ken in it before you can observe any part of her work. I attempted her for a long and weary season, but I found her passion went no farther than to be admired; and she is of that unreasonable temper, as not to value the inconstancy of her lovers, provided she can boast she once had their addresses.

"Biblis was the second I aimed at, and her vanity lay in purchasing the adorers of others, and not in rejoicing in their love itself. Biblis is no man's mistress, but every woman's rival. As soon as I found this, I fell in love with Chloe, who is my present pleasure and torment. I have writ to her, danced with her, and fought for her, and have been her man in the sight and expectation of the whole town these three years; and thought myself near the end of my wishes, when the other day she called me into her closet, and told me, with a very grave face, that she was a woman of honor, and scorned to deceive a man who loved her with so much sincerity as she saw I did, and therefore she must inform me that she was by nature the most inconstant creature breathing, and begged of me not to marry her; if I insisted upon it, I should; but that she was lately fallen in love with another. What to do or say I know not, but desire you to inform me, and you will infinitely oblige,

« Sir,

"Your most humble servant,

"CHARLES YELLOW."

ADVERTISEMENT.

“Mr. Sly, haberdasher of hats, at the corner of Devereaux-court in the Strand, gives notice, that he has prepared very neat hats, rubbers, and brushes, for the use of young tradesmen in the last year of their apprenticeship, at reasonable rates.”

T.

No. 188.

FRIDAY, October 5, 1711.

BY STEELE.

Lætus sum laudari a te laudato viro.

TULL.

It gives me pleasure to be praised by you whom all men praise.

HE

up

is a very unhappy man who sets his heart up on being admired by the multitude, or affects a general and undistinguishing applause among men.What pious men call the testimony of a good conscience, should be the measure of our ambition in this kind, that is to say, a man of spirit should contemn the praise of the ignorant, and like being applauded for nothing but what he knows in his own heart he deserves. Besides which, the character of the person who commends you is to be considered before you set a value upon his esteem. The praise of an ignorant man is only good will, and you should receive his kindness as he is a good neighbour in society, and not as a good judge of your actions in point of fame and reputation. The satirists said very well of popular praise and acclamations, give the tinkers and coblers their presents again, and learn to live of yourself (a). It is an argument of a loose and ungoverned mind to be affected with the promiscuous approbation of the generality of mankind; and a man of virtue should be too delicate for so coarse an appetite of fame. Men of honor should endeavour only to please the worthy, and the man of merit should desire to be tried only by his peers. I thought it a noble sentiment which I heard

yesterday uttered in conversation; "I know (said a
gentleman) a way to be greater than any man : if
he has worth in him, I can rejoice in his superiority
to me, and that satisfaction is a greater act of the
soul in me, than any in him which can possibly ap-
pear to me."
This thought could not proceed but
from a candid and generous spirit; and the appro-
bation of such minds is what may be esteemed true
praise; for with the common rate of men there is
nothing commendable but what they themselves may
hope to be partakers of, and arrive at: but the mo-
tive truly glorious is, when the mind is set rather
to do things laudable than to purchase reputation.
Where there is that sincerity as the foundation of a
good name, the kind opinion of virtuous men will
be an unsought, but a necessary consequence.-
The Lacedamonians, though a plain people, and no
pretenders to politeness, had a certain delicacy in
their sense of glory, and sacrificed to the muses
when they entered upon any great enterprize.-
They would have the commemoration of their ac-
tions be transmitted by the purest and most untaint-
ed memorialists. The din which attends victories
and public triumphs is by far less eligible, than the
recital of the actions of great men by honest and wise
historians. It is a frivolous pleasure to be the ad-
miration of gaping crowds; but to have the approba-
tion of a good man in the cool reflections of his clo-
set, is a gratification worthy an heroic spirit.-
The applause of the crowd makes the head giddy,
but the attestation of a reasonable man makes the
heart glad.

What makes the love of popular or general praise still more ridiculous is, that it is usually given for circumstances which are foreign to the persons

admired. Thus they are the ordinary attendants on power and riches, which may be taken out of one man's hands and put into another's. The application only, and not the possession, makes those outward things honorable. The vulgar and men of sense agree in admiring men for having what they themselves would rather be possessed of; the wise man applauds him whom he thinks most virtuous, the rest of the world him who is most wealthy.

When a man is in this way of thinking, I do not know what can occur to one more monstrous, than to see persons of ingenuity address their services and performances to men no way addicted to liberal arts: in these cases the praise on one hand, and the patronage on the other, are equally the objects of ridicule. Dedications to ignorant men are as absurd as any of the speeches of Bullfinch in the Droll : such an address one is apt to translate into other words; and when the different parties are thoroughly considered, the panegyric generally implies no more than if the author should say to the patron; my very good lord, You and I can never understand one another, therefore I humbly desire we may be intimate friends for the future.'

The rich may as well ask to borrow of the poor, as the man of virtue or merit hope for addition to his character from any but such as himself. He that commends another, engages so much of his own reputation as he gives to that person commended; and he that has nothing laudable in himself is not of ability to be such a surety. The wise Phocion was so sensible how dangerous it was to be touched with what the multitude approved, that upon a general acclamation made when he was making an ora tion, he turned to an intelligent friend who stood

near him, and asked, in a surprised manner, 'What slip have I made ?' (b)

I shall conclude this paper with a billet which has fallen into my hands, and was written to a lady from a gentleman whom she had highly commended.The author of it had formerly been her lover. When all possibility of commerce between them on the subject of love was cut off, she spoke so handsomely of him as to give occasion for this letter.

« MADAM,

"I should be insensible to stupidity, if I could forbear making you my acknowledgments for your late mention of me with so much applause. It is, I think, your fate to give me new sentiments; as you formerly inspired me with the true sense of love, so do you now with the true sense of glory. As desire had the least part in the passion I heretofore professed towards you, so has vanity no share in the glory to which you have now raised me. Innocence, knowledge, beauty, virtue, sincerity, and discretion, are the constant ornaments of her who has said this Fame is a babbler, but I have arrived at the highest glory in this world, the commendation of the most deserving person in it."

of me.

T.

No. 189. SATURDAY, October 6, 1711.

BY ADDISON.

-Patria pietatis imago. VIRG. En. 10. v. 824.

An image of paternal tenderness.

THE following letter being written to my book

seller, upon a subject of which I treated some time