imitate the conduct of the husband of that little lady he describes, the mistress of the Dutch babyhouse; between whom and his wife, though there subsists a very intimate connection, there is yet a contract of a particular kind; whenever the gentleman is at home, the lady is abroad, and vice versa. In their house, indeed, I do not observe any children; from which I conclude that they have all been sent to the academy and the boarding school.

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I

SIR,

To the AUTHOR of the MIRROR.

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To reconcile man to man, has been one of the great objects of moralists. They tell us, that men have one common original, and why should relations quarrel?' but then a petulant wit interposes, and observes that the original is not near enough to form a strong connection; and if the modern theory of volcanoes be true, the original is so very distant as not to form any sensible connection at all. The Duke of Aremberg and Sir Thomas Urquhart may count kindred with the antediluvians; for the former has such a pedigree preserved at his castle at Hainault, and the latter has set forth his in print; but there are few genealogies so complete.

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We are next told, that all men are engaged in one common journey through life, and why should they quarrel on the road? The answer is but too obvious we do not quarrel merely for the sake of quarrelling but as we have opportunity, we take the road, and oblige others, for our conveniency, to yield it; while eagerly galloping to the next stage, we bespatter those who are in our way; we send a servant before to bespeak the best beds at the inn, and the choice of the larder; and we make ourselves

as important and as troublesome as we can, merely for our own convenience; nay, we bribe a waiter to give us all his attendance, and to let the other passengers ring till their arn s ache; but it is all to render ourselves as easy as possible.

The last consideration is, that we are all hastening to one common grave, and why should we • quarrel now, since our quarrels must be soon at an end?' This proves that our disputes must be short, not that they may not be sharp.

I remember to have read somewhere of a people, I think to the north west of Hungary, who had a name in their own language, which answers nearly to our word brothers, and who prided themselves, for a while, in that whimsical appellation. Their tenets were simple and full of benevolence, and, in general, so plain, that those who heard them for the first time, imagined that they had been previously acquainted with them. The men of whom I speak, could not have any long contests, for they were all hastening to the common goal of mortality, yet their disputes, although short, were sharp; early did they begin to bite, and, as soon as they gained strength, they devoured each other, if the expression may be allowed. According to the Scottish phrase, they

quarrelled about the turning of a straw;' they vexed, tormented, and proscribed each other; nay, some assert that they cut throats; but still they declared that they meant nothing personal, and, for a long while, they still retained the name of brothers.

If that singular people, so full of benevolence, quarrelled incessantly for any cause, or for no cause, how can it be expected that we should walk through life to the grave with the calm and inoffensive solemnity of mourners at an interment, especially when so few of us have time to bestow our thoughts on the grave and its consequences?

It is impossible to reconcile man to man; but it is possible to bring individuals of the human race to a better understanding with each other.

I might dilate this proposition in a feigned tale, or obscure it by an allegory; but I rather chuse to prove it in the course of a simple narrative of matter of fact.

While the Duchess of Marlborough enjoyed power little short of sovereign, she frequently felt the satirical lashes of Dr. Swift; and, when disgraced, she could not but remember them; for she had a quick sense of injuries, and her nature was not much inclined to forgiveness.

Thwarted ambition, great wealth, and increasing years, rendered her more and more peevish: she hated courts over which she had no influence, and she became at length the most ferocious animal that is suffered to go loose, a violent party-woman.

Every one knows, that as her Grace was obliged to descend from the highest round of the ladder of ambition, so the Doctor was not allowed to mount the first step; and his disappointment produced the like effects on him, as lost empire had done on her.

Yet the Duchess of Marlborough became the passionate admirer of her satirist, and was even willing to forgive him. The perusal of Gulliver's Travels produced this moral revolution in her sentiments; and that which debased the author in the opinion of many of his friends, exalted him in the opinion of the Duchess of Marlborough.

There are now lying before me some original letters of that celebrated lady. Dean Swift,' says she, gives the most exact account of kings, ministers, bishops, and the courts of justice, that is possible to be writ.-I could not help wishing, since I read his books, that we had had his assistance in the opposition-for I could easily forgive him all

'the slaps he has given me and the Duke of Marl'borough, and have thanked him heartily whenever he would please to do good.'

In another letter she says, I most heartily wish that in this park I had some of the breed of those charming creatures Swift speaks of, and calls the Houyhnhnms, which I understand to be horses, so extremely polite, and which had all manner of good 'conversation and good principles, and that never 'told a lie, and charmed him so that he could not ' endure his own country when he returned: he says 'there is a sort of creature there called yahoos, and of the same species with us, only a good deal uglier, but they are kept tied up, and by that glorious 'creature the horses, are not permitted to do any 'mischief. You will think that I am distracted with • Dean Swift, but I really have not been pleased so 'much a long time as with what he writes, and therefore I will end with one of his sentences, that 'he mortally hates kings and ministers.'

Thus the Duchess became distracted with Dean • Swift ;' and, on account of his libel against human nature, graciously pardoned his libels against her · own sacred person.'

But Dr. Swift knew not her favourable opinion of him; for he left in manuscript a severer invective against her than any that he had published in his lifetime. Pity that for want of information, the misunderstanding should still have subsisted on his part! the good offices of a friend might easily have reconciled two persons so much connected with each other by the common ties of misanthropy.

I am, &c.

ADELUS.

N° 22 SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 1779

Sincerum cupimus vas incrustare.

HOR.

To the AUTHOR of the MIRROR.

SIR, YOUR MIRROR, it seems, possesses uncommon virtues, and you generously hold it out to the Public, that we may dress our characters at it. I trust it is, at least a faithful glass, and will give a just representation of those lurking imperfections or excellencies which we distinguish with difficulty, or sometimes altogether overlook. I struggle, therefore, to get forward in the crowd, and to set before your moral MIRROR a personage who has long embarrassed

me.

The observation of character, when I first looked beyond a college for happiness, formed not only my amusement, but, for some years, my favourite study. I had been so fortunate as early to imbibe strict notions of morality and religion, and to arrive at manhood in perfect ignorance of vicious pleasure. My heart was, therefore, led to place its hopes of happiness in love and friendship: but books had taught me to dread misplacing my affections. On this account, anxious to gratify the soif d'aimer that engrossed me, I bent the whole of my little talents to discern the characters of my acquaintance; and, blending sentiments of religion with high notions of moral excellence, and the refined intercourse of cul