1711. No. 7, a great Family, who is one of these Antiquated Sybils, Thursday, that forbodes and prophesies from one end of the Year March 8, to the other. She is always seeing Apparitions, and hearing Death Watches; and was the other Day almost frighted out of her Wits by the great House-Dog, that howled in the Stable at a time when she lay ill of the Tooth-ach, Such an extravagant Cast of Mind engages Multitudes of People, not only in impertinent Terrors, but in supernumerary Duties of Life; and arises from that Fear and Ignorance which are natural to the Soul of Man. The Horror with which we entertain the Thoughts of Death (or indeed of any future Evil) and the Uncertainty of its Approach, fill a melancholy Mind with innumerable Apprehensions and Suspicions, and consequently dispose it to the Observation of such groundless Prodigies and Predictions. For as it is the chief Concern of Wise-Men, to retrench the Evils of Life by the Reasonings of Philosophy; it is the Employ ment of Fools, to multiply them by the Sentiments of Superstition. For my own part, I should be very much troubled were I endowed with this Divining Quality, though it should inform me truly of every thing that can befal me. I would not anticipate the Relish of any Happiness, nor feel the Weight of any Misery, before it actually arrives, I know but one way of fortifying my Soul against these gloomy Presages and Terrors of Mind, and that is, by securing to my self the Friendship and Protection of that Being, who disposes of Events, and governs Futurity, He sees, at one View, the whole Thread of my Existence, not only that Pårt of it which I have already passed through, but that which runs forward into all the Depths of Eternity. When I lay me down to Sleep, I recommend my self to his Care; when I awake, I give my self up to his Direction, Amidst all the Evils that threaten me, I will look up to him for Help, and question not but he will either avert them, or turn them to my Advantage. Though I know neither the Time nor the Manner of the Death I am to die, I am not at all sollicitous about it; because because I am sure that he knows them both, and No. 7, that he will not fail to comfort and support me under Thursday, them, C March 8, 1711. No. 8. Friday, March 9. I At Venus obscuro gradientis aere sepsit, Et multo nebulae círcum dea fudit amictu, SHALL here communicate to the World a couple of Letters, which I believe will give the Reader as good an Entertainment as any that I am able to furnish him with, and therefore shall make no Apology for them, Sir, 'To the SPECTtator, &c, I am one of the Directors of the Society for the Reformation of Manners, and therefore think my self proper Person for your Correspondence. I have thoroughly examined the present State of Religion in Great Britain, and am able to acquaint you with the predominant Vice of every Market-Town in the whole Island, I can tell you the Progress that Virtue has made in all our Cities, Boroughs, and Corporations; and know as well the evil Practices that are committed in Berwick or Exeter, as what is done in my own Family, In a word, Sir, I have my Correspondents in the remotest Parts of the Nation, who send me up punctual Accounts from time to time of all the little Irregularities that fall under their Notice in their several Districts and Divisions, I can I am no less acquainted with the particular Quarters and Regions of this great Town, than with the different Parts and Distributions of the whole Nation. describe every Parish by its Impieties, and can tell you in which of our Streets Lewdness prevails, which Gaming has taken the Possession of, and where Drunk enness has got the better of them both. When I am disposed to raise a Fine for the Poor, I know the Lanes No. 8, March 9, Lanes and Allies that are inhabited by common Friday, Swearers, When I would encourage the Hospital of Bridewell, and improve the Hempen Manufacture, I am very well acquainted with all the Haunts and Resorts of Female Night-walkers. 1711, After this short Account of my self, I must let you know, that the Design of this Paper is to give you Information of a certain irregular Assembly which I think falls very properly under your Observa tion, especially since the Persons it is composed of are Criminals too considerable for the Animadversions of our Society, I mean, Sir, the Midnight Masque, which has of late been very frequently held in one of the most conspicuous Parts of the Town, and which I hear will be continued with Additions and Improve ments. As all the Persons who compose this lawless Assembly are masqued, we dare not attack any of them in our Way, lest we should send a Woman of Quality to Bridewell, or a Peer of Great Britain to the Counter: Besides that, their Numbers so very great, that I am afraid they would be able to rout our whole Fraternity, though we were accom panied with all our Guard of Constables, Both these Reasons, which secure them from our Authority, make them obnoxious to yours; As both their Disguise and their Numbers will give no particular Person Reason to think himself affronted by you. are If we are rightly informed, the Rules that are observed by this new Society are wonderfully contrived for the Advancement of Cuckoldom. The Women either come by themselves or are introduced by Friends, who are obliged to quit them, upon their first Entrance, to the Conversation of any Body that addresses himself to them, There are several Rooms where the Parties may retire, and, if they please, shew their Faces by Consent, Whispers, Squeezes, Nods, and Embraces, are the innocent Freedoms of the Place, In short, the whole Design of this libidinous Assembly seems to terminate in Assignations and Intrigues; and I hope you will take effectual Methods, by your publick Advice and Admonitions, to prevent such a promiscuous promiscuous Multitude of both Sexes from together in so clandestine a Manner, I am Your humble Servant, meeting No. 8. Friday, March 9 And Fellow-Labourer, T. B.' Not long after the Perusal of this Letter, I receiv'd another upon the same Subject; which by the Date and Stile of it, I take to be written by some young Templer. 'Sir, Middle Temple, 17 When a Man has been guilty of any Vice or Folly, I think the best Attonement he can make for it, is to warn others not to fall into the like. In order to this I must acquaint you, that some time in February last I went to the Tuesday's Masquerade. Upon my first going in I was attack'd by half a Dozen female Quakers, who seem'd willing to adopt me for for a Brother; but upon a nearer Examination I found they were a Sisterhood of Coquets disguised in that precise Habit. I was soon after taken out to dance, and, as I fancied, by a Woman of the first Quality, for she was very tall, and moved gracefully. As soon as the Minuet was over, we ogled one another through our Masques; and as I am very well read in Waller, I repeated to her the four following Verses out of his poem to Vandike. The heedless Lover does not know Whose Eyes they are that wound him so; Enquires her Name that has his Heart. I pronounced these Words with such a languishing Air, that I had some Reason to conclude I had made a Conquest. She told me that she hoped my Face was not akin to my Tongue; and looking upon her Watch, I accidentally discovered the Figure of a Coronet on the back Part of it. I was so transported with the Thought of such an Amour, that I plied her from one Room to another with all the Gallantries I could invent; 1711. and at length brought things to so happy an Issue, that she gave me a private Meeting the next Day, without Page or Footman, Coach or Equipage. My Heart danced in Raptures; but I had not lived in this golden Dream above three Days, before I found good Reason to wish that I had continued true to my Laundress. I have since heard, by a very great Accident, that this fine Lady does not live far from Covent Garden, and that I am not the first Cully whom she has pass'd her self upon for a Countess, Thus, Sir, you see how I have mistaken a Cloud for a Juno; and if you can make any use of this Adventure for the Benefit of those who may possibly be as vain young Coxcombs as my self, I do most heartily give you Leave. I am, Sir, Your most humble Admirer, B. L' I design to visit the next Masquerade my self, in the same Habit I wore at Grand Cairo; and 'till then shall suspend my Judgment of this Midnight Entertainment. C S No. 9, Saturday, March 10. -Tigris agit rabida cum tigride pacem MAN is said to be a Sociable Animal, and, as an Instance of it, we may observe, that we take all Occasions and Pretences of forming our selves into those little Nocturnal Assemblies, which are commonly known by the name of Clubs. When a Sett of Men find themselves agree in any Particular, tho' never so trivial, they establish them selves into a kind of Fraternity, and meet once or twice a Week, upon the account of such a Fantastick Resem blance, I know a considerable Market-town, in which there was a Club of fat Men, that did not come together (as you may well suppose) to entertain one another with Sprightliness and Wit, but to keep one another in Coun tenance: The Room where the Club met was some |