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good women of that place, what every one of them would have brought off with her, and have thought most worth the faving? There were feveral merry answers made to my queftion, which entertained us till bed-time. This filled my mind with fuch a huddle of ideas, that upon my going to fleep I fell into the following dream. "I faw a town of this ifland, which fhall be namelefs, invested on every side, and the inhabitants of it fo ftraitened as to cry for quarter. The general refused any other terms than those granted to the above-mentioned town of Hensberg, namely, that the married women might come out with what they could bring along with them. Immediately the city gates flew open, and a female proceffion appeared, multitudes of the fex fol. lowing one another in a row, and staggering under their refpective burdens. I took my ftand upon an eminence in the enemy's camp, which was appointed for the general rendezvous of these female carriers, being very defirous to look into their feveral ladings. The firft of them had a huge fack upon her fhoulders, which the fet down with great care: upon the opening of it, when I expected to have feen her husband fhot out of it, I found it was filled with china ware. The next appeared in a more decent figure, carrying a handsome young fellow upon her back: I could not forbear commending the young woman for her conjugal affection, when, to my great surprise, I found that he had left the_good man at home, and brought away her gallant. I faw the third, at fome diftance, with a little withered face peeping over her fhoulder, whom I could not fufpect for any but her fpoufe, till, upon her fetting him down,. I heard her call him dear pug, and found him to be her favourite monkey. A fourth brought a huge bale of cards along with her; and the fifth a Bologna lapdog; for her husband, it feems, being a very bulky man, fhe thought it would be lefs trouble for her to bring away little cupid. The next was the wife of a rich ufurer loaden with a bag of gold; fhe told us that her spouse was very old, and by the course of nature could not expect to live long; and that to show her tender regard for him, fhe had faved that which the

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poor man loved better than his life. The next came towards us with her fon upon her back, who, we were told, was the greatest rake in the place, but fo much the mother's darling, that she left her husband behind, with a large family of hopeful fons and daughters, for the fake of this graceless youth..

"It would be endlefs to mention the feveral perfons, with their feveral loads, that appeared to me in this ftrange vifion. All the place about me was covered with packs of ribbands, brocades, embroidery, and ten thoufand other materials, fufficient to have furnished a whole ftreet of toy-fhops. One of the women, having an hufband who was none of the heaviest, was bringing. him off upon her fhoulders, at the fame time that the carried a great bundle of Flanders lace under her arm; but finding herself so overloaden that she could not fave both of them, fhe dropped the good man, and brought away the bundle. In fhort, I found but one hufband among this great mountain of baggage, who was a lively cobler, that kicked and fpurred all the while his wife was carrying him on, and, as it was faid, had scarce paffed a day in his life without giving her the discipline of the ftrap.

"I cannot conclude my letter, dear Spec, without telling thee one very odd whim in this my dream. I faw, methought, a dozen women employed in bringing off one man I could not guess who it thould be, till upon his nearer approach I difcovered thy fhort phiz. The women all declared that it was for the fake of thy works, and not thy perfon, that they brought thee off, and that it was on condition that thou fhould't continue the Spectator. If thou thinkeft this dream will make a tolerable one, it is at thy service, from, dear Spec, Thine fleeping and waking,

WILL HONEYCOMB." The ladies will fee by this letter, what I have often told them, that Will is one of thofe old fashioned men of wit and pleasure of the town, who fhow their parts by raillery on marriage, and one who has often tried his fortune that way without fuccefs. I cannot however difmifs his letter, without obferving that the true story on which it is built does honour to the fex; and that in order

order to abuse them, the writer is obliged to have recourfe to dream and fiction.

XXI. On Good Breeding.

A FRIEND of yours and mine has very juftly defined good breeding to be, "the refult of much good fenfe, foe good nature, and a little felf denial for the fake of others, and with a view to obtain the fame indulgence from them." Taking this for granted, (as I think it cannot be difputed) it is aftonishing to me, that any body, who has good fenfe and good nature, can effentially fail in good breeding. As to the modes of it, indeed, they vary according to perfons, places, and cire cumftances, and are only to be acquired by obfervation and experience; but the fubitance of it is everywhere and eternally the fame. Good manners are, to particu lar focieties, what good morals are to fociety in general; their cement, and their fecurity. And, as laws are enacted to enforce good morals, or at least to prevent the ill effects of bad ones; fo here are certain rules of civility, univerfally implied and received, to enforce good manners, and punish bad ones. And, indeed, there feems to me to be lefs difference, both between the crimes and punishments, than at first one would imagine. The immoral man, who invades another's property, is juftly hanged for it; and the ill bred man, who, by his ill manners, invades and disturbs the quiet and comforts of private life, is by common confent as justly banished fociety. Mutual complaifances, attentions, and facrifices of little conveniencies, are as natural an implied compact between civilized people, as protection and obedience are between kings and fubjects: whoever, in either cale, violates that compact, juftly forfeits all advantages ari fing from it. For my own part, I really think that, next to the consciousness of doing a good action, that of doing a civil one is the most pleafing; and the epithet which I fhould covet the moft, next to that of Arifti des, would be that of well-bred. Thus much for goodbreeding in general: I will now confider fome of the various modes and degrees of it.

Very few, fcarcely any, are wanting in the refpect which they fhould fhow to thofe whom they acknow

ledge

ledge to be highly their fuperiours; fuch as crowned heads, princes, and public perfons of diftinguifhed and eminent pofts. It is the manner of fhowing that refpect which is different. The man of fashion and of the world, expreffes it in its fullest extent; but naturally, eafily, and without concern: whereas a man who is not ufed to keep good company, expreffes it awkwardly; one fees that he is not used to it, and that it costs him a great deal; but I never faw the worft bred man living guilty of lolling, whiftling, fcratching his head, and fuch like indecencies, in company that he refpected. In fuch companies, therefore, the only point to be attended to is, to fhow that refpect, which every body means to fhow, in an eafy, unembaraffed, and graceful manner. This is what obfervation and experience

muft teach you.

In mixed companies, whoever is admitted to make part of them, is, for the time at leaft, fuppofed to be upon a footing of equality with the reft; and, confequently, as there is no one principal object of awe and relpect, people are apt to take a greater latitude in their behaviour, and to be lefs upon their guard; and fo they may, provided it be within certain bounds, which are upon no occafion to be tranfgreffed. But upon these occafions, though no one is intitled to diftinguished marks of respect, every one claims, and very juftly,, every mark of civility and good breeding. Eafe is allowed, but carelessness and negligence are strictly forbidden. If a man accofts you, and talks to you ever fo dully or frivolously, it is worfe than rudeness, it is brutality, to fhow him, by a manifest inattention to what he fays, that you think him a fool or a blockhead, and not worth hearing. It is much more fo with regard to women; who, of whatever rank they are, are intitled, in confideration of their fex, not only to an attentive, but an officious, good breeding from men. Their little wants, likings, diflikes, preferences, antipathies, and fancies, must be officiously attended to, and, if poffible, gueffed at and anticipated, by a wellbred man. You must never ufurp to yourself those conveniencies and gratifications which are of common right fuch as the belt places, the best dishes, &c. but, on the

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PART I. contrary, always decline them yourself, and offer them to others; who, in their turns, will offer them to you: fo that, upon the whole, you will, in your turn, enjoy your fhare of the common right. It would be endless for me to enumerate all the particular inftances in which a well bred man fhows his good breeding in good company; and it would be injurious to you to fuppofe, that your own good fenfe will not point them out to you; and then your own good nature will recommend, and your felf-interest enforce, the practice.

There is a third fort of good breeding, in which people are the most apt to fail, from a very mistaken notion that they cannot fail at all. I mean, with regard to one's most familiar friends and acquaintances, or those who really are our inferiours; and there, undoubt edly, a greater degree of eafe is not only allowable but proper, and contributes much to the comforts of a private focial life. But eafe and freedom have their bounds, which muft by no means be violated. A cer tain degree of negligence and carelessness becomes injurious and infulting, from the real or fuppofed inferiority of the perfons; and that delightful freedom of converfation among a few friends, is foon destroyed, as liberty often has been, by being carried to licentioufnefs. But example explains things beft; and I will put ä pretty ftrong cafe. Suppofe you and me alone toge ther; I believe you will allow that have as good a right to unlimited freedom in your company, as either you or I can poffibly have in any other; and I am apt to believe, too, that you would indulge me in that freedo as far as any body would. But, notwithstanding this, do you imagine that I fhould, think there were no bounds to that freedom? I affure you I should not think fo; and I take myfelf to be as much tied down by a certain degree of good manners to you, as by other degrees of them to other people. The most familiar and intimate habitudes, connections, and friend!hips, require a degree of good breeding both to preferve and cement them. The best of us have our bad fides; and it is as imprudent as it is ill bred, to exhibit them. I fhall not use ceremony with you; it would be mifplaced between us: but I fhall certainly obferve that degree of

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