every occurrence to excite their good humour. The most calamitous events, either to themselves or others, can bring no new affliction: the whole world is to them a theatre, on which comedies only are acted. All the bustle of heroism or the rants of ambition serve only to heighten the absurdity of the scene, and make the humour more poignant. They feel, in short, as little anguish at their own distress, or the complaints of others, as the undertaker, though dressed in black, feels sorrow at a funeral.

Of all the men I ever read of, the famous Cardinal de Retz possessed this happiness of temper in the highest degree. As he was a man of gallantry, and despised all that wore the pedantic ap- | pearance of philosophy, wherever pleasure was to be sold he was generally foremost to raise the auction. Being an universal admirer of the fair sex, when he found one lady cruel, he generally fell in love with another, from whom he expected | a more favourable reception; if she too rejected his addresses, he never thought of retiring into deserts, or pining in hopeless distress: he persuaded himself that, instead of loving the lady, he only fancied he had loved her, and so all was well again. When Fortune wore her angriest look, when he at last fell into the power of his most deadly enemy, Cardinal Mazarine, and was confined a close prisoner in the Castle of Valenciennes, he never attempted to support his distress by wisdom or philosophy, for he pretended to neither. He laughed at himself and his persecutor, and seemed infinitely pleased at his new situation. In this mansion of distress, though secluded from his friends, though denied all the amusements, and even the conveniences, of life, teased every hour by the impertinence of wretches who were employed to guard him, he still retained his good humour, laughed at all their little spite, and carried the jest so far as to be revenged, by writing the life of his gaoler.

All that philosophy can teach is to be stubborn or sullen under misfortunes. The Cardinal's example will instruct us to be merry in circumstances of the highest affliction. It matters not whether

our good humour be construed by others into insensibility, or even idiotism: it is happiness to ourselves; and none but a fool would measure his satisfaction by what the world thinks of it.

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Dick Wildgoose was one of the happiest silly fellows I ever knew. He was of the number of those good-natured creatures that are said to do no harm to any but themselves. Whenever Dick fell into any misery, he usually called it “seeing life." If his head was broke by a chairman, or his pocket picked by a sharper, he comforted himself by imitating the Hibernian dialect of the one, or the more fashionable cant of the other. Nothing came amiss to Dick. His inattention to money matters had incensed his father to such a degree, that all the intercession of friends in his favour was fruitless. The old gentleman was on his deathbed. The whole family, and Dick among the number, gathered round him. "I leave my second son Andrew," said the expiring miser, "my whole estate, and desire him to be frugal." Andrew in a sorrowiul tone, as is usual on these occasions, "prayed Heaven to prolong his life and health to enjoy it himself.' "I recommend Simon, my third son, to the care of his elder brother, and leave him beside four thousand pounds.”—“ Ah, father!" cried Simon, (in great affliction to he sure,)" may Heaven give you life and health to enjoy it yourself!" At last, turning to poor Dick, As for you, you have always been a sad dog-you'll never come to good, you'll never be rich; I'll leave you a shilling to buy an halter.”— "Ah, father!" cries Dick, without any emotion, "may Heaven give you life and health to enjoy it yourself!" This was all the trouble the loss of fortune gave this thoughtless imprudent creature. However, the tenderness of an unde recompensed the neglect of a father; and Dick is not only excessively good. humoured, but competently rich.

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The world, in short, may cry out at a bankrupt who appears at a ball; at an author who laughs at the public which pronounces him a dunce; at a general who smiles at the reproach of the vulgar; or the lady who keeps her good humour in

spite of scandal: but such is the wisest behaviour they can possibly assume. It is certainly a better way to oppose calamity by dissipation, than to take up the arms of reason or resolution to oppose it: by the first method we forget our miseries, by the last we only conceal them from others. By struggling with misfortunes we are sure to receive some wounds in the conflict: the only method to come off victorious is by running away.

ON OUR THEATRES.

MADEMOISELLE CLAIRON, a celebrated ress at Paris, seems to me the most perfect female figure I have ever seen on any stage. Not perhaps that nature tas been more liberal of personal beauty ther, than some to be scen upon our theatres at home. There are actresses here ho have as much of what connoisseurs call statuary grace, by which is meant elegance unconnected with motion, as she; Et they all fall infinitely short of her ten the soul comes to give expression the limbs, and animates every feature. Her first appearance is excessively enaging: she never comes in staring round on the company, as if she intended to unt the benefits of the house, or at least see, as well as be seen. Her eyes are ways, at first, intently fixed upon the Persons of the drama, and she lifts them, y degrees, with enchanting diffidence, pon the spectators. Her first speech, at least the first part of it, is delivered th scarce any motion of the arm: her nds and her tongue never set out toger; but the one prepares us for the her. She sometimes begins with a e eloquent attitude; but never goes ward all at once with hands, eyes, head, and voice. This observation, though it y appear of no importance, should cer- | nly be adverted to; nor do I see any he performer (Garrick only excepted) ong us, that is not in this particular t to offend. By this simple beginning e gives herself a power of rising in the ssion of the scene. As she proceeds ery gesture, every look, acquires new lence, till at last, transported, she fills whole vehemence of the part, and all idea of the poet.

Her hands are not alternately stretched out, and then drawn in again, as with the singing women at Sadlers' Wells: they are employed with graceful variety, and every moment please with new and unexpected eloquence. Add to this, that their motion is generally from the shoulder; she never flourishes her hands while the upper part of her arm is motionless, nor has she the ridiculous appearance as if her elbows were pinned to her hips.

But of all the cautions to be given to our rising actresses, I would particularly recommend it to them never to take notice of the audience upon any occasion whatsoever; let the spectators applaud never so loudly, their praises should pass, except at the end of the epilogue, with seeming inattention. I can never pardon a lady on the stage who, when she draws the admiration of the whole audience, turns about to make them a low courtesy for their applause. Such a figure no longer continues Belvidera, but at once drops into Mrs. Cibber. Suppose a sober tradesman, who once a year takes his shilling's worth at Drury Lane, in order to be delighted with the figure of a queen-the Queen of Sheba, for instance, or any other queen-this honest man has no other idea of the great but from their superior pride and impertinence: suppose such a man placed among the spectators, the first figure that appears on the stage is the queen herself, courtesying and cringing to all the company; how can he fancy her the haughty favourite of King Solomon the wise, who appears actually more submissive than the wife of his bosom? We are all tradesmen of a nicer relish in this respect, and such conduct must disgust every spectator who loves to have the illusion of nature strong upon him.

Yet, while I recommend to our actresses a skilful attention to gesture, I would not have them study it in the looking-glass. This, without some precaution, will render their action formal; by too great an intimacy with this they become stiff and affected. People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after. I remember to have known a notable performer of the other sex, who made great use of this flattering monitor,

and yet was one of the stiffest figures I ever saw. I am told his apartment was hung round with looking-glasses, that he might see his person twenty times reflected upon entering the room; and I will make bold to say, he saw twenty very ugly fellows whenever he did so.

No. III.-Saturday, October 20, 1759.

ON THE USE OF LANGUAGE. THE manner in which most writers begin their treatises on the use of language is generally thus:-"Language has been granted to man, in order to discover his wants and necessities, so as to have them relieved by society. Whatever we desire, whatever we wish, it is but to clothe those desires or wishes in words, in order to fruition. The principal use of language, therefore," say they, "is to express our wants, so as to receive a speedy redress." Such an account as this may serve to satisfy grammarians and rhetoricians well enough, but men who know the world maintain very contrary maxims; they hold, and I think with some show of reason, that he who best knows how to conceal his necessity and desires is the most likely person to find redress, and that the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants, as to conceal them.

When we reflect on the manner in which mankind generally confer their favours, we shall find that they who seem to want them least are the very persons who most liberally share them. There is something so attractive in riches, that the large heap generally collects from the smaller; and the poor find as much pleasure in increasing the enormous mass, as the miser who owns it sees happiness in its increase. Nor is there in this anything repugnant to the laws of true morality. Seneca himself allows that, in conferring benefits, the present should always be suited to the dignity of the receiver. Thus the rich receive large presents, and are thanked for accepting them; men of middling stations are obliged to be content with presents something less; while the beggar, who may be truly said to want indeed, is well paid if a farthing rewards his warmest solicitations.

Every man who has seen the world, and has had his ups and downs in life, as the expression is, must have frequently expe rienced the truth of this doctrine, and must know, that to have much, or to seer to have it, is the only way to have more Ovid finely compares a man of broken fortune to a falling column; the lower it sinks, the greater weight it is obliged to sustain. Thus, when a man has no occasion to borrow, he finds numbers willing to lend him. Should he ask his friend to lend him a hundred pounds, it is possible, from the largeness of his demand, he may find credit for twenty; but should he humbly only sue for a trifle, it is two to one whether he might be trusted for twopence. A certain young fellow at George's, whenever he had occasion to ask his friend for a guinea, used to prelude his request as if he wanted two hundred, and talked so familiarly of large sums, that none could ever think he wanted a small one. The same gentleman, whenever he wanted credit for a new suit from his tailor, always made a proposal in laced clothes: for he found by experience that if he appeared shabby on these occasions, Mr. Lynch had taken an oath against trusting; or, what was every bit as bad, his foreman was out of the way, and would not be at home these two days.

There can be no inducement to reveal our wants, except to find pity, and by this means relief; but before a poor man opens his mind in such circumstances, he should first consider whether he is contented to lose the esteem of the person he solicits, and whether he is willing to give up friendship only to excite compassion. Pity and friendship are passions incompatible with each other, and it is impossible that both can reside in any breast for the smallest space, without impairing each other. Friendship is made up of esteem and pleasure; pity is composed of sorrow and contempt: the mind may for some time fluctuate between them, but it never can entertain both together.

Yet let it not be thought that I would exclude pity from the human mind. There are scarcely any who are not, in some degree, possessed of this pleasing softness; but it is at best but a short-lived passion,

ird seldom affords distress more than ansitory assistance: with some it scarcely #sts from the first impulse till the hand n be put into the pocket; with others it ay continue for twice that space, and on me of extraordinary sensibility I have en it operate for half an hour. But, owever, last as it will, it generally prouces but beggarly effects; and where, om this motive, we give a halfpenny, om others we give always pounds. In reat distress we sometimes, it is true, eel the influence of tenderness strongly; when the same distress solicits a second ime, we then feel with diminished sensiuity; but, like the repetition of an echo, every new impulse becomes weaker, till at list our sensations lose every mixture af sorrow, and degenerate into downright contempt.

Jack Spindle and I were old acquaintace; but he's gone. Jack was bred in compting-house, and his father dying st as he was out of his time, left him a adsome fortune, and many friends to vise with. The restraint in which he Lad been brought up had thrown a gloom on his temper, which some regarded as bitual prudence, and from such conserations he had every day repeated cers of friendship. Those who had Bey were ready to offer him their asstance that way; and they who had ghters frequently, in the warmth of ection, advised him to marry. Jack, hever, was in good circumstances; i wanted neither money, friends, nor la wife, and therefore modestly declined ter proposals.

Some errors in the management of his 'fairs and several losses in trade soon ought Jack to a different way of think; and he at last thought it his best y to let his friends know, that their ers were at length acceptable. His address was, therefore, to a scrivener had formerly made him frequent offers money and friendship at a time when, haps, he knew those offers would have refused.

Jack, therefore, thought he might use old friend without any ceremony; 21, as a man confident of not being sed, requested the use of an hundred

guineas for a few days, as he just then had an occasion for money. "And pray, Mr. Spindle," replied the scrivener, "do you want all this money?"—"Want it, sir," says the other; "if I did not want it, I should not have asked it."-"I am sorry for that," says the friend; "for those who want money when they come to borrow, will want money when they should come to pay. To say the truth, Mr. Spindle, money is money now-a-days. I believe it is all sunk in the bottom of the sea, for my part; and he that has got a little is a fool if he does not keep what he has got."

Not quite disconcerted by this refusal, our adventurer was resolved to apply to another, whom he knew to be the very best friend he had in the world. The gentleman whom he now addressed received his proposal with all the affability that could be expected from generous friendship. "Let me see,-you want an hundred guineas; and pray, dear Jack, would not fifty answer?"-"If you have but fifty to spare, sir, I must be contented."

"Fifty to spare! I do not say that, for I believe I have but twenty about me.""Then I must borrow the other thirty from some other friend."--" And pray," replied the friend, "would it not be the best way to borrow the whole money from that other friend? then one note will serve for all, you know? Lord, Mr. Spindle, make no ceremony with me at any time; you know I'm your friend, when you choose a bit of dinner or so. You, Tom, see the gentleman down. You won't forget to dine with us now and then? Your very humble servant."

Distressed, but not discouraged at this treatment, he was at last resolved to find that assistance from love which he could not have from friendship. Miss Jenny Dismal had a fortune in her own hands, and she had already made all the advances that her sex's modesty would permit. He made his proposal, therefore, with confidence, but soon perceived "No bankrupt ever found the fair one kind." Miss Jenny and Master Billy Galoon were lately fallen deeply in love with each other, and the whole neighbourhood thought it would soon be a match.

RB