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NO. 15. SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1709.

From my own Apartment, May 12.

I HAVE taken a resolution hereafter, on any want of intelligence, to carry my familiar abroad with me, who has promifed to give me very proper and just notices of perfons and things, to make up the hiftory of the paffing day. He is wonderfully fkilful in the knowledge of men and manners, which has made me more than ordinary curious to know how he came to that perfection, and I communicated to him that doubt. Mr. Pacolet, faid I, I am mightily furprised to see you fo good a judge of our nature and circumftances, fince you are a mere fpirit, and have no knowledge of the bodily part of us. He answered, fmiling, You are mistaken, I have been one of you, and lived a month amongst you, which gives me an exact fenfe of your condition. You are to know, that all, who enter into human life, have a certain date or ftamen given to their being, which they only who die of age may be faid to have arrived at; but it is ordered fometimes by fate, that fuch, as die infants are, after death, to attend mankind to the end of that ftamen of being in themselves, which was broke off by fickness or any other disaster. These are proper guardians to men, as being fenfible of the infirmity of their ftate. You are philofopher enough to know, that the difference of men's underftanding proceeds only from the various difpofitions of their organs; fo that he, who dies a month old, is in the next life as knowing, though more innocent, as they who live to fifty; and after death, they have as perfect a memory and judgment of all that paffed in their life-time, as I have of all the revolutions in that uneafy, turbulent condition of yours; and you would fay I had enough of it in a month, were I to tell you all my misfortunes. A life of a month cannot have, one would think, much variety: but pray, faid I, let us have your story.

Then he proceeds in the following manner:

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It was one of the most wealthy families in Great Britain into which I was born, and it was a very great happiness to me that it fo happened, otherwife I had ftill, in all probability, been living: but I fhall recount to you all the occurrences of my short and miferable existence, juft as, by examining into the traces made in my brain, they appeared to me at that time. The first thing that ever ftruck at my fenfes was a noife over my head of one fhrieking; after which, methought, I took a full jump, and found myself in the hands of a forcerefs, who feemed as if he had been long waking, and employed in fome incantation: I was thoroughly frightened, and cried out; but she immediately feemed to go on in fome magical operation, and anointed me from head to foot. What they meant, I could not imagine; for there gathered a great crowd about ine, crying, An heir! an heir!' upon which I grew a little ftill, and believed this was a ceremony to be used only to great perfons, and fuch as made them, what they called, heirs. I lay very quiet; but the witch, for no manner of reafon or provocation in the world, takes me, and binds my head as hard as poffibly fhe could; then ties up both my legs, and makes me swallow down an horrid mixture. I thought it an harsh entrance into life, to begin with taking phyfic; but I was forced to it, or else must have taken down a great inftrument in which he gave it me. When I was thus dreffed, I was carried to a bed-fide, where a fine young lady (my mother I wot) had like to have hugged me to death. From her, they faced me about, and there was a thing with quite another look from the rest of the company, to whom they talked about my nofe. He feemed wonderfully pleafed to fee me; but I knew fince, my nofe belonged to another family. That into which I was born is one of the moft numerous amongst you: therefore crowds of relations came every day to congratulate my arrival; amongst others, my coufin Betty, the greatest romp in nature: the whifks me fuch a height over her head, that I cried out for fear of falling. She pinched me, and called me fqueeling chit, and threw me into a girl's arms that was taken in to tend me. The girl was

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very proud of the womanly employment of a nurse, and took upon her to ftrip and drefs me anew, because I made a noife, to fee what ailed me: fhe did fo, and stuck a pin in every joint about me. I ftill cried: upon which The lays me on my face in her lap; and, to quiet me, fell a nailing in all the pins, by clapping me on the back, and fcreaming a lullaby. But my pain made me exalt my voice above hers, which brought up the nurfe, the witch I first faw, aad my grandmother. The girl was turned down ftairs, and I ftripped again, as well to find what ailed me, as to fatisfy my granam's farther curiofity. This good old woman's vifit was the caufe of all my troubles. You are to understand, that I was hitherto bred by hand, and any body that stood next gave me pap, if I did but open my lips; infomuch, that I was grown fo cunning, as to pretend myself afleep when I was not, to prevent my being crammed. But my grandmother began a loud lecture upon the idleness of the wives of this age, who, for fear of their fhapes, forbear fuckling their own offspring : and ten nurses were immediately sent for; one was whif pered to have a wanton eye, and would foon fpoil her milk; another was in a confumption; the third had an ill voice, and would frighten me instead of lulling me to fleep. Such exceptions were made against all but one country milch wench, to whom I was committed, and put to the breaft. This careless jade was eternally romping with the footman, and downright ftarved me; infomuch that I daily pined away, and fhould never have been relieved had it not been that, on the thirtieth day of my life, a fellow of the Royal Society, who had writ upon cold baths, came to vifit me, and folemnly protefted, I was utterly loft for want of that method: upon which he foufed me head and ears into a pail of water, where I had the good fortune to be drowned; and fo escaped being lafhed into a linguist until fixteen, running after wenches until twenty-five, and being married to an ill-natured wife until fixty: which had certainly been my fate, had not the enchantment between body and foul been broke by this philofopher. Thus, until the age I fhould have otherwife lived, I am obliged to watch the

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fteps of men; and, if you please, fhall accompany you in your prefent walks, and get you intelligence from the aerial lacquey, who is in waiting, what are the thoughts and purposes of any whom you inquire for. I accepted his kind offer, and immediately took him with me in a hack to White's.

White's Chocolate-house, May 13.

WE got in hither, and my companion threw a powder round us, that made me as invifible as himself; fo that we could fee and hear all others, ourselves unfeen and unheard.

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The first thing we took notice of was a nobleman of a goodly and frank afpect, with his generous birth and temper vifible in it, playing at cards with a creature of a black and horrid countenance, wherein were plainly delineated the arts of his mind, cozenage and falfehood. They were marking their game with counters, on which we could fee infcriptions, imperceptible to any but us. My lord had fcored with pieces of ivory, on which were writ, Good fame, glory, riches, honour, and potterity.' The spectre over against him had on his counters the infcriptions-of Difhonour, impudence, poverty, ignorance, and want of fhame.' Blefs me! faid I; fure, my lord does not fee what he plays for? As well as I do, fays Pacolet. He defpifes that fellow he plays with, and fcorns himself for making him his companion. At the very inftant he was fpeaking, I faw the fellow, who played with my lord, hide two cards in the roll of his ftocking: Pacolet immediately stole them from thence; upon which the nobleman foon after won the game. The little triumph he appeared in, when he got fuch a trifling stock of ready money, though he had ventured fo great fums with indifference, increased my admiration. But Pacolet began to talk to me. Mr. Ifaac, this to you looks wonderful, but not at all to us higher beings that nobleman has as many good qualities' as any man of his order, and feems to have no fault but what, as I may fay, are excrefcences from virtues. He is generous to a prodigality, more affable than is consistent with his quality, and courageous to a rashness. Yet, after

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all this, the fource of his whole conduct is (though he would hate himself if he knew it) mere avarice. The ready cafh laid before the gamefter's counters makes him venture, as you fee, and lay diftinction against infamy, abundance againft want; in a word, all that is defirable against all that is to be avoided. However, faid I, be fure you difappoint the fharpers to-night, and steal from them all the cards they hide. Pacolet obeyed me, and my lord went home with their whole bank in his pocket.

Will's Coffee-houfe, May 15.

TO-NIGHT was acted a second time a comedy, called The Bufy Body: this play is written by a lady. In old times, we used to fit upon a play here, after it was acted; but now the entertainment is turned another way; not but that confiderable men appear in all ages, who, for fome eminent quality or invention, deferve the esteem and thanks of the public. Such a benefactor is a gentleman of this houfe, who is obferved by the furgeons with much envy; for he has invented an engine for the prevention of harms by love adventures; and, by great care and application, hath made it an immodefty to name his name. This act of felf denial has gained this worthy member of the commonwealth a great reputation. Some law-givers have departed from their abodes for ever, and commanded the obfervation of their laws until their return; others have used other artifices to fly the applause of their merit; but this perfon fhuns glory with greater addrefs; and has, by giving his engine his own name, made it obfcene to fpeak of him more. However, he is ranked among, and received by the modern wits, as a great promoter of gallantry and pleasure. But, I fear, pleafure is lefs underftood in this age, which fo much pretends to it, than in any fince the creation. It was admirably faid of him, who first took notice, that (Res eft fevera voluptas) There is a certain feverity in pleasure.' Without that, all decency is banifhed; and if reafon is not to be prefent at our greatest fatisfactions, of all the race of creatures, the human is the most miferable." It was not so of old; when Virgil

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