- Me, perhaps,

The glowing hearth may satisfy awhile
With faint illumination, that uplifts
The shadow to the cieling, there by fits
Dancing uncouthly to the quiv'ring flame.
Not undelightful is an hour to me

So spent in parlour twilight: such a gloom
Suits well the thoughtful or unthinking mind;
The mind contemplative with some new theme
Pregnant, or indisposed alike to all.-

Thus oft, reclin'd at ease, I lose an hour
At ev'ning; till at length the freezing blast,
That sweeps the bolted shutter, summons home
The recollected pow'rs, and snapping short
The glassy threads with which the fancy weaves
Her brittle toys, restores me to myself.
How calm is my recess! and how the frost,
Raging abroad, and the rough wind, endear
The silence and the warmth enjoy'd within!

TASK, book iv.

No. XXXII.

There is nothing which lies more within the province
of a Spectator, than public shows and diversions; and
as, among these, there are none which can pretend to
vie with those elegant entertainments that are exhi-
bited in our theatre, I think it particularly incum-
bent on me to take notice of every thing that is
remarkable in such numerous and refined assemblies.
SPECT. No. 235.

Sir,

THE above lines are the introduction to a paper written by the late Mr. Addison, on certain significant hints given to him from the upper gallery at the play-house, by your humble servant, then a person of great distinction, and much talked of ever since: but, by reason of my long retirement from my old sphere of action, at present very little known, and by most people believed to have died of grief, soon after the last double constellation of admirable poets and actors disappeared for ever.-In brief, Sir, I am the critical Trunkmaker, so humorously celebrated in that excellent paper before quoted: well-stricken in years, 'tis true; but, except my feet, which are for the best part of the winter inflanneled for the gout, sufficiently master of all my faculties, both to

make my will without the help of a lawyer; and die, when God pleases, without paying the usual fees for my quietus to a physician.

And now, Sir, you know who I am, without any farther ceremony we'll proceed to business; which is indeed no more than to lay before you a relation of some late adventures that I have been engaged in, leaving it to you to make what use or application of them you think proper.

Be pleased then, Sir, to understand, that though I have in a manner deserted the theatre for some years past, I yet retain a grateful remembrance of the pleasures I have received there; and, with whatever company I mix, never fail to turn the stream of conversation on dramatical entertainments, the merits of authors and performers, and what remarkable events attended the representation of our most admired pieces. I have always observed, Sir, these moments used to be the happiest of the evening; every countenance was gay, every eye benevolent, and every heart open. If any difference of opinion appeared, it was softened with address and good-manners; if any points of wit escaped, they were not dipt in gall or envenomed with spleen; and whether a slight skirmish, or a set battle followed, like the Trojan youths that I have read of in Dryden's

Virgil, our very opposition was friendly, and no dishonest wound smarted when 'twas over. I say, Sir, this used to be uniformly the scene during those delectable moments. But I must own the case has been somewhat altered of late, and the stage is seldom mentioned, but the licensingactis obtruded at the same time; and immediately, as if the very word was a charm, discord rushes in, and politics and ill-nature divide in rage, and sadden the whole company.

However, Sir, this did not deter me this Christmas from inviting a party of my old friends to take a dinner with me in form, by way of anniversary compliment to the season; and, when 'twas over, I began, as usual, my favourite subjects; and expatiated at large on the irresistible genius of our inimitable Shakspeare, the finished art of laborious Jonson, the luxuriant vein of easy Fletcher, the wild irregular flights of wanton Buckingham, and brilliant points of all-accomplished Dryden, the dissolving tenderness of pathetic Otway, the passionate starts of extravagant Lee, the sullen rebukes of imperious Wycherley, the polished scenes of elegant Congreve, the insinuating dialogue of frolic Vanburgh; and, in short, every other excellence of every other favourite author. Thence we made a natural transition

to the stage itself, and passed all its late ornaments in imaginary review before us: majestic Booth, facetious Dogget, bewitching Oldfield, correct Porter, agreeable Wilks, and manygifted Cibber: nor did we confine ourselves to these, but touched on the subordinate as well as the chief, the living as well as the dead; mixing praise with blame, pity with reproach; but confining our remarks wholly to their feigned characters, and leaving to themselves their own.

By this time, Sir, I was worked up to such a pitch, that,forgetting my years and infirmities, I rose from my seat with the vigour of thirty, and, stepping to an adjacent closet, brought out an armful of oaken plants that I religiously reserve as monuments of theatrical triumphs." There, gentlemen (said I, throwing them on the ground), there are the precious relics of my upper gallery dictatorship! these six in a bundle, that are worn to the very stumps, I demolished during the first run of Cato, in compliment to the noble sentiments of the author; not, as some foolishly imagined, in return of the praises he had been pleased to honour me with before. 'Tis true, bribes have been offered me both by managers and authors; but I soon gave them to understand, that if they persisted in the affront, I should use my battoon