N° 2. THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1709. Quicquid agunt homines nostri est farrago libelli. Juv. Sat. i. 85, 86. Whate'er men do, or say, or think, or dream, Will's Coffee-house, April 13. P. THERE has lain all this evening on the table the following poem. The subject of it being matter very useful for families, I thought it deserved to be considered, and made more public. The turn the poet gives it is very happy; but the foundation is from a real accident which happened among my acquaintance. A young Gentleman of great estate fell desperately in love with a great Beauty of very high quality, but as ill-natured as long flattery and an habitual self-will could make her. However, my young Spark ventures upon her like a man of quality, without being acquainted with her, or having ever saluted her, until it was a crime to kiss any woman else. Beauty is a thing which palls with possession: and the charms of this lady soon wanted the support of good-humour and complacency of manners: upon this, my Spark flies to the bottle for relief from satiety. She disdains him, for being tired with that for which all men envied him; and he never came home, but it was-"Was there no sot that would stay longer? would any man living but you? did I leave all the world for this usage ?" to which he << -- Madam, split me, you are very impertinent!" In a word, this match was wedlock in its most terrible appearances. She, at last, weary of railing to no purpose, applies to a good uncle, who gives her a bottle, he pretended he had bought of Mr. Partridge, the conjurer. This, said he, I gave ten guineas for. The virtue of the enchanted liquor (said he that sold it) is such, that if the woman you marry proves a scold (which, it seems, my dear niece, is your misfortune; as it was your good mother's before you), let her hold three spoonfuls in her mouth for a full half hour after you come home-but I find I am not in humour for telling a tale; and nothing in nature is so ungraceful as story-telling against the grain; therefore take it as the author has given it to you *. THE MEDICINE. A TALE-FOR THE LADIES. Oft as the watchful bellman march'd his round, * These verses are by Mr. William Harrison. My lady with her tongue was still prepar'd, 'Till morn sends staggering home a drunken beast, "Hey! hoop! d'ye hear my damn'd obstreperous spouse; What, can't you find one bed about the house? Will that perpetual clack lie never still? That rival to the softness of a mill! Some couch and distant room must be my choice, With snarling meals, and each a sep❜rate bed. 'Tis water call'd, but worth its weight in wine. If in his sullen airs Sir John should come, Three spoonfuls take, hold in your mouth-then mum. But, dearest niece, keep this grand secret close, A water bottle's brought for her relief; Entering, he cries, "Hey! where 's our thunder fled ! Madam, aside, an ample mouthful takes, Wondering, he star'd, scarcely his eyes believ'd, "Why how now, Molly, what's the crotchet now?" Nay, kiss me, Molly-for I'm much inclin'd." 'Twas us'd and gone-then midnight storms arose, St. James's Coffee-house, April 13. Letters from Venice say, the disappointment of their expectation to see his Danish Majesty has very much disquieted the Court of Rome. Our last advices from Germany inform us, that the Minister of Hanover has urged the Council at Ratisbonne to exert themselves in behalf of the common cause, and taken the liberty to say, That the dignity, the virtue, the prudence of his Electoral Highness, his master, were called to the head of their affairs in vain, if they thought fit to leave him naked of the proper means, to make those excellences useful for the honour and safety of the empire. They write from Berlin of the thirteenth, O. S. That the true design of General Fleming's visit to that Court was, to insinuate that it will be for the mutual interest of the King of Prussia and King Augustus to enter into a new alliance; but that the Ministers of Prussia are not inclined to his sentiments. We hear from Vienna, that his Imperial Majesty has expressed great satisfaction in their High Mightinesses having communicated to him the whole that has passed in the affair of a peace. Though there have been practices used by the agents of France, in all the Courts of Europe, to break the good understanding of the allies, they have had no other effect, but to make all the members concerned in the alliance more doubtful of their safety from the great offers of the enemy. The Emperor is roused by this alarm, and the frontiers of all the French dominions are in danger of being insulted the ensuing campaign. Advices from all parts confirm, that it is impossible for France to find a way to obtain so much credit, as to gain any one potentate of the allies, or conceive any hope for safety from other prospects. From my own Apartment, April 13. I find it of very great use, now I am setting up for a writer of news, that I am an adept in astrological speculations; by which means I avoid speaking of things which may offend great persons. But, at the same time, I must not prostitute the liberal sciences so far, as not to utter the truth in cases which do not immediately concern the good of my native country. I must therefore contradict what has been so assuredly reported by the news-writers of England, That France is in the most deplorable condition, and that their people die in great multitudes. I will therefore let the world know, that my correspondent, by the way of Brussels, informs |