[No. 335.]

SIR ROGER AT THE PLAY

John tells me he has got the fore-wheels mended.'

The captain, who did not fail to meet me there at the appointed hour, bid Sir 5 Roger fear nothing, for that he had put on the same sword which he made use of at the battle of Steenkirk. Sir Roger's servants, and among the rest, my old friend the butler, had, I found,

plants, to attend their master upon this occasion. When we had placed him in his coach, with myself at his left hand, the Captain before him, and his butler at the head of his footmen in the rear, we convoyed him in safety to the playhouse, where, having marched up the entry in good order, the Captain and I went in with him, and seated him betwixt us in the pit. As soon as the house was full, and the candles lighted, my old friend stood up and looked about him with that pleasure, which a mind seasoned with humanity naturally feels in itself, at the sight of a multitude of people who seem pleased with one another, and partake of the same common entertainment. I could not but fancy myself, as the old man stood up in the middle of the pit, that he made a very proper center to a tragic audience. Upon the entering of Pyrrhus, the knight told me that he did not believe the king of France himself had a better strut. I was indeed very attentive to my old friend's remarks, because I looked upon them as a piece of natural criticism; and was well pleased to hear him, at the conclusion of almost every scene, telling me that he could not imagine how the play would end. One while he appeared much concerned for Andromache, and a little while after as much for Hermione; and was extremely puzzled to think what would become of Pyrrhus.

My friend Sir Roger de Coverley, when we last met together at the club, told me that he had a great mind to see the new tragedy with me, assuring me at the same time, that he had not been at a play these twenty years. The last I to provided themselves with good oaken saw,' said Sir Roger, was The Committee, which I should not have gone to neither, had not I been told before-hand that it was a good Church of England comedy.' He then proceeded to inquire 15 of me who this Distressed Mother was; and upon hearing that she was Hector's widow, he told me that her husband was a brave man, and that when he was a school-boy he had read his life 20 at the end of the dictionary. My friend asked me, in the next place, if there would not be some danger in coming home late, in case the Mohocks should be abroad. I assure you,' says he, 'I 25 thought I had fallen into their hands last night; for I observed two or three lusty black men that followed me half way up Fleet-street, and mended their pace behind me, in proportion as I put on to get 30 away from them. You must know,' continued the knight, with a smile, 'I fancied they had a mind to hunt me; for I remember an honest gentleman in my neighborhood, who was served such a 35 trick in King Charles II's time, for which reason he has not ventured himself in town ever since. I might have shewn them very good sport, had this been their design; for as I am an old 40 fox-hunter, I should have turned and dodged, and have played them a thousand tricks they had never seen in their lives before.' Sir Roger added, that if these gentlemen had any such intention, 45 they did not succeed very well in it; 'for I threw them out,' says he, at the end of Norfolk-street, where I doubled the corner, and got shelter in my lodgings before they could imagine what was 5become of me. However,' says the knight, if Captain Sentry will make one with us to-morrow night, and if you will both of you call upon me about four o'clock, that we may be at the house 55 before it is full, I will have my own coach in readiness to attend you, for

6

When Sir Roger saw Andromache's obstinate refusal to her lover's importunities, he whispered me in the ear, that he was sure she would never have him; to which he added, with a more than ordinary vehemence, 'You can't imagine, sir, what it is to have to do with a widow.' Upon Pyrrhus his threatening afterwards to leave her, the knight shook his head, and muttered to himself, 'Ay, do if you can.' This part dwelt so much upon my friend's imagination,

afterwards Orestes in his raving fit, he grew more than ordinary serious, and took occasion to moralize (in his way) upon an evil conscience, adding, that 5 Orestes, in his madness, looked as if he saw something.

that at the close of the third act, as I was thinking of something else, he whispered me in my ear, 'These widows, sir, are the most perverse creatures in the world. But pray,' says he, 'you that are a critic, is this play according to your dramatic rules, as you call them? Should your people in tragedy always talk to be understood? Why, there is not a single sentence in this play that I do not know 10 passage for our old friend, whom we did the meaning of.'

As we were the first that came into the house, so we were the last that went out of it; being resolved to have a clear

not care to venture among the justling of the crowd. Sir Roger went out fully satisfied with his entertainment, and we guarded him to his lodging in the same manner that we brought him to the playhouse; being highly pleased for my own part, not only with the performance of the excellent piece which had been presented, but with the satisfaction which it had given to the old man.

The fourth act very unluckily began before I had time to give the old gentleman an answer: 'Well,' says the knight, sitting down with great satisfaction, 'I 15 suppose we are now to see Hector's ghost.' He then renewed his attention, and from time to time fell a-praising the widow. He made, indeed, a little mistake as to one of her pages, whom at his 20 first entering he took for Astyanax: but he quickly set himself right in that particular, though, at the same time, he owned he should have been very glad to have seen the little boy. Who,' says 25 [No. 517.] he, must needs be a very fine child by the account that is given of him.' Upon Hermione's going off with a menace to Pyrrhus, the audience gave a loud clap; to which Sir Roger added, 'On my word, 30 a notable young baggage!'

Tuesday, March 25, 1712.

THE DEATH OF SIR ROGER

We last night received a piece of ill news at our club, which very sensibly afflicted every one of us. I question not but my readers themselves will be troubled at the hearing of it. To keep them no longer in suspense, Sir Roger de Coverley is dead. He departed this life at his house in the country, after a few weeks' sickness. Sir Andrew Freeport has a letter from one of his correspondents in those parts, that informs him the old man caught a cold at the county sessions, as he was very warmly promoting an address of his own penning, in which he succeeded according to his wishes. But this particular comes from a whig justice of peace, who was always Sir Roger's enemy and antagonist. I have letters both from the chaplain and Captain Sentry which mention nothing of it, but are filled with many particulars to the honor of the good

As there was a very remarkable silence and stillness in the audience during the whole action, it was natural for them to take the opportunity of the intervals 35 between the acts, to express their opinion of the players, and of their respective parts. Sir Roger hearing a cluster of them praise Orestes, struck in with them, and told them that he thought his friend 40 Pylades was a very sensible man; as they were afterwards applauding Pyrrhus, Sir Roger put in a second time, And let me tell you,' says he, though he speak but little, I like the old fellow in whiskers as 45 well as any of them.' Captain Sentry, seeing two or three wags who sat near us, lean with an attentive ear towards Sir Roger, and fearing lest they should smoke the knight, plucked him by the 50 old man. I have likewise a letter from

elbow, and whispered something in his
ear, that lasted till the opening of the
fifth act. The knight was wonderfully
attentive to the account which Orestes
gives of Pyrrhus his death, and at the 55
conclusion of it told me, it was such a
bloody piece of work, that he was glad
it was not done upon the stage. Seeing

the butler, who took so much care of me last summer when I was at the knight's house. As my friend the butler mentions, in the simplicity of his heart, several circumstances the others have passed over in silence, I shall give my reader a copy of his letter, without any alteration or diminution.

'HONORED SIR,

'Knowing that you was my old master's good friend, I could not forbear sending you the melancholy news of his death, which has afflicted the whole country as well as his poor servants, who loved him, I may say, better than we did our lives. I am afraid he caught his death the last county sessions, where

lived two years longer, Coverley church should have a steeple to it. The chaplain tells everybody that he made a very good end, and never speaks of him with5 out tears. He was buried, according to his own directions, among the family of the Coverleys, on the left hand of his father Sir Arthur. The coffin was carried by six of his tenants, and the pall

he would go to see justice done to a poor 10 held up by six of the quorum: the whole

widow woman, and her fatherless chil-
dren, that had been wronged by a neigh-
boring gentleman; for you know, sir, my
good master was always the poor man's
friend. Upon his coming home, the first 15
complaint he made was, that he had lost
his roast-beef stomach, not being able
to touch a sirloin, which was served up
according to custom; and you know he
used to take great delight in it. From 20
that time forward he grew worse and
worse, but still kept a good heart to the
last. Indeed we were once in great
hope of his recovery, upon a kind
message that was sent him from the 25
widow lady whom he had made love to
the forty last years of his life, but this
only proved a lightning before death.
He has bequeathed to this lady, as a
token of his love, a great pearl necklace, 30
and a couple of silver bracelets set with
jewels, which belonged to my good old
lady his mother: he has bequeathed the
fine white gelding, that he used to ride
a hunting upon, to his chaplain, because 35
he thought he would be kind to him,
and has left you all his books. He has,
moreover, bequeathed to the chaplain a
very pretty tenement with good lands
about it. It being a very cold day when 40
he made his will, he left for mourn-
ing, to every man in the parish, a great
frize-coat, and to every woman a black
riding-hood. It was a moving sight to
see him take leave of his poor servants, 45
commending us all for our fidelity, whilst
we were not able to speak a word for
weeping. As we most of us are grown
gray-headed in our dear master's service,
he has left us pensions and legacies,
which we may live very comfortably
upon the remaining part of our days.
He has bequeathed a great deal more in
charity, which is not yet come to my
knowledge, and it is peremptorily said
in the parish, that he has left money to
build a steeple to the church; for he was
heard to say some time ago that if he

50

55

parish followed the corpse with heavy
hearts, and in their mourning suits, the
men in frize, and the women in riding-
hoods. Captain Sentry, my master's
nephew, has taken possession of the hall-
house, and the whole estate. When my
old master saw him a little before his
death, he shook him by the hand, and
wished him joy of the estate which was
falling to him, desiring him only to make
a good use of it, and to pay the several
legacies, and the gifts of charity which
he told him he had left as quit-rents upon
the estate. The captain truly seems a
courteous man, though he says but little.
He makes much of those whom my mas-
ter loved, and shews great kindness to
the old house-dog, that you know my
poor master was so fond of. It would
have gone to your heart to have heard
the moans the dumb creature made on
the day of my master's death. He has
never joyed himself since; no more has
any of us. 'T was the melancholiest day
for the poor people that ever happened
in Worcestershire. This is all from,
'Honored Sir, your most sorrowful
servant,

'EDWARD BISCUIT.'
'P. S. My master desired, some
weeks before he died, that a book which
comes up to you by the carrier, should
be given to Sir Andrew Freeport, in his

name.'

This letter, notwithstanding the poor butler's manner of writing it, gave us such an idea of our good old friend, that upon the reading of it there was not a dry eye in the club. Sir Andrew, opening the book, found it to be a collection of acts of parliament. There was in particular the act of uniformity, with some passages in it marked by Sir Roger's own hand. Sir Andrew found that they related to two or three points, which he had disputed with Sir Roger the last time he appeared at the club. Sir An

drew, who would have been merry at such an incident on another occasion, at the sight of the old man's hand-writing burst into tears, and put the book into his pocket. Captain Sentry informs me, that the knight has left rings and mourning for every one in the club.

[No. 81.]

Thursday, October 23, 1712.

PARTY PATCHES

Patch for the public good so much as for their own private advantage, it is certain, that there are several women of honor who Patch out of principle, and 5 with an eye to the interest of their country. Nay, I am informed that some of them adhere so steadfastly to their party, and are so far from sacrificing their zeal for the public to their passion ΙΟ for any particular person, that in a late draught of marriage-articles a lady has stipulated with her husband, that whatever his opinions are, she shall be at liberty to patch on which sides she pleases.

About the middle of last winter I went to see an opera at the theater in the 15 Hay-market, where I could not but take notice of two parties of very fine women, that had placed themselves in the opposite side-boxes, and seemed drawn up in a kind of battle-array one against 20 another. After a short survey of them, I found they were Patched differently; the faces, on one hand, being spotted on the right side of the forehead, and those upon the other on the left: I quickly 25 perceived that they cast hostile glances upon one another; and that their Patches were placed in those different situations, as party-signals to distinguish friends from foes. In the middle-boxes, be- 30 made some of them converse with Rosa

tween these two opposite bodies, were
several ladies who patched indifferently
on both sides of their faces, and seemed
to sit there with no other intention but
to see the opera. Upon enquiry I found, 35
that the body of Amazons on my right
hand were whigs, and those on my left,
tories and that those who had placed
themselves in the middle-boxes were a
neutral party, whose faces had not yet 40
declared themselves. These last, how-
ever, as I afterwards found, diminished
daily, and took their party with one side
or the other; insomuch that I observed
in several of them, the patches, which 45
were before dispersed equally, are now
all gone over to the whig or tory side
of the face. The censorious say, that
the men whose hearts are aimed at, are
very often the occasions that one part 50
of the face is thus dishonored, and lies
under a kind of disgrace, while the other
is so much set off and adorned by the
owner; and that the Patches turn to the
right or to the left, according to the prin- 55
ciples of the man who is most in favor.
But whatever may be the motives of a
few fantastical coquettes, who do not

I must here take notice that Rosalinda, a famous whig partisan, has most unfortunately a very beautiful mole on the tory part of her forehead; which being very conspicuous, has occasioned many mistakes, and given an handle to her enemies to misrepresent her face, as though it had revolted from the whig interest. But, whatever this natural patch may seem to insinuate, it is well known that her notions of government are still the same. This unlucky mole, however, has misled several coxcombs; and like the hanging out of false colors,

linda in what they thought the spirit of her party, when on a sudden she has given them an unexpected fire, that has sunk them all at once. If Rosalinda is unfortunate in her mole, Nigranilla is as unhappy in a pimple, which forces her, against her inclinations, to patch on the whig side.

I am told that many virtuous matrons, who formerly have been taught to believe that this artificial spotting of the face was unlawful, are now reconciled by a zeal for their cause, to what they could not be prompted by a concern for their beauty. This way of declaring war upon one another, puts me in mind of what is reported of the tigress, that several spots rise in her skin when she is angry; or as Mr. Cowley has imitated the verses that stand as the motto of this paper,

- She swells with angry pride,

And calls forth all her spots on ev'ry side.

When I was in the theater the time above-mentioned, I had the curiosity to count the Patches on both sides, and

against those who are perhaps of the same family, or at least of the same religion or nation, but against those who are the open, professed, undoubted en5 emies of their faith, liberty and country. When the Romans were pressed with a foreign enemy, the ladies voluntarily contributed all their rings and jewels to assist the government under

found the tory Patches to be about twenty stronger than the whig; but to make amends for this small inequality, I the next morning found the whole puppet-shew filled with faces spotted after the whiggish manner. Whether or no the ladies had retreated hither in order to rally their forces, I cannot tell; but the next night they came in so great a body to the opera, that they out-num- 1o the public exigence, which appeared so bered the enemy.

This account of Party-patches will, I am afraid, appear improbable to those who live at a distance from the fashionable world; but as it is a distinction of 15 a very singular nature, and what perhaps may never meet with a parallel, I think I should not have discharged the office of a faithful SPECTATOR, had I not recorded it.

laudable an action in the eyes of their countrymen, that from thenceforth it was permitted by a law to pronounce public orations at the funeral of a woman in praise of the deceased person, which till that time was peculiar to men. Would our English ladies, instead of sticking on a patch against those of their own country, show themselves so truly 20 public-spirited as to sacrifice every one her necklace against the common enemy, what decrees ought not to be made in favor of them?

I have, in former papers, endeavored to expose this party-rage in women, as it only serves to aggravate the hatred and animosities that reign among men, and in a great measure deprives the fair sex 25 of those peculiar charms with which nature has endowed them.

When the Romans and Sabines were at war, and just upon the point of giving battle, the women who were allied to 30 both of them, interposed with so many tears and entreaties, that they prevented the mutual slaughter which threatened both parties, and united them together in a firm and lasting peace.

35

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, which he made in honor of those brave Athenians that were slain in a fight with the Lacedæmonians. After having addressed himself to the several ranks and orders of his countrymen, and shown them how they should behave themselves in the public 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

I would recommend this noble example to our British ladies, at a time when their country is torn with so many unnatural divisions, that if they continue, it will be a misfortune to be born in it. The 40 natural modesty, and think it your greatGreeks thought it so improper for women est commendation not to be talked of to interest themselves in competitions and one way or other.' contentions, that for this reason, among others, they forbad them, under pain of death, to be present at the Olympic 45 games, notwithstanding these were the public diversions of all Greece.

As our English women excel those of all nations in beauty, they should en

[No. 253.]

Saturday, June 2, 1711.

DETRACTION AMONG POETS

There is nothing which more denotes

deavor to outshine them in all other ac- 50 a great mind, than the abhorrence of

complishments proper to the sex, and to
distinguish themselves as tender mothers
and faithful wives, rather than as fu-
rious partisans. Female virtues are of
a domestic turn. The family is the 55
proper province for private women to
shine in. If they must be showing
their zeal for the public, let it not be

envy and detraction. This passion reigns more among bad poets, than among any other set of men.

As there are none more ambitious of fame, than those who are conversant in poetry, it is very natural for such as have not succeeded in it, to depreciate the works of those who have. For since