A

MONGST other maxims which moral philofophy has revealed, and which moral writers have rendered common, is that which fays, every age has virtues and vices peculiar to itself. It is equally true, that amongst those virtues and vices, there is ufually one which has the predominance, and if I were asked, which is the most prevailing vice of the present day, I fhould fay, contempt of reputation.

WHEN men are inclined to give criminal indulgence to their paffions, and to refift the struggles of conscience, the fear of public shame fometimes operates more strongly than the voice of duty, and prevents the commission of crimes, prompted by paffion, and feconded by inclination; and this actuating fear will always be proportionable to the public virtue of the times; for when vice has gained the afcendant, and ufurped the authority of virtue, the fear of public fhame will be annihilated; and those men who always act in conformity to prevailing principles, and who always bow to the deity of the day, will readily fubfcribe to the pre-eminence of vice over virtue, and to opinions which flatter their incli

nations.

THUS duelling, though a crime of the highest magnitude, has, time immemorial, been meta morphofed into heroism; and there are, comparatively, few men who would not be more afhamed of refusing a challenge than of killing

a man.

THERE was a time when a contempt of reputation pervaded only fuch of the nobility as held the doctrine, that the poffeffion of riches is a licence for all things; and the influence of their example was confined to a few. I remember fome years ago adultery was deemed infamous, and the feducer of female innocence was branded as a villain; whereas these are no longer crimes in the estimation of men whofe example influences the million; and compliments rather than reproaches are bestowed on characters, which formerly would have been hooted out of society. Thus, the corruption which once deformed the body politic by fpots, now pervades the whole mass, and not a fingle limb efcapes contagion,

THIS univerfal change of fentiment and of manners is, ultimately, to be attributed to a dereliction of those religious principles which, heretofore, regulated the conduct of human life, and forry I am to say that the cause of that dereliction is to be ascribed to men who, in some respects, were ornaments to fociety: to the cloud of infidel writers which of late years has darkened the horizon of literature, and endeavoured to obftruct that light which was ordained to illumine the world. The labours of a BOLINGBROOKE and a HUME; of a VOLTAIRE and his literary mimics, have accomplished this mighty change. By endeavouring to abolish all ideas of future rewards and punishments, as the fuggeftions of human policy, of religious frenzy, or of poetical fiction, these men, and their followers, have la

boured

boured to fap the foundations of all religion, and, by deftroying its obligations, to render men accountable to themselves only for their moral conduct.

PRINCIPLES fo flattering to mankind, could not fail of having many adherents, and were eagerly adopted by men whose hearts were prone to evil, and who were ready to embrace any fyftem which apparently prefented freedom from the restraints of religion, and the reproaches of confcience. Freedom of enquiry was the watchword of infidel enthusiasm; but freedom of action was the object of purfuit; and these modern philofophers were not fo anxious to recommend good conduct to others, as to find metaphyfical excufes for their own; or to condemn the judgment which religion and reafon fhould pronounce against them, as the offspring of fuperftition, or the error of vulgarity. To deride, with fupercilious vivacity, the opinion of others, is one of the chief arts of a modern free-thinker, and was practifed with wonderful fuccefs by VOLTAIRE, whose witticisms have been received as cogent arguments, and whofe arguments have been received as found doctrine. I can only wish that his readers were as well acquainted with the spirit of the facred writings as they are with the genius of SHAKESPEARE and MILTON: they would then discover that his criticisms refpecting the former are of a piece with his dogmas refpecting the latter, uncandid, ungenerous, futile and ignorant: the crude effufions of envy and malice, and all uncharitablencfs!

BUT who will not follow leaders that promise the rewards of victory without the toils of battle? The offer of an exemption from labours, efpecially the labours of religion, is not easily to be refifted; and the conscience being foothed with the perverfions of reafon, there remains nothing to be dreaded but the cenfure of the world, which the example of others deprives of its sting, and which, therefore, is derided by all who can reap immediate gratification from their vices, without rendering themselves amenable to the laws of the land.

A CONTEMPT of religious inftitutions is foon followed by a neglect of the moral duties, and that neglect by a difdain of public opinion. Thus all the barriers which heaven and earth had fet up to defend us against the inroads of vice, have, by the exertions of a few bad-hearted men, been undermined; and the filver cord which bound fociety together is cut in two.

A DISREGARD of public opinion can be excufable in fuch only as have refolution enough to

be eminently virtuous. When AUGUSTUS was determined to avoid the vicious conduct of former emperors, and to build his fame on another bafis, he was at first so much ashamed of his virtues, and fo fearful left the people should mistake them for a species of pufillanimity, that MACENAS found it neceffary to, advise him, “never to be concerned at what was fpoken of him;" and I am confident that if his present Majesty would follow the noble dictates of his own heart, which pants only for the welfare of his people, and the fafety of the conftitution; if he would difregard the voice of an abandoned faction, and liften only to that of the public at large, his refolution and perfeverance would be followed by more than AUGUSTAN glory to himself, and happiness to his subjects.

I HAVE faid that a contempt of reputation is the prevailing vice of the times, and I have endeavoured to fhew whence it originated: I fhall take fome future opportunity to point out its baneful effects on common life, and its influence on the manners of the times.

PROCLAMATION.

By the NEW SPECTATOR.

WHEREAS Certain men calling themselves Editors, not having the fear of cenfure before their eyes, and inftigated by a certain heathen deity called Mercury, the god of thieves, have lately entered our dominions, and committed the high crime of PLAGIARISM, to the great prejudice, &c. Now we do hereby ftrictly enjoin and command all Editors, Writers, Printers, and Printers devils, and all others whom it may concern, from henceforth to defift from fuch unlawful feizure of our property on pain of our high difpleasure. And forafmuch as it hath been represented to us, that the faid offenders have committed the faid crime in confequence of extreme poverty, we are willing, in confideration of the fame, to grant our SPECTATORIAL pardon for the said offence, on condition of this our Proclamation being strictly complied with.-AND WHEREAS it hath also been reprefented to us, that certain malicious and evil minded perfons have reported that these our fpeculations, lucubrations, meditations, reprefentations, communications, confiderations, expoftulations, and vindications would fhortly terminate, and be no more. Now we do hereby declare, that our faid fpeculations, lucubrations, meditations, reprefentations, communications, confiderations, expoftulations, and vindications,

fhall

To Mifs C; requefting her to write in favour of CHARITY.

O THOU, on whom the liberal powers divine,

Their choiceft influence have fhed,

And tun'd they foul to harmony,
Sweet daughter of astronomy!

And twin'd their laurels round thy head:
Proceed, fair maid,

To call the mufes' aid,

And let thy name in future annals shine !

Then strike the founding lyre,
Higher, and yet higher,"

Till all the charms of melody refound;
And let imagination take her round
In fairy fields that glowing fancy forms:

Now let her walk the grove,

In maiden majefty;

Or join the fongs of rural love,
In heavenly extafy;

Then fweep tranfported through the azure skies,
O'ertake the rapid lightning as it flies,
Or mark the grandeur of the ratling storms!

These are the scenes, SOPHIA, that impart
A pleafing wonder to the human heart,

And ftrike, with fond furprize,
Our week, our mortal eyes,

Too much accustomed to behold the ways
Of ever-erring man, unworthy praife.
But yet one scene surpasseth these,

Though great, though noble, and divine:

Behold the man of miferies,

On whom the heavens feldom fhine!

With careful toil, through many many years, Bears the fad load of poverty,

Unknown to sweet profperity!

Bears the fad load !---his children all in tears!

Beneath pale Cynthia's glimmering light,
See him hafting home at night,
All adown the dusky dale,
Heeding not the nightingale :

His little children meet him on the way,
And tell the fufferings of the long, long day!
Whilft he, with nature's fimple guile,

Uses many a borrow'd fmile,
With kiffes ftops the tale he hears,

And, to difpel their infant fears,

With many foothing words their little hearts he chears!

Ofweet SOPHIA! may we ever have

A will divine, if not a power to fave!

The orphan infant that unhouf'd doth lie; Expof'd to fcorching funs, or winter's freefing fky, May well demand a wifh, a tear, a figh! Then fweep the ftring,

The virtues fing

Of heavenly Charity;

And fince that tender bofom knows
What mental pleasure from it flows,
Who fo meet to fing as thee?

Men fhall admire thy foftly flowing strain;
As the fweet warblers of the feather'd train,
Do liften to their Philomel,

"When her fad fong the mourneth well," What time the rifing moon

The checquer'd grove displays,
And lovers 'gin to wander forth
Beneath her filver rays

The fhady woods among :

O far more mute mankind,
When thou, to harmony inclin'd,
Shalt fing thy foothing fong!

To the NEW SPECTATOR.

Dear SPEC!

I SHOULD Very much have wondered if my animadverfions in general, but on actors and actreffes in particular, had not met with some oppofition, from those who are hired to praife, and to abufe, as their employers think proper. The voice of truth, my dear friend, is feldom to be heard, and when it is, never fails to be drowned in the clamours of falfhood. My observations have generally the bad, or rather the good fortune to vary confiderably from those of the daily prints, which, by a ftrange kind of accident, agree unanimously in matters of opinion, as well as of fact!

I AM led into these remarks by the conduct of your correfpondent, Sawney IV. over whose mys terious

terious epiftles we had a hearty laugh; and who threatened you with publishing his rhapsodies elsewhere, if you rejected his fublime correfpondence.-Sawney has been as good as his word: throwing off his Scotch-plaid, diffipating the Scotch-mift which enveloped his meaning, and affuming the tremendous air of a Dublin Volunteer, under the appellation of Paddy Whack, he flourishes away in a young Magazine, and, truly, I am glad to fee him cut fo refpectable a figure.

His chief charge against me, is with respect to Mrs. Abington. I have faid that it might be fuppofed fhe kept at least half a dozen clerks, (and probably this fame Sawney alias Paddy, is one of them) to write panegyrics on her in the news-papers, they were fo numerous and fo fulfome. To convince the world, however, that the cafe is not fo, he informs us that fhe has a heart" tremblingly alive" to the moft diftant calamity, and that Miss Younge has not. This, you fee, is a piece of Irish logic, to prove that Mrs. Abington is not a woman of extreme vanity, and you will readily grant it to be very conclufive, and the reflection on Miss Younge to be very liberal.

He also informs us, that St. CECILIA is now in Paris, and that I know her to be there. It is true I have his word for it, and the oath of a gentleman, that she is at this time in London: now whether his word, or the oath of the faid gentleman is entitled to the most credit, I am utterly at a lofs to determine!-Leaving this modern Jacob Behmen to his reveries,

I on my journey, all alone, proceed!
COCKING

YESTERDAY this diverfion commenced for the week at the Cockpit Royal: Twenty Guineas a battle, and one thousand the odd battle, between Sir John Lade and Thomas Bullock Efq.-I remember it was the obfervation of fomebody, that he conceived a Cockpit, in the midft of a battle, to be as complete a representation of Hell, as it was poffible for human baseness to produce. I have often wondered that fome mortal enemy to swearing does not attend thefe infernal meetings, and employ a fufficient number of people to count the oaths of the gentlemen who bett their money. I should suppose, that, at a crown an oath, a gambler might lofe double his wagers in the fimple article of fwearing!

THIS diverfion, as it is called, is a good deal forfaken by the lower ranks of the people, and it is to be lamented, that it is not entirely stopped amongst all ranks. Let gentlemen keep as many

game-cocks as they pleafe, but let it be rendered highly penal to fight them: there are ways enough to gamble away their acres, without offending humanity. If, however, gentlemen are determined to retain the sport, I fhould advise them to arm their fingers with filver, or rather with fteel fangs, and claw each other for the diverfion of their fellow-brutes, and the mutual entertainment of each other.

BULIA.

My fagacious friend who accompanied me in my aerial flight to Niatirb, has not yet finished the English translation of our speech to the Bulian king; for as we were anxious to construct an AirBalloon on the fame principles as thofe of Bulia, in which, I have observed, the inhabitants travel with incredible velocity, and as we were defirous of knowing what paffed in Bulia, fubfequent to our departure thence; we mutually employed ourselves in preparing the balloon, and, having accomplished our purpose, my friend undertook folely to vifit Bulia, and arrived from thence yesterday morning, without any thing material occurring on his journey, except the lofs of a pair of fafhionable buckles intended as a prefent to Selaw, the king's eldest fon.

My friend, it feems, found the Bulians in greater confufion than ever. The friends of Reynardam finding that he could not recover the Retfinimfhip, and having propofed that he fhould fhare it with Tipwill; with great form and folemnity, addressed themselves to Rexman, requesting he would receive Reynardam to his favour, and permit him to share the honours of the Retfinimfhip. Great expectations were formed on this requeft. Many said that Rexman, notwithstanding his known averfion to Reynardam, would not refuse the requeft of what they called fo refpectable a body of his fubjects; and fome went fo far, as to fay that he dare not. But Rexman well knew that the moft refpectable body of his fubjects was the people at large; and he alfo well knew, that their fentiments refpecting Reynardam coincided with his own. He, therefore, flaily refufed this requeft. Nothing could equal the joy of the Bulians on this occafion. They loved the king more than ever, and looked on Tipwill as one fent from heaven to guard them against the ambitious attempts of other men; and to fhew their respect for him, they determined to confer on him certain civil honours peculiar to the Bulians, and, for that purpose, invited him to a magnificent entertainment. He was accompanied by his brother, and by Elpmet, and by a numerous cavalcade of the nobility, and the most refpectable

fpectable citizens. All Bulia rejoiced; fave Reynardam and his abafhed adherents: they ftood envious fpectators of feftivities, which they could not share, whilst

Rage gnaw'd the lip, and wonder chain'd the tongue! In the evening the Bulians difplayed their regard for Tipwill, by innumerable illuminations, fo that Bulia, at a distance, seemed like a cluster of brilliant ftars; the laft mark of respect they can pay to those they esteem.

DURING thefe rejoicings a council was held by the enemies of Tipwill, and it was determined to infult him on his return from the banquet. Upwards of three hundred weapons were immediately procured, and put into the hands of ruffians to each of whom it was whifpered what use should be made of them. Such is the violence of party in Bulia, that a Bulian, in other respects, an honourable man, will facrifice every principle of juftice, every particle of humanity, and affociate with ruffians and affaffins, for the accomplishent of any infernal purpose, wherein the intereft of his leader is concerned. Tipwill, on his return at midnight, accompanied by many friends, was accordingly affaulted by this banditti, who rufhed upon the unarmed nobles and citizens, and committed outrages, fhocking to humanity. Heaven, however, prevailed against hell, and Tipwill efcaped with his life!

SUCH were the transactions to which my friend was an eye-witnefs during his last visit to Bulia. He is now deeply engaged in the tranflation of our fpeech delivered before Rexman and the council; and in a little time, means to revifit Bulia, with choice prefents to the Queen of that country.

Mrs. H****

ONE of the morning papers of yesterday informs us, that "for more than ten days past Mrs. "H-has not enraptured the scenes of Cn "Houfe! A little miff, the nat ral confequence "of extreme love, is faid to have thus driven the "fair enamorata from the gay metropolis: she is "however, hourly expected to return more "beautiful, and fondly bewitching than ever!"Nothing can equal the infamy of this paragraph. I before stated to your SPECTATORSHIP, the whole of this lady's conduct, and informed you that fhe, à confiderable time fince, went with Mr. H-into Yorkshire, from whence they intend to depart, or are already daparted, for the continent. We are now told that " for more than TEN DAYS, fhe has not ENRAPTURED the scenes of C-n Houfe!" There is a double infinuation conveyed in this fentence, fo totally void of truth

and decency, that the author of it deferves to have Mr.H's horfe-whip broke about his bones; and I would-as a friend-advife him to confine his italics and notes of admiration! to the charming Perdita! the beautiful Mrs. M~-'s! and those whose prostitution has rendered them fit fubjects of his panegyric! Mean time he may reft affured, that Mrs. H

"the scenes of C

never will "enrapture

———n Houfe!”

Ir is thus my dear SPEC, that female reputation is fullied. And what shall guard it against attacks like thefe? It is the height of cruelty to impute guilt where there is none: it is robbing virtue of its immediate reward, the good opinion of mankind; and the man who is base enough, by inuendo and infinuation, thus to attack a lady's fame, deferves the deteftation of every virtuous woman, and the contempt of honeft man. every

MORNING PAPERS.

How weary, ftale, flat, and unprofitable!--

HAMLET.

I AM under the neceffity of once more recurring to the daily prints. I find that great fault has been found with the paragraphs in my last: it has been faid that they consist only of fulfome panegyric, ill-founded abuse, and a miferable fet of puns. Now, this is exactly my opinion too, and I am happy to find the public judgment coinciding with my own. Of fuch like materials, however, it is allowed, the morning papers are conftructed. They are fit only for vitiated

palates.

Occidit miseros crambe repetita

Juv.

"The fame ftale viands, ferv'd up o'er and o'er, The ftomach naufeates"--

From what I have said, and the examples I have given, the reader will readily perceive the nature and complexion of each morning paper. For my own part, I always regard the DAILY as a footman enquiring after a place, or an auctioneer with a catalogue in his hand.

The LEDGER as a demi-caractere: half a citizen and half a wit, with a bundle of news in one hand, and of modern bon mots and profe epigrams

in the other.

The GAZETTEER, before Mr. Fox's India bill came on the tapis, I always regarded as a city merchant of tolerable credit; but now it appears to me like a fellow with a blue cockade in his hat, fhouting Fox for ever!

The GENERAL is an Ifraelite, who after quitting one of the flesh-pots of politics, could not avoid returning to it, and found it more favoury than before!

The