-long Summers did the Fraud prevail.
The Fourth her Maidens told th' amazing Tale.
These Eyes beheld, as close I took my Stand,
The backward Labours of her faithless Hand:
'Till watch'd at length, and press'd on every Side,
Her Task she ended, and commenc'd a Bride.'

[Footnote 1: Public Mourning for Q. Anne, who died Aug. 1, 1714.]

* * * * *

No. 607. Friday, October 15, 1714.

'Dicite Ioe Paean, et Ioe bis dicite Paean:
Decidit in casses praeda petita meos.'

Ovid.

_Mr._ SPECTATOR,

'Having in your Paper of _Monday_ last [1] published my Report on the
Case of Mrs. _Fanny Fickle_, wherein I have taken Notice, that Love
comes after Marriage; I hope your Readers are satisfied of this Truth,
that as Love generally produces Matrimony, so it often happens that
Matrimony produces Love.

'It perhaps requires more Virtues to make a good Husband or Wife, than
what go the finishing any the most shining Character whatsoever.

'Discretion seems absolutely necessary, and accordingly we find that
the best Husbands have been most famous for their Wisdom. _Homer_, who
hath drawn a perfect Pattern of a prudent Man, to make it the more
compleat, hath celebrated him for the just Returns of Fidelity and
Truth to his _Penelope_; insomuch that he refused the Caresses of a
Goddess for her sake, and to use the Expression of the best of Pagan
Authors, _vetulam suam praetulit Immortalitati_, his old Woman was
dearer to him than Immortality.

'Virtue is the next necessary Qualification for this domestick
Character, as it naturally produces Constancy and mutual Esteem. Thus
_Brutus_ and _Porcia_ were more remarkable for Virtue and Affection
than any others of the Age in which they lived.

'Good-Nature is a third necessary Ingredient in the Marriage-State,
without which it would inevitably sower upon a thousand Occasions.
When Greatness of Mind is joined with this amiable Quality, it
attracts the Admiration and Esteem of all who behold it. Thus _Caesar_,
not more remarkable for his Fortune and Valour than for his Humanity,
stole into the Hearts of the _Roman_ People, when breaking through the
Custom, he pronounced an Oration at the Funeral of his first and best
beloved Wife.

'Good-Nature is insufficient, unless it be steady and uniform, and
accompanied with an Evenness of Temper,