It
is a Maxim in this Club That the Steward never dies; for as they succeed one another by way of Rotation, no Man is to quit the great Elbow-chair
which
2
stands at the upper End of the Table, 'till his Successor is in a Readiness to fill it; insomuch that there has not been a
Sede vacante
in the Memory of Man.
This
Club was instituted towards the End (or, as some of them say, about the Middle) of the Civil Wars, and continued without Interruption till the Time of the
Great Fire
3
, which burnt them out and dispersed them for several Weeks. The Steward at that time maintained his Post till he had like to have been blown up with a neighbouring-House, (which was demolished in order to stop the Fire;) and would not leave the Chair at last, till he had emptied all the Bottles upon the Table, and received repeated Directions from the Club to withdraw himself.
This
Steward is frequently talked of in the Club, and looked upon by every Member of it as a greater Man, than the famous Captain
mentioned in my LordClarendon, who
2
was burnt in his Ship because he would not quit it without Orders. It is said that towards the close of 1700, being the great Year of Jubilee, the Club had it under Consideration whether they should break up or continue their Session; but after many Speeches and Debates it was at length agreed to sit out the other Century. This Resolution passed in a general Club
Nemine Contradicente
.
Having given this short Account of the Institution and Continuation of the Everlasting Club, I should here endeavour to say something of the Manners and Characters of its several Members, which I shall do according to the best Lights I have received in this Matter.
It appears by their Books in general, that, since their first Institution, they have smoked fifty Tun of Tobacco; drank thirty thousand Butts of Ale, One thousand Hogsheads of Red Port, Two hundred Barrels of Brandy, and a Kilderkin of small Beer. There has been likewise a great Consumption of Cards. It is also said, that they observe the law in
Ben. Johnson's
Club, which orders the Fire to be always kept in (
focus perennis esto
) as well for the Convenience of lighting their Pipes, as to cure the Dampness of the Club-Room.
They
have an old Woman in the nature of a Vestal, whose Business it is to cherish and perpetuate the Fire
which
2
burns from Generation to Generation, and has seen the Glass-house Fires in and out above an Hundred Times.
The Everlasting Club treats all other Clubs with an Eye of Contempt, and talks even of the Kit-Cat and October as of a couple of Upstarts.
Their
ordinary Discourse (as much as I have been able to learn of it) turns altogether upon such Adventures as have passed in their own Assembly; of Members who have taken the Glass in their Turns for a Week together, without stirring out of their Club; of others
who
2
have smoaked an Hundred Pipes at a Sitting; of others
who
2
have not missed their Morning's Draught for Twenty Years together: Sometimes they speak in Raptures of a Run of Ale in King Charles's Reign; and sometimes reflect with Astonishment upon Games at Whisk,
which
2
have been miraculously recovered by Members of the Society, when in all human Probability the Case was desperate.
They delight in several old Catches, which they sing at all Hours to encourage one another to moisten their Clay, and grow immortal by drinking; with many other edifying Exhortations of the like Nature.
There are four general Clubs held in a Year, at which Times they fill up Vacancies, appoint Waiters, confirm the old Fire-Maker or elect a new one, settle Contributions for Coals, Pipes, Tobacco, and other Necessaries.
The Senior Member has out-lived the whole Club twice over, and has been drunk with the Grandfathers of some of the present sitting Members.
C.
Footnote 1:
The other
return to footnote mark
Footnotes 2:
(several): that
return (1)
return (2)
return (3)
return (4)
return (5, 6, 7)
Footnote 3:
Of London in 1666.
return
ContentsContents p.3
... O Dea certé!Virg.
It is very strange to consider, that a Creature like Man, who is sensible of so many Weaknesses and Imperfections, should be actuated by a Love of Fame: That Vice and Ignorance, Imperfection and Misery should contend for Praise, and endeavour as much as possible to make themselves Objects of Admiration.
But notwithstanding Man's Essential Perfection is but very little, his Comparative Perfection may be very considerable. If he looks upon himself in an abstracted Light, he has not much to boast of; but if he considers himself with regard to it in others, he may find Occasion of glorying, if not in his own Virtues at least in the Absence of another's Imperfections. This gives a different Turn to the Reflections of the Wise Man and the Fool. The first endeavours to shine in himself, and the last to outshine others. The first is humbled by the Sense of his own Infirmities, the last is lifted up by the Discovery of those which he observes in other men. The Wise Man considers what he wants, and the Fool what he abounds in. The Wise Man is happy when he gains his own Approbation, and the Fool when he Recommends himself to the Applause of those about him.
But
however unreasonable and absurd this Passion for Admiration may appear in such a Creature as Man, it is not wholly to be discouraged; since it often produces very good Effects, not only as it restrains him from doing any thing
which
1
is mean and contemptible, but as it pushes him to Actions
which
1
are great and glorious. The Principle may be defective or faulty, but the Consequences it produces are so good, that, for the Benefit of Mankind, it ought not to be extinguished.
It
is observed by Cicero
2
, — that men of the greatest and the most shining Parts are the most actuated by Ambition; and if we look into the two Sexes, I believe we shall find this Principle of Action stronger in Women than in Men.
The Passion for Praise, which is so very vehement in the Fair Sex, produces excellent Effects in Women of Sense, who desire to be admired for that only which deserves Admiration:
And I think we may observe, without a Compliment to them, that many of them do not only live in a more uniform Course of Virtue, but with an infinitely greater Regard to their Honour, than what we find in the Generality of our own Sex. How many Instances have we of Chastity, Fidelity, Devotion? How many Ladies distinguish themselves by the Education of their Children, Care of their Families, and Love of their Husbands, which are the great Qualities and Atchievements of Womankind: As the making of War, the carrying on of Traffic, the Administration of Justice, are those by which Men grow famous, and get themselves a Name.
But as this Passion for Admiration, when it works according to Reason, improves the beautiful Part of our Species in every thing that is Laudable; so nothing is more Destructive to them when it is governed by Vanity and Folly. What I have therefore here to say, only regards the vain Part of the Sex, whom for certain Reasons, which the Reader will hereafter see at large, I shall distinguish by the Name of
Idols
. An
Idol
is wholly taken up in the Adorning of her Person. You see in every Posture of her Body, Air of her Face, and Motion of her Head, that it is her Business and Employment to gain Adorers. For this Reason your
Idols
appear in all publick Places and Assemblies, in order to seduce Men to their Worship. The Play-house is very frequently filled with
Idols
; several of them are carried in Procession every Evening about the Ring, and several of them set up their Worship even in Churches. They are to be accosted in the Language proper to the Deity. Life and Death are in their Power: Joys of Heaven and Pains of Hell are at their Disposal: Paradise is in their Arms, and Eternity in every Moment that you are present with them. Raptures, Transports, and Ecstacies are the Rewards which they confer: Sighs and Tears, Prayers and broken Hearts, are the Offerings which are paid to them. Their Smiles make Men happy; their Frowns drive them to Despair. I shall only add under this Head, that
Ovid's
Book of the
Art of Love
is a kind of Heathen Ritual, which contains all the forms of Worship which are made use of to an
Idol
.
It
would be as difficult a Task to reckon up these different kinds of
Idols
, as
Milton's
was
3
to number those that were known in
Canaan
, and the Lands adjoining. Most of them are worshipped, like
Moloch
, in
Fire and Flames
. Some of them, like
Baal
, love to see their Votaries cut and slashed, and shedding their Blood for them. Some of them, like the
Idol
in the
Apocrypha
, must have Treats and Collations prepared for them every Night. It has indeed been known, that some of them have been used by their incensed Worshippers like the
Chinese Idols
, who are Whipped and Scourged when they refuse to comply with the Prayers that are offered to them.
I must here observe, that those Idolaters who devote themselves to the
Idols
I am here speaking of, differ very much from all other kinds of Idolaters. For as others fall out because they Worship different
Idols
, these Idolaters quarrel because they Worship the same.
The Intention therefore of the
Idol
is quite contrary to the wishes of the Idolater; as the one desires to confine the Idol to himself, the whole Business and Ambition of the other is to multiply Adorers.
This
Humour of an
Idol
is prettily described in a Tale of
Chaucer
; He represents one of them sitting at a Table with three of her Votaries about her, who are all of them courting her Favour, and paying their Adorations: She smiled upon one, drank to another, and trod upon the other's Foot which was under the Table. Now which of these three, says the old Bard, do you think was the Favourite? In troth, says he, not one of all the three
4
.
The Behaviour of this old
Idol
in
Chaucer
, puts me in mind of the Beautiful
Clarinda
, one of the greatest
Idols
among the Moderns. She is Worshipped once a Week by Candle-light, in the midst of a large Congregation generally called an Assembly. Some of the gayest Youths in the Nation endeavour to plant themselves in her Eye, whilst she sits in form with multitudes of Tapers burning about her. To encourage the Zeal of her Idolaters, she bestows a Mark of her Favour upon every one of them, before they go out of her Presence. She asks a Question of one, tells a Story to another, glances an Ogle upon a third, takes a Pinch of Snuff from the fourth, lets her Fan drop by accident to give the fifth an Occasion of taking it up. In short, every one goes away satisfied with his Success, and encouraged to renew his Devotions on the same Canonical Hour that Day Sevennight.
An
Idol
may be Undeified by many accidental Causes. Marriage in particular is a kind of Counter-
Apotheosis
, or a Deification inverted. When a Man becomes familiar with his Goddess, she quickly sinks into a Woman.
Old Age is likewise a great Decayer of your
Idol
: The Truth of it is, there is not a more unhappy Being than a Superannuated
Idol
, especially when she has contracted such Airs and Behaviour as are only Graceful when her Worshippers are about her.
Considering therefore that in these and many other Cases the
Woman
generally outlives the
Idol
, I must return to the Moral of this Paper, and desire my fair Readers to give a proper Direction to their Passion for being admired; In order to which, they must endeavour to make themselves the Objects of a reasonable and lasting Admiration. This is not to be hoped for from Beauty, or Dress, or Fashion, but from those inward Ornaments which are not to be defaced by Time or Sickness, and which appear most amiable to those who are most acquainted with them.
C.
Footnote 1:
that
return to footnote mark
Footnote 2:
Tuscul. Quæst.
Lib. v. § 243.
return
Footnote 3:
Paradise Lost
, Bk. I.
return
Footnote 4:
The story is in
The Remedy of Love
Stanzas 5-10.
return
ContentsContents p.3
... Pendent opera interrupta ...Virg.
In
my last
Monday's
Paper I gave some general Instances of those beautiful Strokes which please the Reader in the old Song of
Chevey-Chase
; I shall here, according to my Promise, be more particular, and shew that the Sentiments in that Ballad are extremely natural and poetical, and full of
the
1
majestick Simplicity which we admire in the greatest of the ancient Poets: For which Reason I shall quote several Passages of it, in which the Thought is altogether the same with what we meet in several Passages of the
Æneid
; not that I would infer from thence, that the Poet (whoever he was) proposed to himself any Imitation of those Passages, but that he was directed to them in general by the same Kind of Poetical Genius, and by the same Copyings after Nature.
Had this old Song been filled with Epigrammatical Turns and Points of Wit, it might perhaps have pleased the wrong Taste of some Readers; but it would never have become the Delight of the common People, nor have warmed the Heart of Sir
Philip Sidney
like the Sound of a Trumpet; it is only Nature that can have this Effect, and please those Tastes which are the most unprejudiced or the most refined.
I
must however beg leave to dissent from so great an Authority as that of Sir
Philip Sidney
, in the Judgment which he has passed as to the rude Stile and evil Apparel of this antiquated Song; for there are several Parts in it where not only the Thought but the Language is majestick, and the Numbers
sonorous;
2
at least, the
Apparel
is much more
gorgeous
than many of the Poets made use of in Queen
Elizabeth's
Time, as the Reader will see in several of the following Quotations.
What can be greater than either the Thought or the Expression in that Stanza,
To drive the Deer with Hound and HornEarlPiercytook his Way;The Child may rue that was unbornThe Hunting of that Day!
This
way of considering the Misfortunes which this Battle would bring upon Posterity, not only on those who were born immediately after the Battle and lost their Fathers in it, but on those also who perished
3
in future Battles
which took their rise
4
from this Quarrel of the two Earls, is wonderfully beautiful, and conformable to the Way of Thinking among the ancient Poets.
Audiet pugnas vilio parentumRara juventus.Hor.
What can be more sounding and poetical, resemble more the majestic Simplicity of the Ancients, than the following Stanzas?
The stout Earl ofNorthumberlandA Vow to God did make,His Pleasure in theScotishWoodsThree Summers Days to take.With fifteen hundred Bowmen bold,All chosen Men of Might,Who knew full well, in time of Need,To aim their Shafts aright.The Hounds ran swiftly thro' the WoodsThe nimble Deer to take,And with their Cries the Hills and DalesAn Eccho shrill did make.... Vocat ingenti Clamore CithseronTaygetique canes, domitrixque Epidaurus equorum:Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.Lo, yonder doth EarlDowglascome,His Men in Armour bright;Full twenty HundredScottishSpears,All marching in our Sight.All Men of pleasant Tividale,Fast by the River Tweed, etc.
The Country of the
Scotch
Warriors, described in these two last Verses, has a fine romantick Situation, and affords a couple of smooth Words for Verse. If the Reader compares the forgoing six Lines of the Song with the following Latin Verses, he will see how much they are written in the Spirit of
Virgil
.
Adversi campo apparent, hastasque reductisProtendunt longe dextris; et spicula vibrant;Quique altum Preneste viri, quique arva GabinæJunonis, gelidumque Anienem, et roscida rivisHernica saxa colunt: ... qui rosea rura Velini,Qui Terticæ horrentes rupes, montemque Severum,Casperiamque colunt, Forulosque et flumen Himellæ:Qui Tiberim Fabarimque bibunt...
But to proceed.
EarlDowglason a milk-white Steed,Most like a Baron bold,Rode foremost of the Company,Whose Armour shone like Gold.
Turnus ut antevolans tardum precesserat agmen, &c. Vidisti, quo Turnus equo, quibus ibat in armis Aureus ...
OurEnglishArchers bent their BowsTheir Hearts were good and true;At the first Flight of Arrows sent,Full threescoreScotsthey slew.They clos'd full fast on ev'ry side,No Slackness there was found.And many a gallant GentlemanLay gasping on the Ground.With that there came an Arrow keenOut of anEnglishBow,Which struck EarlDowglasto the HeartA deep and deadly Blow.
Æneas was wounded after the same Manner by an unknown Hand in the midst of a Parly.
Has inter voces, media inter talia verba,Ecce viro stridens alis allapsa sagitta est,Incertum quâ pulsa manu ...
But of all the descriptive Parts of this Song, there are none more beautiful than the four following Stanzas which have a great Force and Spirit in them, and are filled with very natural Circumstances. The Thought in the third Stanza was never touched by any other Poet, and is such an one as would have shined in
Homer
or in
Virgil
.
So thus did both those Nobles die,Whose Courage none could stain:AnEnglishArcher then perceivedThe noble Earl was slain.He had a Bow bent in his Hand,Made of a trusty Tree,An Arrow of a Cloth-yard longUnto the Head drew he.Against SirHugh MontgomerySo right his Shaft he set,The Gray-goose Wing that was thereonIn his Heart-Blood was wet.This Fight did last from Break of DayTill setting of the Sun;For when they rung the Evening BellThe Battle scarce was done.
One may observe likewise, that in the Catalogue of the Slain the Author has followed the Example of the greatest ancient Poets, not only in giving a long List of the Dead, but by diversifying it with little Characters of particular Persons.
And with EarlDowglasthere was slainSirHugh Montgomery,SirCharles Carrel, that from the FieldOne Foot would never fly:SirCharles Murrelof Ratcliff too,His Sister's Son was he;SirDavid Lamb, so well esteem'd,Yet saved could not be.
The familiar Sound in these Names destroys the Majesty of the Description; for this Reason I do not mention this Part of the Poem but to shew the natural Cast of Thought which appears in it, as the two last Verses look almost like a Translation of
Virgil
.
... Cadit et Ripheus justissimus unusQui fuit in Teucris et servantissimus æqui,Diis aliter visum est ...
In
the Catalogue of the
English
who
5
fell,
Witherington's
Behaviour is in the same manner particularized very artfully, as the Reader is prepared for it by that Account which is given of him in the Beginning of the Battle
; though I am satisfied your little Buffoon Readers (who have seen that Passage ridiculed inHudibras) will not be able to take the Beauty of it: For which Reason I dare not so much as quote it.
Then stept a gallant Squire forth,Witheringtonwas his Name,Who said, I would not have it toldToHenryour King for Shame,That e'er my Captain fought on Foot,And I stood looking on.