1711, her self off the Rock with such an Intrepidity, as was No. 233, never before observed in any who had attempted that Tuesday, dangerous Leap. Many, who were present, related, that Nov. 27, they saw her fall into the Sea, from whence she never rose again; though there were others who affirmed, that she never came to the bottom of her Leap; but that she was changed into a Swan as she fell, and that they saw her hovering in the Air under that Shape. But whether or no the whiteness and fluttering of her Garments might not deceive those who looked upon her, or whether she might not really be Metamorphosed into that Musical and Melancholy Bird, is still a Doubt among the Lesbians. Alcaus, the famous Lyrick Poet, who had for some time been passionately in Love with Sappho, arrived at the Promontory of Leucate that very Evening, in order to take the Leap upon her Account; but hearing that Sappho had been there before him, and that her Body could be no where found, he very generously lamented her Fall, and is said to have written his Hundred and twenty fifth Ode upon that Occasion. Leaped in this Olympiad 350, No. 234, You Wednesday, November 28, Vellem in amicitia sic erraremus very often hear People, after a Story has been told with some entertaining Circumstances, tell it over again with Particulars that destroy the Jest, but give Light into the Truth of the Narration. This sort of Veracity, though it is impertinent, has something amiable in it, because it proceeds from the Love of Truth even in frivolous Occasions, If such honest Amend ments do not promise an agreeable Companion, they do a sincere Friend; for which Reason one should allow them No. 234. 1711, them so much of our Time, if we fall into their Com pany, as to set us right in Matters that can do us no manner of Harm, whether the Facts be one Way or the other, Lies which are told out of Arrogance and Ostentation a Man should detect in his own Defence, because he should not be triumph'd over; Lies which are told out of Malice he should expose, both for his own Sake and that of the rest of Mankind, because every Man should rise against a common Enemy; but the officious Liar many have argued is to be excused, because it does some Man Good and no Man Hurt The Man who made more than ordinary Speed from a Fight in which the Athenians were beaten, and told them they had obtained a compleat Victory, and put the whole City into the utmost Joy and Exultation, was checked by the Magistrates for his Falshood; but excused himself by saying, Oh Athenians! am I your Enemy because I gave ye two happy Days? This Fellow did to a whole People what an Acquaintance of mine does every Day he lives in some eminent Degree to particular Persons. He is ever lying People into good Humour, and as Plato said it was allowable in Physicians to lie to their Patients to keep up their Spirits, I am half doubt ful whether my Friend's Behaviour is not as excusable, His Manner is to express himself surprised at the chear ful Countenance of a Man whom he observes diffident of himself; and generally by that Means makes his Lie a Truth. He will, as if he did not know any thing of the Circumstance, ask one whom he knows at Variance with another, what is the Meaning that Mr. such a one, naming his Adversary, does not applaud him with that Heartiness which formerly he has heard him? He said indeed (continues he) I would rather have that Man for my Friend than any Man in England; but for an Enemy This melts the Person he talks to, who expected nothing but down-right Raillery from that Side. According as he sees his Practice succeed, he goes to the opposite Party and tells him, he cannot imagine how it happens that some People know one another so little; you spoke with so much Coldness of a Gentleman who said more Good of you, than, let me tell tell you, any Man living deserves. The Success of one No. 234, of these Incidents was, that the next Time that one of Wednes the Adversaries spy'd the other, he hems after him in day, Nov. 28, the publick Street; and they must crack a Bottle at the 1711. next Tavern, that used to turn out of the other's Way to avoid one another's Eyeshot. He will tell one Beauty she was commended by another, nay, he will say she gave the Woman he speaks to the Preference in a Particular for which she her self is admired. The pleasantest Confusion_imaginable is made through the whole Town by my Friend's indirect Offices; you shall have a Visit returned after half a Year's Absence, and mutual Railing at each other every Day of that Time, They meet with a thousand Lamentations for so long a Separation, each Party naming her self for the greater Delinquent, if the other can possibly be so good as to forgive her, which she has no Reason in the World but from the Knowledge of her Goodness to hope for. Very often a whole Train of Railers of each Side tire their Horses in setting Matters right which they have said during the War between the Parties, and a whole Circle of Acquaintance are put into a thousand pleasing Passions and Sentiments, instead of the Pangs of Anger, Envy, Detraction and Malice, The worst Evil I ever observed this Man's Falshood occasion, has been that he turned Detraction into Flattery, He is well skilled in the Manners of the World, and by over-looking what Men really are, he grounds his Artifices upon what they have a Mind to be: Upon this Foundation, if two distant Friends are brought together, and the Cement seems to be weak, he never rests till he finds new Appearances to take off all Remains of Ill-will; and that by new Misunder standings they are thoroughly reconciled. • Sir, 'To the SPECTATOR Devonshire, Nov. 14, 1711. There arrived in this Neighbourhood two Days ago one of your gay Gentlemen of the Town, who being attended at his Entry with a Servant of his own, besides a No. 234, Wednes day, Nov. 28, 1711. a Countryman he had taken up for a Guide, excited the Curiosity of the Village to learn whence and what he might be. The Countryman (to whom they applied as most easie of Access) knew little more than that the Gentleman came from London to travel and see Fashions, and was, as he heard say, a Free-thinker: What Religion that might be, he could not tell, and for his own part, if they had not told him the Man was a Free-thinker, he should have guessed, by his way of talking, he was little better than a Heathen; excepting only that he had been a good Gentleman to him, and made him drunk twice in one Day, over and above what they had bargain'd for. I do not look upon the Simplicity of this, and several odd Enquiries with which I shall trouble you, to be wondered at, much less can I think that our Youths of fine Wit and enlarged Understandings have any Reason to laugh. There is no necessity that every Squire in Great Britain should know what the Word Free thinker stands for; but it were much to be wish'd, that they who value themselves upon that conceited Title were a little better instructed what it ought to stand for; and that they would not perswade themselves a Man is really and truly a Free-thinker in any tolerable Sense, merely by vertue of his being an Atheist, or an Infidel of any other Distinction. It may be doubted, with good Reason, whether there ever was in Nature a more abject, slavish, and bigotted Generation than the Tribe of Beaux Esprits, at present so prevailing in this Island. Their Pretension to be Free-thinkers, is no other than Rakes have to be Free-livers, and Savages to be Free-men; that is, they can think whatever they have a mind to, and give themselves up to whatever Conceit the Ex travagancy of their Inclination, or their Fancy, shall suggest; they can think as wildly as they talk and act, and will not endure that their Wit should be controuled by such Formal Things as Decency and common Sense: Deduction, Coherence, Consistency, and all the Rules of Reason they accordingly disdain, as too precise and Mechanical for Men of a Liberal Education, This, as far as I could ever learn from their Writings, or Nov. 28, or my own Observation, is a true Account of the British No, 234, Free thinker, Our Visitant here, who gave Occasion to Wednes day, this Paper, has brought with him a New System of common Sense, the Particulars of which I am not yet 1711 acquainted with, but will lose no Opportunity of inform ing my self whether it contain any thing worth Mr. SPECTATOR'S Notice. In the mean time, Sir, I cannot but think it would be for the good of Mankind, if you would take this Subject into your own Consideration, and convince the hopeful Youth of our Nation, that Licen tiousness is not Freedom; or, if such a Paradox will not be understood, that a Prejudice towards Atheism is not Impartiality, T No, 235, [ADDISON.] I am, Sir, Τ' Vincentem strepitus HERE is nothing which lies more within the Province of a Spectator than Publick Shows and Diversions; and as among these there are none which can pretend to vie with those Elegant Entertainments that are exhibited in our Theatres, I think it particu larly Incumbent on me to take Notice of every thing that is remarkable in such numerous and refined Assemblies, It is observed, that of late Years, there has been a certain Person in the Upper Gallery of the Play-house, who when he is pleased with any thing that is acted upon the Stage, expresses his Approbation by a loud Knock upon the Benches or the Wainscot, which may be heard over the whole Theatre. This Person is commonly known by the Name of the Trunk-maker in the Upper Gallery. Whether it be, that the Blow he gives on these Ocasions resembles that which is often heard in the Shops of such Artizans, or that he was supposed to have been a real Trunk-maker, who after |