in miftaking the proper objects of her efteem, and fixing her affections upon fuch things as are only the trappings and decorations of her fex; fecondly, in not diftinguishing what becomes the different ftages of life; and, laftly, the abuse and corruption of fome excellent qualities, which, if circumfcribed within juft bounds, would have been the bleffing and profperity of her family, but, by a vicious extreme, are like to be the bane and destruction of it. T

Y Coverley

wifhed

had been reading my paper upon Weftminster Abbey, in which, fays he, there are a great many ingenious fancies. He told me at the fame time, that he obferved I had promifed another paper upon the tombs, and that he fhould be glad to go and fee them with me, not having visited them fince he had read hiftory. I could not at firft imagine how this came into the knight's head, till I recollected that he had been very bufy all last summer upon Baker's Chronicle, which he has quoted feveral times in his difputes with Sir Andrew Freeport fince his laft coming to town. Accordingly I promised to call upon him the next morning, that we might go together to the Abbey.

I found the knight under his butler's hands, who always fhaves him. He was no fooner dreffed, than he called for a glafs of the widow Trueby's water, which he told me he always drank before he went abroad. He recommended to me a dram of it at the fame time, with To much heartiness, that I could not forbear drinking it. As foon as I had got it down, I found it very unpalatable; upon which the knight obferving that I had made feveral wry faces, told me that he knew I fhould not like it at firft, but that it was the best thing in the world against the stone er gravel.

it fooner; but it was too late to complain, and I knew what he had done was out of good will. Sir Roger told me further, that he looked upon it to be very good for a man whilft he ftaid in town, to keep off infection, and that he got together a quantity of it upon the first news of the fick nefs being at Dantzick: when of a fudden turning fhort to one of his fervants, who flood behind him, he bid him call a hackneycoach, and take care it was an elderly man that drove it.

He then refumed his difcourfe upon Mrs. Trueby's water, telling me that the widow Trueby was one who did more good than all the doctors and apothecaries in the country: that the distilled every poppy that grew within five miles of her; that the diftributed her water gratis among all forts of people; to which the knight added, that he had a very great jointure, and that the whole country would fain have it a match between him and her; And truly,' fays Sir Roger, • if I had not been engaged,

perhaps I could not have done better.'

His difcourfe was broken off by his man's telling him he had called a coach. Upon our going to it, after having caft his eye upon the wheels, he asked the coachman if his axletree was good; upon the fellow's telling him he would warrant it, the knight turned to me, P

told

told me he looked like an honeft man, and went in without further ceremony.

We had not gone far, when Sir Roger, popping out his head, called the coachman down from his box, and upon his prelenting himself at the window, afked him if he fmoaked; as I was confidering what this would end in, he bid him ftop by the way at any good tobacconift's, and take in a roll of their best Virginia. Nothing material happened in the remaining part of our journey, till we were fet down at the weft end of the Abbey.

As we went up the body of the church, the knight pointed at the trophies upon one of the new monuments, and cried out A brave man I warrant him!' Paffing afterwards by Sir Cloudfly Shovel, he flung his hand that way, and cried Sir Cloudfly Shovel! a very 'gallant man!' As we ftood before Bufby's tomb, the knight uttered himfelf again after the fame manner- Dr. Bulby a great man! he whipped my grandfather; a very great man! I fhould have gone to him myself, if I • had not been a blockhead; a very great • man!'

We were immediately conducted into the little chapel on the right hand. Sir Roger, planting himself at our hiftorian's elbow, was very attentive to every thing he faid, particularly to the account he gave us of the lord who had cut off the King of Morocco's head. Among several other figures, he was very well pleafed to fee the ftatefiman Cecil upon his knees; and concluding them all to be great men, was conducted to the figure which reprefents that martyr to good housewifery, who died by the prick of a needle. Upon our interpreter's telling us that he was a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth, the knight was very inquifitive into her name and family; and after having regarded her finger for fome time, wonder,' fays he, that Sir Richard Baker has faid nothing of

her in his Chronicle.'

We were then conveyed to the two coronation chairs, where my old friend, after having heard that the tone underneath the most ancient of them, which was brought from Scotland, was called Jacob's Pillar, fat hinfelf down in the chair; and looking like the figure of an old Gothic king, atked our interpreter, what authority they had to fay, that Jacob had ever been in Scotland? The fellow, instead of returning him an an

fwer, told him, that he hoped his honour would pay his forfeit. I could obferve Sir Roger a little ruffled upon being thus trepanned; but our guide not infifting upon his demand, the knight foon recovered his good-humour, and whifpered in my ear, that if Will Wimble were with us, and faw thofe two chairs, it would go hard but he would get a tobacco-stopper out of one or the other of them.

Sir Roger, in the next place, laid his hand upon Edward the Third's fword, and leaning upon the pommel of it, gave us the whole hiftory of the Black Prince; concluding, that in Sir Richard Baker's opinion, Edward the Third was one of the greateft princes that ever fat upon the English throne.

We were then fhewn Edward the Confeffor's tomb; upon which Sir Roger acquainted us, that he was the first who touched for the evil; and afterwards Henry the Fourth's, upon which he fhook his head, and told us, there was fine reading in the cafualties of that reign.

Our conductor then pointed to that monument where there is the figure of one of our English kings without a head; and upon giving us to know,, that the head, which was of beaten filver, had been stolen away several years fince- Some whig, I'll warrant you," fays Sir Roger; you ought to lock up your kings better; they will carry off the body too, if you do not take care." The glorious names of Henry the Fifth and Queen Elizabeth gave the knight great opportunities of fhining, and of doing justice to Sir Richard Baker, who, as our knight obferved with fome furprife, had a great many kings in him, whofe monuments he had not feen in the Abbey.

For my own part I could not but be pleafed to fee the knight thew fuch an honeft paffion for the glory of his country, and fuch a refpectful gratitude to the memory of it's princes.

I must not omit, that the benevolence of my good old friend, which flows out towards every one he converfes with, made him very kind to our interpreter, whom he looked upon as an extraor dinary man; for which reafon he shook him by the hand at parting, telling him, that he should be very glad to fee him at his lodgings in Norfolk Buildings, and talk over thele matters with him more at leifure.

Ľ

N

THE HE following letters, written by two very confiderate correfpondents, both under twenty years of age, are very good arguments of the neceffity of taking into confideration the many incidents which affect the education of youth.

SIR,

I Have long expected, that in the course of your obfervations upon the feveral parts of human life, you would one time or other fall upon a subject, which, fince you have not, I take the liberty to recommend to you. What I mean, is the patronage of young modeft men to fuch as are able to countenance and introduce them into the world. For want of fuch affiftances, a youth of merit languishes in obfcurity or poverty, when his circumitances are low, and runs into riot and excefs when his fortunes are plentiful. I cannot make myself better understood, than by fending you an history of myself, which I fhall defire you to infert in your paper, it being the only way I have of expreffing my gratitude for the higheft obligations imaginable.

I am the fon of a merchant of the city of London, who, by many lofies, was reduced from a very luxuriant trade and credit to very narrow circumstances, in comparison to that of his former abundance. This took away the vigour of his mind, and all manner of attention to a fortune which he now thought defperate; infomuch that he died without a will, having before buried my mother in the midst of his other misfortunes. I was fixteen years of age when 1 loft my father; and an eftate of 2001. a year came into my poffeffion, without friend or guardian to inftruct me in the management or enjoyment of it. The Batural confequence of this was, (though I wanted no director, and foon had fellows who found me out for a finart young gentleman, and led me into all the debaucheries of which I was capable) that my companions and I could not well be fupplied without running in

Juv. SAT. XIV. v. 47.

debt, which I did very frankly, tilf was arrested, and conveyed, with a guard ftrong enough for the moft defperate affaflin, to a bailiff's houfe, where I lay four days furrounded with very merry, but not very agreeable company. As foon as I had extricated myself from that fhameful confinement, I reflected upon it with fo much horror, that I deferted all my old acquaintance, and took

chambers in an inn of court, with a refolution to ftudy the law with all poffible application. But I trifled away a whole year in looking over a thousand intricacies, without a friend to apply to in any cafe of doubt; so that I only lived there among men, as little children are fent to fchool before they are capable of improvement, only to be out of harm's way. In the midst of this ftate of fufpence, not knowing how to difpofe of myfelf, I was fought for by a relation of mine, who, upon obferving a good inclination in me, ufed me with great familiarity, and carried me to his feat in the country. When I came there, he introduced me to all the good company in the county; and the great obligation I have to him for this kind notice, and refidence with him ever fince, has made so strong an impreffion upon me, that he has the authority of a father over me, founded upon the love of a brother. I have a good study of books, a good ftable of horfes always at my command; and though I am not now quite eighteen years of age, familiar converfe on his part, and a strong inclination to exert myself on mine, have had an effect upon me that makes me acceptable wherever I go. Thus, Mr. Spectator, by this gentleman's favour and patronage, it is my own fault if I am not wifer and richer every day I live. I fpeak this as well by fubfcribing the initial letters of my name to thank him, as to incite others to an imitation of his virtue, It would be a worthy work to fhew what great charities are to be done without expence, and how many noble actions are loft, out of inadvertency in perfons capable

of performing them, if they were put in mind of it. If a gentleman of figure in a county would make his family a pattern of fobriety, good fenfe, and breeding, and would kindly endeavour to influence the education, and growing profpects of the younger gentry about him, I am apt to believe it would fave him a great deal of ftale beer on a public occafion, and render him the leader of his country from their gratitude to him, instead of being a flave to their riots and tumults in order to be made their reprefentative. The fame thing might be recommended to all who have made any progress in any parts of knowJedge, or arrived at any degree in a profeffion; others may gain preferments and fortunes from their patrons, but I have, I hope, received from mine good habits and virtues. I repeat to you, Sir, my request to print this, in return for all the evil an helpless orphan fhall ever efcape, and all the good he shall receive in this life; both which are wholly owing to this gentleman's favour to, Sir, your most obedient fervant,

MR. SPECTATOR,

S. P.

Am a lad of about fourteen. I find a I mighty pleasure in learning. I have been at the Latin fchool four years. I do not know I ever played truant, or neglected any task my mafter fet me in my life. I think on what I read in fchool as I go home at noon and night, and fo intently, that I have often gone half a mile out of my way, not minding whither I went. Our maid tells me, fhe often hears me talk Latin in my fleep; and I dream two or three nights in a week I am reading Juvenal and Homer. My matter feems as well pleased with my performances as any boy's in the fame clafs. I think, if I know my own mind, I would choofe rather to be a fcholar, than a prince without learning. I have a very good affectionate

father; but though very rich, yet fo mighty near, that he thinks much of the charges of my education. He often tells me he believes my fchooling will ruin him; that I coft him God knows what in books. I tremble to tell him I want one. I am forced to keep my pocket-money and lay it out for a book, now and then, that he does not know of. He has ordered my master to buy no more books for me, but fays he will buy them himself. I asked him for Horace the other day, and he told me in a paffion he did not believe I was fit for it, but only my mafter had a mind to make him think I had got a great way in my learning. I am fometimes a month behind other boys in getting the books my mafter gives orders for. All the boys in the school, but I, have the claffic authors in ufum Delphini, gilt and lettered on the back. My father is often reckoning up how long I have been at fchool, and tells me he fears I do little good. My father's carriage fo discourages me, that he makes me grow dull and melancholy. My mafter wonders what is the matter with me; I am afraid to tell him; for he is a man that loves to encourage learning, and would be apt to chide my father, and not knowing his temper, may make him worfe. Sir, if you have any love for learning, I beg you would give me fome inftructions in this cafe, and perfuade parents to encourage their children when they find them diligent and defirous of learning. I have heard fome parents fay, they would do any thing for their children, if they would but mind their learning: I would be glad to be in their place. Dear Sir, pardon my boldnefs. If you will but confider and pity my cafe, I will pray for your profperity as long as I live. Your humble fervant,

PERS. SAT. II. L. 28.

WHEN I was last with my friend Sir Roger in Westminster Abbey, I obferved that he ftood longer than ordinary before the buft of a venerable old man. I was at a lofs to guess the reafon of it, when after fome time he pointed to the figure, and afked me if I did not think that our forefathers look ed much wifer in their beards than we do without them. For my part,' says he, when I am walking in my gallery in the country, and fee ny ancestors, who many of them died before they were of my age, I cannot forbear regarding them as fo many old patriarchs, and at the fame time looking upon myself as an idle fmock-faced young fellow. I love to fee your Abrahams, your Ifaacs, and your Jacobs, as we have them in old pieces of tapestry with beards below their girdles, that cover half the hangings.' The knight added, if I would recommend beards in one of my papers, and endeavour to restore human faces to their ancient dignity, that upon a month's warning he would undertake to lead up the fashion himself in a pair of whiskers. I fmiled at my friend's fancy; but after we parted, could not forbear reflecting on the metamorphofis our faces have undergone in this particular.

The beard, conformable to the notion of my friend Sir Roger, was for many ages looked upon as the type of wisdom. Lucian more than once rallies the philofophers of his time, who endeavoured to rival one another in beards; and reprefents a learned man who stood for a profefforfhip in philofophy, as unqualified for it by the shortness of his beard. Ælian, in his account of Zoilus, the pretended critic, who wrote against Honer and Plato, and thought himself wifer than all who had gone before him, tells us that this Zoilus had a very long beard that hung down upon his breaft, but no hair upon his head, which he always kept clofe fhaved, regarding, it feems, the hairs of his head as fo many Suckers, which if they had been fuffer.

ed to grow, might have drawn away the nourishment from his chin, and by that means have ftarved his beard.

I have read somewhere that one of the popes refufed to accept an edition of a faint's works, which were presented to him, because the faint, in his effigies before the book, was drawn without a beard.

We fee by these inftances what homage the world has formerly paid to beards; and that a barber was not then allowed to make thofe depredations on the faces of the learned, which have been permitted him of late years.

Accordingly feveral wife nations have been fo extremely jealous of the least ruffle offered to their beards, that they feem to have fixed the point of honou principally in that part. The Spaniards were wonderfully tender in this particular. Don Quevedo, in his third vifion on the Laft Judgment, has carried the humour very far, when he tells us that one of his vain-glorious countrymen, after having received fentence, was taken into cuftody by a couple of evil spirits; but that his guides happening to diforder his muftachoes, they were forced to recompose them with a pair of curlingirons before they could get him to file

off.

If we look into the hiftory of our own nation, we shall find that the beard flourifhed in the Saxon heptarchy, but was very much difcouraged under the Norman line.

It shot out, however, from time to time, in feveral reigns, under different fhapes. The laft effort it made feems to have been in Queen Mary's days, as the curious reader may find, if he pleafes to perufe the figures of Cardinal Poole, and Bishop Gardiner; though at the fame time, I think it may be queftioned, if zeal against popery has not induced our proteftant painters to extend the beards of these two perfecutors beyond their natural dimensions, in order to make them appear the more terrible.

I find but few beards worth taking