all men living the most miferably Envious. I defired the circumftances of his diftemper; upon which, with a figh that would have moved the most inhuman breast, Mr. Bickerstaff, faid he, I am nephew to a Gentleman of a very great eftate, to whofe favour I have a coufin that has equal pretenfions with myself. This "kinsman of mine is a young man of the highest merit imaginable, and has a mind fo tender, and fo generous, that I can obferve he returns my Envy with pity. He makes me, upon all occafions, the most obliging condefcenfions: And I cannot but take no"tice of the concern he is in, to fee my life blasted with this racking paffion, though it is against himfelf. In the prefence of my uncle, when I am in the room, he never fpeaks fo well as he is capable of; but always lowers his talents and accomplishments "out of regard to me. What I beg of you, dear Sir, " is to inftru&t me how to love him, as I know he does me: And I befeech you, if poffible, to fet my heart "right; that it may no longer be tormented where it fhould be pleased, or hate a man whom I cannot but ""approve."

66

The patient gave me this account with fuch candour and opennefs, that I conceived immediate hopes of his cure; because, in difeafes of the mind, the person affected is half recovered when he is fenfible of his diftemper. Sir, faid I, the acknowledgment of your kinfman's merit is a very hopeful fymptom; for it is the nature of perfons afflicted with this evil, when they are incurable, to pretend a contempt of the perfon envied, if they are taxed with that weakness. A man who is really envious will not allow he is fo; but upon fuch an accufation, is tormented with the reflection, that to envy a man is to allow him your fuperior. But in your case, when you examine the bottom of your heart I am apt to think it is Avarice, which you mistake for Envy. Were it not that you have both expectations from the fame man, you would look upon your coufin's accomplishments with pleafure. You, that now confider him as an obftacle to your interest, would then behold him as an ornament to your family. I obferved my patient upon this occafion recover himself in fome measure; and he owned

3

owned to me, that he hoped it was as I imagined; for that in all places, but where he was his rival, he had pleasure in his company. This was the firft difcourfe we had upon this malady; but I do not doubt but, after two or three more, I fhall by juft degrees foften his Envy into Emulation.

Such an Envy, as I have here defcribed, may poffibly treep into an ingenuous mind; but the Envy which makes a man uneafy to himself and others, is a certain distortion and perverfenefs of temper, that renders him unwilling to be pleafed with any thing without him, that has either beauty or perfection in it. I look upon it as a diftemper in the mind, which I know no moralift that has defcribed in this light, When a man cannot difcern any thing which another is mafter of that is agreeable. For which reason, I look upon the. good-natured man to be endowed with a certain difcerning faculty, which the Envious are altogether deprived of. Shallow Wits, fu perficial Critics, and conceited Fops, are with me fo many blind men in refpect of excellencies. They can behold nothing but faults and blemishes, and indeed fee nothing that is worth feeing. Shew them a poem, it is ftuff; a picture, it is daubing. They find nothing in architecture that is not irregular, or in mufic that is not out of tune. Thefe men fhould confider, that it is their Envy which deforms every thing, and that the ugliness is not in the object, but in the eye. And as for nobler minds, whofe merits are either not difcovered, or are mifreprefented by the envious part of mankind, they fhould rather confider their defamers with pity than indignation. A man cannot have an idea of perfection in another, which he was never fenfible of in himself. Mr. Locke tells us, That upon alking a blind man, what he thought fcarlet was? he answered, That he believed t was like the found of a trumpet. He was forced to form his conceptions of ideas which he had not, by the which he had. In the fame manner, afk an envious man Awhat he thinks of virtue? He will call it defign; What of good-nature? and he will term it dulnefs. The difference is, That as the perfon before-mentioned was born blind, your envious men have contracted the dif temper themselves, and are troubled with a fort of an H 2 acquired

acquired blindnefs. Thus the devil in Milton, though made an angel of light, could fee nothing to please him even in Paradife, and hated our firft parents, though in their state of innocence.

N° 228. Saturday, September 23, 1710.

Sit mihi

A

Veniet manus, auxilio quæ

HOR. Sat. 4. lib. 1. ver. 141.

R. WYNNE.

A powerful aid from other hands will come.

From my own Apartment, September 22.

Man of bufinefs, who makes a public entertainment, may fometimes leave his guests, and beg them to divert themselves as well as they can until his return. I fhall here make ufe of the fame privilege, being engaged in matters of fome importance relating to the family of the Bickerstaffs, and must defire my readers to entertain one another until I can have leifure to attend them. I have therefore furnished out this Paper, as I have done fome few others, with Letters of my ingenious correfpondents, which I have reafon to believe will please the Public, as much as my own more elaborate Lucubrations.

SIR,

Lincoln, Sept. 9.

Have long been of the number of your admirers, and take this opportunity of telling you fo. I "know not why a man fo famed for aftrological obfer"vations may not alfo be a good cafuift; upon which "prefumption it is I afk your advice in an affair, that "at prefent puzzles quité that flender ftock of Divinity

1

"I am mafter of. I have now been fome time in holy "Orders, and Fellow of a certain college in one of the "Universities; but, weary of that unactive life, I re"folve to be doing good in my generation. A worthy "Gentleman has lately offered me a fat rectory; but means, I perceive, his kinfwoman fhould have the be"nefit of the Clergy. I am a novice in the world, and confefs, it ftartles me, how the body of Mrs. Abigail can "be annexed to Cure of Souls. Sir, would you give us "in one of your Tatlers, the original and progrefs of fmock-fimony, and fhew us, that where the laws are "filent, mens confciences ought to be fo too, you could "not more oblige our fraternity of young Divines, and among the reft,

Your humble fervant,

High-church.

I am very proud of having a Gentleman of this name for my admirer, and may, fome time or other, write fach a treatife as he mentions. In the mean time, I do not fee why our Clergy, who are very frequently men of good families, fhould be reproached, if any of them chance to efpoufe a hand-maid with a rectory in Commendam, fince the best of our Peers have often joined themselves to the daughters of very ordinary tradefmen, upon the fame valuable confiderations.

Honoured Sir,

Globe in Moorfields, Sept. 16.

"I Have now finished my Almanac for the next year, in all the parts of it, except that which concerns "the weather; and you having fhewn yourself, by tome "of your late works, more weather wife than any of "our modern Aftrologers, I moft humbly prefame to "trouble you upon this head. You know very well, "that in our ordinary Almanacs the wind and rain, "fnow and bail, clouds and fun-fhine, have their proper feafons, and come up as regularly in their feveral "months as the fruits and plants of the earth. As for my own part, I freely own to you, that I generally "teal my weather out of fome antiquated Almanac,

H 3

that

•N 228. "that foretold it feveral years ago. Now, Sir, what I humbly beg of you is, that you would lend me your "State Weather-glafs, in order to fill up this vacant column in my works. This, I know, would fell my "Almanac beyond any other, and make me a richer

man than Poor-Robin. If you will not grant me this "favour, I must have recourfe to my old method, and "will copy after an Almanac which I have by me, and "which I think was for the year when the great form 46 was. I am,

Sir,

the most humble of

your admirers,

T. Philomath.

This Gentleman does not confider, what a ftrange appearance his Almanac would make to the ignorant, fhould he tranfpofe his weather, as he must do, did he follow the dictates of my glafs. What would the world fay to fee fummers filled with colds and storms, and winters with calms and fun-fhine; according to the variations of the weather, as they might accidentally appear in a State- barometer? But let that be as it will, 1 fhall apply my own invention to my own use; and if I do not make my fortune by it, it will be my own fault.

The next Letter comes to me from another felf-interefted folicitor.

I

Mr. BICKER STAFF,

Am going to fet up for a fcrivener, and have thought of a project which may turn both to your account and mine. It came into my head, upon reading that learned and useful Paper of yours concerning "Advertisements. You must understand, I have made "myself mafter in the whole art of advertising, both as

to the ftile and the letter. Now if you and I could "fo manage it, that no body fhould write Advertife. ments befides myself, or print them any where but in your Paper, we might both of us get eftates in a little

« time.