otherwise; and, tho' they loaded him with grateful Acknowledgments, for his Generofity, gave him to understand, that the Materials of the old AltarPiece might, probably, be of future Advantage to the Parish: But, in Lieu thereof, they fuffer'd his Picture to be hung up in the Chancel, as a Monument of his extenfive Goodness.

THE Organs are, in general, very fine here, of a prodigious Size, and finely adorn'd: That in St. Catherine's Church is faid to confift of above 6000 Pipes, of which I, myfelf, obferv'd two that were fo large, that I could but juft grafp them with the Extent of my Arms. They allow of Church Mufic, both Vocal and Inftrumental, and have a very good Band, paid by the Public, which perform in all the Churches by Turns: But what is remarkable, the fame Perfons are employ'd in the Church, and in the Opera; and I have seen the fame Singer, after having fung in the Character of Jefus Chrift in the Church, act the Part of Pluto in the Evening, in the Opera.

THE Steeples, which of the Cathedral and five principal Churches are very high, are only Frames of Timber, cover'd with Copper: And I have been told, the latter refines to fuch a Degree, by being expos'd to the Sun, that when they were oblig'd to take any of it down, to repair the Havock made by the Teeth of Time, they find it greatly increased in Value, and that it will yield a fmall Quantity of Gold.

As the Churches are moft of them Thoroughfares, and ftand open from Morning to Night, they are frequently made Places of Appointments, or Rendezvous, and, by the Appearance of People I have fometimes feen in them, I fear often of very fcandalous Ones. Some have likewife Bookfeller's Shops in them.

I SHALL defer the Account I defign to give you of the other public Buildings in this City, to a farther Opportunity, and, in the mean Time, remain, as ever, &c.

LETTER

XXVII.

HAMBURG.

SIR,

CAN hardly forbear fmiling myself, at my present Undertaking, to pretend to. write without a Subject; than which nothing could be more ridiculous, had I not your Commands to plead in Excufe of it. I proteft, I would rather undertake, tho' I never learn'd the Profeffion, to make a bad Watch correct the Sun, than to treat a Man of your Tafte with fo flender a Repast, as I now muft: But fo it is; fince my laft, I have neither feen any Thing worthy of your or my Notice, nor met with any Converfation capable of giving me Pleasure. I have, indeed, rencounter'd that Retenue*, which is a prudent Artifice to cover Dulinefs; and which I am fo far pleas'd with, as I look upon it to be one of the most useful Patterns I can poffibly imitate, tho' hitherto I am but a poor Proficient.

HAVING, therefore, found fo little Pleafure in Converfation, I have fometimes been obliged to THINK; a noble Occupation, in which the Mind, you know is but a bare Spectator of the various Movements of its own Ideas. Now, I fancy, in a

*The French Word, our Author has here made Ufe of, fignifies a Reservedness, or Circumfpection in our Behaviour.

Man

Man that reasons well, thefe Ideas draw up and file off naturally in good Order. A Man of excellent Judgment is one who can difpofe them advantageoufly, in Cafe either of Attack, or Defence. A Man of pure Wit has his Cavalry very dextrous, but often without Conduct. The Statefman's Head is full of Ingeniers, who fometimes are fo unfortunate to be miferably treated with Counterbatteries: But when these Ideas are well-proportion'd, in fufficient Number, and dance in Cadence, it is what I fancy makes a Poet; tho' a fmall Dejachment, in ragged Equipage, may ferve to form a Rhimer, or Poetafter; fuch as our Friend G

THO' I have your pofitive Commands not to employ any Part of my Letters in answering what you may write to me, yet give me Leave, for once, to break in upon that Rule. You feem to think, by what I hinted to you of the Excefs of Ceremony, in both Sexes, in this Country, of which I fhall give you a more particular Account in a future Letter, that I have made a Truce with Compliments of all Sorts, and utterly condemn them, Not fo; it is the Abuse, and not the Ufe of them, I complain of. I would not have them wholly laid afide; but I would have them given and anfwer'd with Prudence and Moderation. It is enough to tell a pretty Girl, that she is handfome, without fwearing her Eyes are brighter than the Sun; and one who can take decently a Kifs, and hear fedately a genteel Compliment, has more good Senfe, than another has Modefty, who runs fkittishly away to be but the more eagerly pursued.

BUT to examine a little, on this Occafion, the fo fafhionable Commerce of Compliments, fo much. cultivated and practifed, and fo well receiv'd as it is, by the finest Wits, and even the foundeft Judgments; for my Part, I muft own I approve of it extreamly, when it is ingeniously perform❜d. It is

certainly more eligible to fin on the Side of Complaifance, than on that of Rufticity; and is it not a much nobler Employment to deterre* Graces, and fet the leaft of Virtues in an advantageous Light, than to ridicule Deformities, or banter the Errors of a weak Mind? Or is it lefs than Stupidity to be infenfible to the Points of Wit, or the Beauty of Eloquence? Befides, Praifes, which enter fo neceffarily into Complaifance, that they are, as it were, the Effence of it, are undoubtedly to be number'd among the toft coveted Rewards of Virtue: Self-love, which is inherent to all Mankind, prepares our Relifh for them, and this Relifh begets a new Appetite to more fublime Qualities, than thofe on which they are bestow'd; at least, this agreable Commerce pleases all the World, and ought not, if it were but on that Account, to be wholly laid afide; especially, as far as it is innocent. The Vain are charm'd with the pleafing Fumes of the strongest Incenfe, which they fancy an indifpenfable Offering to their pure Merit, and snuff it eagerly, to the turning of their Brains +. Even the Modeft and Judicious feel a foft Titillation par des Louanges delicates; tho', with fuch, their greatest Effects are only to become Incentives to higher Degrees of Virtue.

FOR my own Part, I have Vanity enough; and if any Body could but perfuade me, that I have the

The French Word, which our Author has here made Use of, fignifies to ferret out; and I should not condemn the enriching our Tongue with it, were not the Sound exactly the fame, with that of the English Verb deter, which has a very different Signification.

+ How our Author will prove this to be of Benefit to Mar. kind, I am at a Lofs to know: Sure Vanity ought, at all Times, to be discourag'd.

In Praifes judiciously given.

leaft

leaft Trace of Modefty, or Tincture of Judgment, I have discover'd an excellent Expedient, which you have furnish'd me withal, to oblige all three ; and you have done it in one fingle Word. You ftile me Learned, in the Superfcription of your Letter: Now what fhould my Vanity prompt me to more naturally, than to ftick it on my Window, or leave it on my Table, (negligently on Purpose) that all the World may fee it, to my lafting Honor; tho' my Modefty blufhes every Time I caft my Eyes on it myself; and my Judgment, at the fame Time, fhould not fail to inform me, that my Reading and Study have been infinitely too fuperficial to merit fo glorious an Epithet: But if, likewise, to these three Qualities, be added a convenient Mixture of the Itch of Reputation, it is not improbable, but, in fuch Cafe, that one Term alone might coft me the Lecture of a hundred Volumes.

THERE is fomething very odd in those pretty Changes and Accidents, that attend the Viciffitudes of Life, of which you take Notice, and tho' it might be too much to call them a Happiness, yet fure they may, at leaft, be allow'd to be pleafing Follies? For my Part, as I fee very little in this Life, that resembles the Idea we have, or ought to have, of true Felicity, I think we should do mighty well, to adopt all these pleafing Follies, which furprize us fo agreably, into our Account of Happinefs, without which, the Sum total will, I am afraid, be compofed only of Cyphers. In my Opinion alfo, Emperors and Kings are little to be envied: For the Exterior of Felicity, and the Thing itself, are, for the most Part, far afunder. I rather pity their Constraint to look big, and to endeavor to infpire, with an awful Afpect, Fear and Respect in those about them. All the effect Pageantry has on me is, when I fee the ftruting Comedian acts his Part gracefully, I applaud his Conduct

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