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into jealousy, and jealousy into madness. It often turns the good-natured man into an idiot, and the choleric into an affaffin. It gives bitterness to refentment, it makes vanity infupportable, and difplays every little fpot of the foul in its utmost deformity.

Nor does this vice only betray the hidden faults of a man, and fhew them in the most odious colours, but often occafions faults to which he is not naturally fubject. There is more of turn than of truth in a faying of Seneca. That drunkenness does not produce, but discover faults. Common experience teaches us the contrary. Wine throws a man out of himself, and infufes qualities into the mind, which she is a stranger to in her fober moments. The perfon you converfe with, after the third bottle, is not the fame man who at first fat down at table with you. Upon this maxim is founded one of the prettieft fayings I ever met with, which is afcribed to Publius Syrus, Qui ebrium ludificat, ledit abfentem: He who jefts upon a man that is drunk, injures the abfent.'

THUS does drunkenness act in direct contradiction to reafon, whofe bufinefs it is to clear the mind of every vice which is crept into it, and to guard it againft all the approaches of any that endeavours to make its entrance. But befides thefe ill effects which this vice produces in the person who is actually under its dominion, it has alfo a bad influence on the mind even in its fober moments, as it infenfibly weakens the understanding, impairs the memory, and makes those faults habitual which are produced by frequent exceffes.

I SHOULD now proceed to fhew the ill effects which this vice has on the bodies and fortunes of men; but these I fhall referve for the fubject of fome future paper.

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HERE is fcarce a man living who is not actuated

Tby ambition. When this principle meets with an

honeft

honeft mind and great abilities, it does infinite fervice to the world; on the contrary, when a man only thinks of distinguishing himself, without being thus qualified for it, he becomes a very pernicious or a very ridiculous creature. I fhall here confine myself to that petty kind of ambition, by which some men grow eminent for odd accomplishments and trivial performances. How many are there whofe whole reputation depends upon a pun or a quibble? You may often fee an artist in the streets gain a circle of admirers by carrying a long pole upon his chin or forehead in a perpendicular pofture. Ambition has taught fome to write with their feet, and others to walk upon their hands. Some tumble into fame, others grow immortal by throwing themselves through a hoop.

Catera de genere hoc adeo funt multa, loquacem
Delaffare valent Fabium---

Hor. Sat. 1. 1. 1. v. 13.

With thousands more of this ambitious race,
Would tire e'en Fabius to relate each cafe.

Horneck.

I AM led into this train of thought by an adventure I. lately met with.

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I was the other day at a tavern, where the master of the house accommodating us himfelf with every thing we wanted, I accidentally fell into a difcourfe with him; and talking of a certain great man, who shall be nameless, he told me, that he had fometimes the honour to treat him with a whistle, (adding by the way of parenthefis), for you • must know, gentlemen, that I whistle the best of any man in Europe. This naturally put me upon defiring him to give us a fample of his art; upon which he called for a cafe-knife, and applying the edge of it to his mouth, converted it into a mufical inftrument, and entertained me with an Italian folo. Upon laying down the knife, he took up a pair of clean tobacco-pipes; and after having flid the fmall end of them over the table in a moft melodious trill, he fetched a tune out of them, whistling to them at the fame time in confort. In fhort, the tobaccopipes became mufical pipes in the hands of our virtuofo, who confeffed to me ingenuously, he had broke fuch quan

tities of them, that he had almoft broke himself, before he had brought this piece of mufic to any tolerable perfection. I then told him I would bring a company of friends to dine with him the next week, as an encouragement to his ingenuity; upon which he thanked me, faying, that he would provide himself with a new fryingpan against that day. I replied, that it was no matter; roft and boiled would ferve our turn. He fmiled at my fimplicity, and told me, that it was his defign to give us a tune upon it. As I was furprifed at fuch a promise, he fent for an old frying-pan, and grating it upon the board, whistled to it in fuch a melodious manner, that you could fcarce diftinguish it from a bafe-viol. He then took his feat with us at the table, and hearing my friend that was with me hum over a tune to himself, he told him if he would fing out, he would accompany his voice with a tobacco-pipe. As my friend has an agreeable bafe, he chofe rather to fing to the frying-pan: and indeed between them they made up a molt extraordinary confort. Finding our landlord fo great a proficient in kitchen-music, I →→ afked him if he was mafter of the tongs and key. He told me that he had laid it down fome years fince, as a little unfafhionable; but that if I pleafed he would give. me a leffon upon the gridiron. He then informed me that he had added two bars to the gridiron, in order to give it a greater compafs of found; and I perceived was as well pleased with the invention, as Sappho could have been upon adding two ftrings to the lute. To be short, 1 found that his whole kitchen was furnished with mufical inftruments; and could not but look upon this artist as a kind of burlefque mufician.

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He afterwards of his own accord fell into the imitation of feveral finging-birds: My friend and I toasted our mistreffes to the nightingale, when all of a fudden we were furprised with the mufic of the thrush. He next proceeded to the fky-lark, mounting up by a proper fcale of notes, and afterwards falling to the ground with a very eafy and regular defcent. He then contracted his whistle to the voice of feveral birds of the fmallest fize. As he is a man of a larger bulk and higher ftature than ordinary, you would fancy him a giant when you looked upon him, and a tom-tit when you shut your eyes. I must not omit acquainting

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acquainting my reader, that this accomplished perfon was formerly the mafter of a toy-fhop near Temple-bar; and that the famous Charles Mathers was bred up under him. I am told that the misfortunes which he has met with in the world, are chiefly owing to his great application to his mufic; and therefore cannot but recommend him to my readers as one who deferves their favour, and may afford them great diversion over a bottle of wine, which he fells at the queen's arms, near the end of the little pi azza in Covent-garden.

N° 571.

Friday, July 23.

-----Calum quid quærimus ultra?

What feek we beyond heaven?

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Lac.

S the work I have engaged in will not only confift of papers of humour and learning, but of feveral effays moral and divine, I fhall publish the following one, which is founded on a former Spectator, and fent me by a particular friend, not questioning but it will pleafe fuch of my readers, as think it no difparagement to their understandings to give way fometimes to a ferious thought.

SIR,

IN

N your paper of Friday the 9th inftant, you had occafion to confider the ubiquity of the Godhead, and at the fame time to fhew, that as he is prefent to every thing, he cannot but be attentive to every thing, and privy to all the modes and parts of its exiftence; or, in other words, that his omnifcience and omniprefence are co-existent, and run together through the whole infinitude of space. This confideration might furnish us with many incentives to devotion, and motives to morality: but as this fubject has been handled by feveral excellent writers, I shall confider it in a light wherein I have not feen it placed by others.

First, How difconfolate is the condition of an intellectual being who is thus prefent with his Maker, but at the

fame

fame time receives no extraordinary benefit or advantage

from this his presence!

Secondly, How deplorable is the condition of an intellectual being, who feels no other effects from this his prefence, but fuch as proceed from divine wrath and indignation!

Thirdly, How happy is the condition of that intellectual being, who is fenfible of his Maker's prefence from the fecret effects of his mercy and loving-kindness!

Firft, How difconfolate is the condition of an intellectual being, who is thus prefent with his Maker, but at the fame time receives no extraordinary benefit or advantage from this his prefence! Every particle of matter is actuated by this almighty Being which paffes through it. The heavens and the earth, the stars and planets, move and gravitate by virtue of this great principle within them. All the dead parts of nature are invigorated by the prefence of their Creator, and made capable of exerting their respective qualities. The feveral inftincts, in the brute creation, do likewise operate and work towards the feveral ends which are agreeable to them, by this divine energy. Man only, who does not co-operate with his holy Spirit, and is unattentive to his prefence, receives none of thofe advantages from it, which are perfective of his nature, and neceffary to his well-being. The Divinity is with him, and in him, and every where about him, but of no advantage to him. It is the fame thing. to a man without religion, as if there were no God in the world. It is indeed impoffible for an infinite Being to remove himself from any of his creatures; but though he cannot withdraw his effence from us, which would argue an imperfection in him; he can withdraw from us all the joys and confolations of it. His prefence may perhaps be neceffary to fupport us in our existence; but he may leave this our existence to itself, with regard to its happiness or mifery. For, in this sense, he may caft us away from his prefence, and take his holy Spirit from us. This fingle. confideration one would think fufficient to make us open. our hearts to all thofe infufions of joy and gladness which are fo near at hand, and ready to be poured in upon us; especially when we confider, Secondly, The deplorable condition of an intellectual being who feels no other effects

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