Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729)

Tatler, No. 107

From Tuesday Dec. 13. to Thursd. Dec. 15. 1709

"To tell you truly, said I, about the Thirtieth Year of my Age, I received a Wound that has still left a Scar in my Mind, never to be quite worn out by Time or Philosophy."

I looked upon the young Gentleman with much Tenderness, and not like a Physician, but a Friend; for I talked to him so largely, that if I had parcelled my Discourse into distinct Prescriptions, I am confident I give him Two Hundred Pounds worth of Advice. He heard me with great Attention, bowing, smilling, and showing all other Instances of that natural good Breeding which ingenuous Tempers pay to those who are elder and wiser than themselves. I entertained him to the following Purpose. I am sorry, Sir, that your Passion is of so long a Date, for Evils are much more curable in their Beginnings; but at the same Time must allow, that you are not to be blamed, since your Youth and Merit has been abused by one of the most charming, but the most unworthy Sort of Women, the Coquets. A Coquet is a chast Jilt, and differs only from a Common One, as a Soldier, who is perfect in Exercise, does from one that is actually in Service. This Grief, like all other, is to be cured only by Time; and although you are convinced this Moment, as much as you will be Ten Years hence, that she ought to be scorned and neglected, you see you must not expect your Remedy from the Force of Reason. The Cure then is only in Time, and the hastening of the Cure only in the Manner of employing that Time. You have answered me as to Travel and a Campaign, so that we have only Great Britain to avoid her in. Be then your self, and listen to the following Rules, which only can be of Use to you in this unaccountable Distemper, wherein the Patient is often averse even to his Recovery. It has been of Benefit to some to apply themselves to Business; but as that may not lie in your Way, go down to your Estate, mind your Fox hounds, and venture the Life you are weary of over every Hedge and Ditch in the Country. These are wholesome Remedies; but if you can have Resolution enough, rather stay in Town, and recover your self even in the Town where she inhabits. Take particular Care to avoid all Places where you may possibly meet her, and shun the Sight of every Thing which may bring her to your Remembrance; there is an Infection in all that relates to her: You'll find, her House, her Chariot, her Domesticks, and her very Lap-Dog, are so many Instruments of Torment. Tell me seriously, Do you think you could bear the Sight of her Fan? He shook his Head at the Question, and said, Ah! Mr. Bickerstaff, you must have been a Patient, or you could not have been so good a Physician. To tell you truly, said I, about the Thirtieth Year of my Age, I received a Wound that has still left a Scar in my Mind, never to be quite worn out by Time or Philosophy.
(II, pp. 347-9; cf. II, pp. 151-2 in Bond ed.)

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See The Tatler. By Isaac Bickerstaff Esq. Dates of Publication: No. 1 (Tuesday, April 12, 1709.) through No. 271 (From Saturday December 30, to Tuesday January 2, 1710 [i.e. 1711]). <Link to ESTC>

Collected in two volumes, and printed and sold by J. Morphew in 1710, 1711. Also collected and reprinted as The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.

Consulting Donald Bond's edition of The Tatler, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987). Searching and pasting text from The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff Esq: Revised and Corrected by the Author (London: Printed by John Nutt, and sold by John Morphew, 1712): <Link to Vol. 1><Vol. 2><Vol. 3><Vol. 4><Vol. 5>. Some text also from Project Gutenberg digitization of 1899 edition edited by George A. Aitken.

03/02/2014