tian, that whatever happens to herfelf is a trial, and whatever happens to her neighbours is a judgment.

The very defcription of this folly, in ordinary life, is fufficient to expofe it; but when it appears in a pomp and dig nity of file, it is very apt to amufe and terrify the mind of the reader. Herodotus and Plutarch very often apply their judgments as impertinently as the old woman I have before mentioned, though their manner of relating them makes the folly itfelf appear venerable. Indeed, most hiftorians, as well Chriftian as Pagan, have fallen into this idle fuperftition, and spoken of ill fuccefs, unforefeen difafters, and terrible events, as if they had been let into the fecrets of Providence, and made acquainted with that private conduct by which the world is governed. One would think feveral of our own hiftorians in particular had many revelations of this kind made to them. Our old English monks feļdom let any of their kings depart in peace, who had endeavoured to diminish the power or wealth of which the ecclefiaftics were in those times poffeffed. William the Conqueror's race generally found their judgments in the New Foreft, where their father had pulled down churches and monafteries. In fhort, read one of the chronicles written by an author of this frame of mind, and you would think you were reading an history of the kings of Ifrael and Judah, where the historians were actually infpired, and where, by a particular scheme of Providence, the kings were diftinguished by judgments or bleffings, according as they promoted idolatry or the worthip of the true God,

I cannot but look upon this manner of judging upon misfortunes, not only to be very uncharitable in regard to the perfon on whom they fall, but very prefumptuous in regard to him who is fuppofed to inflict them. It is a strong argument for a state of retribution hereafter, that in this world virtuous perfons are very often unfortunate, and vicious perfons profperous; which is wholly repugnant to the nature of a Being who appears infinitely wife and good in all his works, unless we may fuppofe that fuch a promifcuous and undiftinguishing distribution of good and evil, which was neceffary for carrying on the defigns of Providence in this life, will be rectified and made amends for in an

other. We are not therefore to expect that fire fhould fall from heaven in the ordinary courfe of Providence; nor when we fee triumphant guilt or depreffed virtue in particular perfons, that Omnipotence will make bare it's holy arm in the defence of the one, or punishment of the other. It is fufficient that there is a day fet apart for the hearing and requiting of both according to their refpective merits.

The folly of afcribing temporal judgments to any particular crimes, may ap pear from several confiderations. I fhall only mention two: Firit, that, generally fpeaking, there is no calamity or afflic tion, which is fuppofed to have happened as a judgment to a vicious man, which does not fometimes happen to men of approved religion and virtue. When Diagoras the atheist was on board one of the Athenian fhips, there arofe a very violent tempeft: upon which the mari ners told him, that it was a juít judgment upon them for having taken fo impious a man on board, Diagoras begged them to look upon the rest of the fhips that were in the fame diftress, and afked them whether or no Diagoras was on board every veffel in the fleet. We are all involved in the fame calamities, and fubject to the fame accidents; and when we fee any one of the fpecies under any particular oppreffion, we should look upon it as arifing from the commoa lot of human nature, rather than from the guilt of the perfon who fuffers.

Another confideration, that may check our prefumption in putting fuch a conftruction upon a misfortune, is this, that it is impoffible for us to know what are calamities and what are bleffings. How many accidents have paffed for misfortunes, which have turned to the welfare and profperity of the perfons to whole lot they have fallen? How many difappointments have, in their confequences, faved a man from ruin? If we could look into the effects of every thing, we might be allowed to pronounce boldly upon bleffings and judgments; but for a man to give his opinion of what he fees but in part, and in it's begin nings, is an unjuftifiable piece of rafhnefs and folly. The ftory of Biton and Clitobus, which was in great reputation among the heathens, (for we fee it quot ed by all the ancient authors, both Greek and Latin, who have written upon the immortality of the foul) may teach 6 F

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us a caution in this matter. Thefe two brothers, being the fons of a lady who was prieftefs to Juno, drew their mo-, ther's chariot to the temple at the time of a great folemnity, the perfons being abfent who by their office were to have drawn her chariot on this occafion. The mother was fo tranfported with that inftance of filial duty, that the petitioned her goddess to bestow upon them the

greatest gift that could be given to ment upon which they were both catt into a deep fleep, and the next morning found dead in the temple. This was fuch an event, as would have been conftrued into a judgment, had it happened to the two brothers after an act of disobedience, and would doubtless have been reprefented as fuch by any ancient historian who had given us an account of it. о

MR. SPECTATOR,

Of proter.

Fall the young fellows who are in

fion, none feem to have fo good a title to the protection of the men of eminence in it as the modeft man; not fo much because his modefty is a certain indication of his merit, as because it is a certain obitacle to the producing of it. Now, as of all profeffions this virtue is thought to be more particularly unneceffary in that of the law than in any other, I shall only apply myfelf to the relief of fuch who follow this profeffion with this difadvantage. What aggravates the matter is, that thofe perfons, who, the better to prepare themselves for this ftady, have made fome progrets in others, have, by addicting themfelves to letters, increafed their natural modefty, and confequently heightened the obftruction to this fort of preferment; fo that every one of thefe may emphatically be faid to be fuch a one as laboureth and taketh pains, and is fill the more behind.' It may be a matter worth difcuffing then, why that which made a youth fo amiable to the ancients, fhould make him appear fo ridiculous to the moderns? 2nd, why in our days there fhould be neglect, and even oppreffion of young Beginners, instead of that protection which was the pride of theirs? In the profeffion fpoken of, it is obvious to every one whole attendance is required at Westminster Hall, with what difficulty a youth of any modefty has been permitted to make an obfervation, that

:

could in no wife detract from the merit of his elders, and is abfolutely necessary ten feen one of thefe not only molested in his utterance of fomething very pertinent, but even plundered of his queftion, and by a strong ferjeant shouldered out of his rank, which he has recovered with much difficulty and confufion. Now as great part of the bufinefs of this profeffion might be dispatched by one that perhaps

-abeft virtute diferti Mellale, nec feit quantum Caufellius Aulus; HOR. ARS POET. VER. 370wants Meffala's powerful eloquence, And is lefs read than deep Caufellius:

RoscoMMON.

fo I cannot conceive the injuftice done to the public, if the men of reputation in this calling would introduce fuch of the young ones into bufinefs, whofe application in this ftudy will let them into the fecrets of it, as much as their mo defty will hinder them from the practice: Ifay, it would be laying an everlasting obligation upon a young man, to be introduced at firft only as a mute, till by his countenance, and a refolution to fupport the good opinion conceived of him in his betters, his complexion shall be fo well fettled, that the litigious of this iffand may be fecure of this obftre perous aid. If I might be indulged to fpeak in the ftile of a lawyer, I would fay, that any one about thirty years of

age

age might make a common motion to the court with as much elegance and propriety as the most aged advocates in the hall.

I cannot advance the merit of modefty by any argument of my own fo powerfully as by inquiring into the fentiments the greatest among the ancients of different ages entertained upon this virtue. If we go back to the days of Solomon, we fhall find favour a neceffary confequence to a fhame-faced man. Pliny, the greatest lawyer and most elegant writer of the age he lived in, in several of his epiftles is very folicitous in recommending to the public fome young men, of his own profeffion, and very often undertakes to become an advocate, upon condition that fome one of thefe his favourites might be joined with him, in order to produce the merit of fuch, whofe modefty otherwife would have fuppreffed it. It may feem very marvellous to a faucy modern, that mul tum fanguinis, multum verecundia, multum follicitudinis in ore;-to have 'the face first full of blood, then the countenance dashed with modefty, and then the whole afpect as of one dying with fear, when a man begins to speak;' fhould be efteemed by Pliny the neceffary qualifications of a fine fpeaker. Shakespeare alfo has expreffed himfelf in the fame favourable ftrain of modefty, when he lays,

-In the modesty of fearful duty I read as much as from the rattling tongue Of faucy and audacious eloquence

Now fince these authors have profeffed themfelves for the modeft man, even in the utmost confufions of speech and countenance, why fhould an intrepid utterance and a refolute vociferation thunder fo fuccefsfully in our courts of Justice? And why fhould that confidence of fpeech and behaviour, which feems to acknowledge no fuperior, and to defy all contradiction, prevail over that deference and refignation with which the modeft man implores that favourable opinion which the other feems to command?

As the cafe at prefent ftands, the best confolation that I can adminifter to thofe who cannot get into that ftroke of businefs (as the phrafe is) which they deferve, is to reckon every particular acquifition of knowledge in this study

a real increase of their fortune; and fully to believe, that one day this imaginary gain will certainly be made out by one more fubftantial. I wish you would talk to us a little on this head; you would oblige, Sir, your humble fervant.

The author of this letter is certainly a man of good fenfe; but I am perhaps particular in my opinion on this occafion; for I have obferved that under the notion of modesty, men have indulged themselves in fpiritlefs fheepifhnefs, and been for ever loft to themfelves, their families, their friends, and their country. When a man has taken care to pretend to nothing but what he may juftly aim at, and can execute as well as any other, without injustice to any other; it is ever want of breeding or courage to be brow-beaten or elbowed out of his honeft ambition. I have faid often, modefty must be an act of the will, and yet it always implies felf-denial; for if a man has an ardent defire to do what is laudable for him to perform, and, from an unmanly bafhfulness, fhrinks away, and lets his merit languifh in filence, he ought not to be angry at the world that a more unfkilful actor fucceds in his part, because he has not confidence to come upon the stage himself. The generofity my correfpondent mentions of Pliny, cannot be enough applauded. To cherish the dawn of merit, and haften it's maturity, was a work worthy a noble Roman and a liberal fcholar. That concern which is described in the letter, is to all the world the greatest charm imaginable; but then the modeft man must proceed, and fhew a latent refolution in himfelf; for the admiration of his modetty arifes from the manifeftation of his merit. I must confefs we live in an age wherein a few empty blufterers carry away the praife of peaking, while a crowd of fellows overftocked with knowledge are run down by them: I fay, over-stocked, because they certainly are fo as to their fervice of mankind, if from their very store they raise to themselves ideas of refpe&t, and greatnefs of the occafion, and I know not what, to difable themfelves from explaining their thoughts. I mult confefs, when I have, feen Charles Frankair rife up with a commanding mien, and torrent of handfome words, talk a mile off the purpofe, and drive down twenty bashful boobies of ten times 6F2

his

his fenfe, who at the fame time were envying his impudence and defpifing his understanding, it has been matter of great mirth to me; but it foon ended in a fecret lamentation, that the fountains of every thing praife-worthy in thefe realms, the universities, fhould be fo muddled with a falfe fenfe of this virtue, as to produce men capable of being fo abufed. I will be bold to fay, that it is a ridiculous education which does not

qualify a man to make his best appear. ance before the greatest man and the fineft woman to whom he can addrefs himself. Were this judicially corrected in the nurseries of learning, pert coxcombs would know their diftance: but we must bear with this false modesty in our young nobility and gentry, till they ceafe at Oxford and Cambridge to grow dumb in the study of eloquence.

QUINT. CURT. L. VII. c. 8.

MR. SPECTATOR,

MY

Y Lord Clarendon has obferved, That few men have done more harm than thofe who have been thought to be able to do leaft; and there cannot be a greater error, than to believe a man whom we fee qualified with too mean parts to do good, to be therefore incapable of doing hurt. There is a fupply of malice, of pride, of induftry, and even of folly, in the weakest, when he fets his heart upon it, that makes a ftrange progrefs in mifchief. What may feem to the reader the greatest paradox in the reflection of the biftorian, is, I fuppofe, that folly, which is generally thought incapable of contriving or executing any defign, fhould be fo formidable to thofe whom it exerts itself to moleft. But this will appear very plain, if we remember that Solomon fays, It is fport to a fool to do mifchief;' and that he might the more emphatically exprefs the calamitous circumitances of him who falls under the difpleafure of this wanton perfon, the fame author adds further, thata ftone is heavy, and the fand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. It is impoffible to fupprefs my own illuftration upon this matter, which is, That as the man of fagacity beairs himself to diftrefs his enemy by methods probable and reducible to reafon, fo the fame reafon will fortify his enemy to elude thefe his regular efforts; but your fool projects, acts, and concludes with fuch notable inconfiftence, that no regular courfe of thought can evade or counterplot his

T

prodigious machinations. My frontifpiece, I believe, may be extended to imply, that feveral of our misfortunes arife from things as well as perfons, that feem of very little confequence. Into what tragical extravagancies does Shakefpeare hurry Othello upon the lofs of an handkerchief only? and what barbarities does Defdemona fuffer from a flight inadvertency in regard to this fatal trifle? If the fchemes of all enterprizing fpirits were to be carefully examined, fome intervening accident, not confiderable enough to occafion any debate upon, or give them any apprehenfion of il confequence from it, will be found to be the occafion of their ill fuccefs, rather than any error in points of moment and difficulty, which naturally engaged their matureft deliberations. If you go to the levee of any great man, you will obferve him exceeding gracious to feveral very infignificant fellows; and this upon this maxim, that the neglect of any perfon muft arife from the mean opinion you have of his capacity to do you any fervice or prejudice; and that this calling his fufficiency in question, must give him inclination, and where this is, there never wants ftrength or opportunity to annoy you. There is no body so weak of invention, that cannot aggravate or make fome little stories to vilify his enemy; and there are very few but have good inclinations to hear them, and it is infinite pleasure to the majority of mankind to level a perfon fuperior to his neighbours. Befides, in all matter of controverfy, that party

which has the greatest abilities labours under this prejudice, that he will certainly be supposed, upon account of his abilities, to have done an injury, when perhaps he has received one. It would be tedious to enumerate the ftrokes that nations and particular friends have fuffered from perfons very contemptible. I think Henry IV. of France, fo formidable to his neighbours, could no more be fecured against the refolute villainy of Ravillac, than Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, could be against that of Felton. And there is no incenfed perfon fo deftitute, but can provide himfelf with a knife or a piftol, if he finds ftomach to apply them. That things and perfons of no moment fhould give fuch powerful revolutions to the progres of thofe of the greatest, feems a providential difpofition to baffle and abate the pride of human fufficiency; as alfo to engage the humanity and benevolence of fuperiors to all below them, by letting them into this fecret, that the fronger depends upon the weaker. I am, Sir, your very humble fervant.

TEMPLE, PAPER BUILDINGS.

DEAR SIR,

Received a letter from you fome time ago, which I should have anfwered fooner, had you informed me in yours to what part of this ifland I might have directed my impertinence; but having been let into the knowledge of that matter, this handfome excufe is no longer Serviceable. My neighbour Prettyman fhall be the fubject of this letter; who falling in with the Spectator's doctrine concerning the month of May, began from that feafon to dedicate himself to the fervice of the fair in the following manner. I obferved at the beginning of the month he bought him a new night gown, either fide to be worn outwards, boh equally gorgeous and attractive; but till the end of the month I did not enter fo fully into the knowledge of his contrivance, as the ufe of that garment has fince fuggefted to me. Now you mut know, that all new clothes raise and warm the wearer's imagination into a conceit of his being a much finer gen tleman than he was before, banishing all fobriety and reflection, and giving him up to gallantry and amour. Inflamed therefore with this way of thinking, and full of the fpirit of the month

of May, did this mercilefs youth refolve upon the bufinefs of captivating. At firft he confined himfelf to his room only, now and then appearing at his window in his night-gown, and practifing that eafy pofture which expreffes the very top and dignity of languithment. It was pleafant to fee him diverfify his lovelinefs, fometimes obliging. the paffengers only with a fide face, with a book in his hand; fometimes being fo generous as to expose the whole in the fulness of it's beauty; at other times by a judicious throwing back his periwig, he would throw in his ears. You know he is that fort of perfon which the mob call a handfome jolly man; which appearance cannot mifs of captives in this part of the town. Being emboldened by daily fuccefs, he leaves his room with a refolution to extend his conquests; and I have apprehended him in his night-gown fmiting in all parts of this neighbourhood.

This I, being of an amorous complexion, faw with indignation, and had thoughts of purchafing a wig in these parts; into which, being at a greater diftance from the earth, I might have thrown a very liberal mixture of white horfe hair, which would make a fairer, and confequently a handfomer appearance, while my fituation would fecure me against any difcoveries. But the paffion to the handfome gentleman feems to be fo fixed to that part of the building, that it may be extremely difficult to divert it to mine; fo that I am refolved to ftand boldly to the complexion of my own eye-brow, and prepare me an immenfe black wig of the fame fort of

ructure with that of my rival. Now, though by this I fhall not, perhaps, leffen the number of the admirers of his complexion, I shall have a fair chance to divide the paffengers by the irresistible force of mine.

I expect fudden difpatches from you, with advice of the family you are in now, how to deport myself upon this fo delicate a conjuncture; with fome comfortable refolutions in favour of the handfome black man against the handfome fair-one. I am, Sir, your most humble fervant,

C.

N. B. He who writ this, is a black man, two pair of stairs; the gentleman of whom he writes, is fair, and one pair of stairs.

MR.