OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 52 The contemplation of the calamities of others, a 53 The folly and misery of a spendthrift 55 The gay widow's impatience of the growth of her daughter. The history of Miss Maypole 56 The necessity of complaisance. The Rambler's grief for offending his correspondents 57 Sententious rules of frugality 58 The desire of wealth moderated by philosophy 59 An account of Suspirius, the human screech-owl 60 The dignity and usefulness of biography 61 A Londoner's visit to the country 62 A young lady's impatience to see London 63 Inconstancy not always a weakness 7 68 Every man chiefly happy or miserable at home. The opinion of servants not to be despised 69 The miseries and prejudice of old age 70 Different men virtuous in different degrees. The 71 No man believes that his own life will be short 72 The necessity of good humour 73 The lingering expectation of an heir ΙΟΙ 75 The world never known but by a change of fortune. 153 159 80 Variety necessary to happiness. A winter scene 165 81 The great rule of action. Debts of justice to be distinguished from debts of charity 82 The Virtuoso's account of his rarities 83 The Virtuoso's curiosity justified 86 The danger of succeeding a great author: an intro- duction to a criticism on Milton's versification 87 The reasons why advice is generally ineffectual 195 201. 208 214 • 220 90 The pauses in English poetry adjusted 91 The conduct of patronage, an allegory 92 The accommodation of sound to sense, often chi- 95 The history of Pertinax the sceptic 96 Truth, falsehood, and fiction, an allegory 103 The prevalence of curiosity. The character of 194 The original of flattery. The meanness of venal 2 THE RAMBLER. N°52. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,1751. Quoties flenti Theseius heros Siste modum, dixit; neque enim fortuna querenda OVID. How oft in vain, the son of Theseus said, CATCOTT. AMONG the various methods of consolation, to which the miseries inseparable from our present state have given occasion, it has been, as I have already remarked, recommended by some writers to put the sufferer in mind of heavier pressures, and more excruciatiug calamities, than those of which he has himself reason to complain. This has, in all ages, been directed and practised; and, in conformity to this custom, Lipsius, the great modern master of the Stoick philosophy, VOL. II. A has, in his celebrated treatise on steadiness of mind, endeavoured to fortify the breast against too much sensibility of misfortune by enumerating the evils which have in former ages fallen upon the world, the devastation of wide extended regions, the sack of cities, and massacre of nations. And the common voice of the multitude uninstructed by precept, and unprejudiced by authority, which, in questions that relate to the heart of man, is, in my opinion, more decisive than the learning of Lipsius, seems to justify the efficacy of this procedure; for one of the first comforts which one neighbour administers to another, is a relation of the like infelicity, combined with circumstances of greater bitterness. But this medicine of the mind is like many remedies applied to the body, of which, though we see the effects, we are unacquainted with the manner of operation, and of which, therefore, some, who are unwilling to suppose any thing out of the reach of their own sagacity, have been inclined to doubt whether they have really those virtues for which they are celebrated, and whether their reputation is not the mere gift of fancy, prejudice, and credulity. Consolation, or comfort, are words which, in their proper acceptation, signify some alleviation of that pain to which it is not in our power to afford the proper and adequate remedy; they imply rather an augmentation of the power of bearing, than a diminution of the burden. A prisoner is relieved by him that sets him at liberty, but receives comfort from such as suggest considerations by which he is made patient under the in convenience of confinement. To that grief which arises from a great loss, he only brings the true remedy who makes his friend's condition the same as before; but he may be properly termed a comforter, who by persuasion extenuates the pain of poverty, and shews, in the style of Hesiod, that half is more than the whole. It is, perhaps, not immediately obvious, how it can lull the memory of misfortune, or appease the throbbings of anguish, to hear that others are more miserable; others, perhaps, unknown, or wholly indifferent, whose prosperity raises no envy, and whose fall can gratify no resentment. Some topicks of comfort arising, like that which gave hope and spirit to the captive of Sesostris, from the perpetual vicissitudes of life, and mutability of human affairs, may as properly raise the dejected as depress the proud, and have an immediate tendency to exhilarate and revive. But how can it avail the man who languishes in the gloom of sorrow, without prospect of emerging into the sunshine of cheerfulness, to hear that others are sunk yet deeper in the dungeon of misery, shackled with heavier chains, and surrounded with darker desperation? The solace arising from this consideration seems indeed the weakest of all others, and is perhaps never properly applied, but in cases where there is no place for reflections of more speedy and pleasing efficacy. But even from such calamities life is by no means free; a thousand ills incurable, a thousand losses irreparable, a thousand difficulties insurmountable, are known, or will be known, by all the sons of men. Native deformity cannot be rectified, a dead friend cannot return, and the |
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