The place of a particular figure in the picture, with a hand on a tree,
is that supposed to be aspired to by the
Spectator's
next
correspondent.
'The Fortune Hunters, or Two Fools Well Met,'
a
Comedy first produced in 1685, was the only work of James Carlile, a
player who quitted the stage to serve King William III in the Irish
Wars, and was killed at the battle of Aghrim. The crowning joke of the
second Act of
the Fortune Hunters
is the return at night of Mr.
Spruce, an Exchange man, drunk and musical, to the garden-door of his
house, when Mrs. Spruce is just taking leave of young Wealthy. Wealthy
hides behind the pump. The drunken husband, who has been in a gutter,
goes to the pump to clean himself, and seizes a man's arm instead of a
pump-handle. He works it as a pump-handle, and complains that ' the
pump's dry;' upon which Young Wealthy empties a bottle of orange-flower
water into his face.
In the third act of Fletcher's comedy of the
Pilgrim
,
Pedro, the Pilgrim, a noble gentleman, has shown to him the interior of
a Spanish mad-house, and discovers in it his mistress Alinda, who,
disguised in a boy's dress, was found in the town the night before a
little crazed, distracted, and so sent thither. The scene here shows
various shapes of madness,
Some of pity
That it would make ye melt to see their passions,
And some as light again.
One is an English madman who cries,
Give me some drink,
Fill me a thousand pots and froth 'em, froth 'em!
Upon which a keeper says:
Those English are so malt-mad, there's no meddling with 'em.
When they've a fruitful year of barley there,
All the whole Island's thus.
We read in the text how they had produced on the stage of Drury Lane
that madman on the previous Saturday night; this Essay appearing on the
breakfast tables upon Monday morning.
horse
King Latinus to Turnus in Act II., sc. 10, of the opera of
Camilla
. Posterity will never know in whose person 'Latinus, king of
Latium and of the Volscians,' abdicated his crown at the opera to take
the Queen of England's shilling. It is the only character to which, in
the opera book, no name of a performer is attached. It is a part of
sixty or seventy lines in tyrant's vein; but all recitative. The King of
Latium was not once called upon for a song.
Contents
For the Good of the Publick.
Within two Doors of the Masquerade lives an eminent Italian Chirurgeon,
arriv'd from the Carnaval at Venice,
of great Experience in private Cures.
Accommodations are provided, and Persons admitted in their masquing Habits.
He has cur'd since his coming thither, in less than a Fortnight,
Four Scaramouches,
a Mountebank Doctor,
Two Turkish Bassas,
Three Nuns,
and a Morris Dancer.
"Venienti occurrite morbo."
N. B. Any Person may agree by the Great,
and be kept in
Repair by the Year.
The Doctor draws Teeth
without pulling
off your Mask.
R.
|
Tuesday, March 27, 17111 |
Addison |
Savit atrox Volscens, nec teli conspicit usquam
Auctorem nec quo se ardens immittere possit.
Vir.
There is nothing that more betrays a base, ungenerous Spirit, than the
giving of secret Stabs to a Man's Reputation. Lampoons and Satyrs, that
are written with Wit and Spirit, are like poison'd Darts, which not only
inflict a Wound, but make it incurable. For this Reason I am very much
troubled when I see the Talents of Humour and Ridicule in the Possession
of an ill-natured Man. There cannot be a greater Gratification to a
barbarous and inhuman Wit, than to stir up Sorrow in the Heart of a
private Person, to raise Uneasiness among near Relations, and to expose
whole Families to Derision, at the same time that he remains unseen and
undiscovered. If, besides the Accomplishments of being Witty and
Ill-natured, a Man is vicious into the bargain, he is one of the most
mischievous Creatures that can enter into a Civil Society. His Satyr
will then chiefly fall upon those who ought to be the most exempt from
it. Virtue, Merit, and every thing that is Praise-worthy, will be made
the Subject of Ridicule and Buffoonry. It is impossible to enumerate the
Evils which arise from these Arrows that fly in the dark, and I know no
other Excuse that is or can be made for them, than that the Wounds they
give are only Imaginary, and produce nothing more than a secret Shame or
Sorrow in the Mind of the suffering Person. It must indeed be confess'd,
that a Lampoon or a Satyr do not carry in them Robbery or Murder; but at
the same time, how many are there that would not rather lose a
considerable Sum of Mony, or even Life it self, than be set up as a Mark
of Infamy and Derision? And in this Case a Man should consider, that an
Injury is not to be measured by the Notions of him that gives, but of
him that receives it.
Those who can put the best Countenance upon the Outrages of this nature
which are offered them, are not without their secret Anguish. I have
often observed a Passage in
Socrates's
Behaviour at his Death, in
a Light wherein none of the Criticks have considered it. That excellent
Man, entertaining his Friends a little before he drank the Bowl of
Poison with a Discourse on the Immortality of the Soul, at his entering
upon it says, that he does not believe any the most Comick Genius can
censure him for talking upon such a Subject at such a Time.
passage, I think, evidently glances upon
Aristophanes
, who writ a
Comedy on purpose to ridicule the Discourses of that Divine Philosopher
: It has been observed by many Writers, that
Socrates
was so
little moved at this piece of Buffoonry, that he was several times
present at its being acted upon the Stage, and never expressed the least
Resentment of it. But, with Submission, I think the Remark I have here
made shows us, that this unworthy Treatment made an impression upon his
Mind, though he had been too wise to discover it.
Julius Cæsar
was Lampoon'd by
Catullus
, he invited
him to a Supper, and treated him with such a generous Civility, that he
made the Poet his friend ever after
. Cardinal
Mazarine
gave
the same kind of Treatment to the learned
Quillet
, who had
reflected upon his Eminence in a famous Latin Poem. The Cardinal sent
for him, and, after some kind Expostulations upon what he had written,
assured him of his Esteem, and dismissed him with a Promise of the next
good Abby that should fall, which he accordingly conferr'd upon him in a
few Months after.
had so good an Effect upon the Author, that he
dedicated the second Edition of his Book to the Cardinal, after having
expunged the Passages which had given him offence
.
Sextus Quintus
was not of so generous and forgiving a Temper. Upon his
being made Pope, the statue of
Pasquin
was one Night dressed in a very
dirty Shirt, with an Excuse written under it, that he was forced to wear
foul Linnen, because his Laundress was made a Princess. This was a
Reflection upon the Pope's Sister, who, before the Promotion of her
Brother, was in those mean Circumstances that
Pasquin
represented her.
As this Pasquinade made a great noise in
Rome
, the Pope offered a
Considerable Sum of Mony to any Person that should discover the Author
of it.
Author, relying upon his Holiness's Generosity, as also on
some private Overtures which he had received from him, made the
Discovery himself; upon which the Pope gave him the Reward he had
promised, but at the same time, to disable the Satyrist for the future,
ordered his Tongue to be cut out, and both his Hands to be chopped off
.
Aretine
is too trite an instance. Every
one knows that all the Kings of Europe were his tributaries. Nay, there
is a Letter of his extant, in which he makes his Boasts that he had laid
the Sophi of
Persia
under Contribution.
Though in the various Examples which I have here drawn together, these
several great Men behaved themselves very differently towards the Wits
of the Age who had reproached them, they all of them plainly showed that
they were very sensible of their Reproaches, and consequently that they
received them as very great Injuries. For my own part, I would never
trust a Man that I thought was capable of giving these secret Wounds,
and cannot but think that he would hurt the Person, whose Reputation he
thus assaults, in his Body or in his Fortune, could he do it with the
same Security. There is indeed something very barbarous and inhuman in
the ordinary Scriblers of Lampoons. An Innocent young Lady shall be
exposed, for an unhappy Feature. A Father of a Family turn'd to
Ridicule, for some domestick Calamity. A Wife be made uneasy all her
Life, for a misinterpreted Word or Action. Nay, a good, a temperate, and
a just Man, shall be put out of Countenance, by the Representation of
those Qualities that should do him Honour. So pernicious a thing is Wit,
when it is not tempered with Virtue and Humanity.
I have indeed heard of heedless, inconsiderate Writers, that without any
Malice have sacrificed the Reputation of their Friends and Acquaintance
to a certain Levity of Temper, and a silly Ambition of distinguishing
themselves by a Spirit of Raillery and Satyr: As if it were not
infinitely more honourable to be a Good-natured Man than a Wit. Where
there is this little petulant Humour in an Author, he is often very
mischievous without designing to be so. For which Reason I always lay it
down as a Rule, that an indiscreet Man is more hurtful than an
ill-natured one; for as the former will only attack his Enemies, and
those he wishes ill to, the other injures indifferently both Friends and
Foes.
cannot forbear, on this occasion, transcribing a Fable out of
Sir
Roger l'Estrange
, which accidentally lies before me.
'A company of Waggish Boys were watching of Frogs at the side of a
Pond, and still as any of 'em put up their Heads, they'd be pelting
them down again with Stones. Children (says one of the Frogs),
you never consider that though this may be Play to you, 'tis Death
to us.'
this Week is in a manner set apart and dedicated to Serious Thoughts
, I shall indulge my self in such Speculations as may not be
altogether unsuitable to the Season; and in the mean time, as the
settling in our selves a Charitable Frame of Mind is a Work very proper
for the Time, I have in this Paper endeavoured to expose that particular
Breach of Charity which has been generally over-looked by Divines,
because they are but few who can be guilty of it.
C.
At the top of this paper in a 12mo copy of the
Spectator
,
published in 1712, and annotated by a contemporary Spanish merchant, is
written, 'The character of Dr Swift.' This proves that the writer of the
note had an ill opinion of Dr Swift and a weak sense of the purport of
what he read. Swift, of course, understood what he read. At this time he
was fretting under the sense of a chill in friendship between himself
and Addison, but was enjoying his
Spectators
. A week before this
date, on the 16th of March, he wrote,
'Have you seen the Spectators yet, a paper that comes out every
day? It is written by Mr. Steele, who seems to have gathered new life
and have a new fund of wit; it is in the same nature as his
Tatlers, and they have all of them had something pretty. I
believe Addison and he club.'
Then he adds a complaint of the chill in their friendship. A month after
the date of this paper Swift wrote in his journal,
'The Spectator is written by Steele with Addison's help; 'tis
often very pretty.'
Later in the year, in June and September, he records dinner and supper
with his friends of old time, and says of Addison,
'I yet know no man half so agreeable to me as he is.'
Plato's Phædon
, § 40. The ridicule of Socrates in
The Clouds
of Aristophanes includes the accusation that he
displaced Zeus and put in his place Dinos, — Rotation. When Socrates, at
the point of death, assents to the request that he should show grounds
for his faith
'that when the man is dead, the soul exists and retains thought and
power,' Plato represents him as suggesting: Not the sharpest censor
'could say that in now discussing such matters, I am dealing with what
does not concern me.'
The bitter attack upon Cæsar and his parasite Mamurra was not withdrawn,
but remains to us as No. 29 of the
Poems
of Catullus. The doubtful
authority for Cæsar's answer to it is the statement in the
Life of Julius
Cæsar
by Suetonius that, on the day of its appearance, Catullus apologized
and was invited to supper; Cæsar abiding also by his old familiar friendship
with the poet's father. This is the attack said to be referred to in one of
Cicero's
letters
to Atticus (the last of Bk. XIII), in which he tells how
Cæsar was
'after the eighth hour in the bath; then he heard De Mamurrâ;
did not change countenance; was anointed; lay down; took an emetic.'
Claude Quillet published a Latin poem in four books,
entitled '
Callipædia
, seu de pulchræ prolis habendâ ratione,'
at Leyden, under the name of Calvidius Lætus, in 1655. In discussing
unions harmonious and inharmonious he digressed into an invective
against marriages of Powers, when not in accordance with certain
conditions; and complained that France entered into such unions prolific
only of ill, witness her gift of sovereign power to a Sicilian stranger.
'Trinacriis devectus ab oris advena.'
Mazarin, though born at Rome, was of Sicilian family. In the second
edition, published at Paris in 1656, dedicated to the cardinal Mazarin, the
passages complained of were omitted for the reason and with the result told
in the text; the poet getting 'une jolie Abbaye de 400 pistoles,' which he
enjoyed until his death (aged 59) in 1661.
Pasquino is the name of a torso, perhaps of Menelaus
supporting the dead body of Patroclus, in the Piazza di Pasquino in
Rome, at the corner of the Braschi Palace. To this modern Romans affixed
their scoffs at persons or laws open to ridicule or censure. The name of
the statue is accounted for by the tradition that there was in Rome, at
the beginning of the 16th century, a cobbler or tailor named Pasquino,
whose humour for sharp satire made his stall a place of common resort
for the idle, who would jest together at the passers-by. After
Pasquino's death his stall was removed, and in digging up its floor
there was found the broken statue of a gladiator. In this, when it was
set up, the gossips who still gathered there to exercise their wit,
declared that Pasquino lived again. There was a statue opposite to it
called Marforio — perhaps because it had been brought from the Forum of
Mars — with which the statue of Pasquin used to hold witty conversation;
questions affixed to one receiving soon afterwards salted answers on the
other. It was in answer to Marforio's question, Why he wore a dirty
shirt? that Pasquin's statue gave the answer cited in the text, when, in
1585, Pope Sixtus V had brought to Rome, and lodged there in great
state, his sister Camilla, who had been a laundress and was married to a
carpenter. The Pope's bait for catching the offender was promise of life
and a thousand doubloons if he declared himself, death on the gallows if
his name were disclosed by another.
The satirist Pietro d'Arezzo (Aretino), the most famous
among twenty of the name, was in his youth banished from Arezzo for
satire of the Indulgence trade of Leo XI. But he throve instead of
suffering by his audacity of bitterness, and rose to honour as the
Scourge of Princes,
il Flagello de' Principi
. Under Clement VII
he was at Rome in the Pope's service. Francis I of France gave him a
gold chain. Emperor Charles V gave him a pension of 200 scudi. He died
in 1557, aged 66, called by himself and his compatriots, though his wit
often was beastly, Aretino 'the divine.'
From the
Fables of Æsop and other eminent Mythologists,
with 'Morals and Reflections. By Sir Roger l'Estrange.
The vol.
contains Fables of Æsop, Barlandus, Anianus, Abstemius, Poggio the
Florentine, Miscellany from a Common School Book, and a Supplement of
Fables out of several authors, in which last section is that of the
Boys
and Frogs
, which Addison has copied out verbatim. Sir R. l'Estrange had
died in 1704, aged 88.
Easter Day in 1711 fell on the 1st of April.
Contents
|
Wednesday, March 28, 1711 |
Steele |
Accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum;
Arreptaque manu, Quid agis dulcissime rerum?
Hor.
There are in this Town a great Number of insignificant People, who are
by no means fit for the better sort of Conversation, and yet have an
impertinent Ambition of appearing with those to whom they are not
welcome. If you walk in the
Park
, one of them will certainly joyn
with you, though you are in Company with Ladies; if you drink a Bottle,
they will find your Haunts.
makes
such Fellows
the more
burdensome is, that they neither offend nor please so far as to be taken
Notice of for either. It is, I presume, for this Reason that my
Correspondents are willing by my Means to be rid of them. The two
following Letters are writ by Persons who suffer by such Impertinence. A
worthy old Batchelour, who sets in for his Dose of Claret every Night at
such an Hour, is teized by a Swarm of them; who because they are sure of
Room and good Fire, have taken it in their Heads to keep a sort of Club
in his Company; tho' the sober Gentleman himself is an utter Enemy to
such Meetings.
Mr.
Spectator,
'The Aversion I for some Years have had to Clubs in general, gave me a
perfect Relish for your Speculation on that Subject; but I have since
been extremely mortified, by the malicious World's ranking me amongst
the Supporters of such impertinent Assemblies. I beg Leave to state my
Case fairly; and that done, I shall expect Redress from your judicious
Pen.
I am, Sir, a Batchelour of some standing, and a Traveller; my
Business, to consult my own Humour, which I gratify without
controuling other People's; I have a Room and a whole Bed to myself;
and I have a Dog, a Fiddle, and a Gun; they please me, and injure no
Creature alive. My chief Meal is a Supper, which I always make at a
Tavern. I am constant to an Hour, and not ill-humour'd; for which
Reasons, tho' I invite no Body, I have no sooner supp'd, than I have a
Crowd about me of that sort of good Company that know not whither else
to go. It is true every Man pays his Share, yet as they are Intruders,
I have an undoubted Right to be the only Speaker, or at least the
loudest; which I maintain, and that to the great Emolument of my
Audience. I sometimes tell them their own in pretty free Language; and
sometimes divert them with merry Tales, according as I am in Humour. I
am one of those who live in Taverns to a great Age, by a sort of
regular Intemperance; I never go to Bed drunk, but always flustered; I
wear away very gently; am apt to be peevish, but never angry. Mr.
Spectator, if you have kept various Company, you know there is in
every Tavern in Town some old Humourist or other, who is Master of the
House as much as he that keeps it. The Drawers are all in Awe of him;
and all the Customers who frequent his Company, yield him a sort of
comical Obedience. I do not know but I may be such a Fellow as this my
self. But I appeal to you, whether this is to be called a Club,
because so many Impertinents will break in upon me, and come without
Appointment?
Clinch of Barnet2 has a nightly Meeting, and
shows to every one that will come in and pay; but then he is the only
Actor. Why should People miscall things?
If his is allowed to be a Consort, why mayn't mine be a Lecture?
However, Sir, I submit it to you, and am,
Sir,
Your most obedient, Etc.
Tho. Kimbow.'
Good Sir,
'You and I were press'd against each other last Winter in a Crowd, in
which uneasy Posture we suffer'd together for almost Half an Hour. I
thank you for all your Civilities ever since, in being of my
Acquaintance wherever you meet me. But the other Day you pulled off
your Hat to me in the
Park, when I was walking with my Mistress: She
did not like your Air, and said she wonder'd what strange Fellows I
was acquainted with. Dear Sir, consider it is as much as my Life is
Worth, if she should think we were intimate; therefore I earnestly
intreat you for the Future to take no Manner of Notice of,
Sir,
Your obliged humble Servant,
Will. Fashion.'
A like
Impertinence
also very troublesome to the superior and
more intelligent Part of the fair Sex. It is, it seems, a great
Inconvenience, that those of the meanest Capacities will pretend to make
Visits, tho' indeed they are qualify'd rather to add to the Furniture of
the House (by filling an empty Chair) than to the Conversation they come
into when they visit. A Friend of mine hopes for Redress in this Case,
by the Publication of her Letter in my Paper; which she thinks those she
would be rid of will take to themselves. It seems to be written with an
Eye to one of those pert giddy unthinking Girls, who, upon the
Recommendation only of an agreeable Person and a fashionable Air, take
themselves to be upon a Level with Women of the greatest Merit.
Madam,
'I take this Way to acquaint you with what common Rules and Forms
would never permit me to tell you otherwise; to wit, that you and I,
tho' Equals in Quality and Fortune, are by no Means suitable
Companions. You are, 'tis true, very pretty, can dance, and make a
very good Figure in a publick Assembly; but alass, Madam, you must go
no further; Distance and Silence are your best Recommendations;
therefore let me beg of you never to make me any more Visits. You come
in a literal Sense to see one, for you have nothing to say. I do not
say this that I would by any Means lose your Acquaintance; but I would
keep it up with the Strictest Forms of good Breeding. Let us pay
Visits, but never see one another: If you will be so good as to deny
your self always to me, I shall return the Obligation by giving the
same Orders to my Servants. When Accident makes us meet at a third
Place, we may mutually lament the Misfortune of never finding one
another at home, go in the same Party to a Benefit-Play, and smile at
each other and put down Glasses as we pass in our Coaches. Thus we may
enjoy as much of each others Friendship as we are capable: For there
are some People who are to be known only by Sight, with which sort of
Friendship I hope you will always honour,
Madam,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
Mary Tuesday.
P.S. I subscribe my self by the Name of the Day I keep, that my
supernumerary Friends may know who I am.
these People
Clinch of Barnet, whose place of performance was at the
corner of Bartholomew Lane, behind the Royal Exchange, imitated,
according to his own advertisement,
'the Horses, the Huntsmen and a Pack of Hounds, a Sham Doctor, an old
Woman, the Bells, the Flute, the Double Curtell (or bassoon) and the
Organ, — all with his own Natural Voice, to the greatest perfection.'
The price of admission was a shilling.
This
Contents
To prevent all Mistakes that may happen
among Gentlemen of
the other End of the Town,
who come but once a Week to St.
James's
Coffee-house,
either by miscalling the Servants,
or requiring
such things from them as are not properly within their
respective Provinces;
this is to give Notice, that Kidney,
Keeper of
the Book-Debts of the outlying Customers,
and Observer of those
who go off without paying,
having resigned that Employment,
is succeeded by John Sowton;
to whose Place of Enterer of Messages
and first Coffee-Grinder,
William Bird
is promoted;
and Samuel
Burdock
comes as Shooe-Cleaner
in the Room of the said Bird.
R.
|
Thursday, March 29, 1711 |
Addison |