9
 
 THE 
 
 WORKS 
 
 O F 
 
 Samuel Johnfon, LL.D. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, 
 IN TWELVE VOLUMES. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN ESSAY ON HIS LIFE AND GENIUS, 
 By ARTHUR MURPHY, ESQ. 
 
 VOLUME THE FOURTH. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for T. Longman, B. White and Son, B. Law, J. Dodfley, H. Baldwin, 
 J. Robfon, 
 T. 
 
 G. Nicol, J. Murray, A. Strahan, W, Lowndes, T. Evans, W. Bent, 
 S. Hayes, G. and T. Wilkie, T. and J. Egerton, W. Fox, P. M'Queen, 
 Ogilvie and Spcare, Darton and Harvey, G. and C. Kearfley, W. Millar, 
 B. C. Collins, and E. Newbery. 
 
 M DCC XCII. 
 
 ted for T. Longman, B. White and Son, B. Law, J. Dodfley, H. Baldwin, 
 J. Robfon, J. Johnfon, C. Dilly, T. Vernor, G. G. J. and J. Robinfon, 
 T. Cadell, J. Nichols, R. Baldwin, N. Conant, P. Efmfiy, F. and C, 
 Rivington, T. Payne, W. Goldfmith, R. Faulder, Leigh and Sotheby,
 
 
 ( 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 %
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 PR 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FOURTH VOLUME. 
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. Page 
 
 1 Difficulty of the firft addrefs. Practice of the epick poets. 
 
 Convenience of periodical performances - i 
 
 2 The neceffity and danger of looking into futurity. Wri- 
 
 ters naturally fanguine. Their hopes liable to difap- 
 pointment - - 7 
 
 3 An allegory on criticifm - 14 
 
 4 The modern form of romances preferable to the ancient. 
 
 The neceffity of characters morally good 20 
 
 5 A meditation on the Spring - 27 
 
 6 Happinefs not local - - 33 
 
 7 Retirement natural to a great mind. Its religious ufe 40 
 
 8 The thoughts to be brought under regulation ; as they 
 
 refpecl the paft, prefent, and future - 46 
 
 9 The fondnefs of every man for his profeffidn. The gra- 
 
 dual improvement of manufactures 53 
 
 10 Four billets with their anfwers. Remarks on mafque- 
 
 rades *?" - 58 
 
 1 1 The folly of anger. The mifery of a peevifh old age 66 
 
 12 The hiftory of a young woman that came to London for 
 
 a fervice - - -73 
 
 13 The duty of fecrecy. The invalidity of all excufes for 
 
 betraying fecrets - .81 
 
 14 The 
 crcrM .1^ 
 
 Ou ( L tf\ i
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 NUMB. page 
 
 14 The difference between an author's writings and his 
 
 converfation - gg 
 
 15 The folly of cards. A Letter from a kdy that has loft 
 
 her money - - - 95 
 
 16 The dangers and miferies of literary eminence . 103 
 
 17 The frequent contemplation of death neceffary to mo- 
 
 derate the paffions - HQ 
 
 18- The unhappinefs of marriage caufed by irregular mo- 
 tives of choice - 116 
 
 19 The danger of ranging from one ftudy to another. The 
 
 importanceof the early choice of a profeffion - 123 
 
 20 The folly and inconvenience of affectation - 131 
 
 21 The anxieties of literature not lefs than thofe of publick 
 
 ilations. The inequality of authors writings - 137 
 
 22 An allegory on wit and learning . 14.4. 
 
 23 The contrariety of criticifm. The vanity of objedYion. 
 
 An author obliged to depend upon his own judgment ld 
 
 24 The neceflity of attending to the duties of common life. 
 
 The. natural character not to be forfaken - 156 
 
 25 Rafhnefs preferable to cowardice. Enterprize not to 
 
 be repreffed 162 
 
 26 Themifchiefof extravagance, and mifery of dependance 168 
 
 27 An author's treatment from fix patrons - 17 j 
 
 28 The various arts of felf-delufion iSt 
 
 29 The folly of anticipating misfortunes 188 
 
 30 The obfervance of Sunday recommended ; an allegory 194 
 
 31 The defence of a known^miftake highly culpable - 199 
 
 32 The vanity of ftoicifm. TheneCeflityofpatier.ee 207 
 
 33 An allegorical hiftcry of reft and labour * 213 
 
 34 The uneafmefs and difguft of female cowardice - 219 
 
 35 A marriage of prudence without affeclion - zzS 
 
 36 The reafons why paftorals delight - 232 
 
 37 The true principles of paftoral poetry - 238 
 
 38 The advantages of mediocrity. An Eaftern fable 245 
 
 39 The unhappinefs of women whether (ingle or married 251 
 
 40 The difficulty of giving advice without offending 257 
 
 4 1 The advantages of memory - - 263 
 
 42 The mifery of a modim lady in folitude - 270 
 
 43 The inconveniencies of precipitation and confidence 276 
 
 44 Religion
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 
 NUMB. 
 
 44 Religion and fuperfiition, a vifion _ 2 8z 
 
 45 The caufes of difagreement in marriage - 289 
 
 46 The mifcliiefs of rural faction - 295 
 
 47 The proper means of regulating forrow - - 301 
 
 48 The miferies of an infirm conftitutkm - - 307 
 
 49 A difquifition upon the value of fame _ 313 
 
 50 A virtuous old age always reverenced . 319 
 
 51 The employments of a houfewifein the country - 325 
 
 52 The contemplation of the calamities of others, a remedy 
 
 for grief - 332 
 
 53 The folly and mifery of a fpend thrift - 338 
 
 54 A death-bed the true fchool of wifdom. The effects of 
 
 death upon the furvivors - 344 
 
 55 The gay widow's impatience of the growth of her daugh- 
 
 ter. The hiftory of mifs May-pole - 351 
 
 56 The neceffity of cpmplaifance. The Rambler's grief 
 
 for offending his cqrrefpondents - 357 
 
 57 Sententious rules of frugality 364 
 
 58 The defire of wealth moderated by philofophjr 370 
 
 59 An account of Sufpirius the human fcreech-owl 376 
 
 60 The dignity and ufefulnefs of biography - 381 
 
 61 A Londoner's vifit to the country - - 387 
 
 62 A young lady's impatience to fee London - 394 
 
 63 Inconftancy not always a weaknefs - 400 
 
 64 The requifites to true friendfhip - - 406 
 
 65 Obidah and the hermit, an Eaftern ftory - 412 
 
 66 Paffion not to be eradicated. The views of women ill 
 
 directed - 418 
 
 67 The garden of hope, a dream - - 423 
 
 68 Every man chiefly happy or miferable at home. The 
 
 opinion of fervants not to be delpifed - 429 
 
 69 The miljp ries and prejudice of old age - 435 
 
 70 Different men virtuous in different degrees. The vi- 
 
 cious not always abandoned - - 441 
 
 THE
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 267. line 17. for fugles, read fugiens, 
 269. q.for canis, read curis. 
 349. 28. for linguis, read linquis. ' 
 435. 5. for vitiaquse, read vitiata quae.
 
 THE 
 
 RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. i. TUESDAY, March 20, 1750. 
 
 Cur tamen hoc lileat potzus decurrere campo, 
 
 Per quern magnus equos Aurunca fltxit alumnus, 
 
 Si --vac at, et placidi r&tionem admit tit is t edam. JuV 
 
 Why to expatiate in this beaten field, 
 
 Why arms, oft us'd in vain, I mean to wield; 
 
 If time permit, and candour will attend, 
 
 Some fatisfadtion this effay may lend. ELPHINSTON. 
 
 THE difficulty of the firft addrefs on any new 
 occafion, is felt by every man in his tranf- 
 aftions with the world, and confefled by the 
 fettled and regular forms of falutation which necef- 
 fity has introduced into all languages. Judgment 
 was wearied with the perplexity of being forced upon 
 choice, where there was no motive to preference; 
 and it was found convenient that fome eafy method 
 of introduction fhould be eftablifhed, which, if it 
 wanted the allurement of novelty, might enjoy the 
 fecurity of prefcription. 
 
 VOL. IV. B Perhaps
 
 a THE RAMBLER. N r, 
 
 Perhaps few authors have prefented themfelves 
 before the publick, without wiihing that fuch cere- 
 monial modes of entrance had been anciently efta- 
 bliftied, as might have freed them from thofe dangers 
 which the defire of pleafmg is certain to produce, 
 and precluded the vain expedients of foftening cen- 
 fure by apologies, or roufing attention by abrupt- 
 nefs. 
 
 The epick writers have found the proemial part of 
 the poem fuch an addition to their undertaking, 
 that they have almoft unanimoufly adopted the firil 
 lines of Homer, and the reader needs only be in- 
 formed of the fubject, to know in what manner the 
 poem will begin. 
 
 But this folemn repetition is hitherto the peculiar 
 diftinction ofheroick poetry; it has never been legal- 
 ly extended to the lower orders of literature, but feems 
 to be confidered as an hereditary privilege, to be 
 enjoyed only by thofe who claim it from their alli- 
 ance to the genius of Homer. 
 
 The rules which the injudicious ufe of this prero- 
 gative fuggefted to Horace, may indeed be applied 
 to the direction of candidates for inferior fame; it 
 may be proper for all to remember, that they ought 
 not to raife expectation which it is not in their 
 power to fatisfy, and that it is more pleafmg to fee 
 fmoke brightenjpg into flame, than flame finking 
 into fmoke. 
 
 This precept has been long received, both from 
 regard to the authority of Horace, and its confor- 
 mity to the general opinion of the world j yet there 
 .have been always fome, that thought it no devia- 
 tion from mbciefty to recommend their own labours, 
 2 and
 
 N i. THE RAMBLER. 3 
 
 and imagined themfelves intitled by indifputable 
 merit to an exemption from general reftraints, and 
 to elevations not allowed in common life. They, 
 perhaps, believed, that when, like Thucydides, 
 they bequeathed to mankind dv^a, |? dsl, an eftate 
 for ever y it was an additional favour to inform them 
 of its value. 
 
 It may, indeed, be no lefs dangerous to claim, on 
 certain occafions, too little than too much. There 
 is fomething captivating in fpirit and intrepidity, to 
 which we often yield, as to a refiftlefs power; nor 
 can he reafonably expect the confidence of others, 
 who too apparently diftrufts himfelf. 
 
 Plutarch, in his enumeration of the various oc- 
 cafions, on which a man may without juft offence 
 proclaim his own excellencies, has omitted the cafe 
 of an author entering the world ; unlefs it may be 
 comprehended under this general pofition, that a man 
 may lawfully praife himfelf for thofe qualities which 
 cannot be known but from his own mouth; as when 
 he is among ftrangers, and can have no opportunity 
 of an actual exertion of his powers. That the cafe 
 of an author is parallel will fcarcely be granted, be- 
 caufe he neceffarily difcovers the degree of his merit 
 to his judges, when he appears at his trial. But it 
 fhould be remembered, that unlefs his judges are in- 
 clined to favour him, they will hardly be perfuaded 
 to hear the caufe. 
 
 In love, the ftate which fills the heart with a de- 
 gree of folicitude next that of an author, it has been 
 held a maxim, that fuccefs is moft eafily obtained 
 by indirect and unperceived approaches ; he who 
 coo foon profefles himfelf a lover, raifes obftacles to 
 
 B 2 his
 
 4 THE RAMBLER. N i. 
 
 his own wiihes, and thofe whom difappointmenta 
 have taught experience, endeavour to conceal their 
 paffion till they believe their miftrefs wifhes for the 
 diicovery. The fame method, if it were practi- 
 cable to writers, would fave many complaints of the 
 ieverity of the age, and the caprices of criticifm. 
 If a man could glide imperceptibly into the favour 
 of the publick, and only proclaim his pretenfions 
 to literary honours when he is fure of not being 
 rejected, he might commence author with better 
 hopes, as his failings might efcape contempt, though 
 he fnall never attain much regard. 
 
 But fmce the world fuppofes every man that 
 writes, ambitious of applaufe, as fome ladies have 
 taught themlelves to believe that every man intends 
 love, who exprefles civility, the mifcarriage of any 
 endeavour in learning raifes an unbounded contempt, 
 indulged by mod minds without fcruple, as an ho- 
 neft triumph over unjufl claims, and exorbitant 
 expectations. The artifices of thofe who put them- 
 felves into this hazardous ftate, have therefore been 
 multiplied in proportion to their fear as well as their 
 ambition ; and are to be looked upon with more in- 
 dulgence, as they are incited at once by the two 
 .great movers of the human mind, the defire of good, 
 and the fear of evil. For who can wonder that, 
 allured on one fide, and frightened on the other, 
 fome fhould endeavour to gain favour by bribing 
 the judge with an appearance of refpect which they 
 do not feel, to excite compaffion by confeffing 
 -weaknefs of which they are not convinced, and 
 'others to attract regard by a Ihew of opennefs and 
 magnanimity^ by a daring profeflion of their own 
 2 deferts,
 
 N -I." THE RAMBLER/ 5 
 
 deferts, and a publick challenge of honours and 
 rewards ? 
 
 The oflentatious and haughty difplay of them- 
 iclves has been the ufual refuge of diurnal writers, 
 in vindication of whofe practice it may be faid, 
 that what it wants in prudence , is fupplied by 
 fincerity, and who at leaft may plead, that if 
 their boafts deceive any inp the perufal of their 
 performances, they defraud them of but little time. 
 
 - - QteiJ emm ? Concurritur 
 Memento cita mors 'vetiif, aitt Victoria 
 
 The battle join, and, in a moment's flight, 
 
 Death, or a joyful conqueft, ends the fight. FRANCIS, 
 
 The queftion concerning the merit of the day is 
 foon decided, and we are not condemned to toil 
 through half a folio, to be convinced that the writer 
 has broke his promife. 
 
 It is one among many reafons for which I pur- 
 pofe to endeavour the entertainment of my country- 
 men by a Ihort eflay on Tuefday and Saturday, 
 that I hope not much to tire thofe whom I fhall 
 not happen to pleafe ; and if I am not commended 
 for the beauty of my works, to be at leaft pardoned 
 for their brevity. But whether my expectations are 
 moft fixed on pardon or praife, I think it not ne- 
 cefTary to difcover; for having accurately weighed 
 the reafons for arrogance and fubmiflion, I find them 
 fo nearly equiponderant, that my impatience to 
 try the event of my firft performance will not fuffer 
 me to attend any longer the trepidations of the 
 balance. 
 
 B 3 There
 
 6 THE RAMBLER. N r. 
 
 There are, indeed, many conveniencies almoft 
 peculiar to this method of publication, which may 
 naturally flatter the author, whether he be confident 
 or timorous. The man to whom the extent of 
 his knowledge, or the fprighdinefs of his ima- 
 gination, has, in his own opinion, already fecured 
 the praifes of the world, willingly takes that way 
 of difplaying his labilities which will fooneft give 
 him an opportunity of hearing the voice of fame ; 
 it heightens his alacrity to think in how many places 
 he (hall hear what he is now writing, read with 
 extafies to-morrow. He will often pleafe himfelf 
 with reflecting, that the author of a large treatife rnuft 
 proceed with anxiety, left, before the completion of 
 his work, the attention of the publick may have 
 changed its object; but that he who is confined 
 to no fingle topick, may follow the national tafte 
 through all its variations, and catch the Aura popu- 
 laris, the gale of favour, from what point foever it 
 fhall blow. 
 
 Nor is the profpecl lefs likely to eafe the doubts 
 of the cautious, and the terrours of the fearful, 
 for to fuch the fhortnefs of every fingle paper is a 
 powerful encouragement. He that queftions his 
 abilities to arrange the diffimilar parts of an exten- 
 five plan, or fears to be loft in a complicated fyf- 
 tem, may yet hope to adjuft a few pages without 
 perplexity; and if, when he turns over the repofi- 
 tories of his memory, he finds his collection too 
 fmall for a volume, he may yet have enough to 
 furnifh out an effay. He that would fear to lay 
 out too much time upon an experiment of which 
 he knows not the event, perfuades himfelf that 
 
 a few 

 
 N 2. THE RAMBLER. 7- 
 
 a few days will fhew him what he is to expect 
 from his learning and his genius. If he thinks 
 his own judgment not fufficiently enlightened, he 
 may, by attending the remarks which every paper 
 will produce, rectify his opinions. If he fhould 
 with too little premeditation encumber himfelf 
 by an unwieldy fubjecl, he can quit it without 
 confedlng his ignorance, and pafs to other topicks 
 lefs dangerous, or more tractable. And if he 
 finds, with all his induftry, and all his artifices, 
 that he cannot deferve regard, or cannot attain 
 it, he may let the defign fall at once, and, 
 without injury to others or himfelf, retire to amufe- 
 ments of greater pleafure, or to ftudies of better 
 profpect. 
 
 NUMB. 2. SATURDAY, March 24, 1750. 
 
 tare loco nefcit, pereunt veftigia mille 
 
 Antefugam, abfentemque ferit gravis ungula campum. 
 
 STATIUS, 
 
 TV impatient courfer pants in every vein, 
 
 And pawing feems to beat the diftant plain ; 
 
 Hills, vales, and floods appear already croft, 
 
 And ere he flam, a thoufand fteps are loft. POPE. 
 
 THAT the mind of^ man is never fatisfied with 
 the objects immediately before it, but is al- 
 ways breaking away from the prefent moment, and 
 lofing itfelf in fchemes of future felicity j and that 
 64 we
 
 8 THE RAMBLER. N a; 
 
 we forget the proper ufe of the time now in our 
 power, to provide for the enjoyment of that which, 
 perhaps, may never be granted us, has been fre- 
 quently remarked -, and as this pra&ice is a com- 
 modious fubjecl of raillery to the gay, and of 
 declamation to the ferious, it has been ridiculed, 
 with all the pleafantry of wit, and exaggerated with 
 all the amplifications of rhetorick. Every inftance, 
 by which its abfurdity might appear mofh fla- 
 grant, has been ftudioufly collected j it has been 
 marked with every epithet of contempt, and all 
 the tropes and figures have been calied forth 
 againft it. 
 
 Cenfure is willingly indulged, becaufe it always 
 implies fome fuperiority , men pleafe themfelvcs 
 with imagining that they have made a deeper 
 fearch, or wider furvey, than others, and detected 
 faults and follies, which efcape vulgar obfervation. 
 And the pleafure of wantoning in common topicks 
 is ib tempting to a writer, that he cannot eafyy 
 refign it; a train of fentiments generally received 
 enables him to fhine without labour, and to con- 
 quer without a contefl. It is fo eafy to laugh at the 
 folly of him who lives only in idea, refufes imme- 
 diate eafe for diftant pleafures, and, inftead of enjoy- 
 ing the bleflings of life, lets life glide away in pre- 
 parations to enjoy them ; it affords fuch opportuni- 
 ties of triumphant exultation, to exemplify the un- 
 certainty of the human flate, to roufe mortals from 
 their dream, and inform them of the filent celerity 
 of time, that we may believe authors willing rather 
 to tranfmit than examine fo advantageous a prin- 
 ciple, and more inclined to purfue a track fq fmooth 
 
 and
 
 NO 2. THE RAMBLER. 9 
 
 and fo flowery, than attentively to confider whether ic 
 leads to truth. 
 
 This quality of looking forward into futurity 
 feems the unavoidable condition of a being, whole 
 motions are gradual, and whofe life is progreffive: 
 as his powers are limited, he muft ufe means for the 
 attainment of his ends, and intend firft what he per- 
 forms laftj as by continual advances from his firft 
 ftage of exiftence, he is perpetually varying the 
 horizon of his profpects, he muft always difcover 
 new motives of action, new excitements of fear, 
 and allurements of defire. 
 
 The end therefore which at prefent calls forth our 
 efforts, will be found, when it is once gained, to be 
 only one of the means to fome remoter end. The 
 natural flights of the human mind are not from 
 pleafure to pleafure, but from hope to hope. 
 
 He that directs his fteps to a certain point, muft 
 frequently turn his eyes to that place which he 
 drives to reach ; he that undergoes the fatigue of 
 labour, muft folace his wearinefs with the contem- 
 plation of its reward. In agriculture, one of the 
 moft fimple and neceflary employments, no man 
 turns up the ground but becaufe he thinks of the 
 harveft, that harveft which blights may intercept, 
 which inundations may fweep away, or which death 
 or calamity may hinder him from reaping. 
 
 Yet as few maxims are widely received or long 
 retained but for fome conformity with truth and 
 nature, it muft be confefled, that this caution againft 
 keeping our view too intent upon remote advan- 
 tages is not without its propriety or ufefulnefs, 
 though it may have been recited with too much 
 
 levity,
 
 io THE RAMBLER. N 2 . 
 
 levity, or enforced with too little diftinction : for, 
 not to fpeak of that vehemence of defire which 
 prefles through right and wrong to its gratification, 
 or that anxious inquietude which is juftly chargeable 
 with diftruft of heaven, fubjects too folemn for 
 my prefent purpofe ; it frequently happens that, 
 by indulging early the raptures of fuccefs, we for- 
 get the meafures necefTary to fecure it, and fuffer 
 the imagination to riot in the fruition of fome pof- 
 fible good, till the time of obtaining it has flipped 
 away. 
 
 There would however be few enterprizes of great 
 labour or hazard undertaken, if we had not the 
 power of magnifying the advantages which we per- 
 fuade ourfelves to expect from them. When the 
 knight of La Mancha gravely recounts to his com- 
 panion the adventures by which he is to fignalize 
 himfelf in fuch a manner that he fhall be fummoned 
 to the fupport of empires, folicited to accept the 
 heirefs of the crown which he has preferved, have 
 honours and riches to fcatter about him, and an 
 ifland to beftow on his worthy fquire, very few 
 readers, amidft their mirth or pity can deny 
 that they have admitted vifions of the fame kindj 
 though they have not, perhaps, expected events 
 equally ftrange, or by means equally inadequate. 
 When we pity him, we reflect on our own difap- 
 pointments; and when we laugh, our hearts inform 
 us that he is not more ridiculous than ourfelves, ex- 
 cept that he tells what we have only thought. 
 
 The underftanding of a man, naturally fanguine, 
 may, indeed, be eafily vitiated by the luxurious 
 indulgence of hope, however neceflary to the pro- 
 duction
 
 Na. THE RAMBLER. n 
 
 du&ion of every thing great or excellent, as fome 
 plants are deftroyed by too open expofure to that fun 
 which gives life and beauty to the vegetable world. 
 
 Perhaps no clafs of the human fpecies requires 
 more to be cautioned againft this anticipation of 
 happinefs, than thofe that afpire to the name of 
 authors. A man of lively fancy no fooner finds a 
 hint moving in his mind, than he makes momenta- 
 neous excurfions to the prefs, and to the world, and, 
 with a little encouragement from flattery, pufhes 
 forward into future ages, and prognofticates the ho- 
 nours to be paid him, when envy is extinct, and fac- 
 tion forgotten, and thofe, whom partiality now fuf- 
 fers to obfcure him, fhall have given way to the tri- 
 flers of as fhort duration as themfelves. 
 
 Thofe, who have proceeded fo far as to appeal to 
 the tribunal of fucceeding times, are not likely to be 
 cured of their infatuation 3 but all endeavours 
 ought to be ufed for the prevention of a difeafe, for 
 which, when it has attained its height, perhaps no 
 remedy will be found in the gardens of philofophy, 
 however (he may boaft her phyfick of the mind, her 
 catharticks of vice, or lenitives of paffion. 
 
 I fhall, therefore, while I am yet but lightly 
 touched with the fymptoms of the writer's malady, 
 endeavour to fortify myfelf againft the infection, not 
 without fome weak hope, that my prefervatives may 
 extend their virtue to others, whofe employment ex- 
 pofes them to the fame danger : 
 
 Laudls amore tumes ? Sunt cert a piacula, qu< te 
 Ter pure leRo poterunt recreare libello. 
 
 Is fame your paffion ? Wlfdom's powerful charm, 
 Jf thrice read over, fhall its force difarm. FRANCIS. 
 
 It
 
 T2 THE RAMBLER. N 2. 
 
 It is the fage advice of Epictetus, that a man 
 fhould accuftom himfelf often to think of what is 
 moft fhocking and terrible, that by fuch reflections 
 he may be preferved from too ardent wiihes for feem- 
 ing good, and from too much dejection in real evil. 
 
 There is nothing more dreadful to an author than 
 neglect, compared with which reproach, hatred, 
 and oppofition, are names of happinefs ; yet this 
 worft, this meaneft fate, every one who dares to write 
 has reafon to fear. 
 
 1 nunc, et 'verfus tecum meditare canons. 
 
 Go now, and meditate thy tuneful lays. EL p H i N s TON', 
 
 It may not be unfit for him who makes a new 
 entrance into the lettered world, fo far to fufpect 
 his own powers, as to believe that he poffibly may 
 deferve neglect; that nature may not have qualified 
 him much to enlarge or embellifh, knowledge, nor 
 fent him forth intitled by indifputable fuperiority to 
 regulate the conduct of the reft of mankind ; that, 
 though the world muft be granted to be yet in igno- 
 rance, he is not deftined to difpel the cloud, nor to 
 fhine out as one of the luminaries of life. For this 
 ilifpicion, every catalogue of a library will furnifh 
 fufficient reafon; as he will find it crowded with 
 names of men, who, though now forgotten, were 
 once no lefs enterprifing or confident than himfelf, 
 equally pleafed with their own productions, equally 
 carefled by their patrons, and flattered by their 
 friends. 
 
 But though it fhould happen that an author is 
 capable of excelling, yet his merit may pafs without 
 notice, huddled in the variety of things, and thrown 
 
 into
 
 N2. THE RAMBLER. 13 
 
 into the general mifcellany of life. He that endea- 
 vours after fame by writing, folicits the regard of a 
 multitude flu&uating in meafures, or immerfed in 
 bufmefs, without time for intellectual amufements; 
 he appeals to judges prepofieffed by paffions, or cor- 
 rupted by prejudices, which preclude their approba- 
 tion of any new performance. Some are too in- 
 dolent to read any thing, .till its reputation is efta- 
 blifhed; others too envious to promote that fame 
 which gives them pain by its increafe. What is new 
 is oppofed, becaufe moft are unwilling to be taught ; 
 and what is known is rejected, becaufe it is not fuf- 
 ficiently confidered, that men more frequently re- 
 quire to be reminded than informed. The learned 
 are afraid to declare their opinion early, left they 
 fhould put their reputation in hazard; the ignorant 
 always imagine themfelves giving fome proof of 
 delicacy, when they refufe to be pleafed : and he 
 that finds his way to reputation through all thefe ob- 
 ftructions, muft acknowledge that he is indebted to 
 other caufes befides his induftry, his learning, or his 
 wit.
 
 THE RAMBLER. N j. 
 
 NUMB. 3. TUESDAY, March 27, 1750. 
 
 VIRTUS, repulfce nefciafordid<e t 
 Intaminatis fulgent honoribus, 
 
 Nee f unit aut ponit fecures 
 
 Arbitrlo popuLaris aura. Ho K . 
 
 Undifappointed in dcfigns, 
 
 With native honours virtue fhines ; 
 
 Nor takes up pow'r, nor lays it down, 
 
 As giddy rabbles fmile or frown. ELPHIXSTON. 
 
 THE talk of an author is, either to teach what 
 is not known, or to recommend known truths 
 by his manner of adorning them ; either to let new 
 light in upon the mind, and open new fcenes to 
 the profpect, or to vary the drefs and fituation of 
 common objects, Ib as to give them frefh grace and 
 more powerful attractions, to fpread fuch flowers 
 over the regions through which the intellect has 
 already made its progrefs, as may tempt it to return, 
 and take a fecond view of things haftily pafled over 
 or negligently regarded. 
 
 Either of thefe labours is very difficult, becaufe 
 that they may not be fruitlefs, men muft not only 
 be perfuaded of their errors, but reconciled to their 
 guide; they muft not only confefs their ignorance, 
 but, what is ftill lefs pleafing, muft allow that he 
 from whom they are to learn is more knowing than 
 themfelves. 
 
 It might be imagined that fuch an employment 
 was in itfelf fufficiendy irkfome and hazardous ; 
 
 that
 
 N3- THE RAMBLER. 15 
 
 that none would be found fo malevolent as wan- 
 tonly to add weight to the (lone of Sifyphus; and 
 that few endeavours would be ufed to obftruct thole 
 advances to reputation, which mud be made at 
 fuch an expence of time and thought, with fo great 
 hazard in the mifcarriage, and with fo little advan- 
 tage from the fuccefs. 
 
 Yet there is a certain race of men, that either 
 imagine it their duty, or make it their amufement, 
 to hinder the reception of every work of learning 
 or genius, who ftand as centinels in the avenues of 
 fame, and value themfelves upon giving IGNORANCE 
 and ENVY the firft notice of a prey. 
 
 To thefe men, who diftinguifh themfelves by the 
 appellation of CRITICKS, it is neceffary for a new 
 author to find fome means of recommendation. It 
 is probable, that the mofh malignant of thele per- 
 fecutors might be fomewhat ibftened, and pre- 
 vailed on, for a fhort time, to remit their fury. 
 Having for this purpofe confidered many expe- 
 dients, I find in the records of ancient times, that 
 ARGUS was lulled by mufick, and CERBERUS 
 quieted with a fop; and am, therefore, inclined to 
 believe that modern criticks, who, if they have 
 not the eyes, have the watchfulnefs of ARGUS, and 
 can bark as loud as CERBERUS, though, perhaps, 
 they cannot bite with equal force, might be fub- 
 dued by methods of the fame kind. I have heard 
 how fome have been pacified with claret and a fup- 
 per, and others laid afleep with the foft notes of 
 flattery. 
 
 Though the nature of my undertaking gives me 
 fufficient reafon to dread the united attacks of thi's 
 
 virulent
 
 i6 THE RAMBLER. N 3. 
 
 virulent generation, yet I have not hitherto per- 
 fuaded myfelf to take any meafures for flight 01* 
 treaty. For I am in doubt whether they can act 
 againil me by lawful authority, and fufpect that 
 they have prefumed upon a forged commiffiottj 
 ftiled thernfelves the minifters of CRITICISM, with- 
 out any authentick evidence of delegation, and ut- 
 tered their own determinations as the decrees of a 
 higher judicature. 
 
 CRITICISM, from whom they derive their claim 
 to decide the fate of writers, was the eldeft daughter 
 of LABOUR and of TRUTH : fhe was, at her 
 birth, committed to the care of JUSTICE, and 
 brought up by her in the palace of WISDOM. Be- 
 ing foon diftinguifhed by the celeftials, for her un- 
 common qualities, fhe was appointed the governefs of 
 FANCY, and impowered to beat time to the chorus 
 of the MUSES, when they fung before the throne of 
 JUPITER. 
 
 . When the MUSES condefcended to vifit this 
 lower world, they came accompanied by CRITI- 
 .CISM, to whom, upon her defcent from her native 
 regions, JUSTICE gave a fceptre, to be carried 
 -aloft in her right hand, one end of which was tinc- 
 tured with ambrofia, and inwreathed with a golden 
 foliage of amaranths and bays* the other end was 
 incirclcd with cyprefs and poppies, and dipped in 
 the waters of oblivion. In her left hand, fhe bore 
 an unextinguifhable torch, manufactured by LA? 
 BOUR, and lighted by TRUTH, of which it was 
 the particular quality immediately to (hew every 
 thing in its true form, however it might be difguifed 
 to common eyes. Whatever ART could com- 
 plicate,
 
 N 3- THE RAMBLER. 17 
 
 plicate, or FOLLY could confound, was, upon the 
 firft gleam of the Torch of TRUTH, exhibited in 
 its diftin<t parts and original fimplicity ; it darted 
 through the labyrinths of fophiftry, and fhewed at 
 once all the absurdities to which they ferved for 
 refuge ; it pierced through the robes, which rheto- 
 rick often fold to falfehood, and detected the difpro- 
 portion of parts which artificial veils had been con- 
 trived to cover. 
 
 Thus furnifhed for the execution of her office, 
 CRITICISM came down to furvey the performances 
 of thofe who profeffed themfelves the votaries of the 
 MUSES. Whatever was brought before her, fhe 
 beheld by the fleady light of the torch of TRUTH, 
 and when her examination had convinced her, that 
 the laws of juft writing had been obferved, fhe 
 touched it with the amaranthine end of the fceptre, 
 and configned it over to immortality. 
 
 But it more frequently happened, that in the 
 works which required her infpection, there was 
 fome impofture attempted j that falfe colours were 
 laborioufly laid; that fome fecret inequality was 
 found between the words and fentiments, or fome 
 diffimilitude of the ideas and the original objects ; 
 that incongruities were linked together, or that fome 
 parts were of no ufe but to enlarge the appearance of 
 the whole, without contributing to its beauty, foli- 
 dity, or ufefulnefs. 
 
 Wherever fuch difcoveries were made, and they 
 were made whenever thefe faults were committed, 
 CRITICISM refufed the touch which conferred the 
 fanction of immortality, and, when the errors were 
 frequent and grofs, reverfed the fceptre, and let 
 
 VOL, IV. C drops
 
 i8 THE RAMBLER. N 3. 
 
 drops of lethe diftil from the poppies and cyprefs, a 
 fatal mildew, which immediately began to wafte the 
 work away, till it was at lafb totally deftroyed. 
 
 There were fome compofitions brought to the 
 teft, in which, when the ftrongeft light was thrown 
 upon them, their beauties and faults appeared fo 
 equally mingled, that CRITICISM flood with her 
 fceptre pdifed in her hand, in doubt whether to 
 fhed lethe, or ambrofia, upon them. Thefe at laft 
 increafed to fo great a- number, that fhe was weary 
 of attending fuch doubtful claims, and, for fear of 
 ufing improperly the fceptre of JUSTICE, referred the 
 caufe to be confidered by TIME. 
 
 The proceedings .of TIME, though very dilatory, 
 were, fome few caprices excepted, conformable to 
 juftice : and many who thought themfclves fecure 
 by a fhort forbearance, have funk under his fcythe, 
 as they were porting down with their volumes in 
 triumph to futurity. It was obfervable that fome 
 were deftroyed by little and little, and others crufhed 
 for ever by a fingle blow. 
 
 CRITICISM having long kept her eye fixed ftea- 
 dily upon TIME, was at laft fo well fatisfied with 
 his conduft, that fhe withdrew from the earth 
 with her patronefs ASTREA, and left PREJUDICE 
 and FALSE TASTE to ravage at large as the afib- 
 ciates of FRAUD and MISCHIEF; contenting herfelf 
 thenceforth to fhed her influence from far upon fome 
 felect minds, fitted for its reception by learning and 
 by virtue. 
 
 Before her departure fhe broke her fceptre, of 
 which the fhivers, that formed the ambrofial end, 
 were caught up by FLATTERY, and thofe that had 
 
 been
 
 N3- THE RAMBLER. 19 
 
 been infefted with the waters of lethe were, with 
 equal hade, feized by MALEVOLENCE. The fol- 
 lowers of FLATTERY, to whom fhe diftributed her 
 part of the fceptre/ neither had nor deiired light, but 
 touched indifcritninately whatever POWER or IN- 
 TEREST happened to exhibit, The companions of 
 MALEVOLENCE were fupplied by the FURIES with 
 a torch, which had this quality peculiar to infernal 
 luftre, that its light fell only .upon faults. 
 
 No light, but rather darknefs viftble, 
 Serv'd only to difcover fights of woe. 
 
 With thefe fragments of authority, the flaves of 
 FLATTERY and MALEVOLENCE marched out, at 
 the command of their miftreffes, to confer immor- 
 tality, or condemn to oblivion. But the fceptre had 
 now loft its power j and TIME paries his fentence 
 at leifure, without any regard to their determina- 
 tions. 
 
 C a
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 4. SATURDAY, March 31, 1750. 
 
 Sim til etjucunda et idinea dicere Vif<e* HOR. 
 
 And join both profit and delight in one. CREECH. 
 
 TH E works of fiflion, with which the pre- 
 fent generation feems more particularly de- 
 lighted, are fuch as exhibit life in its true Hate, 
 diverfified only by accidents that daily happen in 
 the world, and influenced by pafiions and qualities 
 which are really to be found in converting- with 
 mankind. 
 
 This kind of writing may be termed not im- 
 properly the comedy of romance, and is to be con- 
 dueled nearly by the rules of comick poetry. Its 
 province is to bring about natural events by eafv 
 means, and to keep up curiofity without the help 
 of wonder : it is therefore precluded from the 
 machines and expedients of the heroick romance, 
 and can neither employ giants to fnatch away a 
 lady from the nuptial rites, nor knights to bring 
 her back from captivity ; it can neither bewilder its 
 perfonages in deferts, nor lodge them in imaginary 
 caftles. 
 
 I remember a remark made by Scaliger upon 
 Pontanus, that all his writings are filled with the 
 fame images ; and that if you take from him his 
 lilies and his roles, his fatyrs and his dryads, he will 
 have nothing left that can be called poetry. In 
 like manner, almoft all ^he- fictions of the laft age 
 2 will
 
 N4- THE RAMBLER. 21 
 
 will vanifh, if you deprive them of a hermit and a 
 wood, a battle and a Ihipwreck. 
 . Why this wild ftrain of imagination found recep- 
 tion fo long in polite and learned ages, it is not 
 eafy to conceive; but we cannot wonder that while 
 readers could be procured, the authors were willing 
 to continue it j for when a man had by practice 
 gained fome fluency of language, he had no further 
 care than to retire to his clofet, let loofe his inven- 
 tion, and heat his mind with incredibilities ; a book 
 was thus produced without fear of criticifm, without 
 the toil of ftudy, without knowledge of nature, or 
 acquaintance with life. 
 
 The tafk of our prefent writers is very different ; 
 it requires, together with that learning which is to 
 be gained from books, that experience which can 
 never be attained by folitary diligence, but muft 
 arife from general converfe and accurate obferva- 
 tion of the living world. Their performances 
 have, as Horace oxprefTes it, plus cnerts quantum 
 venire minus, little indulgence, and therefore more 
 difficulty. They are engaged in portraits of which 
 every one knows the original, and can detect any 
 deviation from exactnefs of refemblance. Other 
 writings are fafe, except from the malice of learn- 
 ing, but thefe are in danger from every common 
 reader - 3 as the flipper ill executed was cenfured by a 
 fhoemaker who happened to flop in his way at the 
 Venus of Apelles. 
 
 But the fear of not being approved as juft copiers 
 
 of human manners, is not the mod important 
 
 concern that an author of this fort ought to have 
 
 before him. Thefe books are written chiefly to 
 
 C 3 the
 
 24 THE RAMBLER. N' 4 . 
 
 the young, the ignorant, and the idle, to whom 
 they ferve as lectures of conduct, and introductions 
 into life. They are the entertainment of minds un- 
 furnifhed with ideas, and therefore eafily fufceptible 
 of impreflions j not fixed by principles, and there- 
 fore eafily following the current of fancy ; not in- 
 formed by experience, and confequently open to 
 every falfe fuggeftion and partial account. 
 
 That the higheft degree of reverence fhould be 
 paid to youth, and that nothing indecent (hould be 
 fuffered to approach their eyes or ears ; are precepts 
 extorted by fenfe and virtue from an ancient 
 writer, by no means eminent for chaftity of 
 thought. The fame kind, though not the fame de- 
 gree of caution, is required in every thing which is 
 laid before them, to fecure them from unjuft pre- 
 judices, perverfe opinions, and incongruous combi- 
 nations of images. 
 
 In the romances formerly written, every tranl- 
 action and fentiment was fo re'note from all that 
 paries among men, that the reader was in very 
 little danger of making any applications to himfelf \ 
 the virtues and crimes were equally beyond his 
 fphere of activity ; and he amufed himfelf with 
 heroes and with traitors, deliverers and perfecutors, 
 as with beings of another fpecies, whofe actions 
 were regulated upon motives of their own, and who 
 had neither faults nor excellencies in common with 
 himfelf. 
 
 But when an adventurer is levelled with the reft 
 of the world, and acts in fuch fcenes of the uni- 
 verfal drama, as may be the lot of any other man j 
 young fpectators fix their eyes upon him with 
 
 clofer
 
 N4- THE RAMBLER. i 3 
 
 dofer attention, and hope, by obferving his be- 
 haviour and iuccefs, to regulate their own practices, 
 when they fhall be engaged in the like part. 
 
 For this reafon thefe familiar hiftories may per- 
 haps be made of greater ufe than the folemnities 
 of profefTed morality, and convey the knowledge of 
 vice and virtue with more efficacy than axioms and 
 definitions. But if the power of example is fo great 
 as to take pofTeflion of the memory by a kind of 
 violence, and produce effects almoft without the in- 
 tervention of the will, care ought to be taken, that, 
 when the choice is unreftrained, the beft examples 
 only (hould be exhibited ; and that which is likely to 
 operate fo ftrongly, fhould not be mifchievous or 
 uncertain in its effects. 
 
 The chief advantage which thefe fictions have 
 over real life is, that their authors are at liberty, 
 though not to invent, yet to felect objects, and to 
 cull from the mafs of mankind, thofe individuals 
 upon which the attention ought moft to be employ- 
 ed j as a diamond, though it cannot be made, may 
 be poliihed by art, and placed in fuch a fituation, as 
 to difplay that luftre which before was buried among 
 common Hones. 
 
 It is juftly confidered as the greater! excellency of 
 art, to imitate nature ; but it is neceffary to diftin- 
 guifh thofe parts of nature, which are moft proper 
 for imitation : greater care is ftill required in repre- 
 fenting life, which is fo often difcoloured by paiHo^ 
 or deformed by wickednefs. If the world be pro- 
 mifcuoufly defcribed> I cannot fee of what ufe it can 
 be to read the account : or why it may not be as 
 fafe to turn the eye immediately upon mankind as 
 
 C 4 upon
 
 S4 THE RAMBLER. N* 4. 
 
 upon a mirrour which (hows ail that prefents itfelf 
 without difcrimination. 
 
 It is therefore not a fufficicnt vindication of a 
 character, that it is drawn as it appears, for many 
 characters ought never to be drawn; nor of a nar- 
 rative, that the train of events is agreeable to ob- 
 fervation and experience, for that obfervation which 
 is called knowledge of the world will be found 
 much more frequently to make men cunning than 
 good. The purpole of thefe writings is furely not 
 only to fhow mankind, but to provide that they 
 may be feen hereafter with lefs hazard ; to teach 
 the means of avoiding the fnares which are laid by 
 TREACHERY for INNOCENCE, without infufing any 
 wifh for that fuperiority with which the betrayer 
 flatters his vanity ; to give the power of counter- 
 acting fraud, without the temptation to practife it; 
 to initiate youth by mock encounters in the art of 
 neceffary defence, and to encreafe prudence without 
 impairing virtue. 
 
 Many writers, for the fake of following nature, fo 
 mingle good and bad qualities in their principal per- 
 ibnages, that they are both equally confpicuous ; 
 and as we' accompany them through their adven- 
 tures with delight, and are led by degrees to intereft 
 ourfelves in their favour, we lofe the abhorrence of 
 their faults, becaufe they do not hinder our pleafure, 
 or, perhaps, regard them with fome kindnefs for 
 being united with fo much merit. 
 
 There have been men indeed fplendidly wicked, 
 whofe endowments threw a brightnefs on their 
 crimes, and whom fcarce any villany made per- 
 fectly deteftable, becaufe they never could be 
 
 wholly
 
 N" 4. THE RAMBLER. 1$ 
 
 -wholly divefted of their excellencies ; but fuch 
 have been in all ages the great corrupters of the 
 world, and their refemblance ought no more to 
 be preferved, than the art of murdering without pain. 
 
 Some have advanced, without due attention to 
 the confequences of this notion, that certain vir- 
 tues have their correfpondent faults, and therefore 
 that to exhibit either apart is to deviate from pro- 
 bability. Thus men are obferved by Swift to be 
 <( grateful in the fame degree as they are refent- 
 " ful." This principle, with others of the fame 
 kind, fuppofes man to act from a brute impulfe, 
 and purfue a certain degree of inclination, without 
 any choice of the object ; for, otherwife, though 
 it fhould be allowed that gratitude and refentment 
 arife from the fame conftitution of the pafiions, it 
 follows not that they will be equally indulged when 
 reafon is confulted; yet unlefs that confequence be 
 admitted, this fagaeious maxim becomes an empty 
 found, without any relation to practice or to life. 
 
 Nor is it evident, that even the firft motions to 
 thefe effects are always in the fame proportion. For 
 pride, which produces quicknefs of refentment, will 
 obftruct gratitude, by unwillingnefs to admit that in- 
 feriority which obligation implies ; and it is very 
 unlikely, that he who cannot think he receives a 
 favour, will acknowledge or repay it. 
 
 It is of the utmoft importance to mankind, that 
 pofitions of this tendency fhould be laid open and 
 confuted; for while men confider good and evil 
 as fpringing from the fame root, they will fpare 
 the one for the fake of the other, and in judging> 
 if not of others at leaft of themfelves, will be apt 
 
 to
 
 26 THE RAMBLER. N 4. 
 
 to eftimate their virtues by their vices. To this 
 fatal error all thofe will contribute, who confound 
 the colours of right and wrong, and, inftead of help- 
 ing to fettle their boundaries, mix them with fo much 
 art, that no common mind is able to difunite them. 
 
 In narratives, where hiftorical veracity has no 
 place, I cannot difcover why there fliould not be 
 exhibited the mod perfect idea of virtue; of vir- 
 tue not angelical, nor above probability, for what 
 we cannot credit we fhall never imitate, but the 
 higheft and pureft that humanity can reach, which, 
 exercifed in fuch trials as the various revolutions 
 of things (hall bring upon it, may, by conquer- 
 ing fome calamities, and enduring others, teach 
 us what we may hope, and what we can perform. 
 Vice, for vice is neceffary to be fhewn, fliould al- 
 ways difguftj nor fhould the graces of gaiety, or 
 the dignity of courage, be fo united with it, as 
 to reconcile it to the mind. Wherever it appears, 
 it fhould raife hatred by the malignity of its prac- 
 tices, and contempt by the meannefs of its ftra- 
 tagems ; for while it is fupported by either parts 
 or fpirit, it will be feldom heartily abhorred. The 
 Roman tyrant was content to be hated, if he was 
 but feared , and there are thoufands of the readers 
 of romances willing to be thought wicked, if they 
 may be allowed to be wits. It is therefore to be 
 fteadily inculcated, that virtue is the higheft proof of 
 underftanding, and the only folid bafis of greatnefs j 
 and that vice is the natural confequence of narrow 
 thoughts ; that it begins in miftake, and ends in 
 ignominy.
 
 THE RAMBLER. 27 
 
 NUMB. 5. TUESDAY, April 3, 1750. 
 
 Et nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos, 
 
 Nunc frondent felloe , nunc for mojijjimus annus. ViRC. 
 
 Newev'ry field, now ev'ry tree is green; 
 
 Now genial nature's faireft face is {een. ELPH INSTON. 
 
 EVERY man is fufficiently difcontented with 
 fome circumftanccs of his prefent ftate, to 
 fufFer his imagination to range more or lefs in queft 
 of future happinefs, and to fix upon fome point 
 of time, in which, by the removal of the incon- 
 venience which now perplexes him, or acquifi- 
 tion of the advantage which he at prefent wants, 
 he fhall find the condition of his life very much 
 improved. 
 
 When this time, which is too often expected 
 with great impatience, at laft arrives, it generally 
 comes without the bleffing for which it was defir- 
 edj but we folace ourfelves with fome new pro- 
 fpect, and prefs forward again with equal eager- 
 nefs. 
 
 It is lucky for a man, in whom this temper pre- 
 vails, when he turns his hopes upon things wholly 
 out of his own power ; fince he forbears then to 
 precipitate his affairs, for the fake of the great event 
 that is to complete his felicity, and waits for the 
 blifsful hour with lefs neglect of the meafures necef- 
 fary to be taken in the mean time. 
 
 I have
 
 *8 THE RAMBLER. N 5. 
 
 I have long known a perfon of this temper, who 
 indulged his dream of happinefs with lefs hurt to 
 himielf than fuch chimerical wifhes commonly pro- 
 duce, and adjufled his fcheme with fuch addrefs, 
 that his hopes were in full bloom three parts of the 
 year, and in the other part never wholly blafted. 
 Many, perhaps, would be defirous of learning by 
 what means he procured to himfelf fuch a cheap 
 and lading fatisfadtion. It was gained by a conftant 
 practice of referring the removal of all his uneafi- 
 nefs to the coining of the next fpring; if his health 
 was impaired, the fpring would reftore it; if what 
 he wanted was at a high price, it would fail its value 
 in the fpring. 
 
 The fpring indeed did often come without any 
 of thefe effects, but he was always certain that the 
 next would be more propitious j nor was ever con- 
 vinced, that the prefent fpring would fail him before 
 the middle of fummer; for he always talked of the 
 fpring as coming till it was pair, and when it was 
 once pail, every one agreed with him that it was 
 coming. 
 
 By long converfe with this man, I am, perhaps, 
 brought to feel immoderate pleafure in the contem- 
 plation of this delightful feafon ; but I have the fa- 
 tisfadtion of finding many, whom it can be no 
 ftiame to refemble, infected with the fame enthu- 
 fiafm ; for there is, I believe, fcarce any poet of 
 eminence, who has not left fome teftimony of his 
 fondnefs for the flowers, the zephyrs, and the 
 warblers of the fpring. Nor has the moft luxuriant 
 imagination been able to defcribe the ferenity and 
 
 happinefs 
 
 '
 
 N 5. THE RAMBLER. 29 
 
 happinefs of the golden age, otherwife than by giving 
 a perpetual fpring, as the higheft reward of uncor- 
 rupted innocence. 
 
 There is, indeed, fomething inexpreflibly pleafing 
 in the annual renovation of the world, and the new 
 difplay of the treafures of nature. The cold and 
 darknefs of winter, with the naked deformity of 
 every objecT: on which we turn our eyes, make us 
 rejoice at the fucceeding feafon, as well for what 
 \ve have efcaped, as for what we may enjoy; 
 and every budding flower, which a warm fitua- 
 tion brings early to our view, is confidered by us 
 as a mefTenger to notify the approach of more joy- 
 ous days. 
 
 The SPRING affords to a mind, fo free from the 
 difturbance of cares or pafiions as to be vacant to 
 calm amufements, almoft every thing that our pre- 
 fent ftate makes us capable of enjoying. The varie- 
 gated verdure of the fields and woods, the fucceflion 
 of grateful odours, the voice of pleafure pouring 
 out its notes on every fide, with the gladncfs appa- 
 rently conceived by every animal, from the growth 
 of his food, and the clemency of the weather, throw 
 over the whole earth an air of gaiety, fignificantly 
 exprefied by the fmile of nature. 
 
 Yet there are men to whom thefe fcenes are able 
 to give no delight, and who hurry away from all the 
 varieties of rural beauty, to lofe their hours and di- 
 vert their thoughts by cards, or afiemblies, a tavern ' 
 dinner, or the prattle of the day. 
 
 It may be laid down as a pofition which will fel- 
 dom deceive, that when a man cannot bear his own 
 company there is fomething wrong. He muft fly 
 
 from
 
 30 THE RAMBLER. N* 5. 
 
 from himfelf, either becaufe he feels a tedioufnefs in 
 life from the equipoife of an empty mind, which, 
 having no tendency to one motion more than an- 
 other but as it is impelled by fome external power, 
 muft always have recourfe to foreign objects ; or he 
 muft be afraid of the intrufion of fome unpleafing 
 ideas, and, perhaps, is ftruggling to efcape from the 
 remembrance of a lofs, the fear of a calamity, or 
 fome other thought of greater horror. 
 
 Thofe whom forrovv incapacitates to enjoy the 
 pleafures of contemplation, may properly apply 
 to fuch diverfions, provided they are innocent, as 
 lay flrong hold on the attention ; and thofe, whom 
 fear of any future affliction chains down to mifery, 
 muft endeavour to obviate the danger. 
 
 My confiderations fhall, on this occafion, be 
 turned on fuch as are burdenfome to themfelves 
 merely becaufe they want fubjedts for reflection, 
 and to whom the volume of nature is thrown 
 open, without affording them pleafure or in- 
 ftruction, becaufe they never learned to read the 
 characters. 
 
 A French author has advanced this feeming pa- 
 radox, that very few men know how to take a walk > 
 and, indeed, it is true, that few know how to take 
 a walk with a profpedt of any other pleafure, than 
 the fame company would have afforded them at 
 home. 
 
 There are animals that borrow their colour from 
 the neighbouring body, and confequently vary their 
 hue as they happen to change their place. In like 
 manner it ought to be the endeavour of every 
 man to derive his reflections from the objects about 
 
 him;
 
 N5- THE RAMBLER. 31 
 
 him j for it is to no purpofe that he alters his pofi- 
 tion, if his attention continues fixed to the fame 
 point. The mind fhould be kept open to the ac- 
 cefs of every new idea, and fo far difengaged from 
 the predominance of particular thoughts as eafi- 
 ly to accommodate itfelf to occafional entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 A man that has formed this habit of turning 
 every new object to his entertainment, finds in the 
 productions of nature an inexhauftible ftock of 
 materials upon which he can employ himfelf, 
 without any temptations to envy or malevolence ; 
 faults, perhaps, feldom totally avoided by thofe, 
 whofe judgment is much exercifed upon the works 
 of art. He has always a certain profpect of difco- 
 vering new reafons for adoring the fovereign Au- 
 thor of the univerfe, and probable hopes of making 
 fome difcovery of benefit to others, or of profit to 
 himfelf. There is no doubt but many vegetables 
 and animals have qualities that might be of great 
 ufe, to the knowledge of which there is not required 
 much force of penetration, or fatigue -of ftudy, 
 but only frequent experiments, and clofe atten- 
 tion. What is faid by the chemifts of their darling 
 mercury, is, perhaps, true of every body through 
 the whole creation, that, if a thoufand lives Ihould 
 be fpent upon it, all its properties would not be 
 found out. 
 
 Mankind muft neceflfarily be diverfified by vari- 
 ous taftes, fince life affords and requires fuch mul- 
 tiplicity of employments, and a nation of naturalifts 
 is neither to be hoped, or defired; but it is furely 
 not improper to point out a frelh amufement to 
 
 thofe
 
 32 THE RAMBLER. N 5. 
 
 thofe who languifh in health, and repine in plenty, 
 for want of fome fource of diver fion that may be 
 kfs eafily exhaufted, and to inform the multitudes 
 of both fexes, who are burthened with every new 
 day, that there are many fhows which they have 
 not feen. 
 
 He that enlarges his curiofity after the works of 
 nature, demonftrably multiplies the inlets to hap- 
 pinefs; and, therefore, the younger part of my 
 readers, to whom I dedicate this vernal fpeculation, 
 muft excufe me for calling upon them, to make 
 life at once of the fpring of the year, and the fpring 
 of life; to acquire, while their minds may be yet im- 
 prelled with new images, a love of innocent plea- 
 fures, and an ardour for ufeful knowledge; and to 
 remember, that a blighted fpring makes a barren 
 year, and that the vernal flowers, however beautiful 
 and gay, are only intended by nature as prepara- 
 tives to autumnal fruits.
 
 6: T H E R A M B L E R 4 73 
 
 NUMB. 6. SATURDAY, April 7 ', 1750. 
 
 Strenua nos eXercet inertia, navibus atque 
 
 >uadrigis petimu s bcne -vi<ve re : quod petis, hie eft ; 
 
 Eft Ulubris, animus Ji te non deficit a; quits. HOP. , 
 
 Aclive in indolence, abroad we roani 
 la queft of happinefs which dwells at home : 
 With vain purfuits fatigu'd, at length you'll find, 
 No place excludes it from an equal mind. 
 
 THAT man fhould never fuffer his happinefs 
 to depend upon external circumftances, is one 
 of the chief precept* of the Stoical philofophy; a 
 precept, indeed, which that lofty feel: has extended 
 beyond the condition of human life, and in which 
 forne of them feem to have comprifcd an utter exclu- 
 (lon of all corporal pain and pleafure from the regard 
 or attention of a wife man. 
 
 Such fapientia in/aniens^ as Horace calls the doc- 
 trine of another feel, fuch extravagance of philofo- 
 phy, can want neither authority nor argument for 
 its confutation : it is overthrown by the experience 
 of every hour, and the powers of nature rife up 
 againft it. But we may very properly enquire, 
 how near to this exalted (late it is in our power to 
 approach, how far we can exempt ourfelves from 
 outward influences, and fecure to our minds a flate 
 of tranquillity : for, though the boaft of abfolute in- 
 dependence is ridiculous and vain, yet a mean flexi- 
 
 VOL. IV. D bility
 
 J4 THE RAMBLER. N 6. 
 
 bility to every impulfe, and a patient fubmifiion to 
 the tyranny of cafual troubles, is below the dignity 
 of that mind, which, however depraved or weak- 
 ened, boafts its derivation from a celeftial original, 
 and hopes for an union with infinite goodnefs, and 
 invariable felicity. 
 
 Ni 1'itiif pejora f ovens 
 Proprium deferat ortum. 
 
 Unlefs the foul, to vice a thrall, 
 Delert her own original. 
 
 The neceflity of erecting ourfelves to fome degree 
 of intellectual dignity, and of preferving refources 
 of pleafure, which may not be wholly at the mercy 
 of accident, is never more apparent than when we 
 turn our eyes upon thofe whom fortune has let loofe 
 to their own conduct; who, not being chained 
 down by their condition to a regular and ftated allot- 
 ment of their hours, are obliged to find themfelves 
 bufmefs or diverflon, and having nothing within that 
 can entertain or employ them, are compelled to try 
 all the arts of deftroying time. 
 
 The numberlefs expedients praftifed by this clafs 
 of mortals to alleviate the burthen of life, is not 
 lefs fhameful, nor, perhaps, much lefs pitiable, than 
 thofe to which a trader on the edge of bankruptcy 
 is reduced. I have feen melancholy overipread a 
 whole family at the difappointment of a party for 
 cards; and when, after the propofal of a thoufand 
 Schemes, and the difpatch of the footmen upon a 
 hundred meflages, they have fubmitted, with gloomy 
 
 refigna-
 
 N6. THE RAMBLER. 35 
 
 reHgnation, to the misfortune of patting one even- 
 ing in converfation with each other; on a fudden, 
 fuch are the revolutions of the world, an unexpected 
 vifitor has brought them relief acceptable as provi- 
 fion to a ftarving city, and enabled them to hold out 
 till the next day. 
 
 The general remedy of thofe, who are uneafy 
 without knowing the caufe, is change of place; 
 they are willing to imagine that their pain is 
 the confequence of fome local inconvenience, and 
 endeavour to fly from it, as children from their 
 fhadows; always hoping for fome more fatisfaftory 
 delight from every new fcene, and always returning 
 home with difappointment and complaints. 
 
 Who can look upon this kind of infatuation, 
 without reflecting on thofe that fuffer under the 
 dreadful fymptom of canine madnefs, termed by 
 phyficians the dread of water ? Thefe miferablc 
 wretches, unable to drink, though burning with 
 third, are fometimes known to try various con- 
 tortions, or inclinations of the body, flattering 
 themfelves that they can fwallow in one poilnre 
 that liquor which they find in another to repel 
 their lips. 
 
 Yet fuch folly is not peculiar to the thoughtlefs or 
 ignorant, but fometimes feizes thofe minds which 
 feem mod exempted from it, by the variety of at- 
 tainments, quicknefs of penetration, or feverity of 
 judgment j and, indeed, the pride of wit and know- 
 ledge is often mortified by finding that they confer 
 no fecurity agdinft the common errors, which mif- 
 Jead the weakeft and meaneft of mankind. 
 
 D 2 Thefe
 
 36 THE RAMBLER. N 6. 
 
 Thefe reflexions arofe in my mind upon the re- 
 membrance of a pafiage in Cowley's preface to his 
 poems, where, however exalted by genius, and en- 
 larged by ft tidy, he informs us of a fcheme of hap- 
 pinefs to which the imagination of a girl upon the 
 lofs of her firft lover, could have fcarcely given way - r 
 but which he feems to have indulged, till he had 
 totally forgotten its abfurdity, and would probably 
 have put in execution, had he been hindered only by 
 his reafon. 
 
 * My defire,' fays he, f has been for fome years 
 < part, though the execution has been accidentally 
 c diverted, and does (till vehemently continue, to 
 ' retire myfelf to fome of our American planta- 
 f tions, not to feek for gold, or enrich myfelf with 
 f the traffick of thofe parts, which is the end of 
 e moll men that travel thither ; but to forfake this 
 ' world for ever, with all the vanities and vexations 
 ' of it, and to bury myfelf there in fome obfcure re- 
 c treat, but not without the confolation of letters and 
 c philofophy.' 
 
 Such was the chimerical provifion which Cow- 
 ley had made in his own mind, for the quiet of 
 his remaining life, and which he feems to recom- 
 mend to poflerity, fince there is no other reafon 
 for difclofing it. Surely no ftronger inftance can 
 be given of a perfuafion that content was the 
 inhabitant of particular regions, and that a man 
 might let fail with a fair wind, and leave behind 
 him all his cares, incumbrances, and calamities. 
 
 If he travelled fo far with no other purpofe than 
 to bury himjelf in Jome obfcure retreat^ he might have 
 found, in his own country, innumerable coverts 
 
 fufficiently 

 
 N'6. THE RAMBLER. 37 
 
 fufficiently dark to have concealed the genius of 
 Cowley j for whatever might be his opinion of 
 the importunity with which he might be fummon- 
 ed back into publick life, a fhort experience would 
 have convinced him, that privation is ealier than 
 acquifition, and that it would require little continu- 
 ance to free himfelf from the intrufion of the world. 
 There is pride enough in the human heart to pre- 
 vent much defire of acquaintance with a man, by 
 whom we are fure to be neglected, however his 
 reputation for fcience or virtue may excite our 
 curiofity or efteem ; fo that the lover of retirement 
 needs not be afraid left the refpect of ftrangers 
 fhould overwhelm him with vifits. Even thofe to 
 whom he has formerly been known will very pa- 
 tiently fupport his abfence when they have tried a 
 little to live without him, and found new diver- 
 iions for thole moments which his company con- 
 tributed to exhilarate. 
 
 It was, perhaps, ordained by Providence, to 
 hinder us from tyrannifing over one another, that 
 no individual fhould be of fuch importance, as to 
 caufe, by his retirement or death, any chafm in 
 the world. And Cowley had converfed to little 
 purpofe with mankind, if he had never remarked, 
 how foon the ufeful friend, the gay companion, 
 and the favoured lover, when once they are re- 
 moved from before the fight, give way to the fuc- 
 ceflion of new objects. 
 
 The privacy, therefore, of his hermitage might 
 have been fafe enough from violation, though he 
 had chofen it within the limits of his native iflandj 
 he might have found here prefervatives againft the 
 
 D 3 vanities
 
 38 THE RAMBLER. N 6. 
 
 vanities and vexations of the world, not lefs effica- 
 cious than thofe which the woods or fields of 
 America could afford him : but having: once his 
 
 O 
 
 mind imbittered with difguft, he conceived it im- 
 poflible to be far enough from the caufe of his 
 uneafmefsj and was pofting away with the expe- 
 dition of a coward, who, for want of venturing to 
 look behind him, thinks the enemy perpetually at 
 his heels. 
 
 When he was interrupted by company, or fa- 
 tigued with bufmefs, he fo ftrongly imagined to 
 himfelf the happinefs of leifure and retreat, that 
 he determined to enjoy them for the future without 
 interruption, and to exclude for ever all that could 
 deprive him of his darling fatisfaclion. He forgot^ 
 in the vehemence of defire, that folitude and quiet 
 owe their pleafures to thofe miferies, which he was 
 fo (ludious to obviate : for fuch are the viciffitudes 
 of the world, through all its parts, that day and night, 
 labour and reft, hurry and retirement, endear each 
 other j fuch are the changes that keep the mind in 
 action ; we defire, we purfue, we obtain, we are 
 fatiated; we defire fomething elfe, and begin a new 
 purfuit. 
 
 IF he had proceeded in his project, and fixed his 
 habitation in the mofl delightful part of the new 
 world, it may be doubted, whether his diftance 
 from the vanities of life would have enabled him to 
 keep away the vexations. It is common for a man, 
 who feels pain, to fancy that he could bear it better 
 in any other part. Cowley having known the trou- 
 bles and perplexities of a particular condition, 
 readily perfuaded himfelf that nothing worfe was to 
 
 be
 
 JNf6. THE RAMBLER. 39 
 
 be found, and that every alteration would bring 
 fome improvement: he never fufpedted that the 
 caufe of his unhappinefs was within, that his own 
 pafiions were not fufficiently regulated, and that he 
 was harafled by his own impatience, which could 
 never be without fomething to awaken it, would 
 accompany him over the fea, and find its way to 
 his American elyfium. He would, upon the trial, 
 have been foon convinced, that the fountain of 
 content muft fpring up in the mind; and that he, 
 who has fo little knowledge of human nature, as 
 to feek happinefs by changing any thing but his 
 own difpofitions, will wafte his life in fruitlefs ef- 
 forts, and multiply the griefs which he purpofes to 
 remove. 
 
 D 4 
 
 i
 
 40 THE RAMBLER. N 
 
 NUMB. 7. TUESDAY, April 10, 1750. 
 
 O qut perpetua mundum rat lone putmuu t 
 
 'Terrarurn ccelique fatcr ! 
 
 "Disjice terrtnte nebulas & pondera molls, 
 
 Atque tuofplendore mica I Tu namqueferenum, 
 
 Tu requies tranquilla f>iis. :Te cernere, finis, 
 
 Principium, <veciar, dux ,f emit a, terminus, idem. BOETHIUS^ 
 
 O thouwhofe pow'r o'er moving worlds prefides, 
 Whofe voice created, and vvhofe wii'dom guides, 
 On darkling man in pure effulgence iliine, 
 And chear the clouded mind with light divine, 
 ' fis 'thine alone to calm the pious bread 
 With Jilent confidence and holy reft ; 
 From thee, great God, we fpring, to thee we tend, 
 Pathj, motive, guide, original, and end. 
 
 THE love of RETIREMENT has, in all ages^ 
 adhered clofely to thofe minds, which have 
 been moft enlarged by knowledge, or elevated by 
 genius. Thofe who enjoyed every thing generally 
 fuppofed to confer happinefs, have been forced to 
 leek it in the fhades of privacy. Though they 
 polled both power and riches, and were, there- 
 fore, furrounded by men, who confidered it as 
 their chief intereft to remove from them every thing 
 that might offend their eafe, or interrupt their plea- 
 fure, they have foon felt the languors of fatiety, 
 and found themfelves unable to purfue the race of 
 life without frequent refpirations of intermediate 
 folitude. 
 
 To
 
 Ny. THE RAMBLER. 4I 
 
 To produce this difpofition nothing appears re- 
 quifite but quick fenfibility, and active imagination ; 
 for, though not devoted to virtue, or fcience, the 
 man, whofe faculties enable him to make ready 
 comparifons of the prefent with the pad, will find 
 fuch a conftant recurrence of the fame pleafures 
 and troubles, the fame expectations and difappoint- 
 ments, that he will gladly fnatch an hour of retreat, 
 to let his thoughts expatiate at large, and feek for 
 that variety in his own ideas, which the objects of 
 fenfe cannot afford him. 
 
 Nor will greatnefs, or abundance, exempt him 
 from the importunities of this defire, fince, if he is 
 born to think, he cannot reftrain himfelf from a 
 thoufand enquiries and fpeculation.s, which he muft 
 purfue by his own reafon, and which the fplendour 
 of his condition can only hinder : for thofe who are 
 moft exalted above dependance or controul, are yet 
 condemned to pay fo large a tribute of their time to 
 cuftom, ceremony, and popularity, that, according 
 to the Greek proverb, no man in the houfe is more a 
 flave than the matter. 
 
 When a king afked Euclid the mathematician, 
 whether he could not explain his art to him in a 
 more compendious manner? he was anfwered, That 
 there was no royal way to geometry. Other things 
 may be feized by might, or purchafed with money, 
 but knowledge is to be gained only by fludy, and 
 ftudy to be profecuted only in retirement. 
 
 Thefe are fome of the motives which have had 
 power to fequefter kings and heroes from the crowds 
 that foothed them with flatteries, or infpirited them 
 with acclamations $ but their efficacy feems con- 
 fined
 
 4* THE RAMBLER. N 7. 
 
 fined to the higher mind, and to operate little upon 
 the common clafTes of mankind, to whofe concep- 
 tions the prefent aflemblage of things is adequate, 
 and who feldom range beyond thofe entertainments 
 and vexations, which folicit their attention by prefT- 
 ing on their fenfes. 
 
 But there is an univerfal reafon for fome ftated 
 intervals of folitude, which the inftitutions of the 
 chtirch call upon me, now efpecially to mention; a 
 reafon, which extends as wide as moral duty, or the 
 hopes of divine favour in a future ftate; and which 
 ought to influence all ranks of life, and all degrees 
 of intellect ; fince none can imagine themfelves not 
 comprehended in its obligation, but fuch as deter- 
 mine to fet their Maker at defiance by obftinate 
 wickednefs, or whofe enthufiaftick fecurity of his ap- 
 probation places them above external ordinances, 
 and all human means of improvement. 
 
 The great tafk of him who conducts his life by 
 the precepts of religion, is to make the future pre- 
 dominate over the prefent, to imprefs upon his 
 rnind fo flrong a fenfe of the importance of obe- 
 dience to the divine will, of the value of the re- 
 ward promifed to virtue, and the terrors of the 
 punifhment denounced againft crimes, as may 
 overbear all the temptations which temporal hope 
 or fear can bring in his way, and enable him to bid 
 equal defiance to joy and forrow, to turn away at 
 one time from the allurements of ambition, and 
 pum forward at another againft the threats of 
 calamity. 
 
 It is not without reafon that the apoftle reprefents 
 our paflage through this flage of our exiftence by 
 
 images
 
 Ny THE RAMBLER. 43 
 
 images drawn from the alarms and folicitude of a 
 military life ; for we are placed in fuch a ftate, that 
 almoft every thing about us confpires againft our 
 chief intereft. We are in danger from whatever can 
 get pofieffion of our thoughts j all that can excite in 
 us either pain or pleafure has a tendency to obftruct 
 the way that leads to happinefs, and either to turn 
 us afide, or retard our progrefs. 
 
 Our fenfes, our appetites, and our pafllons, are 
 our lawful and faithful guides, in moft things that 
 relate folely to this life; and, therefore, by the 
 hourly neceflity of confulting them, we gradually 
 fink into an implicit fubmifiion, and habitual confi- 
 dence. Every act of compliance with their motions 
 facilitates a fecond compliance, every new ftep to- 
 wards depravity is made with lefs reluctance than the 
 former, and thus the defcent to life merely fenfual is 
 perpetually accelerated. 
 
 The fenfes have not only that advantage over con^- 
 fcience, which things neceflary muft always have 
 over things chofen, but they have likewife a kind of 
 prefcription in their favour. We feared pain much 
 earlier than we apprehended guilt", and were delight- 
 ed with the fenfations of pleafure, before we had 
 capacities to be charmed with the beauty of recti- 
 tude. To this power, thus early eftablifhed, and 
 inceflfantly increafing, it muft be remembered, that 
 almoit every man has, in fome part of his life, added 
 new ftrengih by a voluntary or negligent fubjection 
 of himfelf ; for who is there that has not inftigated 
 his appetites by indulgence, or fuffered them by an 
 unrefifting neutrality to enlarge their dominion, and 
 multiply their demands ? 
 
 From
 
 44 THE RAMBLER. N 7. 
 
 From the neceffity of difpofTefllng the fenfitive 
 faculties of the influence which they muft naturally 
 gain by this preoccupation of the foul, arifes that 
 conflict between oppofite defires, in the firft endea- 
 vours after a religious lifej which, however enthu- 
 fiaftically it may have been defcribed, or however 
 contemptuoufly ridiculed, will naturally be felt in 
 fome degree, though varied without end, by differ- 
 ent tempers of mind, and innumerable circumftances 
 of health or condition, greater or lefs fervour, more 
 or fewer temptations to relapfe. 
 
 From the perpetual neceffity of confuking the 
 animal faculties, in our provifion for the prefent life, 
 arifes the difficulty of withftanding their impulfes, 
 even in cafes where they ought to be of no weight -, 
 for the motions of fenfe are inftantaneous, its ob- 
 jects ftrike unfought, we are accuftomed to follow its 
 directions, and therefore often fubmit to the fentence 
 \vithoutexamining the authority of the judge. 
 
 Thus it appears, upon a philofophical eftimate, 
 that, fuppofing the mind, at any certain time, in 
 an equipoife between the pleafures of this life, and 
 the hopes of futurity, prefent objects falling more 
 frequently into the fcale would in time preponderate, 
 and that our regard for an invifible ftate would grow 
 every moment weaker, till at lad it would lofe all its 
 activity, and become abfolutely without effect. 
 
 To prevent this dreadful event, the balance is put 
 into our own hands, and we have power to transfer 
 the weight to either fide. The motives to a life of 
 holinefs are infinite, not lefs than the favour or anger 
 of omnipotence, not lefs than eternity of happinefs 
 or mifery. But thefe can only influence our con.
 
 N ?' THE RAMBLER. 4 
 
 duct as they gain our attention, which the bufinefs, 
 or diverfions, of the world are always calling off by 
 contrary attractions. 
 
 The great art therefore of piety, and the end for 
 which all the rites of religion feem to be inftituted, 
 is the perpetual renovation of the motives to virtue, 
 by a voluntary employment of our mind in the con- 
 templation of its excellence, its importance, and its 
 neceffity, which, in proportion as they are more fre- 
 quently and more willingly revolved, gain a more 
 forcible and permanent influence, till in time they 
 become the reigning ideas, the ftanding principles 
 of action, and the teft by which every thing propofed 
 to the judgment is rejected or approved. 
 
 To facilitate this change of our affections, it is 
 neceflary that we weaken the temptations of the 
 world, by retiring at certain feafons from it; for its 
 influence arifing only from its prefence, is much 
 leflened when it becomes the object of folitary me- 
 ditation. A conftant refidence amidft noife and 
 pleafure, inevitably obliterates the impreffions of 
 piety, and a frequent abftraction of ourfelves into a 
 Hate, where this life, like the next, operates only 
 upon the reafon, will reinftate religion in its juft 
 authority, even without thofe irradiations from above, 
 the hope of which I have no intention to withdraw 
 from the fincere and the diligent. 
 
 This is that conqueft of the world and of our- 
 felves, which has been always confidered as the 
 perfection of human nature j and this is only to be 
 obtained by fervent prayer, fteady refolutions, and 
 frequent retirement from folly and vanity, from the 
 
 cares
 
 46 THE RAMBLER. N 8. 
 
 cares of avarice, and the joys of intemperance, from 
 the lulling founds of deceitful flattery, and the tempt- 
 ing fight of profpei ous wickednefs. 
 
 NUMB. 8. SATURDAY, dprll 14, 1750. 
 
 Palltitrpcenas peccandi fola volant as} 
 
 Nam fcelus inlrafe taciturn qui cogitat ullum, 
 
 Faai crimen babel. JuV. 
 
 For he that but conceives a crime in thought, 
 
 Contrads the danger of an aclual fault. CREECH. 
 
 IF the moft active and induftrious of mankind 
 was able, at the clofe of life, to recoiled dif- 
 tinctly his paft moments, and diftribute them, in 
 a regular account, according to the manner in 
 which they have been fpent, it is fcarcely to be 
 imagined how few would be marked out to the 
 mind, by any permanent or vifible effects, how 
 fmall a proportion his real action would bear to his 
 feeming poflibilities of action, how many chafms he 
 would find of wide and continued vacuity, and how 
 many interftitial fpaces unfilled, even in the moft 
 tumultuous hurries of bufinefs, and the moft eager 
 vehemence of pnrfuit. 
 
 It is faid by modern philofophers, that not only 
 the great globes of matter are thinly fcattered 
 through the univerfe, but the hardeft bodies are fo 
 porous, that, if all matter were compreflfed to per- 
 fect
 
 N8. THE RAMBLER. 47 
 
 feet folidity, it might be contained in a cube of a 
 few feet. In like manner, if all the employment of 
 life were crowded into the time which it really oc- 
 cupied, perhaps a few weeks, days, or hours, would 
 be fufBcient for its accompli(hment 3 fo far as the 
 mind was engaged in the performance. For fuch 
 is the inequality of our corporeal to our intellectual 
 faculties, that we contrive in minutes what we 
 execute in years, and the foul often ftands an idle 
 Ipectator of the labour of the hands, and expedition 
 of the feet. 
 
 For this reafon, the ancient generals often found 
 themfelves at leifure to purfue the ftudy of philo- 
 fophy in the camp j and Lucan, with hiflorical ve- 
 racity, makes Csefar relate of himfelf, that he noted 
 the revolutions of the flars in the midft of prepara- 
 tions for battle. 
 
 Media inter pr#lia femper 
 
 Sideribus, ccelique plagis, fuptrifque vacaitL 
 
 Amid the dorms of war, with curious eyes 
 I trace the planets and furvey the ikies. 
 
 That the foul always exerts her peculiar powers, 
 with greater or lefs force, is very probable, though 
 the common occafions of our prefent condition re- 
 quire but a fmall part of that incefTant cogitation; 
 and by the natural frame of our bodies, and general 
 combination of the world, we are fo frequently con- 
 demned to inactivity, that as through all our time we 
 are thinking, fo for a great part of our time we can 
 only think, 
 
 Left
 
 48 THE RAMBLER. N 8. 
 
 Left a power fb reftlefs fhould be either unprofit- 
 ably or hurtfully employed, and the fuperfluities of 
 intellect run to wafte, it is no vain fpeculation to 
 confider how we may govern our thoughts, reftrain 
 them from irregular motions, or confine them from 
 boundlefs diffipation. 
 
 How the underflanding is beft conducted to the 
 knowledge of fcience, by what fteps it is to be led 
 forwards in its purfuit, how it is to be cured of its 
 defects, and habituated to new ftudies, has been the 
 inquiry of many acute and learned men, whofe ob- 
 fervations I lhall not either adopt or cenfure : my 
 purpofe being to confider the moral difcipline of the 
 mind, and to promote the increafe of virtue rather 
 than of learning. 
 
 This inquiry feems to have been neglected for 
 want of remembering that all action has its origin in 
 the mind, and that therefore to fuffer the thoughts to 
 be vitiated, is to poifbn the fountains of morality : 
 Irregular defires will produce licentious practices j 
 what men allow themfelves to wifh they will foon 
 believe, and will be at laft incited to execute what 
 they pleafe themfelves with contriving. 
 
 For this reafon the cafuifts of the Roman church, 
 who gain, by confeffion, great opportunities of 
 knowing human nature, have generally determined 
 that what it is a crime to do, it is a crime to think. 
 Since by revolving with pleafure the facility, fafety, 
 or advantage of a wicked deed, a man foon begins 
 to find his. conftancy relax, and his deteftation foften j 
 the happinefs of fuccefs glittering before him, with- 
 draws his attention from the atrocioufnefs of the 
 
 guilt,
 
 N-8. THE RAMBLER. 49 
 
 guilt, and acts are at lad confidently perpetrated, of 
 which the firft conception only crept into the mind, 
 difguifed in pleafing complications, and permitted 
 rather than invited. 
 
 No man has ever been drawn to crimes by love 
 or jealoufy, envy or hatredj but he can tell how 
 eafily he might at firft have repelled the temptation, 
 how readily his mind would have obeyed a call to 
 any other object, and how weak his paffion has been 
 after fome cafual avocation, till he has recalled it 
 again to his heart, and revived the viper by too warm 
 a fondnefs. 
 
 Such, therefore, is the importance of keeping 
 reafon a conftant guard over imagination, that we 
 have otherwife no fecurity for our own virtue, but 
 may corrupt our hearts in the moft reclufe folitude, 
 with more pernicious and tyrannical appetites and 
 wifhes than the commerce of the world will gene- 
 rally produces for we are eafily fhocked by crimes 
 which appear at once in their full magnitude, but 
 the gradual growth of our own wickednefs, en- 
 deared by intereft, and palliated by all the artifices 
 of felf-deceit, gives us time to form diftinctions in 
 our own favour, and reafon by degrees fubmits to 
 abfurdity, as the eye is in time accommodated to 
 darknefs. 
 
 In this difeafe of the foul, it is of the utmoft im- 
 portance to apply remedies at the beginning; and 
 therefore I fhall endeavour to fhew what thoughts 
 are to be rejected or improved, as they regard the 
 paft, prefent, or future; in hopes that fome may be 
 awakened to caution and vigilance, who, perhaps, 
 
 VOL. IV. E indulge
 
 50 THE RAMBLER. N 8. 
 
 indulge themfelves in dangerous dreams, fo much 
 the more dangerous, becaufe being yet only dreams, 
 they are concluded innocent. 
 
 The recollection of the paft is only ufeful by way 
 of provifion for the future; and therefore, in re- 
 viewing all occurrences that fall under a religious 
 confideration, it is proper that a man flop at the 
 firft thoughts, to remark how he was led thither, 
 and why he continues the reflection. If he is dwell- 
 ing with delight upon a ftratagem of fuccefsful 
 fraud, a night of licentious riot, or an intrigue of 
 guilty pleafure, let him fummon off his imagina- 
 tion as from an unlawful purfuit, expel thofe paf-- 
 fages from his remembrance, of which, though he 
 cannot ferioufly approve them, the pleafure over- 
 powers the guilt, and refer them to a future hour, 
 when they may be confidered with greater fafety. 
 Such an hour will certainly come ; for the impref- 
 fions of paft pleafure are always leflening, but the 
 fenfe of guilt, which refpects futurity, continues the 
 fame. 
 
 The ferious and impartial retrofpect of our con- 
 duct is indifputably neceflary to the confirmation 
 or recovery of virtue, and is, therefore, recom- 
 mended under the name of felf-examination, by 
 divines, as the firft act previous to repentance. It 
 is, indeed, of fo great ufe, that without it we Ihould 
 always be to begin life, be feduced for ever by the 
 fame allurements, and mifled by the fame fallacies. 
 But in order that we may not lofe the advantage of 
 our experience, we muft endeavour to fee every 
 thing in its proper form, and excite in ourfelves 
 
 thofe
 
 N 8. THE RAMBLER. 51 
 
 thofe fentiments which the great Author of nature 
 has decreed the concomitants or followers of good or 
 bad actions. 
 
 TT 
 ><yv eplvy Tpj ixurov ETH^I?*,' 
 
 Let not Jleep, fays Pythagoras, _/a// #/o //^y ^j- //'// 
 thrice reviewed the tranfaftions of the pajl day. Where have I 
 turned ajidefrom rectitude ? What have I been doing ? What 
 have I left undone, which I ought to have done ? Begin thus 
 from the firjl aB t and proceed; and in conclufion, at the ill ivhich 
 thou hajl done be troubled, and rejoice for the good. 
 
 Our thoughts on prefent things being determined 
 by the objects before us, fall not under thofe in- 
 dulgences, or excurfions, which I am now con- 
 fidering. But I cannot forbear, under this head, to 
 caution pious and tender minds, that are diilurbed 
 by the irruptions of wicked imaginations, againft 
 too great dejection, and too anxious alarms ; for 
 thoughts are only criminal, when they are firft cho- 
 fen, and then voluntarily continued. 
 
 Evil into the mind of god or man 
 
 May come and go, fo unapprov'd, and leave 
 
 No fpot or ftain behind. MILTON. 
 
 In futurity chiefly are the fnares lodged, by which 
 the imagination is intangled. Futurity is the pro- 
 per abode of hope and fear, with all their train and 
 progeny of fubordinate apprehenfions and defires. 
 In futurity events and chances are yet floating at 
 large, without apparent connexion with their caufes, 
 
 E 2 and
 
 52 THE RAMBLER. N 8. 
 
 and we therefore eafily indulge the liberty of grati- 
 fying ourfelves with a pleafing choice. To pick and 
 cull among pofiible advantages is, as the civil law 
 terms it, in vacuum venire, to take what belongs to 
 nobody; but it has this hazard in it, that we fhall 
 be unwilling to quit what we have feized, though 
 an owner fhould be found. It is eafy to think on 
 that which may be gained, till at laft we refolve to 
 gain it, and to image the happinefs of particular 
 conditions till we can be eafy in no other. We 
 ought, at leaft, to let our defires fix upon nothing 
 in another's power for the fake of our quiet, or in 
 another's pofieffion for the fake of our innocence. 
 When a man finds himfelf led, though by a train 
 of honeft fentiments, to wifh for that to which he 
 has no right, he fhould dart back as from a pitfal 
 covered with flowers. He that fancies he fhould 
 benefit the public more in a great ftation than the 
 man that fills it, will in time imagine it an aft of 
 virtue to fupplant him ; and as oppofition readily 
 kindles into hatred, his eagernefs to do that good, to 
 which he is not called, will betray him to crimes, 
 which in his original fcheme were never propofcd. 
 
 He therefore that would govern his actions by 
 the laws of virtue, muft regulate his thoughts by 
 thofe of reafon; he muft keep guilt from the re- 
 cefles of his heart, and remember that the pleafures 
 of fancy, and the emotions of defire, are more dan- 
 gerous as they are more hidden, fmce they efcape 
 the awe of obfervation, and operate equally in every 
 fituation, without the concurrence of external op- 
 portunities.
 
 N 9 - THE RAMBLER. 53 
 
 NUMB. 9. TUESDAY, April 17, 1750. 
 
 Quodjis effe veils, nibilque malis . MART. 
 
 Chufe what you are ; no other ftate prefer. ELPHINSTON. 
 
 IT is juftly remarked by Horace, that howfo- 
 ever every man may complain occafionally of 
 the hardfhips of his condition, he is feldom willing 
 to change it for any other on the fame level: for 
 whether it be that he, who follows an employment, 
 made choice of it at firft on account of its fuitable- 
 nefs to his inclination , or that when accident, or 
 the determination of others, have placed him in a 
 particular ftation, he, by endeavouring to reconcile 
 himfelf to it, gets the cuftom of viewing it only on 
 the faired fide 3 or whether every man thinks that 
 clafs to which he belongs the mod illuftrious, 
 merely becaufe he has honoured it with his name; 
 it is certain that, whatever be the reafon, moft 
 men have a very ftrong and active prejudice in fa- 
 vour of their own vocation, always working upon 
 their minds, and influencing their behaviour. 
 
 This partiality is fufficiently vifible in every rank 
 of the human fpecies ; but it exerts itfelf more fre- 
 quently and with greater force among thofe who 
 have never learned to conceal their fentiments for 
 reafons of policy, or to model their .expreflions by 
 the laws of politenefs ; and therefore the chief con- 
 tefts of wit among artificers and hajidicraftfmen arife 
 
 E 3 from
 
 54. THE RAMBLER. N 9. 
 
 from a mutual endeavour to exalt one trade by de- 
 preciating another. 
 
 From the fame principles are derived many con- 
 folations to alleviate the inconveniencies to which 
 every calling is peculiarly expofed. A blackfmith 
 was lately pleafing himfelf at his anvil, with ob- 
 ferving that, though his trade was hot and footy, 
 laborious and unhealthy, yet he had the honour of 
 living by his hammer, he got his bread like a man, 
 and if his fon fhould rife in the world, and keep his 
 coach, nobody could reproach him that his father 
 was a tailor. 
 
 A man, truly zealous for his fraternity, is never 
 fo irrefiftibly flattered, as when fome rival calling 
 is mentioned with contempt. Upon this principle a 
 linen-draper boafted that he had got a new cuftomer, 
 whom he could fafely truft, for he could have no 
 doubt of his honefty, fince it was known, from un- 
 queftionable anthority, that he was now filing a bill 
 in chancery to delay payment for the clothes which 
 he had worn the lad feven years; and he himfelf 
 had heard him declare, in a publick coffee-houfe, 
 that he looked upon the whole generation of woollen- 
 drapers to be fuch defpicable wretches, that no gen- 
 tleman ought to pay them. 
 
 It has been obferved that phyflcians and lawyers 
 are no friends to religion; and many conjectures 
 have been formed to difcover the reaibn of fuch a 
 combination between men who agree in nothing 
 elfe, and who feem lefs to be affected, in their own 
 provinces, by religious opinions, than any other part 
 of the community. The truth is, very few of them 
 have thought about religion j but they have all feen 
 
 a parfonj
 
 N'9- THE RAMBLER. 55 
 
 a parfonj leen him in a habit different from their 
 own, and therefore declared war againft him. A 
 young ftudent from the inns of court, who has often 
 attacked the curate of his father's parifh with fuch 
 arguments as his acquaintances could furnifh, and 
 returned to town without fuccefs, is now gone down 
 with a refolution to deftrcy him j for he has learned 
 at lad how to manage a prig, and if he pretends to 
 hold him again to fyllogifm, he has a catch in re- 
 ferve, which neither logick nor metaphyficks can 
 refifl. 
 
 I laugh to think how your unfliaken Cato 
 Will look aghaft, when unforefeen deftru&ion 
 Pours in upon him thus. 
 
 The malignity of foldiers and failors againft each 
 other has been often experienced at the coft of their 
 country; and, perhaps, no orders of men have an 
 enmity of more acrimony, or longer continuance. 
 When, upon our late fuccefles at fea, fome new re- 
 gulations were concerted for eftablifliing the rank of 
 the naval commanders, a captain of foot very acutely 
 remarked, that nothing was more abfurd than to 
 give any honorary rewards to feamen, <e for ho- 
 " nour," fays he, " ought only to be won by bra- 
 <f very, and all the world knows that in a fea- fight 
 " there is no danger, and therefore no evidence of 
 < c courage." 
 
 But although this general defire of aggrandizing 
 themfelves by railing their profeffion betrays men 
 to a thoufand ridiculous and mifchievotis acts of 
 fupplantation and detraction, yet as almoft all paf- 
 fions have their good as well as bad effects, it like- 
 E 4 wife
 
 56 THE RAMBLER. N 9. 
 
 wife excites ingenuity, and fometimes raiies an 
 honeft and ufeful emulation of diligence. It may 
 be obferved in general, that no trade had ever 
 reached the excellence to which it is now improved, 
 had its profeflbrs looked upon it with the eyes 
 of indifferent fpectatorsj the advances, from the 
 firft rude efiays, muft have been made by men 
 who valued themfelves for performances, for which 
 fcarce any other would be perfuaded to efteem 
 them. 
 
 It is pleafing to contemplate a manufacture rifing 
 gradually from its firft mean ftate by the fucceffive 
 labours of innumerable minds ; to confider the 
 firft hollow trunk of an oak, in which, perhaps, 
 the fhepherd could fcarce venture to crofs a brook 
 fwelled with a fhower, enlarged at laft into a fhip 
 of war, attacking fortrefles, terrifying nations, 
 fetting ftorms and billows at defiance, and vifiting 
 the remoteft parts of the globe. And it might 
 contribute to difpofe us to a kinder regard for 
 the labours of one another, if we were to confider 
 from what unpromifing beginnings the moft ufeful 
 productions of art have probably arifen. Who, 
 when he faw the firft fand or afhes, by a cafual 
 intenfenefs of heat melted into a metalline form, 
 rugged with excrefcences, and clouded with impu- 
 rities, would have imagined, that in this fhapelefs 
 lump lay concealed fo many conveniencies of life, 
 as would in time conftitute a great part of the hap- 
 pinefs of the world? Yet by fome fuch fortuitous 
 liquefaction was mankind taught to procure a body 
 at once in a high degree folid and tranfparent, which 
 might admit the light of the fun, and exclude the 
 
 violence
 
 N 9- THE RAMBLER. 57 
 
 violence of the wind -, which might extend the fight 
 of the philofopher to new ranges of exiftence, 
 and charm him at one time with the unbounded 
 extent of the material creation, and at another with 
 the endlefs fubordination of animal life ; and, what 
 is yet of more importance, might fupply the decays 
 of nature, and fuccour old age with fubfidiary fight. 
 Thus was the firft artificer in glafs employed, though 
 without his own knowledge or expectation. He was 
 facilitating and prolonging the enjoyment of light, 
 enlarging the avenues of fcience, and conferring the 
 higheft and moft lading pleafuresj he was enabling 
 the ftudent to contemplate nature, and the beauty to 
 behold herfelf. 
 
 This paffion for the honour of a profeffion, like 
 that for the grandeur of our own country, is to be 
 regulated, not extinguifhed. Every man, from the 
 higheft to the loweft ftation, ought to warm his 
 heart, and animate his endeavours with the hopes 
 of being ufeful to the world, by advancing the art 
 which it is his lot to exercife, and for that end he 
 muft necefiarily confider the whole extent of its ap- 
 plication, and the whole weight of its importance. 
 But let him not too readily imagine that another is 
 ill employed, becaufe, for want of fuller knowledge 
 of his bufinefs, he is not able to comprehend its dig- 
 nity. Every man ought to endeavour at eminence, 
 not by pulling others down, but by railing himfel 
 and enjoy the pleafure of his own fuperiority, whe- 
 ther imaginary or real, without interrupting others 
 in the fame felicity. The philofopher may very 
 juftly be delighted with the extent of his views, and 
 
 the
 
 58 THE RAMBLER. N> 10. 
 
 the artificer with the readinefs of his hands j but let 
 the one remember, that, without mechanical per- 
 formances, refined fpeculation is an empty dream, 
 and the other, that, without theoretical reafoning, 
 dexterity is little more than a brute inftinct. 
 
 NUMB. 10. SATURDAY, April 21, 1750. 
 
 foflbalui teunen illorum mtaferia ludo. Vl RG, 
 
 For trifling fports I quitted grave affairs. 
 
 THE number of correfpondents which increafes 
 every day upon me, fhews that my paper is at 
 lead diflinguiihed from the common productions of 
 the prefs. It is no lefs a proof of eminence to have 
 many enemies than many friends, and I look upon 
 every letter, whether it contains encomiums or re- 
 proaches, as an equal atteftation of rifing credit. 
 The only pain, which I can feel from my correfpond- 
 ence, is the fear of difgufting thofe, whofe letters 
 I fhall neglect 3 and therefore I take this opportu- 
 nity of reminding them, that in difapproving their 
 attempts, whenever it may happen, I only return 
 the treatment which I often receive. Befides, many 
 particular motives influence a writer, known only 
 to himfelf, or his private friends; and it may be 
 juftly concluded, that, not all letters which are 
 poftponed are rejected, nor all that are rejected, 
 critically condemned. 
 
 Having
 
 N io. THE RAMBLER. 59 
 
 Having thus eafed my heart of the only appre- 
 henfion that fat heavy on it, I can pleafe myfelf 
 with the candour of Benevolus, who encourages 
 me to proceed, without finking under the anger of 
 Flirtilla, who quarrels with me for being old and 
 ugly, and for wanting both activity of body, and 
 fprightlinefs of mind; feeds her monkey with my 
 lucubrations, and refufes any reconciliation, till I 
 have appeared in vindication of mafquerades. That 
 {he may not however imagine me without fupport, 
 and left to reft wholly upon my own fortitude, I 
 fhall now publifh fome letters which I have re- 
 ceived from men as well drefled, and as handfome, 
 as her favourite; and others from ladies, whom I 
 fincerely believe as young, as rich, as gay, as 
 pretty, as fafhionable, and as often toafted and 
 treated as herfelf. 
 
 <c A SET of candid readers fend their re- 
 < c ' " fpects to the Rambler, and acknowledge 
 <f his merit in fo well beginning a work that may 
 " be of publick benefit. But, fuperior as his ge- 
 " nius is to the impertinences of a trifling age, 
 " they cannot help a wifh, that he would conde- 
 " fcend to the weaknefs of minds foftened by 
 <c perpetual amufements, and now and then throw 
 Cf in, like his predecefibr, fome papers of a gay 
 " and humorous turn. Too fair a field now 
 " lies open, with too plentiful a harveft of follies ! 
 " let the cheerful Thalia put in her fickle, and, 
 " finging at her work, deck her hair with red and 
 " blue." 
 
 A LADY
 
 60 THE RAMBLER. N 10. 
 
 <f A LADY fends her compliments to the 
 Rambler, and defires to know by what 
 
 " other name fhe may direct to himj what are 
 his fet of friends, his amufementsj what his 
 " way of thinking, with regard to the living world, 
 f . { and its waysj in fhort, whether he is a perfon 
 " now alive, and in town ? If he be, fhe will do 
 c herfelf the honour to write to him pretty often, 
 " and hopes, from time to time, to be the better 
 " for his advice and animadverfions ; for his ani- 
 " madverfions on her neighbours at lead. But, if 
 " he is a mere effayift, and troubles not himfelf 
 " with the manners of the age, fhe is forry to tell 
 " him, that even the genius and correctnefs of an 
 " Addifon will not fecure him from neglect." 
 
 No man is fo much abftracted from common 
 life, as not to feel a particular pleafure from the 
 regard of the female worlds the candid writers of 
 the firft billet will not be offended, that my hafte 
 to fatisfy a lady has hurried their addrefs too foon 
 out of my mind, and that I refer them for a re- 
 ply to fome future paper, in order to tell this cu- 
 rious inquirer after my other name, the anfwer of 
 a philofopher to a man, who meeting him in the 
 flreet, defired to fee what he carried under his cloak , 
 I carry it there, fays he, that you may not fee it. But, 
 though fhe is never to know my name, fhe may 
 often fee my face; for I am of her opinion, that a 
 diurnal writer ought to view the world, and that he 
 who neglects his cotemporaries, may be, with 
 juftice, neglected by them. 
 
 "LADY
 
 N 10. THE RAMBLER. 61 
 
 (C T ADY Racket fends compliments to the 
 te ' Rambler, and lets him know, fhe fhall 
 " have cards at her houfe, every Sunday, the 
 " remainder of the feafon, where he will be fure 
 " of meeting all the good company in town. 
 " By this means fhe hopes to fee his papers inter- 
 " fperfed with living characters. She longs to 
 " fee the torch of truth produced at an aflembly, 
 " and to admire the charming luftre it will 
 " throw on the jewels, complexions, and behaviour 
 " of every dear creature there." 
 
 It is a rule with me to receive every offer with 
 the fame civility as it is made; and, therefore, 
 though lady Racket may have had fome reafon to 
 guefs, that I feldom frequent card-tables on Sun- 
 days, I fhall not infill upon an exception, which 
 may to her appear of fo little force. My bufinefs 
 has been to view, as opportunity was offered, 
 every place in which mankind was to be feen; 
 but at card-tables, however brilliant, I have al- 
 ways thought my vifit loft, for I could know 
 nothing of the company, but their clothes and 
 their faces. I law their looks clouded at the begin- 
 ning of every game with an uniform folicitude, 
 now and then in its progrefs varied with a Ihort 
 triumph, at one time wrinkled with cunning, at 
 another deadened with defpondencyj or by acci- 
 dent flufhed with rage at the unfldlful or unlucky 
 play of a partner. From fuch affemblies, in what- 
 ever humour I happened to enter them, I was 
 quickly forced to retire; they were too trifling for 
 
 me, 

 
 62 THE RAMBLER. N 10. 
 
 me, when I was grave, and too dull, when I was 
 cheerful. 
 
 Yet I cannot but value myfelf upon this token 
 of regard from a lady who is not afraid to ftand 
 before the torch of truth. Let her not, how- 
 ever, confult her curiofity more than her pru- 
 dence; but reflect a moment on the fate of Se- 
 mele, who might have lived the favourite of Jupi- 
 ter, if (he could have been content without his 
 thunder. It is dangerous for mortal beauty, or 
 terreftrial virtue, to be examined by too ftrong a 
 light. The torch of truth fhows much that we 
 cannot, and all that we would not fee. In a 
 face dimpled with fmiles, it has often difcovered 
 malevolence and envy, and detected, under jewels 
 and brocade, the frightful forms of poverty and 
 diflrefs. A fine hand of cards have changed be- 
 fore it into a thoufand fpectres of ficknefs, mifery, 
 and vexation; and immenfe fums of money, while 
 the winner counted them with tranfport, have at 
 the firft glimpfe of this unwelcome luftre vanifhed 
 from before him. If her ladylhip therefore defigns 
 to continue her afiembly, I would advife her to 
 fhun fuch dangerous experiments, to fatisfy herfelf 
 with common appearances, and to light up her 
 apartments rather with myrtle than the torch of 
 truth. 
 
 " A MODEST young man fends his fervice 
 " to the author of the Rambler, and will 
 " be very willing to afiift him in his work, but is 
 <f fadly afraid of being difcouraged by having his 
 " firft eflay rejected^ a difgrace he has woefully ex- 
 
 * f perienced
 
 N' io. THE RAMBLER. 63 
 
 " perienced in every offer he had made of it to every 
 " new writer of every new paper; but he com- 
 " forts himfelf by thinking, without vanity, that 
 " this has been from a peculiar favour of the mufes, 
 who faved his performance from being buried in 
 " trafh, and referved it to appear with luftre in the 
 Rambler.'* 
 
 I am equally a friend to modefty and enter- 
 prize; and therefore fhall think it an honour to 
 correfpond with a young man who poflefles both 
 in fo eminent a degree. Youth is, indeed, the 
 time in which thefe qualities ought chiefly to be 
 found; modefty fuits well with inexperience, and 
 enterprize with health and vigour, and an exten- 
 five profpect of life. One of my predeceflbrs 
 has juftly obferved, that, though modefty has an 
 amiable and winning appearance, it ought not to 
 hinder the exertion of the active powers, but 
 that a man ihould fhow under his blufhes a la- 
 tent refolution. This point of perfection, nice as 
 it is, my correfpondent feems to have attained. 
 That he is modeft, his own declaration may 
 evince; and, I think, the latent refolution may be 
 difcovered in his letter by an acute obferver. I 
 will advife him, fince he fo well deferves my pre- 
 cepts, not to be difcouraged, though the Rambler 
 Ihould prove equally envious, or taftelefs, with the 
 reft of this fraternity. If his paper is refufed, the 
 preffes of England are open, let him try the judg- 
 ment of the publick. If, as it has fometimes hap- 
 pened in general combinations againft merit, he 
 cannot perfuade the. world to buy his works, he may 
 
 prefent
 
 64 THE RAMBLER. N 10. 
 
 prefent them to his friends; and if his friends are 
 feized with the epidemical infatuation, and cannot 
 iind his genius, or will not confefs it, let him then 
 refer his caufe to pofterity, and referve his labours 
 for a wifer age. 
 
 Thus have I difpatched fome of my correfpond- 
 ents in the ufual manner, with fair words, and 
 general civility. But to Flirtilla, the gay Flirtilla, 
 what fhall I reply ? Unable as I am to fly, at her 
 command, over land and feas, or to fupply her 
 from week to week, with the fafhions of Paris, or 
 the intrigues of Madrid, I am yet not willing to 
 incur her further difpleafure, and would fave my 
 papers from her monkey on any reafonable terms. 
 By what propitiation, therefore, may I atone for my 
 former gravity, and open, without trembling, the 
 future letters of this fprightly perfecutor ? To write 
 in defence of mafquerades is no eafy tafk; yet fome- 
 thing difficult and daring may well be required, as 
 the price of fo important an approbation. I there- 
 fore confulted, in this great emergency, a man of 
 high reputation in gay life, who having added, to 
 his other ac-complifliments, no mean proficiency in 
 the minute philofophy, after the fifth perufal of her 
 letter, broke out with rapture into thefe words : 
 ( And can you, Mr. Rambler, ftand out againft 
 * this charming creature ? Let her know, at leaft, 
 e that from this moment Nigrinus devotes his life 
 
 < and his labours to her fervice. Is there any ftub- 
 c born prejudice of education, that (lands between 
 ' thee and the mod amiable of mankind ? Behold, 
 ( Flirtilla, at thy feet, a man grown gray in the 
 
 < ftudy of thofe noble arts by which right and 
 
 f wrong
 
 N* 10. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 * wrong may be confounded ; by which reafon 
 f may be blinded, when we have a mind to .efcape 
 
 * from her infpec~lion -, and caprice and appetite 
 ' inftated in uncontrolled command, and boundlefs 
 ' dominion ! Such a cafuift may furely engage, 
 f with certainty of fuccefs, in vindication of an 
 
 * entertainment, which in an inftant gives conft- 
 c dence to the timorous, and kindles ardour in the 
 c cold ; an entertainment where the vigilance of 
 
 * jealoufy has fo often been eluded, and the virgin 
 c is fet free from the necefiity of languifhing in 
 f filencej where all the outworks of chaftity are 
 f at once demolifhed ; where the heart is laid open 
 ( without a blufh ; where bafhfulnefs may furvive 
 c virtue, and no wifh is crulhed under the frown of 
 
 * modefty. Far weaker influence than Flirtilla's 
 c might gain over an advocate for fuch amufements. 
 c It was declared by Pompey, that, if the common- 
 c wealth was violated, he could (lamp with his foot, 
 c and raife an army out of the ground ; if the rights 
 c of pleafure are again invaded, let but Flirtilla 
 ' crack her fan, neither pens, nor fwords, fhall be 
 c wanting at die fummorisj the wit and the colonel 
 ' fhall march out at her command, and neither law 
 c nor reafon fliall (land before us.' 
 
 VOL. IV.
 
 66 THE RAMBLER. N* n. 
 
 NUMB. IT. TUESDAY, April 24, 1750, 
 
 Non DinJymene, non adytis quatit 
 Metitem facerdotum incola Pythius, 
 Non Liber <eqne, non acuta 
 Sic geminant Corybantes a:ra t 
 Trifles ut irte. Ho R . 
 
 Yet O ! remember, nor the god of wine, 
 
 Nor Pythian Pbcebui from his inmoft mrine, 
 
 Nor Dindymene, nor her priefts poflelt, 
 
 Can with their founding cymbals {hake the breaft, 
 
 Like furious anger. FRANCIS. 
 
 THE maxim which Periander of Corinth, one 
 of the feven fages of Greece, left as a memo- 
 rial of his knowledge and benevolence, was ^oAa 
 ^ari, Be mafter of thy anger. He confidered anger 
 as the great difturber of human life, the chief enemy 
 both of publick happinefs and private tranquillity, 
 and thought that he could not lay on pofterity a 
 fti;onger obligation to reverence his memory, than 
 by leaving them a falutary caution againft this out- 
 rageous paffion. 
 
 To what latitude Periander might extend the 
 word, the brevity of his precept will fcarce allow 
 us to conjecture. From anger, in its full import, 
 protracted into malevolence, and exerted in re- 
 venge, arife, indeed, many of the evils to which the 
 life of man is expofed. By anger operating upon 
 
 power
 
 NO it. THE RAMBLER. 67 
 
 power are produced the fubverfion of cities, the 
 defolation of countries, the maffacre of nations, 
 and all thofe dreadful and aftonifhing calamities 
 which fill the hiftories of the world, and which 
 could not be read at any diftant point of time, 
 when the paffions ftand neutral, and every motive 
 and principle is left to its natural force, without 
 fome doubt of the truth of the relation, did we not 
 fee the fame caufes ftill tending to the fame effects, 
 and only acting with lefs vigour for want of the fame 
 concurrent opportunities. 
 
 But this gigantick and enormous fpecies of anger 
 falls not properly under the animadverfion of a 
 writer, whofe chief end is the regulation of com- 
 mon life, and whofe precepts are to recommend 
 themfelves by their general ufe. Nor is this eflay 
 intended to expofe the tragical or fatal effects even 
 of private malignity. The anger which I propofe 
 now for my fubject is fuch as makes thofe who in- 
 dulge it more troublefome than formidable, and 
 ranks them rather with hornets and wafps, than 
 with bafilifks and lions. I have, therefore, prefixed 
 a motto, which characterifes this paflion, not fo 
 much by the mifchief that it caufes, as by the noife 
 that it utters. 
 
 There is in the world a certain clafs of mortals, 
 known, and contentedly known, by the appella- 
 tion of -pajjlonate men, who imagine themfelves en- 
 titled by that diftinction to be provoked on every 
 flight occafion, and to vent their rage in vehement 
 and fierce vociferations, in furious menaces and 
 licentious reproaches. Their rage, indeed, for the 
 molt part, fumes away in outcries of injury, and 
 
 F 2 proteftations
 
 63 THE RAMBLER. N u. 
 
 proteftations of vengeance, and feldom proceeds to 
 actual violence, unlefs a drawer or linkboy falls in 
 their way ; but they interrupt the quiet of thole 
 that happen to be within the reach of their clamours, 
 obftruct the courfe of converfation, and difturb the 
 enjoyment of fociety. 
 
 Men of this kind are fometimes not without 
 understanding or virtue, and are, therefore, not 
 always treated with the feverity which their neglect 
 of the eafe of all about them might juftly provoke; 
 they have obtained a kind of prefcription for their 
 folly, and are confidered by their companions as 
 under a predominant influence that leaves them not 
 matters of their conduct or language, as acting 
 without confcioufnefs, and rufhing into mifchicf with 
 a mift before their eyes ; they are therefore pitied 
 rather than cenfured, and their fallies are pafTed over 
 as the involuntary blows of a man agitated by the 
 Ipafms of a convulfion. 
 
 It is furely not to be obferved without indigna- 
 tion, that men may be found of minds mean enough 
 to be fatisfied with this treatment; wretches who 
 are proud to obtain the privilege of madmen, and 
 can, without fhame, and without regret, confider 
 themfelves as receiving hourly pardons from their 
 companions, and giving them continual opportu- 
 nities of exercifing their patience, and boafting their 
 clemency. 
 
 Pride is undoubtedly the original of anger j but 
 pride, like every other pafiion, if it once breaks 
 loofe from reafon, counteracts its own purpofes. A 
 paffionate man, upon the review of his day, will 
 
 have
 
 N 1 1. THE RAMBLER. 69 
 
 have very few gratifications to offer to his pride, 
 when he has confidered how his outrages were 
 caufed, why they were borne, and in what they 
 are likely to end at laft. 
 
 Thofe fudden burfts of rage generally break out 
 upon fmall occasions ; for life, unhappy as it is, 
 cannot fupply great evils as frequently as the man 
 of fire thinks it fit to be enraged ; therefore the firft 
 reflection upon his violence muft fhow him that he 
 is mean enough to be driven from his poft by every 
 petty incident, that he is the mere flave of cafualty, 
 and that his reafon and virtue are in the power of the 
 wind. 
 
 One motive there is of thefe loud extravagancies, 
 which a man is careful to conceal from others, and 
 does not always difcover to himfelf. He that finds 
 his knowledge narrow, and his arguments weak, 
 and by confequence his fufFrage not much regarded, 
 is fometimes in hope of gaining that attention by his 
 clamours, which he cannot otherwife obtain, and 
 is pleafed with remembering that at leaft he made 
 himfelf heard, that he had the power to interrupt 
 thofe whom he could not confute, and fufpend the 
 decifion which he could not guide. 
 
 Of this kind is the fury to which many men give 
 way among their fervants and domefticksi they 
 feel their own ignorance, they fee their own infigni- 
 ficancej and, therefore, they endeavour, by their 
 fury, to fright away contempt from before them, 
 when they know it mufl follow them behind ; and 
 think themfelves eminently matters, when they fee 
 pne folly tamely complied with, only left refufal or 
 delay fhould provoke them to a greater. 
 
 F 3 Thefe
 
 70 THE RAMBLER. N n. 
 
 Thefe temptations cannot but be owned to have 
 fome force. It is fo little pleafing to any man to 
 fee himfelf wholly overlooked in the mafs of things, 
 that he may be allowed to try a few expedients for 
 procuring fome kind of fupplemental dignity, and 
 ufe fome endeavour to add weight, by the violence 
 of his temper, to the lightnefs of his other powers. 
 But this has now been long practifed, and found, 
 upon the moil exa6l eflimate, not to produce ad- 
 vantages equal to its inconveniencies; for it ap- 
 pears not that a man can by uproar, tumult, and 
 blufter, alter any one's opinion of his underftand- 
 ing, or gain influence except over thofe whom for- 
 tune or nature have made his dependents. He 
 may, by a ileady perfeverance in his ferocity, fright 
 his children, and harafs his fervants, but the reft 
 of the world will look on and laugh j and he will 
 have the comfort at laft of thinking, that he lives 
 only to raife contempt and hatred, emotions to 
 which wifdom and virtue would be always unwil- 
 ling to give occafion. He has contrived only to make 
 thofe fear him, whom every reafonable being is 
 endeavouring to endear by kindnefs, and muft con- 
 tent himfelf with the pleafure of a triumph obtained 
 by trampling on them who could not refill. He 
 muft perceive that the apprehenfion which his pre- 
 fence caufes is not the awe of his virtue, but the 
 dread of his brutality, and that he has given up the 
 felicity of being loved, without gaining the honour 
 of being reverenced. 
 
 But this is not the only ill confequence of the 
 frequent indulgence of this bluftering pafiion, which 
 a man, by often calling to his affiftance, will teach, 
 
 in
 
 NO ii. THE RAMBLER. 71 
 
 in a fhort time, to intrude before the fummons, to 
 rufti upon him with refiftlefs violence, and without 
 any previous notice of its approach. He will find 
 himfelf liable to be inflamed at the firft touch of 
 provocation, and unable to retain his refentment, 
 till he has a full conviction of the offence, to pro- 
 portion his anger to the caufe, or to regulate it by 
 prudence or by duty. When a man has once fuf- 
 fered his mind to be thus vitiated, he becomes one 
 of the mod hateful and unhappy beings. He can 
 give no fecurity to himfelf that he (hall not, at the 
 next interview, alienate by fome fudden tranfport 
 his deareft friend ; or break out, upon fome (light 
 contradiction, into fuch terms of rudenefs as can 
 never be perfectly forgotten. Whoever converfes 
 with him, lives with the fufpicion and folicitude of a 
 man that plays with a tame tiger, always under a 
 neceflity of watching the moment in which the ca- 
 pricious favage fhall begin to growl. 
 
 It is told by Prior, in a panegyrick on the Duke 
 of Dorfet, that his fervants ufed to put themfelves 
 in his way when he was angry, becaufe he was fure 
 to recompenfe them for any indignities which he 
 made them fuffer. This is the round of a paf- 
 fionate man's lifej he contracts debts when he is 
 furious, which his virtue, if he has virtue, obliges 
 him to difcharge at the return of reafon. He 
 fpends his time in outrage and acknowledgment, 
 injury and reparation. Or, if there be any who 
 hardens himfelf in opprefiion, and juftifies the 
 wrong, becaufe he has done it, his infenfibility can 
 make fmall part of his praife, or his happinefsj he 
 only adds deliberate to hafty folly, aggravates petu- 
 
 F 4 lance
 
 72 THE RAMBLER. N 11. 
 
 lance by contumacy, and deftroys the only plea 
 that he can offer for the tendernefs and patience of 
 mankind. 
 
 Yet, even this degree of depravity we may be 
 content to pity, becaufe it feldom wants a punifh- 
 ment equal to its guilt. Nothing is more defpi- 
 cable or more miferable than the old age of a paf- 
 fionate man. When the vigour of youth fails him, 
 and his amufements pall with frequent repetition, 
 his occafional rage finks by decay of ftrength into 
 peevifhnefs; that peevifhnefs, for want of novelty 
 and variety, becomes habitual; the world falls off 
 from around him, and he is left, as Homer exprefies 
 it, <p9ii/u'0cji/ tpixov xijf, to devour his own heart in foil- 
 tude and contempt.
 
 N 12. THE RAMBLER. 73 
 
 NUMB. 12. SATURDAY, April 28, 1750. 
 
 Miferum par-Tja Jlipe focilat, ut pudibundos 
 
 Exercere fales inter con--vivia poflit. 
 
 Tu mitis, & acri 
 
 dfperitate carens, pofiloque per omniafaftu, 
 Inter ut tfqttales units numeraris amicos, 
 Obfequiumque daces, & amorem queeris amando. 
 
 Lucanus ad Pifonem. 
 
 Unlike the ribald vvhofe licentious jeft 
 
 Pollutes his banquet, and infults his gueft ; 
 
 From wealth and grandeur eafy to defcend, 
 
 Thou joy'ft to lofe the mafter in the friend : 
 
 We round thy board the cheerful menials fee, 
 
 Gay with the fmile of bland equality ; 
 
 "No focial care the gracious lord difdains; 
 
 Love prompts to love, and rev'rence rev'rence gains. 
 
 fa the RAMBLER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 AS you feem to have devoted your labours to 
 virtue, I cannot forbear to inform you of one 
 fpecies of cruelty with which the life of a man of 
 letters perhaps does not often make him acquainted; 
 and which, as it feems to produce no other advan- 
 tage to thofe that praftife it than a fhort gratifica- 
 tion of thoughtlefs vanity, may become lefs common 
 when it has been once expofed in its various forms, 
 and its full magnitude. 
 
 I am the daughter of a country gentleman, whole 
 family is numerous, and whofe eftate, not at firft 
 
 fufficient
 
 74 THE RAMBLER. N 12. 
 
 fufEcient to fupply us with affluence, has been lately 
 fo much impaired by an unfuccefsful law-fuit, that 
 all the younger children are obliged to try fuch 
 means as their education affords them, for procuring 
 the necefiaries of life. Diftrefs and curiofity con- 
 curred to bring me to London, where I was received 
 by a relation with the coldnefs which misfortune ge- 
 nerally finds. A week, a long week, I lived with 
 my coufin, before the moil vigilant enquiry could 
 procure us the lead hopes of a place, in which time 
 I was much better qualified to bear all the vexations 
 of fervitude. The firft two days fhe was content to 
 pity me, and only wifhed I had not been quite fo 
 well-bred; but people muft comply with their cir- 
 cumftances. This lenity, however, was foon at an 
 end; and, for the remaining part of the week, I 
 heard every hour of the pride of my family, the ob- 
 ftinacy of my father, and of people better born than 
 myfelf that were common fervants. 
 
 At laft, on Saturday noon, fhe told me, with very 
 vifible fatisfaflion, that Mrs. Bombafme, the great 
 filk- mercer's lady, wanted a maid, and a fine place 
 it would be, for there would be nothing to do but 
 to clean my miftrefs's room, get up her linen, drefs 
 the young ladies, wait at tea in the morning, take 
 care of a little mifs juft come from nurfe, and then 
 fit down to my needle. But madam was a woman 
 of great fpirit, and would not be contradicted, and 
 therefore I fhould take care, for good places were not 
 eafily to be got. 
 
 With thefe cautions I waited on madam Bom- 
 bafine, of whom the firft fight gave me no ravifhing 
 ideas. She was two yards round the wah% her voice 
 
 was
 
 N 12. THE RAMBLER. 75 
 
 was at once loud and fqueaking, and her face 
 brought to my mind the picture of the full moon. 
 Are you the young woman, fays (he, that are come 
 to offer yourfelf ? It is flrange when people of fub- 
 ftance want a fervant, how foon it is the town -talk. 
 But they know they fhall have a belly-full that live 
 with me. Not like people at the other end of the 
 town, we dine at one o'clock. But I never take 
 any body without a character; what friends do you 
 come of? I then told her that my father was a gen- 
 tleman, and that we had been unfortunate. A great 
 misfortune, indeed, to come to me, and have three 
 meals a-day ! So your father was a gentleman, and 
 you are a gentlewoman I fuppofe fuch gentlewo- 
 men! Madam, I did not mean to claim any 
 exemptions, 1 only anfwered your enquiry Such 
 gentlewomen ! people fliould fet their children to 
 good trades, and keep them off the parifh. Pray 
 go to the other end of the town, there are gentle- 
 women, if they would pay their -debts : I am fure 
 we have loft enough by gentlewomen. Upon this, 
 her broad face grew broader with triumph, and I 
 was afraid fhe would have taken me for the pleafure 
 of continuing her infult ; but happily the next word 
 was, Pray, Mrs. gentlewoman, troop down flairs. 
 You may believe I obeyed her. 
 
 I returned and met with a better reception from 
 my coufm than I expected i for while I was out, Ihe 
 had heard that Mrs. Standifh, whofe hufband had 
 lately been raifed from a clerk in an office, to be 
 commiffioner of the excife, had taken a fine houfe> 
 and wanted a maid. 
 
 To
 
 76 THE RAMBLER. N 12. 
 
 To Mrs. Standiili I went, and, after having 
 waited fix hours, was at laft admitted to the top of 
 the ftairs, when fhe came out of her room, with 
 two of her company. There was a fmell of punch. 
 So, young woman, you want a place j whence do 
 you come ? From the country, madam. Yes, they 
 all come out of the country. And what brought you 
 to town, a baftard ? Where do you lodge ? At the 
 Seven-Dials ? What, you never heard of the found- 
 ling-houfe ! Upon this, they all laughed fo obftre- 
 peroufly, that I took the opportunity of fneaking off 
 in the tumult. 
 
 I then heard of a place at an elderly lady's. She 
 was at cards; but in two hours, I was told, fhe 
 would fpeak to me. She aiked me if I could keep 
 an account, and ordered me to write. I wrote two 
 lines out of fome book that lay by her. She won- 
 dered what people meant, to breed up poor girls to 
 write at that rate. I fuppofe, Mrs. Flirt, if I was 
 to fee your work, it would be fine fluff! You may 
 walk. I will not have love-letters written from my 
 houfe to every young fellow in the ftreet. 
 
 Two days after, I went on the fame purfuit to 
 Lady Lofty, dreffed, as I was directed, in what 
 little ornaments I had, becaufe fhe had lately got 
 a place at court. Upon the firft fight of me, (he 
 turns to the woman that fhowed me in, Is this the 
 lady that wants a place ? Pray what place wou'd 
 you have, mifs ? a maid of honour's place ? Ser- 
 vants now a-days ! Madam, I heard you wanted 
 Wanted what ? Somebody finer than myfelf ! A 
 pretty fervant indeed I fhould be afraid to fpeak 
 
 to
 
 N* 1 2. THE RAMBLER. 77 
 
 to her I fuppofe, Mrs. Minx, thefe fine hands 
 cannot bear wetting A fervant indeed ! Pray 
 move off I am refolved to be the head perfon in 
 this houfe You are ready drefs'd, the taverns will 
 be open. 
 
 I went to enquire for the next place in a clean 
 linen gown, and heard the fervant tell his lady, there 
 was a young woman, but he faw fhe would not do. 
 I was brought up, however. Are you the trollop 
 that has the impudence to come for my place? 
 What, you have hired that nafty gown, and are 
 come to fteal a better Madam, I have another, 
 but being obliged to walk Then thefe are your 
 manners, with your blufhes, and your courtefies, to 
 come to me in your worft gown. Madam, give me 
 leave to wait upon you in my other. Wait on me, 
 you fancy flut ! Then you are fure of coming I 
 could not let fuch a drab come near me Here, you 
 girl, that came up with her, have you touched her ? 
 If you have, wafh your hands before you drefs me 
 Such trollops ! Get you down. W T hat, whimpering ? 
 Pray walk. 
 
 J went away with tears j for my coufm had loft 
 all patience. However, fhe told me, that having 
 a refpecl: for my relations, fhe was willing to keep 
 me out of the ftreet, and would let me have another 
 week. 
 
 The firft day of this week I faw two places. At 
 one I was afked where I had lived ? And upon my 
 anfwer, was told by the lady, that people fhould qua- 
 lify themfelves in ordinary places, for fhe fhould 
 never have done if Ihe was to follow girls about. At 
 the other houfe I was a fmirking huffy, and that 
 
 fweet
 
 73 THE RAMBLER. N 12. 
 
 fweet face I might make money of For her part, it 
 was a rule with her never to take any creature that 
 thought herfelf handfome. 
 
 The three next days were fpent in Lady Bluff's 
 entry, where I waited fix hours every day for the 
 pleafure of feeing the fervants peep at me, and go 
 away laughing. Madam will ftretch her fmall fhanks 
 in the entry; fhe will know the houfe again. At 
 fun-fet the two firft days I was told, that my lady 
 would fee me to-morrow, and on the third, that her 
 woman ftaid. 
 
 My week was now near its end, and I had no hopes 
 of a place. My relation, who always laid upon me 
 the blame of every miicarriage, told me that I muft 
 learn to humble myfelf, and that all great ladies had 
 particular ways ; that if I went on in that manner, 
 Ihe could not tell who would keep mej fhe had 
 known many that had refufed places, fell their 
 clothes, and beg in the flreets. 
 
 It was to no purpofe that the refufal was declared 
 by me to be never on my fide; I was reafoning 
 againft intereft, and againft ftupidity; and therefore 
 I comforted myfelf with the hope of fucceeding bet- 
 ter in my next attempt, and went to Mrs. Courtly, 
 a very fine lady, who had routes at her houfe, and 
 faw the bed company in town. 
 
 I had not waited two hours before I was called 
 up, and found Mr. Courtly and his lady at piquet, 
 in the height of good humour. This 1 looked on 
 as a favourable fign, and flood at the lower end of 
 the room, in expectation of the common queftions. 
 At laft Mr. Courtly called out, after a whifper, 
 Stand facing the light, that one may fee you. I 
 
 chang'd
 
 N 12. THE RAMBLER. 79 
 
 chang'd my place, and blufh'd. They frequently 
 turn'd their eyes upon me, and feem'd to difcover 
 many fubjects of merriment ; for at every look 
 they whifper'd, and laugh'd with the mod violent 
 agitations of delight. At lad Mr. Courtly cried 
 out, Is that colour your own, child ? Yes, fays 
 the lady, if fhe has not robb'd the kitchen hearth. 
 This was fo happy a conceit, that it renew'd the 
 ftorm of laughter, and they threw down their cards 
 in hopes of better fport. The lady then called me 
 to her, and began with an affected gravity to en- 
 quire what I could do ? But firft turn about, and 
 let us fee your fine fhape : Well, what are you fit 
 for, Mrs. Mum ? You would find your tongue, I 
 fuppofe, in the kitchen. No, no, fays Mr. Courtly, 
 the girl's a good girl yet, but I am afraid a brifk 
 young fellow, with fine tags on his ihoulder 
 Come, child, hold up your head -, what ? you have 
 
 dole nothing. Not yet, fays the lady, but fhe 
 
 hopes to fteal your heart quickly. Here was a 
 laugh of happinefs and triumph, prolonged by the 
 confufion which I could no longer reprefs. At laft 
 the lady recollected herfelf : Stole ? no but if I 
 had her, I fhould watch her; for that downcaft 
 eye Why cannot you look people in the face ? 
 Steal ! fays her hufband, fhe would fteal nothing 
 but, perhaps, a few ribbands before they were left 
 off by her lady. Sir, anfwer'd I, why fhould you, 
 by fuppofmg me a thief, infult one from whom you 
 have received no injury? Infult, fays the lady; are 
 you come here to be a fervant, you faucy baggage, 
 and talk of infulting ? What will this world come 
 to, if a gentleman may notjeft with a fervant ? Well, 
 
 fuch
 
 8o THE RAMBLER. N 12. 
 
 fuch fervants ! pray be gone, and fee when you will 
 have the honour to be fo infulted again. Servants 
 infulted a fine time Infulted ! Get down flairs, 
 you' fiut, or the footman fhall infult you. 
 
 The laft day of the laft week was now coming, 
 and my kind coufm talked of fending me down in 
 the waggon to preferve me from bad courfes. But 
 in the morning fhe came and told me that fhe had 
 one trial more for me; Euphemia wanted a maid, 
 and perhaps I might do for her; for, like me, fhe 
 muft fall her creft, being forced to lay down her 
 chariot upon the lofs. of half her fortune by bad 
 fecurities, and with her way of giving her money 
 to every body that pretended to want it, fhe could 
 have little beforehand ; therefore I might ferve her ; 
 for, with all her fine fenfe, fhe muft not pretend to 
 be nice. 
 
 I went immediately, and met at the door a young 
 gentlewoman, who told me fhe had herfelf been hired 
 that morning, but that fhe was ordered to bring any 
 that offered up flairs. I was accordingly introduced 
 to Euphemia, who, when I came in, laid down her 
 book, and told me, that fhe fent for me not to gra- 
 tify an idle curiofity, but left my difappointment 
 might be made ftill more grating by incivility ; that 
 fhe was in pain to deny any thing, much more 
 what was no favour; that fhe faw nothing in my 
 appearance which did not make her wifh for my 
 company ; but that another, whofe claims might 
 perhaps be equal, had come before me. The 
 thought of being fo near to fuch a place, and miffing 
 it, brought tears into my eyes, and my fobs hinder 'd 
 me from returning my acknowledgements. She rofe 
 
 up
 
 Ni3- THE RAMBLER. 81 
 
 up confufed, and fuppofing by my concern that I 
 was diftreffed, placed me by her, and made me tell 
 her my ftory ; which when fhe had heard, fhe put 
 two guineas in my hand, ordering me to lodge near 
 her, and make ufe of her table till fhe could provide 
 for me. I am now under her protection, and know 
 not how to fhew my gratitude better than by giving 
 this account to the RAMBLER. 
 
 ZOSIMA. 
 
 NUMB. 13. TUESDAY, May i, 1750. 
 
 Commffumqiie teges ff <vino tart us & ira. HOR. 
 
 And let not wine or anger wrefl 
 
 TV intrufted fecret from your breaft. FRANCIS. 
 
 IT is related by Quintus Curtius, that the Perfians 
 always conceived an invincible contempt of a 
 man, who had violated the laws of fecrecy j for they 
 thought, that, however he might be deficient in the 
 qualities requifite to actual excellence, the negative 
 virtues at lead were in his power, and though he 
 perhaps could not fpeak well if he was to try, it was 
 Hill eafy for him not to fpeak. 
 
 In forming this opinion of the eafmefs of fecrecy 
 they feem to have confidered it as oppofed, not to 
 treachery, but loquacity, and to have conceived the 
 man, whom they thus cenfured, not frighted by 
 menaces to reveal, or bribed by promifes to betray, 
 
 VOL. IV. G but
 
 82 THE RAMBLER. N 13. 
 
 but incited by the mere pleafure of talking, or fome 
 other motive equally trifling, to lay open his heart 
 without reflection, and to let whatever he knew flip 
 from him, only for want of power to retain it. Whe- 
 ther, by their fettled and avowed fcorn of thought- 
 lefs talkers, the Perfians were able to diffufe to any 
 great extent the virtue of taciturnity, we are hin- 
 dered by the diftance of thofe times from being able 
 to difcover, there being very few memoirs remaining 
 of the court of Perfepolis, nor any diftinct accounts 
 handed down to us of their office- clerks, their ladies 
 of the bed-chamber, their attorneys, their chamber- 
 maids, or their footmen. 
 
 In thefe latter ages, though the old animofity 
 againft a prattler is ftiil retained, it appears wholly 
 to have loft its effect upon the conduct of mankind ; 
 for fecrets are fo feldom kept, that it may with fome 
 reafon be doubted, whether the ancients were not 
 miftaken in their firft poftulate, whether the quality 
 of retention be fo generally beftowed, and whether a 
 fecret has not fome fubtle volatility, by which it 
 efcapes imperceptibly at the fmalleft vent, or fome 
 power of fermentation, by which it expands itfelf fo 
 as to burfl the heart that will not give it way. 
 
 Thofe that ftudy either the body or the mind of 
 man, very often find the moft fpecious and pleafing 
 theory falling under the weight of contrary ex- 
 perience; and inftead of gratifying their vanity by 
 inferring effects from caufes, they are always reduced 
 ?.t laft to conjecture caufes from effects. That it is 
 cafy to be fecret, the fpeculatift can demonftrate in 
 his retreat, and therefore thinks himfelf juftified in 
 placing confidence j the man of the world knows, 
 
 that, 

 
 N'IJ. THE RAMBLER. gj 
 
 that, whether difficult or not, it is uncommon, and 
 therefore finds himfelf rather inclined to fearch after 
 the reafon of this univerfal failure in one of the moft 
 important duties of fociety. 
 
 The vanity of being known to be trufted with a 
 fecret is generally one of the chief motives to difclofe 
 it; for however abfurd it may be thought to boaft 
 an honour by an aft which fhews that it was conferred 
 without merit, yet moft men feem rather inclined to 
 confefs the want of virtue than of importance, and 
 more willingly fliew their influence, though at the 
 expence of their probity, than glide through life with 
 no other pleafure than the private confcioufnefs of 
 fidelity ; which, while it is preferved, muft be with- 
 out praife, except from the fmgle perfon who tries 
 and knows it. 
 
 There are many ways of telling a fecret, by which 
 a man exempts himfelf from the reproaches of his 
 confcience, and gratifies his pride, without fuffering 
 himfelf to believe that he impairs his virtue. He 
 tells the private affairs of his patron, or his friend, 
 only to thofe from whom he would not conceal his 
 own; he tells them to thofe, who have no tempta- 
 tion to betray the truft, or with a denunciation of a 
 certain forfeiture of his friendship, if he difcovers that 
 they become publick. 
 
 Secrets are very frequently told in the firft ardour 
 of kindnefs, or of love, for the fake of proving, by 
 fo important a facrifice, fincerity or tendernefs j 
 but with this motive, though it be ftrong in itfelf, 
 vanity concurs, fmce every man defires to be moft 
 efteemed by thofe whom he loves, or with whom he 
 converfes, with whom he pafTes his hours of plea- 
 
 G 2 fure,
 
 84 THE RAMBLER. N 13. 
 
 fure, and to whom he retires from bufinefs and from 
 care. 
 
 When the difcovery of fecrets is under confidera- 
 tion, there is always a diftinftion carefully to be 
 made between our own and thole of another; thofe 
 of which we are fully matters, as they affecl: only our 
 own intereft, and thofe which are repofited with us 
 in truft, and involve the happinefs or convenience of 
 fuch as we have no right to expofe to hazard. To 
 tell our own fecrets is generally folly, but that folly 
 is without guilt; to communicate thofe with which 
 we are intruded is always treachery, and treachery 
 for the moft part combined with folly. 
 
 There have, indeed, been fome enthufiaftick and 
 irrational z-ealots for friendfliip, who have maintain- 
 ed, and perhaps believed, that one friend has a right 
 to all that is in poflefilon of another; and that there- 
 fore it is a violation of kindnefs to exempt any fecret 
 from this boundlefs confidence. Accordingly a late 
 female minifter of ftate has been (hamelefs enough to 
 inform the world, that fhe ufed, when (he wanted to 
 extraft any thing from her fovereign, to remind her 
 of Montaigne's reafoning, who has determined, 
 that to tell a fecret to a friend is no breach of fidelity, 
 becaufe the number of perfons trufted is not multi- 
 plied, a man and his friend being virtually the fame. 
 
 That fuch a fallacy could be impofed upon any 
 human underftanding, or that an author could have 
 advanced a pofition fo remote from truth and reafon, 
 any other ways than as a declaimer, to fhew to what 
 extent he could fr.rer.ch his imagination, a.nd with 
 what ftrength he could prefs his principle, would 
 fcarcely have been credible, had not this lady kindly 
 
 ihewn
 
 N*IJ. THE RAMBLER. 3$ 
 
 fliewn us how far weaknefs may be deluded, or 
 indolence amufed. But fmce it appears, that even 
 this fophiftry has been able, with the help of a 
 ftrong defire, to repofe in quiet upon the underftand- 
 ing of another, to miflead honeft intentions, and 
 an underftanding not contemptible, it may not be 
 fuperfluous to remark, that thofe things which are 
 common among friends are only fuch as either pof- 
 feffes in his own right, and can alienate or deftroy 
 without injury to any other perfon. Without this 
 limitation confidence muft run on without end, the 
 fecond perfon may tell the fecret to the third, upon 
 the fame principle as he received it from the firft, 
 and a third may hand it forward to a fourth, till at 
 laft it is told in the round of friendfhip to them from 
 whom it was the firft intention to conceal it. 
 
 The confidence which Caius has of the faithful- 
 nefs of Titius is nothing more than an opinion which 
 himfelf cannot know to be true, and which Claudius, 
 who firft tells his fecret to Caius, may know to be 
 falfe ; and therefore the truft is transferred by Caius, 
 if he reveal what has been told him, to one from 
 whom the perfon originally concerned would have 
 withheld it; and whatever may be the event, Caius 
 has hazarded the happinefs of his friend, without 
 neceflhy and without permifiion, and has put that 
 truft in the hand of fortune which was given only to 
 virtue. 
 
 All the arguments upon which a man who is tell- 
 ing the private affairs of another may ground his 
 confidence of fecurity, he muft upon reflection know 
 to be uncertain, becaufe he finds them without 
 effect upon himfelf. When he is imagining that 
 
 G 3 Titius
 
 86 THE RAMBLER. N 13. 
 
 Titius will be cautious from a regard to his intereft, 
 his reputation, or his duty, he ought to reflecl that 
 he is himfelf at that inftant acting in oppofition to 
 all thefe reafons, and revealing what intereft, repu- 
 tation, and duty direct him to conceal. 
 
 Every one feels that in his own cafe he fhould 
 confider the man incapable of truft, who believed 
 himfelf at liberty to tell whatever he knew to the firft 
 whom he fhould conclude deferving of his confi- 
 dence -, therefore Caius, in admitting Titius to the 
 affairs imparted only to himfelf, muft know that he 
 violates his faith, fmce he acts contrary to the inten- 
 tion of Claudius, to whom that faith was given. For 
 promifes of friendfhip are, like all others, ufelefs 
 and vain, unlefs they are made in fome known fenfe, 
 adjufted and acknowledged by both parties. 
 
 I am not ignorant that many queftions may be 
 flatted relating to the duty of fecrecy, where the 
 affairs are of publick concern j where fubfequenc 
 reafons may arife to alter the appearance and nature 
 of the truft j that the manner in which the fecret 
 was told may change the degree of obligation ; and 
 that the principles upon which a man is chofen for 
 a confident may not always equally conftrain him. 
 But thefe fcruples, if not too intricate, are of too 
 extenfive confideration for my prefent purpofe, 
 nor are they fuch as generally occur in common 
 lifej and though cafuiftical knowledge be ufeful in 
 proper hands, yet it ought by no means to be care- 
 lefsly expofed, fmce moft will ufe it rather to lull 
 than awaken their own confciences ; and the threads 
 of reafoning, on which truth is fufpended, are fre- 
 quently drawn to fuch fubtility, that common eyes 
 
 cannot
 
 N'xj. THE RAMBLER. 87 
 
 cannot perceive, and common fenfibility cannot feel 
 them. 
 
 The whole doctrine, as well as practice of fecrecy, 
 is fo perplexing and dangerous, that, next to him 
 who is compelled to truft, I think him unhappy who 
 is chofen to be trufted; for he is often involved in 
 fcruples without the liberty of calling in the help of 
 any other underftanding ; he is frequently drawn into 
 guilt, under the appearance of friendfhip and honefty; 
 and fometimes fubjected to fufpicion by the trea- 
 chery of others, who are engaged without his know- 
 ledge in the fame fchemesj for he that has one con- 
 fident has generally more, and when he is at laft be- 
 trayed, is in doubt on whom he fhall fix the crime. 
 
 The rules therefore that I fhall propofe concerning 
 fecrecy, and from which I think it not fafe to devi- 
 ate, without long and exact deliberation, are Never 
 to folicit the knowledge of a fecret. Not willingly, 
 nor without many limitations, to accept fuch confi- 
 dence when it is offered. When a fecret is once ad- 
 mitted, to confider the truft as of a very high nature, 
 important as fociety, and facred as truthj and there- 
 fore not to be violated for any incidental conveni- 
 ence, or flight appearance of contrary fitnefs.
 
 88 THE RAMBLER. N 14, 
 
 NUMB. 14. SATURDAY, May 5, 1750. 
 
 Nilfitit ujtquam 
 Sic difparjlbi Ho R . 
 
 Sure fuch a various creature ne'er was known. FRANCIS. 
 
 AMONG the many inconfiftencles which folly 
 produces, or infirmity fufFers in the human 
 rnind, there has often been obferved a manifeft and 
 ftriking contrariety between the life of an author and 
 his writings ; and Milton, in a letter to a learned 
 ftranger, by whom he had been vifited, with great 
 reafon congratulates himfelf upon the confcioufnefs 
 of being found equal to his own character, and having 
 preferved, in a private and familiar interview, that 
 reputation which his works had procured him. 
 
 Thofe whom the appearance of virtue, or the 
 evidence of genius, have tempted to a nearer know- 
 ledge of the writer in whofe performances they 
 may be found, have indeed had frequent reafon to 
 repent their curiofity j the bubble that fparkled 
 before them has become common water at the 
 touch ; the phantom of perfection has vanifhed 
 when they wiihed to prefs it to their boibm. They 
 have loft the pleafure of imagining how far huma- 
 nity may be exalted, and, perhaps, felt themfelves 
 kfs inclined to toil up the fteeps of virtue, when 
 they obferve thofe who ieem beft able to point the 
 
 way,
 
 NO 14- THE RAMBLER. 89 
 
 way, loitering below, as either afraid of the labour, 
 or doubtful of the reward. 
 
 It has been long the cuftom of the oriental mo- 
 narchs to hide themfelves in gardens and palaces, 
 to avoid the converfation of mankind, and to be 
 known to their fubjects only by their edicts. The 
 fame policy is no lefs neceffary to him that writes, 
 than to him that governs ; for men would not more 
 patiently fubmit to be taught, than commanded, by 
 one known to have the fame follies and weakneffes 
 with themfelves. A fudden intruder into the 
 clofet of an author would perhaps feel equal indig- 
 nation with the officer, who having long folicited 
 ad million into the prefence of Sardanapalus, faw 
 him not confulting upon laws, enquiring into 
 grievances, or modelling armies, but employed in 
 feminine amufements, and directing the ladies in 
 their work. 
 
 It is not difficult to conceive, however, that for 
 many reafons a man writes much better than he 
 lives. For without entering into refined fpecula- 
 tions, it may be Ihewn much eafier to defign than 
 to perform. A man propofes his fchemes of life 
 in a (late of abftradion and difengagement, ex- 
 empt from the enticements of hope, the folicitations 
 of affection, the importunities of appetite, or the 
 depreffions of fear, and is in the fame ftate with him 
 that teaches upon land the art of navigation, to 
 whom the fea is always fmooth, and the wind always 
 profperous. 
 
 The mathematicians are well acquainted with 
 the difference between pure fcience, which has to 
 do only with ideas, and the application of its laws 
 
 to
 
 90 THE RAMBLER. N 14. 
 
 to the ufe of life, in which they are conftrained to 
 fubmit to the imperfection of matter and the influ- 
 ence of accidents. Thus, in moral difcuffions, it is 
 to be remembered that many impediments obftruft 
 our practice, which very eafily give way to theory. 
 The fpeculatift is only in danger of erroneous rea- 
 foning, but the man involved in life has his own 
 paffions, and thofe of others, to encounter, and is 
 embarraffed with a thoufand inconveniencies, which 
 confound him with variety of impulfe, and either 
 perplex or obftruct his way. He is forced to aft 
 without deliberation, and obliged to chufe before 
 he can examine: he is furprifed by fudden altera- 
 tions of the ftate of things, and changes his mea- 
 fures according to fuperficial appearances; he is 
 led by others, either becaufe he is indolent, or be- 
 caufe he is timorous; he is fometimes afraid to 
 know what is right, and fometimes finds friends or 
 enemies diligent to deceive him. 
 
 We are, therefore, not to wonder that moft fail, 
 amidft tumult, and fnares, and danger, in the ob- 
 fervance of thofe precepts, which they lay down 
 in folitude, fafety, and tranquillity, with a mind 
 tmbiafTed, and with liberty unobftructed. It is the 
 condition of our prefent ftate to fee more than we 
 can attain ; the exacteft vigilance and caution can 
 never maintain a fingle day of unmingled inno- 
 cence, much lefs can the utmoft efforts of incorpo- 
 rated mind reach the fummit of fpeculative virtue. 
 
 It is, however, neceffary for the idea of perfec- 
 tion to be propofed, that we may have fome object 
 to which our endeavours are to be directed 3 and 
 he that is moft deficient in the duties of life, makes 
 
 fome 

 
 N 14- THE RAMBLER. 91 
 
 fome atonement for his faults, if he warns others 
 againft his own failings, and hinders, by the falu- 
 brity of his admonitions, the contagion of his ex- 
 ample. 
 
 Nothing is more unjuft, however common, than 
 to charge with hypocrify him that exprefifes zeal 
 for thofe virtues which he neglects to practifej 
 fmce he may be fincerely convinced of the advan- 
 tages of conquering his paflions, without having 
 yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confi- 
 dent of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, 
 without having courage or induftry to undertake 
 it, and may honeftly recommend to others, thofe 
 attempts which he neglects himfelf. 
 
 The intereft which the corrupt part of mankind 
 have in hardening themfelves againft every motive 
 to amendment, has difpofed them to give to thefe 
 contradictions, when they can be produced againft 
 the caufe of virtue, that weight which they will not 
 allow them in any other cafe. They fee men act in 
 oppofition to their intereft, without fuppofing, that 
 they do not know it; thofe who give way to the 
 fudden violence of paffion, and forfake the moft 
 important purfuits for petty pleafures, are not fup- 
 pofed to have changed their opinions, or to ap- 
 prove, their own conduct. In moral or religious 
 queftions alone they determine the fentiments by 
 the actions, and charge every man with endea- 
 vouring to impofe upon the world, whofe writings 
 are not confirmed by his life. They never confi- 
 der that themfelves neglect or practife fomething 
 every day inconfiftently with their own fettled 
 judgment, nor difcover that the conduct of the 
 
 advocates
 
 92 THE RAMBLER. N 14. 
 
 advocates for virtue can little increafe, or leflerr, 
 the obligations of their dictates ; argument is to be 
 invalidated only by argument, and is in itfelf of the 
 fame force, whether or not it convinces him by 
 whom it is propofed. 
 
 Yet fince this prejudice, however unreafonable, 
 is always likely to have fome prevalence, it is the 
 duty of every man to take care left he fhould hinder 
 the efficacy of his own inftructions. When he defires 
 to gain the belief of others, he fhould ihew that he 
 believes himfelf -, and when he teaches the fitnefs of 
 virtue by his reafonings, he fhould, by his example, 
 prove its poflibility : Thus much at leaft may be re- 
 quired of him, that he fhall not act worfe than 
 others becaufe he writes better, nor imagine that, by 
 the merit of his genius, he may claim indulgence 
 beyond mortals of the lower claffes, and be excufed 
 for want of prudence, or neglect of virtue. 
 
 Bacon, in his hiftory of the winds, after having 
 offered fomething to the imagination as defirable, 
 often propofes lower advantages in its place to the 
 reafon as attainable. The fame method may be 
 fometimes purfued in moral endeavours, which 
 this philofopher has obferved in natural enquiries; 
 having firft fet pofitive and abfolute excellence be- 
 fore us, we may be pardoned though we fink down 
 to humbler virtue, trying, however, to keep our 
 point always in view, and ftruggling not to lofe 
 ground, though we cannot gain it. 
 
 It is recorded of Sir Matthew Hale, that he, for 
 a long time, concealed the confecration of himfelf 
 to the ftricter duties of religion, left, by fome flagi- 
 tious and fhameful action, he fhould bring piety 
 
 into
 
 N 1 4 . THE RAMBLER. 93 
 
 into diigrace. For the fame reafon in may be pru- 
 dent for a writer, who apprehends that he fhall not 
 inforce his own maxims by his domeftick character, 
 to conceal his name, that he may not injure them. 
 
 There are, indeed, a great number whofe cu- 
 riofity to gain a more familiar knowledge of fucceff- 
 ful writers, is not fo much prompted by an opinion 
 of their power to improve as to delight, and who 
 expect from them not arguments againft vice, or 
 diflertations on temperance or juftice, but flights of 
 wit, and fallies of pleafantry, or, at leaft, acute re- 
 marks, nice diftinctions, juftnefs of fentiment, and 
 elegance of diflion. 
 
 This expectation is, indeed, fpecious and pro- 
 bable, and yet, fuch is the fate of all human hopes, 
 that it is very often fruftrated, and thofe who raife 
 admiration by their books, difguft by their com- 
 pany. A man of letters for the mod part fpends 
 in the privacies of ftudy, that feafon of life in which 
 the manners are to be foftened into eafe, and polifh- 
 ed into elegance; and, when he has gained know- 
 ledge enough to be refpected, has neglected the 
 minuter acts by which he might have pleafed. When 
 he enters life, if his temper be foft and timorous, he 
 is diffident and bafhful, from the knowledge of his 
 defects ; or if he was born with fpirit and refolution, 
 he is ferocious and arrogant, from the confcioufnefs 
 of his merit : he is either diflipated by the awe of 
 company, and unable to recollect his reading, and 
 arrange his arguments j or he is hot and dogmati- 
 cal, quick in oppofition, and tenacious in defence, 
 difabled by his own violence, and confufed by his 
 hafte to triumph. 
 
 The
 
 94 THE RAMBLER. N 14. 
 
 The graces of writing and converfation are of 
 different kinds, and though he who excels in one 
 might have been with opportunities and applica- 
 tion equally fuccefsful in the other, yet as many 
 pleafe by extemporary talk, though utterly unac- 
 quainted with the more accurate method, and more 
 laboured beauties, which compofition requires; fo 
 it is very poffible that men, wholly accuftomed to 
 works of ftudy, may be without that readinefs of 
 conception, and affluence of language, always ne- 
 cefiary to colloquial entertainment. They may want 
 addrefs to watch the hints which converfation offers 
 for the difplay of their particular attainments, or 
 they may be fo much unfurnifhed with matter on 
 common fubjects, that difcourfe not profeffedly 
 literary glides over them as heterogeneous bodies, 
 without admitting their conceptions to mix in the 
 circulation. 
 
 A tranfition from an author's book to his con- 
 verfation, is too often like an entrance into a large 
 city, after a diftant profpefr,. Remotely, we fee no- 
 thing but fpires of temples, and turrets of palaces, 
 and imagine it the refidence of fplendor, grandeur, 
 and magnificence ; but, when we have paffed the 
 gates, we find it perplexed with narrow palfages., 
 difgraced with defpicable cottages, embarraifed with 
 obftrudlions, and clouded with fmoke.
 
 N 15- THE RAMBLER. 95 
 
 NUMB. 15. TUESDAY, May 8, 1750. 
 
 Et qitando uherlor --vitiorum copia ? Quando 
 Major a*varitiee patuit Jinm ? Aha quando 
 Hos animos? Juv. 
 
 What age fo large a crop of vices bore, 
 
 Or when was avarice extended more ? 
 
 When were the dice with more profufion thrown ? 
 
 DRYDEN. 
 
 THERE is no grievance, publick or private, 
 of which, fmce I took upon me the office of 
 a periodical monitor, I have received fo many, or 
 fo earneft complaints, as of the predominance of 
 play ; of a fatal paflion for cards and dice, which 
 feems to have overturned, not only the ambition of 
 excellence, but the de fire of pleafure; to have ex- 
 tinguifhed the flames of the lover, as well as of the 
 patriot; and threatens, in its further progrefs, to 
 deftroy all diftinctions, both of rank and fex, to 
 crufh all emulation but that of fraud, to corrupt all 
 thofe claffes of our people, whofe anceftors have, by 
 their virtue, their induftry, or their parfimony, given 
 them the power of living in extravagance, idlenefs, 
 and vice, and to leave them without knowledge, but 
 of the modifh games, and without wifhes, but for 
 lucky hands, 
 
 I have found by long experience, that there are 
 
 few enterprifes fo hopelefs as contefts with the 
 
 fafhion, in which the opponents are not only made 
 
 confident by their numbers, and ftrong by their 
 
 * union,
 
 96 THE RAMBLER. N 15. 
 
 union, but are hardened by contempt of their an- 
 tagonift, whom they always look upon as a wretch 
 of low notions, contracted views, mean conver. 
 fation, and narrow fortune, who envies the eleva- 
 tions which he cannot reach, who would gladly 
 imbitter the happinefs which his inelegance or indi- 
 gence deny him to partake, and who has no other 
 end in his advice, than to revenge his own mortifi- 
 cation by hindering thofe whom their birth and tafte 
 have fet above him, from the enjoyment of their 
 fuperiority, and bringing them down to a level with 
 himfelf. 
 
 Though I have never found myfelf much affected 
 by this formidable cenfure, which I have incurred 
 often enough to be acquainted with its full force, yet 
 I lhall, in fome meafure, obviate it on this occafion, 
 by offering very little in my own name, either of 
 argument or intreaty, fince thofe who fuffer by this 
 general infatuation may be fuppofed beft able to relate 
 its effects. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 >"pHERE feems to be fo little knowledge left 
 in the world, and fo little of that reflection 
 practifed, by which knowledge is to be gained, 
 that I am in doubt, whether I fhall be under- 
 ftood, when I complain of want of opportunity 
 .for thinking; or whether a condemnation, which 
 at prefent feems irreverfible, to perpetual igno- 
 rance, will raife any compaffion, either in you, or 
 your readers : yet I will venture to lay my ftate 
 before you, becaufe, I believe, it is natural, to 
 moil minds, to take fome pleafure in complain- 
 
 ing
 
 NO- 1 5- THE RAMBLER. 97 
 
 ing of evils, of which they have no reafon to be 
 afhamed. 
 
 I am the daughter of a man of great fortune, 
 whofe diffidence of mankind, and, perhaps, the 
 pleafure of continual accumulation, incline him 
 to refide upon his own eftate, and to educate his 
 children in his own houfe, where I was bred, if 
 not with the moft brilliant examples of virtue be- 
 fore my eyes, at lead remote enough from any 
 incitements to vice; and wanting neither leifure 
 nor books, nor the acquaintance of fome perfons 
 of learning in the neighbourhood, I endeavoured to 
 acquire fuch knowledge as might moft recommend 
 me to efteem, and thought myfelf able to fup- 
 port a converfation upon moft of the fubjedls, which, 
 my fex and condition made it proper for me to un- 
 derftand. 
 
 I had, befides my knowledge, as my mamma 
 and my maid told me, a very fine face, and ele- 
 gant fhape, and with all thefe advantages had 
 been feventeen months the reigning toaft for 
 twelve miles round, and never came to the 
 monthly aflembly, but I heard the old ladies that 
 fat by wifhing that it might end well t and their 
 daughters criticifing my air, my features, or my 
 drefs. 
 
 You know, Mr. Rambler, that ambition is 
 natural to youth, and curiofity to underftanding> 
 and therefore will hear, without wonder, that I 
 was defirous to extend my victories over thofe 
 who might give more honour to the conqueror; 
 and that I found in a country life a continual re- 
 
 VOL. IV. H petition
 
 98 THE RAMBLER. N 15. 
 
 petition of the fame pleafures, which was not 
 fufficient to fill up the mind for the prefent, or 
 raife any expectations of the future; and I will 
 confefs to you, that I was impatient for a fight 
 of the town, and filled my thoughts with the 
 difcoveries which I fhould make, the triumphs 
 that I fhould obtain, and the praifes that I fhould 
 receive. 
 
 At laft the time came. My aunt, whofe hufband 
 has a feat in parliament, and a place at court, 
 buried her only child, and fent for me to fupply 
 the lofs. The hope that I fhould fo far infmuate 
 myfelf into their favour, as to obtain a confiderable 
 augmentation of my fortune, procured me every 
 convenience for my departure, with great expedi- 
 tion ; and I could not, amidft all my tranfports, 
 forbear fome indignation to fee with what readinefs 
 the natural guardians of my virtue fold me to a flate, 
 which they thought more hazardous than it really 
 was, as foon as a new acceffion of fortune glittered 
 in their eyes. 
 
 Three days I was upon the road, and on the 
 fourth morning my heart danced at the fight of 
 London. I was fet down at my aunt's, and en- 
 tered upon the fcene of action. I expected now, 
 from the age and experience of my aunt, fome 
 prudential leflbns; but, afcer the firft civilities 
 and firft tears were over, was told what pity it was 
 to have kept fo fine a girl fo long in the country ; 
 for the people who did not begin young, fel- 
 dom dealt their cards handfomely or played them 
 tolerably. 
 
 Young
 
 N 15- THE RAMBLER. 99 
 
 Young perfons are commonly inclined to flight 
 the remarks and counfels of their elders. I fmiled, 
 perhaps, with too much contempt, and was upon 
 the point of telling her, that my time had not been 
 paft in fuch trivial attainments. But I foon found 
 that things are to be eitimated, not by the im- 
 portance of their effects, but the frequency of their 
 ufe. 
 
 A few days after, my aunt gave me notice, 
 that fome company, which Ihe had been fix 
 weeks in collecting, was to meet that evening, 
 and fhe expected a finer affembly than had been 
 feen all the winter. She exprefled this in the jar- 
 gon of a gamefter, and, when I afked an explica- 
 tion of her terms of art, wondered where I had 
 lived. I had already found my aunt fo incapable 
 of any rational conclufion, and fo ignorant of every 
 thing, whether great or little, that I had loft all 
 regard to her opinion, and dreffed myfelf with great 
 expectations of an opportunity to difplay my 
 charms among rivals, whofe competition would not 
 difhonour me. The company came in, and after 
 the curfory compliments of falutation, alike eafy to 
 the lowed and the higheft underftanding, what was 
 the refult ? The cards were broke open, the parties 
 were formed, the whole night paffed in a game, 
 upon which the young and old were equally em- 
 ployed; nor was I able to attract an eye, or gain 
 an ear, but being compelled to play without fkill, 
 I perpetually embarrafied my partner, and foon 
 perceived the contempt of the whole table gathering 
 upon me. 
 
 H 2 J cannot
 
 ioo THE RAMBLER. N 15. 
 
 I cannot but fufpect, Sir, that this odious fa- 
 fhion is produced by a confpiracy of the old, the 
 ugly, and the ignorant, againft the young and 
 beautiful, the witty and the gay, as a contrivance 
 to level all diftincYions of nature and of art, to con- 
 found the world in a chaos of folly, to take from 
 thofe, who could outfnine them, all the advantages 
 of mind and body, to withhold youth from its na- 
 tural pleafures, deprive wit of its influence, and 
 beauty of its charms, to fix thofe hearts upon 
 money, to which love has hitherto been entitled, to 
 fink life into a tedious uniformity, and to allow it no 
 other hopes or fears, but thofe of robbing, and being 
 robbed. 
 
 Be pleafed, Sir, to inform thofe of my fex, who 
 have minds capable of nobler fentiments, that, if 
 they will unite in vindication of their pleafures and 
 their prerogatives, they may fix a time, at which 
 cards fhall ceafe to be in fafhion, or be left only 
 to thofe who have neither beauty to be loved, nor 
 fpirit to be feared 3 neither knowledge to teach, nor 
 modefty to learn; and who, having pafied their 
 youth in vice, are juflly condemned to fpend their 
 age in folly. 
 
 I am, SIR, &c. 
 
 CLEORA. 
 
 . SIR, 
 
 EX AT ION will burn: my heart, if I do 
 not give it vent. As you publilh a paper, 
 I infift upon it that you infert this in your next, 
 as ever you hope for the kindnefs and encourage- 
 ment of any woman of tafte, fpirit, and virtue. 
 
 I would
 
 Ni5. THE RAMBLER. 101 
 
 I would have it publifhed to the world, how de- 
 ferving wives are ufed by imperious coxcombs, 
 that henceforth no woman may marry, who has 
 not the patience of Grizzel. Nay, if even Griz- 
 zel had been married to a gamefter, her temper 
 would never have held out. A wretch that lofes 
 his good-humour and humanity along with his 
 money, and will not allow enough from his own 
 extravagances to fupport a woman of fafhion in 
 the neceflary amufements of life ! Why does 
 not he employ his wife head to make a figure in 
 parliament, raife an eflate, and get a title? That 
 would be fitter for the matter of a family, than 
 rattling a noify dice-box; and then he might in- 
 dulge his wife in a few flight expences and elegant 
 diverfions. 
 
 What if I was unfortunate at Brag ? Should 
 he not have flayed to fee how luck would turn 
 another time ? Inftead of that, what does he do, 
 but picks a quarrel, upbraids me with lofs of 
 beauty, abufes my acquaintance, ridicules my 
 play, and infults my underflanding ; fays, for- 
 footh, that women have not heads enough to play 
 with any thing but dolls, and that they fhould 
 be employed in things proportionable to their 
 underftanding, keep at home, and mind family 
 affairs. k 
 
 I do flay at home, Sir, and all the world knows 
 I am at home every Sunday. I have had fix routes 
 this winter, and fent out ten packs of cards in in- 
 vitations to private parties. As for management, 
 I am fure he cannot call me extravagant, or &y I 
 
 H 3 do
 
 102 THE RAMBLER. N 15. 
 
 do not mind my family. The children are out at 
 nurfe in villages as cheap as any two little brats 
 can be kept, nor have I ever feen them fmce; 
 fo he has no trouble about them. The fervants live 
 at board wages. My own dinners come from 
 the Thatch'd Houfe; and I have never paid a 
 penny for any thing I have bought fmce I was 
 married. As for play, I do think I may, indeed, 
 indulge in that, now I am my own miflrefs. 
 Papa made me drudge at whift till I was tired of 
 it; and, far from wanting a head, Mr. Hoyle, 
 when he had not given me above forty leffons, 
 faid I was one of his beft fcholars. I thought 
 then with myfelf, that, if once I was at liberty, 
 I would leave play, and take to reading romances, 
 things fo forbidden at our houfe, and fo railed 
 at, that it was impoflible not to fancy them very 
 charming. Moft unfortunately, to fave me from 
 abfolute undutifulnefs, juft as I was married, came 
 dear Brag into fafhion, and ever fmce it has been 
 the joy of my life; fo eafy, fo cheerful and care- 
 lefs, fo void of thought, and fo genteel ! Who 
 can help loving it? Yet the perfidious thing has 
 fifed me very ill of late, and to-morrow I mould 
 Jiave changed it for Faro. But, oh ! this deteft- 
 able to-morrow, a thing always expedled, and 
 
 never found. Within thefe few hours muft I 
 
 be dragged into the country. The wretch, Sir, 
 left me in a fit, which his threatenings had occa- 
 fioned, and unmercifully ordered a poft-chaife. 
 Stay I cannot, for money I have none, and cre- 
 dit I cannot get. But I will make the monkey 
 
 play
 
 Ni6. THE RAMBLER. 103 
 
 play with me at picquet upon the road for all I 
 want. I am almoft fure to beat him, and his 
 debts of honour I know he will pay. Then who 
 can tell but I may ftill come back and conquer lady 
 Packer ? Sir, you need not print this laft fcheme, 
 
 and, upon fecond thoughts, you may. Oh 
 
 di (fraction ! the poft-chaife is at the door. Sir, 
 publifti what you will, only let it be printed without 
 a name. 
 
 NUMB. 16. SATURDAY, May 12, 1750. 
 
 Multis dicendi copia torrens, 
 Etfua mortifera eft facundia> Juv. 
 
 Some who the depth of eloquence have found, 
 
 In that unnavigable ftream were drown'd. DRYDEN, 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I AM the modeft young man whom you favour- 
 ed with your advice, in a late paper; and, as 
 I am very far from fufpecting that you forefaw 
 the numberlefs inconveniencies which I have, by 
 following it, brought upon myfelf, I will lay my 
 condition open before you, for you feem bound to 
 extricate me from the perplexities, in which your 
 counfel, however innocent in the intention, has con- 
 tributed to involve me. 
 
 You told me, as you thought, to my comfort, 
 that a writer might eafily find means of introducing 
 his genius to the world, for the prefles of England 
 
 H 4 were
 
 104 THE RAMBLER. N 16. 
 
 were open. This I have now fatally experienced; 
 the prefs is, indeed, open. 
 
 Facilis defcenfus A<verni, 
 
 Notfes afque dies palet atri janua Ditis. Vi R G. 
 
 The gates of hell are open night and day ; 
 
 Smooth the defcent, and eafy is the way. DRY DEN. 
 
 The means of doing hurt to ourfelves are always 
 at hand. I immediately fent to a printer, and 
 contracted with him for an impreflion of feveral 
 thoufands of my pamphlet. While it was at the 
 prefs, I was feldom abfent from the printing-houfe, 
 and continually urged the workmen to hafte, by 
 felicitations, promifes, and rewards. From the 
 day all other pleafures were excluded, by the delight- 
 ful employment of correcting the fheets; and from 
 the night deep generally was banifhed, by anticipa- 
 tions of the happinefs which every hour was bring- 
 ing nearer. 
 
 At laft the time of publication approached, and 
 my heart beat with the raptures of an author. I 
 was above all little precautions, and, in defiance 
 of envy or of criticifm, fet my name upon the 
 tide, without fufficiently confidering, that what 
 has once pafled the prefs is irrevocable, and that 
 though the printing-houfe may properly be com- 
 pared to the infernal regions, for the facility of its 
 entrance, and the difficulty with which authors re- 
 turn from its yet there is this difference, that a great 
 genius can never return to his former ftate, by a 
 happy draught of the waters of oblivion. 
 
 I am
 
 N 1 6. THE RAMBLER. 105 
 
 I am now, Mr. Rambler, known to be an author, 
 and am condemned, irreverfably condemned, to all 
 the miferies of high reputation. The firit morning 
 after publication my friends afiembled about me , I 
 prefented each, as is ufual, with a copy of my book. 
 They looked into the firft pages, but were hindered, 
 by their admiration, from reading further. The 
 firft pages are, indeed, very elaborate. Some paf- 
 fages they particularly dwelt upon, as more emi- 
 nently beautiful than the reft j and fome delicate 
 ftrokes, and fecret elegancies, I pointed out to them, 
 which had efcaped their obfervation. I then begged 
 of them to forbear their compliments, and invited 
 them, I could do no lefs, to dine with me at a tavern. 
 After dinner, the book was refumed ; but their 
 praifes very often fo much overpowered my modefty, 
 that I was forced to put about the glafs, and had 
 often no means of reprefling the clamours of their 
 admiration, but by thundering to the drawer for an- 
 other bottle. 
 
 Next morning another fet of my acquaintance 
 congratulated me upon my performance, with fuch 
 importunity of praife, that I was again forced to ob- 
 viate their civilities by a treat. On the third day, I 
 had yet a greater number of applauders to put to 
 filence in the fame manner ; and, on the fourth, 
 thofe whom I had entertained the firft day came 
 again, having, in the perufal of the remaining part 
 of the book, difcovered fo many forcible fentences 
 and mafterly touches, that it was impoffible for me 
 to bear the repetition of their commendations. I, 
 therefore, perfuaded them once more to adjourn to 
 the tavern, and chufe fome other fubjecl:, on which I 
 
 might
 
 io6 THE RAMBLER. N<> 16. 
 
 might (hare in their converfation. But it was not in 
 their power to withhold their attention from my per- 
 formance, which had fo entirely taken pofTeflion of 
 their minds, that no entreaties of mine could change 
 their topick, and I was obliged to ftifle, with claret, 
 that praife which neither my modefty could hinder, 
 nor my uneafmefs reprefs. 
 
 The whole week was thus fpent in a kind of lite- 
 rary revel, and I have now found that nothing is fo 
 expenfive as great abilities, unlefs there is joined 
 with them an infatiable eagernefs of praife j for to 
 efcape from the pain of hearing myfelf exalted above 
 the greateft names dead and living of the learned 
 world, it has already coft me two hogfheads of port, 
 fifteen gallons of arrack, ten dozen of claret, and five 
 and forty bottles of champagne. 
 
 I was refolved to ftay at home no longer, and, 
 therefore, rofe early and went to the coffee- houfe ; 
 but found that I had now made myfelf too eminent 
 for happinefs, and that I was no longer to enjoy the 
 pleafure of mixing, upon equal terms, with the reft 
 of the world. As foon as I enter the room, I fee 
 part of the company raging with envy, which they 
 endeavour to conceal, fometimes with the appear- 
 ance of laughter, and fometimes with that of con- 
 tempt ; but the difguife is fuch that I can difcover 
 the fccret rancour of their hearts, and as envy is de- 
 fer vedly its own punifhment, I frequently indulge 
 myfelf in tormenting them with my prefence. 
 
 But though there may be fome flight fatisfaction 
 received from the mortification of my enemies, yet 
 my benevolence will not fuffer me to take any 
 pleafure in the terrors of my friends. I have been 
 
 cautious,
 
 N 16. THE RAMBLER. 107 
 
 cautious, fince the appearance of my work, not 
 to give myfelf more premeditated airs of fuperiority, 
 than the moft rigid humility might allow. It is, 
 indeed, not impofiible that I may fometimes have 
 laid down my opinion, in a manner that (hewed a 
 concioufnefs of my ability to maintain it, or inter- 
 rupted the converfation, when 1 faw its tendency, 
 without fuffering the fpeaker to wafte his time in 
 explaining his fentiments; and, indeed, I did in- 
 dulge myfelf for two days in a cuftom of drumming 
 with my fingers, when the company began to lofe 
 themfelves in abfurdities, or to encroach upon fub- 
 jects which I knew them unqualified to difcufs. 
 But I generally acted with great appearance of re- 
 fpect, even to thofe whofe ftupidity I pitied in my 
 heart. Yet, notwithstanding this exemplary mo- 
 deration, fo univerfal is the dread of uncommon 
 powers, and fuch the unwillingnefs of mankind to 
 be made wifer, that I have now for fome days found 
 myfelf fhunned by all my acquaintance. If I 
 knock at a door, no body is at home ; if I enter a 
 coffee-houfe, I have the box to myfelf. I live in 
 the town like a lion in his defert, or an eagle on his 
 rock, too great for friendfhip or fociety, and con- 
 demned to folitude, by unhappy elevation and dreaded 
 afcendancy. 
 
 Nor is my character only formidable to others, 
 but burdenfome to myfelf. I naturally love to talk 
 without much thinking, to fcatter my merriment at 
 random, and to relax my thoughts with ludicrous 
 remarks and fanciful images; but fuch is now the 
 importance of my opinion, that I am afraid to offer 
 it, left, by being eftablilhed too haftily into a maxim, 
 
 it
 
 io8 THE RAMBLER. N 16. 
 
 it fhould be the occafion of error to half the nation ; 
 and fuch is the expectation with which I am attend- 
 ed, when I am going to fpeak, that I frequently 
 paufe to reflect whether what I am about to utter is 
 worthy of myfelf. 
 
 This, Sir, is fufficiently miferable ; but there arc 
 ftill greater calamities behind. You muft have read 
 in Pope and Swift how men of parts have had their 
 clofets rifled, and their cabinets broke open, at the 
 inftigation of piratical bookfellers, for the profit of 
 their works ; and it is apparent, that there are many 
 prints now fold in the Ihops, of men whom you can- 
 not fufpect of fitting for that purpofe, and whofe 
 likeneffes muft have been certainly ftolen when their 
 names made their faces vendible. Thefe confidera- 
 tions at firft put me on my guard, and I have, 
 indeed, found fufficient reafon for my caution, for 
 I have difcovered many people examining my coun- 
 tenance, with a curiofity that {hewed their intention 
 to draw it j I immediately left the houfe, but find 
 the fame behaviour in another. 
 
 Others may be perfecuted, but I am haunted ; I 
 have good reafon to believe that eleven painters are 
 now dogging me, for they know that he who can 
 get my face firft will make his fortune. I often 
 change my wig, and wear my hat over my eyes, by 
 which I hope fomewhat to confound them > for you 
 know it is not fair to fell my face, without admitting 
 me to (hare the profit. 
 
 I am, however, not fo much in pain for my face 
 as for my papers, which I dare neither carry with 
 me nor leave behind. I have, indeed, taken fome 
 meafures for their prefervation, having put them in 
 
 an
 
 N 16. THE RAMBLER. 109 
 
 an iron cheft, and fixed a padlock upon my clofet. 
 I change my lodgings five times a week, and always 
 remove at the dead of night. 
 
 Thus I live, in confequence of having given too 
 great proofs of a predominant genius, in the folitude 
 of a hermit, with the anxiety of a mifer, and the cau- 
 tion of an outlaws afraid to fhew my face left it 
 ihould be copied , afraid to fpeak, left I fhould in- 
 jure my character; and to write, left my correfpond- 
 ents fhould publifh my letters; always uneafy left 
 my fervants fhould fteal my papers for the fake of 
 money, or my friends for that of the publick. This it 
 is to foar above the reft of mankind ; and this repre- 
 fentation I lay before you, that I may be informed 
 how to diveft myfelf of the laurels which are fo cum- 
 berfome to the wearer, and defcend to the enjoy- 
 ment of that quiet from which I find a writer of the 
 firft clafs fo fatally debarred. 
 
 MISELLUS,
 
 no THE RAMBLER. N 17. 
 
 NUMB. 17. TUESDAY, May 15, 1750. 
 
 Me non oracula eertum, 
 
 Sed mors cert a facit. L u C A N 
 
 Let thofe weak minds, who live in doubt and fear, 
 
 To juggling priefts for oracles repair ; 
 
 One certain hour of death to each decreed, 
 
 My fixt, my certain foul from doubt has freed. Rowz. 
 
 IT is recorded of fome eaftern monarch, that he 
 kept an officer in his houfe, whofe employment 
 it was to remind him of his mortality, by calling out 
 every morning, at a dated hour, Remember, prince, 
 that thou /halt die. And the contemplation of the 
 frailnefs and uncertainty of our prefent ftate appeared 
 of fo much importance to Solon of Athens, that he 
 left this precept to future ages; Keep thine eye fixed 
 upon the end of life. 
 
 A frequent and attentive profpect of that moment, 
 which muft put a period to all our fchemes, and de- 
 prive us of all our acquifitions, is indeed of the ut- 
 moft efficacy to the juft and rational regulation of our 
 lives j nor would ever any thing wicked, or often 
 any thing abfurd, be undertaken or profecuted by 
 him who fhould begin every day with a ferious re- 
 flection that he is born to die. 
 
 The difturbers of our happinefs, in this world, 
 are our defires, our griefs, and our fears, and to 
 all thefe, the confideration of mortality is a certain 
 
 and
 
 N 17. THE RAMBLER. m 
 
 and adequate remedy. Think, Tays Epictetus, fre- 
 quently on poverty, banifhment, and death, and 
 thou wilt then never indulge violent defires, or give 
 up thy heart to mean fentiments, aSlv *$Hroli TXTTZIVOV 
 
 fv^Ujarjir*?, T ayav iTr&vprKrut; TWO?. 
 
 That the maxim of Epictetus is founded on juft 
 obfervation will eafily be granted, when we reflect, 
 how that vehemence of eagernefs after the common 
 objects of purfuit is kindled in our minds. We re- 
 prefent to ourfelves the pleafures of fome future pof- 
 feflion, and fuffer our thoughts to dwell attentively 
 upon it, till it has wholly engrofled the imagination, 
 and permits us not to conceive any happinefs but its 
 attainment, or any mifery but its lofs; every other 
 fatisfaction which the bounty of providence has fcat- 
 tered over life is neglected as inconfiderable, in com- 
 parifon of the great object which we have placed be- 
 fore us, and is thrown from us as incumbering our 
 activity, or trampled under foot as ftanding in our 
 way. 
 
 Every man has experienced how much of this ar- 
 dour has been remitted, when a fharp or tedious fick- 
 nefs has fet death before his eyes. The extenfive 
 influence of greatnefs, the glitter of wealth, the 
 praifes of admirers, and the attendance of fuppli- 
 cants, have appeared vain and empty things, when 
 the laft hour feemed to be approaching; and the 
 fame appearance they would always have, if the 
 fame thought was always predominant. We fhould 
 then find the abfurdity of flretching out our arms 
 incefTantly to grafp that which we cannot keep, and 
 wearing out our lives in endeavours to add new tur- 
 rets to the fabrick of ambition, when the foundation 
 
 itfelf
 
 ii2 THE RAMBLER. N 17. 
 
 itfelf is fhaking, and the ground on which it ftands 
 is mouldering away. 
 
 All envy is proportionate to defire ; we are uneafy 
 at the attainments of another, according as we think 
 our own happinefs would be advanced by the addi- 
 tion of that which he withholds from us ; and there- 
 fore whatever deprefTes immoderate wifhes, will, at 
 the fame time, fet the heart free from the corrofion 
 of envy, and exempt us from that vice which is, 
 above moft others, tormenting to ourfelves, hateful 
 to the world, and productive of mean artifices, and 
 fordid projects. He that confiders how foon he muft 
 clofe his life, will find nothing of fb much importance 
 as to clofe it well ; and will, therefore, look with 
 indifference upon whatever is ufelefs to that purpofe. 
 Whoever reflects frequently upon the uncertainty of 
 his own duration, will find out, that the ftate of others 
 is not more permanent, and that what can confer 
 nothing on himfelf very defirable, cannot fo much 
 improve the condition of a rival, as to make him 
 much fuperior to thofe from whom he has carried 
 the prize, a prize too mean to deferve a very obfti- 
 nate oppofition. 
 
 Even grief, that pafTion to which the virtuous and 
 tender mind is particularly fubject, will be obviated 
 or alleviated by the fame thoughts. It will be ob- 
 viated, if all the bleffings of our condition are enjoy- 
 ed with a conftant fenfe of this uncertain tenure. If 
 we remember, that whatever we poflefs is to be in 
 our hands but a very little time, and that the little 
 which our moft lively hopes can promile us, may be 
 made lefs, by ten thoufand accidents ; we fhall not 
 much repine at a lofs, of which we cannot eftimate 
 
 the
 
 N 17. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 the value, but of which, though we are not able to 
 tell the lead amount, we know, with fufficient cer- 
 tainty, the greateft, and are convinced that the 
 greateft is not much to be regretted. 
 
 But, if any paffion has fo much ufurped our un- 
 derftanding, as not to fufFer us to enjoy advantages 
 with the moderation prefcribed by reafon, it is not 
 too late to apply this remedy, when we find our- 
 felves finking under forrow, and inclined to pine 
 for that which is irrecoverably vanished. We may 
 then ufefully revolve the uncertainty of our own con- 
 dition, and the folly of lamenting that from which, if 
 it had ftayed a little longer, we fhould ourfelves 
 have been taken away. 
 
 With regard to the fharpeft and moft melting fbr- 
 row, that which arifes from the lofs of thofe whom 
 \ve have loved with tendernefs, it may be obferved, 
 that friend (hip between mortals can be contracted on 
 no other terms, than that one muft fome time mourn 
 for the other's death : And this grief will always 
 yield to the furvivor one confolation proportionate tp 
 his affliction ; for the pain, whatever it be, that he 
 himfelf feels, his friend has efcaped. 
 
 Nor is fear, the moft overbearing and refiftlefs of 
 all our paflions, lefs to be temperated by this univer- 
 fal medicine of the mind. The frequent contempla- 
 tion of death, as it (hows the vanity of all human 
 good, difcovers likewife the lightnefs of all terreftrial 
 evil, which certainly can laft no longer than the fub- 
 j-ect upon which it acts ; and according to the old 
 obfervation, muft be fhorter, as it is more violent. 
 The moft cruel calamity which misfortune can pro- 
 'duce, muft, by the necefllty of nature, be quickly at 
 VOL. IV. J an
 
 ii4 THE RAMBLER. N 17. 
 
 an end. The foul cannot long be held in prifon, but 
 will fly away, and leave a lifclefs body to human ma- 
 lice. 
 
 Ridetquejui ludibria trunci. 
 
 And {baring mocks the broken frame below. 
 
 The utmofl that we can threaten to one another 
 is that death, which, indeed, we may precipitate, but 
 cannot retard, and from which, therefore, it cannot 
 become a wife man to buy a reprieve at the expence 
 of virtue, lince he knows not how fmall a portion of 
 time he can purchafe, but knows, that whether fhort 
 or long, it will be made lefs valuable by the remem- 
 brance of the price at which it has been obtained. 
 He is fure that he deftroys his happinefs, but is not 
 fure that he lengthens his life. 
 
 The known fhortnefs of life, as it ought to mo- 
 derate our paffions, may likewife, with equal pro- 
 priety, contract our defigns. There is not time for 
 the moft forcible genius, and mod active induftry, 
 to extend its effe<5ls beyond a certain fphere. To 
 project the conqueft of the world, is the madnefs of 
 mio-hty princes; to hope for excellence in every 
 fcience, has been the folly of literary heroes; and 
 both have found at laft, that they have panted for a 
 height of eminence denied to humanity, and have 
 loft many opportunities of making themfelves ufeful 
 and happy, by a vain ambition of obtaining a fpecies 
 of honour, which the eternal laws of providence have 
 placed beyond the reach of man. 
 
 Ihe mifcarriages of the great defigns of princes 
 are recorded in the hiftories of the world, but are of 
 
 little
 
 N'IJ. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 little ufe to the bulk of mankind, who feem very 
 little interefted in admonitions againft errors which, 
 they cannot commit. But the fate of learned ambi- 
 tion is a proper fubject for every fcholar to confider; 
 for who has not had occafion to regret the diffipation 
 of great abilities in a boundlefs multiplicity of pur- 
 fuits, to lament the fudden defertion of excellent de- 
 figns, upon the offer of fome other fubje6t made in- 
 viting by its novelty, and to obferve the inaccuracy 
 and deficiencies of works left unfinifhed by too great 
 an extenfion of the plan ? 
 
 It is always pleafing to obferve, how much more 
 our minds can conceive, than our bodies can per- 
 form j yet it is our duty, while we continue in this 
 complicated Hate, to regulate one part of our com- 
 pofition by fome regard to the other. We are not to 
 indulge our corporeal appetites with pleafures that 
 impair our intellectual vigour, nor gratify our minds 
 with fchemes which we know our lives mud fail in 
 attempting to execute. The uncertainty of our du- 
 ration ought at once to fet bounds to our defigns, and 
 add incitements to our induftry ; and when we find 
 ourfelves inclined either to immenfity in our fchemes, 
 or fluggilhnefs in our endeavours, we may either 
 check, or animate, ourfelves, by recollecting, with 
 the father of phyfick, that art is long> and life is 
 Jkort.
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 18. 
 
 NUMB. 1 8. SATURDAY, May 19, 1750. 
 
 Jllic mat re carenfibus, 
 Pr wig tits muliere temper at innccens, 
 Ncc ihtata regit 'vimm 
 Conjunx, nee nitidu fidit adult era; 
 
 Dos eft magna parentum 
 Pirtus, et metuens alterius tori 
 Certo feeders c aft it as. HCRACI. 
 
 Not there the guiltlefs ftep-dame knows 
 The baleful draught for orphans to compofe; 
 
 No wife high-portion'd rules her Ipoafe, 
 Or trufts her eflenc'd lover's faithlefs vows; 
 
 The lovers there for dow'ry claim 
 The father's virtue, and the fpotlefs fame 
 
 Which dares not break the nuptial tie. FRANCIS. 
 
 THERE is no obfervation more frequently 
 made by luch as employ themfelves in furvey- 
 ing the conduft of mankind, than that marriage, 
 though the di6late of nature, and the inftitution of 
 providence, is yet very often the caule of milery, 
 and that thofe who enter into that ftate can fcldom 
 forbear to expreis their .repentance, and their envy of 
 thofe whom either chance or caution hath withheld 
 from it. 
 
 This general unhappinefs has given occafion to 
 many fage maxims among the ferious, and fmarc 
 remarks among the gay ; the moralift and the writer 
 of epigrams have equally fhown their abilities upon 
 it; fome have lamented, and fome have ridiculed 
 
 itj
 
 N'i8. THE RAMBLER, 117 
 
 it; but as the faculty of writing has been chiefly a 
 mafculine endowment, the reproach of making thp 
 world miferable has been always thrown upon th$ 
 women, and the grave and the merry have equally 
 thought themfelves at liberty to conclude either with 
 declamatory complaints, or fatirical cenfures, of fe- 
 male folly or ficklenefs, ambition or cruelty, extra- 
 vagance or luft. 
 
 Led by fuch number of examples, and incited by 
 my (hare in the common intereft, I fometimes ven- 
 ture to confider this univerfal grievance, having en- 
 deavoured to divert: my heart of all partiality, and 
 place myfelf as a kind of neutral being between the 
 fcxes, vvhofe clamours, being equally vented on 
 both fides with all the vehemence of diftrefs, all 
 the apparent confidence of juftice, and all the in- 
 dignation of injured virtue, feem intitled to equal 
 regard. The men have, indeed, by their fupe- 
 riority of writing, been able to collect the evidence 
 of many ages, and raife prejudices in their favour 
 by the venerable teftimonies of philofophers, hifto- 
 rians, and poets; but the pleas of the ladies appeal 
 to pafiions of more forcible operation than the reve- 
 rence of antiquity. If they have not fo great names 
 on their fide, they have ftronger arguments ; it is to 
 little purpofe, that Socrates, or Euripides, are pro- 
 duced againft the fighs of foftnefs, and the tears of 
 beauty. The mod frigid and inexorable judge 
 would, at lead, ftand fufpended between equal 
 powers, as Lucan was perplexed in the determina- 
 tion of the caufe, where the deities were on one fide, 
 and Cato on the other. 
 
 I 3 But
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 18. 
 
 But I, who have long ftudied the fevered and 
 moft abftracted philofophy, have now, in the cool 
 maturity of life, arrived at fuch command over my 
 paffions, that I can hear the vociferations of either 
 fex without catching any of the fire from thofe that 
 utter them. For I have found, by long experience, 
 that a man will fomedmes rage at his wife, when in 
 reality his miftrefs has offended him; and a lady 
 complain of the cruelty of her hufband, when fhe 
 has no other enemy than bad cards. I do not fuffer 
 myfelf to be any longer impofed upon by oaths on 
 one fide, or fits on the other ; nor when the hufband 
 haftens to the tavern, and the lady retires to her 
 clofet, am I always confident that they are -driven 
 by their miferies ; fince I have fometimes reafon to 
 believe, that they purpofe not fo much to footh their 
 forrows, as to animate their fury. But how little 
 credit foever may be given to particular accufations, 
 the general accumulation of the charge (hews, with 
 too much evidence, that married perfons are not 
 very often advanced in felicity; and, therefore, it 
 may be proper to examine at what avenues fo many 
 evils have made their way into the world. With 
 this purpofe, I have reviewed the lives of my friends, 
 who have been leail fuccefsful in connubial contracts, 
 and attentively confidered by what motives they were 
 incited to marry, and by what principles they regu- 
 lated their choice. 
 
 One of the firft of my acquaintances that re- 
 folved to quit the unfettled thoughtlefs condition 
 of a batchelor, was Prudentius, a man of flow 
 parts, but not without knowledge or judgment in 
 
 things
 
 NM8. THE RAMBLER. 119 
 
 things which he had leifure to confider gradually 
 before he determined them. Whenever we met 
 at a tavern, it was his province to fettle the fcrjfme 
 of our entertainment, contract with the cook, and 
 inform us when we had called for wine to the fum 
 originally propofed. This grave confiderer found, 
 by deep meditation, that a man was no Jofer by 
 marrying early, even though he contented himfelf 
 with a lefs fortune; for eftimating the exact worth 
 of annuities, he found that confidering the con- 
 flant diminution of the value of life, with the pro- 
 bable fall of the intereft of money, it was not worfe 
 to have ten thoufand pounds at the age of two and 
 twenty years, than a much larger fortune at thirty j 
 for many opportunities, fays he, occur of improve- 
 ing money, which if a man mifles, he may not after- 
 wards recover. 
 
 Full of thefe reflections, he threw his eyes about 
 him, not in fearch of beauty or elegance, dignity 
 or underftanding, but of a woman with ten thou- 
 fand pounds. Such a woman, in a wealthy part of 
 the kingdom, it was not very difficult to find; and 
 by artful management with her father, whofe ambi- 
 tion was to make his daughter a gentlewoman, my 
 friend got her, as he boafted to us in confidence 
 two days after his marriage, for a fettlement of 
 feventy-three pounds a year lefs than her fortune 
 might have claimed, and lefs than he would himfelf 
 have given, if the fools had been but wife enough to 
 delay the bargain. 
 
 Thus, at once delighted with the fuperiority of 
 his parts, and the augmentation of his fortune, he 
 carried Furia to his own houfe, in which he never 
 
 I 4 afterwards
 
 140 THE RAMBLER. N 18. 
 
 afterwards enjoyed one hour of happinefs. For 
 Furia was a wretch of mean intellects, violent paf- 
 fion,s, a ftrong voice, and low education, without 
 any fenfe of happinefs but that which confifted in 
 eating and counting money. Furia was a fcold. 
 They agreed in the defire of wealth, but with this 
 difference, that Prudentius was for growing rich 
 by gain, Furia by parfimony. Prudentius would 
 venture his money with chances very much in 
 his favourj but Furia very wifely obferving that 
 what they had was, while they had it, their own, 
 thought all traffick too great a hazard, and was for 
 putting it out at low intereft, upon good fecurity. 
 Prudentius ventured, however, to infure a fhip, at 
 a very unreafonable price, but happening to lofe 
 his money, was fo tormented with the clamours of 
 his wife, that he never durft try a fecond experi- 
 ment. He has now grovelled feven and forty years 
 under Furia's direction, who never once mentioned 
 him, fince his bad luck, by any other name than 
 that of the itifurer. 
 
 The next that married from our fociety was 
 Florentius. He happened to fee Zephyretta in a 
 chariot at a horfe-race, danced with her at night, 
 was confirmed in his firft ardour, waited on her 
 next morning, and declared himfdf her lover. Flo- 
 rentius had not knowledge enough of the world, to 
 diftinguifh between the flutter of coquetry, and 
 the fprightlinefs of wit, or between the fmile of al- 
 lurement, and that of cheerfulnefs. He was foon 
 waked from his rapture, by conviction that his 
 pleafure was but the pleafure of a day. Zephyretta 
 had in four and twenty hours (pent her flock of 
 
 repartee,
 
 N 1 8.. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 repartee, gone round the circle of her airs, and had 
 nothing remaining for him but childifh infipidity, 
 or for herfdf, but the practice of the fame artifices 
 upon new men. 
 
 MelifTus was a man of parts, capable of enjoy- 
 ing and of improving life. He had pafled through 
 the various fcenes of gaiety with that indifference 
 and pofifefiion of himfelf, natural to men who have 
 fomething higher and nobler in their profpect. 
 Retiring to fpend the fummer in a village little fre- 
 quented, he happened to lodge in the fame houfe 
 with lanthe, and was unavoidably drawn to fome 
 acquaintance, which her wit and politenefs foon 
 invited him to improve. Having no opportunity of 
 any other company, they were always together ; and, 
 as they owed their pleafures to each other, they be- 
 gan to forget that any pleafure was enjoyed before 
 their meeting. Meliflus, from being delighted with 
 her company, quickly began to be uneafy in her ab- 
 fence, and being fufficiently convinced of the force 
 of her underftanding, and finding, as he imagined, 
 fuch a conformity of temper as declared them formed 
 for each other, addrefTed her as a lover, after no very 
 long courtfhip obtained her for his wife, and brought 
 her next winter to town in triumph. 
 
 Now began their infelicity. MelifTus had only 
 feen her in one fcene, where there was no variety of 
 objects, to produce the proper excitements to con- 
 trary defires. They had both loved folitude and 
 reflection, where there was nothing but folitude 
 and reflection to be loved ; but when they came 
 into publick life, lanthe difcovered thofe paffions 
 
 -&* which
 
 122 THE RAMBLER. N 18. 
 
 which accident rather than hypocrify had hitherto 
 concealed. She was, indeed, not without the power 
 of thinking, but was wholly without the exertion of 
 that power, when either gaiety, or fplendour, played 
 on her imagination. She was expenfive in her 
 diverfions, vehement in her pafiions, infatiate of 
 pleafure, however dangerous to her reputation, and 
 eager of applaufe by whomfoever it might be given. 
 This was the wife which Meliflus the philofopher 
 found in his retirement, and from whom he expected 
 an affociate in his ftudies, and an afliftant to his vir- 
 tues. 
 
 Profapius, upon the death of his younger brother, 
 that the family might not be extinct, married his 
 houfekeeper, and has ever fince been complaining 
 to his friends that mean notions are inftilled into his 
 children, that he is afhamed to fit at his own table, 
 and that his hotife is uneafy to him for want of fuit- 
 able companions. 
 
 Avaro, mafter of a very large eftate, took a wo- 
 man of bad reputation, recommended to him by a 
 rich uncle, who made that marriage the condition 
 on which he fhould be his heir. Avaro now 
 wonders to perceive his own fortune, his wife's 
 and his uncle's, inefficient to give him that hap- 
 pinefs which is to be found only with a woman of 
 virtue. 
 
 I intend to treat in more papers on this important 
 article of life, and fhall, therefore, make no reflec- 
 tion upon thefe hiftories, except that all whom I 
 have mentioned failed to obtain happinefs, for want 
 of confidering that marriage is the flricteft tie of 
 
 perpetual
 
 NO 19. THE RAMBLER. 123 
 
 perpetual friendfhip ; that there can be no friend- 
 fhip without confidence, and no confidence with- 
 out integrity ; and that he muft expect to be 
 wretched, who pays to beauty, riches, or polite- 
 nefs, that regard which only virtue and piety can 
 claim. 
 
 NUMB. 19. TUESDAY, May 22, 1750. 
 
 Dum te caujidicum, dum te modo rbetora fngis, 
 
 Et non decernis, Taure, quid effe velis, 
 Peleos ^f Priami tranjit, vel Neftoi'is atas, 
 
 Etferumfuerat jam libi dejinete. 
 Eja, age, rumpe moras, quo tefpedabimu: ufque ? 
 
 Dum quidjis dubitas, jam fates ejje nibiL MART, 
 
 To rhetorick now, and now to law inclin'd, 
 Uncertain where to fix thy changing mind ; 
 Old Priam's age or Nejfar's may be out, 
 And thou, O Taurus, ftill go on in doubt. 
 Come then, how long fuch wavering fhall we fee ? 
 Thou may'it doubt on : thou now can'ft nothing be. 
 
 F. LEWIS. 
 
 IT is never without very melancholy reflections, 
 that we can obferve the mifconducl:, or mifcar- 
 riage, of thofe men, who feem, by the force of un- 
 derftanding, or extent of knowledge, exempted from 
 the general frailties of human nature, and privileged 
 from the common infelicities of life. Though the 
 world is crowded with fcenes of calamity, we look 
 upon the general mafs of wretchednefs with very 
 little regard, and fix our eyes upon the ftate of par- 
 ticular
 
 104 THE RAMBLER. N 19. 
 
 ticular perfons, whom the eminence of their qualities 
 marks out from the multitude ; as in reading an ac- 
 count of a battle, we fcldom reflect on the vulgar 
 heaps of (laughter, but follow the hero, with our 
 whole attention, through all the varieties of his for- 
 tune, without a thought of the thoufands that are 
 falling round him. 
 
 With the fame kind of anxious veneration I have 
 for many years been making obfervations on the life 
 of Polyphilus, a man whom all his acquaintances 
 have, from his firft appearance in the world, feared 
 for the quicknds of his dilcernment, and admired 
 for the multiplicity of his attainments, but whofe 
 progrefs in life, and ufefulnefs to mankind, has been 
 hindered by the fuperfluity of his knowledge, and 
 the celerity of his mind. 
 
 Polyphilus was remarkable, at the fchool, for fur- 
 pafling all his companions, without any vifible appli- 
 cation, and at the univerfity was diftinguifhed equally 
 for his fuccefbful progrefs as well through the 
 thorny mazes of fcience, as the flowery path of po- 
 liter literature, without any ftrict confinement to 
 hours of fludy, or remarkable forbearance of the 
 common amufements of young men. 
 
 When Polyphilus was at the age in which men 
 ufually chufe their profeffion, and prepare to enter 
 into a public character, every academical eye was 
 fixed upon him ; all were curious to enquire, what 
 this univerfal genius would fix upon for the em- 
 ployment of his life ; and no doubt was made but 
 that he would leave all his contemporaries behind 
 him, and mount to the higheft honours of that clafs 
 
 iri
 
 NM 9 . THE RAMBLER. 125 
 
 in which he fhould inlift himfelf, without thofe 
 delays and paufes which muft be endured by meaner 
 abilities. 
 
 Polyphilus, though by no means infolent or af- 
 fuming, had been fufficiently encouraged, by unin- 
 terrupted fuccefs, to place great confidence in his 
 own parts i and was not below his companions in 
 the indulgence of his hopes, and expectations of 
 the aftonilhment with which the world would be 
 ftruck, when firft his luftre fhould break out upon 
 it ; nor could he forbear (for whom does not con- 
 ftant flattery intoxicate ?) to join fometimes in the 
 mirth of his friends, at the fudden difappearance 
 of thofe, who, having {hone a while, and drawn the 
 eyes of the publick upon their feeble radiance, were 
 now doomed to fade away before him. 
 
 It is natural for a man to catch advantageous 
 notions of the condition which thofe with whom he 
 converfes are flriving to attain. Polyphilus, in 
 a ramble to London, fell accidentally among the- 
 phyficians, and was fo much pleafed with the pro- 
 fpect of turning philoibphy to profit, and fo highly 
 delighted with a new theory of fevers which darted 
 into his imagination, and which, after having con- 
 fidered it a few hours, he found himfelf able to 
 maintain ao-ainft all the advocates for the ancient 
 
 O * 
 
 fyftem, that he refolved to apply himfelf to anatomy, 
 botany, and chemiftry, and to leave no part uncon- 
 quered, either of the animal, mineral, or vegetable 
 kingdoms. 
 
 He therefore read authors, conftructed fyftems, 
 and tried experiments ; but unhappily, as he was 
 
 going
 
 THE RAMBLER. Ni 9 . 
 
 going to fee a new plant in flower at Chelfea, he 
 met, in croffing Weftminfter to take water, the 
 chancellor's coach; he had the curiofity to follow 
 him into the hall, where a remarkable caufe hap- 
 pened to be tried, and found himfelf able to pro- 
 duce fo many arguments, which the lawyers had 
 omitted on both fides, that he determined to quit 
 phyfick for a profeflion in which he found it would 
 be fo eafy to excel, and which promifed higher 
 honours, and larger profits, without melancholy 
 attendance upon mifery, mean fubmiffion to pee- 
 vifhnefs, and continual interruption of reft and 
 pleafure. 
 
 He immediately took chambers in the Temple, 
 bought a common-place book, and confined him- 
 felf for fome months to the perufal of the flatutes, 
 year-books, pleadings, and reports j he was a con- 
 ftant hearer of the courts, and began to put cafes 
 with reafonable accuracy. But he foon difcovered, 
 by confidering the fortune of lawyers, that prefer- 
 ment was not to be got by acutenefs, learning, 
 and eloquence. He was perplexed by the abfur- 
 dities of attornies, and mifreprefentations made by 
 his clients of their own caufes, by the ufelefs 
 anxiety of one, and the incefiant importunity of 
 another; he began to repent of having devoted 
 himfelf to a fludy, which was fo narrow in its 
 comprehenfion that it could never carry his name 
 to any other country, and thought it unworthy of a 
 man of parts to fell his life only for money. The 
 barrennefs of his fellow-ftudents forced him gene- 
 rally into other company at his hours of enter- 
 tainment,
 
 N-ip. THE RAMBLER. 127 
 
 tainment, and among the varieties of converfation 
 through which his curiofity was daily wandering, 
 he, by chance, mingled at a tavern with fome in- 
 telligent officers of the army. A man of letters 
 was eafily dazzled with the gaiety of their appear- 
 ance, and fofcened into kindnefs by the politenefs 
 of their addrefs -, he, therefore, cultivated this new 
 acquaintance, and when he faw how readily they 
 found in every place admiflion and regard, and how 
 familiarly they mingled with every rank and order 
 of men, he began to feel his heart beat for military 
 honours, and wondered how the prejudices of the 
 univerfity fhould make him fo long infenfible of 
 that ambition, which has fired fo many hearts in 
 every age, and negligent of that calling, which is, 
 above all others, univerfally and invariably illuftri- 
 ous, and which gives, even to the exterior appear- 
 ance of its profeiTors, a dignity and freedom un- 
 known to the reft of mankind. 
 
 Thefe favourable imprefllons were made ftill 
 deeper by his converfation with ladies, whofe re- 
 gard for foldiers he could not obferve without 
 wifliing himfelf one of that happy fraternity, to 
 which the female world feem to have devoted 
 their charms and their kindnefs. The love of 
 knowledge, which was ftill his predominant incli- 
 nation, was gratified by the recital of adventures, 
 and accounts of foreign countries ; and therefore 
 he concluded that there was no way of life in 
 which all his views could fo completely concenter 
 as in that of a foldier. In the art of war he though: 
 it not difficult to excel, having obferved his new 
 
 friends
 
 128 THE RAMBLER. N' 19. 
 
 friends not very much verfed in the principles of 
 tacticks or fortification j he therefore ftudied all 
 the military writers both ancient and modern, and, 
 in a fhort time, could tell how to have gained every 
 remarkable battle that has been loft from the be- 
 ginning of the world. He often fhewed at table 
 how Alexander fhould have been checked in his 
 conquefts, what was the fatal error at Pharfalia, 
 how Charles of Sweden might have efcaped his 
 ruin at Pultowa, and Marl borough might have 
 been made to repent his temerity at Blenheim. 
 He entrenched a'rmies upon paper fo that no fupe- 
 riority of numbers could force them, and modelled 
 in clay many impregnable fortreffes, on which all 
 the prefent arts of attack would be exhaufted without 
 effect. 
 
 Polyphilus, in a fhort time, obtained a com- 
 mifiion ; but before he could rub off the folemnity 
 of a fcholar, and gain the true air of military vi- 
 vacity, a war was declared, and forces fent to the 
 continent. Here Polyphilus unhappily found that 
 ftudy alone would not make a foldier ; for being 
 much accuftomed to think, he let the fenfe of 
 danger fink into his mind, and felt at the approach 
 of any action, that terror which a fentence of death 
 would have brought upon him. He faw that, in- 
 dead of conquering their fears, the endeavour of 
 his gay friends was only to efcape them ; but his 
 philofophy chained his mind to its object, and ra- 
 ther loaded him with (hackles than furnifhed him 
 \vith arms. He, however, fuppreiTed his mifery in 
 filence, and patted through the campaign with ho- 
 nour,
 
 Ni9. THE RAMBLER. 129 
 
 nour, but found himfelf utterly unable to fupport 
 another. 
 
 He then had recourfe again to his books, ami- 
 continued to range from one fludy to another. As 
 I ufually vifit him once a month, and am admitted 
 to him without previous notice, I have found him, 
 within this lad half year, decyphering the Chinefe 
 language, making a farce, collecting a vocabulary 
 of the obfolete terms of the Englifh law, writing an 
 inquiry concerning the ancient Corinthian brafs, 
 and forming a new fcheme of the variations of the 
 needle* 
 
 Thus is this powerful genius, which might have 
 extended the fphere of any fcience, or benefited the 
 world in any profeffion, diffipated in a boundlefs 
 variety, without profit to others or himfelf. He 
 makes fudden irruptions into the regions of know- 
 ledge, and fees all obftacles give way before him; 
 but he never flays long enough to complete his con- 
 queft, to eftablifh laws, or bring away the fpoils. 
 
 Such is often the folly of men, whom nature has 
 enabled to obtain fkill and knowledge, on terms 
 fo eafy, that they have no fenfe of the value of the 
 acquifition j they are qualified to make fuch fpeedy 
 progrefs in learning, that they think themfelves at 
 liberty to loiter in the way, and by turning afide after 
 every new object, lofe the race, like Atalanta, to 
 flower competitors, who prefs diligently forward, 
 and whofe force is directed to a fingle point. 
 
 I have often thought thofe happy that have been 
 fixed, from the firft dawn of thought, in a deter- 
 mination to fome flate of life, by the choice of 
 one whofe. authority may preclude caprice, and 
 
 VOL. IV. K whofe
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 19. 
 
 whofe influence may prejudice them in favour of 
 his opinion. The general precept of confulting 
 the genius is of little ufe, unlefs we are told, how 
 the genius can be known. If it is to be difcovered 
 only by experiment, life will be loft, before the re- 
 folution can be fixed > if any other indications are 
 to be found, they may, perhaps, be very early 
 difcerned. At lead, if to mifcarry in an attempt 
 be a proof of having miftaken the direction of the 
 genius, men appear not lefs frequently deceived with 
 regard to themfelves than to others ; and therefore, 
 no one has much reafon to complain that his life 
 was planned out by his friends, or to be confident 
 that he fhould have had either more honour or hap- 
 pinefs, by being abandoned to the chance of his 
 own fancy. 
 
 It was faid of the learned bifliop Sanderfon, 
 that when he was preparing his lectures, he heli- 
 tated fo much, and rejected fo often, that, at the 
 time of reading, he was often forced to produce, 
 not what was beft, but what happened to be at 
 hand. This will be the ftate of every man, who, 
 in the choice of his employment, balances all the 
 arguments on every fide ; the complication is fo 
 intricate, the motives and objections fo numerous, 
 there is fo much play for the imagination, and fo 
 much remains in the power of others, that reafon is 
 forced at laft to reft in neutrality, the decifion de- 
 volves into the hands of chance, and after a great 
 part of life fpent in inquiries which can never be re- 
 folved, the reft muft often pafs in repenting the un- 
 neceflary delay, and can be ufeful to few other pur- 
 pofes than to warn others againft the fame folly, and 
 
 to
 
 N 20. THE RAMBLER. 131 
 
 to fhew, that of two dates of life equally confiftent 
 with religion and virtue, he who chufes earlieft 
 chufes bed. 
 
 NUMB. 20. SATURDAY, May 26, 1750. 
 
 Ad populum pbaleras, ego te intus, et in cute novi. PERSIUS. 
 
 Such pageantry be to the people (hown ; 
 
 There boaft thy horfe's trappings and thy own : 
 
 I know thee to thy bottom, from within. 
 
 Thy (hallow center, to thy utmoft fkin. D R Y D E N . 
 
 AMONG the numerous ftratagems, by which 
 pride endeavours to recommend folly to re- 
 gard, there is fcarcely one that meets with lefs fuc- 
 cefs than affectation, or a perpetual difguife of the 
 real character, by fictitious appearances j whether it 
 be, that every man hates falfehood, from the natural 
 congruity of truth to his faculties of reafon, or that 
 every man is jealous of the honour of his underftand- 
 ing, and thinks his difcernment confequentially 
 called in queftion, whenever any thing is exhibited 
 under a borrowed form. 
 
 This averfion from all kinds of difguife, whatever 
 be its caufe, is univerfally diffufed, and inceffantly 
 in action j nor is it neceffary, that to exafperate 
 deteftation, or excite contempt, any intereft fhould 
 be invaded, or any competition attempted ; it is 
 fufficient, that there is an intention to deceive, an 
 
 K 2 intention.
 
 I3t THE RAMBLER. N 20. 
 
 intention which every heart fwells to oppofe, and 
 every tongue is bufy to detect. 
 
 This reflection was awakened in my mind by a 
 very common practice among my correfpondents, of 
 writing under characters which they cannot fupport, 
 which are of no ufe to the explanation or enforce- 
 ment of that which they defcribe or recommend; 
 and which, therefore, fince they aflume them only 
 for the fake of difplaying their abilities, I will advife 
 them for the future to forbear, as laborious without 
 advantage. 
 
 It is aimoft a general ambition of thofe who fa- 
 vour me with their advice for the regulation of my 
 conduct, or their contribution for the afliftance of 
 my understanding, to affect the ftyle and the names 
 of ladies. And I cannot always withhold fome ex- 
 prefllon of anger, like Sir Hugh in the comedy, 
 when I happen to find that a woman has a beard. I 
 muft therefore warn the gentle Phyllis, that fhe lend 
 me no more letters from the Horfe Guards; and re- 
 quire of Belinda, that fhe be content to refign her 
 pretenfions to female elegance, till fhe has lived 
 three weeks without hearing the politicks of Batfon's 
 coffee-houfe. I muft indulge myfelf in the liberty 
 of obfervation, that there were fome allufions in. 
 Chloris's production, fufficient to fhew that Bracton 
 and Plowden are her favourite authors ; and that 
 Euphelia has not been long enough at home, to 
 wear out all the traces of the phrafeology, which ihe 
 learned in the expedition to Carthagena. 
 
 Among all my female friends, there was none who 
 gave me more trouble to decypher her true character, 
 
 than
 
 N 20. THE RAMBLER. 133 
 
 than Penthefilea, whofe letter lay upon my defk 
 three days before I could fix upon the real writer. 
 There was a confufion of images, and medley of 
 barbarity, which held me long in fufpence j till by 
 perfeverance I difentangled the perplexity, and found, 
 that Penthefilea is the fon of a wealthy ftock -jobber, 
 who fpends his morning under his father's eye in 
 Change- Alley, dines at a tavern in Covent-Garden, 
 pafles his evening in the playhoufe, and part of the 
 night at a gaming-table, and having learned the 
 dialects of thefe various regions, has mingled them 
 all in a ftudied compofition. 
 
 When Lee was once told by a critick, that it was 
 very eafy to write like a madman j he anfwered, that 
 it was difficult to write like a madman, but eafy 
 enough to write like a fool ; and I hope to be ex- 
 cufed by my kind contributors, if, in imitation of 
 this great author, I prefume to remind them, that it 
 is much eafier not to write like a man, than to write 
 like a woman. 
 
 I have, indeed, fome ingenious well-wiihers, who, 
 without departing from their fex, have found very 
 wonderful appellations. A very fmart letter has been 
 lent me from a puny enfign, figned Ajax Tela- 
 monius; another, in recommendation of a new 
 treatife upon cards, from a gamefter, who calls him- 
 felf Sefoftris ; and another upon the improvements 
 of the fifhery, from Dioclefian : but as thefe feem 
 only to have picked up their appellations by chance, 
 without endeavouring at any particular impofture, 
 their improprieties are rather inftances of blunder 
 than of affectation, and are, therefore, not equally 
 fitted to inflame the hoftile pafBonsj for it is not 
 K 3 foil/
 
 134 THE RAMBLER. N 20. 
 
 folly but pride, not error but deceit, which the world 
 means to perfecute, when it raifes the full cry of 
 nature to hunt down affectation. 
 
 The hatred which diffimulation always draws 
 upon itfelf, is fo great, that if I did not know how 
 much cunning differs from wifdom, I Ihould wonder 
 that any men have fo little knowledge of their own 
 intereft, as to afpire to wear a mafk for life - t to try 
 to impofe upon the world a character, to which they 
 feel themfelves void of any juft claim j and to hazard 
 their quiet, their fame, and even their profit, by ex- 
 pofing themfelves to the danger of that reproach, 
 malevolence, arid neglect, which fuch a difcovery 
 as they have always to fear will certainly bring upon 
 them. 
 
 It might be imagined, that the pleafure of reputa- 
 tion fhould confift in the fatisfaction of having our 
 opinion of our own merit confirmed by the fuffrage 
 of the publick ; and that, to be extolled for a 
 quality, which a man knows himfelf to want, fhould 
 give him no other happinefs than to be miftaken for 
 the owner of an eftate, over which he chances to be 
 travelling. But he who fubfifts upon affectation, 
 knows nothing of this delicacy ; like a defperate ad- 
 venturer in commerce, he takes up reputation upon 
 truft, mortgages poffeffions which he never had, 
 and enjoys, to the fatal hour of bankruptcy, though 
 with a thoufand terrors and anxieties, the unneceffary 
 fplendour of borrowed riches. 
 
 Affectation is to be always diftinguiftied from 
 hypocrify, as being the art of counterfeiting thofe 
 qualities which we might, with innocence and fafety, 
 be known to want. Thus the man, who to carry 
 
 on
 
 N20. THE RAMBLER. 135 
 
 on any fraud, or to conceal any crime, pretends to 
 rigours of devotion, and exactnefs of life, is guilty 
 of hypocrify ; and his guilt is greater, as the end, 
 for which he puts on the falfe appearance, is more 
 pernicious. But he that, with an awkward addrefs, 
 and unpleafing countenance, boafts of the conquefts 
 made by him among the ladies, and counts over the 
 thoufands which he might have poffeffed if he would 
 have fubmitted to the yoke of matrimony, is charge- 
 able only with affectation. Hypocrify is the ne- 
 ceffary burthen of villany, affectation part of the 
 chofen trappings of folly j the one completes a vil- 
 lain, the other only finifhes a fop. Contempt is the 
 proper punilhment of affectation, and deteftation the 
 juft confequence of hypocrify. 
 
 With the hypocrite it_is^aot at prefent my inten- 
 tion to expoftulate, though even he might be taught 
 the excellency of virtue, by the neceffity of feeming 
 to be virtuous j but the man of affectation may, per- 
 haps, be reclaimed, by finding how little he is likely 
 to gain by perpetual conftraint, and inceffant vigi- 
 lance, and how much more fecurely he might make 
 his way to efteem, by cultivating real, than difplay- 
 ing counterfeit qualities. 
 
 Every thing future is to be eftimated by a wife 
 man, in proportion to the probability of attaining 
 it, and its value, when attained ; and neither of thele 
 confiderations will much contribute to the en- 
 couragement of affectation. For, if the pinnacles 
 of fame be, at befiv flippery, how unfteady muft 
 his footing be who (lands upon pinnacles without 
 foundation ! If praife be made, by the inconftancy 
 
 K 4 and
 
 136 THE RAMBLER. N 20. 
 
 and malicioufnefs of thofe who muft confer it, a 
 blefling which no man can promife himfelf from the 
 mod confpicuous merit and vigorous induftry, 
 how faint muft be the hope of gaining it, when the 
 uncertainty is multiplied by the weaknefs of the 
 pretenfions ! He that purfues fame with juft claims, 
 trufts his happinefs to the winds j but he that en- 
 deavours after it by falfe merit, has to fear, not only 
 the violence of the ftorm, but the leaks of his veflel. 
 Though he fhould happen to keep above water for 
 a time, by the help of a fofc breeze, and a calm fea, 
 at the firft guft he muft inevitably founder, with 
 this melancholy reflection, that, if he would have 
 been content with his natural ftation, he might have 
 efcaped his calamity. Affectation may poflibly fuc- 
 ceed for a time, and a man may, by great attention, 
 perfuade others, that he really has the qualities 
 which he prefumes to boaft ; but the hour will come 
 when he fhould exert them, and then, whatever he 
 enjoyed in praife, he muft fuffer in reproach. 
 
 Applaufe and admiration are by no means to be 
 counted among the neceflaries of life, and therefore 
 any indirect arts to obtain them have very little claim 
 to pardon or compafiion. There is fcarcely any 
 man without fome valuable or improveable qualities, 
 by which he might always fecure himfelf from con- 
 tempt. And perhaps exemption from ignominy is 
 the moil eligible reputation, as freedom from pain 
 is, among fome philofophers, the definition of hap- 
 pinefs. 
 
 If we therefore compare the value of the praife 
 obtained by fictitious excellence, even while the 
 
 cheat
 
 K 21. THE RAMBLER. 137 
 
 cheat is yet undifcovered, with that kindnefs which 
 every man may fuit by his virtue, and that efteem 
 to which moft men may rife by common underftand- 
 ing fteadily and honeftly applied, we fhall find that 
 when from the adfcititious happinefs all the deduc- 
 tions are made by fear and cafualty, there will re- 
 main nothing equiponderant to the fecurity of truth. 
 The ftate of the pofleflbr of humble virtues, to the 
 affecter of great excellencies, is that of a fmall cot- 
 tage of ftone, to the palace raifed with ice by the 
 emprefs of Ruflla; it was for a time fplendid and lu- 
 minous, but the firft funfhine melted it to nothing. 
 
 NUMB. 21. TUESDAY, May 29, 1750. 
 
 Terra falutiferas herbas, eademque nocentes, 
 
 Nutrity & urtic< proximo. f<epe rofa eft. OVID. 
 
 Our bane and phyiick the fame earth beftows, 
 And near the noifome nettle blooms the rofe. 
 
 EVERY man is prompted by the love of him- 
 felf to imagine, that he poffefles fome quali- 
 ties, fuperior, either in kind or in degree, to thole 
 which he fees allotted to the reft of the world; and, 
 whatever apparent difadvantages he may fuffer in the 
 comparifon with others, he has fome invifible dif- 
 tinctions, fome latent referve of excellence, which 
 he throws into the balance, and by which he gene- 
 rally fancies that it is turned in his favour. 
 
 The ftudious and fpeculative part of mankind 
 always feem to confider their fraternity as placed in 
 
 a ftate
 
 ij8 THE RAMBLER. N 21. 
 
 a ftate of oppofition to thofe who are engaged in 
 the tumult of publick bufmefs j and have pleafed 
 themfelves, from age to age, with celebrating the 
 felicity of their own condition, and with recount- 
 ing the perplexity of politicks, the dangers of great- 
 nefs, the anxieties of ambition, and the miferies of 
 riches. 
 
 Among the numerous topicks of declamation, 
 that their induftry has difcovered on this fubject, 
 there is none which they prefs with greater efforts, 
 or on which they have more copioufly laid out 
 their reafon and their imagination, than the infta- 
 bility of high ftations, and the uncertainty with 
 which the profits and honours are polTeffed, that 
 muft be acquired with fo much hazard, vigilance, 
 and labour. 
 
 This they appear to confider as an irrefragable ar- 
 gument againft the choice of the ftatefman and the 
 warriour; and fwell with confidence of vidtory, thus 
 furnifhed by the mufes with the. arms which never 
 can be blunted, and which no art or ftrength of their 
 adverfaries can elude or refift. 
 
 It is well known by experience to the nations 
 which employed elephants in war, that though by 
 the terrour of their bulk, and the violence of their 
 impreflion, they often threw the enemy into diforder, 
 yet there was always danger in the ufe of them, very 
 nearly equivalent to the advantage ; for if their firft 
 charge could be fupported, they were eafily driven 
 back upon their confederates ; they then broke 
 through the troops behind them, and made no lefs 
 havock in the precipitation of their retreat, than in 
 the fury of their onfet. 
 
 I know
 
 N'2i. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 I know not whether thofe, who have fo vehe- 
 mently urged the inconveniencies and danger of an 
 active life, have not made ufe of arguments that 
 may be retorted with equal force upon themfelves ; 
 and whether the happinefs of a candidate for literary 
 fame be not fubject to the fame uncertainty with that 
 of him who governs provinces, commands armies, 
 prefides in the fenate, or dictates in the cabinet. 
 
 That eminence of learning is not to be gained 
 without labour, at lead equal to that which any other 
 kind of greatnefs can require, will be allowed by 
 thofe who wifh to elevate the character of a fcholar; 
 fince they cannot but know, that every human ap- 
 quifition is valuable in proportion to the difficulty 
 employed in its attainment. And that thofe, who 
 have gained the efteem and veneration of the world, 
 by their knowledge or their genius, are by no means 
 exempt from the folicitude which any other kind of 
 dignity produces, may be conjectured from the in- 
 numerable artifices which they make ufe of to de- 
 grade a fuperiour, to reprefs a rival, or obftruct a 
 followers artifices fo grofs and mean, as to prove 
 evidently how much a man may excel in learning, 
 without being either more wife or more virtuous than 
 thofe whofe ignorance he pities or defpifes. 
 
 Nothing therefore remains, by which the ftudent 
 can gratify his defire of appearing to have built his 
 happinefs on a more firm ban's than his antagonift, 
 except the certainty with which his honours are en- 
 joyed. The garlands gained by the heroes of litera- 
 ture muft be gathered from fummits equally difficult 
 to climb with thofe that bear the civick or tri- 
 umphal wreaths, they muft be worn with equal envy, 
 
 and
 
 i 4 o THE RAMBLER. N ai. 
 
 and guarded with equal care from thofe hands that 
 are always employed in efforts to tear them awayj 
 the only remaining hope is, that their verdure is 
 more lading, and that they are lefs likely to fail by 
 time, or lefs obnoxious to the blafts of accident. 
 
 Even this hope will receive very little encourage- 
 ment from the examination of the hiftory of learn- 
 ing, or obfervation of the fate of fcholars in the pre- 
 fent age. If we look back into paft times, we find 
 innumerable names of authors once in high reputa- 
 tion, read perhaps by the beautiful, quoted by the 
 witty, and commented by the grave j but of whom 
 we now know only that they once exifted. If we 
 confider the diftribution of literary fame in our own 
 time, we fhall find it a pofleffion of very uncertain 
 tenure -, fometimes beftowed by a fudden caprice of 
 the publick, and again transferred to a new fa- 
 vourite, for no other reafon than that he is new; 
 fometimes refufed to long labour and eminent de- 
 fert, and fometimes granted to very flight preten- 
 fions ; loft fometimes by fecurity and negligence, 
 and fometimes by too diligent endeavours to retain 
 it. 
 
 A fuccefsful author is equally in danger of the 
 diminution of his fame, whether he continues or 
 ceafes to write. The regard of the publick is not 
 to be kept but by tribute, and the remembrance of 
 paft fervice will quickly languifli unlefs fucceC- 
 five performances frequently revive it. Yet in 
 every new attempt there is new hazard, and there 
 are few who do not at fome unlucky time, in- 
 jure their own characters by attempting to enlarge 
 them. 
 
 There
 
 N at. THE RAMBLER. 141 
 
 There are many poffible caufes of that inequality 
 which we may fo frequently obferve in the perform- 
 ances of the fame man, from the influence of which 
 no ability or induftry is fufficiently fecured, and 
 which have fo often fullied the fplendour of genius, 
 that the wit, as well as the conqueror, may be pro- 
 perly cautioned not to indulge his pride with too 
 early triumphs, but to defer to the end of life his 
 eftimate of happinefs. 
 
 Ultima femper 
 
 ExpeElanda dies bomini, dictque beatus 
 Ante obitum nemo fupremaque funera debet. 
 
 ut no frail man, however great or high, 
 
 Can be concluded bleft before he die. ADD ISDN. 
 
 Among the motives that urge an author to under- 
 takings by which his reputation is impaired, one of 
 the moft frequent muft be mentioned with tender- 
 nefs, becaufe it is not to be counted among his fol- 
 lies, but his miferies. It very often happens that 
 the works of learning or of wit are performed at the 
 direction of thofe by whom they are to be rewarded ; 
 the writer has not always the choice of his fubj'ect, 
 but is compelled to accept any tafk which is thrown 
 before him, without much confideration of his own 
 convenience, and without time to prepare himfelf by 
 previous ftudies. 
 
 Mifcarriages of this kind are likewife frequently, 
 the confequence of that acquaintance with the great, 
 which is generally confidered as one of the chief pri- 
 vileges of literature and genius. A man who has 
 once learned to think himfelf exalted by familiarity 
 
 with
 
 I 4 2 THE RAMBLER. N2i. 
 
 with thofe, whom nothing but their birth, or their 
 fortunes, or fuch ftations as are feldom gained by 
 moral excellence, fet above him, will not be long 
 without fubmitting his underftanding to their con- 
 duel: ; he will fuffer them to prefcribe the courfe of 
 his fludies, and employ him for their own pur- 
 pofes either of diverfion or intereft. His delire of 
 pleafing thofe whofe favour he has weakly made ne- 
 cefiary to himfelf, will not fuffer him always to 
 confider how little he is qualified for the work im- 
 pofed. Either his vanity will tempt him to conceal 
 his deficiencies, or that cowardice, which always 
 encroaches faft upon fuch as fpend their lives in the 
 company of perfons higher than themfelves, will not 
 leave him refolution to affert the liberty of choice. 
 
 But, though we fuppofe that a man by his fortune 
 can avoid the neceffity of dependence, and by his fpi- 
 rit can repel the ufurpations of patronage, yet he 
 may eafily, by writing long, happen to write ill. 
 There is a general fuccefllon of events in which con- 
 traries are produced by periodical viciffitudes j labour 
 and care are rewarded with fuccefs, fuccefs produces 
 confidence, confidence relaxes induftry, and negli- 
 gence ruins that reputation which accuracy had 
 raifed. 
 
 He that happens not to be lulled by praife into 
 fupinenefs, may be animated by it to undertakings 
 above his ftrength, or incited to fancy himfelf alike 
 qualified for every kind of compofition, and able to 
 comply with the publick tafte through all its varia- 
 tions. By fome opinion like this, many men have 
 been engaged, at an advanced age, in attempts 
 which they had not time to complete, and after a few 
 
 weak
 
 Nai. THE RAMBLER. 143 
 
 weak efforts, funk into the grave with vexation to fee 
 the riling generation gain ground upon them. From 
 thefe failures the higheft genius is not exempt j that 
 judgment which appears fo penetrating, when it is 
 employed upon the works of others, very often fails 
 where intereft or paffion can exert their power. We 
 are blinded in examining our own labours by innu- 
 merable prejudices. Our juvenile compofitions pleafe 
 us, becaufe they bring to our minds the remem- 
 brance of youth $ our later performances we are 
 ready to efteem, becaufe we are unwilling to think 
 that we have made no improvement; what flows 
 eafily from the pen charms us, becaufe we read with 
 pleafure that which flatters our opinion of our own 
 powers ; what was compofed with great ftruggles of 
 the mind we do not eafily reject, becaufe we cannot 
 bear that fo much labour fhould be fruitlefs. But 
 the reader has none of thefe prepofieffions, and won- 
 ders that the author is fo unlike himfelf, without 
 confidering that the fame foil will, with different 
 ^culture, afford different products.
 
 144 THE RAMBLER. N 22. 
 
 NUMB. 22. SATURDAY, June 2, 1750. 
 
 Ego nee ftudium fine dwite vena, 
 
 Nee rude quid profit video ingenium, alterius jic 
 
 Alter a pofcit open res, & conjurat amice. HoRt 
 
 Without a genius learning foars in vain ; -\ 
 
 And without learning genius links again ; > 
 
 Their force united crowns the fprightly reign . J 
 
 ELPHINSTON. 
 
 WI T and LEARNING were the children of 
 Apollo, by different mothers ; WIT was the 
 offspring of EUPHROSYNE, and refembled her in 
 cheerfulnefs and vivacity j LEARNING was born 
 of SOPHIA, and retained her ferioufnefs and caution. 
 As their mothers were rivals, they were bred up by 
 them from their birth in habitual oppofition, and all 
 means were fo inceffantly employed to imprefs upoa 
 them a hatred and contempt of each other, that 
 though Apollo, who forefaw the ill effects of their 
 difcord, endeavoured to foften them, by dividing 
 his regard equally between them, yet his impartiality 
 and kindnefs were without effect; the maternal ani- 
 mofity was deeply rooted, having been intermingled 
 with their firft ideas, and was confirmed every hour, 
 as frefh opportunities occurred of exerting it. No 
 fooner were they of age to be received into the 
 apartments of the other celeftials, than WIT began 
 to entertain Venus at her toilet, by aping the folem- 
 uity of LEARNING, and LEARNING to divert Mi- 
 nerva
 
 N'22. THE RAMBLER. 145 
 
 nerva at her loom by expofmg the blunders and 
 
 ignorance of WIT. 
 o 
 
 Thus they grew up, with malice perpetually in- 
 creafing, by the encouragement which each received 
 from thofe whom their mothers had perfuaded to 
 patronife and fupport them ; and longed to be ad- 
 mitted to the table of Jupiter, not fo much for the 
 hope of gaining honour, as of excluding a rival from 
 all pretenfions to regard, and of putting an everlaft- 
 ing flop to the progrefs of that influence which either 
 believed the other to have obtained by mean arts and 
 falfe appearances. 
 
 At laft the day came, when they were both, with 
 the ufual folemnities, received into the clafs of fu- 
 perior deities, and allowed to take nectar from the 
 hand of Hebe. But from that hour CONCORD loft 
 her authority at the table of Jupiter. The rivals, 
 animated by their new dignity, and incited by the 
 alternate applaufes of the affociate powers, harafied 
 each other by inceffant contefts, with fuch a regular 
 viciffitude of victory, that neither was deprefled. 
 
 ft was obfervable, that, at the beginning of every 
 debate, the advantage was on the fide of WIT j and 
 that, at the firft fallies, the whole afiembly fparkled, 
 according to Homer's expreffion, with unextinguifh- 
 able merriment. But LEARNING would referve her 
 ftrength till the bur ft of applaufe was over, and the 
 languor, with which the violence of joy is always 
 fucceeded, began to promife more calm and patient 
 attention. She then attempted her defence, and, by 
 comparing one part of her antagonift's objections 
 with another, commonly made him confute himfelf; 
 or, by fhewing how fmall a part of the queftion he 
 
 VOL. IV. L had
 
 I4<5 THE RAMBLER. N 22. 
 
 had taken into his view, proved that his opinion 
 could have no weight. The audience began gradu- 
 ally to lay afide their prepofieffions, and rofe, at laft, 
 with great veneration for LEARNING, but with greater 
 kindnefs for WIT. 
 
 Their conduct was, whenever they defired to re- 
 commend themfelves to diftinction, entirely oppo- 
 fite. WIT was daring and adventurous; LEARNING 
 cautious and deliberate. WIT thought nothing re- 
 proachful but dulnefs; LEARNING was afraid of no 
 imputation but that of error. WIT anfwered before 
 he underftood, left his quicknefs of apprehenfion 
 fhould be queftioned ; LEARNING paufed, where 
 there was no difficulty, left any infidious fophifm 
 fhould lie undifcovered. WIT perplexed every de- 
 bate by rapidity and confufion; LEARNING tired the 
 hearers with endlefs diftinctions, and prolonged the 
 difpute without advantage, by proving that which 
 never was denied. WIT, in hopes of fhining, 
 would venture to produce what he had not con- 
 fidered, and often fucceeded beyond his own expec- 
 tation, by following the train of a lucky thought; 
 LEARNING would reject every new notion, for fear of 
 being entangled in confequences which fhe could not 
 forefee, and was often hindered, by her caution, 
 from prefling her advantages, and fubduing her op- 
 ponent. 
 
 Both had prejudices, which in fome degree hin- 
 dered their progrefs towards perfection, and left 
 them open to attacks. Novelty was the darling of 
 WIT, and antiquity of LEARNING. To WIT, all 
 that was new was fpecious; to LEARNING, what- 
 ever was "ancient was venerable. WIT ^however 
 
 feldom
 
 NO 22. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 feldom failed to divert thofe whom he could not con- 
 vince, and to convince was not often his ambition ; 
 LEARNING always fupported her opinion with fo 
 many collateral truths, that, when the caufe was de- 
 cided againft her, her arguments were remembered 
 with admiration. 
 
 Nothing was more common, on either fide, than 
 to quit their proper characters, and to hope for a 
 complete conqueft by the ufe of the weapons which 
 had been employed againft them. WIT would fome- 
 times labour a fyllogifm, and LEARNING diftort her 
 features with a jeftj but they always fuffered by the 
 experiment, and betrayed themfelves to confutation 
 or contempt. The ferioufnefs of WIT was without 
 dignity, and the merriment of LEARNING without 
 vivacity. 
 
 Their contefts, by long continuance, grew at laft 
 important, and the divinities broke into parties. 
 WIT was taken into protection of the laughter- 
 loving Venus, had a retinue allowed him of SMILES 
 and JESTS, and was often permitted to dance among 
 the GRACES. LEARNING ftill continued the favour- 
 ite of Minerva, and feldom went out of her palace, 
 without a train of the feverer virtues, CHASTITY, 
 TEMPERANCE, FORTITUDE, and LABOUR. WIT, 
 cohabiting with MALICE, had a fon named SATYR, 
 who followed him, carrying a quiver filled with 
 poifoned arrows, which, where they once drew blood, 
 could by no fkill ever be extracted. Thefe arrows he 
 frequently fhot at LEARNING, when fhe was moft ear- 
 neftly or ufefully employed, engaged in abftrufe en- 
 quiries, or giving inftrudHons to her followers. Mi- 
 nerva therefore deputed CRITICISM to her aid, who 
 L 2 generally
 
 148 THE RAMBLER. N 22.' 
 
 generally broke the point of SATYR'S arrows, turned 
 them afide, or retorted them on himfelf. 
 
 Jupiter was x at laft angry, that the peace of the 
 heavenly regions fhould be in perpetual danger of 
 violation, and refolved to difmifs thefe troublefome 
 antagonifts to the lower world. Hither therefore 
 they came, and carried on their ancient quarrel 
 among mortals, nor was either long without zealous 
 votaries. WIT, by his gaiety, captivated the 
 young; and LEARNING, by her authority, influenced 
 the old. Their power quickly appeared by very 
 eminent effects, theatres were built for the reception 
 of WIT, and colleges endowed for the refidence of 
 LEARNING. Each party endeavoured to outvie the 
 other in coft and magnificence, and to propagate an 
 opinion, that it was neceffary, from the firft en- 
 trance into life, to enlift in one of the factions ; and 
 that none could hope for the regard of either di- 
 vinity, who had once entered the temple of the rival 
 power. 
 
 There were indeed a clafs of mortals, by whom 
 WIT and LEARNING were equally difregarded : 
 thefe were the devotees of Plutus, the god of 
 riches ; among thefe it feldom happened that the 
 gaiety of WIT could raiie a fmile, or the eloquence 
 of LEARNING procure attention. In revenge of 
 this contempt they agreed to incite their followers 
 a^ainft them ; but the forces that were fent on thofe 
 expeditions frequently betrayed their truft; and, in 
 contempt of the orders which they had received, flat- 
 tered the rich in publick, while they icorned them 
 in their hearts; and when, by this treachery, they 
 had obtained the favour of Plutus, affected to look 
 
 with
 
 N22. THE RAMBLER. 149 
 
 with an air of fuperiority on thofe who ftill remained 
 in the fervice of WIT and LEARNING. 
 
 Difgufted with thefe defertions, the two rivals, at 
 the fame time, petitioned Jupiter for re-admifllon to 
 their native habitations. Jupiter thundered on the 
 right hand, and they prepared to obey the happy 
 fummons. WIT readily fpread his wings and foared 
 aloft, but not being able to fee far, was bewildered 
 in the pathlefs immenfity of the ethereal fpaces. 
 LEARNING, who knew the way, fhook her pinions; 
 but for. want of natural vigour could only take Ihort 
 flights : fo, after many efforts, they both funk again 
 to the ground, and learned, from their mutual di- 
 ftrefs, the neceffity of union. They therefore joined 
 their hands, and renewed their flight: LEARNING 
 was borne up by the vigour of WIT, and WIT 
 guided by the perfpicacity of LEARNING. .They 
 foon reached the dwellings of Jupiter, and were fo 
 endeared to each other, that they lived afterwards in 
 perpetual concord. WIT perfuaded LEARNING to 
 converfe with the GRACES, and LEARNING engaged 
 WIT in the fervice of the VIRTUES. They were now 
 the favourites of all the powers of heaven, and glad- 
 dened every banquet by their prefence. They foon 
 after married, at the command of Jupiter, and had a 
 numerous progeny of ARTS and SCIENCES.
 
 150 THE RAMBLER. N 23. 
 
 .31 ;.li3->.\J '- .?>-'/> .> 
 
 NUMB. 23. TUESDAY, ^w;/* 5, 1750. 
 
 9"r# #'/ con--vivfs prope diffentire iiidentur ; 
 
 Pofcentur <vario multum di<uerfa palato. HOR. 
 
 Three guefts I have, diflenting at my feaft, 
 
 Requiring each to gratify his tafte 
 
 With different food. FRANCIS. 
 
 THAT every man fhould regulate his actions 
 ^ by his own confcience, without any regard to 
 
 the opinions of the reft of the world, is one of the 
 firft precepts of moral pradence; juftified not only 
 by the fuffrage of reafon, which declares that none 
 of the gifts of heaven are to lie ufelefs, but by the 
 voice likewife of experience, which will foon inform 
 us that, if we make the praife or blame of others 
 the rule of our conduct, we fhall be diftracted by 
 a boundlefs variety of irreconcileable judgments, be 
 held in perpetual fulpenfe between contrary impulfes, 
 and confult for ever without determination. 
 
 I know not whether, for the fame reafon, it is 
 not neceffary for an author to place fome confi- 
 dence in his own fkill, and to fatisfy himfelf in 
 the knowledge that he has not deviated from the 
 eftablifhed laws of compofition, without fubmit- 
 ting his works to frequent examinations before he 
 gives them to the publick, or endeavouring to fe- 
 cure fuccefs by a felicitous conformity to advice and 
 criticifm. 
 
 It
 
 N23. THE RAMBLER. 151 
 
 It is, indeed, quickly difcoverable, that confult- . 
 ation and compliance can conduce little to the 
 perfection of any literary performance j for who- 
 ever is fo doubtful of his own abilities as to encou- 
 rage the remarks of others, will find himfelf every 
 day embarraffed with new difficulties, and will 
 harafs his mind, in vain, with the hopelefs labour 
 of uniting heterogeneous ideas, digefting independ- 
 ent hints, and collecting into one point the feveral 
 rays of borrowed light, emitted often with contrary 
 directions. < 
 
 Of all authors, thofe who retail their labours in 
 periodical fheets would be moil unhappy, if they 
 were much to regard the cenfures or the admonitions 
 of their readers : for, as their works are not fent 
 into the world at once, but by fmall parts in gra- 
 dual fucceffion, it is always imagined, by thofe 
 who think themfelves qualified to give instructions, 
 that they may yet redeem their former failings by 
 hearkening to better judges, and fupply the defi- 
 ciencies of their plan, by the help of the criticifms 
 which are fo liberally afforded. 
 
 I have had occafion to obferve, fometimes with 
 vexation, and fometimes with merriment, the dif- 
 ferent temper with which the fame man reads a 
 printed and manufcript performance. When a book 
 is once in the hands of the publick, it is con- 
 fidered as permanent and unalterable j and the 
 reader, if he be free from perfonal prejudices, takes 
 it up with no other intention than of pleafing or in- 
 flructing himfelf j he accommodates his mind to the 
 author's defign ; and, having no intereft in refufing 
 the amufement that is offered him, never interrupts 
 
 L 4 his
 
 152 THE RAMBLER. N 23. 
 
 his own tranquillity by ftudied cavils, or deftroys 
 his fatisfaction in that which is already well, by an 
 anxious enquiry how it might be better ; but is often 
 contented without pleafure, and pleafed without per- 
 fection. 
 
 But if the fame man be called to confider the 
 merit of a production yet unpublifhed, he brings an 
 imagination heated with objections to pafTages which 
 he has yet never heard ; he invokes all the powers 
 of criticifm, and {tores his memory with Tafte and 
 Grace, Purity and Delicacy, Manners and Unities* 
 founds which, having been once uttered by thofe 
 that underftood them, have been fince re-echoed 
 without meaning, and kept up to the difturb- 
 ance of the world, by a conftant repercuffion from 
 one coxcomb to another. He confiders himfelf as 
 obliged to Ihew, by fome proof of his abilities, that 
 he is not confulted to no purpofe, and therefore 
 watches every opening for objection, and looks round 
 for every opportunity to propofe fome fpecious al- 
 teration. Such opportunities a very fmall degree of 
 fagacity will enabk him to find -, for, in every work 
 of imagination, the difpofition of parts, the infer- 
 tion of incidents, and ufe of decorations, may be va- 
 ried a thoufand ways with equal propriety; and as in 
 things nearly equal, that will always feem bed to 
 every man which he himfelf produces, the critick, 
 whofe bufinefs is only to propofe, without the care 
 of execution, can never want the fatisfaction of 
 believing that he has fuggefted very important 
 improvements, nor the power of inforcing his 
 advice by arguments, which, as they appear con- 
 vincing to himfelfj either his kindnefs or his 
 
 vanity
 
 N23- THE RAMBLER. 153 
 
 vanity will prefs obftinately and importunately, with- 
 out fufpicion that he may poflibly judge too haftily 
 in favour of his own advice, or enquiry whether 
 the advantage of the new fcheme be proportionate 
 to the labour. 
 
 It is obferved by the younger Pliny, that an 
 orator ought not fo much to felect the ftrongeft ar- 
 guments which his caufe admits, as to employ all 
 which his imagination can afford : for, in pleading, 
 thofe reafons are of moft value, which will moft 
 affect the judges ; and the judges, fays he, will be 
 always moft touched with that which they had before 
 conceived. Every man who is called to give his 
 opinion of a performance, decides upon the fame 
 principle; he firft fuffers himfelf to form expecta- 
 tions, and then is angry at his difappointment. He 
 lets his imagination rove at large, and wonders that 
 another, equally unconfined in the boundlefs ocean 
 of poflibility, takes a different courfe. 
 
 But, though the rule of Pliny be judicioufly laid 
 down, it is not applicable to the writer's caufe, be- 
 caufe there always lies an appeal from domeftick 
 criticifm to a higher judicature, and the publick, 
 which is never corrupted, nor often deceived, is to 
 pafs the laft fentence upon literary claims. 
 
 Of the great force of preconceived opinions I had 
 many proofs, when I firft entered upon this weekly 
 labour. My readers having, from the performances 
 of my predeceffors, eftablifhed an idea of uncon- 
 nected effays, to which they believed all future 
 authors under a neceffity of conforming, were im- 
 patient of the leaft deviation from their fyftem, and 
 numerous remonftrances were accordingly made 
 
 by
 
 154 THE RAMBLER. K 23. 
 
 by each, as he found his favourite fubject omitted 
 or delayed. Some were angry that the RAMBLER 
 did not, like the SPECTATOR, introduce himfelf to 
 the acquaintance of the publick, by an account of 
 his own birth and ftudies, an enumeration of his adven- 
 tures, and a defcription of his phyfiognomy. Others 
 foon began to remark that he was a folemn, ferious, 
 dictatorial writer, without fprightlinefs or gaiety, 
 and called out with vehemence for mirth and 
 humour. Another admonifhed him to have a fpeciai 
 eye upon the various clubs of this great city, and 
 informed him that much of the Spectator's vivacity 
 was laid out upon fuch afiemblies. He has been 
 cenfured for not imitating the politenefs of his pre- 
 deceflbrs, having hitherto neglected to take the 
 ladies under his protection, and give them rules for 
 the juft oppofition of colours, and the proper di- 
 menfions of ruffles and pinners. He has been re- 
 quired by one to fix a particular cenfure upon thofe 
 matrons who play at cards with fpectacles. And 
 another is very much offended whenever he meets 
 with a ipeculation, in which naked precepts are 
 comprifed without the illuftration of examples and 
 characters. 
 
 I make not the leaft queftion that all thefe mo- 
 nitors intend the promotion of my defign, and the 
 inftruction of my readers j but they do not know, 
 or do not reflect, that an author has a rule of choice 
 peculiar to himfelf; and felects thofe fubjects which 
 he is bed qualified to treat, by the courfe of his 
 ftudies, or the accidents of his life; that fbme 
 topicks of amufement have been already treated with 
 too much fuccefs to invite a competition j and that 
 
 he
 
 N'23- THE RAMBLER. 155 
 
 he who endeavours to gain many readers muft try 
 various arts of invitation, effay every avenue of 
 pleafure, and make frequent changes in his methods 
 of approach. 
 
 I cannot but confider myfelf, amidft this tumult 
 of criticifm, as a fhip in a poetical tempefl, im- 
 pelled at the fame time by oppofite winds, and 
 dafhed by the waves from every quarter, but held 
 upright by the contrariety of the aflailants, and 
 fecured, in fome meafure, by multiplicity of diftrefs. 
 Had the opinion of my cenfures been unanimous, 
 it might perhaps have overfet my refolution; but 
 fince I find them at variance with each other, I can, 
 without fcruple, neglect them, and endeavour to 
 gain the favour of the publick by following the di- 
 rection of my own reafon, and indulging the fallies 
 of my own imagination.
 
 156 THE RAMBLER. N 24. 
 
 NUMB. 24. SATURDAY, June 9, 1750. 
 
 Nemo infefe tent at defcendere. P E R s I u s . 
 
 None, none defc ends into himfelf. DRYDEN. 
 
 AMONG the precepts, or aphorifms, admitted 
 by general confent, and inculcated by fre- 
 quent repetition, there is none more famous among 
 the matters of ancient wifdom, than that compendi- 
 ous lefibn, TvuSi riavlov, Be acquainted with thyjelf ; 
 afcribed by fome to an oracle, and by others to Chilo 
 of Lacedemon. 
 
 This is, indeed, a dictate, which, in the whole 
 extent of its meaning, may be faid to comprize all 
 'the fpeculation requifite to a moral agent. For what 
 more can be neceflary to the regulation of life, than 
 the knowledge of our original, our end, our duties, 
 and our relation to other beings ? 
 
 It is however very improbable that the firft au- 
 thor, whoever he was, intended to be underftood in 
 this unlimited and complicated fenfej for of the 
 inquiries, which in fo large an acceptation it would 
 feem to recommend, fome are too extenfive for flie 
 powers of man, and fome require light from above, 
 which was not yet indulged to the heathen world. 
 
 We might have had more fatisfaction concerning 
 the original import of this celebrated fentence, if 
 hiftory had informed us, whether it was uttered as a 
 general inftrudlion to mankind, or as a particular 
 caution to fome private inquirer \ whether it was 
 
 applied
 
 N 24. THE RAMBLER. 157 
 
 applied to fome fingle occafion, or laid down as the 
 univerfal rule of life. 
 
 There will occur, upon the flighteft confideration, 
 many pofiible circumftances, in which this monition 
 might very properly be inforced ; for every error in 
 human conduct muft arife from ignorance in our- 
 felves, either perpetual or temporary; and happen 
 either becaufe we do not know what is beft and fit- 
 teft, or becaufe our knowledge is at the time of 
 adion not prefent to the mind. 
 
 When a man employs himfelf upon remote and 
 unneceflary fubjects, and waftes his life upon quef- 
 tions which cannot be refolved, and of which the fo- 
 Iwtion would conduce very little to the advancement 
 of happinefs ; when he lavifhes his hours in calculat- 
 ing the weight of the terraqueous globe, or in ad- 
 jufting fuccefTive fyftems of worlds beyond the reach 
 of the telefcope ; he may be very properly recalled 
 from his excurfions by this precept, and reminded, 
 that there is a nearer being with which it is his duty. 
 to be more acquainted ; and from which his atten- 
 tion has hitherto been withheld by iludies, to which 
 he has no other motive than vanity or curiofity. 
 
 The great praife of Socrates is, that he drew the 
 wits of Greece, by his inftruftion and example, from 
 the vain purfuit of natural philofophy to moral in- 
 quiries, and turned their thoughts from ftars and 
 tides, and matter and motion, upon the various 
 modes of virtue, and relations of life. All his lectures 
 were but commentaries upon this faying ; if we fup- 
 pofe the knowledge of ourfelves recommended by 
 Chilo, in oppofition to other inquiries lefs fuitable 
 to the ftate of man. 
 
 The
 
 158 THE RAMBLER. N 24. 
 
 The great fault of men of learning is ftill, that 
 they offend againft this rule, and appear willing to 
 ftudy any thing rather than themfelves ; for which 
 reafon they are often defpifed by thofe, with whom 
 they imagine themfelves above comparifon ; de- 
 Ipifed, as ufelefs to common purpofes, as unable to 
 condu<5t the moft trivial affairs, and unqualified to 
 perform thofe offices by which the concatenation of 
 ibciety is preferved, and mutual tendernefs excited 
 and maintained. 
 
 Gelidus is a man of great penetration and deep 
 refearches. Having a mind naturally formed for 
 the abftrufer fciences, he can comprehend intricate 
 combinations without confufion, and being of a 
 temper naturally cool and equal, he is feldom inter- 
 rupted by his paffions in the purfuit of the longeft 
 chain of unexpected confequences. He has, there- 
 fore, a long time indulged hopes, that the folution 
 of fome problems, by which the profeffors of fcience 
 have been hitherto baffled, is referved for his genius 
 and induftry. He fpends his time in the higheft 
 room of his houfe, into which none of his family are 
 fuffered to enter ; and when he comes down to his 
 dinner, or his reft, he walks about like a ftranger 
 that is there only for a day, without any tokens of 
 regard or tendernefs. He has totally diverted himfelf 
 of all human fenfations; he has neither eye for 
 beauty, nor ear for complaint; he neither rejoices 
 at the good fortune of his neareft friend, nor mourns 
 for any publick or private calamity. Having once 
 received a letter, and given it his fervant to read, 
 he was informed, that it was written by his brother, 
 who, being Ihipwrecked, had fwam naked to land, 
 
 and
 
 N2 4 . THE RAMBLER. 159 
 
 and was deftitute of neceflaries in a foreign country. 
 Naked and deftitute ! fays Gelidus, reach down the 
 laft volume of meteorological obfervations, extract 
 an exact account of the wind, and note it carefully 
 in the diary of the weather. 
 
 The family of Gelidus once broke into his ftudy, 
 to fhew him that a town at a fmall diftance was on 
 fire, and in a few moments a fervant came to tell 
 him, that the flame had caught fo many houfes on 
 both fides, that the inhabitants were confounded, 
 and began to think of rather efcaping with their lives, 
 than faving their 'dwellings. What you tell me, 
 fays Gelidus, is very probable, for fire naturally acts 
 in a circle. 
 
 Thus lives this great philofopher, infenfible to 
 every fpectacle of diftrefs, and unmoved by the 
 loudeft call of focial nature, for want of confidering 
 that men are defigned for the fuccour and comfort 
 of each other ; that though there are hours which 
 may be laudably fpent upon knowledge not imme- 
 diately ufeful, yet the firft attention is due to prac- 
 tical virtue j and that he may be juftly driven out 
 from the commerce of mankind, who has fo far ab- 
 ftradled himfelf from the fpecies, as to partake nei- 
 ther of the joys nor griefs of others, but neglects 
 the endearments of his wife, and the carefles of his 
 children, to count the drops of rain, note the changes 
 of the wind, and calculate the eclipfes of the moons 
 of Jupiter. 
 
 I fhall referve to fome future paper the religious 
 
 and important meaning of this epitome of wifdom, 
 
 and only remark, that it may be applied to the gay 
 
 and light, as well as to the grave and folemn parts 
 
 of
 
 160 THE RAMBLER. N 24. 
 
 of life ; and that not only the philofopher may for- 
 feit* his pretences to real learning, but the wit and 
 the beauty may mifcarry in their fchemes, by the 
 want of this univerfal requifite, the knowledge of 
 themfelves. 
 
 It is furely for no other reafon, that we fee fuch 
 numbers refolutely ftruggling againft nature, and 
 contending for that which they never can attain, en- 
 deavouring to unite contradictions, and determined 
 to excel in characters inconfiftent with each other ; 
 that flock-jobbers arFedl drefs, gaiety, and elegance, 
 and mathematicians labour to be wits ; that the 
 foldier teazes his acquaintance with queftions in 
 theology, and the academick hopes to divert the 
 ladies by a recital of his gallantries. That abfurdity 
 of pride could proceed only from ignorance of 
 themfelves, by which Garth attempted criticifm, 
 and Congreve waved his title to dramatick reputa- 
 tion, and defired to be confidered only as a gentle- 
 man. 
 
 Euphues, with great parts, and extenfive know- 
 ledge, has a clouded afpedl, and ungracious form ; 
 yet it has been his ambition, from his firft entrance 
 into life, to diftinguifh himrelf by particularities in 
 his drefs, to outvie beaus in embroidery, to import 
 new trimmings, and to be foremoft in the fafhion. 
 Euphues has turned on his exterior appearance, that 
 attention, which would always have produced efteem 
 had it been fixed upon his mind ; and though his 
 virtues and abilities have preferved him from the 
 contempt which he has fo diligently folicited, he 
 has, at lead, raifed one impediment to his reputa- 
 tion ; fince all can judge of his drefs, but few of 
 
 his
 
 N24/ THE RAMBLER/ 161 
 
 his underftanding ; and many who difcern that he is 
 a fop, are unwilling to believe that he can be wife. 
 
 There is one inftance in which the ladies are par- 
 ticularly unwilling to obferve the rule of Chilo. 
 They are defirous to hide from themfelves the ad- 
 vances of age, and endeavour too frequently to fup- 
 ply the fprightlinefs and bloom of youth by artifi- 
 cial beauty and forced vivacity. They hope to in- 
 flame the heart by glances which have loft their fire, 
 or melt it by languor which is no longer delicate ; 
 they play over the airs which pleafed at a time when 
 they were expected only to pleafe, and forget that 
 airs in time ought to give place to virtues. They 
 continue to trifle, becaufe they could once trifle 
 agreeably, till thofe who fhared their early pleafures 
 are withdrawn to more ferious engagements j and 
 are fcarcely awakened from their dream of perpetual 
 youth, but by the fcorn of thofe whom they en- 
 deavour to rival. 
 
 VOL. IV. M
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 25. 
 
 NUMB. 25. TUESDAY, June 12, 1750. 
 
 Pojfunt quia poffe <videntur. VIRGIL. 
 
 For they can conquer who believe they can. DRY D E N . 
 
 THERE are fome vices and errors which, 
 though often fatal to thofe in whom they are 
 found, have yet, by the univerfal confent of man- 
 kind, been confidered as entitled to fome degree of 
 refpect, or have, at leaft, been exempted from con- 
 temptuous infamy, and condemned by the fevereft 
 moralifts with pity rather than deteftation. 
 
 A conftant and invariable example of this gene- 
 ral partiality will be found in the different regard 
 which has always been (hown to rafhnefs and cow- 
 ardice, two vices, of which, though they may be 
 conceived equally diftant from the middle point, 
 where true fortitude is placed, and may equally in- 
 jure any publick or private intereft, yet the one is 
 never mentioned without fome kind of veneration, 
 and the other always confidered as a topick of un- 
 limited and licentious cenfure, on which all the 
 virulence of reproach may be lawfully exerted. 
 
 The fame diftinclion is made, by the common 
 fuffrage, between profufion and avarice, and, per- 
 haps, between many other oppofite vices ; and, as 
 I have found reafon to pay great regard to the voice 
 of the people, in cafes where knowledge has been 
 forced upon them by experience, without long de- 
 ductions or deep refearches, I am inclined to believe 
 
 that
 
 N 25. THE RAMBLER. 163 
 
 that this diftribution of refpect is not without fome 
 agreement with the nature of things ; and that in 
 the faults, which are thus inverted with extraordi- 
 nary privileges, there are generally fome latent prin- 
 ciples of merit, fome poffibilities of future virtue, 
 which may, by degrees, break from obftrudtion, and 
 by time and opportunity be brought into act. 
 
 It may be laid down as an axiom, that it is more 
 eafy to take away fuperfluities than to fupply de- 
 fects ; and therefore he that is culpable, becaufe he 
 has pafled the middle point of virtue, is always ac- 
 counted a fairer object of hope, than he who fails 
 by falling fhort. The one has all that perfection re- 
 quires, and more, but the excefs may be eafily re- 
 trenched ; the other wants the qualities requifite to 
 excellence, and who can tell how he fhall obtain 
 them ? We are certain that the horfe may be taught 
 to keep pace with his fellows, whofe fault is that he 
 leaves them behind. We know that a few ftrokes of 
 the axe will lop a cedar j but what arts of cultivation 
 can elevate a fhrub ? 
 
 To walk with circumfpection and fteadinefs in the 
 right path, at an equal diftance between the ex- 
 tremes of error, ought to be the conftant endeavour 
 of every reafonable being ; nor can I think thofe 
 teachers of moral wifdom much to be honoured as 
 benefactors to mankind, who are always enlarging 
 upon the difficulty of our duties, and providing 
 rather excufes for vice, than incentives to virtue. 
 
 But, fince to moft it will happen often, and to all 
 
 fometimes, that there will be a deviation towards 
 
 one fide or the other, we ought always to employ 
 
 our vigilance, with moft attention, on that enemy 
 
 M 2 from
 
 i6 4 THE RAMBLER. N 25. 
 
 .from which there is the greateft danger, and to ftray, 
 (if we muft ftray, towards thofe parts from whence 
 we may quickly and eafily return. 
 
 Among other oppofite qualities of the mind, which 
 may become dangerous, though in different degrees, 
 ;I -have often had occafion to confider the contrary 
 effects of prefumption and defpondency j of heady 
 ^confidence, which promifes victory without conteft, 
 and heartlefs pufillanimity, which fhrinks back from 
 the thought of great undertakings, confounds dif- 
 ficulty with impoffibility, and confiders all advance- 
 ment towards any new attainment as irreverfibly pro- 
 hibited. 
 
 Prefumption will be eafily corrected. Every ex- 
 periment will teach caution, and mifcarriages will 
 hourly fhew, that attempts are not always rewarded 
 with fuccefs. The moft precipitate ardour will, in 
 time, be taught the neceflity of methodical gradation 
 'and preparatory meafures; and the moft daring con- 
 fidence he convinced that neither merit, nor abilities., 
 can command events. 
 
 It is the advantage of vehemence and activity, 
 that they are always haftening to their own reform- 
 ation ; becaufe they incite us to try whether our ex- 
 pectations are well grounded, and therefore detect 
 the deceits which they are apt to occafion. But 
 timidity is a difeafe of the mind more obftinate and 
 fatal ; for a man once perfuaded, that any impedi- 
 ment is infuperable, has given it, with refpect to 
 himfelf, that ftrength and weight which it had not 
 before,; He can fcarcely ftrive with vigour and per- 
 feverance, when he has no .hope of gaining the 
 victory ; and fince he never will try his ftrength, 
 
 can
 
 ,Nff THE RAMBLER. -165 
 
 can never difcover the imreafonablenefs of his 
 fears. 
 
 There is often to be found in men devoted to 
 literature, a kind of intellectual cowardice, which 
 whoever converfes much among them, may obferve 
 frequently to deprefs the alacrity of enterprife, and> 
 by confequence, to retard the improvement of fci- 
 ence. They have annexed to every fpecies of know- 
 ledge fome chimerical character of terror and in- 
 hibition, which they tranfmit, without much reflec- 
 tion, from one to another j they firft fright them- 
 felves, and then propagate the panick to their 
 fcholars and acquaintance. One fludy is inconfiflent 
 with a lively imagination, another with a folid judg- 
 .ment ; one is improper in the early parts of life, 
 another requires fo much time, that it is not to be 
 attempted at an advanced agej one is dry and con^- 
 tracts the fentiments, another is diffufe and oven- 
 Burdens the memory ; one is infufferable to tafle 
 and delicacy, and another wears out life in the fludy 
 of words, and is ufelefs to a wife man, who dedres 
 only the knowledge of things. 
 
 But of all the bugbears by which the Infantes 
 barbatiy boys both young and old, have been hither- 
 to frighted from digreffing into new tracts of learn- 
 ing, none has been more mifchievoufly efficacious 
 than an opinion that every kind of knowledge re- 
 quires a peculiar genius, or mental conflitution, 
 framed for the reception of fome ideas, and the ex- 
 clufion of others -, and that to him whoie genius is 
 not adapted to the fludy which he profecutes, all 
 ' labour fhall be vain and fruitlefs, vain as an endea- 
 vour to mingle oil and water, or in the language of 
 M 3 chemiflry,
 
 166 THE RAMBLER. N 25. 
 
 chemiftry, to amalgamate bodies of heterogeneous 
 principles. 
 
 This opinion we may reafonably fufpeft to have 
 been propagated, by vanity, beyond the truth. It 
 is natural for thofe who have raifed a reputation by 
 any fcience, to exalt themfelves as endowed by 
 heaven with peculiar powers, or marked out by an 
 extraordinary defignation for their profeflion ; and 
 to fright competitors away by reprefenting the diffi- 
 culties with which they muft contend, and the ne- 
 ceffity of qualities which are fuppofed to be not 
 generally conferred, and which no man can know, 
 but by experience, whether he enjoys. 
 
 To this difcouragement it may be poflibly an- 
 fwered, that fince a genius, whatever it be, is like 
 fire in the flint, only to be produced by collifion 
 with a proper fubject, it is the bufinefs of every man 
 to try whether his faculties may not happily co- 
 operate with his defires -, and fince they whofe pro- 
 ficiency he admires, knew their own force only by 
 the event, he needs but engage in the fame under- 
 taking with equal fpirit, and may reafonably hope 
 for equal fuccefs. 
 
 There is another fpecies of falfe intelligence, 
 given by thofe who profefs to fhew the way to the 
 fummit of knowledge, of equal tendency to deprefs 
 the mind with falfe diflruft of itfelf, and weaken it 
 by needlefs folicitude and dejection. When a fcho- 
 lar whom they defire to animate, confults them at 
 his entrance on fome new ftudy, it is common to 
 make flattering reprefentations of its pleafantnefs 
 and facility. Thus they generally attain one of 
 two ends almoft equally defirable j they either incite 
 
 his
 
 N 25. THE RAMBLER. 167 
 
 his induftry by elevating his hopes, or produce a 
 high opinion of their own abilities, fince they are 
 fuppofed to relate only what they have found, and 
 to have proceeded with no lefs eafe than they pro- 
 mife to their followers. 
 
 The ftudent, inflamed by this encouragement^ fets 
 forward in the new path, and proceeds a few fteps 
 with great alacrity, but he foon finds afperities- and 
 intricacies of which he has not been forewarned,, 
 and imagining that none ever were fo entangled or 
 fatigued before him, finks fuddenly into defpair, and 
 defifts as from an expedition in which fate oppofes 
 him. Thus his terrors are multiplied by his hopes, 
 and he is defeated without refiftance, becaufe he had 
 no expectation of an enemy. 
 
 Of thefe treacherous inftru&ors, the one deflroys 
 induftry, by declaring that induftry is vain, the other 
 by reprefenting it as needlefs -, the one cuts away the 
 root of hope, the other raifes it only to be blafted. 
 The one confines his pupil to the fhore, by telling 
 him that his wreck is certain, the other fends him to 
 fea, without preparing him for tempefts. 
 
 Falfe hopes and falfe terrors are equally to be 
 avoided. Every man who propofes to grow eminent 
 by learning, fiiould carry in his mind, at once, the 
 difficulty of excellence, and the force of induftry ; 
 and remember that fame is not conferred but as the 
 recompence of labour, and that labour, vigoroufly 
 continued, has not often failed of its reward. 
 
 M 4
 
 i68 THE RAMBLER. N 26; 
 
 NUMB. 26. SATURDAY, June 14, 1750. 
 
 Ingentes domino s, et clar<z nomina fames , 
 
 Illuftrique graves nobilitaie domos 
 De-vita, ct longe cautus fuge ; ccntrahe <ve!a, 
 Et te littoribus cymba propinqua vebat. SENECA. 
 
 Each mighty lord, big with a pompous name, 
 
 And each high houfe of fortune and of fame, 
 
 With caution fly ; contradl thy ample fails, 
 
 And near the fhore improve the gentle gales. ELPHINSTON, 
 
 Mr. RAMBLER, 
 
 IT is ufual for men, engaged in the fame purfuits, 
 to be inquifitive after the conduct and fortune of 
 each other j and, therefore, I fuppofe it will not be 
 unpleafing to you, to read an account of the various 
 changes which have happened in part of a life de- 
 voted to literature. My narrative will not exhibit any 
 great variety of events, or extraordinary revolutions; 
 but may, perhaps, be not lefs ufeful, becaufe I fhall 
 relate nothing which is not likely to happen to a 
 thoufand others. 
 
 I was born heir to a very frnall fortune, and left 
 by my father, whom I cannot remember, to the care 
 of an uncle. He having no children, always treated 
 me as his fon, and finding in me thofe qualities 
 which old men eafily difcover in fprightly children, 
 when they happen to love them, declared that a 
 genius like mine fhould never be loft for want of cul- 
 tivation. He therefore placed me, for the ufual time, 
 
 at
 
 N2$. THE RAMBLER. ,169 
 
 at a great fchool, and then fent me to the univer- 
 fity, with a larger allowance than my own patrimony 
 would have afforded, that I might not keep mean 
 company, but learn to become my dignity when I 
 fhould be made lord chancellor, which he often 
 lamented, that the increafe of his infirmities was very 
 
 * 
 
 likely to preclude him from feeing. 
 ' This exuberance of money difplayed itfelf in gaiety 
 of appearance, and wantonnefs of expence, and in- 
 troduced me to the acquaintance of thofe whom the 
 fame fuperfluity of fortune betrayed to the fame li- 
 cence and oftentation: young heirs, who pleafed 
 themfelves with a remark very frequent in their 
 mouths, that though they were fent by their fathers 
 to the univerfity, they were not under the neceflity of 
 living by their learning. 
 
 Among men of this clafs I eafily obtained the 
 reputation of a great genius, and was perfuaded, 
 that, with fuch livelinefs of imagination, and de- 
 licacy of fentiment, I Ihould never be able to fub- 
 mit to the drudgery of the law. I therefore gave 
 myfelf wholly to the more airy and elegant parts 
 of learning, and was often fo much elated with 
 my fuperiority to the youths with whom I con- 
 verfed, that I began to liften, with great attention 1 , 
 to thofe that recommended to me a wider and more 
 confpicuous theatre j and was particularly touched 
 with an obfervatiorv made by one of my friends; 
 That it was not by lingering in the univerfity that 
 Prior became ambaffador, or Addifon fecretary of 
 ftate. 
 
 This defire was hourly increafed by the iblicitai- 
 
 tion of my companions, who removing one by one 
 
 u to
 
 tyo THE RAMBLER. N 26. 
 
 to London, as the caprice of their relations allowed 
 them, or the legal difmifiion from the hands of 
 their guardians put it in their power, never failed to 
 fend an account of the beauty and felicity of the new 
 world, and to remonftrate how much was loft by 
 every hour's continuance in a place of retirement and 
 conftraint. 
 
 My uncle in the mean time frequently harafled 
 me with monitory letters, which I fometimes ne- 
 glected to open for a week after I received them, 
 and generally read in a tavern, with fuch com- 
 ments as might fhew how much I was fuperior to 
 inftruc~lion or advice. I could not but wonder, how 
 a man confined to the country, and unacquainted 
 with the prefent fyftem of things, (hould imagine 
 himfelf qualified to inftru6l a rifing genius, born to 
 give laws to the age, refine its tafte, and multiply 
 its pleafures. 
 
 The poftman, however, ftill continued to bring 
 me new remonftrances ; for my uncle was very 
 little deprefled by .the ridicule and reproach which 
 he never heard. But men of parts have quick re- 
 fentments ; it was impoflible to bear his ufurpations 
 for ever ; and I refolved, once for all, to make him 
 an example to thofe who imagine themfelves wife 
 becaufe they are old, and to teach young men, who 
 are too tame under reprefentation, in what manner 
 grey-bearded infolence ought to be treated. I there- 
 fore one evening took my pen in hand, and after 
 having animated myfelf with a catch, wrote a ge- 
 neral anfwer to all his precepts, with fuch vivacity 
 of turn, fuch elegance of irony, and fuch afperity 
 of farcafm, that I convulfed a large company with 
 
 univerfal
 
 N26. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 univerfal laughter, difturbed the neighbourhood with 
 vociferations of applaufe, and five days afterwards 
 was anfwered, that I muft be content to live on my 
 own eft ate. 
 
 This contraction of my income gave me no dif- 
 turbance, for a genius like mine was out of the 
 reach of want. I had friends that would be proud 
 to open their purfes at my call, and profpects of 
 fuch advancement as would foon reconcile my 
 uncle, whom, upon mature deliberation, I refolved 
 to receive into favour, without infilling on any 
 acknowledgement of his offence, when the fplen- 
 dour of my condition fhould induce him to wifh 
 for my countenance. I therefore went up to Lon- 
 don, before I had fhewn the alteration of my con- 
 dition, by any abatement of my way of living, and 
 was received by all my academical acquaintance 
 with triumph and congratulation. I was immedi- 
 ately introduced among the wits and men of fpirit; 
 and in a fhort time had divefted myfelf of all my 
 fcholar's gravity, and obtained the reputation of a 
 pretty fellow. 
 
 You will eafily believe that I had no great know- 
 ledge of the world ; yet I had been hindered, by the 
 general difincli nation every man feels to confefs po- 
 verty, from telling to any one the refolution of my 
 uncle, and for fome time fubfifted upon the flock of 
 money which I had brought with me, and contri- 
 buted my (hare as before to all our entertainments. 
 But my pocket was foon emptied, and I was 
 obliged to afk my friends for a fmall fum. This 
 was a favour, which we had often reciprocally re- 
 ceived from one another; they fuppofed my wants 
 
 only
 
 172 THE RAMBLER. N 26. 
 
 only accidental, and therefore willingly fupplied 
 them. In a fhort time I found a necefiity of 
 -afking again, and was again treated with the fame 
 civility; but the third time they began to won- 
 der what that old rogue my uncle could mean by 
 fending a gentleman to town without money; and 
 when they gave me what I afked for, advifed me to 
 ftipulate for more regular remittances. 
 
 This fomewhat difturbed my dream of conflant 
 affluence; but I was three days after completely 
 awaked ; for entering the tavern where we met 
 every evening, I found the waiters remitted their 
 complaifance, and, inftead of contending to light 
 me up flairs, fuffered me to wait for fome minutes 
 by the bar. When I came to my company I found 
 thern unufually grave and formal, and one of them 
 took the hint to turn the converfation upon the mif- 
 conduct of young men, and enlarged upon the folly 
 of frequenting the company of men of fortune, 
 without being able to fupport the expence, an obfer- 
 .vation which the reft contributed either to enforce 
 by repetition, or to illuftrate by examples. Only one 
 of them tried to divert the difcourfe, and endeavour- 
 ed to direct my attention to remote queftions, and 
 common topicks. 
 
 A man guilty of poverty eafily believes himfelf 
 ' fufpected. , I went, however, next morning to break- 
 faft with him who appeared ignorant of the drift of 
 .the converfation, and by a feries of enquiries, draw- 
 ing flill nearer to the point, prevailed on him, not, 
 perhaps, much againft his will, to inform me, that 
 Mr. Dajh, whofe father was a wealthy attorney near 
 my native place, had, the morning before, receive^ 
 
 an
 
 N 26. TH*E RAMBLER. 173 
 
 an account of my uncle's refenttnent, and communi- 
 cated his intelligence with the utmoft induftry of 
 groveling infolence. 
 
 It was now no longer practicable to confort with 
 my former friends, unlefs I would be content to be 
 ufed as an inferior gueft, who was to pay for his wine 
 by mirth and flattery ; a character which, if I could 
 not efcape it, I refolved to endure only among thofe 
 who had never known me in the pride of plenty. I 
 changed my lodgings, and frequented the coffee- 
 houfes in a different region of the town ; where I was 
 very quickly diftinguifhed by feveral young gentle- 
 men of high birth, and large eftates, and began 
 again to amufe my imagination with hopes of prefer- 
 ment, though not quite fo confidently as when I had 
 lefs experience. 
 
 The firft great conqueft which this new fcene 
 enabled me to gain over myfelf was, when I fub- 
 mitted to confefs to a party, who invited me to an 
 expenfive diverfion, that my revenues were not equal 
 to fuch golden pleafures; they would not fuffer me, 
 however, to flay behind, and with' great reluctance 
 I yielded to be treated. I took that opportunity of 
 recommending myfelf to fome office or employment, 
 which they unanimoufly promifed to procure me by 
 their joint intereft. 
 
 I had now entered into a ftate of dependence, and 
 had hopes, or fears, from almoft every man I faw. 
 If it be unhappy to have one patron, what is his mi- 
 fery who has many ? I was obliged to comply with a 
 thoufand caprices, to concur in a thoufand follies, 
 and to countenance a thoufand errors. I endured 
 innumerable mortifications, if not from cruelty, at 
 
 lead
 
 i 7 4 THE RAMBLER. N 26. 
 
 leaft from negligence, which will creep in upon the 
 kindeft and moft delicate minds, when they converfe 
 without the mutual awe of equal condition. I found 
 the fpirit and vigour of liberty every moment finking 
 in me, and a fervile fear of difpleafing, Healing by- 
 degrees upon all my behaviour, till no word, or look, 
 or action, was my own. As the folicitude to pleafe 
 increafed, the power of pleafing grew lefs, and I was 
 always clouded with diffidence where it was moft my 
 intereft and wifh to Ihine. 
 
 My patrons, confidering me as belonging to the 
 community, and, therefore, not the charge of any 
 particular perfon, made no fcruple of neglecting any 
 opportunity of promoting me, which every one 
 thought more properly the bufmefs of another. An 
 account of my expectations and difappointments, and 
 the fucceeding viciffitudes of my life, I fhall give you 
 in my following letter, which will be, I hope, of ufe 
 to fhew how ill he forms his fchemes, who expects 
 happinefs without freedom. 
 
 I am, &c.
 
 N27. THE RAMBLER. 17$ 
 
 NUMB. 27. TUESDAY, June 19, 1750. 
 
 '' Pauperiem metuens potiore metallic 
 
 Libert ate caret. HOR. 
 
 So he, who poverty with horror views, 
 
 Who fells his freedom in exchange for gold, 
 
 (Freedom for mines of wealth too cheaply fold) 
 
 Shall make eternal fervitude his fate, 
 
 And feel a haughty mailer's galling weight. FRANCIS. 
 
 Mr. RAMBLER, 
 
 AS it is natural for every man to think himfelf 
 of importance, your knowledge of the world 
 will incline you to forgive me, if I imagine your 
 curiofity fo much excited by the former part of 
 my narration, as to make you defire that I fhould 
 proceed without any unneceffary arts of connec- 
 tion. I fhall, therefore, not keep you longer in 
 fuch fufpenfe, as perhaps my performance may not 
 compenfate. 
 
 In the gay compahy with which I was now united, 
 I found thofe allupements and delights, which the 
 friendfhip of young men always affords -, there was 
 that opennefs which naturally produced confidence, 
 that affability which, in fome meafure, foftened de- 
 pendence, and that ardour of profeffion which incit- 
 ed hope. When our hearts were dilated with merrU 
 ment, promifes were poured out with unlimited pro- 
 fufion, and life and fortune were but a fcanty facri- 
 fice to friendlhip; but when the hour came, at which
 
 176 THE RAMBLER. N 27* 
 
 any effort was to be made, I had generally the vexa- 
 tion to find that my intereft weighed nothing againfl 
 the flighted amufement, and that every petty avo- 
 cation was found a fufficient plea for continuing me in 
 uncertainty and want. Their kindnefs was indeed 
 fincerej when they promifed, they had no inten- 
 tion to deceivei but the fame juvenile warmth 
 which kindled their benevolence, gave force in the 
 fame proportion to every other paffion, and I was 
 forgotten as foon as any new pleafure feized on their 
 attention. 
 
 Vagario told me one evening, that all my per- 
 plexities (hould be foon at an end, and defired me, 
 from that inftant, to throw upon him all care of 
 my fortune, for a poft of confiderable value was that 
 day become vacant, and he knew his intereft fuffi- 
 cient to procure it in the morning. Pie defired me 
 to call on him early, that he might be drefied fbon 
 enough to wait on the minifter before any other ap- 
 plication fhould be made. I came as he appointed, 
 with all the flame of gratitude, and was told by his 
 fervant, that having found at his lodgings, when he 
 came home, an acquaintance who was going to tra- 
 vel, he had been perfuaded to accompany him to 
 Dover, and that they had taken poft-horfes two 
 hours before day. 
 
 I was once very near to preferment, by the kind- 
 nefs of Charinus, who, at my requeft, went to beg 
 a place, which he thought me likely to fill with 
 great reputation, and in which I fhould have many 
 opportunities of promoting his intereft in return j 
 and he pleafed himfelf with imagining the mutual 
 benefits that we fliould confer, . and the advances 
 
 that
 
 K 27. T . 177 
 
 that we fhould make by our united ftrengdi. Away 
 therefore he went, equally warm with friendlhip 
 and ambition, and left me to prepare acknowledge- 
 ments againft his return. At length he came back, 
 and told me that he had met in his way a party going 
 to breakfaft in the country, that the ladies impor- 
 tuned him too much to be refuted, and that hav- 
 ing paflfed the morning with them, he was come back 
 to drefs himfelf for a ball, to which he was invited 
 for the evening. 
 
 I have fuffered feveral difappointments from tai- 
 lors and periwig-makers, who by neglecting to per- 
 form their work withheld my patrons from court j 
 and once failed of an eftablifhment for life by the 
 delay of a fervant, fent to a neighbouring (hop to re- 
 plenifh a fnuff-box. 
 
 At lad I thought my folicitude at an end, for an 
 office fell into the gift of Hippodamus's father, who 
 being then in the country, could not very fpeedily 
 fill it, and whofe fondnefs would not have fuffered 
 him to refufe his fon a lefs reafonable requeft. Hip- 
 podamus therefore fet^i forward with great expedition, 
 and I expected every hour an account of his fuccefs. 
 A long time I waited without any intelligence, but 
 at lad received a letter from Newmarket, by which 
 I .was informed that the races were begun, and I 
 knew the vehemence of his paffions too well to 
 imagine that he could refufe himfelf his favourite 
 amufement. 
 
 You will not wonder that I was at laft weary of 
 the patronage of young men, efpecially as I found 
 them not generally to promife much greater fidelity 
 
 VOL. IV. N as
 
 178 THE RAMBLER. N 27. 
 
 as they advanced in life; for I obferved that what they 
 gained in fteadinefs they loft in benevolence, and grew 
 colder to my intereft as they became more diligent 
 to promote their own. I was convinced that their 
 liberality was only profufenefs, that as chance di- 
 rected, they were equally generous to vice and vir- 
 tue, that they were warm but becaufe they were 
 thoughtlefs, and counted the fupport of a friend only 
 amongft other gratifications of pafiion. 
 
 My refolution was now to ingratiate myfelf with 
 men whofe reputation was eftablilhed, whofe high 
 ftations enabled them to prefer me, and whofe age 
 exempted them from fudden changes of inclina- 
 tion. I was confidered as a man of parts, and 
 therefore eafily found admifllon to the table of Hi- 
 larius, the celebrated orator, renowned equally for 
 the extent of his knowledge, the elegance of his dic- 
 tion, and the acutenefs of his wit. Hilarius received 
 me with an appearance of great fatisfaction, pro- 
 duced to me all his friends, and directed to me that 
 part of his difcourfe in which he moft endeavoured 
 to difplay his imagination. I had now learned my 
 own intereft enough to fupply him opportunities for 
 fmart remarks and gay fallies, which I never failed to 
 echo and applaud. Thus I was gaining every hour 
 on his affections, till unfortunately, when the afTem- 
 bly was more fplendid than ufual, his defire of admi- 
 ration prompted him to turn his raillery upon me. I 
 bore it for fome time with great fubmiflion, and 
 fuccefs encouraged him to redouble his attacks j at 
 laft my vanity prevailed over my prudence, I retorted 
 his irony with fuch fpirit, that Hilarius, unaccuf- 
 
 tomcd
 
 N27. THE RAMBLER. 179 
 
 tomed to refiftance, was difconcerted, and foon found 
 means of convincing me that his purpofe was not to 
 encourage a rival, but to fofter a parafite. 
 
 I was then taken into the familiarity of Argutio, 
 a nobleman eminent for judgment and criticifm. He 
 had contributed to my reputation by thepraifes which 
 he had often beftowed upon my writings, in which 
 he owned that there were proofs of a genius that 
 might rile to high degrees of excellence, when time, 
 or information, had reduced its exuberance. He 
 therefore required me to confult him before the 
 publication of any new performance, and commonly 
 propofed innumerable alterations, without fufficient 
 attention to the general defign, or regard to my 
 form of ftyle, and mode of imagination. But thefe 
 corrections he never failed to prefs as indifpenfably 
 necefTary, and thought the leaft delay of compliance 
 an aft of rebellion. The pride of an author made 
 this treatment infufferable, and I thought any tyranny 
 eafier to be borne than that which took from me the 
 ufe of my underftanding. 
 
 My next patron was Eutyches the ftatefman, who 
 was wholly engaged in publick affairs, and feemed to 
 have no ambition but to be powerful and rich. I 
 found his favour more permanent than that of the 
 others, for there was a certain price at which it might 
 be bought; he allowed nothing to humour, or to 
 affection, but was always ready to pay liberally for 
 the fervice that he required. His demands were, 
 indeed, very often fuch as virtue could not eafily 
 confent to gratify j but virtue is not to be confulted 
 when men are to raife their fortunes by the favour of 
 the great. His meafures were cenfured ; I wrote in 
 N 2 his
 
 i8o THE RAMBLER. N 27. 
 
 his defence, and was recompenfed with a' place, of 
 which the profits were never received by me without 
 the pangs of remembering that they were the reward 
 of wickednefs, a reward which nothing but that ne- 
 ceffity which the conlumption of my little eftate in 
 thefe wild purfuits had brought upon me, hindered 
 me from throwing back in the face of my corruptor. 
 At this time my uncle died without a will, and I 
 became heir to a fmall fortune. I had refolution 
 to throw off the fplendor which reproached me to 
 myfelf, and retire to an humbler ftate, in which I am 
 now endeavouring to recover the dignity of virtue, 
 and hope to make fome reparation for my crime and 
 follies, by informing others, who may be led after 
 the fame pageants, that they are about to engage in 
 a courfe of life, in which they are to purchafe, by 
 a thoufand miferies, the privilege of repentance. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 EUBULUS.
 
 N 28. THE RAMBLER. iSi 
 
 NUMB. 28. SATURDAY, June 23, 1750. 
 
 ///;' mors gravis incubat, 
 Qui, notus nimis omnibus, 
 Ignotus moritur fibi . SENECA. 
 
 To him, alas, to him, I fear, 
 The face of death will terrible appear, 
 Who in his life, flatt'ring his fenfelefs pride, 
 By being known to all the world befide, 
 Does not himfelf, when he is dying, know, 
 Nor what he is, nor whither he's to go. Cow LEY. 
 
 I HAVE fhewn, in a late eflay, to what errors 
 men are hourly betrayed by a miftaken opinion 
 of their own powers, and a negligent infpecliion of 
 their own character. But as I then confined my ob- 
 fervations to Common occurrences, and familiar 
 fcenes, I think it proper to inquire, how far a nearer 
 acquaintance with ourfelves is neceflary to our pre- 
 fervation from crimes as well as follies, and how 
 much the attentive ftudy of our own minds may con- 
 tribute to fecure to us the approbation of that being, 
 to whom we are accountable for our thoughts and our 
 actions, and whofe favour muft finally conftitute our 
 total happinefs. 
 
 If it be reafonable to eftimate the difficulty of any 
 enterprife by frequent mifcarriages, it may juftly be 
 concluded that it is not eafy for a man to know him- 
 felf j for wherefoever we turn our view, we fhall find 
 almoft all with whom we converfe fo nearly as to ' 
 
 N 3 judge
 
 i2 THE RAMBLER. N 28. 
 
 judge of their fentiments, indulging more favourable 
 conceptions of their own virtue than they have been 
 able to imprefs upon others, and congratulating 
 themfelves upon degrees of excellence, which their 
 fondeft admirers cannot allow them to have attained. 
 
 Thofe reprefentations of imaginary virtue are ge- 
 nerally confidered as arts of hypocrify, and as fnares 
 laid for confidence and praife. But I believe the fuf- 
 picion often unjuft; thofe who thus propagate their 
 own reputation, only extend the fraud by which 
 they have been themfelves deceived -, for this failing 
 is incident to numbers, who feem to live without de- 
 figns, competitions, or purfuhs j it appears on oc- 
 cafions which promife no acceffion of honour or of 
 profit, and to perfons from whom very little is to be 
 hoped or feared. It is, indeed, not eafy to tell how 
 far we may be blinded by the love of ourfelves, when 
 we reflect how much a fecondary paffion can cloud 
 our judgment, and how few faults a man, in the firft 
 raptures of love, can difcover in the perfon or con- 
 duel: of his miftrefs. 
 
 To lay open all the fources from which error flows 
 in upon him who contemplates his own character, 
 would require more exact knowledge of the human 
 heart, than, perhaps, the moft acute and laborious 
 obfervers have acquired. And fince falfehood may be 
 diverfified without end, it is not unlikely that every 
 man admits an impofture in fome refpect peculiar to 
 himfelf, as his views have been accidentally directed, 
 or his ideas particularly combined. 
 
 Some fallacies, however, there are, more frequently 
 infidiousj which it may, perhaps, not be ufelefs to de- 
 ted,
 
 Na8. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 tect, becaufe though they are grofs, they may be fa- 
 tal, and becaufe nothing but attention is neceflary to 
 defeat them. 
 
 One fophifm by which men perfuade themfelves 
 that they have thofe virtues which they really want, 
 is formed by the fubftitution of fingle ads for ha- 
 bits. A mifer who once relieved a friend from the 
 danger of a prifon, fuffers his imagination to dwell 
 for ever upon his own heroick generofity ; he yields 
 his heart up to indignation at thofe who are blind 
 to merit, or infenfible to mifery, and who can 
 pleafe themfelves with the enjoyment of that wealth, 
 which they never permit others to partake. From 
 any cenfures of the world, or reproaches of his con- 
 fcience, he has an appeal to action and -to know- 
 ledge : and though his whole life is a courfe of ra- 
 pacity and avarice, he concludes himfelf to be ten- 
 der and liberal, becaufe he has once performed an 
 act of liberality and tendernefs. 
 
 As a glafs which magnifies objects by the ap- 
 proach of one end to the eye, leflens them by the 
 application of the other, fo vices are extenuated by 
 the inverfion of that fallacy, by which virtues are 
 augmented. Thole faults which we cannot conceal 
 from o,ur own notic'e, are confidered, however fre- 
 quent, not as habitual corruptions, or fettled prac- 
 tices, but as cafual failures, and fingle lapfes. A man 
 who has, from year to year, fet his country to fale, 
 either for the gratification of his ambition or refent- 
 .ment, confefles that the heat of party now and then 
 betrays the fevereft virtue to meafures that cannot be 
 ferioufly defended. He that fpends his days and 
 nights in riot and debauchery, owns that his paffions 
 
 N 4 often-
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 2 8. 
 
 oftentijnes overpower his refolution. But each com- 
 forts himfelf that his faults are not without pre- 
 cedent, for the beft and the wifeft men have given 
 way to the violence of fudden temptations. 
 
 There are men who always confound the praife of 
 goodnefs with the practice, and who believe them- 
 felves mild and moderate, charitable and faithful, 
 becaufe they have exerted their eloquence in com- 
 mendation of mildnefs, fidelity, and other virtues. 
 This is an error almoft univerfal among thofe that 
 converfe much with dependents, with fuch whofe 
 fear or intereft difpofes them to a feeming reverence 
 for any declamation, however enthufiaftick, and fub- 
 mifilon to any boaft, however arrogant. Having 
 none to recall their attention to their lives, they rate 
 themfelves by the goodnefs of their opinions, and 
 forget how much more eafily men may fhew their 
 virtue in their talk than in their actions. 
 
 The tribe is likewife very numerous of thofe who 
 regulate their lives, not by the ftandard of religion, 
 but the meafure of other men's virtue ; who lull 
 their own remorfe with the remembrance of crimes 
 more atrocious than their own, and feem to be- 
 lieve that they are not bad while another can be found 
 worfe. 
 
 For efcaping thefe and a thoufand other deceits, 
 many expedients have been propofed. Some have 
 recommended the frequent confultation of a wife 
 friend, admitted to intimacy, and encouraged to 
 fmcerity. But this appears a remedy by no means 
 adapted to general ufe : for in order to fecure the 
 virtue of one, it prefuppofes more virtue in two 
 than will generally be found. In the firil, fuch a 
 
 defire
 
 N 28. THE RAMBLER. 185 
 
 defire of rectitude and amendment, as may incline 
 him to hear his own accufation from the mouth of 
 him whom he efteems, and by whom, therefore, he 
 will always hope that his faults are not difcovered; 
 and in the fecond fuch zeal and honefty, as will 
 make him content for his friend's advantage to lofe 
 his kindnefs. 
 
 A long life may be pafied without finding a friend 
 in whofe underftanding and virtue we can equally 
 confide, and whofe opinion we can value at once 
 for its juftnefs and fincerity. A weak man, how- 
 ever honeft, is not qualified to judge. A man of 
 the world, however penetrating, is not fit to counfel. 
 Friends are often chofen for fimilitude of manners, 
 and therefore each palliates the other's failings, be- 
 caufe they are his own. Friends are tender, and un- 
 willing to give pain, or they are interefted, and 
 fearful to offend. && 
 
 Thefe objections have inclined others to advife, 
 that he who would know himfelf, fhould confult his 
 enemies, remember the reproaches that are vented 
 to his. face, and liften for the cenfures that are ut- 
 tered in private. For his great bufinefs is to. know 
 his faults, and thofe malignity will difcover, and 
 refentment will reveal. But this precept may be 
 often fruftrated j for it feldom happens that rivals or 
 opponents are fuffered to come near enough to know 
 our conduct with fo much exadtnefs as that con- 
 fcience fhould allow and reflect the accufation. The 
 charge of an enemy is often totally falfe, and com- 
 monly fo mingled with falfehood, that the mind 
 takes advantage from the failure of one part to dif- 
 
 credit
 
 186 THE RAMBLER. N 28. 
 
 credit the reft, and never fuffers any difturbance 
 afterward from fuch partial reports. 
 
 Yet it feems that enemies have been always found 
 by experience the moft faithful monitors; for ad- 
 verfity has ever been confidered as the ftate in which 
 a man moft eafily becomes acquainted with himfelf, 
 and this effect it muft produce by withdrawing flat- 
 terers, whofe bufmefs it is to hide our weakneffes 
 from us, or by giving loofe to malice, and licence 
 to reproach ; or at leaft by cutting off thofe plea- 
 fures which called us away from meditation on our 
 own conduct, and repreffing that pride which too 
 eafily perfuades us, that we merit whatever we enjoy. 
 Part of thefe benefits it is in every man's power 
 to procure to himfelf, by affigning proper portions 
 of his life to the examination of the reft, and by 
 putting himfelf frequently in fuch a fituation by re- 
 tirement and abftraction, as may weaken the influ- 
 ence of external objects. By this practice he may 
 obtain the folitude of adverfity without its melan- 
 choly, its inftructions without its cenfures, and its 
 fenfibility without its perturbations. 
 
 The neceflity of fetting the world at a diftance 
 from us, when we are to take a furvey of ourfelves, 
 has fent many from high ftations to the feverities of 
 a monaftick life ; and indeed, every man deeply en- 
 gaged in bufinefs, if all regard to another ftate be 
 not extinguifhed, muft have the conviction, though, 
 perhaps, not the refolution of Valdeflb, who, when 
 he folicited Charles the fifth to difmifs him, being 
 afked, whether he retired upon difguft, anfwered 
 that he laid down his commiffion, for no other rea- 
 
 fon
 
 N 28. THE RAMBLER. 187 
 
 fon but becaufe there ought to be Jome time for fober 
 reflection between the life of afoldier and his death. 
 
 There are few conditions which do not entangle 
 us with fublunary hopes and fears, from which it is 
 neceffary to be at intervals diiencumbered, that we 
 may place ourfelves in his prefence who views effects 
 in their caufes, and actions in their motives ; that 
 we may, as Chillingworth exprefles it, confider 
 things as if there were no other beings in the world 
 but God andourfelvesj or, to ufe language yet more 
 awful, may commune with our own hearts, and be ftill. 
 
 Death, fays Seneca, falls heavy upon him who is 
 too much known to others, and too little tahimfelf j 
 and Pontanus, a man celebrated among the early 
 reftorers of literature, thought the ftudy of our own 
 hearts of fo much importance, that he has recom- 
 mended it from his tomb. Sum Joannes Jovianus 
 Pontanus, quern amaverunt bon^e mufie, Jufpexerunt 
 viriprobi, honeftaverunt reges domini ; jamjcis quifim, 
 f oel qui potius fuerim ; ego vero te, hofpes, nofcere in tene- 
 bris nequeo,fed teipfum ut nofcas rogo. " I am Pon- 
 *' tanus, beloved by the powers of literature, admired 
 tc by men of worth, and dignified by the monarchs 
 <c of the world. Thou knoweft now who I am, 
 " or more properly who I was. For thee, ftranger, 
 <c I who am in darknefs cannot know thee, but I 
 " intreat thee to know thyfelf." 
 
 I hope every reader of this paper will confider 
 himfelf as engaged to the obfervation of a precept, 
 which the wifdom and virtue of all ages have con- 
 curred to enforce, a precept dictated by philofo- 
 phers, inculcated by poets, and ratified by faints.
 
 i88 THE RAMBLER 1 . N 29. 
 
 - ; 
 
 NUMB. 29. TUESDAY, June 26, 1750. 
 
 Prudens futuri temper is exitum 
 Caliglnofa notte premit dens, 
 
 Ridetque ft mortalis ultra 
 
 Fas trepidet Ho R . 
 
 But God has wifely hid from human fight 
 
 The dark decrees of future fate, 
 And fown their feeds in depth of night ; 
 He laughs at all the giddy turns of ftate, 
 When mortals fearch too foon, and fear too late. D R Y D E N . 
 
 THERE is nothing recommended with greater 
 frequency among the gayer poets of antiquity, 
 than the fecure pofleffion of the prefent hour, and 
 the difmiffion of all the cares which intrude upon 
 our quiet, or hinder, by importunate perturbations, 
 the enjoyment of thofe delights which our condition 
 happens to fet before us. 
 
 The ancient poets are, indeed, by no means un- 
 exceptionable feachers of morality ; their precepts 
 are to be always confiderd as the fallies of a genius, 
 intent rather upon giving pleafure than inftruclion, 
 eager to take every advantage of infmuation, and 
 provided the paffions can be engaged on its fide, 
 very little felicitous about the fuflrage of reafon. 
 The darknefs and uncertainty through which the 
 heathens were compelled to wander in the purfuit of 
 happinefs, may, indeed, be alledged as an excufe for 
 many of their feducing invitations to immediate en- 
 joyment, which the moderns, by whom they have 
 been imitated, have not to plead. It is no wonder 
 
 that
 
 NO 29- THE RAMBLER. 189 
 
 that fuch as had no promife of another ftate fhould 
 eagerly turn their thoughts upon the improvement 
 of that which was before them ; but furely thofe who 
 are acquainted with the hopes and fears of eternity, 
 might think it neceflary to put fome reflraint upon 
 their imagination, and reflect that by echoing the 
 fongs of the ancient bacchanals, and tranfmitting 
 the maxims of paft debauchery, they not only prove 
 that they want invention, but virtue, and fubmit to 
 the fervility of imitation only to copy that of which 
 the writer, if he was to live now, would often be 
 afhamed. 
 
 Yet as the errors and follies of a great genius are 
 feldom without fome radiations of underftanding, by 
 which meaner minds may be enlightened, the in- 
 citements to pleafure are, in thofe authors, general- 
 ly mingled with fuch reflections upon life, as well 
 deferve to be confidered diftinctly from the purpofes 
 for which they are produced, and to be treafured 
 up as the fettled conclufions of extenfive obfervation, 
 acute fagacity, and mature experience. 
 
 It is not without true judgment that on thele oc- 
 cafions they often warn their readers againft en- 
 quiries into futurity, and folicitude about events 
 which lie hid in caufes yet unactive, and which time 
 has not brought forward into the view of reafon. An 
 idle and thoughtlefs refignation to chance, without 
 any ftruggle againft calamity, or endeavour after 
 advantage, is indeed below the dignity of a reafon- 
 able being, in whofe power providence has put a 
 great part even of his prefent happinefs j but it Ihews 
 an equal ignorance of our proper fphere, to harafs 
 our thoughts with conjectures about things not yet 
 
 b '^- in
 
 190 THE RAMBLER. N* 29. 
 
 in being. How can we regulate events, of which 
 we yet know not whether they will ever happen ? 
 And why fhould we think, with painful anxiety, 
 about that on which our thoughts can have no in- 
 fluence ? 
 
 It is a maxim commonly received, that a wife 
 man is never furprized j and, perhaps, this exemp- 
 tion from aflonifhment may be imagined to proceed 
 from fuch a profpect into futurity, as gave previous 
 intimation of thofe evils which often fall unexpected 
 upon others that have lefs forefight. But the truth 
 is, that things to come, except when they approach 
 very nearly, are equally hidden from men of all de- 
 grees of underftanding ; and if a wife man is not 
 amazed at fudden occurrences, it is not that he has 
 thought more, but lefs upon futurity. He never 
 . confidered things not yet exifting as the proper ob- 
 jects of his attention j he never indulged dreams till 
 he was deceived by their phantoms, nor ever realized 
 non-entities to his mind. He is not furprized be- 
 caufe he is not difappointed, and he efcapes difap- 
 pointment becaufe he never forms any expectations. 
 
 The concern about things to come, that is fo 
 juftly cenfured, is not the refult of thofe general re- 
 flections on the variablenefs of fortune, the uncer- 
 tainty of life, and the univerfal infecurity of all hu- 
 man acquifitions, which muft always be fuggefted 
 by the view of the world -, but fuch a defponding 
 anticipation of misfortune, as fixes the mind upon 
 fcenes of gloom and melancholy, and makes fear 
 predominate in every imagination. 
 
 Anxiety of this kind is nearly of the fame nature 
 with jealoufy in love, and fufpicion in the general 
 
 commerce
 
 NO 29. THE RAMBLER. 191 
 
 commerce of life ; a temper which keeps the man 
 always in alarms, difpofes him to judge of every thing 
 in a manner that leaft favours his own quiet, fills 
 him with perpetual ftratagems of counteraction, 
 wears him out in fchemes to obviate evils which 
 never threatened him, and at length, perhaps, con- 
 tributes to the production of thofe mifchiefs of which 
 it had raifed fuch dreadful apprehenfions. 
 
 It has been ufual in all ages for moralifts to re- 
 prefs the fwellings of vain hope by reprefentations 
 of the innumerable cafualties to which life is fubject, 
 and by inftances of the unexpected defeat of the 
 wifeft fchemes of policy, and fudden fubverfions of 
 the higheft eminences of greatnefs. It has, perhaps, 
 not been equally obferved, that all thefe examples 
 afford the proper antidote to fear as well as to hope, 
 and may be applied with no lefs efficacy as confola- 
 tions to the timorous, than as reftraints to the proud. 
 
 Evil is uncertain in the fame degree as good, and 
 for the reafon that we ought not to hope too fecurely, 
 we ought not to fear with too much dejection. The 
 ftate of the world is continually changing, and none 
 can tell the refult of the next viciflitude. Whatever 
 is afloat in the ftream of time, may, when it is very 
 near us, be driven away by an accidental blafl, 
 which fhall happen to crofs the general courfe of the 
 current. The fudden accidents by which the power- 
 ful are deprefled, may fall upon thofe whofe malice 
 we fear j and the greatnefs by which we expect to 
 be overborn, may become another proof of the falfe 
 flatteries of fortune. Our enemies may become 
 weak, or we geow ftrong before our encounter, or 
 we may advance againft each other without ever 
 
 meeting.
 
 192 THE RAMBLER.. N 29. 
 
 meeting. There are, indeed, natural evils which 
 we can flatter ourfelves with no hopes of efcaping, 
 and with little of delaying j but of the ills which are 
 apprehended from human malignity, or the oppofi- 
 tion of rival interefts, we may always alleviate the 
 terror by confidering that our profecutors are weak 
 and ignorant, and mortal like ourfelves. 
 
 The misfortunes which arife from the concurrence 
 of unhappy incidents fhould never be fuffered to 
 difturb us before they happen ; becaufe, if the breaft 
 be once laid open to the dread of mere poflibilities 
 of mifery, life muft be given a prey to difmal folici- 
 tude, and quiet muft be loft for ever. 
 
 It is remarked by old Cornaro, that it is abfurd 
 to be afraid of the natural diiTolution of the body, 
 becaufe it muft certainly happen, and can, by no 
 caution or artifice, be avoided. Whether this fenti- 
 ment be entirely juft, I fhall not examine ; but 
 certainly if it be improper to fear events which 
 muft happen, it is yet more evidently contrary to 
 right realbn to fear thofe which may never happen, 
 and which, if they fhould come upon us, we cannot 
 refift. 
 
 As we ought not to give way to fear any more 
 than indulgence to hope, becaufe the objects both of 
 fear and hope are yet uncertain, fo we ought not to 
 truft the reprefentations of one more than of the 
 other, becaufe they are both equally fallacious j as 
 hope enlarges happinefs, fear aggravates calamity.. 
 It is generally allowed, that no man ever found the 
 happinefs of pofiefiion proportionate to that expec- 
 tation which incited his defire, and invigorated his 
 purfuit; nor has any man found the evils of life fo. 
 
 formidable
 
 N 29; THE RAMBLER. 193 
 
 formidable in reality, as they were defcribed to him 
 by his own imagination, every fpecies of diftrefs 
 brings with it fome peculiar fupports, fbme unfore- 
 feen means of refitting, or power of enduring. 
 Taylor juftly blames fome pious perfons, who in- 
 dulge their fancies too much, fet themfelves, by the 
 force of imagination, in the place of the ancient 
 martyrs and confeflbrs, and queftion the validity of 
 their own faith becaufe* they fhrink at the thoughts of 
 flames and tortures. It is, fays he, fufficient that 
 you are able to encounter the temptations which now 
 aflault you, when* God fends trials, he may fend 
 ftrength. 
 
 All fear is in itfelf painful, and when it conduces 
 not to fafety is painful without ufe. Every confider- 
 ation, therefore, by which groundlefs terrors may 
 be removed, adds fomething to human happinefs. 
 It is likewife not unworthy of remark, that in pro- 
 portion as our cares are employed upon the future 
 they are abftra&ed from the prefent, from the only 
 time which we can call our own, and of which if we 
 neglect the duties, to make provifion againft vifion- 
 ary attacks, we fhall certainly counteract our own 
 purpofe i for he, doubtlefs, miftakes his true intereft, 
 who thinks that he can increafe his fafety, when he 
 impairs his virtue. 
 
 VOL. IV.
 
 194 THE RAMBLER. N 30. 
 
 NUMB. 30. SATURDAY, June 30, 1750. 
 
 Vultus ubi tuus 
 
 Affulflt populo, gratior it dies, 
 
 Et foles melius nitettt . Ho R . 
 
 Whene'er thy countenance divine 
 
 Th' attendant people cheers, 
 The genial funs more radiant mine, 
 
 The day more glad appears. ELPHINSTON. 
 
 Mr. RAMBLER, 
 
 THERE are few talks more ungrateful, than 
 for perfons of modefty to fpeak their own 
 praifes. In fome cafes, however, this muft be done 
 for the general good, and a generous fpirit will on 
 fuch occafions affert its merit, and vindicate itfelf 
 with becoming warmth. 
 
 My circumftances, Sir, are very hard and pecu- 
 liar. Could the world be brought to treat me as I 
 deferve, it would be a publick benefit. This makes 
 me apply to you, that my cafe being fairly ftated in 
 a paper fo generally efteemed, I may fuffer no longer 
 from ignorant and childifh prejudices. 
 
 My elder brother was a Jew. A very refpectable 
 perfon, but fomewhat auftere in his manner : highly 
 and defervedly valued by his near relations and in- 
 timates, but utterly unfit for mixing in a larger 
 fociety, or gaining a general acquaintance among 
 mankind. In a venerable old age he retired from 
 the world, and I in the bloom of youth came into
 
 N jo. THE RAMBLER. 195 
 
 it, fucceeding him in all his dignities, and formed, 
 as I might reafonably flatter myfelf, to be the object 
 of univerfal love and efteem. Joy and gladnefs 
 were born with me ; cheerfulnefs, good-humour, 
 and benevolence always attended and endeared my 
 infancy. That time is long paft. So long, that 
 idle imaginations are apt to fancy me wrinkled, old, 
 and difagreeable j but, unlefs my looking-glafs de- 
 ceives me, I have not yet loft one charm, one beauty 
 of my earlieft years. However, thus far is too 
 certain, I am to every body juft what they chufe to 
 think me, fo that to very few I appear in my right 
 fhape j and though naturally I am the friend of 
 human kind, to few, very few comparatively, am I 
 ufeful or agreeable. 
 
 This is the more grievous, as it is utterly impof- 
 fible for me to avoid being in all forts of places and 
 companies -, and I am therefore liable to meet with 
 perpetual affronts and injuries. Though I have as 
 natural an antipathy to cards and dice, as fome peo- 
 ple have to a cat, many and many an affembly am I 
 forced to endure; and though reft and compofure 
 are my peculiar joy, am worn out, and harafled to 
 death with journies by men and women of quality, 
 who never take one, but when I can be of the party. 
 Some, on a contrary extreme, will never receive me 
 but in bed, where they fpend at leaft half of the time 
 I have to ftay with them j and others are fb mon- 
 ftroufly ill-bred as to take phyfick on purpofe when 
 they have reafon to expect me. Thofe who keep 
 upon terms of more politenefs with me, are gene- 
 rally fo cold and conftrained in their behaviour, that 
 I cannot but perceive myfelf an unwelcome gueft ; 
 
 O 2 and
 
 i 9 6 THE RAMBLER. N 30. 
 
 and even among perfons deferving of efteem, and 
 who certainly have a value for me, it is too evident 
 that generally whenever I come I throw a dullnefs 
 over the whole company, that I am entertained with 
 a formal ftiff civility, and that they are glad when I 
 am fairly gone. 
 
 How bitter mud this kind of reception be to one 
 formed to infpire delight> admiration^ and love ! To 
 one capable of anfwering and rewarding the greateft 
 warmth and delicacy of fentiments ! ..< 
 
 I was bred up among a fet of excellent people, 
 who affectionately loved me, and treated me with 
 the utmoft honour and refpeft. It would be tedious 
 to relate the variety of my adventures, and ftrange 
 viciflitudes of my fortune in many different coun- 
 tries. Here in England there was a time when I 
 lived according to my heart's defire. Whenever I 
 appeared,, publick aflembiies appointed for my re- 
 ception were crowded with perfons of quality and 
 fafhion, early dreft as for a court, to pay me their 
 devoirs. Cheerful hofpitality every where crowned 
 my board, and I was looked upon in every country 
 parifh as a kind of focial bond between the 'fquire, 
 the parfon, and the tenants. The laborious poor 
 every where bleft my appearance : they do fo flLH, 
 and keep their beft clothes to do me honour ; 
 though as much as I delight in the honed country 
 folks, they do now and then throw a pot of ale at 
 my head, and fometimes an unlucky boy will drive 
 his cricket- ball full in my face. 
 
 Even in thefe my bed days there were perfons who 
 thought me too demure and grave. I mud forfooth 
 by all means be inftructed by foreign maders, and 
 
 taught
 
 N3Q. THE RAMBLER. 197 
 
 taught to dance and play. This method of educa- 
 tion was fo contrary to my genius, formed for much 
 nobler entertainments, that it did not fucceed at all. 
 
 I fell next into the hands of a very different fet. 
 They were fo exceffively fcandalized at the gaiety of 
 my appearance, as not only to defpoil me of the 
 foreign fopperies, the paint and the patches that I 
 had been tricked out with by my laft misjudging 
 tutors, but they robbed me of every innocent orna- 
 ment I had from my infancy been ufed to gainer in 
 the fields and gardens ; nay, they blacked may face, 
 and covered me all over with a habit of mourning, 
 and that too very coarfe and awkward. I was now 
 obliged to fpend my whole life in hearing fermonsj 
 nor permitted fo much as to fmile upon any occafion, 
 
 In this melancholy difguife I became a perfect 
 bugbear to all children, and young folks. Where - 
 ever I came there was a general hu(h, and imme- 
 diate ftop to all pleafantnefs of look or difcourfe ; 
 $nd not being permitted to talk with them in my 
 own language at that time, they took fuch a difguft 
 to me in thofe tedious hours of yawning, that having 
 tranfmitted it to their children, I cannot now be 
 heard, though it is long fince I have recovered my 
 natural form, and pleafing tone of voice. Would 
 they but receive my vifits kindly, and liften to what 
 I could tell them let me fay it without vanity how 
 charming a companion Ihould I be ! to every one 
 could I talk on the fubjects mod interesting and mod 
 pleafing. With the great and ambitious, I would 
 difcourfe of honours and advancements, of diftinc- 
 tions to which the whole world fhould be witnefs, of 
 
 O 3 unenvied
 
 198 THE RAMBLER. N 30. 
 
 unenvied dignities and durable preferments. To 
 the rich I would tell of inexhauftible treafures, and 
 the fure method to attain them. I would teach 
 them to put out their money on the beft intereft, and 
 inftruct the lovers of pleafure how to fecure and im- 
 prove it to the higheft degree. The beauty fhould 
 learn of me how to preferve an everlafting bloom. 
 To the afflicted I would adminifter comfort, and re- 
 laxation to the bufy. 
 
 As I dare promife myfelf you will atteft the truth 
 of all I have advanced, there is no doubt but many 
 will be defirous of improving their acquaintance 
 with me ; and that I may not be thought too diffi- 
 cult, I will tell you, in ihort, how I wifli to be re- 
 ceived. 
 
 You muft know I equally hate lazy idlenefs and 
 hurry. I would every where be welcomed at a 
 tolerably early hour with decent good-humour and 
 gratitude. I muft be attended in the great halls 
 peculiarly appropriated to me with refpect ; but I 
 do not infift upon finery : propriety of appearance, 
 and perfect neatnefs, is all I require. I muft at 
 dinner be treated with a temperate, but cheerful 
 focial meal ; both the neighbours and the poor 
 ihould be the better for me. Some time I muft 
 have tete-a-tete with my kind entertainers, and the 
 reft of my vifit fhould be fpent in pleafant walks and 
 airings among fets of agreeable people, in fuch dif- 
 courfe as I (hall naturally dictate, or in reading fome 
 few felected out of thofe numberlefs books that are 
 dedicated to me, and go by my name. A name 
 that, alas ! as the world ftands at prefent, makes 
 
 them
 
 N ji- THE RAMBLER. 199 
 
 them oftener thrown afide than taken up. As thofe 
 conventions and books fliould be both well chofen, 
 to give fome advice on that head may poffibly 
 furnifh you with a future paper, and any thing 
 you fhall offer on my behalf will be of great fervice 
 to, 
 
 Good Mr. RAMBLER, 
 
 Your faithful Friend and Servant, 
 
 SUNDAY. 
 
 NUMB. 31. TUESDAY, July 3, 1750, 
 
 Non ego mendofos aujtm defenders mores, 
 
 Falfajue pro vitiis arma tenere meis. Ov I D . 
 
 Corrupted manners \ fhall ne'er defend, 
 
 Nor, falfely witty, for my faults contend. ELPHINSTON. 
 
 THOUGH the fallibility of man's reafon, and 
 the narrownefs of his knowledge, are very 
 liberally confefled, yet the conduct of thofe who fo 
 willingly admit the weaknefs of human nature, 
 feems to difcern that this acknowledgment is not al- 
 together fincere ; at lead, that mod make it with a 
 tacit referve in favour of themfelves, and that with 
 whatever eafe they give up the claim of their neigh- 
 bours, they are defirous of being thought exempt 
 from faults in their own conduct, and from error in 
 their opinions. 
 
 The certain and obftinate oppofition, which we 
 
 may obferve made to confutation however clear, 
 
 and to reproof however tender, is an undoubted ar- 
 
 O 4 gumentj
 
 200 THE RAMBLER. N 31. 
 
 gument, that fome dormant privilege is thought to 
 be attacked j for as no man can lofe what he neither 
 poffefies, nor imagines himfelf to poflefs, or be de- 
 frauded of that to which he has no right, it is rea- 
 fonable to fuppofe that thofe who break out into fury 
 at the fofteft contradiction, or the flighteft cenfure, 
 fince they apparently conclude themfelves injured, 
 muft fancy fome ancient immunity violated, or fome 
 natural prerogative invaded. To be miftaken, if 
 they thought themfelves liable to miftake, could not 
 be confidered either as fhameful or wonderful, and 
 they would not receive with fo much emotion intel- 
 ligence which only informed them of what they 
 knew before, nor ftruggle with fuch earneftnefs 
 againft an attack that deprived them of nothing to 
 which they held themfelves entitled. 
 
 It is related of one of the philolbphers, that when 
 an account was brought him of his fon's death, he 
 received it only with this reflection, I knew that my 
 Jon was mortal. He that is convinced of an error, 
 if he had the fame knowledge of his own weaknefs, 
 would, inftead of ftraining for artifices, and brood- 
 ing malignity, only regard fuch overfights as the 
 appendages of humanity, and pacify himfelf with 
 confidering that he had always known man to be a 
 fallible being. 
 
 If it be true that moft of our paffions are excited 
 by the novelty of objects, there is little reafon for 
 doubting, that to be confidered as fubject to falla- 
 cies of ratiocination, or imperfection of know- 
 ledge, is to a great part of mankind entirely new -, 
 for it is impoflible to fall into any company where 
 there is not fome regular and eftablifhed fubordi- 
 
 nation,
 
 NO 3*. THE RAMBLER. 201 
 
 nation, without finding rage and vehemence pro- 
 duced only by difference of fentiments about things 
 in which neither of the difputants have any other 
 intereft than what proceeds from their mutual unwil- 
 lingnefs to give way to any opinion that may bring 
 upon them the difgrace of being wrong. 
 
 I have heard of one that, having advanced fome 
 erroneous doctrines in philofophy, refufed to fee 
 the experiments by which they were confuted : 
 and the obfervation of every day will give new 
 proofs with how much induftry fubterfuges and 
 evafions are fought to decline the preffure of refift- 
 lefs arguments, how often the ftate of the queftion 
 is altered, how often the antagonift is wilfully mif- 
 reprefented, and in how much perplexity the cleareft 
 pofitions are involved by thofe whom they happen to 
 oppofe. 
 
 Of all mortals none feem to have been more in- 
 fected with this fpecies of vanity, than the race of 
 writers, whofe reputation arifing folely from their 
 understanding, gives them a very delicate fenfibi- 
 lity of any violence attempted on their literary ho- 
 nour. It is not unpleafing to remark with what Ib- 
 Jicitude men of acknowledged abilities will endea- 
 vour to palliate abfurdities and reconcile contradic- 
 tions, only to obviate criticifms to which all human 
 performances muft ever be expofed, and from which 
 they can never fuffer, but when they teach the world 
 by a vain and ridiculous impatience to think them of 
 importance. 
 
 DRYDEN, whofe warmth of fancy, and hade of 
 compofition, very frequently hurried him into inac- 
 curacies,
 
 202 THE RAMBLER. N'ji. 
 
 curacies, heard himfelf fometimes expofed to ridicule 
 for having faid in one of his tragedies, 
 
 I follow fate, which does too faft purfue. 
 
 That no man could at once follow and be followed 
 was, it may be thought, too plain to be long dif- 
 puted; and the truth is, that DRYDEN was appa- 
 rently betrayed into the blunder by the double 
 meaning of the word FATE, to which in the former 
 part of the verfe he had annexed the idea of FOR- 
 TUNE, and in the latter that of DEATH; fo that 
 the fenfe only was, though purfued by DEATH, / 
 will not rejign myjelf to defpair, but will follow FOR- 
 TUNE, and do and Juffer what is appointed. This, 
 however, was not completely exprefied, and DRY- 
 DEN being determined not to give way to his cri- 
 ticks, never confefTed that he had been furprifed 
 by an ambiguity; but finding luckily in Virgil an 
 account of a man moving in a circle, with this ex- 
 preffion, Et Je Jequiturque fugitque, " Here," fays 
 he, " is the paflage in imitation of which I wrote 
 " the line that my criticks were pleafed to con- 
 <c demn as nonfenfe; not but I may fometimes 
 e< write nonfenfe, though they have not the fortune 
 " to find it." 
 
 Every one fees the folly of fuch mean doublings 
 to efcape the purfuit of criticifm; nor is there a 
 fingle reader of this poet, who would not have paid 
 him greater veneration, had he fhewn confcioufnefs 
 enough of his own fuperiority to fet fuch cavils at 
 defiance, and owned that he fometimes flipped into 
 
 errors
 
 N3i- THE RAMBLER. 203 
 
 errors by the tumult of his imagination, and the 
 multitude of his ideas. 
 
 It is happy when this temper difcovers itfelf only 
 in little things, which may be right or wrong without 
 any influence on the virtue or happinefs of man- 
 kind. We may, with very little inquietude, fee a 
 man perfift in a project, which he has found to be 
 impracticable, live in an inconvenient houie becaufe 
 it was contrived by himfelf, or wear a coat of a par- 
 ticular cut, in hopes by perfeverance to bring it into 
 fafliion. Thefe are indeed follies, but they are only 
 follies, and, however wild or ridiculous, can very 
 little affect others. 
 
 But fuch pride, once indulged, too frequently 
 operates upon more important objects, and inclines 
 men not only to vindicate their errors, but their 
 vices i to perfift in practices which their own hearts 
 condemn, only left they fhould feem to feel re- 
 proaches, or be made wifer by the advice of others ; 
 or to fearch for fophifms tending to the confufion 
 of all principles, and the evacuation of all duties, 
 that they may not appear to act what they are not 
 able to defend. 
 
 Let every man, who finds vanity fo far predomi- 
 nant, as to betray him to the danger of this laft de- 
 gree of corruption, paufe a moment to confider what 
 will be the confequences of the plea which he is 
 about to offer for a practice to which he knows him- 
 felf not led at firft by reafon, but impelled by the 
 violence of defire, furprifed by the fuddennefs of 
 paflion, or feduced by the foft approaches of tempt- 
 ation, and by imperceptible gradations of guilt. 
 JLet him. confider what he is going to commit by 
 
 forcing
 
 204 THE RAMBLER. N'ji. 
 
 forcing his underftanding to patronife thofe ap- 
 petites, which it is its chief buiinefs to hinder and 
 reform. 
 
 The caufe of virtue requires fo little art to de- 
 fend it, and good and evil, when they have been 
 once {hewn, are fo eafily diftinguifhed, that fuch 
 apologifts feldom gain profelytes to their party, 
 nor have their fallacies power to deceive any but 
 thofe whofe defires have clouded their difcernment. 
 All that the bed faculties thus employed can per- 
 form is, to perfuade the hearers that the man is 
 hopelefs whom they only thought vicious, that cor- 
 ruption has pafied from his manners to his prin- 
 ciples, that all endeavours for his recovery are with- 
 out profpect of fuccefs, and that nothing remains 
 but to avoid him as infectious, or hunt him down as 
 deftructive. 
 
 But if it be fuppofed that he may impofe on 
 his audience by partial reprefentations of confe- 
 quences, intricate deductions of remote caufes, or 
 perplexed combinations of ideas, which having 
 various relations, appear different as viewed on dif- 
 ferent fides; that he may fometimes puzzle the 
 weak and well-meaning, and now and then feduce, 
 by the admiration of his abilities, a young mind 
 flill fluctuating in unfettled notions, and neither 
 fortified by inftruction nor enlightened by expe- 
 rience -, yet what muft be the event of fuch a tri- 
 umph ? A man cannot fpend all this life in frolick : 
 age, or difeafc, or folitude, will bring fome hours 
 of ferious confederation, and it will then afford 
 no comfort to think, that he has extended the do- 
 minion of vice, that he has loaded himfelf with 
 
 the
 
 N3- THE RAMBLER. 205 
 
 the crimes of others, and can never know the ex- 
 tent of his own wickednefs, or make reparation 
 for the mifchief that he has caufed. There is not 
 perhaps in all the (lores of ideal anguifh, a thought 
 more painful, than the confcioufnefs of having 
 propagated corruption by vitiating principles, of 
 having not only drawn others from the paths of 
 virtue, but blocked up the way by which they 
 fhould return, of having blinded them to every 
 beauty but the paint of pleafure, and deafened them 
 to every call but the alluring voice of the fyrens of 
 deftrucYion. 
 
 There is yet another danger in this practice: 
 men who cannot deceive others, are very often fuc- 
 cefsful in deceiving themfelves; they weave their 
 fophiftry till their own reafon is entangled, and re- 
 peat their pofitions till they are credited by them- 
 felves; by often contending they grow fincere in 
 the caufe, and by long wifhing for demonftrative 
 arguments, they at laft bring themfelves to fancy 
 that they had found them. They are then at the 
 uttermoft verge of wickednefs, and may die with- 
 out having that light rekindled in their minds, 
 which their own pride and contumacy have extin- 
 guifhed. 
 
 The men who can be charged with feweft fail- 
 ings, either with refpect to abilities or virtue, are 
 generally mod ready to allow them : for not to 
 dwell on things of folemn and awful confidera- 
 tion, the humility of confefibrs, the tears of faints, 
 and the dying terrors of perfons eminent for piety 
 and innocence, it is well known that Casfar wrote 
 
 an
 
 2 o6 THE RAMBLER. N 31. 
 
 an account of the errors committed by him in his 
 wars of Gaul, and that Hippocrates, whofe name is 
 perhaps in rational eftimation greater than Caspar's, 
 warned pofterity againft a miftake into which he had 
 fallen. So much, fays Celfus, does the open and artlefs 
 confeffion of an error become a man confcious that he has 
 enough remaining tojupport his char after. 
 
 As all error is meannefs, it is incumbent on every 
 man who confults his own dignity, to retract it as 
 foon as he difcovers it, without fearing any cen- 
 fure fo much as that of his own mind. As juftice 
 requires that all injuries fhould be repaired, it is 
 the duty of him who has feduced others by bad 
 practices or falfe notions, to endeavour that fuch 
 as have adopted his errors Ihould know his retrac- 
 tion, and that thofe who have learned vice by his 
 example, fhould by his example be taught amend- 
 ment.
 
 N 32. THE RAMBLER. 207 
 
 NUMB. 32. SATURDAY, July 7, 1750. 
 
 06 tagtTrti xuQo&M $vw* PYTHAG. 
 
 Of all the woes that load the mortal (late, 
 
 Whate'er thy portion, mildly meet thy fate ; 
 
 But eafeit as thou can'ft ELPHINSTOM. 
 
 SO large a part of human life paries in a (late con- 
 trary to our natural defires, that one of the prin- 
 cipal topicks of moral inftruction is the art of bear- 
 ing calamities. And fuch is the certainty of evil, 
 that it is the duty of every man to furnifh his mind 
 with thofe principles that may enable him to act un- 
 der it with decency and propriety. 
 
 The feel: of ancient philofophers, that boafted 
 to have carried this necefifary fcience to the higheft 
 perfection, were the ftoicks, or fcholars of Zeno, 
 whofe wild enthufiaftick virtue pretended to an ex- 
 emption from the fenfibilities of unenlightened mor- 
 tals, and who proclaimed themfelves exalted, by the 
 doctrines of their feet, above the reach of thofe 
 miferies, which embitter life to the reft of the world. 
 They therefore removed pain, poverty, lofs of 
 friends, exile, and violent death, from the catalogue 
 of evils j and paflfed, in their haughty ftyle, a kind 
 of irreverfible decree, by which they forbad them to 
 be counted any longer among the objects of terror or 
 anxiety, or to give any difturbance to the tranquil- 
 lity of a wife man. 
 
 This
 
 2oS THE RAMBLER. N' 32. 
 
 This edict was, I think, not univerfally obferved; 
 for though one of the more refolute, when he was 
 tortured by a violent difeafe, cried out, that let 
 pain harafs him to its utmofc power, it fhouhl never 
 force him to confider it as other than indifferent and 
 neutral ; yet all had not ftubbornnefs to hold out 
 againft their fenfes : for a weaker pupil of Zeno is 
 recorded to have confeffed in the anguiih of the gout, 
 that he now found fain to be an evil. 
 
 It may however be queftioned, whether thefe 
 philofophers can be very properly numbered among 
 the teachers of patience j for if pain be not an evil, 
 there feems no inftruclion requifite how it may be 
 borne ; and therefore, when they endeavour to arm 
 their followers with arguments againft it, they may 
 be thought to have given up their firft pofidon. But 
 fuch inconfiftencies are to be expected from the 
 greateft underftandings, when they endeavour to 
 grow eminent by Angularity, and employ their 
 ftrength in eftablifhing opinions oppofite to nature. 
 
 The controverfy about the reality of external 
 evils is now at an end. That life has many mife- 
 ries, and that thofe miferies are, fometimes at leaft, 
 equal to all the powers of fortitude, is now univer- 
 fally confefled; and therefore it is ufeful to confider 
 not only how we may efcape them, but by what 
 means thofe which either, the accidents of affairs, 
 or the infirmities of nature, muft bring upon us, 
 may be mitigated and lightened, and how we may 
 make thofe hours lefs wretched, which the condi- 
 tion of our prefent exiftence will not allow to be very 
 happy.
 
 Nj2; TrtE RAMfeLIiR, $09 
 
 The cure for the greateft part of human mife- 
 ries is not radical, but palliative. Infelicity is in- 
 volved in corporeal nature, and interwoven with our 
 being; all attempts therefore to decline it wholly 
 are ufelefs and vain : the armies of pain fend their 
 arrows againft us on every fide, the choice is only 
 between thofe which are more or lefs fharp, or 
 tinged with poifon of greater or lefs malignity ; and 
 the ftrongeft armour which reafon can fupply, will 
 only blunt their points, but cannot repel them* 
 
 The great remedy which heaven has put in our 
 hands is patience, by which, though we cannot leflen 
 the torments of the body, we can in a great meafure 
 preferve the peace of the mind, and fhall fuffer only 
 the natural and genuine force of an evilj without 
 heightening its acrimony, or prolonging its effects. 
 
 There is indeed nothing more unfuitable to the 
 nature of man in any calamity than rage and tur- 
 bulence, which, without examining whether they 
 are not fometimes impious, are at lead always of- 
 fenfive, and incline others rather to hate and defpife 
 than to pity and aflift us. If what we fuffer has been 
 brought upon us by ourfelves, it is obferved by an 
 ancient poet, that patience is eminently our duty, 
 fince no one fhould be angry at feeling that which he 
 has deferved. 
 
 Leniter ex merito quicquid patiare fefendatft eft. 
 Let pain deferv'd without complaint be borne. 
 
 And furely, if we are confcious that we have not 
 
 contributed to our own fufferings, if punifhment 
 
 falls upon innocence, or difappointment happens to 
 
 VOL. IV. P induftry
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 32. 
 
 induftry and prudence, patience, whether more ne- 
 ceflary or not, is much eafier, fince our pain is then 
 without aggravation", and we have not the bitternefs 
 of remorfe to add to the afperity of misfortune. 
 
 In thofe evils which are allotted to us by pro- 
 vidence, fuch as deformity, privation of any of the 
 fenfes, or old age, it is always to be remembered, 
 that impatience can have no prefent cfFedt, but to 
 deprive us of the confolations which our condition 
 admits, by driving away from us thofe by whofe con- 
 verfation or advice we might be amufed or helped; 
 and that with regard to futurity it is yet lefs to be 
 iuftified, fince, without leflening the pain, it cuts 
 off the hope of that reward, which he by whom it is 
 inflicted will confer upon them that bear it welL 
 
 In all evils which admit a remedy, impatience is 
 to be avoided, becaufe it waftes that time and atten- 
 tion in complaints, that, if properly applied, might 
 remove the caufe. Turenne, among the acknow- 
 ledgments which ftfe ufed to pay in converfation to 
 the memory of thofe by whom he had been inftrufted 
 in the art of war, mentioned one with honour, who 
 taught him not to fpend his time in regretting any 
 miftake which he had made, but to fet himfelf im- 
 mediately and vigoroufly to repair it. 
 
 Patience and fubmiflion are very carefully to be 
 diftinguifhed from cowardice and indolence. We 
 are not to repine, but we may lawfully flrugglej 
 for the calamities of life, like the neceflities of na- 
 ture, are calls to labour and exercifes of diligence. 
 When we feel any preflure of diftrefs, we are not 
 to conclude that we can only obey the will of heaven 
 by languiihing under it, any more than when we 
 
 perceive
 
 N32. THE RAMBLER. air 
 
 perceive the pain of thirft, we are to imagine that 
 water is prohibited. Of misfortune it never can be 
 certainly known whether, as proceeding from the 
 hand of GOD, it is an a6t of favour or of punifh- 
 ment : but fmce all the ordinary difpenfations of 
 providence are to be interpreted according to the 
 general analogy of things, we may conclude that 
 we have a right to remove one inconvenience as well 
 as another; that we are only to take care left we 
 purchafe eafe with guilt; and that our Maker's pur- 
 pofe, whether of reward or feverity, will be anfwered 
 by the labours which he lays us under the neceffity 
 of performing. 
 
 This duty is not more difficult in any ftate than 
 in difeafes intenfely painful, which may indeed fuf- 
 fer fuch exacerbations as feem to ftrain the powers 
 of life to their utmoft ftretch, and leave very little of 
 the attention vacant to precept or reproof. In this 
 ftate the nature of man requires fome indulgence, 
 and every extravagance but impiety may be eafily 
 forgiven him. Yet, left we fhould think ourfelves 
 too foon entitled to the mournful privileges of ir- 
 refiftible mifery, it is proper to reflect, that the ut- 
 moft anguifh which human wit can contrive or 
 human malice can inflidt, has been borne with con- 
 ftancy; and that if the pains of difeafe be, as I believe 
 they are, fometimes greater than thofe of artificial tor- 
 ture, they are therefore in their own nature fhorter, 
 the vital frame is quickly broken, or the union be- 
 tween foul and body is for a time fufpended by in- 
 fenfibility, and we foon ceafe to feel our maladies 
 when they once become too violent to j?e borne. I 
 
 P 2 think
 
 212 THE RAMBLER. N 32, 
 
 think there is fome reafon for queftioning whether 
 the body and mind are not fo proportioned, that the 
 one can bear all that can be inflicted on the other, 
 whether virtue cannot ftand its ground S long as 
 life, and whether a foul well principled will not be fe* 
 parated fooner than fubdued. 
 
 In calamities which operate chiefly on our pafTions, 
 fuch as diminution of fortune, lofs of friends, or de- 
 elenfion of character, the chief danger of impa- 
 tience is upon the firft attack, and many expedients 
 have been contrived, by which the blow may be 
 broken. Of thefe the moft general precept is, not 
 to take pleafure in any thing, of which it is not in 
 ur power to fecure the poflefTion to ourfelves. 
 This counfel, when we confider the enjoyment of 
 any terreftrial advantage, as oppofite to a conftant 
 and habitual folicitude for future felicity, is un- 
 doubtedly juft, and delivered by that authority 
 which cannot be difputed j but in any other fenfe, 
 is it not like advice, not to walk left we fhould 
 Humble, or not to fee left our eyes fhould light upon 
 deformity ? It feems to me reafonable to enjoy blef- 
 fings with confidence as well as to refign them with 
 fubmiffion, and to hope for the continuance of good 
 which we poffefs without infolence or voluptuoufnefs, 
 as for the restitution of that which we lofe without 
 defpondency or murmurs. 
 
 . The chief fecurity againft the fruitlefs anguifii of 
 impatience, muft arife from frequent reflection on 
 the wifdom and goodnefs of the GOD of nature, in 
 whofe hands are riches and poverty, honour and dif- 
 grace, pleafure and pain, and life and death. A 
 
 fettled
 
 
 N'33- THE RAMBLER. 213 
 
 fettled conviction of the tendency of every thing to 
 our good, and of the poflibilky of turning miferies 
 into happinefs, by receiving them rightly, will in- 
 cline us to blefs the name of the LORD, whether he 
 gives or fakes away.. 
 
 NUMB. 33. TUESDAY, July 10, 1750. 
 
 Quod caret alter no. requie durabile non eft. OVID. 
 
 Alternate reft and labour long endure. 
 
 IN the early ages of the world, as is well known 
 to thofe who are verfed in ancient traditions, 
 when innocence was yet untainted, and fimplicity 
 unadulterated, mankind was happy in the enjoyment 
 of continual pteafure, and conftant plenty, under 
 the protection of REST > a gentle divinity, who re- 
 quired of her worfhippers neither altars nor facri- 
 fices, and whofe rites were only performed by pro- 
 ftrations upon turfs of flowers in fhades of jafmine 
 and myrtle, or by dances on the banks of rivers 
 flowing with milk and nectar. 
 
 Under this eafy government the firft generations 
 breathed the fragrance of perpetual fpring, eat the 
 fruits, which, without culture, fell ripe into their 
 hands, and flept under bowers arched by nature, 
 with the birds finging over their heads, and the 
 beafts fporting about them. But by degrees they 
 began to lofe their original integrity ; each, though 
 there was more than enough for all, was defirous of 
 
 P 3 appro-
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 33. 
 
 appropriating part to himfelf. Then entered vio- 
 lence and fraud, and theft and rapine. Soon after 
 pride and envy broke into the world, and brought 
 with them a new ftandard of wealth ; for men, who 
 till then thought themfelves rich when they wanted 
 nothing, now rated their demands, not by the calls 
 of nature, but by the plenty of others j and began 
 to confider themfelves as poor, when they beheld 
 their own pofTefiions exceeded by thofe of their 
 neighbours. Now only one could be happy, be- 
 caufe only one could have moft, and that one was 
 always in danger, left the fame arts by which he had 
 fupplanted others fhould be pradlifed upon himfelf. 
 
 Amidft the prevalence of this corruption, the 
 flate of the earth was changed ; the year was divided 
 into feafons ; part of the ground became barren, and 
 the reft yielded only berries, acorns, and herbs. The 
 fummer and autumn indeed furnifhed a coarfe and 
 inelegant fufficiency, but winter was without any 
 relief; FAMINE, with a thoufand difeafes, which the 
 inclemency of the air invited into the upper regions, 
 made havock among men, and there appeared to be 
 danger left they fhould be deftroyed before they were 
 reformed. 
 
 To oppofe the devaftations of FAMINE, who fcat- 
 tered the ground every where with carcafes, LABOUR 
 came down upon earth. LABOUR was the fon of 
 NECESSITY, the nurfeling of HOPE, and the pupil of 
 ART ; he had the ftrength of his mother, the fpirit 
 of his nurfe, and the dexterity of his governefs. His 
 face was wrinkled with the wind, and fwarthy with 
 the fun ; he had the implements of husbandry in one 
 hand, with which he turned up the earth; in the 
 
 other
 
 N33- THE RAMBLER. 
 
 other he had the tools of architecture, and raifed 
 walls and towers at his pleafure. He called out 
 with a rough voice, " Mortals ! fee here the power 
 " to whom you are configned, and from whom you 
 " are to hope for all your pleafures, and all your 
 <f fafety. You have long languifhed under the do- 
 " minion of REST, an impotent and deceitful 
 <c goddefs, who can neither protect nor relieve you, 
 " but refigns you to the firft attacks of either FA- 
 " MINE or DISEASE, and fuffers her fhades to be 
 < f invaded by every enemy, and deftroyed by every 
 " accident. 
 
 " Awake therefore to the call of LABOUR. I 
 ff will teach you to remedy the fterility of the earth, 
 " and the feverity of the fkyj I will compel fum- 
 <f mer to find provifions for the winter j I will 
 " force the waters to give you their fifli, the air its 
 <c fowls, and the foreft its beads j I will teach you 
 " to pierce the bowels of the earth, and bring out 
 <f from the caverns of the mountains metals which 
 " fliall give ftrength to your hands, and fecurity 
 <f to your bodies, by which you may be covered 
 " from the aflaults of the fierceft beafts, and with 
 t which you fhall fell the oak, and divide rocks, 
 and fubjecl: all nature to your ufe and pleafure." 
 
 Encouraged by this magnificent invitation, the 
 inhabitants of the globe confidered LABOUR as their 
 only friend, and hailed to his command. He led 
 them out to the fields and mountains, and fhewed 
 them how to open mines, to level hills, to drain 
 marfhes, and change the courfe of rivers. The face 
 of things was immediately transformed ; the land 
 
 P 4 was
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 33. 
 
 was covered with towns and villages, encompafied 
 with fields of corn, and plantations of fruit- trees j 
 and nothing was feen but heaps of grain, and bafkets 
 of fruit, full tables, and crowded ftorehoufes. 
 
 Thus LABOUR and his followers added every 
 hour new acquisitions to their conquefts, and faw 
 FAMINE gradually difpofifefled of his dominions; 
 till at laft, amidft their jollity and triumphs, they 
 were deprefled and amazed by the approach of LAS- 
 SITUDE, who was known by her funk eyes, and de- 
 jected countenance. She came forward trembling 
 and groaning : at every groan the hearts of all thofo 
 that beheld her loft their courage, their nerves 
 flackened, \he\r hands Ihook, and the inftruments 
 of labour fell from their grafp. 
 
 Shocked with this horrid phantom they reflected 
 with regret on their eafy compliance with the felici- 
 tations of LABOUR, and began to wifh again for the 
 golden hours which they remembered to have pafled 
 under the reign of REST, whom they refolved again 
 to vifit, and to whom they intended to dedicate the 
 remaining part of their lives. REST had not left 
 the world ; they quickly found her, and to atone 
 for their former defertion, invited her to the enjoy- 
 ment of thofe accjuifitions which LABOUR had pro, 
 cured them. 
 
 REST therefore took leave of the groves and val- 
 Vies, which {he had hitherto inhabited, and entered 
 into palaces, repofed herfelf in alcoves, and num- 
 bered away the winter upon beds of down, and the 
 fummer in artificial grottos with cafcades playing be- 
 fore her. There was indeed always fomething 
 
 wanting
 
 N33- THE RAMBLER; 
 
 wanting to complete her felicity, and flie could 
 never lull her returning fugitives to that ferenity, 
 which they knew before their engagements with 
 LABOUR : Nor was her dominion entirely without 
 controul, for Ihe was obliged to fhare it with 
 LUXURY, though (he always looked upon her as a 
 falfe friend, by whom her influence was in reality 
 deftroyed, while it feemed to be promoted. 
 
 The two foft aflbciates, however, reigned for fome 
 time without vifible difagreement, till at laft LUXURY 
 betrayed her charge, and let in DISEASE to feizeupon 
 her worfhippers. REST then flew away, and left the 
 place to the ufurpers j who employed all their arts 
 to fortify themfelves in their pofieflion, and to 
 flrengthen the intereft of each other. 
 
 REST had not always the fame enemy : in fome 
 places Ihe efcaped the incurfions of DISEASE ; but 
 had her refidence invaded by a more flow and fubtle 
 intruder, for very frequently, when every thing was 
 compofed and quiet, when there was neither pain 
 within, nor danger without, when every flower was 
 in bloom, and every gale freighted with perfumes, 
 SATIETY would enter with a languishing and repin- 
 ing look, and throw herfelf upon the couch placed 
 and adorned for the accommodation of REST. No 
 fooner was (he feated than a general gloom fpread 
 itfelf on every fide, the groves immediately loft their 
 verdure, and their inhabitants defifted from their 
 melody, the breeze funk in fighs, and the flowers 
 contracted their leaves, and Ihut up their odours. 
 Nothing was feen on every fide but multitudes wan- 
 Bering about they knew not whither, in queft they 
 
 knew
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 33. 
 
 knew not of what ; no voice was heard but of com- 
 plaints that mentioned no pain, and murmurs that 
 could tell of no misfortune. 
 
 REST had now loft her authority. Her folloxvers 
 again began to treat her with contempt ; fome of 
 them united themfelves more clofely to LUXURY, 
 who promifed by her arts to drive SATIETY away j 
 and others, that were more wife, or had more for- 
 titude, went back again to LABOUR, by whom they 
 were indeed protected from SATIETY, but delivered 
 up in time to LASSITUDE, and forced by her to the 
 bowers of REST. 
 
 Thus REST and LABOUR equally perceived their 
 reign of ihort duration and uncertain tenure, and 
 their empire liable to inroads from thofe who were 
 alike enemies to both. They each found their fub- 
 jects unfaithful, and ready to defert them upon every 
 opportunity. LABOUR faw the riches which he had 
 given always carried away as an offering to REST, 
 and REST found her votaries in every exigence flying 
 from her to beg help of LABOUR. They, therefore, 
 at laft determined upon an interview, in which they 
 agreed to divide the world between them, and go- 
 vern it alternately, allotting the dominion of the day 
 to one, and that of the night to the other, and pro- 
 mifed to guard the frontiers of each other, fo that, 
 whenever hoftilities were attempted, SATIETY fhould 
 be intercepted by LABOUR, and LASSITUDE expelled 
 by REST. Thus the ancient quarrel was appeafed, 
 and as hatred is often fucceeded by its contrary, 
 REST afterwards became pregnant by LABOUR, 
 and was delivered of HEALTH, a benevolent God- 
 
 defs,
 
 N34- THE RAMBLER. 
 
 defs, who con foli dated the union of her parents, 
 and contributed to the regular viciflitudes of their 
 reign, by difpenfing her gifts to thofe only who 
 fhared their lives in juft proportions between REST 
 and LABOUR. 
 
 NUMB. 34. SATURDAY, July 14, 1750. 
 
 Nonjtne vano 
 
 Aurarum etjilua metu.' HOR. 
 
 Alarm'd with ev'ry rifing gale, 
 
 In ev'ry wood, in ev'ry vale. ]$LPHINSTON. 
 
 I Have been cenfured for having hitherto dedi- 
 cated fo few of my {peculations to the ladies ; 
 and indeed the moralift, whofe inftructions are ac- 
 commodated only to one half of the human fpecies, 
 muft be confefled not fufficiendy to have extended 
 his views. Yet it is to be confidered, that mafcu- 
 line duties afford more room for counfels and ob- 
 fervations, as they are lefs uniform, and connected 
 with things more fubject to vicifihude and acci- 
 dent ; we therefore find that in philofophical dif- 
 courfes which teach by precept, or hiftorical nar- 
 ratives that inftruct by example, the peculiar vir- 
 tues or faults of women fill but a fmall part -, per- 
 haps generally too fmall, for fo much of our do- 
 meftick happinefs is in their hands, and their influ- 
 ence is fo great upon our earlieft years, that the 
 univerfal intereft of the world requires them to be 
 well inftructed in their provinces nor can it be 
 
 thought
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 34. 
 
 thought proper that the qualities by which fo much 
 pain or pleafure may be given, (hould be left to the 
 direction of chance. 
 
 I have, therefore, willingly given a place in my 
 paper to a letter, which perhaps may not be wholly 
 ufelefs to them whofe chief ambition is to pleafe, as it 
 fhews how certainly the end is miffecl by abfurd and 
 injudicious endeavours at diftinctiqn, 
 
 fo the RAMBLER, 
 
 SIR, 
 
 T AM a young gentleman at my own difpofal, with 
 a confiderable eftate j and having patted through 
 the common forms of education, fpent fome time in 
 foreign countries, and made myfelf diflinguifhed 
 fince my return in the politeft company, I am now 
 arrived at that part of life in which every man is ex- 
 pected to fettle, and provide for the continuation of 
 his lineage. I withftood for fome time the folicita- 
 tions and remonftrances of my aunts and uncles, but 
 at laft was perfuaded to vifit Anthea> an heirefs, 
 whofe land lies contiguous to mine, and whofe birth 
 and beauty are without objection. Our friends de- 
 clared that we were born for each other, all thole on 
 both fides who had no intereft in hindering our 
 union, contributed to promote it, and were confpi- 
 ring to hurry us into matrimony, before we had an 
 opportunity of knowing one another. I was, how- 
 ever, too old to be given away without my own con- 
 fent, and having happened to pick up an opinion, 
 which to many of my relations feemed extremely 
 , that a man might be unhappy with a large 
 
 eftate>
 
 34- , 221 
 
 eftate, determined to obtain a nearer knowledge of 
 the perfon with whom I was to pafs the remainder of 
 my time. To protract the courtfhip was by no 
 means difficult, for Anthea had a wonderful facility 
 of evading queftions which I feldom repeated, and 
 of barring approaches which I had no great eager- 
 nefs to prefs. 
 
 Thus the time pafled away in vifits and civilities, 
 without any ardent profeflions of love, or formal 
 offers of fettlements. I often attended her to publick 
 places, in which, as is well known, all behaviour is 
 fo much regulated by cuftom, that very little infight 
 can be gained into the private character, and there- 
 fore I was not yet able to inform myfelf of her hu- 
 mour and inclinations. 
 
 At laft I ventured to propofe to her to make one of 
 a fmall party, and fpend a day in viewing a feat and 
 gardens a few miles diflant ; and having, upon her 
 compliance, collected the reft of the company, I 
 brought, at the hour, a coach which I had borrowed 
 from an acquaintance, having delayed to buy one 
 myfelf, till I Ihould have an opportunity of taking 
 the lady's opinion for whofe ufe it was intended. 
 Anthea came down, but as fhe was going to ftep into 
 the coach, ftarted back with great appearance of ter- 
 ror, and told us that Ihe durft not enter, for the 
 fhocking colour of the lining had fo much the air of 
 the mourning- coach, in which Ihe followed her aunt's 
 funeral three years before, that Ihe Ihould never 
 have her poor dear aunt out of her head. 
 
 I knew that it was not for lovers to argue with 
 their miftrefles j I therefore fent back the coach, 
 and got another more gay. Into this we all en- 
 tered,
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 34. 
 
 tered, the coachman began to drive, and we were 
 amufing ourfelves with the expectation of what 
 we fhould fee, when, upon a frnall inclination of 
 the carriage, Anthea fcreamed out, that we were 
 overthrown. We were obliged to fix all our at- 
 tention upon her, which fhe took care to keep up 
 by renewing her outcries, at every corner where 
 we had occafion to turn : at intervals fhe enter- 
 tained us with fretful complaints of the uneafinefs 
 of the coach, and obliged me to call feveral times 
 on the coachman to take care and drive without 
 jolting. The poor fellow endeavoured to pleafe 
 us, and therefore moved very flowly, till Anihea 
 found out that this pace would only keep us longer 
 on the flones, and defired that I would order him 
 to make more fpeed. He whipped his horfes, the 
 coach joked again, and Anthea very complaifantly 
 told us how much fhe repented that fhe made one of 
 our company. 
 
 At laft we got into the fmooth road, and began 
 to think our difficulties at an end, when, on a fud- 
 den, Anthea faw a brook before us, which fhe could 
 not venture to pafs. We were, therefore, obliged 
 to alight, that we might walk over the bridge ; but 
 when we came to it, we found it fo narrow, that 
 Anthea durft not fet her foot upon it, and was con- 
 tent, after long confultation, to call the coach back, 
 and with innumerable precautions, terrors, and la- 
 mentations, crofTed the brook. 
 
 It was necefTary, after this delay, to amend our 
 pace, and directions were accordingly given to the 
 coachman, when Anthea informed us, that it was 
 common for the axle to catch fire with a quick 
 
 motion,
 
 N 34- THE RAMBLER. 223 
 
 motion, and begged of me to look out every minute, 
 left we Ihould all be confumed. I was forced to 
 obey, and gave her from time to time the moft folemn 
 declarations that all was fafe, and that I hoped we 
 ihould reach the place without lofing our lives either 
 by fire or water. 
 
 Thus we paflfed on, over ways foft and hard, with 
 more or lefs fpeed, but always with new viciflitudes 
 of anxiety. If the ground was hard, we were jolted ; 
 if foft, we were finking. If we went faft, we Ihould 
 be overturned \ if {lowly, we fhould never reach the 
 place. At length fhe faw fomething which fhe 
 called a cloud, and began to confider that at that 
 time of the year it frequently thundered. This 
 feemed to be the capital terror, for after that the 
 coach was fuffered to move on ; and no danger was 
 thought too dreadful to be encountered, provided 
 fhe could get into a houfe before the thunder. 
 
 Thus our whole converfation pafTed in dangers, 
 and cares, and fears, and confblations, and {lories 
 of ladies dragged in the mire, forced to fpend all 
 the night on a heath, drowned in rivers, or burnt 
 with lightning; and no fooner had a hairbreadth 
 efcape fet us free from one calamity, but we were 
 threatened with another. 
 
 At length we reached the houfe where we intended 
 to regale ourfelves, and I propofed to Anthea, the 
 choice of a great number of difhes, which the place* 
 being well provided for entertainment, happened to 
 afford. She made fome objection to every thing 
 that was offered ; one thing fhe hated at that time of 
 the year, another fhe could not bear fmce fhe had 
 feen it fpoiled at lady FeedweH's table, another fhe 
 
 was
 
 24 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 was fure they could not drefs at this houfe, and 
 another Ihe could not touch without French fauce. 
 At laft fhe fixed her mind upon falmon, but there 
 was no falmon in the houfe. It was however procured 
 with great expedition, and when it came to the table 
 fhe found that her fright had taken away her ftomachj 
 which indeed fhe thought no great lofs, for fhe 
 could never believe that any thing at an inn could 
 be cleanly got. 
 
 Dinner was now over, and the company pro- 
 pofed, for 1 was now paft the condition of making 
 overtures, that we fhould purfue our original defign 
 of vifhing the gardens. Anthea declared that fhe 
 could not imagine what pleafure we expected from 
 the fight of a few green trees and a little gravel, and 
 two or three pits of clear water j that for her part 
 fhe hated walking till the cool of the evening, and 
 thought it very likely to rain ; and again wifhed 
 that fhe had flaid at home. We then reconciled 
 ourfelves to our difappointment, and began to talk 
 on common fubjects, when Anthea told us, that 
 fince we came to fee gardens, fhe would not hinder 
 our . fatisfaction. We all rofe, and walked through 
 the enclofures for fome time, with no other trouble 
 than the neceffity of watching left a frog fhould hop 
 acrofs the way, which Anthea told us would certainly 
 kill her, if Ihe fhould happen to fee him. 
 
 Frogs, as it fell out, there were none ; but when 
 we were within a furlong of the gardens, Anthea faw 
 fome fheep, and heard the wether clink his bell, 
 which fhe was certain was not hung upon him for 
 nothing, and therefore no aflurances nor intreaties 
 fhould prevail upon her to go a ftep farther j fhe was 
 
 forry
 
 N34- THE RAMBLER, 
 
 forry to difappoint the company, but her life was 
 dearer to her than ceremony. 
 
 We came- back to the inn, and Antloca no~w dif- 
 covered that there was no time to be loft in return- 
 ing, for the night would come upon us, and a thou- 
 fand ' misfortunes might happen iri the dark. The 
 horfes were immediately harnefTed, and dnthea 
 having wondered what could feduce her to flay fo 
 long was eager to fet out. But we had now a new 
 fcene of terrour, every man we faw was a robber, 
 and we were ordered fometimes to drive hard, left a 
 traveller whom we faw behind fhould overtake us ; 
 and fometimes to ftop, left we fhould come up to 
 him who was palling before us. She alarmed many 
 an honeft man, by begging him to fpare her life as 
 he paffed by the coach, and drew me into fifteen 
 quarrels with perfons who encreafed her fright, by 
 kindly flopping to enquire whether they could aflift 
 us. At laft we carne home, and (he told her com- 
 pany next day what a pleafant ride fhe had been 
 taking. 
 
 I fuppofe, Sir, I need not enquire of you what 
 deductions may be made from this narrative, nor 
 what happinefs can arife from the fociety of that wo- 
 man who miftakes cowardice for elegance, and 
 imagines all delicacy to confift in refufing to be 
 pleafed, 
 
 I am, &c 
 
 VOL. IV,
 
 225 THE RAMBLER. N 35, 
 
 NUMB. 35. TUESDAY, July 17, 1750* 
 
 -Non pronuba Juno, 
 
 Kon Hymenaius adefl, non illi Gratia lefto. OVID, 
 
 Without connubial "Juno's aid they wed ; 
 Nor Hymen nor the Graces blefs the bed. 
 
 ?o the R A M B L E R. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 AS you have hitherto delayed the performance 
 of the promife, by which you gave us reafon 
 to hope for another paper upon matrimony, I ima- 
 gine you defirous of collecting more materials than 
 your own experience, or obfervation, can fupply 3 
 and I fhall therefore lay candidly before you an ac- 
 count of my own entrance into the conjugal ftate. 
 
 I was about eight and twenty years old, when, 
 having tried the diverfions of the town till I began 
 to be weary, and being awakened into attention to 
 more ferious bufmefs, by the failure of an attorney 
 to whom I had implicitly trufted the conduct of my 
 fortune, I reiblved to take my elVate into my own 
 care, and methodife my whole life according to the 
 ftricteft rules of economical prudence. 
 
 In purluance of this fcheme, I took leave of my 
 acquaintance, who difmifled me with numberlefs 
 jefts upon my new fyltem j having firft endeavoured 
 to divert me from a defign fo little worthy of a man 
 of wit, by ridiculous accounts of the ignorance 
 
 and
 
 N35- THE RAM BLEU. 
 
 and rufticity into which many had funk in their 
 retirement, after having diftinguifhed themfelves 
 in taverns and playhoufesj and given hopes of rifing 
 to uncommon eminence among the gay part of 
 mankind. 
 
 When I came firft into the country, which by a 
 neglecl: not uncommon among young heirs, I had 
 never feen fince the death of my father^ I found 
 every thing in fuch confufion, that, being utterly 
 without practice in bufmefs, I had. great difficulties 
 to encounter in difentangling the perplexities of my 
 circumftances ; they however gave way to diligent 
 application ; and I perceived that the advantage of 
 keeping my own accounts would very much over- 
 balance the time which they could require. 
 
 I had now vifited my tenants, furveyed my land, 
 and repaired the old houfe, which, for fome years 3 
 had been running to decay. Thefe proofs of pecu- 
 niary wifddrn began to recommend me, as a fober, 
 judicious, thriving gentleman, to all my graver 
 neighbours of the country, who never failed to cele- 
 brate my management in oppofition to Tbriftlefs and 
 Latterwii, two fmart fellows, who had eftates in the 
 fame part of the kingdom, which they vifited now 
 and then in a frolick, to take up their rents before- 
 hand, debauch a milk- maid, make a feaft for the 
 village, and tell (lories of their own intrigues, 
 and then rode poft back to town to fpend their 
 money. 
 
 It was doubtful, however, for fome time, whe- 
 ther I fhould be able to hold my refolution ; but a 
 fhort perfeverance removed all fufpicions. I rofe 
 every day in reputation, by the decency of my 
 
 converia-
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 3$, 
 
 converfation, and the regularity of my conduct, 
 and was mentioned with great regard at the aflizes, 
 as a men very fit to be put in commiflion for the 
 peace. 
 
 During the confufion of my affairs, and the daily 
 necefllty of vificing farms, adjufting contracts, let- 
 ting leafes, and fuperintending repairs, I found very 
 little vacuity in my life, and therefore had not many 
 thoughts of marriage ; but, in a little while, the 
 tumult of bufinefs fubfided, and the exact method 
 which I had eftabliihed enabled me to difpatch my 
 accounts with great facility. I had, therefore, now 
 upon my hands, the tafk of finding means to fpend 
 my time, without falling back into the poor amufe- 
 ments which I had hitherto indulged, or changing 
 them for the fports of the field, which I faw purfued 
 with fo much eagernefs by the gentlemen of the 
 country, that they were indeed the only pleafures in 
 which I could promife myfelf any partaker. 
 
 The inconvenience of this (ituation naturally 
 difpofed rne to wifh for a companion, and the known 
 value of my eftate, with my reputation for fruga- 
 lity and prudence, eafily gained me admiffion into 
 every family ; for I foon found that no enquiry was 
 made after any other virtue, nor any teftimonial ne- 
 ceffary, but of my freedom from incumbrances, 
 and my care of what they termed the main chance., 
 I faw, not without indignation, the eagernefs with 
 which the daughters, wherever I came, were fet out 
 to (how; nor could I confider them in a ilate much 
 different from proftitution, when I found them 
 ordered to play their airs before me, and to exhibit 
 by fome feeming chance, fpeclmens of their mufick, 
 
 their
 
 N35- THE RAMBLER. 229 
 
 their work, or their houfewifery. No fooner was 
 I placed at table, than the young lady was called 
 upon to pay me fome civility or other ; nor could I 
 find means of efcaping, from either father or mother, 
 fome account of their daughters excellencies, with 
 a declaration that they were now leaving the world, 
 and had no bufinefs on this fide the grave, but to 
 fee their children happily difpofed ofj that fhe 
 whom I had been pleafed to compliment at table 
 was indeed the chief pleafure of their age, fo good, 
 fo dutiful, fo great a relief to her mamma in the 
 care of the houfe, and fo much her papa's favourite 
 for her cheerfulnefs and wit, that it would be with 
 the laft reluctance that they fhould part; but to a 
 worthy gentleman in the neighbourhood, whom 
 they might often vifit, they would not fo far confulc 
 their own gratification, as to refufe her j and their 
 tendernefs fhould be fhewn in her fortune, whenever 
 a fuitable fettlement was propofed. 
 
 As I knew thefe overtures not to proceed from 
 any preference of me before another equally rich, 
 I could not but look with pity on young perfons 
 condemned to belief to auftion, and made cheap by 
 injudicious commendations; for how could they 
 know themfelves offered and rejected a hundred 
 times, without fome lofs of that foft elevation, and 
 maiden dignity, fo neceflary to the completion of 
 female excellence ? 
 
 I (hall not trouble you with a hiftory of the ftra- 
 tagems praftifed upon my judgment, or the allure- 
 ments tried upon my heart, which, if you have, in 
 any part of your life, been acquainted with rural 
 
 politicks.
 
 THE RAMBLER. N<= 35, 
 
 politicks, you will eafily conceive. Their arts have 
 no great variety, they think nothing worth their 
 care but: money, and fuppofing its influence the fame 
 xipon all the world, fddom endeavour to deceive by 
 any other means than falfe computations. 
 
 I will not deny that, by hearing myfdf loudly 
 commended for my difcretion, I began to fct fome 
 value upon my character, and was unwilling to lofe 
 my credit by marrying for love. I therefore re- 
 folved to ' know the fortune of the lady whom I 
 ihould addrefs, before I enquired after her wit, de- 
 licacy, or beauty. 
 
 This determination led me to Mitiffa, the daugh- 
 ter of Chryfophilus, whofe perfon was at leall with- 
 out deformity, and whole manners were free from 
 reproach, as fhe had been bred up at a diftance from 
 all common temptations. To MitifTa therefore I 
 obtained leave from her parents to pay my court, 
 and was referred by her again to her father, whofe 
 direction fh ; e was refolved to follow. The queftion 
 then was, only, what fhould be fettled, The old 
 gentleman made an enormous demand, with which 
 I refufed to comply. Mitiffa was ordered to exert 
 her power ; fhe told me, that if I could refufe her 
 papa, I had no. love for her ; tha,t (he was an un- 
 happy creature, and that I was a perfidious man $ 
 then {he burft into tears, and fell into fits. All this, 
 as I was no pafilonate lover, had little effect. She 
 next refuied to fee me, and becaufe I thought my- 
 felf obliged to write in terms of diftrefs, they had 
 once hopes of ftarying me into meafures ; but find- 
 me inflexible, the father complied with my pro- 
 
 pofal a
 
 N3S- THE RAMBLER. 231 
 
 pofal, and told me he liked me the more for being 
 fo good at a bargain. 
 
 I was now married to MitifTa, and was to experi- 
 ence the happinefs of a match made without paflion. 
 Mitiffa foon difcovered, that fhe was equally prudent 
 with myfelf, and had taken a hufband only to be at 
 her own command, and to have a chariot at her own 
 call. She brought with her an old maid recom- 
 mended by her mother, who taught her all the arts 
 of domeftick management, and was, on every oc~ 
 cafion, her chief agent and directrefs. They foon 
 invented one reafon or other, to quarrel with all my 
 fervants, and either prevailed on me to turn them 
 away, or treated them fo ill, that they left me of 
 themfelves, and always fupplied their places with 
 fome brought from my wife's relations. Thus they 
 eftablifhed a family, over which I had no authority, 
 and which was in a perpetual confpiracy againft me; 
 for MitifTa confidered herfelf as having a feparate 
 jntereft, and thought nothing her own, but what 
 fhe laid up without my knowledge. For this reafon 
 fhe brought me falfe accounts of the expences of 
 the houfe, joined with my tenants in complaints of 
 hard times, and by means of a fteward of her own, 
 took rewards for foliciting abatements of the rent. 
 Her great hope is to outlive me, that fhe may enjoy 
 what fhe has thus accumulated, and therefore fhe is 
 always contriving fome improvements of her jointure 
 land, and once tried to procure an injunction to 
 hinder me from felling timber upon it for repairs. 
 Her father and mother affift her in her projects, and 
 are frequently hinting that fhe is ill uled, and re- 
 
 preaching
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 36. 
 
 preaching me with the prefents that other ladies re- 
 ceive from their hufbands. 
 
 Such, Sir, was my fituation for feven years, till 
 at laft my patience was exhaufted, and having one 
 day invited her father to my houfe, I laid the ftate 
 of my affairs before him, detected my wife in feveral 
 of her frauds, turned out her fteward, charged a 
 conftable with her maid, took my bufinefs in my 
 own hands, reduced her to a fettled allowance, and 
 now write this account to warn others againft mar- 
 rying thofe whpm r.hey have no reafon to efleerri. 
 
 } am, &c. 
 
 NUMB. 36. SATURDAY, July 21, 1750. 
 
 -i. Sohov <? art ss^w^aoa. HOMER. 
 
 - Piping on their reeds, the fhepherds go, 
 
 Nor fear an ambufh, nor fufpeft a foe. POPE, 
 
 THERE is fcarcely any fpecies of poetry that 
 has allured more readers, or excited more 
 writers, than the paftoral. It is generally pleafing, 
 becaufe it entertains the mind with reprefentations 
 of fcenes familiar to almoft every imagination, and 
 of which all can equally judge whether they are 
 well defcribed. It exhibits a life, to which we have 
 been always accuftomed to afTociate peace, and lei- 
 fure, and innocence: and therefore we readily fet open 
 the heart for the admiffion of its images, which con- 
 
 tribute
 
 N36. THE RAMBLER. 233 
 
 ^ 
 tribute to drive away cares and perturbations, and 
 
 fuffer ourfelves, without refiftance, to be tranfport- 
 ed to elyfian regions, where we are to meet with no- 
 thing but joy, and plenty, and contentment; where 
 every gale whifpers pleafure, and every lhade pro- 
 mi fes repofe. 
 
 It has been maintained by fome, who love to talk 
 of what they do not know, that pafloral is the moft 
 ancient poetry; and indeed, fince it is probable that 
 poetry is nearly of the fame antiquity with rational 
 nature, and fince the life of the firft men was cer- 
 tainly rural, we may reafonably conjecture, that, as 
 their ideas would necefiarily be borrowed from thofe 
 obje&s with which they were acquainted, their com- 
 pofures, being filled chiefly with fuch thoughts on the 
 vifible creation as muft occur to the firft obfervers, 
 were paftoral hymns, like thofe which Milton in- 
 troduces the original pair fmging, in the day of inno- 
 cence, to the praife of their Maker. 
 
 For the fame reafon that paftoral poetry was the 
 firft employment of the human imagination, it is ge- 
 nerally the firft literary amufement of our minds. 
 We have feen fields, and meadows, and groves, from 
 the time that our eyes opened upon life; and are 
 pleafed with bjrds, and brooks, and breezes, much 
 earlier than we engage among the actions and paf- 
 fions of mankind. We are therefore delighted with 
 rural pictures, becaufe we know the original at an 
 age when our curiofity can be very little awakened, 
 by defcriptions of courts which we never beheld, or 
 reprefentations of paffion which we never felt. 
 . The fatisfaction received from this kind of writ- 
 ing not only begins early, but lafts long; we do 
 
 not,
 
 234 THE RAiMBLER. N 36, 
 
 nor, as we advance into the intellectual world, throw 
 it away among other chikiifh amufements and paf- 
 times, but willingly return to it in any hour of in- 
 dolence and relaxation. The images of true paf- 
 toral have always the power of exciting delight, be* 
 caufe the works of nature, from which they are 
 drawn, have always the fame order and beauty, and 
 continue to force themfelves upon our thoughts, be- 
 ing at once obvious to the mod carelefs regard, and 
 more than adequate to the ftrongeft reafbn, and fe- 
 vereft contemplation. Our inclination to flillnefs 
 and tranquillity is feldom much leffened by long 
 knowledge of the bufy and tumultuary part of the 
 world. In childhood we turn our thoughts to the 
 country, as to the region of pleafure; we recur to it 
 in old age as a port of reft, and perhaps with that fe- 
 condary and adventitious gladnefs, which every man 
 feels on reviewing thofe places, or recollecting thofe 
 occurrences, that contributed to his youthful en- 
 joyments, and bring him back to the prime of life, 
 when the world was gay with the bloom of novelty, 
 when mirth wantoned at his fide, and hope fparkled 
 before him. 
 
 The fenfe of this univerfal pleafure has invited 
 numbers without number to try their fkill in paftoral 
 performances, in which they have generally fucceeded 
 after the manner of other imitators, tranfmitting the 
 fame images in the fame combination from one to 
 another, till he that reads the title of a poem, may 
 guefs at the whole feries of the compofition; nor will 
 a man, after the perufal of thoufands of thefe per- 
 formances, find his knowledge enlarged with a fingle 
 view of nature not produced before, or his imagina- 
 tion
 
 N 36. THE RAMBLER. 235 
 
 tion amufed with any new application of thofe views 
 to moral purpofes. 
 
 The range of paftoral is indeed narrow, for 
 though nature itfelf, philofophically confidered, be 
 inexhauftible, yet its general effects on the eye and 
 on the ear are uniform, and incapable of much va- 
 riety of defcription. Poetry cannot dwell upon the 
 minuter diftinctions, by which one fpecies differs 
 from another, without departing from that fimpli- 
 city of grandeur which fills the imagination ; nur 
 diffecl: the latent qualities of things, without lofing 
 its general power of gratifying every mind by re- 
 calling its conceptions. However, as each age 
 makes fome difcoveries, and thofe difcoveries are by 
 degrees generally known, as new plants or modes of 
 culture are introduced, and by little and little be- 
 come common, paftoral might receive,, from time to 
 time, fmall augmentations, and exhibit once in a 
 century a fcene fomewhat varied. 
 
 But paftoral fubjeds have been often, like others, 
 taken into the hands of thofe that were not qualified 
 to adorn them, men to whom the face of nature was 
 fo little known, that they have drawn it only after 
 their own imagination, and changed or diftorted her 
 features, that their portraits might appear fomething, 
 more than fervile copies from their predeceffors. 
 
 Not only the images of rural life, but the occa- 
 fions on which they can be properly produced, are 
 few and general. The (late of a man confined to 
 the employments and pleafures of the country, is fo 
 little diverfified, and expofed to fo few of thofe acci- 
 dents which produce perplexities,, terrors, and fur- 
 
 prifes,
 
 tf THE RAMBLER. N 36, 
 
 prifes, in more complicated tranfactions, that he can 
 be (hewn but feldom in fuch circumftances as at- 
 tract curiofity. His ambition is without policy, and 
 his love without intrigue. He has no complaints to 
 make of his rival, but that he is richer than himfelf; 
 nor any difafters to lament, but a cruel miftrefs, or a 
 bad harveft. 
 
 The conviction of the necefiity of fome new 
 iburce of pleafure induced Sannazarius to remove the 
 fcene from the fields to the fea, to fubftitute fifher- 
 men for fhepherds, and derive his fentiments from 
 the pifcatory life; for which he has been cenfured 
 by fucceeding criticks, becaufe the fea is an object 
 of terror, and by no means proper to amufe the mind 
 and lay the pafiions afleep. Againft this objection 
 he might be defended by the eftablifhed maxim, that 
 the poet has a right to felect his images, and is no 
 more obliged to fliew the fea in a ftorm, than the 
 land under an inundation; but may difplay all the 
 pleafures, and conceal the dangers of the water, as 
 he may lay his fhepherd under a fhady beech, with- 
 out giving him an ague, or letting a wild beaft loofe 
 upon him. 
 
 There are, however, two defects in the pifcatory 
 eclogue, which perhaps cannot be fupplied. The 
 lea, though in hot countries it is confidered by thofe 
 who live, like Sannazarius, upon the coaft, as a 
 place of pleafure and diverfion, has notwithftanding 
 much lefs variety than the land, and therefore will 
 be fooner exhaufted by a defcriptive writer. When 
 he has once fhewn the fun rifing or fetting upon it, 
 curled its waters with the vernal breeze, rolled the 
 
 waves
 
 K3 6 - THE RAMBLER. 337 
 
 waves in gentle fuccefllon to the fhore, and enume- . 
 rated the fifii fporting in the fhallows, he has nothing 
 remaining but what is common to all other poetry, 
 the complaint of a nymph for a drowned lover, or the 
 indignation of a fifher that his oyfters are refufed, 
 and Mycon's accepted. 
 
 Another obftacle to the general reception of this 
 kind of poetry, is the ignorance of maritime plea-, 
 fures, in which the greater part of mankind muft 
 always live. To all the inland inhabitants of every 
 region, the fea is only known as an immenfe dif- 
 fufion of waters, over which men pafs from one coun- 
 try to another, and in which life is frequently loft. 
 They have, therefore, no opportunity of tracing 
 in their own thoughts, the defcriptions of winding 
 fhores, and calm bays, nor can look on the poem 
 in which they are mentioned, with other fenfations 
 than on a fea chart, or the metrical geography of 
 ~Dicnyfius. 
 
 This defecY Sannazarius was hindered from per- 
 ceiving, by writing in a learned language to readers 
 generally acquainted with, the works of nature j but 
 if he had made his attempt in any vulgar tongue, 
 he would foon have difcovered how vainly he had 
 endeavoured to make that loved, which was not un- 
 derftood. 
 
 I am afraid it will not be found eafy to improve 
 the paftorals of antiquity, by any great" additions- or 
 diversifications. Our defcriptions may indeed differ 
 from thofe of Virgil, as an Englifh from an Italian 
 fummer, and, "in fome refpects, as mode.rn from 
 ancient life ; but as nature is in both countries 
 nearly the fame, and as poetry has to do rather ^wit^ 
 
 the
 
 238 THE RAMBLER. N* 37* 
 
 the pafllons of men, which are uniform, than their 
 cuftoms, which are changeable, the varieties, which 
 time or place can furnifti, will be inconfiderable : 
 and I fhall endeavour to fhew, in the next paper, 
 how little the latter ages have contributed to the im- 
 provement of the ruftick mufe. 
 
 NUMB. 37. TUESDAY, July 24, 1750. 
 
 Canto qu&folitus, ft qiiando armenta vocabat, 
 
 Dircaits* ViRO, 
 
 Such ftrains I fing as once Ampbion pky'd, 
 When liil'ning flocks the powerful call obey'd. 
 
 ELPHINSTON. 
 
 IN writing or judging of pafloral poetry, neither 
 the authors nor criticks of latter times feem to 
 have paid fufficient regard to the originals left us by 
 antiquity, but have entangled themfelves with un- 
 neceflary difficulties, by advancing principles, which, 
 having no foundation in the nature of things, are 
 wholly to be rejected from a fpecies of compofidon, 
 in which, above all others, mere nature is to be re- 
 garded. 
 
 It is therefore neceffary to enquire after fome more 
 diftinct and exact idea of this kind of writing. This 
 may, I think, be eafily found in the paftorals of Vir- 
 gil, from whofe opinion it will not appear very fafe 
 to depart, if we confider that every advantage of na- 
 ture, and of fortune, concurred to complete his pro- 
 
 ductions ;
 
 X-37- THE RAMBLER. 239 
 
 ductions; that he was born with great accuracy and 
 feverity of judgment, enlightened with all the learn- 
 ing of one of the brighteft ages, and embeliiflied 
 with the elegance of the Roman court; that he em- 
 ployed his powers rather in improving, than in- 
 venting, and therefore muft have endeavoured to 
 recompenfe the want of novelty by exactnefs; that 
 taking Theocritus for his original, he found paftoral 
 far advanced towards perfection, and that having fo 
 great a rival, he muft have proceeded with uncom- 
 mon caution. 
 
 If we fearch the writings of Virgil, for the true 
 definition of a paftoral, it will be found a poem in 
 which any affion or pajfion is reprefented by its effefis 
 upon a country life. Whatfoever therefore may, ac- 
 cording to the common courfe of things, happen 
 in the country, may afford a fubjedt for a paftoral 
 poet. 
 
 In this definition it will immediately occur to 
 thofe who are verfed in the writings of the modern 
 criticks, that there is no mention of the golden age. 
 I cannot indeed eafily difcover why it is thought ne- 
 cefTary to refer defcriptions of a rural ftate to remote 
 times, nor can I perceive that any writer has con- 
 fiftently preferved the Arcadian manners and fenti- 
 ments. The only reafon, that I have read, on which 
 this rule has been founded, is, that, according to 
 the cuftoms of modern life, it is improbable that 
 fhepherds fhould be capable of harmonious numbers, 
 or delicate fentiments j and therefore the reader muft 
 exalt his ideas of the paftoral character, by carrying 
 Jiis thoughts back to the age in which the care of 
 
 5 herds
 
 240 THE RAMBLER. N 37* 
 
 herds and flocks was the employment of the wifeft 
 and greateft men. 
 
 Thefe reafoners feem to have been led into their 
 hypothefis, by confidering paftoral, not in general* 
 as a reprefentation of rural nature, and confequently 
 as exhibiting the ideas and fentiments of thofe, who- 
 ever they are, to whom the country affords plea- 
 fure or employment, but fimply as a dialogue, or 
 narrative of men actually tending fheep, and bufied 
 in the lowed and moft laborious offices; from 
 whence they very readily concluded, fince charac- 
 ters muft neceflarily be preferved, that either the 
 fentiments muft fink to the level of the fpeakers, or 
 the fpeakers muft be raifed to the height of the fenti- 
 timents. 
 
 In confequence of thefe original errors, a thou- 
 fand precepts have been given, which have only 
 contributed to perplex and confound. Some have 
 thought it neceflary that the imaginary manners of 
 the golden age ihould be univerfally preferved, and 
 have therefore believed, that nothing more could 
 be admitted in paftoral, than lilies and rofes, and 
 rocks and ftreams, among which are heard the gentle 
 whifpers of chafte fondnefs, or the foft complaints of 
 amorous impatience. In paftoral, as in other writ- 
 ings, chaftity of fentiment ought doubtlefs to be ob- 
 ferved, and purity of manners to be reprefented ; not 
 becaufe the poet is confined to the images of the 
 golden age, but becaufe, having the fubject in his 
 own choice, he ought always to confult the intereft 
 of virtue. 
 
 Thefe
 
 N"37' THE RAMBLER. 241 
 
 Thefe advocates for the golden age lay down 
 other principles, not very confident with their ge- 
 neral plan ; for they tell us, that, to fupport the 
 character of the fhepherd, it is proper that all re- 
 finement fliould be avoided, and that fome flight in- 
 ftances of ignorance fhould be interfperfed. Thus 
 the fhephered in Virgil is fuppofed to have forgot 
 the name of Anaximander, and in Pope the term, 
 Zodiack is too hard for a ruftick apprehenfion. 
 But if we place our fhepherds in their primitive con- 
 dition, we may give them learning among their 
 other qualifications; and if we fuffer them to allude 
 at all to things of later existence, which, perhaps, 
 cannot with any great propriety be allowed, there 
 can be no danger of making them fpeak with too 
 much accuracy, fince they converfed with divinities, 
 and tranfmitted to fucceeding ages the arts of life. 
 
 Other writers, having the mean and defpicable 
 condition of a fhepherd always before them, conceive 
 it necefifary to degrade the language of paftoral by 
 obfolete terms and ruftick words, which they very 
 learnedly call Dorick, without reflecting, that they 
 thus became authors of a mangled dialect, which no 
 human being ever could have fpoken, that they may 
 as well refine the fpeech as the fentiments of their per- 
 fonage, and that none of the inconfiftencies which they 
 endeavour to avoid, is greater than that of joining 
 elegance of thought with coarfenefs of diction. Spen- 
 fer begins one of his paftorals with ftudied barbarity j 
 
 Diggon Davie, I bid her good-day : 
 Or, Diggon her is, or I miflay. 
 Dig. Her was her while it was day -light, 
 But now her is a moft wretched wight. 
 
 VOL. IV. R What
 
 242 THE RAMBLER. N' 37. 
 
 What will the reader imagine to be the fubjecl on 
 which fpeakers like thefe exercife their eloquence? 
 Will he not be fomewhat difappointed, when he finds 
 them met together to condemn the corruptions of the 
 church of Rome ? Surely, at the fame time that a 
 fhepherd learns theology, he may gain fome ac- 
 quaintance with his native language. 
 
 Paftoral admits of all ranks of perfons, becaufe 
 perfons of all ranks inhabit the country. It ex- 
 cludes not, therefore, on account of the characters 
 neceflary to be introduced, any elevation or delicacy 
 of fentiment; thofe ideas only are improper, which, 
 not owing their original to rural objefts, are not paf- 
 toral. Such is the exclamation in Virgil, 
 
 Nunc fdo quid Jit Amor, Juris in cautibus ilium 
 Ifmarus, out Rhodope, out extremi Garamantes t 
 Nee generis noftri puerutn, nee fanguinis , edunt. t 
 
 I know thee, Love, in defarts thou wert bred, 
 
 And at the dugs of favage tygers fed j 
 
 Alien of birth, ufurper of the plains. D R Y D E N . 
 
 which Pope endeavouring to copy, was carried to 
 {till greater impropriety : 
 
 I know thee, Love, wild as the raging main, 
 More fierce than tygers on the Libyan plain ; 
 Thou wert from ^Etna's burning entrails torn ; 
 Begot in tempefls, and in thunders born ! 
 
 Sentiments like thefe, as they have no ground in 
 nature, are indeed of little value in any poemj but 
 in paftoral they are particularly liable to cenfure, 
 becaufe it wants that exaltation above common life, 
 
 which
 
 RAMBLER. 243 
 
 which in tragick or heroick writings often reconciles 
 us to bold flights and daring figures. 
 
 Paftoral being the reprefentation of aii atfion or paf- 
 fion, : by its effeffs upon a country life, has nothing pe- 
 culiar but its confinement to rural imagery, without 
 which it ceafes to be paftoraL This is its true cha- 
 racteriftick, and this it cannot lofe by any dignity 
 of fentiment, or beauty of diction. The Pollio of 
 Virgil, with all its elevation, is a compofition truly 
 bucolick, though rejected by the criticks; for all the 
 images are either taken from the country, or from the 
 religion of the age common to all parts of the empire. 
 
 The Silenus is indeed of a more difputable kind> 
 becaufe though the fcene lies in the country, the fong 
 being religious and hiftorical, had been no lefs ad- 
 apted to any other audience or place. Neither can 
 it well be defended as a fiction, for the introduction 
 of a god feems to imply the golden age, and yet he 
 alludes to many fubfequent tranfactions, and men- 
 tions Gallus the poet's contemporary. 
 
 It feems neceffary to the perfection of this poem, 
 that the occasion which is fuppofed to produce it, be 
 at leaft not inconfiftent with a country life, or lefs 
 likely to intereft thofe who have retired into places 
 of folitude and quiet, than the more bufy part of 
 mankind. It is therefore improper to give the title 
 of a paftoral to verfes, in which the fpeakers, after 
 the flight mention of their flocks, fall to complaints 
 of errors in the church, and corruptions in the go- 
 vernment, or to lamentations of the death of fome 
 illuftrious perfon, whom, when once the poet has 
 called a fhepherd, he has no longer any labour upon 
 his hands, but can make the clouds weep, and lilies 
 R 2 wither,
 
 244 THE RAMBLER. N 37. 
 
 wither, and the flieep hang their heads, without art 
 or learning, genius or ftudy. 
 
 It is part of Claudian's character of his ruftick, 
 that he computes his time not by the fucceffion of 
 confuls, but of harvefts. Thofe who pafs their days 
 in retreats diftant from the theatres of bufmefs, are 
 always leaft likely to hurry their imagination with 
 publick affairs. 
 
 The facility of treating actions or events in the 
 paftoral ftyle, has incited many writers, from whom 
 more judgment might have been expected, to put 
 the forrow or the joy which the occafion required 
 into the mouth of Daphne or of Thyrfis, and as one 
 abfurdity muft naturally be expected to make way for 
 another, they have written with an utter difregard 
 both of life and nature, and rilled their productions 
 with mythological allulions, with incredible fictions, 
 and with fentiments which neither pafiion nor reafon 
 could have dictated, fince the change which religion 
 has made in the whole fyftem of the world.
 
 N 3 8- THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 38. SATURDAY, July 28, 1750. 
 
 Auream quifquis mediocntatem 
 Diligit, tutus caret obfoleti 
 Sordibus teii t caret in*uidendci 
 
 Sobrius aula. HOR. 
 
 The man within the golden mean, 
 
 Who can h's boldeft wifh contain, 
 
 Securely views the ruin'd cell, 
 
 Where fordid want and forrow dwell ; 
 
 And in himfelf ferenely great, 
 
 Declines an envied room of ftate. FRANCIS. 
 
 AMONG many parallels which men of imagi- 
 nation have drawn between the natural and 
 moral ftate of the world, it has been obferved that 
 happinefs, as well as virtue, confifts in mediocrity; 
 that to avoid every extreme is neceflary, even to him 
 who has no other care than to pafs through the pre- 
 fent ftate with eafe and fafety ; and that the middle 
 path is the road of fecurity, on either fide of which 
 are not only the pitfals of vice, but the precipices of 
 ruin. 
 
 Thus the maxim of Cleobulus the Lindian, ^r^ov 
 rov, Mediocrity is beft, has been long confidered as 
 an univerfal principle, extended through the whole 
 compafs of life and nature. The experience of every 
 age feems to have given it new confirmation, and to 
 Ihew that nothing, however fpecious or alluring, is 
 purfued with propriety, or enjoyed with fafety, be- 
 yond certain limits. 
 
 R 3 Even
 
 Even the gifts of nature, which may truly be 
 confidered as the moft folid and durable of all ter- 
 reftrial advantages, are found, when they exceed 
 the middle point, to draw the pofleiTor into many 
 calamities, eafily avoided by others that have been, 
 lefs bountifully enriched or adorned. We fee every 
 day women perilh with infamy, by having been 
 too willing to fet their beauty to fhew, and others,, 
 though not with equal guilt or mifery, yet with very 
 lharp remorfe, languishing in decay, neglecl:, and ob- 
 fcurity, for having rated their youthful charms at too, 
 high a price. And, indeed, if the opinion of Bacon 
 be thought to deferve much regard, very few fighs 
 would be vented for eminent and fuperlative ele- 
 gance of form , <c for beautiful women," fays he, 
 " are feldom of any great accomplilhments, becaufc 
 " they, for the moft part, ftudy behaviour rather 
 ** than virtue." 
 
 Health and vigour, and a happy conftitution of 
 the corporeal frame, are of abfolute neceffity to the 
 enjoyment of the comforts, and to the performance 
 of the duties of life, and requifite in yet a greater 
 meafure to the accomplishment of any thing illuftri- 
 ous or diftinguifhed -, yet even thefe, if we can judge 
 by their apparent confequences, are fometimes not 
 very beneficial to thofe on whom they are moft li- 
 berally beftowed. They that frequent the cham- 
 bers of the fick, will generally find the fharpeft 
 pains, and moft ftubborn maladies, among them 
 whom confidence of the force of natqre formerly be- 
 trayed to negligence and irregularity; and that fu- 
 perfluity of ftrength, which was at once their boaft 
 and their fnare, has often, in the latter part of life, 
 
 no
 
 N 38. THE RAMBLER. 24? 
 
 no other effect than that it continues them long in 
 impotence and anguifh. 
 
 Thefe gifts of nature are, however, always blefiings 
 in themfelves, and to be acknowledged with grati- 
 tude to him that gives them ; fmce they are, in 
 their regular and legitimate effects, productive of 
 happinefs, and prove pernicious only by volun- 
 tary corruption or idle negligence. And as there 
 is little danger of purfuing them with too much 
 ardour or anxiety, becaufe no fkill or diligence can 
 hope to procure them/ the uncertainty of their in- 
 fluence upon our lives is mentioned, not to depre- 
 ciate their real value, but to reprefs the difcontent 
 and envy to which the want of them often gives oc- 
 cafion in thofe who do not enough fufpecl: their own 
 frailty, nor confider how much lefs is the calamity 
 of not poflefiing great powers, than of not ufing them 
 aright. 
 
 Of all thofe things that make us fuperior to others, 
 there is none fo much within the reach of our endea- 
 vours as riches, nor any thing more eagerly or con- 
 ftantly defired. Poverty is an evil always in our 
 view, an evil complicated with fo many circum- 
 ftances of uneaiinefs and vexation, that every man 
 is ftudious to avoid it. Some degree of riches is 
 therefore required, that we may be exempt from the 
 gripe of necefiity ; when this purpofe is once attain- 
 ed, we naturally wifh for more, that the evil which is 
 regarded with fo much horror, may be yet at a 
 greater diftance from us j as he that has once felt or 
 dreaded the paw of a favage, will not be at reft till 
 they are parted by fame barrier, which may take 
 away all poffibility of a fecond attack. 
 
 R4 To
 
 248 THE RAMBLER. N 38. 
 
 To this point, if fear be not unreafonably indulged, 
 Cleobulus would, perhaps, not refufe to extend his 
 mediocrity. But it almdft always happens, that the 
 man who grows rich, changes his notions of poverty, 
 ftates his wants by fome new meafure, and from fly- 
 ing the enemy that purfued him, bends his endea- 
 vours to overtake thofe whom he fees before him. 
 The power of gratifying his appetites encreafes their 
 demands j a thoufand wifhes crowd in upon him, 
 importunate to be fatisfied, and vanity and ambi- 
 tion open profpefts to defire, which ilill grow wider, 
 as they are more contemplated. 
 
 Thus in time want is enlarged without bounds; 
 an eagernefs for increafe of pofleflions deluges the 
 foul, and we fink into the gulphs of infatiability, only 
 becaufe we do not fufficiently confider, that all real 
 need is very foon fupplied, and all real danger of its 
 invafion eafily precluded -, that the claims of vanity ^ 
 being without limits, muft be denied at laft ; and that 
 the pain of repreffing them is lefs pungent before 
 they have been long accuftomed to compliance. 
 
 Whofoever fhall look needfully upon thofe who arc 
 eminent for their riches, will not think their condi- 
 tion fuch as that he fhould hazard his quiet, and 
 much lefs his virtue, to obtain it. For all that great 
 wealth generally gives above a moderate fortune, is 
 more room for the freaks of caprice, and more privi- 
 lege for ignorance and vice, a quicker fucceffion of 
 flatteries, and a larger circle of voluptuoufnefs. 
 
 There is one reafon feldom remarked which 
 makes riches lefs defirable. Too much wealth is 
 very frequently the occafion of poverty. He whom 
 the wantonnefs of abundance has once foftened, 
 
 eafily
 
 N38. THE RAMBLER. 249 
 
 cafily finks into negleft of his affairs ; and he that 
 thinks he can afford to be negligent, is not far from 
 being poor. He will foon be involved in perplexi- 
 ties, which his inexperience will render unfurmount- 
 able j he will fly for help to thofe whofe intereft it is 
 that he fhould be more diftreffed, and will be at lad 
 torn to pieces by the vultures that always hover over 
 fortunes in decay. 
 
 When the plains of India were burnt up by a long 
 continuance of drought, Hamet and Rafchid, two 
 neighbouring fhepherds, faint with thirft, flood at 
 the common boundary of their grounds, with their 
 flocks and herds panting round them, and in ex- 
 tremity of diflrefs prayed for water. On a fudden 
 the air was becalmed, the birds ceafed to chirp, and 
 the flocks to bleat. They turned their eyes every 
 way, and faw a being of mighty ftature advancing 
 through the valley, whom they knew upon his nearer 
 approach to be the Genius of diftribution. In one 
 hand he held the (heaves of plenty, and in the other 
 the fabre of deftruftion. The fhepherds flood 
 trembling, and would have retired before him -, but 
 he called to them with a voice gentle as the breeze 
 that plays in the evening among the fpices of Saba^a; 
 <e Fly not from your benefactor, children of the 
 (( duft ! I am come to offer you gifts, which only 
 " your own folly can make vain. You here pray 
 " for water, and water I will beftow ; let me know 
 " with how much you will be fatisfied : fpeak not 
 " rafhly ; confider, that of whatever can be enjoyed 
 " by the body, excefs is no lefs dangerous than 
 " fcarcity. When you remember the pain of thirfl, 
 " do not forget the danger of fuffocation. Now, 
 Hamet, tell me your requeft." 
 
 O JBeing,
 
 250 THE RAMBLER. N 38. 
 
 <c O Being, kind and beneficent," fays Hamet, 
 c< let thine eye pardon my confufion. I entreat a 
 " little brook, which in fummer fhall never be dry, 
 * c and in winter never overflow." " It is granted," 
 replies the Genius ; and immediately he opened the 
 ground with his fabre, and a fountain bubbling up 
 under their feet fcattered its rills over the meadows ; 
 the flowers renewed their fragrance, the trees fpread 
 a greener foliage, and the flocks and herds quenched 
 their third. 
 
 Then turning to Rafchid, the Genius invited him 
 likewife to offer . his petition. " I requefl," fays 
 Rafchid, <c that thou wilt turn the Ganges through 
 <e my grounds, with all his waters, and all their in- 
 " -habitants." Hamet was ftruck with the great- 
 nefs of his neighbour's fentiments, and fecretly re- 
 pined in his heart, that he had not made the fame 
 petition before him ; when the Genius fpoke, " Rafh 
 " man, be not infatiable ! remember, to thee that 
 <f is nothing which thou canft not ufe j and how are 
 <c thy wants greater than the wants of Hamet ?" 
 Rafchid repeated his defire, and pleafed himfelf with 
 the mean appearance that Hamet would make in the 
 prefence of the proprietor of the Ganges. The 
 Genius then retired towards the river, and the two 
 fhepherds flood waiting the event. As Rafchid was 
 looking with contempt upon his neighbour, on a 
 fudden was heard the roar of torrents, and they found 
 by the mighty ftream that the mounds of the Ganges 
 were broken. The flood rolled forward into the 
 lands of Rafchid, his plantations were torn up, his 
 flocks overwhelmed, he was fwept away before it, 
 and a crocodile devoured him.
 
 N THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 39. TUESDAY, July 31, 1750. 
 
 Jnfelix nulli bene nupta mar it o . AUSONIUS. 
 
 Unbleft, ilill doom'd to wed with mifery. 
 
 TH E condition of the female fex has been fre- 
 quently the fubjeft of companion to medical 
 writers, becaufe their conftitution of body is fuch, 
 that every ftate of life brings its peculiar difeafes : 
 they are placed according to the proverb between 
 Scylla and Charybdis, with no other choice than of 
 dangers equally formidable j and whether they em- 
 brace marriage, or determine upon a fingle life, are, 
 expofed, in confequence of their choice, to fkknefs, 
 mifery, and death. 
 
 It were to be wiftied that fo great a degree of 
 natural infelicity might not be increafed by adventi- 
 tious and artificial miferies ; and that beings whofe 
 beauty we cannot behold without admiration, and 
 whofe delicacy we cannot contemplate without 
 tendernefs, might be fuffered to enjoy every allevia*- 
 tion of their forrows. But, however it has hap- 
 pened, the cuftom of the world feems to have been 
 formed in a kind of confpiracy againft them, though 
 it does not appear but they had themfelves an equal 
 fhare in its eftablifhment j and prefcriptions which 
 by whomfoever they were begun, are now of long 
 continuance, and by confequence of great authority, 
 feem to have almoft excluded them from content, 
 jn whatfoever condition they lhall pafs their lives. 
 
 If
 
 25* THE RAMBLER, 
 
 If they refufe the fociety of men, and continue 
 in that ftate which is reafonably fuppofed to place 
 happinefs moft in their own power, they feldom 
 give thofe that frequent their converfation, any 
 exalted notions of the bleffing of liberty -, for whether 
 it be that they are angry to fee with what incon- 
 fiderate eagernefs other heedlcfs females rufli into 
 flavery, or with what abfurd vanity the married 
 ladies boaft the change of their condition, and con- 
 demn the heroines who endeavour to afiert the 
 natural dignity of their fex j whether they are con- 
 fcious that like barren countries they are free, only 
 becaufe they were never thought to deferve the 
 trouble of a conqueft, or imagine that their fincerity 
 is not always unfufpected, when they declare their 
 contempt of men ; it is certain, that they generally 
 appear to have fome great and incefiant caufe of 
 uneafinefs, and that many of them have at lad 
 been perfuaded, by powerful rhetoricians, to try 
 the life which they had fo long contemned, and put 
 on the bridal ornaments at a time when they lead 
 became them. 
 
 "What are the real caufes of the impatience which 
 the ladies difcover in a virgin ftate, I Ihall perhaps 
 take fome other occafion to examine. That it is 
 not to be envied for its happinefs, appears from the 
 folicitude with which it is avoided ; from the 
 opinion univerfally prevalent among the fex, that no 
 woman continues long in it but becaufe fhe is not 
 invited to forfake it ; from the difpofition always 
 Ihewn to treat old maids as the refufe of the world j 
 and from the willingnefs with which it is often 
 quitted at laft, by thofe whofe experience has en- 
 abled
 
 N39- THE RAMBLER. 253 
 
 abled them to judge at leifure, and decide with au- 
 thority. 
 
 Yet fuch is life, that whatever is propofed, it is 
 much eafier to find reafons for rejecting than em- 
 bracing. Marriage, though a certain fecurity from 
 the reproach and folitude of antiquated virginity, 
 has yet, as it is ufually conducted, many difadvan- 
 tages, that take away much from the pleafure which 
 fociety promifes, and might afford, if pleafures and 
 pains were honeftly fhared, and mutual confidence 
 inviolably preferved. 
 
 The miferies, indeed, which many ladies fufFer 
 under conjugal vexations, are to be confidered with 
 great pity, becaufe their hufbands are often not taken 
 by them as objects of affection, but forced upon 
 them by authority and violence, or by perfuafion 
 and importunity, equally refiftlefs when urged by 
 thofe whom they have been always accuftomed to re- 
 verence and obey j and it very feldom appears that 
 thofe who are thus defpotick in the difpofal of their 
 children, pay any regard to their domeftick and per- 
 fonal felicity, or think it fo much to be enquired 
 whether they will be happy, as whether they will be 
 rich. 
 
 It may be urged, in extenuation of this crime, 
 which parents, not in any other refpect to be num- 
 bered with robbers and affafilns, frequently commit, 
 that, in their eftimation, riches and happinefs are 
 equivalent terms. They have pafled their lives with 
 no other wifh than that of adding acre to acre, and 
 filling one bag after another, and imagine the ad- 
 vantage of a daughter fufficiently confidered, when 
 they have fecured her a large jointure, and given her 
 
 reasonable
 
 454 THE RAMBLER. N 39. 
 
 reafonable expectations of living in the midft of thofe 
 pleafures, with which Ihe had feen her father and 
 mother folacing their age. 
 
 There is an ceconomical oracle received among 
 the prudential part of the world, which advifes 
 fathers to marry their daughters, left they Jhould marry 
 them/elves , by which I iuppofe it is implied, that 
 women left to their own conduct, generally unite 
 themfelves with fuch partners as can contribute very 
 little to their felicity. Who was the author of this 
 maxim, or with what intention it was originally ut- 
 tered, I have not yet difcovered ; but imagine that 
 however folemnly it may be tranfmitted, or however 
 implicitly received, it can confer no authority which 
 nature has denied, it cannot licenfe Titius to be un- 
 juft, left Caia fhould be imprudent ; nor give right 
 to imprifon for life, left liberty fhould be ill employed. 
 
 That the ladies have fometimes incurred imputa- 
 tions which might naturally produce edicts not much 
 in their favour, muft be confefled by their warmeft 
 advocates ; and I have indeed feldom obferved that 
 when the tendernefs or virtue of their parents has 
 preferved them from forced marriage, and left them 
 at large to chufe their own path in the labyrinth of 
 life, they have made any great advantage of their 
 liberty : They commonly take the opportunity of 
 independence to trifle away youth and lofe their 
 bloom in a hurry of diverfions, recurring in a fuc- 
 cefiion too quick to leave room for any fettled reflec- 
 tion ; they fee the world without gaining experience, 
 and at laft regulate their choice by motives trifling 
 as thofe of a girl, or mercenary as thofe of *a 
 mifer. 
 
 Melan-
 
 N 39- THE RAMBLER. 255 
 
 Melanthia came to town upon the death of her 
 father, with a very large fortune, and with the repu- 
 tation of a much larger j fhe was therefore followed 
 and carefled by many men of rank, and by fbme of 
 underftanding ; but having an infatiable defire of 
 pleafure, fhe was not at leifure, from the park, the 
 gardens, the theatres, vifits, afTemblies, and maf- 
 querades, to attend ferioufly to any propofal, but 
 was ftill impatient for a new flatterer, and neglected 
 marriage as always in her power j till in time her ad- 
 mirers fell away, wearied with expence, dilgufted 
 at her folly, or offended by her inconftancy ; fhe 
 heard of concerts to which fhe was not invited, and 
 was more than once forced to fit ftill at an afifembly 
 for want of a partner. In this diftrefs, chance threw 
 in her way Philotryphus, a man vain, glittering, and 
 thoughtlefs as herfelf, who had fpent a fmall fortune 
 in equipage and drefs, and was fhining in the laft 
 fuit for which his tailor would give him credit. He 
 had been long endeavouring to retrieve his extrava- 
 gance by marriage, and therefore foon paid his court 
 to Melanthia, who after fome weeks of infenfibility 
 faw him at a ball, and was wholly overcome by his 
 performance in a minuet. They married ; but a 
 man cannot always dance, and Philotryphus had no 
 other method of pleafing : however, as neither was 
 in any great degree vicious, they live together with 
 no other unhappinefs, than vacuity of mind, and that 
 tafteleflnefs of life, which proceeds from a fatiety of 
 juvenile pleafures, and an utter inability to fill their 
 place by nobler employments. As they have known 
 the fafhionable world at the fame time, they agree in 
 their notions of all thofe fubjects on which they ever 
 
 fpeak,
 
 256 THE RAMBLER. N 39. 
 
 fpeak, and being able to add nothing to the ideas 
 of each other, are not much inclined to converfa- 
 tion, but very often join in one wifh, " That they 
 " could fleep more, and think lefs." 
 
 Argyris, after having refufed a thoufand offers, 
 at laft confented to marry Cotylus, the younger 
 brother of a duke, a man without elegance of mien, 
 beauty of perfon, or force of underftanding ; who, 
 while he courted her, could not always forbear al- 
 lufions to her birth, and hints how cheaply fhe would 
 purchafe an alliance to fo illuftrious a family. His 
 conduct from the hour of his marriage has been in- 
 fufferably tyrannical, nor has he any other regard to 
 her than what arifes from his defire that her appear- 
 ance may not difgrace him. Upon this principle, 
 however, he always orders that fhe fhould be gaily 
 drefled, and fplendidly attended ; and fhe has, 
 among all her mortifications, the happinefs to take 
 place of her eldefl fitter.
 
 N40. THE RAMBLER. 257 
 
 NUMB. 40. SATURDAY, Auguft 4, 1750, 
 
 icet, cur ego amicum 
 
 Qjfendam in nugis ? Hee nugte feria ducent 
 In mala derlfutnfemel. Ho R . 
 
 Nor fay, for trifles why mould I difpleafe 
 The man I love ? For trifles fuch as thefe 
 To ferious mifchiefs lead the man I love, 
 If once the flatterer's ridicule he prove. FRANCIS. 
 
 IT has been remarked, that authors are genus 
 irritabile y a generation 'Very eafily put out of temper , 
 and that they feldom fail of giving proofs of their 
 irafcibility upon the flighted attack of criticifm, or 
 the mod gentle or modeft offer of advice and inform- 
 ation. 
 
 Writers being beft acquainted with one another, 
 have reprefented this character as prevailing among 
 men of literature, which a more extenfive view of 
 the world would have fhewn them to be diffufed 
 through all human nature, to mingle itfelf with 
 every fpecies of ambition and defire of praife, and 
 to difcover its effects with greater or lefs reftraint, 
 and under difguifes more or lefs artful, in all places 
 and all conditions. 
 
 The quarrels of writers, indeed, are more ob- 
 ferved, becaufe they neceffarily appeal to the de- 
 cision of the publick. Their enmities are incited 
 by applaufes from their parties, and prolonged by 
 treacherous encouragement for general diverfion ; 
 
 VOL. IV. S and
 
 258 THE RAMBLER. N 40. 
 
 and when the conteft happens to rife high between 
 men of genius and learning, its memory is continued 
 for the fame reafon as its vehemence was at firft 
 promoted, becaufe it gratifies the malevolence or 
 curiofity of readers, and relieves the vacancies of 
 life with amufement and laughter. The perfonal 
 difputes, therefore, of rivals in wit are fometimes 
 tranfmitted to pofterity, when the grudges and heart- 
 burnings of men lefs confpicuous, though carried 
 on with equal bitternefs, and productive of greater 
 evils, are expofed to the knowledge of thofe only 
 whom they nearly affect, and fuffered to pafs off and 
 be forgotten among common and cafual tranfadtions. 
 
 The refentment which the difcovery of a fault or 
 folly produces, muft bear a certain proportion to 
 our pride, and will regularly be more acrimonious 
 as pride is more immediately the principle of action. 
 In whatever therefore we wifh or imagine ourfelves 
 to excel, we fhall always be difpleafed to have our 
 claims to reputation difputed, and more difpleafed, 
 if the accomplifhment be fuch as can expect reputa- 
 tion only for its reward. For this reafon it is com- 
 mon to find men break out into rage at any infinua- 
 tions to the difadvantage of their wit, who have borne 
 with great patience reflections on their morals j and 
 of women it has been always known, that no cenfure 
 wounds fo deeply, or rankles fo long, as that which 
 charges them with want of beauty. 
 
 As men frequently fill their imaginations with 
 trifling purfuits, and pleafe themfelves mod with 
 things of frnall importance, I have often known very 
 fevere and lading malevolence excited by unlucky 
 cenfures, which would have fallen without any effect, 
 
 had
 
 N40- THE RAMBLER. 259 
 
 had they not happened to wound a part remarkably 
 tender. Guftulus, who valued himfelf upon the 
 nicety of his palate, disinherited his eldeft Ton for 
 celling him that the wine, which he was then com- 
 mending, was the fame which he had fent away the 
 day before not fit to be drunk, Proculus withdrew 
 his kindnefs from a nephew, whom he had always 
 confidered as the moft promifing genius of the age, 
 for happening to praife in his prefence the graceful 
 horlemanfhip of Marius. And Fortunio, when he 
 was privy counfellor, procured a clerk to be dif- 
 mifled from one of the publick offices, in which he 
 was eminent for his fldll and afiiduity, becaufe he 
 had been heard to fay, that there was another man 
 in the kingdom on whofe (kill at billiards he wpukj 
 Jay his money againft Fortunio's. 
 
 Felicia and Floretta had been bred up in one 
 houfe, and fhared all the pleafures and endearments 
 of infancy together. They entered upon life at the 
 fame time, and continued their confidence and 
 friendfhip ; confulted each other in every change of 
 their drefs, and every admiflion of a new lover ; 
 thought every diverfion more entertaining whenever 
 it happened that both were prefent, and when, 
 feparated juftified the condud, and celebrated the 
 excellencies, of one another. Such was their inti- 
 macy, and fuch their fidelity ; till a birth-night ap r 
 proached, when Floretta took one morning an op- 
 portunity, as they were confuhing upon new clothes, 
 to advife her friend nojt to da-nce at the ball, and 
 informed her that her performance ,the year before 
 Jiad not anfwered the expectation which her other 
 had railed. Felicia commended 
 $ ? her
 
 260 THE RAMBLER. N4O. 
 
 her fincerity, and thanked her for the caution ; but 
 told her that ftie danced to pleafe herfelf, and was 
 in very little concern what the men might take the 
 liberty of faying, but that if her appearance gave 
 her dear Floretta any uneafinefs, fhe would flay away. 
 Floretta had now nothing left but to make new pro- 
 teftations of fincerity and affection, with which Fe- 
 licia was fo well fatisfied, that they parted with 
 more than ufual fondnefs. They ftill continued to 
 vifit, with this only difference, that Felicia was 
 more punctual than before, and often declared how 
 high a value fhe put upon fincerity, how much fhe 
 thought that goodnefs to be efteemed which would 
 venture to admonifh. a friend of an error, and with 
 what gratitude advice was to be received, even when 
 it might happen to proceed from miftake. 
 
 In a few months Felicia, with great ferioufnefs, 
 told Floretta, that though her beauty was fuch as 
 gave charms to whatever fhe did, and her qualifi- 
 cations fo extenfive, that fhe could not fail of ex- 
 cellence in any attempt, yet fhe thought herfelf 
 obliged by the duties of friendfhip to inform her, 
 that if ever fhe betrayed want of judgment, it was 
 by too frequent compliance with felicitations to 
 fing, for that her manner was fomewhat ungrace- 
 ful, and her voice had no great compafs. It is 
 true, fays Floretta, when I fung three nights ago 
 at lady Sprightly's, I was hoarfe with a cold; but I 
 fing for my own fatisfaction, and am not in the leaft 
 pain whether I am liked. However, my dear Fe- 
 licia's kindnefs is not the lefs, and I fhall always 
 think myfelf happy in fo true a friend. 
 
 From
 
 N 4 o. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 From this time they never faw each other without 
 mutual profefTions of efteem, and declarations of 
 confidence, but went foon after into the country to 
 vifit their relations. When they came back, they 
 were prevailed on, by the importunity of new ac- 
 quaintance, to take lodgings in different parts of 
 the town, and had frequent occafion when they met, 
 to bewail the diftance at which they were placed, 
 and the uncertainty which each experienced of find- 
 ing the other at home. 
 
 Thus are the fondeft and firmeft friendfhips dif- 
 folved, by fuch opennefs, and fincerity, as inter- 
 rupt our enjoyment of our own approbation, or recal 
 us to the remembrance of thofe failings, which we 
 are more willing to indulge than to correct. 
 
 It is by no means neceflary to imagine, that he 
 who is offended at advice, was ignorant of the fault, 
 and refents the admonition as a falfe charge ; for 
 perhaps it is mod natural to be enraged, when there 
 is the ftrongeft conviction of our own guilt. While 
 we can eafily defend our character, we are no more 
 difturbed at an accufation, than we are alarmed by 
 an enemy whom we are fure to conquer ; and whole 
 attack, therefore, will bring us honour without dan- 
 ger. But when a man feels the reprehenlion of a 
 friend feconded by his own heart, he is eafily heated 
 into refentment and revenge, either becaufe he hoped 
 that the fault of which he was confcious had efcaped 
 the notice of others ; or that his friend had looked 
 upon it with tendernefs and extenuation, and ex- 
 cufed it for the fake of his other virtues ; or had 
 confidered him as too wife to need advice, or too 
 delicate to be fhocked with reproach : or, becaufe 
 
 83 we
 
 we cannot feel without pain thofe reflections roufed 
 which we have been endeavouring to lay afleepj 
 and when pain has produced anger, who would not 
 willingly believe, that it ought to be difcharged on 
 others, rather than on himfelf ? 
 
 The refentment produced by fincerity, whatever 
 be its immediate caufe> is fo certain, and generally 
 fo keen } that very few have magnanimity fufficient 
 for the practice of a dutyj which, above mod others, 
 ertpofes its votaries to hardfhips and perfecutions j 
 yet friendfhip without it is of a very little value, 
 lince the great ufe of fo dole an intimacy is that 
 our virtues may be guarded and encouraged, and 
 our vices reprefled in their firft appearance by timely 
 detection, and falutary remonftrances. 
 
 It is decreed by providence that nothing truly 
 valuable fhall be obtained in cur prefent ftate, but 
 with difficulty and danger. He that hopes for that 
 advantage which is to be gained from unreftrained 
 communication, muft fometimes hazard 3 by un- 
 pleafing truths, that friendfhip which he afpires to 
 merit. The chief rule to be obferved in the exer- 
 cife of this dangerous office, is to preferve it pure 
 from all mixture of intereft or vanity 3 to forbear 
 admonition or reproof, when our confciences tell 
 Us that they are incited, not by the hopes of re- 
 forming faults., but the defire of fhewing our dif- 
 ternment, or gratifying our own pride by the mor- 
 tification of another. It is not indeed certain that 
 the moft refined caution will find a proper time for 
 bringing a man to the knowledge of his own fail- 
 ings, or the mcft zealous benevolence reconcile him 
 to that judgment* by which they are detected , but 
 
 bi
 
 N 41. THE RAMBLER. 263 
 
 he who endeavours only the happinefs of him whom 
 he reproves, will always have either the fatisfaftion 
 of obtaining or deferving kindnels ; if he fucceeds, 
 he benefits his friend, and if he fails, he has at leaft 
 the confciouihefs that he fuffers for only doing well. 
 
 NUMB* 41. TUESDAY, Augnjl 7, 1750. 
 
 Nulla recordanti lux ej} ingrata gravifque^ 
 
 Nullafuit cujus non meminifje <velit. 
 Ampliat atatisfpatiumjibi <vir bonus, hoc eft 
 
 V were bis > vita poffe priorefrui. MART. 
 
 No day's remembrance mail the good regret, 
 
 Nor \virn one bitter moment to forget ; 
 
 They ftretch the limits qf this narrow fpan, 
 
 And, by enjoying, live paft life again. F. LEWIS. 
 
 j ~-v[!j .;-. .; :: ."."-ivy 
 
 SO few of the hours of life are filled np with 
 objects adequate to the mind of man, and fo 
 frequently are we in want of prefent pleafure or 
 employment, that we are forced to have recourfe 
 every moment to the paft and future for fupple- 
 mental fatisfactions, and relieve the vacuities of our 
 being, by recollection of former paffages, or antici- 
 pation of events to come. 
 
 I cannot but confider this neceflity of fearching 
 on every fide for matter on which the attention may 
 be employed, as a ftrong proof of the fuperior and 
 celeftial nature of the foul of man. We have no 
 reafon to believe that other creatures have higher 
 faculties, or more extenfive capacities, than the pre- 
 
 S 4 fervation
 
 264 THE RAMBLER. N 41. 
 
 fervation of themfelves, or their fpecies, requires j 
 they feem always to be fully employed, or to be 
 completely at eafe without employment, to feel few 
 intellectual miferies or pleafures, and to have no 
 exuberance of underftanding to lay out upon curio- 
 fity or caprice, but to have their minds exactly 
 adapted to their bodies, with few other ideas than 
 fuch as corporal pain or pleafure imprefs upon 
 them. 
 
 Of memory, which makes fo large a part of the 
 excellence of the human foul, and which has fo 
 much influence upon all its other powers, but a 
 fmall portion has been allotted to the animal world. 
 We do not find the grief, with which the dams la- 
 ment the lofs of their young, proportionate to the 
 tendernefs with which they carefs, the afiiduity with 
 which they feed, or the vehemence with which they 
 defend them. Their regard for their offspring, 
 when it is before their eyes, is not, in appearance, 
 lefs than that of a human parent; but when it is 
 , taken away, it is very foon forgotten, and, after a 
 fliort abfence, if brought again, wholly difregarded. 
 
 That they have very little remembrance of any 
 thing once out of the reach of their fenfes, and fcarce 
 any power of comparing the prefent with the paft, 
 and regulating their conclulions from experience, 
 may be gathered from this, that their intellects are 
 produced in their full perfection. The Iparrow that 
 was hatched laft fpring makes her firft neft the en- 
 fuing feafon, of the fame materials, and with the 
 fame art, as in any following year; and the hen 
 conducts and flickers her firft brood of chickens 
 with all the prudence that flie ever attains. 
 
 It
 
 N4i. THE RAMBLER. 265 
 
 It has been afked by men who love to perplex 
 any thing that is plain to common underftandings ) 
 how reafon differs from inftinct; and Prior has 
 with no great propriety made Solomon himfelf 
 declare, that to diftinguifh them is the fool's igno- 
 rance, and the pedant's -pride. To give an accurate 
 anfwer to a queftion, of which the terms are not 
 completely underftood, is impoflible j we do not 
 know in what either reafon or inftinct confift, and 
 therefore cannot tell with exactnefs how they differs 
 but furely he that contemplates a ihip and a bird's 
 neft, will not be long without finding out, that the 
 idea of the one was imprefled at once, and continued 
 through all the progreffive defcents of the fpecies, 
 without variation or improvement j and that the 
 other is the refult of experiments compared with ex- 
 periments, has grown, by accumulated obfervation, 
 from lefs to greater excellence, and exhibits the 
 collective knowledge of different ages and various 
 profeffions. 
 
 Memory is the purveyor of reafon, the power 
 which places thofe images before the mind upon 
 which the judgment is to be exercifed, and which 
 treafures up the determinations that are once pafled, 
 as the rules of future action, or grounds of fubfe- 
 quent conclufions. 
 
 It is, indeed, the faculty of remembrance, which 
 may be faid to place us in the clafs of moral agents. 
 If we were to act only in confluence of fome im- 
 mediate impulfe, and receive no direction from 
 internal motives of choice, we fhould be pufhed for- 
 ward by an invincible fatality, without power or rea- 
 fon for the molt part to prefer one thing to another, 
 
 becaufe
 
 66 THE RAMBLER. NMt. 
 
 beeaufe we could make no comparifon but of objects 
 which might both happen to be prefent. 
 
 We owe to memory not only the increafe of our 
 knowledge, and our progrefs in rational enquiries, 
 but many other intellectual pleasures. Indeed, al- 
 moft all that we can be faid to enjoy is paft or future i 
 the prefent is in perpetual motion, leaves us as foon 
 as it arrives^ ceafes to be prefent before its pretence 
 is well perceived, and is only known to have exiited 
 by the effects which it leaves behind. The greateft 
 part of our ideas arifes, therefore, from the view be- 
 fore or behind us, and we are happy or miferable, 
 according as we are affected by the furvey of our life, 
 or our profpect of future exiftence. 
 
 With regard to futurity, when events are at fuch 
 a diftance from us, that we cannot take the whole 
 concatenation into our view, we have generally 
 power enough over our imagination to turn it upon 
 pleafmg fcenes, and can promife ourfelves riches, 
 honours, and delights, without intermingling thofe 
 vexations and anxieties, with which all human en- 
 joyments are polluted. If fear breaks in on one fide, 
 and alarms us with dangers and difappointments, 
 we can call in hope on the other, to folace us with 
 rewards, and efcapes, and victories j fo that we are 
 feldom without means of palliating remote evils, 
 and can generally footh ourfelves to tranquillity, 
 whenever any troublefome prefage happens to attack 
 us. 
 
 It is, therefore, I believe, much more common for 
 the folitary and thoughtful, to amufe themfelves with 
 fchemes of the future, than reviews of the paft. For 
 the future is pliant and ductile, and will be eafily 
 
 moulded
 
 moulded by a ftrong fancy into any form. But the 
 images which memory prefents are of a ftubborn and 
 tmtractable nature, the objects of remembrance have 
 already exifted, and left their fignature behind them 
 imprefled upon the mind, fo as to defy all attempts 
 of rafure or of change. 
 
 As the fatisfa&ions, therefore, arifing from me- 
 mory are lefs arbitrary^ they are more folid, and are, 
 indeed, the only joys which we can call our own. 
 Whatever we have once repofited, as Dryden ex- 
 prefies it, in thtjacred treafure of the paft, is out of 
 the reach of accident, or violence, nor can be loft 
 either by our own weaknels, or another's malice : 
 
 - Nan tameh itntlim 
 Quodcun^ue retro eft eff.det t aegui 
 D'ff a et * infefiumque reddet t 
 Quod fugles fenwi hera vexit* 
 
 Be fair or foul> of rain of fliine, 
 
 The joys I have poflefs*d in fpite of fate are ttune 
 Kot heav'n itfelf upon the paft has pow'r, 
 But what has been has been, and I have had my hour. 
 
 There is certainly no greater happinefs than to be 
 able to look back on a life ufefully and virtuoufly 
 employed, to trace our own progrefs in exiftence, by 
 fuch tokens as excite neither fhame nor forrow. 
 Life> in which nothing has been done or fufFered to 
 diftinguifh one day from another, is to him that has 
 pafled it, as if it had never been, except that he is 
 confcious how ill he has hufbanded the great depofit 
 of his Creator* Life, made memorable by crimes, 
 
 and
 
 268 THE RAMBLER. N4i. 
 
 and diverfified through its feveral periods by wicked- 
 nefs, is indeed eafily reviewed, but reviewed only 
 with horror and remorfe. 
 
 The great confideration which ought to iufluence 
 us in the ufe of the prefent moment, is to arile 
 from the effect, which, as well or ill applied, it 
 muft have upon the time to come; for though its 
 actual exiftence be inconceivably fhort, yet its ef- 
 fects a*e unlimited; and there is not the fmalleft 
 point of time but may extend its confequences, either 
 to our hurt or our advantage, through all eternity, 
 and give us reafon to remember it for ever, with 
 anguifh or exultation. 
 
 The time of life, in which memory feems par- 
 ticularly to claim predominance over the other 
 faculties of the mind, is our declining age. It 
 has been remarked by former writers, that old 
 men are generally narrative, and fall eafily into 
 recitals of pad tranfactions, and accounts of per- 
 fons known to them in their youth. When we ap- 
 proach the verge of the grave it is more eminently 
 truej 
 
 Vitcsfittnma bre<vis fpem nos wtat inchoare longam. 
 
 Life's fpan forbids thee to extend thy cares, 
 
 And ftretch thy hopes beyond thy years. CREECH. 
 
 We have no longer any poffibility of great vicifii- 
 tudes in our favour; the changes which are to hap- 
 pen in the world will come too late for our accom- 
 modation; and thofe who have no hope before them, 
 .and to whom their prefent ftate is painful and irk- 
 
 fome,
 
 N 4I-. THE RAMBLER. 269 
 
 fome, muft of necefiity turn their thoughts back 
 to try what retrofpect will afford. It ought, there- 
 fore, to be the care of thofe who wilh to pafs the 
 laft hours with comfort, to lay up fuch a treafure of 
 pleafing ideas, as fhall fupport the expences of that 
 time, which is to depend wholly upon the fund al- 
 ready acquired. 
 
 Petite bine, juvenrfque fenefque 
 
 Finem animo certum, miferifque viatica canis. 
 
 Seek here, ye young, the anchor of your mind,; 
 Here, fuff 'ring age, a blefs'd provilion find. 
 
 ELPHINSTOST. 
 
 In youth, however unhappy, we folace ourfelves 
 with the hope of better fortune, and however vici- 
 ous, appeafe our confciences with intentions of re- 
 pentance; but the time comes at laft, in which life 
 has no more to promife, in which happinefs can 
 be drawn only from recollection, and virtue will be 
 all that we can recoiled: with pleafure.
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 42. SATURDAY, Auguft u, 1750. 
 
 Mihi tardafluunt ingrataque temfora. Ho a. 
 
 How heavily my time revolves along. ELPHINSTON, 
 
 i 
 
 fo ike RAMBLER. 
 
 Mr. RAMBLER, 
 
 AM no great admirer of grave writings, and 
 therefore very frequently lay your papers afide 
 before I have read them through; yet I cannot but 
 confefs that, by flow degrees, you have raifed my 
 opinion of your underftanding, and that, though I 
 believe it will be long before 1 can be prevailed 
 upon to regard you with much kindnefs, you have, 
 however, more of my efteem than thofe whom J 
 fometimes make happy with opportunities to fill my 
 tea-pot, or pick up my fan. I fhall therefore chufe 
 you for the confident of my diftrefies, and afk your 
 counfel with regard to the means of conquering or 
 efcaping them, though I never expect from you any 
 of that foftnefs and pliancy, which conftitutes the 
 perfection of a companion for the ladies : as, in the 
 place where I now am, I have recourfe to the maftiff 
 for protection, though I have no intention of making 
 him a lap-dog. 
 
 My Mamma is a very fine lady, who has more 
 numerous and more frequent affemblies at her houfe 
 than any other perfon in the fame quarter of the 
 town. I was bred from my earljeit infancy in a per- 
 petual
 
 N 4*. THE RAMBLER. 271 
 
 petual tumult of pleafure, and remember to have 
 heard of little elfe than meflages, vifits, playhoufes, 
 and balls ; of the awkwardnefs of one woman, and 
 the coquetry of another ; the charming convenience 
 of fome riling falhion, the difficulty of playing a 
 new game, the incidents of a mafquerade, and the 
 drefles of a court- night. I knew before I was tea 
 years old all the rules of paying and receiving vifits, 
 and to how much civility every one of my acquaint- 
 ance was entitled ; and was able to return, with the 
 proper degree of refer ve or of vivacity, the ftated 
 and eftablifhed anfwer to every compliment; fo that 
 J was very foon celebrated as a wit, and a beauty, 
 and had heard before I was thirteen all that is ever 
 faid to a young lady. My mother was generous to 
 fo uncommon a degree as to be pleafed with my ad- 
 vance into life, and allowed me, without envy or re- 
 proof, to enjoy the fame happinefs with herlelf; 
 though moft women about her own age were very 
 angry to fee young girls fo forward, and many fine 
 gentlemen told her how cruel it was to throw new 
 chains upon mankind, and to tyrannize over them 
 at the fame time with her own charms, and thofe of 
 her daughter. 
 
 I have now lived two and twenty years, and have 
 parTed of each year nine months in town, and three 
 at Richmond ; fo that my time has been fpent uni- 
 formly in the fame company, and the fame amufe- 
 ments, except as fafhion has introduced new di~. 
 verfions, or the revolutions of the gay world 
 have afforded new fuccefllons of wits and beaus, 
 However, my mother i$ fo good an economift cf 
 pleafure, that J have no fpare hours upon my hands; 
 
 for
 
 272 THE RAMBLER. N 42. 
 
 for every morning brings fome new appointment, 
 and every night is hurried away by the neceffity of 
 making our appearance at different places, and of 
 being with one lady at the opera, and with another 
 at the card-table. 
 
 When the time came of fettling our fcheme of 
 felicity for the fummer, it was determined that I 
 fhould pay a vifit to a rich aunt in a remote county. 
 As you know the chief converfation of all tea-tables, 
 in the fpring, arifes from a communication of the 
 manner in which time is to be patted till winter, it 
 was a great relief to the barrennefs of our topicks, 
 to relate the pleafures that were in ftore for me, to 
 clefcribe my uncle's feat, with the park and gardens, 
 the charming walks and beautiful waterfalls; and 
 every one told me how much fhe envied me, and 
 what fatisfaction (lie had once enjoyed in a fituation 
 of the fame kind. 
 
 As we are all credulous in our own favour, and 
 willing to imagine fome latent fatisfaction in any thing 
 which we have not experienced, I will confefs to 
 you, without reftraint, that I had fuffered my head 
 to be filled with expectations of fome namelefs plea- 
 fure in a rural life, and that I hoped for the happy 
 hour that fhould fet me free from noife, and flutter, 
 and ceremony, difmifs me to the peaceful lhade, 
 and lull me in content and tranquillity. To folace 
 my felf under the mifery of delay, I fometimes heard 
 a ftudious lady of my acquaintance read paflorals, I 
 was delighted with fcarce any talk but of leaving the 
 town, and never went to bed without dreaming of 
 groves, and meadows, and frifking lambs. 
 
 At
 
 N42. THE RAMBLER. 273 
 
 At length I had all my clothes in a trunk, and faw 
 the coach at the door; I fprung in with ecftafy, 
 quarrelled with my maid for being too long in 
 taking leave of the other fervants, and rejoiced as 
 the ground grew lefs which lay between me and the 
 completion of my wifhes. A few days brought me 
 to a large old houfe, encompaffed on three fides with 
 woody hills, and looking from the front on a gentle 
 river, the fight of which renewed all my expecta- 
 tions of pleafure, and gave me fome regret for 
 having lived fo long without the enjoyment which 
 thefe delightful fcenes were now to afford me. My 
 aunt came out to receive me, but in a drefs fo far 
 removed from the prefent fafhion, that I could 
 fcarcely look upon her without laughter, which 
 would have been no kind requital for the trouble 
 which fhe had taken to make herfelf fine againft my 
 arrival. The night and the next morning were 
 driven along with enquiries about our family ; my 
 aunt then explained our pedigree, and told me {lo- 
 ries of my great grandfather's bravery in the civil 
 wars, nor was it lefs than three days before I could 
 perfuade her to leave me to myfelf. 
 
 At lad economy prevailed ; fhe went in the ufual 
 manner about her own affairs, and I was at liberty 
 to range in the wildernefs, and fit by the cafcade. 
 The novelty of the objects about me pleafed me for a 
 while, but after a few days they were new no longer, 
 and I foon began to perceive that the country was 
 not my element; that fhades, and flowers, and 
 lawns, and waters, had very foon exhaufted all their 
 power of pleafing, and that I had not in myfelf any 
 
 VOL. IV. T fund
 
 174 THE RAMBLER. N 42. 
 
 fund of fatisfa&ion with which I could fupply the 
 lofs of my cuftomary amufements. 
 
 I unhappily told my aunt, in the firft warmth of 
 our embraces, that I had leave to (lay with her ten 
 weeks. Six only are yet gone, and how {hall I live 
 through the remaining four ? I go out and return j 
 I pluck a flower, and throw it away; I catch an 
 infect, and when I have examined its colours, fet it 
 at liberty ; I fling a pebble into the water, and fee 
 one circle fpread after another. When it chances 
 to rain, I walk in the great hall, and watch the mi- 
 nute-hand upon the dial, or play with a litter of 
 kittens, which the cat happens to have brought in a 
 lucky time. 
 
 My aunt is afraid I fhall grow melancholy, and 
 therefore encourages the neighbouring gentry to vifit 
 us. They came at firft with great eagernefs to fee 
 the fine lady from London, but when we met, we 
 had no common topick on which we could converfe; 
 they had no curiofity after plays, operas, or mufick : 
 and I find as little fatisfaction from their accounts of 
 the quarrels or alliances of families, whofe names, 
 when once I can efcape, I fhall never hear. The 
 women have now feen me, know how my gown is 
 made, and are fatisfied; the men are generally afraid 
 of me, and fay little, becaufe they think themfelves 
 not at liberty to talk rudely. 
 
 Thus am I condemned to folitudc; the day moves 
 flowly forward, and I fee the dawn with uneafinefs, 
 becaufe I confider that night is at a great diftance. I 
 have tried to fleep by a brook, but find its murmurs 
 ineffectual j fo that I am forced to be awake at lead 
 
 twelve
 
 N 42. THE RAMBLER. 275 
 
 twelve hours, without vifits, without cards, without 
 laughter, and without flattery. I walk becaufe I 
 am difgufted with fitting ftill, and fit down becaufe 
 I am weary with walking. I have no motive to ac- 
 tion, nor any object of love, or hate, or fear, or in- 
 clination. I cannot drefs with fpirit, for I have nei- 
 ther rival nor admirer. I cannot dance without a 
 partner, nor be kind, or cruel, without a lover. 
 
 Such is the life of Euphelia, and fuch it is likely 
 to continue for a month to come. 1 have not yet 
 declared againft exiftence, nor called upon the defti- 
 nies to cut my thread j but I have fincerely refolved 
 not to condemn myfelf to fuch another fummer, nor 
 too haftily to flatter myfelf with happinefs. Yet I 
 have heard, Mr. Rambler, of thofe who never 
 thought themfelves fo much at eafe as in folitude, 
 and cannot but fufpe<t it to be fome way or other my 
 own fault, that, without great pain, either of mind 
 or body, I am thus weary of myfelf : that the current 
 of youth ftagnates, and that I am languiihing in a 
 dead calm, for want of fome external impulfe. I 
 fhall therefore think you a benefactor to our fex, if 
 you will teach me the art of living alone j for I am 
 confident that a thoufand and a thoufand and a thou- 
 fand ladies, who affect to talk with ecftafies of the 
 pleafures of the country, are in reality, like me, 
 longing for the winter, and wifhing to be delivered 
 from themfelves by company and diverfion. 
 
 I am, SIR, Yours, 
 
 EUPHELIA. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 THE RAMBLER. N 43. 
 
 NUMB. 43. TUESDAY, Augujl 14, 1750, 
 
 Flumine perpetuo torrens folet acrius ire, 
 
 Sed tamen h<ec Ire-it'if eft, ilia perennis aqua. OVID. 
 
 In courfe impetuous foon the torrent dries, 
 
 The brook a conftant peaceful dream fupplies. F. LEWIS. 
 
 IT is obferved by thofe who have written on the 
 conflitution of the human body, and the origi- 
 nal of thofe difeafes by which it is afflicted, that every 
 man comes into the world morbid, that there is no 
 temperature fo exactly regulated but that fome hu- 
 mour is fatally predominant, and that we are generally 
 impregnated, in ourfirft entrance upon life, with the 
 feeds of that malady, which, in time, fhall bring us 
 to the gravt. 
 
 This remark has been extended by others to the 
 intellectual faculties. Some, that imagine them- 
 felves to have looked with more than common 
 penetration into human nature, have endeavoured 
 to perfuade us that each man is born with a mind 
 formed peculiarly for certain purpofes, and with de- 
 fires unalterably determined to particular objects, 
 from which the attention cannot be long diverted, 
 and which alone, as they are well or ill purfued, 
 mud produce the praife or blame, the happinefs or 
 mifery of his future life. 
 
 This pofition has not, indeed, been hitherto 
 proved with flrength proportionate to the affurance 
 
 with
 
 NO 43- THE RAMBLER. 277 
 
 with which it has been advanced, and, perhaps, 
 will never gain much prevalence by a clofe examina- 
 tion. 
 
 If the doctrine of innate ideas be itfelf difputable 
 there feems to be little hope of eftablifhing an opi- 
 nion, which fuppofes that even complications of ideas 
 have been given us at our birth, and that we are 
 made by nature ambitious, or covetous, before we 
 know the meaning of either power or money. 
 
 Yet as every ftep in the progreffion of exiflence 
 changes our pofition with refpect to the things 
 about us, fo as to lay us open to new affauks and 
 particular dangers, and fubjects us to inconve- 
 niencies from which any other fituation is ex- 
 empts as a public or a private life, youth and 
 age, wealth and poverty, have all fome evil clofely 
 adherent, which cannot wholly be efcaped but by 
 quitting the flate to which it is annexed, and fub- 
 mitting to the incumbrances of fome other condi- 
 tion ; fo it cannot be denied that every difference in 
 the ftructure of the mind has its advantages and its 
 wants; and that failures and defects being infepa- 
 rable from humanity, however the powers of under- 
 ftanding be extended or contracted, there will on one 
 fide or the other always be an avenue to error and 
 mifcarriage. 
 
 There feem to be fome fouls fuited to great, and 
 others to little employments; fome formed to foar 
 aloft, and take in wide views, and others to grovel 
 on the ground, and confine their regard to a nar- 
 row fphere. Of thefe the one is always in danger of 
 becoming ufelefs by a daring negligence, the other 
 by a fcrupulous folicitude; the one collects many 
 
 T 3 ideas,
 
 278 THE RAMBLER. N 4 3. 
 
 ideas, but confufed and indiftinct; the other is 
 bulled in minute accuracy, but without compafs and 
 without dignity. 
 
 The general error of thofe who pofiefs power- 
 ful and elevated underftandings, is, that they form 
 fchemes of too great extent, and flatter themfclves 
 too haftily with fuccefs j they feel their own force 
 to be great, and by the complacency with which 
 every man furveys himfelf, imagine it ftill greater: 
 they therefore look out for undertakings worthy of 
 their abilities, and engage in them with very little 
 precaution, for they imagine that, without preme- 
 ditated meafures, they Ihall be able to find expedi- 
 ents in all difficulties. They are naturally apt to 
 confider all prudential maxims as below their regard, 
 to treat with contempt thofe fecurities and refources 
 which others know themfelves obliged to provide, 
 and difdain to accomplifh their purpofes by eftablifh- 
 ed means, and common gradations. 
 
 Precipitation thus incited by the pride of intellec- 
 tual fuperiority, is very fatal to great defigns. The 
 refolution of the combat is feldom equal to the vehe- 
 mence of the charge. He that meets with an oppo- 
 fition which he did not expect, lofes his courage. 
 The violence of his firft onfet is fucceeded by a lad- 
 ing and unconquerable languor j mifcarriage makes 
 him fearful of giving way to new hopes ; and the 
 contemplation of an attempt in which he has fallen 
 below his own expectations, is painful and vexatious ; 
 he therefore naturally turns his attention to more 
 pleafing objects, and habituates his imagination to 
 other entertainments, till, by flow degrees, he quits 
 his firft purfuit, and fuffers fome other project to 
 
 take
 
 N4J- THE RAMBLER. 279 
 
 take pofTefTion of his thoughts, in which the fame 
 ardour of mind promifes him again certain fuccefs, 
 and which difappointments of the fame kind compel 
 him to abandon. 
 
 Thus too much vigour in the beginning of an 
 undertaking, ofcen intercepts and prevents the flea- 
 dinefs and perfeverance always neceflary in the 
 conduct of a complicated fcheme, where many in- 
 terefts are to be connected, many movements to be 
 adjufted, and the joint effort of diftinct and inde- 
 pendent powers to be directed to a fingle point. In 
 all important events which have been fuddenly 
 brought to pafs, chance has been the agent rather 
 than reafon; and, therefore, however thofe, who 
 feemed to prefide in the tranfaction, may have been 
 celebrated by fuch as loved or feared them, fucceed- 
 ing times have commonly confidered them as fortu- 
 nate rather than prudent. Every defign in which 
 the connection is regularly traced from the firft mo- 
 tion to the laft, muft be formed and executed by 
 calm intrepidity, and requires not only courage which 
 danger cannot turn afide, but conftancy which fa- 
 tigues cannot weary, and contrivance which impedi- 
 ments cannot exhauft. 
 
 All the performances of human art, at which we 
 look with praife or wonder, are inftances of the re- 
 fiftlefs force of perfeverance: it is by this that the 
 quarry becomes a pyramid, and that diftant coun- 
 tries are united with canals. If a man was to com- 
 pare the effect of a fingle ftroke of the pick- axe, or of 
 one impreffion of the fpade, with the general defign 
 and laft refult, he would be overwhelmed by the 
 fenfe of their difproportion j yet thofe petty opera- 
 
 T 4 tions,
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 43. 
 
 tions, inceffantly continued, in time furmount the 
 greateft difficulties, and mountains are levelled, and 
 oceans bounded, by the (lender force of human beings. 
 
 It is therefore of the utmoft importance that thofe 
 who have any intention of deviating from the beaten 
 roads of life, and acquiring a reputation fuperior to 
 names hourly fwept away by time among the refufe 
 of fame, fhould add to their reafon, and their fpirit, 
 the power of perfifting in their purpofesj acquire the 
 art of Tapping what they cannot batter, and the 
 habit of vanquifhing obftinate refiftance by obftinate 
 attacks. 
 
 The fludent who would build his knowledge on 
 folid foundations, and proceed by juft degrees to the 
 pinnacles of truth, is directed by the great philofopher 
 of France to begin by doubting of his own exift- 
 ence. In like manner, whoever would complete 
 any arduous and intricate enterprife, Ihould, as 
 foon as his imagination can cool after the firil 
 blaze of hope, place before his own eyes every 
 pofiible embarraflment that may retard or defeat 
 him. He fhould firft queftion the probability of 
 fuccefs, and then endeavour to remove the objec- 
 tions that he has raifed. It is proper, fays old Mark- 
 ham, to exercife your horfe on the more inconve- 
 nient fide of the courfe, that if he fhould, in the 
 race, be forced upon it, he may not be difcouraged j 
 and Horace advifes his poetical friend to confider 
 every day as the laft which he fhall enjoy, becaufe 
 that will always give pleafure which we receive be- 
 yond our hopes. If we alarm ourfelves beforehand 
 with more difficulties than we really find, we fhall 
 be animated by unexpected facility with double 
 
 fpirit 3
 
 N43- THE RAMBLER. 281 
 
 fpirit ; and if we find our cautions and fears juftified 
 by the confequence, there will however happen 
 nothing againft which provifion has not been made, 
 no fudden ihock will be received, nor will the main 
 fcheme be difconcerted. 
 
 There is, indeed, fome danger left lie that too 
 fcrupuloufly balances probabilities, and too perfpica- 
 cioufly forefees obftacles, fhould remain always in a 
 ftate of inaction, without venturing upon attempts 
 on which he may perhaps fpend his labour without 
 advantage. But previous defpondence is not the fault 
 of thofe for whom this effay is defigned -, they who 
 require to be warned againft precipitation, will not 
 fuffer more fear to intrude into their contemplations 
 than is neceffary to allay the effervefcence of an 
 agitated fancy. As Des Cartes has kindly fhewn how 
 a man may prove to himfelf his own exiftence, if 
 once he can be prevailed upon to queftion it, fo the 
 ardent and adventurous will not be long without 
 finding fome plaufible extenuation of the greaceft 
 difficulties. Such, indeed, is the uncertainty of all 
 human affairs, that fecurity and defpair are equal 
 follies, and as it is prefumption and arrogance to 
 anticipate triumphs, it is weaknefs and cowardice to 
 prognofticate mifcarriages. The numbers that have 
 been flopped in their career of happinefs are fuffi- 
 cient to Ihew the uncertainty of human forefight; 
 but there are not wanting contrary inftances of fuch 
 fuccefs obtained againft all appearances, as may war- 
 rant the boldeft flights of genius, if they are fup- 
 ported by unfhaken perfeverance,
 
 2*2 THE RAMBLER. N*44. 
 
 NUMB. 44. SATURDAY, Augujl 18, 1750. 
 
 *O>* In AIO'J > HOMER; 
 
 - Dreams defcend from Jove* POPE. 
 
 ?o the RAMBLER. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 I Had lately a very remarkable dream, which made 
 fo ftrong an impreflion on me, that I remember 
 it every word j and if you are not better employed, 
 you may read the relation of it as follows : 
 
 Methought I was in the midfb of a very entertain- 
 ing fet of company, and extremely delighted in at- 
 tending to a lively converfation, when on a fudden I 
 perceived one of the mod Shocking figures imagina- 
 tion can frame, advancing towards me. She was 
 dreft in black, her fkin was contracted into a thou- 
 fand wrinkles, her eyes deep funk in her head, and 
 her complexion pale and livid as the countenance of 
 death. Her looks were filled with terror and unre- 
 lenting feverity, and her hands armed with whips 
 and fcorpions. As foon as fhe came near, with a 
 horrid frown, and a voice that chilled my very blood, 
 Ihe bid me follow her. I obeyed, and Ihe led me 
 through rugged paths, befet with briars and thorns, 
 into a deep folitary valley. Wherever jfhe pafled 
 the fading verdure withered beneath her fteps ; her 
 peftilential breath infected the air with malignant 
 vapours, obfcured the luftre of the fun, and involved 
 the fair face of heaven in univerfal gloom. Difmal 
 
 howlings
 
 N 44 THE RAMBLER. 283 
 
 bowlings refounded through the foreft, from every 
 baleful tree the night raven uttered his dreadful 
 note, and the profpect was filled with defolation 
 and horror. In the midft of this tremendous fcene 
 my execrable guide addreffed me in the following 
 manner : 
 
 <e Retire with me, O rafh unthinking mortal, 
 < c from the vain allurements of a deceitful world, and 
 " learn that pleafure was not defigned the portion 
 " of human life. Man was born to mourn and to 
 " be wretched ; this is the condition of all below 
 * c the ftars, and whoever endeavours to oppofe it, 
 " acts in contradiction to the will of heaven. Fly 
 <{ then from the fatal enchantments of youth, and 
 < focial delight, and here confecrate the folitary 
 " hours to lamentation and woe. Mifery is the duty 
 c of all fublunary beings, and every enjoyment is 
 Cf an offence to the Deity, who is to be worfhipped 
 <{ only by the mortification of every fenfe of pleafure, 
 <f and the everlafting exercife of fighs and tears." 
 
 This melancholy picture of life quite funk my 
 fpirits, and feemed to annihilate every principle of 
 joy within me. I threw myfelf beneath a blafted yeugh, 
 where the winds blew cold and difmal round my 
 head, and dreadful apprehenfions chilled my heart. 
 Here I refolved to lie till the hand of death, which 
 I impatiently invoked, mould put an end to the 
 miferies of a life fo deplorably wretched. In this 
 fad fituation I fpied on one'hand of me a deep muddy 
 river, whofe heavy waves rolled on in flow fullen 
 murmurs. Here I determined to plunge, and was 
 juft upon the brink, when I found myfelf fuddenly 
 drawn back. I turned about, and was furprifed by 
 
 the
 
 284 THE RAMBLER. N 44. 
 
 the fight of the lovelieft object I had ever beheld. 
 The moft engaging charms of youth and beauty ap- 
 peared in all her form ; effulgent glories fparkled in 
 her eyes, and their awful fplendours were foftened 
 by the gentleft looks of compaffion and peace. At 
 her approach the frightful fpectre who had before 
 tormented me, vanifhed away, and with her all the 
 horrors fhe had caufed. The gloomy clouds 
 brightened into cheerful funfhine, the groves re- 
 covered their verdure, and the whole region looked 
 gay and blooming as the garden of Eden. I was 
 quite tranfported at this unexpected change, and 
 reviving pleafure began to glad my thoughts, when, 
 with a look of inexprefilble fweetnefs, my beauteous 
 deliverer thus uttered her divine inilructions : 
 
 " My name is RELIGION. I am the offspring 
 " of TRUTH and LOVE, and the parent of BENE- 
 < f VOLENCE, HOPE, and JOY. That monfter from 
 <f whofe power I have freed you is called SUPERSTI- 
 " TION, fhe is the child of DISCONTENT, and her 
 <c followers are FEAR and SORROW. Thus different 
 < as we are, fhe has often the infolence to affume 
 " my name and character, and feduces unhappy 
 " mortals to think us the fame, till fhe, at length, 
 " drives them to the borders of DESPAIR, that 
 <e dreadful abyfs into which you were juft going to 
 " fink. 
 
 " Look round and furvey the various beauties of 
 " the globe, which heaven has deftined for the 
 " feat of the human race, and confider whether a 
 " world thus exquifitely framed could be meant 
 " for the abode of mifery and pain. For what end 
 <c has the lavifh hand of providence diffufed fuch in- 
 
 " numerable
 
 N 44- THE RAMBLER. 285 
 
 " numerable objects of delight, but that all might 
 " rejoice in the privilege of exiftence, and be filled 
 <f with gratitude to the beneficent author of it ? 
 " Thus to enjoy the blefiings he has fent, is virtue 
 <e and obedience j and to reject them merely as 
 " means of pleafure, is pitiable ignorance, or ab- 
 " furd perverfenefs. Infinite goodnefs is the fource 
 " of created exiftence ; the proper tendency of every 
 " rational being, from the higheft order of raptured 
 <f feraphs, to the meaneft rank of men, is to rile 
 " inceflantly from lower degrees of happinefs to 
 Cf higher. They have each faculties affigned them 
 " for various orders of delights." 
 
 <c What," cried I, " is this the language of RE- 
 " LIGION ? Does jfhe lead her votaries through 
 " flowery paths, and bid them pafs an unlaborious 
 <c life ? Where are the painful toils of virtue, the 
 " mortifications of penitents, the felf-denying ex- 
 " ercifes of faints and heroes ?" 
 
 t( The true enjoyments of a reafonable being/* 
 anfwered fhe mildly, cf do not confift in unbounded 
 " indulgence, or luxurious eafe, in the tumult of 
 " paffions, the languor of indolence, or the flutter 
 " of light amufements. Yielding to immoral plea- 
 <c fure corrupts the mind, living to animal and 
 <c trifling ones debafes it j both in their degree dif- 
 <c qualify it for its genuine good, and confign it 
 " over to wretchednefs. Whoever would be really 
 fc happy muft make the diligent and regular exer- 
 (t cife of his fuperior powers his chief attention, 
 ** adoring the perfections of his Maker, exprefling 
 " good-will to his fellow-creatures, cultivating in- 
 ward rectitude. To his lower faculties he muft 
 
 " allow
 
 286 THE RAMBLER. N 44. 
 
 4t allow fuch gratifications as will, by refrefhing 
 tf him, invigorate his nobler purfuits. In the re- 
 <c gions inhabited by angelic natures, immingled 
 " felicity for ever blooms, joy flows there with a 
 " perpetual and abundant ftream, nor needs there 
 " any mound to check its courfe. Beings con- 
 " fcious of a frame of mind originally difeafed, as 
 all the human race has caufe to be, muft ufe the 
 cc regimen of a ftrifter felf- government. Whoever 
 " has been guilty of voluntary excefies, muft pa- 
 <c tiently fubmit both to the painful workings of 
 C nature, and needful feverities of medicine, in 
 <c order to his cure. Still he is entitled to a mo- 
 <c derate fhare of whatever alleviating accommo- 
 <c dations this fair manfion of his merciful Parent 
 " affords, confident with his recovery. And in 
 " proportion as this recovery advances, the live- 
 <e Heft joy will fpring from his fecret fenfe of an 
 <c amended and improving heart. So far from the 
 " horrors of defpair is the condition even of the 
 " guilty. Shudder, poor mortal, at the thought of 
 " the gulf into which thou waft but now going to 
 " plunge. 
 
 " While the moft faulty have ever encourage- 
 c ment to amend, the more innocent foul will be 
 " fupported with ftill fweeter confolations under all 
 " its experience of human infirmities ; fupported 
 " by the gladdening affurances that every fmcere 
 <f endeavour to outgrow them fhall be aflifted, ac- 
 " cepted, and rewarded. To fuch a one the low- 
 <e Heft felf-abafement is but a deep-laid foundation 
 Cf for the moft elevated hopes ; fince they who faith- 
 * c fully examine and acknowledge what they are, 
 
 " fhali
 
 N*44- THE RAMBLER. 287 
 
 " fhall be enabled under my conduct to become 
 cc what they defire. The chriftian and the hero are 
 * e infeparable ; and to afpirings of unaffuming truft, 
 " and filial confidence, are fet no bounds. To him 
 cc who is animated with a view of obtaining appro- 
 " bation from the fovereign of the univerfe, no dif- 
 C ficulty is infurmountable. Secure in this purfuit 
 <c of every needful aid, his conflict with the fevereft 
 " pains and trials, is little more than the vigorous 
 " exercifes of a mind in health. His patient de- 
 " pendence on that providence which looks through 
 c all eternity, his filent refignation, his ready ac- 
 " commodation of his thoughts and behaviour to 
 " its infcrutable ways, is at once the moil excellent 
 cc fort of felf-denial, and a fource of the moft ex- 
 " alted tranfports. Society is the true fphere of 
 " human virtue. In focial, active life, difficulties 
 " will perpetually be met with; reftraints of many 
 " kinds will be necefTary ; and ftudying to behave 
 " right in refpect of thefe is a difcipline of the hu- 
 t{ man heart, ufeful to others, and improving to 
 " itfelf. Suffering is no duty but where it is ne- 
 " ceflary to avoid guilt, or to do good; nor plea- 
 " fure a crime, but where it ftrengthens the influ- 
 " ence of bad inclinations, or leffens the generous 
 " activity of virtue. The happinefs allotted to man 
 " in his prefent ftate, is indeed faint and low, com- 
 " pared with his immortal profpects, and noble ca- 
 " pacities j but yet whatever portion of it the dif- 
 " tributing hand of heaven offers to each individual, 
 < is a needful fupport and refreihment for the pre- 
 cc fent moment, fo far as it may not hinder the at- 
 " taining of his final deftination, 
 
 cc Return
 
 288 THE RAMBLER. N 
 
 " Return then with me from continual mifery to 
 <e moderate enjoyment and grateful alacrity. Rc- 
 " turn from the contracted views of folitude to the 
 " proper duties of a relative and dependent being. 
 <c Religion is not confined to cells and clofets, nor 
 <f reftrained to fullen retirement. Thefe are the 
 <c gloomy doctrines of SUPERSTITION, by which fhe 
 " endeavours to break thofe chains of benevolence 
 < e and focial affection, that link the welfare of every 
 ce particular with that of the whole. Remember 
 <c that the greateft honour you can pay to the Au- 
 " thor of your being is by fuch a cheerful beha- 
 <c viour, as difcovers a mind fatisfied with his difpen- 
 " fations." 
 
 Here my preceptrefs paufed, and I was going to 
 exprels my acknowledgments for her difcourfe, when 
 a ring of bells from the neighbouring village, and 
 a new-rifen fun darting his beams through my win- 
 dows, awaked me. 
 
 I am. Yours, &c.
 
 45- THE RAMBLER. 289 
 
 NUMB. 45. TUESDAY, Augujl 21, 1750. 
 
 U R I P, 
 
 This is the chief felicity of life, 
 
 That concord fmile on the connubial bed J 
 
 But now 'tis hatred all - 
 
 To the RAMBLER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 THOUGH, in the diflertations which you 
 have given us on marriage, very juft cau- 
 tions are laid down againfl the common caufes of 
 infelicity, and the neceflity of having, in that im- 
 portant choice, the firft regard to virtue, is carefully 
 inculcated ; yet I cannot think the fubjecl: To much 
 exhaufted, but that a little reflection would prefent 
 to the mind many queftions, in the difcuflion of 
 which great numbers are interefted, and many pre- 
 cepts which deferve to be more particularly and for- 
 cibly imprefied. 
 
 You feem, like moft of the writers that have gone 
 before you, to have allowed as an uncontefted 
 principle, that Marriage is generally unhappy : but I 
 know not whether a man Who profefles to think for 
 himfelf, and concludes from his own obfervations, 
 does not depart from his character when he follows 
 the crowd thus implicitly, and receives maxims 
 without recalling them to a new examination, efpe- 
 
 VOL. IV. U cially
 
 290 THE RAMBLER. N 45. 
 
 cially when they comprife Ib wide a circuit of life, 
 and include fuch variety of circumftances. As I 
 have an equal right with others to give my opinion 
 of the objeds about me, and a better title to deter- 
 mine concerning that ftate which I have tried, than 
 many who talk of it without experience, I am un- 
 willing to be reftrained by mere authority from ad- 
 vancing what, I believe, an accurate view of the 
 world will confirm, that marriage is not commonly 
 unhappy, otherwife than as life is unhappy j and 
 that mod of thofe who complain of connubial mi- 
 feries, have as much fatisfaction as their nature 
 would have admitted, or their conduct procured, in 
 any other condition. 
 
 It is, indeed, common to hear both fexes repine 
 at their change, relate the happinefs of their earlier 
 years, blame the folly and raflinefs of their own 
 choice, and warn thofe whom they fee coming into 
 the world againft the fame precipitance and infatua- 
 tion. But it is to be remembered that the days 
 which they fo much wifli to call back, are the days 
 not only of celibacy but of youth, the days of no- 
 velty and improvement, of ardour and of hope, of 
 health and vigour of body, of gaiety and lightnefs 
 of heart. It is not eafy to furround life with any 
 circumftances in which youth will not be delightful; 
 and I am afraid that whether married or unmarried, 
 we fhall find the veflure of terreftrial exiftence more 
 heavy and cumbrous, the longer it is worn. 
 
 That they cenfure themfelves for the indifcretion 
 of their choice, is not a fufficient proof that they 
 have chofen ill, fmce we fee the fame difcontent at 
 every other part of life which we cannot change. 
 
 Converfe
 
 N45- THE RAMBLER. 
 
 Converfe with almoft any man, grown old in a pro- 
 fefllon, and you will find him regretting that he did 
 not enter into fome different courfe, to which he too 
 late finds his genius better adapted, or in which he 
 difcovers that wealth and honour are more eafily 
 attained. <f The merchant," fays Horace, fe en- 
 " vies the foldier, and the foldier recounts the fe- 
 " licity of the merchant; the lawyer, when his 
 " clients harafs him, calls out for the quiet of the 
 " countryman ; and the countryman, when bufmefs 
 fc calls him to town, proclaims that there is no hap- 
 " pinefs but amidft opulence and crowds." Every 
 man recounts the inconveniencies of his own ftation, 
 and thinks thofe of any other lefs, becaufe he has 
 not felt them. Thus the married praife the eale 
 and freedom of a fingle ftate, and the fmgle fly to 
 marriage from the wearinefs of folitude. From all 
 our obfervations we may collect with certainty, that 
 mifery is the lot of man, but cannot difcover in 
 what particular condition it will find mod allevia- 
 tions ; or whether all external appendages are not, 
 as we ufe them, the caufes either of good or ill. 
 
 Whoever feels great pain, naturally hopes for eafe 
 from change of pofture; he changes it, and finds 
 himfelf equally tormented : and of the fame kind 
 are the expedients by which we endeavour to ob- 
 viate or elude thofe uneafinefTes, to which mortality 
 will always be fubjec"r. It is not likely that the 
 married flate is eminently ^miferable, fince we fee 
 fuch numbers, whom the death of their partners has 
 fet free from it, entering it again. 
 
 Wives and hufbands are, indeed, inceflantly com- 
 plaining of each other; and there would be reafbn 
 
 U2 for
 
 THE RAMBLER. N45- 
 
 for imagining that almoft every houfe was infefted 
 with perverfenefs or oppreffion beyond human fuf- 
 ferance, did we not know upon how fmall occasions 
 fome minds burft out into lamentations and re- 
 proaches, and how naturally every animal revenges 
 his pain upon thofe who happen to be near, without 
 any nice examination of its caufe. We are always 
 willing to fancy ourfelves within a little of happinefs, 
 and when, with repeated efforts, we cannot reach it, 
 perfuade ourfelves that it is intercepted by an ill- 
 paired mate, fince, if we could find any other obftacle, 
 it would be our own fault that it was not removed. 
 
 Anatomifls have often remarked, that though our 
 dileafes are fufficiently numerous and fevere, yet 
 when we enquire into the flructure of the body, the 
 tendernefs of fome parts, the mimitenefs of others, 
 and the immenfe multiplicity of animal functions 
 that muft concur to the healthful and vigorous ex- 
 ercife of all our powers, there appears reafon to 
 wonder rather that we are preferved fo long, than 
 that we periih fo foon, and that our frame fubfifts 
 for a fingle day, or hour, without diforder, rather 
 than that it fhould be broken or obftructed by vio- 
 lence of accidents, or length of time. 
 
 The fame reflection arifes in my mind, upon ob- 
 fervation of the manner in which marriage is fre- 
 quently contracted. When I fee the avaricious and 
 crafty taking companions to their tables, and their 
 beds, without any enquiry, but after farms and mo- 
 ney ; or the giddy and thoughtlefs uniting themfelves 
 for life to thofe whom they have only feen by the 
 light of tapers a: a ball ; when parents make articles 
 for their children, without enquiring after their con- 
 
 fentj
 
 N 45. THE RAMBLER. 293 
 
 fentj when fome marry for heirs to difappoint their 
 brothers, and others throw themfelves into the arms 
 of thofe whom they do not love, becaufe they have 
 found themfelves rejected where they were mod foil- 
 citous to pleafe ; when fome marry becaufe their fer- 
 vants cheat them, fome becaufe they fquander their 
 own money, fome becaufe their houfes are peflered 
 with company, fome becaufe they will live like other 
 people, and fome only becaufe they are fick of them- 
 felves, I am not fo much inclined to wonder that 
 marriage is fometimes unhappy, as that it appears 
 fo little loaded with calamity ; and cannot but con- 
 clude that fociety has fomething in itfelf eminently 
 agreeable to human nature, when I find its pleafures 
 fo great that even the ill choice of a companion can 
 hardly overbalance them. 
 
 By the ancient cuftom of the Mufcovites, the 
 men and women never faw each other till they were 
 joined beyond the power of parting. It may be fuf- 
 pected that by this method many unfuitable matches 
 were produced, and many tempers afibciated that 
 were not qualified to give pleafure to each other. 
 Yet, perhaps, among a people fo little delicate, 
 where the paucity of gratifications, and the uniformity 
 of life gave no opportunity for imagination to inter- 
 pofe its objections, there was not much danger of ca- 
 pricious diflike, and while they felt neither cold nor 
 hunger, they might live quietly together, without 
 any thought of the defects of one another. 
 
 Amongft us, whom knowledge has made nice, and 
 affluence wanton, there are, indeed, more cautions 
 requifite to fecure tranquillity ; and yet if we ob- 
 ferve the manner in which thofe converfe, who have 
 
 U 3 finglejd
 
 294 THE RAMBLER. N 45. 
 
 fingled out each other for marriage, we (hall, per- 
 haps, not think that the Ruffians loft much by their 
 restraint. For the whole endeavour of both parties, 
 during the time of courtfhip, is to hinder themfelves 
 from being known, and to difguife their natural tem- 
 per, and real defires, in hypocritical imitation, flu- 
 died compliance, and continued affectation. From 
 the time that their love is avowed, neither fees the 
 other but in a mafk, and the cheat is managed often 
 on both fides with fo much art, and difcovered af- 
 terwards with fo much abruptnefs, that each has rea- 
 fon to fufpect that fome transformation has happened 
 on the wedding-night, and that by a ftrange impof- 
 ture one has been courted, and another married. 
 
 I defire you, therefore, Mr. RAMBLER, to queftion 
 all who fhall hereafter come to you with matrimonial 
 complaints, concerning their behaviour in the time 
 of courtfhip, and inform them that they are neither 
 to wonder nor repine, when a contract begun with 
 fraud has ended in difappointment, 
 
 J am, &c.
 
 N'46. THE RAMBLER. 295 
 
 NUMB. 46. SATURDAY, Auguft 25, 1750. 
 
 Genus, et prcavos, et qu& nonfecimus ipji, 
 
 Vix ea noftra voco. OVID. 
 
 Nought from my birth or anceftors I claim ; 
 All is my own, my honour and my fhame. 
 
 To the RAMBLER. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 SINCE I find that you have paid To much re- 
 gard to my complaints as to publifh them, I am 
 inclined by vanity, or gratitude, to continue our cor- 
 refpondence; and indeed, without either of thefe 
 motives, am glad of an opportunity to write, for I 
 am not accuftomed to keep in any thing that fwells 
 my heart, and have here none with whom I can freely 
 converfe. While I am thus employed, fome tedious 
 hours will flip away, and when I return to watch the 
 clock, I (hall find that I have difburdened myfelf of 
 part of the day. 
 
 You perceive that I do not pretend to write with 
 much confideration of any thing but my own con- 
 venience ; and, not to conceal from you my real fen- 
 timents, the little time which I have fpent, againft 
 my will, in folitary meditation, has not much contri- 
 buted to my veneration for authors. I have now 
 fufficient reafon to fufpect that, with all your fplendid 
 profefiions of wifdom, and feeming regard for truth, 
 you have very little fincerity; that you either write 
 what you do not think, and willingly impofe upon 
 
 U 4 mankind)
 
 296 THE RAMBLER. N 46. 
 
 mankind, or that you take no care to think right, 
 but while you fet up yourfelves as guides, miflead 
 your followers by credulity or negligence; that you 
 produce to the publick whatever notions you can fpe- 
 cioufly maintain, or elegantly exprefs, without en- 
 quiring whether they are juft; and tranfcribe here- 
 ditary falfehoods from old authors perhaps as igno- 
 rant and carelefs as yourfelves. 
 
 You may perhaps wonder that I exprefs myfelf 
 with fo much acrimony on a queftion in which wo- 
 men are fuppofed to have very little intereft ; and 
 you are likely enough, for I have feen many in- 
 flances of the faucinefs of fcholars, to tell me, that I 
 am more properly employed in playing with my kit- 
 tens, than in giving myfelf airs of criticifm, and 
 cenfuring the learned. But you are miftaken, if you 
 imagine that I am to be intimidated by your con- 
 tempt, or filenced by your reproofs. As I read, I 
 have a right to judge; as I am injured, I have a, 
 right to complain; and thefe privileges, which I 
 have purchafed at fo dear a rate, I fhall not eafijy 
 be perfuaded to refign. 
 
 To read has, indeed, never been my bufinefs, hut 
 as there are hours of leifure in the moft active life, I 
 have paffed the fuperfluities of time, which the di- 
 verfions of the town left upon my hands, in turning 
 over a large collection of tragedies and romances, 
 where, amongft other fentiments, common to all au- 
 thors of this clafs, I have found almoft every page 
 rilled with the charms and happinefs of a country 
 life; that life to which every ftatefman in the higheft 
 elevation of his profperity is contriving to retire; 
 that life to which every tragic heroine in fom,e fcene 
 
 or
 
 N'46. THE RAMBLER. 297 
 
 or other wifaes to have been born, and which is re- 
 prefented as a certain refuge from folly, from anxiety, 
 from paffion, and from guilt. 
 
 It was impoflible to read fo many paffionate ex- 
 clamations, and foodiing defcriptions, without feel- 
 ing fome defire to enjoy the ftate in which all this 
 felicity was to be enjoyed; and therefore I received 
 with raptures the invitation of my good aunt, and 
 expected that by fome unknown influence I fhould 
 find all hopes and fears, jealoufies and competitions, 
 vanifh from my heart upon my firft arrival at the 
 feats of innocence and tranquillity j that I fhould 
 deep in halcyon bowers, and wander in elyfian gar- 
 dens, where I Ihould meet with nothing but the foft- 
 nefs of benevolence, the candour of fimplicity, and 
 the cheerfulnefs of content ; where I fhould fee rea- 
 fon exerting her fovereignty over life, without any 
 interruption from envy, avarice, or ambition, and 
 every day paffing in fuch a manner as the fevered 
 wifdom Ihould approve. 
 
 This, Mr. RAMBLER, I tell you I expected, and 
 this I had by an hundred authors been taught 
 to expect. By this expectation I was led hither, 
 and here I live in perpetual uneafmefs, without 
 any other comfort than that of hoping to return to 
 London. 
 
 Having, fince I wrote my former letter, been dri- 
 ven, by the mere neceffity of efcaping from ablblute 
 inactivity, to make myfelf'more acquainted with the 
 affairs and inhabitants of this place, I am now no 
 longer an abfolute flranger to rural converfation and 
 employments, but am far from difcovering in them 
 more innocence or wifdom, than in the fentiments 
 
 or
 
 298 THE RAMBLER. N 4 6. 
 
 or conduct of thofe with whom I have pafled more 
 cheerful and more fafhionable hours. 
 
 It is common to reproach the tea-table, and the 
 park, with giving opportunities and encouragement 
 to fcandal. I cannot wholly clear them from the 
 charge ; but muft, however, obferve in favour of the 
 modifli prattlers, that, if not by principle, we are at 
 leaft by accident, lefs guilty of defamation than the 
 country ladies. For having greater numbers to ob- 
 ferve and cenfure, we are commonly content to charge 
 them only with their own faults or follies, and fel- 
 dom give way to malevolence, but fuch as arifes 
 from ibme injury or affront, real or imaginary, 
 offered to ourfelves. But in thefe diftant provinces, 
 where the fame families inhabit the fame houfes from 
 age to age, they tranfmit and recount the faults of a 
 whole fucceffion. I have been informed how every 
 eftate in the neighbourhood was originally got, and 
 find, if I may credit the accounts given me, that 
 there is not a fingle acre in the hands of the right 
 owner. I have been told of intrigues between 
 beaus and toafts that have been now three centuries 
 in their quiet graves, and am often entertained with 
 traditional fcandal on perfons of whofe names there 
 would have been no remembrance, had they not 
 committed fomewhat that might difgrace their de- 
 fcendents. 
 
 In one of my vifits I happened to commend the 
 air and dignity of a young lady, who had juft left 
 the company j upon which two grave matrons 
 looked with great flinefs at each other, and the elder 
 afked me whether I had ever feen the picture of 
 Henry the eighth. You may imagine that I did not 
 
 imme-
 
 N 4 6. THE RAMBLER. 99 
 
 immediately perceive the propriety of the queftion ; 
 but after having waited a while for information, I 
 was told that the lady's grandmother had a great 
 great grandmother that was an attendant on Anna 
 Bullen, and fuppofed to have been too much a fa- 
 vourite of the king. 
 
 If once there happens a quarrel between the prin- 
 cipal perfons of two families, the malignity is con- 
 tinued without end, and it is common for old maids 
 to fall out about fome election, in which their grand- 
 fathers were competitors , the heart-burnings of the 
 civil war are not yet extinguifhed ; there are two 
 families in the neighbourhood who have deftroyed 
 each other's game from the time of Philip and 
 Mary; and when an account came of an inundation, 
 which had injured the plantations of a worthy gentle- 
 man, one of the hearers remarked, with exultation, 
 that he might now have fome notion of the ravages 
 committed by his anceftors in their retreat from Bof- 
 worth. 
 
 Thus malice and hatred defcend here with an in- 
 heritance, and it is neceflary to be well verfed in 
 hiftory, that the various factions of this county may 
 be understood. You cannot expert to be on good 
 terms with families who are refolved to love nothing 
 in common; and, in fele&ing your intimates, you 
 are perhaps to confider which party you moft favour 
 in the barons wars. I have often loft the good 
 opinion of my aunt's vifitants by confounding the 
 interefts of York and Lancafter, and was once cen- 
 fured for fitting filent when William Rufus was 
 called a tyrant. J have, however, now thrown 
 
 afide
 
 3co T H E R A M B L E R. N 46. 
 
 afide all pretences to circumfpection, for I find it 
 impofiible in lefs than feven years to learn all the 
 requifite cautions. At London, if you know your 
 company, and their parents, you are fafej but you 
 are here fufpected of alluding to the flips of great- 
 grandmothers, and of reviving contefts which were 
 decided in armour by the redoubted knights of 
 ancient times. I hope therefore that you will not 
 condemn my impatience, if I am weary of attend- 
 ing where nothing can be learned, and of quarrel- 
 ling where there is nothing to conteft, and that you 
 will contribute to divert me while I ftay here by 
 Come facetious performance. 
 
 I am, SIR, 
 
 EUPHELIA.
 
 NO 47 THE RAMBLER. 301 
 
 NUMB. 47. TUESDAY, Augujl 28, 1750. 
 
 Quanquam his folatiis acquiefcam, debilitor ff frangor tadem ilia 
 humanitate qua me, ut hoc ipfum permitterem, induxit, non idea 
 tamen welim durior fieri : nee ignoro olios hujufmodi cafus nihil 
 arnplius -vocare quam damnum ; eoqus febi magnos homines & fapi- 
 etites <videri. Qui an magni fapientefque Jint, nefcio : homines non 
 funt. Hominis eft enim affici dolor e, f entire : refiftere tamen t & 
 folatia admittere'y non folatiis non egere. PLIN. 
 
 Thefe' proceedings have afforded me fome comfort in my diftrefs ; 
 notwithftanding which, I am ftill difpirited, and unhinged by 
 the fame motives of humanity that induced me to grant fucli 
 indulgences. However, I by no means wifh to become lefs 
 fufceptible of tendernefs. I know thefe kind of misfortunes 
 would be eftimated by other perfons only as common lofles, and 
 "from fuch fenfations they would conceive themfelves great and 
 wife men. I (hall not determine either their greatneis or their 
 wifdom ; but I am certain they have no humanity. It is the 
 part of a man to be affecled with grief; to feel forrow, at the 
 fame time that he is to refift it, and to admit of comfort. 
 
 Earl of ORRERY. 
 
 OF the pafflons with which the mind of man is 
 agitated, it may be obferved, that they natu- 
 rally haften towards their own extin&ion, by inciting 
 and quickening the attainment of their objefts. 
 Thus fear urges our flight, and defire animates our 
 progrefs ; and if there are fome which perhaps may 
 be indulged till they outgrew the good appropriated 
 to their fatisfadtion, as it is frequently obferved of 
 avarice and ambition, yet their, immediate tendency 
 is to fome means of happinefs really exifting, and 
 generally within the profpecl:. The mifer always 
 
 imagines
 
 302 THE RAMBLER. N 47. 
 
 imagines that there is a certain fum that will fill his 
 heart to the brim; and every ambitious man, like 
 king Pyrrhus, has an acquifition in his thoughts 
 that is to terminate his labours, after which he (hall 
 pafs the reft of his life in eafe or gaiety, in repofe or 
 devotion. 
 
 Sorrow is perhaps the only affection of the bread 
 that can be excepted from this general remark, and 
 it therefore deferves the particular attention of thofe 
 who have affumed the arduous province of preferving 
 the balance of the mental conftitution. The other 
 pafiions are difeafes indeed, but they necefiarily 
 direct us to their proper cure. A man at once feels 
 the pain, and knows the medicine, to which he is 
 carried with greater hade as the evil which requires 
 it is more excruciating, and cures himfelf by uner- 
 ring inftinct, as the wounded (tags of Crete are re- 
 lated by vElian to have recourfe to vulnerary herbs. 
 But for forrow there is no remedy provided by na- 
 ture; it is often occafioned by accidents irreparable, 
 and dwells upon objects that have loft or changed 
 their exiftence; it requires what it cannot hope, 
 that the laws of the univerfe fhould be repealed ; 
 that the dead fhould return, or the paft fhould be 
 recalled. 
 
 Sorrow is not that regret for negligence or error 
 which may animate us to future care or activity, or 
 that repentance of crimes for which, however irre- 
 vocable, our Creator has promifed to accept it as an 
 atonement; the pain which arifes from thefe caufes 
 has very falutary effects, and is every hour extenuat- 
 ing itfelf by the reparation of thofe mifcarriages that 
 produce it. Sorrow is properly that ftate of the 
 
 mind
 
 N47- THE RAMBLER. 303 
 
 mind in which our deflres are fixed upon the paft, 
 without looking forward to the future, an inceffant 
 wilh that fomething were otherwife than it has been> 
 a tormenting and harafiing want of fome enjoyment 
 or pofTeflion which we have loft, and which no en- 
 deavours can poflibly regain. Into fuch anguifh 
 many have funk upon fome fudden diminution of 
 their fortune, an unexpected blaft of their reputa- 
 tion, or the lofs of children or of friends. They 
 have fuffered all fenfibility of pleafure to be de- 
 ftroyed by a tingle blow, have given up for ever the 
 hopes of fubftituting any other object in the room 
 of that which they lament, refigned their lives to 
 gloom and defpondency, and worn themfelves out in 
 unavailing mifery. 
 
 Yet fo much is this paffion the natural confe- 
 quence of tendernefs and endearment, that, however 
 painful and however ufelefs, it is juftjy reproachful 
 not to feel it on fome occafions ; and fo widely and 
 conftantly. has it always prevailed, that the laws of 
 fome nations, and the cuftoms of others, have li- 
 mited a time for the external appearances of grief 
 caufed by the diffolution of clofe alliances, and the 
 breach of domeftick union. 
 
 It feems determined by the general fuffrage of 
 mankind, that forrow is to a certain point laudable, 
 as the offspring of love, or at lead pardonable, as the 
 effect of weaknefsi but that it ought not to be fuf- 
 fered to increafe by indulgence, but muft give way, 
 after a ftated time, to focial duties, and the common 
 avocations of life. It is at firft unavoidable, and 
 therefore muft be allowed, whether with or without 
 our choice; it may afterwards be admitted as a 
 
 decent
 
 THE RAMBLER. N47. 
 
 decent and affectionate teftimony of kindnefs and 
 efteem ; fomething will be extorted by nature, and 
 fomething may be given to the world. But all be- 
 yond the burfts of paffion, or the forms of lblemnity> 
 is not only ufelefs, but culpable; for we have no 
 right to facrifice, to the vain longings of affection, 
 that time which providence allows us for the tafk of 
 our ftation. 
 
 Yet it too often happens that fbrrow, thus lawful-* 
 ly entering, gains fuch a firm pofTeffion of the mind, 
 that it is not afterwards to be ejected ; the mournful 
 ideas, firft violently impreffed, and afterwards wil- 
 lingly received, fo much engrofs the attention, as to 
 predominate in every thought, to darken gaiety, and 
 perplex ratiocination. An habitual fadnefs feizes 
 upon the foul, and the faculties are chained to a 
 fingle object, which can never be contemplated but 
 with hopelefs uneafmefs. 
 
 From this ftate of dejection it is very difficult to 
 rife to cheerfulnefs and alacrity, and therefore many 
 who have laid down rules of intellectual health, 
 think prefervatives eafier than remedies, and teach 
 us not to trull ourfelves with favourite enjoyments, 
 not to indulge the luxury of fondnefs, but to keep 
 our minds always fufpended in fuch indifference, that 
 we may change the objects about us without emotion. 
 
 An exact compliance with this rule might, per- 
 haps, contribute to tranquillity, but furely it would 
 never produce happinefs. He that regards none fo 
 much as to be afraid of lofing them, muft live for 
 ever without the gentle pleafures of fympathy and 
 confidence; he muft feel no melting fondnefs, no 
 warmth of benevolence, nor any of thofe honeft joys 
 
 which
 
 N 47- T.HE RAMBLER. 305 
 
 which nature annexes to the power of pleafing. And 
 as no man can juftly claim more tendernefs than he 
 pays, he muft forfeit his lhare in that officious and 
 watchful kindnefs which love only can dictate, and 
 thofe lenient endearments by which love only can 
 foften life. He may juftly be overlooked and ne- 
 glected by fuch as have more warmth in their heart ; 
 for who would be the friend of him, whom, with 
 whatever affiduity he may be courted, and with 
 whatever fervices obliged, his principles will not 
 fuffer to make equal returns, and who, when you 
 have x exhaufted all the inftances.of good will, can 
 only be prevailed on not to be an enemy ? 
 
 An attempt to preferve life in a ftate of neutrality 
 and indifference, is unreafonable and vain. If by 
 excluding joy we could fhut our grief, the fcheme 
 would deferve very ferious attention ; but fince, 
 however we may debar ourfelves from happinefs, 
 mifery will find its way at many inlets, and the af- 
 faults of pain will force our regard, though we may 
 withhold it from the invitations of pleafure, we may 
 furely endeavour to raife life above the middle point 
 of apathy at one time, fmce it will neceflarily fink 
 below it at another. 
 
 But though it cannot be reafonable not to gain hap- 
 pinefs for fear of lofing it, yet it muft be confefled, 
 that in proportion to the pleafure of poiTefllon, will 
 be for fome time our forrow for the lofs ; it is there- 
 fore the province of the moralift to enquire whether 
 fuch pains may not quickly give way to mitigation. 
 Some have thought that the moft certain way to clear 
 the heart from its embarraffment is to drag it by 
 
 VOL. IV. X force
 
 3o6 THE RAMBLER. N 47. 
 
 force into fcenes of merriment. Others imagine, 
 that fuch a tranfition is too violent, and recommend 
 rather to footh it into tranquillity, by making it 
 acquainted with miferies more dreadful and afflic- 
 tive, and diverting to the calamities of others the 
 regard which we are inclined to fix too clofely upon 
 our own misfortunes. 
 
 It may be doubted whether either of thofe re- 
 medies will be fufficiently powerful. The efficacy 
 of mirth it is not always eafy to try, and the in- 
 dulgence of melancholy may be fufpected to be one 
 of thofe medicines, which will deltroy, if it happens 
 not to cure. 
 
 The fafe and general antidote againft fbrrow, is 
 employment. It is commonly obferved, that 
 among foldiers and feamen, though there is much 
 kindnefs, there is little grief; they fee their friend 
 fall without any of that lamentation which is in- 
 dulged in fecurity and idlenefs, becaufe they have 
 no leifure to fpare from the care of themfelves ; and 
 whoever fhall keep his thoughts equally bufy, will 
 find himfelf equally unaffected with irretrievable 
 lofles. 
 
 Time is obferved generally to wear out forrow, 
 and its effects might doubtlefs be accelerated by 
 quickening the fucceffion, and enlarging the variety 
 of objects. 
 
 Si tempore longo 
 
 Leniri polerit luttus, tufpcrne morari % 
 >ui fapiet fibi tempus erit . G R T I w S . 
 
 'Tis long ere time can mitigate your grief; 
 
 To wifdom fly, {he quickly brings relief. F. LEWIS. 
 
 Sorrow
 
 N48. THE RAMBLER. 307 
 
 Sorrow is a kind of ruft of the foul, which every 
 new idea contributes in its paffage to fcour away. 
 It is the putrefaction of ftagnant life, and is reme- 
 died by exercife and motion. 
 
 NUMB. 48. SATURDAY, Sept. i, 1750. 
 
 Non eft <vi<uere,fed <valere, vita. MART. 
 
 For life is not to live, but to be well. ELPHINSTON. 
 
 AMONG the innumerable follies, by which we 
 lay up in our youth repentance and remorfe 
 for the fucceeding part of our lives, there is fcarce 
 any againft which warnings are of lefs efficacy, than 
 the neglect of health. When the fprings of motion 
 are yet elaftick, when the heart bounds with vigour, 
 and the eye fparkles with fpirit, it is with difficulty 
 that we are taught to conceive the imbecility that 
 every hour is bringing upon us, or to imagine that 
 the nerves which are now braced with fo much 
 ftrength, and the limbs which play with fo much 
 activity, will lofe all their power under the gripe of 
 time, relax with numbnefs, and totter with debility. 
 
 To the arguments which have been ufed againft 
 complaints under the miferies of life, the philofo- 
 phers have, I think, forgot to add the incredulity 
 of thofe to whom we recount our fufferings. But 
 if the purpofe of lamentation be to excite pity, it is 
 furely fuperfluous for age and weaknefs to tell their 
 plaintive ftoriesj for pity prefuppofes fympathy, 
 and a little attention will fhew them, that thofe 
 
 X 2 who
 
 3o3 THE RAMBLER. N 48. 
 
 who do not feel pain, feldom think that it is felt; 
 and a fhort recollection will inform almotl every 
 man, that he is only repaid the infult which he has 
 given, fince he may remember how often he has 
 mocked infirmity, laughed at its cautions, and cen- 
 fured its impatience. 
 
 The valetudinarian race have made the care of 
 health ridiculous by fufFering it to prevail over all 
 other confiderations, as the mifer has brought fru- 
 gality into contempt, by permitting the love of mo- 
 ney not to fhare, but to engrofs his mind : they 
 both err alike, by confounding the means with the 
 end; they grafp at health only to be well, as at mo- 
 ney only to be rich ; and forget that every terreftrial 
 advantage is chiefly valuable, as it furnifhes abilities 
 for the exercife of virtue. 
 
 Health is indeed fo neceffary to all the duties, as 
 well as pleafures of life, that the crime of fquander- 
 ing it is equal to the folly ; and he that for a fhort 
 gratification brings weaknefs and difeafes upon 
 himfelf, and for the pleafure of a few years pafTed 
 in the tumults of diverfion, and clamours of merri- 
 ment, condemns the maturer and more experienced 
 part of his life to the chamber and the couch, may 
 be juftly reproached, not only as a fpendthrift of his 
 own happinefs, but as a robber of the publick; 
 "as a wretch that has voluntarily dilqualified himfelf 
 for the bufmefs of his ftation, and refufed that part 
 which providence afligns him in the general talk of 
 human nature. 
 
 There are perhaps very few conditions more to 
 be pitied than that of an active and elevated mind, 
 labouring under the weight of a diftempered body ; 
 
 the
 
 N 4 8. THE RAMBLER. 309 
 
 the time of fuch a man is always fpent in forming 
 fchemes, which a change of wind hinders him from 
 executing, his powers fume away in projects and 
 in hope, and the day of action never arrives. He 
 lies down delighted with the thoughts of to-mor- 
 row, pleafes his ambition with the fame he (hall 
 acquire, or his benevolence with the good he (hall 
 confer. But in the night the ikies are overcafl, the 
 temper of the air is changed, he wakes in languor, 
 impatience, and diffraction, and has no longer any 
 wilh but for eaie, nor any attention but to mifery. 
 It may be faid that difeafe generally begins that 
 equality which death completes ; the diftinctions 
 which fet one man fo much above another are very 
 little perceived in the gloom of a fick chamber, 
 where it will be vain to expect entertainment from 
 the gay, or inflruction from the wifej where all hu- 
 man glory is obliterated, the wit is clouded, the rea- 
 foner perplexed, and the hero fubdued; where the 
 higheft and brighteft of mortal beings finds nothing 
 left him but the confcioufnefs of innocence. 
 
 There is among the fragments of the Greek poets 
 a fhort hymn to Health, in which her power of ex- 
 alting the happinefs of life, of heightening the gifts 
 of fortune, and adding enjoyment to poffefiion, is 
 inculcated with fo much force and beauty, that no 
 one, who has ever languifhed under the difcom- 
 forts and infirmities of a lingering difeafe, can read 
 it without feeling the image's dance in his heart, and 
 adding from his own experience new vigour to the 
 wifh, and from his own imagination new colours to 
 the picture. The particular occafion of this little 
 compofition is not known, but it is probable that 
 
 X 3 the
 
 310 THE RAMBLER. N 48. 
 
 the author had been fick, and in the firft raptures 
 of returning vigour addreflfed Health in the follow- 
 ing manner : 
 
 (78 
 
 To XsiTTO 
 
 T? gJJaixovo'j T ai/Ou 
 *i 
 
 H < r 
 
 H sro'vwi/ apirvoot 
 
 Health t mojl venerable of the powers of heaven ! with thee 
 may the remaining part of my life be pajjl'd, nor do thou refiifr 
 to blefs me with thy refidence. For whatever there is of beauty 
 or of pleafure in wealth, in defcendants^ or in fovereign com- 
 mand, the highejl fummit of human enjoyment, or in thofe ob- 
 jfffs of dejire which we endeavour to chafe into the toils of love ; 
 ivhatever delight, or whatever folace is granted by the celejiials, 
 to f of ten our fatigues, in thy prefence, thou parent of happinefs, 
 all thofe joys fpread out and flour iftj ; in thy prefence blooms the 
 fpring of pleafure, and without thee no man is happy. 
 
 Such is the power of health, that without its co- 
 operation every other comfort is torpid and lifelefs, 
 as the powers of vegetation without the fun. And 
 yet this blifs is commonly thrown away in though t- 
 lefs negligence, or in foolifh experiments on our own 
 ftrengthi we let it perifh without remembering its 
 
 value,
 
 N48. THE RAMBLER. 311 
 
 value, or wafte it to fhow how much we have to 
 fpare; it is fometimes given up to the management 
 of levity and chance, and fometimes fold for the 
 applaufe of jollity and debauchery. 
 
 Health is equally neglected, and with equal im- 
 propriety, by the votaries of bufmefs and the fol- 
 lowers of pleafure. Some men ruin the fabrick of 
 their bodies by inceffant revels, and others by in- 
 temperate ftudiesj fome batter it by excefs, and 
 others fap it by inactivity. To the noify route of 
 bacchanalian rioters, it will be to little purpofe that 
 advice is offered, though it requires no great abili- 
 ties to prove, that he lofes pleafure who lofes health ; 
 their clamours are too loud for the whifpers of cau- 
 tion, and they run the courfe of life with too much 
 precipitance to flop at the call of wifdom. Nor 
 perhaps will they that are bufied in adding thou- 
 fands to thoufands, pay much regard to him that 
 fhall direct them to haften more flowly to their 
 wifhes. Yet fince lovers of money are generally 
 cool, deliberate, and thoughtful, they might furely 
 confider, that the greater good ought not to be fa- 
 crificed to the lefs. Health is certainly more va- 
 luable than money, becaufe it is by health that mo- 
 ney is procured ; but thoufands and millions are of 
 fmall avail to alleviate the protracted tortures of 
 the gout, to repair the broken organs of fenfe, or 
 refufcitate the powers of digeftion. Poverty is, in- 
 deed, an evil from whicfT we naturally fly ; but let 
 us not run from one enemy to another, nor take 
 fhelter in the arms of ficknefs. 
 
 X 4 Projeeere
 
 312 THE RAMBLER. N 48. 
 
 Projecere animain ! quam vellent tsthere in alto 
 Nunc ff pauperiem, & duros tolerare labores ! 
 
 For healthful indigence in vain they pray, 
 In queft of wealth who throw their lives away. 
 
 Thofe who lofe their health in an irregular and 
 impetuous purfuit of literary accomplifhments are 
 yet lefs to be excufed ; for they ought to know that 
 the body is not forced beyond its ftrength, but with 
 the lofs of more vigour than is proportionate to the 
 effect produced. Whoever takes up life before- 
 hand, by depriving himfelf of reft and refrefhmenr, 
 muft not only pay back the hours, but pay them 
 back with ufury j and for the gain of a few months 
 but half enjoyed, muft give up years to the lift- 
 lefihefs of languor, and the implacability of pain. 
 They whofe endeavour is mental excellence, will 
 learn perhaps too late, how much it is endangered 
 by difeafes of the body, and find that knowledge 
 may eafily be loft in the ftarts of melancholy, the 
 flights of impatience, and the peeviflinefs of decre- 
 pitude.
 
 N49- THE RAMBLER. 313 
 
 NUMB. 49. TUESDAY, September 4, 1750. 
 
 Non omnis moriar t multaque pars met 
 Vitabit Libitinam, ufque ego pojterd 
 I Crefcam lauds recent. Ho R . 
 
 Whole Horace fhall not die ; his fongs fliall fave 
 
 The greateft portion from the greedy grave. CREECH. 
 
 TH E firft motives of human actions are thofe 
 appetites which providence has given to man 
 in common with the reft of the inhabitants of the 
 earth. Immediately after our birth, thirft and hun- 
 ger incline us to the breaft, which we draw by inftinct, 
 like other young creatures, and when we are fatisfied, 
 we exprefs our uneafmefs by importunate and incef- 
 fant cries, till we have obtained a place or pofture 
 proper for repofe. 
 
 The next call that roufes us from a ftate of in- 
 activity, is that of our paffions j we quickly begin 
 to be fenfible of hope and fear, love and hatred, 
 defire and averfion ; thefe arifing from the power 
 of comparifon and reflection, extend their range 
 wider, as our reafon ftrengthens, and our know- 
 ledge enlarges. At firft we have no thought of 
 pain, but when we actually feel itj we afterwards 
 begin to fear it, yet not before it approaches us 
 very nearly j but by degrees we difcover it at a 
 greater diftance, and find it lurking in remote con- 
 lequences. Our terror in time improves into cau- 
 tion, and we learn to look round with vigilance and 
 
 folicitude,
 
 314 THE RAMBLER. N<> 49. 
 
 folicitude, to flop all the avenues at which mifery 
 can enter, and to perform or endure many things in 
 themfelves toilfome and unpleafing, becaufe we know 
 by reafon, or by experience, that our labour will be 
 overbalanced by the reward, that it will either pro- 
 cure fome pofitive good, or avert fome evil greater 
 than itfelf. 
 
 But as the foul advances to a fuller exercife of its 
 powers, the animal appetites, and the pafiions im- 
 mediately arifmg from them, are not fufficient to 
 find it employment ; the wants of nature are foon 
 fupplied, the fear of their return is eafily precluded, 
 and fomething more is neceflfary to relieve the long 
 intervals of inactivity, and to give thofe faculties, 
 which cannot lie wholly quiefcent, fome particular 
 direction. For this reafon, new defires and arti- 
 ficial pafiions are by degrees produced j and, from 
 having wifhes only in confequence of our wants, 
 we begin to feel wants in confequence of our wifhes - t 
 we perfuade ourfelves to fet a value upon things 
 which are of no ufe, but becaufe we have agreed to 
 value them ; things which can neither fatisfy hun- 
 ger, nor mitigate pain, nor fecure us from any real 
 calamity, and which, therefore, we find of no efteem 
 among thofe nations whofe artlefs and barbarous 
 manners keep them always anxious for the neceflaries 
 of life. 
 
 This is the original of avarice, vanity, ambition, 
 and generally of all thofe defires which arife from 
 the comparifon of our condition with that of others. 
 He that thinks himfelf poor becaufe his neighbour 
 is richer; he that, like Casfar, would rather be the 
 firft man of a village, than the fecond in the ca- 
 pital
 
 N 49- THE RAMBLER. 315 
 
 pital of the world, has apparently kindled in himfelf 
 defires which he never received from nature, and afts 
 upon principles eftablifhed only by the authority of 
 cuftom. 
 
 Of thofe adfcititious paffions, fome, as avarice and 
 envy, are univerfally condemned ; fome, as friend- 
 fhip and curiofity, generally praifedj but there are 
 others about which the fuffrages of the wife are di- 
 vided, and of which it is doubted, whether they tend 
 moft to promote the happinefs, or increafe the mife- 
 ries of mankind. 
 
 Of this ambiguous and difputable kind is the 
 love of fame, a defire of filling the minds of others 
 with admiration, and of being celebrated by ge- 
 nerations to come with praifes which we fhall not 
 hear. This ardour has been confidered by fome, 
 as nothing better than fplendid madnefs, as a 
 flame kindled by pride, and fanned by folly j for 
 what, fay they, can be more remote from wifdom, 
 than to direct all our actions by the hope of that 
 which is not to exift till we ourfelves are in the 
 grave ? To pant after that which can never be pof- 
 fefTed, and of which the value thus wildly put 
 upon it, arifes from this particular condition, that, 
 during life, it is not to be obtained ? To gain the 
 favour, and hear the applaufes of our contempora- 
 ries, is indeed equally defirable with any other pre- 
 rogative of fuperiority, becaufe fame may be of 
 ufe to fmooth the paths of life, to terrify oppo- 
 fition, and fortify tranquillity; but to what end 
 fhall we be the darlings of mankind, when we can 
 no longer receive any benefits from their favour ? 
 It is more reafonable to wifh for reputation, while 
 
 it
 
 ji6 THE RAMBLER. N 49, 
 
 it may yet be enjoyed, as Anacreon calls upon his 
 companions to give him for prefent ufe the wine 
 and garlands which they purpofe to beftow upon his 
 tomb. 
 
 The advocates for the love of fame allege in its 
 vindication, that it is a paffion natural and univer- 
 fal ; a flame lighted by heaven, and always burning 
 with greateft vigour in the moft enlarged and ele- 
 vated minds. That the defire of being praifed by 
 pofterity implies a refolution to deferve their praifes, 
 and that the folly charged upon it, is only a noble 
 and difmterefted generofity, which is not felt, and 
 therefore not underftood, by thofe who have been 
 always accuftomed to refer every thing to themfelves, 
 and whofe felftfhnefs has contracted their under- 
 flandings. That the foul of man, formed for eter- 
 nal life, naturally fprings forward beyond the limits 
 of corporeal exiftence, and rejoices to confider her- 
 felf as co-operating with future ages, and as co-ex- 
 tended with endlefs duration. That the reproach 
 urged with fo much petulance, the reproach of la- 
 bouring for what cannot be enjoyed, is founded on 
 an opinion which may with great probability be 
 doubted ; for fince we fuppofe the powers of the 
 foul to be enlarged by its feparation, why Ihould we 
 conclude that its knowledge of fublunary tranfactions 
 is contracted or extinguished ? 
 
 Upon an attentive and impartial review of the 
 argument, it will appear that the love of fame is to 
 be regulated rather than extinguished ; and that men 
 Ihould be taught not to be wholly carelefs about 
 their memory, but to endeavour that they may be 
 remembered chiefly for their virtues, fmce no other 
 
 repu-
 
 N49- THE RAMBLER. 317 
 
 reputation will be able to tranfmit any pleafure be- 
 yond the grave. 
 
 It is evident that fame, confidered merely as the 
 immortality of a name, is not lefs likely to be the 
 reward of bad actions than of good ; he therefore has 
 no certain principle for the regulation of his conduct, 
 whole fingle aim is not to be forgotten. And hiftory 
 will inform us, that this blind and undiftinguiihing 
 appetite of renown has always been uncertain in its 
 effects, and directed by accident or opportunity, in- 
 differently to the benefit or devaftation of the world. 
 When Themiftocles complained that the trophies of 
 Miltiades hindered him from fleep, he was animated 
 by them to perform the fame fervices in the fame 
 caufe. But Caefar, when he wept at the fight of 
 Alexander's picture, having no honeft opportunities 
 of action, let his ambition break out to the ruin of 
 his country. 
 
 lf y therefore, the love of fame is fo far indulged 
 by the mind as to become independent and predo- 
 minant, it is dangerous and irregular ; but it may 
 be ufefully employed as an inferior and fecondary 
 motive, and will ferve fometimes to revive our 
 activity, when we begin to languiih and lofe fight 
 of that more certain, more valuable, and more 
 durable reward, which ought always to be our fir ft 
 hope and our laft. But it muft be flrongly im- 
 prefled upon our minds, that virtue is not to be 
 purfued as one of the means to fame, but fame to 
 be accepted as the only recompence which mor- 
 tals can beftow on virtue j to be accepted with com- 
 placence, but not fought with eagernefs. Sim- 
 ply to be remembered is no advantage j it is a pri- 
 vilege
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 49. 
 
 vilege which fatire as well as panegyrick can con- 
 fer, and is not more enjoyed by Ticus or Con- 
 flantine, than by Timocreon of Rhodes, of whom 
 we only know from his epitaph, that he had eaten 
 many a meal, drank many ajlaggon, and uttered many 
 a reproach. 
 
 ay<ui>, tt -sroXXa <ntHuv t 
 xsipcu Tipoxftuv 
 
 The true fatisfaction which is to be drawn from 
 the confcioufnefs that we fhall fhare the attention of 
 future times, muft arife from the hope, that, with 
 our name, our virtues will be propagated ; and that 
 thofe whom we cannot benefit in our lives, may re- 
 ceive inftruftion from our examples, and incitement 
 from our renown.
 
 N 50. THE RAMBLER. 319 
 
 NUMB. 50. SATURDAY, Sept 8, 1750. 
 
 Credebant hoc grande nefas, et mcrte piandum, 
 
 Si jit-vents <vetulo non ajfurrexerat , atque 
 
 Barbato cuicunque puer, licet iffe videret 
 
 Plura domi fraga, et majores glan&is acervos. Juv. 
 
 And had not men the hoary head rever'd, 
 And boys paid rev'rence when a man appear'd, 
 Both muft have died, though richer fkins they wore, 
 And faw more heaps of acorns in their ftore. CREECH. 
 
 IH A V E always thought it the bufmefs of thofe 
 who turn their fpeculations upon the living world, 
 to commend the virtues, as well as to expofe the 
 faults of their contemporaries, and to confute a falfe 
 as well as to fupport a juft accufation j not only be- 
 caufe it is peculiarly the bufinefs of a monitor to 
 keep his own reputation untainted, left thofe who can 
 once charge him with partiality, fhould indulge 
 themfelves afterwards in difbelieving him at plea- 
 fure ; but becaufe he may find real crimes fufficient 
 to give full employment to caution or repentance, 
 without diftrafting the mind by needlefs fcruples and 
 vain folicitudes. 
 
 There are certain fixed and flated reproaches that 
 one part of mankind has in all ages thrown upon an- 
 other, which are regularly tranfmitted through con- 
 tinued fucceffions, and which he that has once fuf- 
 fered them is certain to ufe with the fame undiftin- 
 guifhing vehemence, when he has changed his fla- 
 tion, and gained the prefcriptive right of inflicting 
 on others, what he had formerly endured himfelf. 
 
 To
 
 320 THE RAMBLER. N* $o. 
 
 To thefe hereditary imputations, of which no man 
 fees the juftice, till it becomes his intereft to fee it, 
 very little regard is to be fhewn ; fince it does not 
 appear that they are produced by ratiocination or en- 
 quiry, but received implicitly, or caught by a kind 
 of inftantaneous contagion, and fupported rather by 
 \villingnefs to credit than ability to prove them. 
 
 It has been always the practice of thofe who are 
 defirous to believe themfelves made venerable by 
 length of time, to cenfure the new comers into life, 
 for want of refpefl to grey hairs and fage experi- 
 ence, for heady confidence in their own imderftand- 
 ings, for hafty conclufions upon partial views, for 
 disregard of counfels, which their fathers and grand- 
 fires are ready to afford them, and a rebellious im- 
 patience of that fubordination to which youth is 
 condemned by nature, as neceffary to its fecurity 
 from evils into which it would be otherwife precipi- 
 tated, by the rafhnefs of paffion, and the blindnefs of 
 ignorance. 
 
 Every old man complains of the growing depra- 
 vity of the world, of the petulance and infolence of 
 the rifing generation. He recounts the decency and 
 regularity of former times, and celebrates the difci- 
 pline and fobriety of the age in which his youth was 
 paffed j a happy age which is now no more to be ex- 
 pected, fmce confuiion has broken in upon the world, 
 and thrown down all the boundaries of civility and 
 reverence. 
 
 It is not fufKciently confidered how much he af- 
 fumes who dares to claim the privilege of complain- 
 ing : for as every man has, in his own opinion, a 
 full (hare of the miferies of life, he is inclined to 
 
 confider
 
 N5c. THE RAMBLER: 321 
 
 confider all clamorous uneafmefs, as a proof of im- 
 patience rather than of affliction, and to afk, What 
 merit has this man to fhow, by whicli he has acquir- 
 ed a right to repine: at the diftributions of nature ? 
 Or, why does he imagine that exemptions ftnuld be 
 granted him from the general condition of man ? 
 We find ouffelves excited rather to captioufnefs than 
 pity, and inftead of being in hafte to footh his com- 
 plaints by fympathy and tendernefs, we enquire, 
 whether the pain be proportionate to the lamenta- 
 tion , arid whether, fuppofing the affliction real, it 
 is not the effect of vice and folly, rather than ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 The queruloufnefs and indignation which is ob-^ 
 ferved fb often to disfigure the laft fcene of life, na- 
 turally leads' us to enquiries like thefe. For furely 
 it will be thought at the firft view of things, that if 
 age be thus contemned and ridiculed, infulted and 
 neglected, the crime muft at lead be equal on either 
 part; They who have had opportunities of eftablifh- 
 ing their authority over minds ductile and unrefift- 
 ing, they who have been the protectors of helpleff- 
 nefs, and the inftructors of ignorance, and who yet 
 retain in their own hands the power of wealth, and 
 the dignity of command, muft defeat their influence 
 by their own mifconduct, and make ufe of all thefe 
 advantages with very little (kill, if they cannot fe- 
 cure to themfelves an appearance of refpect, and 
 ward off open mockery, and declared contempt. 
 
 The general (lory of mankind will evince, that 
 
 lawful and fettled authority is very feldom refitted 
 
 when it is well employed. Grofs corruption, or 
 
 evident imbecility, is neceflary to the fupprefiion of 
 
 VOL. IV. Y that
 
 322 THE RAMBLER. N 50. 
 
 that reverence with which the majority of mankind 
 look upon their governors, and on thofe whom they 
 fee furrounded by fplendour, and fortified by power. 
 For though men are drawn by their paflions into for- 
 getfulnefs of invifible rewards and punifliments, yet 
 they are eafily kept obedient to thofe who have tem- 
 poral dominion in their hands, till their veneration is 
 diflipated by fuch wickednefs and folly as can neither 
 be defended nor concealed. 
 
 , It may, therefore, very reafonably be fufpecled 
 that the old draw upon themfelves the greateft part of 
 thofe infults which they fo much lament, and that 
 age is rarely defpifed but when it is contemptible. 
 If men imagine that excefs of debauchery can be 
 made reverend by time, that knowledge is the con- 
 fequence of long life, however idly or thoughtlefsly 
 employed, that priority of birth will fupply the want 
 of fteadinefs or honefty, can it raife much wonder 
 that their hopes are difappointed, and that they fee 
 their pofterity rather willing to truft their own eyes 
 in their progrefs into life, than enlift themfelves un- 
 der guides who have loft their way ? 
 
 There are, indeed, many truths which time ne- 
 eeffarily and certainly teaches, and which might, by 
 thofe who have learned them from experience, be 
 communicated to their fuccefibrs at a cheaper rate : 
 but dictates, though liberally enough beftowed, are 
 generally without effect, the teacher gains few profe- 
 lytes by inftruction which his own behaviour contra- 
 dicts; and young men mifs the benefit of counfel, be- 
 caufe they are not very ready to believe that thofe who- 
 fall below them in practice, can much excel them in 
 theory. Thus the progrefs of knowledge is retarded, 
 
 the
 
 N'$o. THE RAMBLER. 3 i 3 
 
 the world is kept long in the fame (late, and every 
 new race is to gain the prudence of their predeceiTors 
 by committing and redreffing the fame mifcarriages. 
 
 To fecure to the old that influence which they are 
 willing to claim, and which might fo much contri* 
 bute to the improvement of the^ arts of life, it is ab- 
 folutely neceflary that they give themfelves up to the 
 duties of declining years; and contentedly refign to 
 youth its levity, its pleafures, its frolicks, and its 
 fopperies. It is a hopelefs endeavour to unite tlje 
 contrarieties of fpring and winter; it is unjuft to 
 claim the privileges of age, and retain the playthings 
 of childhood. The young always form magnificent 
 ideas of the wifdom and gravity of men, whom they 
 confider ajs placed at a diftance from them in the 
 ranks of exiftence, and naturally look on thofe whom 
 they find trifling with long beards, with contempt 
 and indignation, like that which women feel at the 
 effeminacy of men. If dotards will contend with boys 
 in thofe performances in which boys muft always ex- 
 cel them; if they will drefs crippled limbs in em- 
 broidery, endeavour at gaiety with faultering voices ; 
 and darken afTemblies of pleafure with the ghaftlinefs 
 of difeafe, they may well expect thofe who find their 
 diverfions obftructed will hoot them away ; and that 
 if they defcend to competition with vouch, they muft 
 bear the infolence of fuccefsful rivals. 
 
 ' Lujlfti fatisy edijli fatls atque bibifti: 
 abire tibi eft. 
 
 You've had your fhare of mirth, of meat and drink ; 
 'Tis time to quit the fcene 'tis time to think. 
 
 ELPHINSTON, 
 
 Y 2 Another
 
 3*4 THE RAMBLER. N 50. 
 
 , Another vice of age, by which the rifing genera* 
 tion may be alienated from it, is feverity and cenfori- 
 oufnefs, that gives no allowance to the failings of 
 early life, that expects artfulnefs from childhood, and 
 conftancy from youth, that is peremptory in every 
 command, and inexorable to every failure. There 
 are many who live merely to hinder happinefs, and 
 whofe defcendants can only tell of long life, that it 
 produces fufpicion, malignity, peevifhnefs, and per- 
 fecution : and yet even thefe tyrants can talk of the 
 ingratitude of the age, curfe their heirs for impa- 
 tience, and wonder that young men cannot take plea- 
 fure in their father's company. 
 
 He that would pafs the latter part of life with ho- 
 nour and decency, muft, when he is young, confider 
 that he (hall one day be old; and remember, when 
 he is old, that he has once been young. In youth he 
 muft lay up knowledge for his fupport, when hia 
 powers of acting fhall forfake him ; and in age for- 
 bear to animadvert with rigour on faults which expe- 
 rience only can correct*
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 51. TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 1750. 
 
 . Sluhus labor eft inept iarum . MART. 
 
 How foolifh is the toil of trifling cares ! ELPHINSTON. 
 
 To the RAMBLER. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 AS you have allowed a place in your paper to 
 Euphelia's letters from the country, and ap- 
 pear to think no form of human life unworthy of 
 your attention, I have refolved, after many ftruggles 
 with idlenefs and diffidence, to give you fome ac- 
 count of my entertainment in this fober feafon of 
 univerfal retreat, and to defcribe to you the em- 
 ployments of thofe who look with contempt on the 
 pleafures and diverfions of polite life, and employ 
 all their powers of cenfure and invective upon the 
 ufeleflhefs, vanity, and folly, of drefs, vifits, and 
 converfation. 
 
 When a tirefome and vexatious journey of four 
 days had brought me to the houfe, where invitation, 
 regularly fent for feven years together, had at laft 
 induced me to pals the fqmmer, I was furprifed, 
 after the civilities of my firil reception, to find, in- 
 ftead of the leifure and tranquillity, which a rural 
 life always promifes, and, if well conducted, might 
 always afford, a confufed wildnefs of care, and a 
 tumultuous hurry of diligence, by which every face 
 was clouded, and every motion agitated. The old 
 lady, who was my father's relation, was, indeed, very 
 
 Y full
 
 326 THE RAMBLER, N$i t 
 
 full of the happinefs which {he received from my 
 vilit, and, according to the forms of obfolete breed- 
 ing, infifted that I fhould recompence the long de- 
 lay of my company with a promife not to leave her 
 till winter. But amidft all her kindnefs and ca- 
 refTes, fhe very frequently turned her head afide, 
 and whifpered, with anxious earneftnefs, fome order 
 to her daughters, which never failed to fend them 
 out with unpolite precipitation. Sometimes her 
 impatience would not fuffer her to ftay behind ; fhe 
 begged my pardon, fhe muft leave me for a mo- 
 ment; fhe went, and returned and fat down again, 
 but was again difturbed by fome new care, difmifTed 
 her daughters with the fame trepidation, and fol- 
 lowed them with the fame countenance of byfinefs 
 and folicitude. 
 
 However I was alarmed at this fhow of eagernefs 
 3nd disturbance, and however my curiofity was ex- 
 cited by fuch bufy preparations as naturally pro- 
 mifed fome great event, I was yet too much a ftranger 
 to gratify myfelf with enquiries - } but finding none of 
 the family in mourning, I pleafed myfelf with ima- 
 gining that I fhould rather fee a wedding than a fu- 
 neral. 
 
 At laft we fat down to fupper, when I was in- 
 formed that one of the young ladies, after whom 
 I thought myfelf obliged to enquire, was under a 
 necefllty of attending fome affair that could not be 
 neglected : Soon afterward my relation began to 
 talk of the regularity of her family, and the incon- 
 venience of London hours ; and at laft let me know 
 that they had purpofed that night to go to bed fooner 
 ;han was ufual, becaufe they were to rife early in the 
 
 morning
 
 NO si- THE RAMBLER. 327 
 
 morning to make cheefccakes. This hint fent me to 
 my chamber, to which I was accompanied by all the 
 ladies, who begged me to excufe fome large fieves of 
 leaves and flowers that covered two thirds of the floor, 
 for they intended to diftil them when they were dry, 
 and they had no other room that fo conveniently re- 
 ceived the rifmg fun. 
 
 The fcent of the plants hindered me from reft, 
 and therefore I rofe early in the morning with a re- 
 folution to explore my new habitation. I flole un- 
 perceived by my bufy coufins into the garden, where 
 I found nothing either more great or elegant, than 
 in the fame number of acres cultivated for the mar- 
 ket. Of the gardener I foon learned that his lady 
 was the greateft manager in that part of the country, 
 and that I was come hither at the time in which I 
 might learn to make more pickles and conferves, than 
 could be feen at any other houfe a hundred miles 
 round. 
 
 It was not long before her ladyfhip gave me fuf- 
 "ficient opportunities of knowing her character, for 
 fhe was too much pleafed with her 'own accomplifh- 
 ments to conceal them, and took occafion, from fome 
 fweetmeats which fhe fet next day upon the table, to 
 difcourfe for two long hours upon robs and gellies ; 
 laid down the beft methods of conferving, referving, 
 and preferving all forts of fruit ; told us with great 
 contempt of the London lady in the neighbourhood, 
 by whom thefe terms wece very often confounded ; 
 and hinted how much fhe fhould be afhamed to fet 
 before company, at her own houfe, fweetmeats of 
 fo dark a colour, as fhe had often feen at miftrefs 
 Sprightly's. 
 
 y 4 it
 
 328 THE RAMBLER. N 51, 
 
 It is, indeed, the great bufmefs of her life, to 
 watch the fkillet on the fire, to fee it fimmer with the 
 clue degree of heat, and to fnatch it off at the moment 
 pf projection ; and the employments to which fhe 
 Jias bred her daughters, are to turn rofe-leaves in the 
 {hade, to pick out the feeds of currants with a quill, 
 to gather fruit without bruifing it, and to extract 
 bean flower water for the fkin. Such are the talks 
 with which every day, fince I came hither, has be- 
 gun and ended, to which the early hours of life are 
 lacrirked, arid in which that time is pafiing away 
 vvhich neyer fhall return, 
 
 I$j.it to reafon or expoftulate are hopelefs attempts. 
 The lady has fettled her opinions, and maintains the 
 dignity of her own performances with all the firmnefs 
 pf ftupidity accuftqmecj to be flattered. Her daugh- 
 ters having rjever feen any h.oqfe but their own, be- 
 lieve their mother's excellence on her own word, 
 Her hufband is a mere fportfman, who is pleafed tq 
 fee his table well furnifhed, a.nd thinks the day fuf- 
 ficiently fuccefsful, in which lie brings home a leafh 
 pf hares to b? potted by his wife. 
 
 After 3 few days I pretended to want books, bu: 
 my lady foon told me that none of her books would 
 fuit my taite ; for her part fhe never loved to fee, 
 young women give their minds to fuch follies, bj 
 which they would only learn to ufe hard words $ fh$ 
 pred up her daughters, to underftand a jioufe, and 
 whoever ftipuld marry them, if they kr\ew any thing 
 of good cookery, would neyer repent it. 
 
 There are, however, fome things in the culinary 
 fciences too fublime for youthfq.l intellects, myftcri,?* 
 Jnto which they mult not be initiated till the years 
 
 of
 
 N5i- THE RAMBLER. 329 
 
 of ferious maturity, and which are referred to the 
 day of marriage, as the fnpreme qualification for 
 connubial life. She makes an orange pudding, 
 which is the envy of all the neighbourhood, and 
 which fhe has hitherto found means of mixing and 
 baking with fuch fecrecy, that the ingredient to 
 which it owes its flavour has never been difcovered. 
 She, indeed, conduces this great affair with all the 
 caution that human policy can fugged. It is never 
 known before- hand when this pudding will be pro- 
 duced i fhe takes the ingredients privately into her 
 own clofet, employs her maids and daughters in 
 different parts of the houfe, orders the oven to be 
 heated for a pie, and places the pudding in it with 
 her pwn hands, the mquth of the oven is then flop- 
 ped, and all enquiries are vain. 
 
 The compolition of the pudding (he has, however,, 
 promifed Clarinda, that if fhe pleafes her in mar^ 
 riage, fhe (hall be told without refer ve. But the art 
 of making Englifh "capers fhe has not yet perfuaded 
 herfelf to difcover, but feems refolved that fecret 
 fhall perifli with her, as fome alchymifts have obfti- 
 jiately fuppreried the art of tranfmuting metals. 
 
 I once ventured to lay my fingers on her book of 
 receipts, which fhe left upon the fable, having intel- 
 ligence that a veffel of goofeberry wine had burft the 
 hoops. But though the importance of the event 
 fufficiently engroffed her care, to prevent any recol- 
 lection of tjie danger to. which her iecrets were ex- 
 pofed, I was not able to make ufe of the golden 
 moments ; for this treafure of hereditary knowledge 
 was fo well concealed by the manner of fpelling ufed 
 by her grandmother, her mother, and herfelf that I
 
 330 THE RAMBLER. N5i. 
 
 was totally unable to underftand it, and loft the 
 opportunity of confulting the oracle, for want of 
 knowing the language in which its anfwers were 
 returned. 
 
 It is, indeed> neceflary, if I have any regard to 
 her ladyfhip's efteem, that I fhould apply myfelf to 
 fome of thefe economical accomplifhments ; for I 
 overheard her, two days ago, warning her daughters, 
 by my mournful example, againft negligence of 
 paftry, and ignorance in carving : for you faw, faid 
 fhe, that, with all her pretenfions to knowledge, fhe 
 turned the partridge the wrong way when fhe at- 
 tempted to cut it, and, 1 believe, fcarcely knows the 
 difference between pafle raifed, and pafte in a difh. 
 
 The reafon, Mr. Rambler, why I have laid Lady 
 Buftle's character before you, is a defire to be in- 
 formed whether, in your opinion, it is worthy of 
 imitation, and whether I fhall throw away the books 
 which I have hitherto thought it my duty to read, 
 for the lady's clojet opened, the complete Jervant maid y 
 and the court cook, and refign all curiofity after right 
 and wrong, for the art of fcalding damefcenes with- 
 out burfling them, and preferving the whitenefs of 
 pickled mufhrooms. 
 
 Lady Buftle has, indeed, by this incefTant appli- 
 cation to fruits and flowers, contracted her cares into 
 a narrow fpace, and fet herfelf free from many per- 
 plexities with which other minds are difturbed. She 
 has no curiofity after the events of a war, or the fate 
 of heroes in diftrefs -> fhe can hear, without the lean: 
 emotion, the ravage of a fire, or devaftations of a 
 ftorfn ; her neighbours grow rrch or poor, come into 
 the world or go out of it, without regard, while fhe 
 
 is
 
 N5i. THE RAMBLER. 331 
 
 is prefiing the gelly-bag, or airing the ftore-room ; 
 but I cannot perceive that fhe is more free from 
 difquiets than thofe whofe underftandings take a 
 wider range. Her marigolds, when they are almoft 
 cured, are often fcattered by the wind, the rain 
 fometimes falls upon fruit, when it ought to be ga- 
 thered dry. While her artificial wines are ferment- 
 ing, her whole life is reftleflhefs and anxiety. Her 
 fweetmeats are not always bright, and the maid 
 fometimes forgets the juft proportions of fait and 
 pepper, when venifbn is to be baked. Her con- 
 ferves mould, her wines four, and pickles mother ; 
 and, like all the reft of mankind, fhe is every day 
 mortified with the defeat of her fchemes, and the 
 difappointment of her hopes. 
 
 With regard to vice and virtue (he feems a kind 
 of neutral being. She has no crime but luxury, 
 nor any virtue but chaftity ; fhe has no defire to be 
 praifed but for her cookery, nor wifhes any ill to 
 the reft of mankind, but that whenever they afpire 
 to a feaft, their cuftards may be wheyifh, and their 
 pie-crufts tough. 
 
 I am now very impatient to know whether I am 
 to look on thefe ladies as the 'great patterns of our 
 fex, and to confider conferves and piokles as the 
 bufinefs of my life; whether the cenfures which I 
 now fuffer be juft, and whether the brewers of wines, 
 and -the diftillers of wafhes, have a right to look 
 with infolence on the weaknefs of 
 
 ~ 
 
 CORNELIA.
 
 33* THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 52. SATURDAY, &>//. 15, 1750 
 
 Sifte iKoa'um, dixit, neque enim for tuna querenda, 
 
 Sola tua eft, Jimihs aliorum refpice cafus, 
 
 Mitius ijlaferes. O v I a , 
 
 How oft in vain the fon of Thefeus faid, 
 The ftormy forrows be with patience laid ; 
 Nor are thy fortunes to be wept alone ; 
 Weigh other's woes, and learn to bear thy own. 
 
 CATCOTT, 
 
 AMONG the various methods of confolation, 
 to which the miferies infeparable from our 
 prefent (late have given occafion, it has been, as 
 I have already remarked, recommended by fome 
 writers to put the fufferer in mind of heavier pref- 
 fures, and more excruciating calamities, than thofe 
 qf which he has himfelf reafon to complain. 
 
 This has, in all ages, been directed and prac- 
 tifed; and, in conformity to this cuftom, Lipfius, 
 the great modern mafter of the Stoick philofophy, 
 has, in his celebrated treatife on Jteadinefs of mind y 
 endeavoured to fortify the bread againft too much 
 fenfibility of misfortune, by enumerating the evils 
 which have in former ages fallen upon the world, 
 the devaftation of wide-extended regions, the fack; 
 of cities, and maffacre of nations. And the com- 
 mon voice of the multitude uninftructed by precept, 
 and unprejudiced by authority, wfiich, in queftions 
 that relate to the heart of man, \s } in my opinion, 
 
 more
 
 N*52* THE RAMBLER. 333 
 
 more decifive than the learning of Lipfius, feems to 
 juftify the efficacy of this procedure j for one of the 
 firft comforts which one neighbour adminifters to 
 another, is a relation of the like infelicity, com- 
 bined with circumftances of greater bitternefs. 
 
 But this medicine of the mind is like many re- 
 medies applied to the body, of which, though we 
 fee the effects, we are unacquainted with the man- 
 ner of operation, and of which, therefore, fome> 
 who are unwilling to fuppofe any thing out of the 
 reach of their own fagacity, have been inclined to 
 doubt whether they have really thofe virtues for 
 which they are celebrated, and whether their repu- 
 tation is not the mere gift of fancy, prejudice, and 
 credulity. 
 
 Confolation, or comfort, are words which, in 
 their proper acceptation, fignify fome alleviation of 
 that pain to which it is not in our power to afford 
 the proper and adequate remedy ; they imply rather 
 an augmentation of the power of bearing, than a 
 diminution of the burthen. A prifoner is relieved 
 by him that fets him at liberty, but receives com- 
 fort from fuch as fuggeft confiderations by which 
 he is made patient under the inconvenience of 
 confinement. To that grief which arifes from a 
 great lofs, he only brings the true remedy, who 
 makes his friend's condition the fame as before j 
 but he may be properly termed a comforter, who by 
 perfuafion extenuates the' pain of poverty, and 
 fhews, in the flyle of Hefwd, that half is more than 
 the whole. 
 
 It is, perhaps, not immediately obvious, how it 
 can lull the memory of misfortune, or appeafe the 
 
 th robbings
 
 334 THE. RAMBLER. N 52. 
 
 throbbings of anguifh, .to hear that others are more 
 miferable ; others, perhaps, unknown or wholly in- 
 different, whofe profperity raifes no envy, and whofc 
 fall can gratify no refentment. Some topicks of 
 comfort arifing, like that vsihich gave hope and 
 fpirit to the captive of Sefoftris, from the perpetual 
 viciffitudes of life, and mutability of human affairs, 
 may as properly raife the dejected as deprefs the 
 proud, and have an immediate tendency to exhila* 
 rate and revive. But how can it avail the man who 
 languishes in the gloom of forrow, without profpeft 
 of emerging into the funfhine of cheerfulnefs, to 
 hear that others are funk yet deeper in the dungeon 
 of mifery, fhackled with heavier chains, and fur- 
 rounded with darker defperation ? 
 
 The folace arifing from this consideration feems 
 indeed the weakeft of all others, and is perhaps 
 never properly applied, but in cafes where there is no 
 place for reflections of more fpeedy and pleafing effi- 
 cacy. But even from fuch calamities life is by no 
 means free ; a thoufand ills incurable, a thoufand 
 lofles irreparable, a thoufand difficulties infur- 
 mountable, are known, or will be known, by all 
 the fons of men. Native deformity cannot be rec- 
 tified, a dead friend cannot return, and the hours of 
 youth trifled away in folly, or loft in ficknefs, cannot 
 be reftored. 
 
 Under the oppreflion of fuch melancholy, it has 
 been found ufeful to take a furvey of the world, to 
 contemplate the various fcenes of diftrefs in which 
 mankind are ftruggling round us, and acquaint 
 ourfelves with the terribitis vifu form*e, the various 
 fh apes of mifery, which make havock of terreftrial 
 
 happi-
 
 N"5*. THE ^AMBLER, 335 
 
 happinefs, range all corners almoft without reftraint, 
 trample down our hopes at the hour of harveft, and, 
 when we have built our fchemes to the top, ruin 
 their foundations. 
 
 The firft effect of this meditation is, that it fur- 
 nifhes a new employment for the mind, and engages 
 the pafljons on remoter objects j as kings have fome- 
 times freed themfelves from a fubjeft too haughty to 
 be governed and too powerful to be crufhed, by poft- 
 ing him in a diftant province, till his popularity has 
 fubfided, or his pride been reprefled. The atten- 
 tion is diffipated by variety, and ads more weakly 
 upon any fingle part, as that torrent may be drawn 
 off to different channels, which, pouring down irt 
 one collected body, cannot be refilled. This Ipe- 
 cies of comfort is, therefore, unavailing in feverepa- 
 roxyfms of corporal pain, when the mind is every in- 
 ftant called back to mifery, and in the firft fhock of 
 any fudden evil j but will certainly be of ufe againft 
 encroaching melancholy, and a fettled habit of 
 gloomy thoughts. 
 
 It is further advantageous, as it fupplies us with 
 opportunities of making comparifons in our own 
 favour. We know that very little of the pain, or 
 pleafure, which does not begin and end in our feniesj 
 is otherwife than relative ; we are rich or poor, great 
 or little, in proportion to the number that excel us, 
 or fall beneath us, in any of thefe relpectsj and 
 therefore, a man, whofe vTneafmefs arifes from re- 
 flexion on any misfortune that throws him below thole 
 with whom he was once equal, is comforted by find- 
 ing that he is not yet loweft. 
 
 5 There
 
 336 THE RAMBLER. N jk 
 
 There is another kind of comparifon, Jefs tend- 
 ing towards the vice of envy, very well illuftrated 
 by an old poet, whofe fyftem will not afford many 
 reafonable motives to content. * It is,' fays he, 
 ' pleafing to look from fhore upon the tumults of 
 ' a ftorm, and to fee a fhip ftruggling with the 
 e billows ; it is pleafing, not becaufe the pain of 
 * another can give us delight, but becaufe \ve have 
 f a flronger impreflion of the happinefs of fafety.' 
 Thus, when we look abroad, and behold the mul- 
 titudes that are groaning under evils heavier than 
 thofe which we have experienced, we fhrink back to 
 our own ftate, and inftead of repining that fo much 
 muft be felt, learn to rejoice that we have not more 
 to feel. 
 
 By this obfervation of the miferies of others, for- 
 titude is ftrengthened, and the mind brought to a 
 more extenfive knowledge of her own potters. A$ 
 the heroes of aflion catch the flame from one an- 
 other, fo they to whom providence has allotted the 1 
 harder talk of fuffering with calmnefs and dignity ^ 
 may animate themfelves by the remembrance of thole 
 evils which have been laid on others, perhaps natu- 
 rally as weak as themfelves, and bear up with vigour 
 and refolution againft their own opprefiions, wheri 
 they fee it poflible that more fevere afflictions may be 
 borne. 
 
 There is ftill another reafon why, to many minds, 
 the relation of other men's infelicity may give a 
 lading and continual relief. Some, not well in- 
 ftructed in the meafures by which providence dif- 
 tributes happinefs, are perhaps mifled by divines, 
 
 who,
 
 N 52. THE RAMBLER. 337 
 
 who, as Bellarmine makes temporal profperity one 
 of the characters of the true church, have repre- 
 fented wealth and eafe as the certain concomitants 
 of virtue, and the unfailing refult of the divine ap- 
 probation. Such fufferers are dejected in their mif- 
 fortunes, not fo much for what they feel, as for 
 what they dread ; not becaufe they cannot fupporc 
 the forrovvs, or endure the wants, of their prelent 
 condition, but becaufe they confider them as only 
 the beginnings of more (harp and more lading pains. 
 To thefe mourners it is an act of the higheft charity 
 to reprefent the calamities which not only virtue 
 has fuffered, but virtue has incurred; to inform 
 them that one evidence of a future ftate is the un- 
 certainty of any prefent rev/ard for goodnefs; and 
 to remind them, from the higheft authority, of the 
 diftrefies and penury of men of wbcm the world was 
 not worthy. 
 
 VOL. IV.
 
 338 THE RAMBLER. N 53. 
 
 NUMB, 53. TUESDAY, Sept. 18, 1750. 
 
 <J>a&o rv> Kisauuv, Epigram. Vet* 
 
 Hufband thy pofleffions. 
 
 THERE is fcarcely among the evils of human 
 life any fo generally dreaded as poverty. 
 Every other fpecies of mifery, thofe, who are not 
 much accuftomed to difturb the prefent moment 
 with reflection, can eafily forget, becaufe it is not 
 always forced upon their regard : but it is impoffible 
 to pafs a day or an hour in the confluxes of men, 
 without feeing how much indigence is expofed to 
 contumely, neglect, and infult; and, in its loweft 
 ftate, to hunger and nakednefs; to injuries againft 
 which every paffion is in arms, and to wants which 
 nature cannot fuftain. 
 
 Againft other evils the heart is often hardened by 
 true or by falfe notions of dignity and reputation : 
 thus we fee dangers of every kind faced with willing- 
 nefs, becaufe bravery in a good or bad caufe is 
 never without its encomiafts and admirers. But in 
 the profpect of poverty, there is nothing but gloom 
 and melancholy; the mind and body fuffer together; 
 its miferies bring no alleviations; it is a ftate in which 
 every virtue is obfcured, and in which no conduct 
 can avoid reproach : a ftate in which cheerfulnefs 
 is infenfibility, and dejection fullennefs, of which the 
 hardships are without honour, and the labours with- 
 out reward. 
 
 Of
 
 N'53- THE RAMBLER. 339 
 
 Of thefe calamities there feems not to be wantiao- 
 a general conviction; we hear on every fide the 
 noife of trade, and fee the ftreets thronged with num- 
 berlefs multitudes, whofe faces are clouded with 
 anxiety, and whofe fteps are hurried by precipita- 
 tion, from no other motive than the hope of gain ; 
 and the whole world is put in motion, by the defire 
 of that wealth, which is chiefly to be valued, as it 
 fecures us from poverty; for it is more ufeful for 
 defence than acquifition, and is not fo much able to 
 procure good as to exclude evil. 
 
 Yet there are always fome whofe paffions or fol- 
 lies lead them to a conduct oppofite to the general . 
 maxims and practice of mankind; fome who feem 
 to rufh upon poverty, with the fame eagernefs with 
 which others avoid it ; who fee their revenues hour- 
 ly leflened, and the eftates which they inherit from 
 their anceftors mouldering away, without refolu- 
 tion to change their courfe of life; who perfevere 
 againft all remonflrances, and go forward with full 
 career, though they fee before them the precipice of 
 deftruction. 
 
 It is not my purpofe in this paper, to expoftulate 
 with fuch as ruin their fortunes by expenfive fcherr.es 
 of buildings and gardens, which they carry on with 
 the fame vanity that prompted them to begin, chuf- 
 ing, as it happens in a thoufand other cafes, the 
 remote evil before the lig"hter, and deferring the 
 fhame of repentance till they incur the miferies of 
 diftrels. Thofe for whom I intend my prefent ad- 
 monitions, are the thoughtlefs, the negligent, and 
 the diflblute; who having, by the vicioufnefs of 
 their own inclinations, or the feducements of allur- 
 
 Z 2 ing
 
 340 THE RAMBLER. N 53. 
 
 ing companions, been engaged in habits of expence, 
 and accuftomed to move in a certain round of plea- 
 fures difproportioned to their condition, are without 
 power to extricate themfelves from the enchantments 
 of cuftorn, avoid thought becaufe they know it will 
 be painful, and continue from day to day, and from 
 month to month, to anticipate their revenues, and 
 fink every hour deeper into the gulphs of ufury and 
 extortion. 
 
 This folly has lefs claim to pity, becaufe it can- 
 not be imputed to the vehemence of Hidden paf- 
 lion ; nor can the mifchief which it produces be 
 extenuated as the effect of any fingle act, which 
 rage, or defire, might execute before there could be 
 time for an appeal to reafon. Thefe men are ad- 
 vancing towards mifery by foft approaches, and 
 deftroying themfelves, not by the violence of a blow, 
 which, when once given, can never be recalled, but 
 by a flow poifon, hourly repeated, and obflinately 
 continued. 
 
 This conduct is fo abfurd when it is examined by 
 the unprejudiced eye of rational judgment, that no- 
 thing but experience could evince its poflibility ; 
 yet, abfurd as it is, the fudden fall of fome families, 
 and the fudden rife of others, prove it to be common ; 
 and every year fees many wretches reduced to con- 
 tempt and want, by their coftly facrifices to pleafure 
 and vanity. 
 
 It is the fate of almoft every paffion, when it 
 has pafled the bounds which nature prefcribes, to 
 counteract its own purpofe. Too much rage hin- 
 ders the warrior from circumfpection, too much 
 eagernefs of profit hurts the credit of the trader, too 
 
 much
 
 N'53. THE RAMBLER. 34 i 
 
 much ardor takes away from the lover that eafinefs 
 of addrefs with which ladies are delighted. Thus 
 extravagance, though didated by vanity, and incited 
 by voluptuoufnefs, leldom procures ultimately either 
 applaufe or pleafure. 
 
 If praife be juftly eftimated by the characler of 
 thofe from whom it is received, little fatisfacYion will 
 be given to the fpendthrift by the encomiums which 
 he purchafes. For who are they that animate him in 
 his purfuits, but young men, thoughtlefs and aban- 
 doned like himfelf, unacquainted with all on which 
 the wifdom of nations has imprefled the (tamp of ex- 
 cellence, and devoid alike of knowledge and of vir- 
 tue ? By whom is this profufion praifed, but by 
 wretches who confider him as fubfervient to their 
 purpofes, Sirens that entice him to fhipwreck, and 
 Cyclops that are gaping to devour him? 
 
 Every man whofc knowledge, or whofe virtue, 
 can give value to his opinion, looks with fcorn, or 
 pity, neither of which can afford much gratification 
 to pride, on him whom the panders of luxury have 
 drawn into the circle of their influence, and whom 
 he fees parcelled out among the different minifters 
 of folly, and about to be torn to pieces by tailors 
 and jockeys, vintners and attornies, who at once rob 
 and ridicule him, and who are fecretly triumphing 
 over his weaknefs, when they prefent new incitements 
 to his appetite, and heighten his defires by counter- 
 feited applaufe. 
 
 Such is the praife that is purchafed by prodigality. 
 Even when it is yet not difcovered to be f.ilfe, it is 
 the praife only of thofe whom it is reproachful to 
 pleafe, and whofe fincerity is corrupted by their in- 
 
 Z 3 tereft;
 
 342 THE RAMBLER. N 53. 
 
 tereft; men who live by the riots which they encou- 
 rage, and who know that whenever their pupil grows 
 wife, they fhall lofe their power. Yet with fuch 
 flatteries, if they could laft, might the cravings of 
 vanity, which is feldom very delicate, be fatisfied; 
 but the time is always Flattening forward when this 
 triumph, poor as it is, fhall vanifh, and when thofe 
 who now furround them with obfequioufnefs and 
 compliments, fawn among his equipage, and animate 
 his riots, lhall turn upon him with iniblence, and re- 
 proach him with the vices promoted by themfelves. 
 
 And as little pretenfions has the man, who fquan- 
 ders his eftate, by vain or vicious expences, to greater 
 degrees of pleafure than are obtained by others. To 
 make any happinefs fmcere it is neceflary that we be- 
 lieve it to be lading; fince whatever we fuppofe our- 
 felves in danger of lofing, muft be enjoyed with fo- 
 licitude and uneafinefs, and the more value we fet 
 upon it, the more muft the prefent poflefllon be im- 
 bittered. How can he then be envied for his feli- 
 city, who knows that its continuance cannot be ex- 
 pefted, and who is confcious that a very fhort time 
 will give him up to the gripe of poverty, which will 
 . be harder to be borne, as he has given way to more 
 exceffes, wantoned in greater abundance, and in- 
 dulged his appetites with more profufenefs ? 
 
 It appears evident that frugality is neceflary even 
 to complete the pleafure of expencej for it may be 
 generally remarked of thofe who fquander what they 
 know their fortune not fufficient to allow, that in 
 their moft jovial expence, there always breaks out 
 fome proof of difcontent and impatience j they either 
 fcatcer with a kind of wild defperation, and affected 
 
 lavifh-
 
 N 53- THE RAMBLER. 
 
 lavifhnefs, as criminals brave the gallows when they 
 cannot efcape it, or pay their money with a peevifh 
 anxiety, and endeavour at once to fpend idly, and to 
 fave meanly : having neither firmnefs to deny their 
 paflions, nor courage to gratify them, they murmur 
 at their own enjoyments, and poifon the bowl of 
 pleafure by reflection on the coft. 
 
 Among thefe men there is often the vociferation of 
 merriment, but very feldom the tranquillity of cheer- 
 fulnefs j they inflame their imaginations to a kind of 
 momentary jollity, by the help of wine and riot, and 
 confider it as the firft bufinefs of the night to ftupify 
 recollection, and lay that reafon afleep which diflurbs 
 their gaiety, and calls upon them to retreat from 
 ruin. 
 
 But this poor broken fatisfaftion is of fhort con- 
 tinuance, and mud be expiated by a long feries of 
 mifery and regret. In a fhort time the creditor grows 
 impatient, the laft acre is fold, the paflions and ap- 
 petites dill continue their tyranny,- with inceflant 
 calls for their ufual gratifications, and the remainder 
 of life paries away in vain repentance, or impotent 
 defire.
 
 344 THE RAMBLER. N 54. 
 
 NUMB. 54. SATURDAY, Sept. 22, 1750. 
 
 Truditur dies die, 
 Novceque pergunt interire lun<e ; 
 
 Tufecanda marmora 
 Locas fub ipfum funus, etfepulchri 
 
 Immemor Jiruis domos. HOR. 
 
 Day preffes on the heels of day, 
 
 And moons increafe to their decay ; 
 
 But you, with thoughtlefs pride elate, 
 
 Unconfcious of impending fate, 
 
 Command the pillar'd dome to rife, 
 
 When lo ! thy tomb forgotten lies. FRANCIS. 
 
 To the RAMBLER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I HAVE lately been called, from a mingled life 
 of bufmefs and amufement, to attend the laft 
 hours of an old friend -, an office which has filled 
 me, if not with melancholy, at leaft with ferious re- 
 flections, and turned my thoughts towards the con- 
 templation of thofe fubjecls, which, though of the 
 utmoft importance, and of indubitable certainty, are 
 generally fecluded from our regard, by the jollity of 
 health, the hurry of employment, and even by the 
 calmer diverfions of ftudy and fpeculation ; or if 
 they become accidental topicks of converfation and 
 argument, yet rarely fink deep into the heart, but 
 give occafion only to fome fubtilties of reafoning, 
 
 or
 
 NO 54- THE RAMBLER. 34; 
 
 or elegancies of declamation, which are heard, ap- 
 plauded, and forgotten. 
 
 It is, indeed, not hard to conceive how a man 
 accuftomed to extend his views through a long 
 concatenation of caufes and effects, to trace things 
 from their origin to their period, and compare means 
 with ends, may difcover the weaknefs of human 
 fchemes ; detect the fallacies by which mortals are 
 deluded > fhew the infufficiency of wealth, honours, 
 and power, to real happinefsj and pleafe himfelf, 
 and his auditors, with learned lectures on the vanity 
 of life. 
 
 But though the fpeculatifl may fee and itiew the 
 folly of terreftrial hopes, fears, and defires, every 
 hour will give proofs that he never felt it. Trace 
 him through the day or year, and you will find him 
 acting upon principles which he has in common 
 with the illiterate and unenlightened, angry and 
 pleafed like the lowed of the vulgar, purfuing, with 
 the fame ardour, the fame defigns, grafping, with all 
 the eagernefs of tranfport, thofe riches which he knows 
 he cannot keep, and fwelling with the applaufe which 
 he has gained by proving that applaufe is of no value. 
 
 The only conviction that rufhes upon the foul, 
 and takes away from our appetites and paflions the 
 power of refiftance, is to be found, where I have 
 received it, at the bed of a dying friend. To enter 
 this fchool of wifdom is not the peculiar privilege 
 of geometricians ; the moft fublime and important 
 precepts require no uncommon opportunities, nor 
 laborious preparations, they are enforced without 
 the aid of eloquence, and underftood without (kill 
 in analytick fcience. Every tongue can utter them, 
 
 and
 
 THE RAMBLER. N' 54. 
 
 and every underftanding can conceive them. He 
 that wifhes in earned to obtain juft fentiments con- 
 cerning his condition, and would be intimately ac- 
 quainted with the world, may find inftructions on 
 every fide. He that defires to enter behind the 
 fcene, which every art has been employed to deco- 
 rate, and every paffion labours to illuminate, and 
 wifhes to fee life {tripped of thofe ornaments which 
 make it glitter on the ftage, and expofed in its natu- 
 ral meannefs, impotence, and nakednefs, may find 
 all the delufion laid open in the chamber of difeafe : 
 he will there find vanity divefted of her robes, power 
 deprived of her fceptre, and hypocrify without her 
 mafk. 
 
 The friend whom I have loft was a man eminent 
 for genius, and, like others of the fame clafs, fuf- 
 ficiently pleafed with acceptance and applaufe. 
 Being carefled by thofe who have preferments and 
 richesxin their difpofal, he confidered himfelf as in 
 the direct road of advancement, and had caught the 
 flame of ambition by approaches to its object. But 
 in the midft of his hopes, his projects, and his 
 gaieties, he was feized by a lingering difeafe, 
 which, from its firft ftage, he knew to be incurable. 
 Here was an end of all his vifions of greatnefs and 
 happinefs ; from the firft hour that his health de- 
 clined, all his former pleafures grew taftelefs. His 
 friends expected to pleafe him by thofe accounts of 
 the growth of his reputation, which were formerly 
 certain of being well received j but they foon found 
 how little he was now affected by compliments, and 
 how vainly they attempted, by flattery, to exhila- 
 rate the languor of weaknefs, and relieve the folici- 
 
 tude
 
 N 54. THE RAMBLER. 347 
 
 tude of approaching death. Whoever would know 
 how much piety and virtue furpafs all external 
 goods, might here have fee n them weighed againft 
 each other, where all that gives motion to the ac- 
 tive, and elevation to the eminent, all that fparkles 
 in the eye of hope, and pants in the bofom of fufpi- 
 cion, at once became dud in the balance, without 
 weight and without regard. Riches, authority, and 
 praife^lofe all their influence when they are confi- 
 dered as riches which to-morrow (hall be beftowed 
 upon another, authority which fhall this night expire 
 for ever, and praife which, however merited, or 
 however fincere, ihall, after a few moments, be heard 
 no more. 
 
 In thofe hours of ferioufnefs and wifdom, no- 
 thing appeared to raife his fpirits, or gladden his 
 heart, but the recollection of ats of goodnefs, nor 
 to excite his attention but fome opportunity for the 
 exercife of the duties of religion. Every thing that 
 terminated on this fide of the grave was received 
 with coldnels and indifference, and regarded rather 
 in confequence of the habit of valuing it, than from 
 any opinion that it deferved value j it had little 
 more prevalence over his mind than a bubble that 
 was now broken, a dream from which he was awake. 
 His whole powers were engroffed by the confidera- 
 tion of another ftate, and all converfation was te- 
 dious, that had not fome tendency to difengage him 
 from human affairs, and open his profpects into fu- 
 turity. 
 
 It is now paft, we have clofed his eyes, and 
 heard him breathe the groan of expiration. At the 
 fight of this laft conflict, I felt a fenlation never 
 
 known
 
 348 THE RAMBLER. N 54. 
 
 known to me before ; a confufion of paffions, an 
 awful ftilnefs of Ibrrow, a gloomy terrour without 
 a name. The thoughts that entered my foul were 
 too ftrong to be diverted, and too piercing to be 
 endured; but fuch violence cannot be lading, the 
 ftorm fubfided in a fhort time, I wept, retired, and 
 grew calm. 
 
 I have from that time frequently revolved in my 
 mind, the effects which the obfervation of death 
 produces, in thofe who are not wholly without the 
 power and ufe of reflection ; for by far the greater 
 part it is wholly unregarded, their friends and their 
 enemies fink into the grave without raifing any un- 
 common emotion, or reminding them that they 
 are themfelves on the edge of the precipice, and 
 that they muft foon plunge into the gulph of eter- 
 nity. 
 
 It feems to me remarkable that death increafes 
 our veneration for the good, and extenuates our 
 hatred of the bad. Thofe virtues which once we en- 
 vied, as Plorace obferves, becaufe they edipfed our 
 own, can now no longer obftruct our reputation, 
 and we have therefore no intereft to fupprefs their 
 praife. That wickednefs, which we feared for its 
 malignity, is now become impotent, and the man 
 whofe name filled us with alarm, and rage, and in- 
 dignation, can at laft be confidered only with pity, 
 or contempt. 
 
 When a friend is carried to his grave, we at 
 once find excufes for every weaknefs, and pallia- 
 tions of every fault; we recollect a thoufand en- 
 dearments, which before glided off our minds 
 without impreffion, a thoufand favours unrepaid, 
 
 a thou-
 
 N54- THE RAMBLER. 349 
 
 a thoufand duties unperformed, and wilh, vainly 
 wifh for his return, not fo much that we may 
 receive, as that we may beftow happinefs, and re- 
 compenfe that kindnefs which before we never un- 
 derftood. 
 
 There is not, perhaps, to a mind well inftrudled, 
 a more painful occurrence, than the death of one 
 whom we have injured without reparation. Our 
 crime feems now irretrievable, it is indelibly re- 
 corded, and the ftamp of fate is fixed upon it. We 
 confider, with the moft afflictive anguifh, the pain 
 which we have given, and now cannot alleviate, and 
 the lofles which we have caufed, and now cannoc 
 repair. 
 
 Of the fame kind are the emotions which the 
 death of an emulator or* competitor produces. 
 Whoever had qualities to alarm our jealoufy, had 
 excellence to deferve our fondnefs, and to what- 
 ever ardour of oppofition intereft may inflame us, 
 no man ever outlived an enemy, whom he did not 
 then wifh to have made a friend. Thofe who are 
 verfed in literary hiflory know that the elder Sca- 
 liger was the redoubted antagonift of Cardan and 
 Erafmus j yet at the death of each of his great 
 rivals he relented, and complained that they were 
 fnatched away from him before their reconciliation 
 was completed. 
 
 Tti-ne etiam moreris ? Ah ! quid me linguis, Era/me, 
 Ante meus quamjit cone Hiatus amor? 
 
 Art thou too fallen ? ere anger could fubfide 
 And love return, has great Erafmus died ? 
 
 Such
 
 350 THE RAMBLER. N 54. 
 
 Such are the fentiments with which we finally re- 
 view the effects of paflion, but which we fometimes 
 delay till we can no longer rectify our errors. Let 
 us therefore make hade to do what we fhall certainly 
 at lad wifh to have done ; let us return the careffes 
 of our friends, and endeavour by mutual endear- 
 ments to heighten that tendernefs which is the balm 
 of life. Let us be quick to repent of injuries while 
 repentance may not be a barren anguifh, and let us 
 open our eyes to every rival excellence, and pay 
 early and willingly thofe honours which juftice will 
 compel us to pay at laft. 
 
 ATHANATUS.
 
 N55- THE RAMBLER. 351 
 
 NUMB. 55. TUESDAY, Sept. 25, 1750, 
 
 Mature propior define funeri 
 
 Inter ludere <virgines y 
 Et ftellis maculam fpargere candidis t 
 
 Nonjtquid Pholoenfatis 
 Et te, Chlori, decet. HOR. 
 
 Now near to death that comes but flow, 
 
 Now thou art ftepping down below ; 
 
 Sport not amongft the blooming maids, 
 
 But think on ghofts and empty fhades : 
 
 What fuits with Pholoe in her bloom, 
 
 Gray Cbloris, will not thee become ; 
 
 A bed is different from a tomb. CREECH. 
 
 To the RAMBLER. 
 S I R, 
 
 IH A V E been but a little time converfant in the 
 world, yet I have already had frequent opportu- 
 nities of obferving the little efficacy of remonftrance 
 and complaint, which, however extorted by oppref. 
 lion, or fupported by reafon, are detefted by one part 
 of the world as rebellion, cenfured by another as pee- 
 vifhnefs, by fome heard with an appearance of com- 
 paffion, only to betray any of thofe fallies of vehe- 
 mence and refentment, which are apt to break out 
 upon encouragement, and by others pafled over with 
 indifference and neglect, as matters in which they 
 have no concern, and which if they fhould endea- 
 vour to examine or regulate, they might draw mif- 
 chief upon thcmfelves. 
 
 Yet
 
 352- THE RAMBLER. N55. 
 
 Yet fince it is no lefs natural for thofe who think 
 themfelves injured to complain, than for others to 
 neglect their complaints, I fhall venture to lay my 
 cafe before you, in hopes that you will enforce my 
 opinion if you think it juft, or endeavour to rectify 
 my fentiments, if I am miftaken. I expect at lead, 
 that you will diveft yourfelf of partiality, and that 
 whatever your age or folemnity may be, you will not, 
 with the dotard's infolence, pronounce me ignorant 
 and foolifh, perverfe and refractory, only becaufe you 
 perceive that I am young. 
 
 My father dying when I was but ten years old, 
 left me, and a brother two years younger than my- 
 felf, to the care of my mother, a woman of birth 
 and education, whofe prudence or virtue he had no 
 realbn to diftruft. She felt, for fome time, all the 
 forrow which nature calls forth, upon the final fepa- 
 ration of perfons dear to one another; and as her 
 grief was exhaufted by its own violence, it fubfided 
 into tendernefs for me and my brother, and the year 
 of mourning was fpent in careffes, confolations, and 
 inftrudtion, in celebration of my father's virtues, in 
 profeflions of perpetual regard to his memory, and 
 hourly inftances of fuch fondncfs as gratitude will 
 not eafily fuffer me to forget. 
 
 But when the term of this mournful felicity was 
 expired, and my mother appeared again without 
 the enfigns of forrow, the ladies of her acquaintance 
 began to tell her, upon whatever motives, that it 
 was time to live like the reft of the world j a power- 
 ful argument, which is feldom ufed to a woman 
 without effect. Lady Giddy was inceflantly relat- 
 ing the occurrences of the town, and Mrs. Gravely 
 
 told
 
 N'55- THE RAMBLER. 353 
 
 told her privately, with great tendernefs, that it 
 began to be publickly obferved how much fhe over- 
 acted her part, and that mod of her acquaintance 
 fufpected her hope of procuring another hufband to 
 be the true ground of all that appearance of tender- 
 nefs and piety. 
 
 All the officioufnefs of kindnefs and folly was 
 bufied to change her conduct. She was at one time 
 alarmed with cenfure, and at another fired with 
 praife. She was told of balls, where others (hone 
 only becaufe fhe was abfent ; of new comedies to 
 which all the town was crouding ; and of many in- 
 genious ironies, by which domeftick diligence was 
 made contemptible. 
 
 It is difficult for virtue to ftand alone againft fear 
 on one fide, and pleafure on the other j efpecially 
 when no actual crime is propofed, and prudence 
 itfelf can fugged many reafons for relaxation and 
 indulgence. My mamma was at laft perfuaded to 
 accompany Mifs Giddy to a play. She was received 
 with a boundlefs profufion of compliments, and at- 
 tended home by a very fine gentleman. Next day 
 fhe was with lefs difficulty prevailed on to play at 
 Mrs. Gravely 's, and came home gay and lively; 
 for the diftinctions that had been paid her awakened 
 her vanity, and good luck had kept her principles 
 of frugality from giving her difturbance. She now 
 made her fecond entrance into the world, and her 
 friends were fufficiently induftrious to prevent any 
 return to her former life; every morning brought 
 mefiages of invitation, and every evening was pafied 
 in places of diverfion, from which fhe for fome time 
 complained that fhe had rather be abfent. In a 
 
 VOL. IV, A a fhort
 
 354 THE RAMBLER. N 5$. 
 
 ihort time Hie began to feel the happinefs of afting 
 without controul, of being unaccountable for her 
 hours, her expences, and her company j and learned, 
 by degrees, to drop an expreflion of contempt, or 
 pity, at the mention of ladies whofe hufbands were 
 fufpected of retraining their pleafures, or their play, 
 and confefied that fhe loved to go and come as (he 
 pleafed. 
 
 I was ftill favoured with fome incidental precepts 
 and tranfient endearments, and was now and then 
 fondly kifled for fmiling like my papa: but moft 
 part of her morning was fpent in comparing the 
 opinion of her maid and milliner, contriving fome 
 variation in her drefs, vifiting {hops, and fending 
 compliments ; and the reft of the day was too fhort 
 for vtfits, cards, plays, and concerts. 
 
 She now began to difcover that it was impofilble 
 to educate children properly at home. Parents 
 could not have them always in their fight j the fo- 
 ciety of fervants was contagious j company produced 
 boldnefs and fpirit; emulation excited induftry ; 
 and a large fchool was naturally the firft ftep into 
 the open world. A thoufand other reafons fhe al- 
 ledged, fome of little force in themfelves, but fo well 
 feconded by pleafure, vanity, and idlenefs, that 
 they foon overcame all the remaining principles of 
 kindnefs and piety, and both I and my brother were 
 difpatched to boarding fchools. 
 
 How my mamma fpent her time when fhe was 
 thus difburthened I am not able to inform you, but 
 1 have reafon to believe that trifles and amufementa 
 took ftill fafter hold of her heart. At firft, fhe vi- 
 fited me at fchool, and afterwards wrote to me; but 
 
 in
 
 N'55- THE RAMBLER. 35$ 
 
 in a fhort time, both her vifits and her letters were 
 at an end, and no other notice was taken of me than 
 to remit money for my fupport. 
 
 When I came home, at the vacation, I found my- 
 felf coldly received, with an obfervation, " that this 
 girl will prefently be a woman." I was, after the 
 ufual ftay, fent to fchool again, and overheard my 
 mother fay, as I was a going, cc Well, now I fhall 
 recover." 
 
 In fix months more I came again, and with the 
 ufual childifh alacrity, was running to my mothers 
 embrace, when (he ftopt me with exclamations at 
 the fuddennefs and enormity of my growth, having, 
 fhe faid, never leen any body flioot up fo much at 
 my age. She was fure no other girls fpread at that 
 rate, and fhe hated to have children look like wo- 
 men before their time. I was difconcerted, and 
 retired without hearing any thing more than, " Nay, 
 " if you are angry, madam Steeple, you may walk 
 off." 
 
 When once the forms of civility are violated, 
 there remains little hope of return to kindnefs or 
 decency. My mamma made this appearance of re- 
 fentment a reafon for continuing her malignity, and 
 poor Mifs Maypole, for that was my appellation, 
 was never mentioned or fpoken to but with fome ex- 
 preflion of anger or diflike. 
 
 She had yet the pleafure of drefllng me like a 
 child, and I know not when I fhould have been 
 thought fit to change my habit, had I not been re- 
 fcued by a maiden filter of my father, who could not 
 bear to fee women in hanging- flee ves, and therefore 
 prefented me with brocade for a gown, for which I 
 A a 2 fliould
 
 356 TH RAMBLER. N 55. 
 
 fhould have thought myfelf under great obligations, 
 had fhe not accompanied her favour with fome hints 
 that my mamma might now confider her age, and 
 give me her ear-rings, which fhe had fhewn long 
 enough in publick places. 
 
 I now left the fchool and came to live with my 
 mamma, who confidered me as an ufurper that had 
 feized the rights of a woman before they were due, 
 and was pulhing her down the precipice of age, 
 that I might reign without a fuperior. While I am 
 thus beheld with jealoufy and fufpicion, you will 
 readily believe that it is difficult to pleafe. Every 
 word and look is an offence. I never fpeak, but I 
 pretend to fome qualities and excellencies, which it 
 is criminal to poffefs ; if I am gay, fhe thinks it 
 early enough to coquette ; if I am grave, fhe hates 
 a prude in bibs ; if I venture into company, I am 
 in hafte for a hufband ; if I retire to my chamber, 
 fuch matron-like ladies are lovers of contemplation. 
 I am on one pretence or other generally excluded 
 from her aflemblies, nor am I ever fuffered to vifit 
 at the fame place with my mamma. Every one 
 wonders why fhe does not bring Mifs more into the 
 world, and when fhe comes home in vapours I am 
 certain that fhe has heard either of my beauty or my 
 wit, and expect nothing for the enfuing week but 
 taunts and menaces, contradiction and reproaches. 
 
 Thus I live in a flate of continual perfecution, 
 only becaufe I was born ten years too foon, and 
 cannot flop the courfe of nature or of time, but am 
 unhappily a woman before my mother can willing- 
 ly ceafe to be a girl. I believe you would con- 
 tribute to the happinefs of many families, if, by 
 
 any
 
 N5& THE RAMBLER. 357 
 
 any arguments or perfuafions, you could make 
 mothers afhamed of rivalling their children; if you 
 could fhew them, that though they may refufe to 
 grow wife, they muft inevitably grow old ; and that 
 the proper folaces of age are not mufick and com- 
 pliments, but wifdom and devotion; that thofe who 
 are fo unwilling to quit the world will foon be driven 
 from it ; and that it is therefore their intereft to re- 
 tire while there yet remains a few hours for nobler 
 employments. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 NUMB. 56. SATURDAY, Sept. 29, 1750. 
 
 Valeat res ludicra, Ji me 
 
 Palma negata macrum y donata reducit opimum. HOR, 
 
 Farewell the ftage ; for humbly I difclaim 
 
 Such fond purfuits of pleafure, or of fame, 
 
 Jf I muft fink in (hame, or fwell with pride, 
 
 As the gay palm is granted or denied. FRANCIS. 
 
 NOthing is more unpleafing than to find that 
 offence has been received when none was in- 
 tended, and that pain has been given to thofe who 
 were not guilty of any provocation. As the great 
 end of fociety is mutual beneficence, a good man is 
 always uneafy when he finds himfelf acting in op- 
 pofition to the purpofes of life ; becaufe, though his 
 confcience may eafily acquit him of malice prepenfe, 
 of fettled hatred or contrivances of mifchief, yet he 
 A a 3 feldom
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 56. 
 
 feldom can be certain, that he has not failed by ne- 
 gligence, or indolence j that he has not been hin- 
 dered from confulting the common intereft by too 
 much regard to his own eafe, or too much indiffer- 
 ence to the happinefs of others. 
 
 Nor is it neceflary, that, to feel this uneafmefs, 
 the mind fhould be extended to any great diffbfion 
 of generofity, or melted by uncommon warmth of 
 benevolence ; for that prudence which the world 
 teaches, and a quick fenfibility of private intereft, 
 will direct us to fhun needlefs enmities -, fince there 
 is no man whofe kindnefs we may not fome time 
 want, or by whofe malice we may not fome time 
 fuffer. 
 
 I have therefore frequently looked with wonder, 
 and now and then with pity, at the though tleflfnefs 
 with which fome alienate from themfelves the affec- 
 tions of all whom chance, bufmefs, or inclination, 
 brings in their way. When we fee a man purfuing 
 fome darling intereft, without much regard to the 
 opinion of the world, we juftly confider him as cor- 
 rupt and dangerous, but are not long in difcovering 
 his motives ; we fee him actuated by paffions which 
 are hard to be refuted, and deluded by appearances 
 which have dazzled ftronger eyes. But the greater 
 part of thofe who fet mankind at defiance by hourly 
 irritation, and who live but to infufe malignity, 
 and multiply enemies, have no hopes to fofter, no 
 defigns to promote, nor any expectations of attain- 
 ing power by infolence, or of climbing to great- 
 nefs by trampling on others. They give up all the 
 fweets of kindnefs, for the fake of peevifhnefs, 
 petulance, or gloom i and alienate the world by ne- 
 glect
 
 N 5 6. THE RAMBLER; 
 
 gleet of the common forms of civility, and breach 
 of the eftabliihed laws of converfation. 
 
 Every one muft, in the walks of life, have met 
 with men of whom all fpeak with cenfure, though 
 they are not chargeable with any crime, and whom 
 none can be perfuaded to love, though a reafon can 
 fcarcely be affigned why they fhould be hated j and 
 who, if their good qualities and actions fometimes 
 force a commendation, have their panegyrick always 
 concluded with confeffions of difguft ; " he is a good 
 " man, but I cannot like him." Surely fuch per- 
 fons have fold the efteem of the world at too low a 
 price, fince they have loll one of the rewards of vir- 
 tue, without gaining the profits of wickednefs. 
 
 This ill economy of fame is fometimes the effect 
 of ftupidity : Men whofe perceptions are languid and 
 fluggifh, who lament nothing but lofs of money, and 
 feel nothing but a blow, are often at a difficulty to 
 guefs why they are encomparTed with enemies, though 
 they neglect all thofe arts by which men are endear- 
 ed to one another. They comfort themfelves that 
 they have lived irreproachably ; that none can charge 
 them with having endangered his life, or diminilhed 
 his poffcfllons j and therefore conclude that they fuf- 
 fer by fome invincible fatality, or impute the malice 
 of their neighbours to ignorance or envy. They 
 wrap themfelves up in their innocence, and enjoy 
 the congratulations of their own hearts, without 
 knowing or fufpecting that they are every day de- 
 fervedly incurring refentments, by withholding from 
 thofe with whom they converfe, that regard, or ap- 
 pearance of regard, to which every one is entitled 
 by the cuftoms of the world. 
 
 A a 4 There
 
 360 THE RAMBLER. N 56. 
 
 There are many injuries which almoft every man 
 feels, though he does not complain, and which, upon 
 thofe whom virtue, elegance, or vanity, have made 
 delicate and tender, fix deep and lafting impreffions ; 
 as there are many arts of gracioufnefs and concilia- 
 tion, which are to be praftifed without expence, and 
 by which thofe may be made our friends, who have 
 never received from us any real benefit. Such arts, 
 when they include neither guilt nor meannefs, it is 
 furely reafonable to learn, for who would want that 
 love which is fo eafily to be gained ? And fuch in- 
 juries are to be avoided ; for who would be hated 
 without profit ? 
 
 Some, indeed, there are, for whom the excufe of 
 ignorance or negligence cannot be alleged, becaufe 
 it is apparent that they are not only carelefs of pleaf- 
 ing, but fludious to offend ; that they contrive to 
 make all approaches to them difficult and vexatious, 
 and imagine that they aggrandize themielves by 
 wafting the time of others in ufelefs attendance, by 
 mortifying them with (lights, and teazing them with 
 affronts. 
 
 Men of this kind are generally to be found among 
 thofe that have not mingled much in general con- 
 verfation, but fpent their lives amidft the obfequiouf. 
 nefs of dependants, and the flattery of parafites i and 
 by long confulting only their own inclination, have 
 forgotten that others have a claim to the fame de- 
 ference. 
 
 Tyranny thus avowed, is indeed an exuberance of 
 pride, by which all mankind is fo much enraged, 
 that it is never quietly endured, except in thofe who 
 can reward the patience which they exact , and in- 
 
 folence
 
 Ns6. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 folence is generally furrounded only by fuch whofe 
 bafenefs inclines them to think nothing infupportable 
 that produces gain, and who can laugh at fcurrility 
 and rudenefs with a luxurious table and an open 
 purfe. 
 
 But though all wanton provocations and con- 
 temptuous infolence are to be diligently avoided, 
 there is no lefs danger in timid compliance and 
 tame refignation. It is common, for foft and fear- 
 ful tempers to give themfelves up implicitly to the 
 direction of the bold, the turbulent, and the over- 
 bearing ; of thofe whom they do not believe wifer or 
 better than themfelves ; to recede from the bed de- 
 figns where oppofition muft be encountered, and to 
 fall off from virtue for fear of cenfure. 
 
 Some firmnefs and refolution is neceffary to the 
 difcharge of duty j but it is a very unhappy flate of 
 life in which the neceffity of fuch ftruggles frequently 
 occurs ; for no man is defeated without fome refent- 
 ment, which will be continued with obftinacy while 
 he believes himfelf in the right, and exerted with 
 bitternefs, if even to his own conviction he is de- 
 tected in the wrong. 
 
 Even though no regard be had to the external con- 
 lequences of contrariety and difpute, it muft be pain- 
 ful to a worthy mind to put others in pain, and there 
 will be danger left the kindeft nature may be vitiated 
 by too long a cuftom of debate and conteft. 
 
 I am afraid that I may be taxed with infenfibility 
 by many of my correfpondents, who believe their 
 contributions unjuftly neglected. And indeed when 
 I lit before a pile of papers, of which each is the 
 production of laborious ftudy, and the offspring of 
 
 a fond
 
 THE RAMBLER, N' 56." 
 
 a fond parent, I, who know the paffions of an au- 
 thor, cannot remember how long they have lain in 
 my boxes unregarded, without imagining to myfelf 
 the various changes of forrow, impatience, and re- 
 fentment, which the writers muft have felt in this 
 tedious interval. 
 
 Thefe reflections are flill more awakened, when, 
 upon perufal, I find fome of them calling for a place 
 in the next paper, a place which they have never yet 
 obtained ; others writing in a ftyle of fuperiority and 
 haughtinefs, as fecure of deference, and above fear 
 of criticifm j others humbly offering their weak af- 
 fiftance with foftnefs and fubmiffion, which they be- 
 lieve impoffible to be refifted ; fome introducing 
 their compofitions with a menace of the contempt, 
 which he that refufes them will incur ; others ap- 
 plying privately to the bookfellers for their intereft 
 and folicitation ; every one by different ways endea- 
 vouring to fecure the blifs of publication. I can- 
 not but confider myfelf, as placed in a very incom- 
 modious fituation, where I am forced to reprefs 
 confidence, which it is pleafing to indulge, to repay 
 civilities with appearances of neglect, and fo fre- 
 quently to effend thofe by whom I never was of- 
 fended. 
 
 I know well how rarely an author, fired with the 
 beauties of his new compofition, contains his rap- 
 tures in his own bofom, and how naturally he im- 
 parts to his friends his expectations of renown j and 
 as I can eafily conceive the eagernefs with which a 
 new paper is fnatched up, by one who expects to 
 find it filled with his own production, and perhaps 
 has called his companions to fhare the pleafure of a 
 
 fecond"
 
 Ns6. THE RAMBLER. 363 
 
 fecond perufal, I grieve for the difappointment which 
 he is to feel at the fatal infpeftion. His hopes how- 
 ever do not yet forfake him ; he is certain of giving 
 luftre the next day. The next day comes, and again 
 he pants with expectation, and having dreamed of 
 laurels and Parnafius, cafts his eyes upon the barren, 
 page with which he is doomed never more to be de- 
 lighted. 
 
 For fuch cruelty what atonement can be made ? 
 For fuch calamities what alleviation can be found? 
 J am afraid that the mifchief already done muft be 
 without reparation, and all that deferves my care is 
 prevention for the future. Let therefore the next 
 friendly contributor, whoever he be, obferve the 
 cautions of Swift, and write fecretly in his own 
 chamber, without communicating his defign to his 
 neareft friend, for the neareft friend will be pleafed 
 with an opportunity of laughing. Let him carry it 
 to the poft himfelf, and wait in filence for the event. 
 If it is publifhed and praifed, he may then declare 
 himfelf the author; if it be fupprefied, he may 
 wonder in private without much vexation j and if it 
 be cenfured, he may join in the cry, and lament the 
 dulnefs of the writing generation.
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 57. TUESDAY, Oftober 2, 1750. 
 
 Ncn Intelligunt homines quam magnum veftigalfit parjlmonia. 
 
 TULL. 
 The world has not yet learned the riches of frugality. 
 
 To the RAMBLER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I AM always pleafed when I fee literature made 
 ufeful, and fcholars defcending from that ele- 
 vation, which, as it raifes them above common 
 life, muft likewife hinder them from beholding the 
 ways of men otherwife than in a cloud of buftle 
 and confufion. Having lived a life of bufinefs, 
 and remarked how feldom any occurrences emerge 
 for which great qualities are required, I have learned 
 the necefiity of regarding little things, and though 
 I do not pretend to give laws to the legislators 
 of mankind, or to limit the range of thofe power- 
 ful minds that carry light and heat through all the 
 regions of knowledge, yet I have long thought, 
 that the greateft part of thofe who lofe themfelves 
 in ftudies, by which I have not found that they 
 grow much wifer, might, with more advantage 
 both to the publick and themfelves, apply their 
 underftandings to domeftick arts, and ftore their 
 minds with axioms of humble prudence, and pri- 
 vate economy. 
 
 Your late paper on frugality was very elegant 
 and pleafing, but, in my opinion, not fufficiently 
 adapted t6 common readers, who pay little regard 
 
 to
 
 NS7. THE RAMBLER. 365 
 
 to the mufick of periods, the artifice of connexion, 
 or the arrangement of the flowers of rhetorick ; but 
 require a few plain and cogent inflructions, which 
 may fink into the mind by their own weight. 
 
 Frugality is fo necefTary to the happinefs of the 
 world, fo beneficial in its various forms to every 
 rank of men, from the higheft of human potentates, 
 to the loweft labourer or artificer ; and the miferies 
 which the neglect of it produces are fo numerous 
 and fo grievous, that it ought to be recommended 
 with every variation of addrefs, and adapted to every 
 clafs of underftanding. 
 
 Whether thofe who treat morals as a fcience will 
 allow frugality to be numbered among the virtues, 
 I have not thought it necefTary to enquire. For I, 
 who draw my opinions from a careful obfervation 
 of the world, am fatisfied with knowing, what is 
 abundantly fufficient for practice, that if it be not 
 a virtue, it is, at leaft, a quality which can feldom 
 exift without fome virtues, and without which few 
 virtues can exift. Frugality may be termed the 
 daughter of prudence, the fifter of temperance, and 
 the parent of liberty. He that is extravagant will 
 quickly become poor, and poverty will enforce de- 
 pendence, and invite corruption ; it will almoft al- 
 ways produce a pafllve compliance with the wicked- 
 nefs of others; and there are few who do not learn 
 by degrees to practife thofe crimes which they ceafe 
 to cenfure. 
 
 If there are any who do not dread poverty as 
 dangerous to virtue, yet mankind feem unanimous 
 enough in abhorring ic as deftructive to happinefs ; 
 
 and
 
 $66 THE RAMBLER. N 57. 
 
 and all to whom want is terrible, upon whatever 
 principle, ought to think themfelves obliged to learn 
 the fage maxims of our parfimonious anceftors, and 
 attain the falutary arts of contracting expence; for 
 without frugality none can be rich, and with it very 
 few would be poor. 
 
 To moft other acts of virtue or exertions of wif- 
 dom, a concurrence of many circumftances is ne- 
 ceflfary, fome previous knowledge muft be attained, 
 fome uncommon gifts of nature pofiefied, or fome 
 opportunity produced by an extraordinary combina- 
 tion of things; but the mere power of faving what is 
 already in our hands, muft be eafy of acquificion to 
 every mind; and as the example of Bacon may fliew, 
 that the higheft intellect cannot fafely neglect it, a 
 thoufand inftances will every day prove, that the 
 meaneft may practife it with fuccefs. 
 
 Riches cannot be within the reach of great num- 
 bers, becaufe to be rich is to poflefs more than is 
 commonly placed in a fingle hand; and, if many 
 could obtain the fum which now makes a man 
 wealthy, the name of wealth muft then be transfer- 
 red to ftill greater accumulations. But I am not 
 certain that it is equally impoffible to exempt the 
 lower clafles of mankind from poverty ; becaufe, 
 though whatever be the wealth of the community, 
 fome will always have leaft, and he that has lefs than 
 any other is comparatively poor; yet I do not fee 
 any coactive neceflity that many fhould be without 
 the indifpenfable conveniencies of life; but am Ibme- 
 times inclined to imagine, that, cafual calamities ex- 
 cepted, there might, by univerfal prudence, be pro- 
 ; cured
 
 N57- THE RAMBLER. 567 
 
 cured an univerfal exemption from want ; and that 
 he who fhould happen to have lead, might notwith- 
 Handing have enough. 
 
 But without entering too far into fpeculations 
 which I do not remember that any political calcu- 
 lator has attempted, and in which the moft perfpi- 
 cacious reafoner may be eafily bewildered, it is evi- 
 dent that they to whom providence has allotted no 
 other care but of their own fortune and their own 
 virtue, which make far the greater part of man- 
 kind, have fufficient incitements to perfonal fruga- 
 lity i fince, whatever might be its general effect 
 upon provinces or nations, by which it is never 
 likely to be tried, we know with certainty, that 
 there is fcarcely any individual entering the world, 
 who, by prudent parfimony, may not reafonably 
 promife himfelf a cheerful competence in the de- 
 cline of life. 
 
 The profpect of penury in age is fo gloomy and 
 terrifying, that every man who looks before him 
 muft refolve to avoid it j and it muft be avoided ge- 
 nerally by the fcience of fparing. For, though in 
 every age there are fome, who by bold adventures, 
 or by favourable accidents, rife fuddenly to riches 
 yet it is dangerous to indulge hopes of fuch rare 
 events : and the bulk of mankind muft owe their 
 affluence to fmall and gradual profits, below which 
 their expence muft be refolurely reduced. 
 
 You muft not therefore think me finking below 
 the dignity of a practical philofopher, when I re- 
 commend to the canfideration of your readers, from 
 the ftatefman to the apprentice, a pofition replete 
 with mercantile wifdom, A fenny Javed is two-fence 
 2 got i
 
 368 THE RAMBLER. N'57. 
 
 got ; which may, I think, be accommodated to 
 all conditions, by obferving not only that they 
 who purfue any lucrative employment will fave 
 time when they forbear expence, and that the time 
 may be employed to the increafe of profit j but that 
 they who are above fuch minute confiderations, will 
 find, by every victory over appetite or paffion, 
 new ftrength added to the mind, will gain the 
 power of refufing thofe folicitations by which the 
 young and vivacious are hourly affaulted, and in 
 time fet themfelves above the reach of extravagance 
 and folly. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be enquired by thofe who are 
 willing rather to cavil than to learn, what is the 
 juft meafure of frugality ; and when expence, not ab- 
 iblutely neceffary, degenerates into profufion ? To 
 fuch queftions no general anfwer can be returned ; 
 fince the liberty of {pending, or neceffity of parfi- 
 mony, may be varied without end by different cir- 
 cumftances. It may, however, be laid down as a 
 rule never to be broken, that a mans 'voluntary ex- 
 pence Jhould not exceed his revenue. A maxim fo ob- 
 vious and incontrovertible, that the civil law ranks 
 the prodigal with the madman, and debars them 
 equally from the conduct of their own affairs. An- 
 other precept arifing from the former, and indeed 
 included in it, is yet neceflary to be diftinctly im- 
 preffed upon the warm, the fanciful, and the brave ; 
 Let no man anticipate uncertain -profits. Let no man 
 prefume to fpend upon hopes, to truft his own abi- 
 lities for means of deliverance from penury, to give 
 a loofe to his prefent defires, and leave the reckon- 
 ing to fortune or to virtue. 
 
 To
 
 N $7- THE RAMBLER. 369 
 
 To thefe cautions, which, I fuppofe, are, at leaft 
 among the graver part of mankind, undifputed, I 
 will add another, Let no manjquander againft his in- 
 clination. With this precept it may be, perhaps, 
 imagined eafy to comply ; yet if thofe whom pro- 
 fufion has buried in prifons, or driven into banifh- 
 ment, were examined, it would be found that very 
 few were ruined by their own choice, or purchafed 
 pleafure with the lofs of their eftates j but that they 
 fuffered themfelves to be borne away by the violence 
 of thofe with whom they converfed, and yielded re- 
 luctantly to a thoufand prodigalities, either from a 
 trivial emulation of wealth and fpirit, or a mean fear 
 of contempt and ridicule j an emulation for the prize 
 of folly, or the dread of the laugh of fools. 
 
 I am, SIR, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 SOPHRON. 
 
 VOL. IV. B b
 
 370 THE RAMBLER. N $&. 
 
 NUMB. 58. SATURDAY, Oftober 6, 1750. 
 
 Improlte 
 
 Crefcunt diwtice, tamen 
 Curtte nefcio quidfemper abejl ret. HOR. 
 
 But, while in heaps his wicked wealth afcends. 
 
 He is not of his wifh pofTefs'd ; 
 There's fomething wanting ftill to make him blefs'd. 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 AS the love of money has been, in all ages, 
 one of the paffions that have given great dif- 
 turbance to the tranquillity of the world, there is 
 no topick more copioufly treated by the ancient 
 moralifts than the folly of devoting the heart to the 
 accumulation of riches. They who are acquainted 
 with thefe authors need not be told how riches incite 
 pity, contempt, or reproach, whenever they are 
 mentioned j with what numbers of examples the 
 danger of large pofieflions is illuftrated ; and how all 
 the powers of reafon and eloquence have been ex- 
 haufted in 'endeavours to eradicate a defire, which 
 feems to have intrenched itfelf too ftrongly in the 
 mind to be driven out, and which, perhaps, had not 
 loft its power, even over thofe who declaimed againft 
 it, but would have broken out in the poet or the 
 fage, if it had been excited by opportunity, and in- 
 vigorated by the approximation of its proper ob- 
 ject. 
 
 Their
 
 N'53. THE RAMBLER. 371 
 
 Their arguments have been, indeed, fo unfuccefs- 
 ful, that I know not whether it can be fhown, that by 
 all the wit and reafon which this favourite caufe has 
 called forth, a fingle convert was ever made j that 
 even one man has refufed to be rich, when to be rich 
 was in his power, from the conviction of the greater 
 happinefs of a narrow fortune ; or difburthened him- 
 felf of wealth, when he had tried its inquietudes, 
 merely to enjoy the peace and leifure and fecurity of 
 a mean and unenvied ftate. 
 
 It is true, indeed, that many have neglected op- 
 portunities of raifing themfelves to honours and to 
 wealth, and rejected the kindeft offers of fortune : 
 but, however their moderation may be boafted by 
 themfelves, or admired by fuch as only view them at 
 a diftance, it will be, perhaps, feldom found that 
 they value riches lefs, but that they dread labour or 
 danger more than others ; they are unable to roufe 
 themfelves to action, to ftrain in the race of compe- 
 tition, or to (land the fhock of conteft ; but though 
 they, therefore, decline the toil of climbing, they 
 neverthelefs wifh themfelves alofr, and would wil- 
 lingly enjoy what they dare not feize. 
 
 Others have retired from high flations, and vo- 
 luntarily condemned themfelves to privacy and ob- 
 fcurity. But, even thefe will not afford many occa- 
 fions of triumph to the philofopher ; for they have 
 commonly either quitted that only which they 
 thought themfelves unable to hold, and prevented 
 difgracc by refignation ; or they have been induced to 
 try new meafures by general inconftancy, which 
 always dreams of happinefs in novelty, or by a 
 gloomy difpofition, which is difgufled in the fame 
 
 B b 2 degree
 
 THE RAMBLER. N'5$. 
 
 degree with every (late, and wifhes every fcene of 
 life to change as foon as it is beheld. Such men 
 found high and low ftations equally unable to fatisfy 
 the wifhes of a diftempered mind, and were unable 
 to fhelter themfelves in the clofeft retreat from difap- 
 pointment, folicitude, and mifery. 
 
 Yet though thefe admonitions have been thus 
 neglected by thofe, who either enjoyed riches, or 
 were able to procure them, it is not rafhly to be 
 determined that they are altogether without life ; 
 for fince far the greateft part of mankind muft be 
 confined to conditions comparatively mean, and 
 placed in fituations, from which they naturally 
 look up with envy to the eminences before them, 
 thofe writers cannot be thought ill employed that 
 have adminiftered remedies to difcontent almoft uni- 
 verfal, by Ihowing, that what we cannot reach may 
 very well be forborn, that the inequality of diftribu- 
 tion, at which we murmur, is for the moft part lefs 
 than it feems, and that the greatnefs, which we ad- 
 mire at a diftance, has much fewer advantages, and 
 much lefs fplendor, when we are fuffered to approach 
 it. 
 
 It is the bufmefs of moralifts to detect the frauds 
 of fortune, and to fhow that fhe impofes upon 
 the carelefs eye, by a quick fucceflion of fhadows, 
 which will fhrink to nothing in the gripe; that fhe 
 difguifes life in extrinfick ornaments, which ferve 
 only for fhow, and are laid afide in the hours of foli- 
 tude, and ofpleafurej and that when greatnefs afpires 
 either to felicity or to wifdom, it fhakes off thofe 
 diftinctions which dazzle the gazer, and awe the 
 fupplicant. 
 
 It
 
 N53. THE RAMBLER. 373 
 
 It may be remarked, that they whofe condition 
 has not afforded them the light of moral or reli- 
 gious inft.ru6r.ion, and who collect all their ideas by 
 their own eyes, and digeft them by their own under- 
 ftandings, feem to confider thofe who are placed in 
 ranks of remote fuperiority, as almoft another and 
 higher fpecies of beings. As themfelves have 
 known little other mifery than the confequences 
 of want, they are with difficulty perfuaded that 
 where there is wealth there can be forrow, or that 
 thofe who glitter in dignity, and glide along in 
 affluence, can be acquainted with pains and cares 
 like thofe which lie heavy upon the reft of man- 
 kind. 
 
 This prejudice is, indeed, confined to the loweft 
 meannefs, and the darkeft ignorance; but it is fo 
 confined only becaufe others have been fhown its 
 folly, and its falfhood, becaufe it has been oppofed 
 in its progrefs by hiftory and philofophy, and hin- 
 dered from fpreading its infection by powerful prefer- 
 vatives. 
 
 The doctrine of the contempt of wealth, though 
 it has hot been able to extinguish avarice or ambi- 
 tion, or fupprefs that reluctance with which a man 
 palTes his days in a ftatc of inferiority, muft, at 
 leaft, have made the lower conditions lefs grating 
 and wearifome, and has confequently contributed 
 to the general fecurity of life, by hindering that 
 fraud and violence,, rapine and circumvention, 
 which muft have been produced by an unbounded 
 eagernefs of wealth, arifing from an unfhaken con- 
 viction that to be rich is to be happy. 
 
 B b 3 Whoever
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 58. 
 
 Whoever finds himfelf incited, by fbme violent 
 impulfe of pafiion, to purfue riches as the chief end 
 of being, muft furely be fo much alarmed by the 
 fucceffive admonitions of thofe, whofe experience 
 and fagacity have recommended them as the guides 
 of mankind, as to flop and confider whether he is 
 about to engage in an undertaking that will re- 
 ward his toil, and to examine, before he rulhes to 
 wealth, through right and wrong, what it will con- 
 fer when he has acquired itj and this examination 
 will feldom fail to reprefs his ardour, and retard his 
 violence. 
 
 Wealth is nothing in itfelf, it is not ufeful but 
 when it departs from us j its value is found only 
 in that which it can purchafe, which, if we fuppofe 
 it put to its beft ufe by thofe that pofTefs it, feems 
 not much to deferve the defire or envy of a wife 
 man. It is certain that, with regard to corporal en- 
 joyment, money can neither open new avenues to 
 pleafure, nor block up the pafiages of anguifh. 
 Difeafe and infirmity dill continue to torture and 
 enfeeble, perhaps exafperated by luxury, or pro- 
 moted by foftnefs. With refpect to the mind, it 
 has rarely been obferved, that wealth contributes 
 much to quicken the difcernment, enlarge the capa- 
 city, or elevate the imagination -, but may, by hir- 
 ing flattery, or laying diligence afleep, confirm 
 error, and harden ftupidity. 
 
 Wealth cannot confer greatnefs, for nothing can 
 make that great, which the decree of nature has 
 ordained to be little. The bramble may be placed 
 in a hot-bed, but can never become an oak. Even 
 royalty itfelf is not able to give that dignity which 
 
 it
 
 N 58. THE RAMBLER. 375 
 
 it happens not to find, but oppreffes feeble minds, 
 though it may elevate the ftrong. The world has 
 been governed in the name of kings, whofe exiftence 
 has fcarcely been perceived by any real effects be- 
 yond their own palaces. 
 
 When therefore the defire of wealth is taking hold 
 of the heart, let us look round and fee how it 
 operates upon thofe whofe induftry or fortune has 
 obtained it. When we find them opprefled with 
 their own abundance, luxurious without pleafure, 
 idle without eafe, impatient and querulous in them- 
 felves, and defpifed or hated by the reft of man- 
 kind, we lhall foon be convinced that if the real 
 wants of our condition are fatisfied, there remains 
 little to be fought with folicitude, or defired with 
 eagernefs. 
 
 B b 4
 
 376 THE RAMBLER. N* 59. 
 
 NUMB. eg. TUESDAY, Oftober g, 175:0. 
 jy y* /j 
 
 ,/? ali quid fat ale malum per 'verla levare, 
 
 Hoc querulam Halcyonenque P rognen facit ' 
 Hoc erat infolo quare Pa ant las antro 
 
 Vox fatigaret Lemniafaxafua. 
 Strangulat inclufus dolor atque exefjluat intus, 
 
 Cogitur et vires multiplicarefuas. Ov I D . 
 
 'JO b'I* 
 Complaining oft, gives refpite to our grief; 
 
 From hence the wretched Progne fought relief, 
 Hence the Peeantian chief his fate deplores, 
 .And vents his forrow to the Lemnian fhores : 
 In vain by fecrecy we wou'd aiTuage 
 Our cares ; conceaPd they gather tenfold rage. 
 
 F. LEWIS. 
 
 IT is common to diftinguifh men by the names of 
 animals which they are fuppofed to referable. 
 Thus a hero is frequently termed a lion, and a 
 flatefman a fox, an extortioner gains the appella- 
 tion of vulture, and a fop the title of monkey. 
 There is alfo among the various anomalies of cha- 
 racter, which a furvey of the world exhibits, a fpecies 
 of beings in human form, which may be properly 
 marked out as the fcreech-owls of mankind. 
 
 Thefe fcreech-owls feem to be fettled in an opi- 
 nion that the great bufinefs of life is to complain, 
 and that they were born for no other purpofe than 
 to difturb the happinefs of others, to leffen the little 
 comforts, and fhorten the fhort pleafures of our con- 
 dition, by painful remembrances of the paft, or 
 melancholy prognoilicks of the future -, their only 
 
 care
 
 N'59- THE RAMBLER. 377 
 
 care is to crufh the rifing hope, to damp the kin- 
 dling tranfport, and allay the golden hours of gaiety 
 with the hateful drofs of grief and fufpicion. 
 
 To thole, whofe weaknefs of fpirits, or timidity 
 of temper, fubjects them to impreffions from others, 
 and who are apt to fuffer by fafcination, and catch 
 the contagion of mifery, it is extremely unhappy to 
 live within the compafs of a fcreech-owl's voice; 
 for it will often fill their ears in the hour of dejec- 
 tion, terrify them with apprehen lions, which their 
 own thoughts would never have produced, and 
 fadden, by intruded forrows, the day which might 
 have been patted in amufements or in bufinefs ; it 
 will burthen the heart with nnneceflary difcontents, 
 and weaken for a timd that love of life, which is 
 necefiary to' the vigorous profecution of any under- 
 taking. 
 
 Though I have, like the reft of mankind, many 
 failings and weaknefles, I have not yet, by either 
 friends or enemies, been charged with fuperftition ; 
 I never count the company which I enter, and I 
 look at the new moon indifferently over either 
 fhoulder. I have, like mod other philofophcrs, often 
 heard the cuckoo without money in my pocket, and 
 have been fometimes reproached as fool-hardy for 
 not turning down my eyes when a raven flew over 
 my head. I never go home abruptly becaufe a 
 fnake crofles my way, nor have any particular dread 
 of a climacterical year : yet I confefs that, with all 
 my fcorn of old women, and their tales, I confider 
 it as an unhappy day when I happen to be greeted, 
 in the morning, by Sufpirius the fcreech-owl. 
 
 I have now known Sufpirius fifty-eight years and 
 four monthsj and have never yet patted an hour 
 
 with
 
 37? THE RAMBLER. N 59. 
 
 with him in which he has not made fome attack upon 
 my quiet. When we were firft acquainted, his great 
 topick was the mifery of youth without riches, and 
 whenever we walked out together he folaced me with 
 a long enumeration of pleafures, which, as they 
 were beyond the reach of my fortune, were without 
 the verge of my defires, and which I fhould never 
 have confidered as the objects of a wilh, had not his 
 unfeafonable reprefentations placed them in my 
 
 Another of his topicks is the neglect of merit, 
 with which he never fails to amufe every man whom 
 he fees not eminently fortunate. If he meets with 
 a young officer, he always informs him of gentle- 
 men whofe perfonal courage is unqueftioned, and 
 \vhofe military fkill qualifies them to command 
 armies, that have, notwithflanding all their merit, 
 grown old with fubahern commiffions. For a genius 
 in the church, he is always provided with a curacy 
 for life. The lawyer he informs of many men of 
 great parts and deep fludy, who have never had an 
 opportunity to fpeak in the courts : And meeting 
 Serenus the phyfician, " Ah, doctor/' fays he, " what 
 < f a-foot ftill, when fo many blockheads are rattling 
 <e in their chariots ? I told you feven years ago that 
 <c you would never meet with encouragement, and I 
 " hope you will now take more notice, when I tell 
 " you, that your Greek, and your diligence, and your 
 * c honefty, will 'never enable you to live like yonder 
 <( apothecary, who prefcribes to his own Ihop, and 
 " laughs at the phyfician." 
 
 Sufpirius has, in his time, intercepted fifteen 
 authors in their way to the ftage; perfuaded nine 
 and thirty merchants to retire from a profperous 
 
 trade
 
 N59- THE RAMBLER. 379 
 
 trade for fear of bankruptcy, broke off an hundred 
 and thirteen matches by prognoftications of unhap- 
 pinefs, and enabled the fmall-pox to kill nineteen 
 ladies, by perpetual alarms of the lofs of beauty. 
 
 Whenever my evil ftars bring us together, he 
 never fails to reprefent to me the folly of my pur- 
 fuits, and informs me that we are much older than 
 when we began our acquaintance, that the infirmities 
 of decrepitude are coming faft upon me, that what- 
 ever I now get I fhall enjoy but a little time, that 
 fame is to a man tottering on the edge of the grave 
 of very little importance, and that the time is at 
 hand when I ought to look for no other pleafures 
 than a good dinner and an ealy chair. 
 
 Thus he goes on in his unharmonious ftrain, 
 difplaying prefent miferies, and foreboding more, 
 j/uxTjcof a.$n &ar89*QCj every fyllable is loaded 
 with misfortune, and death is always brought nearer 
 to the view. Yet, what always raifes my refentment 
 and indignation, I do not perceive that his mournful 
 meditations have much effecl: upon himfelf. He 
 talks and has long talked of calamities, without 
 difcovering, otherwife than by the tone of his voice, 
 that he feels any of the evils which he bewails or 
 threatens, but has the fame habit of uttering la- 
 mentations, as others of telling flories, and falls 
 into expreffions of condolence for paft, or appre- 
 henfion of future mifchiefs, as all men ftudious of 
 their eafe have recourfe to thofe fubjects upon which 
 they can moft fluently or copioufly difcourfe. 
 
 It is reported of the Sybarites, that they deftroy- 
 
 ed all their cocks, that they might dream out their 
 
 morning dreams without difturbance. Though I 
 
 2 would
 
 380 THE RAMBLER. N 59. 
 
 would not fo far promote effeminacy as to propofe 
 the Sybarites for an example, yet fince there is no 
 man fo corrupt or foolifh, but fomething ufeful may 
 be learned from him, I could vvifh that, in imita- 
 tion of a people not often to be copied, fome regu- 
 lations might be made to exclude fcreech-owls from 
 all company, as the enemies of mankind, and con- 
 fine them to fome proper receptacle, where they may 
 mingle fighs at leifure, and thicken the gloom of 
 one another. 
 
 'Thou prophet of evil, fays Homer's Agamemnon, 
 thou never fortelleft me good, but the joy of thy heart 
 is to prediff misfortunes. Whoever is of the fame 
 temper might there find the means of indulging his 
 thoughts, and improving his vein of denunciation, 
 and the flock of fcreech-owls might hoot together 
 without injury to the reft of the world. 
 
 Yet, though I have fo little kindnefs for this dark 
 generation, I am very far from intending to debar 
 the foft and tender mind from the privilege of com- 
 plaining, when the figh rifes from the defire not of 
 giving pain, but of gaining eafe. To hear com- 
 plaints with patience, even when complaints are 
 vain, is one of the duties of friendfhipj and though 
 it muft be allowed that he fuffers mod like a hero 
 that hides his grief in filence, 
 
 Spetn vultUrJimulat, premit altum corde dolorcm, 
 
 His outward fmiJes cor.ceal'd his inward fmart. DRYDEK. 
 
 yet, it cannot be denied that he who complains ads 
 like a man, like a focial being, who looks for help 
 from his fellow-creatures. Pity is to many of the 
 unhappy a fource of comfort in hopelefs diftreiTes, 
 
 as
 
 N6o. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 as it contributes to recommend them to themfelves, 
 by proving that they have not loft the regard of 
 others ; and heaven feems to indicate the duty even 
 of barren companion, by inclining us to weep for 
 evils which we cannot remedy. 
 
 NUMB. 60. SATURDAY, Qftober 13, 1750, 
 
 Quid Jit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid nan, 
 
 Plenius et melius Chryftppo et Grantors dicit. HOR, 
 
 Whofe works the beautiful and bafe contain, 
 
 Of vice and virtue more inllruclive rules, 
 
 Than all the fober fages of the fchools. FRANCIS. 
 
 ALL joy or forrow for the happinefs or cala- 
 mities of others is produced by an act of the 
 imagination, that realifes the event however ficti- 
 tious, or approximates it however remote, by placing 
 us, for a time, in the condition of him whofe for- 
 tune we contemplate; fo that we feel, while the de- 
 ception lafts, whatever motions would be excited by 
 the fame good or evil happening to ourfelves. 
 
 Our paffions are therefore more ftrongly moved, 
 in proportion as we can more readily adopt the pains 
 or pleafure propofed to our minds, by recognifing 
 them as once our own, or confidering them as natu- 
 rally incident to our ftate of life. It is not eafy for 
 the moft artful writer to give us an intereft in hap- 
 pinefs or mifery, which we think ourfelves never 
 likely to feel, and with which we have never yet 
 been made acquainted. Hiftories of the downfal of 
 
 kingdoms,
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 60. 
 
 kingdoms, and revolutions of empires, are read with 
 great tranquillity ; the imperial tragedy pleafes com- 
 mon auditors only by its pomp of ornament, and 
 grandeur of ideas j and the man whofe faculties have 
 been engroffed by bufinefs, and whofe heart never 
 fluttered but at the rife or fall of the flocks, won- 
 ders how the attention can be feized, or the affection 
 agitated, by a tale of love. 
 
 Thofe parallel circumflances and kindred images, 
 to which we readily conform our minds, are, above 
 all other writings, to be found in narratives of the 
 lives of particular perfons ; and therefore no fpecies 
 of writing feems more worthy of cultivation than 
 biography, fince none can be more delightful or 
 more ufeful, none can more certainly enchain the 
 heart by irrefiftible intereft, or more widely diffufe 
 inftruction to every diverfity of condition. 
 
 The general and rapid narratives of hiftory, which 
 involve a thoufand fortunes in the bufinefs of a day, 
 and complicate innumerable incidents in one great 
 tranfaction, afford few leflbns applicable to private 
 life, which derives its comforts and its wretchednefs 
 from the right or wrong management of things, 
 which nothing but their frequency makes confider- 
 able, Parva Ji non fiunt quotidie, fays Pliny, and 
 which can have no place in thofe relations which 
 never defcend below the confultation of fenates, the 
 motions of armies, and the fchemes of confpirators. 
 
 I have often thought that there has rarely pafied a 
 life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would 
 not be ufeful. For, not only every man has, in the 
 mighty mafs of the world, great numbers in the fame 
 condition with himfelf, to whom his miftakes and 
 
 mifcarriages,
 
 N6o. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 mifcarriages, efcapes and expedients, would be of 
 immediate and apparent ufej but there is fuch an 
 uniformity in the (late of man, confidered apart from 
 adventitious and feparable decorations and difguifes, 
 that there is fcarce any poffibility of good or ill, but 
 is common to human kind. A great part of the 
 time of thofe who are placed at the greatefl diftance 
 by fortune, or by temper, muft unavoidably pafs in 
 the fame manner, and though, when the claims of 
 nature are fatisfied, caprice, and vanity, and acci- 
 dent, begin to produce difcriminations and peculi- 
 arities, yet the eye is not very heedful or quick, 
 which cannot difcover the fame caufes (till termi- 
 nating their influence in the fame effects, though 
 fometimes accelerated, fometimes retarded, or per- 
 plexed by multiplied combinations. We are all 
 prompted by the fame motives, all deceived by the 
 fame fallacies, all animated by hope, obftructed by 
 danger, entangled by defire, and feduced by plea- 
 fure. 
 
 Jt is frequently objected to relations of particular 
 lives, that they are not diftinguifhed by any ftnking 
 or wonderful viciffitudes. The fcholar who pafled 
 his life among his books, the merchant who conduct- 
 ed only his own affairs, the priefr, whofe fphere of 
 action was not extended beyond that of his duty, are 
 confidered as no proper objects of publick regard, 
 however they might have excelled in their feveral 
 ftations, whatever might have been their learning, in- 
 tegrity, and piety. But this notion arifes from falfe 
 meafures of excellence and dignity, and muft be era- 
 dicated by confidering, that in the eileem of uncor- 
 rupted reafon, what is of moft ufe is of moft value. 
 
 I*
 
 384 THE RAMBLER. N<*66, 
 
 It is, indeed, not improper to take honed advan- 
 tages of prejudice, and to gain attention by a cele- 
 brated name} but the bufinefs of the biographer is 
 often to pafs (lightly over thofe performances and in- 
 cidents, which produce vulgar greatnefs, to lead the 
 thoughts into domeflick privacies, and difplay the 
 minute details of daily life, where exterior appendages 
 are cad afide, and men excel each other only by pru- 
 dence and by virtue. The account of Thuanus is, 
 with great propriety, faid by its author to have been 
 written, that it might lay open to posterity the pri- 
 vate and familiar character of that man, c ujus ingeni- 
 urn et candorem ex ipjius fcriptis Junt dim Jenifer 
 miraturi, whofe candour and genius will to the end 
 of time be by his writings preferved in admiration. 
 
 There are many invifible circumftances which, 
 whether we read as enquirers after natural or moral 
 knowledge, whether we intend to enlarge our fcience, 
 or encreafe our virtue, are more important than pub- 
 lick occurrences. Thus Sallufr, the great mafter of 
 nature, has not forgot, in his account of Catiline, to 
 remark that his walk was new quick, and again flow, 
 as an indication of a mind revolving fomething with 
 violent commotion. Thus the (lory of Melancthon 
 affords a ftriking lecture on the value of time, by 
 informing us, that when he made an appoint- 
 ment, he expected not only the hour, but the mi- 
 nute to be fixed, that the day might not run out in 
 the idlenefs of fufpenie; and all the plans and en- 
 terprizes of De Wit are now of lefs importance to 
 the world, than that part of his perfonal character 
 which reprefents him as careful of his health, and ne- 
 gligent of his life, 
 
 But
 
 N*6o. THE RAMBLER. 385 
 
 But biography has often been allotted to writers 
 who feem very little acquainted with the nature of 
 their tafk, or very negligent about the performance. 
 They rarely afford any other account than might be 
 collected from publick papers, but imagine them- 
 felves writing a life when they exhibit a chronologi- 
 cal feries of actions or preferments ; and fo little re- 
 gard the manners or behaviour of their heroes, that 
 more knowledge may be gained of a man's real cha- 
 racter, by a ihort converfation with one of his fer- 
 vants, than from a formal and ftudied narrative, be- 
 gun with his pedigree, and ended with his funeral. 
 
 Jf now and then they condefcend to inform the 
 world of particular facts, they are not always fo 
 happy as to felect the mod important. I know not 
 well what advantage pofterity can receive from the 
 only circumftance by which Tickell has diftinguilhed 
 Addifon from the reft of mankind, the irregularity 
 of his pulfe : nor can I think myfelf overpaid for the 
 time fpent in reading the life of Malherb, by being 
 enabled to relate, after the learned biographer, that 
 Malherb had two predominant opinions ; one, that 
 the loofenefs of a fingle woman might deftroy all her 
 boaft of ancient defcent ; the other, that the French 
 beggars made ufe very improperly and barbaroufly 
 of the phrafe noble Gentleman, becaufe either word 
 included the fenfe of both. 
 
 There are, indeed, fome natural reafons why thefe 
 narratives are often written by fuch as were not likely 
 to give much inftruction or delight, and why moft 
 accounts of particular perfons are barren and ufelefs. 
 If a life be delayed till intereft and envy are at an 
 end, we may hope for impartiality, but mult expect 
 
 VOL. IV. C c little
 
 386 THE RAMBLER. N 60, 
 
 little intelligence j for the incidents which give ex- 
 cellence to biography are of a volatile and evanefcent 
 kind, fuch as foon efcape the memory, and are rarely 
 tranfmitted by tradition. We know how few can 
 pourtray a living acquaintance, except by his moft 
 prominent and obfervable particularities, and the 
 grofier features of his mind ; and it may be eafily 
 imagined how much of this little knowledge may be 
 loft in imparting it, and how foon a fucceflion of 
 copies will lofe all refemblance of the original. 
 
 If the biographer writes from perfonal knowledge, 
 and makes hafte to gratify the publick curiofity, there 
 is danger left his intereft, his fear, his gratitude, or 
 his tendernefs, overpower his fidelity, and tempt him 
 to conceal, if not to invent. There are many who 
 think it an at of piety to hide the faults or failings 
 of their friends, even when they can no longer fuffer 
 by their detection ; we therefore fee whole ranks of 
 characters adorned with uniform panegyrick, and not 
 to be known from one another, but by extrinfick and 
 cafual circumftances. " Let me remember," fays 
 Hale, " when I find myfelf inclined to pity a crimi- 
 " nal, that there is likewife a pity due to the coun- 
 " try." If we owe regard to the memory of the 
 dead, there is yet more refpe6l to be paid to know- 
 ledge, to virtue, and to truth.
 
 7vT6i. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 61. TUESDAY, Oftober 16, 1750. 
 
 Falfus honor juvat, et mend ax infatnia ferret 
 
 Quern nife mendofum et mendacem ? Ho R . 
 
 Falfe praife can charm, unreal fhame controul 
 
 Whom but a vicious or a fickly foul? FRANCIS. 
 
 r* the RAMBLER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 IT is extremely vexatious to a man of eager and 
 thirfty curiofity to be placed at a great diftance 
 from the fountain of intelligence, and not only 
 never to receive the current of report till it has fa- 
 tiated the greateft part of the nation, but at laft to 
 find it mudded in its courfe, and corrupted with taints 
 or mixtures from every channel through which it 
 flowed. 
 
 One of the chief pleafures of my life is to hear 
 what paries in the world, .to know what are the 
 fchemes of the politick, the aims of the bufy, and the 
 hopes of the ambitious ; what changes of publick 
 meafures are approaching ; who is likely to be crufhed 
 in the collifion of parties ; who is climbing to the 
 top of power, and who is tottering on the precipice 
 of difgrace. But as it is very common for us to de- 
 fire moil what we are lead qualified to obtain, I have 
 fuffered this appetite of news to outgrow all the gra- 
 tifications which my prefent ficuation can afford it; 
 for being placed in a remote country, I am con- 
 demned always to confound the future with the paft, 
 
 C C 2 tO
 
 388 THE RAMBLER. N' 61. 
 
 to form prognoftications of events no longer doubt- 
 ful, and to confider the expediency of fchemes already 
 executed or defeated. I am perplexed with a perpe- 
 tual deception in my profpects, like a man pointing 
 his telefcope at a remote ftar, which before the light 
 reaches his eye has forfaken the place from which it 
 was emitted. 
 
 The mortification of being thus always behind 
 the active world in my reflections and difcoveries, 
 is exceedingly aggravated by the petulance of thofe 
 whofe health, or bufinefs, or pleafure, brings them 
 hither from London. For, without confidering the 
 infuperable difadvantages of my condition, and the 
 unavoidable ignorance which abfence muft produce, 
 they often treat me with the utmoft fupercilioufnefs 
 of contempt, for not knowing what no human faga- 
 city can difcover ; and fometimes feem to confider 
 me as a wretch fcarcely worthy of human converfe, 
 when I happen to talk of the fortune of a bankrupt, 
 or propofe the healths of the dead, when I warn them 
 of mifchiefs already incurred, or wifh for meafures 
 that have been lately taken. They feem to attribute 
 to the fuperiority of their intellects what they only 
 owe to the accident of their condition, and think 
 themfelves indifputably intitled to airs of infolence 
 and authority, when they find another ignorant of 
 facts, which becaufe they echoed in the ftreets of 
 London, they fuppofe equally publick in all other 
 places, and known where they could neither be feen, 
 related, nor conjectured. 
 
 To this haughtinefs they are indeed too much en^ 
 couraged by the refpect which they receive amongfl 
 us, for no other reafon than that they come from 
 
 London.
 
 N*6i. THE RAMBLER. 389 
 
 London. For no Iboner is the arrival of one of 
 thefe difieminators of knowledge known in the 
 country, than we crowd about him from every quar- 
 ter, and by innumerable enquiries flatter him into 
 an opinion of his own importance, He fees himfelf 
 furrounded by multitudes, who propofe their doubts, 
 and refer their controversies, to him, as to a being 
 defcended from fome nobler region, and he grows on 
 a fudden oraculous and infallible, folves all difficul- 
 ties, and fets all objections at defiance. 
 
 There is, in my opinion, great reafon for fuf- 
 pefting, that they fometimes take advantage of this 
 reverential modefty, and impofe upon ruflick under- 
 ftandings with a falfe ihow of univerfal intelligence; 
 for I do not find that they are willing to own them- 
 felves ignorant of any thing, or that they difmifs any 
 enquirer with a pofitive and decifive anfwer. The 
 court, the city, the park, and exchange, are to 
 thofe men of unbounded obfervation equally fami- 
 liar, and they are alike ready to tell the hour at 
 which (locks will rife, or the miniftry be changed. 
 
 A fhort refidence at London entitles a man to 
 knowledge, to wit, to politenefs, and to a defpotick 
 and dictatorial power of prefcribing to the rude mul- 
 titude, whom he condefcends to honour with a bien- 
 nial vifit; yet, I know not well upon what motives, 
 I have lately found myfelf inclined to cavil at this 
 prefcription, and to doubt whether it be not, on fome 
 occafions, proper to withhold our veneration, till we 
 are more authentically convinced of the merits of the 
 claimant. 
 
 It is well remembered here, that, about feven years 
 ago, one Frolick, a tall boy, with lank hair, remark- 
 ed c 3 able
 
 390 THE RAMBLER. N* 61. 
 
 able for dealing eggs, and (licking them, was taken 
 from the fchool in this parifh, and fent up to Lon- 
 don to ftudy the law. As he had given amongft us 
 no proofs of a genius defigned by nature for extraor- 
 dinary performances, he was, from the time of his 
 departure, totally forgotten, nor was there any talk 
 of his vices or virtues, his good or his ill fortune, till 
 lad fummer a report burft upon us, that Mr. Fro- 
 lick was come down in the firft poft-chaife which this 
 village had feen, having travelled with fuch rapidity 
 that one of his poftillions had broke his leg, and an- 
 other narrowly efcaped fuffocation in a quickfand. 
 But that Mr. Frolick feemed totally unconcerned, 
 for fuch things were never heeded at London. 
 
 Mr. Frolick next day appeared among the gentle- 
 men at their weekly meeting on the bowling-green, 
 and now were feen the effects of a London educa- 
 tion. His dreis, his language, his ideas, were all 
 new, and he did not much endeavour to conceal his 
 contempt of every thing that differed from the opi- 
 nions, or practice, of the modifh world. He fhewed 
 us the deformity of our fkirts and fleeves, informed 
 us where hats of the proper fize were to be fold, and 
 recommended to us the reformation of a thoufand 
 abfurdities in our clothes, our cookery, and our con- 
 verfation. When any of his phrafcs were unintelli- 
 gible, he could not furprefs the joy of confefled fu- 
 periority, but frequently delayed the explanation, 
 that he might enjoy his triumph over our barbarity. 
 
 When he is pleafed to entertain us with a ftory, 
 he takes care to crowd into it names of ftreets, 
 fquares, and buildings, with which he knows we 
 are unacquainted. The favourite topicks of his 
 
 difcourfc
 
 N6i. THE RAMBLER. 391 
 
 difcourfe are the pranks of drunkards, and the tricks 
 put upon country gentlemen by porters and link- 
 boys. When he is with ladies he tells them of the 
 innumerable pleafures to which he can introduce 
 them ; but never fails to hint how much they will 
 be deficient, at their firft arrival, in the knowledge of 
 the town. What it is to know the town he has not 
 indeed hitherto informed us, though there is no 
 phrafe fo frequent in his mouth, nor any fcience 
 which he appears to think of fo great a value, or fo 
 difficult attainment. 
 
 But my curiofity has been moft engaged by the 
 recital of his own adventures and atchievements. I 
 have heard of the union of various characters in 
 fingle perfons, but never met with fuch a conftella- 
 tion of great qualities as this man's narrative affords. 
 Whatever has diftinguifhed the hero; whatever has 
 elevated the wit; whatever has endeared the lover, 
 are all concentered in Mr. Frolick, whofe life has, for 
 feven years, been a regular interchange of intrigues, 
 dangers, and waggeries, and who has diftinguifhed 
 himfelf in every character that can be feared, envied, 
 or admired. 
 
 I queftion whether all the officers of the royal 
 navy can bring together from all their journals, a 
 collection of fo many wonderful efcapes as this man 
 has known upon the Thames, on which he has been 
 a thoufand and a thoufand times on the point of 
 periihing, fometimes by the terrors of foolifh wo- 
 men in the fame boat, fometimes by his own ac- 
 knowledged imprudence in palling the river in the 
 dark, and fometimes by fhooting the bridge, under 
 
 C c 4 which
 
 392 THE RAMBLER. N6i. 
 
 which he has rencountered mountainous waves, and 
 dreadful cataracts. 
 
 Nor lefs has been his temerity by land, nor fewer 
 his hazards. He has reeled with giddinefs on the 
 top of the monument; he has crofTed the ftreet amidft 
 the rufh of coaches; he has been furrounded by 
 robbers without number ; he has headed parties at 
 the playhoufe; he has fcaled the windows of every 
 toaft of whatever condition; he has been hunted for 
 whole winters by his rivals ; he has flept upon bulks, 
 he has cut chairs, he has bilked coachmen ; he has 
 refcued his friends from the bailiffs, has knocked 
 down the conftable, has bullied the juftice, and per- 
 formed many other exploits, that have filled the 
 town with wonder and with merriment. 
 
 But yet greater is the fame of his underftanding 
 than his bravery ; for he informs us, that he is, at 
 London, the eftablifhed arbitrator of all points of 
 honour, and the decifive judge of all performances 
 of genius ; that no mufical performer is in reputa- 
 tion till the opinion of Frolick has ratified his pre- 
 tenfions; that the theatres fufpend their fentence till 
 he begins the clap or hifs, in which all are proud to 
 concur : that no publick entertainment has failed or 
 ucceeded, but becaufe he oppofed or favoured it j 
 that all controverfies at the gaming-table are re- 
 ferred to his determination ; that he adjufts the ce- 
 remonial at every affembly, and prelcribes every 
 fafhion of pleafure or of drefs. 
 
 With every man whofe name occurs in the papers 
 of the day, he is intimately acquainted ; and there 
 are very few pods, either in the ftate or army, of 
 
 which
 
 N6i. THE RAMBLER. 393 
 
 which he has not more or lefs influenced the difpofal. 
 He has been very frequently confulted both upon 
 war and peace ; but the time is not yet come when 
 the nation (hall know how much it is indebted to the 
 genius of Frolick. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all thefe declarations, I can- 
 not hitherto perfuade myfelf to fee that Mr. Frolick 
 has more wit, or knowledge, or courage, than the 
 reft of mankind, or that any uncommon enlargement 
 of his faculties has happened in the time of his ab- 
 fence. For when he talks on fubjedts known to the 
 reft of the company, he has no advantage over us, 
 but by catches of interruption, brifknefs of interro- 
 gation, and pertnefs of contempt 3 and therefore if 
 he has ftunned the world with his name, and gained 
 a place in the firft ranks of humanity, I cannot but 
 conclude, that either a little underftanding confers 
 eminence at London, or that Mr. Frolick thinks us 
 unworthy of the exertion of his powers, or that his 
 faculties are benumbed by rural ftupidity, as the mag- 
 netick needle lofes its animation in the polar climes. 
 
 I would not, however, like many hafty philofo- 
 phers, fearch after the caufe till I am certain of the 
 effe<5t ; and, therefore, I defire to be informed, whe- 
 ther you have yet heard the great name of Mr. 
 Frolick, If he is celebrated by other tongues than 
 his own, I lhall willingly propagate his praifej but 
 if he has fwelied among us with empty boafts, and 
 honours conferred only by himfelf, I fhall treat him 
 with ruftick fincerity, and drive him as an impoftor 
 from this part of the kingdom to fome region of 
 more credulity. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 RURICOLA.
 
 394 THE RAMBLER. N 62. 
 
 NUMB. 62. SATURDAY, Oflober 20, 1750, 
 
 Nunc ego Triptolemi cuperem confcendere currus, 
 
 Mijit in jgnotam qui rude femen humum ; 
 Nunc ego Mede& vellemfranare dracones, 
 
 >uos habuit fugiens arva, Corinthe> tua ; 
 Nunc ego jaftandas optarem fumere pennas, 
 
 Sivt tuas, Perfeu; D addle, Jive tuas. OVID. 
 
 Now would I mount his car, whofe bounteous hand 
 
 Firft fow'd with teeming feed the furrow'd land : 
 
 Now toMed&a's dragons fix my reins, 
 
 That fwiftly bore her from Corinthian plains ; 
 
 Now on D<dalian waxen pinions ftray, 
 
 Or thofe which wafted Perfeus on his way. F. LEWIS. 
 
 ft the RAMBLER. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 I AM a young woman of very large fortune, 
 which, if my parents would have been perfuaded 
 to comply with the rules and cuftoms of the polite 
 part of mankind, might long fince have raifed me to 
 the higheft honours of the female world ; but fo 
 ftrangely have they hitherto contrived to wafte my 
 life, that I am now on the borders of twenty, with- 
 out having ever danced but at our monthly affembly, 
 of been toafted but among a few gentlemen of the 
 neighbourhood, or feen any company in which it 
 was worth a wifh to be diftinguifhed. 
 
 My father having impaired his patrimony in fb- 
 liciting a place at court, at laft grew wife enough to 
 ceafe his purfuit and to repair the confequences of 
 
 expenfive
 
 N62. THE RAMBLER. 395 
 
 expenfive attendance and negligence of his affairs, 
 married a lady much older than himfelf, who had 
 lived in the fafhionable world till fhe was confidered 
 as an encumbrance upon parties of pleafure, and as 
 I can collect from incidental informations, retired 
 from gay aflemblies juft time enough to efcape the 
 mortification of univerfal neglect. 
 
 She was, however, Hill rich, and not yet wrin- 
 kled j my father was too diftrefsfully embarraffed to 
 think much on any thing but the means of extri- 
 cation, and though it is not likely that he wanted 
 the delicacy which polite converfation will always 
 produce in underftandings not remarkably defec- 
 tive, yet he was contented with a match, by which 
 he might be fet free from inconveniencies, that 
 would have deftroyed all the pleafures of imagina- 
 tion, and taken from foftnefs and beauty the power 
 of* delighting. 
 
 As they were both fomewhat difgufted with their 
 treatment in the world, and married, though with- 
 out any diQike of each other, yet principally for 
 the fake of fetting themfelves free from dependence 
 on caprice or fafhion, they foon retired into the 
 country, and devoted their lives to rural bufmefs and 
 diverfions. 
 
 They had not much reafon to regret the change 
 of their fituation ; for their vanity, which had fo 
 long been tormented by neglect and difappointment 
 was here gratified with every honour that could be 
 paid them. Their long familiarity with publick life 
 made them the oracles of all thofe who afpired to 
 intelligence, or politenefs. My father dictated poli- 
 ticks, my mother prefcri-bed the mode, and it was fuf- 
 3 ficient
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 62. 
 
 ficient to entitle any family to fome confideration, 
 that they were known to vifit at Mrs. Courtly's. 
 
 In this ftate they were, to fpeak in the ftyle of no- 
 vellifts, made happy by the birth of your correfpon- 
 dent. My parents had no other child, I was there- 
 fore not brow-beaten by a faucy brother, or loft in 
 a multitude of coheireffes, whofe fortunes being 
 equal, would probably have conferred equal merit, 
 and procured equal regard ; and as my mother was 
 now old, my underftanding and my perfon had fair 
 play, my enquiries were not checked, my advances 
 towards importance were not reprefied, and I was 
 foon fuffered to tell my own opinions, and early ac- 
 cuftomed to hear my own praifes. 
 
 By thefe accidental advantages I was much ex- 
 alted above the young ladies with whom I converfed, 
 and was treated by them with great deference. I 
 faw none who did not feem to confefs my fuperiority, 
 and to be held in awe by the fplendour of my ap- 
 pearance; for the fondnefs of my father made him- 
 ielf pleafed to fee me, drefied, and my mother had 
 no vanity nor expences to hinder her from concurring 
 with his inclination. 
 
 Thus, Mr. Rambler, I lived without much defirc 
 after any thing beyond the circle of our vifits ; and 
 here I fhould have quietly continued to portion out 
 my time among my books, and my needle, and my 
 company, had not my curiofity been every moment 
 excited by the converfation of my parents, who, when-, 
 ever they fit down to familiar prattle, and endeavour 
 the entertainment of each other, immediately tranf- 
 port themfelves to London, and relate fome adven- 
 ture in a hackney-coach, fome frolick at a mafque- 
 
 rade,
 
 N62. THE RAMBLER. 397 
 
 rade, fome converfation in the Park, or fome quarrel 
 at an afTembly, difplay the magnificence of a birth- 
 night, relate the conquefts of maids of honour, or 
 give a hiftory of diverfions, fhows, and entertain- 
 ments, which I had never known but from their ac- 
 counts. 
 
 I am fo well verfed in the hiftory of the gay world, 
 that I can relate, with great punctuality, the lives of 
 all the laft race of wits and beauties; can enumerate, 
 with exact chronology, the whole fuccefiion of cele- 
 brated fingers, muficians, tragedians, comedians, 
 and harlequins; can tell to the laft twenty years all 
 the changes of faihions; and am, indeed, a complete 
 antiquary with refpect to head-dreffes, dances, and 
 operas. 
 
 You will eafily imagine, Mr. Rambler, that I 
 could not hear thefe narratives, for fixteen years to- 
 gether, without fuffering fome impreffion, and wifh- 
 ing myfelf nearer to thofe places where every hour 
 brings fome new pleafure, and life is diverfified with 
 an unexhaufted fucceflion of felicity. 
 
 I indeed often aiked my mother why fhe left a 
 place which Hie recollected with fo much delight, and 
 why fhe did not yifit London once a year, like fome 
 other ladies, and initiate me in the world by fhowing 
 me its amufements, its grandeur, and its variety. 
 But fhe always told me that the days which fhe had 
 feen were fuch as will never come again ; that all 
 diverfion is now degenerated, that the converfation 
 of the prefent age is infipid, that their fafhions are 
 unbecoming, their cuftoms abfurd, and their morals 
 corrupt ; that there is no ray left of the genius 
 which enlightened the times that fhe remembers; 
 
 that
 
 398 THE RAMBLER. -N*6i 
 
 that no one who had feen, or heard, the ancient 
 performers, would be able to bear the bunglers of 
 this defpicable age 5 and that there is now neither 
 politenefs, nor pleafure, nor virtue, in the world. 
 She therefore afTures me that fhe confults my hap- 
 pinefs by keeping me at home, for I fhould now find 
 nothing but vexation and difguft, and fhe fhould 
 be afhamed to fee me pleafed with fuch fopperies and 
 trifles, as take up the thoughts of the prefent fet of 
 young people. 
 
 With this anfwer I was kept quiet for feveral 
 years, and thought it no great inconvenience to be 
 confined to the country, till laft fummer a young 
 gentleman and his fifter came down to pafs a few 
 months with one of our neighbours. They had 
 generally no great regard for the country ladies, but 
 diftinguifhed me by a particular complaifance, and, 
 as we grew intimate, gave me fuch a detail of the 
 elegance, the fplendour, the mirth, the happinefs of 
 the town, that I am refolved to be no longer buried 
 in ignorance and obfcurity, but to fhare with other 
 wits the joy of being admired, and divide with 
 other beauties the empire of the world. 
 
 I do not find, Mr. Rambler, upon a deliberate 
 and impartial comparifon, that I am excelled by 
 Belinda in beauty, in wit, in judgment, in know- 
 ledge, or in any thing, but a kind of gay, lively fa- 
 miliarity, which fhe mingles with ftrangers as with 
 perfons long acquainted, and which enables her to 
 difplay her powers without any obftruction, hefita- 
 tion, or confufion. Yet fhe can relate a thoufand 
 civilities paid to her in publick, can produce, from 
 a hundred lovers, letters filled with praifes, protefta- 
 
 tions,
 
 N 62. THE RAMBLER. 399 
 
 tions, extafies, and defpair; -has been handed by 
 dukes to her chair; has been the occafion of in- 
 numerable quarrels; has paid twenty vifits in an 
 afternoon; been invited to fix balls in an evening, 
 and been forced to retire to lodgings in the country 
 from the importunity of courtfhip, and the fatigue 
 of pleafure. 
 
 I tell you, Mr. Rambler, I will flay here no 
 longer. I have at laft prevailed upon my mother 
 to fend me to town, and fhall fet out in three weeks 
 on the grand expedition. I intend to live in publick, 
 and to crowd into the winter every pleafure which 
 money can purchafe, and every honour which beauty 
 can obtain. 
 
 But this tedious interval how fhall I endure? Can- 
 not you alleviate the mifery of delay by fome pleaf- 
 ing defcription of the entertainments of the town ? 
 I can read, I can talk, I can think of nothing elfe; 
 and if you will not footh my impatience, heighten 
 my ideas, and animate my hopes, you may write for 
 thofe who have more leifure, but are not to exped 
 any longer the honour of being read by thofe eyes 
 which are now intent only on conqueft and deflruc- 
 tion. 
 
 9 
 
 RHODOCLIA.
 
 400 THE RAMBLER. N6j. 
 
 NUMB. 63. TUESDAY, Qftober 22, 1750. 
 
 Halebat fepa ducentos, 
 
 Safe decem fer-voi ; modi) reges atque tetrarchas, 
 
 Omni a magna loquens : modi, Jit mihi menfa tripes, et 
 
 Concha falis puri, et toga, qu<s defendere frigus , 
 
 >uam<vis crajja, queat. HOR. 
 
 Now with two hundred flaves he crowds his train ; 
 
 Now walks with ten. In high and haughty ftrain 
 
 At morn, of kings and governors he prates ; 
 
 At night," A frugal table, O ye fates, 
 
 ' A little fhell the facred fait to hold, 
 
 " And clothes, tho' coarfe, to keep me from the cold." 
 
 FRANCIS. 
 
 IT has been remarked, perhaps, by every writer, 
 who has left behind him obfervations upon life, 
 that no man is pleafed with his prefent ftate, which 
 proves equally unfatisfaftory, fays Horace, whether 
 fallen upon by chance, or chofen with deliberation -, 
 we are always difgufted with fome circumftance or 
 other of our fituation, and imagine the condition of 
 others more abundant in bleflings, or lefs expofed to 
 calamities. 
 
 This univerfal difcontent has been generally 
 mentioned with great feverity of cenfure, as unrea- 
 fonable in itfelfi fince of two, equally envious of 
 each other, both cannot have the larger fliare of 
 happinefs, and as tending to darken life with unne- 
 ceffary gloom, by withdrawing our minds from the 
 contemplation and enjoyment of that happinefs 
 which our ftate affords us, and fixing our attention 
 upon foreign objects, which we only behold to de- 
 
 prefs
 
 N*63. THE RAMBLER. 401 
 
 prefs ourfelves, and increafe our mifery by injurious 
 companions. 
 
 When this opinion of the felicity of others predo- 
 minates in the heart, fo as to excite refolutions of 
 obtaining, at whatever price, the condition to which 
 fuch tranfcendant privileges are fuppofed to be an- 
 nexed s when it burfts into action, and produces 
 fraud, violence, and injuftice, it is to be purfued 
 with all the rigour of legal punifhments. But while 
 operating only upon the thoughts, it difturbs none 
 but him who has happened to admit it, and, how- 
 ever it may interrupt content, makes no attack on 
 piety or virtue, I cannot think it fo far criminal or 
 ridiculous, but that it may deferve fome pity, and 
 admit fome excufe. 
 
 That all are equally happy, or miferable, I fup- 
 pofe none is fufficiently enthufiaflical to maintain; 
 becaufe though we cannot judge of the condition of 
 others, yet every man has found frequent viciffi- 
 tudes in his own ftate, and muft therefore be con- 
 vinced that life is fufceptible of more or lefs felicity. 
 What then jfhall forbid us to endeavour the altera- 
 tion of that which is capable of being improved, and 
 to grafp at augmentations of good, when we know 
 it poffible to be increafed, and believe that any par- 
 ticular change of fituation will increafe it ? 
 
 If he that finds himfelf uneafy may reafonably 
 make efforts to rid himfelf from vexation, all man- 
 kind have a fufficient plea for fome degree of reft- 
 leflhefs, and the fault feems to be little more than 
 too much temerity of conclufion, in favour of fome- 
 thing not yet experienced, and too much readinefs 
 to believe, that the mifery which our own paflions 
 
 VOL. IV. D d and
 
 402 THE RAMBLER. N 63. 
 
 and appetites produce, is brought upon us by acci- 
 dental caufes, and external efficients. 
 
 It is, indeed, frequently difcovered by us, that 
 we complained too haftily of peculiar hardfhips, and 
 imagined ourfelves diftinguiflied by embarraffments, 
 in which other claffes of men are equally entangled. 
 We often change a lighter for a greater evil, and 
 wilh ourfelves reftored again to the ftate from which 
 we thought it defirable to be delivered. But this 
 knowledge, though it is eafily gained by the trial, 
 is not always attainable any other way; and that 
 error cannot juftly be reproached, which reafon could 
 not obviate, nor prudence avoid. 
 
 To take a view at once diftinct and comprehen- 
 five of human life, with all its intricacies of com- 
 bination, and varieties of connexion, is beyond the 
 power of mortal intelligences. Of the ftate with 
 which pra&ice has not acquainted us, we fnatch a 
 glimpfe, we difcern a point, and regulate the reft by 
 paffion, and by fancy. In this enquiry every fa- 
 vourite prejudice, every innate defire, is bufy to 
 deceive us. We are unhappy, at leaft lefs happy 
 than our nature feems to admit; we necefTarily de- 
 fire the melioration of our lot ; what we defire we 
 very reafonably feek, and what we feek we are natu- 
 rally eager to believe that we have found. Our con- 
 fidence is often difappointed, but our reafon is not 
 convinced, and there is no man who does not hope 
 for fomething which he has not, though perhaps his 
 wifhes lie unadlive, becaufe he forefees the difficulty 
 of attainment. As among the numerous ftudents of 
 Hermetick philofophy, not one appears to have de- 
 fifted from the talk of tranfmutation, from conviction 
 
 of
 
 N6j. THE RAMBLER; 403 
 
 of its impofiibility, but from wearinefs of toil, or 
 impatience of delay, a broken body, or exhaufted 
 fortune. 
 
 Irrefolution and mutability are often the faults of 
 men, whole views are wide, and whofe imagination 
 is vigorous and excurfive, becaufe they cannot con- 
 fine their thoughts within their own boundaries of 
 action, but are continually ranging over all the fcenes 
 of human exiftence, and confequently are often apt 
 to conceive that they fall upon new regions of plea- 
 fure, and ftart new impoffibilities of happinefs. Thus 
 they are bufied with a perpetual fucceffion of fchemes, 
 and pafs their lives in alternate elation and forrow, for 
 want of that calm and immoveable acquiefcence in 
 their condition, by which men of flower underftand- 
 ings are fixed for ever to a certain point, or led on 
 in the plain beaten track, which their fathers and 
 grand-fires have trod before them. 
 " Of two conditions of life equally inviting to the 
 profpeft, that will always have the difadvantage 
 which we have already tried ; becaufe the evils 
 which we have felt we cannot extenuate; and 
 though we have, perhaps from nature, the power as 
 well of aggravating the calamity which we fear, as 
 of heightening the blefiing we expect, yet in thofe 
 meditations which we indulge by choice, and which 
 are not forced upon the mind by neceffity, we have 
 always the art of fixing our regard upon the more 
 pleafing images, and fufFer hope to dilpofe the lights 
 by which we look upon futurity. 
 
 The good and ill of different modes of life are 
 
 fometimes fo equally oppofed, that perhaps no man 
 
 ever yet made his choice between them upon a full 
 
 D d 2 conviction,
 
 404 THE RAMBLER. N 63. 
 
 conviction, and adequate knowledge; and therefore 
 fluctuation of will is not more wonderful, when they 
 are propofed to the election, than ofcillations of a 
 beam charged with equal weights. The mind no 
 fooner imagines itfelf determined by fome prevalent 
 advantage, than fome convenience of equal weight 
 is difcovered on the other fide, and the refolutions 
 which are fuggefted by the niceft examination, are 
 often repented as foon as they are taken. 
 
 Eumenes, a young man of great abilities, inherited 
 a large eftate from a father, long eminent in confpi- 
 cuous employments. His father, harafled with com- 
 petitions, and perplexed with multiplicity of bufi- 
 nefs, recommended the quiet of a private ftation 
 with fo much force, that Eumenes for fome years 
 refifted every motion of ambitious willies ; but being 
 once provoked by the fight of oppreffion, which he 
 could not redrefs, he began to think it the duty of 
 an honed man to enable himfelf to protect others, 
 and gradually felt a defire of greatnefs, excited by 
 a thoufand projects of advantage to his country. 
 His fortune placed him in the fenate, his knowledge 
 and eloquence advanced him at court, and he pof- 
 fefTed that authority and influence which he had re- 
 folved to exert for the happinefs of mankind. 
 
 He now became acquainted with greatnefs, and 
 was in a fhort time convinced, that in proportion as 
 the power of doing well is enlarged, the temptations 
 to do ill are multiplied and enforced. He felt him- 
 felf every moment in danger of being either feduced 
 or driven from his honeft purpofes. Sometimes a 
 friend was to be gratified, and fometimes a rival to 
 be crufhed, by means which his confcience could 
 
 not
 
 N6j. THE RAMBLER. 405 
 
 not approve. Sometimes he was forced to comply 
 with the prejudices of the publick, and fometimes 
 with the fchemes of the miniftry. He was by de- 
 grees wearied with perpetual ftruggles to unite po- 
 licy and virtue, and went back to retirement as the 
 fhelter of innocence, perfuaded that he could only 
 hope to benefit mankind by a blamelefs example of 
 private virtue. Here he fpent fome years in tran- 
 quillity and beneficence; but finding that corrup- 
 tion increafed, and falfe opinions in government 
 prevailed, he thought himfelf again fummoned to 
 pofts of publick truft, from which new evidence of 
 his own weaknefs again determined him to retire. 
 
 Thus men may be made inconflant by virtue and 
 by vice, by too much or too little thought ; yet in- 
 conftancy, however dignified by its motives, is always 
 to be avoided, becaufe life allows us but a fmall time 
 for enquiry and experiment, and he that fleadily en- 
 deavours at excellence, in whatever employment, 
 will more benefit mankind than he that hefitates in 
 chufing his part till he is called to the performance. 
 The traveller that refolutely follows a rough and 
 winding path, will fooner reach the end of his jour- 
 ney, than he that is always changing his direction, 
 and waftes the hours of daylight in looking for 
 fmoother ground, and fhorter pafTages. 
 
 Dd
 
 406 THE RAMBLER. N'6 4 . 
 
 NUMB. 64. SATURDAY, Oftoberzj, 1750. 
 
 Idem vclle, et idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia eft. SALLUST. 
 
 To live in friendfhip is to have the fame defires and the fame 
 averfions. 
 
 WHEN Socrates was building himfelf a houfe 
 at Athens, being afked by one that obferved 
 the littlenefs of the defign, why a man fo eminent 
 would not have an abode more fuitable to his dig- 
 nity ? he replied, that he fhould think himfelf fuf- 
 ficiently accommodated, if he could fee that narrow 
 habitation filled with real friends. Such was the 
 opinion of this great mafter of human life, con- 
 cerning the infrequency of fuch an union of minds 
 as might deferve the name of friendlhip, that among 
 the multitudes whom vanity or curiofity, civility or 
 veneration, crouded about him, he did not expect, 
 that very fpacious apartments would be necefiary to 
 contain all that Ihould regard him with fmcere kind- 
 nefs, or adhere to him with fleady fidelity. 
 
 So many qualities are indeed requifite to the pof- 
 fibility of friendlhip, and fo many accidents muft con- 
 cur to its rife and its continuance, that the greateft 
 part of mankind content themfelves without it, and 
 fupply its place as they can, with intereft and de- 
 pendance. 
 
 Multitudes are unqualified for a conftant and warm 
 reciprocation of benevolence, as they are incapaci- 
 tated for any other elevated excellence, by perpetual 
 attention to their intereit, and unrefifting fubjection 
 to their paffions. Long habits may fuperinduce 
 
 inability
 
 N64- THE RAMBLER. 407 
 
 inability te deny any define, or reprefs, by fuperior 
 motives, the importunities of any immediate grati- 
 fication, and an inveterate felfifhnefs will imagine 
 all advantages diminifhed in proportion as they are 
 communicated. 
 
 But not only this hateful and confirmed corrup- 
 tion, but many varieties of difpofition, not incon- 
 fiftent with common degrees of virtue, may exclude 
 friendfhip from the heart. Some ardent enough in 
 their benevolence, and defective neither in officiouf- 
 nefs nor liberality, are mutable and uncertain, foon 
 attracted by new objects, difgufted without offence, 
 and alienated without enmity. Others are foft and 
 flexible, eafily influenced by reports or whifpers, 
 ready to catch alarms from every dubious circum- 
 ftance, and to liften to every fufpicion which envy 
 and flattery fhall fuggeft, to follow the opinion of 
 every confident advifer, and move by the impulfe of 
 the laft breath. Some are impatient of contradiction, 
 more willing to go wrong by their own judgment, 
 than to be indebted for a better or a fafer way to the 
 fjigacity^of another, inclined to confider counfel as 
 infult, and enquiry as want of confidence, and to 
 confer their regard on no other terms than unre- 
 ferved fubmiffion, and implicit compliance. Some 
 are dark and involved, equally careful to conceal 
 good and bad purpofes; and pleafed with producing 
 effects by invifible means, and (hewing their defign 
 only in its execution. Others are univerfally com- 
 municative, alike open to every eye, and equally 
 profule of their own fecrets and thofe of others, 
 without the neceflary vigilance of caution, or the 
 honeft arts of prudent integrity, ready to accufe 
 D d 4 . without
 
 THE RAMBLER. N 64. 
 
 without malice/ and to betray without treachery. 
 Any of thefe may be ufeful to the community, and 
 pafs through the world with the reputation of good 
 purpofes and uncorrupted morals, but they are unfit 
 for clofe and tender intimacies. He cannot pro- 
 perly be chofen for a friend, whofe kindnefs is ex- 
 haled by its own warmth, or frozen by the firft blaft 
 of (lander j he Cannot be a ufeful counfellor, who 
 will hear no opinion but his own j he will not much 
 invite confidence whofe principal maxim is to fuf- 
 pec~t j nor can the candour and franknefs of that man 
 be much efteemed, who fpreads his arms to human- 
 kind, and makes every man, without diftinction, a 
 denizen of his bofom. 
 
 That friendfhip may be at once fond and lading, 
 there muft not only be equal virtue on each part, but 
 virtue of the fame kind ; not only the fame end muft 
 be propofed, but the fame means muft be approved 
 by both. We are often, by fuperficial accomplifh- 
 ments and accidental endearments, induced to love 
 thofe whom we cannot efteem ; we are fometimes, by 
 great abilities, and inconteftible evidences of virtue, 
 compelled to efteem thofe whom we cannot love. But 
 friendfhip, compounded of efteem and love, derives 
 from one its tendernefs, and its permanence from the 
 other; and therefore requires not only that its candi- 
 dates fhould gain the judgment, but that they Ihould 
 attraft the affections -, that they Ihould not only be 
 firm in the day of diftrefs, but gay in the hour of 
 jollity ; not only ufeful in exigencies, but pleafing 
 in familiar life ; their prefence fhould give cheerful- 
 nefs as well as courage, and difpel alike the gloom 
 of fear and of melancholy. 
 
 To
 
 N64- THE RAMBLER. 409 
 
 To this mutual complacency is generally requifite 
 an uniformity of opinions, at leaftof thofe active and 
 confpicuous principles which difcriminate parties in 
 government, and fects in religion, and which every 
 day operate more or lefs on the common bufinefs of 
 life. For though great tendernefs has, perhaps, been 
 fometimes known to continue between men eminent 
 in contrary factions j yet fuch friends are to be fhewn 
 rather as prodigies than examples, and it is no more 
 proper to regulate our conduct by fuch inftances, than 
 to leap a precipice, becaufe fome have fallen from it 
 and efcaped with life. 
 
 It cannot but be extremely difficult to preferve 
 private kindnefs in the midft of publick oppofition, 
 in which will neceflarily be involved a thoufand inci- 
 dents, extending their influence to converfation and 
 privacy. Men engaged, by moral or religious mo- 
 tives, in contrary parties, will generally look with 
 different eyes upon every man, and decide almoft 
 every queftion upon different principles. When 
 fuch occafions of difpute happen, to comply is to 
 betray our caufe, and to maintain friendfhip by 
 ceafing to deferve it j to be filent, is to lofe the hap- 
 pinefs and dignity of independence, to live in perpe- 
 tual conftraint, and to defert, if not to betray : and 
 who fhall determine which of two friends lhall yield, 
 where neither believes himfelf miftaken, and both 
 confefs the importance of the queftion ? What then 
 remains but contradiction and debate ? and from 
 thofe what can be expected, but acrimony and vehe- 
 mence, the infolence of triumph, the vexation of de- 
 feat, and, in time, a wearinefs of conteft, and an ex- 
 tinction
 
 THE RAMBLER. N' 64. 
 
 tinction of benevolence ? Exchange of endearments 
 and intercourfe of civility may continue, indeed, as 
 boughs may for a while be verdant, when the root is 
 wounded -, but the poifon of difcord is infufed, and 
 though the countenance may preferve its fmile, the 
 heart is hardening and contracting. 
 
 That man will not be long agreeable, whom we 
 fee only in times of ferioufnefs and feverity ; and 
 therefore to maintain the foftnefs and ferenity of be- 
 nevolence, it is neceflary that friends partake each 
 other's pleafures as well as cares, and be led to the 
 fame diverfions by fimilitude of tafte. This is, how- 
 ever, not to be confidered as equally indifpenfable 
 with conformity of principles, becaufe any man may 
 honeflly, according to the precepts of Horace, refign 
 the gratifications of tafte to the humour of another, 
 and friendfliip may well deferve the facrifice of plea- 
 fure, though not of confcience. 
 
 It was once confefled to me, by a painter, that 
 no profeflbr of his art ever loved another. This de- 
 claration is fo far juftified by the knowledge of life, 
 as to damp the hopes of warm and conftant friend- 
 fhip, between men whom their (Indies have made 
 competitors, and whom every favourer and every 
 cenfurer are hourly inciting againfl each other. The 
 utmoft expectation that experience can warrant, is, 
 that they fhould forbear open hoftilities and fecret 
 machinations, and when the whole fraternity is at- 
 tacked, be able to unite againft a common foe. Some 
 however, though few, may perhaps be found, in 
 whom emulation has not been able to overpower ge- 
 nerofity, who are diftinguifhed from lower beings by 
 
 nobler
 
 N64. THE RAMBLER. 411 
 
 nobler motives than the love of fame, and can pre- 
 ferve the facred flame of friendfhip from the gufts of 
 pride, and the rubbifh of intereft. 
 
 Friendfhip is feldom lafting but between equals A or 
 where the fuperiority on one fide is reduced by fome 
 equivalent advantage on the other. Benefits which 
 cannot be repaid, and obligations which cannot be 
 difcharged, are not commonly found to increafe af- 
 fection ; they excite gratitude indeed, and heighten 
 veneration, but commonly take away that eafy free- 
 dom, and familiarity of intercourfe, without which, 
 though there may be fidelity, and zeal, and admira- 
 tion, there cannot be friendfhip. Thus imperfect 
 are all earthly bleflings , the great efFect of friendfhip 
 is beneficence, yet by the firft ad of uncommon kind- 
 nefs it is endangered, like plants that bear their fruit 
 and die. Yet this consideration ought not to reftrain 
 bounty, or reprefs companion > for duty is to be pre- 
 ferred before convenience, and he that lofes part of 
 the pleafures of friendfhip by his generofity, gains ia 
 its place the gratulation of his confcience.
 
 412 THE RAMBLER. N'6$. 
 
 NUMB. 65. TUESDAY, Oftobcr 30, 1750. 
 
 Garrit aniles 
 Ex refabellas* Hon. 
 
 The cheerful fage, when folemn dictates fail, 
 Conceals the moral counfel in a tale. 
 
 OB I D A H, the fon of Abenfma, left the cara- 
 vanfera early in the morning, and purfued his 
 journey through the plains of Indoftan. He was 
 frefh and vigorous with reft ; he was animated with 
 hope j he was incited by defire ; he walked fwiftly 
 forward over the vallies, and faw the hills gradually 
 rifing before him. As he palled along, his ears were 
 delighted with the morning fong of the bird of para- 
 dife, he was fanned by the laft flutters of the finking 
 breeze, and fprinkled with dew by groves of fpices ; 
 he fometimes contemplated the towering height of 
 the oak, monarch of the hills j and fometimes caught 
 the gentle fragrance of the primrofe, eldeft daughter 
 of the fpring : all his fenfes were gratified, and all 
 care was banifhed from his heart. 
 
 Thus he went on till the fun approached his 
 meridian, and the increafing heat preyed upon his 
 ftrength j he then looked round about him for fome 
 more commodious path. He faw, on his right 
 hand, a grove that feemed to wave its {hades as a 
 fign of invitation ; he entered it, and found the 
 coolnefs and verdure irrefiftibly pleafant. He did 
 not, however, forget whither he was travelling, but 
 
 found
 
 N6$. THE RAMBLER. 413 
 
 found a narrow way bordered with flowers, which 
 appeared to have the fame direction with the main 
 road, and was pleafed that, by this happy experi- 
 ment, he had found means to unite pleafure with 
 bufinefs, and to gain the rewards of diligence with- 
 out fuffering its fatigues. He, therefore, ftill con- 
 tinued to walk for a time, without the leaft re- 
 miflion of his ardour, except that he was fome- 
 times tempted to flop by the mufick of the birds, 
 whom the heat had affembled in the fhade ; and 
 fometimes amufed himfelf with plucking the flowers 
 that covered the banks on either fide, or the 
 fruits that hung upon the branches. At laft the 
 green path began to decline from its firft tendency, 
 and to wind among hills and thickets, cooled with 
 fountains, and murmuring with water-falls. Here 
 Obidah paufed for a time, and began to con- 
 fider whether it were longer fafe to forfake the 
 known and common track j but remembering that 
 the heat was now in its greateft violence, and that the 
 plain was dufly and uneven, he refolved to purfue 
 the new path, which he fuppofed only to make a 
 few meanders, in compliance with the varieties of 
 the ground, and to end at laft in the common 
 road. 
 
 Having thus calmed his folicitude, he renewed 
 his pace, though he fufpected that he was not 
 gaining ground. This uneafinefs of his mind in- 
 clined him to lay hold on every new object, and 
 give way to every fenfation that might footh or di- 
 vert him. He liftened to every echo, he mounted 
 every hill for a frefli profpeft, he -turned afide 
 
 to
 
 4 i4 THE RAMBLER. N6;. 
 
 to every cafcade, and pleafed himfelf with tracing 
 the courfe of a gentle river that rolled among the 
 trees, and watered a large region with innumerable 
 circumvolutions. In thefe amufements the hours 
 patted away uncounted, his deviations had per- 
 plexed his memory, and he knew not towards 
 what point to travel. He flood penfive and con- 
 fufed, afraid to go forward left he fhould go wrong, 
 yet confcious that the time of loitering was now 
 paft. While he was thus tortured with uncertainty, 
 the fky was overfpread with clouds, the day va- 
 nilhed from before him, and a fudden temped ga- 
 thered round his head. He was now roufed by his 
 danger to a quick and painful remembrance of his 
 folly ; he now faw how happinefs is loft when eafe 
 is confulted j he lamented the unmanly impatience 
 that prompted him to feek fhelter in the grove, and 
 defpifed the petty curiofity that led him on from 
 trifle to trifle. While he was thus reflecting, the 
 air grew blacker, and a clap of thunder broke his 
 meditation. 
 
 He now refolved to do what remained yet in his 
 power, to tread back the ground which he had 
 palled, and try to find fome iflfue where the wood 
 might open into the plain. He proftrated himfelf 
 on the ground, and commended his life to the Lord 
 of nature. He rofe with confidence and tranquil- 
 lity, and prefled on with his fabre in his hand, for 
 the beads of the dcfart were in motion, and on every 
 hand were heard the minded howls of ra;e and fear. 
 
 ( t O * 
 
 and ravage and expiration ; all the horrors of dark- 
 nels and folitude furrounded him : the winds roared 
 
 in
 
 N 65. THE RAMBLER. 415 
 
 in the woods, and the torrents tumbled from the 
 hills, 
 
 
 
 JOi OToTf*o xasr 
 
 Work'd into Hidden rage by wintry fliovv'rs, 
 Down the fteep hill the roaring torrent pours ; 
 The mountain fhepherd hears the diltant noife. 
 
 Thus forlorn and diftrefled, he wandered through 
 the wild, without knowing whither he was going, or 
 whether he was every moment drawing nearer to 
 fafety or to deftruclion. At length not fear but la- 
 bour began to overcome him^ his breath grew fhort* 
 and his knees trembled, and he was on the point of 
 lying down in refignation to his fate, when he beheld 
 through the brambles the glimmer of a taper. He 
 advanced towards the light, and finding that it pro- 
 ceeded from the cottage of a hermit, he called hum- 
 bly at the door, and obtained admiffion. The old 
 man fet before him fuch provifions as he had col- 
 lected for himfelf, on which Obidah fed with eager- 
 nefs and gratitude. 
 
 When the repaft was over, " Tell me," faid the 
 hermit, <c by what chance thou haft been brought 
 " hither; I have been now twenty years an in- 
 " habitant of the wildernefs, in which I never faw 
 " a man before." Obidah then related the occur- 
 rences of his journey, without any concealment or 
 palliation. 
 
 " Son," faid the hermit, " let the errors and 
 
 " follies, the dangers and efcape of this day, fink 
 
 2 " deep
 
 4i6 THE RAMBLER. N^. 
 
 *' deep into thy heart. Remember, my fon, that 
 " human life is the journey of a day. We rife ia 
 " the morning of youth, full of vigour and full of 
 cc expectation; we fet forward with fpirit and hope, 
 ce with gaiety and with diligence, and travel on a 
 " while in the ftraight road of piety towards the 
 C manfions of reft. In a fhort time we remit our 
 Cf fervor, and endeavour to find fome mitigation of 
 " our duty, and fome more eafy means of obtain- 
 <c ing the fame end. We then relax our vigour, 
 * e and refolve no longer to be terrified with crimes 
 cc at a dillance, but rely upon our own conftancy, 
 * c and venture to approach what we refolve never to 
 c< touch. We thus enter the bowers of eafe, and 
 " repofe in the lhades of fecurity. Here the heart 
 " foftens, and vigilance fubfides; we are then will- 
 " ing to enquire whether another advance cannot be 
 * c made, and whether we may not, at leaft, turn our 
 <f eyes upon the gardens of pleafure. We approach 
 ** them with fcruple and hefitation; we enter them, 
 " but enter timorous and trembling, and always 
 " hope to pafs through them without lofing the road 
 te of virtue, which, we for a while, keep in our 
 c< fight, and to which we propofe to return. But 
 <e temptation fucceeds temptation, and one com- 
 <e pliance prepares us for another j we in time lole 
 <c the happinefs of innocence, and folace our dif- 
 <e quiet with fenfual gratifications. By degrees we 
 " let fall the remembrance of our original inten- 
 * f tion, and quit the only adequate object of ra- 
 " tional defire. We entangle ourfelves in bufinefs, 
 * f immerge ourfelves in luxury, and rove through 
 " the labyrinths of inconftancy, till the darknefs 
 
 <f of
 
 N 6. THE RAMBLER. 417 
 
 " of old age begins to invade us, and difeafe and 
 fe anxiety obftruft our way. We then look back 
 " upon our lives with horror, with forrow, with re- 
 u pentance; and wiih, but too often vainly wifh, 
 fc that we had not forfaken the ways of virtue. 
 " Happy are they, my fon, who fhall learn from 
 " thy example not to defpair, but fhall remember, 
 <f that though the day is paft, and their ftrength is 
 " wafted, there yet remains one effort to be made ; 
 " that reformation is never hopelefs, nor fmcere en- 
 " deavours ever unaffifted, that the wanderer may at 
 <f length return after all his errors, and that he who 
 " implores ftrength. and courage from above, fhall 
 " find danger and difficulty give way before him. 
 ^ Go now, my fon, to thy repofe, commit thyfelf 
 -" to the care of Omnipotence, and when the morn- 
 " ing calls again to toil, begin anew thy journey and 
 thy life." 
 
 VOL. IV, E e
 
 4x8 THE RAMBLER. N 66. 
 
 NUMB. 66. SATURDAY, November 3, 1750. 
 
 Pauc i digxofcere poffunt 
 
 Vera lona, atque illis multum diverfa, remota 
 Error is nebula. Juv. 
 
 How few 
 
 Know their own good ; or, knowing it, purfue ? 
 
 How void of reafon are our hopes and fears ? D R Y D E N. 
 
 TH E folly of human wifhes and purfuits has al- 
 ways been a Handing fubjedt of mirth and de- 
 clamation, and has been ridiculed and lamented from 
 age to age j till perhaps the fruitlefs repetition of 
 complaints and cenfures may be juftly numbered 
 among the fubjects of cenfure and complaint. 
 
 Some of thefe inftructors of mankind have not 
 contented themfelves with checking the overflows of 
 pafiion, and lopping the exuberance of defire, but 
 have attempted to deftroy the root as well as the 
 branches ; and not only to confine the mind within 
 bounds, but to fmooth it for ever by a dead calm. 
 They have employed their reafon and eloquence to 
 perfuade us, that nothing is worth the wifh of a wife 
 man, have reprefented all earthly good and evil as 
 indifferent, and counted among vulgar errors the 
 dread of pain, and the love of life. 
 
 It is almoft always the unhappinefs of a victorious 
 difputant, to deftroy his own authority by claiming 
 too many confequences, or diffufing his proportion 
 
 to
 
 N66. THE RAMBLER. 419 
 
 to an indefenfible extent. When we have heated our 
 zeal in a caufe, and elated our confidence with fuc- 
 cefs, we are naturally inclined to purfue the fame 
 train of reafoning, to eftablifh fome collateral truth, 
 to remove fome adjacent difficulty, and to take in 
 the whole comprehenfion of our fyftem. As a 
 prince, in the ardour of acquifition, is willing to 
 fecure his firft conqueft by the addition of another, 
 add fortrefs to fortrefs, and city to city, till defpair 
 and opportunity turn his enemies upon him, and he 
 lofes in a moment the glory of a reign. 
 
 The philofophers having found an eafy viclory 
 over thofe defires which we produce in ourfelves, 
 and which terminate in fome imaginary ftate of hap- 
 pinefs unknown and unattainable, proceeded to make 
 further inroads upon the heart, and attacked at lad 
 our fenfes and our inftincts. They continue to war 
 upon nature with arms, by which only folly could be 
 conquered ; they therefore loft the trophies of their 
 former combats, and were confidered no longer with 
 reverence or regard. 
 
 Yet it cannot be with juftice denied, that thefe 
 men have been very ufeful monitors, and have left 
 many proofs of ftrong reafon, deep penetration, and 
 accurate attention to the affairs of life, which it is 
 now our bufmefs to feparate from the form of a 
 boiling imagination, and to apply judicioufly to our 
 own ufe. They have (hewn that moft of the condi- 
 tions of life, which raife the envy of the timorous, and 
 roufe the ambition of the daring, are empty fhows 
 of felicity, which, when they become familiar, lofe 
 their power of delighting j and that the moft pro- 
 fperous and exalted have very few advantages over a 
 
 E e 2 meaner
 
 420 THE RAMBLER. N 66. 
 
 meaner and more obfcure fortune, when their dangers 
 and folicitudes are balanced againft their equipage, 
 their banquets, and their palaces. 
 
 It is natural for every man uninftructed to mur- 
 mur at his condition, becaufe in the general infelicity 
 of life, he feels his own miferies, without knowing 
 that they are common to all the reft of the fpecies ; 
 and therefore, though he will not be lefs fenfible of 
 pain by being told that others are equally tormented, 
 he will at leaft be freed from the temptation of feek- 
 ing by perpetual changes that eafe which is no where 
 to be found, and though his difeafe flill continues, 
 he efcapes the hazard of exafperating it by re- 
 medies. 
 
 The gratifications which affluence of wealth, 
 extent of power, and eminence of reputation con- 
 fer, muft be always, by their own nature, confined 
 to a very fmall number; and the life of the greater 
 part of mankind muft be loft in empty wifhes and 
 painful comparifons, were not the balm of philo- 
 fophy fhed upon us, and our difcontent at the ap- 
 pearances of an unequal diftribution foothed and 
 appeafed. 
 
 It feemed, perhaps, below the dignity of the great 
 mafters of moral learning, to defcend to familiar 
 life, and caution mankind againft that petty ambi- 
 tion which is known among us by the name of 
 Vanity; which yet had been an undertaking not un- 
 worthy of the longeft beard, and moft folemn au- 
 iterity. For though the paffions of little minds, act- 
 ing in low ftations, do not fill the world with blood- 
 fhed and clevaftations, or mark, by great events, the 
 periods of time, yet they torture the breaft on which 
 
 thev
 
 N-66. THE RAMBLER. 421 
 
 they feize, infeft thofe that are placed within the 
 reach of their influence, deftroy private quiet and 
 private virtue, and undermine infenfibly the happi- 
 nefs of the world. 
 
 The defire of excellence is laudable, but is very 
 frequently ill directed. We fall, by chance, into 
 fome clafs of mankind, and, without confulting na- 
 ture or wifdom, refolve to gain their regard by thofe 
 qualities which they happen to efteem. I once knew 
 a man remarkably dim-fighted, who, by converfing 
 much with country gentlemen, found himfelf irre- 
 fiftibly determined to fylvan honours. His great 
 ambition was to (hoot flying, and he therefore fpent 
 whole days in the woods purfuing game; which, 
 before he was near enough to fee them, -his approach 
 frighted away. 
 
 When it happens that the defire tends to objects 
 which produce no competition, it may be over- 
 looked with fome indulgence, becaufe, however 
 fruitlefs or abfurd, it cannot have ill effects upon 
 J:he morals. But mod of our enjoyments owe their 
 value to the peculiarity of poffeflion, and when they 
 are rated at too high a value, give occafion to ftra- 
 tagems of malignity, and incite oppofition, hatred, 
 and defamation. The conteft of two rural beauties 
 for preference and diftinction, is often fufficiently 
 keen and rancorous to fill their breads with all thofe 
 pafllons, which are generally thought the curfe only 
 of fenates, of armies, and of courts; and the rival 
 dancers of an obfcure aflembly have their partifans 
 and abettors, often not lefs exafperated againft each 
 other, than thofe who are promoting the interelts of 
 rival monarchs. 
 
 Ee 3 It
 
 422 THE RAMBLER. N 66. 
 
 It is common to confider thofe whom we find in- 
 fected with an unreafonable regard for trifling ac- 
 complifhments, as chargeable with all the confe- 
 quences of their folly, and as the authors of their 
 own unhappinefs : but, perhaps, thofe whom we 
 thus fcorn or deteft, have more claim to tendernefs 
 than has been yet allowed them. Before we permit 
 our feverity to break loofe upon any fault or error, 
 we ought furely jo confider how much we have coun- 
 tenanced or promoted it. We fee multitudes bufy 
 in the purfuit of riches, at the expence of wifdom 
 and of virtue; but we fee the reft of mankind ap- 
 proving their conduct:, and inciting their eagernefs, 
 by paying that regard and deference to wealth, 
 which wifdom and virtue only can deferve. We fee 
 women univerfally jealous of the reputation of their 
 beauty, and frequently look with contempt on the 
 care with which they ftudy their complexions, en- 
 deavour to preferve or to fupply the bloom of youth, 
 regulate every ornament, twift their hair into curls, 
 and (hade their faces from the weather. We recom- 
 mend the care of their nobler part, and tell them 
 how little addition is made by all their arts to the 
 graces of the mind. But when was it known that 
 female goodnefs or knowledge was able to attract 
 that ofHcioufnefs, or infpire that ardour, which 
 beauty produces whenever it appears ? And with 
 what hope can we endeavour to perfuade the ladies, 
 that the time fpent at the toilet is loft in vanity, when 
 they have every moment fome new conviction, that 
 their intereft is more effectually promoted by a rib- 
 band well difpofed, than by the brighteft act of 
 heroick virtue ? 
 
 In
 
 N67. THE RAMBLER. 423 
 
 In every inftance of vanity it will be found that 
 the blame ought to be fhared among more than it 
 generally reaches ; all who exalt trifles by im- 
 moderate praife, or inftigate needlefs emulation by 
 invidious incitements, are to be considered as per- 
 verters of reafon, and corrupters of the world : and 
 fince every man is obliged to promote happinefs and 
 virtue, he fhould be careful not to miflead unwary 
 minds, by appearing to fet too high a value upon 
 things by which no real excellence is conferred. 
 
 NUMB. 67. TUESDAY, November 6, 1750. 
 
 At 3' itot'&s pZcrictiffi tyvya&cu;, J; Xoyo;, 
 
 . E U R I P . 
 
 Exiles, the proverb fays, fubfift on hope, 
 Delufive hope ftill points to diltant good, 
 To good that mocks approach. 
 
 THERE is no temper fo generally indulged 
 as hope; other pailions operate by darts on 
 particular occafions, or in certain parts of life j but 
 hope begins with the firft power of comparing our 
 actual with our pofiible {late, and attends us through 
 every ftage and period, always urging us forward to 
 new acquifitions, and holding out fome diftant blerT- 
 ing to our view, promifing us either relief from pain, 
 or increafe of happinefs. 
 
 Hope is necefTary in every condition. The mi- 
 
 feries of poverty, of ficknefs, of captivity, would, 
 
 without this comfort, be infupportable ; nor does 
 
 E e 4 it
 
 424 tHE RAMBLER. N<> 67. 
 
 it appear that the happieft lot of terreftrial exigence 
 can fet us above the want of this general bleffing ; 
 or that life, when the gifts of nature and of fortune 
 are accumulated upon it, would not ftill be wretched, 
 were it not elevated and delighted by the expecta- 
 tion of fome new pofTefiion, of fome enjoyment yet 
 behind, by which the wifh fhall be at laft fatisfiedj 
 and the heart filled up to its utmoft extent. 
 
 Hope is, indeed, very fallacious, and promifes 
 what it feldom gives j but its promifes are more 
 valuable than the gifts of fortune, and it feldom 
 fruflrates us without alluring us of recompenfing the 
 delay by a greater bounty. 
 
 I was mufing on this ftrange inclination which 
 every man feels to deceive himfelf, and confidering 
 the advantages and dangers proceeding from this 
 gay profpect of futurity, when, falling afleep, on a 
 fudden I found myfelf placed in a garden, of which 
 my fight could defcry no limits. Every fcene about 
 me was gay and gladfome, light with funfhinc, and 
 fragrant with perfumes j the ground was painted 
 with all the variety of ipring, and all the choir of 
 nature was finging in the groves. When I had re- 
 covered from the firil raptures, with which the con- 
 fufion of pleafure had for a time entranced me, J 
 began to take a particular and deliberate view of 
 this delightful region. I then perceived that I had 
 yet higher gratifications to expect, and that, at a 
 fmall diftance from me, there were brighter flowers, 
 clearer fountains, and more lofty groves, where the 
 birds, which I yet heard but faintly, were exerting 
 ,all the power of melody. The trees about me were 
 beautiful with verdure, and fragrant with blofToms ; 
 
 but
 
 N6y. THE RAMBLER. 425 
 
 but I was tempted to leave them by the fight of ripe 
 fruits, which feemed to hang only to be plucked. I 
 therefore walked haftily forwards, but found, as I 
 proceeded, that the colours of the field faded at my 
 approach, the fruit fell before I reached it, the birds 
 flew ftill fmging before me, and though I prefTed 
 onward with great celerity, I was ftill in fight of 
 pleafures of which I could not yet gain the pofleffion, 
 and which feemed to mock my diligence, and to re- 
 tire as I advanced. 
 
 Though I was confounded with fo many alterna- 
 tions of joy and grief, I yet perfifted to go forward, 
 in hopes that thefe fugitive delights would in time 
 be overtaken. At length I faw an innumerable mul- 
 titude of every age and fex, who feemed all to par- 
 take of fome general felicity ; for every cheek was 
 fiufhed with confidence, and every eye fparkled with 
 eagernefs : yet each appeared to have fome particular 
 and fecret pleafure, and very few were willing to 
 communicate their intentions, or extend their con- 
 cern beyond themfelves. Moft of them feemed, by 
 the rapidity of their motion, too bufy to gratify the 
 curiofity of a ftranger, and therefore I was content 
 for a while to gaze upon them, without interrupting 
 them with troublefome enquiries. At laft I obferved 
 one man worn with time, and unable to ftruggle in 
 the crowd; and, therefore, fuppofing him more at 
 leifure, I began to accoft him : but he turned from 
 me with anger, and told me he muft not be difturbed, 
 for the great hour of projection was now come, when 
 Mercury fhould lofe his wings, and flavery fhould 
 no longer dig the .mine for gold. 
 
 I left
 
 426 THE RAMBLER. N 67. 
 
 I left him, and attempted another, whofe foftnefs 
 of mien, and eafy movement, gave me reafon to hope 
 for a more agreeable reception : but he told me, 
 with a low bow, that nothing would make him more 
 happy than an opportunity of ferving me, which he 
 could not now want, for a place which he had been 
 twenty years foliciting would be foon vacant. From 
 him I had recourfe to the next, who was departing 
 in hade to take poflfeffion of the eftate of an uncle, 
 who by the courfe of nature could not live long. 
 He that followed was preparing to dive for treafure 
 in a new-invented bell; and another was on the point 
 of difcovering the longitude. 
 
 Being thus rejected wherefoever I applied myfelf 
 for information, I began to imagine it belt to defift 
 from enquiry, and try what my own obfervation 
 would difcover : but feeing a young man, gay and 
 though tlefs, I refolved upon one more experiment, 
 and was informed that I was in the garden of HOPE, 
 the daughter of DESIRE, and that all thofe whom I 
 Taw thus tumultuQufly buftling round me, were in- 
 cited by thepromifes of HOPE, and haftening to feizc 
 the gifts which fhe held in her hand. 
 
 I turned my fight upward, and faw a goddefs in 
 the bloom of youth fitting on a throne : around her 
 lay all the gifts of fortune, and all the blefllngs of 
 life were fpread abroad to view; fhe had a perpetual 
 gaiety of afpect, and every one imagined that her 
 fmile, which was impartial and general, was directed 
 to himfelf, and triumphed in his own fuperiority to, 
 others, who had conceived the fame confidence from 
 the fame miftake. 
 
 I then
 
 N6y. THE RAMBLER. 427 
 
 I then mounted an eminence, from which I had a 
 more extenfive view of the whole place, and could 
 with lefs perplexity confider the different conduct of 
 the crowds that filled it. From this ftation I ob- 
 ferved, that the entrance into the garden of HOPE 
 was by two gates, one of which was kept by REASON, 
 and the other by FANCY. REASON was furly and 
 fcrupulous, and feldom turned the key without many 
 interrogatories, and long hefitation; but FANCY was 
 a kind and gentle portrefs, fhe held her gate wide 
 open, and welcomed all equally to the diftrict under 
 her fuperintendency; fo that the paflage was crowd- 
 ed by all thofe who either feared the examination of 
 REASON, or had been rejected by her. 
 
 From the gate of REASON there was a way to the 
 throne of HOPE, by a craggy, flippery, and wind- 
 ing path, called the Streight ofDlfficulty^ which thofe 
 who entered with the permiflion of the guard endea- 
 voured to climb. But though they furveyed the 
 way very cheerfully before they began to rife, and 
 marked out the feveral ftages of their progrefs, they 
 commonly found unexpected obftacles, and were 
 obliged frequently to flop on the fudden, where they 
 imagined the way plain and even. A thoufand in- 
 tricacies embarrafled them, a thoufand flips threw 
 them back, and a thoufand pitfals impeded their 
 advance. So formidable were the dangers, and fo 
 frequent the mifcarriages, that many returned from 
 the firft attempt, and many fainted in the midft of 
 the way, and only a very fmall number were led up 
 to the fummit of HOPE, by the hand of FORTITUDE. 
 Of thele few the greater part, when they had ob- 
 tained the gift which HOPE had promifed them, re- 
 gretted
 
 428 THE RAMBLER. N 67* 
 
 gretted the labour which it coft, and felt in their 
 fuccefs the regret of difappointment ; the reft re- 
 tired with their prize, and were led by WISDOM to 
 the bowers of CONTENT. 
 
 Turning then towards the gate of FANCY, I could 
 find no way to the feat of HOPE ; but though fhe fat 
 full in view, and held out her gifts with an air of in- 
 vitation, which filled every heart with rapture, the 
 mountain was, on that fide, inaccefiibly fteep, but 
 fo channelled and fhaded, that none perceived the 
 impofTibility of afcending it, but each imagined him- 
 felf to have difcovered a way to which the reft were 
 flrangers. Many expedients were indeed tried by 
 this induftrious tribe, of whom fome were making 
 themfelves wings, which others were contriving to 
 actuate by the perpetual motion. But with all their 
 labour, and all their artifices, they never rofe above 
 the ground, or quickly fell back, nor ever approach- 
 ed the throne of HOPE, but continued ftill to gaze 
 at a diftance, and laughed at the flow progrefs of 
 thofe whom they faw toiling in the Streight cf Dif- 
 ficulty. 
 
 Part of the favourites of FANCY, when they had 
 entered the garden, without making, like the reft, 
 an attempt to climb the mountain, turned immedi- 
 ately to the vale of IDLENESS, a calm and undif- 
 turbed retirement, from whence they could always 
 have HOPE in profpeclr, and to which they pleafed 
 themfelves with believing that fhe intended fpeedily 
 to defcend. Thefe were indeed fcorned by all the 
 refti but they feemed very little affecled by con- 
 tempt, advice, or reproof, but were refolved to ex- 
 ped at eafe the favour of the goddefs. 
 
 Among
 
 N68. THE RAMBLER. 429 
 
 Among this gay race I was wandering, and found 
 them ready to anfwer all my queftions, and willing 
 to communicate their mirth : but turning round, I 
 faw two dreadful monfters entering the vale, one of 
 whom I knew to be AGE, and the other WANT. 
 Sport and revelling were now at an end, and an 
 univerfal fhriek of affright and diftrefs burft out and 
 awaked me. 
 
 NUMB. 68. SATURDAY, November 10, 1750. 
 
 Vi<vendum refle, cum propter plurima, tune his 
 
 fracipue cait/is, ut lingua.! mancipiorum 
 
 Contemnas; nam lingua mali pars pejjimafer*vi. Juv. 
 
 Let us live well : were it alone for this 
 
 The baneful tongues of fervants to defpife : 
 
 Slander, that woril of poifons, ever finds 
 
 An eafy entrance to ignoble minds. HERVEY. 
 
 THE younger Pliny has very juflly obferved, 
 that of actions that deferve our attention, the 
 moft fplendid are not always the greater!. Fame, 
 and wonder, and applaufe, are not excited but by 
 external and adventitious circumftances, often dif- 
 tinct and feparate from virtue and heroifm. Emi- 
 nence of ftation, greatnefs of effect, and all the fa- 
 vours of fortune, muft concur to place excellence in 
 publick view ; but fortitude, diligence, and patience, 
 diverted of their fhow, glide unobferved through the 
 frqwd of life, and fuffer and act, though with the 
 
 fame
 
 430 THE RAMBLER. N 68. 
 
 fame vigour and conftancy, yet without pity and 
 without praife. 
 
 This remark may be extended to all parts of life. 
 Nothing is to be eftimated by its effeft upon com- 
 mon eyes and common ears. A thoufand miferies 
 make filent and invifible inroads on mankind, and 
 the heart feels innumerable throbs, which never 
 break into complaint. Perhaps, likewife, our plea- 
 fures are for the moft part equally fecret, and moft 
 are borne up by fome private fatisfa&ion, fome in- 
 ternal confcioufnefs, fome latent hope, fome peculiar 
 profpet, which they never communicate, but referve 
 for folitary hours, and clandeftine meditation. 
 
 The main of life is, indeed, compofed of fmall 
 incidents and petty occurrences j of wifhes for ob- 
 jects not remote, and grief for difappointments of no 
 fatal confequencej of infect vexations which fling 
 us and fly away, impertinencies which buzz a while 
 about us, and are heard no more; of meteorous plea- 
 fures which dance before us and are diffipated ; of 
 compliments which glide off the foul like other mu- 
 fick, and are forgotten by him that gave and him 
 that received them. 
 
 Such is the general heap out of which every man 
 is to cull his own condition : for, as the chemifts 
 tell us, that all bodies are refolvable into the fame 
 elements, and that the boundlefs variety of things 
 arifes from the different proportions of very few in- 
 gredients ; fo a few pains and a few pleafures are all 
 the materials of human life, and of thefe the pro- 
 portions are partly allotted by providence and partly 
 left to the arrangement of reafon and of choice. 
 
 As
 
 N68. THE RAMBLER. 
 
 As thefe are well or ill difpofed, man is for the 
 moft part happy or miferable. For very few are 
 involved in great events, or have their thread of life 
 entwifted with the chain of caufes on which armies 
 or nations are fufpended; and even thofe who feern 
 wholly bufied in publick affairs, and elevated above 
 low cares, or trivial pleafures, pafs the chief part of 
 their time in familiar and domeftick fcenes j from 
 thefe they came into publick life, to thefe they arc 
 every hour recalled by paffions not to be fupprefled; 
 in thefe they have the reward of their toils, and to 
 thefe at laft they retire. 
 
 The great end of prudence is to give cheerfulnefs 
 to thofe hours, which fplendour cannot gild, and ac- 
 clamation cannot exhilarate; thofe foft intervals of 
 unbended amufement, in which a man fhrinks to his 
 natural dimenfions, and throws afide the ornaments 
 or difguifes, which he feels in privacy to be ufelefs 
 incumbrances, and to lofe all effect when they be- 
 come familiar. To be happy at home is the ulti- 
 mate refult of all ambition, the end to which every 
 enterprife and labour tends, and of which every de- 
 fire prompts the profecution. 
 
 It is, indeed, at home that every man muft be 
 known by thofe who would make a juft eftimate 
 either of his virtue or felicity; for fmiles and em- 
 broidery are alike occafional, and the mind is often 
 drefied for Ihow in painted honour and fictitious be- 
 nevolence. 
 
 Every man muft have found fome whofe lives, in 
 every houfe but their own, was a continual feries of 
 hypocrify, and who concealed under fair appear- 
 ances bad qualities, which, whenever they thought 
 
 3 themfelves
 
 43* THE RAMBLER. N'68. 
 
 themfelves out of the reach of cenfure, broke out 
 from their reftraint, like winds imprifoned in their 
 caverns, and whom every one had reafon to love, 
 but they whofe love a wife man is chiefly felicitous 
 to procure. And there are others who, without any 
 Ihow of general goodnefs, and without the attrac- 
 tions by which popularity is conciliated, are received 
 among their own families as beftowers of happinefs, 
 and reverenced as inftructors, guardians, and bene- 
 factors. 
 
 The mod authentick witnefles of any man's cha- 
 racter are thofe who know him in his own family, 
 and fee him without any reftraint, or rule of conduct, 
 but fuch as he voluntarily prefcribes to himlelf. If 
 a man carries virtue with him into his private apart- 
 ments, and takes no advantage of unlimited power 
 or probable fecrecy ; if we trace him through the 
 round of his time, and find that his character, with 
 thofe allowances which mortal frailty mud always 
 want, is uniform and regular, we have all the evi- 
 dence of his fincerity, that one man can have with 
 regard to another : and, indeed, as hypocrify cannot 
 be its own reward, we may, without hefitation, de- 
 termine that his heart is pure. 
 
 The higheft panegyrick, therefore, that private 
 virtue can receive, is the praife of fervants. For, 
 however vanity or infolence may look down with 
 contempt on the fuffrage of men, undignified by 
 wealth, and unenlightened by education, it very fel- 
 dom happens that they commend or blame without 
 juftice. Vice and virtue are eafily diftinguifhed. 
 Oppreffion, according to Harrington's aphorifm, 
 will be felt by thofe that cannot fee it; and, per-
 
 N68. THE RAMBLER. 433 
 
 haps, it falls out very often that, in moral queftions, 
 the philofophers in the gown, and in the livery, 
 differ not fo much in their fentiments, as in their 
 language, and have equal power of difcerning right, 
 though they cannot point it out to others with equal 
 addrefs. ; 
 
 There are very few faults to be committed in fb- 
 litude, or without fome agents, partners, confede- 
 rates, or witnefles j and, therefore, the fervant muft 
 commonly know the fecrets of a mafter, who has 
 any fecrets to entruft j and failings, merely perfbnal, 
 arc fo frequently expofed by that fecurity which 
 pride and folly generally produce, and fo inqui-> 
 iitively watched by that defire of reducing the ine- 
 qualities of condition, which the lower orders of the 
 world will always feel, that the teftimony of a me- 
 nial domeilick can feldom be confidered as defective 
 for want of knowledge. And though its impartia- 
 lity may be fometimes fufpeded, it is atleaft as cre- 
 dible as that of equals, where rivalry inftigates cen- 
 fure, or friendfhip dictates palliations. 
 
 The danger of betraying our weaknefs to our fer- 
 vants, and the impoffibility of concealing it from 
 them, may be juftly confidered as one motive to a 
 regular and irreproachable life. For no condition 
 is more hateful or defpicable, than his who has put 
 himfelf in the power of his fervant ; in the power of 
 him whom, perhaps, he has firft corrupted by mak- 
 ing him fubfervient to his vices, and whofe fidelity 
 he therefore cannot enforce by any precepts of ho- 
 nefty or reafon. It is feldom known that authority, 
 thus acquired, is pofleffed without infolence, or that 
 the mafter is not forced to confefs, by his tamenefs 
 
 VOL. IV. F f or
 
 434 THE RAMBLER. N*68. 
 
 or forbearance, that he has enflaved himfelf by fome 
 fooliih confidence. And his crime is equally pu- 
 nifhed, whatever part he takes of the choice to which 
 he is reduced ; and he is from that fatal hour, in 
 which he facrificed his dignity to his paffions, in 
 perpetual dread of infolence or defamation j of a con- 
 trouler at home, or an accufer abroad. He is con- 
 demned to purchafe, by continual bribes, that fe- 
 crecy which bribes never fecured, and which, after a 
 long courfe of fubmiffion, promifes, and anxieties, he 
 will find violated in a fit of rage, or in a frolick of 
 drunkennefs. 
 
 To dread no eye, and to fufpeft no tongue, is the 
 great prerogative of innocence ; an exemption granted 
 only to invariable virtue. But guilt has always its 
 horrors and folicitudes j and to make it yet more 
 fhameful and deteftable, it is doomed often to Hand 
 in awe of thofe, to whom nothing could give influ- 
 ence or weight, but their power of betraying.
 
 THE RAMBLER. 
 
 NUMB. 69. TUESDAY, November i^ 1750* 
 
 Flet quoque > at infpeculo rttgas adfpexit aniles t 
 
 Tyndaris ; et fecum, cur Jit bis rapta, requirit* 
 
 Vempus edax rerum, tuque in<vtdiofa vetuftas 
 
 Omnia dejlruitls : <vitiataque dentibus avi 
 
 Paulatim lento, confumitis omnia morfe* Ovi D 
 
 The dreadful wrinkles when poor Helen fpy'd, 
 Ah ! why this fecond rape ? with tears fhe cry'd 
 Time, thou devourer, and them envious age, 
 Who all deftroy with keen corroding rage, 
 Beneath your jaws, whate'er have pleas'd or pleafe> 
 Muft fink, confum'd by fwift or flow degrees. 
 
 ELPHINSTON- 
 
 AN old Greek epigrammatift, intending to fhew 
 the miferies that attend the laft ftage of man, 
 imprecates upon thofe who are Ib foolifh as to wifh 
 for long life, the calamity of continuing to grow old 
 from century to century. He thought that no ad- 
 ventitious or foreign pain was requifite, that decre- 
 pitude itfelf was an epitome of whatever is dreadful* 
 and nothing could be added to the curfe of age, but 
 that it ftiould be extended beyond its natural limits. 
 
 The moft indifferent or negligent fpeftator can in- 
 deed fcarcely retire without heavihefs of heart, from 
 a view of the laft fcenes of the tragedy of life, in 
 which he finds thofe who in the former parts of the 
 drama were diftinguifhed by oppofition of conduct, 
 F f 2 con-
 
 436 THE RAMBLER. N'6 9 . 
 
 contrariety of defigns, and diffimilitude of perfonal 
 qualities, all involved in one common diftrefs, and 
 all ftruggling with affliction which they cannot hope 
 to overcome. 
 
 The other miferies, which waylay our pafTage 
 through the world, wifdom may efcape, and forti- 
 tude may conquer : by caution and circumfpection 
 we may fteal along with very little to obftruct or in- 
 commode us ; by fpirit and vigour we may force a 
 way, and reward the vexation of conteft by the plea- 
 fures of victory. But a time muft come when our 
 policy and bravery fhall be equally ufelefs ; when we 
 fhall all fink into helpleflhefs and fadnefs, without 
 any power of receiving folace from the pleafures 
 that have formerly delighted us, or any profpect of 
 emerging into a fecond pofleffion of the bleffings that 
 we have loft. 
 
 The induftry of man has, indeed, not been want- 
 ing in endeavours to procure comforts for thefe hours 
 of dejection and melancholy, and to gild the dread- 
 ful gloom with artificial light. The moft ufual 
 fupport of old age is wealth. He whofe pofleflions 
 are large, and whofe chefts are full, imagines him- 
 felf always fortified againft invafions on his autho- 
 rity. If he has loft all other means of government, 
 if his ftrength and his reafon fail him, he can at laft 
 alter his will ; and therefore all that have hopes muft 
 likewife have fears, and he may ftill continue to give 
 laws to fuch as have not ceafed to regard their own 
 intereft. 
 
 : This is, indeed, too frequently the citadel of the 
 dotard, the laft fortrefs to which age retires, and 
 
 in
 
 N6 9 . THE RAMBLER. 437 
 
 in which he makes the fland againft the upftarc 
 race that feizes his domains, difputes his com- 
 mands, and cancels his prefcriptions. But here, 
 though there may Be fafety, there is no pleafurej 
 and what remains is but a proof that more was once 
 pofTefled. 
 
 Nothing feems to have been more univerfally 
 dreaded by the ancients than orbity, or want of 
 children ; and indeed, to' a man who has furvived all 
 the companions of his youth, all who have partici- 
 pated his pleafures and his cares, have been engaged 
 in the fame events, and filled their minds with the 
 fame conceptions, this full peopled world is a difmal 
 folitude. He ftands forlorn and filent, neglected or 
 infulted, in the midft of multitudes, animated with 
 hopes which he cannot fhare, and employed in bufi- 
 nefs which he is no longer able to forward or retard; 
 nor can he find any to whom his life or his death are 
 of importance, unlefs he has fecured fome domeftick 
 gratifications, fome tender employments, and en- 
 deared himfelf to fome whofe intereft and gratitude 
 may unite them to him. 
 
 So different are the colours of life, as we look 
 forward to the future, or backward to the pad; 
 and fo different the opinions and fentiments which 
 this contrariety of appearance naturally produces, 
 that the converfation of the old and young ends ge- 
 nerally with contempt or pity on either fide. To 
 a young man entering the world, with fulnefs of 
 hope, and ardour of purfuit, nothing is fo unpleafing 
 as the cold caution, the faint expectations, the fcru- 
 pulous diffidence which experience and difappoint- 
 ments certainly infufe ; and the old man wonders in 
 
 F f 3 his
 
 438 THE RAMBLER. N6 9 . 
 
 his turn that the world never can grow wifer, that 
 neither precepts, nor teftimonies, can cure boys of 
 their credulity and fufficiency : and that not one can 
 be convinced that fnares are laid for him, till he finds 
 himfelf entangled. 
 
 Thus one generation is always the fcorn and 
 wonder of the other, and the notions of the old 
 and young are like liquors of different gravity and 
 texture which never can .unite. The fpirits of 
 youth fublimed by health, and volatilifed by pafiion, 
 foon leave behind them the phlegmatick fediment 
 of wearinefs and deliberation, and burft out in te- 
 merity and enterprife. The tendernefs therefore 
 which nature infufes, and which long habits of be- 
 neficence confirm, is neceflary to reconcile fuch op- 
 pofition j and an old man muft be a father to bear 
 with patience thofe follies and abfurdities which he 
 will perpetually imagine himfelf to find in the 
 fchemes and expectations, the pleafures and the for- 
 rows, of thofe who have not yet been hardened by 
 time, and chilled by fruftration. 
 
 Yet it may be doubted, whether the pleafure of 
 feeing children ripening into ftrength, be not over- 
 balanced by the pain of feeing fome fall in the 
 bloflbm, and others blafted in their growth ; fome 
 fhaken down with ftorms, fome tainted with cankers, 
 and fome fhrivelled in the fhade; and whether he 
 that extends his care beyond himfelf, does not mul- 
 tiply his anxieties more than his pleafures, and weary 
 himfelf to no purpofe, by fuperintending what he 
 cannot regulate. 
 
 But though age be to every order of human 
 beings fufiiciently terrible, it is particularly to be 
 
 dreaded
 
 N6 9 . THE RAMBLER. 439 
 
 dreaded by fine ladies, who have had no other end or 
 ambition than to fill up the day and the night with 
 drefs, diverfions, and flattery, and who having made 
 no acquaintance with knowledge, or with bufinefs, 
 have conftantly caught all their ideas from the cur- 
 rent prattle of the hour, and been indebted for all 
 their happinefs to compliments and treats. With 
 thefe ladies, age begins early, and very often lads 
 long} it begins when their beauty fades, when their 
 mirth lofes its fprightlinefs, and their motion its 
 eafe. From that time all which gave them joy va- 
 nifhes from about them ; they hear the praifes be- 
 ftowed on others, which ufed to fwell their bofoms 
 with exultation. They vifit the feats of felicity, 
 and endeavour to continue the habit of being de- 
 lighted. But pleafure is only received when we be- 
 lieve that we give it in return. Neglecl and petu- 
 lance inform them that their power and their value 
 are paftj and what then remains but a tedious and 
 comfortlefs uniformity of time, without any motion 
 of the heart, or exercife of the reafon ? 
 
 Yet, however age may difcourage us by its appear- 
 ance from confidering it in profpedl, we Ihall all by 
 degrees certainly be old ; and therefore we ought to 
 enquire, what provifion can be made againft that 
 time of diftrefs ? what happinefs can be flored up 
 againft the winter of life ? and how we may pafs our 
 latter years with ferenity and cheerfulnefs ? 
 
 If it has been found by the experience of man- 
 kind, that not even the beft feafons of life are able 
 to fupply fufficient gratifications, without antici- 
 pating uncertain felicities, it cannot furely be fup- 
 pofed that old age, worn with labours, harafled 
 
 F f 4 with
 
 440 THE RAMBLER. N 69. 
 
 with anxieties, and tortured with difeafes, fhould 
 have any gladnefs of its own, or feel any fatisfac- 
 tion from the contemplation of the prefent. All the 
 comfort that can now be expected muft be recalled 
 from the paft, or borrowed from the future ; the 
 paft is very foon exhaufled, all the events or actions 
 of which the memory can afford pleafure are quickly 
 recollected ; and the future lies beyond the grave, 
 where it can be reached only by virtue and devo- 
 tion. 
 
 Piety is the only proper and adequate relief of 
 decaying man. He that grows old without reli- 
 gious hopes, as he declines into imbecility, and 
 feels pains and forrows inceffantly crowding upon 
 him, falls into a gulph of bottomlefs mifery, in which 
 every reflection muft plunge him deeper, and where 
 he finds only new gradations of anguifh, and preci- 
 pices of horrour.
 
 N7o. THE RAMBLER. 441 
 
 NUMB. 70. SATURDAY, November 17, 1750. 
 
 Argentea proles , 
 Auro deterior, fulvo pretioficr are. Ov I D . 
 
 Succeeding times a filver age behold, 
 
 Excelling brafs, but more excell'd by gold. Day DEN. 
 
 HE S I O D, in his celebrated diftribution of 
 mankind, divides them into three orders of 
 intellect. " The firft place," fays he, " belongs 
 " to him that can by his own powers difcern what 
 <f is right and fit, and penetrate to the remoter mo- 
 Cf tives of action. The fecond is claimed by him 
 Cf that is willing to hear inftruction, and can perceive 
 " right and wrong when they are fhewn him by 
 <c another; but he that has neither acutenefs nor 
 <c docility, who can neither find the way by himfelf, 
 <f nor will be led by others, is a wretch without ufe 
 f( or value." 
 
 If we furvey the moral world, it will be found, 
 that the fame divifion may be made of men, with re- 
 gard to their virtue. There are fome whofe prin- 
 ciples are fo firmly fixed, whofe conviction is fo con- 
 flantly prefent to their minds, and who have raifed 
 in themfelves fuch ardent wifhes for the approbation 
 of God, and the happinefs with which he has pro- 
 mifed to reward obedience and perfeverance, that 
 they rife above all other cares and confiderations, 
 uniformly examine every action and defire, by 
 
 com-
 
 442 THE RAMBLER. N 70. 
 
 comparing it with the divine commands. There arc 
 others in a kind of equipoife between good and ill; 
 who are moved on the one part by riches or pleafure> 
 by the gratifications of paffion and the delights of 
 fenfe; and, on the other, by laws of which they 
 own the obligation, and rewards of which they be- 
 lieve the reality, and whom a very fmall addition of 
 weight turns either way. The third clafs confifts of 
 beings immerfed in pleafure, or abandoned to paffion, 
 without any defire of higher good, or any effort to 
 extend their thoughts beyond immediate and grofs 
 fatisfa&ions. 
 
 The fecond clafs is fo much the moft nume- 
 rous, that it may be confidered as comprifing the 
 whole body of mankind. Thofe of the laft are 
 not very many, and thofe of the firil are very few ; 
 and neither the one nor the other fall much under 
 the confideration of the moralift, whofe precepts 
 are intended chiefly for thofe who are endeavouring 
 to go forward up the ileeps of virtue, not for thofe 
 who have already reached the fummit, or thofe who 
 are refolved to flay for ever in their prefent fitua- 
 tion. 
 
 To a man not verfed in the living world, but 
 accuftomed to judge only by fpeculative reaibn, it 
 is fcarcely credible that any one fhould be in this 
 ftate of indifference, or ftand undetermined and 
 unengaged, ready to follow the firft call to either 
 fide. It feems certain, that either a man mufi 
 believe that virtue will make him happy, and re- 
 folve therefore to be virtuous, or think that he may 
 be happy without virtue, and therefore caft off all 
 2 are
 
 N7Q. THE RAMBLER. 443 
 
 care but for his prefent intereft. It feems impof- 
 iible that conviction Ihould be on one fide, and 
 practice on the other; and that he who has feen 
 the right way, fliould voluntarily fhut his eyes, that 
 he may quit it with more tranquillity. Yet all thefe 
 abfurdities are every hour to be found ; the wifeft 
 and beft men deviate from known and acknowledged 
 duties, by inadvertency or furprife; and molt are 
 good no longer than while temptation is away, than 
 while their paffions are without excitements, and 
 their opinions are free from the counteraction of any 
 other motive. 
 
 Among the fentiments whkh almoft every man 
 changes as he advances into years, is the expec- 
 tation of uniformity of character. He that with- 
 out acquaintance with the power of defire, the 
 cogency of diftrefs, the complications of affairs, or 
 the force of partial influence, has rilled his mind 
 with the excellence of virtue, and having never tried 
 his refolution in any encounters with hope or fear, 
 believes it able to (land firm whatever fhall oppofe 
 it, will be always clamorous againft the fmalleft 
 failure, ready to exact the utmoft punctualities of 
 right, and to confider every man that fails in any 
 part of his duty, as without confcience and without 
 merit ; unworthy of truft or love, of pity or regard j 
 as an enemy whom all fhould join to drive out of fo- 
 ciety, as a peft which all fhould avoid, or as a weed 
 which all fhould trample. 
 
 It is not but by experience, that we are taught the 
 pofiibility of retaining forne virtues, and rejecting 
 Others, or of being good or bad to a particular de- 
 gree.
 
 444 THE RAMBLER. N 70. 
 
 gree. For it is very eafy to the folitary reafoner to 
 prove that the fame arguments by which the mind is 
 fortified againft one crime are of equal force againft 
 all, and the confequence very naturally follows, that 
 he whom they fail to move on any occafion, has 
 either never confidered them, or has by fome fallacy 
 taught himfelf to evade their validity ; and that, 
 therefore, when a man is known to be guilty of one 
 crime, no farther evidence is needful of his depra- 
 vity and corruption. 
 
 Yet fuch is the ftate of all mortal virtue, that it 
 is always uncertain and variable, fometimes extend- 
 ing to the whole compafs of duty, and fometimes 
 Ihrinking into a narrow fpace, ar;d fortifying only a 
 few avenues of the heart, while all the reft is left 
 open to the iacurfions of appetite, or given up to 
 the dominion of wickednefs. Nothing therefore is 
 more unjuft than to judge of man by too ihort an 
 acquaintance, and too flight infpection ; for it often 
 happens, that in the loofe, and thoughtlefs, and dif- 
 lipated, there is a fecret radical worth, which may 
 fhoot out by proper cultivation ; that the fpark of 
 heaven, though dimmed and obftructed, is yet not 
 extinguifhed, but may by the breath of counfel and 
 exhortation be kindled into flame. 
 
 To imagine that every one who is not com- 
 pletely good is irrecoverably abandoned, is to. fup_ 
 pofe that all are capable of the fame degree of ex- 
 cellence j it is indeed to exact, from all, that per- 
 fection which none ever can attain. And fince the 
 purcft virtue is confident with fome vice, and the 
 virtue of the greateft number with almoft an equal 
 
 proper-
 
 N70. THE RAMBLER. 445 
 
 proportion, of contrary qualities, let none too haftily 
 conclude, that all goodnefs is loft, though it may 
 for a time be clouded and overwhelmed j for moft 
 minds are the flaves of external circumftances, and 
 conform to any hand that undertakes to mould them, 
 roll down any torrent of cuftom in which they hap- 
 pen to be caught, or bend to any importunity that 
 bears hard againft them. 
 
 It may be particularly obferved of women, that 
 they are for the moft part good or bad, as they fall 
 among thofe who practife vice or virtue ; and that 
 neither education nor reafon gives them much fecu- 
 rity againft the influence of example. Whether it 
 be that they have lefs courage to ftand againft op- 
 pofition, or that their defire of admiration makes 
 them facrifice their principles to the poor pleafure of 
 worthlefs praife, it is certain, whatever be the caufe, 
 that female goodnefs feldom keeps its ground againft 
 laughter, flattery, or fafhion. 
 
 For this reafon, every one fhould confider himfelf 
 as entrufted, not only with his own conduct, but 
 with that of others; and as accountable, not only 
 for the duties which he neglects, or the crimes that 
 he commits, but for that negligence and irregularity 
 which he may encourage or inculcate. Every man, 
 in whatever ftation, has, or endeavours to have, 
 his followers, admirers, and imitators, and has 
 therefore the influence of his example to watch with 
 care ; he ought to avoid not only crimes but the 
 appearance of crimes, and not only to praclife virtue, 
 but to applaud, countenance, and fupport it. For 
 it is poflible that for want of attention we may teach 
 
 others
 
 446 THE RAMBLER. N7o. 
 
 others faults from which ourfelves are free, or by a 
 cowardly defertion of a caufe which we ourfelves 
 approve, may pervert thofe who fix their eyes upon 
 us, and having no rule of their own to guide their 
 courfe, are eafily rniQed by the aberrations of that 
 example which they chufe for their directions. 
 
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