from Medina to Mecca; but I cannot fly from. myself. How different are the ftates in which I have been placed! The remembrance of both is bitter; for the pleasure of neither can return.. HASSAN, having thus ended his ftory, fmote his hands together, and looking upward burst into

tears..

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OMAR, having waited till this agony was paft,. went to him, and taking him by the hand, My "fon," faid he, "more is yet in thy power than "ALMALIC could give, or AUBUBEKER take away. The leflon of thy life the Prophet has "in mercy appointed me to explain.

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"THOU waft once content with poverty and ❝ labour, only because they were become habi"tual, and eafe and affluence were placed be"yond thy hope; for when eafe and affluence "approached thee, thou waft content with po66% verty and labour no more. That which then

"became the object was also the bound of thy "hope; and he, whofe utmost hope is difap

pointed, muft inevitably be wretched. If thy "fupreme defire had been the delights of Para"dife, and thou hadft believed that by the tenor "of thy life these delights had been secured, as 66 more could not have been given thee, thou "wouldft not have regretted that lefs was not "offered. The content which was once enjoyed was but the lethargy of the foul; and

4

"the

"the diftrefs which is now fuffered, will but "quicken it to action. Depart, therefore, and "be thankful for all things: put thy truft in HIM, "who alone can gratify the wish of reason, and fatisfy the foul with good fix thy hope upon "that portion, in comparison of which the world "is as the drop of the bucket, and the duft of the

66

balance. Return, my fon, to thy labour; thy "food fhall be again tasteful, and thy reft fhall "be sweet to thy content alfo will be added "stability, when it depends not upon that which "is poffeffed upon earth, but upon that which is "expected in HEAVEN."

HASSAN, upon whofe mind the Angel of inftruction impreffed the counsel of OMAR, haftened to proftrate himself in the temple of the Prophet. Peace dawned upon his mind like the radiance of the morning he returned to his labour with cheerfulness; his devotion became fervent and habitual and the latter days of HASSAN were happier than the first.

:

NUMB.

NUMB. 33. TUESDAY, February 27, 1753.

Latet anguis in herba.

Within the grafs conceal'd a ferpent lies.

SIR,

As

To the ADVENTURER.

VIRG.

S the view of public undertakings fhould be the public good, no foible that is prejudicial to fociety can be too trifling to be animadverted upon. I fhall, therefore, without any farther apology, lay before you one of the greatest impediments to the pleasure of conversation; an artful manner of conveying keen reproaches and harsh fatires, under the difguife of difcourfing on general fubjects, which feem quite foreign to any thing that may concern the company. Thus, inftead of endeavouring to entertain each other with cheerful good-humour, moft converfations are carried on, as Hudibras fays,

"With words, far bitterer than wormwood, "That would in Job or Grizzel stir mood.”

It is an old and a juft obfervation, that no fituation can well be lefs entertaining, than that of a third perfon to lovers: yet while decency is preferved, which is generally the cafe before

marriage,

marriage, and by fenfible well-bred people afterwards; even in this fituation, the mind that is ftored with any images of its own, may amufe itfelf; and the heart that is fraught with any goodnature may find fome fatisfaction in confidering the pleasure which the fond lovers enjoy in the com. pany of each other. But from the uneafinefs of being a third person to QUARRELLERS, there is no relief: your own thoughts are broke in upon by the jarring difcord of your companions; and they will neither contribute to your entertainment, nor even fuffer you to retain the tranquillity of your own bofom.

AMONGST the vulgar, where the men vent their paffions by fwearing, and the women by scolding or crying, their quarrels are generally foon made up, nor does any danger remain after reconciliation. But in higher life, where fuch efforts are reftrained by good-breeding, and where people have learned to disguise, not to subdue their passi→ ons, an inveterate rancour often lies corroding in the breast, and generally produces all the effects of inexorable malice.

PEOPLE Confider not, that by family repartees and oblique reflections on each fide, the very inmoft fecrets of their lives are difclofed to their common acquaintance; and that they oftentimes inconfiderately lay open to their worst enemies, faults and imperfections in themfelves and their relations,

relations, which they would take pains to conceal from their dearest friends.

To give you a full idea of what I mean, I send you a history of my life and adventures for one day; and I wish I could fay it was the only one, in which I have been witness to fuch difagreeable fcenes as are here reprefented.

A

In the morning breakfafted with two young ladies. Mifs HARRIET the elder fifter was about the age of nineteen, and Mifs FANNY the youngest not quite feventeen. Their parents are able amply to provide for them; and have fpared no coft in mafters of every kind, in order to give them all fafhionable female accomplishments. Ever fince they have quitted the nursery, they have been indulged in feeing their own company in Mifs HARRIET'S dreffing-room, which is finished and adorned with great elegance of taste and profufion of expence. They are both poffeffed of no fmall fhare of beauty, with fo much quickness of apprehenfion and ready wit, as might, if rightly applied, render them extremely entertaining. Not one real miffortune can they yet have met with, to four their tempers or fupprefs their vivacity: yet I could plainly fee, that they were very far from being happy, and that their unhappinefs arofe from their continual bickerings with each other. After breakfast, Mifs FANNY took up a volume

of