certainly be his Intereft to carry himself as easily as • poffible. IN this I am fenfible I do but repeat what has been faid a thousand times, at which however I think no Body has any Title to take Exception, but they who never failed to put this in Practice-Not to use any longer Preface, this being the Seafon of the Year in which great Numbers of all forts of People retire from this Place of Business and Pleasure to Country Solitude, I think it not improper to advise them to take with them as great a Stock of Good-humour as they can; for tho' a Country-Life is defcribed as the most pleafant of all others, and though it may in Truth be fo, yet it is fo only to those who know how to enjoy Leifure and Retirement. AS for those who can't live without the conftant helps of Business or Company, let them confider, that in the Country there is no Exchange, there are no Playhouses, no Variety of Coffee-houses, nor many of thofe other Amusements which ferve here as fo many Re liefs from the repeated Occurrences in their own Families; but that there the greateft Part of their Time muft be spent within themfelves, and confequently it behoves them to confider how agreeable it will be to them before they leave this dear Town. I remember, Mr. SPECTATOR, we were very well entertained laft Year, with the Advices you gave us from Sir ROGER's Country Seat; which I the rather mention, because 'tis almost impoffible not to live pleafantly, where the Mafter of a Family is fuch a one as you there defcribe your Friend, who cannot therefore (I mean as to his domeftick Character) be too often recommended to the Imitation of others.. How amiable is that Affability and Benevolence with which he treats his Neighbours, and every one, even the meaneft of his own Family! And yet how feldom imitated? inftead of which we commonly meet with ill-natured Expoftulations, Noife, and Chidings And this I hinted, because the Humour and Difpofition of the Head, is what chiefly influences all the other Parts of a Family.. AN AN Agreement and kind Correfpondence between Friends and Acquaintance, is the greatest Pleasure of Life. This is an undoubted Truth, and yet any Man who judges from the Practice of the World, will be almoft perfuaded to believe the contrary; for how can we fuppofe People fhould be fo induftrious to make themfelves uneafie? What can engage them to entertain and foment Jealoufies of one another upon every the least Occafion? Yet fo it is, there are People who (as it fhould feem) delight in being troublefome and vexatious, who (as Tully fpeaks) Mira funt alacritate ad litigandum, Have a certain Chearfulness in wrangling. And thus it happens, that there are very few Families in which there are not Feuds and Animofities, tho' 'tis every one's Intereft, there more particularly, to avoid 'em, becaufe there (as I would willingly hope) no one gives another Uneafinefs, without feeling fome fhare of it-But I am gone beyond what I defigned, and had almoft forgot what I chiefly propofed; which was, barely to tell you, how hardly we who pafs moft of our Time in Town difpenfe with a long Vacation in the Country, how uneafie we grow to our felves and to one another when our Converfation is confined, infomuch that by Michaelmus 'tis odds but we come to downright fqua b bling, and make as free with one another to our Faces, ·· as we do with the rest of the World behind their Backs. After I have told you this, I am to defire that you would now and then give us a Leffon of Good-humour, a Family-Piece; which, fince we are all very fond of you, I hope may have feme Influence upon us AFTER thefe plain Obfervations give me leave to give you an Hint of what a Set of Company of my Acquaintance, who are now gone into the Country, and have the Use of an absent Nobleman's Seat, have fet ⚫tled among themselves, to avoid the Inconveniencies above mentioned. They are a Collection of ten or twelve, of the fame good Inclination towards each other, but of very different Talents and Inclinations ■ From hence they hope, that the Variety of their Tempers will only create Variety of Pleafures. But as there always will arife, among the fame People, either for want of Diversity of Objects, or the like Caufes, a cer tain Satiety, which may grow into ill Humour or Difcontent, there is a large Wing of the Houfe which they defign to employ in the Nature of an Infirmary. Whoever fays a peevish thing, or acts any thing which betrays a Sowernefs or Indifpofition to Company, is immediately to be conveyed to his Chambers in the In'firmary; from whence he is not to be relieved, till by his Manner of Submiffion, and the Sentiments expreffed in his Petition for that Purpofe, he appears to the Majority of the Company to be again fit for Society. You are to understand, that all ill-natured Words or uneafie Geftures are fufficient Caufe for Banishment; fpeaking impatiently to Servants, making a Man repeat what he fays, or any thing that betrays Inattention or Difhumour, are alfo criminal without Reprieve: But is is provided, that whoever obferves the ill-natured Fit coming upon himfelf, and voluntarily retires, fhall be received at his return from the Infirmary with the highest Marks of Efteem. By thefe and other wholefome Methods it is expected that if they cannot cure one another, yet at least they have taken Care that the ill Humour of one fhall not be troublesome to the reft of the Company. There are many other Rules which the Society have eftablished for the Prefervation of their Eafe and Tranquility, the Effects of which, with the Incidents that arife among them, fhall be communicated to you from Time to Time for the publick Good, by, ་ N° 425. Tuesday, July 8. Frigora mitefcunt Zephyris, Ver proterit Eftas Pomifer Autumnus fruges effuderit, & mox Mr. SPECTATOR, T Hor HERE is hardly any thing gives me a more fenfible Delight, than the Enjoyment of a cool ftill Evening after the Uneafinefs of a hot fultry Day. Such a one I paffed not long ago, which made me rejoice when the Hour was come for the Sun to fet, that I might enjoy the Freshness of the Evening in my Garden, which then affords me the pleafanteft Hours I pafs in the whole Four and twenty. I immediately rofe from my Couch, and went down into it. You defcend at firft by twelve Stone Steps into a large Square divided into four Grafs-plots, in each of which is a Statue of white Marble. This is fepara ted from a large Parterre by a low Wall, and from thence, thro' a Pair of Iron Gates, you are led into a long broad Walk of the finest Turf, fet on each Side with tall Yews, and on either Hand bordered by a Canal, which on the Right divides the Walk from a Wilderness parted into Variety of Allies and Arbours, and on the Left from a kind of Amphitheatre, which is the Receptacle of a great Number of Oranges and Myrtles. The Moon fhone bright, and feemed then moft agreeably to fupply the Place of the Sun, obliging me with as much Light as was neceffary to difcover a thoufand pleafing Objects, and at the fame time divefted of all Power of Heat. The Reflection of it in the Water, the Fanning of the Wind ruftling on the Leaves, the Singing of the Thrush and Nightingale, and the Coolness of the Walks, all confpired to make me lay afide all difpleafing Thoughts, and brought me into fuch a Tran ⚫ quility J quility of Mind, as is I believe the next Happiness to that of hereafter. In this fweet Retirement I naturally fell into the Repetition of fome Lines out of a Poem of Milton's, which he entitles Il Penferofo, the Ideas of which were exquifitely fuited to my prefent Wandrings · of Thought. Sweet Bird! that fhun'ft the Noife of Folly, Then let fome ftrange myfterious Dream And as I wake, fweet Mufick breathe I reflected then upon the fweet Viciffitudes of Night and Day, on the charming Difpofition of the Seafons, and their Return again in a perpetual Circle; and oh! • faid I, that I could from thefe my declining Years return again to my first Spring of Youth and Vigour; but that, alas! is impoffible: All that remains within my Power, is to foften the Inconveniencies I feel, with an eafie contented Mind, and the Enjoyment of fuch Delights as this Solitude affords me. In this Thought I fate me down on a Bank of Flowers and dropt into a Slumber, which whether it were the Effect of Fumes and Vapours, or my prefent Thoughts, I * know not; but methought the Genius of the Garden • ftood |