I had Thoughts of pointing out many other Defcriptions, that equally engage me; by fpeaking of the many Topicks he has introduc'd; and the Variety of Inhabitants he has plac'd in his Cave: But I must make thefe Heads the Subject of fome future Paper.

L

N° 659. Monday, March 28.

Hæret lateri lethalis Arundo.

Virg.

T

HE Lady-Day being now past, I am proud to let the World know that the Pearl-Chamber is full, and full too of Women the most celebrated for Wit, Virtue and Beauty. Thefe fitting in their Order of Election, form fuch an agreeable and Splendid Affembly, that the Eye of Man can never look out any other Profpect, that will meet it with fuch fenfible Pleasure. I am pleafed to find two Men of Difcretion are already touched by two of my PEARLS, and that they are fo far gone, as to express their Minds in these kind of rapturous Verfifications, which I did once look upon as prancing upon a Pegafus, and making Love, as Spaniards do, a Horseback. But I fhall make great Allowances for the future, to the Extravagance of young Lovers, upon the bare Confideration that Simplicia could make a Man of my Years write fparkibly, and beau it over again in Rhime. Thele poetical Performances of my Friends fhall make up the Entertainment of the Day.

THE firft addreflès me with the Extremity of Civility, and that foft way of Expreffion, which is peculiar to a Lover; which from being continually used to his Miftrefs, grows to be in him fo natural, that he betrays it to every Man round him whom he refpects, without knowing it himself. However, as agreeable as his Speech feems to me, the Lady thought fomething, either in that, or in his Behaviour, not fo to her, and denied

herself

herfelf to him. He, to regain Accefs, and reinftate himfelf again in her good Graces, begs that I would infert the following Apology to his Clarinda.

A

TO CLARINDA.

S Souls when freed from Bodies, think to rife, Sure of the happiest Manfion in the Skies; When for fome Frailty, to themselves unknown, Headlong they are hurl'd, like fall'n Angels, down; Startl'd, amaz'd at the unexpected Doom,

Grieve at what's paft, and shake at what's to come:
Knowing no more the Guilt their Thoughts conceal,
Than the uncertain Anguish they're to feel;
(As Papifts hold amidit the purging Flame,
Which clears 'em for the Blifs at which they aim :)
Tortur'd with Abfence from the bright Abode,
Sigh to return and try the heav'nly Road.

So I, if guilty of fome venial Crime,
To me unknown, must suffer for a Time;
If deep in Flames of Love I'm doom'd to lie,
Flames pure as thofe with which the Martyrs die!
May hope, at laft, amidst my dismal Pain,
To feel your Mercy, and my Blifs regain:
May hope, that when whole Streams of Penitence
Flow from mine Eyes for giving yours Offence,
They may be blefs'd once more with Joy to fee.
What they adore next to Divinity:

If I have err'd, this humble Boon I crave
Of you, too good to kill what you can save,
To grant one Audience more, and hear me plead,
Why I should live, before you fpeak me dead;
If after that you think I've any Guilt,

At your bright Altar let my Blood be fpilt.

THE other fent fome very good Lines to me, fuppos'd to be written by a Friend of his, who exprefs'd his Paffion more to his Advantage, than he could have done with Modefty, if he had been forc'd to make mention of himself to her; and 'tis really an acurate and

F 4

artful

artful way of Addrefs; and therefore I will not say that thofe Verfes, pretended to be done by a Friend, were. intirely his own.

On PURVASIA's Singing.

NCE more the fair Purvafia I address,
And with her Name my joyful Numbers blefs
The Vulgar Nine let others blindly choose,
Purvafia thall be both my Theme and Mufe;
The am'rous Ovid ne'er had fuch a Choice,
Angel in Face, and Seraphim in Voice.
Methinks when in the plainer Notes fhe fings,
The liftning Angels, with expanded Wings
Stir not a Plume, but reft amidst the Air,
And in deep Silence learn to copy her;

But when the plays the Warbler with her Tongue,
Myriads of Cherubs blend the double Song:
Thus that the might the wondrous Sex excel,
Nature has form'd a double Miracles
Alike with Songs and Features you subdue,
And all the Seraph is confign'd to you.
Like theirs, your Eyes are full of heav'nly Fire,
Like theirs, your Mouth does heav'nly Strains infpire.
Ev'n *P. whofe thrilling Flute does all surpass,
Not lefs admires your Mufick than your Face.
You vanquish'd him by his own Rules of Art,
His Ears enliven'd, and yet kill'd his Heart.
As when a Nightingale that long had been
The first Musician to a Fairy Green;
Heard Colin touch his facred Violin ;
Thro' all the Labyrinths of Sound did glide,
But when the spending Breath no more fupply'd,
Forc'd out a laft expiring Note and dy'd;
Down on the fatal Violin did fall,

And bleft with its laft Voice its Funeral;
So P. if with his daring Flute he vies,
With your inimitable Harmonies;

* A very great Master in that kind of Mu fick,

As

As fure upon your Breast he falls, and dies
A double Victim to your Voice and Eyes.

I dare not now publish, as I intended, my own Verfes upon the beautiful Simplicia. I am commanded to defer it to a further Opportunity.

W

N° 660. Friday, April 1.

Si quis tamen hæc quoque, fi quis,

Captus Amore legat.

Ovid.

Have receiv'd feveral Letters within these four Days,

I reminding me that 1 aut indebted to the Pablick by

a late Promife; and that my further Thoughts on the Cave of Poverty are impatiently expected. One of my Correfpondents fends me word, that he is ftrongly tempted, to remit me a Paper on the Subject, but that to ufe his own Words) I had touched the Matter already fo agreeably, that he was afraid of interpofing to the Prejudice of my Obfervations, and was willing the remaining Beauties of the POEM fhould be fet out in the fame advantageous Light.' Another, who fays, he is a conftant Reader of my Papers, and has . ⚫ been a Traveller both by Land and Sea, tells me, the • Description: I quoted of the Ship's-Crews Diftrefs is very natural; for he and his Mates, in one Voyage • he made, were fo hard put to it for Provifions, that z they began to talk of eating one another.'

6

I have made it an Obfervation, that Defcriptions, work'd up with Art and Nature, affect all Capacities. with equal Force; and he that has not enough of the Sublime in his Soul, to reach all the Poet's Art, will fill have a juft Senfation of the Painting, that comes down. to the Level of his own Understanding, and reprefents Objects to him which are founded upon Nature, and his Mind is acquainted with! I took notice, in my former

F-5.

Paper,

Paper, that there were many more Defcriptions in this Poem, which are equally agreeable to me. There is. one I cannot more properly commend, than by relating the Impreffions it made upon me; the Situation of the Cave, the Haziness of the Air, the Wildness, and the defert Barrenness of the Prospect, are fo aptly defcrib'd, that I feem'd to have a Landskip of the Whole before my Eyes, and was drawn into fuch an actual Reverie by the Delufion of the Images, that I was perfuaded I beard the Magpies chatter, and the Ravens croak, as the AUTHOR has fancied in his Third Stanza.

III.

Oft o'er the Moody Dome hoarfe Ravens fly, The chatt'ring Magpye, and the Ribald Crow; Oft hungry Weazels fhriek, and Padocks die, Thro' Famine, in th' unfurnish'd Vales below: The Vales no Vital Nouriffiment produce, Scant is their Grafs, and venom'd is its Juice.

I thought I faw the horrid Retinue of the Goddess, and was introduc'd to her meagre Prefence; then did I fmile at her Throne of matted Straw, her Locks clotteď with Filth, her homely Furniture, and her Glowworm Illuminations. Could any Colours express the Idea of Poverty more to the Life, than thefe of extreme Need, and extreme Naftiness?..

FROM the Situation of the Cave, and the Defcription of the Goddess, the Author gives us a View of the various Pictures which fpring round the Walls of her State-room. I have given you that already of the SeaDiftrefs, and, I think, the Sketch of the Robbery, tho more fuccinct, has a peculiar Beauty and Propriety.

XXII.

From pictur'd Ocean the delighted Eye
Skips o'er to Landskip of fome verdant Heath;
On whofe long Skirts full oft in Ambush lie

The Sons of Rapine, threat'ning bloody Death:
There, treach'rous Hedges and the winding Road,
Befpeak the Robber's Haunts, and Theft forbode.
XXIII. Torn