live long; and that to shew her tender regards for him, she had saved that which the poor Man loved better than his Life.  The next came towards us with her Son upon her Back, who, we were told, was the greatest Rake in the Place, but so much the Mother’s Darling, that she left her Husband behind with a large Family of hopeful Sons and Daughters, for the sake of this Graceless Youth.

’It would be endless to mention the several Persons, with their several Loads that appeared to me in this strange Vision.  All the Place about me was covered with packs of Ribbands, Brocades, Embroidery, and Ten thousand other Materials, sufficient to have furnished a whole Street of Toy-shops.  One of the Women, having an Husband who was none of the heaviest, was bringing him off upon her Shoulders, at the same time that she carried a great bundle of Flanders-lace under her Arm; but finding herself so overloaden, that she could not save both of them, she dropp’d the good Man, and brought away the Bundle.  In short, I found but one Husband among this great Mountain of Baggage, who was a lively Cobler, that kick’d and spurr’d all the while his Wife was carrying him on, and, as it was said, had scarce passed a Day in his Life without giving her the Discipline of the Strap.

’I cannot conclude my Letter, Dear SPEC., without telling thee one very odd Whim in this my Dream, I saw, methoughts, a dozen Women employed in bringing off one Man; I could not guess who it should be, till upon his nearer approach I discover’d thy short Phiz.  The Women all declared that it was for the sake of thy Works, and not thy Person, that they brought thee off, and that it was on condition that thou should’st continue the Spectator.  If thou thinkest this Dream will make a tolerable one, it is at thy Service, from,

  ’Dear SPEC.

  ’Thine, Sleeping and Waking,

  ‘WILL.  HONEYCOMB.’

The Ladies will see, by this Letter, what I have often told them, that WILL. is one of those old-fashioned Men of Wit and Pleasure of the Town, that shews his Parts by Raillery on Marriage, and one who has often tried his Fortune that way without Success.  I cannot however dismiss his Letter, without observing, that the true Story on which it is built does Honour to the Sex, and that in order to abuse them, the Writer is obliged to have recourse to Dream and Fiction. [1]

[Footnote 1:  At the end of this number and in all following numbers there is a change in the colophon, caused by the addition of Tonson’s name to Buckley’s.  It runs henceforth thus: 

LONDON:  Printed for S. Buckley and J. Tonson:  And Sold by A. Baldwin in Warwick-Lane.  But an announcement at the head of the advertisement sets forth that Advertisements for this Paper continue to be taken in by S. Buckley at the Dolphin in Little-Britain, J. Tonson at Shakespear’s Head in the Strand, C. Lillie at the Corner of Beauford Buildings, and A. Baldwin in Warwick-Lane.]

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