an unconcerned, carelels, drowzy Behavi our, till we came to our laft Stage. There were Three of us who ftill held up our Heads, and did all we could to make our Journey agreeable, but, to my Shame be it spoken, about Three Miles on this Side Exeter, I was taken with an unaccountable Fit of Sullennefs, that hung upon me for above Threefcore Miles; whether it were for Want of Refpect, or from an accidental Tread upon my Foot, or from a foolish Maid's calling me The old Gentleman, I cannot tell. In fhort, there was but one who kept his good Humour to the Land's-End.

There was another Coach that went along with us, in which I likewife observed, that there were many fecret Jealoufies, Heart-burnings, and Animofities: For when we joined Companies at Night, I could not but take Notice, that the Paffengers neglected their own Company, and ftudied how to make themfelves efteemed by us, who were altogether Strangers to them; till at length they grew fo well acquainted with us, that they liked us as little as they did one another. When I reflect upon this Journey, I often fancy it to be a Picture of Humane Life, in Respect to the feveral Friendthips, Contracts, and Alliances, that are made and diffolved in the fevefal Periods of it. The most delightful and moft lafting Engagements are generally thofe which pafs between Man and Woman; and yet upon what Trifles are they weakened, or

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entirely broken? Sometimes the Parties fly afunder even in the Midft of Courtship, and fometimes grow cool in the very HoneyMonth. Some feparate before the First Child, and fome after the Fifth others continue S good till Thirty, others till Forty; while fome few, whofe Souls are of an happier Make, and better fitted to one another, travel on together to the End of their Journey, in a con tinual Intercourfe of kind Offices and mutual Endearments.

When we therefore choose our Companions for Life, if we hope to keep both them and our felves in good Humour to the laft Stage of it, we must be extreamly careful in the Choice we make, as well as in the Conduct on our own Part. When the Perfons to whom we join our felves can ftand an Examination, and bear the Scrutiny, when they mend upon our Acquaintance with them, and discover new Beauties the more we fearch into their Characters, our Love will naturally rife in Proportion to their Perfections.

But because there are very few poffeffed of fuch Accomplishments of Body and Mind, we ought to look after thofe Qualifications both in our felves and others, which are indifpenfibly neceffary towards this happy Union, and which are in the Power of every one to acquire, or at least to cultivate and improve. These in my Opinion, are Chearfulness and Conftancy. A chearful Temper joined with Innocence, will make Beauty attractive, Know

ledge

ledge delightful, and Wit good-natured. It will lighten Sickness, Poverty, and Affliction; convert Ignorance into an amiable Simplicity, and render Deformity it self agreeable. Conftancy is natural to Perfons of even Tempers and uniform Difpofitions, and may be acquired by those of the greatest Fickleness, Violence and Paffion, who confider feriously the Terms of Union upon which they come together, the mutual Interest in which they are engaged, with all the Motives that ought to incite their Tenderness and Compaffion towards those who have their Dependance upon them, and are embarked with them for Life in the fame State of Happiness or Mifery. Conftancy, when it grows in the Mind upon Confiderations of this Nature, becomes a Moral Virtue, and a kind of good Nature, that is not fubject to any Change of Health, Age, Fortune, or any of thofe Accidents which are apt to unsettle the best Difpofitions that are founded rather in Conftitution than in Reafon. Where fuch a Conftancy as this is wanting, the most enflamed Paffion may fall away into Coldness and Indifference, and the most melting Tenderness degenerate into Hatred and Averfion. I fhall conclude this Paper with a Story that is very well known in the North of England.

About Thirty Years ago, a Packet-Boat that had feveral Paffengers on Board was caft away upon a Rock, and in fo great Danger of finking, that all who were in it endea[Vol. 4.] voured

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voured to fave themfelves as well as they could, though only thofe who could swim well had a bare Poffibility of doing it. Among the Paffengers there were Two Women of Fashion, who feeing themselves in fuch a difconfolate Condition, begged of their Hus bands not to leave them. One of them chofe rather to die with his Wife, than to forfake her; the other, though he was moved with the utmost Compaffion for his Wife, told her, That for the good of their Children, it was better one of them fhould live, than both perish. By a great Piece of good Luck, next to a Miracle, when one of our good Men had taken the laft and long Farewel in order to fave himself, and the other, held in his Arms the Perfon that was dearer to him than Life, the Ship was preferved. It is with a fecret Sorrow and Vexation of Mind that I must tell the Sequel of the Story, and let my Reader know, that this faithful Pair who were ready to have died in each others Arms, about Three Years, after their Escape, upon fome trifling Difguft, grew to a Coldness at firft, and at length fell out to fuch a Degree, that they left one another, and parted for ever. The other Couple lived together in an uninterrupted Friendship and Felicity and what was remarkable, the Husband whom the Shipwreck had like to have separated from his Wife, died a few Months after her, not being able to furvive the Loss of her.

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I must confefs, there is fomething in the Changeableness and Inconftancy of Humane Nature, that very often both dejects and terrifies me. Whatever I am at prefent, I tremble to think what I may be. While I find this Principle in me, How can I affure my felf, that I fhall be always true to my God, my Friend, or my felf? In short, without Conftancy there is neither Love, Friendship, or Virtue, in the World.

The TATLER. [N° 193. Qui didicit Patriæ quid debeat, & quid Amicis, Quo fit amore Parens, quo Frater amandus, & HoScribere Perfone fcit Convenientia cuique. Ipes

Hor.

From Saturday July 1. to Tuesday July 4. 1710.

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Will's Coffee-house, July 3.1.

Have of late receiv'd many Epistles, wherein the Writers treat me as a mercenary Perfon, for fome late Hints concerning Matters which they think I should not have touched upon but for fordid Confiderations. It is apparent, That my Motive could not be of that Kind, for when a Man declares himself openly on one Side, that Party will take no more Notice of him, because he is fure, and the Set of Men whom he declares againft, for the fame Reafon are violent C 2 againft