I remember when Dr. Titus Oates [4] was in
all his Glory, I accompanied my Friend WILL. [HONEYCOMB]
[5] in a Visit to a Lady of his Acquaintance:
We were no sooner sat down, but upon casting my Eyes
about the Room, I found in almost every Corner of
it a Print that represented the Doctor in all Magnitudes
and Dimensions. A little after, as the Lady was
discoursing my Friend, and held her Snuff-box in her
Hand, who should I see in the Lid of it but the Doctor.
It was not long after this, when she had Occasion
for her Handkerchief, which upon the first opening
discovered among the Plaits of it the Figure of the
Doctor. Upon this my Friend WILL., who loves
Raillery, told her, That if he was in Mr. Truelove’s
Place (for that was the Name for her Husband) she
should be made as uneasy by a Handkerchief as ever
Othello was. I am afraid, said she,
Mr. [HONEYCOMB,[6]] you are a Tory; tell
me truly, are you a Friend to the Doctor or not?
WILL., instead of making her a Reply, smiled in her
Face (for indeed she was very pretty) and told her
that one of her Patches was dropping off. She
immediately adjusted it, and looking a little seriously,
Well, says she, I’ll be hang’d
if you and your silent Friend there are not against
the Doctor in your Hearts, I suspected as much by
his saying nothing. Upon this she took her
Fan into her Hand, and upon the opening of it again
displayed to us the Figure of the Doctor, who was
placed with great Gravity among the Sticks of it.
In a word, I found that the Doctor had taken Possession
of her Thoughts, her Discourse, and most of her Furniture;
but finding my self pressed too close by her Question,
I winked upon my Friend to take his Leave, which he
did accordingly.
C.
[Footnote 1: Hector’s parting from Andromache,
at the close of Book VI.
No more—but hasten to thy tasks
at home,
There guide the spindle, and direct the
loom;
Me glory summons to the martial scene,
The field of combat is the sphere for
men.]
[Footnote 2: Not a new paragraph in the first
issue.]
[Footnote 3: “Souls (I mean those of ordinary
Women).” This, however, was cancelled by
an Erratum in the next number.]
[Footnote 4: Addison was six years old when Titus
Oates began his ‘Popish Plot’ disclosures.
Under a name which called up recollections of the
vilest trading upon theological intolerance, he here
glances at Dr. Henry Sacheverell, whose trial (Feb.
27-March 20, 1710) for his sermons in praise of the
divine right of kings and contempt of the Whigs, and
his sentence of suspension for three years, had caused
him to be admired enthusiastically by all party politicians
who were of his own way of thinking. The change
of person pleasantly puts ‘Tory’ for ‘Whig,’
and avoids party heat by implying a suggestion that
excesses are not all on one side. Sacheverell
had been a College friend of Addison’s.
He is the ‘dearest Harry’ for whom, at
the age of 22, Addison wrote his metrical ‘Account
of the greatest English Poets’ which omitted
Shakespeare from the list.]
