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NO. 19. THURSDAY, MARCH 22. ¡710.11.

[BY STEELE]

Di bene fecerunt; inopis ine quòdque pusilli
Finxerunt animi, rarò et perpauca loquentis.

HOR. I SAT.IV. 17

Thank heav'n that made me of a humble mind;
To action little, less to words inclin'd!

ON ENVY.

OBSERVING one person behold another who was an utter stranger to him, with a cast of his eye which, methought, expressed an emotion of heart very different from what could be raised by an object so agreeable as the gentleman he looked at, I began to consider, not without some secret sorrow, the condition of an envious man. Some have fancied that envy has a certain magical force in it, and that the eyes of the envious have by their fascination blasted the enjoyments of the happy. Sir FRANCIS BACON says, some have been so curious as to remark the times and seasons when the stroke of an envious eye is most effectually pernicious, and have observed that it has been when the person envied has been in any circumstance of glory and triumph. At such a time the mind of the prosperous man goes, as it were, abroad among things without him, and is more exposed to the malignity. But I shall not dwell upon speculations so abstracted as this, or repeat the many excellent things which one might collect out of authors upon this miserable affection; but, keeping in the road of common life, consider the envious man, with relation to these three. heads, his pains, his reliefs, and his happiness.

The envious man is in pain upon all occasions which ought to give him pleasure. The relish of his life is inverted; and the objects which administer the highest satisfaction to those who are exempt from this passion, give the quickest pangs to persons who are subject to it. All the perfections of their fellow-creatures are odious:

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youth, beauty, valour, and wisdom, are provocations of their displeasure. What a wretched and apostate state is this! To be offended with excellence, and to hate a man because we approve him! The condition of the envious man is the most emphatically miserable; he is not only incapable of rejoicing in another's merit or success, but lives in a world wherein all mankind are in a plot against his quiet, by studying their own happinesss and advantage. WILL PROSPER (See No. 20.) is an honest tale-bearer he makes it his business to join in conversation with envious men. He points to such a handsome young fellow, and whispers that he is secretly married to a great fortune: when they doubt, he adds circumstances to prove it; and never fails to aggravate their distress, by assuring them that, to his knowledge, he has an uncle will leave him some thousands. WILL has many arts of this kind to torture this sort of temper, and delights in it. When he finds them change colour, and say faintly they wish such a piece of news is true, he has the malice to speak some good or other of every man of their acquaintance.

The reliefs of the envious man are those little blemishes and imperfections that discover themselves in an illustrious character. It is a matter of great consolation to an envious person, when a man of known honour does a thing unworthy himself; or when any action which was well executed, upon better information appears so

altered in its circumstances, that the fame of it is divided among many, instead of being attributed to one.

This

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is a secret satisfaction to these malignants; for the
son whom they before could not but admire, they fancy
is nearer their own condition as soon as his merit is sha-
red among others. I remember some years ago there
came out an excellent poem without the name of the
author. The little wits, who were incapable of writing
it, began to pull in pieces the supposed writer. When
that would not do, they took great pains to suppress the
opinion that it was his. That again failed. The next
refuge was to say it was overlooked by one man, and
many pages wholly written by another. An honest fel-
low who sat among a cluster of them, in debate on this
subject, cried out, "Gentlemen, if you are sure none of

you yourselves had a hand in it, you are but where you were, whoever writ it?" But the most usual succour to the envious, in cases of nameless merit in this kind, is to keep the property, if possible, unfixed, and by those means to hinder the reputation of it from falling upon any particular person. You see an envious man clear up his countenance, if in the relation of any man's great happiness in one point, you mention his uneasiness in another. When he hears such a one is very rich, he turns pale, but recovers when you add that he has many children. In a word, the only sure way to an envious man's favour, is not to deserve it.

But if we consider the envious man in delight, it is like reading the seat of a giant in romance; the magnificence of his house consists in the many limbs of men whom he has slain. If any who promised themselves success in any uncommon undertaking miscarry in the attempt, or he that aimed at what would have been useful and laudable meets with contempt and derision, the envious, man, under the colour of hating vain-glory, can smile with an inward wantonness of heart, at the ill effect it may have upon an honest ambition for the future.

Having thoroughly considered the nature of this passion, I have made it my study bow to avoid the envy that may accrue to me from these my speculations; and if I am not mistaken in myself, I think I have a genius to escape it. Upon hearing in a coffee-house one of my papers commended, I immediately apprehended the envy that would spring from that applause; and therefore gave a description of my face the next day; being resolved, as I grow in reputation for wit, to resign my pretensions to beauty. This, I hope, may give some ease to those unhappy gentlemen who do me the honour to torment themselves upon the account of this my paper. As their case is very deplorable, and deserves compassion, I shall sometimes be dull, in pity to them, and will from time to time administer consolations to them by further discoveries of my person. In the meanwhile, if any one says the SPECTATOR has wit, it may be some relief to them to think that he does not shew it in company; and if any one praises his morality, they may comfort themselves, by considering that his face is none of the longest. R.

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AMONG the other hardy undertakings which I have proposed to myself, that of the correction of impudence is what I have very much at heart. This in a particular manner is my province as SPECTATOR; for it is generally an offence committed by the eyes, and that against such as the offenders would perhaps never have an opportunity of injuring any other way. The following letter is a complaint of a young lady, who sets forth a trespass of this kind with that command of herself as befits beauty and innocence, and yet with so much spirit as sufficiently expresses her indignation. The whole transaction is performed with the eyes; and the crime is no less than employing them in such a manner as to divert the eyes of others from the best use they can make of them, even looking up to heaven.

66 SIR,

"THERE never was, I believe, an acceptable man but had some aukward imitators. Ever since the SPECTATOR appeared, I have remarked a kind of men, whom I choose to call Starers, that, without any regard to time, place, or modesty, disturb a large company with their impertinent eyes. Spectators make up a proper assembly for a puppet-show or a bear-garden; but devout supplicants and attentive hearers are the audience one ought to expect in churches. I am, Sir, member of a small pious congregation near one of the north gates of this city; much the greater part of us indeed are females, and used to behave ourselves in a regular attentive manner, till very lately ore whole aisle has been di sturbed with one of those monstrous Starers. He is the

VOL. I.

head taller than any in the church; but, for the greater advantage of exposing himself, stands upon a hassoc, and commands the whole congregation, to the great annoyance of the devoutest part of the auditory; for what with blushing, confusion, and vexation, we can neither mind the prayers nor sermon. Your animadversions upon this insolence would be a great favour to, Sir,

Your most humble servant, S. C."

I have frequently seen of this sort of fellows, and do not think there can be a greater aggravation of an offence than that it is committed where the criminal is pro. tected by the sacredness of the place which he violates. Many reflections of this sort might be very justly made upon this kind of behaviour; but a Starer is not usually a person to be convinced by the reason of the thing; and a fellow that is capable of shewing an impudent front before a whole congregation, and can bear being a public spectacle, is not so easily rebuked as to amend by admonitions. If therefore my correspondent does not inform me that, within seven days after this date, the barbarian does not at least stand upon his own legs only, without an eminence, my friend WILL PROSPER (NO. 19.) has promised to take a hassoc opposite to him, and stare against him in defence of the ladies I have given him directions, according to the most exact rules of optics, to place himself in such a manner that he shall meet his eyes wherever he throws them: I have hopes that when WILL confronts him, and all the ladies, in whose behalf he engages him, cast kind looks and wishes of success at their champion, he will have some shame, and feel a little of the pain he has so often put others to, of being out of countenance.

It has indeed been, time out of mind, generally remark. ed, and as often lamented, that this family of Starers have infested public assemblies: and I know no other way to obviate so great an evil, except, in the case of fixing their eyes upon women, some male friend will take the part of such as are under the oppression of impudence, and en. counter the eyes of the Starers wherever they meet them. While we suffer our women to be thus impudently attacked, they have no defence, but in the end to cast

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