himself up in his clofet at the time appointed, and immediately caft his eye upon his dial-plate. If he had a mind to write any thing to his friend, he directed his needle to every letter that formed the words which he had occafion for, making a little paufe at the end of every word or fentence, to avoid confufion. The friend, in the mean while, faw his own fympathetic needle moving of itself to every letter which that of his correfpondent pointed at. By this means they talked together across a whole continent, and conveyed their thoughts to one another in an inftant over cities or mountains, feas or deferts.

If Monfieur Scudery, or any other writer of Romance, had introduced a necromancer, who is generally in the train of a Knight-errant, making a prefent to two lovers of a couple of thofe above-mentioned needles, the reader would not have been a little pleased to have feen them correfponding with one another when they were guarded by fpies and watches, or separated by caftles and adventures.

In the mean while, if ever this invention fhould be revived or put in practice, I would propofe, that upon the lover's dial-plate there fhould be written not only the four and twenty letters, but several intire words which have always a place in paffionate Epiftles, as flames, darts, die, language, abfence, Cupid, heart, eyes, hang, drown, and the like. This would very much abridge the lover's pains in this way of writing a letter, as it would enable him to exprefs the most ufeful and fignificant words with a fingle touch of the needle.

* By ADDISON; dated it feems, from Chelsea.

C*

+++ At the defire of feveral gentlemen and ladies, at the Rifing. Sun, in Wych-Street, near Temple-Bar, on Wednesday next, the 5th inftant, there will be a MASQUERADE; each perfon to pay half a crown at entrance. To begin exactly at five o'clock. SPECT. in folio. N° 239.

ttt At Drury-Lane, Dec. 6. "Love for Love." Ben, by Mr. Dogget; Angelica, Mrs. Oldfield, Sir S. Legend, Mr. Leigh; Valentine, Mr. Wilks; Scandal, Mr. Booth; Tattle, Mr. Cibber Forefight, Mr. Johnfon; Trapland, Mr. Norris; Jeremy, M. Bowen; Mrs. Forefight, Mrs. Rogers; Mrs. Frail, Mrs. Porter;, Nurfe, Mrs. Willis; and Mifs Prue, by Mrs. Santlow. SPECT. in folio. No 240.

Friday,

N° 242 Friday, December 7, 1711.

Creditur, ex medio quia res arceffit, habere

Sudoris minimum.

Hor. 2 Ep. i. 168. To write on vulgar themes, is thought an eafy task."

Mr. SPECTATOR,

You

OUR Speculations do not fo generally prevail over mens manners as I could with. A former Paper of yours concerning the misbehaviour of people, who are neceffarily in each other's company in travelling, ought to have been a lafting admonition against tranfgreffions of that kind. But I had the fate of your quaker, in meeting with a rude fellow in a tage-coach, who entertained two or three women of us (for there was no man besides himself) with language as indecent as ever was heard upon the water. The impertinent obfervations which the coxcomb made upon our shame and confufion were fuch, that it is an unfpeakable grief to reflect upon them. As much as you have declaimed against dueiling I hope you will do us the juftice to declare, that if the brute has courage enough to fend to the place where he faw us all alight together to get rid of him, there is not one of us but has a lover who fhall avenge the infult. It would certainly be worth your confideration, to look into the frequent misfortunes of this kind, to which the modest and innocent are exposed, by the licentious behaviour of fuch as are as much frangers to good-breeding as to virtue. Could we avoid hearing what we do not approve, as eafily as we can feeing what is difagreeable, there were fome confolation; but fince in a box at a play, in an aflembly of ladies, or even in a pew at church, it is in the

* Vol. II. No. 132,

power

power of a grofs coxcomb to utter what a woman cannot avoid hearing, how miferable is her condition who comes within the power of fuch impertinents? And how neceffary is it to repeat invectives again ft 'fuch a behaviour? If the licentious had not utterly forgot what it is to be modell, they would know that offended modefty labours under one of the greatest fufferings to which human life can be expofed. If thefe brutes could reflect thus much, though they want fhame, they would be moved, by their pity, to abhor an impudent behaviour in the presence of the chafte and innocent. If you will oblige us with a SPECTATOR on this subject, and procure it to be pafted against every stage-coach in Great-Britain, as the law of the journey, you will highly oblige the whole sex, for which you have profeffed fo great an esteem; and in particular, the two ladies my late fellow-fufferers, and, Sir,

Mr. SPECTATOR,

THE

HE matter which I am now going to fend you, is an unhappy ftory in low life, and will re'commend itself, fo that you must excufe the manner ⚫ of expreffing it. A poor idle drunken weaver in Spital-fields has a faithful laborious wife, who by her frugality and industry had laid by her as much money as purchafed her a Ticket in the prefent lottery. She had hid this very privately in the bottom of a trunk, and had given her number to a friend and confidant, who had promifed to keep the fecret, and bring her news of the fuccefs. The poor adventurer was one day gone abroad, when her careless husband, fufpecting the had faved fome money, fearches every corner, till at length he finds this fame ticket; which he immediately carries abroad, fells, and fquanders away the money without the wife's fufpecting any thing of the matter. A day or two after this, this 'friend who was a woman, comes and brings the wife word, that he had a benefit of five hundred pounds.

6

The poor creature overjoyed, flies up ftairs to her • husband, who was then at work, and defires him to leave his loom for that evening, and come and drink ⚫ with a friend of his and her's below. The man received this chearful invitation as bad husbands fometimes do, and after a crofs word or two, told her he ⚫ wou'dn't come. His wife with tenderness renewed her importunity, and at length faid to him, My love! I have within these few months, unknown to you, fcraped together as much money as has bought us a ticket in the lottery, and now here is Mrs. Quick come to tell me, that it is come up this morning a Five hundred Pound Prize. The husband replies immediately, You lye, you flut, you have no ticket, for I have fold it. The poor woman upon this faints away in a fit, recovers, and is now run distracted. As the had no defign to defraud her husband, but was ⚫ willing only to participate in his good fortune, every one pities her, but thinks her husband's punishment but juft. This, Sir, is matter of fact, and would, if the perfons and circumftances were greater, in a wellwrought Play be called BEAUTIFUL DISTRESS. I have only sketched it out with chalk, and know a good hand can make a moving picture with worse materials. Sir, &c.'

I

Mr. SPECTATOR,

Am what the world calls a warm fellow, and by good fuccefs in trade I have raised myself to a capacity of making fome figure in the world; but no matter for that. I have now under my guardianship a couple of nieces, who will certainly make me run mad; which you will not wonder at, when I tell you they are female virtuofos, and during the three years • and a half that I have had them under my care, they never in the leaft inclined their thoughts towards any one fingle part of the character of a notable woman. Whilft they fhould have been confidering the proper ingredients for a fack-poffet, you should hear a difpute concerning the magnetic virtue of the loadstone, or perhaps the preffure of the atmosphere. Their language is peculiar to themselves, and they scorn to ex

⚫ prefs

prefs themselves on the meaneft trifle with words that are not of a Latin derivation. But this were fupportable ftill, would they fuffer me to enjoy an uninterrupted ignorance; but, unless I fall in with their ⚫ abstracted ideas of things (as they call them) I must not expect to fmoke one pipe in quiet. In a late fit of the gout I complained of the pain of that diftemper, when my niece Kitty begged leave to affure me, that whatever I might think, feveral great philofophers, both ancient and modern, were of opinion, that both pleasure and pain were imaginary diftinctions, and that there was no fuch thing as either ⚫ in rerum natura. I have often heard them affirm that the fire was not hot; and one day when I, with the authority of an old fellow, defired one of them to put my blue cloke on my knees, fhe answered, Sir, I will reach the cloke; but take notice, I do not do it as ailowing your defcription; for it might as well be called yellow as blue; for colour is nothing but the ⚫ various infractions of the rays of the fun. Mifs Molly told me one day; That to say fnow was white, is allowing a vulgar error; for as it contains a great quantity of nitrous particles, it might more reasonably be fuppofed to be black. In fhort, the young huffeys ⚫ would perfuade me, that to believe one's eyes is a fure way to be deceived; and have often advised me, by no means to truft any thing fo falible as my fenfes. What I have to beg of you now is, to turn one Speculation to the due regulation of female literature, fo far at least, as to make it confiftent with the quiet of fuch whofe fate it is to be liable to its infults; and to tell us the difference between a gentleman that should make cheese-cakes and raise paste, and a lady that reads LOCKE, and understands the mathematics. In which you will extremely oblige

T*

Your hearty friend and humble fervant,
ABRAHAM THRIFTY.'

*By STEELE.

ttt On Friday, Dec. 7. at Drury-Lane, “ Aurengzebe.” The Emperor, by Mr. Keene; Aurengzebe, Mr. Powell; Morat, Mr. Booth; Arimant, Mr. Bowman; Nourmahal, Mrs. Knight ; Indamora, by Mrs. Rogers; and Melefinda, Mrs. Porter. SPECT. in folio.

Saturday,