came the religion of the world; that in the mean time the Jewish state was entirely dissolved, and the nation dispersed over the face of the earth; that notwithstanding this, they have remained a distinct numerous people to this day; which not only appears to be the completion of several prophecies concerning them, but renders it easy to suppose that the promises to them as a nation may yet be fulfilled: let such a person as we have supposed be told to compare these historical facts carefully with what he recollects of Scripture, and there is little doubt but that the joint view of them would strike him in a manner which it is not easy for us to conceive, who are so familiarised to them, without a very particular and devout attention. This general view of the evidence for Christianity, considered as making up one argument, should induce us anxiously to treasure up any article which may have any, the least considerable weight. Probable proofs, by being added, not only increase the evidence, but multiply it. The misfortune it, that the nature of this evidence gives no small advantage to those who combat the truth of Christianity, especially in conversation; for it is easy to show, in a short and lively manner, that such and such things are but of little weight; but to answer this mode of attack, by bringing forward the whole united force of the argument into one view, requires much time, patience, and attention; requires memory in the speaker, and candour in the hearer; requires gravity, respect, and silence, and a multitude of requisites, which are rarely found in large or small societies, N° 91. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15. At vos Trojugenæ, vobis ignoscitis, et quæ JUVENAL, But, Nobles, you who trace your birth from Troy, To the Rev. Simon Olive-branch. STEPNEY. Sir, THE utility of periodical papers has been so long acknowledged by the general sense of mankind, that it would be a very unnecessary task to enter now upon their merits. That which we feel with the force of an axiom, is only weakened by defence or explanation: and, although I do not mean to flatter you, reverend sir, I must regard you as doing that for which some part of mankind will hereafter have reason to thank you. I trust you have added something to the attractions of virtue, and something to the treasures of literature; and that even those who look for neither in what they read, will acknowledge their obligations to you for having assisted them in the disposal of time, an enemy whom it is not easy to get rid of with impunity. Where entertainment has been judiciously blended with instruction, no reader will go without his errand. But I have to hope that you will not consider this opinion, which arises from a perusal of your own labours, as the price of admission to the present attempt. Having, like yourself, the good of the public before my eyes, I may demand as a right, what might otherwise deserve to be considered as a favour. The PROJECTOR, in your paper of October 19, shows an inclination to render the practice of cursing and swearing an object of revenue. Certain it is, that in a time of public distress no tax can be so productive as that which is laid upon the effects of ill-humour; and I have more than once thought, that, in the best of times, a per-centage upon grumbling would be no cause of complaint. Some years ago, I drew up a plan of a similar kind with that of Mr. Projector's, and had the honour to submit it to the approbation of his majesty's ministers, although, for some reason or other, I have not heard of it since. The gratitude of great persons is very seldom extended to men of a scheming turn. I do not, indeed, mean to blame administration for the neglect of my plan: perhaps the moment they saw how exceedingly comprehensive it was, including all descriptions of men, and consequently how amazingly productive, they might think it was too great an engine for ordinary occasions, and ought to be reserved for some trying time, to operate as a terror to hostile nations, by convincing them that our financial resources were such, as to convert the very distresses of war into the means of its support. But whatever may be their reasons for keeping back an affair of this kind, they are not to be censured for any breach of confidence towards me. I therefore do not insinuate, in the most distant or indirect manner, that Mr. Projector has availed himself of a sight of my plan in the Treasury-Office. I believe he would find that a very difficult matter, there being at least one more reason than ordinary why they would not let him come at it. No, sir on the contrary, I behold in him, as in myself, an unceasing anxiety for the public good; and this must of course present to his mind every possible scheme that can tend to diminish the burdens of the state, and render even our vices an object of national advantage. Nothing is more certain than that two persons may hit upon the same plan, although the law of priority can assign the merit only to one. But, reverend sir, the immediate object of this letter is to offer you some considerations on one branch of the system of Equality, which has prevailed in this country for many years, and long before the enigmatical revolution of a neighbouring nation took place—I mean an EQUALITY IN OUR VICES AND FOLLIES. These are pursued by all men equally, without the smallest regard paid to rank, property, or genius. We see a peasant as drunk as a lord, a shopkeeper as mad as a poet, and an attorney's clerk as great an infidel as an historian. Now, sir, to behold a drayman as great as a lord, merely by being as much out of his senses, is a circumstance which must greatly affront the votaries of vice, and not greatly delight those of virtue. What, indeed, sir, do we mean by rank and fortune, if they cannot command a monopoly even of folly? Where are those envied distinctions which once separated the West from the East end of the town, which placed impassable barriers between the man of quality and the citizen, if the latter can be as wicked, as foolish, and as ridiculous as the former ? There was a time, sir, in my remembrance, and perhaps in yours, when follies of rank and fortune were as incommunicable as titles, and as incapable of transfer as an entailed estate, and when a great man's vices and his acres were handed down alike unimpaired to his posterity. It was in those happy days, sir, that certain vices never appeared in public, unless accompanied by circumstances of pomp and grandeur. A dignified lustre shone around them, which dazzled the eyes of the profane vulgar, and deprived them of all hopes of imitation. To be in debt, then, was a mark of elegant distinction; to fight a duel, was a singular proof of courage; and to be intoxicated, was so much the privilege of noblemen of a certain rank only, that for many centuries they had no rival in the proverb, except an imaginary animal called, for what reason I know not, David's sow. A lady then, if she gave business to Doctor's Commons, fell from a coronet, not from a counter, and, if she lost one title, was in no danger of being mixed with the common herd for want of another. By what infatuation, by what series of infatuations, has so great a revolution been accomplished? Why are our minds so changed, that we now behold the sins of a tradesman with the same satisfaction as those of a man of rank, and that we give a common shopkeeper credit for his vices, while we refuse it to his bills? How much is vice degraded, and folly debased, by thus mixing with the lower orders of society! Did people of fashion, indeed, leave off a vice as they do a cap or a bonnet, the moment it has reached Fleet-street, something might be said, some hopes entertained. But alas! the squares and cir cuses are no longer the only scenes of dignified dissipation and right honourable licentiousness. In every court and alley we hear of men who will promise, with the most earnest purpose of deceiving; who can lie with cool premeditation; and who have even attempted to fight and intrigue for objects of no greater value than a prostitute or a poney! To such |