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Not long after the perufal of this letter, I received another upon the fame fubject; which by the date and ftile of it, I take to be written by fome young Templar.

SIR,

WH

Middle Temple, 1710-11. HEN a man has been guilty of any 'vice or folly, I think the best atone'ment he can make for it, is to warn others not to fall into the like. In order to this I muft 'acquaint you, that fome time in February last I went to the Tuesday's mafquerade. Upon my 'first going in I was attacked by half a dozen fe'male quakers, who feemed willing to adopt me for a brother; but upon a nearer examination. I found they were a fifterhood of coquettes, difguifed in that precife habit. I was foon 'after taken out to dance, and as I fancied, by a woman of the first quality, for she was very ' tall, and moved gracefully. As foon as the 'minuet was over, we ogled one another through our masks; and as I am very well read in Waller, I repeated to her the four following verfes out of his poem to Vandyke.

"The heedlefs lover does not know

"Whofe eyes they are that wound him fo; "But confounded with thy art,

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Inquires her name that has his heart."

I pronounced these words with such a languishing air that I had fome reafon to con⚫clude I had made a conqueft. She told me that he hoped my face was not akin to my tongue, and looking upon her watch, I acciVOL. I.

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⚫dentally

dentally discovered the figure of a coronet on • the back part of it. I was so tranfported with the thought of such an amour, that I plied her 'from one room to another with all the gallan'tries I could invent; and at length brought things to fo happy an iffue, that she gave me a private meeting the next day, without page or footman, coach or equipage. My heart 'danced in raptures, but I had not lived in this golden dream above three days, before I found good reason to wish that I had continued true 'to my laundrefs. I have fince heard, by a very great accident, that this fine lady does not live far from Covent-Garden, and that I am not the first cully whom he has passed herself upon for a countess.

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Thus, Sir, you fee how I have mistaken a Cloud for a Juno; and if you can make any ufe of this adventure, for the benefit of those 'who may poffibly be as vain young coxcombs as myself, I do moft heartily give you leave. 'I am, SIR,

your most humble admirer,

B. L.'

I defign to vifit the next masquerade myself, in the fame habit I wore at Grand Cairo*; and till then shall suspend my judgment of this midnight entertainmentt.

ct.

See SPECT. N° 1. † N° 14, N° 101, and Notes on the MASQUERADE.

By ADDISON, dated it is fuppofed, from Chelfea. See No 7. Note ad fin.

**Letters for the SPECTATOR, to be left with Mr. Buckley, at the Dolphin in Little Britain. SPECT. inf.

N° 9. Saturday, March 10, 1710-11.

Tigris agit rabidâ cum tigride pacem Perpetuam, fævis inter fe convenit urfis.

Juv. Sat. xv. 163.

Tiger with tiger, bear with bear, you'll find
In leagues offenfive and defenfive join'd.

MAN

TATE.

AN is faid to be a fociable animal, and, as an inftance of it, we may obferve that we take all occafions and pretences of forming ourselves into thofe little nocturnal aflemblies, which are commonly known by the name of CLUBS. When a fet of men find themselves agree in any particular, though never so trivial, they establish themselves into a kind of fraternity, and meet once or twice a week, upon the account of fuch a fantastic resemblance. I know a confiderable market-town, in which there was a Club of fat men, that did not come together (as you may well fuppofe) to entertain one another with fprightlinefs and wit, but to keep one another in countenance. The room where the Club met was something of the largeft, and had two entrances, the one by a door of a moderate fize, and the other by a pair of folding-doors. If a candidate for this Corpulent CLUB could make his entrance through the firft, he was looked upon as unqualified; but if he ftuck in the paffage, and could not force his way through it, the folding doors were immediately thrown

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open

open for his reception, and he was faluted as a brother. I have heard that this Club, though it confifted but of fifteen perfons, weighed above three ton.

In oppofition to this fociety, there sprung up another compofed of scarecrows and skeletons, who being very meagre and envious, did all they could to thwart the defigns of their bulky brethren, whom they represented as men of dangerous principles; till at length they worked them. out of the favour of the people, and confequently out of the magiftracy. These factions tore the corporation in pieces for feveral years, till at length they came to this accommodation; that the two bailiffs of the town fhould be annually chofen out of the two Clubs; by which means the principal magiftrates are at this day coupled like rabbits, one fat and one lean.

Every one has heard of the Club, or rather the Confederacy, of the Kings. This grand alliance was formed a little after the return of King Charles the Second, and admitted into it men of all qualities and profeffions, provided they agreed in the furname of King, which as they imagined, fufficiently declared the owners of it to be altogether untainted with republican and anti-monarchical principles.

A Chriftian name has likewife been often ufed as a badge of distinction, and made the occafion of a Club. That of the George's which ufed to meet at the fign of the George on St. George's day, and fwear "Before George," is still fresh in every one's memory.

There

There are at present in several parts of this city what they call Street-Clubs, in which the chief inhabitants of the street converfe together every night. I remember, upon my enquiring after lodgings in Ormond-street, the landlord to recommend that quarter of the town, told me, there was at that time a very good Club in it; he alfo told me, upon further difcourfe with him, that two or three noify country-fquires, who were fettled there the year before, had confiderably funk the price of house-rent; and that the Club (to prevent the like inconveniences for the future) had thoughts of taking every house that became vacant into their own hands, till they had found a tenant for it, of a fociable nature, and good converfation.

The Hum Drum Club, of which I was formerly an unworthy member, was made up of very honeft gentlemen of peaceable difpofitions, that used to fit together, finoke their pipes, and fay nothing till midnight. The Mum Club (as I am informed) is an inftitution of the fame nature, and as great an enemy to noise.

After these two innocent focieties, I cannot forbear mentioning a very mischievous one, that was erected in the reign of King Charles the Second: I mean the club of Duellifts, in which none was to be admitted that had not fought his man. The prefident of it was faid to have killed half a dozen in fingle combat; and as for the other members, they took their feats according to the number of their flain. There was likewife a fide table, for fuch as had only drawn blood,

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