6 'their sight and limbs, employ them better than in knowing whether they are counterfeited or not? I 'know not which of the two misapplies his senses most, he who pretends himself blind to move com( passion, or he who beholds a miserable object without pitying it. But in order to remove such impe'diments, I wish, Mr. Spectator, you would give us a discourse upon beggars, that we may not pass by true objects of charity, or give to impostors. I 'looked out of my window the other morning earlier 'than ordinary, and saw a blind beggar, an hour 'before the passage he stands in is frequented, with a 'needle and thread, thriftily mending his stockings: 'my astonishment was still greater, when I beheld a • lame fellow, whose legs were too big to walk within an hour after, bring him a pot of ale. I will not mention the shakings, distortions, and convulsions, which many of them practise to gain an alms: but sure I am they ought to be taken care of in this condition, either by the beadle or the magistrate. They, it seems, relieve their posts, according to their ' talents. There is the voice of an old woman never begins to beg till nine in the evening, and then she 'is destitute of lodging, turned out for want of rent, and has the same ill-fortune every night in the year. 'You should employ an officer to hear the distress of each beggar that is constant at a particular place, 'who is ever in the same tone, and succeeds because his audience is continually changing, though he does 'not alter his lamentation. If we have nothing else for our money, let us have more invention to be 'cheated with. All which is submitted to your spec"tatorial vigilance: and I am, • Sir, Your most humble servant.' I WAS last Sunday highly transported at our parish-church; the gentleman in the pulpit pleaded movingly in behalf of the poor children, and they for 'themselves much more forcibly by singing an hymn; and I had the happiness to be a contributor to this little religious institution of innocents, and am sure I never disposed of money more to my satisfaction and advantage. The inward joy I find in myself, and the good-will I bear to mankind, make me heartily wish those pious works may be encouraged, that the present promoters may reap the delight, and posterity the benefit of them. But whilst we are building this beautiful edifice, let not the old ruins remain in view to sully the prospect: whilst we are cultivating and improving this young hopeful offspring, let not the ancient and helpless creatures be shamefully neglected. The crowds of poor, or pretended poor, in every place, are a great reproach to us, and eclipse the glory of all other charity. It is the utmost reproach to society, that there should be a poor man unrelieved or a poor rogue unpunished. I hope you will think no part ' of human life out of your consideration, but will, at 'your leisure, give us the history of plenty and want, and the natural gradations towards them, calculated for the cities of London and Westminster. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, 'T. D.' Mr. Spectator, I beg you would be pleased to take notice of a very 'great indecency, which is extremely common, though, I think, never yet under your censure. It is, Sir, the strange freedoms some ill-bred married people take in company: the unseasonable fondness of some husbands, and the ill-timed tenderness of 'some wives. They talk and act as if modesty was only fit for maids and bachelors, and that too before 'both. I was once, Mr. Spectator, where the fault I 'speak of was so very flagrant, that (being, you must know, a very bashful fellow, and several young ladies in the room) I protest I was quite out of coun'tenance. Lucina it seems, was breeding, and she ་ did nothing but entertain the company with a dis'course upon the difficulty of reckoning to a day, and 'said she knew those who were certain to an hour; then fell a laughing at a silly unexperienced creature, who was a month above her time. Upon her "husband's coming in, she put several questions to 'him; which he not caring to resolve, "Well," cries 6 Lucina, "I shall have them all at night."........But 'lest I should seem guilty of the very fault I write ' against, I shall only intreat Mr. Spectator to correct such misdemeanours; "For higher of the genial bed by far, 'I am, Sir, • Your humble servant, T. MEANWELL.' No. CCCCXXXI. TUESDAY, JULY 15. Quid dulcius hominum generi a natura datum est quam sui cuique liberi? TULL. What is there in nature so dear to a man as his own children? I HAVE lately been casting in my thoughts the several unhappinesses of life, and comparing the infelicities of old age to those of infancy. The calamities of children are due to the negligence and misconduct VOL. V1. of parents, those of age to the past life which led to it. I have here the history of a boy and girl to their wedding-day, and I think I cannot give the reader a livelier image of the insipid way which time uncultivated passes, than by entertaining him with their authentic epistles, expressing all that was remarkable in their lives, until the period of their life above-mentioned. The sentence at the head of this paper, which is only a warm interrogation, What is there in nature so dear as a man's own children to him?' is all the reflection I shall at present make on those who are negligent or cruel in the education of them. Mr. Spectator, I AM now entering into my one and twentieth " year, and do not know that I had one day's thorough satisfaction since I came to years of any reflection, until the time they say others fose their liberty, the day of my marriage. I am son to a gentleman of a very great estate, who resolved to keep me out of the vices of the age; and in order to it never let me see any thing that he thought could give me the least pleasure. At ten years old I was put to a grammarschool, where my master received orders every post 'to use me very severely, and have no regard to my having a great estate. At fifteen I was removed to the university, where I lived, out of my father's great discretion, in scandalous poverty and want, until I was big enough to be married, and I was sent for to " see the lady who sends you the underwritten. When 6 we were put together, we both considered that we • could not be worse than we were in taking one another, and out of a desire of liberty entered into wedlock. My father says I am now a man, and may 6 I speak to him like another gentleman. I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, |