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bear my name; and your pride, that you are the delight, the darling and ornament of a man of honour, ufeful and efteemed by his friends; and I no longer one that has buried fome merit in the world, in compliance to a froward humour, which has grown upon an agreeable woman by his indulgence. Mr. Freeman ended this with a tenderness in his afpect and a downcaft eye, which fhewed he was extremely moved at the anguish he saw her in; for fhe fat fwelling with paffion, and her eyes firmly fixed on the fire; when I, fearing he would lofe all again, took upon me to provoke her out of that amiable forrow fhe was in, to fall upon me; upon which I faid very seasonably for my friend, that indeed Mr. Freeman was become the common talk of the town; and that nothing was fo much a jeft, as when it was faid in company Mr. Freeman has promifed to come to fuch a place. Upon which the good lady turned her foftnefs into downright rage, and threw the fcalding tea-kettle upon your ́ humble fervant; flew into the middle of the room, and cried out he was the unfortunateft of all women: others kept family diffatisfactions for hours of privacy and retirement: no apology was to be made to her, no expedient to be found, no previous manner of breaking what was amifs in her; but all the world was to be acquainted with her errors, without the leaft ad"monition. Mr. Freeman was going to make a foftening fpeech, but I interpofed; look you, madam, I have nothing to fay to this matter, but you ought to con"fider you are now paft a chicken; this humour, which was well enough in a girl, is infufferable in one of your motherly character. With that she loft all patience, and flew directly at her husband's periwig. I got her in my arms, and defended my friend; he making figns at the fame time that it was too much; I beckoning, nodding, and frowning over her fhoulder, that he was loft if he did not perfift. In this manner we " flew round and round the room in a moment, until the lady I fpoke of above and fervants entered; upon which fhe fell on a couch as breathlefs. I ftill kept up my friend; but he, with a very filly air, bid them bring the coach to the door, and we went off, I being

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'forced to bid the coachman drive on. We were no ⚫fooner come to my lodgings, but all his wife's relations came to inquire after him; and Mrs. Freeman's 'mother writ a note, wherein the thought never to have feen this day, and fo forth.

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'In a word, fir, I am afraid we are upon a thing we ' have not talents for; and I can obferve already, my friend looks upon me rather as a man who knows a 'weakness of him that he is afhamed of, than one who has rescued him from flavery. Mr. SPECTATOR, I am 'but a young fellow, and if Mr. Freeman fubmits, I 'fhall be looked upon as an incendiary, and never get a wife as long as I breathe. He has indeed fent word home he shall lie at Hampstead to-night; but I believe 'fear of the first onfet after this rupture has too great a place in this refolution. Mrs. Freeman has a very pretty fifter; fuppofe I delivered him up, and articled 'with the mother for her for bringing him home. If he has not courage to ftand it, you are a great casuist, is it fuch an ill thing to bring myself off, as well as I can ? What makes me doubt my man, is, that I find he thinks it reasonable to expoftulate at least 'with her; and Capt. SENTRY will tell you, if you let your orders be difputed, you are no longer a com'mander. I wish you could advise me how to get clear, ' of this business handsomely.

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• Yours,

6 TOM MEGGOT.'

N° 217.

Thursday, November 8.

Tunc fœmina fimplex

Et pariter toto repetitur clamor ab antro.

Juv. Sat. 6. ver. 326.

Then, unreftrain'd by rules of decency,
Th' affembled females raise a general cry.

I SHALL entertain my reader to-day with fome letters

from my correfpondents. The firit of them is the defcription of a club, whether real or imaginary, I cannot determine; but am apt to fancy, that the writer of it, whoever she is, has forined a kind of nocturnal orgie out of her own fancy whether this be fo or not, her letter may conduce to the amendment of that kind of perfons who are reprefented in it, and whofe characters are frequent enough in the world.

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Mr. SPECTATOR,

IN fome of your papers you were pleased to give the public a very diverting account of feveral clubs ' and nocturnal affemblies; but I am a member of a fociety which has wholly efcaped your notice, I mean a club of fhe-romps. We take each a hackney'coach, and meet once a week in a large upper chamber, which we hire by the year for that purpofe; our ⚫ landlord and his family, who are quiet people, conftantly contriving to be abroad on our club-night. We are no fooner come together, than we throw off all that modefty and refervedness with which our fex are obliged to disguise themselves in public places. I am not able to exprefs the pleasure we enjoy from ten at night until four in the morning, in being as rude as you men can be for your lives. As our play runs high, the room is immediately filled with broken fans, torn petticoats, lappets, or head-dreffes, flounces, furbelows, garters, and working aprons. I had forgot to tell you at firft, that befides the coaches we

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come in ourselves, there is one which stands always empty to carry off our dead men, for fo we call all thofe fragments and tatters with which the room is ftrewed, and which we pack up together in bundles and put into the aforefaid coach: it is no small diverfion for us to meet the next night at some member's chamber, ⚫ where every one is to pick out what belonged to her from this confufed bundle of filks, fbuffs, laces, and ⚫ ribbons. I have hitherto given you an account of our ⚫ diverfion on ordinary club-nights; but muft acquaint you further, that once a month we demolish a prude, that is, we get fome queer formal creature in among us, and unrig her in an inftant. Our last month's prude was fo armed and fortified in whalebone and buckram, that we had much ado to come at her; but you would have died with laughing to have seen how the fober 'aukward thing looked when she was forced out of her intrenchments. In fhort, fir, it is impoffible to give you a true notion of our sport, unless you would come one night amongst us; and though it be directly against the rules of our society to admit a male vifitant, we repofe fo much confidence in your filence and taciturnity," that it was agreed by the whole club, at our laft meeting, to give you entrance for one night as a spectator. 'I am your humble fervant,

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" KITTY TERMAGANT.

P. S. We fhall demolish a prude next Thursday.'

Though I thank Kitty for her kind offer, I do not at prefent find in myself any inclination to venture my perfon with her and her romping companions. Ifhould regard myself as a fecond Clodius, intruding on the myfterious rights of the Bona Dea, and fhould apprehend being demolished as much as the prude.

The following letter comes from a gentleman, whofe tafte I find is much too delicate to endure the leaft advance towards romping. I may perhaps hereafter improve upon the hint he has given me, and make it the fubject of a whole Spectator; in the mean time take it as it follows in his own words.

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Mr. SPECTATOR,

IT is my misfortune to be in love with a young creature who is daily committing faults, which though they give me the utmost uneafiness, I know not how to reprove her for, or even acquaint her with. She is pretty, dreffes well, is rich, and good-humoured; 'but either wholly neglects, or has no notion of that which polite people have agreed to diftinguish by the name of delicacy. After our return from a walk the other day, she threw herself into an elbow-chair, and profeffed before a large company, that "fhe was all over in a sweat!" She told me this afternoon" that "her ftomach aked ;" and was complaining yefterday at ⚫ dinner of fomething that "ftuck in her teeth." I 'treated her with a basket of fruit laft fummer, which 'fhe eat fo very greedily, as almoft made me refolve never to see her more. In short, fir, I begin to tremble whenever I fee her about to speak or move.

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< fhe does not want fenfe, if she takes these hints I am happy; if not, I am more than afraid, that these things which fhock me even in the behaviour of a miftrefs, will appear insupportable in that of a wife. I am, Sir, yours, &c.'

My next letter comes from a correfpondent whom I cannot but very much value upon the account which fhe gives of herself.

Mr. SPECT ATOR,

I AM happily arrived at a ftate of tranquillity, which few people envy, I mean that of an old maid; therefore being wholly unconcerned in all that medley ⚫ of follies which our fex is apt to contract from their filly fondness of yours, I read your railleries on us ⚫ without provocation. I can fay with Hamlet,

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-Man delights not me,

"Nor woman neither".

Therefore, dear fir, as you never fpare your own 'fex, do not be afraid of reproving what is ridiculous in " ours, and you will oblige at least one woman, whois Your humble fervant,

SUSANNA FROST.

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