honeft, fober and religious. When I was a young man, I had a mind to make the best of my wits, and • over-reached a country chap in a parcel of unfound goods; to whom, upon his upbraiding, and threatning to expofe me for it, I returned the equivalent of his lois; and upon his good advice, wherein he clearly. demonftrated the folly of fuch artifices, which can · never end but ir fhame, and the ruin of all correfpondence, I never after tranfgreffed. Can your courtiers, who take bribes, or your lawyers or phyficians in their practice, or even the divines who intermeddle in worldly affairs, boait of making but one flip in their lives, and of fuch a thorough and lafting reforma⚫tion? Since my coming into the world I do not re• member I was ever overtaken in drink, fave nine times, once at the chrifning of my first child, thrice ⚫ at our city feats, and five times at driving of bargains. My reformation I can attribute to nothing fo much as the love and efteem of money, for I found myfelf to be extravagant in my drink, and apt to turn projector, and make rath bargains. As for women, I ne. " ver knew any except my wives: For my, reader must know, and it is what we may confide in as an excellent recipe, that the love of bufinefs and money is the greatest mortifier of inordinate defires imaginable, as employing the mind continually in the careful overfight of what one has, in the eager queft after more, in looking after the negligences and deceits of fervants, in the due entring and flating of accounts, in hunting after chaps, and in the exact knowledge of the state of markets; which things whoever thoroughly attends, will find enough and enough to employ his thoughts on every moment of the day; fo that I cannot call to mind, that in all the time I was a husband, which off and on, was above twelve years, ever once thought of my wives but in bed. And, lafly, for religion, I have ever been a tonftant churchman, both forenoons and afternoons on Sundays, never forgetting to be thankful for any gain or advantage I had had that day; and on Saturday nights, upon cafting up my accounts, I always was grateful for the fum of my 'week's profits, and at Christmas for that of the whole

6 ⚫ year.

year. It is true, perhaps, that my devotion has not been the most fervent; which, I think, ought to be imputed to the evennefs and fedateness of my temper, which never would admit of any impetuofities of any fort: And I can remember that in my youth and prime of manhood, when my blood ran briker, I took greater pleasure in religious exercises than at prefent, or many years paft, and that my de-, votion fenfibly declined as age, which is dull and unwieldy, came upon me.

I have, I hope, here proved, that the love of money prevents all immorality and vice; which if you will not allow, you muft, that the pursuit of it obliges men to the fame kind of life as they would follow if they were really virtuous: Which is all I have to say at prefent, only recommending to you, that you would think of it, and turn ready wit into ready money as • fast as you can. I conclude,

Your fervant,

T

Ephraim Weed.

N° 451

Thursday, August 7.

·Fam fevus apertam

In rabiem cæpit verti jocus, & per honeftas

Ire minax impune domos

Hor. Ep. 1. 1. 2 v. 148.

Times corrupt, and nature ill-inclin'd Produc'd the point that left the fting behind; 'Till friend with friend, and families at trife; Triumphant malice rag'd thro' private life.

T

POPE.

HERE is nothing fo fcandalous to a government, and deteftable in the eyes of all good men, as defamatory papers and pamphlets; but at the fame time there is nothing fo difficult to tame, as a fatirical author. An angry writer who cannot appear in print, naturally vents his fpleen in libeis and lampoons. A

gay

gay old woman, fays the fable, feeing all her wrinkles reprefented in a large looking-glafs, threw it upon the ground in a paffion, and broke it into a thousand pieces, but as fhe was afterwards furveying the fragments with a fpiteful kind of pleafure, fhe could not forbear uttering herfelf in the following foliloquy. What have I got by this revengeful blow of mine? I have only multiplied my deformity, and fee an hundred ugly faces, where before I faw but one.

It has been propofed, to oblige every perfon that writes a book, or a paper, to fwear himself the author of it, and enter down in a public register his name and place of abode.

This, indeed, would have effectually fuppreffed all printed fcandal, which generally appears under borrowed names, or under none at all. But it is to be feared, that fuch an expedient would not only deftroy fcandal, but learning. It would operate promifcuoufly, and root up the corn and tares together. Not to mention some of the most celebrated works of piety, which have proceeded from anonymous authors, who have made it their merit to convey to us fo great a charity in fecret; there are few works of genius that come out at firft with the author's name. The writer generally makes a trial of them in the world before he owns them; and, I believe, very few, who are capable of writing, would fet pen to paper, if they knew before hand, that they must not publish their productions but on fuch conditions. For my own part, I muft declare, the papers I prefent the public are like fairy favours, which shall laft no longer than while the author is concealed.

That which makes it particularly difficult to reftrain these fons of calumny and defamation is, that all fides are equally guilty of it, and that every dirty fcribbler is countenanced by great names, whofe intereft he propagates by fuch vile and infamous methods. I have never yet heard of a ministry, who have inflicted an exemplary punishment on an author that has fupported their caule with falfhood and fcandal, and treated, in a moft cruel manner, the names of those who have been looked upon as their rivals and antagonists. Would a government fet an everlasting mark of their displeasure

upon

215 upon one of thofe infamous writers who makes his court to them by tearing to pieces the reputation of a competitor, we fhould quickly fee an end put to this race of vermin, that are a scandal to government, and a reproach to human nature. Such a proceeding would make a minister of state shine in hiftory, and would fill all mankind with a just abhorrence of perfons who fhould treat him unworthily, and employ against him those arms which he scorned to make use of against his enemies.

I cannot think that any one will be fo unjuft as to imagine what I have here faid or spoken with respect to any party or faction. Every one who has in him the fentiments either of a chriftian or gentleman, cannot but be highly offended at this wicked and ungenerous practice which is so much in ufe among us at prefent, that it is become a kind of national crime, and distinguishes us from all the governments that lie about us. I cannot but look upon the finest ftrokes of fatire which are aimed at particular perfons, and which are fupported even with the appearances of truth, to be the marks of an evil mind, and highly criminal in themselves. Infamy, like other punishments, is under the direction and diftribution of the magiftrate, and not of any private perfon. Accordingly we learn from a fragment of Cicero, that tho' there were very few capital punishments in the twelve tables, a libel or lampoon which took away the good name of another, was to be punished by death. But this is far from being our cafe. Our fatire is nothing but ribaldry, and Billinfgate. Scurrility paffes for wit; and he who can call names in the greateit variety of phrafes is looked upon to have the fhrewdeft pen. By this means the honour of families is ruined, the higheit pofts and greatest titles are render'd cheap and vile in the fight of the people; the noblest virtues, and most exalted parts expofed to the contempt of the vicious and the ignorant. Should a foreigner, who knows nothing of our private factions, or one who is to act his part in the world when our prefent heats and animofities are forgot, fhould, I fay, fuch an one form to himfelf a notion of the greatest men of all fides in the British nation, who are now living, from the characters

which are given them in fome or other of those abomi nable writings which are daily published among us, what a nation of monfters muft we appear!

As his cruel practice tends to the utter fubverfion of all truth and humanity among us, it deferves the utmost deteftation and difcouragement of all who have either the love of their country, or the honour of their religion at heart. I would therefore earnestly recommend it to the confideration of thofe who deal in thefe pernicious arts of writing; and of those who take pleasure in the reading of them. As for the first, I have spoken of them in former papers, and have not fluck to rank them with the murderer and affaffin. Every honest man fets as high a value upon a good name, as upon life itfelf; and I cannot but think that those who privily affault the one, would deftroy the other, might they do it with the fame fecurity and impunity.

As for perfons who take pleasure in the reading and difperfing of fuch deteftable libels, I am afraid they fail very little fhort of the guilt of the fift compofers. By a law of the emperors Valentinian and Valens, it was made death for any perfon not only to write a libel, but if he met with one by chance, not to tear or burn it. But because I would not be thought fingular in my opinion of this matter, I fhall conclude my paper with the words of monfieur Bayle, who was a man of great freedom of thought, as well as of exquifite learning and judgment.

I cannot imagine, that a man who difperfes a libel, is lefs defirous of doing mifchief than the author himfelf. But what fhall we fay of the pleasure which a man takes in the reading of a defamatory libel? Is it not an heinous fin in the fight of God? We must diftinguish in this point. This pleasure is either an agreeable fenfation we are affected with, when we meet with a witty thought which is well expreffed, or it is a joy which we conceive from the dishonour of the perfon who is defamed. I will fay nothing to the first of thefe cafes; for perhaps fome would think that my morality is not fevere enough, if I fhould affirm that a ⚫ man is not master of thofe agreeable fenfations, any more ⚫ than of thofe occafioned by fugar or honey, when they ' touch