to write Tragedies; having by me, in my book of common places, enough to enable me to finish a very fad one by the fifth of the next month. I have the farewel of a General, with a truncheon in his hand, dying for love, in fix lines. I have the principles of a Politician (who does all the mischief in the Play) together with his declaration on the vanity of ambition in his laft moments, expreffed in a page and an half. I have all my oaths ready, and my fimiles want nothing but application. I will not pretend to give you an account of the plot, it being the fame defign upon which all Tragedies have been writ for feveral years laft paft; and from the beginning of the firft fcene, the frequenters of the House may know as well as the Author, when the battle is to be fought, the Lady to yield, and the Hero proceed to his wedding and coronation. Befides these

advantages which I have in readinefs, I have an eminent tragedian very much my friend, who fhall come in and go through the whole five Acts, without troubling me for one fentence, whether he is to kill or be killed, love or be loved, win battles or lofe them, or whatever other tragical performance I fhall please to affign him,

From my own Apartment, May 30.

I have this day received a letter, fubfcribed Fidelia, that gives me an account of an inchantment under which a young Lady fuffers, and defires my help to exorcife her from the power of the forcerer. Her Lover is a Rake of fixty; the Lady a virtuous woman of twenty-five: Her relations are to the laft degree afflicted, and amazed at this irregular paffion: Their forrow I know not how to remove, but can their aftonishment; for there is no fpirit in woman half fo prevalent as that of contradiction, which is the fole caufe of her perfeverance. Let the whole family go dreffed in. a body, and call the bride to-morrow morning to her nuptials, and I will undertake the inconftant will forget her Lover in the midst of all his aches. But if this expedient does not fucceed, I must be fo just to the young Lady's diftinguishing sense, as to applaud her choice. A fine young woman, at laft, is but what is due from fate to an honest fellow,

who

who has fuffered fo unmercifully by the Sex; and I think we cannot enough celebrate her heroic virtue, who (like the patriot that ended a peftilence by plunging himfelf into a gulph) gives herself up to gorge that dragon, which has devoured fo many virgins before her.

"A letter directed to Ifaac Bickerstaff, Efquire, "Aftrologer and Phyfician in Ordinary to her Majefty's fubjects of Great Britain, with refpect, is come to "hand."

N° 23.

Τ'

Thursday, June 2, 1709.

White's Chocolate-houfe, May 31.

HE generality of mankind are so very fond of this world, and of staying in it, that a man cannot have eminent skill in any one art, but they will, in fpite of his teeth, make him a Phyfician alfo, that being the fcience the worldlings have moft need of. I pretended, when I first fet up, to Aftrology only; but I am told, I have deep skill alfo in Medicine. I am applied to now by a Gentleman for my advice in behalf of his Wife, who, upon the leaft matrimonial difficulty, is exceffively troubled with fits, and can bear no manner of paffion without falling into immediate convulfions. I must confefs, it is a cafe I have known before, and remember the party was recovered by certain words pronounced in the midst of the fit, by the learned Doctor who performed the cure. Thefe ails have ufually their beginning from the affections of the mind: Therefore you must have patience to let me give you an inftance, whereby you may difcern the cause of the diftemper, and then proceed in cure as follows:

A fine Town-lady was married to a Gentleman of antient defcent in one of the counties of Great Britain, who had good-humour to a weakness, and was that fort

of

135 of perfon, of whom it is ufually faid, He is no man's enemy but his own: One who had too much tenderness of foul to have any authority with his wife; and the too little fenfe to give him authority for that reafon. His kind wife obferved this temper in him, and made proper ufe of it. But knowing it was below a Gentlewoman to wrangle, fhe refolved upon an expedient to fave decorum, and wear her Dear to her point at the fame time. She therefore took upon her to govern him, by falling into fits whenever he was repulfed in a request, or contradicted in a difcourfe. It was a fifh-day, when in the midft of her husband's good-humour at table, fhe bethought herself to try her project. She made figns that fhe had fwallowed a bone. The man grew pale as afhes, and ran to her affiftance, calling for drink. No, my Dear, faid he, recovering, it is down; do not be frightened. This accident betrayed his foftnefs enough. The next day fhe complained, a Lady's chariot, whofe husband had not half his eftate, had a crane neck, and hung with twice the air that hers did. He answered, Madam, you know my income, you know I have loft two coach-horfes this fpring..

-Down the fell."Hartfhorn! Betty, Sujan, Alice, throw water in her "face." With much care and pains, fhe was at laft brought to herself, and the vehicle in which the vifited was amended in the niceft manner, to prevent relapfes; but they frequently happened, during that husband's whole life, which he had the good fortune to end in few years after. The Difconfolate foon pitched upon a very agreeable fucceffor, whom the very prudently defigned to govern by the fame method. This man knew her little arts, and refolved to break through all tenderness, and be abfolute mafter as foon as occafion offered. One day it happened, that a difcourfe arose about furniture: He was very glad of the occafion, and fell into an invective against China, protesting, he would never let five pounds more of his money be laid out that way as long as he breathed. She immediately fainted.He starts up as amazed, and calls for help.--The maids ran to the closet.He chafes her face, bends her forward, and beats the palms of her hands: Her convulfions increase, and down the tumbles on the floor, where

where the lies quite dead, in fpite of what the whole family, from the nursery to the kitchen, could do for her relief.

While every fervant was thus helping or lamenting their mistress, he, fixing his cheek to hers, feemed to be following in a trance of forrow; but fecretly whifpers her, & My Dear, this will never do: What is within my power and fortune, you may always com "mand, but none of your artifices: You are quite in "other hands than thofe you paffed these pretty paffions "upon." This made her almoft in the condition fhe pretended; her convulfions now come thicker, nor was The to be held down. The kind man doubles his care, helps the fervants to throw water in her face by full quarts; and when the finking part of the fit came again, "Well, my dear (faid he) I applaud your ac"tion; but I must take my leave of you until you are "more fincere with me; farewel for ever: You fhall "always know where to hear of me, and want for no"thing." With that he ordered the maids to keep plying her with hartfhorn, while he went for a Phyfician. He was scarce at the ftair-head when she followed, and pulling him into a closet, thanked him for her cure; which was fo abfolute, that she gave me this relation herfelf, to be communicated for the benefit of all the voluntary invalids of her fex.

St. James's Coffee-house, June 1.

Advices from Bruffels of the fixth inftant, N. S. fay, his Highness Prince Eugene had received a Letter from Monfieur Torcy, wherein that Minifter, after many expreffions of great refpect, acquaints him, that his Master had abfolutely refufed to fign the preliminaries to the Treaty which he had, in his Majefty's behalf, confented to at the Hague. Upon the receipt of this intelligence, the face of things at that place were immediately altered, and the neceffary orders were tranfmitted to the troops (which lay moft remote from thence) to move toward the place of rendezvous with all expedition. The enemy feems alfo to prepare for the field, and have at prefent drawn together twenty-five thousand men in the

6

plains

plains of Lenz. Marshal Villars is at the head of those troops; and has given the Generals under his command all poffible affurances, that he will turn the fate of the war to the advantage of his Master.

They write from the Hague of the seventh, that Monfieur Rouille had received orders from the Court of France, to fignify to the States-General, and the Minifters of the High Allies, that the King could not confent to the preliminaries of a Treaty of peace, as it was offered to him by Monfieur Torcy. The great difficulty is the bufinefs of Spain, on which particular his Minifters feemed only to fay, during the treaty, that it was not fo immediately under their Mafter's direction, as that he could engage for its being relinquished by the Duke of Anjou: But now he pofitively answers, that he cannot comply with what his Minifter has promised in his behalf, even in fuch points as are wholly in himself to act in or not. This has had no other effect than to give the alliance fresh arguments for being diffident of engagements entered into by France. The Penfioner made a report of all which this Minister had declared to the Deputies of the States-General, and all things turn towards a vigorous war. The Duke of Marlborough defigned to leave the Hague within two days, in order to put himself at the head of the army, which is to affemble on the feventeenth inftant between the Scheld and the Lis. A fleet of eighty fail, laden with corn from the Baltic, is arrived in the Texel. The States have fent circular letters to all the provinces, to notify this change of affairs, and to animate their fubjects to new refolutions in defence of their country.

From my own Apartment, May 31.

The Public is not fo little my concern, though I am but a Student, as that I fhould not intereft myself in the prefent great things in agitation. I am ftill of opinion the French King will fign the Preliminaries. With that view, I have fent him, by my Familiar, the following Epifle, and admonished him, on pain of what I fhall fay of him to future generations, to act with fincerity on this occafion.

London,