THE PROJECTOR. N° 95.

"Satis eloquentiæ, sapientiæ parum."

SALLUST.

May 1809.

IN N a world full of complaints, he may be said to perform a very useful office, who endeavours to reconcile mankind to their lot, and to vindicate those, who, for some reason or other, are exposed to general censure and obloquy. In such laudable endeavours, the Projector is always happy when his feeble efforts appear to have been successful, and he is encouraged to proceed from one step to another, until he shall have restored that good humour which seems wanting in our social intercourse.

There is a class of beings who at present demand his aid, as being alternately blamed and encouraged, with such variety of treatment, that it seems highly requisite to adjust their deserts. They are commonly known by the name of GOSSIPS, and they are commonly ranked among the Consumers of Time; which

very few have the ability to get rid of, without calling in help. Time is, indeed, an article, as I have already perhaps too often repeated, which appears to demand the efforts of joint companies, or numerous firms, and is seldom consumed in any considerable quantity by solitary individuals. Whether an investigation of the History and Practices of Gossips will tend to throw a favourable light on their character, is accounted by some a dangerous experiment; but it is worth trying, because, if it succeeds, the venerable society of Gossips be rescued from some share of the blame so frequently imputed to them; and, if it fails, they will not be left in a worse condition than they were found. I shall, therefore, without any farther preface, enter upon the consideration of the HISTORY, TALENTS, and USEFULNESS of Gossips.

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With respect to their HISTORY, my materials are rather scanty. That they are entitled to the honours of antiquity, can be decidedly proved; as they are expressly mentioned in a book, which is one of the oldest, and, as many very judicious persons think, one of the best. In that work, they are noticed by the names of "Tatlers and Busy-bodies;" and their description accords very exactly, viz. that "they

wander about from house to house," or, as some translate the word, " gad about from house to house;" a species of locomotion which agrees with the modern practice of the genuine Gossip. There is another characteristick mentioned in the same place; that "they speak of things which they ought not ;" but as this, as well as the whole of the account given in the above-mentioned book, is given with an unfavourable bias, it may be necessary to add, that I quote it here purely as a historical fact. Tatlers and Busy-bodies are, in the Greek original, the same which we express by the word Gossip; which, Lexicographers inform us, is of Saxon derivation, and originally meant, "the person who answered for a child in baptism." Nothing is more curious in our language, than to be able to trace a word from its original meaning to one which is more common, although directly opposite. But, in the present instance, the transition from one who answers for a child in baptism, to one who answers for every body in every thing, is not so violent as may at first sight appear. There seems a something in the present practice of Gossips, which may be regularly traced up to their first occupation. They were first employed at christenings; and, to this hour, one

of the principal topicks on which they employ their skill is marriage, a state of life which, among its other effects, has a natural tendency to produce christenings.

Our earliest writers take notice of Gossips, sometimes under that name, and sometimes under the more antient titles of Tatlers and Busy-bodies; but the character, in all cases, is the same; and the only question is, what nation had the honour of first producing them? Without consulting a much greater number of volumes than are on my shelves, or than, if they were there, I have time to consult, it would not be easy to assemble a number of historical facts sufficient to decide this point. From the few researches, however, which I have been able to make, I think we may very fairly risk the conjecture, that Gossiping was not much known in the earlier periods of the history of man. Important as it be in our time, it is highly probable that the world went on for some centuries without it. When men were solely employed in providing for the necessities of existence, and had no leisure for any employments that were not of immediate and practical utility, and particularly when they associated in small divisions not much connected with each other, we cannot suppose

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that Gossiping would be very common. On these accounts, I am inclined to be of opinion, that Gossiping did not exist among nations which had any better employment.

It is, therefore, highly probable, that it first appeared, and kept pace with the progress of civilization (Gossips being of all people the most civil). Gossiping began when large cities were built; when increasing riches enabled men to divide labour into so many parts, that some could contrive to be without any great share, or get their neighbours to do for them what they were too indolent or too ignorant to do for themselves. And if this argument be carefully considered, and compared with historical facts, it will probably be found, that Gossiping and Idleness were nearly coæval.

As to the nation which had first the honour of bringing the art of Gossiping to perfection, it might excite a turbulent jealousy, were we to carry our speculations to a hasty decision. The authority I have produced, as to its origin, shews that it once existed in nations that are now almost blotted from the map; but, as it did not perish in their downfal, the probability is, that it followed the usual revolutions of kingdoms and states, and was introduced into our nation in the same way that we re