out of it.

world by the name of honeft, civil gentlemen: They live much as they ride, at random; a kind of hunting life, purfuing with carneftnefs and hazard fomething not worth the catching; never in the way, nor I can't but prefer folitude to the company of all thefe; for tho' a man's felf may poffibly be the worst fellow to converfe with in the world, yet one would think the company of a person whom we have the greatest regard to and affection for, could not be very unpleasant. As a man in love with a miftrefs, defires no converfation but her's, fo a man in love with himself (as most men are) may be beft pleased with his own. Befides, if the trueft and most useful knowledge be the knowledge of ourfelves, folitude, conducing moft to make us look into ourselves, fhould be the moft inftructive state of life. We fee nothing more commonly, than men, who for the fake of the circumftantial part and mere outside of life, have been half their days rambling out of their nature, and ought to be fent into folitude to ftudy theinfelves over again. People are ufually spoiled, inftead of being taught, at their coming into the world? whereas, by being more converfant with Obfcurity, without any pains, they would naturally follow what they were meant for. In a word, if a man be a coxcoinb, Solitude is his best School; and if he be a fool, it is his best Sanctuary.

Thefe are good reafons for my own stay here, but I wish I could give you any for your coming hither, except that I earnestly invite you. And yet I can't help faying I have fuffered a great deal of difcontent

that you do not come, tho' I fo little merit that fhould.

you

I must complain of the shortness of your laft. Those who have most wit, like those who have most money, are generally most sparing of either.

Nov. 5. 1705.

Ours of the 26th of October I have received, as

YI have always done yours, with no little fatif

But

faction, and am proud to discover by it, that you find fault with the thortnefs of mine, which I think the best excufe for it: And tho' they (as you fay) who have most wit or money are most sparing of either; there are fome who appear poor, to be thought rich, and are poor, which is cafe. my I cannot but rejoice, that you have undergone fo much discontent for want of my company; but if you have a mind to punish me for my fault (which I could not help) defer your coming to town, and you will do it effectually. I know your charity always exceeds your revenge, fo that I will not despair of feeing you, and, in return to your inviting me to your foreft, invite you to my foreft, the town; where the beafts that inhabit, tame or wild, of long ears, or horns, purfue one another either out of love or hatred. You may have the pleasure to fee one pack of blood-hounds purfue another herd of brutes, to bring each other to their fall, which is their whole fport Or if you affect a lefs bloody chace, you may fee a pack of spaniels, called Lovers, in a hot

pur

fuit of a two-legged vixin, who only flies the whole loud pack to be fingled out by one dog, who runs mute to catch her up the fooner from the reft, as they are making a noife to the lofs of their game. In fine, this is the time for all forts of fport in the town, when those of the country cease; therefore leave your foreft of beafts for ours of brutes, called men, who now in in full cry (pack'd by the court or country) run down in the house of commons a deferted horned beast of the Court, to the fatisfaction of their spectators: Befides (more for your diversion) you may fee not only the two great play-houses of the nation, thofe of the lords and commons, in difpute with one another; but the other two play-houfes in high conteft, because the members of one houfe are remov'd up to t'other, as it is often done by the court for reafons of ftate. Infomuch that the lower houses, I mean the playhouses, are going to act tragedies on one another without doors, and the Sovereign is put to it (as it often happens in the other two houses) to filence one or both, to keep peace between them. Now I have told you all the news of the town.

1 am, &c.

I

LETTER X.

From Mr WY CHERLEY.

Feb. 5. 1705-6:

Have received your kind Letter, with my paper

*

to Mr Dryden corrected. I own you have made

• The fame which was printed in the bear 1717, in a mifcellany of Bern. Lintot's, and in the Pofthumous Works of MrWycherley, VOL. V.

C

more of it by making it lefs, as the Dutch are faid to burn half the spices they bring home, to enhance the price of the remainder, so to be greater gainers by their lofs (which is indeed my cafe now.) You have prun'd my fading lawrels of fome fuperfluous, faplefs, and dead branches, to make the remainder live the longer; thus, like your master Apollo, you are at once a poet and a physician.

Now, Sir, as to my impudent invitation of you to the town, your good nature was the first cause of my confident requeft; but excufe me, I must (I fee) say no more upon this fubject, fince I find you a little too nice to be dealt freely with; tho' you have given me fome encouragement to hope, our friendship might be without fhyness, or criminal modefty; for a friend, like a mistress, tho' he is not to be mercenary, to be true, yet ought not to refuse a friend's kindness because it is finall or trivial: I have told you (I think) what a Spanish lady faid to her poor poetical gallant, that a Queen, if she had to do with a groom, would expect a mark of his kindness from him, tho' it were but his curry-comb. But you and I will dispute this matter when I am fo happy as to see you here; and perhaps 'tis the only dispute in which I might hope to have the better of you.

you

Now, Sir, to make you another excufe for my boldnefs in inviting you to town, I defign'd to leave with fome more of my papers, (fince these return fo much better out of your hands than they went from mine) for I intended (as I told you formerly) to spend a month or fix weeks, this fummer, near you in the

country. You may be affured there is nothing I defire fo much, as an improvement of your friend(hip.

LETTER XI.

April 10 1706.

Y one of yours of the last month, you defire me to felect, if poffible, fome things from the * first volume of your Mifcellanies, which may be alter`d fo as to appear again. I doubted your meaning in this; whether it was to pick out the best of those verses (as thofe on the Idlenefs of bufinefs, on Ignorance, on Laziness, &c.) to make the method and numbers exact, and avoid repetitions? For though (upon reading 'em on this occafion) I believe, they might receive fuch an alteration with advantage; yet they would not be changed fo much, but any one would know 'em for the fame at first fight. Or if you mean to improve the worst pieces which are such, as, to render them very good, would require great addition, and almost the entire new writing of them. Or, laftly, if you mean the middle fort, as the Songs and Love-verfes? For thefe will need only to be fhortened, to omit repetition; the words remaining very little different from what they were before. Pray let me know your mind in this, for I am utterly at a loss. Yet I have try'd what I could do to fome of the fongs, and the poems on Laziness and Ignorance; but can't (even in my own partial judgment) think my alterations much to the purpose. So that I must needs defire you would apply your care wholly at present to those which are yet unpublished, of which there are more than enough to *Printed in folio, in the year 1704..