N° 594. Wednesday, September 15, 1714. Abfentem qui rodit amicum; Qui non defendit alio culpante; folutos Qui nequit; bic niger eft: hunc tu, Romane, caveto, HOR. I Sat. iv. 81. • He that fhall rail against his abfent friends, • Or hears them fcandaliz'd, and not deferds; Sports with their fame, and speaks whate'er he can, And only to be thought a witty man; Tells tales, and brings his friend in difesteem; WER CREECH. ERE all the vexations of life put together, we fhould find that a great part of them proceed from thofe calumnies and reproaches which we fpread abroad concerning one another. There is scarce a man living who is not, in fome degree, guilty of this offence; though at the fame time, however we treat one another, it must be confeffed that we all confent in fpeaking ill of the perfons who are notorious for this practice. It generally takes its rife either from an ill-will to mankind, a private inclination to make ourselves esteemed, an oftentation of wit, a vanity of being thought in the fecrets fecrets of the world, or from a defire of gratifying any of those difpofitions of mind in those perfons with whom we converse. The publisher of scandal is more or less odious to mankind, and criminal in himself, as he is influenced by any one or more of the foregoing motives. But, whatever may be the occafion of fpreading these falfe reports, he ought to confider that the effect of them is equally prejudicial and pernicious to the person at whom they are aimed. The injury is the same, though the principle from which it proceeds may be different. As every one looks upon himself with too much indulgence when he paffes a judgment on his own thoughts or actions, and as very few would be thought guilty of this abominable pro ceeding, which is fo univerfally practifed, and at the fame time fo univerfally blamed, I shall lay down three rules, by which I would have a man examine and fearch into his own heart before he ftands acquitted to himself of that evil difpofition of mind which I am here mentioning. First of all, let him confider whether he does not take delight in hearing the faults of others. Secondly, Whether he is not too apt to believe fuch little blackening accounts, and more inclined to be credulous on the uncharitable than on the good-natured fide. Thirdly, Whether he is not ready to fpread and propagate fuch reports as tend to the difreputation of another. These are the several steps by which this vice proceeds, proceeds, and grows up into flander and defa mation. In the first place, a man who takes delight in hearing the faults of others fhews fufficiently that he has a true relifh of fcandal, and confequently the feeds of this vice, within him. If his mind is gratified with hearing the reproaches which are caft on others he will find the fame pleasure in reading them, and be the more apt to do it, as he will naturally imagine every one he converses with is delighted in the fame manner with himself. A man fhould endeavour therefore to wear out of his mind this criminal curiofity, which is perpetually heightened and inflamed by listening to fuch ftories as tend to the difreputation of others. In the fecond place, a man fhould confult his own heart, whether he be not apt to believe fuch little blackening accounts, and more inclined to be credulous on the uncharitable than on the good-natured fide. Such a credulity is very vicious in itself, and generally arifes from a man's consciousness of his own fecret corruptions. It is a pretty faying of Thales, Falfehood is juft as far diftant from truth as the ears are from the eyes* By which he would intimate, that a wife man fhould not easily give credit to the report of actions which he has not feen. I fhall, under this head, mention two or three remarkable rules to be observed by the members of the ce STOBAI "Serm." 61. lebrated lebrated Abbey de la Trappe, as they are publifhed in a little French book †. The fathers are there ordered never to give an ear to any accounts of bafe or criminal actions; to turn off all fuch discourse if poffible: but, in cafe they hear any thing of this nature fo well attefted that they cannot difbelieve it, they are then to fuppofe that the criminal action may have proceeded from a good intention in him who is guilty of it. This is, perhaps, carrying charity to an extravagance; but it is certainly much more laudable than to fuppofe, as the ill-natured part of the world does, that indifferent and even good actions proceed from bad principles and wrong inten tions. In the third place, a man fhould examine his heart, whether he does not find in it a fecret inclination to propagate fuch reports as tend to the difreputation of another. When the disease of the mind, which I have hitherto been speaking of, arifes to this degree of malignity, it discovers itself in its worst fymptom, and is in danger of becoming incurable. I need not therefore infift upon the guilt in this laft particular, which every one cannot but difapprove, who is not void of humanity, or even common difcretion. I fhall only add, that, whatever pleasure any man may take in ↑ FELIBIEN, "Description de l'Abbaye de la Trappe," Paris, 1671; reprinted in 1682. It is a letter of M. Felibien to the Duchefs of Liancourt. See "Journal des Savans," Nov. 28, 1695, p. 699. 5 Spreading fpreading whispers of this nature, he will find an infinitely greater fatisfaction in conquering the temptation he is under, by letting the fecret die within his own breast. I N° 595. Friday, September 17, 1714. -Non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni. HOR. Ars Poet. ver. 12. Nature, and the common laws of fenfe, • Forbid to reconcile antipathies; Or make a fnake engender with a dove, ROSCOMMON. F ordinary authors would condescend to write as they think, they would at least be allowed the praise of being intelligible. But they really take pains to be ridiculous; and, by the studied ornaments of ftyle, perfectly disguise the little fenfe they aim at. There is a grievance of this foft in the commonwealth of letters, which I have for fome time refolved to redrefs, and accordingly I have fet this day apart for At Drury-Lane, on Thursday, September 25, 1712, "The AMOROUS WIDOW," or The WANTON WIFE. Barnaby Brittle by Mr. Dogget; the Wanton Wife by Mrs. Oldfield; Lovemore by Mr. Wilks; Cuningham by Mr. Mills; Sir P. Pride by Mr. Johnfon; Merryman by Mr. Pinkethman; Clodpole by Mr. Bullock; Jeffery by Mr. Pack; Philadelphia by Mrs. Porter; and Damaris by Mrs. Bicknell. SrEc. in folio, No. 494. justice. |