Since I am recollecting upon this Subject such Passages
as occur to my Memory out of ancient Authors, I cannot
omit a Sentence in the celebrated Funeral Oration
of Pericles [3] which he made in Honour of
those brave Athenians that were slain in a fight
with the Lacedaemonians. After having
addressed himself to the several Ranks and Orders
of his Countrymen, and shewn them how they should behave
themselves in the Publick Cause, he turns to the Female
Part of his Audience;
’And as for you (says he) I shall
advise you in very few Words: Aspire only to
those Virtues that are peculiar to your Sex; follow
your natural Modesty, and think it your greatest
Commendation not to be talked of one way or other’.
[Footnote 1: ‘Davideis’, Bk III.
But Cowley’s Tiger is a Male.]
[Footnote 2: that are proper]
[Footnote 3: Thucydides, Bk II.]
* * * *
*
No. 82. Monday, June 4, 1711.
Steele.
‘...
Caput domina venate sub hasta.’
Juv.
Passing under Ludgate [1] the other Day, I
heard a Voice bawling for Charity, which I thought
I had somewhere heard before. Coming near to
the Grate, the Prisoner called me by my Name, and desired
I would throw something into the Box: I was out
of Countenance for him, and did as he bid me, by putting
in half a Crown. I went away, reflecting upon
the strange Constitution of some Men, and how meanly
they behave themselves in all Sorts of Conditions.
The Person who begged of me is now, as I take it,
Fifty; I was well acquainted with him till about the
Age of Twenty-five; at which Time a good Estate fell
to him by the Death of a Relation. Upon coming
to this unexpected good Fortune, he ran into all the
Extravagancies imaginable; was frequently in drunken
Disputes, broke Drawers Heads, talked and swore loud,
was unmannerly to those above him, and insolent to
those below him. I could not but remark, that
it was the same Baseness of Spirit which worked in
his Behaviour in both Fortunes: The same little
Mind was insolent in Riches, and shameless in Poverty.
This Accident made me muse upon the Circumstances of
being in Debt in general, and solve in my Mind what
Tempers were most apt to fall into this Error of Life,
as well as the Misfortune it must needs be to languish
under such Pressures. As for my self, my natural
Aversion to that sort of Conversation which makes
a Figure with the Generality of Mankind, exempts me
from any Temptations to Expence; and all my Business
lies within a very narrow Compass, which is only to
give an honest Man, who takes care of my Estate, proper
Vouchers for his quarterly Payments to me, and observe
what Linnen my Laundress brings and takes away with
her once a Week: My Steward brings his Receipt
ready for my Signing; and I have a pretty Implement
with the respective Names of Shirts, Cravats, Handkerchiefs
and Stockings, with proper Numbers to know how to reckon
with my Laundress. This being almost all the Business
I have in the World for the Care of my own Affairs,
I am at full Leisure to observe upon what others do,
with relation to their Equipage and Oeconomy.
