an infamous Woman, who having passed her Youth in No. 205, a most shameless State of Prostitution, is now one of Thursday those who gain their Livelihood by seducing others, October 25, 1711 that are younger than themselves, and by establishing a Criminal Commerce between the two Sexes. Among several of her Artifices to get Mony, she frequently perswades a vain young Fellow, that such a Woman of Quality, or such a celebrated Toast, entertains a secret Passion for him, and wants nothing but an Opportunity of revealing it. Nay, she has gone so far as to write Letters in the Name of a Woman of Figure, to borrow Mony of one of these foolish Roderigos, which she has afterwards appropriated to her own use: In the mean time, the Person, who has lent the Mony, has thought a Lady under Obligations to him, who scarce knew his Name; and wondered at her Ingratitude when he has been with her, that she has not owned the Favour, though at the same time he was too much a Man of Honour to put her in mind of it. When this abandoned Baggage meets with a Man who has Vanity enough to give Credit to Relations of this nature, she turns him to very good Account, by repeating Praises that were never uttered and deliver ing Messages that were never sent. As the House of this shameless Creature is frequented by several Foreigners, I have heard of another Artifice, out of which she often raises Mony, The Foreigner sighs after some British Beauty, whom he only knows by Fame: Upon which she promises, if he can be secret, to procure him a Meeting. The Stranger, ravish'd at his good Fortune, gives her a Present, and in a little time is introduced to some Imaginary Title. For you must know that this cunning Purveyor has her Repre sentatives, upon this Occasion, of some of the finest Ladies in the Kingdom. By this Means, as I am informed, it is usual enough to meet with a German Count in Foreign Countries, that shall make his Boasts of Favours he has received from Women of the highest Ranks, and the most unblemished Characters. Now Sir, what Safety is there for a Woman's Reputation, when a Lady may be thus prostituted as it were by October 25, 1711, No. 205. Proxy, and be reputed an unchaste Woman; as the Thursday, Hero in the Ninth Book of Dryden's Virgil is looked upon as a Coward, because the Phantom which appeared in his Likeness, ran away from Turnus. You may depend upon what I relate to you to be matter of Fact, and the Practice of more than one of these Female Panders. If you Print this Letter, I may give you some further Accounts of this vicious Race of Women Your humble Servant, BELVIDERA,' I shall add two other Letters on different Subjects, to fill up my Paper. 'Mr. SPECTATOR, I am a Country Clergyman, and hope you will lend me your Assistance, in ridiculing some little Indecencies which cannot so properly be exposed from the Pulpit. A Widow Lady, who straggled this Summer from London into my Parish for the Benefit of the Air, as she says, appears every Sunday at Church with many fashionable Extravagances, to the great Astonishment of my Congregation. But what gives us the most Offence is her Theatrical manner of Singing the Psalms. She introduces above fifty Italian Airs into the Hundredth Psalm, and whilst we begin All People in the old Solemn Tune of our Fore-fathers, she in a quite different Key runs Divi sions on the Vowels, and adorns them with the Graces of Nicolini; if she meets with Eke or Aye, which are frequent in the Metre of Hopkins and Sternhold, we are certain to hear her quavering them half a Minute after us to some sprightly Airs of the Opera, I am very far from being an Enemy to Church Musick; but fear this Abuse of it may make my Parish ridicu lous, who already look on the Singing Psalms as an Entertainment, and not part of their Devotion: besides, I am apprehensive that the Infection may spread, for Squire Squeekum, who by his Voice seems (if I may use the Expression) to be cut out for an Italian Singer, was last Sunday practising the same Airs. I know the Lady's Principles, and that she will plead No. 205, the Toleration, which (as she fancies) allows her Non Thursday Conformity in this Particular; but I beg you to acquaint October her, that Singing the Psalms in a different Tune from 25, 1711. the rest of the Congregation, is a sort of Schism not tolerated by that Act I am, Sir, your very humble Servant, 'Mr. SPECTATOR, R. S.' In your Paper upon Temperance you prescribe to us a Rule for Drinking, out of Sir William Temple, in the following Words, The first Glass for my self, the second for my Friends, the third for good Humour, and the fourth for mine Enemies. Now, Sir, you must know that I have read this your SPECTATOR in a Club whereof I am a Member, when our President told us there was certainly an Error in the Print, and that the Word Glass should be Bottle, and therefore has ordered me to inform you of this Mistake, and to desire you to publish the following Errata. In the Paper of Saturday, October 13. Col. 3. Line 11. for Glass read Bottle, L No. 206, T Yours, Robin Good-Fellow.' Friday, October 26, Quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit, A Diis plura feret.- -Hor. `HERE is a Call upon Mankind to value and esteem those who set a moderate Price upon their own Merit; and Self-denial is frequently attended with unexpected Blessings, which in the End abundantly re compence such Losses as the Modest seem to suffer in the ordinary Occurrences of Life. The Curious tell us, a Determination in our Favour or to our Disadvantage is made upon our first Appearance, even before they know any thing of our Characters, but from the In timations Men gather from our Aspect A Man, they say, wears the Picture of his Mind in his Countenance; and No. 206, and one Man's Eyes are Spectacles to his who looks at him to read his Heart. But tho' that Way of raising an Opinion of those we behold in Publick is very fallacious, certain it is, that those who by their Words and Actions take as much upon themselves as they can but barely demand in the strict Scrutiny of their Deserts, will find their Accompt lessen every Day, A modest Man preserves his Character, as a frugal Man does his Fortune; if either of them live to the Height of either, one will find Losses, the other Errours which he has not Stock by him to make up. It were there fore a just Rule to keep your Desires, your Words and Actions, within the Regard you observe your Friends have for you; and never, if it were in a Man's Power, to take as much as he possibly might either in Prefer ment or Reputation. My Walks have lately been among the mercantile Part of the World; and one gets Phrases naturally from those with whom one converses: I say then, he that in his Air, his Treatment of others, or an habitual Arrogance to himself, gives himself Credit for the least Article of more Wit, Wisdom, Goodness, or Valour than he can possibly produce if he is called upon, will find the World break in upon him, and consider him as one who has cheated them of all the Esteem they had before allowed him. This brings a Commission of Bankrupcy upon him; and he that might have gone on to his Life's End in a prosperous Way, by aiming at more than he should, is no longer Proprietor of what he really had before, but his Pretensions fare as all things do which are torn instead of being divided, There is no one living would deny Cinna the Ap plause of an agreeable and facetious Wit; or could possibly pretend that there is not something inimitably unforced and diverting in his Manner of delivering all his Sentiments in his Conversation, if he were able to conceal the strong Desire of Applause which he betrays in every Syllable he utters. But they who converse with him, see that all the Civilities they could do to him, or the kind things they could say to him, would fall short of what he expects; and therefore instead of shewing shewing him the Esteem they have for his Merit, their No. 206. Reflexions turn only upon that they observe he has of Friday, it himself. If you go among the Women, and behold Gloriana trip into a Room with that theatrical Ostentation of her Charms, Mirtilla with that soft_Regularity in her Motion, Cloe with such an indifferent Familiarity, Corinna with such a fond Approach, and Roxana with such a Demand of Respect in the great Gravity of her Entrance; you find all the Sex who understand themselves, and act naturally, wait only for their Absence to tell you that all these Ladies would impose themselves upon you; and each of them carry in their Behaviour a Conscious ness of so much more than they should pretend to, that they lose what would otherwise be given them. I remember the last time I saw Mackbeth, I was wonderfully taken with the Skill of the Poet, in making the Murderer form Fears to himself from the Moder ation of the Prince whose Life he was going to take away, He says of the King, He bore his Faculties so meekly; and justly inferred from thence, that all divine and humane Power would join to avenge his Death, who had made such an abstinent Use of Dominion, All that is in a Man's Power to do to advance his own Pomp and Glory, and forbears, is so much laid up against the Day of Distress; and Pity will always be his Portion in Adversity, who acted with Gentleness in Prosperity, The great Officer who foregoes the Advantages he might take to himself, and renounces all prudential Re gards to his own Person in Danger, has so far the Merit of a Volunteer; and all his Honours and Glories are unenvied, for sharing the common Fate with the same Frankness as they do who have no such endearing Cir cumstances to part with, But if there were no such Considerations as the good Effect which Self-Denial has upon the Sense of other Men towards us, it is of all Qualities the most desirable for the agreeable Disposition in which it places our own Minds, I cannot tell what better to say of it, than that it is the very Contrary of Ambition; and that Modesty allays all those Passions and October 26, 1711 |