ed, and yet there is great force in what Mr. Scruple
advanced againft it. By this indefinite declaration
both are commonly fatisned; for he that has pre-
vailed is in good humour; and he that has felt his
own weaknefs is very glad to have efcaped fo well.

I am, SIR, yours, &c.

ROBIN SPRITELY.



NUMB.



84. THE IDLER.



NUMB. 84. SATURDAY, November 24, 1759.

BIOGRAPHY is, of the various kinds of nar-
rative writing, that which is moft eagerly read,
and moft eafily applied to the purpofes of life.

In romances, when the wild field of poflibility
lies open to invention, the incidents may eafily be
made more numerous, the viciffitudes more fudden,
and the events more wonderful; but from the time
of life when fancy begins to be over-ruled by rea-
fon and corrected by experience, the moft artful tale
raifes little curiofity when it is known to be falfe;
thougk it may, perhaps, be fometimes read as a
model of a neat or elegant ftyle, not for the fake of
knowing what it contains, but how it is written; or
thofe that are weary of themfelves, may have re*
courie to it as a pleafing dream, of which, when,
they awake, they voluntarily difmifs the images from
their minds.

The examples and events of hiftory prefs. indeed,
upon the mind with the weight of truth , but when
they are repofited in the memory, they are ofrener
employed for ihew than ufe, and rather diverlify
converfation than regulate life. Few are engaged
in fuch fcenes as give them opportunities of grow-
ing wifer by the downfal of ftatefmen or the defeat
of generals. The ftratagems of war, and the in-
trigues of courts, are read by far the greater part of
mankind with the fame indifference as the adven-
tures of fabled heroes, or the revolutions of a fairy

Z 2 region,



340 T H E I D L E Px. N8^

region. Between falfehood and ufelefs truth there
is little difference. As gold which he cannot fpend
will make no man rich, Ib knowledge which he can-
not apply will make no man wife.

The mifchievous confequences of vice and folly,
of irregular deiires and predominant paffions, are
befl difcovered by thofe relations which are levelled
with the general furface of life, which tell not how
any man became great, but how he was made hap-
py; not how he loft the favour of his prince, but
how he became difcontented with himfelf.

Thofe relations are therefore commonly of moft
value in which the writer tells his own ftory. He
that recounts the life of another, commonly dwells
moft upon confpicuous events, leflens the fami-
liarity of his tale to increafe its dignity, fhews his
favourite at a diftance, decorated and magnified
like the ancient actors in their tragick drefs, and
endeavours to hide the man that he may produce a
hero.

But if it be true, which was faid by a French
prince, That no man 'was a hero to the few ants of his
chamber, it is equally true, that every man is yet
Jefs a hero to himfelf. He that is moft elevated
above the crowd by the importance of his employ-
ments, or the reputation of his genius, feels himfelf
affected by fame or bufinefs but as they influence
his domeftick life. The high and low, as they have
the fame faculties and the fame fenfes, have no lefs
iimilitude in their pains and pleafures. The fenfa-
tions are the fame in all, though produced by very
different occafions. The prince feels the fame pain
when an invader feizes a province, as the farmer

when



N 84. T H E I D L E R. 34I

when a thief drives away his cow. Men thus equal
in themfelves will appear equal in honeft and im-
partial biography; and thole whom fortune or na-
ture place at the greateft diftance may afford inftruc-
tion to each other.

The writer of his own life has at leaft the firfl
qualification of an hiitorian, the knowledge of the
truth; and though it may be plaufibly objected that
his temptations to difguife it are equal to his op-
portunities of knowing it, yet I cannot but think
that impartiality may be expected with equal con-
fidence from him that relates the paffages of his
own life, as from him that delivers the tran factions
of another.

Certainty of knowledge not only excludes mif-
take, but fortifies veracity. What we collect by
conjecture, and by conjecture only can one man
judge of another's motives or fentiments, is eafily
modified by fancy or by defire ; as objects imper-
fectly difcerned take forms from the hope or fear of
the beholder. But that which is fully known can-
not be falfified but with reluctance of underftand-
ing, and alarm of confcience: of undemanding,
the lover of truth; of confcience, the fentinel of
virtue.

He that writes the life of another is either his
friend or his enemy, and wilhes either to exalt his
praife or aggravate his infamy ; many temptations
to falfehood will occur in the difguife of paffions,
too fpecious to fear much refiftance. Love of
virtue will animate panegyrick, and hatred of
wickednefs imbitter cenfure. The zeal of grati-

Z 3 tude,



342 T H E I D L E R. N" 84,

tude, the ardour of patriotifm, fondncfs for an
opinion, or fidelity to a party, may eafily over-
power the vigilance of a mind habitually well
difpofed, and prevail over unaffifted and unfriended
veracity.

But he that fpeaks of himfelf has no motive to
falfehood or partiality except felf-love, by which
all have fo often been betrayed, that all are on the
watch againft its artifices. He that writes an apo-
logy for a fingle action, to confute an accufation, to
recommend himfelf to favour, is indeed always to be
fufpe&ed of favouring his own caufe ; but he that
fits down calmly and voluntarily to review his life
for the admonition of pofterity, or to amuie himfelf,
and leaves this account unpublifhed, may be com-
monly prefumed to tell truth, fince falfehood cannot
appeafe his own mind, and fame will not be heard
beneath the tomb.



NUMB.



N 85. T H E I D L E R. 343



NUMB. 85, SATURDAY, December T, 1759.

ONE of the peculiarities which diftinguifh the
prefent age is the multiplication of books.
Every day brings new advertifements of literary
undertakings, and we are flattered with repeated
promifes of growing wife on eafier terms than our
progenitors.

How much either happinefs or knowledge is ad-
vanced by this multitude of authors, it is not very
eafy to decide.

He that teaches us any thing which we knew not
before, is undoubtedly to be reverenced as a mailer.

He that conveys knowledge by more pleafing ways,
may very properly be loved as a benefactor ; and he
that fupplies life with innocent amufement, will be
certainly carefTed as a pleafing companion.

But few of thole who fill the world with books,
have any pretenfions to the hope either of pleafing
or infh'u&ing. They have often no other tafk than
to lay two books before them, out of which they
compile a third, without any new materials of their
own, and with very little application of judgement
to thofe which former authors have fupplied.

That all compilations are ufelefs I do not aflert.
Particles of fcience are often very widely fcattered.
Writers of extenfive comprehenfion have incidental
remarks upon topicks very remote from the prin-
cipal fubjedt, which are often more valuable than

Z 4 formal



3 44 T H E I D L E R. N 85.

formal treatifes, and which yet are not known be-
caufe they are not promifed in the title. He that
collects thofe under proper heads is very laudably
employed, for though he exerts no great abilities in
the work, he facilitates the progrefs of others, and
by making thus: eafy of attainment which is already
written, may givefome mind, more vigorous or more
adventurous than his own, leifure for new thoughts
and original defigns.

But the collections poured lately from the prefs
have been feldom made at any great expence of time
or inquiry, and therefore only ferve to diftradt choice
without fupplying any real want.

It is obfcrved that a corrupt fociety has many laws;
I know not whether it is not equally true, that an
ignorant age has many books. When the treafures of
ancient knowledge lie unexamined, and original
authors are negledted and forgotten, compilers and
plagiaries are encouraged, who give us again what
we had before, and grow great by letting before us
what our own floth had hidden from our view.

Yet are not even thefe writers to be indifcrimU
natcly cenfured and rejected. Truth like beauty
varies its fafhions, and is bed recommended by dif-
ferent dreffes to different minds ; and he that recalls
the attention of mankind to any part of learning
which time has left behind it, may be truly faid to
advance the literature of his own age. As the
manners of nations vary, new topicks of perfua-
fion become neceffary, and new combinations of
imagery are produced ; and he that can accommo-
date himfelf to the reigning tafte, may always have

readers



N 85. T H E I D L E R

readers who perhaps would not have looked upon
better performances.

To exadt of every man who writes that he ihould
fay fomethino new, would be to reduce authors to
a fmall number ; to oblige the moft fertile genius
to fay only what is new, would be to contrad: his
volumes to a few pages. Yet, furely, there ought
to be fome bounds to repetition ; libraries ought no
more to be heaped for ever with the fame thoughts
differently expreffed, than with the fame books dif-
ferently decorated.

The good or evil which thefe fecondary writers
produce is feldom of any long duration. As they
owe their exiflence to change of faihion, they com-
monly difappear when a new faihion becomes pre-
valent. The authors that in any nation lad from
age to age are very few, becaufe there are very few
that have any other claim to notice than that they
catch hold on prefent curiofity, and gratify fome
accidental defire, or produce fome temporary con-
veniency.

But however the writers of the day may defpair
of future fame, they ought at lead to forbear any
prefent mifchief. Though they cannot arrive at
eminent heights of excellence, they might keep
themfelves harmlefc. They might take care to in-
form themfelves before they attempt to inform
others, and exert the little influence- which they have
for honeft purpofes.

But fuch is the prefent flate of our literature,
that the ancient fage, who thought a great book a
great evil, would now think the multitude of books

a multi-



346 T H E I D L E R. N8 5 .

a multitude of evils. He would confider a bulky
writer who engroffed a year, and a fwarm of pam-
phleteers who dole each an hour, as equal waders of
human life, and would make no other difference be-
tween them, than between a bead of prey, and a
fl'ght of locuds.



NUMB. 86. SATURDAY, Augufl n, 1759.

To the IDLE R.

SIR,

A M a young lady newly married to a young
gentleman. Our fortune is large, our minds
are vacant, our difpofitions gay, our acquaintances
numerous, and our relations fplendid. We confi-
dered that marriage, like life, has its youth ; that
the firft year is the year of gaiety and revel, and
refolved to fee the fhews and feel the joys of
London before the increafe of our family fhould
confine us to domedick cares and domeftick plea*
fures.

Little time was fpent in preparation ; the coach
was named! d, and a few days brought us to London,
and we alighted at a lodging provided for us by
Mifs Bidd\' Trifie, a maiden niece of my hufband's
father, where we found apartments on a fecond floor,
which my coufm told us would ferve us till we

could



N86. THE IDLER. 347

could pleafe ourfelves with a more commodious and
elegant habitation, and which fhe had taken at a
very high price, becaufe it was not worth the while
to make a hard bargain for fo fhort a time.

Here I intended to lie concealed till my new
clothes were made, and my new lodging hired; but
IVlifs Trifle had fo induflrioufly given notice of our
arrival to all her acquaintance, that I had the morti-
fication next day of feeing the door thronged with
painted coaches and chairs with coronets, and was
obliged to receive all my hulband's relations on a
fecond floor.

inconveniences are often balanced by fome ad-
vantage : the elevation of my apartments ftirnifned
a fubjedt for converfadon, which, without fome fuch
help, we fhould have been in danger of wanting.
Lady Stately told us how many years had pafled
fmce fhe climbed fo many fteps. Mifs Airy ran to
the window, and thought it charming to fee the
walkers fo little in the Itreet ; and Mifs Gentle went
to try the fame experiment, and fcreamed to find
herfelf fo far above the ground.

They all knew that we intended to remove, and
therefore all gave me advice about a proper choice.
One ftreet was recommended for the purity of its air,
another for its freedom from noife, another for its
nearnefs to the park, another becaufe there was but
a ftep from it to all places of diverfion, and another,
becaufe its inhabitants enjoyed at once the town and
country.

I had civility enough to hear every recommenda-
tion with a look of curioiity while it was made, and
of acquiefcence when it was concluded, but in my

heart



348 T H E I D L E R. N 86.

heart felt no other defire than to be free from the
difgrace of a fecond floor, and cared little where I
ftioukl fix, if the apartments were fpacious and
fplendid,

Next day a chariot was hired, and Mifs Trifle was
difpatched to find a lodging. She returned in the
afternoon, with an account of a charming place, to
which my hufband went in the morning to make the
contract. Being young and unexperienced, he took
with him his friend Ned >uid, a gentleman of great
fldll in rooms and furniture, who fees, at a fingle
glance, whatever there is to be commended or cen-
fured. Mr. Quick, at the firft view of the houfe,
declared that it could not be inhabited, for the fun
in the afternoon fhone with full glare on the windows
of the dining-room.

Mifs Trifle went out again, and foon difcovered
another lodging, which Mr. Quick went to furvey,
and found, that, whenever the wind Ihould blow
from the eaft, all the fmoke of the city would be
driven upon it.

A magnificent fet of rooms was then found in
one of the fireets near Weflminjler-Endge^ which Mifs
Trifle preferred to any which fhe had yet feen ; but
Mr. Quick, having mufed upon it for a time, con-
cluded that it would be too much expofed in the
morning to the fogs that rife from the river.

Thus Mr. ^uick proceeded to give us every day
new teftimonies of his tafte and circumfpecYton ;
fometimes the ftreet was too narrow for a double
range 01 coaches; fometimes it was an obfcure place,
not inhabited by perfons of quality. Some places
were dirty, and fome crowded ; in fome houfes the
2 furniture



N 86. T H E I D L E R. 349

furniture was ill-fuited, and in others the flairs were
too narrow. He had fuch fertility of objections that
Mifs Trifle was at laft tired, and defifted from all at-
tempts for our accommodation.

In the mean time I have ftill continued to fee my
company on a fecond floor, and am aiked twenty
times a day when 1 am to leave thofe odious lodg-
ings, in which 1 live tumultuouily without pleafure,
and expenfively without honour. My hufband
thinks fo highly of Mr. Quick, that he cannot be
perfuaded to remove without his approbation ; and
Mr. ^uick thinks his reputation raifed by the
multiplication of difficulties.

In this diftrefs to whom can I have recourfe? I
find my temper vitiated by daily difappointment, by
the fight of pleafures which I cannot partake, and
the poffeffion of riches which I cannot enjoy. Dear
Mr. Idler, inform my hufband th.it he is trifling
away, in fuperfluous vexation, the few months
which cuftom has appropriated to delight; that ma-
trimonial quarrels are not eafily reconciled between
thofe that have no children; that wherever we 'fettle
he muil always find fome inconvenience ; but no-
thing is fo much to be avoided as a perpetual ftate
of enquiry and fufpence.

I am, SI R,

Your humble fervant,

PEGGY HEARTLESS.



NUMB*



350 T H E I D L E R. N 87.



NUMB. 87. SATURDAY, December 15, 1759*

OF what we know not, we can only judge by
what we know. Every novelty appears more
wonderful as it is more remote from any thing with
which experience or teflimony have hitherto ac-
quainted us ; and if it pafles further beyond the no-
tions that we have been accuftomed to form, it be-
comes at laft incredible.

We feldom coniider that human knowledge is very
narrow, that national manners are formed by chance,
that uncommon conjunctures of caufes produce rare
effects, or that what is impoffible at one time or
place may yet happen in another. It is always
eafier to deny than to enquire. To refufe credit
confers for a moment an appearance of fuperiority,
which every little mind is tempted to affume when
it may be gained fo cheaply as by withdrawing at-
tention from evidence, and declining the fatigue of
comparing probabilities. The mod pertinacious
and vehement demonftrator may be wearied in time
by continual negation ; and incredulity, which
an old poet, in his addrefs to Raleigh, calls the ivit
of fools, cbtnnds the argument which it cannot
anfwer, as woolfacks deaden arrows though they can-
not repel them.

Many relations of travellers have been flighted as
fabulous, till more frequent. voyages have confirmed
their veracity; and it may reafonably be imagined,

that



N 87. T H E I D L E R. 351

that many ancient hiftorians are nnjuflly iufpeded
of falfehood, becaufe our own times afford nothing
that refembles what they tell.

Had only the writers of antiquity informed us
that there was once a nation in which the wife lay
down upon the burning pile only to mix her allies
with thofe of her hufoand, we fliould have thought
it a tale to be told with that of Endymlori's commerce
with the Moon. Had only a tingle traveller related
that many nations of the earth were black, we fhould
have thought the accounts of the Negroes and of the
Ph&nix equally credible. But of black men the
numbers are too great who are now repining under
Englijh cruelty, and the cuftom of voluntary crema-
tion is not yet loft among the ladies of India.

Few narratives will either to men or women ap-
pear more incredible than the hiftories of the
Amazons ; of female nations of whofe conftitution it
was the efiential and fundamental law, to exclude
men from all participation either of publick affairs
or domeftick bufinefs; where female armies marched
under female captains, female farmers gathered the
harveft, female partners danced together, and female
wits diverted one another.

Yet feveral ages of antiquity have tranfmitted ac-
counts of the Amazons of Caucafus\ and of the
Amazons of America, who have given their name to
their greateft river in the world. Condamine lately
found fuch memorials, as can be expected among er-
ratick and unlettered nations, where events are re-
corded only by tradition, and mew fwarms fettling
in the country from time to time, confufe and efface
all traces of former times.

To



352 T H I D L E R; N 87.

To die with hufbands, or to live without them,
are the two extremes which the prudence and mo-
deration of European ladies have, in all ages, equal-
ly declined ; they have never been allured to death
by the kindnefs or civility of the politeil nations,
nor has the rcughnefs and brutality of more favage
countries ever provoked them to doom their male
aflbciates to irrevocable banilhment. The Bohemian
matrons are laid to have 1 made one ihort ftruggle
for fuperiority, but inftead of banifhing the men
they contented themfelves with condemning them to
fervile offices ; and their conftitution thus left im-
perfect, was quickly overthrown.

There is, I think, no clafs of Englijh women
from whom we are in any danger of Amazonian
ufurpation. The old maids feem neareft to inde-
pendence, and moft likely to be animated by re-
venge againlt maiculine authority ; they often fpeak
of men with acrimonious vehemence, but it is fel-
dom found that they have any fettled hatred againft
them, and it is yet more rarely obferved that they
have any kindnefs for each other. They will not
eafily combine in any plot ; and if they mould
ever agree to retire and fortify themfelves in
caftles or in mountains, the fentinel will betray the
pafles in fpite, and the garrifon will capitulate upon
eafy terms, if the befiegers have handfome fword-
knots, and are well fupplied with fringe and
lace.

The gamefters, if they were united, would make
a formidable body ; and fince they confider men only
as beings that are to lofe their money, they might

live



N8 7 . THE I D L E R. 3JT

live too;ether without any wim for the orFicioufnefs

O *

of gallantry or the delights of diversified converfa-
tion. But as nothing would hold them together

O O

but the hope of plundering one another, their
government would fail from the defect of its prin-
ciples, the men would need only to neglect them,
and they would pcrilh in a few weeks by a civil
war.

1 do not mean to cenfure the ladies of England as

o

defective in knowledge or in fpirit, when 1 fuppofe
them unlikely to revive the military honours of their
lex. The character of the ancient Amazons was
rather terrible than lovely ; the hand could not be
very delicate that was only employed in drawing the
bow and brandilhing the battle axe ; their powci-
was maintained by cruelty, their courage was de-
formed by ferocity, and their example only fliews
that men and women live beil together.



VOL. VII.



854 T H E I D L E R. N S3,



NUMB. 88. SATURDAY, December 22, 1759.



WHEN the philofophers of the laft age were
firft congregated into the Royal Society, great
expectations were raifed of the fudden progrefs of
ufeful arts ; the time was fuppofed to be near, when
engines Ihould turn by a perpetual motion, and
health be fecured by the univerfal medicine ; when
learning Ihould be facilitated by a real character,
and commerce extended by Ihips which could reach
their ports in defiance of the temped.

But improvement is naturally flow. The Society
met and parted without any vifible diminution of
the miferies of life. The gout and ftone were ftill
painful, the ground that was not plowed brought no
harveft, and neither oranges nor grapes would grow
upon the hawthorn. At laft, thole who were difap-
pointed began to be angry ; thofe likewife who
hated innovation were glad to gain an opportunity of
ridiculing men who had depreciated, perhaps with
too much arrogance, the knowledge of antiquity.
And it appears from foine of their earlieft apologies,
that the philofophers felt with great fenfibility the
unwelcome importunities of thoie who were daily
aflung, " What have ye done?"

The truth is, that little had been done compared
with what fame had been fullered to promife ; and
the queftion could only be anfwered by general apo-
logies and by new hopes, which, when they were

fruftrated*



N 88. THE IDLER* 355

fruftrated, gave a new occafion to the fame vexatious
enquiry.

This fatal queflion has difturbed the qdiet of many-
other minds. He that in the latter part of his life
too flridtly enquires what he has done, can very
feldom receive from his own heart fuch an account
as will give him fatisfaction.

We do not indeed fo often difappoint others as
ourfelves. We not only think more highly than
others of our own abilities, but allow ourfelves to
form hopes which we never communicate, and pleafe
our thoughts with employments which none ever
will allot us, and with elevations to which we are
never expected to rife ; and when our days and years
have paffed away in common bufinefs or common
amufements, and we find at laflthat we have fuffered
our purpofes to fleep till the time of action is pad,
we are reproached only by our own reflections ; nei-
ther our friends nor our enemies wonder that we
live and die like the reft of mankind ; that we live
without notice, and die without memorial ; they
know not what taik we had propofed, and therefore
cannot difcern whether it is finifhed.

He that compares what he has done with what he
has left undone, will feel the effeft which muft al-
ways follow the comparifon of imagination with
reality ; he will look with contempt on his Own un-
importance, and wonder to what purpofe he came
into the world ; he will repine that he fhall leave
behind him no evidence of his having been, that he
has added nothing to the fyftem of life, but has
glided from youth to age among the crowd j without
any effort for diftindtion.

A a a Man



356 T H E I D L E R. N> 88.

Man is feldom willing to let fall the opinion of