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of life, and of true fenfe in the conduct of it :from what unhappy contradictious caufe it proceeds, that perfons thus finished by nature and by art, fhould fo often fail in the management of that which they fo ⚫ well understand, and want the addrefs to make a right application of their own rules. This is certainly a prodigious inconfiftency in behaviour, and makes much fuch a figure in morals as a monftrous birth in naturals, with this difference only, which greatly aggravates the wonder, that it happens much more frequently; and what a blemish does it caft upon wit and learning in the general account of the world? and in how difadvantageous a light does it expose them to the bufy clafs of mankind, that there fhould be fo many inftances of perfons who have so conducted their lives in fpite of these transcendent advantages, as neither to be happy in themselves, nor useful to their friends; when every body fees it was intirely in their own power to be eminent in both these characters? For my part, I think there is no reflection more aftonishing ⚫ than to confider one of thefe gentlemen spending a fair ⚫ fortune, running in every body's debt without the leaft apprehenfion of a future reckoning, and at last leaving not only his own children, but poffibly thofe of other people, by his means, in flarving circumftances; while a fellow, whom one would scarce fufpect to have a human foul, fhall perhaps raife a vast estate out of nothing, and be the founder of a family capable of being very confiderable in their country, and doing many illuftrious fervices to it. That this obfervation is just, experience has put beyond all difpute. But though the fact be fo evident and glaring, yet the causes of it are ftill in the dark; which makes me perfuade myfelf, that it would be no unacceptable piece of entertainment to the town, to inquire into the hidden fources of fo unaccountable an evil.

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'I am, Sir,

"Your most humble fervant."

What this correfpondent wonders at, has been matter of admiration ever fince there was any fuch thing as

human life. Horace reflects upon this inconfiftency very agreeably in the character of Tigellius, whom he makes a mighty pretender to economy, and tells you, you might one day hear him fpeak the most philofophic things imaginable concerning being contented with a little, and his contempt of every thing but mere neceffaries, and in half a week after spend a thoufand pound. When he fays this of him with relation to expence, he defcribes him as unequal to himself in every other circumftance of life. And indeed, if we confider lavish men carefully, we fhall find it always proceeds from a certain incapacity of poffeffing themfelves, and finding enjoyment in their own minds. Mr. Dryden has expreffed this very excellently in the character of Zimri.

"A man fo various, that he feem'd to be. "Not one, but all mankind's epitome. "Stiff in opinion, always in the wrong, "Was every thing by ftarts, and nothing long; "But in the courfe of one revolving moon, "Was chymift, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon. "Then all for women, painting, rhiming, drinking, "Befides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. "Bleft madman, who could every hour employ "In fomething new to with or to enjoy!

"In fquand'ring wealth was his peculiar art,

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Nothing went unrewarded but defert."

This loofe ftate of the foul hurries the extravagant from one purfuit to another; and the reason that his expences are greater than another's, is, that his wants are alfo more numerous. But what makes fo many go on in this way to their lives end, is, that they certainly do not know how contemptible they are in the eyes of the reft of mankind, or rather, that indeed they are not fo contemptible as they deferve. Tully fays, it is the greatest of wickedness to leffen your paternal eftate. And if a man would thoroughly confider how much worse than banishment it must be to his child, to ride by the eftate which fhould have been his, had it not been for his father's injuftice to him, he would be fmitten with the reflection more deeply than can be understood by any but one who

is a father. Sure there can be nothing more afflicting, than to think it had been happier for his fon to have been born of any other man living than himself.

It is not perhaps much thought of, but it is certainly a very important leffon, to learn how to enjoy ordinary life, and to be able to relish your being without the tranfport of fome paffion, or gratification of fome appetite. For want of this capacity, the world is filled with whetters, tipplers, cutters, fippers, and all the numerous train of thofe who, for want of thinking, are forced to be ever exercifing their feeling or tafting. It would be hard on this occasion to mention the harmless smokers of tobacco and takers of fnuff.

The flower part of mankind, whom my correfpondent wonders fhould get eftates, are the more immediately formed for that purfuit: they can expect diftant things without impatience, because they are not carried out of their way either by violent paffion or keen appetite to any thing. To men addicted to delights, bufinefs is an interruption; to fuch as are cold to delights, bufinefs is an entertainment. For which reafon it was faid to one who commended a dull man for his application, no thanks to him; "if he had no bufinefs, he would have nothing to do." T.

N° 223.

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Thursday, November 15.

O fuavis anima! qualem te dicam bonam,
Antebac fuiffe, tales cum fint relique !

PHEDR. Fab. 1. lib. 3. ver. 5. O fweet foul! how good muft you have been heretofore, when your remains are fo delicious!

WHEN I reflect upon the various fate of thofe mul

titudes of ancient writers who flourished in Greece and Italy, I confider time as an immenfe ocean in which many noble authors are intirely fwallowed up, many very much thattered and damaged, fome quite disjointed and broken into pieces, while fome have wholly efcaped the common wreck; but the number of the laft is very fmall.

Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto.

VIRG. Æn. 1. ver. 112.

"One here and there floats on the vast abyss."

Among the mutilated poets of antiquity, there is none whofe fragments are fo beautiful as those of Sappho. They give us a tafte of her way of writing, which is perfectly conformable with that extraordinary character we find of her, in the remarks of those great critics who were converfant with her works when they were intire. One may fee by what is left of them, that The followed nature in all her thoughts, without defcending to thofe little points, conceits, and turns of wit, with which many of our modern lyrics are fo miferably infected. Her foul feems to have been made up of love and poetry: fhe felt the paffion in all its warmth, and described it in all its fymptoms. She is called by ancient authors the tenth mufe; and by Plutarch is compared to Cacus the fon of Vulcan, who breathed out nothing but flame. I do not know by the character that is given of her works, whether it is not for the benefit of mankind that they are loft. They were filled with fuch bewitching tenderness and rapture, that it might have been dangerous to have given them a reading.

An inconftant lover, called Phaon, occafioned great calamities to this poetical lady. She fell defperately in love with him, and took a voyage into Sicily, in purfuit of him, he having withdrawn himfelf thither on purpose to avoid her. It was in that island, and on this occafion, she is supposed to have made the hymn to Venus, with a tranflation of which I fhall prefent my reader. Her hymn was ineffectual for the procuring that happiness which she prayed for in it. Phaon was ftill obdurate, and Sappho fo tranfported with the violence of her paffion, that she was refolved to get rid of it at any price.

There was a promontory in Acarnania called Leucate, on the top of which was a little temple dedicated to Apollo. In this temple it was ufual for defpairing lovers to make their vows in fecret, and afterwards to fling themselves from the top of the precipice into the fea, where they were fometimes taken up alive. This place was therefore called "The Lover's Leap," and whether

or no the fright they had been in, or the resolution that could push them to fo dreadful a remedy, or the bruises which they often received in their fall, banished all the tender fentiments of love, and gave their fpirits another turn; those who had taken this leap were obferved never to relapfe into that paffion. Sappho tried the cure, but perifhed in the experiment.

After having given this fhort account of Sappho, fo far as it regards the following ode, I fhall fubjoin the tranflation of it as it was fent me by a friend, whofe admirable paftorals and Winter-piece have been already fo well received. The reader will find in it that pathetic fimplicity which is fo peculiar to him, and fo fuitable to the ode he has here translated. This ode in the Greek, befides thofe beauties obferved by madam Dacier, has feveral harmonious turns in the words, which are not loft in the English. I muft farther add, that the tranflation has preferved every image and fentiment of Sappho, notwithstanding it has all the eafe and fpirit of an original. In a word, if the ladies have a mind to know the manner of writing practifed by the fo much celebrated Sappho, they may here fee it in its genuine and natural beauty, without any foreign or affected orna

ments.

An HYMN to VENU S.

I.

"O Venus, beauty of the skies,
"To whom a thousand temples rife,
"Gaily falfe in gentle fmiles,
"Full of love-perplexing wiles;
"O goddefs! from my heart remove
"The wafting cares and pains of love.

II.

"If ever thou haft kindly heard
"A fong in foft diftrefs preferr'd,
Propitious to my tuneful vow,
"O gentle goddefs! hear me now.
"Defcend thou bright, immortal guest,
"In all thy radiant charms confeft.

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