No. 188. be too delicate for so coarse an Appetite of Fame, Men Friday, of Honour should endeavour only to please the Worthy, October 5, and the Man of Merit should desire to be tried only 1711 by his Peers. I thought it a noble Sentiment which I heard Yesterday uttered in Conversation; I know, said a Gentleman, a Way to be greater than any Man: If he has Worth in him I can rejoyce in his Superiority to me, and that Satisfaction is a greater Act of the Soul in me, than any in him which can possibly appear to me. This Thought could not proceed but from a candid and generous Spirit, and the Approbation_of such Minds is what may be esteemed true Praise. For with the common Rate of Men there is nothing com mendable but what they themselves may hope to be Partakers of or arrive at; but the Motive truly glorious is, when the Mind is set rather to do things laudable than to purchase Reputation. Where there is that Sincerity as the Foundation of a good Name, the kind Opinion of virtuous Men will be an unsought but a necessary Consequence, The Lacedemonians, tho' a plain People, and no Pretenders to Politeness, had a certain Delicacy in their Sense of Glory, and sacrificed to the Muses when they entered upon any great Enterprize. They would have the Commemoration of their Actions be transmitted by the purest and most un tainted Memorialists. The Din which attends Victories and publick Triumphs, is by far less eligible, than the Recital of the Actions of great Men by honest and wise Historians. It is a frivolous Pleasure to be the Admir ation of gaping Crowds; but to have the Approbation of a good Man in the cool Reflections of his Closet, is a Gratification worthy an heroick Spirit. The Applause of the Crowd makes the Head giddy, but the Attestation of a reasonable Man makes the Heart glad. What makes the Love of popular or general Praise still more ridiculous, is, that it is usually given for Circum stances which are foreign to the Persons admired. Thus they are the ordinary Attendants on Power and Riches, which may be taken out of one Man's Hands and put into another's. The Application only, and not the Possession, makes those outward things honourable. The Vulgar and and Men of Sense agree in admiring Men for having No. 188. : what they themselves would rather be possessed of; Friday, October 5, the wise Man applauds him whom he thinks most 1711. virtuous; the rest of the World, him who is most wealthy, When a Man is in this Way of Thinking, I do not I know what can occur to one more monstrous than to see Persons of Ingenuity address their Services and Performances to Men no Way addicted to liberal Arts: In these Cases, the Praise on one Hand and the Patronage on the other, are equally the Objects of Ridicule. Dedications to ignorant Men, are as absurd as any of the Speeches of Bulfinch in the Drol: Such an Address one is apt to translate into other Words; and when the different Parties are thoroughly con sidered, the Panegyric generally implies no more than if the Author should say to the Patron, My very good Lord, You and I can never understand one another, therefore I humbly desire we may be intimate Friends for the future, The Rich may as well ask to borrow of the Poor, as the Man of Virtue or Merit hope for Addition to his Character from any but such as himself. He that com mends another, engages so much of his own Reputation as he gives to that Person commended; and he that has nothing laudable in himself, is not of Ability to be such a Surety. The wise Phocion was so sensible how dangerous it was to be touched with what the Multitude approved, that upon a general Acclamation made when he was making an Oration, he turned to an intelligent Friend who stood near him, and asked, in a surprized Manner, What Slip have I made? I shall conclude this Paper with a Billet which has fallen into my Hands, and was written to a Lady from a Gentleman whom she had highly commended. The Author of it had formerly been her Lover. When all Possibility of Commerce between them on the Subject of Love was cut off, she spoke so handsomly of him, as to give Occasion for this Letter. 'Madam No. 188. 'Madam, I should be insensible to a Stupidity, if I could forbear making you my Acknowledgments for your late Mention of me with so much Applause. It is, I think, your Fate to give me new Sentiments; as you formerly inspired me with the true Sense of Love, so do you now with the true Sense of Glory, As Desire had the least Part in the Passion I heretofore professed towards you, so has Vanity no Share in the Glory to which you have now raised me. Innocence, Knowledge, Beauty, Virtue, Sincerity and Discretion, are the_constant Ornaments of her who has said this of me, Fame is a Babler, but I have arrived at the highest Glory in this World, the Com mendation of the most deserving Person in it' T No. 189. THE Saturday, October 6, Patriae pietatis imago-Virg. HE following Letter being written to my Book seller, upon a Subject of which I treated some time since, I shall publish it in this Paper, together with the Letter that was inclosed in it. 'Mr. Buckley, Mr. SPECTATOR having of late descanted upon the Cruelty of Parents to their Children, I have been in duced (at the Request of several of Mr. SPECTATOR'S Ad mirers) to enclose this Letter, which I assure you is the Original from a Father to his own Son, notwithstanding the latter gave but little or no Provocation. It would be wonderfully obliging to the World, if Mr. SPECTATOR would give his Opinion of it, in some of his Specula tions, and particularly to 'Sirrah, (Mr. Buckley) Your humble Servant. You are a sawcy audacious Rascal, and both Fool and Mad, and I care not a Farthing whether you comply or no; that does not raze out my Impressions of your Insolence, going about Railing at me, and the next Day to to sollicit my Favour: These are Inconsistencies, such No. 189, as discover thy Reason depraved. To be brief, I never Saturday, October 6 desire to see your Face; and, Sirrah, if you go to the 1711. Work-house, it's no Disgrace to me for you to be sup I ported there; and if you Starve in the Streets, I'll never give any thing underhand in your behalf. If I have any more of your scribling Nonsense, I'll break your Head, the first time I set Sight on you: You are a -stubborn Beast; is this your Gratitude for my giving you Mony? You Rogue I'll better your Judgment, and give you a greater Sense of your Duty to (I regret to say) your Father, &c. P. S. It's Prudence for you to keep out of my Sight; for to reproach me, that Might overcomes Right, on the outside of your Letter, I shall give you a great Knock on the Skull for it.' Was there ever such an Image of Paternal Tender ness! It was usual among some of the Greeks to make their Slaves drink to excess, and then expose them to their Children, who by that means conceived an early Aversion to a Vice which makes Men appear so mon strous and irrational, have exposed this Picture of an unnatural Father with the same Intention, that its De formity may deter others from its Resemblance. If the Reader has a mind to see a Father of the same Stamp represented in the most exquisite Stroaks of Humour, he may meet with it in one of the finest Comedies that ever appeared upon the English Stage: I mean the part of Sir Sampson in Love for Love, I must not however engage my self blindly on the side of the Son, to whom the fond Letter above-written was directed, His Father calls him a sawcy and auda cious Rascal in the first Line, and I am afraid upon Examination he will prove but an ungracious Youth. To go about Railing at his Father, and to find no other place but the outside of his Letter to tell him that Might overcomes Right, if it does not discover his Reason to be depraved, and that he is either Fool or Mad, as the Cholerick old Gentleman tells him, we may at least allow that the Father will do very well in endeavouring to No. 189. to better his Judgment, and give him a greater Sense Saturday, of his Duty, But whether this may be brought about October 6, by breaking his Head, or giving him a great Knock 1711 on the Skull, ought I think to be well considered, Upon the whole, I wish the Father has not met with his Match, and that he may not be as equally paired with a Son, as the Mother in Virgil. Crudelis tu quoque mater: Crudelis mater magis an puer improbus ille ? Or like the Crow and her Egg in the Greek Proverb. I must here take Notice of a Letter which I have received from an unknown Correspondent, upon the Subject of my Paper, upon which the foregoing Letter is likewise founded. The Writer of it seems very much concerned lest that Paper should seem to give Encouragement to the Disobedience of Children towards their Parents; but if the Writer of it will take the Pains to read it over again attentively, I dare say his Apprehensions will vanish. Pardon and Reconciliation are all the Penitent Daughter requests, and all that I contend for in her behalf; and in this Case I may use the Saying of an eminent Wit, who upon some great Men's pressing him to forgive his Daughter who had married against his Consent, told them he could refuse nothing to their Instances, but that he would have them remember there was Difference between Giving and Forgiving. I must confess, in all Controversies between Parents and their Children, I am naturally prejudiced in favour of the former, The Obligations on that side can never be acquitted, and I think it is one of the greatest Reflections upon Humane Nature that Paternal Instinct should be a stronger Motive to Love than Filial Grati tude; that the receiving of Favours should be a less Inducement to Good-will, Tenderness and Commisera tion, than the conferring of them; and that the taking. Care of any Person should endear the Child or De pendant more to the Parent or Benefactor, than the Parent |