found that the great
Pace they went only hastened them to a Scaffold or a Bowstring. Many
beautiful Damsels on the other Side moved forward with great Gaiety;
some danced till they fell all along; and others painted their Faces
till they lost their Noses. A Tribe of Creatures with busie Looks
falling into a Fit of Laughter at the Misfortunes of the unhappy Ladies,
I turn'd my Eyes upon them. They were each of them filling his Pockets
with Gold and Jewels, and when there was no Room left for more, these
Wretches looking round with Fear and Horror, pined away before my Face
with Famine and Discontent.

This Prospect of human Misery struck me dumb for some Miles. Then it was
that, to disburthen my Mind, I took Pen and Ink, and did every Thing
that hath since happen'd under my Office of SPECTATOR. While I was
employing my self for the Good of Mankind, I was surpriz'd to meet with
very unsuitable Returns from my Fellow-Creatures. Never was poor Author
so beset with Pamphleteers, who sometimes marched directly against me,
but oftner shot at me from strong Bulwarks, or rose up suddenly in
Ambush. They were of all Characters and Capacities, some with Ensigns of
Dignity, and others in Liveries; but what most surpriz'd me, was to see
two or three in black Gowns among my Enemies. It was no small Trouble to
me, sometimes to have a Man come up to me with an angry Face, and
reproach me for having lampooned him, when I had never seen or heard of
him in my Life. With the Ladies it was otherwise: Many became my Enemies
for not being particularly pointed out; as there were others who
resented the Satyr which they imagined I had directed against them. My
great Comfort was in the Company of half a Dozen Friends, who, I found
since, were the Club which I have so often mentioned in my Papers. I
laughed often at _Sir Roger_ in my Sleep, and was the more diverted with
_Will Honeycomb's_ Gallantries, (when we afterwards became acquainted)
because I had foreseen his Marriage with a Farmer's Daughter. The Regret
which arose in my Mind upon the Death of my Companions, my Anxieties for
the Publick, and the many Calamities still fleeting before my Eyes, made
me repent my Curiosity; when the Magician entered the Room, and awakened
me, by telling me (when it was too late) that he was just going to
begin.

_N. B._ I have only deliver'd the Prophecy of that Part of my Life which
is past, it being inconvenient to divulge the second Part 'till a more
p