[Footnote 1: Part I., canto i., v. 69, 70.]
[Footnote 2: "it is", and in first reprint.]
* * * * *
No. 198. Wednesday, October 17, 1711. Addison.
'Cervæ luporum præda rapacium
Sectamur ultro, quos opimus
Fallere et effugere est triumphus.'
Hor.
There is a Species of Women, whom I shall distinguish by the Name of
Salamanders. Now a Salamander is a kind of Heroine in Chastity, that
treads upon Fire, and lives in the Midst of Flames without being hurt. A
Salamander knows no Distinction of Sex in those she converses with,
grows familiar with a Stranger at first Sight, and is not so
narrow-spirited as to observe whether the Person she talks to be in
Breeches or Petticoats. She admits a Male Visitant to her Bed-side,
plays with him a whole Afternoon at Pickette, walks with him two or
three Hours by Moon-light; and is extreamly Scandalized at the
unreasonableness of an Husband, or the severity of a Parent, that would
debar the Sex from such innocent Liberties. Your Salamander is therefore
a perpetual Declaimer against Jealousie, and Admirer of the _French_
Good-breeding, and a great Stickler for Freedom in Conversation. In
short, the Salamander lives in an invincible State of Simplicity and
Innocence: Her Constitution is _preserv'd_ in a kind of natural Frost;
she wonders what People mean by Temptation; and defies Mankind to do
their worst. Her Chastity is engaged in a constant _Ordeal_, or fiery
Tryal: (Like good Queen _Emma_, [1]) the pretty Innocent walks blindfold
among burning Ploughshares, without being scorched or singed by them.
It is not therefore for the Use of the Salamander, whether in a married
or single State of Life, that I design the following Paper; but for such
Females only as are made of Flesh and Blood, and find themselves subject
to Human Frailties.
As for this Part of the fair Sex who are not of the Salamander Kind, I
would most earnestly advise them to observe a quite different Conduct in
their Behaviour; and to avoid as much as possible what Religion calls
_Temptations_, and the World _Opportunities_. Did they but know how many
Thousands of their Sex have been gradually betrayed from innocent
Freedoms to Ruin and Infamy; and how many Millions of ours have begun
with Flatteries, Protestations and Endearments, but ended with
Reproaches, Perjury, and Perfidiousness; they would shun like Death the
very first Approaches of one that might lead them into inextricable
Labyrinths of Guilt and Misery. I must so far give up the Cause of the
Male World, as to exhort the Female Sex in the Language of _Chamont_ in
the _Orphan_; [2]
'Trust not a Man, we are by Nature False,
Dissembling, Subtle, Cruel, and Unconstant:
When a Man talks of Love, with Caution trust him:
But if he Swears, he'll certainly deceive thee.'
I might very much enlarge upon this Subject, but shall conclude it with
a Story which I lately heard from one of our _Spanish_ Officers, [3] and
which may shew the Danger a Woman incurs by too great Familiarities with
a Male Companion.
An Inhabitant of the Kingdom of _Castile_, being a Man of more than
ordinary Prudence, and of a grave composed Behaviour, determined about
the fiftieth Year of his Age to enter upon Wedlock. In order to make
himself easy in it, he cast his Eye upon a young Woman who had nothing
to recommend her but her Beauty and her Education, her Parents having
been reduced to great Poverty by the Wars, [which [4]] for some Years
have laid that whole Country waste. The _Castilian_ having made his
Addresses to her and married her, they lived together in perfect
Happiness for some time; when at length the Husband's Affairs made it
necessary for him to take a Voyage to the Kingdom of _Naples_, where a
great Part of his Estate lay. The Wife loved him too tenderly to be left
behind him. They had not been a Shipboard above a Day, when they
unluckily fell into the Hands of an _Algerine_ Pirate, who carried the
whole Company on Shore, and made them Slaves. The _Castilian_ and his
Wife had the Comfort to be under the same Master; who seeing how dearly
they loved one another, and gasped after their Liberty, demanded a most
exorbitant Price for their Ransom. The _Castilian_, though he would
rather have died in Slavery himself, than have paid such a Sum as he
found would go near to ruin him, was so moved with Compassion towards
his Wife, that he sent repeated Orders to his Friend in _Spain_, (who
happened to be his next Relation) to sell his Estate, and transmit the
Money to him. His Friend hoping that the Terms of his Ransom might be
made more reasonable, and unwilling to sell an Estate which he himself
had some Prospect of inheriting, formed so many delays, that three whole
Years passed away without any thing being done for the setting of them
at Liberty.
There happened to live a _French_ Renegado in the same Place where the
_Castilian_ and his Wife were kept Prisoners. As this Fellow had in him
all the Vivacity of his Nation, he often entertained the Captives with
Accounts of his own Adventures; to which he sometimes added a Song or a
Dance, or some other Piece of Mirth, to divert them [during [5]] their
Confinement. His Acquaintance with the Manners of the _Algerines_,
enabled him likewise to do them several good Offices. The _Castilian_,
as he was one Day in Conversation with this Renegado, discovered to him
the Negligence and Treachery of his Correspondent in _Castile_, and at
the same time asked his Advice how he should behave himself in that
Exigency: He further told the Renegado, that he found it would be
impossible for him to raise the Money, unless he himself might go over
to dispose of his Estate. The Renegado, after having represented to him
that his _Algerine Master_ would never consent to his Release upon such
a Pretence, at length contrived a Method for the _Castlian_ to make his
Escape in the Habit of a Seaman. The _Castilian_ succeeded in his
Attempt; and having sold his Estate, being afraid lest the Money should
miscarry by the Way, and determining to perish with it rather than lose
one who was much dearer to him than his Life, he returned himself in a
little Vessel that was going to _Algiers_. It is impossible to describe
the Joy he felt on this Occasion, when he considered that he should soon
see the Wife whom he so much loved, and endear himself more to her by
this uncommon Piece of Generosity.
The Renegado, during the Husband's Absence, so insinuated himself into
the good Graces of his young Wife, and so turned her Head with Stories
of Gallantry, that she quickly thought him the finest Gentleman she had
ever conversed with. To be brief, her Mind was quite alienated from the
honest _Castilian_, whom she was taught to look upon as a formal old
Fellow unworthy the Possession of so charming a Creature. She had been
instructed by the Renegado how to manage herself upon his Arrival; so
that she received him with an Appearance of the utmost Love and
Gratitude, and at length perswaded him to trust their common Friend the
Renegado with the Money he had brought over for their Ransom; as not
questioning but he would beat down the Terms of it, and negotiate the
Affair more to their Advantage than they themselves could do. The good
Man admired her Prudence, and followed her Advice. I wish I could
conceal the Sequel of this Story, but since I cannot I shall dispatch it
in as few Words as possible. The _Castilian_ having slept longer than
ordinary the next Morning, upon his awaking found his Wife had left him:
He immediately arose and enquired after her, but was told that she was
seen with the Renegado about Break of Day. In a Word, her Lover having
got all things ready for their Departure, they soon made their Escape
out of the Territories of _Algiers_, carried away the Money, and left
the _Castilian_ in Captivity; who partly through the cruel Treatment of
the incensed _Algerine_ his Master, and partly through the unkind Usage
of his unfaithful Wife, died some few Months after.