Abounding in poignant and just Reflections;
The Guardian of Freedom, and Scourge of such as do wrong. It is _He_
checks the Frauds, and curbs the Usurpations of every Profession. The
venal Biass of the assuming Judge, the cruel Pride of the starch'd
Priest, the empty Froth of the florid Counsellor, the false Importance
of the formal Man of Business, the specious Jargon of the grave
Physician, and the creeping Taste of the trifling Connoisseur, are all
bare to his Eye, and feel the Lash of his Censure; It is _He_ that
watches the daring Strides, and secret Mines of the ambitious Prince,
and desperate Minister: _He_ gives the Alarm, and prevents their
Mischief. Others there are who have Sense and Foresight; but _they_
are brib'd by Hopes or Fears, or bound by softer Ties; It is _He_
only, the _Humourist_, that has the Courage and Honesty to cry out,
unmov'd by personal Resentment: He flourishes only in a Land of
_Freedom_, and when _that_ ceases he dies too, the last and noblest
_Weed_ of the Soil of _Liberty_.
It is a palpable _Absurdity_ to suppose a Person an _Humourist_,
without excellent Sense and Abilities; as much as to suppose a _Smith_
in his full Business, without his _Hammers_ or _Forge_.--But the
_Humourist_, as he advances in Years, is apt to grow intolerable to
himself and the World; becoming at length, uneasy, and fatigued with
the constant View of the same Follies; like a Person who is tir'd
with seeing the same Tragi-Comedy continually acted.
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