MONIMIA.

VIRG. ÆN. IV. VER. 15.

DRYDEN.

cafuift.

MR. SPECTATOR,

HAVING in fome former papers taken care of the two ftates of virginity and marriage, and being willing that all people thould be ferved in their turn, I this day drew out my drawer of widows, where I met with feveral cafes, to each whereof I have returned fatisfactory anfwers by the poft. The cafes are as follow:

2. Whether Amoret be bound by a promife of marriage to Philander, made during her husband's life?

2. WhetherSemphronia, having faithfully given a promife to two feveral perfons during the latt fick nefs of her hufband, is not thereby left at liberty to chufe which of them fhe pleafes, or to reject them both for the fake of a new lover?

Cleora afks me, whether the be obliged to continue fingle according to a vow made to her husband at the time of his prefenting her with a diamond necklace; The being informed by a very pretty young fellow of a good confcience, that, fuch vows are in their nature finful?

Another enquires, whether the hath not the right of widowhood, to dispose of herself to a gentleman of great merit, who preffes very hard; her husband be ing irrecoverably gone in a confump

tion?

An unreasonable creature hath the

than her eldest fon?

A fcrupulous well-fpoken matron, who gives me a great many good words, only doubts whether the is not obliged in confcience to shut up her two marriageable daughters, until fuch time as the hath comfortably difpofed of herself?

Sophronia, who feems by her phrase and spelling to be a person of condition, fets forth, that whereas fhe hath a great estate, and is but a woman, she defires to be informed, whether the would not do prudently to marry Camillus, a very idle tall young fellow, who hath no fortune of his own, and confequently hath nothing else to do but to manage lier's?

Before I fpeak of widows, I cannot but obferve one thing, which I do not know how to account for; a widow is always more fought after than an old maid of the fame age. It is common enough among ordinary people, for a ftale virgin to fet up a fhop in a place where the is not known; where the large thumb-ring, fuppofed to be given her by her husband, quickly recommends her to fome wealthy neighbour, who takes a liking to the jolly widow, that would have overlooked the venerable spinster,

The truth of it is, if we look into this fet of women, we find, according to the different characters or circumftances wherein they are left, that widows may be divided into thofe who raife love, and thofe who raise compaffion.

But

But not to ramble from this fubject, there are two things in which confifts chiefly the glory of a widow; the love of her deceased husband, and the care of her children: to which may be added a third arifing out of the former, fuch aprudent conduct as may do honour to both.

A widow poffeffed of all these three qualities, makes not only a virtuous but a fublime character.

There is fomething fo great and fo generous in this ftate of life, when it is accompanied with all it's virtues, that it is the fubject of one of the finest among our modern tragedies in the perfon of Andromache, and had met with an uni. verfal and deferved applaufe, when introduced upon our English ftage by Mr. Philips.

The most memorable widow in hif tory is Queen Artemisia, who not only erected the famous Maufoleum, but drank up the afhes of her dead lord : thereby inclofing them in a nobler monument than that which he had built, though defervedly effeemed one of the wonders of architecture,

This laft lady feems to have had a better title to a fecond husband than any I have read of, fince not one duft of her firft was remaining. Our modern heroines might think a husband a very bitter draught, and would have good reafon to complain, if they might not accept of a fecond partner, until they had taken fuch a troublesome method of foling the memory of the firit.

I fhall add to thefe illustrious exam

ples out of ancient ftory, a remarkable inftance of the delicacy of our ancestors in relation to the state of widowhood, as I find it recorded in Cowell's Interpreter. At East and Weft Enborne in the county of Berks, if a customary tenant die, the widow fhall have what the law calls her free-bench in all his copy hold lands, dum fola et cafta fuerit; that is, while the lives fingle and chafte; but if the commits incontinency, the forfeits her eftate: yet if the will come into the court riding back'ward upon a black rain, with his tail in her hand, and fay the words following, the steward is bound by the 'custom to re-admit her to her freebench.'

Here I am,

Riding upon a black ram,
Like a whore as I am;
And for my crincum craneum,
Have lost my bincum bancums
And for my tail's game,

Have done this worldly shame;
Therefore, I pray you, Mr. Steward, let
me have my land again.

The like cuftom there is in the manor of Torre in Devonshire, and other parts of the weft.

It is not impoffible but I may in a little time prefent you with a register of Berkshire ladies, and other weftern dames, who rode publicly upon this occation; and I hope the town will be entertained with a cavalcade of wi dows.

QUI DEORUM

T must be owned that fear is a very

IT wef he owned a verd

one of the greatelt virtues to fubdue it. It being implanted in us for our prefervation, it is no wonder that it sticks close to us, as long as we have any thing we are willing to preferve. But as life, and all it's enjoyments, would be scarce worth the keeping, if we were under a perpetual dread of lofing them, it is the bufinefs of religion and philofophy to free us from ali unneceffary anxieties, and direct our fear to it's proper object.

If we confider the painfulness of this paffion, and the violent effects it pro duces, we fhall fee how dangerous it is to give way to it upon flight occafions. Some have frightened themfelves into madnefs, others have given up their lives to thefe apprehenfions. The ftory of a man who grew grey in the fpace of one night's anxiety is very famous.

O! nox, quam longa es, quæ facis una fenem! A tedious night indeed, that makes a young man old!

Thefe apprehenfions, if they proceed from a conicioufnefs of guilt, are the fad warnings of reafon; and may excite our pity, but admit of no remedy. When the hand of the Almighty is visibly lifted againit the impious, the heart of mortal man cannot withstand him. We have this paffion fublimely reprefented in the punishment of the Egyptians, tormented with the plague of darkness, in the apocryphal book of Wifdem afcrib

ed to Solomon.

For when unrighteous men thought to opprefs the holy nation; they being hut up in their houtes, the prifoners of darkness, and fettered with the bonds of a long night, lay there 'exiled from the Eternal Providence.

For while they fuppofed to lie hid in their fecret fins, they were fcattered 'under a dark veil of forgetfulness, being horribly aftonished and troubled with ftrange apparitions.-For wickednefs, condemned by her own wit. nefs, is very timorous, and being op preffed with confcience, always forecalteth grievous things. For fear is nothing elfe but a betraying of the 'fuccours which reafon offereth-For the whole world fhineth with clear light, and none were hindered in their labour. Over them only was spread a heavy night, an image of that darknefs which thould afterwards receive them; but yet were they unto them-felves more grievous than the dark• nefs.'

To fear, fo juftly grounded, no res medy can be proposed; but a man (who hath no great guilt hanging upon his mind, who walks in the plain path of juftice and integrity, and yet either by natural complexion, or confirmed prejudices, or neglect of serious reflection, fuffers himself to be moved by this ab

and unmanly paffior) would do well to confider, that there is nothing which deferves his fear, but that beneficent Bior who is his friend, his protector, his father. Were this one thought

Arongly

ftrongly fixed in the mind, what calamity would be dreadful? what load can infamy lay upon us when we are fure of the approbation of him who will repay the difgrace of a moment with the glory of eternity? what sharpness is there in pain and diseases, when they only haften us on to the pleasures that will never fade? what fting is in death when we are affured that it is only the beginning of life? A man who lives fo, as not to fear to die, is inconfiftent with himself, if he delivers himself up to an incidental anxiety.

The intrepidity of a just good man is fo nobly fet forth by Horace, that it cannot be too often repeated.

The man refolv'd and steady to his truft, Inflexible to ill, and obftinately juít, May the rude rabble's infolence defife, Their fenfelefs clamours and tumultuous cries:

The tyrant's fiercenefs he beguiles,

before, may by ten thousand accidents, or an immediate change in the inclinations of men, difconcert the most fubtle project, and turn it to the benefit of his own fervants.

In the next place we should confider, though the evil we imagine should come to país, it may be much more fupportable than it appeared to be. As there is no profperous ftate of life without it's calamities, fo there is no adverfity without it's benefits. Afk the great and powerful, if they do not feel the pangs of envy and ambition. Enquire of the poor and needy, if they have not tafted the fweets of quiet and contentment. Even under the pains of body, the infidelity of friends, or the mifconftructions put upon our laudable actions, our minds, when for fome time accuf tomed to thefe preffures, are fenfible of fecret flowings of comfort, the present reward of a pious refignation. The evils of this life appear like rocks and

fies,

And with fuperior greatnefs fimiles.

Not the rough whirlwind that deforms Adria's black gulph, and v: xes it with forms, The ftubborn vi. tue of his foul can move; Not the r d arm of angry Jove, That fling the thunder from the sky,

tance, but at our nearer approach, we find little fruitful fpots, and refreshing fprings, mixed with the harshness and deformities of nature.

In the laft place, we may comfort ourfelves with this confideration; that, as the thing feared may not reach us,

him break,

In ruin and confufion hurl'd, He, unconcern'd would hear the mighty crack,

And ftand fecure amidst a falling world.

The vanity of fear may be yet farther illuftrated, if we reflect,

Firft, What we fear may not come to pafs. No human fcheme can be fo accurately projected, but fome little circumftance intervening may spoil it. He who directs the heart of man at his pleafure, and understands the thoughts long

knows all our failings, and will not fuffer us to be tempted beyond our ftrength, is often pleated, in his tender feverity, to feparate the foul from it's body and miferies together.

If we look forward to him for help, we fhall never be in danger of falling down thofe precipices which our imagination is apt to create. Like those who walk upon a line, if we keep our eye fixed upon one point, we may step forward fecurely; whereas an imprudent or cowardly glance on either fide will infallibly deftroy us.

NICERO hath observed, that a jeft

CICER

is never uttered with a better grace, than when it is accompanied with a ferious countenance. When a pleasant thought plays in the features, before it. difcovers itfelf in words, it raises too great an expectation, and lofes the advantage of giving furprife. Wit and humour are no lefs poorly recommended by a levity of phrafe, and that kind of language which may be diftinguished by the name of Cant. Ridicule is never more ftrong, than when it is concealed in gravity. True humour lies in the thought, and arifes from the reprefentation of images in odd circumstances, and uncommon lights. A pleafant thought trikes us by the force of it's natural beauty; and the mirth of it is generally rather palled, than heightened by that ridiculous phraftology, which is fo much in fafhion among the pretenders to humour and pleafantry. This tribe of men are like cur mountebanks; they make a man a wit, by putting him in a fantastic habit..

Our little burlesque authors, who are the delight of ordinary readers, generally abound in thefe pert phrafes, which have in them more vivacity than wit.

MARTIAL. EPIG. X. L. I.

was half feas over before the bonefire was out. We had with us the attorney, and two or three other bright fellows. The doctor plays leaft in fight.

At nine o'clock in the evening we fet; fire to the Whore of Babylon. The Devil acted his part to a miracle. He has made his fortune by it. We equip ped the young dog with a tefter a-piece. Horeft old Brown of England was very drunk, and fhewed his loyalty to the tune of a hundred rockets. The mob drank the king's health on their mar-' rowbones, in Mother Day's double. They whipped us half, a dozen hogfheads. Poor Tom Tyler had like to have been demolished with the end of a fky-rocket, that fell upon the bridge of his nofe as he was drinking the king's health, and fpoiled his tip. The mob were very loyal until about midnight, when they grew a little mutinous for more liquor. They had like to have dumfounded the juftice; but his clerk came in to his affiftance, and took them all down in black and white.

When I had been huzzaed out of my feven fenfes, I made a vifit to the women, who were guzzling very comfort-" ably. Mrs. Mayorefs clipped the king's English. Clack was the word.

I forgot to tell thee, that every one of the poffe had his hat cocked with a diftich: the fenators fent us down a cargo of ribbon and metre for the occafion.

Sir Richard, to fhew his zeal for the Proteftant religion, is at the expence of a tar-barrel and a ball. I peeped into, the knight's great hall, and faw a very pretty bevy of pinters. My dear reliét was amongst them, and ambled in a country dance as notably as the best of them.

May all his majefty's liege fubjects love him as well as his good people of this is ancient borough. Adicu,

N