parifon fuperior to what is called otter-down, and indeed such, that its many excellencies cannot be here fet forth. With one excellence we are made acquainted— it is warmer than four or five blankets, and lighter than one. There are fome, however, that know the prejudice of mankind in favour of modeft fincerity. The vender of the beautifying fluid fells a lotion that re-. pels pimples, washes away freckles, fmooths the fkin, and plumps the fiefh; and yet, with a generous abhorrence of oftentation, confeffes, that it will not restore the bloom of fifteen to a lady of fifty. The true pathos of advertisements must have funk deep into the heart of every man that remembers the zeal fhewn by the feller of the anodyne necklace, for the eafe and fafety of poor toothing infants, and the affection with which he warned every mother, that She would never forgive herfelf if her infant fhould perifh without a necklace. I cannot but remark to the celebrated author who gave, in his notifications of the camel and dromedary, fo many fpecimens of the genuine fublime, that there is now arrived another fubject yet more worthy of his pen. A famous Mohawk Indian warrior, who took Diefkaw the French general prifoner, dreffed in the fame manner with the native Indians when they go to war, with his face and body painted, with his fcalpingknife, tom-ax, and all other implements of war: a fight worthy the curiofity of every true Briton! This is a very powerful defcription; but a critick of great refinement would fay, that it conveys rather borror and terror. An Indian, dreffed as he goes to war, may bring company together; but if he carries the fcalp ing knife and tom-ax, there are many true Britons that will never be perfuaded to fee him but through a grate. It has been remarked by the feverer judges, that the falutary forrow of tragick fcenes is too foon effaced by the merriment of the epilogue; the fame inconvenience arifes from the improper difpofition of advertisements. The nobleft objects may be fo affociated as to be made ridiculous. The camel and dromedary themfelves might have loft much of their dignity between the true flower of mustard and the original Daffy's elixir; and I could not but feel fome îndignation when I found this illuftrious Indian warrior immediately fucceeded by a fresh parcel of Dublin butter. The trade of advertifing is now fo near to perfection, that it is not eafy to propofe any improvement. But as every art ought to be exercifed in due fubordination to the publick good, I cannot but propofe it as a moral question to thefe mafters of the publick ear, Whether they do not fometimes play too wantonly with our paffions, as when the registrar of lottery tickets invites us to his fhop by an account of the prize which he fold laft year; and whether the advertising controvertifts do not indulge afperity of language without any adequate provocation; as in the difpute about ftraps for razors, now happily fubfided, and in the altercation which at prefent fubfifts concerning eau de luce. In an advertisement it is allowed to every man to fpeak well of himself, but I know not why he should affume the privilege of cenfuring his neighbour. He VOL. VIII. M may may proclaim his own virtue or skill, but ought not to exclude others from the fame pretenfions. Every man that advertises his own excellence, fhould write with fome consciousness of a character which dares to call the attention of the publick. He fhould remember that his name is to ftand in the fame paper with thofe of the king of Pruffia and the emperor of Germany, and endeavour to make himself worthy of fuch association. Some regard is likewife to be paid to pofterity. There are men of diligence and curiofity who treafure up the papers of the day merely because others neglect them, and in time they will be fcarce. When thefe collections fhall be read in another century, how will numberlefs contradictions be reconciled? and how fhall fame be poffibly diftributed among the taylors and boddice-makers of the present age? Surely thefe things deferve confideration. It is enough for me to have hinted my defire that these abufes may be rectified; but fuch is the ftate of nature, that what all have the right of doing, many will attempt without fufficient care or due qualifications. NUMB. 41. SATURDAY, January 27, 1759. HE following letter relates to an affliction TH perhaps not neceffary to be imparted to the publick; but I could not perfuade myself to fupprefs it, because I think I know the fentiments to be fincere, and I feel no difpofition to provide for this day any other entertainment. At tu quifquis eris, miferi qui cruda poetæ Mr. İDLER, NOTWITHSTANDING the warnings of philofophers, and the daily examples of loffes and misfortunes which life forces upon our obfervation, fuch is the abforption of our thoughts in the business of the present day, fuch the refignation of our reafon to empty hopes of future felicity, or fuch our unwillingness to foresee what we dread, that every calamity comes fuddenly upon us, and not only preffes us as a burthen, but crushes as a blow. There are evils which happen out of the common course of nature, againft which it is no reproach not to be provided. A flash of lightning intercepts the traveller in his way. The concuffion of an earthquake heaps the ruins of cities upon their inhabitants. But other miferies time brings, though filently M 2 yet yet visibly, forward by its even lapfe, which yet approach us unfeen because we turn our eyes away, and feize us unrefifted because we could not arm ourselves against them, but by fetting them before us. That it is vain to fhrink from what cannot be avoided, and to hide that from ourselves which must fome time be found, is a truth which we all know, but which all neglect, and perhaps none more than the fpeculative reafoner, whofe thoughts are always from home, whofe eye wanders over life, whofe fancy dances after meteors of happiness kindled by itself, and who examines every thing rather than his own ftate. year; Nothing is more evident than that the decays of age must terminate in death; yet there is no man, fays Tully, who does not believe that he may yet live another and there is none who does not, upon the fame principle, hope another year for his parent or his friend: but the fallacy will be in time detected the last year, the laft day must come. It has come, and is paft. The life which made my own life pleafant is at an end, and the gates of death are fhut upon my profpects. The lofs of a friend upon whom the heart was fixed, to whom every wifh and endeavour tended, is a ftate of dreary defolation in which the mind looks abroad impatient of itfelf, and finds nothing but emptiness and horror. The blamelefs life, the artlefs tenderness, the pious fimplicity, the modeft refignation, the patient fickness, and the quiet death, are remembered only to add value to the lofs, to aggravate regret for what cannot be amended, to deepen forrow for what cannot be recalled. Thefe |
