I have, in former Papers, shewn how great a Tendency there is to
Chearfulness in Religion, and how such a Frame of Mind is not only the
most lovely, but the most commendable in a virtuous Person. In short,
those who represent Religion in so unamiable a Light, are like the Spies
sent by
Moses
to make a Discovery of the Land of
Promise
, when by
their Reports they discouraged the People from entering upon it. Those
who shew us the Joy, the Chearfulness, the Good-humour, that naturally
spring up in this happy State, are like the Spies bringing along with
them the Clusters of Grapes, and delicious Fruits, that might invite
their Companions into the pleasant Country which produced them.
eminent Pagan Writer
has made a Discourse, to shew that the
Atheist, who denies a God, does him less Dishonour than the Man who owns
his Being, but at the same time believes him to be cruel, hard to
please, and terrible to Human Nature. For my own part, says he, I would
rather it should be said of me, that there was never any such Man as
Plutarch
, than that
Plutarch
was ill-natured, capricious, or inhuman.
If we may believe our Logicians, Man is distinguished from all other
Creatures by the Faculty of Laughter. He has an Heart capable of Mirth,
and naturally disposed to it. It is not the Business of Virtue to
extirpate the Affections of the Mind, but to regulate them. It may
moderate and restrain, but was not designed to banish Gladness from the
Heart of Man. Religion contracts the Circle of our Pleasures, but leaves
it wide enough for her Votaries to expatiate in. The Contemplation of
the Divine Being, and the Exercise of Virtue, are in their own Nature so
far from excluding all Gladness of Heart, that they are perpetual
Sources of it. In a word, the true Spirit of Religion cheers, as well as
composes the Soul; it banishes indeed all Levity of Behaviour, all
vicious and dissolute Mirth, but in exchange fills the Mind with a
perpetual Serenity, uninterrupted Chearfulness, and an habitual
Inclination to please others, as well as to be pleased in it self.
O.
Supposed to be Anthony Henley, a gentleman of property, who
corresponded with Swift, was a friend of Steele's, and contributed some
unidentified papers to the
Tatler
. He died in August, 1711.
Dr. Thomas Goodwin, who was born in 1600, and educated at
Cambridge. He was one of those who, like Milton's tutor, Dr. Thomas
Young, went to Holland to escape from persecution, and was pastor of the
English church at Arnheim, till in the Civil Wars he came to London, and
sat at Westminster as one of the Assembly of Divines. In 1649 Cromwell
made him President of Magdalen College As Oliver Cromwell's chaplain, he
prayed with and for him in his last illness. At the Restoration, Dr.
Goodwin was deprived of his post at Oxford, and he then preached in
London to an Assembly of Independents till his death, in 1679. His works
were collected in five volumes folio.
Plutarch, in his short Treatise
On Superstition
.
Contents
|
Saturday, September 27, 1712 |
Addison |
Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus
Nigræ feraci frondis in Algido,
Per damna, per cades, ab ipso
Ducit opes animumque ferro.
Hor.
translation
As I am one, who, by my Profession, am obliged to look into all kinds of
Men, there are none whom I consider with so much Pleasure, as those who
have any thing new or extraordinary in their Characters, or Ways of
living. For this reason I have often amused my self with Speculations on
the Race of People called
Jews
, many of whom I have met with in most
of the considerable Towns which I have passed through in the Course of
my Travels. They are, indeed, so disseminated through all the trading
parts of the World, that they are become the Instruments by which the
most distant Nations converse with one another, and by which Mankind are
knit together in a general Correspondence: They are like the Pegs and
Nails in a great Building, which, though they are but little valued in
themselves, are absolutely necessary to keep the whole Frame together.
That I may not fall into any common beaten Tracks of Observation, I
shall consider this People in three Views: First, with regard to their
Number; Secondly, their Dispersion; and, Thirdly, their Adherence to
their Religion: and afterwards endeavour to shew, First, what Natural
Reasons, and, Secondly, what Providential Reasons may be assigned for
these three remarkable Particulars.
The
Jews
are looked upon by many to be as numerous at present, as they
were formerly in the Land of
Canaan
.
This is wonderful, considering the dreadful Slaughter made of them under
some of the
Roman
Emperors, which Historians describe by the Death of
many Hundred Thousands in a War; and the innumerable Massacres and
Persecutions they have undergone in
Turkey
, as well as in all
Christian Nations of the World. The
Rabbins
, to express the great
Havock which has been sometimes made of them, tell us, after their usual
manner of Hyperbole, that there were such Torrents of Holy Blood shed as
carried Rocks of an hundred Yards in Circumference above three Miles
into the Sea.
Their Dispersion is the second remarkable Particular in this People.
They swarm over all the
East
; and are settled in the remotest Parts of
China
: They are spread through most of the Nations of
Europe
and
Africk
, and many Families of them are established in the
West-Indies
: not to mention whole Nations bordering on
Prester-John's
Country, and some discovered in the inner Parts of
America
, if we may give any Credit to their own Writers.
Their firm Adherence to their Religion, is no less remarkable than their
Numbers and Dispersion, especially considering it as persecuted or
contemned over the Face of the whole Earth. This is likewise the more
remarkable, if we consider the frequent Apostacies of this People, when
they lived under their Kings, in the Land of
Promise
, and within sight
of their Temple.
If in the next place we examine, what may be the Natural Reasons for
these three Particulars which we find in the
Jews
, and which are not
to be found in any other Religion or People, I can, in the first place,
attribute their Numbers to nothing but their constant Employment, their
Abstinence, their Exemption from Wars, and above all, their frequent
Marriages; for they look on Celibacy as an accursed State, and generally
are married before Twenty, as hoping the
Messiah
may descend from them.
The Dispersion of the
Jews
into all the Nations of the Earth, is the
second remarkable Particular of that People, though not so hard to be
accounted for. They were always in Rebellions and Tumults while they had
the Temple and Holy City in View, for which reason they have often been
driven out of their old Habitations in the Land of
Promise
. They have
as often been banished out of most other Places where they have settled,
which must very much disperse and scatter a People, and oblige them to
seek a Livelihood where they can find it. Besides, the whole People is
now a Race of such Merchants as are Wanderers by Profession, and at the
same time, are in most if not all Places incapable of either Lands or
Offices, that might engage them to make any Part of the World their
Home.
This Dispersion would probably have lost their Religion, had it not been
secured by the Strength of its Constitution: For they are to live all in
a Body, and generally within the same Enclosure; to marry among
themselves, and to eat no Meats that are not killed or prepared their
own way. This shuts them out from all Table Conversation, and the most
agreeable Intercourses of Life; and, by consequence, excludes them from
the most probable Means of Conversion.
If, in the last place, we consider what Providential Reason may be
assigned for these three Particulars, we shall find that their Numbers,
Dispersion, and Adherence to their Religion, have furnished every Age,
and every Nation of the World, with the strongest Arguments for the
Christian Faith, not only as these very Particulars are foretold of
them, but as they themselves are the Depositaries of these and all the
other Prophecies, which tend to their own Confusion. Their Number
furnishes us with a sufficient Cloud of Witnesses that attest the Truth
of the Old Bible. Their Dispersion spreads these Witnesses thro' all
parts of the World. The Adherence to their Religion makes their
Testimony unquestionable. Had the whole Body of the
Jews
been
converted to Christianity, we should certainly have thought all the
Prophecies of the old Testament, that relate to the Coming and History
of our Blessed Saviour, forged by Christians, and have looked upon them,
with the Prophecies of the
Sybils
, as made many Years after the Events
they pretended to foretell.
O.
Contents
|
Monday, September 29, 1712 |
Steele |
Gnatum pariter uti his decuit aut etiam amplius,
Quod illa ætas magis ad hæc utenda idonea est.
Terent.
Heaut. A. 1. Sc. 1.
translation
Mr. SPECTATOR,
'Those Ancients who were the most accurate in their Remarks on the
Genius and Temper of Mankind, by considering the various Bent and
Scope of our Actions throughout the Progress of Life, have with great
Exactness allotted Inclinations and Objects of De
Sir e particular to
every Stage, according to the different Circumstances of our
Conversation and Fortune, thro' the several Periods of it. Hence they
were disposed easily to excuse those Excesses which might possibly
arise from a too eager Pursuit of the Affections more immediately
proper to each State: They indulged the Levity of Childhood with
Tenderness, overlooked the Gayety of Youth with Good-nature, tempered
the forward Ambition and Impatience of ripen'd Manhood with
Discretion, and kindly imputed the tenacious Avarice of old Men to
their want of relish for any other Enjoyment. Such Allowances as these
were no less advantageous to common Society than obliging to
particular Persons; for by maintaining a Decency and Regularity in the
Course of Life, they supported the Dignity of human Nature, which then
suffers the greatest Violence when the Order of things is inverted;
and in nothing is it more remarkably vilify'd and ridiculous, than
when Feebleness preposterously attempts to adorn it self with that
outward Pomp and Lustre, which serve only to set off the Bloom of
Youth with better advantage. I was insensibly carried into Reflections
of this nature, by just now meeting
Paulino (who is in his
Climacterick) bedeck'd with the utmost Splendour of Dress and
Equipage, and giving an unbounded Loose to all manner of Pleasure,
whilst his only Son is debarr'd all innocent Diversion, and may be
seen frequently solacing himself in the
Mall with no other
Attendance than one antiquated Servant of his Father's for a Companion
and Director.
'It is a monstrous want of Reflection, that a Man cannot consider,
that when he cannot resign the Pleasures of Life in his Decay of
Appetite and Inclination to them, his Son must have a much uneasier
Task to resist the Impetuosity of growing De
Sir es. The Skill therefore
should, methinks, be to let a Son want no lawful Diversion, in
proportion to his future Fortune, and the Figure he is to make in the
World. The first Step towards Virtue that I have observed in young Men
of Condition that have run into Excesses, has been that they had a
regard to their Quality and Reputation in the Management of their
Vices. Narrowness in their Circumstances has made many Youths, to
supply themselves as Debauchees, commence Cheats and Rascals. The
Father who allows his Son to his utmost ability avoids this latter
Evil, which as to the World is much greater than the former. But the
contrary Practice has prevail'd so much among some Men, that I have
known them deny them what was merely necessary for Education suitable
to their Quality. Poor young
Antonio is a lamentable Instance of ill
Conduct in this kind. The young Man did not want natural Talents; but
the Father of him was a Coxcomb, who affected being a fine Gentleman
so unmercifully, that he could not endure in his sight, or the
frequent mention of one, who was his Son, growing into Manhood, and
thrusting him out of the gay World. I have often thought the Father
took a secret Pleasure in reflecting that when that fine House and
Seat came into the next hands, it would revive his Memory, as a Person
who knew how to enjoy them, from Observation of the Rusticity and
Ignorance of his Successor. Certain it is that a Man may, if he will,
let his Heart close to the having no regard to any thing but his dear
self, even with exclusion of his very Children. I recommend this
Subject to your Consideration, and am,
Sir , Your most humble Servant,
T. B.
London, Sept. 26, 1712.
Mr. SPECTATOR,
'I am just come from
Tunbridge, and have since my return read Mrs.
Matilda Mohair's Letter to you: She pretends to make a mighty Story
about the Diversion of Swinging in that Place. What was done, was only
among Relations; and no Man swung any Woman who was not second Cousin
at farthest. She is pleased to say, care was taken that the Gallants
tied the Ladies Legs before they were wafted into the Air. Since she
is so spiteful, I'll tell you the plain Truth; there was no such
Nicety observed, since we were all, as I just now told you, near
Relations; but Mrs.
Mohair her self has been swung there, and she
invents all this Malice, because it was observed she has crooked Legs,
of which I was an Eye-Witness.
Your humble Servant,
Rachel Shoestring.
Tunbridge, Sept. 26, 1712.
Mr. SPECTATOR,
'We have just now read your Paper, containing Mrs.
Mohair's Letter.
It is an Invention of her own from one end to the other; and I de
Sir e
you would print the enclosed Letter by it self, and shorten it so as
to come within the Compass of your Half-Sheet. She is the most
malicious Minx in the World, for all she looks so innocent. Don't
leave out that Part about her being in love with her Father's Butler,
which makes her shun Men; for that is the truest of it all.
Your humble Servant,
Sarah Trice.
P. S. 'She has crooked Legs.'
Tunbridge, Sept. 26, 1712.
Mr. SPECTATOR,
'All that Mrs.
Mohair is so vexed at against the good Company of
this Place, is, that we all know she has crooked Legs. This is
certainly true. I don't care for putting my Name, because one would
not be in the Power of the Creature.
Your humble Servant unknown.
Tunbridge, Sept. 26, 1712.
Mr. SPECTATOR,
'That insufferable Prude Mrs.
Mohair, who has told such Stories of
the Company here, is with Child, for all her nice Airs and her crooked
Legs. Pray be sure to put her in for both those two Things, and you'll
oblige every Body here, especially
Your humble Servant,
Alice Bluegarter.'
T.
Contents
|
Thursday, September 30, 1712 |
Steele |
Greek: Houtós esti galeôtaes gérôn.—Menander.translation
A favour well bestow'd, is almost as great an Honour to him who confers
it, as to him who receives it. What indeed makes for the superior
Reputation of the Patron in this case, is, that he is always surrounded
with specious Pretences of unworthy Candidates, and is often alone in
the kind Inclination he has towards the Well-deserving. Justice is the
first Quality in the Man who is in a Post of Direction; and I remember
to have heard an old Gentleman talk of the Civil Wars, and in his
Relation give an Account of a General Officer, who with this one
Quality, without any shining Endowments, became so peculiarly beloved
and honoured, that all Decisions between Man and Man were laid before
him by the Parties concerned in a private Way; and they would lay by
their Animosities implicitly, if he bid them be Friends, or submit
themselves in the Wrong without Reluctance, if he said it, without
waiting the Judgment of Court-Martials. His Manner was to keep the Dates
of all Commissions in his Closet, and wholly dismiss from the Service
such who were deficient in their Duty; and after that, took Care to
prefer according to the Order of Battel. His Familiars were his entire
Friends, and could have no interested Views in courting his
Acquaintance; for his Affection was no Step to their Preferment, tho' it
was to their Reputation. By this means a kind Aspect, a Salutation, a
Smile, and giving out his Hand, had the weight of what is esteem'd by
vulgar Minds more substantial. His Business was very short, and he who
had nothing to do but Justice, was never affronted with a Request of a
familiar daily Visitant for what was due to a brave Man at a Distance.
Extraordinary Merit he used to recommend to the King for some
Distinction at home, till the Order of Battel made way for his rising in
the Troops. Add to this, that he had an excellent Manner of getting rid
of such whom he observed were good at
an Halt
, as his Phrase was.
Under this Description he comprehended all those who were contented to
live without Reproach, and had no Promptitude in their Minds towards
Glory. These Fellows were also recommended to the King, and taken off of
the General's hands into Posts wherein Diligence and common Honesty were
all that were necessary. This General had no weak Part in his Line; but
every Man had as much Care upon him, and as much Honour to lose as
himself. Every Officer could answer for what pass'd where he was, and
the General's Presence was never necessary any where, but where he had
placed himself at the first Disposition, except that Accident happen'd
from extraordinary Efforts of the Enemy which he could not foresee; but
it was remarkable that it never fell out from Failure in his own Troops.
It must be confess'd, the World is just so much out of order, as an
unworthy Person possesses what should be in the Direction of him who has
better Pretensions to it.
Instead of such a Conduct as this old Fellow us'd to describe in his
General, all the Evils which have ever happen'd among Mankind have arose
from the wanton Disposition of the Favours of the Powerful. It is
generally all that Men of Modesty and Virtue can do, to fall in with
some whimsical Turn in a Great Man, to make way for things of real and
absolute Service. In the time of Don
Sebastian
of
Portugal
, or some
time since, the first Minister would let nothing come near him but what
bore the most profound Face of Wisdom and Gravity. They carry'd it so
far, that, for the greater Shew of their profound Knowledge, a Pair of
Spectacles tied on their Noses, with a black Ribband round their Heads,
was what compleated the Dress of those who made their court at his
Levee, and none with naked Noses were admitted to his Presence. A blunt
honest Fellow, who had a Command in the Train of Artillery, had
attempted to make an Impression upon the Porter day after day in vain,
till at length he made his appearance in a very thoughtful dark sute of
Clothes, and two Pair of Spectacles on at once. He was conducted from
Room to Room with great deference, to the Minister; and carrying on the
Farce of the Place, he told his Excellence, That he had pretended in
this manner to be wiser than he really was, but with no ill Intention;
but he was honest Such-a-one of the Train, and he came to tell him that
they wanted Wheel-barrows and Pick-axes. The thing happened not to
displease, the Great Man was seen to smile, and the successful Officer
was reconducted with the same profound Ceremony out of the House.
Leo X.
reigned Pope of
Rome
, his Holiness, tho' a Man of Sense,
and of an excellent Taste of Letters, of all things affected Fools,
Buffoons, Humourists, and Coxcombs: Whether it were from Vanity, and
that he enjoy'd no Talents in other Men but what were inferiour to him,
or whatever it was, he carried it so far, that his whole Delight was in
finding out new Fools, and, as our Phrase is, playing them off, and
making them shew themselves to advantage. A Priest of his former
Acquaintance suffered a great many Disappointments in attempting to find
access to him in a regular Character, till at last in despair he retired
from
Rome
, and returned in an Equipage so very fantastical, both as to
the Dress of himself and Servants, that the whole Court were in an
Emulation who should first introduce him to his Holiness
. What added
to the Expectation his Holiness had of the Pleasure he should have in
his Follies, was, that this Fellow, in a Dress the most exquisitely
ridiculous, de
Sir
ed he might speak to him alone, for he had Matters of
the highest Importance, upon which he wanted a Conference. Nothing could
be denied to a Coxcomb of so great hope; but when they were apart, the
Impostor revealed himself, and spoke as follows:
Do not be surprized, most holy Father, at seeing, instead of a Coxcomb
to laugh at, your old Friend who has taken this way of Access to
admonish you of your own Folly. Can any thing shew your Holiness how
unworthily you treat Mankind, more than my being put upon this
Difficulty to speak with you? It is a degree of Folly to delight to
see it in others, and it is the greatest Insolence imaginable to
rejoice in the Disgrace of human Nature. It is a criminal Humility in
a Person of your Holiness's Understanding, to believe you cannot excel
but in the Conversation of Half-wits, Humorists, Coxcombs, and
Buffoons. If your Holiness has a mind to be diverted like a rational
Man, you have a great opportunity for it, in disrobing all the
Impertinents you have favour'd, of all their Riches and Trappings at
once, and bestowing them on the Humble, the Virtuous, and the Meek. If
your Holiness is not concerned for the sake of Virtue and Religion, be
pleased to reflect, that for the sake of your own Safety it is not
proper to be so very much in jest. When the Pope is thus merry, the
People will in time begin to think many things, which they have
hitherto beheld with great Veneration, are in themselves Objects of
Scorn and Derision. If they once get a Trick of knowing how to laugh,
your Holiness's saying this Sentence in one Night-Cap and t'other with
the other, the change of your Slippers, bringing you your Staff in the
midst of a Prayer, then stripping you of one Vest and clapping on a
second during divine Service, will be found out to have nothing in it.
Consider, Sir , that at this rate a Head will be reckoned never the
wiser for being Bald; and the ignorant will be apt to say, that going
bare-foot does not at all help on in the way to Heaven. The red Cap
and the Coul will fall under the same Contempt; and the Vulgar will
tell us to our Faces that we shall have no Authority over them, but
from the Force of our Arguments, and the Sanctity of our Lives.
T.
Founded on Note F to Bayle's account of Leo X.
Contents
|
Wednesday, October 1, 1712 |
Steele |
—Frustra retinacula tendens
Fertur equis Auriga, neque audit currus habenas.translation
To the SPECTATOR-GENERAL of Great Britain.
From the farther end of the Widow's Coffee-house in Devereaux Court,
Monday Evening, twenty eight Minutes and a Half past Six.
Dear Dumb,
'In short, to use no further Preface, if I should tell you that I have
seen a Hackney-Coachman, when he has come to set down his Fare, which
has consisted of two or three very fine Ladies, hand them out, and
salute every one of them with an Air of Familiarity, without giving
the least Offence, you would perhaps think me guilty of a Gasconade.
But to clear my self from that Imputation, and to explain this Matter
to you, I assure you that there are many Illustrious Youths within
this City, who frequently recreate themselves by driving of a
Hackney-Coach: But those whom, above all others, I would recommend to
you, are the young Gentlemen belonging to our Inns of Court. We have,
I think, about a dozen Coachmen, who have Chambers here in the
Temple; and as it is reasonable to believe others will follow their
Example, we may perhaps in time (if it shall be thought convenient) be
drove to
Westminster by our own Fraternity, allowing every fifth
Person to apply his Meditations in this way, which is but a modest
Computation, as the Humour is now likely to take. It is to be hop'd
likewise, that there are in the other Nurseries of the Law to be found
a proportionable number of these hopeful Plants, springing up to the
everlasting Renown of their native Country. Of how long standing this
Humour has been, I know not; the first time I had any particular
Reason to take notice of it, was about this time twelvemonth, when
being upon
Hampstead-Heath with some of these studious young Men,
who went thither purely for the Sake of Contemplation, nothing would
serve them but I must go thro' a Course of this Philosophy too; and
being ever willing to embelish my self with any commendable
Qualification, it was not long e'er they persuaded me into the
Coach-box; nor indeed much longer, before I underwent the Fate of my
Brother
Phaeton, for having drove about fifty Paces with pretty good
Success, through my own natural Sagacity, together with the good
Instructions of my Tutors, who, to give them their due, were on all
Hands encouraging and assisting me in this laudable Undertaking; I
say,
Sir , having drove about fifty Paces with pretty good Success, I
must needs be exercising the Lash, which the Horses resented so ill
from my Hands, that they gave a sudden Start, and thereby pitched me
directly upon my Head, as I very well remembered about Half an Hour
afterwards, which not only deprived me of all the Knowledge I had
gain'd for fifty Yards before, but had like to have broken my Neck
into the Bargain. After such a severe Reprimand, you may imagine I was
not very easily prevail'd with to make a second Attempt; and indeed,
upon mature Deliberation, the whole Science seem'd, at least to me, to
be surrounded with so many Difficulties, that notwithstanding the
unknown Advantages which might have accrued to me thereby, I gave over
all Hopes of attaining it; and I believe had never thought of it more,
but that my Memory has been lately refreshed by seeing some of these
ingenious Gentlemen ply in the open Streets, one of which I saw
receive so suitable a Reward of his Labours, that tho' I know you are
no Friend to Story-telling, yet I must beg leave to trouble you with
this at large.
'About a fortnight since, as I was diverting my self with a pennyworth
of Walnuts at the
Temple-Gate, a lively young Fellow in a Fustian
Jacket shot by me, beckon'd a Coach, and told the Coachman he wanted
to go as far as
Chelsey: They agreed upon the Price, and this young
Gentleman mounts the Coach-box; the Fellow staring at him, de
Sir 'd to
know if he should not drive till they were out of Town? No, no,
replied he: He was then going to climb up to him, but received another
Check, and was then ordered to get into the Coach, or behind it, for
that he wanted no Instructors; but be sure you Dog you, says he, don't
you bilk me. The Fellow thereupon surrender'd his Whip, scratch'd his
Head, and crept into the Coach. Having my self occasion to go into the
Strand about the same Time, we started both together; but the Street
being very full of Coaches, and he not so able a Coachman as perhaps
he imagined himself, I had soon got a little Way before him; often,
however, having the curiosity to cast my Eye back upon him, to observe
how he behaved himself in this high Station; which he did with great
Composure till he came to the Pass, which is a Military Term the
Brothers of the Whip have given the Strait at St.
Clement's Church:
when he was arrived near this Place, where are always Coaches in
waiting, the Coachmen began to suck up the Muscles of their Cheeks,
and to tip the Wink upon each other, as if they had some Roguery in
their Heads, which I was immediately convinced of; for he no sooner
came within Reach, but the first of them with his Whip took the exact
Dimension of his Shoulders, which he very ingeniously call'd
Endorsing; and indeed I must say, that every one of them took due Care
to endorse him as he came thro' their Hands. He seem'd at first a
little uneasy under the Operation, and was going in all haste to take
the Numbers of their Coaches; but at length by the Mediation of the
worthy Gentleman in the Coach, his Wrath was asswaged, and he
prevail'd upon to pursue his Journey; tho' indeed I thought they had
clapt such a Spoke in his Wheel, as had disabled him from being a
Coachman for that Day at least: For I am only mistaken, Mr.
Spec. if
some of these Endorsements were not wrote in so strong a Hand, that
they are still legible. Upon my enquiring the Reason of this unusual
Salutation, they told me, that it was a Custom among them, whenever
they saw a Brother tottering or unstable in his Post, to lend him a
hand in order to settle him again therein: For my part I thought their
Allegations but reasonable, and so march'd off. Besides our Coachmen,
we abound in divers other Sorts of ingenious robust Youth, who, I
hope, will not take it ill if I refer giving you an account of their
several Recreations to another Opportunity. In the mean time, if you
would but bestow a little of your wholesome Advice upon our Coachmen,
it might perhaps be a Reprieve to some of their Necks. As I understand
you have several Inspectors under you, if you would but send one
amongst us here in the
Temple, I am persuaded he would not want
Employment. But I leave this to your own Consideration, and am,
'
Sir , Your very humble Servant,
'Moses Greenbag.
'
P. S. I have heard our Criticks in the Coffee-houses hereabout talk
mightily of the Unity of Time and Place: According to my Notion of the
Matter, I have endeavoured at something like it in the Beginning of my
Epistle. I de
Sir e to be inform'd a little as to that Particular. In my
next I design to give you some account of excellent Watermen, who are
bred to the Law, and far outdo the Land-Students above-mentioned.'
T.
Contents
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Thursday, October 2, 1712 |
Addison |