her she must follow
him to his Closet; and asking her whether she knew the Hand of the
Letter he pulled out of his Pocket, went from her, leaving this
Admonition aloud,
If you will save your Husband, you must give me an
account of all you know without Prevarication; for every body is
satisfied he was too fond of you to be able to hide from you the Names
of the rest of the Conspirators, or any other Particulars whatsoever
.
He went to his Closet, and soon after the Lady was sent to for an
Audience. The Servant knew his distance when Matters of State were to be
debated; and the Governor, laying aside the Air with which he had
appear'd in publick, began to be the Supplicant, to rally an Affliction,
which it was in her Power easily to remove, and relieve an innocent Man
from his Imprisonment. She easily perceiv'd his Intention, and, bathed
in Tears, began to deprecate so wicked a Design. Lust, like Ambition,
takes all the Faculties of the Mind and Body into its Service and
Subjection. Her becoming Tears, her honest Anguish, the wringing of her
Hands, and the many Changes of her Posture and Figure in the Vehemence
of speaking, were but so many Attitudes in which he beheld her Beauty,
and further Incentives of his De
Sir
e. All Humanity was lost in that one
Appetite, and he signified to her in so many plain Terms, that he was
unhappy till he had possess'd her, and nothing less shou'd be the Price
of her Husband's Life; and she must, before the following Noon,
pronounce the Death or Enlargement of
Danvelt
. After this
Notification, when he saw
Sapphira
enough again distracted to make the
Subject of their Discourse to common Eyes appear different from what it
was, he called Servants to conduct her to the Gate. Loaded with
insupportable Affliction, she immediately repairs to her Husband, and
having signified to his Gaolers, that she had a Proposal to make to her
Husband from the Governor, she was left alone with him, reveal'd to him
all that had pass'd, and represented the endless Conflict she was in
between Love to his Person, and Fidelity to his Bed. It is easie to
imagine the sharp Affliction this honest Pair was in upon such an
Incident, in Lives not us'd to any but ordinary Occurrences. The Man was
bridled by Shame from speaking what his Fear prompted, upon so near an
approach of Death; but let fall Words that signify'd to her, he should
not think her polluted, though she had not yet confess'd to him that the
Governor had violated her Person, since he knew her Will had no part in
the Action. She parted from him with this oblique Permission to save a
Life he had not Resolution enough to resign for the safety of his
Honour.
The next Morning the unhappy
Sapphira
attended the Governor, and being
led into a remote Apartment, submitted to his De
Sir
es.
Rhynsault
commended her Charms, claim'd a Familiarity after what had pass'd
between them, and with an Air of Gaiety in the Language of a Gallant,
bid her return, and take her Husband out of Prison: But, continu'd he,
my Fair one must not be offended that I have taken care he should not be
an Interruption to our future Assignations. These last Words foreboded
what she found when she came to the Gaol, her Husband executed by the
Order of
Rhynsault.
It was remarkable that the Woman, who was full of Tears and Lamentations
during the whole Course of her Affliction, uttered neither Sigh nor
Complaint, but stood fix'd with Grief at this Consummation of her
Misfortunes. She betook herself to her abode, and after having in
Solitude paid her Devotions to him who is the Avenger of Innocence, she
repair'd privately to Court. Her Person and a certain Grandeur of Sorrow
negligent of Forms gain'd her Passage into the Presence of the Duke her
Sovereign. As soon as she came into the Presence, she broke forth into
the following words,
Behold, O mighty
Charles,
a Wretch weary of
Life, though it has always been spent with Innocence and Virtue. It is
not in your power to redress my Injuries, but it is to avenge them. And
if the Protection of the Distress'd, and the Punishment of Oppressors,
is a Task worthy a Prince, I bring the Duke of
Burgundy
ample matter
for doing Honour to his own great Name, and wiping Infamy off of mine.
When she had spoke this, she deliver'd the Duke a Paper reciting her
Story. He read it with all the Emotions that Indignation and Pity could
raise in a Prince jealous of his Honour in the Behaviour of his
Officers, and Prosperity of his Subjects.
Upon an appointed Day,
Rhynsault
was sent for to Court, and in the
Presence of a few of the Council, confronted by
Sapphira
: the Prince
asking,
Do you know that Lady? Rhynsault
, as soon as he could
recover his Surprize, told the Duke he would marry her, if his Highness
would please to think that a Reparation. The Duke seem'd contented with
this Answer, and stood by during the immediate Solemnization of the
Ceremony. At the Conclusion of it he told
Rhynsault, Thus far have you
done as constrain'd by my Authority: I shall not be satisfied of your
kind Usage of her, without you sign a Gift of your whole Estate to her
after your Decease
. To the Performance of this also the Duke was a
Witness. When these two Acts were executed, the Duke turn'd to the Lady,
and told her, it now remains for me to put you in quiet Possession of
what your Husband has so bountifully bestow'd on you; and order'd the
immediate Execution of
Rhynsault
.
T.
Founded upon note N to the Memoir of Charles of Burgundy in
Bayle's Dictionary
, where the authorities cited are Pontus Heuterus and
others. It is not in Comines.
Contents
|
Wednesday, September 24, 1712 |
Steele |
Quicquid est boni moris Levitate extinguiter.
Sen.
translation
Tunbridge, Sept. 18.
Dear Mr. SPECTATOR,
'I am a young Woman of Eighteen Years of Age, and, I do assure you, a
Maid of unspotted Reputation, founded upon a very careful Carriage in
all my Looks, Words and Actions. At the same time I must own to you,
that it is with much constraint to Flesh and Blood that my Behaviour
is so strictly irreproachable; for I am naturally addicted to Mirth,
to Gaiety, to a Free Air, to Motion and Gadding. Now what gives me a
great deal of Anxiety, and is some Discouragement in the Pursuit of
Virtue, is, that the young Women who run into greater Freedoms with
the Men are more taken Notice of than I am. The Men are such
unthinking Sots, that they do not prefer her who restrains all her
Passions and Affections and keeps much within the Bounds of what is
lawful, to her who goes to the utmost Verge of Innocence, and parlies
at the very Brink of Vice, whether she shall be a Wife or a Mistress.
But I must appeal to your Spectatorial Wisdom, who, I find, have
passed very much of your Time in the Study of Woman, whether this is
not a most unreasonable Proceeding. I have read somewhere, that
Hobbes of
Malmesbury asserts, that continent Persons have more of
what they contain, than those who give a loose to their De
Sir es.
According to this Rule, let there be equal Age, equal Wit, and equal
Good-Humour, in the Woman of Prudence, and her of Liberty; what Stores
has he to expect, who takes the former? What Refuse must he be
contented with, who chuses the latter? Well, but I sate down to write
to you to vent my Indignation against several pert Creatures who are
address'd to and courted in this Place, while poor I, and two or three
like me, are wholly unregarded.
Every one of these affect gaining the Hearts of your Sex: This is
generally attempted by a particular manner of carrying themselves with
Familiarity.
Glycera has a dancing Walk, and keeps Time in her
ordinary Gate.
Chloe, her Sister, who is unwilling to interrupt her
Conquests, comes into the Room before her with a familiar Run.
Dulcissa takes Advantage of the Approach of the Winter, and has
introduc'd a very pretty Shiver; closing up her Shoulders, and
shrinking as she moves. All that are in this Mode carry their Fans
between both Hands before them.
Dulcissa herself, who is Author of
this Air, adds the pretty Run to it; and has also, when she is in very
good Humour, a taking Familiarity in throwing herself into the lowest
Seat in the Room, and letting her hoop'd Petticoats fall with a lucky
Decency about her. I know she practices this way of sitting down in
her Chamber; and indeed she does it as well as you may have seen an
Actress fall down dead in a Tragedy. Not the least Indecency in her
Posture. If you have observ'd what pretty Carcasses are carry'd off at
the end of a Verse at the Theatre, it will give you a Notion how
Dulcissa plumps into a Chair. Here's a little Country Girl that's
very cunning, that makes her use of being young and unbred, and
outdoes the Insnarers, who are almost twice her Age. The Air that she
takes is to come into Company after a Walk, and is very successfully
out of Breath upon occasion. Her Mother is in the Secret, and calls
her Romp, and then looks round to see what young Men stare at her.
It would take up more than can come into one of your Papers, to
enumerate all the particular Airs of the younger Company in this
Place. But I cannot omit
Dulceorella, whose manner is the most
indolent imaginable, but still as watchful of Conquest as the busiest
Virgin among us. She has a peculiar Art of staring at a young Fellow,
till she sees she has got him, and inflam'd him by so much
Observation. When she sees she has him, and he begins to toss his Head
upon it, she is immediately short-sighted, and labours to observe what
he is at a distance with her Eyes half shut. Thus the Captive, that
thought her first struck, is to make very near Approaches, or be
wholly disregarded. This Artifice has done more Execution than all the
ogling of the rest of the Women here, with the utmost Variety of half
Glances, attentive Heedlessnesses, childish Inadvertencies, haughty
Contempts, or artificial Oversights. After I have said thus much of
Ladies among us who fight thus regularly, I am to complain to you of a
Set of Familiar Romps, who have broken thro' all common Rules, and
have thought of a very effectual way of shewing more Charms than all
of us. These, Mr. SPECTATOR, are the Swingers. You are to know these
careless pretty Creatures are very Innocents again; and it is to be no
matter what they do, for 'tis all harmless Freedom. They get on Ropes,
as you must have seen the Children, and are swung by their Men
Visitants. The Jest is, that Mr. such a one can name the Colour of
Mrs. Such-a-one's Stockings; and she tells him, he is a lying Thief,
so he is, and full of Roguery; and she'll lay a Wager, and her Sister
shall tell the Truth if he says right, and he can't tell what Colour
her Garters are of. In this Diversion there are very many pretty
Shrieks, not so much for fear of falling, as that their Petticoats
shou'd untye: For there is a great care had to avoid Improprieties;
and the Lover who swings the Lady, is to tye her Clothes very close
with his Hatband, before she admits him to throw up her Heels.
'Now,
Mr. SPECTATOR, except you can note these Wantonnesses in their
Beginnings, and bring us sober Girls into Observation, there is no
help for it, we must swim with the Tide; the Coquets are too powerful
a Party for us. To look into the Merit of a regular and well-behav'd
Woman, is a slow thing. A loose trivial Song gains the Affections,
when a wise Homily is not attended to. There is no other way but to
make war upon them, or we must go over to them. As for my Part, I will
shew all the World it is not for want of Charms that I stand so long
unasked; and if you do not take measures for the immediate Redress of
us Rigids, as the Fellows call us, I can move with a speaking Mien,
can look significantly, can lisp, can trip, can loll, can start, can
blush, can rage, can weep, if I must do it, and can be frighted as
agreeably as any She in
England. All which is humbly submitted to
your Spectatorial Consideration with all Humility, by
Your most humble Servant,
Matilda Mohair.
T.
Contents
|
Thursday, September 25, 1712 |
Steele |
Qualem commendes etiam atque etiam adspice, ne mox
Incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem.
Hor.
translation
It is no unpleasant matter of Speculation to consider the recommendatory
Epistles that pass round this Town from Hand to Hand, and the abuse
People put upon one another in that kind. It is indeed come to that
pass, that instead of being the Testimony of Merit in the Person
recommended, the true reading of a Letter of this sort is,
The Bearer hereof is so uneasie to me, that it will be an Act of
Charity in you to take him off my Hands; whether you prefer him or
not, it is all one, for I have no manner of Kindness for him, or
Obligation to him or his; and do what you please as to that.
As negligent as Men are in this respect, a point of Honour is concerned
in it; and there is nothing a Man should be more ashamed of, than
passing a worthless Creature into the Service or Interests of a Man who
has never injured you. The Women indeed are a little too keen in their
Resentments, to trespass often this Way: But you shall sometimes know
that the Mistress and the Maid shall quarrel, and give each other very
free Language, and at last the Lady shall be pacified to turn her out of
Doors, and give her a very good Word to any body else. Hence it is that
you see, in a Year and Half's time, the same Face a Domestick in all
parts of the Town. Good-breeding and Good-nature lead People in a great
Measure to this Injustice: When Suitors of no Consideration will have
Confidence enough to press upon their Superiors, those in Power are
tender of speaking the Exceptions they have against them, and are
mortgaged into Promises out of their Impatience of Importunity. In this
latter Case, it would be a very useful Enquiry to know the History of
Recommendations: There are, you must know, certain Abettors of this way
of Torment, who make it a Profession to manage the Affairs of
Candidates: These Gentlemen let out their Impudence to their Clients,
and supply any Defective Recommendation, by informing how such and such
a Man is to be attacked. They will tell you, get the least Scrap from
Mr. Such-a-one, and leave the rest to them. When one of these
Undertakers have your Business in hand, you may be sick, absent in Town
or Country, and the Patron shall be worried, or you prevail. I remember
to have been shewn a Gentleman some Years ago, who punish'd a whole
People for their Facility in giving their Credentials. This Person had
belonged to a Regiment which did Duty in the
West-Indies
, and by the
Mortality of the Place happened to be commanding Officer in the Colony.
He oppressed his Subjects with great frankness, till he became sensible
that he was heartily hated by every Man under his Command. When he had
carried his Point, to be thus detestable, in a pretended Fit of
Dishumour, and feigned Uneasiness of living where he found he was so
universally unacceptable, he communicated to the chief Inhabitants a
Design he had to return for
England
, provided they would give him
ample Testimonials of their Approbation. The Planters came into it to a
Man; and in proportion to his deserving the quite contrary, the Words
Justice, Generosity, and Courage, were inserted in his Commission, not
omitting the general Good-liking of People of all Conditions in the
Colony. The Gentleman returns for
England
, and within few Months after
came back to them their Governour on the Strength of their own
Testimonials.
Such a Rebuke as this cannot indeed happen to easy Recommenders, in the
ordinary course of things from one hand to another; but how would a Man
bear to have it said to him, the Person I took into Confidence on the
Credit you gave him, has proved false, unjust, and has not answered any
way the Character you gave me of him?
I cannot but conceive very good hopes of that Rake
Jack Toper
of the
Temple
, for an honest Scrupulousness in this Point. A Friend of his
meeting with a Servant that had formerly lived with
Jack
, and having a
mind to take him, sent to him to know what Faults the Fellow had, since
he could not please such a careless Fellow as he was. His Answer was as
follows:
Sir ,
'Thomas that lived with me was turned away because he was too good for
me. You know I live in Taverns; he is an orderly sober Rascal, and
thinks much to sleep in an Entry till two in a Morning. He told me one
day when he was dressing me, that he wondered I was not dead before
now, since I went to Dinner in the Evening, and went to Supper at two
in the Morning. We were coming down Essex-street one Night a little
flustrated, and I was giving him the Word to alarm the Watch; he had
the Impudence to tell me it was against the Law. You that are married,
and live one Day after another the same Way, and so on the whole Week,
I dare say will like him, and he will be glad to have his Meat in due
Season. The Fellow is certainly very Honest. My Service to your Lady.
Yours, J. T.
Now this was very fair Dealing.
Jack
knew very well, that though the
Love of Order made a Man very awkward in his Equipage, it was a valuable
Quality among the Queer People who live by Rule; and had too much good
Sense and good Nature to let the Fellow starve, because he was not fit
to attend his Vivacities.
I shall end this Discourse with a Letter of Recommendation from
Horace
to
Claudius Nero
. You will see in that Letter a Slowness to ask a
Favour, a strong Reason for being unable to deny his good Word any
longer, and that it is a Service to the Person to whom he recommends, to
comply with what is asked: All which are necessary Circumstances, both
in Justice and Good-breeding, if a Man would ask so as to have reason to
complain of a Denial; and indeed a Man should not in strictness ask
otherwise. In hopes
Authority of
Horace
, who perfectly understood
how to live with great Men, may have a good Effect towards amending this
Facility in People of Condition, and the Confidence of those who apply
to them without Merit, I have translated the Epistle
.
To Claudius Nero.
Sir ,
'Septimus, who waits upon you with this, is very well acquainted
with the place you are pleased to allow me in your Friendship. For
when he beseeches me to recommend him to your Notice, in such a manner
as to be received by you, who are delicate in the choice of your
Friends and Domesticks, he knows our Intimacy, and understands my
Ability to serve him better than I do myself. I have defended my self
against his Ambition to be yours, as long as I possibly could; but
fearing the Imputation of hiding my Power in you out of mean and
selfish Considerations, I am at last prevailed upon to give you this
Trouble. Thus, to avoid the Appearance of a greater Fault, I have put
on this Confidence. If you can forgive this Transgression of Modesty
in behalf of a Friend, receive this Gentleman into your Interests and
Friendship, and take it from me that he is an honest and brave Man.
T.
This is a translation from Horace of the verse of No. 9 in
Book I. of his
Epistles
; showing how it would read in the customary
prose form of a letter of introduction.
Contents
|
Friday, September 26, 1712 |
Addison |
Ægritudinem laudare, unam rem maximè detestabilem, quorum est tandem
Philosophorum?
Cic.
translation
About an Age ago it was the fashion in
England
, for every one that
would be thought religious, to throw as much Sanctity as possible into
his Face, and in particular to abstain from all Appearances of Mirth and
Pleasantry, which were looked upon as the Marks of a Carnal Mind. The
Saint was of a sorrowful Countenance, and generally eaten up with Spleen
and Melancholy. A
, who was lately a great Ornament to the
Learned World
, has diverted me more than once with an Account of the
Reception
he met with from a very famous Independent Minister, who
was Head of a College in those times
. This Gentleman was then a
young Adventurer in the Republick of Letters, and just fitted out for
the University with a good Cargo of
Latin
and
Greek
. His Friends
were resolved that he should try his Fortune at an Election which was
drawing near in the College, of which the Independent Minister whom I
have before mentioned was Governor. The Youth, according to Custom,
waited on him in order to be examined. He was received at the Door by a
Servant, who was one of that gloomy Generation that were then in
fashion. He conducted him, with great Silence and Seriousness, to a long
Gallery which was darkned at Noon-day, and had only a single Candle
burning in it. After a short stay in this melancholy Apartment, he was
led into a Chamber hung with Black, where he entertained himself for
some time by the glimmering of a Taper, till at length the Head of the
College came out to him, from an inner Room, with half a Dozen Night
Caps upon his Head, and a religious Horror in his Countenance. The young
Man trembled; but his Fears encreased when, instead of being ask'd what
Progress he had made in Learning, he was examined how he abounded in
Grace. His
Latin
and
Greek
stood him in little stead; he was to give
an account only of the state of his Soul, whether he was of the Number
of the Elect; what was the Occasion of his Conversion; upon what Day of
the Month, and Hour of the Day it happened; how it was carried on, and
when compleated. The whole Examination was summed up with one short
Question, namely,
Whether he was prepared for Death?
The Boy, who had
been bred up by honest Parents, was frighted out of his Wits at the
Solemnity of the Proceeding, and by the last dreadful Interrogatory; so
that upon making his Escape out of this House of Mourning, he could
never be brought a second time to the Examination, as not being able to
go through the Terrors of it.
Notwithstanding this general Form and Outside of Religion is pretty well
worn out among us, there are many Persons, who, by a natural
Unchearfulness of Heart, mistaken Notions of Piety, or Weakness of
Understanding, love to indulge this uncomfortable way of Life, and give
up themselves a Prey to Grief and Melancholy. Superstitious Fears and
groundless Scruples cut them off from the Pleasures of Conversation, and
all those social Entertainments, which are not only innocent, but
laudable; as if Mirth was made for Reprobates, and Chearfulness of Heart
denied those who are the only Persons that have a proper Title to it.
Sombrius
is one of these Sons of Sorrow. He thinks himself obliged in
Duty to be sad and disconsolate. He looks on a sudden fit of Laughter as
a Breach of his Baptismal Vow. An innocent Jest startles him like
Blasphemy. Tell him of one who is advanced to a Title of Honour, he
lifts up his Hands and Eyes; describe a publick Ceremony, he shakes his
Head; shew him a gay Equipage, he blesses himself. All the little
Ornaments of Life are Pomps and Vanities. Mirth is wanton, and Wit
profane. He is scandalized at Youth for being lively, and at Childhood
for being playful. He sits at a Christening, or a Marriage Feast, as at
a Funeral; sighs at the Conclusion of a merry Story, and grows devout
when the rest of the Company grow pleasant. After all,
Sombrius
is a
religious Man, and would have behaved himself very properly, had he
lived when Christianity was under a general Persecution.
I would by no means presume to tax such Characters with Hypocrisy, as is
done too frequently; that being a Vice which I think none but He, who
knows the Secrets of Men's Hearts, should pretend to discover in
another, where the Proofs of it do not amount to a Demonstration. On the
contrary, as there are many excellent Persons, who are weighed down by
this habitual Sorrow of Heart, they rather deserve our Compassion than
our Reproaches. I think, however, they would do well to consider,
whether such a Behaviour does not deter Men from a Religious Life, by
representing it as an unsociable State, that extinguishes all Joy and
Gladness, darkens the Face of Nature, and destroys the Relish of Being
it self.