the 20th, in relation
to some Passages in a
Lover
, will be more particular in her
Directions, I shall be so in my Answer.
The poor Gentleman, who fancies my Writings could reclaim an Husband who
can abuse such a Wife as he describes, has I am afraid too great an
Opinion of my Skill.
Philanthropos
is, I dare say, a very well-meaning Man, but a little
too prolix in his Compositions.
Constantius
himself must be the best Judge in the Affair he mentions.
The Letter dated from
Lincoln
is received.
Arethusa
and her Friend may hear further from me.
Celia
is a little too hasty.
Harriot
is a good Girl, but must not Curtsie to Folks she does not
know.
I must ingeniously confess my Friend
Sampson Bentstaff
has quite
puzzled me, and writ me a long Letter which I cannot comprehend one Word
of.
Collidan
must also explain what he means by his
Drigelling.
I think it beneath my
Spectatorial
Dignity, to concern my self in the
Affair of the boiled Dumpling.
I shall consult some
Litterati
on the Project sent me for the
Discovery of the Longitude.
I know not how to conclude this Paper better, than by inserting a Couple
of Letters which are really genuine, and which I look upon to be two of
the smartest Pieces I have received from my Correspondents of either Sex.
Brother Spec.
'While you are surveying every Object that falls in your way, I am
wholly taken up with one. Had that Sage, who demanded what Beauty was,
lived to see the dear Angel I love, he would not have asked such a
Question. Had another seen her, he would himself have loved the Person
in whom Heaven has made Virtue visible; and were you your self to be
in her ompany, you could never, with all your Loquacity, say enough of
her good Humour and Sense. I send you the Outlines of a Picture, which
I can no more finish than I can sufficiently admire the dear Original.
I am
Your most Affectionate Brother,
Constantio Spec.
Good Mr. Pert,
'I will allow you nothing till you resolve me the following Question.
Pray what's the Reason that while you only talk now upon Wednesdays,
Fridays, and Mondays, you pretend to be a greater Tatler, than
when you spoke every Day as you formerly used to do? If this be your
plunging out of your Taciturnity, pray let the Length of your Speeches
compensate for the Scarceness of them.
I am,
Good Mr. Pert,
Your Admirer, if you will be long enough for Me,
Contents
|
Wednesday, August 18, 1714 |
|
—Tenet insanabile multos
Scribendi Cacœthes—
Juv.
translation
There is a certain Distemper, which is mentioned neither by
Galen
nor
Hippocrates
, nor to be met with in the
London Dispensary
.
Juvenal
,
in the Motto of my Paper, terms it a
Cacœthes
; which is a hard Word
for a Disease called in plain
English
, the
Itch of Writing.
This
Cacœthes
is as Epidemical as the Small-Pox, there being very few who
are not seized with it some time or other in their Lives. There is,
however, this Difference in these two Distempers, that the first, after
having indisposed you for a time, never returns again; whereas this I am
speaking of, when it is once got into the Blood, seldom comes out of it.
The
British
Nation is very much afflicted with this Malady, and tho'
very many Remedies have been applied to Persons infected with it, few of
them have ever proved successful. Some have been cauterized with Satyrs
and Lampoons, but have received little or no Benefit from them; others
have had their Heads fastned for an Hour together between a Cleft Board,
which is made use
as a Cure for the Disease when it appears in its
greatest Malignity
. There is indeed one kind of this Malady which
has been sometimes removed, like the Biting of a
Tarantula
, with the
sound of a musical Instrument, which is commonly known by the Name of a
Cat-Call. But if you have a Patient of this kind under your Care, you
may assure your self there is no other way of recovering him
effectually, but by forbidding him the use of Pen, Ink and Paper.
But to drop the Allegory before I have tired it out, there is no Species
of Scriblers more offensive, and more incurable, than your Periodical
Writers, whose Works return upon the Publick on certain Days and at
stated Times. We have not the Consolation in the Perusal of these
Authors, which we find at the reading of all others, (namely) that we
are sure if we have but Patience, we may come to the End of their
Labours. I have often admired a humorous Saying of
Diogenes
, who
reading a dull Author to several of his Friends, when every one began to
be tired, finding he was almost come to a blank leaf at the End of it,
cried,
Courage, Lads, I see Land
. On the contrary, our Progress
through that kind of Writers I am now speaking of is never at an End.
One Day makes Work for another, we do not know when to promise our
selves Rest.
It is a melancholy thing to consider, that the Art of Printing, which
might be the greatest Blessing to Mankind, should prove detrimental to
us, and that it should be made use of to scatter Prejudice and Ignorance
through a People, instead of conveying to them Truth and Knowledge.
I was lately reading a very whimsical Treatise, entitled,
William
Ramsey's
Vindication of Astrology. This profound Author, among many
mystical Passages, has the following one:
The Absence of the Sun is not the Cause of Night, forasmuch
as his Light is so great that it may illuminate the Earth all
over at once as clear as broad Day, but there are tenebrificous
and dark Stars, by whose Influence Night is brought on, and
which do ray out Darkness and Obscurity upon the Earth, as
the Sun does Light.
I consider Writers in the same View this sage Astrologer does the
Heavenly Bodies. Some of them are Stars that scatter Light as others do
Darkness. I could mention several Authors who are tenebrificous Stars of
the first Magnitude, and point out a Knot of Gentlemen, who have been
dull in Consort, and may be looked upon as a dark Constellation. The
Nation has been a great while benighted with several of these
Antiluminaries. I suffered them to ray out their Darkness as long as I
was able to endure it, till at length I came to a Resolution of rising
upon them, and hope in a little time to drive them quite out of the
British
Hemisphere.
Footnote 1:
Put in the Pillory.
Contents
|
Friday, August 20, 1714 |
Addison |
Ipse thymum pinosque ferens de montibus altis,
Tecta serat latè circum, cui talia Curæ:
Ipse labore manum duro terat, ipse feraces
Figat humo plantas, et amicos irriget Imbres.
Virg.
translation
Every Station of Life has Duties which are proper to it. Those who are
determined by Choice to any particular kind of Business, are indeed more
happy than those who are determined by Necessity, but both are under an
equal Obligation of fixing on Employments, which may be either useful to
themselves or beneficial to others. No one of the Sons of
Adam
ought
to think himself exempt from that Labour and Industry which were
denounced to our first Parent, and in him to all his Posterity. Those to
whom Birth or Fortune may seem to make such an Application unnecessary,
ought to find out some Calling or Profession for themselves, that they
may not lie as a Burden on the Species, and be the only useless Parts of
the Creation.
Many of our Country Gentlemen in their busie Hours apply themselves
wholly to the Chase, or to some other Diversion which they find in the
Fields and Woods. This gave occasion to one of our most eminent
English
Writers to represent every one of them as lying under a kind
of Curse pronounced to them in the Words of
Goliah, I will give thee to
the Fowls of the Air, and to the Beasts of the Field.
Tho' Exercises of this kind, when indulged with Moderation, may have a
good Influence both on the Mind and Body, the Country affords many other
Amusements of a more noble kind.
Among these I know none more delightful in itself, and beneficial to the
Publick, than that of
Planting.
I could mention a Nobleman whose
Fortune has placed him in several Parts of
England
, and who has always
left these visible Marks behind him, which show he has been there: He
never hired a House in his Life, without leaving all about it the Seeds
of Wealth, and bestowing Legacies on the Posterity of the Owner. Had all
the Gentlemen of
England
made the same Improvements upon their
Estates, our whole Country would have been at this time as one great
Garden. Nor ought such an Employment to be looked upon as too inglorious
for Men of the highest Rank. There have been Heroes in this Art, as well
as in others. We are told in particular of
Cyrus
the Great, that he
planted all the Lesser
Asia.
There is indeed something truly
magnificent in this kind of Amusement: It gives a nobler Air to several
Parts of Nature; it fills the Earth with a Variety of beautiful Scenes,
and has something in it like Creation. For this Reason the Pleasure of
one who Plants is something like that of a Poet, who, as
Aristotle
observes, is more delighted with his Productions than any other Writer
or Artist whatsoever.
Plantations have one Advantage in them which is not to be found in most
other Works, as they give a Pleasure of a more lasting Date, and
continually improve in the Eye of the Planter, When you have finished a
Building or any other Undertaking of the like Nature, it immediately
decays upon your Hands; you see it brought to its utmost Point of
Perfection, and from that time hastening to its Ruin. On the contrary,
when you have finished your Plantations, they are still arriving at
greater Degrees of Perfection as long as you live, and appear more
delightful in every succeeding Year than they did in the foregoing.
But I do not only recommend this Art to Men of Estates as a pleasing
Amusement, but as it is a kind of Virtuous Employment, and may therefore
be inculcated by moral Motives; particularly from the Love which we
ought to have for our Country, and the Regard which we ought to bear to
our Posterity. As for the first, I need only mention what is frequently
observed by others, that the Increase of Forest-Trees does by no Means
bear a Proportion to the Destruction of them, insomuch that in a few
Ages the Nation may be at a Loss to supply it self with Timber
sufficient for the Fleets of
England.
I know when a Man talks of
Posterity in Matters of this Nature, he is looked upon with an Eye of
Ridicule by the cunning and selfish part of Mankind. Most People are of
the Humour of an old Fellow of a College, who, when he was pressed by
the Society to come into something that might redound to the good of
their Successors, grew very peevish,
We are always doing
, says he,
something for Posterity, but I would fain see Posterity do something
for us.
But I think Men are inexcusable, who fail in a Duty of this Nature,
since it is so easily discharged. When a Man considers that the putting
a few Twigs into the Ground, is doing good to one who will make his
appearance in the World about Fifty Years hence, or that he is perhaps
making one of his own Descendants easy or rich, by so inconsiderable an
Expence, if he finds himself averse to it, he must conclude that he has
a poor and base Heart, void of all generous Principles and Love to
Mankind.
There is one Consideration, which may very much enforce what I have here
said. Many honest Minds that are naturally disposed to do good in the
World, and become Beneficial to Mankind, complain within themselves that
they have not Talents for it. This therefore is a good Office, which is
suited to the meanest Capacities, and which may be performed by
Multitudes, who have not Abilities sufficient to deserve well of their
Country and to recommend themselves to their Posterity, by any other
Method. It is the Phrase of a Friend of mine, when any useful Country
Neighbour dies, that
you may trace him:
which I look upon as a good
Funeral Oration, at the Death of an honest Husbandman, who hath left the
Impressions of his Industry behind him, in the Place where he has lived.
Upon the foregoing Considerations, I can scarce forbear representing the
Subject of this Paper as a kind of Moral Virtue: Which, as I have
already shown, recommends it self likewise by the Pleasure that attends
it. It must be confessed, that this is none of those turbulent Pleasures
which is apt to gratifie a Man in the Heats of Youth; but if it be not
so Tumultuous, it is more lasting. Nothing can be more delightful than
to entertain ourselves with Prospects of our own making, and to walk
under those Shades which our own Industry has raised. Amusements of this
Nature compose the Mind, and lay at Rest all those Passions which are
uneasie to the Soul of Man, besides that they naturally engender good
Thoughts, and dispose us to laudable Contemplations. Many of the old
Philosophers passed away the greatest Parts of their Lives among their
Gardens.
Epicurus
himself could not think sensual Pleasure attainable
in any other Scene. Every Reader who is acquainted with
Homer,
Virgil
and
Horace
, the greatest Genius's of all Antiquity, knows
very well with how much Rapture they have spoken on this Subject; and
that
Virgil
in particular has written a whole Book on the Art of
Planting.
This Art seems to have been more especially adapted to the Nature of Man
in his Primaeval State, when he had Life enough to see his Productions
flourish in their utmost Beauty, and gradually decay with him. One who
lived before the Flood might have seen a Wood of the tallest Oakes in
the Accorn. But I only mention this Particular, in order to introduce in
my next Paper, a History which I have found among the Accounts of
China
, and which may be looked upon as an Antediluvian Novel.
Contents
|
Monday, August 23, 1714 |
Addison |
Hec gelidi fontes, hic mollia prata, Lycori,
Hic Nemus, hic toto tecum consumerer ævo.
Virg.
translation
Hilpa
was one of the 150 Daughters of
Zilpah
, of the Race of
Cohu
,
by whom some of the Learned think is meant
Cain
. She was exceedingly
beautiful, and when she was but a Girl of threescore and ten Years of
Age, received the Addresses of several who made Love to her. Among these
were two Brothers,
Harpath
and
Shalum
;
Harpath
, being the
First-born, was Master of that fruitful Region which lies at the Foot of
Mount
Tirzah
, in the Southern Parts of
China
.
Shalum
(which is to
say the Planter in the
Chinese
Language) possessed all the
neighbouring Hills, and that great Range of Mountains which goes under
the Name of
Tirzah
.
Harpath
was of a haughty contemptuous Spirit;
Shalum
was of a gentle Disposition, beloved both by God and Man.
It is said that, among the Antediluvian Women, the Daughters of
Cohu
had their Minds wholly set upon Riches; for which Reason the beautiful
Hilpa
preferr'd
Harpath
to
Shalum
, because of his numerous Flocks
and Herds, that covered all the low Country which runs along the Foot of
Mount
Tirzah
, and is watered by several Fountains and Streams breaking
out of the Sides of that Mountain.
Harpath
made so quick a Dispatch of his Courtship, that he married
Hilpa
in the hundredth Year of her Age; and being of an insolent
Temper, laughed to Scorn his Brother
Shalum
for having pretended to
the beautiful
Hilpa
, when he was Master of nothing but a long Chain of
Rocks and Mountains. This so much provoked
Shalum
, that he is said to
have cursed his Brother in the Bitterness of his Heart, and to have
prayed that one of his Mountains might fall upon his Head if ever he
came within the Shadow of it.
From this Time forward
Harpath
would never venture out of the Vallies,
but came to an untimely End in the 250th Year of his Age, being drowned
in a River as he attempted to cross it This River is called to this Day,
from his Name who perished in it, the River
Harpath
, and, what is very
remarkable, issues out of one of those Mountains which
Shalum
wished
might fall upon his Brother, when he cursed him in the Bitterness of his
Heart.
Hilpa
was in the 160th Year of her Age at the Death of her Husband,
having brought him but 50 Children, before he was snatched away, as has
been already related. Many of the Antediluvians made Love to the young
Widow, tho' no one was thought so likely to succeed in her Affections as
her first Lover
Shalum
, who renewed his Court to her about ten Years
after the Death of
Harpath
; for it was not thought decent in those
Days that a Widow should be seen by a Man within ten Years after the
Decease of her Husband.
Shalum
falling into a deep Melancholy, and resolving to take away that
Objection which had been raised against him when he made his first
Addresses to
Hilpa
, began immediately, after her Marriage with
Harpath
, to plant all that mountainous Region which fell to his Lot in
the Division of this Country. He knew how to adapt every Plant to its
proper Soil, and is thought to have inherited many traditional Secrets
of that Art from the first Man. This Employment turn'd at length to his
Profit as well as to his Amusement: His Mountains were in a few Years
shaded with young Trees, that gradually shot up into Groves, Woods, and
Forests, intermixed with Walks, and Launs, and Gardens; insomuch that
the whole Region, from a naked and desolate Prospect, began now to look
like a second Paradise. The Pleasantness of the Place, and the agreeable
Disposition of
Shalum
, who was reckoned one of the mildest and wisest
of all who lived before the Flood, drew into it Multitudes of People,
who were perpetually employed in the sinking of Wells, the digging of
Trenches, and the hollowing of Trees, for the better Distribution of
Water through every Part of this spacious Plantation.
The Habitations of
Shalum
looked every Year more beautiful in the Eyes
of
Hilpa
, who, after the Space of 70 Autumns, was wonderfully pleased
with the distant Prospect of
Shalum
's Hills, which were then covered
with innumerable Tufts of Trees and gloomy Scenes that gave a
Magnificence to the Place, and converted it into one of the finest
Landskips the Eye of Man could behold.
The
Chinese
record a Letter which
Shalum
is said to have written to
Hilpa
, in the Eleventh Year of her Widowhood. I shall here translate
it, without departing from that noble Simplicity of Sentiments, and
Plainness of Manners which appears in the Original.
Shalum
was at this Time 180 Years old, and
Hilpa
170.
Shalum, Master of Mount Tirzah, to Hilpa, Mistress of the
Vallies.
In the 788th Year of the Creation.
'What have I not suffered, O thou Daughter of Zilpah, since thou
gavest thy self away in Marriage to my Rival? I grew weary of the
Light of the Sun, and have been ever since covering my self with Woods
and Forests. These threescore and ten Years have I bewailed the Loss
of thee on the Tops of Mount Tirzah, and soothed my Melancholy among
a thousand gloomy Shades of my own raising. My Dwellings are at
present as the Garden of God; every Part of them is filled with
Fruits, and Flowers, and Fountains. The whole Mountain is perfumed for
thy Reception. Come up into it, O my Beloved, and let us People this
Spot of the new World with a beautiful Race of Mortals; let us
multiply exceedingly among these delightful Shades, and fill every
Quarter of them with Sons and Daughters. Remember, O thou Daughter of
Zilpah, that the Age of Man is but a thousand Years; that Beauty is
the Admiration but of a few Centuries. It flourishes as a Mountain
Oak, or as a Cedar on the Top of Tirzah, which in three or four
hundred Years will fade away, and never be thought of by Posterity,
unless a young Wood springs from its Roots. Think well on this, and
remember thy Neighbour in the Mountains.
Having here inserted this Letter, which I look upon as the only
Antediluvian
Billet-doux
now extant, I shall in my next Paper give the
Answer to it, and the Sequel of this Story.
Contents
|
Wednesday, August 25, 1714 |
Addison |
Ipsi lætitia voces ad sidera jactant
Intonsi montes: ipsæ jam carmina rupes,
Ipsæ sonant arbusta—
Virg.
translation
The Sequel of the Story of
Shalum
and
Hilpa.
The Letter inserted in my last had so good an Effect upon
Hilpa,
that
she answered it in less than a Twelvemonth, after the following Manner.
Hilpa, Mistress of the Vallies, to Shalum, Master of Mount Tirzah.
In the 789th Year of the Creation.
'What have I to do with thee, O Shalum? Thou praisest Hilpa's
Beauty, but art thou not secretly enamoured with the Verdure of her
Meadows? Art thou not more affected with the Prospect of her green
Vallies, than thou wouldest be with the Sight of her Person? The
Lowings of my Herds, and the Bleatings of my Flocks, make a pleasant
Eccho in thy Mountains, and sound sweetly in thy Ears. What tho' I am
delighted with the Wavings of thy Forests, and those Breezes of
Perfumes which flow from the Top of Tirzah: Are these like the
Riches of the Valley?
'I know thee, O Shalum; thou art more wise and happy than any of the
Sons of Men. Thy Dwellings are among the Cedars; thou searchest out
the Diversity of Soils, thou understandest the Influences of the
Stars, and markest the Change of Seasons. Can a Woman appear lovely in
the Eyes of such a one? Disquiet me not, O Shalum; let me alone,
that I may enjoy those goodly Possessions which are fallen to my Lot.
Win me not by thy enticing Words. May thy Trees increase and multiply;
mayest thou add Wood to Wood, and Shade to Shade; but tempt not
Hilpa to destroy thy Solitude, and make thy Retirement populous.
The
Chinese
say, that a little time afterwards she accepted of a Treat
in one of the neighbouring Hills to which
Shalum
had invited her. This
Treat lasted for two Years, and is said to have cost
Shalum
five
hundred Antelopes, two thousand Ostriches, and a thousand Tun of Milk;
but what most of all recommended it, was that Variety of delicious
Fruits and Pot-herbs, in which no Person then living could any way equal