Mr. SPECTATOR,

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His

OING lately to take the air in one of the moft beautiful evenings this feafon has produced; as • I was admiring the ferenity of the sky; the lively colours of the fields, and the variety of the landskip every way around me, my eyes were fuddenly called off from thefe inanimate objects by a little party of horfemen I faw paffing the road. The greater part of them escaped my particular obfervation, by reafon that my whole attention was fixed on a very fair youth who rode in the midst of them, and feemed to have been dreffed by fome defcription in a romance. features, complexion, and habit had a remarkable effeminacy, and a certain languishing vanity appeared in his air: His hair, well curl'd and powder'd, hung to a * confiderable length on his fhoulders, and was wantonly ty'd, as if by the hands of his miftrefs, in a fcarlet ribbon, which played like a ftreamer behind him: He had a coat and waistcoat of blue camblet trimm'd and embroidered with filver; a cravat of the finest lace and wore, in a fmart cock, a little beaver hat edged with filver, and made more fprightly by a feather. His horfe too, which was a pacer, was adorned after the fame airy manner, and feemed to share in the vanity of the rider. As I was pitying the luxury of this young perfon, who appeared to me to have been educated only as an object of fight, I perceived on my nearer approach, and as I turned my eyes downward, a part of the equipage I had not obferved before, which was a petticoat of the fame with the coat and waiftcoat. After this difcovery, I looked again on the face of the fair Amazon who had thus deceived me, and thought thofe features which had before offended me by their foftnefs, were now ftrengthened into as improper a boldness; and tho' her nofe, eyes, and mouth feemed to be formed with perfect fymmetry, I am not certain whether the, who in appearance was a very handsome youth, may not be in reality a very indifferent woman.

There is an objection which naturally prefents itfelf against these occafional perplexities and mixtures of dress, which is, that they seem to break in upon that

pro

propriety and diftinction of appearance in which the beauty of different characters is preferved; and if they should be more frequent than they are at prefent, would look like turning our publick affemblies into a general masquerade. The model of this Amazonian hunting-habit for ladies, was, as I take it, first imported from France, and well enough expreffes the gaiety of a people who are taught to do any thing fo it be with an affurance; but I cannot help thinking it fits aukwardly yet on our English modefty. The petticoat is a kind of incumbrance upon it, and if the • Amazons fhould think fit to go on in this plunder of our ⚫ fex's ornaments, they ought to add to their spoils, and complete their triumph over us, by wearing the

• breeches.

If it be natural to contract infenfibly the manners of those we imitate, the ladies who are pleased with affuming our dreffes will do us more honour than we deferve, but they will do it at their own expence. Why fhould the lovely Camilla deceive us in more fhapes than her own, and affect to be reprefented in her picture with a gun and a fpaniel; while her elder brother, the heir of a worthy family, is drawn in filks like his • fifter? The drefs and air of a man are not well to be divided; and those who would not be content with the latter, ought never to think of affuming the former. There is fo large a portion of natural agreeableness among the fair fex of our island, that they feem betrayed into thefe romantick habits without having the fame occafion for them with their inven<tors: All that needs to be defired of them is, that they would be themselves, that is what nature defigned them; and to see their mistake when they depart from this, let them look upon a man who affects the foftnefs and effeminacy of a woman, to learn how their fex mult appear to us, when approaching to the refemblance of a man.

I am, SIR,

T

Your most humble fervant.

Saturday

N° 105

Saturday, June 30.

Id arbitror

Adprimè in vita effe utile, ne quid nimis.

Ter. Andr. A&t. 1. Sc. 1.

I take it to be a principal rule of life, not to be too much addicted to any one thing.

M

very much upon

Y friend WILL HONEYCOMB values himself what he calls the knowledge of mankind, which has coft him many disasters in his youth; for WILL reckons every misfortune that he has met with among the women, and every rencounter among the men, as parts of his education, and fancies he fhould never have been the man he is, had not he broke windows, knocked down constables, disturbed honest people with his midnight ferenades, and beat up a lewd woman's quarters, when he was a young fellow. The engaging in adventures of this nature WILL calls the ftudying of mankind; and terms this knowledge of the town, the knowledge of the world. WILL ingenuously confeffes, that for half his life his head ached every morning with reading of men over-night; and at prefent comforts himself under certain pains which he endures from time to time, that without them he could not have been acquainted with the gallantries of the age. This WILL looks upon as the learning of a gentleman, and regards all other kinds of fcience as the accomplishments of one whom he calls a scholar, a bookifh man, or a philofopher.

For these reafons WILL fhines in mixed company, where he has the difcretion not to go out of his depth, and has often a certain way of making his real ignorance appear a seeming one. Our club however has frequently caught him tripping, at which times they never fpare him. For as WILL often infults us with the knowledge of the town, we fometimes take our revengeu pon him by our knowledge of books.

He

He was laft week producing two or three letters which he writ in his youth to a coquette lady. The raillery of them was natural, and well enough for a mere man of the town; but, very unluckily, feveral of the words were wrong fpelt. WILL laugh'd this off at firft as well as he could; but finding himself pushed on all fides, and especially by the Templar, he told us with a little paffion, that he never liked pedantry in fpeiling, and that he spelt like a gentleman, and not like a fcholar: Upon this WILL had recourfe to his old topick of fhewing the narrow-fpiritedness, the pride, and ignorance of pedants; which he carried fo far, that upon my retiring to my lodgings, I could not forbear throwing together fuch reRections as occured to me upon that subject.

A man who has been brought up among books, and is able to talk nothing else, is a very indifferent companion, and what we call a pedant. But, methinks, we Thould enlarge the title, and give it every one that does not know how to think out of his profeffion and parti-` cular way of life.

What is a greater pedant than a mere man of the town? Bar him the playhouses, a catalogue of the reigning beauties, and an account of a few fafhionable diftempers that have befallen him, and you ftrike him dumb. How many a pretty gentleman's knowledge lies all within the verge of the court? He will tell you the names of the principal favourites, repeat the fhrewd fayings of a man of quality, whisper an intrigue that is not yet blown upon by common fame; or, if the sphere of his obfervations is a little larger than ordinary, will perhaps enter into all the incidents, turns, and revolutions in a game of ombre. When he has gone thus far he has fhewn you the whole circle of his accomplishments, his parts are drained, and he is difabled from any farther converfation. What are these but rank pedants? and yet these are the men who value themselves most on their exemption from the pedantry of colleges.

I might here mention the military pedant who always talks in a camp, and is forming towns, making lodgments and fighting battles from one end of the year to the other. Every thing he fpeaks fmell of gunpowder; if you take away his artillery from him, he has not a

word

word to fay for himfelf. I might likewife mention the law-pedant, that is perpetually putting cafes, repeating the tranfactions of Westminster-Hall, wrangling with you upon the most indifferent circumftances of life, and not to be convinced of the distance of a place, or of the most trivial point in converfation, but by dint of argument. The state-pedant is wrapt up in news, and loft in politicks. If you mention either the Kings of Spain or Poland, he talks very notably; but if you go out of the Gazette, you drop him. In short, a mere courtier, a mere foldier, a mere scholar, a mere any thing, is an infipid pedantick character, and equally ridiculous.

Of all the fpecies of pedants, which I have mentioned, the book-pedant is much the most fupportable; he has at leaft an exercised understanding, and a head which is full though confused, fo that a man who converses with him may often receive from him hints of things that are worth knowing, and what he may poffibly turn to his own advantage, tho' they are of little ufe to the owner. The worst kind of pedants among learned men, are fuch as are naturally endued with a very small share of common fenfe, and have read a great number of books without tafte or diftinction.

The truth of it is, learning, like travelling, and all other methods of improvement, as it finishes good fenfe, fo it makes a filly man ten thousands times more infufferable, by fupplying variety of matter to his impertinence, and giving him an opportunity of abound-ing in abfurdities.

Shallow pedants cry up one another much more than men of folid and useful learning. To read the titles they give an editor, or collator of a manufcript, you would take him for the glory of the commonwealth of letters, and the wonder of his age, when perhaps upon examination you find that he has only rectify'd a Greek particle, or laid out a whole fentence in proper commas.

They are obliged indeed to be thus lavish of their praises, that they may keep one another in countenance; and it is no wonder if a great deal of knowledge, which is not capable of making a man wife, has a natural tendency to make him vain and arrogant. E

VOL. II.

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Monday,