ΙΟ

Patch for the public good so much as for their own private advantage, it is certain, that there are several women of honor who Patch out of principle, and 5 with an eye to the interest of their country. Nay, I am informed that some of them adhere so steadfastly to their party, and are so far from sacrificing their zeal for the public to their passion for any particular person, that in a late draught of marriage-articles a lady has stipulated with her husband, that whatever his opinions are, she shall be at liberty to patch on which sides she pleases.

About the middle of last winter I went to see an opera at the theater in the 15 Hay-market, where I could not but take notice of two parties of very fine women, that had placed themselves in the opposite side-boxes, and seemed drawn up in a kind of battle-array one against 20 another. After a short survey of them, I found they were Patched differently; the faces, on one hand, being spotted on the right side of the forehead, and those upon the other on the left: I quickly 25 perceived that they cast hostile glances. upon one another; and that their Patches were placed in those different situations, as party-signals to distinguish friends from foes. In the middle-boxes, be- 30 made some of them converse with Rosa

tween these two opposite bodies, were
several ladies who patched indifferently
on both sides of their faces, and seemed
to sit there with no other intention but
to see the opera. Upon enquiry I found, 35
that the body of Amazons on my right
hand were whigs, and those on my left,
tories: and that those who had placed
themselves in the middle-boxes were a
neutral party, whose faces had not yet 40
declared themselves. These last, how-
ever, as I afterwards found, diminished
daily, and took their party with one side
or the other; insomuch that I observed
in several of them, the patches, which 45
were before dispersed equally, are now
all gone over to the whig or tory side
of the face. The censorious say, that
the men whose hearts are aimed at, are
very often the occasions that one part 50
of the face is thus dishonored, and lies
under a kind of disgrace, while the other
is so much set off and adorned by the
owner; and that the Patches turn to the
right or to the left, according to the prin- 55
ciples of the man who is most in favor.
But whatever may be the motives of a
few fantastical coquettes, who do not

I must here take notice that Rosalinda, a famous whig partisan, has most unfortunately very beautiful mole on the tory part of her forehead; which being very conspicuous, has occasioned many mistakes, and given an handle to her enemies to misrepresent her face, as though it had revolted from the whig interest. But, whatever this natural patch may seem to insinuate, it is well known that her notions of government are still the same. This unlucky mole, however, has misled several coxcombs; and like the hanging out of false colors,

linda in what they thought the spirit of her party, when on a sudden she has given them an unexpected fire, that has sunk them all at once. If Rosalinda is unfortunate in her mole, Nigranilla is as unhappy in a pimple, which forces her, against her inclinations, to patch on the whig side.

I am told that many virtuous matons, who formerly have been taught to believe that this artificial spotting of the face was unlawful, are now reconciled by a zeal for their cause, to what they could not be prompted by a concern for their beauty. This way of declaring war upon one another, puts me in mind of what is reported of the tigress, that several spots rise in her skin when she is angry; or as Mr. Cowley has imitated the verses that stand as the motto of this paper,

-She swells with angry pride,

And calls forth all her spots on ev'ry side.

When I was in the theater the time above-mentioned, I had the curiosity to count the Patches on both sides, and

found the tory Patches to be about
twenty stronger than the whig; but to
make amends for this small inequality,
I the next morning found the whole
puppet-shew filled with faces spotted
after the whiggish manner. Whether or
no the ladies had retreated hither in
order to rally their forces, I cannot tell;
but the next night they came in so great
a body to the opera, that they out-num- 10
bered the enemy.

5

against those who are perhaps of the same family, or at least of the same religion or nation, but against those who are the open, professed, undoubted enemies of their faith, liberty and country. When the Romans were pressed with a foreign enemy, the ladies voluntarily contributed all their rings and jewels to assist the government under the public exigence, which appeared so laudable an action in the eyes of their countrymen, that from thenceforth it was permitted by a law to pronounce public orations at the funeral of a woman in praise of the deceased person, which till that time was peculiar to men. Would our English ladies, instead of sticking on a patch against those of their own country, show themselves so truly 20 public-spirited as to sacrifice every one her necklace against the common enemy, what decrees ought not to be made in favor of them?

This account of Party-patches will, I am afraid, appear improbable to those who live at a distance from the fashionable world; but as it is a distinction of 15 a very singular nature, and what perhaps may never meet with a parallel, I think I should not have discharged the office of a faithful SPECTATOR, had I not recorded it.

I have, in former papers, endeavored to expose this party-rage in women, as it only serves to aggravate the hatred and animosities that reign among men, and in a great measure deprives the fair sex 25 of those peculiar charms with which nature has endowed them.

When the Romans and Sabines were at war, and just upon the point of giving

Since I am recollecting upon this subject such passages as occur to my memory out of ancient authors, I cannot omit a sentence in the celebrated funeral oration of Pericles, which he made in honor of those brave Athenians that

battle, the women who were allied to 30 were slain in a fight with the Lacedæ

both of them, interposed with so many tears and entreaties, that they prevented the mutual slaughter which threatened both parties, and united them together in a firm and lasting peace.

monians. After having addressed himself to the several ranks and orders of his countrymen, and shown them how they should behave themselves in the 35 public cause, he turns to the female part of his audience; And as for you (says he) I shall advise you in very few words: Aspire only to those virtues that are peculiar to your sex; follow your

I would recommend this noble example to our British ladies, at a time when their country is torn with so many unnatural divisions, that if they continue, it will be a misfortune to be born in it. The 49 natural modesty, and think it your greatGreeks thought it so improper for women est commendation not to be talked of to interest themselves in competitions and one way or other.' contentions, that for this reason, among others, they forbad them, under pain of death, to be present at the Olympic 45 games, notwithstanding these were the public diversions of all Greece.

As our English women excel those of all nations in beauty, they should en

[No. 253.]

Saturday, June 2, 1711.

DETRACTION AMONG POETS

There is nothing which more denotes

deavor to outshine them in all other ac- 50 a great mind, than the abhorrence of

complishments proper to the sex, and to
distinguish themselves as tender mothers
and faithful wives, rather than as fu-
rious partisans. Female virtues are of
a domestic turn. The family is the 55
proper province for private women to
shine in. If they must be showing
their zeal for the public, let it not be

envy and detraction. This passion reigns more among bad poets, than among any other set of men.

As there are none more ambitious of fame, than those who are conversant in poetry, it is very natural for such as have not succeeded in it, to depreciate the works of those who have. For since

they cannot raise themselves to the reputation of their fellow-writers, they must endeavor to sink it to their own pitch, if they would still keep themselves upon a level with them.

tions follow one another like those in Horace's Art of Poetry, without that methodical regularity which would have been requisite in a prose author. They 5 are some of them uncommon, but such as the reader must assent to, when he sees them explained with that elegance and perspicuity in which they are delivered. As for those which are

The greatest wits that ever were produced in one age, lived together in so good an understanding, and celebrated one another with so much generosity, that each of them receives an additional 10 most known, and the most received, they

luster from his contemporaries, and is more famous for having lived with men of so extraordinary a genius, than if he had himself been the sole wonder of the age. I need not tell my reader, that 15 I here point at the reign of Augustus, and I believe he will be of my opinion, that neither Virgil nor Horace would have gained so great a reputation in the world, had they not been the friends and 20 admirers of each other. Indeed all the great writers of that age, for whom singly we have so great an esteem, stand up together as vouchers for one another's reputation. But at the same time that 25 Virgil was celebrated by Gallus, Propertius, Horace, Varius, Tucca and Ovid, we know that Bavius and Mævius were his declared foes and calumniators.

the

are placed in so beautiful a light, and illustrated with such apt allusions, that they have in them all the graces of novelty, and make the reader, who was before acquainted with them, still more convinced of their truth and solidity. And here give me leave to mention what Monsieur Boileau has so very well enlarged upon in the preface to his works, that wit and fine writing doth not consist so much in advancing things that are new, as in giving things that are known an agreeable turn. It is impossible for us, who live in the latter ages of the world, to make observations in criticism, morality, or in any art or science, which have not been touched upon by others. We have little else left us, but to represent the common sense of mankind in

uncommon lights. If a reader examines Horace's Art of Poetry, he will find but very few precepts in it, which he may not meet with in Aristotle, and which were not commonly known by all the poets of the Augustan age. His way of expressing and applying them, not his invention of them, is what we are chiefly to admire.

In our own country a man seldom sets 30 more strong, more beautiful, or more up for a poet, without attacking the reputation of all his brothers in the art. The ignorance of the moderns, the scribblers of the age, the decay of poetry, are the topics of detraction, with which 35 he makes his entrance into the world; but how much more noble is the fame that is built on candor and ingenuity, according to those beautiful lines of Sir John Denham, in his poem on Fletcher's 40 works!

But whither am I strayed? I need not
raise

Trophies to thee from other men's dispraise:
Nor is thy fame on lesser ruins built,
Nor needs thy juster title the foul guilt
Of eastern Kings, who to secure their reign
Must have their brothers, sons, and kindred
slain.

I am sorry to find that an author, who is very justly esteemed among the best judges, has admitted some strokes of this nature into a very fine poem, I mean The Art of Criticism, which was published some months since, and is a master-piece in its kind. The observa

For this reason I think there is nothing in the world so tiresome as the works of those critics who write in a positive dogmatic way, without either language, genius or imagination. If the 45 reader would see how the best of the Latin critics writ, he may find their manner very beautifully described in the characters of Horace, Petronius, Quintilian and Longinus, as they are drawn 50 in the essay of which I am now speaking.

in the very precepts themselves. I shall
produce two or three instances of this
kind. Speaking of the insipid smooth-
ness which some readers are so much
in love with, he has the following verses. 5
These EQUAL SYLLABLES alone require,
Though oft the ear the OPEN VOWELS tire,
While EXPLETIVES their feeble aid Do join,
And ten low words oft creep in one dull
line.

The gaping of the vowels in the second line, the expletive do in the third, and the ten monosyllables in the fourth, give such a beauty to this passage, as would have been very much admired in an ancient poet. The reader may observe the following lines in the same view.

A NEEDLESS ALEXANDRINE ends the song, That like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along

And afterwards,

'T'is not enough no harshness gives of-
fense,

The SOUND must seem an ECHO to the SENSE.
SOFT is the strain when ZEPHIR gently blows,
And the SMOOTH STREAM in SMOOTHER NUM-
BERS flows;

But when loud surges lash the sounding
shore,

The HOARSE, ROUGH VERSE should like the

TORRENT roar.

When AJAX strives, some rock's vast weight

to throw,

The line too LABORS, and the words move

SLOW:

Not so, when swift CAMILLA Scours the plain,

Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.

*

ΤΟ

15

piece in its kind; the Essay on Translated Verse, the Essay on the Art of Poetry, and the Essay upon Criticism. Thursday, December 20, 1711.

[No. 26.]

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

When I am in a serious humor, I very often walk by myself in Westminster Abbey; where the gloominess of the place and the use to which it is applied, the condition of the people who lie in it, with the solemnity of the building, and are apt to fill the mind with a kind of melancholy, or rather thoughtfulness,

that is not disagreeable. I yesterday passed a whole afternoon in the church20 yard, the cloisters, and the church, amusing myself with the tombstones and inscriptions that I met with in those several regions of the dead. Most of them recorded nothing else of the buried per25 son, but that he was born upon one day, and died upon another, the whole history of his life being comprehended in those two circumstances, that are common to all mankind. I could not but look upon 30 these registers of existence, whether of brass or marble, as a kind of satire upon the departed persons: who had left no other memorial of them, but that they were born and that they died. They put me in mind of several persons mentioned in the battles of heroic poems, who have sounding names given them, for no other reason but that they may be killed, and are celebrated for nothing but being 40 knocked on the head.

35

45

The beautiful distich upon Ajax in the foregoing lines, puts me in mind of a description in Homer's Odyssey. * * It would be endless to quote verses out of Virgil which have this particular kind 50 of beauty in the numbers; but I may take an occasion in a future paper to shew several of them which have escaped the observation of others.

I cannot conclude this paper without 55 taking notice, that we have three poems in our tongue, which are of the same nature, and each of them a master

Γλαῦκόν τε Μέδοντά τε Θερσίλοχόν τε. Hom.
Glaucumque, Medontaque, Thersilochumque.
Virg.

The life of these men is finely described in holy writ by the path of an arrow,' which is immediately closed up and lost.

Upon my going into the church, I entertained myself with the digging of a grave; and saw in every shovel-full of it that was thrown up, the fragment of a bone or skull intermixt with a kind of fresh moldering earth, that some time or other had a place in the composition of an human body. Upon this, I began to consider with myself what innumerable multitudes of people lay confused

together under the pavement of that ancient cathedral; how men and women, friends and enemies, priests and soldiers, monks and prebendaries, were crumbled amongst one another, and blended together in the same common mass; how beauty, strength, and youth, with old-age, weakness and deformity, lay undistinguished in the same promiscuous heap of

matter.

the many remarkable actions he had performed in the service of his country, it acquaints us only with the manner of his death, in which it was impossible for 5 him to reap any honor. The Dutch, whom we are apt to despise for want of genius, shew an infinitely greater taste of antiquity and politeness in their buildings and works of this nature, than 10 what we meet with in those of our own country. The monuments of their admirals, which have been erected at the public expense, represent them like themselves; and are adorned with ros15 tral crowns and naval ornaments, with beautiful festoons of sea-weed, shells, and coral.

But to return to our subject. I have left the repository of our English kings. for the contemplation of another day, when I shall find my mind disposed for so serious an amusement. I know that entertainments of this nature are apt to raise dark and dismal thoughts in timor

After having thus surveyed this great magazine of mortality, as it were, in the lump; I examined it more particularly by the accounts which I found on several of the monuments which are raised in every quarter of that ancient fabric. Some of them were covered with such extravagant epitaphs, that, if it were possible for the dead person to be acquainted with them, he would blush at the praises 20 which his friends have bestowed upon him. There are others so excessively modest, that they deliver the character of the person departed in Greek or Hebrew, and by that means are not un- 25 ous minds, and gloomy imaginations; derstood once in a twelvemonth. In the poetical quarter, I found there were poets who had no monuments, and monuments which had no poets. I observed indeed that the present war had filled the 30 church with many of these uninhabited monuments, which had been erected to the memory of persons whose bodies were perhaps buried in the plains of Blenheim, or in the bosom of the ocean. 35 the great, every emotion of envy dies in

but for my own part, though I am always serious, I do not know what it is to be melancholy; and can therefore take a view of nature in her deep and solemn scenes, with the same pleasure as in her most gay and delightful ones. By this means I can improve myself with those objects, which others consider with terror. When I look upon the tombs of

me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tomb-stone, my heart

I could not but be very much delighted with several modern epitaphs, which are written with great elegance of expression and justness of thought, and therefore do honor to the living as well as 40 melts with compassion; when I see the to the dead. As a foreigner is very apt tomb of the parents themselves, I conto conceive an idea of the ignorance or sider the vanity of grieving for those politeness of a nation, from the turn of whom we must quickly follow; when I their public monuments and inscriptions, see kings lying by those who deposed they should be submitted to the perusal 45 them, when I consider rival wits placed of men of learning and genius, before side by side, or the holy men that divided they are put in execution. Sir Cloud- the world with their contests and disesly Shovel's monument has very often putes, I reflect with sorrow and astongiven me great offense: Instead of the ishment on the little competitions, facbrave rough English admiral, which was 50 tions and debates of mankind. When I the distinguishing character of that plain read the several dates of the tombs, of gallant man, he is represented on his some that died yesterday, and some six tomb by the figure of a beau, dressed in hundred years ago, I consider that great a long periwig, and reposing himself day when we shall all of us be contemupon velvet cushions under a canopy of 55 poraries, and make our appearance tostate. The inscription is answerable to the Monument; for instead of celebrating

gether.

Friday, March 30, 1711.