317 dernefs, and told her, that the fhould now be à Queen indeed, for that he would immdiately make his Brother King of all the conquer'd Nations on the other fide the Tygris. He eafily discovered in the Eyes of our two Lovers, that inftead of being transported with the Offer, they preferred their prefent Retirement to Empire. At their Requeft therefore he changed his Intentions, and made them a Present of all the open Country as far as they could fee from the Top of Mount Khacan. Abdallah continuing to extend his former Improvements, beautify'd this whole Profpect with Groves and Fountains, Gardens and Seats of Pleafure, till it became the most delicious Spot of Ground within the Empire, and is therefore called the Garden of Perfia. This Caliph, Ibrahim, after a long and happy Reign, died without Children, and was fucceeded by Abdallah, a Son of Abdallah and Balfora. This was that King Abdallah who afterwards fixed the Imperial Refidence upon Mount Khacan, which continues at this time to be the Favourite Palace of the Perfian Empire. No 168. Wednesday, September 23. ·loca jam recitáta revolvimus SIR, 'I ་ Hor. Obferve that many of your late Papers have repre fented to us the Characters of accomplished Women; but among all of them I do not find a Quotation which I expected to have seen in your Works: I mean the Character of the Mistress of a Family, as it is drawn out at length in the Book of Proverbs. For my Part, confidering it only as a Human Compofition, I do not think that there is any Character in Theophraftus, which has fo many beautiful Particulars in it, and which is drawn with fuch an Elegance of Thought and Phrafe. I wonder that it is not written in Letters of 'Gold in the great Hall of every Country Gentleman. WHO can find a Virtuous Woman? For her Price is far above Rubies. THE Heart of her Husband doth fafely truft in her, fo that he fhall have no need of Spoil. SHE will do him Good, and not Evil, all the Days of her Life. P.3 SHE SHE feeketh Wooll and Flax, and worketh willingly with her Hands. SHE is like the Merchants Ships, she bringeth her Food from afar. SHE rifeth alfo while it is yet Night, and giveth Meat to her Houfhold, and a Portion to her Maidens. SHE confidereth a Field, and buyeth it; with the Fruit of her Hands fhe planteth a Vineyard. SHE girdeth her Loins with Strenth, and frengthneth her Arms. SHE perceiveth that her Merchandize is good; her Candle goeth not out by Night. SHE layeth her Hands to the Spindle, and her Hands hold the Distaff. SHE ftretcheth out her Hand to the Poor; yea, the reacheth forth her Hands to the Needy. SHE is not afraid of the Snow for her Houthold, for all her Houfhold are cloathed with Scarlet. < SHE maketh herself Coverings of Tapestry, her cloathing is Silk and Purple. HER Husband is known in the Gates, when he fit teth among the Elders of the Land. "SHE maketh fine Linnen, and felleth it, and delivereth Girdles unto the Merchant. STRENGTH and Honour are her cloathing, and The fhall rejoice in Time to come. SHE openeth her Mouth with Wisdom, and in het Tongue is the Law of Kindnefs. SHE looketh well to the ways of her Houthold, and eateth not the Bread of Idlenefs. HER Children arise up, and call her Bleffed; het • Husband alfo, and he praiseth her. MANY Daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelleft them all. FAVOUR is deceitful, and Beauty is vain; but a • Woman that feareth the Lord, fhe fhall be praised. GIVE her of the Fruit of her Hands, and let her own Works praise her in the Gates. SIR, IY Your Humble Servant. Ventured to your Lion with the following Lines, upon an Affurance, that, if you thought them not proper Food for your Beaft, you would at least permit him to tear them. From From Anacreon. *Afe (w[ejowy Leiss, BEST and happiest Artizan, Beft of Painters, if you can With your many coloured Art Paint the Miftrefs of my Heart: Defcribe the Charms, you hear me, (Her Charms you cou'd not paint and fee) The Flames unfeen must yet be felt, As if the blushing Rivals frove, Mr. IRONSIDE, 'Twas fubfcribed English Tory, has made, as you THE Letter which I fent you fome time ago, and 'must have obferved, a very great Buftle in Town. There are come out against me two Pamphlets and two • Examiners; but there are Printed on my Side a Letter to the GUARDIAN about Dunkirk, and a Pamphlet called Dunkirk or Dover. I am no proper Judge who has the better of the Argument, the Examiner or my felf: But I am fure my Seconds are better than his. I have • addreffed a Defence against the ill Treatment I have • received for my Letter, (which ought to have made every Man in England my Friend) to the Bayliff of Stockbridge, because, as the World goes, I am to think my felf very much obliged to that honeft Man, and efteem him my Patron, who allowed that Fifty was a greater Number than One and twenty, and returned me accordingly to ferve for that Borough. THERE are very many fcurrilous Things faid a'gainst me, but I have turned them to my Advantage, by quoting them at large, and by that means fwelling the Volume to 1 s. Price. If I may be fo free with my felf, I might put you in mind upon this Occafion, of one of those Animals which are famous for their Love of Mankind, that when a Bone is thrown at them, fall to eating it, inftead of flying at the Perfon who threw it. Please to read the Account of the Channel, by the Map at Will's, and you will find what I repre⚫ fent concerning the Importance of Dunkirk, as to its Situation, very juft. I am, SIR, Very often your great Admirer, N° 169. Thursday, September 24. Fuffit I Cœlumque tueri Ovid. N fair Weather, when my Heart is cheered and I feel that Exaltation of Spirits which results from Light and Warmth, joined with a beautiful Prospect of Na (ture, ture, I regard my felf as one placed by the Hand of God in the midft of an ample Theatre, in which the Sun, Moon and Stars, the Fruits alfo, and Vegetables of the Earth, perpetually changing their Pofitions, or their Afpects, exhibit an Elegant Entertainment to the Understanding, as well as to the Eye. THUNDER and Lightning, Rain and Hail, the painted Bow, and the glaring Comets, are Decorations of this mighty Theatre. And the Sable Hemifphere ftudded with Spangles, the blue Vault at Noon, the glorious Gildings and rich Colours in the Horizon, I look on as fo many fucceffive Scenes. WHEN I confider things in this Light, methinks it is a fort of Impiety to have no Attention to the Course of Nature, and the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies. To be regardless of thofe Phanomena that are placed within our View, on purpose to entertain our Faculties, and difplay the Wisdom and Power of their Creator, is an Affront to Providence of the fame kind, (I hope it is not Impious to make fuch a Simile) as it wou'd be to a good Poet, to fit out his Play without minding the Plot or Beauties of it. AND yet how few are there who attend to the Drama of Nature, its Artificial Structure, and those admirable Machines, whereby the Paffions of a Philofopher are gratefully agitated, and his Soul affected with the fweet Emotions of Joy and Surprize? HOW many Fox-hunters and Rural Squires are to be found in Great Britain, who are ignorant that they have all this while lived on a Planet; that the Sun is feveral thousand times bigger than the Earth; and that there are other Worlds within our View, greater and more glorious than our own. Ay, but, fays fome illiterate Fellow, I enjoy the Wald, and leave others to contemplate it. Yes, you eat and drink, and run about upon it, that is, you enjoy it as a Brute; but to enjoy it as a Rational Being is to know it, to be fenfible of its Greatness and Beauty, to be delighted with its Harmony, and by thefe ReHexions to obtain just Sentiments of the Almighty Mind that framed it. THE Man who, unembarrafed with vulgar Cares, leifurely attends to the flux of things in Heaven, and things on Earth, and obferves the Laws by which they are governed, P5 |