the one nor the other to perfift in refusing what they fecretly approve. I would in this Particular propofe the Example of Eve to all her Daughters, as Milton has reprefented her in the following Paffage, which I cannot forbear tranfcribing entire, tho' only the twelve laft Lines are to my present Purpose.

THE Rib he form'd and fashion'd with his Hands;
Under his forming Hands a Creature grew,
Manlike, but diff'rent Sex, fo lovely fair,
That what feeni'd fair in all the World feem'd now
Mean, or in her fumm'd up, in her contain'd;
And in her Looks, which from that time infus'd
Sweetness into my Heart unfelt before,
And into all things from her Aire infpir'd
The Spirit of Love and amorous Delight.

SHE difappear'd, and left me dark; I' wak'd
To find her, or for ever to deplore

Her Lofs, and other Pleafures all abjure:
When out of Hope, behold her, not far off,
Such as I faw her in my Dream, adorn'd
With what all Earth or Heaven could bestow
To make her amiable. On fhe came,
Led by her heav'nly Maker, though unseen,
And guided by his Voice, nor uninform'd
Of nuptial Sanctity and Marriage Rites:
Grace was in all her Steps, Heav'n in her Eye,
In every Gefture Dignity and Love.

I overjoy'd, could not forbear aloud.

THIS Turn bath made Amends; thou haft fulfill'd
Thy Words, Creator bounteous and benign,
Giver of all things fair, but fairest this
Of all thy Gifts, nor envieft. I now fee
Bone of my Bone, Flesh of my Flesh, my Self..
SHE heard me thus, and tho' divinely brought,
Yet Innocence and Virgin Modefty,

Her Virtue and the Confcience of her Worth,
That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won,
Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retir'd
The more defirable, or to fay all,

Nature her felf, though pure of finful Thought,
Wrought in her fo, that feeing me fhe turn'd;

I

I follow'd her: She what was Honour knew,
And with obfequious Majefty approv'd
My pleaded Reafon. To the nuptial Bow'r
I led her blufhing like the Morn

L

N° 90.

Wednesday, June 13.

-Magnus fine viribus Ignis

Incaffum furit

T

Virg.

HERE is not, in my opinion, a Confideration more effectual to extinguifh inordinate Defires, in the Soul of Man, than the Notions of Plato and his Followers upon that Subject. They tell us, that every Paffion which has been contracted by the Soul during her Refidence in the Body, remains with her in a feparate State; and that the Soul in the Body, or out of the Body, differs no more than the Man does from himself when he is in his House, or in open Air. When therefore the obfcene Paffions in particular have once taken Root, and spread themselves in the Soul, they cleave to her infeparably, and remain in her for ever after the Body is caft off and thrown afide. As an Argument to confirm this their Doctrine they ob ferve, that a lewd Youth who goes on in a continued Course of Voluptuoufnefs, advances by Degrees into a libidinous old Man; and that the Paffion furvives in the Mind when it is altogether dead in the Body; nay, that the Defire grows more violent, and (like all other Habits) gathers Strength by Age, at the fame time that it has no Power of execu.ing its own Purposes. It, fay they, the Soul is the most fubject to these Paffions at a Time when it has the leaft Inftigation from the Body, me may well fuppofe fhe will ftill retain them when fhe is entirely divested of it. The very Substance of the Soul is feftered with them; the Gangrene is gone too far to be ever cured; the Inflammation will rage to all Eternity.

IN this therefore (fay the Platonists) confifts the Punifhment of a voluptuous Man after Death: He is tormented with Defires which it is impoffible for him to gratifie, follicited by a Paffion, that has neither Objects nor Organs adapted to it: He lives in a State of invincible Defire and Impotence, and always burns in the Purfuit of what he always defpairs to poffefs. It is for this Reafon (fays Plato) that the Souls of the Dead appear frequently in Comiteries, and hover about the Places where their Bodies are buried, as ftill hankering after their old brutal Pleafures, and defiring again to enter the Body that gave them an Opportunity of fulfilling them.

SOME of our most eminent Divines have made ufe of this Platonick Notion, fo far as it regards the Subfiftence of our Paffions after Death, with great Beauty and Strength of Reason. Plato indeed carries his Thought very far, when he grafts upon it his Opinion of Ghofts appearing in Places of Burial. Though, I muft confefs, if one did believe that the departed Souls of Men and Women wandered up and down these lower Regions, and entertained themfelves with the Sight of their Species, one could not devife a more proper Hell for an impure Spirit than that which Plato has touched upon.

THE Ancients feem to have drawn fuch a State of.. Torments in the Defcription of Tantalus, who was pu nifhed with the Rage of an eternal Thirst, and set up to the Chin in Water that fled from his Lips whenever he attempted to drink it.

VIRGIL who has caft the whole Syftem of Platonick Philofophy, fo far as it relates to the Soul of Man, into beautiful Allegories; in the fixth Book of his Eneid give us the Punishment of a Voluptuary after Death, not like that which we are here fpeaking of.

Lucent genialibus altis

Aurea fulcra toris, epulaque ante ora parate
Reifico luxu; Fariarum maxima juxta
Accubat, & manibus prohibet contingere menfas
Exurgique jacem attollens, atque intonat.ore.
They lie below on Golden Beds difplay'd,
And Senial Feafts with regal Pomp. are made.

The

The Queen of Furies by their Side is fet,
And fnatches from their Mouths th' untafted Meat;
Which if they touch, her biffing Snakes fhe rears,
Toffing her Torch, and thund'ring in their Ears.

Dryd.

THAT I may a little alleviate the Severity of this my Speculation (which otherwife may lofe me feveral of my polite Readers) I fhall tranflate a Story that has been quoted upon another Occafion by one of the most learned Men of the prefent Age, as I find it in the Ori- · · ginal. The Reader will fee it is not foreign to my prefent Subject, and I dare fay will think it a lively Reprefentation of a Perfon lying under the Torments of such a kind of Tantalism, or Platonick Hell, as that which we have now under Confideration. Monfieur Pontignan, fpeaking of a Love-Adventure that happened to him in the Country, gives the following Account of it.

.

WHEN I was in the Country laft Summer, I was often in Company with a Couple of charming Women, who had all the Wit and Beauty one could defire in Female Companions, with a Dafh of Coquetry, that from time to time gave me a great many agreeable Torments. I was, after my Way, in Love with both of them, and had fuch frequent Opportunities of pleading my Paffion to them when they were afunder, that I had Reason to hope for particular Favours from each of them. As I was walking one Evening in my Chamber with nothing about me but my NightGown, they both came into my Room and told me, they had a very pleafant Trick to put upon a Gentleman that was in the fame Houfe, provided I would bear a Part in it. Upon this they told me fuch a plaufible Story, that I laughed at their Contrivance, and agreed to do whatever they fhould require of me. They immediately began to fwaddle me up in my Night-Gown with long Pieces of Linnen, which they folded about me till they had wrapt me in above an hundred Yards of Swathe: My Arms were preffed to my Sides, and my Legs clofed together by fo many Wrappers one over another, that I looked like an Egyptian Mummy. As I ftood bolt upright * upon one End in this antique Figure, one of the La

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dies burft out a laughing. "And now Pontignan, fays "fhe, we intend to perform the Promife that we find you have extorted from each of us. You have often "asked the Favour of us, and I dare fay you are a "better bred Cavalier than to refufe to go to Bed to "Ladies that defire it of you. After having ftood a Fit ' of Laughter, I begged them to uncafe me, and do with me what they pleased. No, no, fay they, we like you very well as you are; and upon that ordered me to be carried to one of their Houses, and put to Bed in all my Swaddles. The Room was lighted up on all Sides; and I was laid very decently between a Pair of Sheets, with my Head (which was indeed the only * Part I could move) upon a very high Pillow: This was no fooner done, but my two Female Friends came into Bed to me in their finest Night-Cloaths. You may easily guefs at the Condition of a Man that saw a Couple of the most beautiful Women in the World • undreft and abed with him, without being able to ftir Hand or Foot. I begged them to release me, and ftruggled all I could to get loofe, which I did with so much Violence, that about Mid-night they both leap'd out of the Bed, crying out they were undone. But feeing me fafe, they took their Pofts again, and renewed their Raillery. Finding all my Prayers and • Endeavours were loft, I compofed my felf as well as • I could; and told them, that if they would not unbind me, I would fall asleep between them, and by that means difgrace them for ever: But, alas! this was impoffible, could I have been difpofed to it, they would ⚫ have prevented me by feveral little ill-natured Ca⚫reffes and Endearments which they bestowed upon me. As much devoted as I am to Womankind, I would not pafs fuch another Nig t to be Mafter of the whole Sex. My Reader will doubtless be curious to know what became of me the next Morning: Why truly my Bed-fellows left me about an Hour before Day, and told me if I would be good and he ftill, they 'would fend fome Body to take me up as foon as it was time for me to rife: Accordingly about Nine a Clock • in the Morning an old Woman came to unfwathe me. I bore all this very patiently, being refolved to take my

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