situation as their neighbours. Even if they were not, we find mankind equally disposed to attribute whatever they see ridiculous or censurable in others, to the operation of the same cause. Indeed this alone can enable us to unriddle all those anomalies and eccentricities observable in human life. When we see a man, who has hitherto borne a fair character, throwing off, in his old age, the restraints of religion and morality, and acting in defiance of their dictates, how can we otherwise account for it if witchcraft is discarded? Or what excuse can be found for the woman who abandons an affectionate husband and lovely offspring, to seek shelter in the arms of a worthless profligate, unless we allow her to have been bewitched? What other inducement could lead the respectable tradesman to make shipwreck of his conscience by defrauding his creditors ?-the man of fortune to forfeit his independence for the sake of an empty title or a pension?—or the patriot to forego the cause of his country, and quietly reap the wages of corruption ? When the man of learning and genius becomes so far regardless of character as to sit down calmly, and attempt to obtain a portion of fame, by means at which virtue and delicacy revolt, who will not believe him to have been bewitched? Or to what other cause must

we ascribe that inextinguishable thirst after pleasure, which actuates the hoary sensualist, when age and infirmities hourly recal his attention to subjects of the utmost solemnity and importance? The rich, who often sacrifice their own happiness, and that of all around them, to external pomp and show;-the miser, who deprives himself of even the very necessaries of life, in order to hoard up a little of that wealth which his heart will not allow him to use;―the debauchee, who strains every nerve to obtain a name of infamy, and entail upon himself misery and disease, must all, certainly be labouring under the influence of witchcraft.

After such a mass of evidence in support of my position, it appears needless to adduce any other arguments. Even admitting that the existence of witchcraft could not be proved, still there are many reasons why the doctrine ought not to be exploded. I shall only mention one, viz. that if this should unfortunately ever be the case, the world would be deprived of the most convenient plea for folly and wickedness that ever was invented and when the great trouble mankind are at, in devising excuses for their misconduct, is taken into consideration, this circumstance must be deemed of no common importance. When any person, for instance, is con

scious that he has not acted as he ought, and yet cannot be allowed to palliate his transgressions by pleading that he was under the influence of witchcraft, he has no alternative left, but must be compelled to acknowledge himself either a villain or a fool. How unpleasant it would be to be placed in such a dilemma, I shall leave every unprejudiced mind to determine.

There is one inference I would wish my readers to draw from the preceding remarks, were I not afraid that it might induce them to think that, in this discussion, my conclusions had probably been influenced by interested motives. My predecessor, the SPECTATOR, in more than one place, has intimated, that when any marks of dulness appeared in his compositions, they were to be attributed to design, and not to involuntary causes. For my own part, as I am never dull designedly, I would beg of my friends, that whenever symptoms of dulness are perceivable in the numbers of the INSPECTOR, they will not attribute them to any inherent defect in the author, but merely to the circumstance of his being "actually bewitched."

NUMBER 31.

Truth, I impart,

To weed out folly from the heart;

And shew the paths that lead astray,

The wand'ring nymph from wisdom's way.-MOORE,

Mr. INSPECTOR.

SIR-I am a plain tradesman, who, by my own industry and the prudent management of an excellent housewife, have contrived to get a comfortable living, and to lay by a little money, even in these hard times. As a daughter is the only child we have, we were passionately fond of her, and, in consequence, determined to give her the best education in our power, in the hope of her proving a comfort to our old age. We have often delighted ourselves with the progress she made in her schooling; and though we were not always able to judge of the use of those things she had learnt, we thought them wonderfully fine and clever. Often have we listened to her with rapture, while parleying French with her master, whom we sometimes invited to visit us, for that purpose, during the holidays: and because Mr. Tweedle, the music master, praised her airs, and

sonatos, and symphonies, we could not help thinking they must be mighty fine; though for my own part, I always preferred "A cobbler there was," or "Last Valentine Day;" and Dorothy, my wife, thought nothing equal to "Nancy Dawson," or " Jockey to the Fair."

Well, Mr. INSPECTOR, you must know then, that Polly having finished her education, came home to us at midsummer, and for some time, we were highly delighted with her accomplishments; but unfortunately, she has since found out, that her father and mother are ignorant people, and have nothing of gentility about them. She is continually carping at our speech, in which, it seems, we often offend against the rules of grammar; for Polly is now quite a grammarian. She accuses her mother of using what are called plurals, when she ought to use singulars; and I am blamed for blundering in my moods and tenses. For my own part, I must say, that I am not always very well pleased with Polly's moods. She has even told us, several times, that she was ashamed to hear us speak when any of her school-fellows were present; and indeed I myself have frequently seen her blush on these occasions; although I tell her that nothing is shameful but what is sinful; and that if she had not been indebted to our cares and labour, for