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An essay by Richard Steele |
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No. 080 [from The Spectator] |
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Title: No. 080 [from The Spectator] Author: Richard Steele [More Titles by Steele] No. 80 'Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt.' Hor.
These two Rivals for the Reputation of Beauty, were in their Stature, Countenance and Mien so very much alike, that if you were speaking of them in their Absence, the Words in which you described the one must give you an Idea of the other. They were hardly distinguishable, you would think, when they were apart, tho' extremely different when together. What made their Enmity the more entertaining to all the rest of their Sex was, that in Detraction from each other neither could fall upon Terms which did not hit herself as much as her Adversary. Their Nights grew restless with Meditation of new Dresses to outvie each other, and inventing new Devices to recal Admirers, who observed the Charms of the one rather than those of the other on the last Meeting. Their Colours failed at each other's Appearance, flushed with Pleasure at the Report of a Disadvantage, and their Countenances withered upon Instances of Applause. The Decencies to which Women are obliged, made these Virgins stifle their Resentment so far as not to break into open Violences, while they equally suffered the Torments of a regulated Anger. Their Mothers, as it is usual, engaged in the Quarrel, and supported the several Pretensions of the Daughters with all that ill-chosen Sort of Expence which is common with People of plentiful Fortunes and mean Taste. The Girls preceded their Parents like Queens of _May_, in all the gaudy Colours imaginable, on every _Sunday_ to Church, and were exposed to the Examination of the Audience for Superiority of Beauty. During this constant Straggle it happened, that _Phillis_ one Day at publick Prayers smote the Heart of a gay _West-Indian_, who appear'd in all the Colours which can affect an Eye that could not distinguish between being fine and tawdry. This _American_ in a Summer-Island Suit was too shining and too gay to be resisted by _Phillis_, and too intent upon her Charms to be diverted by any of the laboured Attractions of _Brunetta_. Soon after, _Brunetta_ had the Mortification to see her Rival disposed of in a wealthy Marriage, while she was only addressed to in a Manner that shewed she was the Admiration of all Men, but the Choice of none. _Phillis_ was carried to the Habitation of her Spouse in _Barbadoes_: _Brunetta_ had the Ill-nature to inquire for her by every Opportunity, and had the Misfortune to hear of her being attended by numerous Slaves, fanned into Slumbers by successive Hands of them, and carried from Place to Place in all the Pomp of barbarous Magnificence. _Brunetta_ could not endure these repeated Advices, but employed all her Arts and Charms in laying Baits for any of Condition of the same Island, out of a mere Ambition to confront her once more before she died. She at last succeeded in her Design, and was taken to Wife by a Gentleman whose Estate was contiguous to that of her Enemy's Husband. It would be endless to enumerate the many Occasions on which these irreconcileable Beauties laboured to excel each other; but in process of Time it happened that a Ship put into the Island consigned to a Friend of _Phillis_, who had Directions to give her the Refusal of all Goods for Apparel, before _Brunetta_ could be alarmed of their Arrival. He did so, and _Phillis_ was dressed in a few Days in a Brocade more gorgeous and costly than had ever before appeared in that Latitude. _Brunetta_ languished at the Sight, and could by no means come up to the Bravery of her Antagonist. She communicated her Anguish of Mind to a faithful Friend, who by an Interest in the Wife of _Phillis's_ Merchant, procured a Remnant of the same Silk for _Brunetta_. _Phillis_ took pains to appear in all public Places where she was sure to meet _Brunetta_; _Brunetta_ was now prepared for the Insult, and came to a public Ball in a plain black Silk Mantua, attended by a beautiful Negro Girl in a Petticoat of the same Brocade with which _Phillis_ was attired. This drew the Attention of the whole Company, upon which the unhappy _Phillis_ swooned away, and was immediately convey'd to her House. As soon as she came to herself she fled from her Husband's House, went on board a Ship in the Road, and is now landed in inconsolable Despair at _Plymouth_. POSTSCRIPT. After the above melancholy Narration, it may perhaps be a Relief to the Reader to peruse the following Expostulation.
The just Remonstrance of affronted THAT. 'Tho' I deny not the Petition of Mr. _Who_ and _Which_, yet You should not suffer them to be rude and call honest People Names: For that bears very hard on some of those Rules of Decency, which You are justly famous for establishing. They may find fault, and correct Speeches in the Senate and at the Bar: But let them try to get _themselves_ so _often_ and with so much _Eloquence_ repeated in a Sentence, as a great Orator doth frequently introduce me. My Lords! (says he) with humble Submission, _That_ that I say is this; that, _That_ that that Gentleman has advanced, is not _That_, that he should have proved to your Lordships. Let those two questionary Petitioners try to do thus with their _Who's_ and their _Whiches_. 'What great advantage was I of to Mr. _Dryden_ in his _Indian Emperor_, _You force me still to answer You in_ That, to furnish out a Rhyme to _Morat_? And what a poor Figure would Mr. _Bayes_ have made without his _Egad and all That_? How can a judicious Man distinguish one thing from another, without saying _This here_, or _That there_? And how can a sober Man without using the _Expletives_ of Oaths (in which indeed the Rakes and Bullies have a great advantage over others) make a Discourse of any tolerable Length, without _That is_; and if he be a very grave Man indeed, without _That is to say_? And how instructive as well as entertaining are those usual Expressions in the Mouths of great Men, _Such Things as That_ and _The like of That_. I am not against reforming the Corruptions of Speech You mention, and own there are proper Seasons for the Introduction of other Words besides _That_; but I scorn as much to supply the Place of a _Who_ or a _Which_ at every Turn, as they are _unequal_ always to fill mine; And I expect good Language and civil Treatment, and hope to receive it for the future: _That_, that I shall only add is, that I am, Yours, THAT.'
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES LORD HALLIFAX. [1] My LORD, Similitude of Manners and Studies is usually mentioned as one of the strongest motives to Affection and Esteem; but the passionate Veneration I have for your Lordship, I think, flows from an Admiration of Qualities in You, of which, in the whole course of these Papers I have acknowledged myself incapable. While I busy myself as a Stranger upon Earth, and can pretend to no other than being a Looker-on, You are conspicuous in the Busy and Polite world, both in the World of Men, and that of Letters; While I am silent and unobserv'd in publick Meetings, You are admired by all that approach You as the Life and Genius of the Conversation. What an happy Conjunction of different Talents meets in him whose whole Discourse is at once animated by the Strength and Force of Reason, and adorned with all the Graces and Embellishments of Wit: When Learning irradiates common Life, it is then in its highest Use and Perfection; and it is to such as Your Lordship, that the Sciences owe the Esteem which they have with the active Part of Mankind. Knowledge of Books in recluse Men, is like that sort of Lanthorn which hides him who carries it, and serves only to pass through secret and gloomy Paths of his own; but in the Possession of a Man of Business, it is as a Torch in the Hand of one who is willing and able to shew those, who are bewildered, the Way which leads to their Prosperity and Welfare. A generous Concern for your Country, and a Passion for every thing which is truly Great and Noble, are what actuate all Your Life and Actions; and I hope You will forgive me that I have an Ambition this Book may be placed in the Library of so good a Judge of what is valuable, in that Library where the Choice is such, that it will not be a Disparagement to be the meanest Author in it. Forgive me, my Lord, for taking this Occasion of telling all the World how ardently I Love and Honour You; and that I am, with the utmost Gratitude for all Your Favours,
Charles Montague, at the time of the dedication fifty years old, and within four years of the end of his life, was born, in 1661, at Horton, in Northamptonshire. His father was a younger son of the first Earl of Manchester. He was educated at Westminster School and at Trinity College, Cambridge. Apt for wit and verse, he joined with his friend Prior in writing a burlesque on Dryden's 'Hind and Panther', 'Transversed to the Story of the Country and the City Mouse.' In Parliament in James the Second's reign, he joined in the invitation of William of Orange, and rose rapidly, a self-made man, after the Revolution. In 1691 he was a Lord of the Treasury; in April, 1694, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in May, 1697, First Lord of the Treasury, retaining the Chancellorship and holding both offices till near the close of 1699. Of his dealing with the currency, see note on p. 19. In 1700 he was made Baron Halifax, and had secured the office of Auditor of the Exchequer, which was worth at least L4000 a year, and in war time twice as much. The Tories, on coming to power, made two unsuccessful attempts to fix on him charges of fraud. In October, 1714, George I made him Earl of Halifax and Viscount Sunbury. Then also he again became Prime Minister. He was married, but died childless, in May, 1715. In 1699, when Somers and Halifax were the great chiefs of the Whig Ministry, they joined in befriending Addison, then 27 years old, who had pleased Somers with a piece of English verse and Montague with Latin lines upon the Peace of Ryswick. Now, therefore, having dedicated the First volume of the 'Spectator' to Somers, it is to Halifax that Steele and he inscribe the Second. Of the defect in Charles Montague's character, Lord Macaulay writes that, when at the height of his fortune, "He became proud even to insolence. Old companions ... hardly knew their friend Charles in the great man who could not forget for one moment that he was First Lord of the Treasury, that he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, that he had been a Regent of the kingdom, that he had founded the Bank of England, and the new East India Company, that he had restored the Currency, that he had invented the Exchequer Bills, that he had planned the General Mortgage, and that he had been pronounced, by a solemn vote of the Commons, to have deserved all the favours which he had received from the Crown. It was said that admiration of himself and contempt of others were indicated by all his gestures, and written in all the lines of his face."] [The end] GO TO TOP OF SCREEN |