OCR Text |
Show ulage, I will take the proper methods for obt~ining red refs. lf they have recourfe to fcurnlilty, or abufe, that I hope I {ball always be fupenor to. The charaCter of an author is not what 1 aim at; that of a faithful educator of youth, is my utmoH ambitiou, I have never taken the pen in hand, but when I have been defired or prompted to it ; ond if I have got a ten pounds by all I have publilhed, I have got thoufand. I have given an account above of fome of the writings which have been drawn from me; and how I came to trouble the public with them ; and the cafe is the very fame with the others ; as one or two fmall tracts on the dc!lructive grievance of low- priced fpirituous liquors, publilhed at the time when that afFair was under confideracion in parliament; a fort of Paraphrafe in •tmfe •n the Civ'" Pfoim, to which were added a few pages in profe, intituled, An Idea of tbe Ghntor ji·om his !Vorks, which was printed for the pcnclit of an orphan, and raifcd him a vny pretty fum; and fome periodical moral eflays in the Papers, of which I did not, when I projected the delign, imagii1e, that any conlideralje weight would be left upon me, I am fOrry it is fo neceflJ.ry for me to declare, in this public manner, that my own employment is my fupreme purfuit, and that it is not an itch of fcribbling thJt has occafioned my being fo often in the prefs; but that I have been partly drawn and partly dragged into it; and that now 1 have rrafon to hope l have nearly done with that moil irkfome >nd unprofitable labour. I am the candid Reader's Jincere T1/cl!-wijher, J. B. y 0 u T H 'S F R r E N n L y M oN r T oR, etc. MY DEAR FRIEND, T HE Time being now come, when yeu are to remove from under _my Care and Direction, and to go Into other Hands, which will foon fend you out into the wide World, where you mufl: firuggle for yourfelf, and either fink or fwm1, according as you are favoured by Provtdencc, and conduct yourfelf prudently, or otherwtfe; I think it my Duty to add,. to the !"any Advtces 1 have given you from ttme to tune, . the following Directions; and I expect you will be fo kind to yourfelf, and have fo much Refpect for one who has nothing mor~ at Heart than your Intereft, as to take Lhe Pains to gi\'e the?l two or three Readings every Year of y~ur ~tfe. _I am in hopes, that what is cootamed tn t~1s Paper, written on purpofe for your Ufc, wJ!l have more Influence upon you, than any W or!C: of a much greater Author, whom you dtd not B 2 know. |