from them, or feem difpleased, they fowre upon it, and whisper the next Perfon; he his next; 'till I have at laft the Eyes of the whole Company upon me. Nay, they report abominable Falfhoods, under that mistaken Notion, She that will grant Favours to one • Man, will to a hundred. I beg you will let thofe who are guilty, know, how ungenerous this way of Pro⚫ceeding is. I am fure he will know himself the Per⚫fon aim'd at, and perhaps put a Stop to the Infolence of others. Curfed is the Fate of unhappy Women! that Men may boaft and glory in thofe Things that we muft think of with Shame and Horror! You have • the Art of making fuch odious Cuftoms appear de• teftable. For my Sake, and I am fure, for the Sake of several others, who dare not own it, but, like me, ⚫lye under the fame Misfortunes, make it as infamous for a Man to boaft of Favours, or expofe our Sex, as it is to take the Lie or a Box on the Ear, and not ⚫ refent it. Your conftant Reader, and Admirer, LESBIA. P. S. I am the more impatient under this Misfortune, having receiv'd fresh Provocation, laft Wednefday, in the Abby. I entirely agree with the amiable and unfortunate LESBIA, that an Infult upon a Woman in her Circumftances, is as infamous in a Man, as a tame Behaviour when the Lie or a Buffet is given; which Truth, I fhall beg leave of her to illuftrate by the following Obfervation. Ir is a Mark of Cowardife paffively to forbear refenting an affront, the refenting of which would lead a Man into Danger; it is no lefs a Sign of Cowardife to affront a Creature, that hath not Power to avenge it felf. Whatever Name therefore this ungenerous Man may may bestow on the helpless Lady he hath injur'd, I shall not fcruple to give him in Return for it, the Appellation of Coward. A Man, that can fo far defcend from his Dignity, as to ftrike a Lady, can never recover his Reputation with either Sex, becaufe no Provocation is thought ftrong enough to juftify fuch Treatment from the Powerful towards the Weak. In the Circumftances, in which poor LESBIA is fituated, fhe can appeal to no Mar whatsoever to avenge an Infult, more grievous than a Blow. If fhe could open her Mouth, the bafe Man knows, that a Husband, a Brother, a generous Friend would die to see her righted. An A generous Mind, however enrag'd against an Enemy, feels its Refentments fink and vanish away, when the Object of its Wrath falls into its Power. eftranged Friend, filled with Jealousy and Discontent towards a Bofom-Acquaintance, is apt to overflow with Tenderness and Remorfe, when a Creature, that was once dear to him, undergoes any Misfortune. What Name then fhail we give to his Ingratitude, (who forgetting the Favours he follicited with Eagernefs, and receiv'd with Rapture) can infult the Miferies that he himself caufed, and make Sport with the Pain to which he owes his greatest Pleasure? There is but one Being in the Creation whofe Province it is to practife upon the Imbecilities of frail Creatures, and triumph in the Woes which his own Artifices brought about; and we welk know, those who follow his Example, will receive his Reward. LEAVING my fair Correfpondent to the Direction of her own Wisdom and Modelty; and her Enemy, and his mean Accomplices, to the Compunction of their own. Hearts; I fhall conclude this Paper with a memorable. Inftance of Revenge, taken by a Spanish Lady upon a guilty Lover, which may ferve to fhow what violent Effects are wrought by the moft tender Paffion, when fower'd into Hatred; and may deter the young and un-wary from unlawful Love. The Story, however Romantick it may appear, I have heard affirmed for a Truth. Νοτ NOT many Years ago an English Gentleman, who in a Rencounter by Night in the Streets of Madrid had the Misfortune to kill his Man, fled into a ChurchPorch for Sanctuary. Leaning against the Door, he was furpriz'd to find it open, and a glimmering Light in the Church. He had the Courage to advance towards the Light; but was terribly startled at the Sight of a Woman in white who afcended from a Grave with a bloody Knife in her Hand. The Phantome marched up to him, and asked him what he did there. He told her the Truth, without Referve, believing that he had met a Ghoft: Upon which, fhe spoke to him in the following Manner. Stranger, thou art in my Power: Know then, that I am a Nun of a noble Family. A bafe perjur'd Man "undid me, and boafted of it. I foon had him dif patched; but not content with the Murder, I have brib'd the Sexton to let me enter his Grave, and have now pluck'd out his falfe Heart from his Body; and thus I ufe a Traytor's Heart. At these Words the tore it Pieces, and trampled it under her Feet. 66 "I am a Murderer as thou art. 66 玉玉 No. 612. Wednesday, October 27. Murranum hic atavos & avorum antiqua fonantem I Virg. T is highly laudable to pay Respect to Men who are defcended from worthy Ancestors, not only out of Gratitude to thofe who have done good to Mankind, but as it is an Encouragement to others to follow their Example. But this is an Honour to be receiv'd, not demanded, by the Defcendants of great Men; they who are apt to remind us of their Ancestors, only and put put us upon making Comparisons to their own Disadvantage. There is fome Pretence for boafting of Wit, Beauty, Strength or Wealth, because the Communication of them may give Pleasure or Profit to others; but we can have no Merit, nor ought we to claim any Respect, because our Fathers acted well, whether we would or no. THE following Letter ridicules the Folly I have mentioned, in a new, and, I think, not disagreeable Light. Mr. SPECTATOR, TERE the Genealogy of every Family pre W ferved, there would probably be no Man va lued or defpis'd on Account of his Birth. There is fcarce a Beggar in the Streets, who would not find himself lineally defcended from some great Man ; nor any one of the higheft Title, who would not discover several bafe and indigent Perfons among his An⚫ cestors. It would be a pleasant Entertainment to fee one Pedigree of Men appear together, under the same Characters they bore when they acted their respective Parts among the Living. Suppofe therefore a Gentleman, full of his illuftrious Family, fhould, in the fame manner as Virgil makes Æneas look over his Defcendants, fee the whole Line of his Progenitors pass in a Review before his Eyes, with how many varying Paffions would he behold Shepherds and Soldiers, ⚫ Statesmen and Artificers, Princes and Beggars, walk in the Proceffion of five thousand Years! How would his Heart fink or flutter at the feveral Sports of For'tune in a Scene fo diverfified with Rags and Purple, Handicraft Tools and Scepters, Enfigns of Dignity and Emblems of Difgrace; and how would his Fears and Apprehenfions, his Transports and Mortifications, fucceed one another, as the Line of his Genealogy ' appear'd bright or obfcure? 6 IN most of the Pedigrees hung up in old Manfion houfes, you are fure to find the firft in the Cata logue a great Statesman, or a Soldier with honourable Commiffion. The honeft Artificer that begot ⚫ him, and all his frugal Ancestors before him, are torn 3 • off off from the Top of the Regifter; and you are not left to imagine, that the noble Founder of the Family ever had a Father. Were we to trace many boasted Lines farther backwards, we fhould lofe them in a Mob of Tradefmen, or a Crowd of Rufticks, without Hope of feeing them emerge again: Not unlike the old Appian Way, which after having run many Miles in length, lofes it felf in a Bog. I lately made a Vifit to an old Country Gentleman, who is very far gone in this Sort of Family Madness. I found him in his Study perufing an old Register of his Family, which he had juft then difcover'd, as it was branched out in the Form of a Tree, upon a Skin of Parchment. Having the Honour to have fome of his Blood in my Veins, he permitted me to caft my Eye over the Boughs of 'this venerable Plant; and asked my advice in the Reforming of fome of the fuperfluous Branches: WE paffed flightly over three or four of our immediate Fore-fathers, whom we knew by Tradition, but were foon ftopped by an Alderman of London, who, I perceived, made my Kinfman's Heart go pita-pat. His Confufion encreased when he found the Alderman's Father to be a Grafier; but he recovered his Fright upon feeing Justice of the Quorum at the • End of his Titles. Things went on pretty well, as we threw our Eyes occafionally over the Tree, when ⚫ unfortunately he perceived a Merchant-Tailor perched on a Bough, who was faid greatly to have encreased the Eftate; he was just a going to cut him off, if he had not feen Gent. after the Name of his Son; who was recorded to have mortgaged one of the Manors his honeft Father had purchafed. A Weaver, who was burnt for his Religion in the Reign of Queen Mary, was pruned away without Mercy; as was like⚫ wife a Yeoman, who died of a Fall from his own Cart. But great was our Triumph in one of the Blood ⚫ who was beheaded for High Treafon; which neverthe⚫lefs was not a little allayed by another of our Ancestors who was hanged for ftealing Sheep. The Expectations of my good Coufin were wonderfully raised by a • Match |