No. 615. Some have frightened themselves into Madness, others have given up their Lives to these Apprehenfions. The Story of a Man who grew gray in the Space of one Night's Anxiety is very famous;

O! Nox, quam longa es, qnæ facis una Senem.

THESE Apprehenfions, if they proceed from a Confcioufnefs of Guilt, are the fad Warnings of Reafon; and may excite our Pity, but admit of no Remedy. When the Hand of the Almighty is vifibly lifted against the Impious, the Heart of mortal Man cannot withstand him. We have this Paffion fublimely reprefented in the Punishment of the Egyptians, tormented with the Plague of Darkness, in the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom ascribed to Solomon.

FOR when unrighteous Men thought to oppress the holy Nation; they being fhut up in their Houses, the Prisoners of Darkness, and fetter'd with the Bonds of a long Night, lay there exiled from the eternal Providence. For while they supposed to lye hid in their fecret Sins, they were fcattered under a dark Veil of Forgetfulness, being horribly aftonished and troubled " with ftrange Apparitions For Wickedness, condemned by her own Witness, is very timorous, and being oppreffed with Confcience, always forecafteth grievous Things. For Fear is nothing else but a betraying of • the Succours which Reason offereth-For the whole • World shined with clear Light, and none were hindered in their Labour. Over them only was spread a ⚫ heavy Night, an Image of that Darknefs which should afterwards receive them; but yet were they unto ⚫ themselves more grievous than the Darkness.

6

To Fear, fo juftly grounded, no Remedy can be propofed; but a Man (who hath no great Guilt hanging upon his Mind, who walks in the plain Path of Juftice and Integrity, and yet either by natural Complexion, or confirmed Prejudices, or Neglect of ferious Reflection, fuffers himself to be moved by this abject and unmanly Paffion) would do well to confider, That there is nothing which deserves his Fear,

but

but that beneficent Being who is his Friend, his Protector, his Father. Were this one Thought ftrongly fixed in the Mind, what Calamity would be dreadful? What Load can Infamy lay upon us when we are sure of the Approbation of him who will repay the Disgrace of a Moment with the Glory of Eternity? What Sharpness is there in Pain and Diseases, when they only hasten us on to the Pleasures that will never fade? What Sting is in Death, when we are affured that it is only the Beginning of Life? A Man who lives fo, as not to fear to die, is inconfiftent with himself, if he delivers himself up to any incidental Anxiety.

THE Intrepidity of a juft good Man is fo nobly fet forth by Horace, that it cannot be too often repeated.

The Man refolv'd and fteady to his Truft,
Inflexible to Ill, and obftinately juft,
May the rude Rabble's Infolence defpife,
Their fenfelefs Clamours, and tumultuous Cries;
The Tyrant's Fiercenefs he beguiles,

And the ftern Brow, and the boarfe Voice defies,
And with fuperior Greatnefs fmiles.

Not the rough Whirlwind, that deforms
Adria's black Gulf, and vexes it with Storms,
The stubborn Virtue of his Soul can move `;
Not the red Arm of angry Jove,

That flings the Thunder from the Sky,

And gives it Rage to roar, and Strength to fly.

Should the whole Frame of Nature round him break, In Ruin and Confufion burl'd,

He, unconcern'd would hear the mighty Crack,

And fand fecure amidst a falling World.

THE Vanity of Fear may be yet farther illuftrated, if we reflect,

Firft, WHAT we fear may not come to pafs. No human Scheme can be fo accurately projected, but fome little Circumstance intervening may fpoil it. He, who

directs

directs the Heart of Man at his Pleasure, and understands the Thoughts long before, may by ten thousand Accidents, or an immediate Change in the Inclinations of Men, difconcert the most subtle Project, and turn it to the Benefit of his own Servants.

In the next Place we should confider, though the Evil we imagine should come to pafs, it may be much more fupportable than it appeared to be. As there is no profperous State of Life without its Calamities, for there is no Adverfity without its Benefits. Ask the Great and Powerful, if they do not feel the Pangs of Envy and Ambition. Enquire of the Poor and Needy, if they have not tafted the Sweets of Quiet and Contentment. Even under the Pains of Body; the Infidelity of Friends; or the Mifconftructions put upon our laudable Actions, our Minds (when for fome Time accustomed to these Preffures) are fenfible of fecret Flowings of Comfort, the prefent Reward of a pious Refignation. The Evils of this Life appear like Rocks and Precipices, rugged and barren at a Diftance, but at our nearer Approach, we find little fruitful Spots, and refreshing Springs, mixed with the Harfhnefs and Deformities of Nature.

IN the laft Place, we may comfort ourselves with this Confideratic; that, as the Thing feared may not reach us, fo we may not reach what we fear: Our Lives may not extend to that dreadful Point which we have in View. He who knows all our Failings, and will not fuffer us to be tempted beyond our Strength, is often pleafed in his tender Severity, to feparate the Soul from its Body and Miseries together.

Ir we look forward to him for Help, we fhall never be in Danger of falling down thofe Precipices which our Imagination is apt to create. Like thofe who walk upon a Line, if we keep our Eye fixed upon one Point, we may ftep forward fecurely; whereas an imprudent or cowardly Glance on either Side will infallibly deAtroy us.

Qui bellus homo eft, Cotta, pufillus homo oft.

C

Martial.

ICERO hath obferved, that a Jeft is never uttered with a better Grace, than when it is accompanied with a ferious Countenance. When a pleafant Thought plays in the Features, before it difcovers itself in Words, it raifes too great an Expectation, and lofes the Advantage of giving Surprize. Wit and Humour are no less poorly recommended by a Levity of Phrafe, and that kind of Language which may be diftinguished by the Name of Cant. Ridicule is never more strong, than when it is concealed in Gravity. True Humour lies in the Thought, and arifes from the Representation of Images in odd Circumftances, and uncommon Lights. A pleasant Thought ftrikes us by the Force of its natural Beauty; and the Mirth of it is generally rather palled, than heightened by that ridiculous Phrafeology, which is fo much in Fashion among the Pretenders to Humour and Pleafantry. This Tribeof Men are like our Mountebanks; they make a Man a Wit, by putting him in a fantastick Habit.

OUR little Burlesque Authors, who are the Delight of ordinary Readers, generally abound in thefe pert Phrafes, which have in them more Vivacity than Wit.

I lately faw an Inftance of this kind of Writing, which gave me fo lively an Idea of it, that I could not forbear begging a Copy of the Letter from the Gentleman who hew'd it to me. It is written by a Country Wit, upon the Occafion of the Rejoy cings on the Day of the King's Coronation.

Deur

Dear Jack,

I

Paft two a-Clock and a frofty Morning.

Have juft left the Right Worshipful and his Myrmydons about a Sneaker of five Gallons. The 'whole Magiftracy was pretty well disguised before I gave 'em the Slip. Our Friend the Alderman was • half Seas over before the Bonfire was out. We had ⚫ with us the Attorney, and two or three other bright Fellows. The Doctor plays leaft in Sight.

• AT nine a-Clock in the Evening we fet Fire to the Whore of Babylon. The Devil acted his Part to a Miracle. He has made his Fortune by it. We equipp'd the young Dog with a Tefter a-piece. Ho• neft old Brown of England was very drunk, and fhewed his Loyalty to the Tune of a hundred Rockets. The Mob drank the King's Health on their Marrowbones, in Mother Day's Double. They whipped us ⚫ half a dozen Hogfheads. Poor Tom Tyler had like to ⚫ have been demolished with the End of a Sky-rocket, that fell upon the Bridge of his Nofe as he was drinking the King's Health, and spoiled his Tip. The Mob were very loyal till about Midnight, when they grew a little mutinous for more Liquor. They had like to have dumfounded the Juftice; but his Clerk came in to his Affiftance, and took them all down in Black and " White.

• WHEN I had been huzza'd out of my seven Senfes, • I made a Vifit to the Women, who were guzzling very comfortably. Mrs. Mayorefs clipped the King's English. Clack was the Word.

I forgot to tell thee, that every one of the Poffe had his Hat cocked with a Diftich: The Senators fent us • down a Cargo of Ribbon and Metre for the Occafion.

SIR Richard, to fhew his Zeal for the Protestant Religion, is at the Expence of a Tar-barrel and a Ball. I peeped into the Knight's great Hall, and faw a very pretty Bevy of Spinfters. My dear Relict was amongit them, and ambled in a Country-dance as notably as the best of 'em.

MAY