N° 475. Thursday, September 4. Que res in fe neque Confilium neque modum Ter. Tis an old Obfervation, which has been made of Politicians who would rather ingratiate themselves with their Sovereign, than promote his real Service, that they accommodate their Counfels to his Inclinations, and advife him to fuch Actions only as his Heart is naturally fet. upon. The Privy-Counfellor of one in Love muft obferve the fame Conduct, unless he would forfeit the Friendship of the Perfon who defires his Advice, I have known feveral odd Cafes of this Nature. Hipparchus was going to marry a common Woman, but being refolved to do nothing without the Advice of his Friend Philander, he confulted him upon the Occafion. Philander told him his Mind freely, and reprefented his Miftrefs to him in fuch ftrong Colours, that the next Morning he received a Challenge for his pains, and before Twelve a Clock was run. through the Body by the Man who had asked his Advice, Celia was more prudent on the like-Occafion; fie de fired Leonilla to give her Opinion freely upon a young Fellow who made his Addreffes to her. Leonilla, to oblige her, told her with great Franknefs, that he looked upon him as one of the most worthless Celia, foreseeing what a Character fhe was to expect, begged her not to go, on, for that she had been privately married to him above a Fortnight. The truth of it is, a Woman feldom asks Advice before fhe has bought her Wedding - Clothes, When he has made her own Choice, for Form's fake fhe fends a Conge d'eliere to her Friends, IF we look into the fecret Springs and Motives that fet People at work in thefe Occafions, and put them upon asking Advice, which they never intend to take; 1 look upon it to be none of the leaft, that they are. incapable of keeping B. 4. A keeping a Secret which is fo very pleafing to them. A Girl longs to tell her Confident, that the hopes to be married, in a little time, and, in order to talk of the pretty Fellow that dwells fo much in her Thoughts, asks her very gravely, what fhe would advife her to in a cafe of fo much Difficulty. Why elfe fhould Melissa, who had not a Thoufand Pound in the World, go into every Quarter of the Town to ask her Acquaintance whether they would advise her to take Tom Townly, that made his Addresses to her with an Eftate of five Thousand a Year? 'Tis very pleafant, on this occafion, to hear the Lady propofe her Doubts, and to fee the Pains fhe is at to get over them. I MUST not here omit a Practice that is in ufe among the vainer Part of our own Sex, who will often ask a Friend's Advice, in relation to a Fortune whom they are never likely to come at. WILL. HONEYCOMB, who is now on the Verge of Threefcore, took me afide not long fince, and asked me in his moft ferious Look, whether I would advise him to marry my Lady Betty Single, who, by the way, is one of the greatest Fortunes about Town.. I ftared him full in the Face upon so strange a Question; upon which he immediately gave me an Inventory of her Jewels and Eftate, adding, that he was refolved to do nothing in a matter of fuch confequance without my Ap probation. Finding he would have an Anfwer, I told him, if he could get the Lady's Confent, he had mine. This is about the tenth Match which, to my knowledge, WILL. has confulted his Friends upon, without ever opening his Mind to the Party herself. I HAVE been engaged in this Subject by the following Letter, which comes to me from fome notable young Female Scribe, who, by the Contents of it, feems to have carried Matters fo far, that fhe is ripe for asking Advice; but as I would not lofe her Good-Will, nor forfeit the Reputation which I have with her for Wisdom, I shall only communicate the Letter to the Publick, without returning any Anfwer to it. Mr. Mr. SPECTATORS N prettiest Gentleman about Town. He is very OW, Sir, the thing is this: Mr. Shapely is the tall, but not too tall neither. He dances like an an Angel. His • Mouth is made I don't know how, but 'tis the prettiest that I ever faw in my Life. He is always laughing, for he has an infinite deal of Wit. If you did but fee how he rolls his Stockins! He has a thoufand pretty Fancies, and I am fure, if you faw him, you would like him. He is a very good Scholar, and can talk Latin as fast as English. I wish you could but fee him dance. Now h C you must understand poor Mr. Shapely has no Eftate; but how can he help that, you know? And yet my Friends are fo unreasonable as to be always teazing me about him, because he has no Eftate: but I am fure he has that that is better than an Estate; for he is a Goodnatured, Ingenious, Modeft, Civil, Tall, Well-bred, • Handsome Man, and I am obliged to him for his Civi ⚫lities ever fince I faw him. I forgot to tell you that he has black Eyes, and looks upon me now and then as if he› had Tears in them. And yet my Friends are fo unrea. fonable, that they would have me be uncivil to him. I have a good Portion which they cannot hinder me of, and I fhall be fourteen on the 29th Day of August next, and am therefore willing to fettle in the World as foon as I can, and fo is Mr. Shapely. But every body Lad.. vife with here is poor Mr. Shapely's Enemy. I defire therefore you will give me your Advice, for I know you are a wife Man; and if you advise me well, 'I am refolved to follow it. I heartily wifh you could * fee him dance, and am, s 1 R, Tour most humble Servant, the He loves your Spectators mightily. B. D. No 476. Friday, September 5. Lucidus Ordo. 1 Hors 0:3 MONG my daily Papers which I beftow on the A Publick, there are fome, which are written with Regularity and Method, and others that run out into the wildness of thofe Compofitions which go by, the Name of Effays. As for the firft, I have the whole Scheme of the Difcourfe in my mind before I fet Pen to Paper. In the other kind of Writing, it is fufficient that I have fe veral thoughts on a Subject, without troubling my felf to range them in fuch order, that they may feem to grow out of one another, and be difpofed under the proper Heads. Seneca and Montaigne are Patterns for Writing in this laft kind, as Tully and Ariftotle excel in the other. When I' read an Author of Genius who writes without Method, I fancy my felf in a Wood, that abounds with a great many noble Objects, rifing among one another in the greatest Confufion and Diforder. When I read a methodical Dif course, 1 am in a regular Plantation, and can place my felf in its feveral Centers, fo as to take a view of all the Lines and Walks that are ftruck from them. You may ramble in the one a whole Day together, and every Mo ment difcover fomething or other that is new to you but when you have done, you will have but a confufed imperfect Notion of the Place: In the other, your Eye commands the whole Profpect, and gives you fuch an Idea of it, as is not eafly worn out of the Memory. IRREGULARITY and want of Method are only fupportable in Men of great Learning or Genius, who are often too full to be exact, and therefore chufe to throw down their Pearls in Heaps before the Reader, rather than be at the pains of ftringing them. METHOD is of advantage to a Work, both in respect to the Writer and the Reader. In regard to the first, it is a great help to his Invention. When a Man has plann'd his Difcourfe, he finds a great many thoughts rifing out of every Head, that do not offer themfelves upon the general Survey of a Subject. His Thoughts are at the fame time more intelligible, and better difcover their Drift and Meaning, when they are placed in their proper Lights, and follow one another in a regular Series, than when they are thrown together without Order and Connexion. There is always an Obfcurity in Confufion, and the fame Sentence that would have enlightened the Reader in one part of a Difcourfe, perplexes him in another. For the fame reafon likewife every Thought in a methodical Difcourse fhews it felf in its greatest Beauty, as the feveral Figures in a piece of Painting receive new Grace from their Difpofition in the Picture. The Advantages of a Reader from a methodical Difcourfe, are correfpondent with thofe of the Writer. He comprehends every thing eafily, takes it in with pleasure, and retains it long. METHOD is not lefs requifite in ordinary Converfation than in Writing, provided a Man: would talk to make himself understood. I, who hear a thousand Coffee-house Debates every day, am very fenfible of this want of Method in the Thoughts of my honest Countrymen. There is not one Difpute in ten which is managed in those Schools of Politicks, where, after the three first Sentences, the Queftion is not entirely loft. Our Difpu tants put me in mind of the Skuttle-Filh, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens all the Water about him till he becomes invifible. The Man who does not Man Water know how to methodize his Thoughts, has always, to borrow a Phrafe from the Difpenfary, a barren Superfluity of Words; the Fruit is loft amidst the Exuberance of Leaves. TOM Puzzle is one of the most eminent immethodical Difputants of any that has fallen under my Obfervation. Tom has read enough to make him very impertinent; his Knowledge is fufficient to raise Doubts, but not to clear them. It is pity that he has fo much Learning, or that he has not a great deal more. With thefe Qualifications Tom fets up for a Free-thinker, finds a great many things to blame in the Conftitution of his Country, |