A Man, who uses his best Endeavours to live according to the Dictates of Virtue and right Reason, has two perpetual Sources of Chearfulness; in the Confideration of his own Nature, and of that Being on whom he has a Dependance. If he looks into himself, he cannot but rejcice in that Existence, which is fo lately beftowed upon him, and which, after Millions of Ages, will be ftill new, and ftill in its Beginning. How many Self-Congratulations naturally arife in the Mind, when it reflects on this its Entrance into Eternity, when it takes a view of thofe improveable Faculties, which in a few Years, and even at its first fetting out, have made fo confiderable a Progrefs, and which will be ftill receiving an Increafe of Perfection, and confequently an Increase of Happiness? The Confcioufnefs of fuch a Being spreads a perpetual Diffufion of Joy through the Soul of a virtuous Man, and makes him look upon himself every Moment as more happy than he knows how to conceive.

THE fecond Source of Chearfulness to a good Mind, is its Confideration of that Being on whom we have our Dependance, and in whom, though we behold him as yet but in the firft faint Discoveries of his Perfections, we fee every thing that we can imagine as great, glorious, or amiable. We find our felves every where upheld by his Goodness, and furrounded with an Immenfity of Love and Mercy. In short, we depend upon a Being, whose Power qualifies him to make us happy by an Infinity of Means, whofe Goodnefs and Truth engage him to make thofe happy who defire it of him, and whofe Unchangeableness will fecure us in this Happiness to all Eternity.

SUCH Confiderations, which every one fhould perpetually cherish in his Thoughts, will banifh from us all that fecret Heaviness of Heart which unthinking Men are fubject to when they lie under no real Affliction, all that Anguish which we may feel from any Evil that actually oppreffes us, to which I may likewife add thofe little Cracklings of Mirth and Folly that are apter to betray Virtue than fupport it; and effablish in us fuch an even and chearful Temper, as makes us pleafing to our felves,

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to those with whom we converfe, and to him whom we were made to please.

Ought not to have neglected a Requeft of one of my Correfpondents fo long as I have; but I dare fay I have given him time to add Practice to Profeffion. He fent me fome time ago a Bottle or two of excellent Wine to drink the Health of a Gentleman, who had by the Penny-Poft advertised him of an egregious Error in his Conduct. My Correfpondent received the Obligation from an unknown Hand with the Candour which is natural to an ingenuous Mind; and promises a contrary Behaviour in that Point for the future: He will offend his Monitor with no more Errors of that kind, but thanks him for his Benevolence. This frank Carriage makes me reflect upon the amiable Atonement a Man makes in an inge nuous Acknowledgment of a Fault: All fuch Miscarriages as flow from Inadvertency are more than repaid by it; for Reason, though not concerned in the Injury, employs all its Force in the Atonement. He that fays, he did not defign to difoblige you in fuch an Action, does as much as if he fhould tell you, that tho' the Circumftance which dif pleased was never in his Thoughts, he has that refpect for you, that he is unfatisfied till it is wholly out of yours. It must be confeffed, that when an Acknowledgment of Offence is made out of Poornefs of Spirit, and not Conviction of Heart, the Circumstance is quite different: But in the cafe of my Correfpondent, where both the Notice is taken and the Return made in private, the Affair begins and ends with the higheft Grace on each fide. To make the Acknowledgment of a Fault in the highest manner graceful, it is lucky when the Circumftances of

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the Offender place him above any ill Confequences from the Refentment of the Perfon offended. A Dauphin of France, upon a Review of the Army, and á Command of the King to alter the Pofture of it by a March of one of the Wings, gave an improper Order to an Officer at the Head of a Brigade, who told his Highness, he prefumed he had not received the laft Orders, which were to move a contrary Way. The Prince, inftead of taking the Admonition which was delivered in a manner that accounted for his Error with Safety to his Understanding, fhaked a Cane at the Officer; and with the return of opprobrious Language, perfifted in his own Orders. The whole matter came neceffarily before the King, who commanded his Son, on foot, to lay his right Hand on the Gentleman's Stirrup as he fat on Horseback in fight of the whole Army, and ask his pardon. When the Prince touched his Stirrup, and was going to fpeak, the Officer, with an incredible Agility, threw himself on the Earth, and kiffed his Feet.

THE Body is very little concerned in the Pleasures or Sufferings of Souls truly great; and the Reparation, when an Honour was defigned this Soldier, appeared as much too great to be borne by his Gratitude, as the Injury was intolerable to his Refentment.

WHEN we turn our Thoughts from these extraor dinary Occurrences into common Life, we fee an ingenuous kind of Behaviour not only make up for Faults committed, but in a manner expiate them in the very Commiffion. Thus many things wherein a Man bas preffed too far, he implicity excufes, by owning, This is a Trefpafs; you'll pardon my Confidence; I am fenfible I have no Pretenfion to this Favour, and the like. But commend me to thofe gay Fellows about Town who are directly impudent, and make up for it no otherwife than by calling themselves fuch, and exulting in it. But this. fort of Carriage, which prompts a Man against Rules to urge what he has a mind to, is pardonable only when fue for another. When you are confident in preference of your felf to others of equal Merit, every Man that loves Virtue and Modefty ought, in defence of thofe Qua

you

lities,

257 lities, to oppofe you: But, without confidering the Morality of the thing, let us at this time behold only the natural Confequence of Candour when we fpeak of our felves.

THE SPECTATOR writes often in an Elegant, of ten in an Argumentative, and often in a Sublime Style, with equal Succefs; but how would it hurt the reputed Author of that Paper to own, that of the most beautiful Pieces under his Title, he is barely the Publifher? There is nothing but what a Man really performs, can be an Honour to him; what he takes more than he ought in the Eye of the World, he lofes in the Conviction of his own Heart; and a Man muft lofe his Confciousness, that is, his very Self, before he can rejoice in any Falfhood without inward Mortification.

WHO has not feen a very Griminal at the Bat, when his Counsel and Friends have done all that they could. for him in vain, prevail upon the whole Affembly to pity him, and his Judge to recommend his Cafe to the Mercy of the Throne, without offering any thing new in his Defence, but that he, whom before we wished convicted, became fo out of his own Mouth, and took upon himfelf all the Shame and Sorrow we were just before preparing for him? The great Opposition to this kind of Candour, arifes from the unjust Idea People ordinarily have of what we call a high Spirit. It is far from Greatnefs of Spirit to perfift in the wrong in any thing, nor is it a Diminution of Greatness of Spirit to have been in the wrong: Perfection is not the Attribute of Man, therefore he is not degraded by the acknowledgment of an Imperfection: But it is the Work of little Minds to imitate the Fortitude of great Spirits on worthy Occafions, by Obftinacy in the wrong. This Obftinacy prevails fo far upon them, that they make it extend to the Defence of Faults in their very Servants. Ft would fwell this Paper to too great a length, fhould I infert all the Quarrels and Debates which are now on foot in this Town; where one Party, and in fome Cafes both, is fenfible of being on the faulty fide, and have not Spirit enough to acknowledge it. Among the Ladies the Cafe is very common,

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for there are very few of them who know that it is to maintain a true and high Spirit, to throw away from it all which it felf difapproves, and to fcorn fo pitiful a Shame, as that which disables the Heart from acquiring a Liberality of Affections and Sentiments. The candid Mind, by acknowledging and discarding its Faults, has Reafon and Truth for the Foundation of all its Paffions and Defires, and confequently is happy and fimple; the difingenuous Spirit, by Indulgence of one unacknowledged Error, is intangled with an After-Life of Guilt, Sorrow, and Perplexity.

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N° 383. Tuesday, May 20.

Criminibus debent Hortos

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Hor.

SI was fitting in my Chamber, and thinking on a Subject for my next Spectator, I heard two or three irregular Bous ces at my Landlady's Door, and upon the opening of it, a loud chearful Voice enquiring whe ther the Philofopher was at Home, The Child who went to the Door anfwered very innocently, that he did not lodge there. I immediately recollected that it was my good Friend Sir ROGER'S Voice; and that I had promifed to go with him on the Water to Spring-Garden, in cafe it proved a good Evening. The Knight put me in mind of my Promise from the bottom of the Stair-Cafe, but told me that if I was fpeculating he would ftay below till I had done. Upon my coming down, I found all the Children of the Family got about my old Friend, and my Landlady herself, who is a notable prating Goffip, engaged in a Conference with him; being mightily pleafed with his ftroak. ing her little Boy upon the Head, and bidding him be a good Child, and mind his Book.

WE were no fooner come to the Temple Stairs, but we were furrounded with a Croud of Water-men, offer

ing