the word, and replies with great quick- with the following paffage of Lucretius, nefs -Ay, every inch a king: Adultery? no, thou shalt not die: die for He then makes fome very fevere reflections on the hypocrify of lewd and abandoned women; and adds- Fie, fie, fie! pah, pah! Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my 'imagination. And as every object feems to be prefent to the eyes of the lunatic, he thinks he pays for the drug: 'There's money for thee!' Very strong and lively alfo is the imagery in a fucceeding fpeech, where he thinks himself viewing his fubje&s punished by the proper officer: Thou rafcalbedel, hold thy bloody hand: Thou hotly luft'ft to ufe her in that kind This circumftance leads him to reflect Through tatter'd cloaths fmall vices do appear; Robes and furr'd gowns hide all, Plate fin with gold, And the trong lance of justice hurtless breaks; If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes. that I cannot forbear tranfcribing it: Cui tantum in vita reftet tranfire malorum. copied from the Roman; on fuch a fub- It were a delicate ftratagem to shoe No refcue? What! a prifoner? I am e'en I am cut to the brain. Cordelia at length arrives; an opiate is adminiftered to the king, to calm the' agonies and agitations of his mind; and a most interesting interview enfues be-, tween this daughter that was fo unjustly fufpected of difaffection, and the rafh flumber, has been arrayed in regal apand mistaken father. Lear, during his parel, and is brought upon the tage in a chair, not recovered from his trance. I know not a fpeech more truly pathetic than that of Cordelia when the first fees, him: Had you not been their father, these white Did challenge pity of them. Was this a face Rr manity; 1 THE ADVENTURER. My very enemy's dog, Though he had bit me, fhould have ftood Against my fire. And waft thou fain, poor father, To hovel thee with fwine, and rogues forlorn, Lear begins to awake; but his ima- You do me wrong to take me out o' th' grave. When Cordelia in great affliction asks This reply heightens her distress; but -Pray do not mock me: man; Yet I am doubtful: for I'm mainly ignorant The humility, calmnefs, and fedatenefs you. do not, Being told that he is not in France, but in his own kingdom, he answers hastily, and in connection with that leading idea which I have before infifted on- Do not abuse me;' and adds, with a meeknefs and contrition that are very pathetic- Pray now forget and forgive; I am old and foolish." Cordelia is at laft flain: the lamentations of Lear are extremely tender and affecting; and this accident is fo fevere and intolerable, that it again deprived him of his intellect, which feemed to be returning. His laft fpeech, as he furveys the body, confifts of fuch fimple reflections as nature and forrow dictate: Why fhould a dog, a horfe, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more; Never, never, never, never, never! The heaving and swelling of his heart is defcribed by a moft expreffive circumstance: Do Pray you undo this button. Thank you, Sir; I fhall tranfiently observe, in conclufion of thefe remarks, that this drama is chargeable with confiderable imperfections. The plot of Edmund against his brother, which diftracts the attention, and deftroys the unity of the fable; the cruel and horrid extinction of Glo'fter's eyes, which ought not to be exhibited on the ftage; the utter improbability of Glo'fter's imagining, though blind, that he had leaped down Dover cliff; and fome paffages that are too turgid and full of trained metaphors; are faults which the warmest admirers of Shakespeare will find it difficult to excufe. I know not, also, whether the cruelty of the daughters is not painted with circumstances too favage and unnatural; for it is not fufficient to fay that this monftrous barbarity is founded on hiftorical truth, if we recollect the just observation of Boileau Le vray peut quelquefois n'etre pas vraisem Some truths may be too ftrong to be believed, N° CXXIII No CXXIII. TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1754. JAM PROTERVA FRONTE PETIT LALAGE MARITUM. THE MAID WHOM NOW YOU COURT IN VAIN, Have before remarked, that to ab ftain from the appearance of evil, is a precept in that law, which has every characteristic of Divinity; and I have in more than one of thefe papers endeavoured to enforce the practice of it, by an illuftration of it's excellence and importance. Circumftances have been admitted as evidences of guilt, even when death has been the confequence of conviction; and a conduct by which evil is strongly implied, is little lefs pernicious than that by which it is expreffed. With refpect to fociety, as far as it can be influenced by example, the effect of both is the fame; for every man encourages the practice of that vice which he commits in appearance, though he avoids it in fact and with refpect to the individual, as the efteem of the world is a motive to virtue only lefs powerful than the approbation of confcience, he who knows that he is already degraded by the imputation of guilt, will find himself half difarmed when he is affailed by temptation: and as he will have lefs to lofe, he will, indeed, be lefs difpofed to refift. Of the fex, whofe levity is most likely to provoke cenfure, it is eminently true, that the lofs of character by imprudence frequently induces the lofs of virtue: the ladies, therefore, fhould be proportionably circumfpect; as to thofe, in whom folly is most likely to terminate in guilt, it is certainly of moft importance to be wife. This fubject has irrefiftibly obtruded itfelf upon my mind in the filent hour of meditation, because, as often as I have reviewed the scenes in which I have mixed among the bufy and the gay, I have obferved that a depravity of manners, a licentious extravagance of drefs and behaviour, are become almost univerfal; virtue feems ambitious of a refemblance to vice, as vice glories in the deformities which he has been used to hide. A decent timidity and modest reserve have been always confidered as auxilia HOR. ties to beauty; but an air of diffolute boldness is now affected by all who would be thought graceful or polite: chastity, which used to be difcovered in every gefture and every look, is now retired to the breaft, and is found only by thofe who intend it's destruction; as a general, when the town is furrendered, retreats to the citadel, which is always lefs capable of defence, when the outworks are poffeffed by the enemy, There is now little apparent difference between the virgin and the proftitute: if they are not otherwise known, they may fhare the box and the drawing-room, without distinction. The fame fashion which takes away the veil of modefty, will neceffarily conceal lewdness; and honour and fame will lofe their influence, because they will no longer diftinguish virtue from vice. General cuftom, perhaps, may be thought an effectual fecurity againft general cenfure; but it will not always lull the fufpicions of jealoufy; nor can it familiarife any beauty without deftroying it's influence, or diminish the prerogatives of a husband without weakening his attachment to his wife. The excels of every mode may be declined without remarkable fingularity; and the ladies, who fhould even dare to be fingular in the prefent defection of tafte, would proportionably increase their power and fecure their happiness. I know that in the vanity and the prefumption of youth, it is common to alledge the confcioufnefs of innocence as a reafon for the contempt of cenfure; and a licence, not only for every freedom, but for every favour except the laft. This confidence can, perhaps, only be repreffed by a fenfe of danger : and as the perfons whom I with to warn, are most impatient of declamation, and moft fufceptible of pity, I will address them in a story; and I hope the events will not only illuftrate, but impress the precept which they contain. Flavilla, juft as fhe had entered her fourteenth year, was left an orphan to the the care of her mother, in fuch circumftances as difappointed all the hopes which her education had encouraged. Her father, who lived in great elegance upon the falary of a place at court, died fuddenly, without having made any provifion for his family, except an annuity of one hundred pounds, which he had purchased for his wife with part of her marriage portion; nor was he poffeffed of any property, except the furniture of a large houfe in one of the new fquares, an equipage, a few jewels, and fome plate. The greater part of the furniture and the equipage were fold to pay his debts: the jewels, which were not of great value, and fome ufeful pieces of the plate, were referved; and Flavilla removed with her mother into lodgings. But notwithstanding this change in their circumftances, they did not immediately lose their rank. They were still vifited by a numerous and polite acquaintance; and though fome gratified their pride by affuming the appearance of pity, and rather infulted than alleviated their diftrefs by the whine of condolance, and minute comparison of what they had loft with what they poffeffled; yet from others they were continually receiving prefents, which ftill enabled them to live with a genteel frugality; they were still confidered as people of fashion, and treated by thofe of a lower clafs with diftant refpect. Flavilla thus continued, to move in a fphere to which he had no claim; the was perpetually furrounded with elegance and fplendor, which the caprice of others, like the rod of an enchanter, could diffipate in a moment, and leave her to regret the lofs of enjoyments, which the could neither hope to obtain nor cease to defire. Of this, however, Flavilla had no dread. She was remarkably tall for her age, and was celebrated not only for her beauty but her wit: thefe qualifications the confidered, not only as fecuring whatever the enjoyed by the favour of others, but as a pledge of poffeffing them in her own right by an advantageous marriage. Thus the vifion that danced before her, derived ftability from the very vanity which it flattered: and the had as little apprehenfion of diftrefs, as diffidence of her own power to pleafe. There was a fashionable levity in her carriage and difcourfe, which her mother, who knew the danger of her fituation, laboured to restrain, fometimes with anger, fometimes with tears, but always without fuccefs. Flavilla was ever ready to answer, that the neither did or faid any thing of which he had reafon to be ashamed; and therefore did not know why the thould be reftrained, except in mere courtefy to envy, whom it was an honour to provoke, or to flan der, whom it was a difgrace to fear. In proportion as Flavilla was more flat, tered and carefled, the influence of her mother becanie less: and though she always treated her with respect from a point of good breeding, yet the fecretly despised her maxims, and applauded her own condu&t. Flavilla at eighteen was a celebrated toaft; and among other gay vifitants who frequented her tea-table, was Clodio, a young baronet, who had just taken poffeffion of his title and eitate. There were many particulars in Clodio's behaviour, which encouraged Flavilla to hope that the fhould obtain him for a husband: but the fuffered his affiduities with fuch apparent pleasure, and his familiarities with fo little referve, that he foon ventured to difclofe his intention, and make her what he thought a very genteel propofal of another kind. But whatever were the artifices with which it was introduced, or the terms in which it was made, Flavilla rejected it with the utmoft indignation and difdain. Clodio, who, notwithstanding his youth, had long known and often practifed the arts of feduction, gave way to the storm, threw himself at her feet, imputed his offence to the phrenzy of his paffion, flattered her pride by the most abject fubmiflion and extravagant praife, intreated her pardon, aggravated his crime, but made no mention of atonement by marriage. This particular, which Flavilla did not fail to remark, ought to have determined her to admit him no more: but her vanity and her ambition were ftill predominant; the ftill hoped to fucceed in her project; Clodio's offence was tacitly forgotten, his vifits were permitted, his familiarities were again fuffered, and his hopes revived. He had long entertained an opinion that fhe loved him; in which, however, it is probable, that his own vanity and her indifcretion concurred to deceive him; but this opinion, though it implied the frongeft obligation to treat her with ge nerality nerofity and tenderness, only determined him again to attempt her ruin, as it encouraged him with a probability of fucceis. Having, therefore, refolved to obtain her as a miftrefs, or at once to give her up, he thought he had little more to do, than to convince her that he had taken fuch a refolution, juftify it by fome plaufible fophiftry, and give her fome time to deliberate upon a final determination. With this view, he went a short journey into the country; having put a letter into her hand at parting, in which he acquainted her, that he had often reflected, with inexpreffible regret, upon her refentment of his conduct in a late inftance; but that the delicacy and the ardour of his affection were infuperable obftacles to his marriage; that where there was no liberty, there could be no happiness: that he fhould become indifferent to the endearments of love, when they could no longer be distinguished from the officioufnels of duty: that while they were happy in the poffeflion of each other, it would be abfurd to fuppofe they would part; and that if this happiness should ceafe, it would not only enfure but aggravate their mifery to be infeparably united: that this event was lefs probable, in proportion as their cohabitation was voluntary; but that he would make fuch provifion for her upon the contingency, as a wife would expect upon his death. He conjured her not to determine under the influence of prejudice and cuftom, but according to the laws of reafon and nature. After mature deliberation,' faid he, remember that the whole value of my life depends upon your will. I do not request an explicit confent, with whatever tranfport I might behold the lovely confusion which it might produce. I fhall attend you in a few days, with the anxiety, though not with the guilt, of a criminal who waits for the decifion of his judge. If my vifit is admitted, we will never part; if it is rejected, I can never fee you more.' N° CXXIV. SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1754. WITH HEEDLESS FEET ON FIRES YOU GO; LAVILLA had too much understanding as well as virtue, to deliberate a moment upon this propofal. She gave immediate orders that Clodio should be admitted no more. But his letter was a temptation to gratify her vanity, which he could not refift; the thewed it firit to her mother, and then to the whole circle of her female acquaintance, with all the exultation of a hero who expoíes a vanquished enemy at the wheels of his chariot in a triumph; the considered it as an indifputable evidence of her virtue, as a reproof of all who had dared to cenfure the levity of her conduct, and a licence to continue it without apology or restraint. It happened that Flavilla, foon after this accident, was feen in one of the boxes at the play-houfe by Mercator, a young gentleman who had just returned from his firit voyage as captain of a large hip in the Levant trade, which Had been purchased for him by his fa ther, whofe fortune enabled him to make a genteel provifion for five fons, of whom Mercator was the youngest, and who expected to share his eftate, which was perfonal, in equal proportions at his death. Mercator was captivated with her beauty, but difcouraged by the fplendor of her appearance, and the rank of her company. He was unged rather by curiolity than hope, to enquire who the was; and he foon gained fuch a knowledge of her circuinftances, as relieved him from despair. As he know not how to get admiffion to her company, and had no defign upon her virtue, he wrote in the first ardour of his paffion to her mother; giving a faithful account of his fortune and dependence, and intreating that he might be permitted to vifit Flavilla as a candidate for her affection. The old lady, after having made fone enquiries, by which the account that Mureator had |