The Spectator Volume Ii Part 129

No. 400. Monday, June 9, 1712. Steele.

'--Latet Anguis in Herba.'

Virg.

It should, methinks, preserve Modesty and its Interests in the World, that the Transgression of it always creates Offence; and the very Purposes of Wantonness are defeated by a Carriage which has in it so much Boldness, as to intimate that Fear and Reluctance are quite extinguishd in an Object which would be otherwise desirable. It was said of a Wit of the last Age,

Sedley has that prevailing gentle Art, } Which, can with a resistless Charm impart } The loosest Wishes to the chastest Heart; } Raise such a Conflict, kindle such a Fire, Between declining Virtue and Desire, That the poor vanquished Maid dissolves away In Dreams all Night, in Sighs and Tears all Day. [1]

This prevailing gentle Art was made up of Complaisance, Courts.h.i.+p, and artful Conformity to the Modesty of a Woman's Manners. Rusticity, broad Expression, and forward Obtrusion, offend those of Education, and make the Transgressors odious to all who have Merit enough to attract Regard.

It is in this Taste that the Scenery is so beautifully ordered in the Description which Antony makes, in the Dialogue between him and Dolabella, of Cleopatra in her Barge.

Her Galley down the Silver Cydnos row'd; The Tackling Silk, the Streamers wav'd with Gold; The gentle Winds were lodg'd in purple Sails: Her Nymphs, like Nereids, round her Couch were placed, Where she, another Sea-born Venus, lay; She lay, and lean'd her Cheek upon her Hand, And cast a Look so languis.h.i.+ngly sweet, As if, secure of all Beholders Hearts, Neglecting she could take 'em. Boys like Cupids Stood fanning with their painted Wings the Winds That play'd about her Face; but if she smil'd, A darting Glory seemed to blaze abroad, That Men's desiring Eyes were never weary'd, But hung upon the Object. To soft Flutes The Silver Oars kept Time; and while they play'd, The Hearing gave new Pleasure to the Sight, And both to Thought [2]--

Here the Imagination is warmed with all the Objects presented, and yet there is nothing that is luscious, or what raises any Idea more loose than that of a beautiful Woman set off to Advantage. The like, or a more delicate and careful Spirit of Modesty, appears in the following Pa.s.sage in one of Mr. Philip's Pastorals. [3]

'Breathe soft ye Winds, ye Waters gently flow, s.h.i.+eld her ye Trees, ye Flowers around her grow, Ye Swains, I beg you, pa.s.s in Silence by, My Love in yonder Vale asleep does lie.'

Desire is corrected when there is a Tenderness or Admiration expressed which partakes the Pa.s.sion. Licentious Language has something brutal in it, which disgraces Humanity, and leaves us in the Condition of the Savages in the Field. But it may be askd to what good Use can tend a Discourse of this Kind at all? It is to alarm chaste Ears against such as have what is above called the prevailing gentle Art. Masters of that Talent are capable of cloathing their Thoughts in so soft a Dress, and something so distant from the secret Purpose of their Heart, that the Imagination of the Unguarded is touched with a Fondness which grows too insensibly to be resisted. Much Care and Concern for the Lady's Welfare, to seem afraid lest she should be annoyed by the very Air which surrounds her, and this uttered rather with kind Looks, and expressed by an Interjection, an Ah, or an Oh, at some little Hazard in moving or making a Step, than in my direct Profession of Love, are the Methods of skilful Admirers: They are honest Arts when their Purpose is such, but infamous when misapplied. It is certain that many a young Woman in this Town has had her Heart irrecoverably won, by Men who have not made one Advance which ties their Admirers, tho' the Females languish with the utmost Anxiety. I have often, by way of Admonition to my female Readers, give them Warning against agreeable Company of the other s.e.x, except they are well acquainted with their Characters. Women may disguise it if they think fit, and the more to do it, they may be angry at me for saying it; but I say it is natural to them, that they have no Manner of Approbation of Men, without some Degree of Love: For this Reason he is dangerous to be entertaind as a Friend or Visitant who is capable of gaining any eminent Esteem or Observation, though it be never so remote from Pretensions as a Lover. If a Man's Heart has not the Abhorrence of any treacherous Design, he may easily improve Approbation into Kindness, and Kindness into Pa.s.sion. There may possibly be no manner of Love between them in the Eyes of all their Acquaintance, no it is all Friends.h.i.+p; and yet they may be as fond as Shepherd and Shepherdess in a Pastoral, but still the Nymph and the Swain may be to each other no other I warrant you, than Pylades and Orestes.

When Lucy decks with Flowers her swelling Breast, And on her Elbow leans, dissembling Rest, Unable to refrain my madding Mind, Nor Sleep nor Pasture worth my Care I find.

Once Delia slept, on easie Moss reclin'd, Her lovely Limbs half bare, and rude the Wind; I smoothed her Coats, and stole a silent Kiss: Condemn me Shepherds if I did amiss. [4]

Such good Offices as these, and such friendly Thoughts and Concerns for one another, are what make up the Amity, as they call it, between Man and Woman.

It is the Permission of such Intercourse, that makes a young Woman come to the Arms of her Husband, after the Disappointment of four or five Pa.s.sions which she has successively had for different Men, before she is prudentially given to him for whom she has neither Love nor Friends.h.i.+p.

For what should a poor Creature do that has lost all her Friends?

There's Marinet the Agreeable, has, to my Knowledge, had a Friends.h.i.+p for Lord Welford, which had like to break her Heart; then she had so great a Friends.h.i.+p for Colonel Hardy, that she could not endure any Woman else should do any thing but rail at him. Many and fatal have been Disasters between Friends who have fallen out, and their Resentments are more keen than ever those of other Men can possibly be: But in this it happens unfortunately, that as there ought to be nothing concealed from one Friend to another, the Friends of different s.e.xes [very often [5]]

find fatal Effects from their Unanimity.

For my Part, who study to pa.s.s Life in as much Innocence and Tranquility as I can, I shun the Company of agreeable Women as much as possible; and must confess that I have, though a tolerable good Philosopher, but a low Opinion of Platonick Love: for which Reason I thought it necessary to give my fair Readers a Caution against it, having, to my great Concern, observed the Waste of a Platonist lately swell to a Roundness which is inconsistent with that Philosophy.

T.

[Footnote 1: Rochester's 'Allusion to the 10th Satire of the 1st Book of Horace.']

[Footnote 2: Dryden's All for Love, Act III. sc. i. ]

[Footnote 3: The Sixth.]

[Footnote 4: Two stanzas from different parts of Ambrose Philips's sixth Pastoral. The first in the original follows the second, with three stanzas intervening.]

[Footnote 5: (, for want of other Amus.e.m.e.nt, often study Anatomy together; and what is worse than happens in any other Friends.h.i.+p, they)]

No. 401. Tuesday, June 10, 1712. Budgell.

'In amore haec omnia insunt vitia: Injuriae, Suspiciones, Inimicitiae, Induciae, Bellum, pax rursum:'

Ter.

I shall publish for the Entertainment of this Day, an odd sort of a Packet, which I have just received from one of my Female Correspondents.

Mr. SPECTATOR,

Since you have often confess'd that you are not displeased your Paper should sometimes convey the Complaints of distressed Lovers to each other, I am in Hopes you will favour one who gives you an undoubted Instance of her Reformation, and at the same time a convincing Proof of the happy Influence your Labours have had over the most Incorrigible Part of the most Incorrigible s.e.x. You must know, Sir, I am one of that Species of Women, whom you have often Characteriz'd under the Name of Jilts, and that I send you these Lines, as well to do Publick Penance for having so long continued in a known Error, as to beg Pardon of the Party offended. I the rather chuse this way, because it in some measure answers the Terms on which he intimated the Breach between us might possibly be made up, as you will see by the Letter he sent me the next Day after I had discarded him; which I thought fit to send you a Copy of, that you might the better know the whole Case.

I must further acquaint you, that before I Jilted him, there had been the greatest Intimacy between us for an Year and half together, during all which time I cherished his Hopes, and indulged his Flame. I leave you to guess after this what must be his Surprize, when upon his pressing for my full Consent one Day, I told him I wondered what could make him fancy he had ever any Place in my Affections. His own s.e.x allow him Sense, and all ours Good-Breeding. His Person is such as might, without Vanity, make him believe himself not incapable to be beloved. Our Fortunes indeed, weighed in the nice Scale of Interest, are not exactly equal, which by the way was the true Case of my Jilting him, and I had the a.s.surance to acquaint him with the following Maxim, That I should always believe that Man's Pa.s.sion to be the most Violent, who could offer me the largest Settlement. I have since changed my Opinion, and have endeavoured to let him know so much by several Letters, but the barbarous Man has refused them all; so that I have no way left of writing to him, but by your a.s.sistance. If we can bring him about once more, I promise to send you all Gloves and Favours, and shall desire the Favour of Sir ROGER and your self to stand as G.o.d-Fathers to my first Boy.

I am, SIR, Your most Obedient most Humble Servant, Amoret.

Philander to Amoret.

Madam,

I am so surprised at the Question you were pleased to ask me Yesterday, that I am still at a loss what to say to it. At least my Answer would be too long to trouble you with, as it would come from a Person, who, it seems, is so very indifferent to you. Instead of it, I shall only recommend to your Consideration the Opinion of one whose Sentiments on these matters I have often heard you say are extremely just. A generous and Constant Pa.s.sion, says your favourite Author, in an agreeable Lover, where there is not too great a Disparity in their Circ.u.mstances, is the greatest Blessing that can befal a Person beloved; and if overlook'd in one, may perhaps never be found in another.

I do not, however, at all despair of being very shortly much better beloved by you than Antenor is at present; since whenever my Fortune shall exceed his, you were pleased to intimate your Pa.s.sion would encrease accordingly.

The World has seen me shamefully lose that Time to please a fickle Woman, which might have been employed much more to my Credit and Advantage in other Pursuits. I shall therefore take the Liberty to acquaint you, however harsh it may sound in a Lady's Ears, that tho your Love-Fit should happen to return, unless you could contrive a way to make your Recantation as well known to the Publick, as they are already apprised of the manner with which you have treated me, you shall never more see Philander.

Amoret to Philander.