any of our own country, taking pleasure in
setting innocent people together by the ears. The mentioning of this
person, who is a great wit, and a great cripple, put me in mind of Mr.
Estcourt,[75] who is under the same circumstances. He was formerly my
apothecary, and being at present disabled by the gout and stone, I must
recommend him to the public on Thursday next, that admirable play of Ben
Jonson's, called, "The Silent Woman," being appointed to be acted for
his benefit. It would be indecent for me to appear twice in a season at
these ludicrous diversions; but as I always give my man and my maid one
day in the year, I shall allow them this, and am promised by Mr.
Estcourt, my ingenious apothecary, that they shall have a place kept for
them in the first row of the middle gallery.

[Footnote 68: Nichols suggests that this paper may be by Addison,
because in No. 131 Addison has the following note: "For the benefit of
my readers, I think myself obliged here to let them know that I always
make use of an old-fashioned e, which very little differs from an o.
This has been the reason that my printer sometimes mistakes the one for
the other; as in my last paper, I find, _those_ for _these_, _beheld_
for _behold_, Corvix for Cervix, and the like." The internal evidence
supports this view; but the paper is not included in Addison's Works.]

[Footnote 69: The Duke of Marlborough.]

[Footnote 70: Sidney, Lord Godolphin.]

[Footnote 71: Lord Somers. See No. 4.]

[Footnote 72: Lord Chancellor Cowper. See the Dedication to this
volume.]

[Footnote 73: Edward Russell, Earl of Oxford. See No. 4.]

[Footnote 74: Thomas, Earl of Wharton, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.]
[Footnote 75: See Nos. 20, 51. Estcourt was apprenticed to an
apothecary, and is said to have tried that business before going on the
stage.]

No. 131. [ADDISON.

From _Tuesday, Feb. 7_, to _Thursday, Feb. 9, 1709-10_.

----Scelus est jugulare Falernum,
Et dare Campano toxica saeva mero.
MART., Epig. i. 18.

* * * * *

_Sheer Lane, February 8._

There is in this city a certain fraternity of chemical operators, who
work under ground in holes, caverns, and dark retirements, to conceal
their mysteries from the eyes and observation of mankind. These
subterraneous philosophers are daily employed in the transmutation of
liquors, a