1712. No. 478. have either work'd or painted with some amorous or Monday, gay Device, that, like Books with gilded Leaves and Sept. 8, Covers, it may the sooner draw the Eyes of the Be holders. And to the End that these may be preserv'd with all due Care, let there be a Keeper appointed, who shall be a Gentleman qualify'd with a competent Knowledge in Cloaths; so that by this Means the Place will be a comfortable Support for some Beau who has spent his Estate in dressing. The Reasons offer'd by which we expected to gain the Approbation of the Publick, were as follows. First, That every one who is considerable enough to be a Mode, and has any Imperfection of Nature or Chance, which it is possible to hide by the Advantage of Cloaths, may, by coming to this Repository, be furnish'd her self, and furnish all who are under the same Misfortunes with the most agreeable Manner of con cealing it; and that on the other Side, every one who has any Beauty in Face or Shape, may also be furnish'd with the most agreeable Manner of shewing it. Secondly, That whereas some of our young Gentlemen who travel, give us great Reason to suspect that they only go abroad to make or improve a Fancy for Dress, a Project of this Nature may be a Means to keep them at home, which is in Effect the keeping of so much Money in the Kingdom. And perhaps the Ballance of Fashion in Europe, which now leans upon the Side of France, may be so alter'd for the Future, that it may become as common with Frenchmen to come to England, for their finishing Stroke of Breeding, as it has been for Englishmen to go to France for it. Thirdly, Whereas several great Scholars, who might have been otherwise useful to the World, have spent their Time in studying to describe the Dresses of the Ancients from dark Hints, which they are fain to interpret and support with much Learning, it will from henceforth happen that they shall be freed from_the Trouble, and the World from useless Volumes. This Project will be a Registry to which Posterity may have Recourse for the clearing such obscure Passages as tend that Way in Authors, and therefore we shall not for for the future submit our selves to the learning of No. 478. Etymology, which might perswade the Age to come, Monday, Sept, 8, that the Farthingal was worn for Cheapness, or the 1712. Furbeloe for Warmth, Fourthly, Whereas they who are old themselves, have often a way of railing at the Extravagance of Youth, and the whole Age in which their Children live; it is hoped that this ill Humour will be much suppress'd, when we can have recourse to the Fashions of their Times, produce them in our Vindication, and be able to shew that it might have been as expensive in Queen Elizabeth's Time only to wash and quill a Ruff, as it is now to buy Cravats or Neck-Handkerchiefs, We desire also to have it taken Notice of, That be cause we would shew a particular Respect to Foreigners, which may induce them to perfect their Breeding here in a Knowledge which is very proper for pretty Gentlemen, we have conceived the Motto for the House in the learned Language. There is to be a Picture over the Door, with a Looking-Glass and a Dressing Chair in the Middle of it: Then on one Side are to be seen, above one another, Patch-Boxes, Pin-Cushions, and little Bottles; on the other, Powder Bags, Puffs, Combs, and Brushes; beyond these, Swords with fine Knots, whose Points are hidden, and Fans almost closed, with the Handles downward, are to stand out interchangeably from the Sides, till they meet at the Top, and form a Semicircle over the rest of the Figures: Beneath_all, the Writting is to run in this pretty sounding Manner, Adeste, O quotquot sunt, Veneres, Gratiae, Cupidines, Faces, vincula, spícula, Hinc eligite, sumite, regite, I am, Sir, Your most humble Servant, A. B The Proposal of my Correspondent I cannot but look upon 1712, No. 478, upon as an ingenious Method of placing Persons (whose Monday, Parts make them ambitious to exert themselves in Sept. 8, frivolous Things) in a Rank by themselves. In order to this, I would propose, That there be a Board of Directors of the fashionable Society; and because it is a Matter of too much Weight for a private Man to determine alone, I should be highly obliged to my Correspondents if they would give in Lists of Persons qualified for this Trust. If the chief Coffee-houses, the Conversations of which Places are carry'd on by Persons, each of whom has his little Number of Followers and Admirers, would name from among themselves two or three to be inserted, they should be put up with great Faithfulness. Old Beaus are to be presented in the first Place; but as that Sect, with Relation to Dress, is almost extinct, it will, I fear, be absolutely necessary to take in all Time-Servers, properly so deem'd; that is, such as, without any Conviction of Conscience, or View of Interest, change with the World, and that meerly from a Terror of being out of Fashion. Such also, who from Facility of Temper, and too much Obsequiousness, are vitious against their Will, and follow Leaders whom they do not approve, for Want of Courage to go their own Way, are capable Persons for this Superintendency. Those who are loth to grow old, or would do any Thing con trary to the course and order of Things, out of Fondness to be in Fashion, are proper Candidates. To conclude, those who are in Fashion without apparent Merit, must be suppos'd to have latent Qualities, which would appear in a Post of Direction, and therefore are to be regarded in forming these Lists. Any who shall be pleas'd, accord ing to these, or what further Qualifications may occur to himself, to send a List, is desired to do it within fourteen Days after this Date. N. B. The Place of the Physician to this Society, according to the last mentioned Qualification, is already engaged. Τ Tuesday No. 479. No. 479. Sept. 9, Tuesday, September 9, Tuesday, -Dare jura maritis.-Hor. MHusbands, who complain of Vanity, Pride, but ANY are the Epistles I every Day receive from above all Ill-nature, in their Wives. I cannot tell how it is, but I think I see in all their Letters that the Cause of their Uneasiness is in themselves; and indeed I have hardly ever observed the married Condition unhappy, but from Want of Judgment or Temper in the Man. The Truth is, we generally make Love in a Stile, and with Sentiments very unfit for ordinary Life: They are half Theatrical, half Romantick. By this Means we raise our Imaginations to what is not to be expected in humane Life; and because we did not beforehand think of the Creature we were enamoured of as subject to Dishumour, Age, Sickness, Impatience, or Sullenness, but altogether considered her as the Object of Joy, humane Nature it self is often imputed to her as her particular Imperfection or Defect, I take it to be a Rule proper to be observed in all Occurrences of Life, but more especially in the domestick or matrimonial Part of it, to preserve always a Disposition to be pleased. This cannot be supported but by con sidering Things in their right Light, and as Nature has formed them, and not as our own Fancies or Appetites would have them. He then who took a young Lady to his Bed, with no other Consideration than the Expectation of Scenes of Dalliance, and thought of her (as I said before) only as she was to administer to the Gratification of Desire; as that Desire flags, will, without her Fault, think her Charms and her Merit abated: From hence must follow Indifference, Dislike, Peevishness, and Rage. But the Man who brings his Reason to support his Passion, and beholds what he loves as liable to all the Calamities of humane Life both in Body and Mind, and even at the best, what must bring upon him new Cares and new Relations; such a Lover, I say, will form himself accordingly, and adapt his Mind to the Nature of his Circumstances. This latter Person will be prepared to be a Father, a 1712. 1712. No. 479, Friend, an Advocate, a Steward for People yet unborn, Tuesday, and has proper Affections ready for every Incident in the Sept. 9, Marriage State. Such a Man can hear the Cries of Children with Pity instead of Anger; and when they run over his Head, he is not disturbed at their Noise, but is glad of their Mirth and Health. Tom Trusty has told me, that he thinks it doubles his Attention to the most intricate Affair he is about, to hear his Children, for whom all his Cares are applied, make a Noise in the next Room: On the other Side, Will Sparkish cannot put on his Perriwig, or adjust his Cravat at the Glass, for the Noise of those damn'd Nurses and squalling Brats; and then ends with a gallant Reflection upon the Comforts of Matrimony, runs out of the Hearing, and drives to the Chocolate House. According as the Husband is disposed in himself, every Circumstance of his Life is to give him Torment or Pleasure. When the Affection is well placed, and sup ported by the Considerations of Duty, Honour, and Friendship, which are in the highest Degree engaged in this Alliance, there can nothing rise in the common Course of Life, or from the Blows or Favours of Fortune, in which Man will not find Matters of some Delight unknown to a single Condition. He that sincerely loves his Wife and Family, and studies to improve that Affection in himself, conceives Pleasure from the most indifferent Things; while the married Man, who has not bid Adieu to the Fashions and false Gallantries of the Town, is perplexed with every Thing around him. In both these Cases Man cannot, indeed, make a sillier Figure, than in repeating such Pleasures and Pains to the Rest of the World; but I speak of them only, as they sit upon those who are involved in them. As I visit all Sorts of People, I cannot indeed but smile, when the good Lady tells her Husband what extraordinary Things the Child spoke since he went out. No longer than Yesterday I was prevailed with to go home with a fond Husband; and his Wife told him, that his Son, of his own Head, when the Clock in the Parlour struck Two, said, Pappa would come to Dinner presently, While the Father has him in a Rapture in |