to him that fhuns you, without mortifying him that languishes for you.

WHAT I am concerned for, Madam, is, that in the difpofal of your Heart, you should know what you are doing, and examine it before it is loft. Strephon contradicts you in Difcourfe with the Civility of one who has a Value for you, but gives up nothing like one that loves you. This feeming Unconcern gives this Behaviour the advantage of Sincerity, and infenfibly obtains your good Opinion, by appearing difinterested in the purchase of it. If you watch thefe Correfpondents hereafter, you will find that Strephon makes his Vifit of Civility immediately after Damon has tired you with one of Love. Tho' you are very difcreet, you will find it no eafy matter to efcape the Toils fo well laid, as when one ftudies to be difagreeable in Paffion, the other to be pleafing without it. All the Turns of your Temper are carefully watched, and their quick and faithful Intelligence gives your Lovers irrefiftible Advantage. You will pleafe, Madam, to be upon your guard, and take all the neceflary Precautions against one who is amiable to you before you know he is enamoured.

I am,

Madam,

Your most obedient Servant.

STREPHON makes great Progrefs in this Lady's good Graces, for molt Women being actuated by fome Little Spirit of Pride and Contradiction, he has the good Effects of both thofe Motives by this Covert Way of Courtship. He received a Meffage Yefterday from Damon in the following Words, fuperfcribed With Speed.

ALL goes well; fhe is very angry at me, and I

⚫ to Vifit.

Yours.

THE

THE Comparison of Strephon's Gaiety to Damon's Languishment, ftrikes her Imagination with a Profpe& of very agreeable Hours with fuch a Man as the former, and Abhorrence of the infipid Profpect with one like the latter. To know when a Lady is difpleased with another, is to know the best time of advancing your felf. This method of two Perfons playing in each other's Hand is fo dangerous, that I cannot tell how a Woman could be able to withstand fuch a Siege. The Condition of Gloriana, I am afraid, is irretrievable, for Strephon has had fo many Opportunities of pleafing without fufpicion, that all which is left for her to do is to bring him, now she is advised, to an Explanation of his Paffion, and beginning again, if fhe can conquer the kind Sentiments The has already conceived for him. When one fhews himself a Creature to be avoided, the other proper to be fled to for Succour, they have the whole Woman between them, and can occafionally rebound her Love and Hatred from one to the other, in such a manner as to keep her at a distance from all the rest of the World, and caft Lots for the Conqueft.

N. B. I have many other Secrets which concern the Empire of Love, but I confider that while I alarm my Women, I inftruct my Men.

T

N° 424. Monday, July 7.

Eft Ulubris, animus fi te non deficit.

Mr. SPECTATOR,

Hor.

London, June 24.

Man who has it in his Power to choofe his own

A Company, would certainly be much to blame

fhould he not, to the best of his Judgment, take fuch as are of a Temper moft fuitable to his own; and where that Choice is wanting, or where a Man is mistaken in his Choice, and yet under a Neceffity of continuing in the fame Company, it will

⚫ certainly

4

certainly be his Intereft to carry himself as eafily as poffible.

IN this I am fenfible I do but repeat what has been faid a thousand times, at which however I think no Body has any Title to take Exception, but they who never failed to put this in Practice- Not to ufe any longer Preface, this being the Seafon of the Year in which great Numbers of all forts of People retire from this Place of Bufinefs and Pleafure to Country Solitude, I think it not improper to advife them to take with them as great a Stock of Good-humour as they can; for tho' a Country-Life is defcribed as the moit pleafant of all others, and though it may in Truth be fo, yet it is fo only to thofe who know how to enjoy Leifure and Retirement.

AS for those who can't live without the conftant helps of Bufinefs or Company, let them confider, that in the Country there is no Exchange, there are no Playhoufes, no Variety of Coffee houfes, nor many of those other Amusements, which ferve here as fo many Reliefs from the repeated Occurrences in their own Families; but that there the greatest Part of their Time must be spent within themfelves, and confequently it behoves them to confider how agreeable it will be to them before they leave this dear Town.

I remember, Mr. SPECTATOR, we were very well entertained laft Year, with the Advices you gave us from Sir ROGER's Country Seat; which I the rather mention, becaufe 'tis almoft impoflible not to live pleafantly, where the Mafter of a Family is fuch a one as you there defcribe your Friend, who cannot therefore (I mean as to his doineftick Character) be too often reI commended to the Imitation of others. How aminble is that Affability and Benevolence with which he treats his Neighbours, and every one, even the meaneft of his own Family ! And yet how feldom imitated? inflead of which we commonly meet with ill-natured Expoflulations, Noife, and Chidings And this I hinted, becaule the Humour and Difpofition of the Head, is what chiefly influences all the other Parts of a Family.

• AN

AN Agreement and kind Correspondence between Friends and Acquaintance, is the greatest Pleasure of Life. This is an undoubted Truth, and yet any Man ⚫ who judges from the Practice of the World, will be almoft perfuaded to believe the contrary; for how can we fuppofe People fhould be fo induftrious to make them⚫ felves uneafy? What can engage them to entertain and ⚫ foment Jealoufies of one another upon every the leaft Occafion? Yet fo it is, there are People who (as it 'fhould feem) delight in being troublesom and vexatious, who (as Tully fpeaks) Mira funt alacritate ad litigandum, Have a ceetain Chearfulness in wrangling. And thus it happens, that there are very few Families in which there are not Feuds and Animofities, tho' 'tis every one's Intereft, there more particularly, to avoid 'em, because there (as I would willingly hope) no one gives another Uneafiness, without feeling fome fhare of it

But I

am gone beyond what I defigned, and had almoft forgot what I chiefly propofed; which was, barely to tell you how hardly we who país moft of our Time in Town difpenfe with a long Vacation in the Country, how uneafy we grow to our felves and to one another when our Converfation is confined, infomuch that by Michaelmas 'tis odds but we come to downright squabbling, and make as free with one another to our Faces, · as we do with the reft of the World behind their Backs. After I have told you this, I am to defire that you would ́.. now and then give us a Leffon of Good-humour, a Family-Piece, which, fince we are all very fond of you, I hope may have fome Influence upon us

AFTER these plain Obfervations give me leave to give you an Hint of what a Set of Company of my Acquaintance, who are now gone into the Country, and have the Ufe of an abfent Nobleman's Seat, have fet• tled among themselves, to avoid the Inconveniencies above mentioned. They are a Collection of ten or twelve, of the fame good Inclination towards each other, but of very different Talents and Inclinations From hence they hope, that the Variety of their Tempers will only create Variety of Pleasures. But as there always will arife, among the fame People, either for ⚫ want of Diversity of Objects, or the like Caufes, a cer

:

⚫tain

tain Satiety, which may grow into Ill-humour or Dif'content, there is a large Wing of the Houfe which they defign to employ in the Nature of an Infirmary. 'Whoever fays a peevish thing, or acts any thing which betrays a Sournefs or Indifpofition to Company, is 'immediately to be conveyed to his Chambers in the Infirmary; from whence he is not to be relieved, till by his Manner of Submiffion, and the Sentiments expreffed in his Petition for that Purpofe, he appears to the Majority of the Company to be again fit for Society. You are to understand, that all ill natured Words or uneafy Gestures are fufficient Caufe for Banifhment; fpeaking impatiently to Servants, making a Man repeat what he fays, or any thing that betrays Inattention or Difhumour, are alfo criminal without Reprieve: But it is provided, that whoever obferves the ill-natured Fit coming upon himfelf, and voluntarily retires, fhall be received at his return from the Infirmary with the higheft Marks of Efteem. By thefe and other wholfom Methods it is expected that if they cannot cure one another, yet at least they have taken care that the Ill-humour of one fhall not be troublefom to the reft of the Company. There are many other Rules which the Society have eftablished for the Prefervation of their Eafe and Tranquillity, the Effects of which, with the Incidents that arife among them, fhall be communicated to you from Time to Time for the publick Good, by,

IR,

Your most humble Servant,

T

R. O.

Tuesday,