ir own
Imaginations. In this passive Condition I know not where to cast my
Eyes, place my Hands, or what to employ my self in: But this Confusion
is to be a Jest, and I hear them say in the End, with an Air of Mirth
and Subtlety, Let her alone, she knows as well as we, for all she
looks so. Good Mr. SPECTATOR, persuade Gentlemen that it is out of all
Decency: Say it is possible a Woman may be modest and yet keep a
Publick-house. Be pleased to argue, that in truth the Affront is the
more unpardonable because I am oblig'd to suffer it, and cannot fly
from it. I do assure you, Sir, the Chearfulness of Life which would
arise from the honest Gain I have, is utterly lost to me, from the
endless, flat, impertinent Pleasantries which I hear from Morning to
Night. In a Word, it is too much for me to bear, and I desire you to
acquaint them, that I will keep Pen and Ink at the Bar, and write down
all they say to me, and send it to you for the Press. It is possible
when they see how empty what they speak, without the Advantage of an
impudent Countenance and Gesture, will appear, they may come to some
Sense of themselves, and the Insults they are guilty of towards me. I
am, _SIR_,

_Your most humble Servant_,

_The_ Idol.

This Representation is so just, that it is hard to speak of it without
an Indignation which perhaps would appear too elevated to such as can be
guilty of this inhuman Treatment, where they see they affront a modest,
plain, and ingenuous Behaviour. This Correspondent is not the only
Sufferer in this kind, for I have long Letters both from the _Royal_ and
_New Exchange_ on the same Subject. They tell me that a young Fop cannot
buy a Pair of Gloves, but he is at the same time straining for some
Ingenious Ribaldry to say to the young Woman who helps them on. It is no
small Addition to the Calamity, that the Rogues buy as hard as the
plainest and modestest Customers they have; besides which, they loll
upon their Counters half an Hour longer than they need, to drive away
other Customers, who are to share their Impertinencies with the
Milliner, or go to another Shop. Letters from _'Change-Alley_ are full
of the same Evil, and the Girls tell me except I can chase some eminent
Merchants from their Shops they shall in a short time fail. It is very
unaccountable, that Men can have so little Deference to all Mankind who
pass by them, as to bear being seen toying by two's and three'