thofe calumnies and reproaches which we spread 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 consent in speaking 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, and vanity of being thought in the fecrets of the world, or from a defire of gratifying any of thefe difpofitions of mind in thofe perfons with whom we converfe.

THE publisher of scandal is more or lefs 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 thefe falfe reports, he ought to confider, that the effect of them is equally prejudicial and pernicious to the perfon at whom they are aimed. The injury is the fame, though the principle from whence 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 proceeding, which is fo univerfally practifed, and, at the fame time fo univerfally blamed, I fhall lay down three rules, by which I would have a man examine and fearch into his own heart, before he stands 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 disreputation of another.

THESE are the several steps by which this vice proeeeds, and grows up into flander and defamation.

In the first place, a man who takes delight in hearing. the faults of others, fhews fufficiently that he has a true relish 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 relating them, and be the more apt to do it, as he will naturally imagine every one he converfes with is delighted in the fame manner with himself, A man fhould endeavour therefore to wear out of his mind this criminal curiosity, which is perpetually heightened and inflamed by listening to fuch stories as tend to the disreputation 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 secret corruptions. It is a pretty faying of Thales, Falfehood is just as far diftant from truth, as the ears are from the eyes. By which he would intimate, that a wife man fhould not eafily give credit to the reports 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 celebrated Abbey de la Trape, as they are publish ed 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 difcourfe 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 intentions.

In the third place, a man fhould examine his heart, whether he does not find in it a secret inclination to propagate fuch reports as tend to the difreputation of another.

WHEN the difeafe of the mind, which I have hitherto been fpeaking of, arifes to this degree of malignity, it difcovers itself in its worft fymptom, and is in danger of becoming incurable. I need not therefore infift upon

the

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 pleafure any man may take in spreading whifpers 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 breaft.

N° 595.

Friday, September 17.

-Non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.

Hor. Ars poet. v. 12.

Nature, and the common laws of fenfe,

Forbid to reconcile antipathies ;

Or make a fnake engender with a dove,
And hungry tigers court the tender lambs.

Rofcommon.

F ordinary authors would condefcend to write as they

being intelligible. But they really take pains to be ridiculous; and, by the studied ornaments of stile, perfectly difguife the little sense they aim at. There is a grievance of this fort in the commonwealth of letters, which I have for fome time refolved to redrefs, and accordingly I have fet this day apart for justice. What I mean is the mixture of inconfiftent metaphors, which is a fault but too often found in learned writers, but in all the unlearned without exception.

In order to fet this matter in a clear light to every reader, I fhall in the first place obferve, that a metaphor is a fimile in one word, which ferves to convey the thoughts of the mind under refemblances and images which affect the fenfes. There is not any thing in the world, which may not be compared to feveral things, if confidered in feveral diftinct lights; or, in other words, the fame thing may be expreffed by different metaphors. But the mifchief is, that an unskilful author fhall run thefe metaphors fo abfurdly into one another, that there fhall be no fimile,

no agreeable picture, no apt refemblance, but confufion, obfcurity, and noife. Thus I have known a hero compared to a thunderbolt, a lion, and the fea; all and each of them proper metaphors for impetuofity, courage, or force. But by bad management it hath fo happened, that the thunderbolt hath overflowed its banks; the lion hath been darted through the skies, and the billows have rolled out of the Lybian defart.

And yet

THE abfurdity in this inftance is obvious. every time that clashing metaphors are put together, this fault is committed more or lefs. It hath already been faid, that metaphors are images of things which affect the fenfes. An image, therefore, taken from what acts upon the fight, cannot, without violence, be applied to the hearing; and fo of the reft. It is no less an impropriety to make any being in nature or art to do things in its metaphorical ftate, which it could not do in its original. I shall illuftrate what I have faid by an instance which I have read more than once in controverfial writers. The heavy lashes, faith a celebrated author, that have dropped from your pen, &c. I fuppofe this gentleman having frequently heard of gall dropping from a pen, and being lafhed in a fatire, he was refolved to have them both at any rate, and fo uttered this complete piece of nonfenfe. It will moft effectually difcover the abfurdity of these monstrous unions, if we will fuppofe these metaphors or images actually painted. Imagine then a hand holding a pen, and feveral lafhes of whip-cord falling from it, and you have the true representation of this fort of eloquence. I believe, by this very rule, a reader may be able to judge of the union of all metaphors whatsoever, and determine which are homogeneous, and which heterogeneous; or, to speak more plainly, which are confistent, and which inconfiftent.

THERE is yet one evil more which I must take notice of, and that is the running of metaphors into tedious allegories, which, though an error on the better hand, caufes confufion, as much as the other. This becomes abominable, when the luftre of one word leads a writer out of his road, and makes him wander from his fubject for a page together. I remember a young fellow of this turn, who having faid by chance, that his mistress had a world

of'

of charms, thereupon took occafion to confider her as one poffeffed of frigid and torrid zones, and purfued her from the one pole to the other.

I SHALL conclude this paper with a letter written in that enormous ftile, which I hope my reader hath by this time fet his heart againft. The epiftle hath heretofore received great applaufe; but after what hath been faid, let any man commend it if he dare.

* SIR,

A

FTER the many heavy lashes that have fallen from your pen, you may justly expect in return all ⚫ the load that my ink can lay upon your shoulders. You • have quartered all the foul language upon me that could be raked out of the air of Billingsgate, without knowing who I am, or whether I deferve to be cupped and fcarified at this rate. I tell you once for all, turn your eyes where you please, you fhall never fmell me out. Do you think that the panics, which you fow about the parifh, will ever build a monument to your glory? No, Sir, you may fight thefe battles as long as you will, but when you come to balance the account, you will find that you have been fishing in troubled waters, and that an ignis fatuus hath bewildered you, and that indeed you have built upon a fandy foundation, and brought your hogs to a fair market.

I am, SIR,

Yours, &c.'

N° 596.

Monday, September 20.

Molle meum levibus cor eft violabile telis.

Ovid. Ep. 15. v. 79.

Cupid's light darts my tender bofom move.

Pope.

HE cafe of my correfpondent, who fends me the Tfollowing letter, has fomewhat in it fo very whim

fical, that I know not how to entertain my readers better than by laying it before them.