: No 30. Friday, November 7. Sic vifum Veneri; cui placet impares Tis very ufual for thofe who have been fevere upon Marriage, in fome part or other of their Lives to enter into the Fraternity which they have ridiculed, and to fee their Rallery return upon their own Heads. I fcarce ever knew a Woman-hater that did not, fooner or later, pay for it. Marriage, which is a Bleffing to another Man, falls upon fuch a one as a Judgment. Mr. Congreve's Old Batchelor is fet forth to us with much Wit and Humour, as an Example of this kind. In fhort, thofe who have moft diftinguished themselves by railing at the Sex in general, very often make an honourable Amends, by chufing one of the most worthless Perfons of it, for a Companion and Yokefellow. Hymen takes his Revenge in kind, kind, on those who turn his Mysteries into Ridicule. MY Friend Will. Honeycomb, who was fo unmercifully witty upon the Women, in a couple of Letters, which I lately communicated to the Publick, has given the Ladies ample Satisfaction by marrying a Farmer's Daughter; a piece of News which came to our Club by the last Post. The Templer is very pofitive that he has married a DairyMaid: But Will, in his Letter to me on this occafion, fets the best Face upon the matter that he can, and gives a more tolerable account of his Spouse. I must confefs I suspected fomething more than ordinary, when upon opening the Letter I found that Will was fallen off from his former Gayety, having changed Dear Spec. which was his ufual Salute at the Beginning of the Letter, into my Worthy Friend, and fubfcribed himself in the latter end of it at full length William Honeycomb. In fhort, the gay, the loud, the vain Will. Honeycomb, who had made Love to every great Fortune that has appeared in Town for about thirty Years together, and boafted of Favours from Ladies whom he he had never seen, is at length wedded to a plain Country Girl. HIS Letter gives us the Picture of a converted Rake. The fober Character of the Husband is dashed with the Man of the Town, and enlivened with those little Cant-phrafes which have made my Friend Will. often thought very pretty Company. But let us hear what he fays for himself. My worthy Friend, I Question not but you, and the reft of my Acquaintance, wonder that 'I who have lived in the Smoke and 'Gallantries of the Town for thirty 'Years together, fhould all on a fud'den grow fond of a Country Life. Had 'not my Dog of a Steward run away as 'he did, without making up his Ac counts, I had ftill been immersed in 'Sin and Sea-Coal. But fince my late 'forced Visit to my Eftate, I am fo 'pleafed with it, that I am refolved to live and die upon it. I am every day abroad among my Acres, and can 'fcarce forbear filling my Letter with 'Breezes, Shades, Flowers, Meadows, and purling Streams. The Simplicity of Manners, which I have heard you fo fo often fpeak of, and which appear here in perfection, charms me wonderfully. As an Inftance of it, I must acquaint, you, and, by your means: the whole Club, that I have lately married one of my Tenant's Daughters. She is born of honeft Parents, and though he has no Portion, the has a great deal of Virtue. The natural • Sweetness and Innocence of her Behaviour, the Freshness of her. Complection, the unaffected Turn of her. Shape and Perfon, fhot me through. and through every time I faw her,. and did more Execution upon me in Grogram, than the greatest Beauty in: "Town or Court had ever done in Brocade. In fhort, fhe is fuch an one as promifes me a good Heir to my Estate; and if by her means I cannot leave to my Children what are falfely called the Gifts of Birth, high Titles and Alliances, I hope to convey to them the more real and valuable Gifts of Birth, ftrong Bodies, and healthy Conftitu tions. As for your fine. Women, I 'need not tell thee that I know them. • I have had my fhare in their Graces, but no more of that. It fhall be my Business hereafter to live the Life of 'an 'an honeft Man, and to act as becomes Your most fincere Friend and Humble Servant, WILLIAM HONEYCOMB. |