he has at least as much Reason to be angry with you, No. 197. October 16, 1711 as you with him. Sometimes to keep your self cool, Tuesday, it may be of Service to ask your self fairly, What might have been your Opinion, had you all the Biasses of Education and Interest, your Adversary may possibly have? But if you contend for the Honour of Victory alone, you may lay down this as an infallible Maxim, That you cannot make a more false Step, or give your Antagonists a greater Advantage over you, than by falling into a Passion When an Argument is over, how many weighty Reasons does a Man recollect, which his Heat and Violence made him utterly forget? It is yet more absurd to be angry with a Man because he does not apprehend the force of your Reasons, or give weak ones of his own. If you argue for Reput ation, this makes your Victory the easier; he is certainly in all Respects an Object of your Pity, rather than Anger; and if he cannot comprehend what you do, you ought to thank Nature for her Favours, who has given you so much the clearer Understanding. You may please to add this Consideration, That among your Equals no one values your Anger, which only preys upon its Master; and perhaps you may find it not very consistent either with Prudence or your Ease, to punish your self, whenever you meet with a Fool or a Knave, Lastly, If you propose to your self the true End of Argument, which is Information, it may be a seasonable Check to your Passion; for if you search purely after Truth, 'twill be almost indifferent to you where you find it I cannot in this Place omit an Observation which I have often made, namely, That nothing pro cures a Man more Esteem and less Envy from the whole Company, than if he chuses the Part of Moderator, without engaging directly on either side in a Dispute. This gives him the Character of Impartial, furnishes him with an Opportunity of Sifting things to the Bottom, shewing his Judgment, and of sometimes making handsome Compliments to each of the contending Parties, I shall close this Subject with giving you one Caution. No. 197. When you have gained a Victory do not push it too Tuesday, far; 'tis sufficient to let the Company and your Adversary October see 'tis in your Power, but that you are too generous to make use of it. 16, 1711, No. 198. X Wednesday, October 17. Cervae, luporum praeda rapacium, Sectamur ultro, quos opimus Fallere & effugere est triumphus.-Hor. HERE is a Species of Women, whom I shall Tdistinguish by the Name of Salamanders, the Now a Salamander is a kind of Heroine in Chastity, that treads upon Fire, and lives in the midst of Flames without being hurt. A Salamander knows no Dis tinction of Sex in those she converses with, grows familiar with a Stranger at first Sight, and is not so narrow-spirited as to observe whether the Person she talks to be in Breeches or in Petticoats. She admits a Male Visitant to her Bed-side, plays with him a whole Afternoon at Pickette, walks with him two or three Hours by Moon-light; and is extremely Scandalized at the unreasonableness of an Husband, or Severity of a Parent, that would debar the Sex from such innocent Liberties. Your Salamander is therefore a perpetual Declaimer against Jealousie, and Admirer of the French Good-breeding, and a great Stickler for Freedom in Conversation. In short, the Salamander lives in an invincible State of Simplicity and Inno cence: Her Constitution is preserv'd in a kind of natural Frost; She wonders what People mean by Temptations; and defies Mankind to do their worst. Her Chastity is engaged in a constant Ordeal, or fiery Trial: (like good Queen Emma) the pretty Innocent walks blindfold among burning Plough shares, without being scorched or singed by them. It is not therefore for the use of the Salamander, whether in a married or single State of Life, that I design the following Paper; but for such Females only as are made of Flesh and Blood, and find themselves subject to Human Frailties. As October As for this Part of the Fair Sex who are not of the No. 198. Salamander Kind, I would most earnestly advise them Wednes to observe a quite different Conduct in their Behaviour; day, and to avoid as much as possible what Religion calls 17, 1711 Temptations, and the World Opportunities. Did they but know how many Thousands of their Sex have been gradually betrayed from innocent Freedoms to Ruin and Infamy; and how many Millions of ours have begun with Flatteries, Protestations and Endear ments, but ended with Reproaches, Perjury and Perfidiousness; they would shun like Death the very first Approaches of one that might lead them into inextricable Labyrinths of Guilt and Misery, I must so far give up the Cause of the Male World, as to exhort the Female Sex in the Language of Chamont in the Orphan. Trust not a Man, we are by Nature false, When a Man talks of Love, with caution trust him, I might very much enlarge upon this Subject, but shall An Inhabitant of the Kingdom of Castile, being a Man of more than ordinary Prudence, and of a grave composed Behaviour, determined about the fiftieth Year of his Age to enter upon Wedlock. In order to make himself easie in it, he cast his Eye upon a young Woman who had nothing to recommend her but her Beauty and her Education, her Parents having been reduced to great Poverty by the Wars which for some Years have laid that whole Country waste, The Castilian having made his Addresses to her and inarried her, they lived together in perfect Happiness for some time; when at length the Husband's Affairs made it necessary for him to take a Voyage to the Kingdom of Naples, where a great Part of his Estate lay, The wife loved him too tenderly to be left behind No. 198, day, October 17, 1711. him. They had not been a Ship-board above a Day, Wednes when they unluckily fell into the hands of an Algerine Pyrate, who carried the whole company on Shore, and made them Slaves. The Castilian and his Wife had the Comfort to be under the same Master; who seeing how dearly they loved one another, and gasped after their Liberty, demanded a most exorbitant Price for their Ransom. The Castilian, though he would rather have died in Slavery himself, than have paid such a Sum as he found would go near to ruin him, was so moved with Compassion towards his Wife, that he sent repeated Orders to his Friend in Spain (who happened to be his next Relation) to sell his Estate, and transmit the Mony to him. His Friend, hoping that the Terms of his Ransome might be made more reasonable, and unwilling to sell an Estate which he himself had some Prospect of inheriting, formed so many Delays, that three whole Years passed away without any thing being done for the setting them at Liberty, There happened to live a French Renegado in the same Place where the Castilian and his Wife were kept Prisoners. As this Fellow had in him all the Vivacity of his Nation, he often entertained the Captives with Accounts of his own Adventures; to which he sometimes added a Song, or a Dance, or some other Piece of Mirth, to divert them during their Confinement His Acquaint ance with the Manners of the Algerines, enabled him likewise to do them several good Offices. The Castilian, as he was one Day in Conversation with this Renegado, discovered to him the Negligence and Treachery of his Correspondent in Castile, and at the same Time asked his Advice how he should behave himself in that Exigency He further told the Renegado, that he found it would be impossible for him to raise the Mony, unless he himself might go over to dispose of his Estate. The Renegado, after having represented to him that his Algerine Master would never consent to his Release upon such a Pretence, at length contrived a Method for the Castilian to make his Escape in the Habit of a Sea man. The Castilian succeeded in his Attempt; and having sold his Estate, being afraid lest the Mony should No. 198. miscarry by the Way, and determining to perish with it Wednes rather than lose one who was much dearer to him day, October than his Life, he returned himself in a little Vessel 17, 1711, that was going to Algiers. It is impossible to describe the Joy he felt upon this Occasion, when he considered that he should soon see the Wife whom he so much loved, and endear himself more to her by this uncom mon Piece of Generosity, The Renegado, during the Husband's Absence, so insinuated himself into the good Graces of his young Wife, and so turned her Head with Stories of Gallantry, that she quickly thought him the finest Gentleman she had ever conversed with. To be brief, her Mind was quite alienated from the honest Castilian, whom she was taught to look upon as a formal old Fellow unworthy the Possession of so charming a Creature. She had been instructed by the Renegado how to manage her self upon his Arrival so that she received him with an Appear ance of the utmost Love and Gratitude, and at length per swaded him to trust their common Friend the Renegado with the Mony he had brought over for their Ransome; as not questioning but he would beat down the Terms of it, and negociate the Affair more to their Advantage than they themselves could do. The good Man admired her Prudence, and followed her Advice, I wish I could conceal the Sequel of this Story, but since I cannot I shall dispatch it in as few Words as possible. The Castilian having slept longer than ordinary the next Morning, upon his awaking found his wife had left him: He immediately rose and enquired after her, but was told that she was seen with the Renegado about Break of Day, In a Word, her Lover having got all Things ready for their Departure, they soon made their Escape out of the Territories of Algiers, carried away the Mony, and left the Castilian in Captivity; who partly through the cruel Treatment of the incensed Algerine his Master, and partly through the unkind Usage of his unfaithful Wife, died some few months after, L Thursday |