e next place, Cleanliness may be said to be the mother of love. Beauty indeed most comproduces that passion in the mind, but cleanpreserves it. An indifferent face and person, perpetual neatness, hath won many a heart pretty slattern. Age itself is not unamiable, t is preserved clean and unsullied; like a of metal constantly kept smooth and bright, xon it with more pleasure than on a new vest is cankered with rust. ght observe further, that as cleanliness renders eeable to others, so it makes us easy to our; that it is an excellent preservative of health ; at several vices, destructive both to mind and are inconsistent with the habit of it. But these ions I shall leave to the leisure of my readers; all observe in the third place, that it bears a analogy with purity of mind, and naturally inrefined sentiments and passions. find from experience, that through the prece of custom, the most vicious actions lose their by being made familiar to us. On the conthose who live in the neighborhood of good ples, fly from the first appearances of what is ing. It fares with us much after the same er as to our ideas. Our senses, which are the to all the images conveyed to the mind, can ransmit the impression of such things as ususurround them. So that pure and unsullied hts are naturally suggested to the mind by objects that perpetually encompass us when are beautiful and elegant in their kind. the East, where the warmth of the climate in colder countries, it is made one part of their religion: the Jewish law (and the Mahometan, which in some things copies after it) is filled with bathings, purifications, and other rites of the like nature. Though there is the above-named convenient reason to be assigned for these ceremonies, the chief intention undoubtedly was, to typify inward purity and cleanness of heart by those outward washings. We read several injunctions of this kind in the book of Deuteronomy, which confirm this truth; and which are but ill accounted for by saying, as some do, that they were only instituted for convenience in the desert, which otherwise could not have been habitable for so many years. I shall conclude this essay with a story which I have somewhere read in an account of Mahometan superstitions. A Dervise of great sanctity one morning had the misfortune, as he took up a crystal cup, which was consecrated to the prophet, to let it fall upon the ground and dash it in pieces. His son coming in some time after, he stretched out his hands to bless him, as his manner was every morning; but the youth going out, stumbled over the threshhold and broke his arm. As the old man wondered at these events, a caravan passed by in its from Mecca. way The Dervise approached it to beg a blessing; but as he stroked one of the holy camels, he received a kick from the beast that sorely bruised him. His sorrow and amazement increased upon him, till he recollected, that through hurry and inadvertency he had that morning come abroad without washing his hands. No. 632. MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1714. AUTHOR UNKNOWN. Explebo numerum, reddarque tenebris. The number I'll complete, Then to obscurity well-pleas'd retreat. VIRG. Æn. 6. v. 545. THE love of symmetry and order, which is natu ral to the mind of man, betrays him sometimes into very whimsical fancies. "This noble principle, (says a French author) loves to amuse itself on the most trifling occasions. You may see a profound philosopher (says he) walk for an hour together in his chamber, and industriously treading, at every step, upon every other board in the flooring." Every reader will recollect several instances of this nature without my assistance. I think it was Gregorio Leti who had published as many bocks as he was years old;(a) which was a rule he had laid down, and punctually observed to the year of his death. It was perhaps a thought of the like nature which determined Homer himself to divide each of his poems into as many books as there are letters in the Greek alphabet. Herodotus has in the same manner adapted his books to the number of the muses; for which reason many a learned man hath wished there had been more than nine of that sisterhood. Several epic poets have religiously followed Virgil as to the number of his books; and even Milton is thought by many to have changed the number of his books from ten to twelve for no other reason; as Cowley tells us, it was his design, had he finished his Davideis, to have also imitated the Æneid in this particular. I believe every one will agree with me, that a perfection of this nature hath no foundation in reason; and, with due respect to these great names, be looked upon as something whimsical. may I mention these great examples in defence of my bookseller, who occasioned this eighth volume of Spectators; because, as he said, he thought seven a very odd number. On the other side, several grave reasons were urged on this important subject; as, in particular, that seven was the precise number of the wise men, and that the most beautiful constellation in the heavens was composed of seven stars. This he allowed to be true, but still insisted that seven was an odd number: suggesting, at the same time, that if he were provided with a sufficient stock of leading papers, he should find friends ready enough to carry on the work. Having by this means got his vessel launched and set afloat, he hath committed the steerage of it, from time to time, to such as he thought capable of conducting it. The close of this volume, which the town may now expect in a little time, may possibly ascribe each sheet to its proper author.(6) It were no hard task to continue this paper a considerable time longer by the help of large contributions sent from unknown hands. I cannot give the town a better opinion of the Spectator's correspondents than by publishing the following letter, with a very fine copy of verses upon a subject perfectly new. Dublin, Nov. 30, 1714. "MR. SPECTATOR, "You lately recommended to your female readers the good old custom of their grandmothers, who used to lay out a great part of their time in needle work: I entirely agree with you in your sentiments, and think it would not be of less advantage to themselves, and their posterity, than to the reputation of many of their good neighbors, if they passed many of those hours in this innocent entertainment, which are lost at the tea-table.-I would, however, humbly offer to your consideration the case of the poetical ladies; who, though they may be willing to take any advice given them by the Spectator, yet cannot so easily quit their pen and ink as you may imagine. Pray allow them, at least now and then, to indulge themselves in other amusements of fancy, when they are tired with stooping to their tapestry. There is a very particular kind of work, which of late several ladies here in our kingdom are very fond of, which seems very well adapted to a poetical genius; it is the making of grottos. I know a lady who has a very beautiful one, composed by herself, nor is there one shell in it not stuck up by her own hands. I here send you a poem to the fair architect, which I would not offer to herself till I knew whether this method of a lady's passing her time were approved of by the British Spectator, which, with the poem, I submit to your censure, who am, "Your constant reader, "And humble servant, |