It may be a Matter worth difcuffing then, Why that which made a Youth fo amiable to the An"cients, fhould make him appear fo ridiculous to "the Moderns? and, Why in our Days there fhould be Neglect, and even Oppreffion of young Beginners, instead of that Protection which was the "Pride of theirs? In the Profeffion fpoken of, 'tis "obvious to every one whofe Attendance is requi'red at Westminster-Hall, with what difficulty a Youth of any Modefty has been permitted to make an Obfervation, that could in no wife detract from the Merit of his Elders, and is abfolutely neceffary for the advancing his own. I have often feen one of these not only molest⚫ed in his Utterance of fomething very pertinent, but even plundered of his Queftion, and by a 'ftrong Serjeant fhouldered out of his Rank, which ⚫ he has recovered with much Difficulty and Confufion. Now as great part of the Business of this "Profeffion might be difpatched by one that perhaps -Abeft virtute diferti Meffala, nec fcit quantum Caufellius Aulus; Hor. <fo I can't conceive the Injustice done to the Publick, if the Men of Reputation in this Calling • would introduce fuch of the young ones into Bufinefs, whofe Application to this Study will let ⚫ them into the Secrets of it, as much as their Modefty will hinder them from the Practice: I fay, it would be laying an everlafting Obligation upon a young Man, to be introduced at firit only as a Mute, till by this Countenance, and a Refolution to fupport your good Opinion conceived of him in his Betters, his Complexion fhall be fo well fettled, that the Litigious of this Ifland may be ⚫ fecure of his obftreperous Aid. If I might be indulged 6 'dulged to speak in the Stile of a Lawyer, I would fay, That any one about thirty Years of Age, might make a common Motion to the Court with as much Elegance and Propriety as the most aged • Advocates in the Hall. ८ 'I can't advance the Merit of Modesty by any Argument of my own fo powerfully, as by enquiring into the Sentiments the greatest among the Ancients of different Ages entertained upon this Virtue. If we go back to the Days of Solomon, we shall find Favour a neceffary Confequence to a fhame-faced Man. Pliny, the greateft Lawyer, and moft elegant Writer of the Age ⚫ he lived in, in feveral of his Epiftles is very folli'citous in recommending to the Publick fome young Men of his own Profeffion, and very often undertakes to become an Advocate, upon 'condition that fome one of these his Favourites might be joined with him, in order to produce the Merit of fuch, whofe Modefty otherwise • would have fuppreffed it. It may feem very marvellous to a faucy Modern, that Multum fanguinis, multum verecundia, multum follicitudinis in ore; to have the Face first full of Blood, then the • Countenance dashed with Modefty, and then the whole Afpect as of one dying with Fear, when a Man begins to fpeak; fhould be efteemed by Pliny the neceffary Qualifications of a fine Speaker. Shakespear alfo has expreffed himself in the fame • favourable Strain of Modefty, when he says, In the Modefty of fearful Duty I read as much as from the rattling Tongue 'Now fince thefe Authors have profeffed themfelves for the modeft Man, even in the utmost Confufions of Speech and Countenance, why ⚫ should an intrepid Utterance, and a refolute Vociferation E 3 54 'ciferation thunder fo fuccefsfully in our Courts of Justice? And why should that Confidence of Speech and Behaviour, which feems to acknowledge no Superior, and to defy all Contradiction, prevail over that Deference and Refignation with which the modest Man implores that favourable • Opinion which the other feems to command? As the Cafe at present stands, the best Confolation that I can administer to those who cannot get into that Stroke of Bufinefs (as the Phrafe is) which they deferve, is to reckon every particular ( Acquifition of Knowledge in this Study as a real Increase of their Fortune; and fully to believe, that one Day this imaginary Gain will certainly ⚫ be made out by one more fubftantial. I wish you would talk to us a little on this Head, you would oblige, SIR, Your most humble Servant. THE Author of this Letter is certainly a Man of good Senfe; but I am perhaps particular in my Opinion on this Occafion; for I have obferved, that under the Notion of Modefty, Men have indulged themselves in a spiritlefs Sheepishness, and been for ever loft to themselves, their Families, their Friends, and their Country. When a Man has taken care to pretend to nothing but what he may juftly aim at, and can execute as well as any other, without Injustice to any other; it is ever want of Breeding or Courage to be brow-beaten or elbow'd out of his honest Ambition. I have faid often, Modefty must be an A&t of the Will, and yet it always implies Self-denial: For if a Man has an ardent Defire to do what is laudable for him. to perform, and, from an unmanly Bafhfulness, fhrinks away, and lets his Merit languish in Silence, he he ought not to be angry at the World that a more unskilful Actor fucceeds in his Part, because he has not Confidence to come upon the Stage himself. The Generofity my Correfpondent mentions of Pliny, cannot be enough applauded. To cherish the Dawn of Merit, and haften its Maturity, was a Work worthy a noble Roman, and a liberal Scholar. That Concern which is defcribed in the Letter, is to all the World the greateft Charm imaginable; but then the modeft Man muft proceed, and fhew a latent Refolution in himself; for the Admiration of his Modesty arises from the Manifeftation of his Merit. I muft confefs, we live in an Age wherein a few empty Blufterers carry away the Praise of Speaking, while a Crowd of Fellows over-flocked with Knowledge are run down by them: I fay over-ftocked, because they certainly are To as to their Service of Mankind, if from their very Store they raise to themfelves Ideas of Refpect, and Greatness of the Occafion, and I know not what, to disable themselves from explaining their Thoughts. I muft confefs, when I have feen Charles Frankair rife up with a commanding Mien, and Torrent of handfome Words, talk a Mile off the Purpose, and drive down twenty bashful Boobies of ten times his Senfe, who at the fame time were envying his Impudence, and defpifing his Underftanding, it has been Matter of great Mirth to me; but it foon ended in a fecret Lamentation, that the Fountains of every thing praife-worthy in thefe Realms, the Univerfities, fhould be fo muddled with a falfe Senfe of this Virtue, as to produce Men capable of being fo abufed. I will be bold to fay, that it is a ridiculous Education which does, not qualify a Man to make his beft Appearance before the greateft Man and the finest Woman to whom he can addrefs himfelf. Were this judicioufly corrected in the Nurseries of Learning, pert Cox. No 484. Coxcombs would know their Distance: But we must bear with this falfe Modefty in our young Nobility and Gentry, till they ceafe at Oxford and Cambridge to grow dumb in the Study of Eloquence. เ N° 485. Tuesday, September 16. T Nihil tam firmum eft, cui periculum non fit, etiam ab Invalido. Quint. Curt. Mr. SPECTATOR, 'MY Y Lord Clarendon has obferved, That few 'Men have done more harm than those who have been thought to be able to do leaft; and there cannot be a greater Error, than to believe a Man whom we fee qualified with too mean Parts to do Good, to be therefore incapable of doing Hurt. There is a Supply of Malice, of Pride, of Industry, and even of Folly, in the Weakeft, when he fets his Heart upon it, that makes a firange progress in Mifchief. What may feem to the Reader the greatest Paradox in the Reflection of the Hiftorian, is, I fuppofe, that Folly, which is generally thought incapable of contriving or executing any 'Defign, fhould be fo formidable to those whom it exerts it felf to moleft. But this will appear very plain, if we remember that Solomon fays, It is as a sport to a fool to do mifchief; and that he might the more emphatically exprefs the calamitous Cir'cumftances of him who falls under the Difplea'fure of this wanton Perfon, the fame Author adds further, That a stone is heavy, and the fand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. It is impoffible to fupprefs my own Illuftration upon this Matter, which is, That as the Man of Sagacity beftirs himself to diftrefs his Enemy by Methods probable and reducible to Reafon, fo the |