we ask in particular that our Offences may be forgiven, No. 207. as we forgive those of others. If we look into the Saturday, second Rule which Socrates has prescribed, namely, October 27, 1711 That we should apply our selves to the Knowledge of Such Things as are best for us, this too is explained at large in the Doctrines of the Gospel, where we are taught in several Instances to regard those things as Curses, which appear as Blessings in the Eye of the World; and on the contrary to esteem those things as Blessings, which to the Generality of Mankind appear as Curses. Thus in the Form which is prescribed to us, we only pray for that Happiness which is our chief Good, and the great End of our Existence, when we Petition the Supreme Being for the coming of his Kingdom, being sollicitous for no other Temporal Blessings but our daily Sustenance. On the other side, we pray against nothing but Sin, and against Evil in general, leaving it with Omniscience to determine what is really such. If we look into the first of Socrates his Rules of Prayer, in which he recommends the above mentioned Form of the Ancient Poet, we find that Form not only comprehended, but very much improved in the Petition, wherein we Pray to the Supreme Being that his Will may be done: Which is of the same force with that Form which our Saviour used, when he prayed against the most painful and most ignominious of Deaths, Nevertheless not my Will, but thine be done. This comprehensive Petition is the most humble, as well as the most prudent that can be offered up from the Creature to his Creator, as it supposes the Supreme Being wills nothing but what is for our Good, and that he knows better than our selves what is so, No. 208, I Monday, October 29, Veniunt spectentur ut ipsae.—Ov. HAVE several Letters from People of good Sense, who lament the Depravity or Poverty of Taste the Town is fallen into with relation to Plays and publick Spectacles. A Lady in particular observes, that there 29, 1711. No. 208, is such a Levity in the Minds of her own Sex, that Monday, they seldom attend any thing but Impertinences. It October is indeed prodigious to observe how little Notice is taken of the most exalted Parts of the best Tragedies in Shakespear; nay it is not only visible that Sensuality has devoured all Greatness of Soul, but the under Passion (as I may so call it) of a noble Spirit, Pity seems to be a Stranger to the Generality of an Audience, The Minds of Men are indeed very differ ently disposed; and the Reliefs from Care and Attention are of one Sort in a great Spirit, and of another in an ordinary one. The Man of a great Heart and a serious Complexion, is more pleased with Instances of Generosity and Pity, than the light and ludicrous Spirit can possibly be with the highest Strains of Mirth and Laughter: It is therefore a melancholy Prospect, when we see a numerous Assembly lost to all serious Enter tainments, and such Incidents as should move sort of Concern, excite in them a quite contrary one In the Tragedy of Mackbeth the other Night, when the Lady who is conscious of the Crime of murdering the King seems utterly astonished at the News, and makes an Exclamation at it; instead of the Indignation which is natural to the Occasion, that Expression is received with a loud Laugh; They were as merry when a Criminal was stabbed. It is certainly an Occasion of Rejoycing when the Wicked are seized in their Designs; but, I think, it is not such a Triumph as is exerted by Laughter. one You may generally observe, that the Appetites are sooner moved than the Passions: A sly Expression which alludes to Bawdry, puts a whole Row into a pleasing Smirk; when a good Sentence that describes an inward Sentiment of the Soul, is received with the greatest Coldness and Indifference. A Correspondent of mine, upon this Subject, has divided the Female Part of the Audience, and accounts for their Prepossession against this reasonable Delight in the following Manner The Prude, says he, as she acts always in Contradiction, so she is gravely_sullen at a Comedy, and extrava gantly gay at a Tragedy. The Coquet is so much taken 29, 1711. taken up with throwing her Eyes around the Audience, No. 208. and considering the Effect of them, that she cannot be Monday, expected to observe the Actors but as they are her October Rivals, and take off the Observation of the Men from herself. Besides these Species of Women, there are the Examples, or the first of the Mode: These are to be supposed too well acquainted with what the Actor is going to say to be moved at it. After these one might mention a certain flippant Set of Females, who are Mimicks, and are wonderfully diverted with the Conduct of all the People around them, and are Spectators only of the Audience. But what is of all the most to be lamented, is, the Loss of a Party whom it would be worth preserving in their right Senses upon all Occasions, and these are those whom we may in differently call the Innocent or the Unaffected. You may sometimes see one of these sensibly touched with a well wrought Incident; but then she is immediately so impertinently observed by the Men, and frowned at by some insensible Superiour of her own Sex, that she is ashamed, and loses the Enjoyment of the most laudable Concern, Pity. Thus the whole Audience is afraid of letting fall a Tear, and shun as a Weakness the best and worthiest Part of our Sense. 'Sir, As you are one that doth not only pretend to reform, but effects it amongst People of any Sense; makes me (who am one of the greatest of your Admirers) give you this Trouble, to desire you will settle the Method of us Females knowing when one another is in Town: For they have now got a Trick of never sending to their Acquaintance when they first come; and if one does not visit them within the Week which they stay at home, it is a mortal Quarrel. Now, dear Mr. SPEC. either command them to put it in the Advertisement of your Paper, which is generally read by our Sex, or else order them to breathe their saucy Footmen, (who are good for nothing else) by sending them to tell all their Acquaintance. If you think to print this, pray put it into a better Stile as to the spelling Part_The Town October 29, 1711, No. 208. Town is now filling every Day, and it cannot be de Monday, ferred, because People take Advantage of one another by this Means, and break off Acquaintance, and are rude: Therefore pray put this in your Paper as soon as you can possibly, to prevent any future Miscarriages of this Nature, I am, as I ever shall be, I have been out of Town, so did not meet with your Paper dated September the 28th, wherein you to my Heart's Desire expose that cursed Vice of insnaring poor young Girls, and drawing them from their Friends, I assure you without Flattery it has saved a Prentice of mine from Ruin; and in Token of Gratitude, as well as for the Benefit of my Family, I have put it in a Frame and Glass, and hung it behind my Counter. I shall take Care to make my young ones read it every Morning, to fortify them against such pernicious Rascals, I know not whether what you writ was Matter of Fact, or your own Invention; but this I will take my Oath on, the first Part is so exactly like what happened to my Prentice, that had I read your Paper then, I should have taken your method to have secured a Villain. Go on and Prosper, 'Mr. SPECTATOR, Your most obliged humble Servant' Without Raillery I desire you to insert this Word for Word in your next, as you value a Lover's Prayers. You see it is an Hue and Cry after a stray Heart (with the Marks and Blemishes underwritten) which who ever shall bring to you shall receive Satisfaction. Let me beg of you not to fail, as you remember the Passion you had for her to whom you lately ended a Paper. Noble No. 209. Noble, Generous, Great, and Good, Whoe'er shall wear it, it will smart her, [ADDISON.] THE Γυναικὸς οὐδὲ χρῆμ ̓ ἀνὴρ ληίζεται Tuesday, October 30, Εσθλῆς ἄμεινον, οὐδὲ ῥίγιον κακῆς.—Simonides, T HERE are no Authors I am more pleased with than those who shew Human Nature in a variety of Views, and describe the several Ages of the World in their different Manners. A Reader cannot be more rationally entertained, than by comparing the Virtues and Vices of his own Times, with those which pre vailed in the times of his Forefathers; and drawing a Parallel in his Mind between his own private Character, and that of other Persons, whether of his own Age, or of the Ages that went before him. The Contempla tion of Mankind under these changeable Colours is apt to shame us out of any particular Vice, or animate us to any particular Virtue, to make us pleased or displeased with our selves in the most proper Points, to clear our Minds of Prejudice and Prepossession, and rectifie that Narrowness of Temper which inclines us to think amiss of those who differ from our selves, If we look into the Manners of the most remote Ages of the World, we discover Human Nature in her Simplicity; and the more we come downward towards our own Times, may observe her hiding herself in Artifices and Refinements, Polished insensibly out of her Original Plainness, and at length entirely lost under Form and Ceremony, and (what we call) Good-breeding. Read the Accounts of Men and Women as they are given us by the most Ancient Writers, both Sacred and Prophane, and you would think you were reading the History of another Species. II 165 F Among No. 208. |